In pics: Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, E China

Xinhua) 17:01, July 05, 2024

This photo taken on July 4, 2024 shows the Land Gate Site at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

A drone photo taken on July 4, 2024 shows the Mojiaoshan Palace Site at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

People visit the Mojiaoshan Palace Site at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, July 4, 2024. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

People visit the Mojiaoshan Palace Site at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, July 4, 2024. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

A drone photo taken on July 4, 2024 shows a display spot of Southern City Wall Site at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 4, 2024 shows the Land Gate Site at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 4, 2024 shows the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

People visit a display spot of Southern City Wall Site at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, July 4, 2024. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

A drone photo taken on July 4, 2024 shows a display spot of Southern City Wall Site at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 4, 2024 shows people taking sightseeing buses at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

This photo taken on July 4, 2024 shows the Chizhongsi Granary Site at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

People visit the Fanshan Cemetery Site at the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City park in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, July 4, 2024. The Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, located in east China's Zhejiang Province, have gained worldwide recognition as bearing testimony to the existence of at least 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. This year marks the 5th anniversary of its inscription on the World Heritage List as a cultural site. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Israel to dispatch team to Qatar for follow-up ceasefire talks next week

Xinhua) 10:37, July 06, 2024

JERUSALEM, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chief of Israel's Mossad spy agency David Barnea has returned from the Qatari capital Doha following an initial meeting with mediators, and a team will be dispatched next week to continue the negotiations, Israeli prime minister's office announced Friday evening.

"It should be emphasized that there are still gaps between the sides," said a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the dispatch of a delegation for negotiations on a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza and the release of hostages, a senior Israeli official told Xinhua on Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that an official familiar with the hostage talks said that Mossad officials had told mediators that they are "optimistic" the Israeli cabinet will accept the ceasefire proposal currently under discussion.

According to Israel's Channel 12 survey revealed Friday, when asked what is most important at this moment, 67 percent of the people interviewed said returning the hostages from Gaza, compared to 26 percent who said continuing the war in Gaza and 7 percent who said they didn't know.

The recent development marks a renewed effort to negotiate an end to the nearly nine-month-long conflict, which, according to the Gaza-based health authorities, has resulted in the deaths of more than 38,000 Palestinians in the enclave.

Israel launched a massive offensive in the Gaza Strip following a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others taken hostage.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
A group of terrified teenagers have been rescued after an encounter with a 'glowing-eyed and growling Bigfoot' in a Louisiana forest.

Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Deputies said the recent high school graduates from Houma called in distress while deep within Kisatchie National Forest late last week.

The teenagers, aged 17 to 18, recounted a chilling encounter with what the group described as a creature resembling 'Bigfoot' with glowing eyes, according to the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office (NPSO).

The group had reportedly ventured approximately 1.5 miles down Back Bone Trail in southern Natchitoches Parish to camp out after their graduation festivities.

One of the teens who was panicked by a growling sound and a mysterious figure standing about 5 feet tall with glowing eyes called emergency services for rescue.

Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Deputies rushed to the aid of a group of recent high school graduates who called in distress while deep within Kisatchie National Forest late last Friday

The teenagers, aged 17 to 18, recounted a chilling encounter with what the group described as a creature resembling 'Bigfoot' with glowing eyes, according to the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office (NPSO)

At approximately 9:20pm, Deputies assigned to the NPSO Patrol Operations Bureau responded to NATCOM 911 Center reports of a group in Kisatchie National Forest needing assistance, according to the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office.

Deputy B. Remo and Cpl. D. Halliburton cautiously approached the campsite, alert for any signs of danger.

Following the sound of the group's whistle, the deputies located them unharmed but visibly shaken.

Upon arriving at the campsite, deputies escorted the teens safely out of the forest.

Despite thorough investigation, authorities were unable to corroborate reports of a creature matching the description provided by the group.

The NPSO concluded their statement congratulating the graduates, thanking them for visiting Natchitoches Parish and Kisatchie National Forest, and wishing them success in their future endeavors.

The group had reportedly ventured approximately 1.5 miles down Back Bone Trail in southern Natchitoches Parish to camp out after their graduation festivities

Strangely enough, this encounter comes after previous reports of Bigfoot activity in the same forest. One Bigfoot researcher from Baton Rouge, found these sticks in the shape of an 'X' laying a branch that he said is typical of a marker used by Bigfoot back in 2019

The imprint of an oddly large sized foot carved in granite

Many social media users expressed skepticism about the encounter, doubting the details recounted by the teens in the comments.

According to some, the glowing eyes could have simply been a reflection from a flashlight, possibly originating from local wildlife like a black bear or wild hog.

'If they used a flashlight, the eyes might have glowed. Probably a black bear or possibly a wild hog,' one wrote.

Others praised the teens for their quick decision to seek assistance rather than trying to navigate the forest alone while feeling distressed.

'Seems like they were too scared to walk out on their own and had to call for help?' another user commented.

Others joked that the group must have taken a substance or drug that led them to see things that were not there.

'When the Mushrooms kick in ...' another said.

However, the encounter comes after previous reports of Bigfoot activity in the same forest.

NOBRO bigfoot expert Brian Terrell told Fox 25 that Oklahoma Sasquatches are usually 8 feet tall. He said their expeditions have found huge footprints from towering creatures (pictured: 'bigfoot' in Eureka, California)

A metal sculpture of Bigfoot welcomes visitors to the tiny community of Happy Camp in the Klamath Forest

NOBRO bigfoot expert Brian Terrell said that Oklahoma Sasquatches are usually 8 feet tall. He said their expeditions have found huge footprints from towering creatures

In 2019, within the depths of Kisatchie National Forest, two researchers known only as Tex-La and Claude, conducted a nighttime expedition where they howled four times into the forest at 'Bigfoot' and received four howls back.

Tex-La, an experienced Bigfoot researcher from Baton Rouge, explained their methods involved using audio devices and cameras camouflaged among the trees to capture evidence of Bigfoot's presence, TheTownTalk reported.

Claude also emphasized the importance of interpreting subtle signs such as twisted tree limbs and mysterious markers, which they believe could be indicative of Bigfoot's presence.

'It is what it is. If you choose to believe that's great. If you choose not to believe, that's great, too,' Tex-La told the outlet.

'A lot of people don't want to come forward because they don't want to be intimidated,' he added.

Claude said he was able to get photos of a Bigfoot tracks in that area they researched.

'Nothing remarkable, nothing to write home about. But they were  to my way of thinking  good tracks,' he said.

This comes amid spate of reported sightings of 'Bigfoot' in various states across the nation.

In October 2023, a multi-state investigation was launched after a compelling 'bigfoot sighting' in Colorado energized other US states to step up their search efforts.

Wilderness explorer C. Thomas Biscardi, 32, of San Jose, California, who has been searching for the legendary "Big Foot" for nearly a decade said, May 10, he encountered and took pictures of the elusive man-ape during a recent expedition in northern California

Shannon Parker and her husband Stetson were riding on a popular train through Colorado when they spotted a bizarre figure moving through the mountains

Indiana Bigfoot Research Organization kicked off their autumn campout on October 12, 2023, with around 40 'squatchers' camping out over the weekend to connect with other believers and try their luck at catching a glimpse of the creature

Indiana and Oklahoma initiated expeditions to find bigfoot after the hopes of Sasquatch believers were energized following Colorado's viral video evidence of a 'sighting'.

During a Narrow Gauge train ride from Durango to Silverton a passenger looking for elk with her husband was distracted by a hairy creature instead.

Shannon Parker, from Cheyenne, Wyoming, said: 'I think I saw Bigfoot'.

Another passenger named Brandon saw the couple react and decided to pull out his phone to record the mythical beast.

The Native Oklahoma Bigfoot Research Organization launched an investigation in McAlester after several reports of 'bigfoot sightings' popped up last September.

Despite being further away from the recent action, Indiana Bigfoot Research Organization kicked off their autumn campout on October 12 with around 40 'squatchers' over the weekend to connect with other believers and try their luck at catching a glimpse of the creature.
Walt Disney World is getting ready to switch over its line-skipping program Genie+ to the Lightning Lane system in just a matter of weeks.

However, knowing how to navigate this new purchasable perk, debuting on July 24, can make or break your trip to the Most Magical Place on Earth.

Disney theme park expert Michelle Atwood of The Main Street Mouse recently sat down with Fox35 to discuss the pros and cons of the replacement Genie+, which can cost each guest up to $39 per day.

Calling the unexpected change a 'mixed bag' for theme park fans, Atwood revealed how future park guests can navigate the complex scheduling and rules of the 'paid' Lightning Lane system.

Here are some of her best tricks to help avoid the common pitfalls park guests might experience with the new system.

Genie+ services will rebrand to Lightning Lane Multi Pass and individual Lightning Lane will now be known as Lightning Lane Single Pass effective July 24

Calling the unexpected change a 'mixed bag' for theme park fans, theme park expert Michelle Atwood (pictured above) revealed how future park guests can navigate the complex scheduling and rules of the 'paid' Lightning Lane system

Plan in advance, but know exactly when

'So instead of getting up at 7am, like you would normally do for Genie+, there's the Lightning Lane Multi Pass, which you can book seven days in advance,' Atwood said.

'You don't have to get up at the crack of dawn on your vacation. And that is for resort guests.'

While this does mean you get to sleep in instead of waking up early on the day of your park visit, you must remember to book your Lightning Lanes exactly seven days before your trip to the parks begins.

You will also be able to book all of the tickets for your entire trip, up to 14 days. So don't stop on scheduling your first day!

Atwood added: 'For other ticket holders, you can reserve your attractions three days in advance. It's going to vary in price by seasons - if it's a busy time, if it's not.'

So, if you're not staying at one of the hotels in the Walt Disney World, you still get a three-day head start.

Once you've selected your three Lightning Lane choices, you can move them around during the day

When your time is ready, bring your iPhone with your Lightning Pass reservation barcode on it for scanning - then head to the front of the line

Multi pass vs single pass

Multi Pass gives you front-of-the line access to most rides.

At each park, you're able to schedule ahead three Lightning Lanes from the Multi Pass per day.

You can book one from each theme park's list of their bigger attractions and two from their list of smaller rides.

However, across the four parks that make up Walt Disney World, there are a total of five E-ticket attractions - rides so big and popular, that a separate Lightning Lane category exists for them that you have to pay extra for: the Lightning Lane Single Pass.

'The Lightning Lane Single Pass is kind of like a separate ticket thing,' Atwood said.

'If you want to pay to go on the bigger, and you maybe didn't get your pass for the day, you can pay to go on... the top tier rides.'

Know your tiers

For the Multi Pass, there is a tiered system of rides mentioned above that will dictate how you use your scheduled Lightning Lanes.

'This is a tiered system, so you get one choice for tier one, and two choices from tier two. And tier one is going to be your bigger rides,' Atwood said of the Multi Pass, which she says offers 'people more ability to plan. And it's supposed to make it easier.'

So, let's break it down for each park.

Pictured: Crowds at Main Street USA in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom tier one rides (choose one)

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Jungle Cruise

Peter Pans Flight

Space Mountain

Tianas Bayou Adventure

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, pictured above, is one of the Magic Kingdom's tier one rides of Multi Pass Lightning Lanes

Tiana's Bayou Adventure, a Tier One Ride, has officially opened at the Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom tier two rides (choose two or three)

The Barnstormer

Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin

Dumbo the Flying Elephant

Haunted Mansion

its a small world

Mad Tea Party

The Magic Carpets of Aladdin

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Mickeys PhilharMagic

Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor

Pirates of the Caribbean

Tomorrowland Speedway

Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid

Although the Hollywood Tower Hotel is not welcoming guests, travelers staying at one of Walt Disney World can schedule their Multi Pass Lightning Lanes up to a full week in advance

Hollywood Studios tier one rides (choose one)

Mickey & Minnies Runaway Railway

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith

Slinky Dog Dash

Guests can ride Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios, but they'll need to buy Single Pass Lightning Lane for it

Hollywood Studios tier two rides (choose two or three)

Alien Swirling Saucers

Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage

Disney Junior Play & Dance!

For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

Muppet*Vision 3D

Star Tours  The Adventures Continue

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Toy Story Mania!

Epcot has three different Tier One rides for guests to choose from for the Lightning Lane

Epcot tier one rides (choose one)

Frozen Ever After

Remys Ratatouille Adventure

Soarin' Around the World

Epcot tier two Rides (choose two or three)

Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival

Journey into Imagination with Figment

Living with the Land

Mission: SPACE

The Seas with Nemo & Friends

Spaceship Earth

Turtle Talk with Crush

Animal Kingdom, pictured above, is not separated into two tiers. Instead, you can choose among a wide range of rides for your three scheduled Lightning Lanes

Animal Kingdom Multi Pass rides (choose three)

DINOSAUR

Expedition Everest  Legend of the Forbidden Mountain

Feathered Friends in Flight!

Festival of the Lion King

Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... and Beyond!

Its Tough to Be a Bug!

Kali River Rapids

Kilimanjaro Safaris

Navi River Journey

Pictured: The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy attend the grand opening of Cosmic Rewind in Epcot

Pictured: Avatar Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom

Lightning Lane Single Pass rides

In all of Walt Disney World, there are five rides you can only obtain a Lightning Lane for by purchasing a separate Single Pass.

This includes the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON Lightcycle / Run in Magic Kingdom; Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in Epcot; Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios; and Avatar Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom.

Lightning Lanes for these have to be purchased separately, but if do not want to splurge for front-of-the-line treatment, you can always wait in the standby line for no additional cost.

Pictured: the cast of Star Wars rides Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios, the theme park's only Single Pass Light Lane

Pictured: TRON Lightcycle / Run in the Magic Kingdom

The price of Multi Passes vary from park to park, so if you want to switch to a Lightning Lane in another, more expensive park, you have to pay the difference between their Multi Pass prices

You can switch scheduled Lightning Lanes to another park

At Walt Disney World, plans change all the time, which is why the Multi Pass lets you go with the flow... for a price.

The price of Multi Passes vary from park to park, so if you want to switch to a Lightning Lane to another more expensive park, you have to pay the difference between their Multi Pass prices.

Walt Disney World recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023

No more '120-minute' rule

Previously with Genie+, you had to wait two hours after you made a selection before making your next.

Now, once your first reservation on your Multi Pass is used, you can find other available attractions to get another Lightning Lane.

Whether you're in a group or looking to tackle the parks solo, Lightning Lane has got you covered

Coordinate with your fellow travelers... or not!

For each Multi Pass, you can link up everyone in your trip to one Multi Pass.

After scheduling a Lightning Lane for everyone in your party, you can change individual reservations to other attractions. This is of course subject to availability.

The best advice would be to have your go-to schedule already planned out before the seven-day window opens up to book your trip, with one person in charge with booking all the Lightning Lanes for the group.
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A terrifying video has emerged showing how stunt performers shot the famous James Bond crocodile scene.

Fans have been stunned to learn that the iconic sequence from Live and Let Die used real reptiles.

While the filmmakers previously stated that no puppets or models were used during filming, the footage demonstrates just how dangerous the stunt was.

In the final cut, Bond is seen making his escape over a body of water by stepping on the back of three snapping crocodiles.

But outtakes show just how close stuntman Ross Heilman, aka Ross Kananga, who was standing in for Roger Moore's Bond, came into contact with the ferocious beasts.

A terrifying video has emerged showing how stunt performers shot the famous James Bond crocodile scene

The feat is all the more impressive given that Kananga's own father was allegedly eaten by a crocodile.

The scene took five takes to secure and saw Kananga fall into the water several times and even get bitten.

In the first take, Kananga makes it across the first two animals at speed before the third attempts to snap at him.

He plunges into the water and has to haul himself up while the crocodile continues to thrash around wildly behind him.

By takes two and three, the beasts are ready and immediately begin snapping at him as he falls yet again, at one point attempting to hold one of them down.

The last failure sees Kananga make it all the way across before his shoe gets hooked on the final crocodile's tooth and he is force to try and writhe his way out.

Kananga's foot ended up being bitten during this final attempt leaving him needing stitches.

Fans have been stunned to learn that the iconic sequence from Live and Let Die, starring Roger Moore, used real reptiles

Outtakes show just how close stuntman Ross Kananga, who was standing in for Roger Moore's Bond, came into contact with the ferocious beasts.

The animals were secured to the bottom of the water using weights but as the bloopers show, their powerful jaws and tails were left unrestrained to amplify the peril.

Around a dozen crocodiles were used during filming, sourced from a farm in Jamaica owned by Kananga.

The stuntman inherited the farm from his crocodile wrestler dad, who was eaten by one of the animals according to Moore, who spoke about it in the documentary, 'Inside Live and Let Die'.

The heart-stopping video has left many fans in disbelief.

'Never thought they were real, just some sort of machine. Im now gonna have to watch that movie again,' one person wrote on Reddit.

'That could have gone insanely wrong,' another added.

Actors Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto, Julius W.Harris, Geoffrey Holder, Earl Jolly Brown and actress Jane Seymour, on the set of 'Live And Let Die'

'This guy almost got eaten by crocs on the third take and then did a fourth? Legend,' a third said.

Another added: 'I have questions!'

Many stated that they hoped Kananga was well paid given how dangerous the stunt was.

He received $60,000 for his work in 1973, equivalent to more than $450,000 today.

He took his stage name from the villain and Let Die, Dr Kananga, played by American actor Yaphet Kotto.
A Hollywood actor's daughter has been found dead at her apartment in what the medical examiner ruled a suicide.

Daelena Mackay died on May 23, a month before her 21st birthday, after the man she was living with called 911 and said he found her hanged with a scarf in the bathroom.

She was the daughter of actor Dwayne Adway and living at the El Centro Hollywood building while studying at Los Angeles City College.

The man who called police told them he was her boyfriend but Daelena's family claimed they broke up in January.

He said he left the apartment during an argument about 8pm and returned to find her dead, according to the police report.

Daelena Mackay was found dead at her luxury apartment in what the medical examiner ruled a suicide, but her family insists it couldn't have been

The LA County Medical Examiner-Coroner ruled her death a suicide by hanging and said an autopsy 'was not required'

He said he untied the scarf and took her down before starting CPR until paramedics arrived - but she could not be revived.

However, Daelena's mother Elaine insisted her daughter would not have killed herself and accused authorities of failing to properly investigate her death.

'Her body tells a different story than what police are telling us, with bruises and bleeding from two puncture wounds approximately an inch apart that go from the front of her body straight thru to the back and other bleeding,' she said.

'All of these findings that I found because I was left no choice but to have to examine her body myself, the county coroner left out of his report.

'Only toxicology was done by county coroner, no autopsy.'

The man said the pair had an argument before he left at 8pm to 'de-escalate the situation' and returned hours later to find her dead, the police report read.

Daelena was hanging from the shower curtain rod by a red scarf, police were told, and she was pronounced dead by paramedics just after midnight.

Daelena was the daughter of Hollywood actor Dwayne Adway (pictured)

Daelena was found hanging by a red scarf tied around the shower curtain rod in the bathroom of the third-floor Hollywood apartment, according to the man who said he found her

The LA County Medical Examiner-Coroner ruled her death a suicide by hanging and said an autopsy 'was not required' due to an external examination and the circumstances of her death being conclusive.

The LAPD said the case was thoroughly investigated and detectives met with the family several times to talk through their concerns.

The police report detailed how the 'boyfriend' told detectives he and Daelena were arguing about her reconnecting with a man in another state before he left.

Mackay claimed this man was her daughter's real boyfriend in Texas, whom she had been on and off with for the past three years.

She said they got back together in January when she broke up with the man she was living with and he planned to visit her for the first two weeks of July.

'He was coming to LA to visit her as they often would travel back and forth to visit one another in their long distance relationship,' she said.

He said he did CPR on Daelena until paramedics took over, but she couldn't be revived

'Daelena had love for all of her family and we have love for her. Daelena loved him, she would have never abandoned her star-crossed lover.

'Anyone who knew Dae knew she would not have killed herself.'

Mackay said her daughter had too much for live for as she was just about to graduate from university, majoring in English and cinematography, and had grand plans.

'My daughter was not suicidal, she saw a therapist the day before and [they] said there was zero clinical indication of depression or suicide, that my daughter was full of life, very much excited about life,' she said.

'She was so excited about wining a poetry contest and her upcoming 21st birthday, she was actively pursuing modeling and acting after her parents footsteps.

'She had plans for her future including traveling plans to visit her sister in Florida on June 8-10, she was so excited to go to a rave with her brother, and she had plans to visit me her mom and two younger sisters in Maine this summer.'

Daelena's mother Elaine insisted her daughter wouldn't have killed herself and accused authorities of failing to properly investigate her death

Mackay said Daelena had too much for live for as she was just about to graduate from university, majoring in English and cinematography, and had grand plans

Mackay said her daughter told a friend she was saving up to move into her own apartment without her ex when the lease was up.

'We found in her coat pocket the place she was looking at,' she said.

The distraught mother claimed because there was no autopsy she had to do her own investigation of Daelena's body when she came to identify it.

'That was very emotionally damaging and scarring for me to go through that process,' she said.

'As a parent you don't even want to live this nightmare and it's not something you want to go through.

'Having to even ID the body of a daughter of yours, a baby that you... it's so hard to go through that process let alone have to conduct your own investigation because [the various authorities] failed to do their job.

'And I had to take photos of my daughter's body.

Adway said he was 'heartbroken and grieving the loss of my beautiful smart and talented daughter' and wanted a 'full investigation'

'The emotional distress has caused me to suffer from panic attacks, sporadic muscle spasms, migraines, and physical immobility.'

Adway said he was 'heartbroken and grieving the loss of my beautiful smart and talented daughter'.

'I am seeking a full investigation from LAPD in hopes of finding the truth and justice,' he told NBC.

However, Mackay claimed her ex-partner demanded she pay half of the at least $4,000 cost of a private autopsy.

'This autopsy is crucial in the case and I don't understand why her father would choose to forgo the autopsy when he knows it's vital,' she said.

Daelena's brother Kaevaan Mackay said he wanted her death investigated more fully before it was written off as a suicide

The luxury El Centro Hollywood apartment building where Daelena was found dead

'All because I don't have 'my half' when he has money, more than enough to just pay for it in full. Why would he do our daughter like this she's just been sitting at the mortuary since June 18?'

Mackay raised more than $8,200 online to pay for Daelena's funeral and asked for more to fund the autopsy - or the body would be cremated and any evidence lost.

Daelena's brother Kaevaan Mackay said he wanted her death investigated more fully before it was written off as a suicide.

'Did she take her life, or was her life taken from her? I want the Coroner's Office to do their job and look into the details,' he told NBC.
A teacher who tried to murder her lover's wife in front of her 14-year-old daughter has been banned from teaching for life in what has been described as the real-life version of the film 'Fatal Attraction'.

Church of England class tutor Claire Bailey, now 47, had never met her victim Emma Russell, then 43, but was out for revenge after her affair with her husband ended.

Ms Russell feared she was going to die as the scorned Bailey wrestled her to the ground, got behind her and tried to cut her throat, but she managed to force the blade away.

Bailey snapped after being dumped by her lover and drove 145 miles in a jealous rage from her home in Dudley, West Midlands, to Ms Russell's address in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, buying the flowers from Sainsbury along the way.

The respected teacher donned a bizarre disguise before turning up to ring the other woman's doorbell at around 5pm with a carving knife hidden among a bunch of flowers, teaching watchdogs were told. She also wore a red wig, covid mask and sunglasses.

Clare Bailey pictured in a disguise before turning up to Emma Russell's home with a carving knife hidden among flowers

Bailey (pictured), a teacher since 2001, was jailed for 22 years and four months in June last year after admitting attempted murder

Clare Bailey launched the attack on Emma Russell (pictured, with her identity hidden in a video shared by North Yorkshire Police), 43, on June 23 last year in Harrogate

When Ms Russell opened the door, she said 'these are for you' and offered her the bouquet.

Ms Russell was puzzled and said 'No I don't want them thank you' before she got a horrifying glimpse of the handle of the knife behind the blooms.

Before she could slam the door, Bailey launched her murderous attack, repeatedly knifing and slashing her rival's neck, chest, stomach and arms as Ms Russell tried to fend her off while screaming for help.

Ms Russell's teenage daughter ran down the stairs and got stuck into the fight, even though she feared Bailey would turn on her next.

As Bailey stalked off back to her car, Ms Russell was rushed to hospital for major surgery to life-changing injuries which left her partly wheelchair bound and scarred for life.

It has been compared to a scene in Fatal Attraction in which Glenn Close's character attempts to stab her former lover, played by Michael Douglas after their relationship ended.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Bailey had been in a relationship with Ms Russell's husband, which had ended several months before the attack, but Bailey refused to accept it.

The husband was an old flame of Bailey's and they had rekindled their romance after meeting by chance at a relative's wedding.

Bailey, a teacher since 2001, was jailed for 22 years and four months in June last year after admitting attempted murder.

She was a classroom teacher at St Michael's Church of England High School in Rowley Regis from the Autumn term of 2019.

The video shared by North Yorkshire Police shows the scar left on Emma's neck after she fended off Bailey

On June 24, 2022, the day after the attack, Ms Bailey was arrested at her home at The Riddings in Penmore, Dudley.

She was fired on January 31 the next year and the case referred to teaching watchdogs.

Mrs Christine McLintock, who chaired the Teaching Regulation Agency hearing, said: '[Ms Bailey] arrived at Person A's [Ms Russel] doorstep covering her face with a bunch of flowers, wearing a red wig, a covid mask, sunglasses and carrying a large carving knife.

Regarding the attack, the Judge referred to this being an offence of high culpability with obvious planning and pre-meditation of murder causing Category 1 harm.

Accordingly, despite Bailey's 'love of teaching and helping young people', Mrs McLintock said: 'Ms Bailey was responsible for an extreme act of violence, attempted murder, and no review period should be considered appropriate for a ban.'

Bailey expressed remorse for her actions and the consequences of them and stated she cannot recollect the events so has not yet developed insight as to the cause of her actions.

Ms Russell, who was hospitalised for three months after the savage attack, told the court in her victim impact statement: 'I am still in pain every day and need painkillers to help with this.

'I use crutches to get around as I am still unable to use my right leg fully and for longer distances I have a wheelchair.

'I've lost all my independence, I couldn't go back to work, we are having to rely on disability benefits, I have just lost my whole life really, I need help with everything I do.

There is also a scar on her arm from the knife attack. Emma said she felt the need to cling onto the knife in order to survive

'I don't sleep and when I do sleep, I have flashbacks and nightmares of that afternoon.

'I know people will have their opinion about what I should have done following the attack, but I have done what was best for me.

'Affairs happen, they aren't nice, but they happen and no-one would ever imagine something like this would be the outcome, this was not a normal reaction to someone breaking up a relationship.'

Banning Bailey from teaching for life, Sarah Buxcey, for the Education Secretary, underlined: 'The findings of misconduct are particularly serious as they include a finding of a conviction of attempted murder.

'Ms Bailey has limited insight as she states that she has no recollection of the events that took place, or anything said during the Judge's sentencing,

'Ms Bailey repeatedly told the panel that she wished the events had never happened.

'In my judgement, the lack of full insight means that there is some risk of the repetition of this behaviour and this puts at risk the future wellbeing of pupils.

'I am particularly mindful of the finding of an offence involving extreme violence in this case and the impact that such a finding has on the reputation of the profession.'
The corridors of Manchester Crown Court are a pretty unremarkable place. Sometimes there's the odd commotion  an angry defendant or tearful relative unhappy at the punishment handed down  but in the main they are quiet areas through which barristers, solicitors and police officers pass on their way to the next case.

However, on the morning of June 10 this year  the first day of Lucy Letby's retrial  the corridor outside court seven was anything but. In a scene more akin to a gaggle of fans at a theatre stage door, around 30 people crowded outside the courtroom, jostling for a seat.

Their aim? To catch a glimpse of the newest 'celebrity' criminal  Britain's most prolific child killer, who was appearing in public for the first time since being convicted of murdering and harming 13 babies last year.

A few, there's no doubt, were ghouls. People there just to see the 34-year-old former neo-natal nurse, who has been found guilty of some of the worst crimes in modern British history, in person for themselves. The majority, however, were present because they shared the same astonishing belief: that Letby is innocent, the victim of an NHS stitch up.

Many have even taken to wearing yellow butterfly badges in her honour  similar to the butterfly on the name badge Letby wore on her nurse's scrubs.

Listen to the #1 True Crime podcast, The Trial of Lucy Letby

Supporters of former nurse Lucy Letby demonstrate outside the High Court in London during her appeal hearing. They claim Letby is a victim of a miscarriage of justice

Britain's most prolific child killer Letby was last year convicted of murdering and harming 13 babies

Incredibly, I discovered that several are retired or ex-NHS nurses  including one who worked at the same hospital as Letby for 40 years before retiring.

Although notably absent during Letby's original ten-month trial, these now devoted 'supporters' have decided the jury got it wrong when the guilty verdicts were handed down last August.

They announced in online forums that the pretty, blonde-haired nurse, who was the face of the Countess of Chester Hospital's Babygrow fundraising appeal, simply couldn't be to blame for poisoning helpless babies with insulin, overfeeding them milk, inflicting painful deaths by injecting them with air to cause an embolism, or ramming medical instruments into their mouths and assaulting them.

Letby must have been the victim of a witch hunt, they concluded. A convenient scapegoat for a failing unit, where it was easier for senior doctors to blame a junior colleague than admit babies were dying on their watch.

The science surrounding air embolism and insulin testing which helped convict her was also flawed, they claimed, or, most laughable, that her defence team was poor and had let her down.

On Tuesday Letby received another guilty verdict following a three-week retrial  this time for attempting to murder a very premature baby girl, known as Baby K, and sentenced to another whole-life term.

This case centred on whether the jury believed the evidence of Dr Ravi Jayaram, the hospital's senior paediatrician, who told them he caught Letby 'virtually red-handed' after she dislodged the infant's breathing tube.

In the event, though, yet another guilty verdict this week did little to sway Letby's eccentric band of followers. 'This sick, disgusting, loathsome British justice system has delivered again,' said one.

A case like Letby's, where much of the evidence was circumstantial  remember nobody saw her injecting the babies (or if they did, had no reason to suspect she was doing so to cause them harm)  was always going to be difficult to prove.

As I've written before, at first I too was unconvinced. I didn't want to believe the young blue-eyed nurse, who worked at the hospital where my own children were born a few years earlier, was responsible for such heinous crimes.

But as the months rolled on, and I sat in the courtroom for almost every day of the first trial, it became clear that Letby's presence on the neo-natal ward when babies collapsed or died was no coincidence.

Janet Cox, 58, a polite and bespectacled former nursery nurse who worked at the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester, and who attended both trials almost every day, knows Letby personally

Today, though, she has this diverse band of fanatics and pseudo-scientists in her corner, who appear to come from all walks of society: well-to-do pensioners, middle-aged women, and the unemployed.

As well as turning up in court, they haunt corners of the internet, making impassioned arguments for her innocence.

Indeed, in all the cases I've covered in my 25-year career, I've never come across one which has attracted so much interest from conspiracy theorists, who spend hours debating her case online.

Their comments are often laden with vitriol against the 'mainstream media' and personal attacks on professional journalists like myself.

The first clue some of them were prepared to emerge from the shadows and show public support came during Letby's appeal hearing in April. Messages posted on Facebook suggested a protest was being organised for outside London's Royal Courts of Justice.

In the end, it was a damp squib. Five protesters turned up outside the Court of Appeal, with two banners declaring: 'Justice for Lucy Letby'. However it seems the prospect of her physical presence in the dock  delivered every day from her cell at New Hall prison, in Wakefield, where she'd been moved in preparation for the retrial  was enough to attract a bigger circus.

Of them, only Janet Cox, 58, the polite and bespectacled former nursery nurse who worked at the neo-natal unit at the Countess of Chester, and who attended both trials almost every day, knows Letby personally.

She remains in touch with Letby's parents, John, 78, and Sue, 64, who are understood to be reluctant to speak publicly in their daughter's defence.

Mrs Cox regularly writes to Letby and has visited her in prison. She describes her former colleague as a 'private person' who would never court such support.

She also told me she initially felt panicked by this sudden influx of new spectators  although admitted taking heart that people 'out there' believed her friend wasn't a killer.

So devoted are these followers that they're happy to give up their time, spending their own money travelling to court from all over the country.

One, a bespectacled elderly gentleman in smart cords and a plaid shirt, told me he'd come from London and was staying overnight to watch the case this week.

Describing himself as 'an interested member of the public, who wanted to know more details about the case,' he said his interest was piqued when he saw a documentary in which one of Letby's school friends said she supported her.

A court sketch of Letby giving evidence during her trial at Manchester Crown Court

Letby's parents, John, 78, and Sue, 64, are understood to be reluctant to speak publicly in their daughter's defence

'Do you believe she's innocent then?' I asked.

'Only Letby and God will ever know that,' the retired IT worker replied.

He, like many spectators, made copious notes during the hearings.

Pat, a 71-year-old woman from Newcastle, said she was spending her weekly pension on the 150-mile journey to Manchester from her home in the North East every day.

Others, such as a 51-year-old father-of-two involved in a long running grievance with Cheshire police, have their own agendas. Although unemployed, he said he was happy to spend 50 a week travelling from his home in Warrington to observe the case. 'Cheshire police are corrupt, they fabricated and doctored evidence in my case and are maliciously prosecuting Lucy Letby,' he said.

'I'm not really interested in her case per se, I just wanted to see if the cops were doing the same with her as they've done with me, and they have.'

Some who came to the trial also 'reported' on the case on X or Facebook. The presence of these 'citizen' journalists prompted the court clerk to warn people it is an offence to record any part of a hearing in courts in England and Wales.

One man in his 60s wearing a bodywarmer was searched for recording devices while others risked jail by posting information on legal arguments online, in breach of strict contempt of court rules.

Now, worryingly, there appear to be signs that, as with so many internet conspiracies, people you might expect to know better are being drawn in.

Indeed the Letby devotees have been recently emboldened by a 13,000-word-long article published in The New Yorker magazine shortly before the re-trial began, which raised the notion she had been wrongly convicted.

The piece  available in copies of the magazine sold in WH Smith  was blocked from being read online in the UK and was reported to the Attorney General for potentially breaching contempt laws which banned UK media from writing about the case ahead of the re-trial.

There's nothing sinister about this, as the conspiracy theorists would have us believe, rather it was intended to ensure Letby received as fair a trial as possible with a new jury.

I've read the article and now the retrial is over I can write about it. And while there's no doubting the author, who says she obtained full transcripts of the ten-month trial at huge cost, has researched the case thoroughly, it contains errors and cherry-picks evidence, omitting large parts of the prosecution case which was pivotal in reaching a conviction.

For example, it makes no mention of the 250 confidential 'trophy' handover notes, blood test results and resuscitation notes relating to the babies police found at Letby's home; it does not try to explain the Facebook searches that she made for the parents of her victims, years after she harmed their children.

Letby's abnormal, animated behaviour in front of grieving parents after a baby died and pictures of cards she sent or received from parents of babies she murdered that were stored on her mobile phone, are also ignored, as is her obsession with a married doctor and her deliberate editing of nursing notes to make it seem like a baby was on the verge of collapse to cover her tracks.

Regardless, the article had Letby's supporters rubbing their hands with glee.

With open credence given to their conspiracies by a 'proper' publication, they claim that frankly outlandish theories hinted at in the article  from the babies' deaths being somehow linked to a nurse having a heavy cold to mysterious 'infections' spreading like a plague-miasma from the hospital's plumbing  should be looked at again.

Chief among the conspiracy theorists are members of the 'butterfly' gang, half a dozen or so middle-aged women who wear their yellow badges with pride.

One nurse  who didn't know Letby and didn't want to be named for fear of reprisals  told me she'd attended five days of the re-trial, and that the butterfly group counted scientists, neo-natal nurses, doctors and statisticians among their members.

As our conversation progressed, it became clear she had swallowed those outlandish theories at least in part, talking about poor drains in the neo-natal unit and 'undetectable' bacteria from sewage infecting the babies causing sepsis being the real reason for their deaths and collapses.

She also speculated that consultants had been out to get Letby, as suggested by her defence, after they were forced to apologise to the nurse when she won a formal grievance process, lodged after she was removed from working in the summer of 2016.

NHS austerity, too, was cited by the nurse.

'From the day Lucy was arrested it's been plainly obvious to me she was being used as a scapegoat to disguise poor practice due to underfunding,' she claimed, before saying she had no faith in the justice system or the upcoming inquiry, which will examine how Letby was able to kill in an NHS hospital and is due to start in September.

'Lucy's case should never have been tried in this way, the medical evidence was so complex she could never have got a fair trial with a prosecution, defence and jury that had no medical background.

Another former NHS nurse  a grey-haired woman calling herself Sue, who visited the court ten times and now works in a private hospital, insisted only those who worked in the medical profession could judge Letby.

'Many of us believe the British justice system has got it wrong,' she said. 'The lawyers don't get how busy a nurse's job is.'

One struggles to imagine how bereaved parents, whose children were murdered, will feel reading comments like these.

Indeed, at the first hearing of the Thirlwall Inquiry in May, barristers representing those parents said the 'proliferation of conspiracy theories' relating to Letby's crimes were 'grossly offensive and distressing'.

Describing the theories as 'toxic' Richard Baker KC said: 'The more light that we put on this Inquiry, the less space there is for speculation and conspiracy.'

For now, these misguided supporters are placing their hopes on Letby's defence team unearthing new evidence so her case can be examined by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Without this, she will spend the rest of her life in jail  a prospect they simply refuse to accept.

NOW LISTEN: The Trial of Lucy Letby, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Sir Keir Starmer yesterday vowed to 'rebuild Britain'  but warned that it would take years.

Speaking on the steps of No 10 after being appointed as Prime Minister by the King, Sir Keir said the country had voted 'decisively for change', but admitted delivering it was 'not like flicking a switch'.

He said his mission was 'national renewal', adding: 'Our work is urgent and we begin it today.'

The new PM also reached out to the millions who did not vote for him as he took power on the back of what has been dubbed a 'loveless landslide'.

At a victory rally for Labour activists in the early hours of yesterday, Sir Keir boasted, 'We did it', as he brought an end to 14 years of Tory rule.

Sir Keir Starmer yesterday vowed to 'rebuild Britain'  but warned that it would take years

Speaking on the steps of No 10 after being appointed as Prime Minister by the King, Sir Keir said the country had voted 'decisively for change', but admitted delivering it was 'not like flicking a switch'

He said his mission was 'national renewal', adding: 'Our work is urgent and we begin it today.'

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But, with results showing he won power with the smallest share of the vote in modern history, he later struck a conciliatory tone and acknowledged there was a public 'weariness' with politicians. He said: 'Whether you voted Labour or not  in fact, especially if you did not  I say to you, directly, my government will serve you. Politics can be a force for good  we will show that. And that is how we will govern. Country first, party second.' It came as:

Rishi Sunak apologised to the country and the Conservative Party after suffering the biggest electoral drubbing in Tory history;

Sir Keir installed Angela Rayner as Deputy Prime Minister as he appointed his first Cabinet;

Former business secretary Kemi Badenoch is favourite to become the next Tory leader after holding her North West Essex seat;

A Labour inquest began after the party lost four seats to pro-Palestine independents, with the shadow paymaster general among the victims and Mr Streeting clinging on by just 500 votes.

Rishi Sunak apologised to the country and the Conservative Party after suffering the biggest electoral drubbing in Tory history

Rachel Reeves vowed to refocus the Treasury on growth and put women at the centre of economic policy as she became Britain's first female Chancellor

Sir Keir installed Angela Rayner as Deputy Prime Minister as he appointed his first Cabinet

Sir Keir vowed to govern 'unburdened by doctrine' and after years of political turbulence he pledged to restore trust in politics and steer the UK to 'calmer waters'.

But he warned expectant voters it would take time to deliver results. 'Changing a country is not like flicking a switch,' he said. 'And the world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while.

'But have no doubt that the work of change begins immediately. Have no doubt that we will rebuild Britain, with wealth created in every community. Our NHS back on its feet facing the future. Secure borders, safer streets, everyone treated with dignity and respect at work. The opportunity of clean British power, cutting your energy bills for good.

'Brick by brick, we will rebuild the infrastructure of opportunity. The world-class schools and colleges, the affordable homes that I know are the ingredients of hope for working people. The security, the working-class families like mine could build their lives around.'

Sir Keir won a stunning landslide victory with a majority of 174 seats. In total, Labour won 412 seats, with the Tories slumping to 121, the Lib Dems surging to 71 and Reform and the Greens making breakthroughs with five and four seats respectively.

But the one-sided result was not reflected in the number of votes cast. Labour's projected vote share of 33.7 per cent is the lowest of any party winning power with a majority in modern times and is far below the 43.6 per cent share achieved by Boris Johnson in 2019 or even the 40 per cent recorded by Jeremy Corbyn when he lost in 2017.

New Health Secretary Wes Streeting said talks to end the long-running junior doctors' strike would start next week. Pictured: Mr Streeting (centre) and Keir Starmer at a hospital in Nottinghamshire on June 15

Mr Streeting looks on as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer speaks at a GP practice in Coalville on June 26

Labour's projected vote share of 33.7 per cent is the lowest of any party winning power with a majority in modern times and is far below the 43.6 per cent share achieved by Boris Johnson in 2019 or even the 40 per cent recorded by Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) when he lost in 2017

Labour's total vote also went down from 10.3 million in 2019 to 9.7 million. But the Tory vote halved from 14 million to 6.8 million as the Conservatives suffered heavy inroads from both Reform and tactical voting for the Lib Dems.

Former Tory MP Sir Michael Fabricant, who lost his seat in Lichfield, described the result as 'the most distorted in history'. He added: 'Labour won nearly two-thirds of all parliamentary seats with just a third of the popular vote'. Polling expert Sir John Curtice said: 'This looks more like an election the Conservatives lost than one Labour won.'

Sir Keir's speech came shortly after Mr Sunak headed to Buckingham Palace to resign as Prime Minister. 'To the country, I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry,' the Tory leader said. 'I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the Government of the United Kingdom must change. And yours is the only judgment that matters.

'I have heard your anger, your disappointment, and I take responsibility for this loss.'

Mr Sunak faced an immediate Tory backlash for both the timing and the content of a campaign which were widely thought to have contributed to the party's worst-ever defeat.

One former Cabinet minister said the Tories were left vulnerable by a 'Boris-shaped hole in our defences through which Reform were able to stroll unchallenged. It was brought about by our own MPs' actions and a s*** campaign for no good reason'.

Labour's total vote also went down from 10.3 million in 2019 to 9.7 million. But the Tory vote halved from 14 million to 6.8 million as the Conservatives suffered heavy inroads from both Reform and tactical voting for the Lib Dems

Sir Keir's speech came shortly after Mr Sunak headed to Buckingham Palace to resign as Prime Minister

Mr Sunak also announced he is quitting as Tory leader but indicated he will stay on to oversee the contest to succeed him.

In a speech to Treasury officials last night, Ms Reeves said the Government would work 'hand in glove' with business as it made boosting economic growth its 'central mission'.

She said she intended to preside over 'the most pro-growth Treasury in our country's history'.

And she vowed to use her position to prioritise a better deal for women, saying she had a 'deeper responsibility... to women whose work is too often undervalued'.

In a speech to Department of Health staff, Mr Streeting said the NHS was 'broken', with 'patients being failed on a daily basis'.
READ MORE: Locals say native title claim will exclude them on island

An Aboriginal man found guilty of illegally clearing land on a scenic island has appealed the decision saying it his right to do so under native title.

Quandamooka elder Darren Burns, who cleared land on south east Queensland's North Stradbroke Island to build his daughter a house, claims it was a traditional cultural activity as allowed under native title, exempting him from planning laws.

He is appealing in District Court a fine of $20,000 imposed by Brisbane Magistrates Court in February for clearing 2,900sq/m of protected vegetation at Point Lookout on North Stradbroke.

Redland City Council, who prosecuted Mr Burns for prohibited development, said in a statement it acknowledged and respected the site was under native title but the clearing had still been prohibited.

'Council takes the unlawful clearing of vegetation seriously and will continue to hold all persons accountable for the illegal clearing of vegetation,' a council statement said.

Lawyers for Mr Burns argue in his appeal that he was exercising his inherent rights under native title to take natural resources.

The appeal claims Magistrate Ross Mack erred in finding it was an illegal development and that Mr Burns was in fact conducting traditional Aboriginal land management practices by burning bushland for revegetation.

Quandamooka elder and ranger Darren Burns is appealing a decision he illegally cleared part of Queensland's North Stradbroke Island

Lawyers for Mr Burns have argued that he was conducting traditional Indigenous land management practices

They claim the subsequent regrowth on the area was not challenged in the earlier court hearing.

'The appellant (Mr Burns) at no time contended that the ultimate construction of the proposed residence and later use of the land was either a traditional Aboriginal cultural activity or in exercise of any native title right which he had,' the appeal documents said.

'He conceded always that he would, after, require approval for any necessary construction but that he had, up until then, engaged in a traditional cultural activity.'

Mr Burns' lawyers have asked for their client to be acquitted or for the court to order a new trial.

Mr Burns was fined $20,000 in February for clearing 2900sq m of protected vegetation at Point Lookout (pictured)

Redland City Council declined to comment to the Courier Mail on the appeal as they said it was before the court.

The appeal is set to be heard next month.
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The eyes of a nation were fixated on 10 Downing Street yesterday as Rishi Sunak departed to make way for his successor, Labour's Sir Keir Starmer.

But another changing of the guard was happening right next door, as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt also vacated his property at No11 - daughter in one hand, dog lead in the other.

His replacement was a historic one, with Rachel Reeves becoming Britain's first ever female head of the Treasury.

Labour's historic landslide election victory has left a Tory bloodbath in its wake as several notable figures from the previous cabinet failed to win over the electorate.

However, Godalming and Ash MP Hunt was one of a few Conservative heavyweights who managed to cling on to his seat with a majority of fewer than 900 votes.

Among the previous cabinet who were taken out by the 'loveless' Labour landslide included chief whip Simon Hart, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan, Justice Secretary Alex Chalk, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer and Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer.

Penny Mordaunt, Grant Shapps, Welsh Secretary David TC Davies, Transport Secretary Mark Harper, Attorney General Victoria Prentis and veterans minister Johnny Mercer also fell victim to the Tory cull.

Despite the devastating loss, the former Chancellor told his children 'don't be sad, this is the magic of democracy' before they strolled down Downing Street with his wife and their pooch Poppy.

Former Conservative chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt, with his wife Lucia Hunt and their children Jack, Anna and Eleanor yesterday morning

Despite the Tory cull this general election, Jeremy Hunt told his children 'don't be sad, this is the magic of democracy' before they strolled down Downing Street

Some political commentators viewed his walk as a victory lap of sorts, as the ex-cabinet minister managed to cling on to his seat in Goldalming and Ash with fewer than 900 votes

'Some Conservatives will wonder whether the scale of our crushing defeat is really justified. But when you lose the trust of the electorate, all that matters is having the courage and humility to ask yourself why, so that you can earn it back again,' Mr Hunt said

The final walk down the famed street was perceived by some political commentators as a victory lap of sorts, as the MP managed to walk away with his seat in the midst of massive Conservative losses this general election.

However as the family set off to leave the world-renowned street for a final time, Mr Hunt disastrously walked passed the waiting taxi, with his wife Lucia quickly notifying him of the vehicle's purpose.

Speaking after he managed to retain his seat this morning, the former Chancellor confessed that the Tory party had lost the trust of voters.

He conceded: 'Across the country, tonight is a bitter pill to swallow for the Conservative Party. We have achieved much in government, and the economy is transformed from where it was post-pandemic.

'Some Conservatives will wonder whether the scale of our crushing defeat is really justified. But when you lose the trust of the electorate, all that matters is having the courage and humility to ask yourself why, so that you can earn it back again.

Adding a touching tribute to his former leader. he said: 'I was incredibly proud to serve under Rishi Sunak, but I wish the incoming Labour government well.

'Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are decent people and committed public servants who have changed the Labour Party for the better. Whatever our policy differences, we all now need them to succeed.'

He also expressed his hope that Labour would use their majority to implement 'much needed reforms to the NHS in a way that is sometimes difficult for Conservative governments to do'.

Mr Hunt dedicated a portion of his tear-jerking victory speech to his children as well as his wife who he described as 'the most formidable canvasser'.

'I'm so proud of my wife. Despite not being born in this country, she's turned out to be the most formidable canvasser I know,' he said

'And a message to my children, who I sincerely hope are asleep now. This may seem like a tough day for our family as we move out of Downing Street, but it isn't.

As the family set off the ex-Chancellor failed to acknowledge the taxi which was set to whisk them away in an embarrassing blunder

The Hunt family getting into the taxi as they leave their Downing Street residence

In his victory speech this morning, he said : 'I was incredibly proud to serve under Rishi Sunak, but I wish the incoming Labour government well.

The ex-cabinet minister won his Surrey constituency by a hair's breadth, bagging 23,293 votes with the Liberal Democrats closely behind with 22,402.

He thanked his wife Lucia who he described as 'the most formidable canvasser'

Rishi Sunak was downcast today as he left Downing Street following the 'loveless' Labour landslide

'We are incredibly lucky to live in a country where decisions like this are made not by bombs or bullets, but by thousands of ordinary citizens peacefully placing crosses in boxes on bits of paper.

'Brave Ukrainians are dying every day to defend their right to do what we did yesterday. And we must never take that for granted. Don't be sad, this is the magic of democracy.'

The ex-cabinet minister won his Surrey constituency by a hair's breadth, bagging 23,293 votes with the Liberal Democrats closely behind with 22,402.

Who's in Keir's Cabinet? Angela Rayner - Deputy PM, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary

- Deputy PM, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Rachel Reeves - Chancellor of the Exchequer

- Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lammy - Foreign Secretary

- Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper - Home Secretary

- Home Secretary John Healey - Defence Secretary

- Defence Secretary Wes Streeting - Health Secretary

- Health Secretary Bridget Phillipson - Education Secretary

- Education Secretary Shabana Mahmood - Justice Secretary

- Justice Secretary Pat McFadden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Ed Miliband - Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary

- Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Liz Kendall - Work and Pensions Secretary

- Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Reynolds - Business and Trade Secretary

- Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle - Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary

- Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Louise Haigh - Transport Secretary

- Transport Secretary Lisa Nandy - Culture Secretary

- Culture Secretary Steve Reed - Environment Secretary

- Environment Secretary Ian Murray - Scottish Secretary

- Scottish Secretary Hilary Benn - Northern Ireland Secretary

- Northern Ireland Secretary Jo Stevens - Welsh Secretary Advertisement

Reform UK and Labour came in third and fourth place with 4,815 and 2,748 votes respectively.

This comes as Rachel Reeves became Britain's first female Chancellor as Sir Keir Starmer appointed his Cabinet shortly after entering No10 for the first time as Prime Minister today.

The 45-year-old, a self-confessed 'geek' and schoolgirl chess champion, is one of Sir Keir's closest allies and will be the first woman to lead the Treasury in its 1,000-year history.

Angela Rayner had earlier been the first arrival in Downing Street this afternoon as Labour's deputy leader walked down the famous London street before being named Deputy Prime Minister.

She was also appointed Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary as she was handed a portfolio focused on her party's planned housebuilding blitz.

Ms Rayner was later followed into Downing Street by David Lammy, Yvette Cooper and John Healey. They were duly appointed as Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary and Defence Secretary, respectively.

Sir Keir made an almost wholesale transfer of the shadow team he had in opposition into his Cabinet following Labour's massive general election victory.

Wes Streeting was named Health Secretary, Shabana Mahmood became Justice Secretary, Bridget Phillipson was appointed Education Secretary, and Ed Miliband made a return to ministerial office as Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary.

The former Labour leader is set to oversee his party's promise to decarbonise Britain's electricity grid by 2030.

In a further raft of appointments, Sir Keir named Liz Kendall as Work and Pensions Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds as Business and Trade Secretary, Peter Kyle as Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, and Louise Haigh as Transport Secretary.

Lisa Nandy was appointed Culture Secretary as Sir Keir moved to fill a vacancy left by Thangam Debbonaire, who had shadowed the portfolio in opposition but failed to get re-elected to the House of Commons.

Steve Reed was appointed Environment Secretary, Ian Murray became Scottish Secretary, Hilary Benn was named Northern Ireland Secretary, and Jo Stevens was named Welsh Secretary.

Sir Keir made his Cabinet appointments after earlier stepping through the entrance to No10 as the new Labour premier with a vow to 'immediately' begin work to 'rebuild Britain' after winning a huge majority.

The Labour leader was applauded by staff inside the famous black door as he walked inside with wife Victoria after making his first address to the nation as the new premier.

The 61-year-old acknowledged 'weariness at the heart of the nation' after his so-called 'loveless landslide' in the general election.

Rachel Reeves today became Britain's first female Chancellor as Sir Keir Starmer began to appoint his Cabinet shortly after entering No10 for the first time as Prime Minister

The 45-year-old, a self-confessed 'geek' and schoolgirl chess champion, is one of Sir Keir's closest allies and will be the first woman to lead the Treasury in its 1,000-year history

Ms Reeves posed outside the Chancellor's traditional residence at 11 Downing Street. She later posted on X: 'To every young girl and woman reading this, let today show that there should be no limit to your ambitions'

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner was the first arrival this afternoon ahead of being named Deputy Prime Minister

Ms Rayner was also appointed Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary as she was handed a portfolio focused on her party's planned housebuilding blitz

David Lammy entered No10 ahead of his appointment as Britain's new Foreign Secretary

Yvette Cooper was welcomed inside No10 as she returned to government for the first time in 14 years as Home Secretary

Ed Miliband, a former Labour leader, also returned to ministerial office as Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary

Wes Streeting (left), the new Health Secretary, and John Healey, the new Defence Secretary, walked down Downing Street ahead of appointments to Sir Keir's Cabinet

Bridget Phillipson walked up to No10 before being named the new Education Secretary

Lisa Nandy, the new Culture Secretary, and Louise Haigh, the new Transport Secretary

Jonathan Reynolds (left) was appointed Business and Trade Secretary, while Peter Kyle was named Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary

Liz Kendall was appointed the new Work and Pensions Secretary

Speaking after her appointment as Chancellor, Ms Reeves posted on X: 'Economic growth was the Labour Party's mission. It is now a national mission. Let's get to work.'

She added: 'To every young girl and woman reading this, let today show that there should be no limit to your ambitions.'

In her first address to Treasury staff, Ms Reeves vowed to change the 'uncertainty' and lack of 'clarity of political purpose' from her Tory predecessors.

She told them: 'I know that a lot has been asked of you in the last few years  and I know, when the chips are down, staff at the Treasury have risen to the occasion, from furlough to energy price support.

'I have often disagreed with the political choices that have been taken in this building. But I have never been in any doubt about the talent, the dedication and the professionalism that Treasury staff have displayed.

'I know too that at times it must have been frustrating for you, working under a weight of uncertainty, changes in direction, and without clarity of political purpose. As Chancellor, I am determined to change that.'

Mr Lammy, an ardent Remainer who once compared Tory Brexiteers to Nazis, described being appointed as Foreign Secretary as 'the honour of my life'.

He added: 'The world faces huge challenges, but we will navigate them with the UK's enormous strengths.

'We will reconnect Britain for our security and prosperity at home.'

Speaking to reporters later, Mr Lammy said he wants to see an 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza.

'All of us recognise the agony of communities who have seen the scenes coming out of Israel and Gaza,' he told broadcasters.

'But the job now is to get to work with tireless diplomacy to support an immediate ceasefire and move towards getting those hostages out.'

A crowd of jubilant Labour activists had earlier cheered Sir Keir's arrival into Downing Street after he was formally installed as Britain's 58th PM by King Charles.

He and Victoria received a rapturous welcome after returning from the Palace where he had an audience with His Majesty around noon, shortly after Rishi Sunak exited having tendered his resignation.

Sir Keir said he wanted to 'changed the country' but warned it will 'take a while', saying he wanted to restore the values of 'service' to politics. He admitted that many people did not believe he would improve the country.

'My government will fight every day until you believe again,' he said.

At Buckingham Palace the couple were welcomed by the King and Queen's principal private secretary Sir Clive Alderton, along with Charles's equerry Royal Navy Commander William Thornton.

They left 20 minutes later to head to Downing Street, after Sir Keir was appointed to the job.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: 'The King received in Audience The Right Honourable Sir Keir Starmer MP today and requested him to form a new Administration.

'Sir Keir accepted His Majesty's offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.'

The time-honoured choreography comes as Sir Keir's majority ticks up to 174, just short of Tony Blair's 179 in 1997. The Tories have 121 with just two left to declare, far worse than their previous nadir of 156 in 1906.

The Lib Dems also inflicted massive pain on the Conservatives, racking up a record 71 seats as Reform leeched millions of votes and came second in around a hundred constituencies - but only scored four MPs of their own.

However, Labour's victory is being dubbed a 'loveless landslide' and a 'super meh-jority', having received barely one in three votes across the UK.

Polling experts highlighted how Labour's vote share of 33.8 per cent is likely to be less than any of Sir Tony's general election victories in 1997, 2001 or 2005.

It is even less than the 40 per cent vote share hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn secured in 2017 and lower than the 36.1 per cent David Cameron got for the Conservatives in 2010 when that year's election ended in a hung parliament.

Some newly-elected Labour MPs suggested the public will be thinking about overhauling Britain's voting system in the wake of the party's triumph, while Corbyn's allies swiped that Sir Keir had won 'by default' due to the dramatic collapse in Conservative support.

Less than an hour before Sir Keir arrived at the Palace, Mr Sunak bade goodbye to Downing Street after leading the Tories to their worst ever election result.

Flanked by clearly emotional wife Akshata, the PM delivered his parting statement outside the famous black door saying he was 'sorry' and had 'heard the anger' of the country and the 'clear message' of the ballot.

Sir Keir trumpeted his victory at a rally in central London in the early hours after the party formally crested the 325 seats needed to control the Commons, saying 'we did it!'

Sealing his triumph with a kiss from Victoria, he said the British people had 'voted to turn the page' on 14 years of Conservative rule - and delivered a riposte to his critics saying there was 'nothing inevitable' about the outcome.

In a jaw-dropping moment, Liz Truss was among the casualties - giving up a monumental 24,000 majority as she was edged out by Labour in South West Norfolk.

Earlier, Penny Mordaunt and Grant Shapps fell victims to a brutal Tory cull as Labour swept towards election victory.

A glum-looking Defence Secretary suffered a 'Portillo Moment' as he was defeated by Labour in Welwyn Hatfield by around 3,000 votes.

In his parting shot, Mr Shapps said the Conservatives had 'lost' the election rather than Labour winning it - and 'tried the patience' of the public by being divided.

In other rollercoaster developments:

The Greens have enjoyed a bumper night winning four seats, adding three to their tally from 2019;

Labour's overall support in Britain has only gone up by 2 per cent, according to polling guru John Curtice, and that is entirely due to a 17 point boost in Scotland;

Reform has racked up votes and nearly 100 second places, but fallen short of breakthroughs predicted in the initial exit poll;

The SNP has been among the biggest losers, facing being slashed to nine MPs, meaning they would no longer be the biggest party in Scotland;

George Galloway has been ousted by Labour's Paul Waugh in Rochdale, after winning the seat in a by-election previously;

Turnout has been far lower than at the last few general elections;

The Lib Dems claimed victory in Tunbridge Wells, which has been Tory since the seat was created in the 1970s, in Boris Johnson's old seat of Henley and in David Cameron's stronghold of Witney;

The 2024 general election results in full : Live maps and charts

Sir Keir Starmer, the newly-elected PM, and his wife Victoria were clapped in by staff as they entered No10

Sir Keir said he wanted to 'changed the country' but warned it will 'take a while', saying he wanted to restore the values of 'service' to politics. He admitted that many people did not believe he would improve the country

Labour's victory is being dubbed a 'loveless landslide' and a 'super meh-jority' with Sir Keir's party having received barely one in three votes across the UK

Polling experts highlighted how Labour's vote share of 33.8 per cent is likely to be less than any of Sir Tony 's general election victories in 1997, 2001 or 2005

Sir Keir acknowledged 'weariness at the heart of the nation' today after his so-called 'loveless landslide' in the election

Sir Keir and wife Victoria walked into their new home after he delivered his first speech as PM this afternoon

The Labour leader was cheered into Downing Street by jubilant activists this afternoon after he was formally installed as Britain's 58th PM

The Labour leader, with wife Victoria, received a rapturous welcome after returning from the Palace where he had an audience with the King around noon, shortly after Rishi Sunak exited having tendered his resignation

Keir Starmer having his audience with the King as he was made Prime Minister today

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: 'The King received in Audience The Right Honourable Sir Keir Starmer MP today and requested him to form a new Administration.'

Keir Starmer, with wife Victoria, was driven up to the Palace for his audience with the King shortly after Rishi Sunak exited, having tendered his resignation

Flanked by clearly emotional wife Akshata, the PM delivered his parting statement as he prepares to head for Buckingham Palace where he will formally tender his resignation to the King

Akshata was carrying an umbrella as the couple emerged in Downing Street - as it was threatening to rain as it did when he announced the election

The Sunaks walked away hand in hand after he made his short and emotional farewell speech

The couple walked away to be taken to the Palace, where Mr Sunak told the King he was resigning

The outgoing PM was greeted by the King's aides at Buckingham Palace this morning as the traditional handover happened

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On the steps of Downing Street, Sir Keir said Britain had 'voted decisively for change, for national renewal and a return of politics to public service'.

'When the gap between the sacrifices made by people and the service they receive from politicians grows this big, it leads to a weariness in the heart of a nation, a draining away of the hope, the spirit, the belief in a better future,' he said.

'But we need to move forward together. Now this wound, this lack of trust can only be healed by actions not words, I know that.

'But we can make a start today with the simple acknowledgement that public service is a privilege and that your government should treat every single person in this country with respect.'

He said: 'Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while.

'But have no doubt that the work of change begins immediately. Have no doubt that we will rebuild Britain, with wealth created in every community. Our NHS back on its feet facing the future. Secure borders, safer streets, everyone treated with dignity and respect at work. The opportunity of clean British power, cutting your energy bills for good.

'Brick by brick, we will rebuild the infrastructure of opportunity. The world-class schools and colleges, the affordable homes that I know are the ingredients of hope for working people. The security, the working-class families like mine could build their lives around.'

Sir Keir promised a government 'unburdened by doctrine' and to fight for people's belief in a brighter future.

The Labour leader said: 'If I asked you now whether you believe that Britain will be better for your children, I know too many of you would say no.

'So, my Government will fight every day until you believe again.

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Staff and supporters looked on as Sir Keir made his promises to the country outside the Downing Street door

The couple stood on the steps while photographers recorded the moment for posterity today

The Starmers embraced as they prepared to enter No10 for the first time this afternoon

The Starmers were then clapped into the historic building by staff including Cabinet Secretary Simon Case (centre)

'From now on, you have a Government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by the determination to serve your interest, to defy quietly those who have written our country off.

'You have given us a clear mandate and we will use it to deliver change, to restore service and respect to politics.'

In his valedictory speech, Mr Sunak said: 'I have given this job my all. But you have sent a clear message, and yours is the only judgement that matters.

'This is a difficult day, but I leave this job honoured to have been Prime Minister of the best country in the world.'

Mr Sunak said he would resign as Tory leader once a replacement had been chosen. He also paid tribute to Sir Keir as a public servant, wishing him and his family well in their new duties.

After his short speech the couple - not accompanied by their daughters and with Akshata carrying an umbrella - walked to a waiting car and were driven away to the Palace.

Polling expert Sir John Curtice noted how Labour's vote share was expected to be up by just under two percentage points across the country from 2019.

He said Labour's victory was 'largely on the back of a dramatic 20 point decline in Conservative support'.

In an article for the BBC, Sir John added the increase in Labour's vote share was 'entirely as a result of a 17 point increase in support in Scotland'.

'In Wales, the party's vote has actually fallen back by four points, while in England the party's vote is largely unchanged from 2019,' he wrote.

Rishi Sunak has flown back to London from Yorkshire, where he conceded that Keir Starmer has won and issued a grovelling apology in a shell-shocked speech

A broken PM acknowledged that Keir Starmer had won as he nervously took a victory in his own incredibly safe Richmond & Northallerton seat

Sealing his triumph by embracing wife Victoria, Keir Starmer said the British people had 'voted to turn the page' on 14 years of Conservative rule - and delivered a riposte to his critics saying there was 'nothing inevitable' about the outcome

Keir Starmer trumpeted his victory at a rally in central London after the party formally crested the 325 seats needed to control the Commons

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's wife Victoria at a watch party as the results came in

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria pictured arriving at the Tate Modern earlier on Thursday evening

A broken PM acknowledged that Sir Keir had won as he nervously took a victory in his own incredibly safe Richmond & Northallerton seat

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'It is possible that Labour will secure its landslide on a lower share of the vote (35 per cent in Great Britain) than any of Tony Blair's victories, including the 36 per cent the party won in 2005.

'That itself was hitherto the lowest share of the vote won by a majority single party government. In many ways, this looks more like an election the Conservatives have lost than one Labour has won.'

Asked about her party's low vote share but huge majority, Labour MP Dawn Butler said: 'I think what the discussion will be about will be proportional representation.

'The public will be talking about proportional representation and whether we need to have a debate about it. I've always said that we do need to have a debate about it.'

Channel 4 political editor Gary Gibbon said: 'That massive figure has been delivered with a relatively small percentage of the people.

'That looks like love but that is a loveless landslide. There has not been the sort of enthusiasm that you might expect out there.'

Mr Corbyn's former spokesman, Matt Zarb-Cousin, said: 'Labour is already peddling a narrative that this victory is down to a changed Labour Party.

'The reality of course is Keir Starmer was holding the pass the parcel at the right time, when the Tories eventually imploded. So they've won by default, on a lower share of the vote than 2017.'

Welsh Secretary David Davies, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, Science minister Michelle Donelan, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk were beaten during a traumatic night for the Tories.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt barely survived in Godalming & Ash. Altogether at least 16 ministers have gone, with Johnny Mercer and Therese Coffey beaten by Labour.

Jacob Rees-Mogg also tumbled in North East Somerset and Hanham. However, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith surprised many by clinging on in Chingford.

There are now no Tory MPs in Wales after Craig Williams, a former Tory aide to Mr Sunak, came third in Mongomeryshire as an independent after being embroiled in a gambling row over the date of the election.

However, there were notable setbacks for Labour with frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth losing to a pro-Gaza independent in Leicester, and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting barely fending off a similar challenge.

Another shadow cabinet minister, Thangam Debonaire, was picked off by the Greens in Bristol Central.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage finally enters Parliament in Clacton after his eighth attempt to become an MP, while his party colleague Lee Anderson has retained Ashfield, Rupert Lowe won Great Yarmouth and Richard Tice scooped Boston and Skegness.

In his speech at the Tate Modern art gallery, Sir Keir said: 'It feels good, I have to be honest. Four-and-a-half years of work changing the party, this is what it is for  a changed Labour Party ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people.

'And across our country, people will be waking up to the news, relief that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation.

'And now we can look forward, walk into the morning, the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day, shining once again, on a country with the opportunity after 14 years to get its future back.'

At his acceptance speech after being re-elected in Richmond and Northallerton, Mr Sunak said: 'The Labour Party has won this General Election and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.'

Mr Sunak added: 'The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight, there is much to learn and I take responsibility for the loss.'

The Labour leader said 'change begins now' as he was re-elected in Holborn & St Pancras, but his own majority was reduced by a left-wing independent.

Mr Shapps was the first confirmed Cabinet casualty and he hit out at the Tory 'soap opera' which had turned off voters.

'On door after door, voters have been dismayed by our inability to iron out our differences in private and do that and then be united in public,' he said.

'Instead we have tried the patience of traditional Conservative voters with a propensity to create an endless political soap opera out of internal rivalries and divisions which have become increasingly indulgent and entrenched.'

He said there was a danger the Tory party could 'go off on some tangent, condemning ourselves to years of lacklustre opposition'.

In a dramatic night former prime minister Liz Truss lost her Norfolk South West seat to Labour in King's Lynn, Norfolk

Ms Truss was comforted as she fell to an extraordinary defeat in Norfolk this morning

Jonathan Gullis was evicted from Stoke on Trent North as the drama continued today

Mr Gullis has been loyal to Mr Sunak and pleaded for people

Former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg also left Parliament in the Tory bloodbath overnight

Suella Braverman attacked her party for failing to listen to voters

Jeremy Hunt is having to leave Downing Street after being kicked out of government - but holding his seat

Ms Mordaunt, who is likely to have been a leadership contender if she had survived, said her party had taken a 'battering because it failed to honour the trust that people had placed in it'.

She too warned against a retreat to the right: 'Our renewal as a party and a country will not be achieved by us talking to an ever smaller slice of ourselves but being guided by the people of our country. And if we want again to be the natural party of government, then our values must be the people's.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman, who will now be considered a leading contender to replace Mr Suank, said the party had let the British people down.

'You, the great British people, voted for us over 14 years and we did not keep our promises,' she said.

'I will do everything in my power to rebuild trust.

'We need to listen to you, you have spoken to us very clearly.'

Party chair Ric Holden won a desperate struggle for Basildon & Billericay, emerging on top by just 20 votes after a series of recounts.

Mr Sunak is expected to announce he is quitting as leader but stay on until a replacement is chosen.

Ex-home secretary Suella Braverman, at her count, said she was 'sorry' for the behaviour of her party and how it had abandoned core supporters' values.

Sir Keir's ally Lord Mandelson gloated that he was 'gobsmacked' and an 'electoral meteor' had 'struck planet Earth'. He said it would have required a 'superman' to save the Tories and Rishi Sunak 'is not superman'.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting was in tears as he was told the figures on live TV.

A dire campaign for Mr Sunak came stuttering to a halt last night, with the PM making a series more defensive visits in the South East.

He now faces being out of Downing Street this morning.

Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson told Sky News that it looked like a 'massacre'.

The Tories have quickly plunged into a dangerous new phase of crisis, with questions over whether it can even survive amid the challenge from Reform.

A former Cabinet minister - who regarded their own significant majority as under threat - said Mr Sunak had 'knifed' Boris Johnson and would be remembered as the 'worst PM ever'.

ex-Cabinet minister

's

Swindon South seat with a 9,000 majority.

In the first tangible evidence of the hammering, Labour 's Heidi Alexander took

But Sir Robert gave a stark warning against the Tories lurching to the right, saying the party risked being like 'bald men fighting over a comb' if it treated politics as 'performance art' and tried to outflank Reform.

Sir John Curtice told the BBC: 'It looks as though Reform may win more seats than many polls suggested.

'This is largely because, not only has the Conservative vote fallen far in seats they previously held, but also because Reform has advanced most in areas people voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.

'However, how many seats Reform will win is highly uncertain  our model suggests there are many places where they have some - but a relatively low - chance of winning.'

Mr Farage hailed signs of a breakthrough after Reform pushed the Tories into third place in two early constituency results.

On a video posted to X he said: 'It's midnight, there are two results in from the north-east of England that put Reform on 30 per cent of the vote, that is way more than any possible prediction or projection. It is almost unbelievable.

'And what does it mean? It means we're going to win seats, many many seats I think right now across the country.

'But to watch the TV coverage it's almost comical. There's not a single representative on there from Reform UK, mainstream media are in denial just as much as our political parties.

'This is going to be six million votes-plus. This, folks, is huge.'

A Conservative spokesman said they had to wait for the full outcome, but added: 'If these results are correct it is clear that Starmer and Angela Rayner will be in Downing Street tomorrow.'

Conservatives with big majorities had become increasingly nervous during the day, despite CCHQ claiming that higher-than-expected turnout could help them.

One former Cabinet minister told MailOnline: 'There appears to be a bigger turnout than normal in some of my areas. Not all though.

'That would seem to indicate a determination on the part of the electorate to make their views heard, almost certainly likely to be against the Tories.'

Former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock said the exit poll's landslide prediction was 'the greatest comeback since Lazarus'.

The former Labour leader told ITV News: 'A gain of 208, according to the exit poll, which is attributable directly to Keir Starmer and what he's achieved in four years, two of which of course were during the lockdown, or the virtual lockdown when the one thing that opposition leaders depend on  contact with the public  was absent.

'It's the biggest comeback since Lazarus.'

He went on: 'I must say I'm just ecstatic about the fact that an entirely dependable, fully grown-up guy, Keir Starmer, and his wife, are going to go through that door tomorrow. I have unalloyed and unreserved delight.'

Less than an hour before the exit poll dropped, Downing Street released a dissolution honours list - sending seven Tories and eight Labour politicians to the Lords. They include Theresa May, Rishi Sunak's chief aide Liam Booth-Smith, Chris Grayling and former 1922 committee chair Graham Brady.

Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett are among those on the Labour list - despite Sir Keir having committed to abolishing the Upper House.

Mr Sunak took a huge political gamble and shocked Westminster by triggering the election on May 22, rather than waiting until the Autumn as had been widely expected.

Nigel Farage has won the Clacton seat, the eighth time he has attempted to become an MP

Penny Mordaunt was among the Cabinet ministers washed away in the red wave

Ex-home secretary Suella Braverman , at her count, said she was 'sorry' for the behaviour of her party and how it had abandoned core supporters' values

Jeremy Hunt is fighting to cling on to his Surrey constituency

Lord Mandelson said an electoral 'meteor' had hit British politics

Moments after ballot stations closed at 10pm, the dramatic exit poll was released - showing Sir Keir winning 410 of the 650 seats

It initially looked to be paying off, with early policies from the Tory campaign - such as national citizen service - seeming to cut through.

In a big moment, Mr Farage responded by ruling out standing as a Reform candidate, admitting he did not have time to put together a campaign.

But even then the Tories did not see a real bounce in the polls. The Tories lost key legislation including Mr Sunak's flagship smoking ban during the 'wash-up' as Parliament was dissolved for the campaign.

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And then a grim week in early June saw things go spectacularly downhill, with Mr Farage dropping the bombshell that had changed his mind and was taking over the leadership of Reform as well as standing to be MP for Clacton.

Although Mr Sunak was seen as landing blows on Sir Keir over tax during their first TV debate on June 4, disaster struck when the PM opted to return early from D-Day anniversary commemorations in France to conduct an interview with ITV.

A subsequent grovelling apology did not prevent Mr Farage and opponents seizing on the blunder, which struck right at the heart of the Tory goal of shoring up the core vote among older generations.

With polls already showing Reform eating into Tory support with potent attacks on immigration, Mr Sunak was then engulfed in another scandal.

It emerged that his closest Parliamentary aide, Craig Williams had successfully placed bets on the date of the snap election - although he insisted he did not have any inside information.

Other candidates and top party officials were then dragged into the allegations, which proved particularly toxic with the public.

Mr Sunak was memorably challenged on the issue during TV appearances, admitting he was 'incredibly angry'. But he was seen as taking far too long to withdraw support for candidates facing allegations.

With some polls even showing Reform ahead of the Tories, CCHQ shifted tactics to warn of the threat of a divided Right handing Labour a 'supermajority' with untrammeled power.

That together with controversial remarks from Mr Farage about the West 'provoking' Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and revelations about unsavoury comments by a series of Reform candidates looked to have stopped the bleeding.

But after a bruising six weeks Labour's huge advantage was intact, and the only significant change was that the Tories had lost ground to Reform.

By yesterday, despite Mr Sunak's claim he was 'fighting hard for every vote', his close ally Mel Stride was effectively acknowledging the Conservatives would lose - an unprecedented step.

The Work and Pensions Secretary said Labour would get an 'extraordinary landslide on a scale that has probably never, ever been seen in this country before'.

As tension built through election day, the Tories claimed a higher-than-expected turnout had left them with a 'MUCH better chance' than cataclysmic polls had suggested.

An email to Conservative supporters, signed from the 'CCHQ Data Team', read: 'We're getting reports from our teams on the ground. And the more reports we get, the more it looks like turnout is higher than expected.

'That means we could have a MUCH better chance than polls have suggested. So if you haven't voted yet, now's the time to get out.'

Queues of people were seen at polling stations today as the requirement for voters to bring correct photo identification - such as a passport or driving licence - was enforced at a UK general election for the first time.

There was a bungle at a Glasgow polling station this morning as voters were met with posters listing the wrong instructions, which erroneously advised the ranking of candidates in order of preference.

This is how ballots are cast in local elections in Scotland, which use the single transferable vote system. But general elections use the first-past-the-post system, which requires voters to put a single 'X' next to their chosen candidate.

Glasgow City Council explained the error was spotted 'very soon' after the polling station opened at 7am and the posters were replaced with the correct information. It said no-one had been disenfranchised as voters' first preferences would be used from the affected ballots.

Cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch this afternoon blasted her own local council for having 'potentially disenfranchised' thousands of postal voters who did not receive their ballot papers.

The Business Secretary hit out at Uttlesford District Council for 'forgetting' to send postal votes to 2,600 people in her North West Essex seat.

Prior to polls opening this morning, Rishi Sunak made an 11th-hour plea for voters to prevent a 'socialist supermajority' wrecking Britain, as he repeated his warning against handing Sir Keir 'unchecked' power.
Tactical voting may have stopped Labour wins in almost a third of key marginal constituencies.

This newspaper identified 132 closely-fought seats where tactical voting could keep Labour out, and urged readers to use their votes to help ensure an effective opposition to a new Labour government as the polls predicted the Tories faced a complete wipeout.

Of those 132 marginals, Labour was kept out of power in 41, despite its landslide victory across the country.

Some seats were won by the tightest of margins. In Central Devon  one of the marginal constituencies identified by the Mail  Conservative MP Mel Stride won by just 61 votes following a recount. The former Work and Pensions Secretary kept his seat with 16,831 votes, com pared to 16,770 for his Labour rival Ollie Pearson.

In Yorkshire, Graham Stuart was re-elected as Conservative MP for Beverley and Holderness  another key seat identified by the Mail  by just 124 votes. While it is not possible to know how many people chose to vote tactically in those constituencies, research conducted ahead of the election found that one in five voters was intent on doing so.

Sir Keir Starmer delivers a speech during a victory rally at the Tate Modern in London early on July 5, 2024

Reform gained more seats than expected, stealing them mainly from Conservative strongholds party leader Nigel Farage, pictured at a rally on Thursday

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A YouGov study conducted in late June found that 22 per cent of voters said they would vote tactically, and found traditional Conservative voters were the least likely to do so of the three main parties.

Ahead of the election, the Mail published an eight-page guide to 132 marginal seats where tactical voting could keep Labour out, with a searchable version on MailOnline.

Editorial columns urged readers to 'park their anger' and vote tactically to help ensure an effective opposition to the new Labour government.

In the final days of campaigning, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said a huge number of seats in the election would be decided by just a few hundred votes.

Under tactical voting, those who do not want the incumbent or leading party to win can instead choose to vote for the opponent most likely to unseat them, rather than for their preferred choice.

Research suggests the practice has become more widely used in the past three General Elections and several websites now advise voters on how to use their vote tactically, although the majority are run by Left-wing groups and advise on how to oust Conservative candidates.

It is dangerous in any democracy for one political party to be so dominant. I certainly wouldn't relish the prospect of the Tories being handed so much power  unchallenged, unchecked and untrammelled  for a generation.

Labour is threatening to change Britain more fundamentally even than Tony Blair. Despite the party concealing its true purposes during this dishonest campaign, we can glimpse the outlines of a revolutionary programme intended to remould our country.

Higher taxes, at least half a step back into the EU, constitutional upheaval, the sanctification of net zero, votes for 16-year-olds so as to entrench Labour power, more uncontrolled immigration  the plan is there for all to see, notwithstanding the obfuscation.
The Labour Government is poised to scrap the Rwanda scheme just as it was finally ready for take-off, to the delight of migrants waiting to cross the Channel.

In a tent encampment in woodland near Dunkirk last night, migrants said it was 'amazing news' that the new UK Government will abandon the programme.

Loni, 17, from South Sudan, said: 'I've been here for seven months with my sister and her children, and all the time we've worried we could get sent to Rwanda.

'It's amazing news to hear that won't be happening any more. I'm happy now I know they will not be sending us back to close to home.'

Iraqi electrician Faris Mustafa, 52, said: 'I had been worried about being sent to Rwanda, so was considering returning to Poland, where I arrived in Europe, or to Turkey.'

Loni, 17, from South Sudan, said it was 'amazing' that the Rwanda scheme will be abandoned

Migrants are pictured in a tent encampment in woodland near Dunkirk yesterday

Iraqi electrician Faris Mustafa, 52, said: 'I had been worried about being sent to Rwanda, so was considering returning to Poland , where I arrived in Europe, or to Turkey'

Showers set up by the charity 'Roots' for migrants at the camp in woodland near Dunkirk

Choppy conditions in the Channel have spared Sir Keir Starmer the embarrassment of seeing illegal migrants arriving during his first days in power.

Any backlog of migrants may attempt to cross early next week, raising stark questions about Labour's nebulous border policies.

The new Prime Minister yesterday promised 'secure borders' during his Downing Street speech, but during the election campaign vowed he would immediately dump the Rwanda scheme.

The new Government's paper-thin plan to combat small boats is likely to take months to set up, and Labour has failed to explain in detail how its proposals will stem the flow of migrants.

An inaugural Rwanda flight would have departed in the next few days had the Conservatives won in Thursday's poll.

Ironically, the latest challenge against the legality of the Rwanda scheme was thrown out by the courts yesterday morning.

Turkeys are looked after in a makeshift camp by migrants near Dunkirk yesterday

A tent containing a generator set up by the charity 'Roots' to charge migrants' mobile phones

Charities provide key information for those hoping to cross the English Channel by sea

The High Court dismissed a challenge by the FDA trade union, representing senior civil servants, which had argued part of the Rwanda scheme could have forced its members to breach the Civil Service Code.

It comes amid record arrivals across the Channel, with 13,500 in the first half of this year.

Labour's vow to scrap the Rwanda deal will waste three years' intensive work since the policy began to be drawn up in 2021, including multiple Acts of Parliament.

It also risks throwing away 290million of taxpayers' money already spent on the scheme, although in January Rwandan president Paul Kagame raised the possibility of a refund if no migrants were sent to his country.

Under the terms of the UK-Rwanda agreement the whole project can be cancelled simply by one of the governments giving three months' notice in writing.

A charity hands out sleeping bags and clothes to migrants at the camp near Dunkirk

A tent at the camp near Dunkirk has a generator to charge migrants' mobile phones

A tent containing a generator set up by the charity 'Roots' to charge migrants' mobile phones

Choppy conditions in the Channel have spared Sir Keir Starmer (pictured at Downing Street yesterday) the embarrassment of seeing illegal migrants arriving during his first days in power

Labour has pledged to set up a Border Security Command bringing together different parts of the Home Office - plus the security services including MI5 - to combat people-trafficking gangs.

Tories pointed out the new unit would be almost identical to what is already in place.

In addition, Labour has said it will seek new agreements with other countries - including France - to speed up the removal of illegal migrants.

So far, France has flatly refused to consider a returns agreement and it is likely to be even harder to secure a deal if the far-Right National Rally party maintains its lead in tomorrow's final round of the French national elections.
Andrew Pierce and Sarah Vine have dissected Sir Keir Starmer's first speech as Prime Minister on the Mail's podcast The Reaction.

Sir Keir, 61, yesterday became only the fourth Labour leader to win an election with a crushing landslide victory and a huge majority of 174.

He was formally installed as Britain's 58th PM by King Charles after an audience with the monarch at Buckingham Palace.

He then made his way back to Downing Street where he was greeted by a cheering crowd waving Union Jack flags in scenes that echoed Sir Tony Blair's 1997 win.

Sir Keir stood at the lectern to tell the nation he wanted to 'change the country' but warned it will 'take a while', saying he wanted to restore the values of 'service' to politics.

Andrew Pierce and Sarah Vine have dissected Sir Keir Starmer 's first speech as Prime Minister on the Mail's podcast The Reaction

Sir Keir Starmer's first speech as Prime Minister left Pierce less than impressed as he proclaimed: 'He's not Blair!'

Tony Blair stands outside 10 Downing Street in 1997 after leading Labour to power for the first time in 18 years

He admitted that many people did not believe he would improve the country.

'My government will fight every day until you believe again,' he said.

Sir Keir added: 'For too long now, we've turned a blind eye as millions slid into greater insecurity.

'Nurses, builders, drivers, carers - people doing the right thing, working harder every day.

'Recognised at moments like this before, yet as soon as the cameras stop rolling, their lives are ignored. I want to say very clearly to those people  not this time.'

But Pierce was far from impressed by Sir Keir's first performance in front of No10 as he proclaimed: 'He's not Blair, is he? Oh my God.'

Vine, however, took a controversial view saying she was 'quite glad' the Tories are now in the 'wilderness', arguing that it would be 'quite good for them'.

'Also, I'm quite relieved that it is going to be somebody else's fault for a bit,' she said as Vine said she liked the idea that people 'couldn't just point and say it is the evil Tories anymore'.

Pierce added: 'On Monday, when the boats start crossing the Channel that's Labour's problem, but don't worry they are going to smash the gangs, Sarah.'

All the 'completely impossible problems that can't be solved' was another plus as they 'are no longer going to belong to the Conservatives', Vine argued.
Tory members have bemoaned of a 'Boris-shaped hole' in the party and are a demanding a candidate to challenge Nigel Farage and succeed Rishi Sunak as the party's leader.

The battle lines were drawn before dawn broke yesterday when critics rounded on the ex-prime minister, as senior Conservatives lambasted him for failing to listen to voters and deliver on their priorities.

William Hague has fired an early warning shot to whoever next leads the party as he raised fears that a slim-lined frontbench would mean the party would struggle to form a 'viable' opposition.

Mr Sunak stood at the lectern in front of No10 Downing Street for the last time yesterday to issue a grovelling apology as he acknowledged the scale of the electoral mauling his party had received.

He could stay on as leader over the summer to stave off a civil war with fears the party could descend into infighting between centrists and those on the right over the direction the party now takes.

Mr Sunak said he would stand down as leader once the arrangements were in place to find a successor, but it's thought some Tory MPs want him gone before the first PMQs in just under two weeks on July 17.

Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, was the first Tory MP to make her pitch as she used her victory speech in the election to apologise for the Conservatives' failings

But former business secretary Kemi Badenoch is currently the bookies favourite to take over from Mr Sunak

In his leaving speech, Mr Sunak look downcast and shell-shocked having delivered the worst Tory defeat in modern history.

'I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change,' he said.

Who will replace Rishi Sunak? Odds on the next Tory leader Kemi Badenoch: 2/1 Tom Tugendhat: 7/2 Priti Patel: 5/1 Suella Braverman: 6/1 Robert Jenrick: 7/1 Jeremy Hunt: 8/1 Nigel Farage: 9/1 James Cleverly: 10/1 Victoria Atkins: 10/1 Boris Johnson: 14/1 Source: Sky Bet Advertisement

As many as seven Tories are thought to be in the running to replace the fallen premier as leadership hopefuls already begin to circle.

One veteran Conservative former lawmaker predicted a 'bloodbath' as the party set about charting its way back to power.

'The party will suffer a kind of nervous breakdown, which will continue for a wee while,' said the former lawmaker, who declined to be identified.

'And it's then going to be necessary to find a way forward.'

Senior figures say they want the contest to be wrapped up in time for the party's annual conference on September 29  meaning nominations for a successor will have to open within weeks.

A source told the Mail: 'I think it's feasible to do it over the summer. There is time to get somebody in place by conference. We will want to get a new leader in place who can appoint a Shadow Cabinet.'

However it needs to hold elections itself  such as on finding a new chairman after Sir Graham Brady stood down from Parliament.

The committee will then decide on the rules and timetable for the first stage of the contest, in which contenders are usually whittled down by their fellow MPs to reach a final pair.

Under current rules, Tory members around the country are then balloted to decide between the two candidates.

Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, was the first Tory MP to make her pitch, but it is Kemi Badenoch who is thought to be the early frontrunner with many urging a move to the Right to win back voters who abandoned the party for Reform UK.

Ms Braverman apologised for the Conservatives' failings in her speech after winning the Fareham and Waterlooville seat.

'I'm sorry that my party didn't listen to you. The Conservative Party has let you down,' she said. 'You, the great British people, voted for us over 14 years and we did not keep our promises.'

Dame Priti Patel, a former home secretary, is currently the third favourite to take over the reins

Tory members have bemoaned of a 'Boris-shaped hole' in the party with the former PM a 14/1 outsider to become the Conservatives' leader again

Some members believe they need a candidate to challenge Nigel Farage with fears there could be infighting between centrists and those on the right over the direction the party now takes

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Outgoing Tory grandee Sir Charles Walker called her victory speech 'disgraceful' and said: 'If Suella Braverman leads the Conservative Party, I and many others will not be within that party.'

Former business and trade secretary Ms Badenoch has long been considered the favourite to win.

The 44-year-old grew up in Nigeria before returning to Britain aged 16 where she worked part-time in McDonald's while studying for her A-levels.

She worked in IT and banking before becoming a London Assembly member, then an MP in 2017.

She is a staunch advocate for single-sex spaces  recently making headlines after actor David Tennant told her to 'shut up' over her stance on the issue.

Although she is backed by the likes of Michael Gove, some MPs worry she can be too abrasive.

However the field has opened up after possible contenders  including Penny Mordaunt and Grant Shapps  lost their seats.

Surviving runners include Tom Tugendhat and Dame Priti Patel.

However hardline former secretary Suella Braverman has seen her odds slashed with some on the Right of the party suggesting they would prefer a candidate such as Robert Jenrick.

Outgoing Tory grandee Sir Charles Walker called her victory speech 'disgraceful' and said: 'If Suella Braverman leads the Conservative Party, I and many others will not be within that party.'

Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt has seen his odds massively shorten after he clung onto his seat in Godalming and Ash

James Cleverly, a former foreign and home secretary, is currently 10/1 to become the next Tory leader

Some on the Right of the party suggesting they would prefer a candidate such as Robert Jenrick

Former health secretary Victoria Atkins is said to be weighing up whether to launch a campaign

Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, on the Left of the party, has seen his odds shorten after he unexpectedly clung on to his seat in Godalming and Ash.

But, having failed to win the leadership twice before, it is not clear he would want to try again.

Even ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith did not rule out another tilt at the leadership.

Asked if he would run as leader, he told an Unherd event last month: 'I'm planning to win my re-election. And then I simply just want to make sure that we get the party back together again.'

Some punters have been placing bets on Nigel Farage becoming the next Tory leader, but he is not one of the party's MPs so cannot stand in the contest.

Former Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, handed a peerage in the dissolution honours, said the party was 'in a state of flux'. Asked if the Tories should join with Reform, he told GB News: 'I think so.'

Ex-cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was ousted last night, told the Mail that the Tories had 'lost our core vote'  pushing voters to Reform 'because we didn't deliver for them on immigration, we were too keen on green issues and the tax burden went up'.

Senior Tory figures - including a record number of Cabinet ministers - lost their seats in an election bloodbath

Penny Mordaunt, a leadership rival to Suella Braverman, has lost her seat in Portsmouth North

A glum-looking Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was defeated by Labour in Welwyn Hatfield by around 3,000 votes.

He blamed the party's defeat in part on getting rid of Boris Johnson as Conservative leader, saying it was 'really silly' as it left a space for Reform to surge into. Sir Jacob urged his former colleagues to ensure a 'true Blue' MP succeeds Mr Sunak.

Another ex-Cabinet minister said Labour was able to win a landslide because of a 'Boris-shaped hole' in the party's defences, through which Reform was able to stroll 'unchallenged'. They said the defeat was 'brought about by our own MP's actions and a s*** campaign for no good reason'.

Meanwhile a friend of Penny Mordaunt said local polling had put her ahead when the election was called, but that her support had been dented by a poor national campaign, coupled with Mr Sunak's decision to return early from D-Day commemorations, which angered veterans in Portsmouth.

'D-day and other f***-ups looks like they have cost her the seat,' the friend said.

Yesterday Ms Mordaunt, who had hoped to run to replace Mr Sunak, said the Tories had lost because they 'failed to honour the trust that people had placed in it'.

Liz Truss, who lost her South West Norfolk seat to Labour, also said the party she briefly led had not 'delivered sufficiently on the policies people want'.

Mel Stride, the outgoing Work and Pensions Secretary, said it was a 'devastating defeat' and that it will take 'quite a lot of time now to do the thinking, to get ourselves back into a position where we can rebuild and become once again the natural party of government'.

Mr Stride also suggested a reliance on support from older voters is a 'very serious issue' for the Conservative Party. Mr Shapps, who lost his Welwyn Hatfield seat to Labour, appeared to blame infighting  saying his party had an 'inability to iron out (its) differences' amid an endless 'soap opera'.

Another ousted Tory said of Mr Sunak: 'If he had been less c**p we would have been in a massively better position.'

Lord Hague took on the mantle as Tory leader following Tony Blair's crushing landslide victory in 1997 when he could 'just about' form a proper frontbench with 165 MPs.

He fired an ominous warning, saying: 'One false move and there could be an even worse catastrophe.'

Lord Hague addded: 'If the Conservatives get the idea the answer to all of this is to be a bigger version of the Reform Party, that would be a great mistake and that would not pave the way for the Conservative Party to return as a big force in politics and government again.'
As many as two-thirds of the seats the Tories lost yesterday was the result of Reform UK splitting the Right-leaning vote, analysis revealed last night.

In more than 170 of the 251 constituencies lost by the Conservatives, the Reform vote was greater than the margin of the Tories' defeat.

This was the case in seats across the country, particularly in so-called 'Red Wall' constituencies snatched from Labour by former Tory prime minister Boris Johnson in 2019.

The analysis, by polling guru Professor Sir John Curtice, lays bare the scale of the damage caused by Nigel Farage's insurgent party after it racked up more than 4million votes, or 14.3 per cent of the national vote share.

It shows that former prime minister Rishi Sunak's repeated warnings that a vote for Reform was a vote to hand Labour a huge majority and a 'blank cheque'  a sentiment echoed by this newspaper this week  were correct.

Reform snatched more Conservative seats than expected. Pictured: Party leader Nigel Farage, pictured at a rally on Thursday

Richard Tice, pictured with Mr Farage, who overturned a 27,402 Tory majority to win Boston and Skegness making him one of a handful of Reform MPs

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But Mr Farage yesterday dismissed the idea he was single-handedly responsible for handing Labour a thumping majority.

At a press conference in Westminster, he said: 'The truth is, the Conservatives sunk themselves by betraying the 2019 [general election] vote.

'It's just as simple as that. They've done this to themselves and there are large parts of the country  the Red Wall in particular  where it's the Conservatives that are splitting the Reform vote because we are now the challengers to Labour in those constituencies.'

Reform finished in second place in 98 seats.

However, in one particularly stark example of how it split the Right-leaning vote, Labour won Poole with 14,168 votes compared with the Tories' 14,150.

But Reform hoovered up 7,429 of Right-leaning votes to finish third. Just a fraction of these voting Conservative would have kept Labour out.

It was a similar story in South Dorset, where Labour won with 15,659 votes to the Tories' 14,611. Reform won 8,168 to finish third. Labour also won in Rother Valley with 16,023 votes, compared with 15,025 for the Tories.

The prime minister Rishi Sunak's delivering his leaving speech outside No 10 with his wife Akshata Murty

Reform finished third with 7,679, again more than making up for the margin of the Tories' defeat.

Sir John said: 'Of course, not everybody who voted Reform would have otherwise voted Conservative. But they most certainly voted Conservative in 2019.

'These statistics underline the extent to which the heavy loss of Conservative votes to Reform has cost Sunak's party dear.'

Lower turnout among former Tory voters also had an impact.

In the 2019 election, Mr Farage was leader of the Brexit Party, which has now morphed into Reform.

But he cut a deal with Mr Johnson to stand down candidates in 317 seats won by the Tories at the previous election to give the Conservatives a better chance of winning and to deliver Brexit.

However, Mr Sunak did not seek a deal with Mr Farage in this election, which some Tories believe was a strategic mistake.

Mr Farage made the shock decision to stand two weeks into the race.

Pressed on whether he was responsible for helping deliver a new Labour PM who wants to grant asylum to illegal arrivals, Mr Farage said: 'Well, we've just got rid of a PM who let 50,000 illegal migrants cross the English Channel.'
A stunning home from the 19th Century that was one of Washington County's rare surviving Oregon Trail homes, has been demolished just days before its future was to be discussed at a city council meeting.

Preservationists had fought to keep the historic structure but developers used the long holiday weekend to tear the house down before any formal decision could be made about saving the home.

The Wilkes House was torn down on Friday in order to make way for a new water treatment plant that is being constructed to support a proposed 30-acre Sunset View at West Banks residential and commercial development.

The historical society and the Friends of the Wilkes House had asked for the water treatment plant be built elsewhere in order for the historic home to be preserved together with the old trees surrounding the property.

A stunning 1870s home, and one of Washington County's rare surviving Oregon Trail homes, has been demolished days before its future was to be discussed at a city council meeting

Wilkes House was torn down on Friday in order to make way for a new water treatment plant

The water treatment plant is not expected to be built for between five to eight years

The property owners Lone Oak Land and Investment Company and Wolverine Financial had also offered to give the farmhouse to the Banks Historical Society for it to be relocated.

'It's heartbreaking how quickly 150 years of Oregon Trail pioneer heritage can be torn down for no immediate need,' said Jennifer Allen Newton, a volunteer with the Banks Historical Society, to Oregon Live.

Newton said she had hoped the one-acre homestead might be saved but instead there was nothing she could do but watch as an excavator razed the 154-year-old, two-story structure to the ground.

'None of this had to happen today. The city doesn't take possession for months. The water treatment plant isn't scheduled to be built for five to eight years,' she said. 'We got some media attention on July 3; the owners applied for a demolition permit on July 3. And they demolished the house on July 5. That's incredibly fast.

All we wanted was to put plans on pause until we could get all interested parties together to discuss how the city might use this property when they take possession of it. This could have been stopped if the interested parties wanted it to. Instead of taking responsibility, everyone is deflecting and pointing fingers, and 150-plus years of Oregon Trail pioneer history is now a pile of rubble,' Newton told the Beaverton Valley Times.

The preservation group was not outright opposed to the new development known as the city's westside development project, but had wanted the Wilkes House property to be left untouched.

An excavator razed the 154-year-old, two-story structure to the ground on Friday

The driveway leading to the home was roped off as the demolition took place

The home had been standing for 154 years when it was finally razed to the ground on Friday

There had been hope that some of the old trees surrounding the property might also be saved

The home was run down from the outside and needed some maintenance

One of the bathrooms of the historic home can be seen here

The interior of the home was rather less historic with garish wall paper and lino

Last year, the Banks Historical Society paid $900 for an inspection to ensure the Wilkes House was structurally sound.

It was in 1845, the Wilkes family walked west on the Oregon Trail. Peyton and Anna Wilkes are considered the first permanent European American settlers in the Banks area, according to Newton, who wrote the history book, 'Banks: A Town on the Move.'

'The Wilkes family lived harmoniously alongside the Atfalati people,' said Newton, based on oral histories and Native American objects found in the archaeological survey.

Jabez Wilkes, the son of Peyton and Anna, lived in the family's log cabin until the early 1870s, when he built the house with a gabled roof.

Last month, the grassroots Friends of the Wilkes House launched the Save the Wilkes House campaign on GoFundMe, raising $3,000 with the aim of using the money to preserve the historic site as a city park, cultural community center, and museum.

Preservationists had fought to keep the historic structure but developers used the long holiday weekend to tear the house down

The home was demolished before any formal decision could be made about saving it

Built in the early 1870s, the Wilkes House is believed to be one of the oldest site-built pioneer buildings in Banks, Oregon

Members of the demolition crew are seen on site on Friday

The property owners have contracted to sell the land to residential developer David Weekley Homes, including the deed the Wilkes House property to the city.

The Banks City Council was even expected to discuss the Wilkes House at a meeting next Tuesday - but that is now moot.

'The city does not own the property or the Wilkes House and will not own the property until the westside developer satisfies certain conditions in its Development Agreement and conveys the property to the city,' Mayor Stephanie Jones said in a statement last Wednesday.

'As we understand it, the property owner offered to give the structure to the local historical society for free so long as they move the building to another location. To our knowledge, that has not happened.'

In 1845, the Wilkes family walked west on the Oregon Trail. Peyton and Anna Wilkes are considered the first permanent European American settlers in the Banks

The Historical Society had hoped the home could be turned into a museum with land around it turned into a park

The home can be seen shortly before it was finally torn down for good

The home stood for more than 150 years and was torn down in a matter of hours

Nicole Possert, executive director of Restore Oregon, a statewide preservation organization, lamented the final destruction of the home.

'What a tragic day of loss for all of Oregon and our collective heritage,' Possert said on Friday to The Oregonian.

'This property represents so many layers of history and heritage, from the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya people to the Pioneer-era settlers that founded the community of Banks. Demolition over the long, Fourth of July, holiday weekend was unnecessary when next Tuesday, the City Council had planned a work session to potentially work together on a long-term solution.'
A Queensland doctor has been suspended after a tribunal heard he had a threesome with patients and then paid $19,000 for it to be kept quiet.

Dr Ali Eghtesadi Araghi fronted the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) over his conduct between 2014 and 2018 when he ran the Sunshine Coast Family Clinic and The Australian Wellness & Cosmetic Institute at Buddina.

Dr Araghi has been registered as a medical practitioner in Australia since 2006 and worked as a GP with an interest in cosmetic procedures.

'The applicant [Queensland Health Ombudsman] alleges and the respondent [Dr Araghi] admits that he engaged in professional misconduct in that he failed to maintain professional boundaries with three of his patients,' a recently published QCAT decision states.

'He [also] failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries by engaging in sexualised behaviour towards several of his staff.'

The tribunal heard in addition to the threesome, five allegations were made that Dr Araghi acted in an 'inappropriate, sometimes sexualised' and 'unprofessional' manner towards staff members.

'This conduct included acts of a sexualised and/or inappropriate touching of the female staff members on their bottoms [and] making inappropriate comments to them,' former District Court Judge John Robertson said.

In one of the incidents, he touched a staff member's breast without her consent and then asked her to expose her breast in an unoccupied consulting room in front of another staff member.

Dr Ali Eghtesadi Araghi fronted the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) over his conduct between 2014 and 2018

Judge Robertson said it 'can be inferred' his questionable conduct towards staff members only ceased when notifications were made to the regulator.

'In my opinion, his conduct towards these women, most of whom were highly trained health practitioners, amounts to professional misconduct in its own right,' he said.

According to the QCAT decision, the first of the three patients Dr Araghi behaved inappropriately towards was a woman with whom he formed a relationship in 2014 before he treated as a patient and then later employed on his staff.

'He now accepts that he behaved unprofessionally towards her,' the decision states.

'[He] failed to maintain professional boundaries by touching her on the bottom, kissing her in front of patients and staff, having sexual intercourse at the clinic, and on occasions, abusing her in a demeaning and controlling manner in front of staff and patients.'

The second patient was a woman whom he had been treating since 2012 before he had a sexual relationship with between May 2016 and about August 2017.

'He seemed to appreciate from the outset that it was inappropriate to have a sexual relationship with her; however, he proceeded nonetheless because she agreed to it,' the decision states.

He had sex with the two women 'in one incident' and then 'compounded his seriously unethical conduct by telling staff at the clinic about what is described in the material as the threesome'.

The second woman later demanded $50,000 in 'what could be described as a threat of extortion' or she would report him to the Medical Board.

Dr Araghi reported the matter to police but 'inappropriately and unethically' then paid the woman $19,000 and had her sign 'what would now be referred to as a non-disclosure agreement'.

The third patient was a 26-year-old woman who first visited his clinic in 2013.

'The respondent used her mobile number obtained from her clinical records to (as Patient 3 describes in her affidavit) relentlessly pursue her to engage in a romantic relationship which did not eventuate,' the QCAT decision states.

QCAT heard in one of the incidents he touched a staff member's breast without her consent and then asked her to expose her breast in an unoccupied consulting room in front of another staff member

Since the regulator was notified in 2018, Dr Araghi was subject to a ban from contact with female patients for a year followed by the condition that a practice monitor be in the room when he consulted with female patients from 2020 to 2023.

Judge Robertson said: 'The Tribunal is satisfied to the relevant standard that the respondent's admitted and proved conduct over many years involving patients and members of his staff constitutes professional misconduct.'

'The respondent has been reasonably cooperative in these proceedings... numerous witnesses did not have to endure a cross-examination, and a three-day hearing will not be required.'

'Given the age of the conduct, some six years ago, the need for specific deterrence is not substantial... The need for the sanction to effect general deterrence is significant.'

Dr Araghi's registration was suspended for 10 months.
A father claims his family were forced to flee the 'worst holiday park ever' after just one night when they found bed stains and bugs in their room. Richard and Lindsay Brown had booked a three-night stay at the holiday park with their four daughters for the cut price of just 195. It was to be their first family trip away with their three-month old baby, but they claim the conditions at the site left them no choice but to curtail their holiday early. Richard said an unsafe playground which left his 11-year-old daughter injured and having to walk for '20 minutes down 50mph roads' to reach the beach ruined their experience. The 35-year-old claims that when he posted the videos detailing their time there he was then 'bullied' online by friends of the holiday park who accused him of lying and sent abusive messages. The holiday park claims the family have 'grossly misrepresented the circumstances of their stay' and that there are 'rigorous' checks in place to ensure conditions are clean. It added that the family had received a full refund and the 'majority of customers enjoy their experience of staying with us', while it has received a number of five star reviews online.
A troubling new study shows how little $1 million in retirement savings would last in every US state.

The personal finance site GOBankingRates analyzed data from each state to show just how far one could last with a retirement fund worth $1 million when looking at annual expenses.

The site took into account groceries, housing utilities, transportation and healthcare when compiling their findings.

States including Hawaii, New York and California help make up the five worst places to live, with $1 million covering lass than 15 years.

Meanwhile, states in the Midwest and South provide a tiny bit more bang for your buck, with some seeing $1 million last for as long as two decades.

States including Hawaii, seen here, New York and California help make up the five worst places to live, with $1 million not even covering 15 years

The site looked into groceries, housing utilities, transportation and healthcare when compiling their findings

Hawaii: 9 years, 7 months, 25 days

Island life can be costly. According to the report, the picturesque beaches of Hawaii are the fastest places to see your $1 million in retirement funds go down the drain.

With the annual groceries costing $5,339 and housing costs hitting $35,813, the site estimates that $1 million would last less than a decade - just 9 years, 7 months and 25 days.

Other pricey living costs include $6,913 for utilities and a further $6,328 in transportation and $9,485 in healthcare, bringing total annual spending to $103,610.

Massachusetts: 11 years, 8 months, 9 days

It's mass-ively expensive. The second worst state on the list was Massachusetts, where your $1 million in savings could be emptied out in just over 11 years and 8 months, the site estimates.

Annual groceries hit $5,080 in the Bay State and annual housing expenditure for a year climbed to $26,553.

In addition, those who plan to move to Massachusetts could expect to pay $5,867 for utilities and a further $5,813 in transportation and $8,694 in healthcare, bringing a total annual spend to $85,571.

District of Columbia: 11 years, 10 months, 25 days

Closely following Massachusetts was the capital Washington DC which would give retirees just over 2 months more than the previous state.

With local groceries in the state costing around $5,166 and housing hitting nearly $27,000, GOBankingRates believe $1 million would last 11 years, 10 months and 25 days.

Other costs like utilities would cost $4,664 per year, while transport would cost $5,348.

Overall, anybody looking to retire in the state should expect $84,010 a year, with healthcare also costing $8,784.

Washington, D.C. at the Tidal Basin during cherry blossom season with the Rosslyn business distict citycape is seen here

The skyline of Downtown Riverside, situated in the Greater Los Angeles area, is seen here

California: 12 years, 8 months, 5 days

Those dreaming of retiring to the sunshine of the The Golden State will favor slightly better than those in DC.

Anyone with $1 million in savings should expect their fund to last 12 years and 8 months.

Costs are estimated by the site to include an average annual grocery bill totaling $5,387, housing costing around $22,530 and utilities totaling $5,202.

Other annual bills for transportation, which hit $5,304, and healthcare costing $8,173 - a total annual expenditure bill would hit $73,140.

New York: 13 years, 8 months, 1 day

Unsurprisingly, New York state rounded out the top five of the list, with $1 million set to last for 13 years and 8 months.

The site said that the annual expenditure for those in The Empire State was $73,140, with the highest expenditure being $20,695 in housing.

Other costs estimated include an average annual grocery bill totaling $4,994, transportation costing around $5,304 and utilities totaling $4,363.

While healthcare in the state would set retirees back $8,173.

Unsurprisingly, New York state rounded out the top five of the list, with $1 million set to last for 13 years and 8 months

States in the Midwest and South provide a bit more bang for your buck, with some states seeing $1 million last for as long as two decades. Charleston in West Virginia is seen here

West Virginia: 20 years, 3 months, 19 days

For those looking to take the country roads into their retirement, the top spot for the best state to spend your twilight years in was West Virginia.

With an annual expenditure at just $49,261, $1 million in retirement funds would last for over two decades.

That was broken down as $4,701 in groceries, another $7,284 in housing, $4,067 in utilities.

Other bills included $7,163 in healthcare and a further 44,528 in transportation cost.

Mississippi: 19 years, 11 months, 12 days

Second best on the list was Mississippi, which the site says could last year just under 20 years with $1 million.

With an annual grocery bill of $4,644, a further $8,488 in housing and $3,685 in utilities, the annual spend totaled $50,128.

While other bills like healthcare and transportation totaled $7,427 and $4,216 respectfully.

Those with $1 million saved up could expect to see it last for 19 years, 11 months and 12 days.

Second best on the list was Mississippi, seen here, which the site says could last year just under 20 years with $1 million

While those looking to spend their retirement in Kansas, state capital Topeka is seen here, could expect their savings to see almost 20 years

Oklahoma: 19 years, 11 months, 5 days

Third on the list was the state of Oklahoma, which closely followed Mississippi by just a week.

Annual groceries hit $4,519 and annual housing expenditure for a year climbed to $8,313.

While those who planned to move to the The Sooner State could expect to pay $4,003 for utilities and a further $4,651 in transportation and $6,982 in healthcare, bringing a total annual spend to $50,186.

Overall, $1 million should last a total of 19 years, 11 months and 5 days.

Kansas: 19 years, 9 months, 15 days

There's no place like home? Those looking to spend their retirement in Kansas could expect their savings to see almost 20 years.

With the annual groceries costing $4,629 and housing hitting $7,974 the site estimate $1 million would last just 19 years, 9 months and 15 days.

Other costs including $4,444 for utilities and a further $4,429 in transportation and $7,382 in healthcare, bringing a total annual spend to $50,533.

Alabama: 19 years, 7 months, 11 days

Rounding out the top five best states to retire to was Alabama.

Anyone with $1 million in savings should expect their fund to last 19 years, 9 months and 15 days.

Costs estimated by the site include an average annual grocery bill totaling $4,596, housing costing around $8,243 and utilities totaling $4,312.

Other annual bills for transportation, which hit $4,404, and healthcare costing $6,469 - a total annual expenditure bill would hit $50,995.

In reaching the findings, the site found the national average annual expenditures for people 65 and older using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The site created state-level annual expenditure estimates by multiplying the national figure by each states overall cost of living index score from the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.

They then divided each states average annual expenditure estimates by 1 million to get the results.
Three female nursing home workers have been arrested for the appalling crime of taking overtly sexual photos of the dead elderly patients bodies.

The revolting behavior at the Golden Age Nursing Facility in Guthrie, Oklahoma came to light in April when a former employee alerted the Guthrie Police Department.

'Some employees were involved in sending some inappropriate pictures of their patients, we found pictures of some deceased persons,' Sweger told KFOR. 'We found some pictures of the suspects playing in pubic hair.'

The three suspects facing elderly abuse charges are 21-year-old Jade Williams, 21-year-old Aubrey Granata and 20-year-old McKenzie Bolfa.

'They had excuses for some of their behavior, but it didn't really match up with the evidence that we had uncovered,' said Sweger.

Three female nursing home workers have been arrested after taking overtly sexual photos of the dead elderly patients bodies. (Pictured: 20-year-old suspect McKenzie Bolfa)

According to court documents, the three women exchanged Snapchats of the elderly patients between each other.

One video reportedly showed an elderly resident in bed, wearing only a shirt and diaper, with fecal matter on his socks and on the bedding.

'It's probably one of the saddest things,' said Sweger. 'We take service to everybody very responsibly, but especially for those who don't have a voice for themselves.'

Investigators reportedly found another video depicting a male resident lying on his stomach, unclothed from the waist down.

An investigation by the Guthrie Police Department began in April following a tip from a former employee who reported concerning activity at the Golden Age Nursing Facility in Guthrie, Oklahoma

The three suspects facing elderly abuse charges (Pictured: 21-year-old suspect Aubrey Granata)

Additionally, photos allegedly surfaced showing deceased residents at the facility, with workers mocking them post mortem.

Authorities emphasized their commitment to a thorough investigation of these serious allegations.

'Without us and without other people that care, there's just no justice,' said Sweger.

A statement from the director of the nursing home Tandie Hastings to KFOR reads:

'Golden Age Nursing Home endeavors to ensure the safety and well-being of its residents.

(Pictured: 21-year-old suspect Jade Williams)

'Upon receiving information related to certain allegations against its employees, the facility began working with local law enforcement and other appropriate authorities to respond.

'The employees involved had cleared background checks, were educated related to residents rights/safety and have been terminated from employment.

'We are committed to protecting the privacy and safety of the residents and families involved and will continue to keep them updated with any developments related to this matter.
A neurosurgeon has warned that flying home an Australian woman injured in a Bali motorcycle crash would be complicated because of fluid pooling near her brain.

Her family now faces the terrible choice of either risking her life by flying her home sooner, or letting her continue to receive expensive treatment overseas.

Former Seaworld worker Rebecca Ode, 36, was rushed to Ngoerah General Hospital following the accident on a road in Nusa Lembongan at about 1am on Tuesday.

Ms Ode, from Newcastle, north of Sydney, sustained broken bones to her face, head and collarbone, and is likely to lose her right eye.

She underwent a 14-hour surgery on Tuesday night but has since regained consciousness on the Indonesian holiday island.

'She woke up and said, "What happened to me?"' neurosurgeon specialist Professor Tjokorda Gde Bagus Mahadewa told Daily Mail Australia.

Dr Mahadewa said while her family wanted to get her home, flying would be complicated for her given the delicate nature of her injuries.

'If the family want to evacuate her right now, she would need to transported with an air ambulance, because there may be some fluid trapped inside the skull,' he told the ABC.

Former Seaworld worker Rebecca Ode, 36, (right, with her family) was rushed to Ngoerah General Hospital after the accident at about 1am Tuesday in Nusa Lembongan

'If she can wait longer here, she could fly in two weeks in business class so it is up to the family and insurance company,' he said.

Transport from Bali to Australia could cost more than $100,000 for a private air ambulance, and Ms Ode's family has previously said her medical bills are already north of $60,000.

'With [an] air ambulance she could be back in Australia in three to four hours, but if she waits two weeks we will scan her skull again to make sure the liquid trapped in her skull has gone and she can travel lying down in comfort,' Dr Mahadewa said.

Ms Ode initially underwent a CT scan before being referred to a neurosurgeon specialist, plastic surgeon specialist, ophthalmologist and orthopedic specialist.

'We conducted several things, such as correction to her head bones. She had also suffered a leak in the brain,' Professor Mahadewa told Daily Mail Australia.

'Then we did a correction on her face and nose because it's all broken. An ophthalmologist was also involved to handle her right eye, while an orthopedic specialist performed surgery to her bones.

'The ophthalmologist has said that her eye may not be saved.

'She is also suffering amnesia. She can't remember the accident at all.'

Nusa Penida police chief Ida Bagus Putra Sumerta confirmed Ms Ode had been involved in a motorcycle accident and an investigation was being launched.

The police chief said the road she was travelling on was in good condition.

According to a police report, her Yamaha scooter collided with a parked motorcycle.

She underwent a 14-hour surgery on Tuesday night but has since regained consciousness

Ms Ode had been enjoying a break on the small island off Bali's southeast when she was injured.

Her family earlier said they didn't know what had happened to her.

'We have no idea how the injury happened there was no alcohol and the extent of her injuries is quite traumatic,' her brother-in-law Jesse Wilton told news.com.au.

Ms Ode has been left with structural damage to her face that will leave her disfigured for the rest of her life.

'She will lose one eye if not two, and has titanium plates in collar bones,' he said.

Mr Wilton said in a GoFundMe organised for Ms Ode that she is a 'strong and caring, daughter, aunty and friend [who] urgently needs to be medically evacuated home from Bali for ongoing treatment'.

Ms Ode is likely to lose her right eye which was severely damaged in the crash (pictured is her CT scan)

'Bec needs the best health care possible as soon as possible which means bringing her home,' Mr Wilton wrote, adding that her hospital bills have already passed $60,000.

Ms Ode's mother Shari and sister Jordyn are 'by her side in Bali and while her recovery journey is unknown we know Bec will continue fighting her best fight with her strong will and determination', he said.

Jordyn wrote on Facebook: 'It's a terrifying thought to know that it is all but confirmed she has lost her vision in one eye.

'The impact completely pushed her eye out of her head, and the damage was so severe they weren't sure they could save the eye at all.

'Her nose was split in half, and the cartilage was shattered. They had to rebuild her face, and I am desperate to get her home for professional help.

'The orthopaedic surgeons repaired her collarbone and shoulder, which were also hit. She now has a metal plate to keep her clavicle together.'

Jordyn said Rebecca went to Bali 'seeking peace after two extremely painful years following our father's passing'.

On top of the initial medical bills, the cost of getting Ms Ode back to Australia is expected to be enormous.

Once there is clearance to get her onto a plane, it's expected a medical flight to Sydney and transfers to Newcastle to be more than $120,000.

'Once home Bec is likely to have a long journey of rehabilitation. We are estimating it will be close to $250,000 just to get back to Australia,' Mr Wilton said.

Ms Ode's insurance cover is not known but is being investigated.

More than $168,000 has been raised for Ms Ode as of Friday night.
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More than 5,000 days have passed since Labour were last in Government. But Keir Starmer wasted no time in laying down the first tentative steps towards change yesterday as he selected his cabinet and assured voters he would begin to rebuild trust with a 'country-first, party-second' brand of politics.

As outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak left Number 10, Sir Keir arrived with an invitation from the King to form a new government. He thanked Mr Sunak for his 'dedication and hard work', and commended his 'achievement as the first British Asian Prime Minister of our country'.

Focus soon turned to the need for change, a 'renewal and a return of politics to public service'. Sir Keir insisted he would prove to voters that politics 'can be a force for good' - but acknowledged it would 'take a while' to 'change' the country. 'But have no doubt that the work of change begins immediately,' the 61-year-old said.

Indeed, by Friday evening reports emerged that the Tory flagship 'Rwanda scheme' was effectively 'dead' - consistent with Labour's promises to scrap it if elected. Britain is still expected to pay various fees associated with the treaty - but reserves the right to leave with three months' notice. Kigali is expected to comment as early as Saturday.

Then followed the ministerial appointments. Rachel Reeves became the UK's first female chancellor. Yvette Cooper also made a lateral move into the Home Secretary role, and David Lammy became Foreign Secretary.

Veteran Labour politician Emily Thornberry was snubbed as Sir Keir appointed Richard Hermer KC as Attorney General, despite Ms Thornberry having previously shadowed the role.

The new Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, fulfilled a promise made in June to reach out to junior doctors 'on day one', setting in motion a path for negotiations over pay and conditions with the aim of getting the NHS back on its feet. Mr Streeting was ready to admit 'the NHS is broken' and admitted change would not come immediately - but was optimistic about Labour's ability to oversee substantial reform.

As the new cabinet began laying the groundwork for the party's vision of change, Sir Keir spoke with world leaders, who congratulated his appointment as the 58th Prime Minister. French President Emmanuel Macron revealed he had already spoken to the Labour leader on Thursday night in a congratulatory message on Twitter/X.

Within hours, Sir Keir had held calls with US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reiterating his government's support for Kyiv's resistance against Vladimir Putin's invasion.

Sir Keir Starmer speaks to the nation for the first time as Prime Minister from Downing Street on Friday afternoon

Labour leader and incoming Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to the media at No.10 on Friday

Newly elected Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria on the steps of No.10 on Friday

Rachel Reeves, who is Britain's first female Chancellor, was applauded by Treasury staff as she made her first visit to her new department

After giving his historic first speech as 58th Prime Minister following Labour's landslide general election win on Thursday night, Sir Keir and his wife, Lady Victoria, disappeared inside Number 10 to be welcomed by Downing Street staff.

Who's in Keir's Cabinet? Angela Rayner - Deputy PM, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary

- Deputy PM, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Rachel Reeves - Chancellor of the Exchequer

- Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lammy - Foreign Secretary

- Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper - Home Secretary

- Home Secretary John Healey - Defence Secretary

- Defence Secretary Wes Streeting - Health Secretary

- Health Secretary Bridget Phillipson - Education Secretary

- Education Secretary Shabana Mahmood - Justice Secretary

- Justice Secretary Pat McFadden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Ed Miliband - Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary

- Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Liz Kendall - Work and Pensions Secretary

- Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Reynolds - Business and Trade Secretary

- Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle - Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary

- Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Louise Haigh - Transport Secretary

- Transport Secretary Lisa Nandy - Culture Secretary

- Culture Secretary Steve Reed - Environment Secretary

- Environment Secretary Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

- Chief Secretary to the Treasury Richard Hermer - Attorney General

- Attorney General Ian Murray - Scottish Secretary

- Scottish Secretary Hilary Benn - Northern Ireland Secretary

- Northern Ireland Secretary Jo Stevens - Welsh Secretary

- Welsh Secretary Lucy Powell - Leader of the House of Commons

- Leader of the House of Commons Baroness Smith - Leader of the House of Lords

- Leader of the House of Lords Sir Alan Campbell - Chief Whip Advertisement

Soon after, smiling faces emerged from the building as the Prime Minister appointed his top team of ministers.

Rachel Reeves became Britain's first female Chancellor, while David Lammy was appointed the new Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper the new Home Secretary, and Wes Streeting the new Health Secretary.

All of them enjoyed introductory tours of their new Whitehall departments as the met with officials. But they were also immediately challenged by the myriad of crises they will have to battle over the coming weeks and months.

Union bosses this evening demanded Mr Streeting come forward with a 'credible' offer to end the junior doctors' dispute on pay, as they eye a 35 per cent wage hike.

Mr Streeting faces major challenges overhauling the NHS with the junior doctors' pay dispute still haunting the service and technological inefficiency a recurring complaint from insiders - but experts say his previous comments indicate he may be the man for the job.

Mr Lammy vowed to support an 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza after witnessing an election backlash in some parts of the country over Labour's stance on the Middle East conflict.

In a speech to Treasury staff, Ms Reeves promised to boost Britain's economic growth as her 'central mission'.

And Ms Cooper pledged to set up a new 'Border Security Command' to tackle the Channel migrant crisis, as she prepares to scrap the Tories' Rwanda deportation scheme.

Labour insiders told The Telegraph on Friday the plan was effectively 'dead' - but Ms Cooper assured one of the first duties of government was to 'keep our borders secure' through the security force.

'If Rishi Sunak thought Rwanda would work, he wouldnt have called an election,' the source told the newspaper. 'It was a con. By calling an election, Sunak was acknowledging that fact.'

Sir Keir made two eye-catching ministerial appointments this evening as he drafted in Sir Patrick Vallance, who was the Government's chief scientific adviser during the Covid crisis, as a science minister.

He also named James Timpson, chief executive of his father's Timpsons shoe repair chain business, as minister for prisons, parole and probation. Both he and Sir Patrick have been handed peerages by the new PM.

But, as of this evening, there was no place for Emily Thornberry in Sir Keir's new Government.

Despite her having served as shadow attorney general in opposition, she was overlooked for the role of Attorney General in favour of Richard Hermer KC, who was also handed a peerage.

It comes after Ms Thornberry caused embarrassment for Sir Keir during the general election campaign with her admission that Labour's plan to charge VAT on private school fees risks increasing class sizes in the state sector.

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In a speech to officials, Ms Reeves vowed to boost Britain's economic growth as her 'central mission'

David Lammy, Britain's new Foreign Secretary, was shown around the Foreign Office after being appointed

New Health Secretary Wes Streeting was told by union bosses to come forward with a 'credible' offer to end the junior doctors' dispute on pay, as they eye a 35 per cent wage hike

Yvette Cooper, the new Home Secretary, pledged to set up a new 'Border Security Command' to tackle the Channel migrant crisis, as she prepares to scrap the Tories' Rwanda deportation scheme

Sir Keir Starmer, pictured with his wife Victoria, moved to appoint the top team in his new Government shortly after being installed as Britain's 58th Prime Minister following Labour's landslide general election win

Home Secretary Veteran Labour politician Yvette Cooper studied at a comprehensive school before going to get a First in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford. She received a scholarship for Harvard and completed her studies at LSE before entering politics. Ms Cooper displaced the Tories with a staggering 75.7% of the vote to become the MP for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley in 1997. As a health minister under Blair, she guided the Sure Start programme before becoming Minister of State for Housing and Planning in 2005. Echoing Cassandra, Ms Cooper warned in 2007 that first-time buyers could be crippled by house prices ten times their salary by 2026. Ms Cooper ran for Labour leader in 2015 but lost to Jeremy Corbyn. She became Shadow Home Secretary under Keir Starmer in 2021. Advertisement

Sir Keir made his Cabinet appointments after earlier stepping through the entrance to No10 as the new Labour premier with a vow to 'immediately' begin work to 'rebuild Britain' after winning a huge majority.

The Labour leader was applauded by staff inside the famous black door as he walked inside with wife Victoria after making his first address to the nation as the new premier.

The 61-year-old acknowledged 'weariness at the heart of the nation' after his so-called 'loveless landslide' in the general election, which saw Labour win more than 400 seats having received barely one in three votes across the UK.

Among their demands to Mr Streeting tonight, the British Medical Association said the junior doctors' dispute 'must be brought to an ened via a credible Government offer'.

They offered the Health Secretary hope of a possible resolution as they conceded that 'pay restoration doesn't have to be in one go'.

Mr Streeting has previously warned Labour won't be able to afford the BMA's demand for a 35 per cent pay rise for junior doctors.

The Health Secretary later announced he had spoken to BMA bosses and 'talks to end their industrial action will begin next week'.

In a statement shared on Friday, the British Medical Association trade union for doctors opened the door to future negotiations, showing promising signs.

Professor Philip Banfield, BMA chair of council, said in a statement that he had offered Mr Streeting to 'work together to get the NHS back on its feet' with the aim of resolving disputes, writing down waiting lists and improving the service for both staff and patients.

'We have heard your commitment to pay restoration as a journey and put our faith in your intentions to work together towards a resolution,' Professor Banfield said in an optimistic letter.

Despite Labour's widespread success across Britain in the general election, they lost a handful of former strongholds to independent candidates campaigning on pro-Gaza platforms.

In one of the biggest shocks of election night, shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth lost his Leicester South seat, which he previously won with a majority of more than 22,000 votes.

Speaking to broadcasters after being appointed as Foreign Secretary, Mr Lammy said: 'All of us recognise the agony of communities who have seen the scenes coming out of Israel and Gaza.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy is a trained barrister who studied at Harvard Law before going on to become an attorney at Howard Rice in the States. Mr Lammy has been MP for Tottenham since 2000 and held numerous ministerial positions under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He has voiced the importance of maintaining the Special Relationship with the United States. On his first day as Foreign Sec, he urged an 'immediate ceasefire' and the release of hostages from Gaza. Advertisement

'But the job now is to get to work with tireless diplomacy to support an immediate ceasefire and move towards getting those hostages out.'

Ms Reeves, a self-confessed 'geek' and schoolgirl chess champion, is one of Sir Keir's closest allies and will be the first woman to lead the Treasury in its 1,000-year history.

The new Chancellor told her new department's staff that the Labour Government would work 'hand in glove with business' as she vowed its 'central mission' would be to boost economic growth.

In a swipe at her Tory predecessors, Ms Reeves also pledged to change the 'uncertainty' and lack of 'clarity of political purpose' Treasury staff had previously had to endure.

Ms Cooper also blasted the Conservatives' record as she spoke outside the Home Office, saying: 'We know there are a lot of challenges ahead and after 14 years there is some difficult legacy that we will inherit, and we know that that will mean hard graft and not gimmicks ahead in order to tackle that.'

She added that setting up a 'new Border Security Command to go after the criminal boat gangs' would be among her 'first steps' as Home Secretary.

This afternoon, Angela Rayner had been the first arrival in Downing Street before being named Deputy Prime Minister.

She was also appointed Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary as she was handed a portfolio focused on her party's planned housebuilding blitz.

Ms Rayner was later followed into Downing Street by Mr Lammy, Ms Cooper and John Healey. They were duly appointed as Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary and Defence Secretary, respectively.

Sir Keir made an almost wholesale transfer of the shadow team he had in opposition into his Cabinet following Labour's massive general election victory.

Mr Streeting was named Health Secretary, Shabana Mahmood became Justice Secretary, Bridget Phillipson was appointed Education Secretary, and Ed Miliband made a return to ministerial office as Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary.

Chancellor

Rachel Reeves studied at New College, Oxford and the London School of Economics before working at the Bank of England and HBOS. She served under Miliband and Corbyn, and chaired BEIS strategy between 2017 and 2020. A student of Japan's revival after the 'Lost Decade' of the 1990s, she has spoken enthusiastically about the role of Quantitative Easing in 2009, and urges private-sector investment to get Britain's economy running again. Ms Reeves is the vice chair of Labour Friends of Israel. Advertisement

The former Labour leader is set to oversee his party's promise to decarbonise Britain's electricity grid by 2030.

In a further raft of appointments, Sir Keir named Liz Kendall as Work and Pensions Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds as Business and Trade Secretary, Peter Kyle as Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, and Louise Haigh as Transport Secretary.

Lisa Nandy was appointed Culture Secretary as Sir Keir moved to fill a vacancy left by Thangam Debbonaire, who had shadowed the portfolio in opposition but failed to get re-elected to the House of Commons.

Steve Reed was appointed Environment Secretary, Ian Murray became Scottish Secretary, Hilary Benn was named Northern Ireland Secretary, and Jo Stevens was named Welsh Secretary.

Speaking after her appointment as Chancellor, Ms Reeves posted on X: 'Economic growth was the Labour Party's mission. It is now a national mission. Let's get to work.'

She added: 'To every young girl and woman reading this, let today show that there should be no limit to your ambitions.'

In her first address to Treasury staff, Ms Reeves vowed to change the 'uncertainty' and lack of 'clarity of political purpose' from her Tory predecessors.

She told them: 'I know that a lot has been asked of you in the last few years  and I know, when the chips are down, staff at the Treasury have risen to the occasion, from furlough to energy price support.

'I have often disagreed with the political choices that have been taken in this building. But I have never been in any doubt about the talent, the dedication and the professionalism that Treasury staff have displayed.

'I know too that at times it must have been frustrating for you, working under a weight of uncertainty, changes in direction, and without clarity of political purpose. As Chancellor, I am determined to change that.'

Rachel Reeves became Britain's first female Chancellor as Sir Keir Starmer began to appoint his Cabinet shortly after entering No10 for the first time as Prime Minister

The 45-year-old, a self-confessed 'geek' and schoolgirl chess champion, is one of Sir Keir's closest allies and will be the first woman to lead the Treasury in its 1,000-year history

Ms Reeves posed outside the Chancellor's traditional residence at 11 Downing Street. She later posted on X: 'To every young girl and woman reading this, let today show that there should be no limit to your ambitions'

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner was the first arrival this afternoon ahead of being named Deputy Prime Minister

Ms Rayner was also appointed Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary as she was handed a portfolio focused on her party's planned housebuilding blitz

David Lammy entered No10 ahead of his appointment as Britain's new Foreign Secretary

Yvette Cooper was welcomed inside No10 as she returned to government for the first time in 14 years as Home Secretary

Ed Miliband, a former Labour leader, also returned to ministerial office as Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary

Wes Streeting (left), the new Health Secretary, and John Healey, the new Defence Secretary, walked down Downing Street ahead of appointments to Sir Keir's Cabinet

Bridget Phillipson walked up to No10 before being named the new Education Secretary

Lisa Nandy, the new Culture Secretary, and Louise Haigh, the new Transport Secretary

Jonathan Reynolds (left) was appointed Business and Trade Secretary, while Peter Kyle was named Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary

Liz Kendall was appointed the new Work and Pensions Secretary

Health Secretary Wes Streeting Wes Streeting was re-elected MP for Ilford North on Thursday night, continuing his nine-year representation of the constituency. Mr Streeting attended the University of Cambridge before joining the Labour Party and has spoken openly about growing up in poverty, raised on a council estate in London's East End. Mr Streeting previously served as the Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty between May and November 2021, as Shadow Minister for Schools from 2020 until 2021, and as Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from April to October 2020. Advertisement

Mr Lammy, an ardent Remainer who once compared Tory Brexiteers to Nazis, described being appointed as Foreign Secretary as 'the honour of my life'.

He added: 'The world faces huge challenges, but we will navigate them with the UK's enormous strengths.

'We will reconnect Britain for our security and prosperity at home.'

Speaking to reporters later, Mr Lammy said he wants to see an 'immediate ceasefire' in Gaza.

'All of us recognise the agony of communities who have seen the scenes coming out of Israel and Gaza,' he told broadcasters.

'But the job now is to get to work with tireless diplomacy to support an immediate ceasefire and move towards getting those hostages out.'

A crowd of jubilant Labour activists had earlier cheered Sir Keir's arrival into Downing Street after he was formally installed as Britain's 58th PM by King Charles.

He and Victoria received a rapturous welcome after returning from the Palace where he had an audience with His Majesty around noon, shortly after Rishi Sunak exited having tendered his resignation.

Sir Keir said he wanted to 'changed the country' but warned it will 'take a while', saying he wanted to restore the values of 'service' to politics. He admitted that many people did not believe he would improve the country.

'My government will fight every day until you believe again,' he said.

At Buckingham Palace the couple were welcomed by the King and Queen's principal private secretary Sir Clive Alderton, along with Charles's equerry Royal Navy Commander William Thornton.

They left 20 minutes later to head to Downing Street, after Sir Keir was appointed to the job.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: 'The King received in Audience The Right Honourable Sir Keir Starmer MP today and requested him to form a new Administration.

'Sir Keir accepted His Majesty's offer and kissed hands upon his appointment as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury.'

Pat McFadden and Lucy Powell enter 10 Downing Street following Labour's landslide election victory on July 5

Labour MP Steve Reed leaves 10 Downing Street, London, after being appointed Environment Secretary

Shabana Mahmood has been appointed Secretary of State for Justice in Sir Keir Starmer's new cabinet. Hilary Benn has been appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

Labour MP Jo Stevens arrives at 10 Downing Street following the landslide General Election victory for the Labour Party

Labour Party MP Ian Murray has been appointed Secretary of State for Scotland in Sir Keir's new cabinet

Labour Party politician Alan Campbell arrives in Downing Street following the super majority result

Labour MP Baroness Smith of Basildon and Darren Jones at 10 Downing Street after being appointed to the Cabinet

Attorney General Richard Hermer arrives at Downing Street in London

The time-honoured choreography comes as Sir Keir's majority ticks up to 174, just short of Tony Blair's 179 in 1997. The Tories have 121 with just two left to declare, far worse than their previous nadir of 156 in 1906.

The Lib Dems also inflicted massive pain on the Conservatives, racking up a record 71 seats as Reform leeched millions of votes and came second in around a hundred constituencies - but only scored four MPs of their own.

However, Labour's victory is being dubbed a 'loveless landslide' and a 'super meh-jority', having received barely one in three votes across the UK.

Polling experts highlighted how Labour's vote share of 33.8 per cent is likely to be less than any of Sir Tony's general election victories in 1997, 2001 or 2005.

It is even less than the 40 per cent vote share hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn secured in 2017 and lower than the 36.1 per cent David Cameron got for the Conservatives in 2010 when that year's election ended in a hung parliament.

Some newly-elected Labour MPs suggested the public will be thinking about overhauling Britain's voting system in the wake of the party's triumph, while Corbyn's allies swiped that Sir Keir had won 'by default' due to the dramatic collapse in Conservative support.

Less than an hour before Sir Keir arrived at the Palace, Mr Sunak bade goodbye to Downing Street after leading the Tories to their worst ever election result.

Flanked by clearly emotional wife Akshata, the PM delivered his parting statement outside the famous black door saying he was 'sorry' and had 'heard the anger' of the country and the 'clear message' of the ballot.

Sir Keir trumpeted his victory at a rally in central London in the early hours after the party formally crested the 325 seats needed to control the Commons, saying 'we did it!'

Sealing his triumph with a kiss from Victoria, he said the British people had 'voted to turn the page' on 14 years of Conservative rule - and delivered a riposte to his critics saying there was 'nothing inevitable' about the outcome.

In a jaw-dropping moment, Liz Truss was among the casualties - giving up a monumental 24,000 majority as she was edged out by Labour in South West Norfolk.

Earlier, Penny Mordaunt and Grant Shapps fell victims to a brutal Tory cull as Labour swept towards election victory.

A glum-looking Defence Secretary suffered a 'Portillo Moment' as he was defeated by Labour in Welwyn Hatfield by around 3,000 votes.

In his parting shot, Mr Shapps said the Conservatives had 'lost' the election rather than Labour winning it - and 'tried the patience' of the public by being divided.

In other rollercoaster developments:

The Greens have enjoyed a bumper night winning four seats, adding three to their tally from 2019;

Labour's overall support in Britain has only gone up by 2 per cent, according to polling guru John Curtice, and that is entirely due to a 17 point boost in Scotland;

Reform has racked up votes and nearly 100 second places, but fallen short of breakthroughs predicted in the initial exit poll;

The SNP has been among the biggest losers, facing being slashed to nine MPs, meaning they would no longer be the biggest party in Scotland;

George Galloway has been ousted by Labour's Paul Waugh in Rochdale, after winning the seat in a by-election previously;

Turnout has been far lower than at the last few general elections;

The Lib Dems claimed victory in Tunbridge Wells, which has been Tory since the seat was created in the 1970s, in Boris Johnson's old seat of Henley and in David Cameron's stronghold of Witney;

The 2024 general election results in full : Live maps and charts

Sir Keir Starmer, the newly-elected PM, and his wife Victoria were clapped in by staff as they entered No10

Sir Keir said he wanted to 'changed the country' but warned it will 'take a while', saying he wanted to restore the values of 'service' to politics. He admitted that many people did not believe he would improve the country

Labour's victory is being dubbed a 'loveless landslide' and a 'super meh-jority' with Sir Keir's party having received barely one in three votes across the UK

Polling experts highlighted how Labour's vote share of 33.8 per cent is likely to be less than any of Sir Tony 's general election victories in 1997, 2001 or 2005

Sir Keir acknowledged 'weariness at the heart of the nation' today after his so-called 'loveless landslide' in the election

Sir Keir and wife Victoria walked into their new home after he delivered his first speech as PM this afternoon

The Labour leader was cheered into Downing Street by jubilant activists this afternoon after he was formally installed as Britain's 58th PM

The Labour leader, with wife Victoria, received a rapturous welcome after returning from the Palace where he had an audience with the King around noon, shortly after Rishi Sunak exited having tendered his resignation

Keir Starmer having his audience with the King as he was made Prime Minister on Friday

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: 'The King received in Audience The Right Honourable Sir Keir Starmer MP today and requested him to form a new Administration.'

Keir Starmer, with wife Victoria, was driven up to the Palace for his audience with the King shortly after Rishi Sunak exited, having tendered his resignation

Flanked by clearly emotional wife Akshata, the PM delivered his parting statement as he prepares to head for Buckingham Palace where he will formally tender his resignation to the King

Akshata was carrying an umbrella as the couple emerged in Downing Street - as it was threatening to rain as it did when he announced the election

The Sunaks walked away hand in hand after he made his short and emotional farewell speech

The couple walked away to be taken to the Palace, where Mr Sunak told the King he was resigning

The outgoing PM was greeted by the King's aides at Buckingham Palace this morning as the traditional handover happened

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On the steps of Downing Street, Sir Keir said Britain had 'voted decisively for change, for national renewal and a return of politics to public service'.

'When the gap between the sacrifices made by people and the service they receive from politicians grows this big, it leads to a weariness in the heart of a nation, a draining away of the hope, the spirit, the belief in a better future,' he said.

'But we need to move forward together. Now this wound, this lack of trust can only be healed by actions not words, I know that.

'But we can make a start today with the simple acknowledgement that public service is a privilege and that your government should treat every single person in this country with respect.'

He said: 'Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while.

'But have no doubt that the work of change begins immediately. Have no doubt that we will rebuild Britain, with wealth created in every community. Our NHS back on its feet facing the future. Secure borders, safer streets, everyone treated with dignity and respect at work. The opportunity of clean British power, cutting your energy bills for good.

'Brick by brick, we will rebuild the infrastructure of opportunity. The world-class schools and colleges, the affordable homes that I know are the ingredients of hope for working people. The security, the working-class families like mine could build their lives around.'

Sir Keir promised a government 'unburdened by doctrine' and to fight for people's belief in a brighter future.

The Labour leader said: 'If I asked you now whether you believe that Britain will be better for your children, I know too many of you would say no.

'So, my Government will fight every day until you believe again.

Staff and supporters looked on as Sir Keir made his promises to the country outside the Downing Street door

The couple stood on the steps while photographers recorded the moment for posterity on Friday

The Starmers embraced as they prepared to enter No10 for the first time this afternoon

The Starmers were then clapped into the historic building by staff including Cabinet Secretary Simon Case (centre)

'From now on, you have a Government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by the determination to serve your interest, to defy quietly those who have written our country off.

'You have given us a clear mandate and we will use it to deliver change, to restore service and respect to politics.'

In his valedictory speech, Mr Sunak said: 'I have given this job my all. But you have sent a clear message, and yours is the only judgement that matters.

'This is a difficult day, but I leave this job honoured to have been Prime Minister of the best country in the world.'

Mr Sunak said he would resign as Tory leader once a replacement had been chosen. He also paid tribute to Sir Keir as a public servant, wishing him and his family well in their new duties.

After his short speech the couple - not accompanied by their daughters and with Akshata carrying an umbrella - walked to a waiting car and were driven away to the Palace.

Polling expert Sir John Curtice noted how Labour's vote share was expected to be up by just under two percentage points across the country from 2019.

He said Labour's victory was 'largely on the back of a dramatic 20 point decline in Conservative support'.

In an article for the BBC, Sir John added the increase in Labour's vote share was 'entirely as a result of a 17 point increase in support in Scotland'.

'In Wales, the party's vote has actually fallen back by four points, while in England the party's vote is largely unchanged from 2019,' he wrote.

Rishi Sunak has flown back to London from Yorkshire, where he conceded that Keir Starmer has won and issued a grovelling apology in a shell-shocked speech

A broken PM acknowledged that Keir Starmer had won as he nervously took a victory in his own incredibly safe Richmond & Northallerton seat

Sealing his triumph by embracing wife Victoria, Keir Starmer said the British people had 'voted to turn the page' on 14 years of Conservative rule - and delivered a riposte to his critics saying there was 'nothing inevitable' about the outcome

Keir Starmer trumpeted his victory at a rally in central London after the party formally crested the 325 seats needed to control the Commons

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's wife Victoria at a watch party as the results came in

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria pictured arriving at the Tate Modern earlier on Thursday evening

A broken PM acknowledged that Sir Keir had won as he nervously took a victory in his own incredibly safe Richmond & Northallerton seat

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'It is possible that Labour will secure its landslide on a lower share of the vote (35 per cent in Great Britain) than any of Tony Blair's victories, including the 36 per cent the party won in 2005.

'That itself was hitherto the lowest share of the vote won by a majority single party government. In many ways, this looks more like an election the Conservatives have lost than one Labour has won.'

Asked about her party's low vote share but huge majority, Labour MP Dawn Butler said: 'I think what the discussion will be about will be proportional representation.

'The public will be talking about proportional representation and whether we need to have a debate about it. I've always said that we do need to have a debate about it.'

Channel 4 political editor Gary Gibbon said: 'That massive figure has been delivered with a relatively small percentage of the people.

'That looks like love but that is a loveless landslide. There has not been the sort of enthusiasm that you might expect out there.'

Mr Corbyn's former spokesman, Matt Zarb-Cousin, said: 'Labour is already peddling a narrative that this victory is down to a changed Labour Party.

'The reality of course is Keir Starmer was holding the pass the parcel at the right time, when the Tories eventually imploded. So they've won by default, on a lower share of the vote than 2017.'

Welsh Secretary David Davies, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer, Science minister Michelle Donelan, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk were beaten during a traumatic night for the Tories.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt barely survived in Godalming & Ash. Altogether at least 16 ministers have gone, with Johnny Mercer and Therese Coffey beaten by Labour.

Jacob Rees-Mogg also tumbled in North East Somerset and Hanham. However, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith surprised many by clinging on in Chingford.

There are now no Tory MPs in Wales after Craig Williams, a former Tory aide to Mr Sunak, came third in Mongomeryshire as an independent after being embroiled in a gambling row over the date of the election.

However, there were notable setbacks for Labour with frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth losing to a pro-Gaza independent in Leicester, and shadow health secretary Wes Streeting barely fending off a similar challenge.

Another shadow cabinet minister, Thangam Debonaire, was picked off by the Greens in Bristol Central.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage finally enters Parliament in Clacton after his eighth attempt to become an MP, while his party colleague Lee Anderson has retained Ashfield, Rupert Lowe won Great Yarmouth and Richard Tice scooped Boston and Skegness.

In his speech at the Tate Modern art gallery, Sir Keir said: 'It feels good, I have to be honest. Four-and-a-half years of work changing the party, this is what it is for  a changed Labour Party ready to serve our country, ready to restore Britain to the service of working people.

'And across our country, people will be waking up to the news, relief that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation.

'And now we can look forward, walk into the morning, the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day, shining once again, on a country with the opportunity after 14 years to get its future back.'

At his acceptance speech after being re-elected in Richmond and Northallerton, Mr Sunak said: 'The Labour Party has won this General Election and I have called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.'

Mr Sunak added: 'The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight, there is much to learn and I take responsibility for the loss.'

The Labour leader said 'change begins now' as he was re-elected in Holborn & St Pancras, but his own majority was reduced by a left-wing independent.

Mr Shapps was the first confirmed Cabinet casualty and he hit out at the Tory 'soap opera' which had turned off voters.

'On door after door, voters have been dismayed by our inability to iron out our differences in private and do that and then be united in public,' he said.

'Instead we have tried the patience of traditional Conservative voters with a propensity to create an endless political soap opera out of internal rivalries and divisions which have become increasingly indulgent and entrenched.'

He said there was a danger the Tory party could 'go off on some tangent, condemning ourselves to years of lacklustre opposition'.

In a dramatic night former prime minister Liz Truss lost her Norfolk South West seat to Labour in King's Lynn, Norfolk

Ms Truss was comforted as she fell to an extraordinary defeat in Norfolk this morning

Jonathan Gullis was evicted from Stoke on Trent North as the drama continued on Friday

Mr Gullis has been loyal to Mr Sunak and pleaded for people

Former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg also left Parliament in the Tory bloodbath overnight

Suella Braverman attacked her party for failing to listen to voters

Jeremy Hunt is having to leave Downing Street after being kicked out of government - but holding his seat

Ms Mordaunt, who is likely to have been a leadership contender if she had survived, said her party had taken a 'battering because it failed to honour the trust that people had placed in it'.

She too warned against a retreat to the right: 'Our renewal as a party and a country will not be achieved by us talking to an ever smaller slice of ourselves but being guided by the people of our country. And if we want again to be the natural party of government, then our values must be the people's.

Former home secretary Suella Braverman, who will now be considered a leading contender to replace Mr Suank, said the party had let the British people down.

'You, the great British people, voted for us over 14 years and we did not keep our promises,' she said.

'I will do everything in my power to rebuild trust.

'We need to listen to you, you have spoken to us very clearly.'

Party chair Ric Holden won a desperate struggle for Basildon & Billericay, emerging on top by just 20 votes after a series of recounts.

Mr Sunak is expected to announce he is quitting as leader but stay on until a replacement is chosen.

Ex-home secretary Suella Braverman, at her count, said she was 'sorry' for the behaviour of her party and how it had abandoned core supporters' values.

Sir Keir's ally Lord Mandelson gloated that he was 'gobsmacked' and an 'electoral meteor' had 'struck planet Earth'. He said it would have required a 'superman' to save the Tories and Rishi Sunak 'is not superman'.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting was in tears as he was told the figures on live TV.

A dire campaign for Mr Sunak came stuttering to a halt last night, with the PM making a series more defensive visits in the South East.

He now faces being out of Downing Street this morning.

Former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson told Sky News that it looked like a 'massacre'.

The Tories have quickly plunged into a dangerous new phase of crisis, with questions over whether it can even survive amid the challenge from Reform.

A former Cabinet minister - who regarded their own significant majority as under threat - said Mr Sunak had 'knifed' Boris Johnson and would be remembered as the 'worst PM ever'.

ex-Cabinet minister

's

Swindon South seat with a 9,000 majority.

In the first tangible evidence of the hammering, Labour 's Heidi Alexander took

But Sir Robert gave a stark warning against the Tories lurching to the right, saying the party risked being like 'bald men fighting over a comb' if it treated politics as 'performance art' and tried to outflank Reform.

Sir John Curtice told the BBC: 'It looks as though Reform may win more seats than many polls suggested.

'This is largely because, not only has the Conservative vote fallen far in seats they previously held, but also because Reform has advanced most in areas people voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum.

'However, how many seats Reform will win is highly uncertain  our model suggests there are many places where they have some - but a relatively low - chance of winning.'

Mr Farage hailed signs of a breakthrough after Reform pushed the Tories into third place in two early constituency results.

On a video posted to X he said: 'It's midnight, there are two results in from the north-east of England that put Reform on 30 per cent of the vote, that is way more than any possible prediction or projection. It is almost unbelievable.

'And what does it mean? It means we're going to win seats, many many seats I think right now across the country.

'But to watch the TV coverage it's almost comical. There's not a single representative on there from Reform UK, mainstream media are in denial just as much as our political parties.

'This is going to be six million votes-plus. This, folks, is huge.'

A Conservative spokesman said they had to wait for the full outcome, but added: 'If these results are correct it is clear that Starmer and Angela Rayner will be in Downing Street tomorrow.'

Conservatives with big majorities had become increasingly nervous during the day, despite CCHQ claiming that higher-than-expected turnout could help them.

One former Cabinet minister told MailOnline: 'There appears to be a bigger turnout than normal in some of my areas. Not all though.

'That would seem to indicate a determination on the part of the electorate to make their views heard, almost certainly likely to be against the Tories.'

Former Labour leader Lord Neil Kinnock said the exit poll's landslide prediction was 'the greatest comeback since Lazarus'.

The former Labour leader told ITV News: 'A gain of 208, according to the exit poll, which is attributable directly to Keir Starmer and what he's achieved in four years, two of which of course were during the lockdown, or the virtual lockdown when the one thing that opposition leaders depend on  contact with the public  was absent.

'It's the biggest comeback since Lazarus.'

He went on: 'I must say I'm just ecstatic about the fact that an entirely dependable, fully grown-up guy, Keir Starmer, and his wife, are going to go through that door tomorrow. I have unalloyed and unreserved delight.'

Less than an hour before the exit poll dropped, Downing Street released a dissolution honours list - sending seven Tories and eight Labour politicians to the Lords. They include Theresa May, Rishi Sunak's chief aide Liam Booth-Smith, Chris Grayling and former 1922 committee chair Graham Brady.

Harriet Harman and Margaret Beckett are among those on the Labour list - despite Sir Keir having committed to abolishing the Upper House.

Mr Sunak took a huge political gamble and shocked Westminster by triggering the election on May 22, rather than waiting until the Autumn as had been widely expected.

Nigel Farage has won the Clacton seat, the eighth time he has attempted to become an MP

Penny Mordaunt was among the Cabinet ministers washed away in the red wave

Ex-home secretary Suella Braverman , at her count, said she was 'sorry' for the behaviour of her party and how it had abandoned core supporters' values

Jeremy Hunt is fighting to cling on to his Surrey constituency

Lord Mandelson said an electoral 'meteor' had hit British politics

Moments after ballot stations closed at 10pm, the dramatic exit poll was released - showing Sir Keir winning 410 of the 650 seats

It initially looked to be paying off, with early policies from the Tory campaign - such as national citizen service - seeming to cut through.

In a big moment, Mr Farage responded by ruling out standing as a Reform candidate, admitting he did not have time to put together a campaign.

But even then the Tories did not see a real bounce in the polls. The Tories lost key legislation including Mr Sunak's flagship smoking ban during the 'wash-up' as Parliament was dissolved for the campaign.

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And then a grim week in early June saw things go spectacularly downhill, with Mr Farage dropping the bombshell that had changed his mind and was taking over the leadership of Reform as well as standing to be MP for Clacton.

Although Mr Sunak was seen as landing blows on Sir Keir over tax during their first TV debate on June 4, disaster struck when the PM opted to return early from D-Day anniversary commemorations in France to conduct an interview with ITV.

A subsequent grovelling apology did not prevent Mr Farage and opponents seizing on the blunder, which struck right at the heart of the Tory goal of shoring up the core vote among older generations.

With polls already showing Reform eating into Tory support with potent attacks on immigration, Mr Sunak was then engulfed in another scandal.

It emerged that his closest Parliamentary aide, Craig Williams had successfully placed bets on the date of the snap election - although he insisted he did not have any inside information.

Other candidates and top party officials were then dragged into the allegations, which proved particularly toxic with the public.

Mr Sunak was memorably challenged on the issue during TV appearances, admitting he was 'incredibly angry'. But he was seen as taking far too long to withdraw support for candidates facing allegations.

With some polls even showing Reform ahead of the Tories, CCHQ shifted tactics to warn of the threat of a divided Right handing Labour a 'supermajority' with untrammeled power.

That together with controversial remarks from Mr Farage about the West 'provoking' Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and revelations about unsavoury comments by a series of Reform candidates looked to have stopped the bleeding.

But after a bruising six weeks Labour's huge advantage was intact, and the only significant change was that the Tories had lost ground to Reform.

By yesterday, despite Mr Sunak's claim he was 'fighting hard for every vote', his close ally Mel Stride was effectively acknowledging the Conservatives would lose - an unprecedented step.

The Work and Pensions Secretary said Labour would get an 'extraordinary landslide on a scale that has probably never, ever been seen in this country before'.

As tension built through election day, the Tories claimed a higher-than-expected turnout had left them with a 'MUCH better chance' than cataclysmic polls had suggested.

An email to Conservative supporters, signed from the 'CCHQ Data Team', read: 'We're getting reports from our teams on the ground. And the more reports we get, the more it looks like turnout is higher than expected.

'That means we could have a MUCH better chance than polls have suggested. So if you haven't voted yet, now's the time to get out.'

Queues of people were seen at polling stations on Thursday as the requirement for voters to bring correct photo identification - such as a passport or driving licence - was enforced at a UK general election for the first time.

There was a bungle at a Glasgow polling station this morning as voters were met with posters listing the wrong instructions, which erroneously advised the ranking of candidates in order of preference.

This is how ballots are cast in local elections in Scotland, which use the single transferable vote system. But general elections use the first-past-the-post system, which requires voters to put a single 'X' next to their chosen candidate.

Glasgow City Council explained the error was spotted 'very soon' after the polling station opened at 7am and the posters were replaced with the correct information. It said no-one had been disenfranchised as voters' first preferences would be used from the affected ballots.

Cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch this afternoon blasted her own local council for having 'potentially disenfranchised' thousands of postal voters who did not receive their ballot papers.

The Business Secretary hit out at Uttlesford District Council for 'forgetting' to send postal votes to 2,600 people in her North West Essex seat.

Prior to polls opening this morning, Rishi Sunak made an 11th-hour plea for voters to prevent a 'socialist supermajority' wrecking Britain, as he repeated his warning against handing Sir Keir 'unchecked' power.
Senior SNP figures have been left reeling after a 'cataclysmic' night in which their party slumped to its biggest ever loss of MPs.

The SNP won just nine of the 56 Scottish constituencies declared yesterday after voters deserted them following a series of scandals and controversies.

With one Scottish constituency result still to be announced today, the SNP's group in the Commons will collapse compared with the 48 seats it won in 2019.

It led to major questions about the election strategy adopted by John Swinney  while one of its most prominent MPs urged Nicola Sturgeon to accept her share of the blame.

Voters turned against the SNP amid the continuing police probe into its funding and finances, which led to Ms Sturgeon's husband being charged in connection to the embezzlement of funds from the party.

First Minister John Swinney suffered a devastating blow,only managing to hold on to just nine of the 56 Scottish constituencies

Joanna Cherry, MP for Edinburgh South West at the general election where she lost her seat

Mr Swinney has faced criticism and promised to to 'look very carefully' at why its vote collapsed and 'work hard' to rebuild trust with the electorate

Former MP Mhairi Black, who stood down at the election,addressing the commons

It has also faced criticism for controversies involving its MPs and its performance at Holyrood. Former MP Mhairi Black, who stood down at the election, said: 'What was expected to be a difficult night for the SNP now looks set to be cataclysmic.

'Blaming voters, or doing anything other than serious self-reflection, is precisely the kind of attitude that has turned so many away from the SNP.'

The party lost more seats than its previous biggest ever losses in 2017, when 21 of its MPs were ousted.

John Swinney has admitted the SNP suffered a 'very difficult and damaging' election night with 'significant implications' for the party and its independence plans.

The First Minister said the SNP would have to 'look very carefully' at why its vote collapsed and 'work hard' to rebuild trust with the electorate.

However, the SNP leader refused to consider his own position or take separation 'off the table'.

Speaking from his local count in Perthshire, Mr Swinney said his party would be doing 'a lot of soul searching'. He added: 'This is an enormous victory for the Labour Party, but it has significant implications for the SNP.

'We have to look carefully at what happened and learn lessons from it as we work hard to build the trust we must enjoy with the people of Scotland.'

Mr Swinney also conceded the SNP had to be 'better at governing' and delivering on its policies.

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Voters turned against the SNP amid the continuing police probe into its funding and finances, which led to Ms Sturgeon's husband being charged in connection to embezzlement

Peter Murrell, former SNP chief executive and husband of ex-first minister Nicola Sturgeon who was embroiled in an embezzlement scandal

Asked if he accepted the SNP's emphatic defeat meant independence was now 'a very hard sell', Mr Swinney said: 'Polls still show about half the population want our country to be independent, but that has not manifested itself in the election results.

It now faces a battle to hold onto power at the next Holyrood election in 2026 after Labour's vote soared in Scotland.

Labour won 37 seats north of the Border and 35.7 per cent of the vote, compared with the SNP's nine seats and 29.9 per cent vote share.

The Conservatives won five seats and 12.9 per cent of the vote, while the Lib Dems also won five seats and secured a vote share of 9.1 per cent.

During her appearance as a pundit on ITV's election results programme, Ms Sturgeon condemned the SNP's election campaign and said 'a lot of questions need to be asked'.

She said: 'I think there will be a question about whether there was enough in the campaign to give effectively a USP to the SNP in an election that was about getting the Tories out and replacing them with Labour.'

Joanna Cherry, who saw her huge majority overturned as she was defeated by Labour in Edinburgh South West, said the SNP needed to have an 'open and honest appraisal of what has gone wrong here, otherwise this setback is not going to be reversed'.

Asked on the BBC who was responsible for her party's reputation taking a battering, Ms Cherry, who has opposed the SNP's gender reforms, said: 'Clearly there's been a lot of criticism about the policy priorities that were followed under the leadership of Nicola Sturgeon.

'There was a huge focus on identity politics, to perhaps the detriment of the public's priorities. And I also feel clearly that some recent scandals have damaged the party's reputation.

The SNP leader with Hannah Bardell, the candidate for Livingstone on the final day of campaigning

Mr Swinney said that the polls still showed about half the population want independence but added that that has not manifested itself in the election results

'Integrity has been a big issue in this election and I personally believe that integrity is very important in politics, and I think the public do as well.'

Pressed on Ms Sturgeon saying it had been a grim night for the SNP, Ms Cherry said: 'Well, I think the failure to advance the cause of independence and the loss of focus on the public's priorities happened under her watch, so I think she has to take her share of the blame.

'The blame shouldn't fall all on one person, but it certainly shouldn't be entirely directed at those who were left holding the baby when she suddenly resigned a year and a half ago.'

Former SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford admitted that voters have 'fallen out of love' with the party.

When the BBC's Kirsty Wark told him it had been a 'catastrophic' night for the SNP, he said: 'It is, and we have to reflect very carefully on what the public have told us.

'I think to some extent people have fallen out of love with us and we must listen to why.'

The SNP will fall behind the Lib Dems and be the fourth biggest party in the Commons, which could result in it losing 1million of public 'short money' handed to opposition parties  piling pressure on its finances after donations dried up.
GENERAL ELECTION 2024 LIVE: Follow MailOnline's liveblog for latest updates

John McDonnell has admitted that people 'voted to get rid of the Tories' rather than for the Labour party amid growing calls for proportional representation.

The Labour grandee was discussing Keir Starmer's landslide victory on July 4, when he made the admission to the panel: 'I dont think we particularly inspired them to come out and vote Labour.'

He also vocalised his support for a new electoral system in the UK using proportional representation, claiming the low turnout out of voters this year, which was at its lowest since 2001, meant that the government 'have a fragile link on power'.

He added that it was time to demonstrate 'competent government' but also 'inspirational government', and that Labour mustn't waste this opportunity.

Map of the UK showing the change from the 2019 election results to the 2024 election results

The Labour grandee was discussing Keir Starmer 's landslide victory on July 4, when he made the admission to the panel: 'I dont think we particularly inspired them to come out and vote Labour'

He also vocalised his support for a new electoral system in the UK using proportional representation, claiming the low turnout out of voters this year, which was at its lowest since 2001, meant that the government 'have a fragile link on power'

Keir Starmer trumpeted his victory at a rally in central London after the party formally crested the 325 seats needed to control the Commons

Graphic showing the difference between the votes received by each party and the number of corresponding seats they won

This comes as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also slammed the current electoral system as 'outdated' and 'not fit for purpose'.

The party won a fifth seat in the General Election by just a whisker of a lead this afternoon after a recount in an Essex constituency saw their candidate take a majority of 98 votes.

With five MPs now under his wing in the House of Commons, Mr Farage was also quick to point out that under proportional representation his party would have actually won 100 seats.

He has strongly voiced his intention to change the current first-past-the-post system.

Across the UK, more than four million votes - accounting for 14 per cent of the total vote - were cast for Reform in the general election, with the party securing just five MPs, The Telegraph reports.

In contrast, the Liberal Democrats received fewer votes - 3.5 million - but now have 71 MPs.

Polling expert Sir John Curtice noted how Labour's vote share was expected to be up by just under two percentage points across the country from 2019.

He said Labour's victory was 'largely on the back of a dramatic 20 point decline in Conservative support'.

Graphic showing how the House of Commons will look after the July 4 general election

The general election in numbers.

In an article for the BBC, Sir John added the increase in Labour's vote share was 'entirely as a result of a 17 point increase in support in Scotland'.

'In Wales, the party's vote has actually fallen back by four points, while in England the party's vote is largely unchanged from 2019,' he wrote.

'It is possible that Labour will secure its landslide on a lower share of the vote (35 per cent in Great Britain) than any of Tony Blair's victories, including the 36 per cent the party won in 2005.

'That itself was hitherto the lowest share of the vote won by a majority single party government. In many ways, this looks more like an election the Conservatives have lost than one Labour has won.'

Nigel Farage has won the Clacton seat, the eighth time he has attempted to become an MP

Sealing his triumph by embracing wife Victoria, Keir Starmer said the British people had 'voted to turn the page' on 14 years of Conservative rule - and delivered a riposte to his critics saying there was 'nothing inevitable' about the outcome

Asked about her party's low vote share but huge majority, Labour MP Dawn Butler said: 'I think what the discussion will be about will be proportional representation.

'The public will be talking about proportional representation and whether we need to have a debate about it. I've always said that we do need to have a debate about it.'

Former Tory leader William Hague warned Labour their landslide win had not come about due to a 'wave of enthusiasm' and said Sir Keir had to 'show results in a short time' after replacing Mr Sunak as PM.

He told Times Radio: 'When you look at the distribution of the votes, the reason why Labour has won so many seats, a huge proportion of the seats, is that the Conservative vote went down very, very heavily, the heaviest defeat in the whole history of the Conservative Party.

'The Labour vote hasn't actually gone up very much, except in Scotland. But in the rest of the UK, the Labour vote has only crept up, if at all.

'And that is a warning because it shows there isn't a wave of enthusiasm. Unless they show results in a short time, they can have things this way around in five years' time.'
A bronzed Joe Biden made a bizarre claim about inventing a computer chip during his make-or-break interview Friday.

Biden, 81, would repeatedly respond to questions in a raspy, weary voice, often losing track mid-sentence and at times ignoring questions in an attempt to make occasionally outlandish claims about his record.

The president at one point told George Stephanopoulos that 'we used to have 40 percent of computer chips. We invented the chip, the little chip, the computer chip. It's in everything from cell phone to weapons.'

The first microchip was invented by Texas engineer Jack Kilby in 1958. Biden may have been referring to his administration's efforts to bring chip production back to the US after COVID-related supply chain shortages.

But his debate fiasco and subsequent flubs mean critics within his own party are waiting to pounce on any unspecific ramblings as evidence of Biden's unsuitability to run - including a claim made yesterday that he is a black woman.

Biden also rejected taking an independent medical evaluation that would show voters he is up for serving another term in office.

'Look, I have a cognitive test every single day,' Biden said, referring to the tasks he faces daily in a rigorous job. 'Every day, Ive had tests. Everything I do.'

A bronzed Joe Biden made a bizarre claim about inventing a computer chip during his make-or-break interview Friday

Biden was gently but repeatedly probed by Stephanopoulos about whether he was being realistic in his belief that he could beat Trump, giving widening polls between the two and growing concern from elected Democrats.

'I don't think anyone is more qualified,' Biden told Stephanopoulos in the interview. The polls, he said, were inaccurate.

Asked whether he would drop out if fellow Democrats in Congress said he was hurting their re-election chances in November, Biden said: 'If the Lord Almighty comes out and tells me that I might do that.'

The 22-minute interview, which Stephanopoulos said was not cut or edited, was being closely watched by Democrats concerned about the president's ability to serve another four years, or beat Trump, 78, in the election, after his faltering debate performance on June 27.

A senior House of Representatives Democratic aide, who declined to be named, told Reuters after watching a short clip aired before the interview: 'I don't see how he (Biden) lasts the week as the nominee.'

He insisted that he was not more frail and that he is 'still in good shape.' He said he has an 'ongoing assessment' by his personal doctors and they 'don't hesitate to tell me' if something is wrong.

Biden was also asked how he'd feel if Trump beats him and it all comes down to that first debate performance.

'I'll feel, as long as I gave it my all, and I did as goodest job as I know I can do, that's what this is about,' he said, making up the word 'goodest'.

Biden, 81, would repeatedly respond to questions in a raspy, weary voice, often losing track mid-sentence and at times ignoring questions in an attempt to make occasionally outlandish claims about his record

The president at one point told George Stephanopoulos that ' we used to have 40 percent of computer chips. We invented the chip, the little chip, the computer chip. It's in everything from cell phone to weapons'

Following the highly anticipated interview that was seen as a significant test of his fitness to run for office, ABC News' Jonathan Karl said a prominent ally of the president could only say 'wow' in response to that quote.

Biden spoke to Stephanopoulos in a voice that resembled the weak rasp of his debate showing after questioning whether he'd even re-watched it, saying 'I don't know why' he had such a bad performance.

He insisted that he was not more frail and that he is 'still in good shape.' He said he has an 'ongoing assessment' by his personal doctors and they 'don't hesitate to tell me' if something is wrong.

During the interview, Biden said he undergoes 'ongoing assessment' by his personal doctors and they 'don't hesitate to tell me' if something is wrong.

'Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But Im still in good shape,' Biden said.

Biden suggested that Trumps disruptions - while standing just a few feet from him - had flustered him: 'I realized that, even when I was answering a question and they turned his mic off, he was still shouting and I let it distract me. Im not blaming it on that. But I realized that I just wasnt in control.'

Asked how he might turn the race around, Biden argued that one key would be large and energetic rallies like the one he held Friday in Wisconsin. When pressed that Trump routinely draws larger crowds, the president laid into his opponent.

'Trump is a pathological lair,' Biden said, accusing Trump of bungling the federal response to the COVID pandemic and failing to create jobs. 'You ever see something that Trump did that benefited someone else and not him?'

Biden repeatedly rejected taking an independent medical evaluation that would show voters he is up for serving another term in office

Biden was gently but repeatedly probed by Stephanopoulos about whether he was being realistic in his belief that he could beat Trump, giving widening polls between the two and growing concern from elected Democrats

Biden also insisted he was the 'most qualified' to lead Democrats against Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

He also tried to claim his performance last week was a 'bad episode' and there were 'no indications of any serious condition.'

'I was feeling terrible,' said Biden, his voice hoarse and sometimes halting. 'Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they're trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold.

'I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing,' Biden added.

Yet Biden's rigorous efforts to course correct from his debate performance were not yet quelling internal party frustrations, with one influential Democratic senator working on a nascent push that would encourage the president to exit the race and Democrats quietly chatting about where they would go next if the president drops out - or what it would mean if he stays in.
Queenslanders have thrown their support behind a bill that would allow homeowners to potentially kill intruders.

Katter's Australian Party (KAP) introduced the US-style Castle Law to the state parliament on June 11, which would allow residents to take the drastic measures.

Figures issued last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that a shocking 289,657 Queenslanders had been the victims of crime in 2023.

'If an intruder enters a home or dwelling illegally, the occupier should be able to use all reasonable force repercussions to defend themselves without legal repercussions,' KAP leader Robbie Katter said.

More than 40,000 Queenslanders have since signed a petition calling for them to be allowed to kill home intruders without legal consequence.

But not everyone agrees, with both legal professionals and victims of crime expressing doubts about the bill.

The Queensland Law Society (QLS) slammed the KAP proposal, saying it is 'terrifying' and based on a misunderstanding of the existing law.

QLS told the Cairns Post that state law already allows people to use guns in self-defence against criminals and the proposed bill 'won't fix the current issues we are seeing with property invasions and must be denounced'.

Queenslanders have thrown their support behind a bill that would allow homeowners to potentially kill intruders out of self defence (pictured, a home invasion in Queensland)

Townsville mum Asti Savage, 44, who has been the victim of multiple crimes, also has her doubts about KAP's bill.

She became a paraplegic after being hit by a drunk driver in a stolen car in 2001, and years later was shot at through her window by a man who was convicted, but found to be insane.

And just last month Ms Savage was the victim of a home invasion, where her bag was stolen as she sat in her chair.

Her car was also stolen while the youths responsible taunted her over the theft.

Despite all she has endured over more than two decades, she offered words of caution about the Castle Law bill.

'People should be able to protect themselves, but if we start to arm ourselves, then they are going to start arming themselves and it will get out of hand,' she said.

'If someone comes at me in my wheelchair to steal my bag, I think it should be legal for me to use mace but I don't think it should be a gun allowed in that instance.'

Lawyer Dan Creevey said there is a lot of misinformation about the existing Queensland laws and what the Castle Law bill proposes.

'Unfortunately, the bill will allow for a form of murder without legal recourse in circumstances where there may be no direct threat to a person's life,' he said.

'Ultimately, the Bill is a dangerous response to crime in Queensland.'

Such laws in the US have been linked to a huge number of shocking incidents, including where a black teenager was shot in the head and arm after mistakenly knocking on the wrong door.

Ralph Yarl, knocked on the door of Andrew Lester, a white man, who shot him twice with a revolver in June 2023.

Mr Yarl, who had been looking to collect his twin younger brothers but went to the wrong house, was left with 'permanent injuries' and his family has filed a civil lawsuit against Mr Lester in Missouri.

The latest Queensland crime statistics came as the state faced a youth crime crisis highlighted by a report published by the state's auditor-general.

More than 40,000 Queenslanders have since signed a petition calling for them to be allowed to kill home intruders without legal consequence (stock image)

Katter's Australian Party leader Robbie Katter (left) is pictured with deputy leader Nick Dametto (right)

The report found 55 per cent of all youth crime in the state from 2022-23 had been committed by 'serious repeat offenders'.

It also reported the average daily number of serious repeat offenders had jumped by 64 per cent from 278 in 2018-19 to 457 in 2022-23.

Queensland's Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath acknowledged the people who had signed the petition calling for a law change, but said there were no plans to review the state's self-defence laws.

But with Labor predicted to lose the state election just over three months from now, the KAP bill is likely to be reintroduced later this year.
Shocked commuters watched on as a vicious brawl broke out on a suburban train during evening rush hour.

The fight broke out between two men on Adelaide's southern Seaford line on Friday at about 6.45pm after some verbal sparring.

CCTV footage showed a man in a hooded orange pullover take a number of round-arm punches at another man's head.

'I'm a f***ing beast and you aren't, so f*** off,' the man in the orange top shouted.

'F*** off man, you ain't s***, if you ain't trained then f*** off.'

Terrified passengers looked on as a third man became involved and held the man on the receiving blows in a headlock while the third person continued his attack.

A woman then intervened by pressing the emergency stop button while telling the men to 'get off, stop it'.

The men exited the train at Oaklands Railway Station in Adelaide's south-west.

A vicious brawl broke out on between three men on an Adelaide commuter train on Friday evening

The brawl started with some verbal sparring between two men but soon became a melee of wild blows

South Australian transport minister Tom Koutsantonis has vowed to find the men and ban them from taking public transport for life.

'They're idiots,' Mr Koutsantonis told 9News on Friday.

'We cannot tolerate assaults on public transport, we have zero tolerance for it.

'I'll ban them for life, absolutely.'

Roaming security patrols on Adelaide do not start until 7pm and members of the public have called for this to be extended to more standard commuting hours.

'I think to the peak time would be better,' one commuter said.

'It'd be good to have them during peak hours like 5pm,' another commuter said.

SA Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis has vowed to find the men and ban them from taking public transport for life

Police have been called in to investigate the incident and are reviewing the CCTV footage.

Mr Koutsantonis said there was a good chance the men could be identified.

'We've got their pictures, we possibly even have their credit card details and we are forwarding this all on to police,' he said.
The former lover of Gavin Plumb who plotted to kidnap then rape and murder Holly Willoughby has revealed he dangled her over a stairwell during years of 'evil' abuse.

Laura Roberts, who gave birth to the twisted security guard's two children during their three year relationship, branded him a 'complete fantasist' warned 'he has done it before and he will do it again'.

She called Plumb a 'true monster' and said she wanted to give Holly a hug and to say sorry.

Ms Roberts heartbreakingly said she blames herself to what happened to her as she should have left him sooner.

'I was not surprised when I heard what he had done- it all fitted in. He has done it before and he will do it again,' she said.

Plumb, 37, was convicted of soliciting the murder, rape and kidnap of the television presenter at Chelmsford Crown Court after a seven day trial.

Laura Roberts said she was not surprised he threatened to kill Holly Willoughby

Laura Roberts said Plumb had 'done it before and he will do it again,' when asked about him

Adrian Broad, the father of Gavin, said he lost contact with him after the marriage to his mother broke down

Ms Roberts told The Sun: 'I have seen the darkest side to him and he is capable of evil.

'The thought that he was planning to do to Holly what he did to me, it is keeping me awake at night.

'It came so close to happening to her and she doesn't even know him.'

She went on to say she was sorry that 'lovely lady' Holly had to go 'through hell' like she did because of him.

Ms Roberts told the Telegraph: 'We were together for three years but I have not seen him since he left.'

Plumb's father, Adrian Broad, told the Daily Mail he rarely saw his son after his marriage to the mother broke down.

He said: 'We split up and I had visitation rights for the boys.

'But I had to stop seeing them because my father-in-law said I couldn't bring them around there any more.

'They all think I abandoned them but I didn't; it's because I had nowhere to take them. None of my boys want to speak to me.'

Gavin Plumb being arrested for plotting to murder the Holly Willoughby

Holly Willoughby was warned by police she was in danger from Gavin Plumb before his trial

Adrian Broad said he ws 'disgusted' by what his son had done but added he needed help

Speaking to the Telegraph, Adrian added his son needed help and argued what his son did was wrong but that he needed some form of support.

'It's just sick, it really is. He needs help, he definitely needs help,' he added.

'It was the [abduction] kit and what he was going to do to her, that's what disgusted me.

'I don't think he's getting the support. I've seen the pictures of him and he's let himself go. I just think he's been basically dumped, especially after he's got in trouble before. I do feel sorry for him.'

The messy flat where the recluse came up with the slickening plot

He then planned to rape her before murdering her and then disposing her body in the lake

Police found equipment including a ball gag, ring gag, blindfolds and cuffs at his flat

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Plumb planned to use a restraining kit during the kidnap of Holly.

The defendant, who weighed up to 30 stone and adopted the user name Big Bear to chat to others about his plot online, appeared to formulate his fantasy as early as 2011 - googling the phrase 'how to meet people who plan to kidnap celebs'.

But his plans were foiled when one of his potential accomplices, who went by the name of David Nelson, turned out to be an undercover officer from the Owatonna Police Department in the US state of Minnesota.

Plumb, 37, claimed he wasn't physically capable of abducting the former This Morning presenter, had no one qualified to drive to her London home, and that vile conversations he had with 'like-minded' people in dark recesses of the internet were 'just online chat'.

Timeline: How Gavin Plumb was snared

October 3, 2023 - Plumb comes to the attention of US undercover officer 'David Nelson' after he posts four photos of Holly Willoughby on the 'Abduct Lovers' forum. These include the caption: 'The one in the public eye that I want.' Mr Nelson contacts him on Kik, writing: 'Alright I'll bite. Who's the hottie with the lazy eye?' Plumb replies: 'She's in the public eye but doesn't have her own security and doesn't have CCTV at her house.' The officer continues exchanging messages with Plumb and decides he poses an 'imminent risk' to Ms Willoughby and passes his details to British police. October 4 - Essex Police raid the suspect's home in Harlow, Essex. He initially tells police 'what are you talking about' and 'please explain to me what the hell is going on'. Told he was under arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to kidnap, Plumb said 'who?' and was told it was Ms Willoughby. He later admits the TV presenter 'is a fantasy of mine'. Advertisement

He told jurors his online chats were 'massively regrettable' and that he was 'heartbroken, disgusted and shocked' that they had come out.

The court heard how Plumb had been planning to kidnap Willoughby 'for about two and a half years' and wanted to 'slit her throat'.

On the third day of his trial, jurors were shown more material from a 'sequence of events', including hundreds of communications he had with others online, as he tried to put together a 'crew' to help him attack Willoughby and other celebrities.

However, the court heard Plumb began his research into kidnapping stars more than a decade ago.

When police seized his phone, they discovered in 2011, he had looked up 'how to meet people who plan to kidnap celebrities'.

In more voice notes, Plumb is heard saying Willoughby was the 'original target' but he and others had about '15 cells' they were 'looking at filling'.

Talking about Willoughby and another potential target, the security guard added: 'We could do both at the same time - meet up, swap vehicles, get both in the same vehicle, take them to their new location basically.'

But a jury took 12 hours and 19 minutes to find him guilty after being presented with a raft of shocking evidence, including a chloroform restraint kit that he planned to use it to kidnap Ms Willoughby.

He then planned to take the TV presenter to an isolated stud farm for sexual torture, kill her and dump her body in a lake.

Jurors heard police recovered millions of images of Holly and other female celebs on his devices following his arrest. Plumb had also shared deepfake pornography of her online.

The 37-year-old fiend spent years fixating on the former This Morning star - tracking her movements and activities for 'some time'.

In May 2022, Plumb sought to book a tour of ITV's studios, telling accomplice Marc, who is believed to have been based in Ireland: 'I'm calling the studio tours tomorrow to see if they're still available and if you meet presenters.'

Plumb never went on such a tour, with Essex Police Detective Constable Will Belsham telling jurors there was no evidence to he had followed through with this plan.

Earlier in the trial, Plumb claimed he wanted to try and use his security training to get close to Willoughby, working as part of her protection team.

'I have passed my SIA [Security Industry Authority] licence so might try to use it to become her security guard,' he said.

In other messages, Plumb detailed an abandoned stud farm in the country as a place where he could 'keep' Holly locked away while he violated her.

He detailed the plans with associate Marc, telling him: 'I'm at the point where idc (I don't care) about the risks or consequences.'

He went online to search the term 'how long does chloroform take to knock someone unconscious?'

The messy flat where the recluse came up with the slickening plot

Plumb, 37, struck up an online relationship with a man who turned out to be undercover police officer

How an undercover US cop exposed Plumb's 'graphic plan' to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby

Gavin Plumb's plan to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby were laid bare during a graphic online chat he had with an undercover American cop. The jury was told that Plumb first became involved in an online chat with the undercover officer calling himself David Nelson on October 3 last year. Nelson wrote: 'Alright I'll bite. Who's the hottie with the lazy eye?' Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told the court: 'She doesn't necessarily look like that but that's what the officer saw.' Plumb explained it was Ms Willoughby and wrote: 'She's in the public eye but doesn't have her own security.' Nelson said: 'Why did you post her up in the abduction group?' Plumb replied: 'Why do you think?' Asked it he would be 'up for it', the officer told the defendant: 'I'm in New York never heard of this gal but I could travel if this was a serious thing.' Photos of Miss Willoughby's home were shared and the officer asked: 'How the hell would you pull this off without the cops finding out?' Plumb allegedly wrote: 'Night home invasion by the time they are called I'll be long gone.' He went on to complain about other people getting 'cold feet', adding: 'Got everything to hold her and chloroform.' Asked if he was 'looking for help with this', Plumb wrote: 'Definitely.' He continued: 'It's a home invasion so we'll use the chloroform on her and her husband tie both up take her leave him then it's take to where she's being kept and enjoy her.' The officer asked when he wanted to carry out the plan and was told: 'As soon as been planning for about 2 and a half years.' Plumb was sent a photo of a fake ID card so he would recognise the man he thought was called David Nelson if he flew into London the following week. The officer was sent a selfie of Plumb when he asked the defendant: 'Can you send me something so I know your real?' Plumb allegedly sent the undercover officer an image of a woman who lived nearby 'to practice on' before the raid on Miss Willoughby's house. Describing the plan for the raid, he wrote: 'We'll jump the outer wall break in chloroform both her and her husband tie both up with zip ties and gag both take her out of the house and take her out in her car dump it and get rid of her phone etc and anything she can be tracked with.' The officer asked 'how will this all end' and was allegedly told: 'When we get board of her then we get rid wash her in bleach and put her in a lake at night once she's had her throat cut of course.' Advertisement

Plumb's 62-year-old mother, who worked as a hospital healthcare assistant, declined to speak with the Mail but has resolutely stuck up for her son despite his obvious flaws and failings.

'His mum is a big part of his life,' a family friend said. 'She adores him and worships the ground he walks on. She loves her children unconditionally.'

Described as a 'quiet' child, Plumb grew up collecting Ghostbusters merchandise and playing the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.

'He was biggish; simple-looking,' said the mother of an old school friend at Passmores secondary school in Harlow. 'He's always been like that.'

Indeed, by the age of 13, Plumb had started to put on so much weight that he noticed girls would 'friendzone' him rather than fancy him. Those who know him believe his future behaviour around women is rooted in the sexual frustration he experienced from then on.

And by August 2006, then 19, Plumb began to have violent problems with women.

He targeted two uniformed Ryanair workers travelling from Bishop's Stortford to Stansted Airport.

In the first incident he sat in front of one of the women and handed her a note. It read: 'I will do anything.'

For this he was handed a 12 month suspended sentence.

He was then jailed for 32 months after attacking two teenage girls in 2008 threatening them with a blade.

Essex Police's senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Greg Wood said: 'Gavin Plumb is a dangerous, predatory individual who was intent on causing the most serious harm to his victim.

'He was not just simply obsessed with Holly Willoughby, he meticulously and carefully planned, over a number of years, to carry out a depraved and violent attack, in which he plotted to deprive her of her liberty and ultimately her life.

'His claims in court that he was a 'fantasist' are simply not true and were evidenced by the extent with which he plotted with others to carry out his wicked plan.

Pointing to Plumb's 'history of attacking other women', DCI Wood continued: 'He is a dangerous man and I have no doubt he was determined to carry out the acts he planned.

'Today, we are extremely grateful to our law enforcement colleague in America who not only brought Gavin Plumb to our attention, but helped gather the vital evidence that secured his conviction.

'We would also like to thank the victim who has courageously supported this case throughout and bravely waived her anonymity.

'Today, Gavin Plumb remains where he belongs - behind bars. At Essex Police we will continue to do all we can to seek out those intent on causing violence and harm to women and girls and, like this defendant, put them behind bars.

'There is simply no place for dangerous individuals like him on either the streets of Essex, or wider society, and we will do all we can to continue to make our communities safe for all.'

The sentencing will take place on July 12.
Joe Biden just stuck up his middle finger and told Americans everywhere: Screw you.

In a taped interview that lasted only 22 minutes, the President insisted his dire poll numbers weren't real  'fake news', if you will  that the Democratic party has no concerns about his fitness to lead, and that the only way he would exit the race is 'if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me'.

What  Barack Obama isn't close enough?

If Americans had a shred of sympathy for Biden after last week's CNN debate  if they felt that perhaps he didn't know how dire his condition was, that likely his family were keeping him in the race for their own purposes  well, Joe took that notion into the public square and shot it dead.

This interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, meant to be damage control, has only further enraged Democrat politicians and big donors who, since that calamitous Trump debate, have pressed the President to step aside.

Make no mistake: Joe Biden, for all his hackneyed talk about 'battling for the soul of America', cares not one whit for that.

He cares about staying in power. Full stop.

Joe Biden just stuck up his middle finger and told Americans everywhere: Screw you.

Biden may or may not be lying to himself, but he's for damn sure lying to the American people when he says all is well.

Stephanopoulos: Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?

Biden: I don't think I did, no.

I don't think I did?

That debate is seared into the frontal lobes of everyone who saw it. Biden's performance is a national trauma, enough for his cheerleaders at MSNBC and the New York Times to finally express grave alarm and call for him to step aside immediately.

Yet in practically the next breath, Biden claimed that he's certain he doesn't need a neurological exam  because, he said with absolute surety, his doctors haven't told him he needs one.

'No one said I had to', Biden said. 'No one said. They said I'm good.'

Which is it? He can't recall if he watched last week's debate  effectively the end of his political career  or he's utterly sure despite the panic among the liberal elite, party donors and all of America's mass media that he's fine and they're wrong? Because it can't be both.

Biden was spray-tanned and puffed up to the hilt, but he couldn't mask his slurring, his garbled diction, or those moments where he lost a name or a fact and stared off with that vacant gaze.

'I just anyway.'

Nor could he hide his rage when Stephanopoulos pressed and pressed, refusing to accept Biden's repeated talking point that 'I just had a bad night'.

If that was a bad night, COVID was a mere inconvenience.

Asked four times if he would consider taking an independent cognitive test and publicly release the results to allay fears, Biden said no.

'George,' he said, 'I'm the guy that put NATO together'.

He is not.

'I'm the guy that shut Putin down.'

Ukraine begs to differ.

'We invented the chip, the little chip, the computer chip.'

Another lie. Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce invented the microchip in 1958. Biden would have been 16 years old.

This interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, meant to be damage control, has only further enraged Democrat politicians and big donors who, since that calamitous Trump debate, have pressed the President to step aside.

Biden may or may not be lying to himself, but he's for damn sure lying to the American people when he says all is well.

'You know,' he said, 'the next president of the United States, it's not just about whether he or she knows what they're doing.'

It's not? Isn't that the baseline level of the job description: Know what you're doing?

Biden  who we recently learned only works at his 'best' between 10am and 4pm, and post-debate asserted that he really needs to work even less, sleep more and stop doing stuff after 8pm  delivered this whopper:

'It's  it's  it's not  not about a con  a conglomerate of people making decisions.'

This is exactly our great fear right now: That a cabal of people we don't know and did not elect, Jill and Hunter Biden among them, are the ones making decisions.

Semafor's Ben Smith reported on a phone call he had with a 'scared' Biden aide on July 4:

'It's unclear even to some inside the West Wing which policy issues reach the president, and how. Major decisions go into an opaque circle and return concluded'.

What is that if not a conglomerate?

Yet Biden has the temerity to say that this race 'is about the character of the president'.

If he had a shred of character, he'd have gone by now. He would have taken the dignified route out.

His refusal to do so, his ego-driven, megalomaniacal insistence on staying in this race  plummeting in the polls against Trump, who he calls our greatest 'threat to democracy'  means the party is going to make him suffer.

When the billionaire donor class drops you  Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and heir to the Disney fortune Abigail Disney are among those who have pulled funding  you're done.

When Hollywood power-broker Ari Emanuel, brother of Obama's one-time chief advisor Rahm Emanuel, says that Biden's condition has left the Democrats in 'F*** City'  well, that's saying the quiet part out loud.

And when George Stephanopoulos, the ultimate Democratic party insider, repeatedly cajoles you to leave in a glorified exit interview, you might take the obvious hint.

Indeed, the left-wing media has now abandoned its most baroque explanations for Biden's age-related decline.

In March, one month after Special Counsel Robert Hur's finding that Biden was 'an elderly man with a poor memory' who couldn't remember when his son Beau died, or the years he served as Vice President, New York Times critic A.O. Scott wrote a lengthy essay asserting that Biden's forgetfulness was merely akin to the 'late style' of greats such as Matisse, Beethoven and Shakespeare.

You couldn't make this up.

Our great fear right now: That a cabal of people we don't know and did not elect, Jill and Hunter Biden among them, are the ones making decisions.

If he had a shred of character, he'd have gone by now. He would have taken the dignified route out.

In New York magazine, Olivia Nuzzi reported this week that Biden no longer recognizes longtime friends.

She quoted a guest who attended a White House event last year as saying that Biden's condition was so alarming 'the guest was now open to an idea that they had previously dismissed as right-wing propaganda: The president may not be the acting president after all'.

Terrifying stuff. Though equally suspect was Nuzzi's admission, in said piece, that she'd been sitting on this information since January. Wonder why?

But as Joe Biden insisted in last night's damning, delusional interview  one he and his loyalists will doubtless call a 'cheap fake'  his polling is strong (Trump is soaring since the debate), his approval rating is up (it's at a dismal 36 percent) , and 'all the governors' support him (Massachusetts Governor Maura Healy reportedly told Biden's chief of staff that his candidacy is 'irretrievable').

Lest there be any doubt that Biden's mask of decency just fell and shattered into a million pieces, consider what he said about Trump in January: 'He's willing to sacrifice our democracy [to] put himself in power'.

When asked by Stephanopoulos if, by refusing to step aside, Trump  remember, greatest threat to democracy, the guy who will never leave, no matter what, ahem  wins this election, Biden shrugged:

'I'll feel as long as I gave it my all and did the goodest [sic] job as I know I can do, that's what this is about.'

Women of America, reproductive rights, the Supreme Court, this vaunted democracy and rule of law  the President just said: 'F-You. It's all about me.'

It is now incumbent on the Dems to push him out, forcefully and finally, and make this race about the people of America.

Let Joe Biden's legacy come to its ignominious and shameful end.
A jaw-dropping video shows the moment nearly 100 robbers ransacked a California gas station in the middle of the night.

Surveillance footage displays dozens of masked and hoodie-wearing thieves taking their sweet time to grab as much as they can carry just after 4:30am on Friday at the station in crime-ridden Oakland.

The raid came just days after Oakland's progressive mayor bragged about a drop in crime in the hellhole city.

The operation appeared to be well-planned with all hell breaking loose after a car was deliberately driven into the glass doors of the store.

No sooner had the crash occurred, the robbers were on scene and ready to snatch anything they could, turning the place upside down in the process.

Around 100 robbers ransacked an Oakland California gas station in the middle of the night

The robbers were in no hurry and could be heard laughing on camera as the grabbed whatever they wanted

Meanwhile, the police were nowhere to be seen with the robbers seemingly taking their time.

In video footage, those taking part in the robbery could be heard laughing as they casually perused the aisles of the store looking for stuff to take.

The owner, named Sam, called Oakland Police Department upon arriving at the 76. He was allegedly told to 'file a report online.'

The owner told KRON4 then he then attempted to contact the OPD Police Chief Floyd Mitchell only to be told that he had to make an appointment.

Police later clarified that the call to law enforcement came after the suspects had left the premises.

'Video evidence was later reported to OPD that made clear the scale and details of the incident, including the large number of suspects, and the incident was immediately elevated to a Priority 1 incident, which prompted an officer to go to the scene to make contact with the owner, and investigators are now reviewing evidence and working directly with the gas station owner,' OPD said in a statement.

Just days earlier, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, 38, had been boasting of a reduction in crime in the city which has been blighted by criminality in recent years.

Sheng Thao will face a historic recall election in November amid anger over her failure to get a grip on the situation in Oakland

Oakland has been rocked by violent crime in recent months, including murders which have soared from 78 in 2019 to 126 last year. (pictured) Police investigate a multiple shooting and homicide at a gas station Oakland in January 2023

Oakland is seeing positive results from new public safety strategies, the mayor said claiming that it was a proven data-driven strategy that focuses law enforcement violence prevention and community resources on individuals in Oakland who are at highest risk to be involved in violence.'

Mayor Thao said that since introducing operation ceasefire violent crime and overall crime have decreased in a significant and sustained manner.

The mayor failed to provide any figures explaining how levels of crime had reduced in any meaningful way.

Thao, 38, is facing a recall election less than two years into her term as mayor, with the measure that could see her booted to office set to be put to voters in November.

Increased crime and budgetary problems have challenged Thao since she assumed office in January 2023 after a stint on the Oakland City Council.

Oakland voters are upset about soaring crime in the Bay Area city.

They say Thao's progressive, soft-on-crime policies have emboldened criminals and driven away businesses. It is a a familiar story in many progressive, Democrat cities across the country.

In Mayor Thao's case, she has previously decried the increase in crime, stating that the uptick began in 2019 before her tenure.

But it is lax bail reform policies and the failure to bring successful prosecutions even for low-level offenses that had led to the continual rot in Oakland.

In Oakland's case, the city has been rocked by violent crime in recent months, including murders, which soared from 78 in 2019 to 126 last year.

Crime overall increased by 18 percent in 2023 with property crime up 17 percent and violent crime up 21 percent.

And in the first four months of 2024, residential robberies soared by 118 percent on the same period last year.

Staggeringly, one car per every 30 residents was also stolen in 2023.

The situation has prompted several large corporations to pull out of the city, citing fears for staff safety and the crippling impact of retail theft.

The progressive Democrat lawmaker is the first mayor in the city's history to be up for recall, after a campaign to oust her gained more than 40,000 signatures.

Public support for Thao has been on the wane, with Oakland's former police chief LeRonne Armstrong urging her to resign.

'What's really challenging is that not only the absence of the mayor, but the absence of other city leaders stepping up in this moment to make sure that residents and people in the city of Oakland know that leadership is in place and working to help solve some of these problems,' said LeRonne Armstrong, a former police chief fired by Thao.

Last month, federal authorities raided her home. Thao was defiant and furious, insisting she did not do anything wrong and she has no plans to resign from office

Last month, federal authorities raided her home. Thao was defiant and furious, insisting she did not do anything wrong and she has no plans to resign from office.

Mayor Sheng Thao read from a prepared statement and took no questions four days after FBI agents carried boxes out of the home she shares with her son and partner as part of an investigation that included searches of two other houses owned by another family.

Retired judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who is leading the recall campaign, is calling for Thao to step down.

'She should do the honorable thing, and resign. The FBI raid is going to be a distraction, no matter which way you cut it. Even if she's not charged, it's going to be a distraction trying to manage this investigation and try to lead a city,' Harbin-Forte said.
Anthony Albanese has given his local Sydney council $2.6million for a do over of housing plans it had already rejected, but neighbouring councils are not happy.

While the Inner West Council - which includes the Prime Minister's Marrickville electorate - got a big handout, nearby Burwood Council got nothing.

Darcy Byrne, the Inner West's Labor mayor and a former staffer for Mr Albanese, said the $2.6m was just a 'small investment that will enable us to complete our local planning controls by the end of the year'.

It will be used as part of a $4.72million project of master plans for five 'housing investigation areas' in Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Ashfield, Croydon and Parramatta Road.

'The return on investment for putting additional staff on a council specifically to get increased housing supply will be good. We can do it faster and more effectively at the local level,' Mr Byrne told the Sydney Morning Herald.

But Burwood's mayor John Faker, who is also from the Labor Party, said his council sought funding for $1.4million of projects but got nothing.

'I'm surprised, disappointed, and find this massive oversight by the federal government grossly unfair, particularly for communities like ours that are doing the heavy lifting,' he said.

Mr Faker said the lack of funding would mean programs which had the potential to deliver more than 8,000 homes will probably need to be slowed down.

Darcy Byrne (pictured right), the Inner West's Labor mayor and a former staffer for Mr Albanese (pictured centre), said the $2.6m was just a 'small investment that will enable us to complete our local planning controls by the end of the year'

Mr Albanese said the housing crisis that has led to massive rent increases and an ever diminishing chance for people on average incomes to get on the housing ladder, needs to be tackled with better planning and higher densities in major cities.

He said the issue had been neglected for too long and that there needs to be more housing around railway stations and transport corridors.

The Prime Minister also said the government wants 'to help developers to build rental homes, particularly for affordable housing.

'We need to take every opportunity to increase housing supply.'

But his plan to build 1.2million homes could spark an insolvency crisis in coming years, an expert told Daily Mail Australia.

Australia has a housing crisis as building approvals lag well behind immigration-fuelled population growth.

Local councils and state governments approved just 163,759 new homes in the year to May, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed.

But this was well short of Labor's target of 240,000 a year over five years, starting on July 1, as part of the Prime Minister's goal of building 1.2million homes.

Matthew Caddy, a Melbourne-based partner at McGrathNicol with more than 25 years' experience of handling corporate insolvencies, said artificially boosting apartment building was more likely to spark an insolvency crisis in coming years.

'If the government's focused on any particular area, at any particular time, that can lead to a spike but we also see, off the back of those spikes, usually they're not well managed on the other side,' he said.

'You bring forward demand and you're creating an artificial demand at times - on the other side of that, it's not uncommon that you then see an abnormal amount of insolvencies.'

The low level of building approvals has also occurred as 487,820 migrants moved to Australia in the year to April, leaving a shortfall of 78,422 homes - a figure based on households having 2.5 people on average.

But Burwood's mayor John Faker, who is also from the Labor Party, said his council sought funding for $1.4million of projects but got nothing

Despite the housing shortage, apartment developers in particular are struggling, with construction companies now making up more than a quarter of Australia's failed companies.

'Many project feasibilities aren't profitable which has led to a slowdown in construction activity,' Mr Caddy said.

'More of the construction insolvencies relate to higher density construction projects rather than land and building developments.

'In those projects, there's very skinny margins and when there's reduced demand, then everyone's competing for what is available and that drives margins down further.'
Kamala Harris was in great spirits during a surprise appearance at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, though she made no mention of boss Joe Biden's desperate interview earlier Friday.

Harris congratulated the music festival - which is being headlined by Usher and Janet Jackson - on its 30th anniversary after coming out to Beyonce's 'Freedom'.

'I had to stop by just to congratulate Essence on 30 years of the Essence Festival of Culture. So, enjoy this evening. Let us always celebrate the diversity, the depth and the beauty of our culture. Have fun tonight,' she said.

There was no mention of the disastrous eight days her boss had or politics in general.

Harris is scheduled to hold a conversation with Essence CEO Caroline Wanga during the Global Black Economic Forum on Saturday at the festival.

Kamala Harris was in great spirits during a surprise appearance at the Essence Festival in New Orleans, though she made no mention of boss Joe Biden's desperate interview earlier Friday

There was no mention of the disastrous eight days her boss had or politics in general

The visit comes amid calls by some for the replacement of President Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket following his debate with former President Donald Trump.

Those types of in-depth dialogues, covering a wide-range of topics, can be expected throughout the event.

Harris was last scene with Biden on Thursday night as the two celebrated the Fourth of July on the South Lawn at the White House.

At one point, Harris grabbed Biden's hand and held it high in the air, and later the two hugged.

President Biden admitted he couldn't remember if he re-watched his car-crash debate with Donald Trump as he sat for one of the most critical interviews of his political career.

The 81-year-old again blamed being sick and exhausted for the meandering spectacle, even though he had been recuperating at Camp David for seven days and his European trip had ended 11 days before he took the debate stage.

The embattled Biden is fighting with the skin of his teeth for survival in the 2024 campaign and is facing a mountain of calls to step aside.

He told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that he was the only one to blame for the calamitous primetime showdown last week that sparked a full-blown panic in the Democratic party.

Harris is scheduled to hold a conversation with Essence CEO Caroline Wanga during the Global Black Economic Forum on Saturday at the festival

Harris congratulated the music festival - which is being headlined by Usher and Janet Jackson - on its 30th anniversary after coming out to Beyonce 's 'Freedom'

Biden suggested that only God would get him to exit the 2024 presidential race.

'If the Lord almighty comes down I might do that,' he told Stephanopoulos when asked what it might take for him to step down.

More and more Democrats have come out publicly making that ask.

But Biden remained defiant through his 22-minute sit-down with Stephanopoulos.

The ABC News anchor and former Bill Clinton aide asked Biden if he really believed that polls - that show him losing to former President Donald Trump - are inaccurate.

'I think - all the pollsters I talk to tell me it's a toss-up, it's a toss-up,' Biden replied.

He then added, 'I don't buy that,' when Stephanopoulos cited surveys that showed him losing the popular vote - which he won overwhelmingly four years ago - to Trump this time around.

'I don't think anyone's more qualified to be president or win this race than me,' the president argued.

Stephanopoulos pointed to how Biden has said about Trump that the Republican is only serving his personal interest by running for president, pointing to recent criticism of Biden that he's doing that too by staying put at the top of the Democratic ticket.

'Oh come on, I don't think those critics know what they're talking about,' Biden answered. 'They're just wrong.'

Asked what Biden would do if Democratic leadership in Congress asked him to step aside, the president pointed out that he had already had conversations with Rep. Jim Clyburn - who saved his 2020 bid with an endorsement in South Carolina - Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and others.

'They all said I should stay in the race,' Biden said.

Stephanopoulos then asked what Biden would do if those leaders changed their tune.

'They're not going to do that,' Biden said.

'Yeah, I'm sure,' he added, when pressed.

'Look, I mean, if the Lord almighty came down and said Joe get out of the race I'd get out of the race, the Lord almight's not coming down,' the president said.
President Biden point blank refused to take a cognitive test four times during his first television interview since his disastrous presidential debate.

Biden, 81, sat down with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos on Friday after a handful of Democrats called for him to abandon his reelection bid.

During the highly anticipated interview, Biden rejected to taking an independent medical evaluation that would show voters he is fit to serve another term.

He claimed his disastrous debate performance on a 'bad episode' and said there were 'no indications of any serious condition'.

Biden told Stephanopoulos: 'I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day, I have that test. Everything I do. Not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world.'

Biden, 81, sat down with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos on Friday after a handful of Democrats called for him to abandon his reelection bid

He claimed his disastrous debate performance on a 'bad episode' and said there were 'no indications of any serious condition'

Biden also added: 'No. No one said I had to. No one said. They said I'm good'. In his last physical exam on February 28 doctors had deemed him fit for duty.

Stephanopoulos pushed the president further, asking him to take a test and publicly release the results, which Biden sidestepped adding: 'I've already done it'.

He went on to detail how on a given day he is talking to fellow world leader and dealing with global matters.

The 22-minute interview, which was not cut or edited, was being closely watched by Democrats concerned about the president's ability to serve another four years.

A senior Democratic aide told Reuters after watching a short clip aired before the interview: 'I don't see how he lasts the week as the nominee.'

The embattled commander-in-chief was repeatedly probed by Stephanopoulos about whether he was being realistic in his belief that he could beat Trump.

Biden said he was the best candidate to take on Trump and that only 'Lord almighty' could oust him from the race during the sit down.

Stephanopoulos asked: 'If you are told reliably from your allies, from your friends and supporters in the Democratic party in the House and Senate that they're concerned you're going to lose the House and the Senate if you stay in, what will you do?'

'I'm not going to answer that question', Biden said. 'It's not going to happen.'

Despite his fighting talk, a group lead by Democrat Virginia Senator Mark Warner are to convene a meeting on Monday to discuss pressing Biden to exit the race.

In this handout photo provided by ABC, U.S. President Joe Biden speaks with 'This Week' anchor George Stephanopoulos on July 05, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin

A group lead by Virginia Senator Mark Warner, seen here, are to convene a meeting on Monday to discuss pressing Biden to exit the race

Biden told reporters he had spoken to at least 20 lawmakers and that they were telling him to stay.

Asked about Warner's call for him to go, Biden said: 'Well, Mark Warner, to my understanding, is the only one considering that.'

At a speech in Madison earlier on Friday, Biden defiantly told supporters: 'I'm staying in the race.

'I'll beat Donald Trump. I'll beat him again in 2020. By the way, we're going to do it again in 2024.'

During his Stephanopoulos interview, the Clinton staffer-turned-anchor asked him if he had managed to watch the debate afterwards.

Biden indicated that he wasn't sure, saying: 'I don't think I do, no.'

He also made a bizarre claim about inventing a computer chip.

At one point, he told Stephanopoulos that 'we used to have 40 percent of computer chips.

'We invented the chip, the little chip, the computer chip. It's in everything from cell phone to weapons.'

The interview, coupled with a weekend campaign in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, was part of Biden's effort to course correct from his rocky debate performance.

Both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are key swing states that will help determine the outcome of the 2024 race.

In those states and the five other battlegrounds, Trump has pulled ahead in polling following their debate in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, June 27.

On Wednesday, Biden assured campaign staff on a call that despite mounting calls for him to stand down he remains in the 2024 race for the presidency.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also told reporters during her briefing earlier this week that Biden is not preparing to exit the race.

Jean-Pierre claimed 'jet lag' from his two back-to-back international trips 12 days before the debate contributed to the president's poor showing.

Despite the fighting talk however, Biden on Thursday described himself as being a black woman during a radio interview.

Trump has pulled ahead in polling following their debate in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday, June 27

He stumbled over his words during Thursday's interview with Philadelphia's WURD, seemingly mixing himself up with his Vice President Kamala Harris.

He said: 'By the way, I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman... to serve with a black president.

'Proud to be involved of the first black woman on the Supreme Court. There's so much that we can do because, look... we're the United States of America.'

Biden appears to have been referring to Vice President Kamala Harris, but the flub could not have happened at a worse time.

He also referred to Trump as being a 'former colleague' when going off-script Thursday as he tried to insert a jab at the former President.

Since the debate, Biden and his team have conducted widespread damage control and reached out to reassure party members, staff, lawmakers, donors, allies and voters that Biden is still a viable candidate that can beat Trump again.

But many within the party are looking for other options and are floating those like Vice President Kamala Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

None are able to beat Trump in nationwide and battleground state polling and all fall behind Biden in his chances of winning against the former president.
First lady Jill Biden is said to be 'lashing out' at Democrats who want to remove President Joe Biden from the 2024 Democratic nomination following last week's debate.

While the president has said he has no plans to step aside, he is known be talking to vast numbers of people, but only listening to views of a very tight circle, including those of his wife.

And Jill is said to have taken a dim view of those wishing to kick her husband off the ticket, as it's claimed she's the driving force between his insistence on staying in the race. The claim was made by ABC News correspondent Martha Raddatz moments after Biden's make or break interview with the network Friday night.

The 'inner circle' of voices that include a select circle of advisers  including son, Hunter, are telling Biden, 81, that he can win and that he needs to keep going with his re-election bid.

Last weekend, the Bidens escaped for a post-debate debrief and a reportedly pre-planned photoshoot with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz at Camp David.

First lady Jill Biden is now said to be 'lashing out' at Democrats who want to remove President Joe Biden from the 2024 Democratic nomination following last week's debate

Martha Raddatz reports that Dr. Jill is "lashing out" at those who want Crooked Joe to get out of the race. pic.twitter.com/XcOSjvoPFN  Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) July 6, 2024

It was from the presidential log cabins that Jill made a phone call to Vogue magazine, providing a last-minute update to her cover interview, due out Monday.

'[We] will not let those 90 minutes define the four years [Joe's] been president. We will continue to fight,' Jill, 73, insisted to Vogue.

'The only person who has ultimate influence with him is the first lady,' a source said earlier in the week. 'If she decides there should be a change of course, there will be a change of course.

'The decision-makers are two people  it's the president and his wife,' the source added. 'Anyone who doesn't understand how deeply personal and familial this decision will be isn't knowledgeable about the situation.'

Biden's top aides have also told his staff to stay strong in meetings, airing the mission statement, 'We'll weather the storm, just like we always have,' according to one senior administration official.

The 'inner circle' of voices that include a select circle of advisers  including son, Hunter, are telling Biden, 81, that he can win and that he needs to keep going with his re-election bid

The president made his own attempt to get his re-election bid back on course in a taped interview that lasted only 22 minutes in which Biden insisted his dire poll numbers weren't real and that the Democratic party has no concerns about his fitness to lead.

Biden said the only way he would exit the race is 'if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me'.

Friday night's interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos was meant to act as damage control, but has only further enraged Democrat politicians and big donors who, since that calamitous Trump debate, have pushed for the President to step aside.

Biden blamed 'exhaustion' and being 'sick' for his poor debate performance, which has upended his entire reelection campaign.

But there is a movement afoot in the party to persuade him to step aside, with critics warning he faces near-certain defeat and could drag other Democrats down with him.

A handful of Democrats have publicly called on Biden to exit the race, while there's movement in the Senate - led by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner - to have Democrats in the upper chamber make the push as well

While the president has said he has no plans to step aside, he is known be talking to vast number of people, but only listening to views of a very tight circle, including those of his wife

House Democrats and a group of senators are expected to convene on the topic when they return to Washington next week.

A handful of Democrats have publicly called on Biden to exit the race, while there's movement in the Senate - led by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner - to have Democrats in the upper chamber make the push as well.

Warner, a well-respected moderate Democrat, is inviting Democratic senators to a meeting on Monday to discuss Biden's campaign, a source told Reuters.

The Washington Post reported Warner was seeking to ask the group to press Biden to exit the race.

Biden told reporters he had spoken to at least 20 lawmakers and that they were telling him to stay. Asked about Warner's call for him to go, Biden said: 'Well, Mark Warner, to my understanding, is the only one considering that.'

Biden has remained resistant to such efforts, saying in a fiery speech in Madison earlier on Friday: 'I'm staying in the race.'

Some public opinion polls have shown Trump widening a lead since the debate, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that one in three Democrats want Biden to quit the race.

Biden rejected the movement on Friday.

'We had a little debate last week. Cant say it was my best performance. But ever since then there's been a lot of speculation. `What's Joe gonna do? Is he gonna stay in the race? Is he gonna drop out?' Biden said. 'Well here's my answer: I am running and gonna win again.'

But in the same stance, he added that he was ready to beat Trump 'again in 2020.'

And then when Stephanopoulos asked the 81-year-old 'did you ever watch the debate afterwards?' Biden indicated that he wasn't sure.

'I don't think I did, no,' the president replied.

The Clinton staffer-turned-ABC News anchor then pressed Biden if he knew he was bombing in real time.

In the brief clip, he also seemingly said that he had received more medical attention than what press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre initially told the press.

'Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they're trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold,' Biden said.

A bronzed Joe Biden made a bizarre claim about inventing a computer chip during his make-or-break interview Friday

Biden spoke to Stephanopoulos in a voice that resembled the weak rasp of his debate showing after questioning whether he'd even re-watched it, saying 'I don't know why' he had such a bad performance.

He insisted that he was not more frail and that he is 'still in good shape.' He said he has an 'ongoing assessment' by his personal doctors and they 'don't hesitate to tell me' if something is wrong.

During the interview, Biden said he undergoes 'ongoing assessment' by his personal doctors and they 'don't hesitate to tell me' if something is wrong.

'Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But Im still in good shape,' Biden said.
A woman has been rushed to hospital after being stabbed in the neck in Brisbane's CBD.

The woman was knifed on the corner of George and Turbot Streets at about 1.30pm on Saturday.

She was rushed to Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital with neck wounds.

Another woman has been taken into custody.

The Courier-Mail has reported the pair were known to each other.

No charges have been laid.

Investigations are ongoing.

More to come

A stabbing incident has seen a woman sustain neck wounds in the central Brisbane district
A Qantas flight attendant and former police officer had sex with a Year 7 boy at his house while his parents were out.

Mark Ward pleaded guilty to multiple offences including possessing child abuse material at Campbelltown Local Court this week, the Macarthur Chronicle reported.

The court heard how the paedophile contacted the underage victim on Grindr in 2017 after he had left the police force and was working as a flight attendant for Qantas.

Ward then moved the conversation with the 14-year-old to Snapchat where he sent pictures of him in his old police uniform and asked sexual questions.

Eventually, he pressured the victim into allowing him to visit his house for sex and when the boy again brought up his age, Ward said 'that's cool with me'.

Ward had sex with the victim in his bedroom, which was cut short when the boy warned his parents would soon return, despite Ward begging to continue.

According to court documents, the victim spoke up after he told a friend in 2023 that he had had sex with a guy 'in his 40s or 50s' when he was a minor.

To which his friend replied: 'What the f**k, you need to tell somebody.'

The court heard he pursued a 14-year-old boy for sex while working as a flight attendant

When police were notified they put in place a sting to catch Ward by making a fake Grindr profile of another 14-year-old boy in his area of Campbelltown, in Sydney's south.

Despite an almost six year gap between the offence they were investigating and their sting, Ward messaged the profile asking for 'nudes'.

Ward then sent explicit messages and nude images of himself to the profile being run by an undercover cop.

Police then swooped on his St Andrews address and seized his electronic devices.

Investigators accessed his Telegram and found messages talking about his attraction to underage boys.

Mark Ward pleaded guilty to multiple offences including possessing child abuse material at Campbelltown Local Court

Officers also found nine files of child abuse material including one of a boy under 12 performing oral sex on a man.

Ward has pleaded guilty to having sexual intercourse with a child, using a carriage service to send indecent material to a person under 16 and possessing child abuse material.

He will return to court for sentencing later this year.
A Tesla driver has been slammed after spending more than four hours at a free charging station and preventing other motorists from accessing the site.

The driver was pictured in a charging bay at the Woolworths car park in Kirrawee, in Sydney's south, sitting in the front seat and 'watching movies'.

'If this is you, do the community a favour and slap yourself,' a furious Woolies customer wrote on social media, alongside a photo of the car.

'Utter selfishness when the purpose is for free charging for those that shop at Woolworths.'

The time it takes for an electric vehicle (EV) to get fully charge depends on the make, with some Teslas taking up to eight hours to do so.

As this can mean some cars need an overnight charge, most drivers use their own home charging station.

Where public charging stations are provided for communal use in places such as shop car parks and service stations, it is frowned upon for drivers to spend hours in a single bay.

The outraged shopper in Kirrawee said a Tesla Supercharger - which charges at a faster speed - was available 'literally across the road'.

A Tesla driver (pictured) has been slammed for spending more than four hours sitting in their car while it got a free charge in a supermarket car park, denying the chance for others to have their electric vehicle charged

They said the person who spent four hours getting a free charge at Woolworths should have used that one instead.

Outrage at how EVs are being charged is growing as vehicle sales increases and the number of charging stations fails to keep up with demand.

On Monday, an EV driver was called selfish after parking 'horizontally' at a charging station and blocking other motorists from using the site.

A photo of a white BYD was shared to Facebook and showed the car connected to a charging station in the beachside suburb of Howrah in Hobart.

The unoccupied car was seen parked sideways across the charging bays, restricting access for other drivers and blocking two motorbike parking spots. The bystander who took the photo vented their anger at the driver.

'Congratulations to this person yesterday, who managed to connect to the charger on the right, while parking sideways across the charging bay on the left AND a couple of bonus motorbike parking bays,' they wrote.

The selfish act of the BYD driver and other similar recent incidents has raised questions about electric vehicle etiquette. Pictured: An EV parked across multiple spaces at a Queensland shopping centre in May

Social media users were quick to condemn the BYD driver.

'Don't expect anyone who buys electric car to have any brains,' one wrote.

'They probably completely ran out of charge and had to push it there,' another added.

'They are cuttin down on population by takin up all the parkin spaces so anyone else with a f***** normal car had no where to park,' was another reply.

'To be fair he drives a EV sense of self entitlement comes naturally to them,' another wrote.

There are around 198,000 EVs on Australian roads, with two-thirds of these bought since 2022 and 87,000 of these bought in the last 12 months.

Up to 85 per cent of vehicles on Aussie roads will be EVs in the next 40 years.

Chinese electric carmakers are tipped to flood Australia with cheap imports as the Americans and Europeans increase tariffs to protect their local vehicle manufacturers (pictured is an NIO ETS EV in Beijing)

A lot of that growth is coming to come from China, with Chinese electric carmakers tipped to flood Australia with cheap imports as the Americans and Europeans embark on a trade war to protect their local vehicle manufacturers.

A dozen new Chinese car brands are expected in Australia during the next two years - a situation described as 'unprecedented' that will 'massively change the market'.

Australia has had a free trade agreement with China since 2015, which means cars from our biggest trading partner are sold to Aussie motorists with zero import tariffs or taxes.

Australians are now able to buy cheap Chinese EVs, including the BYD Dolphin for $36,890, the MG4 from $39,990 and the GWM Ora from $35,990.
Jay Slater's friend has insisted they are 'not drug mules' as the search for the missing 19-year-old nears the end of its third week.

As conspiracy theories and fake videos have swirled around on social media, Brad Hargreaves - who went on holiday to Tenerife with Slater and described him as his 'best mate' - has tried to set the record straight.

After flying out to the island for the three-day NRG music festival, Mr Hargreaves said he has experienced vile trolls on social media, The Sun reports.

'Thinkin' I'm involved in it all is beyond me,' he said. 'We've been mates for years, came on our first holiday together and unfortunately this has happened.

'We ain't drug mules or whatever.... people need to know the facts before talking s*** on the internet...'

Slater's 'best friend' Brad Hargreaves, pictured, has insisted that they were 'not drug mules'

Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, travelled to the Canary Islands for a musical festival with his friend Lucy and another friend last week

Jay (right) pictured alongside his mother Debbie and brother Zak (left) who flew out to Tenerife after his disappearance

The 40-a-night Casa Abuela Tina holiday rental near the remote village of Masca where Jay spent his final hours before going missing

Slater's heartbroken mother Debbie Duncan has also issued a fresh update.

A post on an official Facebook group read: 'Debbie and family would like to thank the local hiking group who have worked tirelessly planning routes and searching for Jay they are extremely overwhelmed with the kindness of them all. Thank you.'

This comes after it was revealed that Jay's family can use their own search-and-rescue teams in Tenerife, Spanish police have said.

The teenager disappeared after attending a rave in Playa de las Americas which he left in the morning of June 17. He then travelled back to a 40-a-night Airbnb cottage in the remote village of Masca with two older British men.

As he tried to walk the 11 hours back to his hotel, Jay called best friend Lucy to say he was lost, in desperate need of some water and his phone battery was on 1 per cent.

His devastated family previously told Sky News they were waiting for authorities to allow them to use some of the 50,000 of donations, raised through a crowdfunding page, to pay for specialist search and rescue teams.

Now the Guardia Civil has confirmed such teams can be brought in from elsewhere 'without any problem' to help with the hunt for the 19-year-old.

Spanish police previously focused their search for the teenager on the mountainous village and Rural de Teno National Park in north-west Tenerife where his phone last pinged.

A map showing Jay Slater's last known movements before he disappeared

Search crews are seen last week scouring the area where Jay is believed to have gone missing

Jay's final Snapchat shows the teenager laughing and smiling at around 8.35pm on the night before he went missing

Earlier this week, Ms Duncan hit out at trolls accusing her of being 'on holiday' while she looks for her son in Spain.

The missing teenager's family revealed earlier this week that they were planning on using GoFundMe donations to remain in Tenerife after Spanish police called off the land search 14 days after the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer first went missing.

Now, Debbie Duncan has asked for people to realise that they are a 'normal working family from Lancashire going through hell'.

In a post on social media, she said: 'I feel the need to post this to your group and then I shall remove myself. I joined this group to share the positivity and love from the British public.

'It seems through no fault of my own you have all decided to make up your own minds. It is really sad I have felt the need to do this. My beautiful son Jay is still missing and believe me this is no holiday.'

'He came on his first holiday to Tenerife to attend the NRG music event. What mystery surrounding his disappearance may never surface. We as a family are truly devastated,' she continued.

'I did not ask for publicity from the start and was not aware that the first missing poster had my telephone number on it. It should have had the SOS Guardia Civil but like I say this was out of my control.

'Whatever decision you have in your minds I cannot control this either. We are a normal working family from Lancashire going through hell. I would like to thank the genuine people for their love and support at this difficult time and to continue to pray for Jay to be found.

'For those of you who are more concerned around the Gofundme page I can assure you that up to now it has not been used and our stay up to now has been financed by ourselves.

'I do have proof of transactions and transfers to other persons but I should not have to justify this. So you can make up your own minds. If any of you in this group have donated I am thankful For the other mothers out there. Please continue to pray.'
Number 10 could be plunged into cat-astrophe over fears of a feud between Chief Mouser Larry and Keir Starmer's moggy JoJo when the new Prime Minister moves his family in to the Downing Street residence.

Notoriously territorial Larry, 17, has served the Cabinet Office since 2011, living in Britain's must famous address under six prime ministers.

The no-nonsense moggy has gained a reputation for warning off rivals, famously taking on and chasing away a huge fox in 2022.

His relationships with other cats has also been testy - maintaining a four-year feud with his former nemesis the Foreign Office's Chief Mouser Palmerston, who retired from his post in 2020.

And now Starmer's first piece of high-profile diplomacy could be to convince Larry to put aside his differences as he welcomes his counterpart into his new home, as the PM says JoJo is 'revered' by his children.

But a moggy behavior manager says tensions could flare if the Chief Mouser feels 'threatened' by his new counterpart.

Nicky Trevorrow, of Cats Protection, told MailOnline: 'It's natural for cats to feel threatened when a new cat comes along, as they'll be protective of their territory and all the perks that come with it  like food, shelter and warmth.

Notoriously territorial Larry, 17, has served the Cabinet Office since 2011, now living in Britain's must famous address under six prime ministers

And now Starmer's first piece of high-profile diplomacy could be to convince Larry to put aside his differences as he welcomes his counterpart to his new home. Pictured: Sir Keir and his wife Victoria pose outside 10 Downing Street after being appointed PM

His relationships with other cats has also been testy - maintaining a four-year feud with his former nemesis, the Foreign Office's Chief Mouser Palmerston, who retired from his post in 2020. Pictured: Larry and Palmerston scrap in 2019

A moggy behavior manager says tensions could flare if the Chief Mouser feels 'threatened' by his new counterpart

'That's why it's important to take it really slowly, keep them in separate areas and get them used to each other's scent before they actually see each other. When they're familiar with another cat's smell, it'll make the face-to-face introduction much easier.

'The worst thing to do is to put the cats together on day one and hope they'll sort it out themselves.

'It's too much of a shock and both cats will be on their guard which will most likely lead to aggressive behaviour. In turn this can cause them to be stressed and it may make the whole process slower in the long run.'

British domestic tabby Larry was born as a stray in 2007 and was adopted by Downing Street staff from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2011.

He is the first cat to be bestowed with the official title Chief Mouser, with the government describing his role as 'inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality' alongside 'contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house'.

Unfortunately for parliament's occupants, this is still 'in tactical planning stage'.

His previous battles with Palmerston repeatedly garnered media attention - with the pair being caught in a serious cat fight in 2016. Larry walked away without his collar and the Foreign Office moggy received a damaged ear.

Larry's previous battles with Palmerston repeatedly garnered media attention. Pictured: Palmerston in 2019

British domestic tabby Larry was born as a stray in 2007 and was adopted by Downing Street staff from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2011

They were later frequently spotted yowling at each other as gathered press spectated their stand-offs from outside Downing Street.

In 2012, police also had to break up a fight between Larry and ex-Chancellor George Osborne's cat Freya.

Starmer has repeatedly spoken of his fondness for his own cat JoJo, who is also a rescue.

He told BBC Derby: 'We've got a cat called JoJo, revered by the kids.

'JoJo was a cat we got from a rescue centre. JoJo is treated with far more respect in our household than I am.

'When I walk through the door I have to put the baggage of being Leader of the Labour Party down, I'm Dad and I'm fair game for the kids to ridicule me, laugh at me etc.

'But JoJo, on the other hand, if JoJo wants food, or a seat on the settee, or to sit on the kid's bed he's got pride of place.'

The family may also fear for his daughters' hamster Bear given Larry's reputation as a 'good ratter' - after he revealed the little animal already lives in fear of JoJo.

Laughing to Metro in 2022, he said: 'We have got a cat and trying to keep the hamster and the cat apart has been one of the major issues of the last few weeks.

'No doubt our daughter will make a big case for the hamster to travel with us.'

Mr Trevorrow says that all is not lost - and even suggested that through a careful approach JoJo and Larry could form a 'strong bond'.

He is the first cat to be bestowed with the official title Chief Mouser, with the government describing his role as 'inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality' alongside 'contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house'

The no-nonsense moggy has gained a reputation for warning off rivals, famously taking on and chasing away a huge fox in 2022

He continued: 'As is often the case, rewards can be a great help when it comes to building good relationships. When the two cats do meet each other, and if they're both calm and relaxed, a little treat will go a long way to helping them feel good about the relationship. This doesn't need to be food - a little fuss or attention is just as good.

'Both cats should be given plenty of space and time while they become familiar with each other.

'Strong bonds take time to build, but if plenty of time and care is taken there is no reason why Larry and JoJo can't go on to build a successful alliance in Westminster.'

Number 10 has been contacted for comment.

Downing Street has seen a succession of pets as the nation's prime ministers enter the residence alongside their families.

In September 2023, Larry was said to have come out 'on top' in several heated clashes with Rishi Sunak's fox red labrador retriever.

Akshata Murty, the Prime Minister's wife, said the family dog Nova had 'mixed emotions' about Larry and that the pair didn't always get on.

'Nova has mixed emotions because she sometimes doesn't get on with Larry the cat,' she told Sky News.

Boris Johnson's dog Dilyn also stirred up controversy - as the former PM struggled to control the Jack Russell cross' 'romantic urges'. Pictured: Carrie Symonds with Dilyn

Akshata Murthy is pictured at the back of Downing St returning from walking red labrador Nova, September 4

'And they've had some heated exchanges and Larry's come out on top.

'So she might have some mixed opinions on living here. But, you know, our family is so grateful to be here.'

Boris Johnson's dog Dilyn also stirred up controversy - as the former PM struggled to control the Jack Russell cross' 'romantic urges'.

Speaking to dog handlers in 2021 he complained that his and Carrie's pet was 'endlessly' up 'on people's legs' in Downing Street.

In a bid to slow his rampant libido, it was later reported that the Johnsons were force to neuter the pup - who was said to have had his own feud with Dominic Cummings after an attempted romantic tryst with the advisor's leg at Chequers.

Larry was initially brought in to deal with a rat problem in Downing Street, with a spokesperson saying he was a 'good ratter'.

He was known to have a 'very strong predatory drive' developed in his time on the streets and is said to enjoy playing with toy mice.

In a statement on his arrival, Mr Cameron said: 'I'm delighted to welcome Larry to his new home.

'He came highly recommended to me by Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, who did a fantastic job looking after him.

Larry's predecessor, Humphrey, was adopted in 1989 and wandered Number 10 as a stray while Margaret Thatcher and John Major were prime ministers

He moved out six months after Tony Blair took power in 1997 - with his wife Cherie being forced to deny reports her dislike for the moggy was the reason. Pictured: Cherie and Humphrey

Humphrey was cared for in his 'retirement' at the home of a civil servant, before passing away in March 2006

'I'm sure he will be a great addition to Downing Street and will charm our many visitors.'

The residence also has a long history of cats - Larry's predecessor, Humphrey, was adopted in 1989 and wandered Number 10 as a stray while Margaret Thatcher and John Major were prime ministers.

But he moved out six months after Tony Blair took power in 1997 - with his wife Cherie being forced to deny reports her dislike for the moggy was the reason.

He was cared for in his 'retirement' at the home of a civil servant, before passing away in March 2006.

Before Humphrey, the home played residence to a kitten called Wilberforce, who was aquired from the RSPCA by Edward Heath.

Thatcher was said to have brought him back a tin of sardines from a trip to Moscow before he retired in 1986.

Labour PM Ramsay MacDonald also had a renowned rat-catcher called Rufus of England, which lived in Number 10 in the 1920s - although he was given the less grand nickname 'Treasury Bill'.

Winston Churchill's cat Nelson - formerly a stray - also clashed with Neville Chamberlain's 'Munich Mouser' when the former took over as Prime Minister during the Second World War in 1940.

According to the Telegraph, their dispute became famous on both sides of the Atlantic after newspapers in the US speculated on how the two could co-exist once Churchill took power.

It is believed Nelson won the battle as the black cat was often seen with his master at war cabinet meetings.

He famously won favour with Churchill after chasing away a dog in front of the war leader, who was taken with Nelson's 'bravery'.
The Keir Starmer era is kicking off today as the new PM meets his Cabinet after the dramatic election triumph

Sir Keir will gather his senior ministers in Downing Street on his first full day, as well as holding a press conference around lunchtime.

The premier appointed Cabinet last night after the extraordinary scale of his victory - achieved despite Labour receiving fewer votes than under Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 - became clear.

Both the new Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner were in Downing Street early this morning as they try to get a running start to the first Labour government in 14 years.

Sir Keir spoke to a host of foreign leaders last night, including reaffirming the 'Special Relationship' with Joe Biden and telling EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen he wanted 'close cooperation'.

He has made clear the government will make good on its promise to ditch the Rwanda deportation plan, despite claims it was having an effect on Channel boats.

Meanwhile, incoming Health Secretary Wes Streeting has already opened talks with the BMA over the junior doctors' strikes, sparking fears he could offer big concessions to their demands for 35 per cent pay hikes.

As Britain wakes up to a dramatically changed political map:

Furious Tory manoeuvring is under way as a leadership contest looms, with calls for the party to shift to the Right;

Nigel Farage is set to do a walkabout in Essex with another of the five Reform MPs;

Keir Starmer will gather his senior ministers in Downing Street this morning on his first full day, as well as holding a press conference around lunchtime

DPM Angela Rayner was in Downing Street early this morning (pictured) as the new Labour government tries to get a running start

New Chancellor Rachel Reeves was also up early, after becoming the first women ever to hold the post

A moving crew was moving furniture and works of art out of Downing Street today

Packing cases have been seen being moved around Downing Street today

Incoming Health Secretary Wes Streeting has already opened talks with the BMA over the junior doctors' strikes, sparking fears he could offer big concessions to their demands for 35 per cent pay hikes

Who's in Keir's Cabinet? Angela Rayner - Deputy PM, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary

- Deputy PM, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Rachel Reeves - Chancellor of the Exchequer

- Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lammy - Foreign Secretary

- Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper - Home Secretary

- Home Secretary John Healey - Defence Secretary

- Defence Secretary Wes Streeting - Health Secretary

- Health Secretary Bridget Phillipson - Education Secretary

- Education Secretary Shabana Mahmood - Justice Secretary

- Justice Secretary Pat McFadden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Ed Miliband - Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary

- Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Liz Kendall - Work and Pensions Secretary

- Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Reynolds - Business and Trade Secretary

- Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle - Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary

- Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Louise Haigh - Transport Secretary

- Transport Secretary Lisa Nandy - Culture Secretary

- Culture Secretary Steve Reed - Environment Secretary

- Environment Secretary Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

- Chief Secretary to the Treasury Richard Hermer - Attorney General

- Attorney General Ian Murray - Scottish Secretary

- Scottish Secretary Hilary Benn - Northern Ireland Secretary

- Northern Ireland Secretary Jo Stevens - Welsh Secretary

- Welsh Secretary Lucy Powell - Leader of the House of Commons

- Leader of the House of Commons Baroness Smith - Leader of the House of Lords

- Leader of the House of Lords Sir Alan Campbell - Chief Whip Advertisement

Sir Keir made a raft of appointments last night as he swapped places with defeated Rishi Sunak and basked in the blow of Labour's historic landslide.

He stayed at his London home with wife Victoria last night, but is expected to move into Downing Street soon.

The PM confirmed Ms Reeves as Britain's first woman chancellor, Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary and David Lammy as Foreign Secretary.

Ms Rayner has officially become his Deputy Prime Minister and retained the levelling up, housing and communities brief.

John Healey was named Defence Secretary; Shabana Mahmood Justice Secretary; Wes Streeting Health Secretary; Bridget Phillipson Education Secretary; and Ed Miliband Energy Secretary.

In surprise moves, former government science chief Patrick Vallance - a familiar face from Covid press conferences - has been given a peerage and made science minister.

James Timpson, a campaigner on prisons reform and also head of the key-cutting and shoe repairs firm, has also been elevated and made prisons minister.

But Emily Thornberry has been snubbed for the job of Attorney General, which she shadowed in Opposition. Instead a close ally of Sir Keir, Richard Hermer KC, has been handed the role.

After 649 of the 650 Commons seats declared Labour has a majority of 176.

Labour had 412 seats and the Tories 121, the worst result in the Conservative Party's history.

The Liberal Democrats won 71 seats, while Reform netted five.

A recount in the last seat left to declare: Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire; will not start until 10.30am on Saturday, delaying the final result of the General Election.

In his first speech on Downing Street, Sir Keir said the British people had voted 'decisively for change'.

He said the country could 'move forward together' as Labour took office following 14 years of Conservative rule.

Mr Streeting posted on social media last night: 'I have just spoken over the phone with the BMA junior doctors committee, and I can announce that talks to end their industrial action will begin next week.

'We promised during the campaign that we would begin negotiations as a matter of urgency, and that is what we are doing.'

Pat McFadden, who played a central role in shaping Labour's election campaign and was named Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the new Cabinet would meet on Saturday.

He told BBC Radio 4 that Sir Keir would have to quickly allocate responsibilities and 'give his new Cabinet their marching orders and then there's big international events coming.

'We have a Nato summit next week. That will be his first moment on the international stage. And while he's doing that, he will want his new Cabinet to get on with it pretty quickly.'

He said high on Sir Keir's agenda will be the six first steps Labour has set out: delivering economic stability, cutting NHS waiting times, launching a new border security command, setting up Great British Energy, cracking down on anti-social behaviour, and recruiting 6,500 new teachers.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrive for Cabinet today

Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband in Downing Street today

John Healey and Lisa Nandy were also at Cabinet this morning

Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds in Downing Street today

Transport Secretary Lou Haigh in Downing Street for the first Cabinet meeting today

The new chief whip Alan Campbell in Downing Street today

Sir Keir and wife Victoria were clapped into Downing Street yesterday (pictured), but Labour's victory is being dubbed a 'loveless landslide' and a 'super meh-jority'

Attorney General Richard Hermer arrives at Downing Street in London last night

Staff were polishing up the famous Downing Street door today as the new government settles in

Just days after his appointment, Sir Keir will be propelled onto the international stage, jetting to Washington DC for the Nato leaders' summit, where discussions will include support for Ukraine.

He is also due to host the European Political Community summit in the UK on July 18.

The PM and Mr Biden and discussed their commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US, protecting the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and support for Ukraine.

Sir Keir also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reassured him of the 'unwavering commitment' and said the UK would continue supplying defensive support.

He had calls Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

He also talked to Irish premier Simon Harris, who accepted an invitation to visit Downing Street on July 17 and Scottish First Minister John Swinney.
Formula One racing team McLaren has signed a contract with the Ministry of Defence to give ex-military personnel the chance to work for the legendary company.

Just days before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, McLaren Racing and McLaren Automotive have signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

This is to help those who serve in or have served in the Armed Forces and their families to be treated fairly and to have opportunities for work.

The racing company, based in Surrey, already qualifies as an Armed Forces Friendly company by employing former military personnel and serving reservists  collectively known as the McLaren Military Network.

Pictured, Piers Thynne (left) and Dai Powell (right) from McLaren and Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Andrew Burns signing the Armed Forces Covenant

Just days before the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, McLaren Racing and McLaren Automotive have signed the Armed Forces Covenant (Oscar Piastri of Australia is driving #81 McLaren Formula 1 MCL38 in Qatar)

The Armed Forces Covenant was signed by Piers Thynne and Dai Powell from McLaren and supported by the Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Andrew Burns on July 2.

Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Andrew Burns said: 'Defence and Motorsport have much in common, including a competitive instinct, innovation and technical excellence.

'However, none of this is enough without a highly skilled team, exceptional teamwork, and leadership.

'So I'm delighted that McLaren has pledged to recognise and draw on the wealth of talent represented by our people and veterans.'

Piers Thynne, Chief Operating Officer of McLaren Racing, said: 'We want to set the standard for high performance in sport, and that starts with our people.

The MoD already broke new ground with an innovation partnership with McLaren Accelerator (Lando Norris of Great Britain and McLaren F1 Team during Formula One British Grand Prix 2024)

'Building a diverse workforce is key to achieving that, which is why we're proud to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant.'

The MoD already broke new ground with an innovation partnership with McLaren Accelerator.

Signed in March, the three-year collaboration allows skills and tech to be shared between the two to assist with the development of projects.

These include the electrification of military vehicles, exploiting data for decision making and the rapid development of new products.

The collaboration will also explore the application of sustainable technologies within the military, in line with the UK's commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.

Defence is also working with McLaren's electric racing divisions to explore novel power solutions for military vehicles and establishments.
'Stop Brexit Man' Steve Bray has vowed to continue his campaign to rejoin the European Union despite Sir Keir Starmer's landslide victory yesterday - although he said he will tone down the noise.

Mr Bray, who has been an almost constant presence outside Downing Street since Britain voted to leave the European Union, famously blasted Rishi Sunak with New Labour's 1997 anthem 'Things Can Only Get Better' as the then PM announced the election amid a torrential downpour.

Speaking across from Downing Street, Mr Bray told MailOnline that Brexit has been 'the elephant in the room' which needs to be addressed.

He said the next stage of his campaign would be quieter because he believes the new government will be more receptive to his arguments.

When Boris Johnson departed Downing Street for the last time, Mr Bray played the theme from the Benny Hill show as Mr Johnson delivered his speech.

'Stop Brexit Man' Steve Bray said he will continue his campaign to rejoin the European Union despite Sir Keir Starmer's arrival at Number 10 Downing Street

Mr Bray told MailOnline that his future protests will be toned down

He told MailOnline: 'We are going to change tack a bit. We want politicians to talk about Brexit because for the past four or five years it has been the elephant in the room, the damage has now been done and people can see it for what it really is.

Mr Bray is widely known for his blue top hat and yellow ribbon announcing 'Stop Brexit'.

He has regularly faced difficulties with police in Whitehall over his loud protests - often using an amplifier and large speakers to disrupt press briefings outside Number 10.

He told MailOnline: 'We are going to change tack a bit. We want politicians to talk about Brexit because for the past four or five years it has been the elephant in the room, the damage has now been done and people can see it for what it really is.

I dont want to say to people we told you so, but were not going to say that, now what we are going to say is now the country needs to unite.

We need to do what is best for the country and all of us.

We now have the highest tax take in over 70 years. Our economy has nosedived and the value of the pound has slipped quite a bit since we left the European Union.

Look at the queues at the airports and the ferry ports. This isnt what people voted for.

This isnt what people were told they were going to get.

We really need to talk about Brexit in an adult way and Im going to go softly-softly... its just going to be a reminder to get the elephant out of the room.

He said his highlights on election night were the shock defeats of Jacob Rees Mogg and Liz Truss, who both lost their seats in a night of carnage for the Conservative Party.

In recent months Mr Bray has been involved in a 'cat and mouse' battle with police how have tried to seize his equipment, including amplifiers.

The Home Office and the Metropolitan Police tried a range of methods to prevent Mr Bray from playing music - often at a level of 90 decibels - for up to eight hours at a time.

During Boris Johnson's final address to the nation outside Number 10, Mr Bray played the theme from Benny Hill.

Police have seized his equipment several times following a change to the law in June 2022.

Under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, noisy protests are banned within designated area outside the Palace of Westminster.
Panicking Tories are calling for Nigel Farage to be brought back into the fold as the Right and Left wings gear up to 'battle for the soul' of the party after the election disaster.

Leadership jockeying is already ramping up with the 121 remaining Conservative MPs facing potential existential decisions about what direction to take.

Suella Braverman, Kemi Badenoch, Priti Patel, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat and Vicky Atkins are all expected to throw their hats in the ring.

There are fears that the contest will descend into another damaging civil war as moderates - who still look to dominate the Parliamentary rump - and right-wingers vie for control.

Veteran Edward Leigh has given a first taste of the clashes to come as he blamed immigration for the poll meltdown, saying Mr Farage and Reform should be 'invited to join' - despite other senior figures saying they would not accept him.

Hundreds of MPs lost their seats as Rishi Sunak was brutally evicted from Downing Street, with Keir Starmer now sitting on one of the biggest majorities in history.

The ex-PM posted on the WhatsApp group for the survivors today saying he was sorry and congratulating them on defying the 'national headwind'. He urged them to rest ready to go on the 'front foot' when the Commons returns next week.

Hundreds of MPs lost their seats as Rishi Sunak (pictured) was brutally evicted from Downing Street, with Keir Starmer now sitting on one of the biggest majorities in history

Dame Priti Patel, a former home secretary, is currently the third favourite to take over the reins

Business secretary Kemi Badenoch (right) and Suella Braverman (left) are among the other likely contenders

Nigel Farage, who was out and about in Essex today, has made no secret of his desire for Reform to supplant the Tory Party

Who will replace Rishi Sunak? Odds on the next Tory leader Kemi Badenoch: 2/1 Tom Tugendhat: 7/2 Priti Patel: 5/1 Suella Braverman: 6/1 Robert Jenrick: 7/1 Jeremy Hunt: 8/1 Nigel Farage: 9/1 James Cleverly: 10/1 Victoria Atkins: 10/1 Boris Johnson: 14/1 Source: Sky Bet Advertisement

Mr Farage, who was out and about in Essex today, has made no secret of his desire for Reform to supplant the Tory Party, even though it secured only slightly more votes than Ukip in 2015 and five MPs.

Asked who he would like to see as Conservative leader, Mr Farage said: 'Honestly, I don't think it matters who they pick as leader.

'This party is split down the middle, they call it a broad church, well, it's a broad church with no common shared religion.'

Asked whether she would be the next party leader, Ms Braverman told broadcasters outside her home this morning: 'No announcements. We've just got to take our time, we've got to figure out what the situation is.'

The former home secretary continued: 'It's been a really bad result. There's no two ways about it. Hundreds of excellent Tory MPs have been kicked out of office.'

Mr Sunak issued a grovelling apology yesterday and said he will stand down as leader once the arrangements are in place to find a successor.

Some Tories want him gone before the first PMQs in just under two weeks on July 17.

However, that could mean a caretaker as it would not allow enough time for a contest that involves party members, which many believe will be necessary.

Edward Leigh, the new father of the House after narrowly holding his Gainsborough seat, told the BBC that the Tories had been 'completely trashed in this election because the right wing vote is divided'.

He warned that the party had 'taken people for granted' and made the 'political mistake of not taking Reform-type voters seriously'.

Sir Edward said the Conservatives 'should have delivered properly on Brexit'.

'We should have stopped all this mass legal migration. Then we should have stopped the boats,' he said.

Sir Edward added: 'We've got to, I think, invite Reform voters and Farage to join us.

Senior Tory figures - including a record number of Cabinet ministers - lost their seats in an election bloodbath

Tory members have bemoaned of a 'Boris-shaped hole' in the party with the former PM a 14/1 outsider to become the Conservatives' leader again

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'Because otherwise in five years' time, we are going to have a similar debacle.

'We can't have a divided right wing vote.

He added: 'I would absolutely welcome him in.

'If he wants to stand for leader, that would be a matter for our members.'

Tory members have bemoaned of a 'Boris-shaped hole' in the party and are a demanding a candidate to challenge Nigel Farage and succeed Rishi Sunak as the party's leader.

The battle lines were drawn before dawn broke yesterday when critics rounded on the ex-prime minister, as senior Conservatives lambasted him for failing to listen to voters and deliver on their priorities.

William Hague has fired an early warning shot to whoever next leads the party as he raised fears that a slim-lined frontbench would mean the party would struggle to form a 'viable' opposition.

Mr Sunak stood at the lectern in front of No10 Downing Street for the last time yesterday to issue a grovelling apology as he acknowledged the scale of the electoral mauling his party had received.
A British mother-of-four is fighting for her life in a Spanish hospital after falling ill on holiday as her family pleads for help to pay the 30,000 medical bill.

Tracey Ellis, 56, from Kingston Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, was on holiday alone in Tenerife when she began experiencing excruciating stomach pains.

After being taken to an emergency clinic she was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and was transferred to a private hospital.

Her condition worsened and she was placed in an induced coma on life-support after the infection on her pancreas spread to multiple organs and she began to bleed internally.

Her family are now pleading for help to cover the large outstanding treatment bill after her travel insurance refused to cover it because she was treated at a private hospital.

Tracey Ellis, 56, from Kingston Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, was on holiday alone in Tenerife when she began experiencing excruciating stomach pains

After being taken to an emergency clinic she was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis and was transferred to a private hospital

Her family are now pleading for help to cover the large outstanding treatment bill that her travel insurance didn't cover

Ms Ellis started to feel unwell on June 22 and called an ambulance after the pain in her stomach left her struggling on the floor on her hands and knees.

At the emergency clinic, Ms Ellis was transferred to a private hospital, then rushed into the intensive care unit.

What is acute pancreatitis? Acute pancreatitis is a condition where the pancreas becomes inflamed (swollen) over a short period of time. The pancreas is a small organ, located behind the stomach, that helps with digestion. Most people with acute pancreatitis start to feel better within about a week and have no further problems. But some people with severe acute pancreatitis can go on to develop serious complications. Acute pancreatitis is different to chronic pancreatitis, where the pancreas has become permanently damaged from inflammation over many years. Source: NHS Advertisement

Her family back in the UK claim the hospital did not inform them and they did not find out Tracey was in hospital until she contacted her children - Connor, Curtis, Grant, and Amy - on June 24 to tell them she was feeling slightly better.

But she revealed how frightened she was and said she was being charged 5,000 by the hospital due to her not being able to sort out her travel insurance claim yet.

On June 25 Grant told her that he and Curtis would be flying out and Tracey replied to their text. This was the last time they heard from Tracey until their arrival at the hospital, they were shocked to find their mum in an induced coma on life-support.

They contacted Connor and Amy, telling them to fly out immediately as the next 48 hours were critical.

When arriving at the hospital in the north of Tenerife, there was a language barrier, so it was hard for the family to interpret what was going on. It was then the family was told she had internal bleeding and that the infection on her pancreas had spread to multiple organs.

After this devastating news, Tracey's family say they were then asked to pay a further 10,000 deposit, or they'd have to transfer her to another hospital.

Connor, 29, Tracey's eldest son, said: 'We were petrified to move mam in the critical state she was in. All we wanted to do was to be with her and not focus on the cost involved.'

Tracey then had to be transferred to a state hospital due to the ongoing demands for money and began receiving further treatment there. The family is now trying to arrange travel home if or when her condition improves.

The family have set up a GoFundMe page and are now trying to arrange travel home from Tenerife (stock photo pictured) if or when her condition improves

The outstanding medical bills have now risen to 30,000. The family have set up a GoFundMe page.

They wrote on the page: 'Our ultimate goal is to get her fit and well and able to return to the UK.

'Its still a horrible waiting game at the moment but we will also need to fund her transport home if/when our mams condition improves and pay the outstanding bill for her medical costs.'

Amy, 20, added: 'We have all been overwhelmed by everyone's kindness. All we want to do is focus on my mam's recovery. She's the strongest, bravest and kind-hearted mam. If anyone can please help us we'll be eternally grateful.'
Britons who ditched the Conservatives in previously-safe Tory seats have told MailOnline how they voted for Reform UK  but ended up with Labour.

Some right-wing voters even admitted ignoring warnings on tactical voting because they could not bear to back Rishi Sunak's party after 14 years in power.

And Nigel Farage's party was a big beneficiary as it took 4.1million votes across the UK and five seats  while finishing second in 98 other constituencies.

Some voters decided to go for Reform this time instead of the Tories, which led to a collapse in the Conservative vote and opened the door for Labour candidates.

But Reform voters are now left with Sir Keir Starmer's policies on immigration and other matters, many of which are in stark contrast to those of Mr Farage's party.

Now, MailOnline has visited three seats in southern England which were previously staunchly Tory, but all received a large Reform vote and have turned red:

SOUTHEND WEST AND LEIGH (REFORM - 18%)

LABOUR GAIN FROM CONSERVATIVE

Labour, David Burton-Sampson - 16,739 (35.6%) Conservative, Anna Firth - 14,790 (31.5%) Reform UK, Peter Little - 8,273 (17.6%) Green, Tilly Hogrebe - 3,262 (6.9%) Liberal Democrat, Stephen Cummins - 3,174 (6.8%) Confelicity, James Miller - 262 (0.6%) Independent, Tom Darwood - 172 (0.4%) Heritage Party, Lara Hurley - 99 (0.2%) Psychedelic Movement, Jason Pilley - 99 (0.2%) Independent, Robert Francis - 98 (0.2%)

Voters in the previously staunchly Conservative seat of Southend West and Leigh revealed they had voted for Reform after becoming fed up with the Tories.

Locals said they were so dissatisfied with 14 years of Tory rule that they went for Reform, despite warnings that it would make a Labour victory more likely in the Essex constituency.

Labour candidate David Barton-Simpson was victorious in the area, becoming its first non-Conservative MP since a Liberal victory in 1916.

Jodee Conway, 37: 'I got fed up with Rishi and Sir Keir squabbling like kids'

The seat of Southend West and Leigh was previously staunchly Conservative

Mr Barton-Simpson polled 16,739 votes, beating sitting Conservative MP Anna Firth into second place with her 14,790 votes, and Reform UK candidate Peter Little coming third with 8,273 votes.

Council worker Jodee Conway, 37, expressed the dissatisfaction of many traditional Tory voters who turned away from the party.

She said: 'I voted Conservative last time, and I was going to vote the same way again because I didn't want Labour to get in. But then I listened to both sides and ended up voting for Reform.

'The manifestos for Conservative and Labour were lacking in clarity, and I got fed up with Rishi and Sir Keir squabbling like kids. It seemed like it was all about them trying to be popular instead of doing what is best for the country.'

Suzanne Gray (left), 62, said: 'I would have voted Reform, but I knew it would be a wasted vote.' And her friend Dawn Stuart (right), also 62, said: 'I voted Reform. I just want change'

David Burton-Sampson (centre) wins the Southend West and Leigh seat for Labour early yesterday morning. Conservative Anna Firth is pictured second left

Leigh-on-Sea in Essex has had a Conservative MP for more than a century

Caroline Tidd, 39, who works as a nanny, admitted ignoring messages about tactical voting before she voted for Reform UK to try and call a halt to illegal immigration.

She said: 'I woke up this morning, and heard the news and then I felt, 'Oh dear'.'

Labour declined to field a candidate against Ms Firth when she stood for the Conservatives in 2022 in a gesture of respect for her predecessor Sir David Amess following his murder. But she has now been voted out.

Self-employed plumbing and heating engineer Peter Newbury, who is still working at the age of 85, summed up the despair of many in Leigh-on-Sea when he said: 'I think a lot of people who voted Labour here made a big mistake.

'I have voted Tory since the age of 18. I have never changed and I never will. I was tempted by Reform  but then I realised that a vote for them would damage the Conservatives.

A row of houses in the Essex town of Leigh-on-Sea, where the new MP is Labour

St Clement's Church in Leigh-on-Sea, an area which has been Conservative since 1916

'I never thought I would see this area go to Labour  but now it has. But I am very confident that Labour will mess things up and they will only be here for one term.'

Mother-of-two Suzanne Gray, 62, who has four grandchildren, said: 'I'm not really surprised that Labour got in  but I wouldn't have voted for them if my life depended on it.

'I would have voted Reform, but I knew it would be a wasted vote. I can't bear Keir Starmer. He wants to protect everyone apart from the citizens of this country.'

Ms Gray's old school friend Dawn Stuart, 62, said: 'I voted Reform. I just want change. I want all the silliness in this country to stop.'

DARTFORD (REFORM - 21%)

LABOUR GAIN FROM CONSERVATIVE

Labour, Jim Dickson - 15,392 (34.6%) Conservative, Gareth Johnson - 14,200 (31.9%) Reform UK, Lee Stranders - 9,523 (21.4%) Green, Laura Edie - 3,189 (7.2%) Liberal Democrat, Kyle Marsh - 2,184 (4.9%)

The 'Farage effect' which split the Tory vote was the reason two previous safe Parliamentary seats in Kent fell to Labour, according to angry voters.

Many former Tory voters told MailOnline they had become 'disillusioned' with the party and wanted to change.

But despite both Dartford and Gravesham falling to Labour, many voters said it was the appeal of Nigel Farage's Reform UK which was why they switched sides.

Mark Sutherland, 48: 'The Tory Party had their chance and after 14 years I felt it was time for something else'

A mix of issues including the small boats crisis and cost of living was the reason they said they deserted Rishi Sunak's Conservatives.

Dartford went Labour for the first time in 14 years and Gravesham for 19 years.

Single full-time father Mark Sutherland, 48, voted Reform after many years of voting for Tory.

The Dartford resident of 39 years said: 'It was time for change and something different. The Tory Party had their chance and after 14 years I felt it was time for something else.

'The plan was not to get Labour though. I did not want that to happen.

Dartford (pictured) went Labour for the first time in 14 years and Gravesham for 19 years

'But Farage is in, it's absolutely the Farage effect. There are other Reform MPs and in a few years at the next election they will be an even bigger force.

'They have a big chance to make a difference. I voted because they have more about them and want to make a difference for the older generation. They have been neglected I think.

'The NHS is also on its knees. I voted for Boris Johnson previously but I could not vote for Sunak.'

Mark Reynolds, 55, of Gravesend, also voted Reform after being a lifelong Tory.

Michael Wellington, 62: 'I think most of it is a sham. It's a very sad state of affairs'

The builder said: 'I don't think the Tories were putting the country first. British people were being neglected. It had to be the turn of someone else.

'Labour is not the answer. But we have to try and get a change and I think Reform can do well.

'I think Farage could shake up the country for the better. What is happening with the Channel is a disgrace. We have given up. There needs to be a fresh approach.'

Retired builder Michael Wellington, 62, said he voted Reform for the first time as well.

Mr Wellington, who has lived in Dartford for 30 years, said: 'I am not a fan of Farage but it needed to be someone else.

Many former Tory voters in Darford said they had become 'disillusioned' with the party

'I don't think much of any of them. I think most of it is a sham. It's a very sad state of affairs.'

Paul Winter, 55, said the small boat crisis was his reason for voting Reform.

The Gravesend electrician said: 'I dread to think how much we have had to pay as taxpayers to fund all of what has been happening in Dover and then what happens after with accommodation.

'We could have put that into policing, or opportunities for young people or the army. The immigration system is a huge joke.'

POOLE (REFORM - 17%)

LABOUR GAIN FROM CONSERVATIVE

Labour, Neil Duncan-Jordan - 14,168 (31.8%) Conservative, Robert Syms - 14,150 (31.8%) Reform UK, Andrei Dragotoniu - 7,429 (16.7%) Liberal Democrat, Oliver Walters - 5,507 (12.4%) Green, Sarah Ward - 2,218 (5.0%) Independent, Joe Cronin - 698 (1.6%) UK Independence Party, Leanne Barnes - 325 (0.7%)

Betty Harland, 84: 'I do normally vote Tory but I voted Reform this time'

Voters in the exclusive resort of Sandbanks revealed they had put a cross in the box for Reform, while others praised party leader Nigel Farage despite voting Conservative.

Sandbanks and the neighbouring posh suburb of Canford Cliffs are in the Poole constituency which had returned a Conservative MP going back to 1880.

But yesterday the Labour candidate Neil Jordan defeated long-established Tory Robert Syms, who had served as the MP since 1997, by just 18 votes.

Mr Jordan took 14,168 votes and Mr Syms had 14,150 while the Reform candidate, Andrei Dragotoniu, came in third place with 7,429.

Betty Harland, 84, said: 'I do normally vote Tory but I voted Reform this time because they are useless.

Sandbanks (pictured today) is in the Poole constituency in Dorset which has gone to Labour

Sandbanks, in the Poole constituency, had returned a Conservative MP going back to 1880

'My son is a surgeon and my grandson is training to be one in London and he can't afford to live on what he earns because Sunak has ignored doctors and they're not earning much more than people serving you coffee.'

Another local resident, who didn't want to be named, said: 'The Tories went too liberal, they weren't Tory anymore.

'I did still vote Tory because I don't think Reform are ready yet but I'm glad Nigel Farage got in, I think he's going to be good in Parliament and tell it like it is.

'I think they will do very well next time, they'll have my vote then.'
The Red revolution began with coffee and congratulations today as Keir Starmer gathered his new Cabinet.

Sir Keir and his jubilant senior ministers met in Downing Street for the first time after his dramatic landslide triumph, saying it had been the 'honour and privilege of my life' to be asked to form a government.

Flanked by deputy PM Angela Rayner, Sir Keir warned his team they have a 'huge amount of work to do'.

The premier appointed the Cabinet last night after the extraordinary scale of his victory - achieved despite Labour receiving fewer votes than under Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 - became clear.

Rachel Reeves has made history as the UK's first woman Chancellor and Yvette Cooper is Home Secretary.

Sir Keir spoke to a host of foreign leaders last night, including reaffirming the 'Special Relationship' with Joe Biden and telling EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen he wanted 'close cooperation'.

He has made clear the government will make good on its promise to ditch the Rwanda deportation plan, despite claims it was having an effect on Channel boats.

Meanwhile, incoming Health Secretary Wes Streeting has already opened talks with the BMA over the junior doctors' strikes, sparking fears he could offer big concessions to their demands for 35 per cent pay hikes.

And new Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has pledged to nationalise Britain's railways 'as soon as possible'.

As Britain wakes up to a dramatically changed political map:

Sir Keir is promising to go on tour around the four UK nations in the coming days saying he will not be 'tribal' and wants to work with devolved administrations;

Furious Tory manoeuvring is under way as a leadership contest looms, with calls for the party to shift to the Right;

Nigel Farage is set to do a walkabout in Essex with another of the five Reform MPs;

Keir Starmer warned his new Cabinet they have a 'huge amount of work to do' today as kicked off Labour's era in power

1. Lords Leader Baroness Smith of Basildon; 2. Science Secretary Peter Kyle; 3. Commons Leader Lucy Powell; 4. Cabinet Secretary Simon Case; 5. Deputy PM Angela Rayner; 6. Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden; 7. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson; 8. Defence Secretary John Healey; 9. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall; 10. Transport Secretary Louise Haigh; 11. Environment Secretary Steve Reed; 12. Attorney General Richard Hermer; 13. Scottish Secretary Ian Murray; 14. Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn; 15. Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens; 16. Health Secretary Wes Streeting; 17. Foreign Secretary David Lammy; 18. Chancellor Rachel Reeves; 19. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper; 20. Business Secretary Jon Reynolds; 21. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood; 22. Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband; 23. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy

DPM Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves were in Downing Street early this morning (pictured) as the new Labour government tries to get a running start

A moving crew was moving furniture and works of art out of Downing Street today

Packing cases have been seen being moved around Downing Street today

Incoming Health Secretary Wes Streeting has already opened talks with the BMA over the junior doctors' strikes, sparking fears he could offer big concessions to their demands for 35 per cent pay hikes

Who's in Keir's Cabinet? Angela Rayner - Deputy PM, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary

- Deputy PM, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Rachel Reeves - Chancellor of the Exchequer

- Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lammy - Foreign Secretary

- Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper - Home Secretary

- Home Secretary John Healey - Defence Secretary

- Defence Secretary Wes Streeting - Health Secretary

- Health Secretary Bridget Phillipson - Education Secretary

- Education Secretary Shabana Mahmood - Justice Secretary

- Justice Secretary Pat McFadden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Ed Miliband - Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary

- Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Liz Kendall - Work and Pensions Secretary

- Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Reynolds - Business and Trade Secretary

- Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle - Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary

- Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Louise Haigh - Transport Secretary

- Transport Secretary Lisa Nandy - Culture Secretary

- Culture Secretary Steve Reed - Environment Secretary

- Environment Secretary Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

- Chief Secretary to the Treasury Richard Hermer - Attorney General

- Attorney General Ian Murray - Scottish Secretary

- Scottish Secretary Hilary Benn - Northern Ireland Secretary

- Northern Ireland Secretary Jo Stevens - Welsh Secretary

- Welsh Secretary Lucy Powell - Leader of the House of Commons

- Leader of the House of Commons Baroness Smith - Leader of the House of Lords

- Leader of the House of Lords Sir Alan Campbell - Chief Whip Advertisement

Sir Keir told Cabinet: 'Look colleagues, it is absolutely fantastic to welcome you to the Cabinet, our first meeting.

'And it was the honour and privilege of my life to be invited by the King, His Majesty the King yesterday to form a government and to form the Labour Government of 2024.

'And now we hold our first Cabinet meeting. So I welcome you to it.

'We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work.'

Sir Keir made a raft of appointments last night as he swapped places with defeated Rishi Sunak and basked in the blow of Labour's historic landslide.

He stayed at his London home with wife Victoria last night, but is expected to move into Downing Street soon.

The PM confirmed Ms Reeves as Britain's first woman chancellor, Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary and David Lammy as Foreign Secretary.

Ms Rayner has officially become his Deputy Prime Minister and retained the levelling up, housing and communities brief.

John Healey was named Defence Secretary; Shabana Mahmood Justice Secretary; Wes Streeting Health Secretary; Bridget Phillipson Education Secretary; and Ed Miliband Energy Secretary.

In surprise moves, former government science chief Patrick Vallance - a familiar face from Covid press conferences - has been given a peerage and made science minister.

James Timpson, a campaigner on prisons reform and also head of the key-cutting and shoe repairs firm, has also been elevated and made prisons minister.

But Emily Thornberry has been snubbed for the job of Attorney General, which she shadowed in Opposition. Instead a close ally of Sir Keir, Richard Hermer KC, has been handed the role.

After 649 of the 650 Commons seats declared Labour has a majority of 176.

Labour had 412 seats and the Tories 121, the worst result in the Conservative Party's history.

The Liberal Democrats won 71 seats, while Reform netted five.

A recount in the last seat left to declare: Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire; will not start until 10.30am on Saturday, delaying the final result of the General Election.

In his first speech on Downing Street, Sir Keir said the British people had voted 'decisively for change'.

He said the country could 'move forward together' as Labour took office following 14 years of Conservative rule.

Mr Streeting posted on social media last night: 'I have just spoken over the phone with the BMA junior doctors committee, and I can announce that talks to end their industrial action will begin next week.

'We promised during the campaign that we would begin negotiations as a matter of urgency, and that is what we are doing.'

Pat McFadden, who played a central role in shaping Labour's election campaign and was named Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the new Cabinet would meet on Saturday.

He told BBC Radio 4 that Sir Keir would have to quickly allocate responsibilities and 'give his new Cabinet their marching orders and then there's big international events coming.

'We have a Nato summit next week. That will be his first moment on the international stage. And while he's doing that, he will want his new Cabinet to get on with it pretty quickly.'

He said high on Sir Keir's agenda will be the six first steps Labour has set out: delivering economic stability, cutting NHS waiting times, launching a new border security command, setting up Great British Energy, cracking down on anti-social behaviour, and recruiting 6,500 new teachers.

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Keir Starmer will gather his senior ministers in Downing Street this morning on his first full day, as well as holding a press conference around lunchtime

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrive for Cabinet today

Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband in Downing Street today

John Healey and Lisa Nandy were also at Cabinet this morning

Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds in Downing Street today

Transport Secretary Lou Haigh in Downing Street for the first Cabinet meeting today

The new chief whip Alan Campbell in Downing Street today

Sir Keir and wife Victoria were clapped into Downing Street yesterday (pictured), but Labour's victory is being dubbed a 'loveless landslide' and a 'super meh-jority'

Attorney General Richard Hermer arrives at Downing Street in London last night

Staff were polishing up the famous Downing Street door today as the new government settles in

Just days after his appointment, Sir Keir will be propelled onto the international stage, jetting to Washington DC for the Nato leaders' summit, where discussions will include support for Ukraine.

He is also due to host the European Political Community summit in the UK on July 18.

The PM and Mr Biden and discussed their commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US, protecting the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and support for Ukraine.

Sir Keir also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reassured him of the 'unwavering commitment' and said the UK would continue supplying defensive support.

He had calls Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

He also talked to Irish premier Simon Harris, who accepted an invitation to visit Downing Street on July 17 and Scottish First Minister John Swinney.
A Virginia senator is frantically trying to a assemble a group of fellow Democrats to try and oust ailing Biden, according to sources.

Sen. Mark R. Warner is telling people he no longer has confidence in the president due to his faltering performance of late, the Washington Post reports.

Biden's cognitive function has been under intense scrutiny since his car crash presidential debate against Donald Trump last month.

Yesterday, he attempted some damage control with a sit down interview with ABC - a performance that was once again panned by members of his own party.

The floundering has led to calls for Biden to withdraw from the race, but he has so far remained steadfast in his commitment to standing. In looking ahead, a senior Democratic aide told ABC News that the president should 'buckle up for a wild week.'

Sen. Mark R. Warner of Virginia (pictured) is reportedly telling people he no longer has confidence in the president due to his faltering performance of late

Biden's cognitive function has been under intense scrutiny since his car crash presidential debate against Donald Trump last month and a floundering ABC interview on Friday

His stubborn resolve has many democrats worried, apparently including Warner, who is gathering a group of allies to ask him to stand down, according to two sources.

Warner's spokeswoman, Rachel Cohen, refused to either confirm or deny the plans.

'Like many other people in Washington and across the country, Senator Warner believes these are critical days for the president's campaign, and he has made that clear to the White House,' she said.

Meanwhile, Democrat Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who is the minority leader, has scheduled a virtual meeting on Sunday with senior House Democrats to discuss the president's candidacy, senior sources told the New York Times.

The meeting is reportedly due to include the ranking members of congressional committees who have become uneasy about Biden's chances in recent weeks.

Many had hoped that Friday's interview with George Stephanopoulos would be a chance for Biden, 81, to prove himself fit to continue leading.

But the toe-curling performance, which included responding to questions in a raspy voice, losing track mid-sentence and going off on tangents, left many Democrats unconvinced.

Rep. Mike Quigley, Democrat of Illinois, told CNN he found parts of the interview 'disturbing'.

He stated it was clear, 'the president of the United States doesn't have the vigor necessary to overcome the deficit here'.

He also pointed to Biden's response about how he would feel if he lost to Trump.

'He felt as long as he gave it his best effort, that's all that really matters, with the greatest respect: No.'

An anonymous House Democrat told Axios the president 'is toast' in November's election.

Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas was the first to call for Biden to drop out of the race following the debate and reiterated his demand on Friday.

'The need for him to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday,' he told CNN after the interview.

He added that Mr. Biden 'does not want his legacy to be that he's the one who turned over our country to a tyrant.'

Along with Doggett and Quigley House Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts have called for Biden to withdraw.

Before Biden's Friday interview. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey urged the president 'to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump.'

'Whatever President Biden decides, I am committed to doing everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump,' she added.

Illinois Rep Mike Quigley and Texas Rep Lloyd Doggett renewed their calls for Biden to step down after the ABC interview

Former Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio, told MSNBC he didn't think Biden 'moved the needle at all.'

'I don't think he energized anybody,' he said. 'I think there was a level of him being out of touch with reality on the ground.'

Ryan has also called for Biden to step down, stating he is 'worried.'

'I'm worried, like I think a lot of people are, that he is just not the person to be able to get this done for us.'

Prominent Biden and Democrat donor Mark Buell, similarly expressed concerns about the president's trajectory.

'Biden is on a slide that he is trying to curb,' he told the New York Times. 'If he isn't successful, he may soon become a verb.'
It's a common complaint from younger generations that the politicians of today rarely understand life from their point of view.

But the success of one MP in Thursday night's general election will surely leave many of those critics without a leg to stand on.

As Britain's first MP to be born in the 21st Century, Labour's Sam Carling is now the youngest Commons member, leading him to affectionately be known as the 'Baby of the House'.

The 22-year-old Cambridge University researcher won his seat in North West Cambridgeshire by just 39 votes, beating out his 63-year-old opponent who was first elected when Sam was just a toddler.

His parents were even among the crowd as he gave his victory speech in the early hours of Friday morning, following a dramatic recount, and were there to drive him home when they left just after 6am.

People may think the youngster has a lot to learn, but he has already been a city councillor for the last two years and insists people in their 20s are just 'as capable as anyone else' to an MP.

As Britain's first MP to be born in the 21st Century, Labour 's Sam Carling is now the youngest Commons member, leading him to be dubbed 'The Baby of the House'

The 22-year-old Cambridge University researcher won his seat in North West Cambridgeshire by just 39 votes. He is seen here with a group of Labour members while canvassing in his local constituency

Sam (left) is a fan of the occasional meal deal, with two mains as his go to - a coronation chicken sandwich or a plant-based hoisin duck wrap. But he says Fridge Raiders and a Dr Pepper are always a must for his choice of a snack and a drink

Originally from the north east of England, Mr Carling was a pupil at the 32,430-a-year Barnard Castle School in County Durham.

He says he bagged a staggering six A* grades in his A-Levels in 2020 - which is when schools were unable to sit summer exams due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The new Labour MP says he doesn't 'eat much meat at all...only chicken and fish' and refuses to eat duck meat.

Speaking to student magazine Varsity, he said he only really tucks into chicken and fish, adding: 'I used to go and feed ducks a lot when I was a kid so I will not eat duck. Ever.'

He is however a fan of the occasional meal deal, with two mains as his go to - a coronation chicken sandwich or a plant-based hoisin duck wrap.

But he says Fridge Raiders and a Dr Pepper are always a must for his choice of a snack and a drink.

He went on to study at natural sciences at the University of Cambridge after netting straight A*s in biology, chemistry, physics, maths, further maths and an extended project qualification, his LinkedIn says.

Sam beat out his 63-year-old opponent Shailesh Vara who was first elected when Sam was just a toddler. Sam is pictured surrounded by fellow Labour activists

Sam has already been a city councillor since the age of 20 and says he is keen to get to work on 'restoring Britain's public services and reclaiming our country's future'

Describing himself as a 'serial multitasker', ambitious Mr Carling was forced to balance his studies with his fledging political career at university.

He joined Cambridge's Labour Club rising to its co-chairman. He was also the Student Union President at Christ's College.

In May 2022, he was voted onto Cambridge City Council representing West Chesterton for Labour.

His time at the council has seen him campaigning to tackle the 'rancid filth' and sewage blighting Cambridge's River Cam. But his colleagues joke he that all his work has to fit 'around his paper round'.

He also held the post of Executive Councillor for Open Spaces and City Services - and once boasted of helping to approve a new Taco Bell fast-food outlet in the heart of Cambridge's Market Square - close to his university halls.

But the busy 22-year-old has previously admitted he is 'very bad at getting up' in the morning and would regularly work until 3am, although this may also be down to his insomnia which only means he gets around five hours sleep each day.

During his time studying for a degree, the aspiring politician also claimed to have uncovered an issue with Cambridge's Student Union's data collection systems which he said had inadvertently 'outed countless' LGBTQ students.

And the new Labour MP has also indicated his support for the pro-Palestine cause, telling Varsity in May the 'fighting [in Gaza] needs to stop now' - while also backing people's 'right to protest', which saw hundreds of students set up camps outside the university calling for a 'ceasefire' in the war between Israel and Hamas.

Sam was voted onto Cambridge City Council representing West Chesterton for Labour in May 2022 soon after which he was ruthlessly heckled online for his and was branded a 'labour creche kiddie'

When news broke in May that Mr Carling was to be Labour's parliamentary candidate, the 22-year-old was ruthlessly trolled online over his age, with people calling him a 'Labour creche kiddie' and 'nerd', with some asking: 'Have you ever had a job before?'

Sharing a series of pictures of the abuse he claimed to have receive on X, Sam said: 'I'm sometimes asked for my views on why we can't get more young people to stand for office, with only 2% of councillors under 30.

'See below a selection of the age-related tripe I have received in just the first two days of being a parliamentary candidate. That should explain it.'

He was ruthlessly heckled online for his age when he was announced as a parliamentary candidate in May, branded a 'labour creche kiddie'.

Workers in the House of Commons are still to confirm if Mr Carling is now Britain's youngest sitting MP.

But a spokesman for the House of Commons told MailOnline: 'We haven't fully confirmed all biographical data for new MPs and are unable to share information about MPs' date of birth on an individual basis.

'However, it does appear that Sam Carling is the youngest MP as our researchers are not aware of any younger at this point.'

In 2015, Mhairi Black become the youngest MP to be appointed since 1832 when she was elected to the SNP aged just 20 years and seven months old.

Ms Black, the party's former deputy leader at Westminster, announced last year she would be stepping down at the next General Election.
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Keir Starmer warned of 'tough decisions' looming and tried to stop people calling him 'PM' today as he kicked off his Red revolution.

At his first press conference in Downing Street, the Labour leader said questioners could call him 'Keir' as he acknowledged that his government will be 'judged on actions not on words'.

He said the government will need to make 'tough decisions and take them early' - saying that there would be 'raw honesty' about what needs to be done, although he denied that meant tax hikes.

Instead he stressed that crime could be a crucial area, after it emerged his new prisons minister has suggested two-thirds of people in jail should not be there. Sir Keir said there were 'too many prisoners, not enough prisons'.

Sir Keir also confirmed that the Rwanda policy pursued by Rishi Sunak was 'dead and buried', despite claims it was having an effect on Channel boats.

Asked if he was getting used to being referred to as 'Prime Minister', Sir Keir chuckled and said: 'I'm very happy to be called Keir or Prime Minister.'

The comments came after jubilant senior ministers met in No10 for the first time after his dramatic landslide triumph.

Flanked by deputy PM Angela Rayner, Sir Keir warned his team they have a 'huge amount of work to do'.

The premier appointed the Cabinet last night after the extraordinary scale of his victory - achieved despite Labour receiving fewer votes than under Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 - became clear.

Rachel Reeves has made history as the UK's first woman Chancellor and Yvette Cooper is Home Secretary.

Sir Keir spoke to a host of foreign leaders last night, including reaffirming the 'Special Relationship' with Joe Biden and telling EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen he wanted 'close cooperation'.

Meanwhile, incoming Health Secretary Wes Streeting has already opened talks with the BMA over the junior doctors' strikes, sparking fears he could offer big concessions to their demands for 35 per cent pay hikes.

And new Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has pledged to nationalise Britain's railways 'as soon as possible'.

As Britain gets to grips with a dramatically changed political map:

Sir Keir is promising to go on tour around the four UK nations in the coming days saying he will not be 'tribal' and wants to work with devolved administrations;

Furious Tory manoeuvring is under way as a leadership contest looms, with calls for the party to shift to the Right;

Nigel Farage is set to do a walkabout in Essex with another of the five Reform MPs;

At his first press conference in Downing Street, the Labour leader urged questioners to refer 'call me Keir' as he acknowledged that his government will be 'judged on actions not on words'

Keir Starmer warned his new Cabinet they have a 'huge amount of work to do' today as kicked off Labour's era in power

DPM Angela Rayner and Chancellor Rachel Reeves were in Downing Street early this morning (pictured) as the new Labour government tries to get a running start

A moving crew was moving furniture and works of art out of Downing Street today

Packing cases have been seen being moved around Downing Street today

Incoming Health Secretary Wes Streeting has already opened talks with the BMA over the junior doctors' strikes, sparking fears he could offer big concessions to their demands for 35 per cent pay hikes

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Asked if he would be willing to raise tax to fund public services, the PM said 'we're going to have to take the tough decisions, and take them early'.

Sir Keir said he would approach the challenges with a 'raw honesty' but insisted that was 'not a sort of prelude to saying there's some tax decision that we didn't speak about before'.

'In relation to the tough decisions, we're going to have to take them and take them early. And we will do that with a raw honesty,' he said.

'But that is not a sort of prelude to saying there's some tax decision that we didn't speak about before that we're going to announce now.

'It's about the tough decisions to fix the problem and being honest about what they are.'

The premier was questioned about comments made by James Timpson, the new minister of state for prisons, parole and probation, during an interview with Channel 4 News earlier this year.

The newly-minted peer - boss of the Timpsons firm - suggested that two-thirds of prisoners did not need to be there, backing community sentences instead. He pointed out that the Netherlands had managed to knock down half of their prison buildings.

'We are addicted to punishment. So many of the people who are in prison in my view shouldn't be there,' he said.

Who's in Keir's Cabinet? Angela Rayner - Deputy PM, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary

- Deputy PM, Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Rachel Reeves - Chancellor of the Exchequer

- Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lammy - Foreign Secretary

- Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper - Home Secretary

- Home Secretary John Healey - Defence Secretary

- Defence Secretary Wes Streeting - Health Secretary

- Health Secretary Bridget Phillipson - Education Secretary

- Education Secretary Shabana Mahmood - Justice Secretary

- Justice Secretary Pat McFadden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Ed Miliband - Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary

- Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Liz Kendall - Work and Pensions Secretary

- Work and Pensions Secretary Jonathan Reynolds - Business and Trade Secretary

- Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle - Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary

- Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Louise Haigh - Transport Secretary

- Transport Secretary Lisa Nandy - Culture Secretary

- Culture Secretary Steve Reed - Environment Secretary

- Environment Secretary Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

- Chief Secretary to the Treasury Richard Hermer - Attorney General

- Attorney General Ian Murray - Scottish Secretary

- Scottish Secretary Hilary Benn - Northern Ireland Secretary

- Northern Ireland Secretary Jo Stevens - Welsh Secretary

- Welsh Secretary Lucy Powell - Leader of the House of Commons

- Leader of the House of Commons Baroness Smith - Leader of the House of Lords

- Leader of the House of Lords Sir Alan Campbell - Chief Whip Advertisement

The Prison Governors' Association (PGA) has said the entire criminal justice system 'stands on the precipice of failure', with early release necessary because they jails are at full capacity.

Sir Keir said: 'We've got too many prisoners, not enough prisons.

'That's a monumental failure of the last government on any basic view of government to get to a situation where you haven't got enough prison places for prisoners, doesn't matter what your political stripe, that is a failure of government.

'It's a failure of government to instruct the police not to arrest. This has not had enough attention, in my view, but it's what happened.

'We will fix that, but we can't fix it overnight and therefore it is impossible to simply say we will stop the early release of prisoners and you wouldn't believe me if I did say it.'

On Channel boats, Sir Keir said: 'The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It's never been a deterrent.

'Look at the numbers that have come over in the first six and a bit months of this year, they are record numbers, that is the problem that we are inheriting.

'It has never acted as a deterrent, almost the opposite, because everybody has worked out, particularly the gangs that run this, that the chance of ever going to Rwanda was so slim, less than 1%, that it was never a deterrent.

'The chances were of not going and not being processed and staying here, therefore, in paid for accommodation for a very, very long time.

'It's had the complete opposite effect and I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent.'

Shortly before the press conference, Sir Keir told Cabinet: 'Look colleagues, it is absolutely fantastic to welcome you to the Cabinet, our first meeting.

'And it was the honour and privilege of my life to be invited by the King, His Majesty the King yesterday to form a government and to form the Labour Government of 2024.

'And now we hold our first Cabinet meeting. So I welcome you to it.

'We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work.'

Sir Keir made a raft of appointments last night as he swapped places with defeated Rishi Sunak and basked in the blow of Labour's historic landslide.

He stayed at his London home with wife Victoria last night, but is expected to move into Downing Street soon.

The PM confirmed Ms Reeves as Britain's first woman chancellor, Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary and David Lammy as Foreign Secretary.

Ms Rayner has officially become his Deputy Prime Minister and retained the levelling up, housing and communities brief.

John Healey was named Defence Secretary; Shabana Mahmood Justice Secretary; Wes Streeting Health Secretary; Bridget Phillipson Education Secretary; and Ed Miliband Energy Secretary.

In surprise moves, former government science chief Patrick Vallance - a familiar face from Covid press conferences - has been given a peerage and made science minister.

James Timpson, a campaigner on prisons reform and also head of the key-cutting and shoe repairs firm, has also been elevated and made prisons minister.

But Emily Thornberry has been snubbed for the job of Attorney General, which she shadowed in Opposition. Instead a close ally of Sir Keir, Richard Hermer KC, has been handed the role.

After 649 of the 650 Commons seats declared Labour has a majority of 176.

Labour had 412 seats and the Tories 121, the worst result in the Conservative Party's history.

The Liberal Democrats won 71 seats, while Reform netted five.

A recount in the last seat left to declare: Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire; will not start until 10.30am on Saturday, delaying the final result of the General Election.

In his first speech on Downing Street, Sir Keir said the British people had voted 'decisively for change'.

He said the country could 'move forward together' as Labour took office following 14 years of Conservative rule.

Mr Streeting posted on social media last night: 'I have just spoken over the phone with the BMA junior doctors committee, and I can announce that talks to end their industrial action will begin next week.

'We promised during the campaign that we would begin negotiations as a matter of urgency, and that is what we are doing.'

Pat McFadden, who played a central role in shaping Labour's election campaign and was named Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the new Cabinet would meet on Saturday.

He told BBC Radio 4 that Sir Keir would have to quickly allocate responsibilities and 'give his new Cabinet their marching orders and then there's big international events coming.

'We have a Nato summit next week. That will be his first moment on the international stage. And while he's doing that, he will want his new Cabinet to get on with it pretty quickly.'

He said high on Sir Keir's agenda will be the six first steps Labour has set out: delivering economic stability, cutting NHS waiting times, launching a new border security command, setting up Great British Energy, cracking down on anti-social behaviour, and recruiting 6,500 new teachers.

Keir Starmer will gather his senior ministers in Downing Street this morning on his first full day, as well as holding a press conference around lunchtime

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrive for Cabinet today

Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband in Downing Street today

John Healey and Lisa Nandy were also at Cabinet this morning

Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds in Downing Street today

Transport Secretary Lou Haigh in Downing Street for the first Cabinet meeting today

The new chief whip Alan Campbell in Downing Street today

Sir Keir and wife Victoria were clapped into Downing Street yesterday (pictured), but Labour's victory is being dubbed a 'loveless landslide' and a 'super meh-jority'

Attorney General Richard Hermer arrives at Downing Street in London last night

Staff were polishing up the famous Downing Street door today as the new government settles in

Just days after his appointment, Sir Keir will be propelled onto the international stage, jetting to Washington DC for the Nato leaders' summit, where discussions will include support for Ukraine.

He is also due to host the European Political Community summit in the UK on July 18.

The PM and Mr Biden and discussed their commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US, protecting the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and support for Ukraine.

Sir Keir also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and reassured him of the 'unwavering commitment' and said the UK would continue supplying defensive support.

He had calls Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

He also talked to Irish premier Simon Harris, who accepted an invitation to visit Downing Street on July 17 and Scottish First Minister John Swinney.
Four people were arrested as thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters marched through London in the first Gaza demonstration held under the new Labour government, the Metropolitan Police said.

The individuals were arrested on suspicion of public order offences on Saturday afternoon.

One man was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence relating to a placard, while three more were held on suspicion of breaching Public Order Act conditions imposed on the march, the force said on X.

A photograph captured the moment one man, wearing a read and white keffiyeh, was arrested at the march for holding a placard that read: 'Martyrs do not die. Their blood blooms revolution'

Tens of thousands were calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with the Met Police deploying 700 officers to stop any crime or disorder.

Four people were arrested following a Pro-Palestinian march through London on Saturday

A man was seen being arrested at the march for holding a placard that read: 'Martyrs do not die. Their blood blooms revolution'

The man, wearing a keffiyah around his face, was pictured moments before his arrest holding up the placard

Tens of thousands were calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, with the Met Police deploying 700 officers to stop any crime or disorder

The march, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, formed in Russell Square before following a route through the city and ending with speeches near Portcullis House.

Previous versions of the march which have taken place regularly since October had ended at Whitehall.

A group of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered opposite Downing Street and was marshalled by Met officers, despite the conditions requiring the protest to remain on the Victoria Embankment.

Jeremy Corbyn, re-elected as an independent MP for Islington North on Friday, was among those in attendance at today's demonstration

Protestors held placards lampooning David Lammy, Angela Rayner and Sir Keir Starmer just 24 hours after Labour came to power

The marchers were not more forgiving with a change in government, with placards equating Sir Keir Starmer with Rishi Sunak for their stance on Gaza

Jeremy Corbyn, re-elected as an independent MP for Islington North on Friday, was among those in attendance at the demonstration.

The former Labour leader told protesters on stage: 'Palestine was on the ballot in this election - and I promise to stay true to my word to stand up for the Palestinian people.

'We said it to the Tories, and now we will say it to Labour: a government that sells arms to Israel is a government that is complicit in crimes against humanity.

'A change in government doesn't change the facts that the people of Gaza are still being murdered in their sleep.

'And it doesn't change the fact that there is only one path to a just and lasting peace: an end to the occupation of Palestine.'

Some protestors were spotted holding placards lampooning David Lammy, Angela Rayner and Sir Keir Starmer just 24 hours after Labour came to power.

Police had also been prepared for a rumoured Just Stop Oil protest to be held in Parliament Square, which did not appear to take place.

The Met had used powers to place conditions on the protests to 'ensure we minimise serious disruption to the community and balance the rights of all', the force said.

Speaking before the march, superintendent Martin Kirby, who is leading policing in London this weekend, said: 'As always the goal is to protect the right to peaceful protest while minimising the impact of these events, including on London's Jewish communities.

'Police do not have the power to ban protest unless there is a risk of serious disorder.

'We have been liaising with the PSC throughout this week and will have a significant number of officers on duty to maintain law and order.

'Officers will be on hand to ensure the events pass off without issue and will step in to deal with any crime or disorder should it occur.

'We will be visible and engaging with those involved in the events and if you see anything of concern we would ask you to talk to officers in the area.'

One demonstrator, with a flag draped over him, held a watermelon as he walked

A dog pictured during the protest with a Palestinian flag in the background

The force said that since October it has used conditions under the Public Order Act 'more extensively than during any other period of protest in recent memory'.

These have been in relation to the route, duration, start and finish times, details of any static assemblies and the ability of those involved to get near 'sensitive sites or into communities where fears are most heightened'.

Thousands of pro Palestine supporters marched through central London today to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza

The demonstrators have been holding regular demonstrations to urge the British government to pressure Israel into opening negotiations to bring an end to the conflict

Among those on today's protests were Jewish holocaust survivors and their descendants

A number of conditions were put in place for the PSC event, including:

- Any person participating in the PSC and coalition partners' procession must not deviate from the route shown on the associated map.

- Any person participating in the PSC and coalition partners' rally must remain within the area indicated in red on the associated map.

- The PSC and coalition partners' stage may only be set up in Embankment in the place shaded blue on the associated map.

- The PSC and coalition partners' rally must conclude by 5.30pm.

One demonstrator held a fake body wrapped in a cloth

Protesters took to London today in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and waved flags as they marched through the streets

A woman pictured with a London Underground symbol on her face, reading 'End the Genocide'

Members of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign were among those who took to the streets

Despite only taking office 24 hours ago, people on the march were already critical of the new prime minister Sir Keir Starmer

One banner displayed on the demonstration showed Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu wearing an orange jumpsuit holding up a sign declaring him a 'war criminal' and a 'child killer'

Demonstrators said they wanted western governments to cease arms sales to Israel

One demonstrator drew a heart shaped Palestinian flag on the white section of an Irish tricolour
The mother of a traumatised learning-disabled man who had to be removed from a Ryanair flight says the airline must review its policy for vulnerable passengers.

Ann Maxwell from Edinburgh complained to the budget airline after the incident that saw her 27 year-old son Muir prevented from flying back from France.

Muir, who suffers from Dravet Syndrome - a rare type of child onset epilepsy - was not allowed to board the plane ahead of other passengers and take his pre-booked seat as is his usual protocol when flying.

Instead, he was forced to sit in an ambulatory van while the delayed plane prepared to board and was made to enter from the rear of the plane with other physically disabled passengers.

In the circumstances, terrified by the rush of oncoming passengers trying to get to their seats, Muir lashed out.

Ann Maxwell is angry with the way her son Muir was treated

This led to him being asked to leave the aircraft with his carers and saw him stranded in France without enough medication to last until the next flight four days later.

His parents felt they had no other option but to arrange alternative travel to make sure he was taken safely back to his Cheshire-based residential specialist care facility.

Last night Mrs Maxwell - who was awarded an OBE in 2015 for her work in raising 10 million for treatment and care of children with epilepsy - hit out at the airline and is campaigning for change.

She said: I have complained to Ryanair and they have refunded the cost of the seats but it is not merely an inconvenience as they have described it, but a complete nightmare.

I think they are overlooking the fact that from the moment Muir checked in to the airline he was in their care.

Muir, and others with learning disabilities are among the most vulnerable and need to be protected.

Ryanair have given me no reassurance that they will review their protocols meaning this could happen again to someone else.

Muir developed child onset epilepsy syndrome following vaccination at four months old caused by a genetic mutation.

Mrs Maxwell said: He is profoundly learning disabled, he cannot read or write. He walks and he talks but for anybody who doesnt know him they wouldnt understand what hes saying.

Mrs Maxwell wants Ryanair to review the way it helps passengers with learning disabilities board its flights

His cognition is quite high for the most part. He is 27 and he has emotions of a man that age but hes quite childlike in the way he lives his life.

Hes one of the happiest people I know despite all of that and has a great joie de vivre.

Last month Muir travelled from Manchester to Marseille to his parents holiday home, flying with the assistance of two carers.

Mrs Maxwell said he received the help of special assistance at the airport, as is normally done, and he was first to board the plane and take his pre-booked seat at the front of the plane.

She said: What happened going back is that Marseille airport didnt perceive him as learning disabled, being distinct from disabled.

He was not able to be wheeled to the stairs of the plane and walk on.

The airline insisted that he and the carers wait with the other disabled passengers who were largely the elderly and in wheelchairs, but cognitively sound whereas Muir is less so.

Ryanair put them in an ambulatory van where they stayed for 30 mins because the plane was late to arrive.

However those passengers were told to board form the back, along with some and in the opposition direction of others.

This forced Muir and his carers to face the barrage of passengers coming up the plane asking him to move out of the way, as he tried to make his way down to the front.

Mrs Maxwell said that how he was handled by the airport and airline put him at severe risk.

She added: The bottom line is Muir lost the plot and he had a behaviour.

As you can imagine the perception for passengers is fear for themselves, because they see seeing a young man being violent and aggressive but actually the level of violence he displays is the level of his own fear and reflects his level of personal fear.

He was traumatised. He was kicking and biting and the carers did their best to protect the passengers, of which there were too many, but they were also protecting Muir from himself.

By the time he was in his seat he was so traumatised he couldnt stop his behaviour.

Mrs Maxwell has said people with learning disabilities, like her son Muir, are among the most vulnerable and need to be protected

An elderly couple - who had been waiting to board with Muir - complained about him which Mrs Maxwell said she is disappointed with given the obvious learning disability her son has.

She said: The pilot asked him to be removed.

In the circumstances of course the carers were grateful to leave the plane - because by then the damage was done. Hopefully not for the long term though. We will only know that the next time Muir flies.

Since then, she has had an apology from the airport and an undertaking that procedure for learning disabled passengers is being reviewed and Muir will pass through the airport safely.

Although Ryanair refunded the cost of the tickets, Mrs Maxell asked for the cost of alternative travel to be reimbursed.

She said: What are they going to do to ensure this never happens again? All we know from this experience is that in the event a Ryanair flight is running late, the boarding requirements of their most vulnerable passengers with intellectual disabilities, may be compromised.

And if the resultant Ryanair inflicted trauma leads to a behaviour, the passenger may well be denied travel - followed by a refund when complained about. Hardly inclusive.

Lesslie Young, CEO of Epilepsy Scotland said: The overt lack of understanding of the needs of a vulnerable young man combined with actions that could only end in distress for him and those supporting him is unacceptable at every level.

We support the campaign for change at Ryanair and hope it is the start of change for the better, where needed, across the industry.

A Ryanair spokesperson said: This passenger booked special assistance for this flight from Marseilles to Manchester, which is handled by Marseilles Airports special assistance provider  not Ryanair, and was boarded in line with standard operating procedures.

This passenger was not removed from this flight. During boarding, this passenger became very disruptive and was correctly denied travel, a decision that was welcomed by the passengers two carers who thanked the crew for their assistance as they and the passenger offloaded willingly.
A married female teacher has been charged with sexual assault over claims she had sexual relations with a student in New Jersey.

Julie Rizzitello, 36, is accused of engaging in 'various sexual acts' with the student on 'multiple occasions and in at least three jurisdictions  Belmar, Brick, and Wall' over the course of the year.

Rizzitello, who tied the knot with her husband in 2017, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault, three counts of criminal sexual contact and one count of witness tampering.

Rizzitello resigned from her role at Wall Township High School earlier this week following the allegations.

The former English teacher is currently in Monmouth County Correctional Institution where she is waiting for a detention hearing.

Julie Rizzitello, 36, has been charged with sexual assault over claims she had sexual relations with a student in New Jersey

Rizzitello's alleged relationship with the student is said to have began earlier this year.

Prosecutors claim she engaged in sexual acts with them on multiple occasions and across three different townships.

She has now been charged in both Monmouth and Ocean counties.

Rizzitello was reportedly an English teacher who spent 10 years working with the Wall Township School District.

She is accused of engaging in 'various sexual acts' with the student on 'multiple occasions and in at least three jurisdictions  Belmar, Brick, and Wall' over the course of the year

It comes after special education teacher Allison Havemann-Niedrach in New Jersey was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting one of her students

She also served as an advisor for several clubs in the area. It is not clear if the victim was a student or a member of the club.

Her profile on the school district website was removed on Thursday but an archived copy of the webpage was still available.

She is waiting for a court date at Monmouth County Superior Court where she will face the charges.

It comes after a special education teacher in New Jersey who describes herself online as a 'passionate' educator was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting one of her students.

Allison Havemann-Niedrach, 43, a special education teacher at Freehold Intermediate School in New Jersey, was taken into custody, prosecutors announced on June 29.

Her arrest came after an investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office and the Freehold Police Department revealed she allegedly began sexually abusing a student earlier this year.

It is unclear how many times she allegedly sexually assaulted the student or how old the student may have been, though the intermediate school only teaches students from sixth to eighth grade.

Havemann-Niedrach is now facing one count each of first-degree aggravated sexual assault and second-degree child welfare endangerment, and was seen smiling in her mugshot.

DailyMail.com has contacted the Monmouth County Prosecutors Office and Wall Township School District for comment.
A simmering rift between Joe Biden's family and staff has finally boiled over after his disastrous debate performance last week.

The president blamed a cold and a generally 'bad night' for looking frail, confused, and struggling to finish sentences during the showdown with Donald Trump.

Biden defiantly declared he would contest the November 5 election and win, despite a push by some top Democrats to convince him to stand aside.

Fallout from the debate gave Biden's family, including his disgraced son Hunter, ammunition to settle old scores with his staff and be more involved.

Joe Biden's closest family visited the White House over the past week to console him after the debate and plot the next steps. They included his sister Valerie Owens, and son Hunter and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden

The president blamed a cold and a generally 'bad night' for looking frail, confused, and struggling to finish sentences during the showdown with Donald Trump

They blame his staff for failing to adequately prepare him for the debate and more broadly for not putting him in a position to show his strengths.

'I believe the family has witnessed blunder after blunder by key staff personnel and the debate is likely the straw that broke the camel's back,' one of 13 sources close to the president told NBC.

'Post-debate, the supposed loyal staff, instead of taking responsibility, pointed the finger back at the president and said: 'His fault.' I can think of no other singular action that would agitate the Biden family more.'

Aides in turn believe the president's family is blinded to the political realities by emotion and likened their 'unhelpful' meddling to a Shakespearean drama.

'The debate fiasco has opened up a lane for the family to surpass staff and start helping out their father and brother who they love dearly,' another insider said.

Biden's closest family visited the White House over the past week to console him after the debate and plot the next steps.

They included his sister Valerie Owens, and son Hunter and his wife Melissa Cohen Biden, along with various grandchildren who came for July 4th celebrations.

Biden talks to his son, Hunter Biden, after the fireworks on the National Mall with First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' husband Doug Emhoff on the White House balcony

Biden with granddaughter Maisy Biden and family members watch fireworks from the Truman Balcony at the White House during US Independence Day celebrations at the White House

Hunter's presence just weeks after his felony conviction on gun charges, and his pending tax fraud trial, in particular has riled staff who thin he needs to keep a lower profile - a sentiment that in turn enrages the family.

Jill Biden's former communications director Michael LaRosa defended Hunter's involvement, pointing our that despite his past drug issues he was a Harvard-educated lawyer.

'He was far more effective at media strategy and political knife-fighting than the campaign has been so far and they have $250 million,' he said.

'At the end of the day, [Biden is] extremely close to his children, brothers and his sister, and values their unfiltered advice and it would make sense that they're frustrated if they feel like they're on the outside looking in.'

Some of the presidents family unsuccessfully agitated for the ouster of his longtime personal lawyer and consigliere Bob Bauer and his wife, top White House adviser Anita Dunn.

Bauer played the role of Trump during debate prep at Camp David in the days before the disastrous event last Thursday, as he did in 2020.

Anita Dunn (left), senior advisor to President Joe Biden, and White House Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs Reema Dodin

Bob Bauer, Biden's longtime personal lawyer, is among his closest confidants

But the family appeared to have not gone beyond discussing their removal, as the president has a great deal of confidence in their counsel.

'The president and first lady have full confidence in their team, including Anita and Bob,' White House chief of staff Jeff Zients said.

'There is absolutely no truth to these unfounded and insulting rumors.'

Still, enough drama spilled over into the public realm that Biden contacted his former chief of staff Ron Klain, who ran the debate prep, to reassure him.

Biden's family also believe his staff are too tightly managing him in fear the gaffe-prone president will put his foot in his mouth.

However, his advisers blame the family for being overprotective to a fault.

Staffers also pointed the finger at each other, particularly at longstanding aides, for insulating Biden to the point where he his out of practice at handling unscripted moments.

Presidential staff have far more confidence in Dunn and Bauer as unlike aides who have been with him so long they are like family, the duo aren't afraid to tell him 'the truth', even if he doesn't like it.

'Anita is one of the most respected people in both the White House and campaign and across the Democratic Party,' one said.

'Without her leadership there are real fears we may not be able to recover and claw back and win, just like she helped the president do when he fought back from the early 2020 primary losses and went on to beat Trump.'

Bauer is married to White House senior adviser for communications, Anita Dunn

Biden likes to do prep work at Camp David - above he and his team prepare for the State of the Union address at Camp David in March

Polls since the debate show Trump widening his lead over Biden, with average from various aggregators giving him a 2 to 3.3 per cent edge head-to-head, and 2.5 to 4.9 per cent advantage when third party candidates are included.

Despite some Democratic lawmakers openly calling for Biden to stand aside, and many more in private, the most obvious candidates to replace him appear unwilling.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer both, within minutes of each other, pledged their support for Biden as the nominee earlier this week.

None of Biden's potential replacements are doing any better in the polls against Trump than the president, except Michelle Obama who leads him by double digits.
Missing Jay Slater's father and brother have returned with a search team to the Tenerife gorge where the 19-year-old's mobile phone lost its signal nearly three weeks ago.

The pair were joined by a team of seven local hikers and a dog who spent more than four hours combing the unforgiving terrain.

Under fierce sun with temperatures of 25C the group fanned out a long and tricky path which leads down to the sea just below the remote village of Masca on Tenerife's north west coast.

The teenager disappeared after attending a rave in Playa de las Americas which he left in the morning of June 17. He then travelled back to a 40-a-night Airbnb cottage in Masca with two older British men.

As he tried to walk the 11 hours back to his hotel, Jay called best friend Lucy to say he was lost, in desperate need of some water and his phone battery was on 1 per cent.

It comes as:

Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, travelled to the Canary Islands for a musical festival with his friend Lucy and another friend last week

Jay's father Warren and brother Zak pictured on Wednesday hiking through the mountain track where Jay's phone was last located. They have returned to a Tenerife gorge with a search team

Warren and Zak pictured today searching the gorge with friends and locals

A group of people, including Warren and Zak, pictured on the hunt for Jay this afternoon

Jay's father Warren pictured scouring the unforgiving Tenerife landscape today in search for Jay

A group of family, friends and volunteers walked around the remote scenery where Jay's phone lost its signal almost three weeks ago

Yesterday, Jay's family were told by Spanish police that they can use their own search-and-rescue teams in the Tenerife hunt for the missing 19-year-old.His devastated family previously told Sky News they were waiting for authorities to allow them to use some of the 50,000 of donations, raised through a crowdfunding page, to pay for specialist search and rescue teams.

The Guardia Civil then confirmed such teams could be brought in from elsewhere 'without any problem' to help with the hunt for the 19-year-old.

Today, using whistles the group could be seen walking along the steep slopes of the valley in the Parque Rural de Teno.

Clouds occasionally tumbled down the seaward facing mountains quickly dissolving as they met the hot warm air in the valley.

Spanish police previously focused their search for the teenager on the mountainous village and Rural de Teno National Park in north-west Tenerife where his phone last pinged.

But on June 30, the search and rescue mission was dramatically called off after nearly 14 days, leaving his desperate family 'in the dark'.

Spanish police added that the Jay's family would have to notify them 'for good management of information and resources' but that they had not received a request yet.

Warren and Zak pictured on July 3 on the mountain track where Jay's phone was last located

Jay (right) pictured alongside his mother Debbie and brother Zak (left) who flew out to Tenerife after his disappearance

A map showing Jay Slater's last known movements before he disappeared

Jay Slater's best friend Lucy Law previously posted this picture on social media of the missing teenager nearly three weeks after he vanished in Tenerife

Lucy (pictured) was one of the last people to hear from Jay and had gone to a festival with him the night before he disappeared

Jay's family have previously been advised to fund an independent search party after Tenerife's Civil Guard ended their hunt for him 'prematurely'.

Army reservist and private investigator Juan Garcia, is among those advising Jay's mother on how to continue with a private search.

Speaking to the Times, he said that 'two weeks is too premature to end the search'.

'[Slater] could be alive somewhere  someone can drink from rainwater and eat plants. The family should not give up hope,' he said.

Earlier today, Slater's heartbroken mother Debbie Duncan also issued a fresh update.

A post on an official Facebook group read: 'Debbie and family would like to thank the local hiking group who have worked tirelessly planning routes and searching for Jay they are extremely overwhelmed with the kindness of them all. Thank you.'

Jay had been attending a three day NRG festival which ended on Sunday, 16 June in Papagayo beach club in South Tenerife.

His friend Lucy- who had gone to the festival with him - said Jay had gone to stay with people he met after a night out.

She received a phone call from Jay at around 8am on Monday morning saying he'd missed his bus and was trying to walk back but was lost, needed a drink and only had 1% battery on his phone. The phone call then cut off.

The teenager's phone died at around 8.50am, with his last known location registered in the remote Rural de Teno park, more than ten miles from the popular resort Guia de Isora.

Jay was reported missing at around 9am the same morning and police launched a mountain rescue.

The search for the teenager continued this afternoon as his family brought in a search team

A search group pictured today at the Tenerife gorge where Jay lost his phone signal

Warren pictured with other volunteers at the Tenerife gorge this afternoon

Searchers combed the undergrowth for any sign of the missing teenager today

Jay's final Snapchat shows the teenager laughing and smiling at around 8.35pm on the night before he went missing

Search crews are seen last week scouring the area where Jay is believed to have gone missing

Ayub Qassim invited Jay, 19, back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife and says: 'He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive'

Jay Slater, 19, went back to Ayub Qassim's remote cottage  called Casa Abuela Tina  at 5am on the day he vanished

Mountain rescue crews and sniffer dogs had been searching the mountainous area of north-west Tenerife for the 19-year-old up until this afternoon.

But suddenly police focus shifted to the tourist hotspots of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas in south Tenerife, after a false sighting of him getting out of a taxi.

It later emerged the report was false and police, having wasted precious time in the blistering 27C heat, were forced to move attention back to their original site.

The 19-year-old had gone back to the remote cottage in the village of Masca with two British men in the early hours of Monday morning after a rave in Playa de las Americas on June 17.

Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, left the 40-a-night two bedroom property called Casa Abuela Tina at 7.30am and posted two pictures from it on Snapchat.

Spanish police dramatically called off the search for Jay on Monday but said their investigation into his disappearance was ongoing.

On July 3, one of the British men who the missing teenager spent his final hours with claimed Jay Slater found himself at the Airbnb cottage at the centre of the mystery because as 'all his friends left him'.

Ayub Qassim says he invited the apprentice bricklayer, 19, from Lancashire, back to his 40-a-night rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife hours before he vanished on June 17.

The 31-year-old, who booked the Airbnb under the name Ayub Abdul, broke his silence, telling MailOnline: 'He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive.'

MailOnline exclusively revealed that Qassim was jailed nine years ago for being the mastermind behind a sophisticated operation to flood Wales with Class A drugs.

Spanish police searching for Jay spoken to Qassim and the unnamed friend known only as 'Johnny Vegas' as part of their inquiries but concluded they were 'irrelevant' to the investigation.

Jay was last seen by a witness walking off in search of a bus stop close to the Airbnb at around 8am on Monday, June 17. He called a friend to say he was making the 11-hour walk back to his hotel in Playa de las Americas but has not been heard from since.

Former detective Peter Bleksley criticised Spanish police, suggesting they may be afraid a proper investigation would hit tourism on the island.

Earlier today, the teenager's friend insisted they are 'not drug mules' as the search for the missing 19-year-old nears the end of its third week.

As conspiracy theories and fake videos have swirled around on social media, Brad Hargreaves - who went on holiday to Tenerife with Slater and described him as his 'best mate' - has tried to set the record straight.

Slater's 'best friend' Brad Hargreaves, pictured, has insisted that they were 'not drug mules'

The 40-a-night Casa Abuela Tina holiday rental near the remote village of Masca where Jay spent his final hours before going missing

After flying out to the island for the three-day NRG music festival, Mr Hargreaves said he has experienced vile trolls on social media, The Sun reports.

'Thinkin' I'm involved in it all is beyond me,' he said. 'We've been mates for years, came on our first holiday together and unfortunately this has happened.

'We ain't drug mules or whatever.... people need to know the facts before talking s*** on the internet...'
The public has reacted with scorn to Sir Keir Starmer's first speech as Prime Minister.

The Labour PM's measured tone especially tickled some viewers - including one who thought he sounded like a tired mother during a holiday trip with the kids.

Others thought he sounded like a headteacher reading out the canteen rules and was 'painfully dull' with 'all platitudes and no detail'.

Another joked 'if you don't commit and tell us what your plans are you can't fail - good tactic'.

Keir Starmer warned of 'tough decisions' looming and tried to stop people calling him 'PM' today as he kicked off his Red revolution.

At his first press conference in Downing Street, the Labour leader urged questioners to refer 'call me Keir' as he acknowledged that his government will be 'judged on actions not on words'

The Labour PM's measured tone tickled one viewer in particular, who said he thought he sounded like a tired mother during a holiday trip with the kids

Social media user Duncan Wisbey mocked Starmer in a video online. He said: 'I was thinking, ''where have I heard this tone of voice before'' and I realised it's a really tired mother on holiday just having a words with her kids'

At his first press conference in Downing Street, the Labour leader said journalists could call him 'Keir' as he acknowledged that his government will be 'judged on actions not on words'.

He said the government will need to make 'tough decisions and take them early' - saying that there would be 'raw honesty' about what needs to be done, although he denied that meant tax hikes.

Instead he stressed that crime could be an area, after it emerged his new prisons minister has suggested two-thirds of people in jail should not be there. Sir Keir said there were 'too many prisoners, not enough prisons'.

Sir Keir also confirmed that the Rwanda policy pursued by Rishi Sunak was 'dead and buried'.

Asked if he was getting used to being referred to as 'Prime Minister', Sir Keir chuckled and said: 'I'm very happy to be called Keir or Prime Minister.'

Social media user Duncan Wisbey mocked Starmer in a video online.

He said: 'I was watching Keir Starmer's speech from Downing Street earlier with that very measured tone of a few words and these pauses in between.

'I was thinking, ''where have I heard this tone of voice before'' and I realised it's a really tired mother on holiday just having a words with her kids.'

Users on social media told the new Prime Minister - the first from Labour in 14 years - that he should 'talk to the camera, not your notes'.

Users on X, formerly known as Twitter, said they thought he was 'painfully dull' with 'all platitudes and no detail' - as another joked 'if you don't commit and tell us what your plans are you can't fail - good tactic'

Your browser does not support iframes.

Another slated him for saying the word 'um' too often during his first speech from Non 10 Downing Street.

In his first speech on Downing Street, Sir Keir said the British people had voted 'decisively for change'.

He said the country could 'move forward together' as Labour took office following 14 years of Conservative rule.

Mr Streeting posted on social media last night: 'I have just spoken over the phone with the BMA junior doctors committee, and I can announce that talks to end their industrial action will begin next week.

'We promised during the campaign that we would begin negotiations as a matter of urgency, and that is what we are doing.'
Ukrainian soldiers fought back tears as they gathered in Kyiv today to pay last respects to a British combat medic and former cab driver killed in action.

Peter Fouche, 49, helped set up a charity called Project Konstantin which since 2022 has delivered essential supplies to frontline Ukrainian fighters in the bloody conflict against Russia.

According to its website, it has also helped evacuate 219 Ukrainian soldiers from combat zones.

Co-founder Mr Fouche - a former London taxi driver - died 'on the battlefield' on June 27 as his unit clashed with Russian troops, a colleague at Project Konstantin said.

Comrades and friends of late British combat medic Peter Fouche attend a farewell ceremony for him on Independence Square

Peter Fouche, 49, (pictured) helped set up a charity called Project Konstantin which since 2022 has delivered essential supplies to frontline Ukrainian fighters

A mourner pays his respects by the side of Peter Fouche's coffin on July 6 as other soldiers stand in vigil

People read prayers during the funeral ceremony of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouch

At the funeral ceremony, Ukrainian soldiers carried Mr Fouche's coffin through Kyiv's landmark Independence Square, the site of mass protests in 2014 that forced out a pro-Russian president.

Mr Fouche's comrades held back tears as they lined up to say goodbye. Others read prayers as they held up Ukrainian flags and military insignia.

His partner, wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt, knelt down to embrace the coffin.

A statement released on Monday by Halyna Zhuk, Project Konstantin's Ukrainian co-founder, called Mr Fouche 'a hero' and praised his 'relentless commitment to Ukraine and her people'.

People held back tears during the emotional ceremony for the beloved British national

Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffin of Peter Fouche who volunteered his services in 2022

Mr Fouche, from west London, helped build a field hospital in Kyiv before he started Project Konstantin and later enlisted in the Ukrainian army, according to the group's website.

Born and raised in Bluewater Bay, South Africa, 49-year-old Fouche served as a sniper in the nation's 'Flying Squad' - an elite branch of the police service tasked with rapid response to major violent crimes such as homicides, armed robberies and hijackings.

The father-of-one later moved to Fulham in West London and obtained British citizenship.

Ukrainian servicemen carry a portrait and coffin of the South African born, former cab driver

Soldiers drop to their knees as the coffin of Peter Fouche is ceremoniously carried

Women hug each other during the emotional funeral ceremony of the much respected fallen warrior

In Britain, he worked in construction and later became a driver for cab and courier service Addison Lee.

Announcing his death on social media last weekend, a spokesperson for Project Konstantin shared a touching tribute to Fouche - known affectionately as Hasta La Vista - that told of his lifesaving work on the frontlines of Ukraine.

'It is with the heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Pete, our beloved director and founder,' it began.

'There are no words that can do Pete's life justice. No words or phrases could ever encapsulate how much he meant to all of us. Pete's unwavering dedication, endless compassion, and relentless commitment to Ukraine and her people have left an everlasting impact on the countless lives he touched. His heroism knew no bounds.

'He was actively involved in saving more than 200 wounded Ukrainian soldiers, evacuating civilians from the most dangerous frontline cities, as well as bringing humanitarian aid to people in those towns and cities.

'Pete's bravery and selflessness in the face of danger were nothing short of extraordinary, and his actions will forever be etched in our hearts.

'We will honour Pete's memory by continuing the work he was so passionate about, carrying forward his legacy of courage and kindness, of fighting for what is right, and of speaking up in the face of injustice.

Fouche is seen standing in front of a damaged building in Ukraine in this screengrab taken from a social media clip

Announcing his death on social media, a spokesperson for Project Konstantin shared a touching tribute to Fouche that told of his lifesaving work on the frontlines of Ukraine

Peter Fouche, who co-founded the Project Konstantin charity responsible for orchestrating the medical evacuation (medevac) of more than 200 Ukrainian soldiers, died in fighting last month

The heartfelt tribute concluded: 'Rest in peace, Peter. We know that our Heavenly Father has welcomed you into His arms. Your heroism and contributions will never be forgotten and we will make sure that it was not in vain.'

Upon his arrival in Ukraine, Fouche volunteered to fight for Kyiv with one of many territorial defence units that were created following the outbreak of war.

But as a trained member of South Africa's Flying Squad, he felt his experience of high-speed car control and rapid response incidents would be better suited to performing medevacs.

He later co-founded the Project Konstantin charity with Tetyana Millard, a British-Ukrainian citizen who was also involved in providing humanitarian aid to frontline towns and evacuating wounded soldiers.

Millard died in a horror car crash as she drove a donated car to a frontline position in Ukraine last year.

The charity's name itself is a tribute to a Ukrainian serviceman named Konstantin who had fought alongside Fouche and was killed by Russian mortar fire.

In 2023, Fouche was operating near the besieged city of Bakhmut, where he was actively involved in providing medical assistance to Ukrainian soldiers just 800 metres from the frontline.

Mr Fouche's coffin was taken through Kyiv's landmark Independence Square, the site of mass protests in 2014 that forced out a pro-Russian president

A soldier fights back tears as he pays respects to his fallen comrade who co-founded Project Konstantin

Speaking on his experiences with Metro late last year, Fouche said:

'We are embedded with the Ukrainian army and we live in a bunker 800 metres from the zero line,' he said.

'Whenever they get an injured soldier they call on us and they patch him as best they can before we rush forward and snatch him.

'We bring him from his beautiful but hellish post to road ambulances that wait for us in a secret location.'

He also explained what compelled him to move to Ukraine and volunteer to fight and serve.

'They say once a cop always a cop...

'When I saw the images of innocent Ukrainians being mown down as the full-scale invasion began it pushed my police trigger button.

'To be inserted with a Ukrainian brigade has taken a lot of work earning their trust to work in a very dangerous area and it's a wonderful relationship.'

At least five other Britons have been killed while volunteering in Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Almost 100 friends, family and community members have gathered at a dawn vigil to pay their respects to a local fisherman and father-of-three who was allegedly stabbed to death in a random attack.

Andres Pancha, 45, was fishing on Frankston Pier when he was allegedly attacked by homeless man Forrest Stevenson, 36, just after 6am on June 29.

Police say Mr Pancha did not know his alleged attacker who has since been charged with murder.

Local residents and family of Mr Pancha gathered at the same pier for an early morning vigil on Saturday.

'We are all the sibling of Andres, we would like to thank everyone for coming, for those who sent condolences, for those who showed respect to my brother, those who offered prayers and support,' Mr Pancha's sisters said.

'All your love and support really helps ease the pain of the family.'

Federal member for Dunkley, Jodie Belyea, was also at the vigil where Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah played.

A floral tribute was laid for Mr Pancha at the end of the pier, as loved ones and fellow fishermen holding rods wiped away tears while braving the freezing conditions.

A dawn vigil was held for allegedly murdered fisherman Andres Pancha

Andres Pancha, 45, (pictured with family) was fishing on Frankston Pier when he was allegedly attacked by homeless man Forrest Stevenson, 36, just after 6am on June 29

Mr Pancha's loved ones earlier said he would be remembered for his passion for fishing and his kind and gentle nature in a post on GoFundMe.

'It is with deep sorrow and heavy hearts that we announce the tragic passing of our beloved friend, brother, Daddy, husband and cousin, Andres,' the post read.

'He was (allegedly) senselessly attacked by an unknown assailant while doing something he loved  fishing. This unimaginable (alleged) act has left our family devastated and in profound grief. His absence leaves an irreplaceable void in our lives.

'In honour of Andres' memory, we ask that you keep his spirit alive by cherishing your loved ones and spreading kindness wherever you go.'

Stevenson was arrested on the nearby foreshore a short time after the alleged attack with Mr Pancha found unresponsive on the pier.

Nearly 100 people gathered for the vigil early on Saturday morning

Flowers were left behind for the beloved father-of-three

Filipino father-of-three Andres Pancha, 45, has been remembered in a dawn vigil on Saturday

The father-of-three was allegedly murdered last weekend

Police said the men were not known to each other.

Mr Pancha visited the fishing spot in Victoria's southeast once or twice a week.

His friend and former colleague Lee Seddon took to social media to pay tribute to the beloved fisherman.

'Had the pleasure to work and sail with Andres Pancha on the Iron Chieftain. He was a true gentleman. Loved his fishing and young family,' he said.

'So shocking to hear he has been taken so young and in this terrible way.

'Fair winds and smooth seas.'

Another friend said he had only recently spoken with Mr Pancha.

'Still young and already gone, RIP Andres Pancha. We will miss you,' Cor Glover said.

Forrest Stevenson, 36, is of no fixed address and promotes himself on social media as an amateur artist who tattoos his own body. He has been charged with murder

Stevenson has no fixed address and promotes himself on social media as an amateur artist who tattoos his own body.

He appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court last Sunday wearing a disposable face mask and black t-shirt.

Homicide Squad detective senior constable Kate Lynch told the court police required 12 weeks to compile a brief of evidence.

The process usually takes six weeks, but the court was told an extension was needed for pathology and DNA test reports to be completed.

Stevenson was remanded in custody until November 6.

Magistrate Marc Sargent told the court the accused needed prompt medical attention to make his time in custody 'more comfortable'.
Two murder suspects are on the loose after they managed to make a daring escape from a Mississippi jail.

Tyrekennel Collins, 24, and Dezarrious Johnson, 18, broke out of Claiborne County Detention Center at around 2 am on Friday.

They climbed through a panel in the ceiling of the common area and used bed sheets to make their way down from a window.

But police say a crucial sign will give away one of the fugitives as Johnson hurt his leg during the escape and is walking with a bad limp.

Murder suspects Tyrekennel Collins, 24, (left) and Dezarrious Johnson, 18, (right) are on the loose after they managed to make a daring escape from a Mississippi jail

Surveillance footage shows the two murder suspects escaping through the ceiling and leaving behind an outside wall.

Staff in the jail were told about their escape immediately by the other inmates.

'Early this morning, two inmates escaped from the Claiborne County Detention Center,' the Claiborne County Sheriff Department said.

'The escape occurred at approximately 2:20 am.

Chief Deputy Christy Sykes said they did not leave with any weapons but should both be considered dangerous.

The men broke out of Claiborne County Detention Center at around 2am on Friday. They climbed through a panel in the ceiling and used bed sheets to make their way down

Residents in the area have been warned to 'take necessary precautions.'

A manhunt for them is currently underway and US Marshals have been in contact with their families with both men facing additional charges for the escape.

Collins was charged with the murder of his cousin in Copiah County.

While Johnson is charged with murder and aggravated assault in Jefferson County, and he was indicted over the October 2022 killing of one person and injuries to two others.

His trial is scheduled to begin on October 15.

Chief Deputy Sykes admitted this is not the first time inmates at the jail have been able to escape this way.

'It's been an issue,' she said. 'We're working closely with the board of supervisors to get this taken care of as soon as possible.'
President Joe Biden's ABC interview has done little to deter calls for him to drop out of the election race - with one anonymous Democrat donor comparing him to his grandfather.

Biden's ability to fulfill his role as president has been under intense scrutiny since his disastrous first presidential debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump last month.

Despite the 81-year-old commander-in-chief's's assurances during the taped interview with George Stephanopoulos, more party members and donors have begun to demand that he be replaced as a presidential candidate.

One anonymous Democratic donor described the pre-planned interview as a 'huge opportunity missed' and noted that Biden is 'going down like Davy Crockett.'

Crockett, also known as the King of the Wild Frontier, participated in the Texas Revolution in 1836 and died against the Mexican army as a last stand.

Despite the 81-year-old President's assurances during the taped interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, more party members and donors have begun to demand that he be replaced as a presidential candidate



'The question is when and how [referring to Vice President Kamala Harris taking Biden's place]. The reaction is abysmalbut several donors I know havent watched it yet,' he told the Daily Beast.

After the interview aired, another anonymous Democratic donor told Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein of how much Biden reminded him of his grandfather.

'I'd sum up that entire thing with that it wasn't as bad as the debate but it had some very alarming moments and did not help.

'It reminded me so much of when my grandfather refused to accept he shouldnt be allowed to drive anymore and that everyone but him knew about it.'

After the interview aired, another anonymous Democratic donor told Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein of how much Biden reminded him of his grandfather

A House Democrat also told NBC's Julie Tsirkin that the interview made them 'sad,' and they plan to speak out soon.

'It made me sad. Completely out of touch with reality and insulated from truth Ill be breaking my silence soon,' she posted on X.

These anonymous declarations of no-faith in Biden come as Senator Mark R. Warner has reportedly begun telling people he no longer has confidence in the president due to his faltering performance of late, the Washington Post reports.

The floundering has led to calls for Biden to withdraw from the race, but he has so far remained steadfast in his commitment to standing. In looking ahead, a senior Democratic aide told ABC News that the president should 'buckle up for a wild week.'

A House Democrat also told NBC's Julie Tsirkin that the interview made them 'sad' and they plan to speak out soon

His stubborn resolve has many Democrats worried, apparently including Warner, who is gathering a group of allies to ask him to stand down, according to two sources who spoke with the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, Democrat Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who is the minority leader, has scheduled a virtual meeting on Sunday with senior House Democrats to discuss the president's candidacy, senior sources told the New York Times.

The meeting is reportedly due to include the ranking members of congressional committees who have become uneasy about Biden's chances in recent weeks.

Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas was the first to call for Biden to drop out of the race following the debate and reiterated his demand on Friday.

'The need for him to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday,' he told CNN after the interview.

He added that Mr. Biden 'does not want his legacy to be that he's the one who turned over our country to a tyrant.'

Along with Doggett and Quigley House Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts have called for Biden to withdraw.

Before Biden's Friday interview. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey urged the president 'to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump.'

'Whatever President Biden decides, I am committed to doing everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump,' she added.
A widow whose partner was killed while working for one of Scotland biggest salmon farm operators has branded the inquiry into his death a whitewash.

Clive Hendry, an experienced fish farm worker, was crushed and drowned as he stepped between a boat and a feed barge in February 2020 while working for Mowi, a Norway-based seafood company that operates across Scotland.

Last year the company admitted health and safety failings and was fined 800,000.

A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) was held online in May which heard evidence from MOWI employees and where agreed evidence was provided.

Sheriff Gary Aitken ruled: There are precautions which could reasonably have been taken that might realistically have resulted in the death, or accident resulting in the death, being avoided.

Clive Hendry was crushed and drowned as he stepped between a boat and a feed barge in February 2020

Despite saying this, he stopped short of making recommendations for MOWI to implement in the workplace.

Had the sheriff done that, the company would be required to make changes based on recommendations or explain why they werent.

Last night Mr Hendrys widow Catriona Lockhart said she felt let down by the Crown Office, who led the inquiry, and felt that more evidence should have been heard including from her on the impact of Mr Hendrys death.

She said: The whole thing is a whitewash as far as Im concerned. Clive died that day because he was crushed and drowned, he was a competent swimmer. If he hadnt been crushed he wouldnt have died.

The sheriff determined precautions could have been taken and that there were defects in the system of working that contributed to Clives death but made no recommendations that MOWI would need to follow. Why not?

Mr Hendry, from Dornie, Rossshire, worked for Mowi for 12 years before his death at Ardintoul fish farm in nearby Loch Alsh.

He stepped through an open gate on the Beinn na Cailleach boat to a ladder on the feeding barge, in a practice known as a touch and go transfer.

While on the ladder, he was crushed by the boat and slipped into the water where he drowned.

The 58-year-olds workmates did not know how to use the man overboard equipment on the boat.

A report was compiled by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) after Mr Hendrys death which later revealed that in the five years leading up to the tragedy, there had been 18 similar incidents, including eight crushing accidents.

Ms Lockhart has had support from Scottish Hazards, a body which work to prevent work-related injury and illness by providing health and safety advice and support to workers.

It is calling on the aquaculture industry to honour their former employee by making changes that could save someone elses life.

CEO Ian Tasker said: The outcome of this FAI is disappointing for everyone at Scottish Hazards and for Miss Lockhart, whom we have supported throughout her ordeal.

She feels Clive was failed in the worst possible way by his employer, and that she has now been failed by the justice system.

From the outset she has wanted answers to questions she had relating to Clives death and to ensure whatever came out of the legal process and the inquiry it would lead to a safer aquaculture industry.

Yet this determination delivers no formal recommendations.

We want to make it clear though, this determination must be heeded by the industry, and actions must be taken to deliver on Sheriff Aitkens words, not least where he notes Clives death raises a number of points for the industry to consider.

The sheriff noted that there should have been specific risk assessments for the transfer of personnel from large workboats to floating structures.

And that following from that, there should have been a safe system of work for such transfers.

He said that such a system of work should have required that the vessel be stationary during transfer and mandate that personnel should only embark or disembark from the vessel when signalled by the master of the vessel that they are satisfied that it is safe to do so.

Sheriff Aitken added: There were defects in any system of working which contributed to the death or the accident resulting in death.

There was no clear system for the transfer of employees between vessels and no clarity as to how they were to be done and there was a lack of man overboard training.

Ms Lockhart doesnt believe, despite the evidence led at the inquiry, that changes have been made since Mr Hendrys death including more regular training and safer systems of work.

Catriona Lockhart, whose partner Clive Hendry was killed in a fish farm accident.

Her grief was compounded by not having the chance to have an in-person inquiry but instead was forced to listen to her partners last moments over a webcam, despite calling for it to be held in court.

Ms Lockhart added: I had to listen to the whole thing online - Clives final moments over a computer screen with terrible communication.

One witness gave evidence from a public train and others looked uninterested, this wouldnt have happened in a court room.

I still dont know to this day what really happened. But I do believe there should be the option of a corporate homicide charge and that the Crown Office took the easy option by making a plea deal.

There was then a three day FAI with only witnesses from MOWI, I never got to speak about Clive or the impact his death has had on me.

I want to save someone else from going through this. This will happen again and I want to stop that.
Sir Keir Starmer's wife Victoria was seen for the first time in public since her husband became Prime Minister on Saturday afternoon.

She was spotted at Sandown Park Racecourse in Esher today dressed in a colourful green dress and dark emerald earrings on a gold chain, which matched her necklace.

Lady Victoria was there to watch the Coral-Eclipse, one of British horseracing's most prestigious races, on day two of the Coral Summer Festival.

Sir Keir's wife - who has vowed to 'lead her own life' in No10 - was seen standing with a friend while holding a raceday programme.

Today, Keir Starmer warned of 'tough decisions' looming and tried to stop people calling him 'PM' today as he kicked off his Red revolution.

Sir Keir Starmer 's wife Victoria was seen for the first time in public since her husband became Prime Minister on Saturday afternoon

She was spotted at Sandown Park Racecourse in Esher today dressed in a colourful green dress and dark emerald earrings on a gold chain, which matched her necklace

Victoria Starmer (centre), wife of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, attends Sandown Park Racecourse

Wearing large sunglasses, she was seen chatting to other racegoers

Mr and Mrs Starmer married 17 years ago - but their relationship had a rocky start

At his first press conference in Downing Street, the Labour leader said journalists could call him 'Keir' as he acknowledged that his government will be 'judged on actions not on words'.

He said the government will need to make 'tough decisions and take them early' - saying that there would be 'raw honesty' about what needs to be done, although he denied that meant tax hikes.

Instead he stressed that crime could be an area, after it emerged his new prisons minister has suggested two-thirds of people in jail should not be there. Sir Keir said there were 'too many prisoners, not enough prisons'.

Sir Keir also confirmed that the Rwanda policy pursued by Rishi Sunak was 'dead and buried'.

Asked if he was getting used to being referred to as 'Prime Minister', Sir Keir chuckled and said: 'I'm very happy to be called Keir or Prime Minister.'

His wife 'Lady Vic', as she is known fondly in party circles, was missing from the election campaign completely.

Party insiders have claimed that her absence was to protect the couple's children because they are 'completely freaked out by the idea of being in Downing Street and the public eye'.

Mr and Mrs Starmer married 17 years ago - but their relationship had a rocky start, and falling in love, let alone a marriage and children, couldn't have been more far off when a young Sir Keir questioned the quality of her work.

Mrs Starmer, then a lawyer and now an occupational therapist who plans to continue to work in the NHS, went berserk at the arrogant young barrister because her drafting was perfect.

On Saturday she was seen laughing as she settled into her new role as Downing Street's first lady

Sir Keir's wife has vowed to 'lead her own life' while her husband runs the country

Sir Keir Starmer and Lady Victoria have two children together - a boy, 16, and a girl, 13

Unlike the outgoing prime minister Rishi Sunak's wife Akshata Murty - a multi-millionaire heiress to IT firm Infosys's $70billion (54.9bn) fortune - not a great deal is known of Lady Victoria Starmer.

Sir Keir himself has said that she 'has her own life and protects it vigorously'.

Lady Vic's father was an economics lecturer who moved to the UK from Poland before the Second World War. Her father is Jewish and her mother, who died in 2020, was a community doctor who converted to the faith.

Far from the working class background her husband likes to talk about, she went to the exclusive private Channing School in Highgate - one of London's most exclusive areas.

She secured degrees in law and sociology from Cardiff University, where she was president of the student union from 1995 to 1996.

Around four years later, Britain's First Couple met - but had an almighty row when they met that ended with a shower of expletives from Mrs Starmer who then told him to get lost.

Victoria pictured with Sir Keir during a count for the 2017 general election. She has become a more public companion of her politico husband in recent years - but she still remains reluctant to be in the limelight

Sir Keir and Victoria with his parents Josephine and Rodney, taken on their wedding day in 2007

Sir Keir and Lady Victoria clapping for key workers outside their home in London in May 2020. Lady Vic works in the NHS and will not give up her job

Victoria and Sir Keir walking into the 2022 Labour Party conference in Liverpool. She has not been afraid to be pictured in public - but is not seen as a typical 'political spouse'

The pair share a kiss on stage during the 2023 Labour Party conference, also held in Liverpool

She slammed down the phone after yelling: 'Who the f*** does he think he is?' Keir heard it all but by 2007 they were married.

What sparked the cascade of swears? Her future husband asking if she was '100 per cent sure' her work was correct.

Sir Keir later told Vogue: 'It was absolutely classic Vic. Very sassy, very down to earth, no nonsense from anyone, including from me'.

Undeterred, he asked her down the pub to make up for his blunder. She gave him a second chance and fast forward to today they have been married for 17 years.

Outside of her NHS work, she has also served as also a governor at her children's school in Camden borough.

They now share a 1.75million Kentish Town home with their two children - a teenager named Toby, 16, and a younger daughter, 13, whose name has not been made public.

Lady Victoria is Jewish, and Sir Keir has said he tries to uphold the Shabbat tradition of Friday night dinners as often as possible - despite being an atheist himself.
Joe Biden's personal physician met with a top neurologist at the White House, visitor logs show.

Dr Kevin O'Connor, the president's doctor, met with Parkinson's specialist Dr. Kevin Cannard and two others on January 17, the New York Post reports.

Cannard is a movement disorder specialist at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland.

He was joined by cardiologist Dr. John E. Atwood and another unidentified individual for the 5 pm meeting, according to the logs.

The disclosure comes amid mounting scrutiny over the president's mental state following his car crash debate against rival Donald Trump.

Joe Biden 's personal physician met with a top neurologist at the White House , visitor logs show

Biden, 81, has sought to quash rumors he is unfit to lead and still asserts he will run in the November election, but has refused to state whether he is undergoing regular, official cognitive tests.

'Look, I have a cognitive test every single day,' Biden said when asked by ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Friday, as he referred to the tasks he faces daily in a rigorous job.

'Every day, I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world.'

Records show the president was in the White House on the day of the medics' January meeting, as it took place on the same day he hosted House and Senate leaders to convince them to back extra funding for Ukraine.

Cannard has been in his position at the Walter Reed center for almost 20 years.

He has served as 'neurology specialist supporting the White House Medical Unit,' since 2012, according to his LinkedIn.

Dr Kevin O'Connor, the president's doctor (pictured) met with Parkinson's specialist Dr. Kevin Cannard

The White House refused to say if they met with Biden during the meeting, but the president was in D.C. at the time

The White House has declined to confirm if the doctors met with Biden, but O'Connor's primary duty is to attend to the president and the first family.

The doctor issued Biden a clean bill of health during an annual exam in February, which ruled out Parkinson's, O'Connor said at the time.

He became the president's physician in 2021 and has contact with him every day.

Following the debate, the White House said Biden had done a verbal 'check-in' with his doctor.

But questions over his competency remain, especially after his first sit-down interview since the disastrous June 27 debate did little to assuage fears.

Several Democrats had called for Biden to quit the race following the debate and they reiterated this wish after yesterday's ABC interview.

He accused the president and his wife of attempting to gloss over his state of mind.

'I believe he and Jill Biden have led the cover up,' Jackson said.

Cannard is a movement disorder specialist at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland

'Kevin O'Connor is like a son to Jill Biden  she loves him. It's crazy.

'Kevin O'Connor was in that job on day one of the Biden administration because they knew they could trust Kevin to say and do anything that needed to be said or done and cover up whatever needed to be covered up. He is part of the Biden family.'

O'Connor and Cannard refused to comment when approached by the New York Post.

A White House spokesman also declined to comment on the nature of the meeting.

'A wide variety of specialists from the Walter Reed system visit the White House complex to treat thousands of military personnel who work on the grounds,' he said.
Greta Thunberg has been taken away by police as they fired a water cannon at demonstrators protesting against fossil fuels in the Netherlands.

The Swedish climate activist protested alongside members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) as they blocked a busy junction leading onto a motorway in The Hague today.

Footage shows Thunberg and others being sprayed with water after police deployed a cannon before removing the group of about 50 demonstrators.

More XR activists also blocked another road, near the building of the House of Representatives and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, as well as a lane on the local motorway.

The climate group had planned another protest in The Hague for tomorrow, but cancelled it due to the heavy gusts of wind forecast for the morning.

Greta Thunberg has been taken away by police as they fired a water cannon at demonstrators protesting against fossil fuels in the Netherlands

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (C) is carried away by police as she block the entrance to the A12 with protesters from Extinction Rebellion, in The Hague, on July 6, 2024

The climate group had planned another protest in The Hague for tomorrow, but cancelled it due to the heavy gusts of wind forecast for the morning

Earlier this week, XR had also blocked the road adjacent to the House of Representatives while a new cabinet was sworn in.

XR said in a statement following their blockage: 'The new government's plans are not only disastrous for climate policy, but also in many other areas. Whether it concerns asylum and migration, housing or protecting the rights of marginalised groups.'

Today's protest comes after it was revealed that climate activists in the US and Europe are planning a summer of stunts with demonstrations at airports, banks and the Olympic Games in Paris.

But Extinction Rebellion, once notorious for shutting down bridges over the Thames River in London, have shifted their main focus from mass civil disobedience to building an inclusive grassroots movement.

This summer, they are calling on governments in the UK and France to establish citizen assemblies on climate and nature, while picketing the companies insuring the fossil fuel industry.

Gail Bradbrook, XR's co-founder, told AFP their new-look approach to climate activism strived 'to reach more mainstream folks' and do 'the deeper work of local organising'.

But Gabriella Ditton, a spokesperson for the group, said the arrests hadn't deterred them. 'While we face the massive crisis that we are in, we can't stop,' she told AFP.

Organisers in France say this could last several days but would be 'more visible than disruptive', but have not offered further planning details.
The new Prisons Minister has a radical attitude towards reforming the UK's prison system and believes 'only a third of inmates should actually be in jail'.

Timpsons CEO James Timpson, who was made the new minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation only yesterday, has a long track record in advocating for reforms to the UK prison system.

The son of the British cobbler's founder has previously advocated for shorter prison sentences and has been applauded for his schemes in rehabilitating offenders.

In an interview with Channel 4 's Krishnan Guru Murphy earlier this year, the Timpsons boss claimed the country was addicted to 'punishment' and argued that 'a lot' of inmates 'shouldn't be in prison'.

The newly-minted peer also suggested that two-thirds of prisoners did not need to be there, instead backing community sentences which would see more offenders spared jail time.

Prisons Minister James Timpson in pictured during an interview with Channel 4 earlier this year where he laid out his radical attitude towards reforming the UK's prison system, stating that he believes 'only a third of inmates should actually be in jail'

The son of the British cobbler's founder has previously advocated for shorter prison sentences and has been applauded for his schemes in rehabilitating offenders

Mr Timpson (pictured), was made the new minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation only yesterday and has a long track record in advocating for reforms to the UK prison system

Speaking to the Channel 4 News presenter in February, Mr Timpson said: 'I meet people in prison regularly who are serving sentences longer than they've been alive for already, and I think this is common sense being ignored, evidence being ignored, because there is this sentiment around punishment.

'A custodial sentence is not always the right thing for people. We have 85,000 people in prison, it's gonna go up to 100,000 pretty soon  a third of them should definitely be there.

'There's another third in the middle who probably shouldn't be there but need some other kind of state support, a lot have massive mental health issues.

'There's another third, mainly women, where prison is a disaster for them because it's putting them back in the offending cycle.

The Timpson boss was then asked what proportion of prisoners that he employs actually steal from his business. He replied: 'It's a very low proportion. When I first started it was higher because I was still working it out.

'We don't recruit men under the age of 25 from prison, because they're just not mature enough, they won't stay and often they'll get back into their old ways.

Mr Timpson is seen speaking to Channel 4 's Krishnan Guru Murphy, telling him the country was addicted to 'punishment' and arguing that 'a lot' of inmates 'shouldn't be in prison'

James Timpson, chief executive of his father's Timpsons shoe repair chain business, was made the new minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation during the new Prime Minister's appointments on Friday

'If I recruit someone from prison they're more honest, stay with me longer, more loyal, and more likely to get promoted.

'If you walk around a prison, you get people who just want a job, they don't want to disappoint their family again.'

Mr Timpson was then quizzed by Mr Guru Murphy on what he would do if he was in charge 'to try and change the way people think about prison'.

He said: 'I think we need a government that's brave, prepared to take politics out of sentencing, and is prepared to accept that we can't afford as a country to build 4-6billion worth of prisons to house more people. It just doesn't make sense.'

It comes as earlier this week, before he was elected Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer admitted he will almost certainly have to keep releasing prisoners early amid fears jails will run out of space.

The Labour leader conceded that 'in all likelihood' the policy being pursued by the current government would remain in place.

Britain's prison estate is severely overcrowded and numerous recent inspections have warned of dangerous conditions within jails due to staffing issues, endemic violence and widespread drug use.

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Sir Keir Starmer (pictured today) admitted earlier this week before he was elected Prime Minister, he will almost certainly have to keep releasing prisoners early amid fears jails will run out of space

Sir Keir told the BBC: 'It simply wouldn't be realistic for me to say, ''the prisons are overcrowded on Thursday at 10 o'clock but somehow I've magicked up a new prison on Friday morning'' - that isn't going to happen.'

When asked about prison overcrowding, he said: 'This has got to be a problem we'll inherit if we are privileged to come in to serve and I'm not going to sit here and pretend to you that I can build a prison on the first day of the Labour government.

'There has been an absolute failure on prison building - half the money that was allocated hasn't been spent, and we haven't got enough prison places.'

'I have to say it's shocking to have to inherit a problem like that, that our criminal justice system has gotten to a point where we're releasing prisoners who should be in prison early and giving instructions to the police not to arrest in certain cases.

'That is how broken the system [is] - got to pick that up and start the fix, but also not just fix but renew and take forward.'
A Royal Navy crew have returned home after six months defending the Red Sea from Houthi rebels and their missiles.

HMS Diamond docked at Portsmouth on Saturday after helping to protect shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden and shooting down the most enemy missiles in one day on record.

During their brave tour the warship shot down nine drones and a Houthi missile and the crew made sure to keep count on the side of the destroyer.

The crew sailed nearly 44,000 miles and spent 151 days at sea, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

Their worried families were waiting as the sailors stepped foot on dry land and were greeted by by hugs and kisses from those glad to see them safely home.

The crew from HMS Diamond waving at their waiting families before disembarking after a long six months at sea defending the Gulf of Aden from Houthi rebels

The crew gathered on HMS Diamond as it docked at Portsmouth on Saturday after shooting down nine drones and a Houthi missile

The count on the side of the ship which charts the crew's 'kill list'

A sailor kissing his partner and holding his little boy after docking at Portsmouth

HMS Diamond operated in the region in December and January - when it came under fire from Iran-backed Houthi forces on three separate occasions - before returning again in March, taking over protection duties from frigate HMS Richmond.

On January 9, it used its Sea Viper missiles to shoot down seven drones aimed at merchant vessels by the Houthis which, according to the MoD, is the most aerial threats neutralised by a Royal Navy warship in modern times in one day.

Recalling that night, Lieutenant Freddy Hamblin, Diamond's Officer of the Watch 4, said: 'As they closed on us the apprehension and excitement built and it was great to see the crew's training kicking in.

'When US Navy units began engaging the sky lit up with orange sparks like fireworks. When you engage with Sea Viper, the whole bridge shakes and there's a bright flash and a loud whoosh, followed by silence and darkness.'

In April, HMS Diamond shot down a missile launched by the Houthi group targeting a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

The MoD described the successful takedown as a 'landmark moment', adding 'never has a British ship, aircraft or otherwise engaged a target travelling so fast'.

The ship proudly showed off iots 'kill list' as it came into Porsmouth.

The Type 45 destroyer had nine drone silhouettes as kill counts of what appear to be seven Samad-type kamikaze drones, one Mersad and one Shahed (Wa-aed).

There was also a marking of what could be a larger twin-tail boom reconnaissance drone, some of which U.S. Central Command has indicated are operated in the region by Iran directly.

Royal Navy warship destroying a jet drone during test of naval and missile defences

Military kamikaze drone flying over forest in the clouds

HMS Diamond, seen from the ships operations room, before firing her Sea Viper missiles at an incoming Houthi drone last month

The Yemen-based Houthi group has targeted shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, claiming its actions are in response to Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza - an assertion dismissed by the UK and allies.

Members of the crew on board the HMS Diamond told of their pride in the work they did in the Middle East deployment and of their excitement to return home to loved ones.

Nas Naseem, Able Rating (Above Water Tactical), said: 'We made history working with coalition nations and Diamond's presence has definitely saved lives.

'It feels good to be returning home - I never thought I would say this but I'm excited to experience what I hope is a cold and rainy summer. What I'm looking forward to most is spending time with the family and watching the Euros.'

Leading Writer Ben Maple said: 'To know we saved lives will stay with me forever.

'After only seeing my loving wife and three children for four weeks since September 2023, I am looking forward to seeing my children smile and to see how much they have grown.

'As for my wife, Emma who has been mum and dad for months, I'm looking forward to just being around her, and we are overdue a date night.'

In total, the destroyer has been deployed for 10 months and has been involved in other activities across that time, including seizing 2.4 tonnes of drugs in the Indian Ocean.

Families watch on on the Portsmouth beach as HMS Diamond returned for the first time since November last year

A sialor kissing his partner after landing back on UK soil following a terrifying and taxing six-month tour in the Red Sea

Commanding Officer, Commander Peter Evans, said: 'The sailors onboard HMS Diamond have been fantastic - through the 10 months we've been away, they have demonstrated courage, professionalism and the very best of teamwork.

'Whether it be operating as part of the Carrier Strike Group within the Arctic Circle, fighting in the Red Sea to protect merchant seafarers' lives or conducting counter narcotic operations; every success that Diamond has achieved for the RN and UK Defence is due to her ship's company.

'We're now really excited to be home with our friends and families, whose support has been absolutely critical to us on board.'

After the ship had docked, brave sailors greeted worried loved ones and embraced their families on shoe after a terrifying six months away at sea
Officials have issued evacuation warnings after a forest fire in Santa Barbara spread to nearly 5,000 acres in the span of a day.

A wildfire, dubbed the Lake Fire, that erupted at around 3:45 pm yesterday has left more than 300 acres of land charred in the Los Padres National Forest.

The blazing Lake Fire had spread to about 4,673 acres before 11 pm, according to Los Padres officials.

Pictures from the scene show red skies and trees on fire as firefighters run to control the situation.

A wildfire that erupted at around 3:45pm yesterday has left over 300 acres of land charred in the Los Padres National Forest

Images from the aftermath also show giant plumes of smoke emerging from the forest as branches continue to burn into ash

Images from the aftermath also show giant plumes of smoke emerging from the forest as branches continue to burn into ash.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Office has since issued evacuation orders for areas around Figueroa Mountain Road to the Forest Station to Chamberlin Ranch as well as areas north of Zaca Lake Road, east of Foxen Canyon Road and south of the Sisquoc River, according to the Santa Barbara Independent.

Scott Safechuck, a Santa Barbara Fire Department spokesman, said temperatures had reached 90 degrees and relative humidity was nine percent in the fire area as of last night.

Pictures from the scene show red skies and trees on fire as firefighters run to control the situation

The National Weather Service had also issued excessive heat warnings across the state till next week

Images from the aftermath also show giants plummets of smoke emerging from the forest as branches continue to burn into ash

'A large number of fire resources are on scene and responding to this rapidly developing wildfire. Firefighters are aggressively suppressing the fire. The communities and resources affected are a top priority,' the federal government's Incident Information System website read.

The website further stated that the fire is a red flag warning 'due to extremely high temperatures and low relative humidities.'

The National Weather Service had also issued excessive heat warnings across the state till next week.

The federal agency warned: 'An exceptionally dangerous situation continues to unfold during this potentially historic and deadly heat event. Several days of temperatures well above normal will lead to compounding effects among people and infrastructure with the possibility of numerous heat related fatalities.

In Santa Ynez, a church stands tall against the ominous backdrop of the Lake Fire

Scott Safechuck, a Santa Barbara Fire Department spokesman, said temperatures had reached 90 degrees and relative humidity was nine percent in the fire area as of last night

'It cannot be stressed enough that while one day at these temperatures may be manageable for some, an event of this scale, magnitude, and longevity will likely rival anything we`ve seen in the last 18 years.

'Heat is the number one weather related killer in the United States. It is VERY LIKELY that we add to hat statistic if preparations are not taken seriously.'

It went on to urge Californians to drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun and to check up on relatives and neighbors.

The Lake Fire is the latest inferno to strike the Golden State, just days after the Thompson wildfire broke out before noon on Tuesday around 70 miles north of the state capital Sacramento.

Although it's 71 percent contained as of Saturday, the fire has currently devastated more than 3,700 acres.

During the efforts to stop the blaze, over a dozen aircraft, 50 engines and 15 dozers were currently engaged in the firefight, CBS News reported on Wednesday.

The Thompson fire, seen here, broke out just before noon on Tuesday around 70 miles north of the state capital Sacramento

An unidentified resident, pictured above trying to evacuate, is one of over 28,000 who've been ordered to evacuate Butte county

A separate wildfire - dubbed the French Fire - also ignited near Yosemite on Thursday evening amid the state's brutal - and dangerous - heat wave.

This forced the evacuation of some 11,000 residents, and as of Saturday afternoon, it was only 5 percent contained and had grown to 843 acres.

The inferno not only shut down the main highway into Yosemite National Park, it is one 17 wildfires scorching the West Coast state currently.

The largest of these fires - with only 46 percent contained - is the Basin Fire in Fresno County, which has scorched over 14,000 acres.

Pictured: The French Fire rips through a house in Mariposa County

By Saturday afternoon, the French Fire was only 5 percent contained
Missing Brit Jay Slater's family are in 'torture every day' as the search for the 19-year-old hits 20 days.

His uncle Glen Duncan, 41, who is one of nine family members and volunteers on the ground in Tenerife, said the agonizing operation to find Jay in 'treacherous' conditions is 'just torture' but added that the family are not giving up hope.

Mr Duncan is alongside the teenager's father and brother focusing on the gorge where the 19-year-old's mobile phone lost its signal nearly three weeks ago.

They have been joined by a team of seven local hikers and a dog who spent more than four hours combing the unforgiving terrain.

Under fierce sun with temperatures of 25C the group fanned out a long and tricky path which leads down to the sea just below the remote village of Masca on Tenerife's north west coast.

The teenager disappeared after attending a rave in Playa de las Americas which he left in the morning of June 17. He then travelled back to a 40-a-night Airbnb cottage in Masca with two older British men.

As he tried to walk the 11 hours back to his hotel, Jay called best friend Lucy to say he was lost, in desperate need of some water and his phone battery was on 1 per cent.

It comes as:

Jay Slater, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, travelled to the Canary Islands for a musical festival with his friend Lucy and another friend last week

Jay's father Warren and brother Zak pictured on Wednesday hiking through the mountain track where Jay's phone was last located. They have returned to a Tenerife gorge with a search team

Warren and Zak pictured today searching the gorge with friends and locals

A group of people, including Warren and Zak, pictured on the hunt for Jay this afternoon

Jay's father Warren pictured scouring the unforgiving Tenerife landscape today in search for Jay

A group of family, friends and volunteers walked around the remote scenery where Jay's phone lost its signal almost three weeks ago

Mr Duncan said: 'He's not been found so you've got to cling on.

'It's just torture every day. It's got to a point now where the sadness has gone and it's just anger.'

Yesterday, Jay's family were told by Spanish police that they can use their own search-and-rescue teams in the Tenerife hunt for the missing 19-year-old.His devastated family previously told Sky News they were waiting for authorities to allow them to use some of the 50,000 of donations, raised through a crowdfunding page, to pay for specialist search and rescue teams.

The Guardia Civil then confirmed such teams could be brought in from elsewhere 'without any problem' to help with the hunt for the 19-year-old.

Today, using whistles the group could be seen walking along the steep slopes of the valley in the Parque Rural de Teno.

Clouds occasionally tumbled down the seaward facing mountains quickly dissolving as they met the hot warm air in the valley.

Spanish police previously focused their search for the teenager on the mountainous village and Rural de Teno National Park in north-west Tenerife where his phone last pinged.

But on June 30, the search and rescue mission was dramatically called off after nearly 14 days, leaving his desperate family 'in the dark'.

Spanish police added that the Jay's family would have to notify them 'for good management of information and resources' but that they had not received a request yet.

Warren and Zak pictured on July 3 on the mountain track where Jay's phone was last located

Jay (right) pictured alongside his mother Debbie and brother Zak (left) who flew out to Tenerife after his disappearance

A map showing Jay Slater's last known movements before he disappeared

Jay Slater's best friend Lucy Law previously posted this picture on social media of the missing teenager nearly three weeks after he vanished in Tenerife

Lucy (pictured) was one of the last people to hear from Jay and had gone to a festival with him the night before he disappeared

Jay's family have previously been advised to fund an independent search party after Tenerife's Civil Guard ended their hunt for him 'prematurely'.

Army reservist and private investigator Juan Garcia, is among those advising Jay's mother on how to continue with a private search.

Speaking to the Times, he said that 'two weeks is too premature to end the search'.

'[Slater] could be alive somewhere  someone can drink from rainwater and eat plants. The family should not give up hope,' he said.

Earlier today, Slater's heartbroken mother Debbie Duncan also issued a fresh update.

A post on an official Facebook group read: 'Debbie and family would like to thank the local hiking group who have worked tirelessly planning routes and searching for Jay they are extremely overwhelmed with the kindness of them all. Thank you.'

Jay had been attending a three day NRG festival which ended on Sunday, 16 June in Papagayo beach club in South Tenerife.

His friend Lucy- who had gone to the festival with him - said Jay had gone to stay with people he met after a night out.

She received a phone call from Jay at around 8am on Monday morning saying he'd missed his bus and was trying to walk back but was lost, needed a drink and only had 1% battery on his phone. The phone call then cut off.

The teenager's phone died at around 8.50am, with his last known location registered in the remote Rural de Teno park, more than ten miles from the popular resort Guia de Isora.

Jay was reported missing at around 9am the same morning and police launched a mountain rescue.

The search for the teenager continued this afternoon as his family brought in a search team

A search group pictured today at the Tenerife gorge where Jay lost his phone signal

Warren pictured with other volunteers at the Tenerife gorge this afternoon

Searchers combed the undergrowth for any sign of the missing teenager today

Jay's final Snapchat shows the teenager laughing and smiling at around 8.35pm on the night before he went missing

Search crews are seen last week scouring the area where Jay is believed to have gone missing

Ayub Qassim invited Jay, 19, back to his rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife and says: 'He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive'

Jay Slater, 19, went back to Ayub Qassim's remote cottage  called Casa Abuela Tina  at 5am on the day he vanished

Mountain rescue crews and sniffer dogs had been searching the mountainous area of north-west Tenerife for the 19-year-old up until this afternoon.

But suddenly police focus shifted to the tourist hotspots of Los Cristianos and Playa de Las Americas in south Tenerife, after a false sighting of him getting out of a taxi.

It later emerged the report was false and police, having wasted precious time in the blistering 27C heat, were forced to move attention back to their original site.

The 19-year-old had gone back to the remote cottage in the village of Masca with two British men in the early hours of Monday morning after a rave in Playa de las Americas on June 17.

Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, left the 40-a-night two bedroom property called Casa Abuela Tina at 7.30am and posted two pictures from it on Snapchat.

Spanish police dramatically called off the search for Jay on Monday but said their investigation into his disappearance was ongoing.

On July 3, one of the British men who the missing teenager spent his final hours with claimed Jay Slater found himself at the Airbnb cottage at the centre of the mystery because as 'all his friends left him'.

Ayub Qassim says he invited the apprentice bricklayer, 19, from Lancashire, back to his 40-a-night rented holiday cottage after a rave in Tenerife hours before he vanished on June 17.

The 31-year-old, who booked the Airbnb under the name Ayub Abdul, broke his silence, telling MailOnline: 'He came to my Airbnb alive and he left my Airbnb alive.'

MailOnline exclusively revealed that Qassim was jailed nine years ago for being the mastermind behind a sophisticated operation to flood Wales with Class A drugs.

Spanish police searching for Jay spoken to Qassim and the unnamed friend known only as 'Johnny Vegas' as part of their inquiries but concluded they were 'irrelevant' to the investigation.

Jay was last seen by a witness walking off in search of a bus stop close to the Airbnb at around 8am on Monday, June 17. He called a friend to say he was making the 11-hour walk back to his hotel in Playa de las Americas but has not been heard from since.

Former detective Peter Bleksley criticised Spanish police, suggesting they may be afraid a proper investigation would hit tourism on the island.

Earlier today, the teenager's friend insisted they are 'not drug mules' as the search for the missing 19-year-old nears the end of its third week.

As conspiracy theories and fake videos have swirled around on social media, Brad Hargreaves - who went on holiday to Tenerife with Slater and described him as his 'best mate' - has tried to set the record straight.

Slater's 'best friend' Brad Hargreaves, pictured, has insisted that they were 'not drug mules'

The 40-a-night Casa Abuela Tina holiday rental near the remote village of Masca where Jay spent his final hours before going missing

After flying out to the island for the three-day NRG music festival, Mr Hargreaves said he has experienced vile trolls on social media, The Sun reports.

'Thinkin' I'm involved in it all is beyond me,' he said. 'We've been mates for years, came on our first holiday together and unfortunately this has happened.

'We ain't drug mules or whatever.... people need to know the facts before talking s*** on the internet...'
It was lost a decade ago to the SNP following a bitter campaign which included revolting slurs by Nat figures against the previous incumbent, the hugely-popular Charles Kennedy.

But yesterday, the Lib Dems claimed back the seat which covers Mr Kennedys former constituency in the Highlands - in a stunning win seen as a moral, as well as an electoral, victory.

Businessman Angus MacDonald was finally declared Lib Dem MP for Inverness, Skye and Wester Ross at 6pm yesterday, after a third count of the votes.

It followed problems with the initial count in the early hours of Thursday, returning officer Derek Brown stating there had been a discrepancy between the provisional number of votes counted, and the verified total at the end of that first count.

A recount failed to resolve the issue and a third count was ordered yesterday. Even before the result of that had been declared, SNP candidate Drew Hendry had conceded defeat to Mr MacDonald.

Angus MacDonald is has been confirmed as the Lib Dem MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire after beating the SNP

The Lib Dems have claimed back the seat which covers former Lid Dem leader Charles Kennedys former constituency in the Highlands

The Lib Dem candidate eventually won with a 2,160 majority after securing 18,159 votes.

The seat is a newly-created one from the former constituencies of Ross, Skye and Lochaber, which Mr Kennedy had held from 2005 to 2015, and neighbouring Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.

Mr MacDonald was joined by Mr Kennedys son Donald on the campaign trail, with Donald backing him stating: Angus cares passionately about this community.

He is exactly the sort of hardworking Highlander my dad would be delighted to see win this seat back for the Liberal Democrats.

Speaking after yesterdays win was finally confirmed, Scottish Lib Dems leader Alex Cole-Hamilton told us: Today, my heart is in the Highlands.

In 2015, my party was all but wiped out but that was not the worst thing that happened to us that year because, a few weeks later, we lost Charles.

We loved him and we miss him, and it is fitting that the final act of this General Election sees his old seat returned to the Lib Dems and the care of Angus MacDonald  it is simply wonderful.

The Lib Dems lost Mr Kennedys seat to Nationalists Ian Blackford in 2015 following a campaign mired in controversy.

It saw the Lib Dems accuse Mr Blackford of dog whistling about the struggles with alcoholism experienced by their rival Mr Kennedy, a hugely popular figure in the area, and across Scotland and the UK as a whole.

He sadly passed away at the age of 55 just weeks after losing his seat.

Following that election, the convenor of the SNPs Skye and Lochalsh branch resigned after having made abusive comments online about Mr Kennedy which included vile remarks about Mr Kennedys battle with alcohol.

The tweets were sent before Mr Kennedys death on June 1, 2015, which was caused by a major haemorrhage linked to alcoholism.

The official was reported to have sent more than 130 messages to Mr Kennedy before and immediately after the vote.

Yesterdays Lib Dem win marks a remarkable turnaround for the party, and is a victory symbolic of their significant gains across the UK in this years election.

In 2019, the Lib Dems secured just 10% of the vote in the former Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency.

It was comfortably won by Mr Hendry, with 26,247 votes, with Lib Dem candidate Robert Rixson trailing in third place with 5,846 votes.

Mr Kennedy's son Donald supported Mr MacDonald during his campaign, saying he was the type of man his dad would liked to have seen win it

At the same election, the SNPs Ian Blackford retained his seat in the nearby Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency, securing double the number of votes of his nearest rival, Lib Dem Craig Harrow.

The win yesterday in the newly-created constituency takes the Lib Dems UK tally of seats to 71, up 60 on the 11 they returned at the 2019 General Election.

The result equates to an increase in more than 500 per cent in their number of MPs and is the partys best-ever election result.

Nat Mr Hendry had been seen by many as likely to retain the seat but fell foul of a sea-change in opinion against his party.

Opponents also cited a string of SNP policy failures which have sparked accusations of a central belt bias and ignorance of issues affecting outlying areas of Scotland.

It includes a lack of investment or timely delivery on key elements such as roads and transport infrastructure, as well as the disastrous Short-Term Let legislation, designed to clamp down on property rental problems in cities, but which has instead forced B&Bs and self-caterers out of business in Scotlands most remote and economically-vulnerable areas.

Michael Foxley, former leader of Highland Council, said of new MP Mr MacDonald: He has campaigned for the past two years on important local issues in Skye and Lochaber: a new Belford hospital, lack of care home beds, trunk road improvements and the Corran ferry.
Insiders have revealed the shocking comments Democrats made behind the scenes of his 'sad' 22-minute interview.

The president sat down with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Friday as part of a damage control strategy following his disastrous debate against Donald Trump last month.

But his muted performance once again failed to convince even those in his own party that he has the mental fortitude required for four more years.

Words like 'heartbroken', 'doomed' and 'a f***king disaster' were all used by more than half a dozen Congress Democrats, NBC reports.

Minnesota Rep Angie Craig, who is fighting for her seat in the battleground state, was so unconvinced she became the latest elected Democrat to call for Biden's withdrawal.

Insiders have revealed the shocking comments Democrats made behind the scenes of his 'sad' 22-minute interview

'There is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win,' Craig told the Washington Post.

'Given what I saw and heard from the President during last week's debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump.'

Craig is the fifth sitting Democrat to call for Biden to withdraw, with another 13 members of Congress and governors expressing concern, according to a tally by the outlet.

One Dem lawmaker who previously endorsed Biden told NBC they will be breaking their silence on Biden's fate 'soon'.

'It made me sad,' they said of Biden's interview. 'Completely out of touch with reality and insulated from truth.'

Minnesota Rep Angie Craig, who is fighting for her seat in the battleground state, was so unconvinced she became the latest elected Democrat to call for Biden's withdrawal

The toe curling exchange saw Biden answer questions in a raspy, weary voice, often lose track mid-sentence and at times ignore questions in an attempt to make occasionally outlandish claims about his record.

The performance was so lackluster, that House minority leader and New York rep Hakeem Jeffries has reportedly scheduled a call with senior White House aides on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Virginia Sen. Mark R. Warner is said to be assembling a group to try and oust the ailing president.

One senior aide told the president that he should 'buckle up for a wild week ahead', ABC reports.

'Front-liners are all p***ed, and they are personally ready to pull the trigger to ask Biden to step aside, but politically they are scared s**tless,' an anonymous aide added.

However Biden maintained his commitment to running and brushed off concerns around his mental state.

She joins the likes of Wisconsin Rep Seth Moulton who have also called for Biden to bow out

'Look, I have a cognitive test every single day,' Biden said referring to the tasks he faces daily in a rigorous job.

'Every day, I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world.'

But his refusal to commit to formal testing has also rankled Democrat politicians, with one describing it as an 'issue'.

'Opinions are hardening in many quarters that action has to be taken and that action is a different nominee,' the lawmaker said.
A British holidaymaker has died of a suspected heart attack after a bust up with Bulgarian hospital security, his grieving family said.

Roger Grose, 68, took himself to hospital in the city of Plovdiv after feeling unwell while on a two-week holiday in Bulgaria.

The father-of-two was checked over by medics who gave him the all clear - but he later returned to the same hospital after his symptoms continued, according to his daughter Deborah.

She claims that hospital staff refused to see her father despite his protests about feeling unwell, before he had an 'altercation' with security staff.

Deborah said: 'From what we have been told he phoned himself an ambulance because he was feeling dizzy and had a headache. They checked his vitals over and told him he was fine.

Roger Grose (pictured), 68, took himself to hospital in the city of Plovdiv after feeling unwell while on a two-week holiday in Bulgaria

The father-of-two was checked over by medics who gave him the all clear - but he later returned to the same hospital after his symptoms continued, according to his daughter Deborah (pictured: Plovdiv in Bulgaria)

'We were then told he had the options to stay a few hours or discharge him. I'm not sure how long it was but we have been told that he then went back to the hospital saying he still didn't feel well on the same day and from what I have been told there was an altercation with security because they refused to see him a second time.'

Her father then collapsed in hospital and died. Deborah said initial tests showed he died from heart failure but the family may have to wait weeks or months to receive full post mortem examination results.

Deborah, of Caerphilly, South Wales, said the family began to raise concerns that they hadn't heard from her father when he failed to return their messages.

She said: 'I had messaged him on June 12 saying 'Happy Birthday' and he didn't reply - he didn't even see the message.

'I thought maybe it was that his wifi had gone - he didn't like to turn his mobile data on because it cost money. So I thought I'd just wait until he was due back in Spain on June 19.

'June 19 came and he hadn't opened the message. I messaged a friend of his out there and she hadn't seen him so on Friday, June 21, I thought I would report him.

'I rang the police here because I didn't know what to do and while I was on the phone they knocked my door and that's when they told me that they had been informed he had passed away.'

Describing her father she said: 'Dad was a character in his own right and never failed to make people laugh, he was most definitely one of a kind.'

A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office said: 'We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Bulgaria and are in contact with the local authorities.'
A mother whose 19-year-old son was murdered in a 'ferocious and unprovoked' attack has told of her 'anger and relief' as one of the killers dies while serving his life sentence.

Craig Hepburn died after he was stabbed 11 times while walking home from a pub, where he had been playing the bagpipes, with his friend Conor Paton, 19, in Marsden, West Yorkshire, on 6 July 2012.

The teenagers were down from Scotland visiting Mr Hepburn's relatives and were heading back to his uncles house when Anthony Driver and Luke Elliott 'picked a fight' with them, stabbing Mr Hepburn in the back.

Mr Paton was also stabbed and injured as he tried to help his friend. The attack was described as frenzied and motiveless. The thugs continued to stab and kick Mr Hepburn as he laid bleeding on the ground.

Driver, of Grange Cottages, Marsden, was jailed for a minimum of 13 years after he was found guilty of manslaughter. His accomplice Luke Elliott, of Main Avenue, Cowlersley, was sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 22 years, after he was found guilty of murder, attempted murder, and perverting the course of justice.

Craig Hepburn (pictured) died after he was stabbed 11 times while walking home from a pub, where he had been playing the bagpipes, with his friend Conor Paton, 19, in Marsden, West Yorkshire, on 6 July 2012

One of Mr Hepburn's killers, Anthony Driver (pictured), who was 37 at the time, has died while in custody serving his life sentence

Mr Hepburn's mother, Carol, was told earlier this week that Anthony Driver had died in custody in Doncaster.

It is believed Driver was 48 years old and died in hospital while still in custody and awaiting the outcome of a compassionate release application.

Mrs Hepburn said she wanted the people of Marsden and Huddersfield to know that Driver, a hardened criminal, no longer posed a risk to anyone.

She described Driver as a 'horrible beast' and 'absolute scum' who should not have been on the streets in 2012 or since. She said local people had been terrified of him.

Mrs Hepburn said: 'I want Marsden and the nearby villages to know he's dead and they are safe. I am so glad he's dead. I want it out there that this beast has died.'

Drivers accomplice Luke Elliott (pictured) who was 22 at the time, was given a minimum sentence of 22 years and will be eligible for release around 2035

Mrs Hepburn said she was relieved that Driver will not be able to hurt anyone else, adding: 'I feel relief... that he is not going to [kill] anyone else and put families through what we have been through.

'Craig's friends are getting married and having children - we have been robbed of that. That horrible beast should never have been on the streets. Before he killed Craig he was doing an eight-and-a-half year sentence and got out after three-and-a-bit.'

At the time of Driver's death, he was waiting for a decision on a request for him to be released on 'compassionate grounds'. Mrs Hepburn is happy he did not get out and added: 'He's not got a compassionate bone in his body.'

Mrs Hepburn and her husband Alex, who still live in Renfrewshire, Scotland, were told that they could not oppose the application for 'compassionate leave'.

Mr Hepburn was an avid bagpipes player and had been performing in the pub on the night he was killed

At the time of the killing, Driver, who had 54 convictions for previous offences, including violent knife crime, was out on prison licence and had not been properly monitored, which angered Craig's family. Elliott was also out on licence.

Mrs Hepburn said: 'If the Parole Board had done their job right, Craig would still be alive.'

In May 2013, Driver, who was a 37-year-old father-of-four at the time, was given a determinate sentence of 13 years in prison following a five-week trial at Leeds Crown Court.

On Christmas Eve 2019, Driver was freed at the automatic release point in his sentence. The following July his licence was revoked and he was recalled to prison after he was arrested on suspicion of further unspecified offending.

According to the Parole Board, his time in jail had been 'mixed' as Driver had used drugs at times. In February this year the Parole Board decided against Driver's release.

Elliott, who was 22 at the time, was given a minimum sentence of 22 years and will be eligible for release around 2035.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: 'Anthony Driver died on June 26 at Doncaster Hospital. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.'
John Belushi's widow has died at the age of 73.

Actress and producer Judy Belushi-Pisano's passing was announced on Facebook on Saturday.

The post did not specify a cause of death for the former SNL writer, or give any further details.

Belushi-Pisano was married to the legendary Blues Brother actor for six years, until his death in 1982.

'Today, our hearts are heavy as we say goodbye to our sweet Judy,' a post on her former husband's fan page states.

Judy Belushi-Pisano, John Belushi's widow, has died at the aged of 73

'Her unwavering dedication and creative genius alongside Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi gave birth to The Blues Brothers, a timeless testament to the power of music and laughter.

'In the years following Johns passing in 1982, Judy honored his life and championed his legacy and Blues Brothers brand.

'As we bid farewell, we pledge to continue her work, ensuring that Johns legacy, and the Blues Brothers will never fade.

'There was no one like her. Judy made everyone feel loved. She was nonjudgmental, light, funny and pure. You could be truly yourself around her, that alone was a gift.

'The Belushi and Pisano families will carry your love in their hearts forever.'

Belushi-Pisano was a producer best known for her work on The Blues Brothers and National Lampoon's Animal House.

Belushi-Pisano was married to the legendary Blues Brother actor for six years, until his death in 1982

The couple attended the same high school in Wheaton, Illinois together

: Actress Carrie Fisher (left), Penny Marshall (right) and Judy Belushi attend a showing of 'The Second City' to raise funds for the John Belushi Scholarship Fund, April 18, 1983

She was born in Wheaton, Illinois as the youngest of four children to parents Robert Leslie Jacklin and Jean Buchanan.

She met her husband while they were both attending the local high school.

The couple wed in 1976 and briefly teamed up while Belushi was an SNL regular after his wife was brought on as a writer in 1981.

They were together until Belushi's death from a lethal overdose of cocaine and heroin at the age of 33.

In 1990, Belushi-Pisano remarried producer Victor Pisano and the couple welcomed children and eventually grandchildren together.

Her latest project was as an executive producer on the Blues Brothers remake that is in the works.

In 1990, Belushi-Pisano remarried producer Victor Pisano and the couple welcomed children and eventually grandchildren together

Her most recent project was as executive producer overseeing the remake of The Blues Brothers

The original starred Belushi alongside Dan Aykroyd, who met each other when cast as original members of SNL.

Belushi-Pisano was in charge of overseeing the The Official Blues Brothers Revival alongside Aykroyd and Pisano.

She and her husband also own the Belushi Pisano Gallery in Martha's Vineyard.
Respected surgeon Lance Johansen pleaded with the judge not to let his daughter's boyfriend out of jail, or he would kill her.

Bricen Rivers, 23, was in jail for holding his longtime girlfriend Lauren Johnsen, 22, captive and viciously beating her while the were on vacation together in Nashville.

'I sat in the courtroom in Nashville and told the judge that if they let him out, he was going to kill her,' he said.

His words were prophetic, as Lauren's body was found mutilated and dumped in her own car on Wednesday,

'He had assaulted her  this was probably the fifth or sixth time where they would get into a fight and he would beat her. We would get her away from him for a while, but he would find a way to weasel back in it.'

Dr Johansen drove from Biloxi, Mississippi, to make the impassioned plea to the court in Nashville after Rivers' arrest in December, and for a time, it worked.

Bricen Rivers, 23, was in jail for holding his longtime girlfriend Lauren Johnsen, 22, captive and viciously beating her while the were on holiday in Nashville

Lauren was found wrapped in the back of her car in a cemetery, her body mutilated and wrapped in rubbish bags and a sheet

But after rotting in jail for seven months, Rivers' lawyer convinced Judge Cheryl Blackburn to lower his bail from $250,000 to $150,000 so he could get out.

He was supposed to go straight to a company that would install a GPS ankle monitor as a condition of his bail, but instead he disappeared.

'They let him out and didn't tell us, and didn't put the ankle monitor on him. They just let him walk out of jail,' Johansen told WLOX.

The father had no idea Rivers was out of jail until he got a voicemail from Davidson County District Attorney's Office on Monday.

'This is Bailey calling from the district attorney's office in Nashville. Bricen Rivers was released from custody,' the message shared with WLOX began.

'He was supposed to report straight to a GPS company and be put on a GPS monitor and he was not to leave Davidson County.

'But as soon as he was released, he did not report to that GPS monitoring company, and he has not been heard from. I wanted to make sure Lauren is safe.'

But Lauren was not safe.

After rotting in jail for seven months, Rivers' lawyer convinced the judge to lower his bail from $250,000 to $150,000 so he could get out

Rivers was in the car, but fled into the woods as soon as police showed up, leading them on an hours-long chase

Johansen desperately tried to call her, but she didn't answer, and he said texts he received from her number 'didn't really look like the way she talks'.

About 4pm on Tuesday, he got a notification that her Life360 tracker was turned off.

Then his younger daughter, who lived with Lauren, said she found the security camera smashed and the door sitting open. Lauren was nowhere to be found.

Johansen filed a missing persons report with the local Hattiesburg Police in Biloxi, but when he called the next morning, he claimed very little had been done.

'We assumed they were going to track the vehicle and try to find her, but they never did it until Wednesday at 3 pm when I insisted they find out where the car was,' he said.

Lauren's car pinged at the Wolf River Cemetery in an isolated part of Gulfport, Mississippi, and police rushed to the scene.

Rivers was in the car, but fled into the woods as soon as police showed up, leading them on an hours-long chase.

Johansen said as soon as he arrived at the scene he knew Lauren was dead.

Respected surgeon Lance Johansen pleaded with the judge not to let Rivers out of jail, or he would kill Lauren

Lauren's home was found with the security camera smashed and the door sitting open, and her vanished

Lauren's car pinged at the Wolf River Cemetery in an isolated part of Gulfport, Mississippi, where police found her body inside

Her mutilated body was found inside the car, wrapped in sheets and rubbish bags and lying across the back seat.

'She was basically beaten to death. Her face was smashed in, her head was smashed in, she was brutally beaten to the point she couldn't see out of either eye when she finally died and there was multiple holes in her head,' her father said.

'I helped the coroner lift her body out of the car. It was just mutilated.'

Rivers, whose social media claims he is a US Marine Corps veteran, was finally tracked down about 11:30 pm after an almost nine-hour manhunt.

'We realized early on that the subject still had his cell phone on him,' Harrison County Sheriff Matt Haley said.

'So undercover officers were able to, through text message, have Rivers believe that he was corresponding with a friend, and we were able to lure him out of the woods.'

About 50 officers also used drones, helicopters, and dogs in the search.

Rivers was booked into the Harrison County jail at 1 am on Thursday, where he remains on a $1 million bond, charged with murder

Rivers was booked into the Harrison County jail at 1 am on Thursday, where he remains on a $1 million bond, charged with murder.

'I think the criminal justice system in Nashville failed my daughter and our family,' Johansen said.

'The world shouldn't work this way. She was really beautiful, super, super smart. She had dreams and hopes that were larger than life.'

'Everything she did, everything she touched turned to gold.'

The orthopedic surgeon said Lauren was studying at University of Southern Mississippi to become a nurse.

Lauren's body will undergo an autopsy next week.
A quaint Hamptons village that is home to Martha Stewart was in uproar over plans to roll out a New York night spot beloved by celebrities including Taylor Swift.

An attempt to replace luxury 18th century hotel Hedges Inn in East Hampton with popular social club Zero Bond sparked backlash among residents.

The embattled locals tried to put a stop to the plans with multiple town meetings led by the village mayor.

Following a series of meetings, they passed a new law which helped put plans for the club, which has hosted celebrities including Elon Musk, Tom Brady and Kim Kardashian, on hold.

Residents successfully installed an 11 pm curfew for all of the town's 'eating and drinking establishments,' putting a block to the night spot's plans.

A quaint Hamptons village that is home to Martha Stewart was in uproar over plans to roll out a New York night spot beloved by celebrities including Taylor Swift

An attempt to replace luxury 18th century hotel Hedges Inn (pictured) in East Hampton with popular social club Zero Bond sparked backlash among residents

'Let's face it, Zero Bond is really a nightclub,' village administrator Marcos Baladron said at at the meeting on May 17.

'If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's a duck, and there's no ducks allowed here.'

But Zero Bond owner Scott Sartiano has now revealed he will be converting the hotel into a branch of his celebrity-magnet restaurant Sartiano's.

East Hamptons residents banded together to stop Zero Bond from opening up in their community

Following a series of meetings, they passed a new law which helped put plans for the club, which has hosted celebrities including Taylor Swift, Tom Brady and Kim Kardashian, on hold

But Zero Bond owner Scott Sartiano has now revealed he will be converting the hotel into a branch of his celebrity-magnet restaurant Sartiano's

'We don't have plans to open a private club in the Hamptons this summer, but you never know what the future holds.' he told The New York Post.

'You'll have to wait and see.'

'I hope to be treated the same as everyone else by the authorities. My only focus this summer is Sartiano's, and being at The Hedges Inn for a very long time.'

East Hampton Village administrator Baladron told The Hollywood Reporter: 'Mr. Sartiano has greatly watered down his proposal so that it will simply be an Italian restaurant, and if that's the case, we will roll out the red carpet.

'But if his ultimate goal is to open another Zero Bond, I think the neighbors should be very wary.'

Sartiano's is scheduled to open on July 18 at the Hedges Inn.
An eight-year-old California boy was left bleeding and screaming in pain after he being attacked by a fish while at a beach in Montreal, Canada.

Max Mandl was playing with his father, George - an editor based in Hollywood - at an inflatable structure anchored in the Parc Jean-Drapeau's man-made lake.

As his legs dangled in the water, he began to yell for help after feeling a stabbing pain.

'He was in the water, next to the raft and just instantly started screaming, kicking, thrashing around,' recalled the father.

As soon as he began to yell, lifeguards rushed to pull Max from the water by the life vest and took him to the dock; the boy was covered in blood.

Max Mandl, 8, was left bleeding and screaming in pain after he being attacked by a fish while at a beach in Montreal, Canada

'There was blood gushing out of his leg in multiple places. He had been attacked by a fish, we believe.

'What was weird was that as soon as he got out of the water he was still screaming and thrashing. That's when something in my parental brain clicked, and I ran over and saw that there was blood all over the place.'

'One minute you're just playing and the next you're at the beginning of Jaws,' George told CTVNews.

Paramedics and two emergency room doctors later noted that they had never seen semi-circular bite marks with such deep lacerations on a person.

Beatrix Beisner, a professor of biological sciences who studies lake animals at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal, first theorized that Max may have scratched himself somewhere.

But after some research, Beisner went on to say that the young child may have been bitten by a muskellunge.

'One minute you're just playing and the next you're at the beginning of Jaws,' father George Mandl said

Muskies are a stealthy ambush predator hunting near submerged weeds and logs and can live as long as 30 years in their natural environment.

Muskellunge, also known as musky or muskie, is a cool water species and can reach speeds of 30 miles per hour.

They are known to possess a large snout full of canine-like teeth, which are sharp as needles, and are a sight feeder that hunts mostly during the day.

Muskies are a stealthy ambush predator hunting near submerged weeds and logs and can live as long as 30 years in their natural environment.

Larger muskies are known to attack and consume nearly any living animal, invertebrates, amphibians, small rodents, waterfowl, muskrats and smaller muskies.

They are mostly found in the Northern to Northeast part of the United States and up into Canada.
Midsomer Murders is one of Britains best-loved television shows, regularly pulling in millions of viewers thanks to its bucolic scenes of rural life alongside a notoriously high body count.

But now ITV is slapping content warnings on the long-running series to ensure viewers are fully aware that the Murders being carried out are not of the gentle sort, and that episodes may contain violence and even crime scene images.

Stars of the show are among those who have ridiculed the move, pointing out that the name of the drama, which has been on air since 1997, and the titles of individual episodes, make it clear what will happen.

The warnings have been introduced on ITVs streaming service, ITVX, which is currently showing the first 22 series.

Midsomer Murders centres on homicides committed in the villages of the fictional county of Midsomer.

DCI John Barnaby played by Neil Dudgeon (centre) is the main character in Midsomer Murders

The role was first played by John Nettles (centre) as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby

John Nettles in an episode entitled The Village that Rose from the Dead in December 2016

Its 140 episodes have seen 388 murders, 423 deaths in total and 250 attempted murders.

Some of its more outlandish plots include actress Martine McCutcheon being crushed by a massive round of cheese in a cave, and a hotel maid who died after she was shoved inside a large tumble dryer. Another episode saw a wealthy landowner being smeared with truffle oil, tied to a tree and left to the mercies of wild boars.

One of Midsomer Murders early episodes, called Death In Disguise, broadcast in 1998, now comes with the warning: Contains some violence and crime scene images. Viewers tuning in to one called The Electric Vendetta, first broadcast in 2001, are told that it contains some violence and autopsy nudity.

For its first 13 years the show starred former Bergerac star John Nettles as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby. Since 2011 it has starred Neil Dudgeon as Toms cousin, DCI John Barnaby.

Midsomer Murders is also famous for its guest stars, which over the years has included Hollywood big-hitters Orlando Bloom and Henry Cavill. Game Of Thrones actor Anton Lesser appeared in two episodes, Talking To The Dead and Birds Of Prey, both of which now have content warnings.

John Nettles was supported in his role by the actor Jason Hughes from 2005 to 2013

Comedian Hugh Dennis (left) with Neil Dudgeon and Nick Winter as Sergeant Jamie Winter

Mr Lesser said last night: I understand the good intentions of broadcasters who take care to warn of effects like flashing images, but Im surprised something like Midsomer Murders warrants a warning. I do remember my character in Birds Of Prey hurling a plate of sausages to the floor  perhaps there should be a disclaimer, No sausages were hurt in this film. 

Dame Sian Phillips starred in the 2006 episode Vixens Run, which has the warning: Contains mild language and some violence. She said: Is the word murder in the title not enough to warn people theres a chance they might encounter a spot of violence?

A spokesman for ITVX said: Programming that contains potentially sensitive or distressing themes, content or language has carried appropriate guidance since our launch. We regularly review our catalogue to ensure the right guidance is in place.
Sir Keir Starmer has released a clip of his historic first conversation with US President Joe Biden since becoming Prime Minister on Friday.

'Mr Prime Minister, congratulations,' the 81-year-old American premier said in his first words to Britain's 58th Prime Minister in a short call last night.

'What a hell of a victory! Congratulations,' he repeated as Sir Keir cracked a smile, leaning in to address Mr Biden through a telephone on a desk at Number 10.

'Thank you, Mr President. It's been a long night and day,' the Prime Minister said in something of an understatement, before expressing his thanks and plans to see Mr Biden at a NATO conference in Washington next week.

'There is no doubt under your leadership, our two countries are going to continue our special relationship,' the President assured Sir Keir, himself plodding on from a much-hyped interview aired that day that pushed Mr Biden on questions about his ability to stand for re-election.

'We're working together on just about every issue: supporting Ukraine, managing the competition in China, advancing cooperation with AUKUS,' the President reiterated.

 NEW: No 10 has released a clip of Keir Starmer's call with US President Joe Biden last night



Biden: "Congratulations, what a hell of a victory!" pic.twitter.com/IVCF5zKM5v  Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) July 6, 2024

Sir Keir Starmer spoke to President Joe Biden on Friday on day one of his premiership

Sir Keir was congratulated by the President on his 'hell of a victory' in the election

The Prime Minister assured of the importance of the 'special relationship' in his first call

'Firstly the special relationship is the bedrock for... our defence, our security and prosperity which is obviously central to our missions for government,' the Prime Minister replied, rounding off the short clip with an assurance of continued relations with the United States under Joe Biden's presidency.

The pair are due to meet next week at a NATO summit in Washington next week, a priority for Sir Keir shared by the US President with felt threats from Russia and China still looming.

'It is for me to be absolutely clear that the first duty of my government is security and defence, to make clear our unshakable support of Nato,' the Prime Minister said upon election.

But as Sir Keir put out calls to world leaders to set a positive tone for work to follow, he was snubbed by former - and potentially future - US President Donald Trump, who instead hailed the five-seat electoral breakthrough of his ally Nigel Farage's far-right Reform UK party.

Joe Biden, still batting away criticism for his performance in a televised debate against Trump at the end of June, will be keen to reiterate his commitment to security and building bridges abroad - as critics find Trump less predictable on foreign policy.

On Friday, Biden appeared in a televised ABC interview to address the criticism head on, blaming his debate performance on sickness - and blaming Trump for 'distracting' him with misinformation.

As the clip aired on Friday, Biden staggered through a speech in Madison, Wisconsin, vowing to stay in the race and beat Donald Trump 'again in 2020' [sic].

'Well, let me say this as clear as I can - I'm staying in the race,' Biden said at the rally. 'I'll beat Donald Trump. I'll beat him again in 2020. By the way, we're going to do it again in 2024.'

Biden turned the tables on the 76-year-old, poking fun at himself while pointing to Trump's own gaffes.

'By the way, if you're wondering whether Trump has it all together, did you ever hear how he explained the Fourth of July, when he was president?' Biden asked. 'No, I'm serious. This is true.'

During Trump's 2019 Salute to America speech at the Lincoln Memorial, the Republican said that George Washington's continental army was successful because it 'took over the airports' of the British.

'And they talk about me misspeaking,' the 81-year-old Biden said.

President Joe Biden speaks at a rally in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday to shore up support

Not every Democrat is convinced President Joe Biden should stay in the race, with one attendee in Madison holding a hand-drawn sign that read: 'Pass the torch, Joe'

President Joe Biden proclaimed Friday that he's staying in the presidential race - before telling a crowd in Madison, Wisconsin that he'd beat rival Donald Trump 'again in 2020'

In his calls to world leaders on his first day in office, Sir Keir also reached out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reiterate his 'unwavering' support for Ukraine in its resistance against the Russian invasion.

'I am grateful to Prime Minister Starmer for reaffirming the UK's principled and unwavering support for Ukraine,' Zelenskyy said on social media.

The Ukrainian leader said he had congratulated Starmer on his victory in Thursday's general election, which saw Starmer's Labour party secure a landslide victory, ending 14 years of Conservative rule.

'We coordinated positions ahead of the NATO Summit in Washington and other international events, as well as discussed ways to strengthen our partnership,' Zelenskyy added.

The Prime Minister also spoke to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he began to navigate his role beyond Britain.

And the new Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, was welcomed in Berlin for his first international trip since Labour's victory.

'The time has come for the United Kingdom to reconnect with the outside world,' Lammy said in an interview in Berlin.

'I want to get back to a balanced position on Israel and Gaza. We've been very clear that we want to see a ceasefire ... We want to see those hostages out.'

He added: 'The fighting has to stop, the aid has got to get in, and I will use all diplomatic efforts to ensure that we get to that ceasefire.'

Lammy did not elaborate.

The Labour Party suffered significant election setbacks in areas with large Muslim populations in the election on Friday amid discontent over its position on the war in Gaza, despite a landslide victory in the parliamentary vote.

Lammy also said Britain would seek to reset its position globally on issues including the climate crisis as well as key relationships, such as with European and emerging powers.

Keir Starmer speaks during a news conference following his first cabinet meeting today

The Prime Minister received his first call from an international leader from French President Emmanuel Macron, however, who phoned late on Thursday night to congratulate him on his victory in the general election.

'Congratulations Sir Keir Starmer on your victory. Pleased with our first discussion,' the French President wrote on Twitter/X early on July 5.

'We will continue the work begun with the UK for our bilateral cooperation, for peace and security in Europe, for the climate and for AI.'

Late on Friday, 10 Downing Street shared a statement on social media reporting that the new Prime Minister had spoken to allies and partners 'across the world'.

'The UK stands ready to continue to work with them to deliver security and growth at home and abroad,' the pithy statement read.
A family doctor suspended after being exposed by The Mail on Sunday as the leader of a banned extremist group has raised more than 50,000 to fight the NHS.

Abdul Wahid was the leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), which caused outrage after its members screamed for jihad on the streets of London days after Hamas's terror attack on Israel on October 7.

The extremist chief himself praised the attack as a 'welcome punch on the nose' for Israel.

But a week after HT's march, the MoS uncovered Wahid's identity, revealing how he had been practising as a GP for more than 20 years under his real name, Wahid Asif Shaida.

Patients at the suburban surgery in north-west London had no idea of his double life as the UK head of a global extremist group.

Abdul Wahid (pictured) was an NHS doctor and the leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), which caused outrage after its members screamed for jihad on the streets of London

The MoS uncovered Wahid's identity, revealing how he had been practising as a GP for more than 20 years under his real name, Wahid Asif Shaida

NHS England suspended Wahid and, in January, the then home secretary James Cleverly proscribed HT as a terror group, making membership punishable with a jail term of up to 14 years.

Last night, it emerged Wahid has raised 51,485 on the website CrowdJustice to fight his suspension, with the target of hitting 60,000 in the next fortnight.

On his fundraising page, Wahid, 55, describes his past as leader of HT as 'political activity', saying: 'I need legal assistance to deal with an investigation and suspension by NHS England.'

He adds: 'In October 2023, pro-Israel media, activists and politicians started demanding that I be struck off for my political activity, all expressed lawfully and outside of the work setting.'

Rather than saying he was suspended for leading a group that has also been banned in Germany and several Islamic countries, Wahid blamed the suspension on him expressing pro-Palestine views.

Within hours of the October 7 attacks, Wahid told a podcast that Hamas terrorists were 'brave mujahideen' who gave the enemy 'a very welcome punch on the nose'.

Wahid has started a fundraiser to help towards his legal defence against his NHS suspension

Days later, he led marches outside the Egyptian and Turkish embassies in London, where HT members demanded an invasion to rescue Palestinians.

When a speaker shouted, 'What is the solution to liberate people in the concentration camp called Palestine?' they shouted back: 'Jihad! Jihad! Jihad!' Wahid told the crowd: 'Victory is coming and everyone has to choose a side. Whose side are you going to be on?'

The news of Wahid's fundraising has caused anger among terrorism experts. Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan, said: 'Nobody should be giving this person a platform to raise money for legal fees. It is disgusting. The platform should remove him at once.'

Last night CrowdJustice could not be reached for comment. On its website it says: 'We don't allow certain types of cases and behaviours.'

This includes content that is 'gratuitously violent, sexually explicit or needlessly upsetting', or 'promotes violence, abuse, hate, harassment or intimidation'. Wahid did not respond to calls for comment.
Tony Blair has said the British public's desire to 'punish' the Conservatives is what led to Labour's landslide election victory.

The former Prime Minister said that Sir Keir Starmer has turned Labour into a 'credible instrument of punishment' by being 'focused, determined and ruthlessly effective' during his rise to power.

The peer, who was the last person to lead Labour to a general election victory, has praised Starmer for refusing to make 'unrealisable promises' in his manifesto, calling it a 'blessing' that allows him leeway to act now he is in power.

However, the 71-year-old has also issued a warning to the former head of the CPS , saying he needs to create a new plan to deal with immigration, avoid 'wokeism' and handle the 'challenge' of the Muslim community.

Blair, who led Labour to three successive election victories in the late 90s and 2000s, has also urged Starmer to embrace artificial intelligence (AI), claiming it could be used to save billions in government and kick-start the economy.

Tony Blair speaks at the Global Energy Transition Congress and Exhibition in Milan, Italy, on July 1, 2024

Keir Starmer holds a press conference at Downing Street following his first cabinet meeting on July 6, 2024

Starmer led Labour to 412 seats in Thursday's general election, the highest number since Labour's landslide under Blair in 1997.

Blair said Starmer was helped by a large dislike for the Tories from the British public, writing in The Times: 'There was a huge desire not just to put the Conservative Party out, but to punish them. Labour was a credible instrument of punishment.'

He said that while the vote was split was lower than one might expect for a landslide victory, 'people voted for disparate parties knowing full well that doing so would give Labour a big majority' and the electorate 'deliberately' ignored warnings from the Conservatives about a supermajority.

Blair heaped praise on Starmer, saying he has a 'mandate' for change from the British public and that he has appointed 'exceptional talent' in his cabinet to help him see his vision turned into reality.

However, he has also warned that the new government faces similar challenges that proved to be the downfall of the Conservatives, including that from Reform UK which has 'pillaged the Tory vote' but also poses a risk to Labour.

'We need a plan to control immigration,' he said. 'If we don't have rules, we get prejudices. In office, I believed the best solution was a system of identity, so that we know precisely who has a right to be here. With, again, technology, we should move as the world is moving to digital ID. If not, new border controls will have to be highly effective.

He added: 'We need a tough new approach to law and order. At present, criminal elements are modernising faster than law enforcement.

'And the government should avoid any vulnerability on "wokeism".

'There is also clearly a challenge in part of the Muslim community, but that is a topic requiring its own special analysis.'

Tony Blair stands between Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer at St James's Palace in London ahead of the Accession Council ceremony in September 2022

Keir Starmer is applauded as he chairs his first cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on Saturday, July 6, 2024

 NEW: No 10 has released a clip of Keir Starmer's call with US President Joe Biden last night



Biden: "Congratulations, what a hell of a victory!" pic.twitter.com/IVCF5zKM5v  Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) July 6, 2024

Blair added that the UK is stuck in a cycle of high tax and high debt that provides poor outcomes, and that new methods have to be tried to kick start the economy.

These include making changes to the 'hopelessly slow and bureaucratic planning system' and tweaking the post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, he argued.

The Labour grandee said that the solution to all these problems could lie within AI, which the new government should take advantage of to boost productivity and 'turbocharge' growth.

Blair said that using the technology, which has developed rapidly in recent years, could improve workforce efficiency in government, help deal with benefit fraud and save billions of pounds over the course of a decade.

He added that Labour's 'return to the centre-left' meant the party had gone back to a place of 'solutions, not ideology'.

His intervention comes as Keir Starmer released a clip of his first conversation with US President Joe Biden after he was elected Prime Minister.

The 81-year-old American premier said 'Mr Prime Minister, congratulations' in his first words to Starmer during a short call last night.

'What a hell of a victory! Congratulations,' he repeated as Sir Keir cracked a smile, leaning in to address Mr Biden through a telephone on a desk at Number 10.

'Thank you, Mr President. It's been a long night and day,' the Prime Minister said in something of an understatement, before expressing his thanks and plans to see Mr Biden in Washington next week.

'There is no doubt under your leadership, our two countries are going to continue our special relationship,' the President assured Sir Keir.

'We're working together on just about every issue: supporting Ukraine, managing the competition in China, advancing cooperation with AUKUS...'

'Firstly the special relationship is the bedrock for... our defence, our security and prosperity which is obviously central to our missions for government,' the Prime Minister said, rounding off the short clip with an assurance of continued relations with the United States under Joe Biden's presidency.
The disastrous radio interview where Joe Biden called himself a black woman was scripted, with the president knowing exactly the questions he'd be asked.

WURD radio in Philadelphia was sent eight questions to ask the 81 year-old president. Journalist Andrea Lawful-Sanders says she ended up asking four - with Biden still managing to make a mess of his answers.

The president sparked a flurry of headlines after saying he was a 'black woman,' apparently while attempting to hail his appointment of Kamala Harris as vice president.

While his flub has been defended as a slip of the tongue, critics - including many within his own party - say Biden needs to get it perfect after his disastrous debate performance.

The bungled interview wasn't the only instance where Biden's team tried to get him a cheat sheet ahead of time. WMCS in Wisconsin was also sent a list of questions ahead of the president's appearance.

Two radio station hosts were sent questions by the Biden campaign ahead of interviews with the president after his disastrous debate

Both hosts said the questions were suggestions that they were under no obligation to use, and never felt pressured to do so.

They ended up using most of them, they said, because the list covered timely topics like his debate performance and major campaign issues.

Topics covered in the interviews included Joe Biden's accomplishments, what's at stake in the election, how the campaign was going in the two states, and what he would say to voters who were thinking of not voting.

'The questions were sent to me for approval. I approved them,' Sanders told CNN on Saturday of her interview with Biden on Wednesday.

Sanders said the campaign, not the White House, sent her eight questions and she approved four of them for her show.

Even with some of the potential questions known to him ahead of time, Biden made his strange flub in an answer to one about his accomplishments.

'I'm proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, the first Black woman, to serve with a Black president,' he told Sanders.

Andrea Lawful-Sanders at WURD in Philadelphia was sent the talking points this week before her interview on Thursday

Ingram said he was sent five questions and asked four of them.

'I didn't get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask,' he told ABC.

'To think that I was gonna get an opportunity to ask any question to the President of the United States, I think, is a bit more than anybody should expect,'

Ingram told CNN most of his listeners said they didn't want the president to step aside and let another Democrat challenge Donald Trump.

'This morning, for two hours, my phone lines were completely jammed as we had the conversation and the debate on whether or not this is something that should occur,' he said.

'And I can tell you that the majority of the listening audience thought that we should leave it as it is and it's a big mistake for the Democratic Party to attempt to force this on them as well as Joe Biden.'

Earl Ingram a host for WMCS in battleground state Wisconsin aid he was sent five questions and asked four of them

The Biden campaign said it was not uncommon for interviewees to share questions they would prefer to answer ahead of interviews.

'These questions were relevant to news of the day - the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he'd delivered for black Americans,' it said.

'We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners.

'Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate.'

Polls since the debate show Trump widening his lead over Biden, with average from various aggregators giving him a 2 to 3.3 per cent edge head-to-head, and 2.5 to 4.9 per cent advantage when third party candidates are included.

Biden arrives at St Joseph on the Brandywine Roman Catholic Church to attend mass in Wilmington, Delaware

Despite some Democratic lawmakers openly calling for Biden to stand aside, and many more in private, the most obvious candidates to replace him appear unwilling.

California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer both, within minutes of each other, pledged their support for Biden as the nominee earlier this week.

None of Biden's potential replacements are doing any better in the polls against Trump than the president, except Michelle Obama who leads him by double digits.
Civil servants were ordered to 'tone down' their enthusiasm when welcoming Labour ministers into Whitehall's departments on Friday, The Mail on Sunday has learned.

Before their newly appointed political bosses arrived, officials received instructions not to cheer or 'clap too loudly'  to avoid the 'appearance of bias' for Labour.

The revelation will give credence to long-held grievances by the Tories that sections of the Civil Service were politically opposed to the Conservative Government.

It comes amid claims that mandarins have been underwhelmed by Labour's readiness for office, and that Sir Keir Starmer's chief-of-staff Sue Gray 'doesn't like things written down'.

Following Labour's election victory, the freshly promoted Secretaries of State called in to their new departments to meet their permanent secretaries and staff.

At the Treasury, incoming Chancellor Rachel Reeves  the first woman to hold the post  was given what one observer described as 'rock-star treatment'.

Pictured: Chancellor Rachel Reeves arrives at the Treasury on July 5

At the Treasury, incoming Chancellor Rachel Reeves  the first woman to hold the post  was given what one observer described as 'rock-star treatment'

But in other Whitehall departments, staff were told to 'tone down' their greetings.

An insider said: 'Welcoming is one thing, but betraying over-the-top partisan support is quite another. You can understand the emotion as Rachel Reeves arrived at the Treasury, but it was a bit Taylor Swift.'

Last night Cabinet Office sources said they were 'not aware of any central directive' for the ministerial greetings, but added that it was 'customary for incoming ministers to be welcomed into their departments by their permanent secretaries'.

Separately, Gary Gibbon, the political editor of Channel 4 News, revealed how civil servants who had been involved in pre-election 'access talks' between Labour politicians and civil servants, 'aren't universally awed by Labour's preparations'.

He reported mandarins' concerns that 'there doesn't seem to be a sort of brains trust always at the top of Labour policy areas, ready to come in and do the sort of heavy lifting that normally happens'.

Pictured: Sue Gray arrives at the Covid Enquiry on May 16 in Belfast

The HM Treasury building in London pictured on the left

Mr Gibbon added: 'They also talk about the chief-of-staff Sue Gray  a civil servant whom we got to know so well over Partygate. She's been liaising quite a lot with the Civil Service and she has a very particular modus operandi.

'She goes in  and she's always done this in every job you ever hear of  and doesn't like things being written down.

'Now, if you're trying to approve a 28-point plan for how on earth you're going to repair some major part of the public infrastructure or something, well, it kind of helps, probably, if you write it down.'

However, the new PM insisted yesterday that Labour had made 'extensive' preparations for power to ensure 'we can hit the ground running'. The Government was approached for comment.
A Major General tipped as a future head of the British Army has become the most senior officer for centuries to be charged with a sex offence.

James Roddis, 52, will appear at a military court this month accused of sexual assault.

The highly-decorated commander has led thousands of soldiers during his unblemished 30-year career and earned multiple bravery awards.

He was a contender to become Chief of General Staff and is only the second Major General to face a court martial in two centuries.

Roddis, a married father-of-three, is understood to have left the Army of his own accord in recent months. The case has stunned comrades.

Major General James Roddis, 52, will appear at a military court this month accused of sexual assault in a case which has shocked his comrades

The highly-decorated commander has led thousands of soldiers during his unblemished 30-year career and earned multiple bravery awards but now he will face serious questions

The father-of-three has received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the UK's highest award for leadership in combat, and a Mention in Dispatches after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq - it is extremely are for an officer of his rank to face court martial

He was until recently Director of Strategy at UK military's Strategic Command, responsible for Special Forces units and other secretive intelligence-gathering and cyber units.

He has received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), the UK's highest award for leadership in combat, and a Mention in Dispatches after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He was made an MBE in 2009 and earned a pair of Queen's Commendations for Valuable Service in 2008 and 2017. He founded the Army's elite Specialised Infantry Brigade in 2017.

Roddis, of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, has been charged under section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act, which covers sexual assault by touching, following a Royal Military Police investigation.

It is extremely rare for an officer of his rank to face court martial.

Major General Nick Welch was jailed for 21 months at a court martial in 2021 after being convicted of fraud over claiming expenses for boarding school fees.

Before that, in 1815 a Lieutenant General, Sir John Murray, was convicted of abandoning his siege guns without due cause in the Napoleonic wars. He was admonished and denied permission to become a member of the Order of the Bath.

But there are no known previous cases of generals being charged with sex offences.

Last night an Army spokesman said: 'We expect very high standards of behaviour from all our personnel and take any allegations of misconduct extremely seriously.

'Former Major General James Roddis will appear at Bulford Military Court Centre in Wiltshire on July 17 charged with Sexual Assault contrary to Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. We will not comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.'

The case is expected to go to trial later this year before a jury of military officers. He was charged after his case was reviewed by the Service Prosecuting Authority, the military equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Thousands of protestors marched through central Barcelona this evening, waving placards and squirting holidaymakers with water guns in the latest expression of anger at perceived overtourism in Spain.

Under the slogan 'Enough! Let's put limits on tourism', some 2,800 people - according to police - marched along a waterfront district of Barcelona to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists that visit every year.

Protesters carried signs reading 'Barcelona is not for sale,' and, 'Tourists go home,' before some used water guns on tourists eating outdoors at restaurants in popular tourist hotspots. Chants of 'Tourists out of our neighbourhood' rang out as some stopped in front of the entrances to hotels.

Barcelona's rising cost of housing, up 68 percent in the past decade, is one of the main issues for the movement, along with the effects of tourism on local commerce and working conditions in the city of 1.6 million inhabitants.

Rents rose by 18% in June from a year earlier in tourist cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, according to the property website Idealista. For years, the city has worn anti-tourist graffiti with messages such as 'tourists go home' aimed at visitors some blame for the rising prices and shaping of the economy around tourists.

Protestors squirted water guns at tourists eating in popular spots in the city

Tourists sharing paella can only watch on, bemused, as the rally moves past

Video showed protestors gathering in Las Ramblas, a hotspot for holidaymakers

A woman carries a sign that reads 'neighbours in danger of extinction' through Barcelona

Anti-riot forces gesture as protestors put march through Las Ramblas earlier today

A symbolic cordon was put around a bar-restaurant in an area popular with tourists

Thousands were reported to have taken place in the march against tourism earlier today

Barcelona's mayor, Jaume Collboni, announced a plan in June to phase out all short-term lets by 2028, an unexpectedly drastic move by the authorities who seek to rein in soaring housing costs and make the city liveable for residents.

But many still feel not enough is being done to balance the needs of tourists, who bring millions to the city each year, with those of locals.

'Local shops are closing to make way for stores that do not serve the needs of neighbourhoods. People cannot afford their rents,' said Isa Miralles, a 35-year-old musician who lives in the Barceloneta district.

'I have nothing against tourism, but here in Barcelona we are suffering from an excess of tourism that has made our city unliveable,' said Jordi Guiu, a 70-year-old sociologist.

The northeastern coastal city, with internationally famous sites such as La Sagrada Familia, received more than 12 million tourists last year, according to local authorities.

To combat the 'negative effects of mass tourism', the city council run by the Socialist Jaume Collboni announced 10 days ago that it was banning tourist apartment rentals - there are now more than 10,000 - by 2028 so that they can be put back on the local housing market.

The announcement could lead to a legal battle and is opposed by an association of tourist apartments who say it will just feed the black market.

The Barcelona protests come after similar demonstrations in tourist hotspots such as Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and the Canary Islands.

The second most visited country after France, Spain received 85 million foreign visitors in 2023, an increase of 18.7 percent from the previous year, according to the National Statistics Institute.

The most visited region was Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona, with 18 million, followed by the Balearic Islands (14.4 million) and the Canary Islands (13.9 million).

Furious locals who orchestrated mass anti-tourism protests across the Canary Islands earlier this year issued another warning to British travellers this week as they vowed to target 'main holidaymaker areas' over the summer break.

Again, they aired their frustrations that not enough had been done to answer their calls.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Tenerife on April 20, with roughly 200,000 protesters thought to have taken part in mass demonstrations across the island archipelago.

The protests, organised by various groups including 'Friends of Nature of Tenerife (ATAN)' aimed to discourage foreign holidaymakers while also compelling councils to introduce new legislation aimed at protecting the islands from the effects of an ever-expanding tourism industry.

But the groups claim their demands have fallen on deaf ears and as a result are gearing up for another explosive demonstration.

'We have decided to take to the streets again. This time we will take to the streets in the very centre of this development model: in the main tourist areas,' a statement from ATAN read.

'We ask people to continue fighting from every corner of the islands against this unjust model that is destroying our lives and our territory.'

The campaigners claim that the huge influx of tourists to the island is causing major environmental damage, driving down wages and squeezing locals out of cheap affordable housing, forcing dozens to live in tents and cars instead.

One female protestor at the march in April held up a sign which read: 'Fourteen million tourists a year but 36 per cent of Canarians at risk of poverty.'

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Tenerife on April 20

Thousands of people demonstrate against tourism policies on the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain on April 20, 2024

In Malaga, southern Spain, more than 15,000 tourists massed in the streets at the end of June to air their frustrations.

'We feel like strangers in our own city,' banners paraded in the march read.

The demo was organised by the Malaga Tenants Union, with the backing of nearly 50 organisations including Greenpeace and Oxfam.

The demonstrators ran under the rallying cry: 'Malaga to live in, not survive in.'

Again, locals raised concerns about overtourism transforming their local communities to meet the needs of visitors at the expense of residents.

'We're not going to allow Malaga to become a theme park emptied of local residents. We're not going to allow shops to be replaced by franchises, pavements with terraces and rents with eviction letters,' organisers said.

Earlier this year stickers were plastered over the front of tourist apartment blocks in Malaga with messages in Spanish saying: 'F*** off from here' and 'Stinking of Tourists.'

Graffiti telling tourists to 'go home' - as well as blunter language - has become commonplace in sun-dappled Mediterranean resorts across Spain, Greece and elsewhere.

And in a bid to stop tensions from overspilling, some local authorities have tried to touch up the image of their constituencies with policies looking to deter boozy Brits.

New rules in Magaluf ban drinking in the street and buying alcohol from grocery stores after 8.30pm - with fines of up to 1,500 (1,350) or rising to 3,000 (2,550) for more serious behaviour breaches.

Drink limits have also been introduced at all-inclusive hotels in the notorious tourist hotspots of El Arenal, Playa de Palma in Mallorca, and Sant Antoni in Ibiza in a bid to clamp down on reckless drunken behaviour.

In 2022, the Balearic island of Mallorca also introduced a dress code, putting a ban on tank tops without straps, swimwear, football kits and accessories bought from street vendors (like gold chains and glow-in-the-dark hats) in bars and restaurants.

And smoking was also banned on a number of beaches, following policies introduced in Barcelona in 2022 in an apparent attempt to clean up the image and appease locals.

People clash with police as they protest against the introduction of the registration and tourist fee in Venice, Italy, April 25, 2024

People protest against the introduction of the fee in Venice, Italy, April 25, 2024

Many top tourist destinations have trialled innovative new measures to control the flow of visitors as they battle backlash from residents.

In April, a town in Japan set up a 65ft screen to block off views to Mount Fuji in a bid to deter tourists from gathering at a picturesque spot.

Also in April, Venice became the first city in the world to charge an entry fee for day-tripper tourists, aimed at reducing the number of short-stay visitors who cause unmanageable congestion in peak times.

The 'tourist tax' has been controversial, with several residents' committees and associations planning protests to coincide with the launch in Italy.

Reps argue the fee will not fix the fundamental issues but only cloud the city's public image.

Under the new rules, a fee will be charged to tourists passing through the city without staying overnight.

Authorities hope this might help manage the flow of some 30 million tourists drawn in by the city's history and romantic canals each year.

But violent clashes broke out in April as demonstrators took to the streets.

Some met with police in riot gear in the narrow lanes of the city as emotions boiled over.

'I can tell you that almost the entire city is against it,' suggested Matteo Secchi, who leads residents' activist group Venessia.com.

'You can't impose an entrance fee to a city; all they're doing is transforming it into a theme park. This is a bad image for Venice  I mean, are we joking?'

Federica Toninello, head of the ASC association for housing, suggested the council hadn't 'really understood the consequences' of mass tourism in Venice.

'For a start, 5 will do nothing to deter people. But day trippers aren't the issue; things like the shortage of affordable housing are

'What we need are policies to help residents, for example, making rules to limit things like Airbnb,' he said, as reported by The Guardian.
Sir Keir Starmer will meet John Swinney today in his first official engagement since being appointed Prime Minister.

He will visit Scotland on a victory lap of the devolved nations, followed by Northern Ireland and Wales tomorrow.

In what is being badged as an immediate reset of the Governments relationship with the four corners of the UK, Sir Keir has pledged to prioritise meaningful co-operation centred on respect.

The Prime Minister said: People across the United Kingdom are bound by shared beliefs. Fundamental values of respect, service and community which define us as a great nation.

And that begins today with an immediate reset of my governments approach to working with the First and Deputy First Ministers because meaningful co-operation centred on respect will be key to delivering change across our United Kingdom.

New Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during an earlier meeting with First Minister John Swinney

Together we can begin the work to rebuild our country with a resolute focus on serving working people once again.

In an early sign that collaborative working has begun, new Health Secretary Wes Streeting yesterday called Holyrood counterpart Neil Gray to discuss the NHS, as well as drug and alcohol and smoking and vape policy.

Mr Gray wrote on X: I look forward to collaborating with him over the coming years.

Speaking ahead of Sir Keirs visit, Anas Sarwar said the Prime Minister understands and cares for Scotland and will work in the national interest with the First Minister.

He also said the election had turned Scotlands politics on its head as he pledged to forge a path away from independence.

The Scottish Labour leader said the country now had serious politicians to deliver for all Scots, regardless of their views on separation.

He said the SNPs wipeout in Scotland, paired with the collapse of the Conservative vote in England, had ushered in a new era of politics guided by public service over self-interest.

Speaking in East Renfrewshire yesterday, where Labours Blair McDougall ousted the SNPs Kirsten Oswald, Mr Sarwar said: This has turned Scotlands politics on its head, I think theres a seismic shift now in Scottish politics.

Where so often the politics, particularly of the SNP and the Tories, was rooted in that divisive language about whether we were yes or no and trying to entrench Scotland into camps, I think that has completely shifted now.

He added: The politics of fear and division is in retreat and the politics of hope and unity is on the rise.

Although Mr Sarwar refused to be drawn on whether the independence cause was dead, he said: This election was not about independence. It wasnt about the constitution. It was about delivering change for people across the country and Ive very deliberately in the past three years Ive been in this job said that I am not going to turn my back on anybody in Scotland.

I say directly to people who may have supported the SNP in the past and who may even think about supporting independence at some point in the future, but who have supported Labour in this election: Thank you for that support.

Thank you for putting your trust in us and we will get to work straight away to deliver change for Scotland from a UK Labour government, but we also now redouble our efforts to advocate for that change in 2026.

Because the harsh reality is this, whether you are yes or no, whether you were leave or remain, you are still impacted by the cost of living crisis. You were still impacted by a chaotic Tory government.

Mr Sarwar added: You will still positively be impacted by a UK Labour government building for Scotland, but youre also negatively impacted by an SNP government that has left so many languishing on NHS waiting lists.
As landslide election victories go, it lacked a certain pizzazz. Sir Keir Starmer may be our new Prime Minister with a remarkable majority of MPs but the transition of power between Rishi Sunak and his successor was peculiarly low key.

There was none of that Things Can Only Get Better energy of 1997 when Tony Blair led Labour back from the political fringes into power.

Instead, each paid polite tribute to the other and quietly got about their business, Mr Sunak of moving his family out of No 10, thereafter to console himself with nothing more than their nourishing love and the multi-million pound fortune he shares with his wife, and Mr Starmer of running the country while trying to fix our fractured and discredited politics.

There are a number of reasons this Labour landslide feels different from 1997. For one thing, Sir Keir is no Tony Blair, a politician who, right up until they stopped doing so, a great many voters viewed with real affection.

Sir Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar are in the ascendancy now

Sir Keir Starmer holding his first press conference as Prime Minister since his 'loveless' landslide victory which saw Labour walk away with 412 out 650 seats

Sir Keir Starmer and Lady Victoria were all smiles as they were clapped by staff at Downing Street on Friday morning

In 1997, Blair cut an inspiring figure. In 2024, Sir Keir cut a blandly reassuring one.

Clearly, the Labour leaders lack of X factor has done no harm to his party.

Indeed, perhaps after the chaos of the recent years of the UK Government under the Conservatives, its a bonus.

Many who supported Boris Johnson may regret putting their faith in a politician on the grounds of his big personality.

Of course, it would be churlish not to accept that Starmer  in leading Labour from the brink of extinction under Jeremy Corbyn just five years ago to becoming PM with a commanding majority  has just achieved something rather remarkable.

But, after the outrage of Partygate under Johnson, the financially disastrous consequences of Liz Trusss brief premiership and an appalling Tory election campaign that saw such lows as Sunak leaving D-Day commemorations early to take part in a TV interview, much of Starmers success may be down to the simple fact that he is not one of that lot.

The UK Conservative Party has, in recent years, become so hopelessly divided as to be unfit for office. Sir Keir is now PM in part because he offers something that looks vaguely like a plan.

Here in Scotland, the recent Conservative Party story is very different from the one that has played out south of the Border.

Indeed, while the party in England moved further away from Scottish voters, the party in Scotland enjoyed a rebirth. Under the leadership of Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservatives established themselves firmly as defenders of the Union.

Sir Keir Starmer had previously lost the last general election to Boris Johnson (pictured)

Liz Truss was in office for a short time after Johnson before taking a step back from the leadership role

The broken ex-PM Sunak acknowledged that Sir Keir had won as he nervously took a victory in his own incredibly safe Richmond & Northallerton seat

After the bitter division of the 2014 independence referendum, the Conservatives  once thought of as an utterly spent force in Scotland  brought a degree of stability back to Scottish public life, seeing off the threat of a second painful referendum campaign and holding the woefully underperforming SNP government to account.

Labour may  under the leadership of Starmer at a UK level and Anas Sarwar in Scotland  have started to get its act together again, but even Thursdays result, with the SNPs losses and Scottish Labours gains, does not mean the party is yet a viable proposition for government at Holyrood.

Labour did not lose its once seemingly solid grip on Scottish politics for no good reason.

In part, there was the ebb and flow of politics  success ends, failure is overcome  but beyond that there was the undeniable fact that the party had, for some time before it lost the 2007 Holyrood election to the SNP, been taking voters for granted.

The old joke ran that Labour could stick a red rosette on a donkey in certain parts of Scotland and it would win. The betrayal voters felt when they lost faith in Scottish Labour was deep and  as several elections have since shown  lasting.

First Minister John Swinney  rattled by the scale of the SNPs losses on Thursday  talks of his willingness to work with the new UK Government in Scotlands interests. His support for this not entirely novel approach is prompted by necessity rather than desire.

Another reason last weeks Labour landslide is so muted in comparison with the carnival of 1997 is that it took place against a backdrop of absolute despair at the state of our politics.

A vote for Starmer wasnt so much a vote of enthusiasm for his and Labours policy agenda but a vote to make the Tories stop doing whatever they have been doing these past few years.

Flanked by clearly emotional wife Akshata, the PM delivered his parting statement as he prepares to head for Buckingham Palace where he will formally tender his resignation to the King

The couple walked away to be taken to the Palace, where Mr Sunak told the King he was resigning

Scotland's Conservative Leader was all smiles on her phone whilst appearing on the Sky News Election Night Live on Thursday

SNP First Minister John Sweeney looked downcast following Labour's 'loveless' landslide which saw his party lose several seats in Scotland

Sarwar will, on the back of Thursdays result, now feel more confident that not only can he lead Labour past the Tories to become Scotlands second largest party at the 2026 Holyrood election but that he can go that crucial stage further and nudge the SNP aside, too.

It is entirely possible that, less than two years from now, perhaps with the support of Tories voting tactically, Mr Sarwar will be our next First Minister.

It should not be enough for him to lead Labour to victory merely because it is not the SNP and he is not whichever poor soul is leading that ever-fracturing party by then.

Scottish Labour made grave mistakes while in leadership at Holyrood between 1999 and 2007.

The party was overly cautious on the use of powers and Ministers in Edinburgh unnecessarily deferential to colleagues in London who, in return, were brutally dismissive of MSPs (jumped-up councillors, as one had it) in private briefings.

Scotland has been failed by politicians in recent years.

On two of the biggest issues of importance to voters  the constitution and the plan to allow transgender people to self-ID  only the Conservatives have been firmly with the majority of Scots.

If Sarwar is to maximise his chances of becoming First Minister, he and Starmer must begin showing  immediately  how Scotland benefits from its place in the Union and prove they both understand the frustrations that drove many to lend their support to the nationalists in the past.

The Prime Minister can afford to cover Swinney with hugs and kisses during what must be regular trips to Scotland but, equally, he can afford to ignore the First Minister the moment he suspects him of playing political games

After almost two decades of ruling the Scottish political roost, the SNP has just been humiliated in the polls.

cottish Labour MSP, Anas Sarwar, posing for a portrait in 2021 in Glasgow

Swinney, the man brought in to save his party after the chaos of Humza Yosuafs leadership, just presided over the sort of election performance that cost him the leadership the first time he held it 20 years ago.

And so the new UK Government need cut him no slack when it comes to the SNPs usual, predictable and unreasonable demands (these will come. And soon).

But this position of strength cant let Labour take Scots for granted.

Anas Sarwar mustnt waltz into power simply because hes not a Nationalist.

He has less than two years to prove that, under him, Scottish Labour truly has changed for the better and that he can be trusted to lead.
The SNPs financial woes have been compounded by last weeks humiliation at the ballot box with 1 million of crucial funding lost from the House of Commons.

John Swinneys party will be served the hammer blow when its depleted cadre of nine MPs return to Westminster.

Nationalists were forecast to receive 1.3 million in public funds  known as short money  to help them prop up their operations south of the Border this year.

The cash is handed to each opposition party by the Westminster authorities based on how many MPs they have.

Forecasts based on the SNPs cataclysmic performance on Thursday show the party will now be given just over 350,000  almost 1 million a year less than they had been getting since 2019.

First Minister John Swinney's party has been mired in financial difficulties in recent times

A swathe of staff will also be scrambling to find new jobs within the party, with many looking to the Holyrood group to squeeze them into their ranks.

Others are attempting to contact the nine remaining MPs in a bid to stay on the payroll.

Those affected include the constituency and Press teams formerly employed by the raft of MPs who lost their seats.

It is the latest setback for those managing the SNP coffers amid a deepening financial crisis threatening the future of the party.

Funding to support opposition parties, or short money, was first brought in by Westminster authorities in 1975.

For the 2023/24 financial year, parties receive 21,438.33 for every seat they hold. They are also given 42.82 for every 200 votes they receive.

Additionally, they are allocated a proportion of an overall travel allowance, split between the parties, worth 235,511.46. Prior to Thursdays ballot, the SNP was set to get a total of 1,301,552.04 for the 43 seats it still held.

But analysis shows that amount will drop substantially after the Nationalists won just nine seats with a total of 708,759 votes.

By extrapolating the sum due from those figures, and adding in a proportionate travel allowance, the SNP will now only get 350,240 a year following the widespread losses suffered across Scotland.

That is 951,311 less than the 1.3 million initially forecast.

It is the latest in a long line of financial setbacks to hit the Nationalists with recent annual accounts showing the SNP had plunged 800,000 into deficit due to a slump in membership numbers along with the drying up of donations.

Meanwhile, senior figures remain embroiled in a police probe into missing independence funds believed to be worth around 600,000, which has also hindered attempts to fundraise.

Nicola Sturgeon and former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie remain under investigation by police, while Ms Sturgeons husband and former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell has been arrested twice.

He was charged with embezzlement on the second occasion but has been released. Finances have been cripplingly tight at SNP HQ for some time.

Last year former treasurer Mr Beattie told the partys National Executive Committee the SNP faced financial ruin if it did not turbo-charge fundraising efforts.

Just days before that meeting, The Scottish Mail on Sunday revealed how officers had confiscated a high-value motorhome from outside 92-year-old Margaret Murrells home in Dunfermline, 50 miles from the house in Glasgow where her son Mr Murrell lives with Ms Sturgeon.

It later came to light that even the SNPs accountants, who had worked with the party for around a decade, had stepped down from their position.

Former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie

Rishi Sunaks shock general election announcement on May 22 set hares running within the SNP amid fears the party would not be able to meet campaign costs.

Mr Swinney was forced to make a plea to supporters to donate cash as his party faced particular financial challenges.

Meanwhile, at an SNP parliamentary group meeting at Holyrood during the campaign, MSPs were urged provide a spare room or flat to staff based in the Commons so taxpayer-funded workers could relocate from London to Scotland to hit the campaign trail and avoid the party having to pay costly hotel bills.

Early research into digital marketing trends during the campaign showed the cash-strapped SNP spent a significantly smaller sum than Labour on online content.

Mr Swinney, though, repeatedly insisted that his party had enough funds throughout the campaign.

However, he has now admitted that the massive reduction in the SNPs short money cash from Westminster will significantly hit staffing levels.

On Friday, Mr Swinney said there would be an impact on the organisation as a result of the public funds being withdrawn.
An adorable two year-old toddler was found dead in a hot car outside his Georgia home - but police say they do not believe he was left in the vehicle by accident.

Jacob Eliel Vieras, 2, died after being left inside a vehicle 'for an extended period of time' on Tuesday night, according to a Cobb County Police spokesperson.

Shortly before 7pm, police had responded to the address and said that the toddler was rushed to hospital - but he did not survive.

On Wednesday, local police announced that it was too early in the investigation to say if anyone would face criminal charges in connection with the death of Vieras.

They also said that there was no evidence to suggest that the youngster was left inside the vehicle.

Jacob Eliel Vieras, 2, died after being left inside a vehicle 'for an extended period of time' on Tuesday night

Shortly before 7pm, police had responded to the address and said that the toddler was rushed to hospital - but he did not survive

No further details or theories have been offered on how Jacob might have ended up in the car where he was found dead.

Writing on a GoFundMe page set up to pay for the toddler's funeral, a friend of the tragedy described Jacob's passing as an 'accident,' but did not elaborate further.

The fundraiser said: 'My brother Noel just lost his 2 year old son in a accident and the family didn't have insurance to Bury him.

'I'm asking and praying the people here can help raise this for the family. It is a very tough time for them.

'He was [an] amazing out going kid that loved his dad very much.'

With a goal set of $7,000, the fundraiser has already managed to raise over $6,000.

According to an obituary for the boy, Vieras is survived by his parents Jose Noel Viera and Jessica Mejia, as well as his sibling Jaylin.

A funeral service was held honoring his life on Saturday in Smyrna, Georgia, at the Iaglesia Pentecostal Roca de Salvacion.

The family had asked for donations in Jacob's memory to be made to the church, as opposed to flowers.

Cobb County Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer said: 'My only role is to extend our sympathies to the family and the friends and the neighbors and all those who were affected by this tragedy.

It still remains unclear how exactly Jacob had come to be in the car, with a friend of the family saying in a GoFundMe page that it was an accident

Local police said that there was no evidence to suggest that the youngster was left inside the vehicle. Cobb County Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer is pictured here

'We need some time to sort this out before we really know what happened.'

Chief VanHoozer added that his department will 'sort out the facts of this case' and 'we will do what is right.'

He also asked for people to 'really, really be careful in this heat -- this is one example of some things that can go wrong.'

Neighbor Amy Barnes told Atlanta News First, the child was 'blue-faced' when taken into the house.

Barnes told the outlet: 'Next thing I know, people are screaming, and 911 got called. It's a tragedy.'

According to the Kids and Car Safety National Database, there has been seven deaths so far across the country involving hot car deaths.

According to the Kids and Car Safety National Database, there has been seven deaths so far across the country involving hot car deaths

Two of the children who died were unknowingly left, three were left inside, one gained access and Jacob's death is currently marked as unknown.

On Wednesday, a four-year-old Texas girl died after being left inside a hot truck and being forgotten about by her caregivers.

Officials in Houston said that the girl was with two women and a group of children running errands in a Chevy pickup truck the entire day.

The adults later parked their car in the apartment complex and took everyone inside but left behind the toddler.

Investigators believe the girl was left in the truck for about an hour until one of the women realized the child was missing, came back outside to find her and called 911.

She was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Sir Keir Starmer's decision to scrap the Rwanda scheme will lead to an 'open season' for migrants trying to cross the English Channel in small boats, a former Border Force chief has said.

Kevin Saunders, who was the Chief Immigration Officer covering Calais and Dunkirk, claims that up to 60,000 people could try to make the journey from France to England via the perilous route without the plan in place.

The border security expert said that the controversial scheme had acted as a deterrent and that people smugglers in the migrant camps in northern France were happy it was being removed.

He added that those in charge of the smuggling rings were so happy with the new Prime Minister's pledge to stop the flights they had given him a nickname which means 'the friendly one'.

Starmer, who became Prime Minister on Friday after leading Labour to a landslide victory, revealed on Saturday that the Rwanda scheme was 'dead and buried' and he had no intention of seeing it through.

Keir Starmer speaks at a press conference in Downing Street following his first cabinet meeting on Saturday

Kevin Saunders told Times Radio that Keir Starmer was ditching the Rwanda scheme without a alternative in place

A group of around 50 migrants are brought into the Port of Dover by a Border Force vessel on July 1, 2024, after being found crossing the Channel in a small boat

A total of 13,368 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year

Mr Saunders, who spent 43 years working for the Civil Service before his retirement, said stopping the Rwanda plan without an alternative was a mistake.

He told Times Radio on Saturday: 'The trouble is he [Sir Keir Starmer] is being very negative about Rwanda. Well, that's fine. He's bound to be.

'But we don't have anything from him about how they're going to stop the boats. It's going to be open season.'

The former chief Border Force officer said there could be as many as 60,000 migrants crossing the Channel in small boats this year, which would beat the record figure of 45,774 in 2022.

Mr Saunders said that claims the Rwanda scheme had not been 'effective' in deterring migrants from making the crossing were 'not quite correct'.

'There's been a lot of unease in the camps in northern France about the Rwanda scheme. They were very, very worried. We saw people fleeing to the Republic of Ireland because they didn't want to be included in it,' Mr Saunders said.

'Now, of course, we're seeing that the Kurds over in northern France have come up with a name for Keir, which I think means 'the friendly one', because they all believe that he's going to be very good for illegal migration,' he added

So far this year 13,368 migrants have made the perilous journey, higher than the figure from this time in 2022, leaving it on track to break the record number of arrivals from that year.

The most recent crossings took place on July 1, with poor weather in the English Channel putting the brakes on people smuggling operations who regularly launch boats filled with up to 60 migrants each.

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At a press conference following his first cabinet meeting on Saturday afternoon, Starmer confirmed he was ditching the Rwanda scheme, adding he was 'not prepared to continue with gimmicks'.

He said: 'The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It's never been a deterrent.

'Look at the numbers that have come over in the first six and a bit months of this year, they are record numbers, that is the problem that we are inheriting.'

He added: 'The chances were of not going and not being processed, and staying here, therefore, in paid-for accommodation for a very, very long time.

'It's had the complete opposite effect and I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent.'

The Prime Minister has said he will curb Channel crossings by hiring specialist investigators and using counter-terror powers to 'smash the criminal gangs' behind the flow of migrants into the UK, but how this will work in practice remains largely unclear.

Nigel Farage, whose Reform UK party won five seats in the general election as he was elected to Parliament as an MP at the eight attempt, criticised Labour's plans.

He said: 'What Keir Starmer is proposing, which is, tackle the gangs, well, frankly, you know, the last Government were doing that for the last few years, its not going to work'.
Top private schools have seen a surge in parents paying school fees in advance before Labour's VAT raid kicks in.

The move to scrap independent schools' tax-exempt status means families face a 20 per cent hike in fees.

Labour says the tax  which it will use to fund 6,500 more teachers in state schools  is unlikely to come in before 2025 and won't be retrospective.

Financial accounts from private schools show that wealthy parents are dodging it by 'locking in' the current VAT rules, and pre-paying as much as five years' fees in one go rather than termly.

Pre-paid contracts at Eton College  where boarding costs 49,998 per year  have shot up almost four-fold to 10.1 million, from 2.64 million paid upfront by families in 2022.

Top private schools have seen a surge in parents paying school fees in advance before Labour's VAT raid kicks in

Pre-paid contracts at Eton College (pictured)  where boarding costs 49,998 per year  have shot up almost four-fold to 10.1 million, from 2.64 million paid upfront by families in 2022

At London's Westminster School  which has offered advance fee payments for 45 years  new contracts nearly doubled in a year, from 583,000 in 2022 to more than 1 million in 2023.

Labour previously vowed to slap VAT on private schools within weeks if they won the election.

Rachel Reeves, then Shadow Chancellor, said last month the contentious measure would be in her first Budget, which could come as soon as September.

Labour sources expect Ms Reeves to publish a three-year spending review at the same time.

Labour has promised an 'immediate injection of cash' for key public services, but the Shadow Chancellor will be forced to choose between hiking taxes further or squeezing spending in other areas.

The party declined to say exactly when it would introduce VAT on private school fees, but raising fees in the middle of the school year would be hugely disruptive, which suggests that the most likely date will be September 2025.

Rachel Reeves, then Shadow Chancellor, said last month the contentious measure would be in her first Budget, which could come as soon as September

Shadow education spokesman Bridget Phillipson also insisted all private schools can 'cut their cloth' to avoid passing on the cost of Labour's planned tax rise

Ms Reeves previously said she was committed to the plan because 'the children who are struggling most are in state schools - young people are not getting the chance to fulfil their potential'.

Shadow education spokesman Bridget Phillipson also insisted all private schools can 'cut their cloth' to avoid passing on the cost of Labour's planned tax rise.

She said state schools have had to make 'some pretty tough choices in recent years' which independent schools could learn from.

In an interview with the Mail last month, Ms Phillipson also ruled out making any fresh exemptions for special schools - despite a backlash.
Owning Manhattan has gripped viewers since the new real-estate series first dropped on Netflix last week, with some claiming the drama is better than that of its predecessor, Selling Sunset.

The eight-part series follows property mogul Ryan Serhant's eponymous company and his elite army of agents as they compete to secure New York City's most exclusive luxury listings.

With such high pressure, onscreen drama is inevitable - but the tensions have reached boiling point off camera too, with Jonathan Nrmlle, Jade Shenker and Chloe Tucker Caine among cast members embroiled in bitter spats in the wake of the fallout from the hit series.

Nrmlle, 27, has made it clear that he has no regrets about his actions, which saw him fired in the final episode.

He has since been slammed by former boss Serhant, as well as co-worker Shenker, for his conduct with fellow brokers and for the scathing comments he made about them in a since-deleted podcast.

Tensions have continued to rise off camera as Ryan Serhant's staff react to the fallout from their new show, Owning Manhattan

Now, insiders have revealed his actions did not come as a surprise to other agents, many of whom had concerns about the decision to hire him in the first place.

'Not only was his conduct with others a cause for concern, but some believe he had inflated his level of experience before joining the company,' one insider claimed.

Elsewhere, a second source revealed that Nrmlle has retaliated against Shenker's recent claim that he is 'fake' by telling everyone she was not even supposed to star on the show.

'He keeps reminding everyone that Jade wasn't even part of the original cast,' a second insider revealed. 'There was another agent who ended up dropping out and that is when Jade got to join the show.

'Jonathan thinks she just wants her 15 minutes of fame and believes she hasn't even done as much of the real estate sales as she claims.'

Elsewhere, Caine has blasted Shenker on Instagram after the latter revealed to DailyMail.com that she had blocked her co-star for allegedly trolling her on TikTok.

'You guys saw five minutes of something that has being going on for months at this point,' the new mom fumed in a reaction video posted to Instagram. 'And you guys think I'm shady?'

Caine then went on to post screenshots of the pair's recent phone calls as she clapped back: 'Really??? We aren't close friends right now? This is how many times we've talked in the past 48 hours alone...

Jonathan Nrmlle, 27, has made it clear that he has no regrets about his actions on the show, which saw him get fired in the final episode

After being slammed by former co-worker Jade Shenker, sources have revealed that the outspoken broker continues to show little remorse for speaking his mind about the cast

'Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice?! (I don't remember the end of this saying but you get the gist!!!) FAME HUNGRY AF, ALWAYS WAS.'

The successful broker then went on to claim that she was the one who introduced Shenker to the person that helped her secure a $42 million building that first helped her become a Serhant agent.

Shenker was quick to hit back with a string of rebuttals on her Instagram stories, while also leaving comments directly under Chloe's posts as she appeared to remain unbothered by her estranged friend's claims.

Caine later found herself embroiled in an online scuffle with another former employee.

Former assistant Lindsey Welch had been a source of conflict for Caine and fellow agent Jordan March, after the latter hired the assistant shortly after Caine chose to part ways with her.

The issue led to a heated conversation between Caine and March in the second episode of the series before they later squashed the beef.

However, the comments made about Welch appear to have angered the staffer who wrote on Instagram: 'Put me on a pod too since you pushed the narrative that you "fired me" when the truth is we did not work out because you were an incompetent agent.

Elsewhere, Chloe Tucker Caine took to Instagram to publicly voice her anger after Shenker accused her of being a troll on TikTok

In the show, the pair butt heads over how Caine behaved after Shenker opened up about the secret breakdown of her marriage to ex-husband Matt Denham

'Also failed to mention you asked me to come back via text but go off.'

She then added: 'Let's set the record straight, I taught myself everything I know through trial and error - because no one poured into me.

'Across Chloe and Jordan's Team it was me behind $59,000,00+ sales that went to marked. I was accredited for nothing.'

Welch continued: 'It was extremely hurtful - especially seeing other being rewarded for mediocrity. It took me over a year to grieve and heal from that disappointment. I took it on the chin and have since started over from scratch as a solo agent.'

Caine snapped back on Instagram and wrote: 'Let's nip this in the bud now since people love to come out of the woodwork to try and spin the story to get their 5 minutes. Un-f**king-believable.'

Caine took to Instagram to call out Shenker's comments and also refuted her claims that the pair were no longer close friends

Shenker was quick to hit back with sassy comments on the posts and rebuttals on her Instagram Story - which Caine continued to fight back against

She then shared a screenshot of a comment in which she had stated: 'Okay girl. you've been hired and first by every brokerage in NY, not to mention Serhant TWICE.

'I thought you did a great job and really wanted you to succeed. I still think you are very talented and that you were just going through a hard time which is why I continued to reach out and check on you. My bad'.

She added: 'Your moves were inappropriate and a bad look for my team and I let you go. Jordan did too in the end. It is what it is. End of story'.

Welch clapped back: 'Hey girly, worry about closing a deal and taking care of your kid instead of posting about my sex life on the Internet.'

A third source stated that Welch was 'shocked' to see the way Caine - who she worked with in 2022 - had spoken about her on the show.

'It feels like Chloe hadn't stopped to think how her words and her comments online would impact Lindsey's life and career', the insider added.

Meanwhile a fourth source confirmed that Welch was let go from March's team after working with the agents for close to a year.

'Jordan eventually did part ways with the assistant because her conduct with members on the team proved to be a problem,' the insider dished.

However, Caine soon found herself dragged into another online scuffle with a former employee who worked for herself and fellow Serhant agent Jordan March (pictured)

The comments made about Lindsey Welch in the show appeared to have angered the staffer who shared her side of the story on Instagram

Once again, Caine hit back and claimed that Welch was let go because her 'moves were inappropriate and a bad look' for Caine's team - which Welch denied

Caine recently hinted that she would stop sharing her issues with fellow cast members on social media and instead turn her focus back to her work

The recent drama comes after boss Ryan Serhant declared to DailyMail.com that he has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to bad behavior from his staff.

The world-famous broker and CEO, 39, sacked Nrmlle after he bad-mouthed other agents. He also accused him of tarnishing the reputation of the business at the showing of a $10 million property.

'I have a one strike policy for toxicity and negativity,' Serhant explained. 'There are no bad apples. What you see me go through on the show, is while that term is easy to say, it's hard to put in practice...

'Sometimes you'll see some bad behavior, and my gut instinct is it's a one strike policy, you can't work here anymore.'

DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Chloe Tucker Caine, Jonathan Nrmlle, Jade Shenker, Jordan March and Lindsey Welch for comment.

Owning Manhattan is available to stream on Netflix
Roxy Jacenko is said to have paid out $76,000 in refunds to disgruntled entrants of her highly-controversial and failed $10million house lottery.

The PR mogul, 44, partnered with businessmen Youssef Tleis and Kassim Alaouie on her Brand Bootcamp online business course and the trio launched a promotion offering new customers the chance to win three epic prizes.

The prizes included a $10million waterfront Cronulla home - owned by Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie, a Birkin bag and a Rolex timepiece and the promotion was due to be drawn last month, before it was halted.

Jacenko took to social media at the time to claim she was leaving after discovering a 'shortfall' in the prize money pool and insisted she would offer customers' refunds out of her own pocket.

'I stand by my offer to refund customers and as a result of this, $684,000 of my own personal funds remain in my solicitor's trust account,' she told Daily Mail Australia at the time.

Now, Jacenko has issued $76,019 in refunds to entrants of the aborted giveaway, just over 10 per cent of the money she claimed to have set aside for the repayments, The Daily Telegraph reported.

A total of 7,489 people had paid between $29 and $499 to sign up for the boot camp, but it has been estimated that some 90 per cent of participants remain out of pocket after the refunds.

Only participants who lodged a refund request within a seven-day window from June 9 until June 15 were eligible to receive any refund from Jacenko.

Roxy Jacenko is said to have paid out $76,000 in refunds to disgruntled entrants of her highly-controversial and failed $10million house lottery - just 10 per cent of what she had put aside

After Jacenko came under fire for the brief refund window, she clapped back at critics on social media, claiming she wasn't even required to offer it.

'I'm now processing refunds from my personal bank account. As you know, I entered into a partnership with two others, which was a dismal f**king failure,' she began.

'If you're an honourable person, you put your hand in your pocket and refund people, which is what I am doing commencing this week. Refunds remain open until today.'

'One thing about the refund window, you don't go to Woolworths and buy Nutri-Grain and then in three months time suggest they should take it back and swap it or give you a full refund,' she added.

'A seven-day window is not an unusual offer, it is not even something I had to do. I chose to refund those who applied from my own pocket.'

It has been claimed Jacenko is pushing to have the $76,000 in refunds repaid from liquidators - after Roxy Bootcamp was ordered to be wound up last week.

She partnered with businessmen Youssef Tleis (right) and Kassim Alaouie (left) on her Brand Bootcamp business course and they launched a promotion offering new customers the chance to win three epic prizes

Jacenko's lawyers have reportedly also informed her former business partners that she plans to keep the Birkin bag and Rolex watch she purchased as part of her investment in the giveaway.

After the failed business venture, the NSW Supreme Court has called in liquidators on the company - from which Jacenko resigned as a director last month.

Jacenko originally sought the appointment of provisional liquidators due to, among other reasons, allegations that Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie had engaged in 'misleading conduct' during the promotion, due to a sub-clause which stated the prizes would only be delivered if the competition achieved more than $11.5million in revenue.

But the conditions were never made public by Jacenko during a whirlwind of publicity and the clause was also missing from the competition's formal terms and conditions on the Roxy's Bootcamp website.

In another update in the highly-publicised saga, last week, Supreme Court Justice Anthony McGrath reportedly rejected Jacenko's bid to have her legal costs paid.

'I do not consider it was unreasonable conduct of the proceedings by Mr Tleis to have opposed the application for a provisional liquidator on the basis the reputation of the company and Tleis Investments might be harmed,' Justice McGrath said.

'Nothing done by Mr Tleis in opposing the appointment of provisional liquidators and subsequently consenting provides justification for a finding that their conduct was unreasonable.'

The prizes included a $10million waterfront Cronulla home (pictured) - owned by Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie, a Birkin bag and a Rolex timepiece and the promotion was due to be drawn last month, before it was halted

Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie previously argued the promotion should proceed with a $250,000 cash prize, a Birkin handbag and a Rolex watch - after not reaching the $11.5million minimum for the house giveaway.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Jacenko's representatives for comment.

Last month, Jacenko said she committed to personally refunding all 7,489 people who signed up to her highly-publicised brand boot camp after the bitter dispute.

'The company account did not have enough to pay the First Prize winner, so I personally loaned the company money so that it could pay off substantial creditors and so that sufficient funds were held in the company's accounts to pay out the $250,000 prize,' she claimed at the time.

'I loaned the company in excess of $100,000 in order to ensure that sufficient funds were available to the company.'

'I could not issue refunds from Shopify as Mr Tleis is the only one with access to the NAB account which holds funds  he revoked my access to the company bank account,' she added.

While Jacenko expressed her regret at entering the business venture, Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie also issued an apology to social media at the time of the failed giveaway.

'Our primary concern has always been you, the public, especially those who participated and purchased an entry into this promotion,' they stated.

'We sincerely apologise to you all. We fought as hard as we could and were even willing to give personal undertakings to support our fight.

A total of 7,489 people had paid between $29 and $499 to sign up for the boot camp, but it has been estimated that some 90 per cent of participants remain out of pocket after the refunds

'We want to express our deepest regret for entering into this partnership with Ms Jacenko. It has been an incredibly challenging and eye-opening experience. We sincerely apologise.'

Upon adopting provisional liquidator Cathro & Partners to the company last month, Justice McGrath described the promotion scheme as 'highly questionable'.

'The competing interlocutory applications arise in the extraordinary circumstances of the rapid creation and almost equally rapid deterioration in the relationships between Ms Jacenko, Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie over a business venture involving the promoting of training courses offered by Ms Jacenko to the public using a highly questionable promotion scheme,' he said.

'On any view, the promotion has attracted significant adverse publicity this has led to online commentary which has been extremely derogatory about the promotion itself and those involved in it.'
Malcolm McDowell and his ex-wife Mary Steenburgen are set to share the screen once more, marking a significant reunion after over three decades.

The former couple, who divorced in 1990 after a decade of marriage, will appear together in the upcoming Last Train to Fortune, their first collaboration since the 1983 film Cross Creek.

The British actor, 81, shared that reuniting with the Stepbrothers alum, 71, felt natural and comfortable, especially given their first meeting on the set of 1979's Time After Time.

'I didn't really know how it would be, but from the first moment we started rehearsing it was like putting on a pair of comfortable slippers,' he told People on Friday.

'Just the working experience was so comfortable and so "I've got your back," that kind of thing,' he added.

Malcolm McDowell, 81, and Mary Steenburgen, 71, are set to share the screen once more, marking a significant reunion after over three decades; Seen in a still

The former couple, who divorced in 1990 after a decade of marriage, will appear together in the upcoming Last Train to Fortune, their first collaboration since the 1983 film Cross Creek; (pictured 1979)

McDowell noted that their chemistry was as strong as it was back in the day when they worked together on Time After Time, which was a wonderful experience for both of them.

'We both kind of fell in love on that film, but we're both now with other partners and very happy,' he added.

McDowell married Kelley Kuhr in 1991, while Steenburgen has been married to Ted Danson since 1995.

In the Western genre movie, McDowell portrays Cecil Peachtree, a strict schoolmaster who misses the last train to Fortune around the 1870s.

He encounters an outlaw named Dooley (played by James Paxton) and they make a pact: Dooley agrees to escort Cecil to Fortune in exchange for the schoolmaster's awaited stipend.

McDowell mentioned that the film's producers initially suggested he contact Steenburgen, with whom he shares daughter Lilly, 43, and Charlie, 40, and convince her to join the movie.

However, he ultimately delegated the task to another member of the production team.

'She read it and she said, "Yes, I'd love to do it,"' he told the outlet. 'When I went on set, she just looked at me and said, "Why didn't you call me?" I remember saying to her, "Well, you are here, aren't you? So it doesn't matter who called."'

The British actor shared that reuniting with the Stepbrothers alum felt natural and comfortable; pictured 1981

'I didn't really know how it would be, but from the first moment we started rehearsing it was like putting on a pair of comfortable slippers,' he told People on Friday; (1979's Time After Time)

McDowell mentioned that the film's producers initially suggested he contact Steenburgen, with whom he shares daughter Lilly, 43, and Charlie, 40, (pictured 2006) and convince her to join the movie

Steenburgen has been married to Ted Danson since 1995l; (pictured March)

McDowell married Kelley Kuhr in 1991; (pictured 2012)

He also mentioned that Steenburgen provided valuable insights on set that enhanced their scene together.

'She said, "Well, before you get [to Fortune], I'm teaching the kids, but I can't be a very good teacher, can I? If we've hired you to come and teach. Otherwise I would do it myself,' " he recalled.

'I went, "Well, that is a good point. You better not be teaching 'em too well." So just little things like that.'

He added, 'She's really great. It was lovely.'
Eddie Murphy revealed he does not want a funeral and hopes his loved ones will allow him to 'just go out quietly' when he dies.

The 63-year-old, who has 10 children by five women, made the remarks while promoting his new film Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.

At first, he quipped that the Beverly Hills Cop theme from the original 1984 movie should be played at his memorial service to raise a 'smile' from the mourners.

He burst into laughter at the thought of the movie music blaring out at his funeral, while the attendees looked at each other in confusion.

'That's just a joke, 'cause I'm never having a funeral,' he told film journalist Kevin McCarthy in an Instagram interview.

Eddie Murphy, 63, revealed he does not want a funeral and hopes his loved ones will allow him to 'just go out quietly' when he dies; pictured at the Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F premiere in June

'I mean I'm gonna die like everyone else but, they have - they know not to, no funeral, no, just let me just go out quietly,' he added.

'They,' meaning Eddie's loved ones, include his 10 children as well as his longtime love Paige Butcher, 44, an Australian model he has been with since 2012.

Eddie had five of his children through his 13-year marriage to Nicole Murphy - Bria, 34, Myles, 31, Shayne, 29, Zola, 24, and Bella, 21.

Between meeting and marrying Nicole, Eddie also welcomed a now 34-year-old son called Christian with a woman named Tamara Hood.

His eldest child is a son called Eric, 34, whom he had by Paulette McNeely, a woman he was romantically involved with in 1989.

Eddie's family also includes his 17-year-old daughter Angel, whom he shares with his onetime fling Mel B of the Spice Girls fame.

Although Eddie initially cast doubt on the claim he was Angel's father, he eventually took a DNA test proving his paternity when the little girl was two months old.

By the time he took the test, he was already dating Babyface's ex-wife Tracey Edmonds, who married Eddie on New Year's Day 2008 and left him two weeks later.

The actor, who has 10 children by five women, made the funeral remarks while promoting his new film Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F in which he is pictured

Eddie is pictured with his longtime love Paige Butcher (center) and three of his daughters, (from left) Bria, 34, Shayne, 29, and Bella, 21 at the premiere

Eddie is pictured in 2004 with his then-wife Nicole and their five children Bria, 34, Myles, 31, Shayne, 29, Zola, 24, and Bella, 21

He and Paige, who have been engaged for more than half a decade now, also have two children together - Izzy, eight, and Max, five.

Last month, Eddie posed with Bria, Shayne and Bella at the star-studded premiere of Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, the fourth film in the franchise.

Also spotted at the premiere was Eddie's firstborn son Eric, who attended the fete on the arm of his girlfriend Jasmin Lawrence, the daughter of Martin Lawrence.

Eddie first broke into the movies with the original Beverly Hills cop movie in 1984, after becoming a household name on Saturday Night Live.

In the first movie, Eddie's character Axel Foley is a Detroit detective who takes time off to travel to Beverly Hills and investigate his childhood pal Mikey's murder.

Now, in the new movie, the plotline involves a conspiracy that endangers the safety of Axel's daughter, played by Zola star Taylour Paige.

Axel finds himself traveling back to Beverly Hills from Detroit - and reuniting in the process with some familiar faces from the first movie.
Dame Arlene Phillips has finally 'accepted' her controversial axing from Strictly Come Dancing as a judge - but has insisted she will never 'forgive' BBC bosses.

The choreographer and talent scout, 81, was a member of the inaugural judging panel when the hit dancing show launched in 2004, alongside Craig Revel Horwood, Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman.

But in 2009 it was announced that Arlene had been dropped as a judge and was to be replaced with Alesha Dixon.

This sparked backlash as people accused the BBC of discriminating against older women, something the broadcaster denied.

Speaking to The Mirror of how she feels about the axing 15 years later, Arlene said: 'Accepted but not forgiven.

Dame Arlene Phillips has finally 'accepted' her controversial axing from Strictly Come Dancing as a judge - but has insisted she will never 'forgive' BBC bosses (pictured on Sunday)

Speaking to The Mirror on Friday of how she feels about the axing now, she said: 'Accepted but not forgiven' (pictured on the show in 2008)

'Yes, I have moved on. I suppose it is something to rejoice, and I can always remind myself; I was there at the pilot, when nobody ever thought this show was going to be a show.'

Arlene claimed in April that the BBC 'never apologised' or gave her a reason for why she was axed from Strictly Come Dancing.

Speaking on Elizabeth Day's How To Fail podcast, Arlene has now claimed that she was never even given a reason for being 'uninvited to return'.

During the podcast Arlene also lifted the lid on the format of the dancing show, admitting that the panel were 'positioned' as different stereotypes - of which she was encouraged to be the 'harsh, only allowed to wear black jackets' judge.

'I didn't leave,' Arlene said. 'I was uninvited to return. And I think there's a big difference. If I had left the show, it would have been my choice.

'I actually feel even to this day, I wish it had been discussed. I wish that they had come to me and said, "We're not going to keep you on", and what the reasons were, and then I could adjust myself to it.'

Arlene added: 'Certainly no one's apologised. We did go for meetings two [maybe] three weeks after, but it was just, "What can we offer you instead?" Nothing, at all about any reason.

'The truth is I just don't think they thought I was good enough. That's the truth about it. That's what really hurts because I felt like I was a good judge.'

The choreographer and talent scout was a member of the inaugural judging panel when the hit dancing show launched in 2004, alongside Craig Revel Horwood , Bruno Tonioli and Len Goodman

Speaking on Wednesday's episode of Elizabeth Day's How to Fail podcast, Arlene has now claimed that she was never even given a reason for being 'uninvited to return' (Pictured at the Olivier Awards in April)

The former dancer said the most concrete information given that was close to a reason for her axing was that the show was 'refreshing the brand'.

Arlene was known for being a particularly tough judge on the show, meaning celebrities really had to work to impress her.

But she has now revealed that her role as the 'harsh' judge was orchestrated, as she was 'positioned' as that person from the get go.

She said: 'Certainly when Strictly began, I was positioned in this role of being the "Harsh, only allowed to wear black jackets" kind of judge.

'I pretty much only was allowed to wear black jackets. Yes. I had two posh ones, designer ones, and the rest came from Next or M&S.'

Arlene added: 'And youre sort of positioned in this role. And believe me, Judging on Strictly is role playing. It's role playing for everyoneit always has been.'

In 2009 it was announced that Arlene had been dropped as a judge and was to be replaced with Alesha Dixon (pictured)

Last month, Arlene paid tribute to her friend and fellow Strictly judge Len one year after his death during an appearance on Loose Women (Pictured in 2012)

MailOnline have reached out to the BBC for comment.

In March, Arlene slammed the BBC as she revealed that she found out she had been dropped from her role as judge when a journalist called her.

In an interview with the Guardian, Arlene explained she was most angry at the way the BBC handled the axing, explaining how the first she heard about it was when a radio show called her for a comment.

'I was a grownup when I did that show, so I resent that the BBC didn't come to me as soon as they had the thought,' she said. 'More than knocking my confidence, I think it swirled around me, and I thought: "I need to find myself."

'I needed all the mental preparation that I could muster to go: "Hang on a minute  you had a big career before this and you've got work lined up".'

Arlene was known for being a particularly tough judge on the show, meaning celebrities really had to work to impress her

Arlene looked back on the 'crazy times' the pair shared and said she often listens back to recordings of his voice

Last month, Arlene paid tribute to her friend and fellow Strictly judge Len one year after his death during an appearance on Loose Women.

Arlene looked back on the 'crazy times' the pair shared and said she often listens back to recordings of his voice.

Speaking on Tuesday's show, Arlene added: 'The joy in the fact that you can just go to your computer, open it up and you can get all those wonderful 'I'm just a dance teacher from Dartford' or whatever it may be and you can hear them.

'So, just hearing his voice brings him back and the crazy times that we shared.'
Mel Schilling gave a brave smile as she finished another difficult week of chemotherapy.

The Married At First Sight expert, 52, revealed late last year that she had been diagnosed with colon cancer and subsequently underwent surgery to remove a tumour she nicknamed 'Terry'.

Taking to her Instagram Story on Friday evening, Mel shared a makeup-free selfie of herself smiling for her 227,000 followers.

'Made it through another rough week of chemo,' she wrote alongside the image.

It comes after Mel recently showed off her surgical scar after undergoing a procedure for colon cancer last year.

The relationship expert revealed the small scar, which is situated under her belly button, in a series of bikini photos as she enjoyed a holiday in Northern Ireland with her husband Gareth Brisbane.

The reality TV host revealed her shock health battle in December last year and underwent surgery just before the end of the year.

At the time, she explained her tumour was removed by UK doctors.

Mel Schilling (pictured) gave a brave smile as she finished another difficult week of chemotherapy

However, as the cancer spread through her colon into the muscle, Mel discovered she needed chemotherapy and began treatment at the end of February.

She has since posted about the 'incredible response' to the bikini photos, and urged others not to ignore the signs and symptoms of the disease.

'So many of you were surprised at how SMALL my scar is - it was a keyhole surgery, it took 90 minutes and I was up and walking the next day,' she wrote in her caption.

'I'm sharing this here to highlight the fact that the IDEA of bowel cancer does not have to be big and scary. There is no need to ignore your symptoms or avoid talking to your doctor - in fact, the sooner you take action on your symptoms, the less intervention you're likely to need.

'Yes, bowel cancer is serious business and it's affecting more & more people under 50  but if you take immediate & assertive action almost 99% of bowel cancer cases can be treated successfully.'

It comes after Mel shared photos of her surgical scar after undergoing a procedure for colon cancer

The relationship expert revealed the small scar, which is situated under her belly button, in a series of bikini photos as she enjoyed her holiday in Northern Ireland with her husband Gareth Brisbane

Earlier this month, Mel bravely opened up about her ongoing battle with colon cancer, providing an honest glimpse into the 'chemo chapter' of her life.

Sharing a series of poignant photos on social media, the MAFS star highlighted the duality of her life as she juggles work and chemotherapy.

In her heartfelt post, Mel shared the reality of her experience, juxtaposing glamorous moments with the harsh realities of her treatment.

'THIS IS ME  for every moment of energy & vibrancy you see there's an equal and opposite moment of fatigue & discomfort,' she wrote.

The photos included shots of Mel in full glam, exuding confidence, as well as more vulnerable images showing her undergoing chemotherapy and resting in a hammock.

The reality TV host revealed her shock health battle in December last year and underwent surgery just before the end of the year

One particularly telling image shows Mel lying in a hammock, eyes closed, with a copy of self-help book The Reality Slap by Russ Harris resting on her chest.

'This is my chemo chapter  it's very up and down,' Mel explained in her post.

'Now on cycle six of eight, I'm learning how my body responds and finding ways to schedule my work during high energy periods and making the most of rest and self care in between.'

'Learning to rest is a huge challenge for me but I'm slowly adapting,' she continued.

Mel emphasised that this chapter of her life is short-term, a crucial reminder she gives herself regularly.

'It's temporary and will pass,' she went on.

'I know I have other, probably challenging chapters ahead, but they are not for today.'

'Self compassion is one of my biggest lessons  I'm learning to cut myself some slack, allow the rest my body craves and to be kind to myself when I can't be my usual '100% energy Mel'.'
Pip Edwards has given fans an insight into her lavish self-care routine as she revealed the treatment she always gets after travelling.

The fashion designer, 44, is known for her jet-setting lifestyle and often travels all around the globe with her athleisurewear brand P.E Nation.

She has just returned to Australia from a relaxing getaway in Sanur, Bali, and took to Instagram on Saturday to share her post-travel massage routine.

Pip revealed that every time she returns from a trip, she visits Venustus Beauty and Body Lab in Paddington, Sydney, for a luxurious lymphatic massage.

She shared snaps of herself lying down naked and wearing headphones as she relaxed during the 75-minute long bodywork massage, which costs $444.

She said in a caption: 'I always get a lymphatic massage when I return from travelling, and there is no better treatment than seeing the women at Venustus.'

Pip appeared to be getting the lower-priced 'vigorous' massage, which 'is designed to activate, stimulate the lymphatic system', according to the spa's website.

'We use vigorous massage to help with contour, which can increase blood circulation and help to support fat metabolism,' it adds.

Pip Edwards has given fans an insight into her lavish self-care routine as she revealed the treatment she always gets after travelling - after jetting back from Bali in recent days

Pip revealed that every time she returns from a trip, she visits Venustus Beauty and Body Lab in Paddington, Sydney, for a luxurious lymphatic massage (Pip is pictured getting the treatment)

The luxury spa also offers a much more extravagantly-priced lymphatic massage option which costs a staggering $970 and lasts nearly three hours.

Pip often invests in her self-care and frequently promotes Venustus spa on her Instagram, sharing an insight into her long list of treatments.

Pip recently splashed out a staggering $1,500 on a luxury 'six hand' massage as she gave fans an insight into her lavish self-care routine on social media.

In May, three 'elite' masseuses all pampered Pip as part of the unique 'six hand' massage, which costs as much as $1,587.

The luxury day spa prices its 'six hand' full body massages at $1,059 for a 60-minute session, $1,333 for 70 minutes or a huge $1,587 for a 90-minute pamper experience.

Pip also shared a selfie of herself wrapped in towel as she dived into the sauna to end her very lavish day of self-care.

Known for her lavish taste, Pip recently splashed out a staggering $1,500 on a luxury 'six hand' massage as she gave fans an insight into her lavish self-care routine on social media

She described the relaxing pamper session as 'magic' and 'life-changing' in a series of captions alongside snaps of herself getting massaged.

She penned: 'The magic six hand massage that lengthens, nourishes and moves stagnant energy is actually life-changing.

'To nourish your soul, pamper your body and let your mind switch off is a priceless experience.'

'No words can describe the feeling of pure relaxation and surrender, the healing hands of the women at Venustus is a gift from out of this world,' she went on.

'It's rare to make time to physically and mentally go offline but this self love experience and downtime is imperative to recharge and fuel your being in order to be your best self.'
Stranger Things fans received an exciting update on the highly anticipated fifth season.

Co-creator Ross Duffer took to his Instagram on Wednesday to reveal that the hit Netflix show's final season had reached the halfway mark in production.

Alongside a behind-the-scenes photo of the cast and crew, Duffer wrote: 'Week 24. Happy halfway to the best cast and crew ever.'

The post also featured a video showing Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler, dropping a marble into a jar to track their progress on the show's production days.

Speculations among followers hinted that with production now halfway completed, Stranger Things season five might potentially premiere as early as January 2025.

Stranger Things co-creator Ross Duffer took to his Instagram on Wednesday to reveal that mega hit Netflix sci-fi show's final season had reached the halfway mark in production; (pictured 2017)

Alongside a behind-the-scenes photo of the cast and crew, Duffer wrote: 'Week 24. Happy halfway to the best cast and crew ever'

The final season reunites the beloved cast, including Finn Gaten Matarazzo, Millie Bobby Brown, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Caleb McLaughlin and Maya Hawke.

Hawke also recently commented on the timeline for completing the show.

'Our showrunners, Matt and Ross [Duffer], take a lot of responsibility. They're very intense about the quality of the continued writing,' she said last week on Podcrush podcast.

'It takes a long time to write each season, and it takes a long time to shoot them - we're basically making eight movies. The episodes are very long.'

Previously, season five was set to begin production in 2023 before plans were abruptly halted due to the WGA strike, which began on May 2.

Scripts had already been finalized by then, but the Duffer brothers opted to postpone production as they wanted writers on set while filming.

Then, production was further delayed by the actors strike.

From July 14 to November 9, 2023, the American actors' union SAG-AFTRA was on strike over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The writer's strike lasted from from May 2 to September 27, 2023.

The post also featured a video showing Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike Wheeler, dropping a marble into a jar to track their progress on the show's production days

Speculations among followers hinted that with production now halfway completed, Stranger Things Season 5 might potentially premiere as early as January 2025

On November 8, SAG-AFTRA and the studios reached a tentative agreement to end the strike on midnight of that day.

David Harbour told People about how he received a call the day after the strike ended, telling him production would be underway imminently.

'They literally called me...10 minutes after the SAG thing on Twitter,' he explained.

'The first [assistant director] is like, "So, get the flight for you on Monday, right? We'll be acting in Atlanta",' he recalled.

Earlier this year, Brown  the 19-year-old star whose claim to fame began when she started portraying Eleven at age 12  admitted she is ready for Stranger Things to end.

She sparked ire after suggesting the show has 'prevented' her from working on projects she is 'passionate' about.

After saying that she is ready to say 'goodbye' and 'get out', insiders told DailyMail.com exclusively that crew members have been left 'disappointed' with her lack of 'respect' for the series that has 'made for career'.

Despite it all, the source said that the crew 'all love her'.

Millie Bobby Brown has given Stranger Things fans a hint of what's to come in the upcoming fifth season of the hit Netflix show and promised an 'unbelievable' storyline

After the strikes ended, David Harbour  who plays beloved police chief Jim Hopper  said the cast and crew would be working 'hard and fast' to get the show back on screens

Season five was set to begin production earlier this year before plans were abruptly halted due to the WGA strike, which began on May 2. Pictured: Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven

'These comments won't put a bad taste in their mouths for too long, because by the time they start filming and finish the show, this will be long in the rearview,' the insider noted.

The first season of Stranger Things premiered in July 2016 with the second being released the following year in October 2017.

The third season premiered on Netflix in July 2019 while the fourth was released in May 2022.

Not much has been revealed about the fifth and final season, but it has been revealed that the first episode is titled The Crawl.
In one of Shifty Shellshock's final interviews he talked about his sobriety.

Before the late Crazy Town star (born Seth Brooks Binzer) died of a drug overdose at age 49, he opened up about making it through some of the 'darkest places' amid his addiction battle in an interview recently resurfaced by TMZ.

'I'm feeling sober. I'm feeling good, sober, happy,' he told Mayra Dias Gomes at a Rock to Recovery benefit concert last August in Hollywood.

'I think music has kept me alive. I think it always is the light  that and my children  that inspires me to live. Music has always been my therapy. It's helped me get through everything.'

He shared sons Halo, Gage and Phoenix with exes Melissa Clark, Tracy Shelor and Jasmine Lennard.

Before Shifty Shellshock (born Seth Brooks Binzer) died of a drug overdose at age 49, he talked about 'feeling sober' in one of his final interviews, recently resurfaced by TMZ; Pictured in 2023

Binzer added, Recovering addicts, they've been there. They've been to the darkest places and made it back. So, we always have good content.'

Last Monday, Binzer was found dead on the floor of his Los Angeles home, and police believe he was dead for more than 24 hours before.

After a lighter and drug paraphernalia were found near Binzer's body, his death was being investigated as an overdose.

Manager Howie Hubberman told People that the cause of death was ruled an overdose of a combination of prescription drugs and street purchased drugs.

Binzer had recently declared himself sober following three years of substance abuse struggles.

He wrote on Instagram: 'I'm a lover than a fighter but the one I need to love more Instead of fight with is myself.. Mr. Shifty true Love # Sober alive and grateful (sic)'

The 'Butterfly artist struggled with drug addiction for many years, and was hospitalized in 2012 after losing consciousness and slipping into a coma.

Binzer appeared on the VH1 reality show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew and the spin-off Sober House.

In his cryptic final social media post, Binzer showed his appreciation for 'the ones who stay even when I try my hardest to scare them away.'

He shared the caption with a photo of someone dressed in all black, standing in a crowd of people clad in only white. 'Real is rare, fake is everywhere,' text on the image read.

Binzer's ex Soleil Moon Frye previously paid tribute to him in a heartfelt statement last weekend.

'I'm feeling sober. I'm feeling good, sober, happy,' he told Mayra Dias Gomes at a Rock to Recovery benefit concert last August in Hollywood

'I think music has kept me alive. I think it always is the light  that and my children  that inspires me to live. Music has always been my therapy. It's helped me get through everything'

Binzer added, Recovering addicts, they've been there. They've been to the darkest places and made it back. So, we always have good content'; Seen in 2010

Binzer's ex Soleil Moon Frye paid tribute to him in a heartfelt statement last weekend. 'My heart is whispering a million I love yous for the way you loved my children and I so unconditionally'

Last Monday, Binzer was found dead on the floor of his Los Angeles home, and police believe he was dead for more than 24 hours before

'My heart is whispering a million I love yous for the way you loved my children and I so unconditionally,' she began.

'I can still see your smiling sweet face in middle school when you kissed me in your tunnel of love and the way you swept me away again as we grew up to show me what that timeless kind of love feels like.'

Frye, 47, added in part, 'No words could ever express the love we shared or how we are feeling right now. It is a language all its own.'

Crazy Town  Binzer, DJ Rick One and Mark White  last toured in 2023 with Hed PE, the shows went ahead despite a bloody fight between Binzer and the groups vocalist Bobby Reeves outside a venue in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Binzer also had a solo career and joined forces with British producer and musician Paul Oakenfold to supply the vocals for his 2002 hit Starry Eyed Surprise.

His debut solo album, Happy Love Sick, was released in 2004.

He also formed Shifty and The Big Shots in 2010.
Simone Holtznagel has revealed details of her 'exhausting' two-hour labour giving birth to her newborn daughter Gia.

The model, 30, welcomed her first child Gia, now four months, with her partner Jono Castano in March, and has now shared her birth story publicly with her fans.

The new mother said she thought she knew what to expect before going through an epidural and two hours of pushing to welcome her baby daughter into the world.

'I don't know if it was like misinformation or I just had my wires crossed but I was pushing for about two hours and I just like couldn't do it,' she told the Pregnancy, Birth and Recovery Podcast.

'She was a big baby, she was eight and a half pounds, but she was fine. I think it would have been more stressful if she was in distress but she was just chilling.'

Simone explained that her beloved mother and partner Jono were both in the room supporting her as she detailed the 'exhausting' process.

'It didn't feel like two hours of pushing, but I guess it was quite a long time. I was exhausted and then she was right there,' she added to host Kath Baquie.

Simone welcomed Gia into the world on Easter Sunday and confirmed the news of her birth publicly just days later with a sweet Instagram post.

Simone Holtznagel has revealed details of her 'exhausting' two-hour labour, telling how her daughter Gia was a 'big' eight and a half pound baby, making it a difficult process

Sharing snaps from the hospital, she announced: 'On Sunday March 31st we welcomed our healthy, baby girl Gia Holtznagel Castano into the world.

'We are totally and completely in love with her and enjoying these special moments as a family of three.'

Simone has since been embracing motherhood and giving fans regular updates about her family life with Jono and their baby Gia.

She recently revealed the poignant meaning behind her daughter's name, saying it is a nod to supermodel Gia Carangi, who tragically died of AIDS in 1986.

The model, 30, welcomed her first child Gia, now four months, with her celebrity personal trainer partner Jono Castano on Easter Sunday of this year

Carangi became one of the most sought-after models in fashion and a fixture at the legendary nightclub Studio 54 after moving to New York in 1977.

She was one of the first openly gay fashion icons, who often visited DCA, a gay club in the city where she met Sharon Beverley, one of her first long-term partners.

Her life played out on screen 12 years after her death, with a young Angelina Jolie taking on the role of the troubled model in the 1998 movie, Gia.

Simone said the couple haven't ruled out naming their next child after her late mentor and Australia's Next Top Model judge Charlotte Dawson, who died in 2014.

'Lottie was on our shortlist, so if we have another baby, it could be that,' she told Stellar magazine.

'After Charlotte passed away, I had a bunch of her clothes, including this Camilla kaftan.

'My mum's bestie cut it up and made it into a baby blanket for me. She gave it to me at my baby shower and I bawled my eyes out, so that is super special.'

Simone and celebrity personal trainer Jono went public with their relationship in 2022 and confirmed they were expecting their first child together in October.
Jett Kenny and Lily Brown have taken the next step in their romance.

The couple, who have been together for over 18 months, are moving in together, according to gossip page Influencer Updates.

The Instagram accounts says the pair are, 'renovating rooms upstairs at Grant Kenny's Sunshine Coast house to move into together. It looks like a bedroom, wardrobe, small loungeroom and en suite bathroom.'

An accompanying video shows footage of the home the pair are believed to be sharing.

The couple have been going strong since celebrating their one year anniversary in December last year.

They have been on a number of romantic holidays, including to Bryon Bay, and had a romantic anniversary getaway on the Sunshine Coast in QLD.

Lily, 26, shared a sweet video to TikTok capturing the lovebirds having the time of their lives at a luxury cottage they stayed in at the time.

The footage begins by showing the pair strolling to their cottage and then cut to a jaw-dropping view of their room's spacious surroundings.

Jett Kenny and Lily Brown (both pictured) have taken the next step in their romance. The couple, who have been together for over 18 months, are moving in together, according to gossip page Influencer Updates

A shirtless Jett, 30, flexed his six-pack abs in the cottage as he posed up a storm against the scenic view of the nature surroundings and then passionately kissed Lily.

Lily captioned the video: 'Happy one year to my love. Here's to 100 more, I love you so much.

'The best thing since slice bread. You changed my whole world,' she added.

Jett, who is the son of Australian sporting champs Lisa Curry and Grant Kenny, looked to be having the time of his life with Lily, who gave him a bouquet of flowers to mark the milestone.

Lily and Jett debuted their relationship in December 2022 after weeks of rumours.

The couple have been going strong since celebrating their one year anniversary in December last year

Lily and Jett debuted their relationship in December 2022 after weeks of rumours

The model and influencer both shared the same photo of them kissing to Instagram on New Year's Eve.

Jett captioned his romantic post, 'To the future,' alongside a pair of love heart emojis.

Lily meanwhile wrote alongside her own re-post of the photograph: 'You'd be a tough one to keep a secret.'

The pair were forced to deny they were set to welcome their first child after a round of pregnancy speculation in May.

The rumour mill was sent into overdrive after Lily's mother appeared to let slip the pair are preparing for a baby on Instagram.

Nataly shared a photo of pink, embroidered baby clothes, writing: 'Bit of baby shopping on the way home because [excitement emoji].'
Roxy Jacenko is continuing to battle with her former partners after a $10 million house giveaway went awry.

Jacenko partnered with businessmen Youssef Tleis and Kassim Alaouie on her Brand Bootcamp online business course and the trio launched a promotion offering new customers the chance to win three epic prizes.

The prizes included a $10million waterfront Cronulla home - owned by Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie, a Birkin bag and a Rolex timepiece and the promotion was due to be drawn last month, before it was halted.

The PR mogul, 44, has now filed forms with ASIC, detailing how much the company owes to creditors, the Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday.

Tleis and Alaouie have likewise filed with ASIC, and their claims on what is owed differ, the publication claims.

Roxy listed herself as the company's sole creditor and says she is owed around $295,000.

Meanwhile, her former partners listed $107,000 owed to Yazbeck Law, an unspecified amount owed to the Australian Taxation Office, $5000 worth of accounting fees and $10,000 owed to Tleis.

The men are additionally disputing an alleged $210,000 payment made to Jacenko as and 'unfair' or 'voidable' transaction.

Roxy Jacenko (pictured) is continuing to battle with her former partners after a $10 million house giveaway went awry

A Hermes Birkin bag and a Rolex watch which were part of the original giveaway are named as 'assets owned by the company' by Tleis and Alaouie, while Jacenko reportedly plans to hold onto the pricey items.

Roxy is said to have paid out $76,000 in refunds to disgruntled entrants of her highly-controversial and failed $10million house lottery.

Jacenko took to social media at the time to claim she was leaving after discovering a 'shortfall' in the prize money pool and insisted she would offer customers' refunds out of her own pocket.

'I stand by my offer to refund customers and as a result of this, $684,000 of my own personal funds remain in my solicitor's trust account,' she told Daily Mail Australia at the time.

Jacenko has issued $76,019 in refunds to entrants of the aborted giveaway, just over 10 per cent of the money she claimed to have set aside for the repayments, The Daily Telegraph reported.

She partnered with businessmen Youssef Tleis (right) and Kassim Alaouie (left) on her Brand Bootcamp business course and they launched a promotion offering new customers the chance to win three epic prizes

A total of 7,489 people had paid between $29 and $499 to sign up for the boot camp, but it has been estimated that some 90 per cent of participants remain out of pocket after the refunds.

Only participants who lodged a refund request within a seven-day window from June 9 until June 15 were eligible to receive any refund from Jacenko.

After Jacenko came under fire for the brief refund window, she clapped back at critics on social media, claiming she wasn't even required to offer it.

'I'm now processing refunds from my personal bank account. As you know, I entered into a partnership with two others, which was a dismal f**king failure,' she began.

'If you're an honourable person, you put your hand in your pocket and refund people, which is what I am doing commencing this week. Refunds remain open until today.'

'One thing about the refund window, you don't go to Woolworths and buy Nutri-Grain and then in three months time suggest they should take it back and swap it or give you a full refund,' she added.

The prizes included a $10million waterfront Cronulla home (pictured) - owned by Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie, a Birkin bag and a Rolex timepiece and the promotion was due to be drawn last month, before it was halted

'A seven-day window is not an unusual offer, it is not even something I had to do. I chose to refund those who applied from my own pocket.'

It has been claimed Jacenko is pushing to have the $76,000 in refunds repaid from liquidators - after Roxy Bootcamp was ordered to be wound up last week.

Jacenko's lawyers have reportedly also informed her former business partners that she plans to keep the Birkin bag and Rolex watch she purchased as part of her investment in the giveaway.

After the failed business venture, the NSW Supreme Court has called in liquidators on the company - from which Jacenko resigned as a director last month.

Jacenko originally sought the appointment of provisional liquidators due to, among other reasons, allegations that Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie had engaged in 'misleading conduct' during the promotion, due to a sub-clause which stated the prizes would only be delivered if the competition achieved more than $11.5million in revenue.

But the conditions were never made public by Jacenko during a whirlwind of publicity and the clause was also missing from the competition's formal terms and conditions on the Roxy's Bootcamp website.

The PR mogul, 44, has now filed forms with ASIC, detailing how much the company owes to creditors, the Daily Telegraph r eported on Saturday. Tleis and Alaouie have likewise filed with ASIC, and their claims on what is owed differ, the publication claims

In another update in the highly-publicised saga, last week, Supreme Court Justice Anthony McGrath reportedly rejected Jacenko's bid to have her legal costs paid.

'I do not consider it was unreasonable conduct of the proceedings by Mr Tleis to have opposed the application for a provisional liquidator on the basis the reputation of the company and Tleis Investments might be harmed,' Justice McGrath said.

'Nothing done by Mr Tleis in opposing the appointment of provisional liquidators and subsequently consenting provides justification for a finding that their conduct was unreasonable.'

Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie previously argued the promotion should proceed with a $250,000 cash prize, a Birkin handbag and a Rolex watch - after not reaching the $11.5million minimum for the house giveaway.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Jacenko's representatives for comment.

Last month, Jacenko said she committed to personally refunding all 7,489 people who signed up to her highly-publicised brand boot camp after the bitter dispute.

'The company account did not have enough to pay the First Prize winner, so I personally loaned the company money so that it could pay off substantial creditors and so that sufficient funds were held in the company's accounts to pay out the $250,000 prize,' she claimed at the time.

A Hermes Birkin bag and a Rolex watch which were part of the original giveaway are named as 'assets owned by the company' by Tleis and Alaouie, while Jacenko reportedly plans to hold onto the pricey items

'I loaned the company in excess of $100,000 in order to ensure that sufficient funds were available to the company.'

'I could not issue refunds from Shopify as Mr Tleis is the only one with access to the NAB account which holds funds  he revoked my access to the company bank account,' she added.

While Jacenko expressed her regret at entering the business venture, Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie also issued an apology to social media at the time of the failed giveaway.

'Our primary concern has always been you, the public, especially those who participated and purchased an entry into this promotion,' they stated.

'We sincerely apologise to you all. We fought as hard as we could and were even willing to give personal undertakings to support our fight.

'We want to express our deepest regret for entering into this partnership with Ms Jacenko. It has been an incredibly challenging and eye-opening experience. We sincerely apologise.'

Upon adopting provisional liquidator Cathro & Partners to the company last month, Justice McGrath described the promotion scheme as 'highly questionable'.

'The competing interlocutory applications arise in the extraordinary circumstances of the rapid creation and almost equally rapid deterioration in the relationships between Ms Jacenko, Mr Tleis and Mr Alaouie over a business venture involving the promoting of training courses offered by Ms Jacenko to the public using a highly questionable promotion scheme,' he said.

'On any view, the promotion has attracted significant adverse publicity this has led to online commentary which has been extremely derogatory about the promotion itself and those involved in it.'
Putin, Orban discuss Ukrainian crisis, Russia-EU ties during talks in Moscow

Xinhua) 10:39, July 06, 2024

MOSCOW, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban discussed the Ukrainian conflict and Russia's relations with the European Union (EU) during talks in Moscow Friday, according to the Kremlin.

Putin noted that it is important for both sides to continue dialogue, despite the current difficult geopolitical situation. He said that both leaders discussed the Ukrainian crisis, particularly potential approaches to resolving the conflict.

Putin said that Orban had informed him about the recent meetings that the prime minister held in Kiev, including Hungary's proposals for a ceasefire, which would create necessary conditions for negotiations with Russia.

"I have repeatedly said that we have always been and remain open to discussing a political and diplomatic settlement," Putin said, adding however that Kiev is still unwilling to abandon the idea of continuing the war "to a victorious end."

Putin reiterated that the implementation of Moscow's peace initiative, recently proposed by the Russian leader, would allow for the cessation of hostilities and the start of negotiations.

He stressed the importance of achieving a lasting resolution to the conflict, rather than a temporary ceasefire that would allow the Kiev regime to regroup and rearm, adding that all conditions within Moscow's peace proposal must be met.

During his speech, Orban noted that peace is crucial for Europe, and that it was impossible to achieve peace without diplomacy and work.

The Hungarian prime minister said that Moscow and Kiev are very far apart in their views, and many steps would need to be taken to end the war. Despite this, Orban said that establishing contact was a crucial step, and that Hungary would continue to work in this direction.

Putin further noted that the two leaders exchanged views on Russia-EU ties, which are currently at their lowest point, and the principles of a future security architecture for Europe.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Great British Bake Off star Dawn Hollyoak has passed away.

The former IT manager- who was the sixth person to be eliminated from the 2022 series of the baking competition - died aged 61, her family have announced.

Dawn's cause of death is yet to be revealed.

Posting on Dawn's official Instagram page @thebakerdawn, with the caption accompanying a beaming snap of the late star, the family wrote: 'It's with a heavy heart we announce the passing of our star baker Dawn.

'Not only a wonderfully talented baker but first and foremost an amazing mother, grandmother, wife and friend. Dawn passed away peacefully surrounded by her family. We will miss her forever, but promise to continue her baking legacy!'

Great British Bake Off star Dawn Hollyoak has passed away aged 61

The former IT manager quickly became a TV favourite after joining the baking contest in 2022 - as her loved ones shared the tragic news on Saturday morning

It was announced on Dawn's official Instagram page @thebakerdawn with the caption accompanying a beaming snap of the late star

MailOnline has contacted Dawn's representatives on the cause of her death.

Plenty of TV stars and fellow bakers took to the comment section to pay tribute to the talented baker.

Show judge Paul Hollywood was one of the first ones to fondly remember the beloved baker.

'I'm so sorry to hear that, send my love to the family a lovely lady x,' he added.

Carole Edwards, who appeared on the same series of the competition and was eliminated the week before Dawn, also paid tribute to her beloved friend.

She wrote: 'I will miss my friend terribly, a beautiful and talented lady inside and out, fly high my friend, life just won't be the same without you.

'Sending all my love to the family. Xx.'

'This is devastating news I only met Dawn once, but I was blown away by her joyous personality and her infectious smile. She will be sorely missed, but will live in the heart of those who loved her forever!', Giuseppe Dell'Anno, 2021 Bake Off winner, commented.

Baking star Dawn addressed an illness and said she was feeling 'a bit poorly' in what became her last Instagram post before she passed away, shared ten months ago.

Plenty of TV stars and fellow bakers took to Instagram, flooding the latest post with poignant comments as they paid Dawn a tribute

The beloved baker from Bedfordshire earned judges' praises for her baking crafts, but was eventually eliminated during Halloween Week on episode 6

She once again proved her astonishing talent sharing a very realistic lion-shaped cake prepared by her in her last Instagram post before she passed away

Baking star Dawn addressed an illness and said she was feeling 'a bit poorly' in her final Intagram post from about ten months ago

Her followers raved over the stunning creation and rushed to overwhelm Dawn with sweet comments

She once again proved her astonishing talent sharing a very realistic lion-shaped cake prepared by her, as she wished good luck to the England's women football team Lionesses.

The TV star wrote: 'I've been a bit poorly since my lovely holiday but couldn't resist posting a cake from my archive.

'Lion cake to wish our girls the very best of luck today. @lionesses #womensfootball #lionesses #itscake #hypertealistic.'

Her followers raved over the stunning creation and rushed to overwhelm Dawn with sweet comments with some saying:

'I hope youre on the mend Dawn '; 'Dawn, That is absolutely stunning';

'My goodness, Dawn, your lion is incredible!! Just watched cake week again for your season on GBBS. Your cake was so elegant, beautiful. Gasp-worthy. ';

'Awesome!!'; 'You're very talented, that's awesome'; 'Hope you feel better soon lovely';

The 13th series of 'Great British Bake Off' was won by Syabira Yusoff, who was joined in the final by Abdul Rehman Sharif and Sandro Farmhouse.

Dawn was the sixth person to be eliminated from the 2022 series of the baking competition

The Great British Bake Off's 2022 lineup: (L-R) Carol, James Maisam, Sandro, Syabira, Maxy, Rebs, Dawn, Kevin, Abdul, William and Janusz

The beloved baker from Bedfordshire earned the judges' praises for her baking crafts, but was eventually eliminated during Halloween Week on episode 6.

Dawn prided herself on her steady hand and attention to detail, especially when it came to the intricacy required for lace patterns on biscuits.

Her favourite flavours when baking were lemon, salted caramel and anything nutty.
Jasmine Stefanovic caught up with one of her best mates on Saturday.

The designer went for a stroll at Bondi Beach with her good friend former business partner, chicken heiress Tamie Ingham.

The 40-year-old rugged up against the Sydney winter cold, opting for a fleecy hooded jacket.

She had on a white top underneath, and added a pair of black tights and colourful sneakers.

Jasmine appeared to go makeup free, pulling her blonde hair back in a bun and adding a pair of white cats eye sunglasses.

Tamie meanwhile chose a warm puffer jacket over a number of layers, and had on black tights.

She added a pair of well loved sneakers and like Jasmine appeared to have on minimal makeup.

Jasmine was among the guests at the Parisian wedding of millionaire heiress Tamie and celebrity chef Guillaume Brahimi back in June last year.

Jasmine Stefanovic (left) caught up with one of her best mates on Saturday

The designer went for a stroll at Bondi Beach with her good friend former business partner, chicken heiress Tamie Ingham (left)

The 40-year-old rugged up against the Sydney winter cold, opting for a fleecy hooded jacket

A Who's Who of Australian showbiz, business and media attended a pre-wedding dinner on at the exclusive Girafe Paris, a gourmet seafood restaurant that boasts views of the Eiffel Tower.

Leading the celebrity arrivals was Today show host Karl Stefanovic and his wife Jasmine.

Karl and Jasmine, who married in 2018, introduced their respective friends Guillaume, 56, and Tamie, 39, to each other in 2020.

It's been nearly two years since Jasmine closed her luxury fottwear line Mara & Mine, which she co-founded with Ingham.

She had on a white top underneath, and added a pair of black tights and colourful sneakers

Jasmine appeared to go makeup free, pulling her blonde hair back in a bun and adding a pair of white cats eye sunglasses

Tamie meanwhile chose a warm puffer jacket over a number of layers, and had on black tights

She added a pair of well loved sneakers and like Jasmine appeared to have on minimal makeup

Jasmine was among the guests at the Parisian wedding of millionaire heiress Tamie and celebrity chef Guillaume Brahimi back in June last year

It's been nearly two years since Jasmine closed her luxury fottwear line Mara & Mine, which she co- founded with Ingham

In 2022, the blonde announced the news on her Instagram page, saying they have decided to take an indefinite break.

Jasmine and Tamie launched the company in Los Angeles a decade ago, with the embellished flats and slippers seen on the likes of Kendall Jenner, Margot Robbie and Cara Delevingne.

'Ten years after successfully establishing Mara & Mine, we have decided to take a break from our business that we cherish, to pursue other interests,' Jasmine said at the time.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia this year, Jasmine admitted she's not concerned about returning to work for now.

'Just happy focusing on family at the moment,' she said.

However, the entrepreneur didn't rule out future business ventures.
Brad Pitt made a stylish entrance sporting a 320 Burberry bucket hat at Silverstone to film scenes for his new Formula One movie amid the British Grand Prix festival on Saturday.

The Hollywood legend, 60, made a fashion statement as he added stylish aviator shades and a cream quilted bomber jacket with matching trousers.

The star's new blockbuster, which will be called F1, will be co-produced by Lewis Hamilton.

The Troy star appeared relaxed and in jovial spirits as he waved to onlookers.

Before making his way to the third day of filming, the actor made time to stop and sign autographs to fans.

Brad Pitt made a stylish entrance sporting a 320 Burberry bucket hat at Silverstone to practice for his Formula One movie amid the British Grand Prix festival on Saturday

The Hollywood legend, 60, made a fashion statement as he added stylish aviator shades and a cream quilted bomber jacket with matching trousers

Meanwhile racing icon Lewis displayed his sense of style in a khaki tracksuit co-ord.

The British sport star, 39, added a pair of orange-tinted shades as he was snapped being approached by a fan who attempted to take a selfie with him.

Brad was spotted making appearances at Northampton's Silverstone circuit for the last couple of days where he is currently filming his upcoming Formula One-based movie.

On Friday, the Meet Joe Black sensation was clad in a helmet and racing suit as he prepared to hit the track for high-speed driving.

Only a sliver of Brad's face could be seen as he sat in the car with his helmet ahead of the gruelling practice session during one of the most legendary sport events of the year.

After filming for the movie was delayed amid the US actors' and writers' strike last year, Brad, will race an adapted Formula Two car between practice sessions this weekend as they make a start on the action scenes.

The Troy star appeared relaxed and in jovial spirits as he smiled to fans

He sported a white T-shirt underneath his stylish cream bombsher jacket

The actor made time to stop with some dedicated fans

The Fight Club favourite was warmly welcomed by the crowd

He stopped to snap a few selfies and sign some autographs for the lucky few

The actor looked excited as he waved to the crowd

Inside the event, Brad showed off his ripped physique in a skintight long-sleeve top

He wore the white driving suit down as he was seen getting out of the paddock

The beloved actor added a stylish touch with burnt orange-tinted aviator sunglasses

Meanwhile, racing icon Lewis Hamilton displayed his sense of style in a khaki tracksuit co-ord

The British sport star, 39, added a pair of orange-tinted shades and was approached by a fan who attempted to take a selfie with him

F1 chiefs are hoping the film - which will be released on June 25 next year - will follow the popularity of Netflix's Drive to Survive series with a teaser is set to be released ahead of Sunday's race.

Brad plays the role of a veteran driver Sonny Hayes, who is returning to the F1 grid after a long absence.

Alongside his fictional rookie team-mate Joshua Pierce - played by British actor Damson Idris - the Fight Club star lined up with the sport's 20 drivers prior to last year's race at Silverstone and the two actors are due to be on the grid again ahead of Sunday's event.

A garage has also been set up in the paddock at Silverstone for the '11th team', called APXGP.

Meanwhile multi-world champion Lewis has been heavily involved in the script to ensure the film is as authentic as possible.

Joseph Kosinski, the man behind Top Gun: Maverick, is directing the film, while Jerry Bruckheimer - who also worked on the Tom Cruise blockbuster - is listed as a producer.

This year's event is about much more than just racing with the festival putting on a series of huge musical performances from the likes of Kings of Leon and Stormzy over the next four days to entertain guests.
Heidi Klum was having a blast exploring Venice, Italy with her husband Tom Kaulitz on Thursday.

The model, 51, who previously put on a sexy display in the floating city, kept her look simple as enjoyed a shopping trip with her spouse, 34.

The America's Got Talent judge kept cool in the 80 degree temperatures wearing a black strappy sundress with thin white vertical stripes, and a pair of brown slide sandals.

The sexy frock featured a low back and the Making the Cut host seemed to be wearing a black bathing suit beneath it.

During their outing, Klum's hubby of five years quietly reached over and patted her on the bottom.

Heidi Klum, 51, looked relaxed as she enjoyed a shopping trip with husband Tom Kaulitz, 34, in Venice Thursday. The model, 51, kept cool in the 80 degree temperature wearing a black strappy sundress with thin white vertical stripes, and a pair of brown slide sandals

The runway veteran accessorized with a thick twisted gold chain with a large leaf-shaped medallion and gold earrings.

Klum wore a gold and platinum bracelet on her right arm and carried a small black purse.

Her long blonde hair was styled straight and lay in loose layers.

The cover model's makeup appeared natural with a neutral lip, and she wore large aviator style sunglasses.

Kaulitz demonstrated his flair for fashion in a loose fitting black and white checked shirt and matching pants with black loafers.

His shoulder length dark hair was in natural waves and his beard appeared a little bushy. The rocker carried a bag filled with purchases from Dolce & Gabbana.

That same day Heidi shared video of her gondola ride with her husband.

During their outing, Klum's husband of five years quietly reached over and patted her on the bottom

Klum shared a quick video of their ride through Venice as she canoodled with her spouse, writing 'VENICE' next to the post

The trip seems to be part of a belated birthday gift for Klum, who turned 51 June 1

Klum shared a quick clip of their ride through Venice as she canoodled with her spouse, writing 'VENICE' next to the post.

The trip seems to have been part of a belated birthday gift for Klum. She turned 51 June 1.

Highlights included a trip to Paris for Klum and her hubby.

Heidi's brother-in-law Bill Kaulitz also gifted her with a ride on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.

The vintage train provides a luxurious trip for those who want to enjoy a glamorous experience in vintage style. 'Thank you @billkaulitz for the most beautiful birthday gift. We finally went !!!! Yippiiiiii,' she wrote next to the post.
Ruth Langsford has shared a health update on her and Eamonn Holmes' beloved dog Maggie as he is reportedly 'set to lose custody' over the pet amid their 'nasty' divorce.

The TV icon, 64, informed her Instagram followers that the adorable Border Collie cross was recovering from a surgery.

'Maggie had a little wart removed this morning under sedation so she's feeling a bit sorry for herself this afternoon! Lots of TLC from Mummy required. Thank you @stgeorgesveterinarycentre for looking after our precious girl',' she wrote.

Ruth accompanied it with a heartmelting clip of Maggie - who is 14 - coming out of the veterinary room and then some more bits as she cuddled her at home.

The Loose Women alum adopted the pooch with her ex husband Eamonn, 64, back in 2011 as Maggie is said to be as a 'second child' to them.

Ruth Langsford, 64, has shared a health update on her and Eamonn Holmes ' beloved dog Maggie after he is reportedly 'set to lose custody' over the pet amid 'nasty' divorce

The TV icon informed her Instagram followers that the adorable Border Collie cross was recovering from a surgery

'Maggie is like a daughter to them. They dote on her. But she's getting on and they know she needs stability,' a source told The Sun.

'It's a case of who can give her that. Eamonn adores her and Maggie's been such a support during his health woes. The thought of giving her up is heartbreaking to him.

'But if Ruth is able to get out and about and walk her more, then it may well be that she gets Maggie in the split.'

The source added the former couple aims for a reasonable deal-breaker 'without getting any lawyers involved'.

MailOnline have contacted Ruth and Eamonn's reps for comment.

The Loose Women presenter and the broadcaster announced their plans to divorce in May after 14 years of marriage and 27 years together.

Since then it's been reported Eamonn had grown close to a younger female friend over the past year who he has been on a 'string of outings with', with Ruth said to be 'devastated' when she discovered 'messages from another woman' on his laptop.

Her busy work week comes as she has been taking an extended break from Loose Women amid the separation, but is set to return this month.

Ruth accompanied it with a heart-melting clip of Maggie - who is 14 - coming out of the veterinary room and then some more bits as she cuddled her at home

The Loose Women alum adopted the pooch with her ex husband Eamonn, 64, back in 2011 as Maggie is said to be as a 'second child' to them (pictured on This Morning )

The Loose Women presenter and the broadcaster announced their plans to divorce in May after 14 years of marriage and 27 years together (pictured in 2022)

It comes after it was revealed that Ruth had decided to take time off work after learning that Eamonn hasn't been alone in his sorrows following their split, as he is being consoled by two blonde beauties.

The GB News presenter has been helped through his troubles by relationship counsellor Katie Alexander and aesthetician Lisa Harris.

Divorcee and mother-of-three Katie has grown close to the star after a 'string of outings' together, and has reportedly said she is 'in it for the long haul.'

A source previously told The Mirror: 'She is helping Eamonn through the tough times but doesn't want to be seen as a marriage wrecker.

'The friendship has grown in recent months but Eamonn's marriage has been over for some time.'

The insider added: 'She wants to help Eamonn with his situation and their friendship has grown over a period of time. She feels she will be close to him for a long period and is in this for the long haul.'

Katie has been seen visiting Eamonn at his rented apartment in South West London from her home in Yorkshire.

The pair reportedly struck up a friendship over the past couple of years and the publication claims Eamonn has taken her on a safari park trip, to a Manchester United game and a Beyonce concert.

While his friendship with Katie is not said to be a reason for the marriage breakdown it is understood that Ruth was unaware of her until recently and has decided to take time off work.

A source told The Sun: 'Ruth was obviously aware that her marriage was crumbling, but as details emerge, her upset has turned to anger.

'Eamonn's friend is bowled over by being lavished with attention and kindness from him.'

The pair met via Twitter after the woman commented on a post and it sparked a conversation between the pair.

Friends explained that the woman's counselling skills include coping with 'feeling sad' and 'separation and divorce' therefore it seems fitting she will be supporting Eamonn at this time of uncertainty.

Ruth has been taking an extended break from Loose Women amid the separation, but is set to return this month (pictured on show last year)

He has been helped through his troubles by relationship counsellor Katie Alexander (pictured) who has grown close to him after a 'string of outings' together

It has been claimed a pal of Ruth's has said she was left 'devastated' when she discovered 'messages from another woman' on Eamonn's laptop (pictured in 2021)

In September 2022, Eamonn was forced to step away from his GB news show as he underwent vital back surgery to aid his chronic back pain (pictured last year)

The couple tied the knot in 2010 after dating for 13 years - and say that despite their separation, they are 'determined to stay friends'

While MailOnline revealed Eamonn has also been seeking comfort from his facialist and friend Lisa, whom he and Ruth have known for years.

A friend of Eamonn's told MailOnline that Lisa has been a 'shoulder to cry on' for him and said: 'Lisa has been there to support him during marriage problems in the past few years. They've even been out recently together.

'She's grown close to him and been there to offer a shoulder to cry on during the past few years whilst his marriage to Ruth has fell apart.'
Teresa Giudice wished Larsa Pippen a happy birthday with a sweet bathing suit snap - but all fans could talk about was the obvious editing done to the image.

The picture saw Teresa and Larsa posing in their swimsuits as they enjoyed a day at the beach but, upon inspection, it was very clear the reality stars were not actually at that particular shore.

The image contained telltale lines around the women's bodies, demonstrating they had been edited into the beach shot.

'Happy Birthday to my girl @larsapippen wishing you all the best to come. Love you,' Teresa captioned the post. The birthday girl commented on the post, writing: 'Love u so much.'

Fans quickly jumped in to call out the photoshop gaffe before Teresa turned off the comments.

Teresa Giudice wished Larsa Pippen a happy birthday with a cute photo of the two of them in one-piece swimsuits on the beach

The Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 52, was ridiculed in the comments for the bad Photoshop on the photo

Commenters honed in on the bad Photoshop right away with one writing 'What in the photoshop is happening.'

Another wrote: 'Were y'all teleported to the beach or..'

'What in the SHEIN photoshop happened here? This is like a copy & paste on a desktop type mess,' someone else pointed out.

The comments continued in that vein: 'The photo shop on this picture is unhinged' and 'Whoever did the photoshop on this should be fired,' summed up most people's reaction to the photo.

The two reality TV stars were rumored to be joining the cast of House of Villains for season two but only Teresa made the cut when the cast was announced.

The Real Housewives of Miami star, who turns 50 today, recently split from boyfriend Marcus Jordan

Both women wore their long hair down and had sunglasses on and are frequently photographed in their swimsuits

'Happy Birthday to my girl @larsapippen wishing you all the best to come. Love you,' Teresa captioned the post

Teresa will be joining the cast of House of Villains for season two in the fall

In a promo for the show, Giudice references her infamous table flipping incident with host Joel McHale.

She was offered the chance to recreate her season one gaffe and laughed it off.

'Really, Joel, why is this table here?' the Bravo star quipped. 'You think I want to flip this table? That's so in my past.'

House of Villains season two premieres on E! this fall.
Lauren Goodger has claimed she's 'definitely' had a sign from ex-boyfriend Jake McLean on the second anniversary of his tragic death.

The TOWIE star, 37, dated Jake, who died in a car crash in 2022 aged just 33,

from 2012 until 2016 and during the relationship had his name tattooed on her wrist.

Following the split Lauren began to have the inking removed, but despite failing to finish the lasering process she said her skin is now 'clear as day' believing it a 'sign' from her late love.

Taking to Instagram along with a snap of the faded tattoo she wrote: 'Today my friend said let me see your arm you going keep that and I looked at my wrist and there is Jake's name clear as day WOW.

Before adding: He definitely showing me today.'

Lauren Goodger, 37, has 'definitely' had a sign from her ex-boyfriend Jake McLean on the second anniversary of his death.

The TOWIE star, dated Jake, who died in a horror car crash in 2022 aged just 33 , from 2012 until 2016 and during the relationship had his name tattooed on her wrist (pictured together)

Following the split Lauren began to have the inking removed, but despite failing to finish the lasering process she said her skin is now 'clear as day' believing it a 'sign' from her late love

Jake's 2022 funeral took place just two weeks after Lauren laid her newborn baby daughter Lorena to rest.

Lorena was born with two knots in her umbilical cord, tied around her neck and despite ten doctors fighting to save her, she passed away shortly after her birth.

Following Jake's funeral Lauren shared a video of him walking down the street in happier times, along with the song Angel Of Mine by Monica.

She then shared a picture of some of the floral tributes left for Jake, including the words: 'Cuzzy' and 'brother' and a Rolex watch.

Lauren previously shared a gallery of images of her ex along with Mariah Carey's song Always Be My Baby.

She also posted a picture of the Order Of Service, which had the words: 'Wonderful, caring and loving son, brother, nephew, father, cousin and friend.

'His smile and energy would light up anyone's day. To know Jake was to love him. A true legend. May he rest in peace.'

Jake was nearly three times over the drink-drive limit and had taken cocaine when he was killed in a horror car crash, a 2023 inquest heard.

Jake's 2022 funeral took place just two weeks after Lauren laid her newborn baby daughter Lorena to rest

Heartbreaking: In an Instagram tribute after the service she said her late partner would 'look after' Lorena as she shared a series of throwback snaps with Jake

The crash happened when his Mercedes E-class careered off a bend and landed upside down in a ravine near the city of Bodrum in Turkey last year, also leaving passenger and The Only Way is Essex star Yazmin Oukhellou seriously hurt.

An inquest into Jake's death has since revealed he died of 'traumatic head injuries'.

Speaking at his inquest in Walthamstow, north-east London coroner Dr Shirley Ratcliffe said: 'The post mortem found no natural disease, as you would expect in a young man of 33. The cause of death was skull fractures and brain damage.

'As far as I can see, he was driving under the influence nearly three times over the legal limit for driving and had cocaine in his system. My conclusion is that this is an RTC [road traffic collision].'

When asked by Mr McLean's mother Anita Walsh if there were any more details, Dr Ratcliffe said: 'Turkey is not the most helpful  its taken almost a year to get the post mortem.'

Jake was nearly three times over the drink-drive limit and had taken cocaine when he was killed in a horror car crash , a 2023 inquest heard (Jake and Lauren pictured together)

The crash happened when his Mercedes E-class careered off a bend and landed upside down in a ravine near the city of Bodrum in Turkey last year, also leaving passenger and The Only Way is Essex star Yazmin Oukhellou seriously hurt (Yazmin and Jake pictured together)

An inquest into Jake's death has since revealed he died of 'traumatic head injuries'

Jake had been travelling in the early hours along a winding road that cuts through hills running from the scenic coastal city of Bodrum to the nearby picturesque seaside town of Yalikavak.

Plastic debris from the horrific crash lay scattered across the scene as tyre tracks were visible through bushes and scrubland showing where the car had careered off the road and then landed around ten feet below in a ravine.

Jake was jailed for three and a half years in 2008 after conning his way into a mother's house and overpowering her before a masked gang ran in and raided the family home.

He reportedly tricked his way into the property pretending to be an estate agent.

Jake, who was 18 at the time, was part of a gang of six. The other five members ran into the home carrying imitation pistols and threatened to kill their victims if they screamed for help.

It is believed he only served half of his sentence and had been in prison for other convictions since. In 2018 he shared Instagram posts showing himself wearing a leg tag.

In 2013, Lauren, who met her former lover via Twitter, admitted she was aware of his criminal convictions but was willing to overlook them.

She said: 'Jake told me about his past. I could see how much he regretted his actions. I try to take people as I find them.'
Davina McCall has broken her silence on joining the Britain's Got Talent following reports Bruno Tonioli could be facing the axe.

The former Big Brother host, 56, has recently been standing in show judge Amanda Holden, 53, on her Heart radio show but has now ruled herself out of joining the ITV panel.

Telling The Mirror: 'It's one thing stepping in for Amanda on Heart, but I couldn't fill a seat on BGT. I feel that that would be wrong in some way'.

'Amanda is on Heart every day, but BGT is massive. I couldn't do it!'.

Last month Bruno, 68, hit back at speculation he won't appear on the next series and claimed he's be 'back with bells on'.

Davina McCall, 56, has broken her silence on joining the Britain's Got Talent following reports Bruno Tonioli could be facing the axe

The former Big Brother host has been standing in show judge Amanda Holden , 53, on her Heart radio show but has now ruled herself out of joining the ITV panel (Bruno Tonioli pictured)

Davina said: 'It's one thing stepping in for Amanda on Heart, but I couldn't fill a seat on BGT . I feel that that would be wrong in some way' (L-R) BGT judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, Bruno Tonioli

After the show came to an end last month, reports were rife the judging line up for the 18th series could undergo a shake up as filming for auditions later this year would clash with Dancing With The Stars in the US.

But a source told MailOnline that Bruno defiantly declared: 'I'm not going anywhere. I will be back with bells on', when asked about whether his job was at risk.

It came following reports that Simon Cowell could be forced to axe Bruno from the show after two series by ITV, despite him wanting his pal to stay.

The former Strictly judge, who replaced David Walliams on the panel last year, is said to been branded by an executive at the broadcaster as 'one tone and hysterical'.

According to The Sun producers planned to take advantage of Bruno's scheduling conflict for the next series due to his commitments across the pond filming Dancing With the Stars.

An insider told the publication: 'Nobody else has been agreed upon or approached as a replacement, currently the question is just  do we keep Bruno at all?

'There is much discussion going on. It's nothing sinister, but maybe a change would be better.

Before adding: 'But Simon Cowell might insist he stays'.

Last month Bruno, 68, hit back at s peculation he won't appear on the next series and claimed he's be 'back with bells on' (pictured on the show)

It came following reports that Simon Cowell (R) could be forced to axe Bruno from the show after two series by ITV, despite him wanting his pal to stay

The former Strictly judge, who replaced David Walliams on the panel last year , is said to been branded by an executive at the broadcaster as 'one tone and hysterical'

Simon recently shut down the rumours as he confirmed that the Italian choreographer will be returning next year despite scheduling clashes but admitted there will be some sort of stand-in

MailOnline contacted Simon and Bruno's reps for comment at the time.

An ITV spokeswoman said: 'Any plans for Britain's Got Talent 2025 will be announced in due course'.

While another source told MailOnline: 'This year's BGT was a runaway hit and Bruno played a big part in that. He is much loved by the audience, the acts, his fellow judges, ITV and Thames alike.'

Simon recently shut down the rumours as he confirmed that the Italian choreographer will be returning next year despite scheduling clashes but admitted there will be some sort of stand-in.

Appearing on Heart Radio, the music mogul, 64, explained: 'I would not replace him. I love Bruno on the show.'

Simon explained that there is a problem with Bruno's schedule next year, therefore the star will be replaced for some of the auditions that he is unable to attend.

Clearing up the rumours Host Jamie Theakston asked the star: 'I'm gonna read you a headline from one of the papers today Simon... "Britain's Got Talent set to drop judge, Bruno"'

As Simon confessed the headline was false, Jamie pressed: 'Okay, well, what of that isn't truth?

It's also been reported that KSI is set to stand in for Bruno on next year's show in a bid to pull in a younger audience

Bruno (L) pictured on Dancing With The Stars alongside fellow judges Derek Hough (C) and Carrie Ann Inaba (L)

Simon explained: 'Seriously. I spoke to... I don't know where all this stuff comes from. I spoke to the producers literally two weeks ago about there is a scheduling issue with Bruno.

'Because we're doing the auditions... some of the auditions this year and he's going to be in America.

'So maybe there'll be a stand in for him. I don't know. But I love Bruno on the show. I think he's brilliant.'

It's also been reported that KSI is set to stand in for Bruno on next year's show in a bid to pull in a younger audience.

The YouTube influencer and boxer, 30, is reportedly in talks with ITV bosses to be on standby when there is a filming clash.

MailOnline contacted ITV and KSI's reps for comment.
Kanye West's wife, Bianca Censori, wore a head-turning look as the couple paid a visit to a science museum in San Francisco on Fourth of July on Thursday.

The Australian-born architect, 29 - who recently responded to a lawsuit claiming she sent porn to Yeezy staff - was seen holding hands with the Heartless rapper, 47, as they stopped by Exploratorium.

She opted to partially cover up in a pair of sheer, white leggings as well as a strapless, busty blue top.

Censori completed the overall look for the daytime excursion by slipping into a pair of open-toed, strappy pumps.

Bianca's dark locks were pulled back and styled into a simple up do, preventing any loose strands from falling onto her face.

Kanye West's wife, Bianca Censori, 29, wore a head-turning look as the couple paid a visit to a science museum in San Francisco on Fourth of July on Thursday

She chose to not wear any flashy pieces of jewelry to allow her ensemble to be the main focal point.

West - whose $14 million Wyoming ranch recently sold - sported a baggy, white shirt as well as a pair of loose-fitting, matching trousers and closed-toed white shoes.

A black hood covered his head and had the museum's name printed in white lettering on the material.

Kanye and Bianca were seen strolling through the venue as they took in the various galleries and exhibits - such as All Eyes On Me, Bird In A Cage, Shadow Box and also Sun Painting.

At one point, the couple sat across from each other at a small table as they tried out a mirror exhibit.

The pair - who tied the knot in December 2022 - held hands while exploring the large museum during the holiday.

Censori was later spotted having a blast as she held up a red phone to her ear that was attached to a wall.

Sources informed TMZ that West and Censori were completely focused on each other during the museum date and while some visitors recognized the stars, they chose to not intervene.

She opted to partially cover up in a pair of sheer, white leggings as well as a strapless, fitted blue top

Censori was later spotted having a blast as she held up a red phone to her ear that was attached to a wall

The couple's outing comes shortly after Bianca denied claims she sent porn to Yeezy staff, including minors.

A federal lawsuit filed in California claimed that Censori sent an employee a link to 'hardcore' sexual content after her husband announced the launch of his adult film business, Yeezy Porn, in late April.

It alleged that the videos were accessible to underage staffers, but did not name her as a defendant in the suit - simply using the story to illustrate the work environment at the YZYVSN streaming service app.

Censori has since denied the claims via West's former chief of staff, Milo Yiannopoulos, who told DailyMail.com he had permission to speak on her behalf.

'I've been authorized by Bianca to stress that any allegation that she showed or caused to be shown any pornographic material to minors is offensive, disgusting, abhorrent and categorically and wholly false,' the statement says.

The British commentator went on in his statement Monday to dismiss the allegations against him in the federal lawsuit, which accuses him and Ye of engaging in 'forced labor and cruel inhuman, or degrading treatment.'

Yiannopoulos slammed the claims, saying it 'takes more imaginative leaps than The Lord of the Rings,' and claiming it was filed by a man who had no authority at YZYVSN.

'The tragic, desperate, attention-seeking wannabee Yeezy staffer behind this egregious and repulsive pack of lies, Shemar DaCosta, has never had any kind of access to Ye, his family, or Yeezy, or any information pertinent to the company, and he never will,' Yiannopoulos said.

'DaCosta, known as "Hotep Susan" in Yeezy circles for his histrionic and absurd race-baiting, faked an entire job history at Yeezy on his LinkedIn profile - the most tragic and thirsty lie imaginable.'

The couple's outing comes shortly after Bianca denied claims she sent porn to Yeezy staff, including minors; seen in February in Milan

'I've been authorized by Bianca to stress that any allegation that she showed or caused to be shown any pornographic material to minors is offensive, disgusting, abhorrent and categorically and wholly false,' the statement says

'He claimed to be a lead developer for Yeezy. He has never worked at Yeezy. Read my lips: He will never, ever, ever land a job at the company after telling such odious lies about the Lady of the House.'

'There' s a simple reason DaCosta's clownish claim - that minors were shown Yeezy Porn - isn't true and can't be true. Yeezy Porn doesn't exist. I made sure of that by falling on my sword and quitting over it,' Milo said.

'All I've done since is try to get these app developers paid, as voluminous correspondence demonstrates,' he continued - defending himself from claims that developers went unpaid for their work.

'Anyone asserting otherwise, including many in the press, are lazy or simply dishonest buffoons uncritically repeating mendacious lies from a lawsuit that takes more imaginative leaps than The Lord of the Rings.'

He went on to hit out at the claims that he segregated employees by race, and named Discord chat rooms 'slaves' and 'new slaves.'

Yiannopoulos also included posts from X that he said backs his claims that the suit is frivolous.

The lawsuit alleges that West and Yiannopoulos hired an international developer group comprised of several black members, many of whom were underage, with some as young as 14.

They then fostered an allegedly racist working environment and repeatedly made false promises about payment and working hours.

It claims that Yiannopoulos promised the developer group $120,000 if they completed the app, agreed to the work conditions and didn't complain.

The British commentator went on in his statement Monday to dismiss the allegations against him in the federal lawsuit, which accuses him and Ye of engaging in 'forced labor and cruel inhuman, or degrading treatment'

Yiannopoulos slammed the claims, saying it 'takes more imaginative leaps than The Lord of the Rings,' and claiming it was filed by a man who had no authority at YZYVSN; Milo seen in 2019 in England

But Ye then allegedly ordered all of the employees to sign NDAs and threatened to fire the minors if they didn't.

The duo also allegedly required minors to sign 'volunteer' agreements. From then on, Ye's white managers reportedly used disparaging and racist language to create a hostile working environment.

They reportedly harassed team members on the basis of their age, race, gender, sexual orientation and national origin. The workers were also reportedly forced to work through the night without pay or sleep.

If they did not agree with the long work hours without breaks, the plaintiffs were allegedly threatened with having their pay withheld.

But even after the team allegedly finished one of the apps on May 1 and sent it to Ye, the suit claims he did not pay them - leading them to file the suit asking for damages for unpaid wages and overtime pay, as well as emotional distress.

Before the new lawsuit came to light, Censori was seen in a racy outfit as she enjoyed a shopping trip in Tokyo late last month in June with Kanye's daughters North and Chicago.

It came after the SKIMS founder asked West that Bianca 'cover up' when she was around their children

The rapper shares North, 11, Saint, eight, Chicago, six and Psalm, five, with ex-wife Kim Kardashian.

The architect wore a nude-colored catsuit as well as a fitted nude bodysuit on top that clung to her frame while picking up a few items at a supermarket.

It came after the SKIMS founder asked West that Bianca 'cover up' when she was around their children.

'Kim instructed Kanye to never let Bianca dress like that around their kids. She is truly surprised that Kanye would let his wife leave the house like that,' a source told DailyMail.com in February.
Robbie Williams' dancer playfully grabbed his bottom as the star headlined BST Hyde Park on Saturday.

The Feel hitmaker, 50, displayed his numerous tattoos as he put on a raunchy performance for the 60,000-strong crowd.

He wore a white blazer and vest, teamed with baggy trousers and a huge silver chain which read, 'F*** OFF'.

The former Take That star wore an identical outfit for his gig in Gran Canaria, Spain on Thursday.

He wrote on Instagram after the show: 'Gran Canaria: thank you so much - you were the perfect audience.

Robbie Williams' dancer grabbed a handful of his bottom as the star, 50, headlined BST Hyde Park on Saturday

The Feel hitmaker displayed his numerous tattoos as he put on a raunchy performance for the 60,000-strong crowd

He wore a white suit with baggy trousers and yellow trainers and also wore a huge silver chain which read: 'F*** OFF'

'Thank you for having me on the island and I hope to see you again soon. Hyde Park: youre up next! X'

Back on the BST stage, Robbie's back-up dancers, all female, wore gorgeous carnival-inspired bodysuits with black ankle boots.

American Express presents BST Hyde Park runs from June 29 to July 14 and has different headliners each day.

Glastonbury headliner Sza headlined on June 29, Andrea Bocelli headlined on Friday, and Shania Twain will headline Sunday.

Shania, 58, also performed at Glastonbury, taking over the coveted Legends Slot of the Pyramid Stage.

On Thursday, she appeared at Wytham Festival and looked fantastic in a orange padded jacket and a black bodysuit.

Also performing on Saturday was Shaun Ryder's Black Grape who belted out their hits with a water bottle in hand.

He smiled as Kermit joined him front and centre and they sang for the crowd who braved the intermittent rain.

Kate Nash was also there and delighted fans with her tight and very unique pink which made her appear nude in places.

Robbie's back-up dancers, all female, wore gorgeous carnival-inspired bodysuits with black ankle boots

They were full of energy and they did a great job hyping up Robbie's already-very excited audience

The former Take That star wore an identical outfit for his gig in Gran Canaria, Spain on Thursday

He wrote on Instagram after the show: 'Gran Canaria: thank you so much - you were the perfect audience'

Robbie finished: 'Thank you for having me on the island and I hope to see you again soon. Hyde Park: youre up next! X'

Robbie shouted as the crowd roared for him, holding up signs

He struck a power pose as his dancers surrounded him and thousands of hands waved in the air

Robbie, always the joker, bent over and pointed to his bottom

American Express presents BST Hyde Park runs from June 29 to July 14 and has different headliners each day

Also performing on Saturday was Shaun Ryder's Black Grape who belted out their hits with a water bottle in hand

He smiled as Kermit joined him front and centre and they sang for the crowd who braved the intermittent rain

Kate Nash was also there and delighted fans with her tight and very unique pink which made her appear nude in places

Kate stormed the UK music scene in 2007 with hit song Foundations and her debut album Made Of Bricks went straight to number one

Returning to the BST Hyde Park stage was Seal who performed just on Friday as Andrea's special guest

Kate stormed the UK music scene in 2007 with hit song Foundations and her debut album Made Of Bricks went straight to number one.

Returning to the BST Hyde Park stage was Seal who performed just on Friday as Andrea's special guest.

Seal looked fabulous in a long dress-like outfit which he wore over black jeans and partially covered with a black blazer.

BST's final headliner this year will be K-Pop group Stray Kids, but not before Kylie Minogue and Stevie Nicks take their turns.
The Government has mainstreamed startups ushering a truly golden period for them, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, adding this is a dramatic shift from the days when startups would rank at the bottom of the food chain in job picks.

The American dream folklore in business and technology parlance has given way to the Indian dream and Indian startup, Sharma said, adding that this is truly a golden period for founders and entrepreneurs here.

Speaking at the 7th JIIF Foundation day, Sharma credited the government for mainstreaming startups and giving visibility to founders.

Urging entrepreneurs to make most of the opportunities in front of them by leveraging technology and innovation, Paytm top boss said, this is truly a golden period and best ever that India has been.

Sharma said that India has come a long way from the time when job aspirants chose to go abroad or eyed jobs in foreign IT companies or large domestic tech firms.

We (startups) were more or less the last player of the food chain, we had to make do with whatever was left... Now we are right in the front... That line now starts from startups... This is a dramatic difference... It is truly a golden period... Obviously no period is perfect...But this is simply the best ever India has ever been, he said.

Sharma said college pass-outs and job aspirants now choose to stay back in India, instead of making a beeline for jobs abroad.

For companies that are looking to go public, Sharma advised them to opt for Indian bankers and not underestimate them.

He also advocated that companies eyeing an IPO need to gauge the sentiments and mood of domestic, retail investors well in advance through roadshows and interactions.

He further said companies need to breakdown jargons and complex terms, and speak out and clear terms on points that are relevant to investors.

Everything you write in your DRHP, or announce, should be such that future models can envisioned on it... If it is confusing, remove it... If it is clarifying, then keep it, he said. According to him, going forward, the distinction between fintech and financial services companies will blur and they will become similar and homogeneous.

Given Indias economic growth targets and the underlying credit growth potential, Indias financial services market has a bright future, he said.

It is a market obligated to grow, and its potential is restricted only by someones mistakes or temptation. The foundation and base of all businesses is financial services, he said, adding the market will always grow and future is bright.
Following the stampede at his satsang in Uttar Pradeshs Hathras a few days ago, which resulted in the death of 121 people earlier this week, Bhole Baba, the former constable-turned-self-styled godman, expressed his sorrow over the incident. He said he is deeply saddened by the loss of lives, conveying his condolences and sympathy to the grieving families.

May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the Government and the administration. I have faith that anyone who created the chaos would not be spared. Through my lawyer AP Singh, I have requested the members of the committee to stand with the bereaved families and the injured and help them throughout their lives, said Bhole Baba in a video statement.

Meanwhile, Devprakash Madhukar, the key accused in the July 2 Hathras stampede, was on Saturday sent to 14-day judicial custody by a magistrate court, officials said.

Besides, Sanju Yadav, another suspect who has been arrested in connection with the case, was also sent to jail for the same duration, they said. Earlier in the day, Hathras Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal told reporters that the police would apply in the court to get the remand of Madhukar and other suspects.

Devprakash Madhukar and Sanju Yadav were produced before the judicial magistrates court today and both were sent in judicial remand for 14 days, Assistant Prosecution Officer Uma Shankar Yadav told reporters.

The APO said Ramprakash Shakya, who too has been arrested in the stampede case, would be produced in the court on Sunday since he was arrested after Madhukar and Yadav and has some police formalities pending. Madhukar was arrested from Delhis Najafgarh area late on Friday night by a Special Operations Group of the Hathras police.

Shakya and Yadav were arrested on Saturday from Hathras, according to police.

Madhukar is the only named accused in the FIR, which also mentions as accused several other unidentified organisers of the satsang.

The stampede after a satsang of self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba left 121 people, mostly women, dead.
Assam situation grim

Assams flood situation remained critical on Saturday with over 24.50 lakh people reeling under the deluge in 30 districts and major rivers flowing above the danger mark at several places, an official bulletin said.

The toll in this years flood was 52 and 12 others lost their lives due to landslides and storms. The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger mark at Nimatighat, Guwahati, Goalpara and Dhubri. Its tributaries Burhi Dihing at Chenimari, Dikhou at Sivasagar, Disang at Nanglamuraghat, Dhansiri at Numaligarh, Jia Bharali at NT Road crossing, and Kopili at Kampur and Dharamtul are also flowing above the danger levels. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma held a meeting with officials after returning from the severely affected Dibrugarh district and reviewed the flood situation in the State.

Assam's famed Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has claimed the lives of 114 wild animals while 95 others have been rescued till Saturday, an official said.

The animal mortality in the KNP has increased from 77 till Friday. The dead animals include four rhinos and 94 hog deer due to drowning in the KNP and 11 others during treatment.

Amarnath Yatra stalled

The Amarnath Yatra was temporarily suspended on both routes to the cave shrine on Saturday as a precautionary measure due to heavy rainfall, officials said.

Intermittent heavy rainfall has been seen along the Baltal and Pahalgam routes since last night, they said.

The decision to temporarily suspend the yatra was taken as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the pilgrims, the officials added.

The number of devotees who have visited the 3,800-metre-high cave shrine and had darshan of the naturally formed ice lingam has crossed 1.50 lakh.

The Amarnath Yatra began on June 29 from the twin tracks  the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route in Anantnag and the 14-km shorter but steeper Baltal route in Ganderbal  and will culminate on August 19.

Lightning strikes Bihar

Nine people were killed after being struck by lightning in six districts of Bihar in the last 24 hours, officials said on Saturday.

The lightning deaths were reported from Jehanabad, Madhepura, East Champaran, Rohtas, Saran and Supaul districts, they said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the death of nine people due to lightning and announced an ex-gratia of `4 lakh to each of the deceaseds family members.

According to a statement issued by the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) on Saturday, Jehanabad district reported three deaths followed by two in Madhepura, one each in East Champaran, Rohtas, Saran and Supaul.

The CM urged people to follow advisories issued by the Disaster Management Department.

Himachal, Ukhand disrupted

Heavy rain disrupted daily life in Uttarakhand. Daily life was disrupted in the Hill State as the rain triggered numerous landslides, blocking key roads, including the national highway leading to Badrinath with A five-year-old drowned in a rainwater-filled pit in Dehradun and a teenager in a Haridwar rivulet.

Landslides triggered by heavy rains over the past few days have left the Badrinath National Highway blocked at more than half a dozen places, including Kameda between Gauchar and Rudraprayag, Bhanir Pani near Pipalkoti, Pagalnala near Tangni, Pinola between Joshimath and Badrinath and at Kanchanganga beyond Hanumanchatti. National Highways Authority of India and Border Roads Organisation personnel are busy clearing the roads.

Also, heavy rain lashed parts of Himachal, including Kangra's Dharamshala and Palampur where rainfall levels exceeded the 200-mm mark. According to the emergency operation centre, 62 roads, including 38 in Mandi, 14 Kullu, five in Shimla, Four in Sirmaur and one in Kangra district, are closed for traffic following torrential rains on Saturday evening.
Narendra Modis third tenure as Prime Minister is all set to present its eleventh annual Budget consecutively and with this Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, serving her second consecutive term as Finance Minister, will become first Finance Minister to present seven consecutive Union Budgets, surpassing Morarji Desai, who presented six consecutive annual Budget of the Government of India.

Interestingly the Budget will also be the first one in the new Parliament which was inaugurated last September during which the historic Women Reservation Bill was passed.

President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday approved the proposal for summoning of both Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from July 22, to August 12 and the Union Budget 2024-25 will be presented in Lok Sabha on July 23. This will be the first Budget presented by the Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modis NDA third term.

An interim Budget was presented in February ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, which were held in April-June and a Special Session concluded early this week where the new MPs took oath and new Council of Ministers were introduced besides the Presidential address to joint sitting was conducted.

In her address to a joint sitting of Parliament, she had said major social and economic decisions will be a highlight of the Budget.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced Budget Session will be held between July 22 and August 12 and Sitharaman will present the Budget on July 23.

President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from July 22, 2024 to August 12, 2024 (subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business).

Given the key NDA partners  TDP and JD(U)  have shared their demands to the PM and separately to the Cabinet Ministers, including Sitharaman, the Budget is expected to give more weightage on the welfare aspects. Interestingly the crucial portfolios like, finance, home, defence, agriculture, roads and rails are with the BJP.

The Union Budget plays a pivotal role in outlining the governments economic priorities, fiscal strategies, and expenditure plans for the year ahead. It is keenly awaited by various stakeholders including businesses, investors, economists, and the general public for its implications on economic growth, sectoral allocations, taxation policies, and welfare measures.

Sources said that a series of meetings with various political, social and economical including industrial stakeholders are on the anvil in the next fortnight, a usual practise , before the budget is shaped and prepared. Sources said the Economic Survey will be tabled in both the House  Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha  when the Parliament meets on July 22.

Sitharaman has already met with economists, finance and capital market experts and industry bodies for pre-budget consultations. Sitharaman also chaired a meeting with Finance Ministers of different States and Union Territories towards the end of June to take suggestions for the upcoming Union Budget.
A jawan of the Indian Army on Saturday was martyred during an encounter with a group of heavily armed terrorists in the South Kashmir district of Kulgam.

Till the time of filing the report, the security forces were engaged with the terrorists at two locations in the valley.

According to a spokesman of the Jammu and Kashmir police, the first gunfight took place in Modergam village of the south Kashmir district after security forces launched a cordon and search operation there following specific inputs about the presence of terrorists.

The terrorists opened fire at the security forces and an encounter broke out.

The officials said a soldier of the Indian Army sustained fatal injuries in the exchange of fire. In another gunfight, contact with terrorists was established in the Frisal Chinnigam area of Kulgam.

Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow, Kashmir Zone Police said in a post on X.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Police RR Swain Saturday said the adversary across the border is using foreign mercenaries to create a fear psychosis among the people to sustain terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

Interacting with the media in Doda after promoting seven special police officers (SPOs) as constables for their exemplary bravery during a recent anti-terrorist operation in the Gandoh area of the district, the police chief said people are fully cooperating with the security agencies and it is a matter of time when the terrorists start getting eliminated.

Three foreign terrorists were killed in a gunfight in the Gandoh area of the Doda district on June 26. This was the first encounter in Gandoh in more than a decade.

Without naming Pakistan, Swain said, Our adversary and enemy has posed a challenge, thinking that this is a border area and they can take advantage of it by pushing foreign terrorists to revive militancy by creating fear (among the people).

They (foreign terrorists) are not in big numbers and we are fully determined to defeat them, like we have done in the past, with the help of other forces and cooperation of the public, he said.

The DGP said the foreign mercenaries do not belong to anyone and they also do not fall in the ambit of law.

They are involved in mass killings, taking sheep without paying money and their aim is to create fear and force the public into submission and create disturbance. But it cannot be achieved because the people are with us and we will fight them out, the DGP said.

Police and its security partners are fully determined and committed to defeating the terrorists with the active support of village defence guards, SPOs and commoners. It is only a question of time when they will start getting killed, and they will start getting eliminated, he added.
For the first time in many decades perhaps Indians are getting to taste their own mangoes  sweet, fleshy, soft and smooth. Malda aam or Malda mango to be specific. The reason: Slumped export market owing to low yield, yet high price. The upshot: Crops are experiencing a bumper sale in the domestic outlets so to say.

Says Afroz Bhai an orchard owner in Old Malda, Not on many occasions you have a high quality product with a sluggish export This year the export market has slumped because of high quality and low quantity the price fetched abroad is not as remunerative as the market would expect and so we are forced to sell it indoors.

This year the Malda mango that you get for `80-`120 in Kolkata is being sold at `100-`150 per kilogram in Delhi, the Bengal Horticulture department officials said. The wholesale prices surged by about 50-60 per cent due to low yield and high quality.

We expected higher price abroad when we were booking customers from England or Dubai they showed interest then but owing to higher price they backtracked and then the mango route was diverted to internal markets, said Roop Kanjilal a mango expert and a whole-seller of fruits, adding how this year the customers in Delhi played a compensatory role insofar as mango market is concerned.

About 17 tonnes of mango was sold alone in the Delhi Mango festival and though other varieties like Himsagar, Lakshman Bhog were in demand Langra for its high quality yield sold hugely, said a member of West Bengal Exporters Coordination Committee.

Malda is a historical medieval town where the Malda mango originated perhaps during the time of the Nawabs of Bengal one of whom loved the aroma of the fruit so much that he got a row of several varieties like Madhukulkuli and Begam Khas planted in his backyard apparently to please and enamour his queens in sleep.

The mango earned a new appellation Langra after travelling to Varanasi in the hands of a lame sadhu who got it planted somewhere near the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and subsequently directed a priest to offer two fruits every day to Lord Vishwanath.

Subsequently as the Kashi Naresh or the king of Kashi got the wind of it he pestered the Sadhu to lend him some seeds to and subsequently the Langra (Malda) Mango which earned its name from the lame (langra) sadhu spread all over the country, particularly northern India giving a run for its money to the likes of local Dusseri and Chausa varieties.

Besides, Malda Mango has one more use. The Aam Shotto or Aam Papad as it is called in northern India is a popular way to preserve sweet ripe mangoes which are pureed and cooked in a kadai till they thicken. Then it is dried in the hot sun of Bhado (post monsoon) season to obtain a sweet dish which is also used to prepare chutneys.

Not only the fruit Malda has been a big market for Aam Shotto  each orchard owner earned in crores  but for the past several years perhaps due to the climate change the yield is suffering in quantity  this time it was no different, said Gulabuddin another orchard owner from Adina in Malda.

This year production fell by 60 per cent on account of hot weather, untimely rains and almost no westerly. The output was 2.2 lakh tonnes as compared to 3.79 lakh tonnes in 2023, sources in the horticulture department said adding had it not been the desi customers who paid a good price the mango market would have perished this year round.

Another fruit merchant from Malda refusing to share his name --- because he himself comes from a political party --- said, we have been repeatedly begging for setting up fruit processing industries in Malda and Murshidabad  the ones that were being planned by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee when he was the Chief Minister  but nothing has been done  we hope the Government will take into account the element of climate change and the economic future of the region to come up with new plans.
The team of Madhya PradeshChild Protection Commission inspected the madrasas of Bhopal on Friday. The team first reached Siddiqia Darul Uloom madrasa in Machana Colony located at bus stop number 5. The madrasa was found closed today on Friday instead of Sunday.

Commission member Omkar Singh said that according to the government rules, there should be a holiday on Sunday here. But, there is a holiday here today on Friday. We will investigate this. Otherwise everything is fine here.

Dr. Nivedita Sharma said that this madrasa is registered. Madrasas are registered in two ways. One type of madrasas are those which take government aid. In these, the government helps in other things apart from mid-day meals whereas this madrasa is just registered.

Madrasa member Mohammad Faizan said that today is a holiday here because it is Jumma. Studies are held in the madrasa on Sunday as well. All subjects are taught here along with Hindi, English, and Arabic. On the holiday on Friday instead of Sunday, he said that Jumma is a very big day in Shariat. Children do all their work along with namaaz on Fridays. That is why there is a holiday on Friday instead of Sunday.

MLA Atif Aqeel from Bhopal North has expressed displeasure over the investigation of the madrasa located in Machana Colony. He said that whenever the government gets caught in corruption, it starts doing such things to escape from it. Jain saints were tortured here. The government has not done anything in this matter till date. The principal of the place where poor children study makes arrangements for their food and accommodation by collecting donations. The government should be ashamed. The virus that has entered the minds of these people should be removed.

All the arrangements were found to be correct in Anganwadi Center 1011 located at number 6.

After inspecting the madrasa of Machana Colony, the team of the Child Commission reached Anganwadi Center 1011 located at number 6. Here the mid-day meal was inspected. Child Commission member Dr Nivedita said that Anganwadi is good. Food is being provided properly. Children are also being looked after properly. 29 children aged 3 to 6 years and 49 children aged 0 to 3 years are registered in this centre. She said that one deficiency has been found here. There was a problem with the water in the washroom. It has been asked to be fixed.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren today attended the "Srujan" Startup Conclave organized by the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries in the Aryabhatta Auditorium of Ranchi University Campus as the Chief Guest. On this occasion, he said that the government has a positive attitude towards all the industries in the state and the new industries that are going to come up. There should be maximum investment in the state. More and more employment opportunities should be created. Our government will fully support the industries and those setting up the industries.

The Chief Minister told the Jharkhand Chambers that there are many such industries in Jharkhand which are years old. Generation after generation of entrepreneurs are doing business here. All of them have been seeing the changing form of Jharkhand. They are well aware of the economic, social and geographical conditions here. Others cannot understand this state as well as they can. In such a situation, our aim is to develop the state in all aspects together with you.

The Chief Minister said that the state government has made a startup policy. However, the startups in this state are a little behind in the promotion they should have received. But, the government will soon take concrete steps to strengthen and promote startups. The government will move forward with the idea that youth should get employment through startups and also provide employment to others.

The Chief Minister said that after independence, the policy makers of the country understood the importance of this state. As a result, many big industries were established in our state. Many industrial groups like Tata and Birla set up their industries. Most of the activities of Coal India are being conducted in this state. The country's first fertilizer industry, mining institute and 'Heavy Engineering Corporation Limited' (HEC), famous as the mother of the industry, are also established in our state. But, as time progressed and the circumstances became such that many industries here were closed. The industries which were supposed to expand, kept shrinking. Due to this, people also became unemployed. But, our government wants to lay such a foundation for industries, whose benefits can be availed by people generation after generation. Whatever suggestion Jharkhand Chambers will have in this, it will be implemented positively and will give full cooperation.

On this occasion, Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji, MLA Rameshwar Oraon, former Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Poddar, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Avinash Kumar, Secretary of Information Technology and e-Governance Department Vipra Bhal, President of Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries Kishore Mantri, former President Vinay Agarwal, Vice President Aditya Malhotra, Secretary Paresh Gatani and other members were present.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was a visionary who played a pivotal role in maintaining the country's unity and raising awareness about its challenges. He lauded Dr. Mukherjee for exposing the British conspiracy to divide the nation and for enlightening the people about the long-term tragic consequences of the Kashmir conflict for which the nation will always be grateful to him.

Yadav was addressing the inauguration programme of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Auditorium built in the Vikas Bhawan of the Panchayat and Rural Development Department. He offered flowers on the portrait of Bharat Mata and garlanded the portrait of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. It may be noted that today is the birth anniversary of Dr. Mukherjee. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav planted saplings in his memory at Vikas Bhawan amidst the chanting of mantras and inaugurated the auditorium by unveiling the stone plaque. He also unveiled the portrait of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in the auditorium. The program was presided over by Panchayat and Rural Development and Labour Minister Prahlad Singh Patel.

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that Dr. Mukherjee becoming Vice-Chancellor at the age of 33 reflects his talent. Even after he drew attention to the Kashmir problem, the stigma of Article 370 continued in the country and 40 thousand innocent people became victims of pain and violence. Ultimately, the determination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi freed the country from Article 370. He said that the development rate of the state is constantly on the rise. Progress in rural areas is clearly visible from the rural development activities and functioning of Panchayats. Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Auditorium built in Vikas Bhawan will prove useful for the Panchayat and Rural Development Department.

Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Prahlad Singh Patel said that many youngsters came forward to serve the country following Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee's demand to draw the country's attention to the problem of Kashmir and the removal of Article 370. His sacrifice in fact paved the way for the removal of Article 370.

The auditorium built in the Vikas Bhawan of the Panchayat and Rural Development Department has been named after Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. It has seating arrangements to accommodate 450 persons.
The Delhi Police has registered an FIR against a 54-year-old Pakistani national, Minhaj Hussain, for allegedly attempting to molest an Indian woman at the official residence of Saad Ahmad Warraich, the Charge DAffaires at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

The complaint from the woman, an Indian national, against cook Minhaj Hussain, 54, was received by the Tilak Marg police station on June 28, a senior police officer said. He said a case under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code was registered and further probe was conducted.

The woman was employed as a domestic help a few months ago and she lived in a quarter on the premises of the diplomat's residence, the officer said. Hussain had come to India from Pakistan in February, he said and added that it has been informed that he has been sent back to Pakistan, which is being verified.

According to sources, when the victim complained to Warraich about Hussains alleged attempt to molest her, the diplomat reportedly sent Hussain back to Pakistan on the pretext of Bakrid. However, Hussain later returned and resumed work at Warraichs residence.

The Pakistan High Commission allegedly asked the woman to leave her job and vacate Warraichs residence by June 30. Shocked by this treatment and Hussains return, the victim was prompted to file a police complaint.

The victim, a widow employed as a domestic help at Warraichs residence, filed a complaint at Tilak Marg Police Station on June 28. She alleged that Hussain, who worked as a cook at the diplomats house, had been misbehaving with her since his arrival in India in February, constantly demanding sexual favours and making obscene advances.

Delhi Police immediately registered an FIR under IPC Section 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) against Minhaj Ahmed Hussain based on the complaint.

Meanwhile, Hussain, who was living in India on an official passport and visa, was sent back to Pakistan on June 30, suspecting trouble.
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Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, met the bereaved families of the Hathras stampede on Friday. He expressed concern over administrative deficiencies and urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to provide generous compensation to the affected families.

Rahul Gandhi said, The compensation should be right. I request the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to give compensation generously. Compensation should be given as soon as possible. I have talked to the family members,

He also targeted the local administration and claimed that their failure was also evidence as they did not take any measures despite sanctioning the permission to the self-styled godman to give sermons.

Subhash Chandra, son of Munni Devi who lost her life in the stampede, said that Rahul Gandhi talked to them, consoled the entire family and tried to understand the whole incident. He said that Bhole Baba was responsible for the whole incident and there was a lack of a system there.

Baba ran away. He should have helped the people instead of running away. Now my family will never go to his satsang, Chandra said. He also alleged lack of medical facilities which led to so many deaths.

He said Rahul Gandhi had assured them that he would raise the matter in Parliament and support them.

A girl who lost her mother in the tragedy broke down before Rahul Gandhi. The Congress leader hugged her and consoled her, promising that they would take full care of her.

Congress Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi on Friday reached the homes of the victims who lost their lives in the Hathras stampede. He sat on the floor and met the bereaved families of the deceased and consoled them.

Rahul Gandhi reached Pilkhana in Aligarh early in the morning by road from Delhi. He consoled the bereaved family members of Manju who died in the Hathras stampede, her six-year-old son Pankaj and Shanti Devi and Premvati of another family.

Later he left for Hathras and met other bereaved families at Green Park locality.

Talking to media persons, Rahul Gandhi said that the families were shocked and facing a trauma after losing their near and dear ones. He said that the families claimed before him that the incident took place due to negligence of the local administration.

I just want to appeal to the chief minister (of UP) to give generous compensation to the families of the victims as early as possible and also take stern action against those responsible for the deaths, he said.

Rahul Gandhi also asserted before the media that he would raise the issue in Parliament.
The report prepared by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to look into the Hathras stampede was submitted to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath here on Friday.

The judicial commission, headed by the retired judge of the Allahabad High Court Brijesh Kumar Srivastava, also held its first meeting in Naimisharanya in Sitapur. The members of the commission will soon visit Hathras to proceed with the probe.

The commission was constituted by the chief minister to investigate the Hathras incident and explore the possibility of a conspiracy behind the stampede.

Meanwhile, Director General of Police Prashant Kumar and Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh met the chief minister at his 5 Kalidas Marg official residence and handed over the SIT investigation report in the stampede case on Friday afternoon. This means that the report of this heartbreaking incident in Hathras has now reached the chief minister. It is believed that many big revelations may have been made in this detailed 15-page report.

Meanwhile, the SIT team investigating the Hathras stampede case has recorded 90 statements so far. SIT chief Anupam Kulshreshtha gave this information on Friday. Additional Director General of Police (Agra Zone) Kulshreshtha is leading the three-member SIT which is preparing a detailed report on the case related to the death of 121 people in the stampede after a satsang on July 2.

Talking to media persons, ADG Kulshreshtha said, So far 90 statements have been recorded. The preliminary report has been submitted, while the detailed report is being prepared.

The confidential report includes the statements of Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar, Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal and senior officials of the Health department who took stock of the emergency situation caused by the stampede, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sikandra Rao who sanctioned permission for the programme, sewadars already arrested in the case and other officials who visited the spot on the fateful day.

Regarding the status of the police investigation, the officer said that the scope of the investigation had been enhanced after more evidence came to light. He said, The evidence collected definitely indicates the shortcomings made by the organisers of the programme.

Meanwhile, Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused who is absconding, has been removed from his post of technical assistant at Sheetalpur block of Etah district where he was supervising MGNREGA work across 20 panchayats since 2010 on contract. Block Development Officer of Sheetalpur, Dinesh Sharma, said that the process for Madhukars removal and termination of his contract has been initiated after his name appeared as the main accused in the FIR and a reward of Rs 1 lakh was announced on him by the Hathras police. Madhukar also faces a non-bailable warrant for being on the run after the incident.

Madhukar was assigned the task of preparing bills and vouchers after inspection of development work undertaken under MGNREGA in Sheetalpur block. His wife is a panchayat assistant and both reside in Sikandra Rao locality of Hathras. He was active in getting residents of his native village associated with the organisation of self-styled godman Suraj Pal (also known as Bhole Baba). Madhukar had also contested the gram pradhans election but had lost. Around 30 people from Madhukars village had gone to attend the satsang in Hathras.

It may be mentioned that so far six sevadars, identified as Ram Ladaite (50), Upendra Singh Yadav (62), Megh Singh (61), Mukesh Kumar (38), and two women Manju Yadav (30) and Manju Devi (40), who were associated with the organising committee, have been arrested in this incident.

Suraj Pal, also known as Narayan Sakar Hari or Bhole Baba, will be questioned if necessary, according to a senior officer.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday met the representatives of the Kamboj community, led by Baba Brahm Dass of Dera Baba Bhuman Shah Sirsa, here in Chandigarh. The representatives invited him to attend the Balidan Diwas of Shaheed Udham Singh on July 31 at Dera Baba Bhuman Shah Sirsa, which the Chief Minister accepted.



The Chief Minister said that the opposition has nothing substantial to say and is engaging only in politics of lies. The opposition misled the public during elections by falsely claiming that PM Modi would abolish the Constitution and reservations if elected for a third term, whereas for the last 10 years, Prime Minister Modi has run this country in accordance with the Constitution only.



He pointed out that the previous government tampered with the Constitution by adding Article 370, against the wishes of Dr BR Ambedkar. He criticised opposition leaders for disrespecting constitutional benches like the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Speaker of the Lok Sabha, questioning their commitment to democracy, dignity, and the Constitution.



In a separate statement, it was stated that Saini granted administrative sanction for the special repair and improvement of 18 Roads of Pataudi, Gurugram District. This project will cost over Rs. 6.20 crore. He also approved the Urdu Sahitya Awards for 2021 by the Haryana Sahitya Evam Sanskriti Akademi.
Heavy rain continues to batter Himachal 77 roads closed



Shimla: Heavy rains continue to lash several parts of Himachal Pradesh on Friday, leading to the closure of 77 roads for traffic. The Shimla meteorological office has issued a yellow alert, warning of heavy rains, thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places on Saturday. Widespread rain occurred in the state in the past 24 hours. Palampur was the wettest with 128 mm of rain followed by Kataula 110 mm, Baijnath 95 mm, Jogindernagar 64 mm, Mandi 40 mm, Kothi 36 mm, Kufri 33.2 mm, Shillaroo 32.5 mm, Dharamshala 26 mm, Manali 22 mm and Khadrala 21.6 mm, the weather office said. Seventy-seven roads, including 67 in Mandi, seven in Chamba and one each in Kangra, Lahaul-Spiti and Shimla districts, are closed for traffic following torrential rains and 236 transformers are disrupted, according to the emergency operation centre. On Thursday, Kukumseri in tribal Lahaul and Spiti recorded the lowest night temperature in the state at 11.6 degrees Celsius while Una was hottest during the day with a maximum temperature of 33.6 degrees Celsius. So far, the state has received 43.2 mm of rain against the normal of 27.2 mm, an excess of 59 per cent in the month of July.





10 shops in Chd make arrangements to open round-the-clock on all 365 days



Chandigarh: UT Chandigarh Secretary cum Commissioner, Labour Department Vinay Pratap Singh on Friday said that 10 registered shops and commercial establishments have submitted self-undertakings on the online portal of the Labour Department - labour.chd.gov.in, confirming that they have made necessary arrangements as per the notification to open during extended hours. To enhance the Ease of Doing Business for shopkeepers and traders in UT Chandigarh, the Labour Department has issued a notification allowing shops and commercial establishments to operate 247 throughout the year without requiring specific permission from the Labour Department. To ensure the effective implementation of this notification, the Labour Department has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). Singh clarified that the extended operational hours are voluntary and not compulsory for shopkeepers and traders. Only those shops and commercial establishments registered with the Labour Department can avail of this facility.



4 members of interstate drug racket nabbed with 169-gram heroin in Shimla



Shimla: The Shimla Police on Friday arrested four members of an interstate gang of drug suppliers after 169 grams of heroin (Chitta) was recovered from them in Shimla, officials said. Police said that following a tip off, they intercepted a vehicle (PB02CQ-5374) at Chaulanthi near Sanjauli in Shimla and recovered the contraband from the possession of the four accused: Rahul, Anil, Deepak and Karan, all residents of Amritsar in Punjab. Shimla Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi said a case under section 21 (smuggling of drugs) and 29 (abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 has been registered against the accused and further investigation is underway. He said the accused are members of an interstate gang of drug suppliers, and the value of contraband is estimated to be between Rs 25 to 30 lakhs. He also said that the Shimla Police has arrested 235 drug peddlers in the past six months and property worth Rs 2 crore is under investigation for their potential link with drug money.



Ranbir Sangwan appointed as Additional Director, DIPR



Chandigarh: Haryana, Information, Public Relations, Language and Culture Department, Joint Director Ranbir Singh Sangwan has been promoted and appointed as Additional Director. With this promotion, he has been posted at the Chandigarh headquarters. The orders for his promotion were issued on Friday.



MC Chandigarh issues comprehensive rainy season advisory



Chandigarh: To ensure safety of all citizens during the rainy season, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation issued a comprehensive advisory under the "Safai Apnao Bimaari Bhagao '' campaign. This advisory provides essential guidelines to follow during heavy rainfall and flood-like situations. MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra said that the safety of citizens is of utmost importance, especially during the challenging rainy season. Advisories include avoid waterlogged areas; Stay indoors during heavy rain; Secure personal property, including windows, doors, and loose items, to prevent damage from strong winds; Check on neighbors, especially the elderly, disabled, and those living alone, to ensure their safety and well-being; Report any issues, such as fallen trees, waterlogging, or damage to public infrastructure, to the helpline number 112 for prompt action. The Commissioner urged all citizens to heed this advisory and take necessary precautions to stay safe during the rainy season. By working together, the community can mitigate the impact of heavy rainfall and minimize the risk of injury, loss, and damage.



Haryana Govt to expand Smart classrooms in 1000 additional Primary Schools under SAMPARK Programme



Chandigarh: To revolutionize education through technology and elevate learning outcomes for children across the State, the Haryana Government on Friday announced plans to introduce smart classrooms in an additional 1000 government primary schools during the 2024-25 academic year under the SAMPARK programme. This was informed during a video conference meeting chaired by Chief Secretary TVSN Prasad with all Deputy Commissioners of the State. Currently, over 6600 primary schools in Haryana benefit from smart classrooms, and this expansion aims to further integrate innovative educational technologies into the state's primary education system.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor(LG)Vinai Kumar Saxena has approved a probe against former Delhi Minister Satyendra Jain under Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs seven crore for waiving off penalty of Rs 16 crore imposed on Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). It was executing a project for installation of CCTVs in 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi.

Giving details here on Saturday, Saxena agreed with the proposal of Directorate of Vigilance (DoV) to refer the matter under Section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption (PoC) Act, 1998 to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for approving investigation against the former Delhi Minister by ACB.

Jain, who was Minister PWD, GNCTD and Nodal Authority of the Project, is accused of receiving a bribe of Rs 7 crore for waiving off the penalty of Rs 16 crore imposed on Bharat Electronic Limited (BEL) for delay in installing 1.4 lakh CCTV Cameras in Delhi at the cost of Rs 571 crores.

The case of corruption against Jain emerged after a complaint by an employee of BEL in September 2019, who alleged that the BEL through its vendors arranged for a bribe of Rs 7 crore for Jain. As per records, apart from the complaint, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), GNCTD also obtained information from secret sources which corroborated the case of the complainant.

Further, according to the file, the fact that repeat orders were placed to the vendors to enhance value to arrange for the bribe money to the Minister (PWD) indicate commission of offence under PoC Act. The bribe money was allegedly paid to Jain through vendors of BEL.

Considering the information provided by the ACB and gravity of allegations/corruption involved in the matter, it was recommended that there were sufficient reasons and grounds to grant permission under Section 17 A of the PoC Act to allow ACB to conduct investigation in the matter to unearth the truth.

According to ACB, a media report in 2019 had stated that Delhi Government had imposed a penalty of Rs. 16 Crore on BEL for delay in installing the CCTVs in Delhi and a bribe of Rs 7 crore was arranged to be paid to Jain for waiving off the penalty.

The ACB had recorded the statement of the complainant, who faced the Departmental Enquiry (DE) in connection with the case.

The complainant also provided the copy of minutes of proceeding of DE against him in which he had mentioned about the incident of demand and payment of bribe amount of Rs7 Crores to Jain.

The DoV submitted that a prima facie case under the PoC Act is made out against Jain on the basis of the statements of the complainant and other evidences collected in the matter and accordingly vide letter dated 06.02.2023, comments along with supporting documents were sought from the PWD, prior to placing it before the competent authority.

The DoV also perused the comments of the PWD which could not provide satisfactory reply against the allegations saying that it was the internal matter of the BEL.

The BEL in the RTI query had also refused to give information in the matter saying it is commercially confidence and interrogatory in nature.

Reacting to the LGs move, the AAP said the BJP is relentlessly engaging in sinister conspiracies against the Delhi government day and night to halt Delhi government's works.

 This is the 201st case against us, like the previous 200 cases, the BJP and its central government are trying to paralyze the Delhi government because the AAP is a staunchly honest party. This case is yet another step towards suppressing the AAP. They illegally constituted the 'Shunglu Committee' and kept 400 files of the AAP government under the pretext of an investigation; they've been investigating the so-called liquor policy for two years, opening various cases with new fabricated stories, yet not a single rupee of corruption has been recovered to date, the AAP said in a statement.

The AAP further said that the BJP didn't stop here; they fabricated this so-called Liquor Scam in which they have filed a 50,000 pages chargesheet, examined 464 witnesses, and yet haven't unearthed a single rupee of corruption.
State BJP President and former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi today attended the Vijay Sankalp Sabha and Karyakarta Samman program of Hazaribagh Assembly constituency as the chief guest. Honouring the workers by giving them shawls, Marandi said that the capital of BJP is the workers. The party leaders remain attached to the stage, garlands and mikes but a common worker quietly does extraordinary work for the party.

He said that only the ordinary worker of the booth fights the battle on the ground. Be it the Panna Pramukh or the committee of the booth. All deserve congratulations. He said that only the worker answers the questions of the public at every step, only the worker does door to door contact. Therefore, giving respect to the workers is the duty of the party.

He said that the Modi government for the third time is the result of the tireless hard work of the workers, which the people of Congress, JMM and Indi Alliance are unable to digest today. They cannot tolerate that the son of a tea seller becomes the Prime Minister of India for the third time. He said that in the Lok Sabha elections, Indi Alliance resorted to lies and false propaganda. Various kinds of rumours were spread but the people of the country gave them a befitting reply.

He said that not only Modi government was formed at the Centre but BJP NDA governments were formed in many states. He said that in Jharkhand also NDA got 81 lakh votes, won 9 seats while INDI Thugbandhan was reduced to 5 seats with 66 lakh votes. NDA has won 52 assembly seats in the state. Many ministers including the then Chief Minister of the state could not make Indi Thugbandhan win in their assembly constituencies.

He said that today the condition of the state is going from bad to worse. Law and order is in shambles. Businessmen get calls from criminals, ransom is demanded. Not a single industrialist is ready to set up an industry. Police officers have mastered extortion. Competitive examinations of youth are falling prey to corruption. Jobs are being sold for lakhs. He said that there is loot of sand, stone, coal and land.

The demography of Santhal Pargana is changing. According to the census report of 1951 to 2011, the population of tribals is decreasing rapidly and the Muslim population is increasing unexpectedly day by day. It seems that in a few days the existence of tribals will end from Santhal Pargana.

He said that in such a situation, the public is looking towards BJP and NDA with hopeful eyes. We have to give voice to the feelings of the public. He said that the public is fed up with the lies and breach of promises of the Thugbandhan government. He said that today we all should pledge through Vijay Sankalp Sabha to uproot the corrupt, useless Hemant government and form a strong double engine government.
Bahujan Samaj Party president and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, on Saturday demanded strict action against Suraj Pal Singh, who is worshipped by his followers as 'Bhole Baba', in the Hathras stampede tragedy that claimed 121 lives.

The BSP chief also advised the poor, Dalits and the oppressed in the country not to get misled by superstition and hypocrisy of babas.

The poor, Dalits and the oppressed in the country should not increase their pain and suffer by getting misled by the superstition and hypocrisy of many babas like Bhole Baba of Hathras to get rid of their poverty and all other problems, this is the advice, she posted on X.

Rather, by following the path shown by Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, they will have to change their own destiny by taking power into their own hands, that is, they will have to join their own party BSP, only then they can avoid incidents like Hathras in which 121 people died, which is very worrying, Mayawati added.

She further said that the government should not be lax in such situations and take strict action against the guilty.

In the Hathras case, strict action should be taken against Bhole Baba and others who are guilty. Action should be taken against other such babas as well. In this case, the government should not be lax in its political interests so that no more people have to lose their lives, the BSF chief wrote on X.

Meanwhile, the self-styled godman Bhola Baba broke his silence on Saturday in connection with the Hathras stampede in which 121 people, mostly women and children, died, saying that those who created the chaos will not be spared.

In a video statement, Suraj Pal, who also goes by the name Narayan Sakar Hari, expressed his grief and condoled the deaths in the tragedy which took place earlier this week during a satsang in Fulari village in Hathras district.

Meanwhile, Mayawati also condemned the gruesome murder of partys Tamil Nadu president K Armstrong on Friday night.

In a separate post on X, Mayawati said, Hardworking and dedicated leader of BSP in Tamil Nadu and president of state party unit, K Armstrong was murdered outside his Chennai residence yesterday evening. This has sent a wave of grief and outrage across the society. The government should immediately take strict/necessary action so that such incidents can be prevented in future.

She further said, Considering the seriousness of this very sad and worrying incident, I plan to go to Chennai tomorrow morning to pay my respect and meet his family and console them. Everyone should maintain peace, this is an appeal.
Faced with flak from all quarters on the crime situation in the State, the Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapur on Friday claimed that Police efforts to prevent crimes against women have yielded positive results, leading to a 12.64 percent reduction in rape cases in 2024 compared to 2023. Similarly, attempted rape cases decreased by 60.28%, and molestation cases dropped by 27.21% as of June 30. Additionally, there was a 6.46% reduction in cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and a 25.23% decline in dowry deaths compared to the previous year, he added in a statement.



The DGP said that several measures were taken to ensure womens safety and security in the State. Prioritizing women's safety, Kapur said that the meetings with senior police officials led to the formulation of an action plan to ensure women feel safe. This included analyzing womens movement from home to late-night returns. Police Commissioners and Superintendents were instructed to identify hotspots and hot routes in their jurisdictions. Police teams were deployed on these routes to take action against offenders and those with criminal tendencies. Officers were also given duty in plain clothes on these routes and near schools, colleges, and other educational institutions to provide a safe environment for women. Additionally, a group of female officers in Gurugram has been trained to interact with girls and women in educational institutions to understand their issues closely.



Kapur said village guards and ward officials have been directed to identify and act against those who commit atrocities against women in their areas. Feedback was collected from victims after offenders were released from jail to ensure they were not being harassed again. Appropriate action was taken if such instances come to notice, he added.



The DGP further said that Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) teams patrol different areas to ensure womens safety, including through checkpoints. Autos, e-rickshaws, and cabs have unique number stickers that provide essential details like the driver's name, photo, mobile number, and address. Women can easily remember these numbers and share them with the police in case of an incident.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between CIPET (Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology), Ranchi and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, Ranchi here on Thursday for providing free skill development training to 80 project affected candidates.



After this MoU, CIPET, Ranchi will provide residential skill development training including placement to the youth of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, Ranchi project area in the field of plastic engineering and the entire program will be sponsored by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, Ranchi.



The MoU was signed by S. Samant, Senior General Manager, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, Ranchi and Praveen B. Bachhav, Joint Director and Head, CIPET Ranchi. Rajesh Kumar Saini, Senior Deputy General Manager, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, Ranchi and Md. Masoom Haider, Assistant Technical Officer from CIPET Ranchi were present on the occasion.



Under this MoU, 80 beneficiaries of Jharkhand will be provided employment along with training in plastics processing. The training is completely free and residential. The Director and Head of CIPET Ranchi, while throwing light on the said training program, gave information about the skill development training done earlier and resolved to achieve the current target. S. Samant, Senior General Manager congratulated CIPET Ranchi for successfully achieving the target of this new MOA.
Entire mock drill was conducted by Madhya Pradesh police which was aimed at continous fire safety training to police officers and employees. In view of the past fire accidents in various government offices of the state, special vigil is required.

On Saturday morning, security personnel were given training to control fire while keeping themselves safe at the State Police Headquarters.

In the training related to fire control, a mock drill of extinguishing fire with modern equipment was also conducted. During the mock drill, police personnel received training on how to easily extinguish the fire in liquid substances using fire extinguishers. Security personnel received training to extinguish fire in buildings, houses, warehouses etc. by avoiding smoke and flames. Prominently present in the mock drill were DSP (Security) Police Headquarters Nadeem Ullah Khan, Security Incharge of Police Headquarters Mukesh Saini, Inspector Mohanlal Mehra and ASI Santosh Dubey of Police Fire Station Mantralaya, Bhopal and his team.

During the mock drill, information was given to the police officers and employees about the modern equipments used in extinguishing fires.

During the training, SI Santosh Dubey told that there are five types of fires, the method of extinguishing which is also different. He said that these have been placed in the category from A to E.










The much awaited, first-ever Ranchi Mind Fest is set to launch on 6th July 2024, Saturday, at Shaurya Auditorium, JAP-1, Doranda, Ranchi. Organized by the Crossword Association of Jharkhand (CWAJ) and Leefam Ventures, and co-hosted by the Jharkhand Police Department, the event promises a day filled with intellectual stimulation and camaraderie.



DGP Jharkhand, Ajay Kumar Singh, will grace the fest as the Chief Guest. The event will also be honored by the presence of Vivek Singh, Chairman of RERA Bihar and Chief Mentor of CWAJ and Leefam Ventures, who is known for his passion for cruciverbalism.



Other distinguished guests at the events include ADG, Headquarters, Raj Kumar Mallik, CMD, Jharkhand Police Housing Corporation, Prashant Singh, Commandant, JAP-1 Rakesh Ranjan, AP Singh, IAS (Retd), President, Crossword Association of Jharkhand, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Bihar and Jharkhand Region Kumar Sanjay, Director Primary Education Shashi Singh, Principal Secretary, Department of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare Ajoy Kumar Singh and Advisor, Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited, (CMPDI) Prabhat Kumar.



This one-day event will include two major contests: a General Quiz and a Crossword Contest. Both contests will be divided into three categories: School, College, and Open. Participants of all ages are welcome to compete in the open category. Prizes and certificates will be awarded to the top three winners in all categories for both contests.



Those who missed to register online, can avail the on-spot registration facility at the venue. Registration will begin at 9:30am. One participant can take part in both the contests. Notably, participants from all the age groups are welcome



Sponsored by the State Bank of India, this event aims to promote extracurricular activities and showcase the talents of Jharkhands youth. Dont miss this opportunity to participate and celebrate intellect and knowledge at Ranchi Mind Fest 2024.




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In a shocking turn of events on Friday afternoon, Ludhiana witnessed a brazen sword attack on a prominent leader of Shiv Sena (Punjab) Sandeep Thapar, known as Gora. The assailants, dressed as Nihang Sikhs, ambushed Thapar on Old Jail Road, leaving him critically injured and sparking widespread outrage and fear in the region.



In response to the brazen assault, Ludhiana Police, under the leadership of SP Ravjot Grewal, acted swiftly, apprehending two suspects near the University area. A third suspect remains at large, prompting an intensive manhunt.



Thapar had been returning from a memorial service for a local BJP leader when the attack occurred. Accompanied by a police gunman, Thapar was riding his scooter when three assailants swiftly surrounded him. Despite the presence of his security detail, the attackers disarmed Thapars gunman and launched a vicious assault, leaving him severely wounded before fleeing the scene.



In response to the alarming incident, Ludhiana Police, led by SP Ravjot Grewal, acted promptly, apprehending two suspects near the University area. However, a third suspect remains at large, prompting an intensive manhunt across the city.



Police Commissioner Kuldeep Chahal confirmed the arrests, revealing that one of the detained suspects is associated with Baba Buddha Dal, a prominent religious group. Background checks and further investigations are underway to determine the motive behind the attack and any potential accomplices, he added.



The attack on Thapar has elicited strong condemnation and protests from local Hindu leaders, who have demanded swift justice and enhanced security measures for public figures in Ludhiana. Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and Ludhiana MP Amarinder Singh Raja Warring condemned the violence, urging law enforcement authorities to expedite the investigation and ensure all perpetrators are brought to justice swiftly.



AAP MLA from Ludhiana West Gurpreet Gogi also expressed grave concern over the incident, vowing to raise the issue with the Police Commissioner to secure enhanced security protocols for public figures.



Meanwhile, stringent security measures have been implemented across Ludhiana to prevent any further disturbances or acts of violence.



Following the attack, the assailants, identified as Nihang Sikhs, posted a video on the social media justifying their actions, claiming that they acted in defense of their faith and martyrs. They reiterated their stance against anyone perceived as speaking against their community or martyrs, underscoring the underlying tensions and ideological divisions within the region.



In response to public concern, District Commissioner Jaspreet Singh Teja visited Thapar at the hospital, reassuring the community of stringent legal actions against the attackers and reinforcing the commitment to ensuring the safety of all citizens. Teja denounced the attack as an affront to public safety and reiterated the administration's resolve to maintain law and order in Ludhiana.



The BJP condemned the attack and demanded the resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Punjab BJP general secretary Anil Sareen said Mann is not only the chief minister of the state but also holds the home portfolio.

Ever since the AAP has come to power in Punjab, the law and order situation in the state has gone from bad to worse, he alleged.

"There is a substantial increase in murder and robbery cases and activities of gangsters. As a result, a feeling of insecurity has developed among the people," the BJP leader claimed. Sareen said the Punjab government has proved to be an "utter failure" on the law and order front. In such circumstances, the chief minister should take moral responsibility for such incidents and quit, he said.


In a tragic incident, a Tata Steel employee died in an accidental fall from an overhead crane inside the company premises early on Saturday morning.

The deceased, identified as Naresh Prasad (32), was an NS grade worker and crane operator. The mishap occurred at around 4:00 am while Naresh Prasad was climbing to the crane installed at a considerable height. His absence went unnoticed initially, but fellow workers started searching for him after he remained incommunicable for a long time.

Naresh was found lying on the ground in critical condition. The safety department officials immediately rushed him to Tata Main Hospital, where doctors on emergency duty declared him dead.

The company management has confirmed the unfortunate incident and has set up a high-level enquiry into the mishap. Tata Steel has condoled the demise of Naresh Prasad and expressed solidarity with the bereaved family.

A resident of Kadma Main Road, Naresh was the father of two children and had joined Tata Steel three years ago. His father, also a Tata Steel employee, had secured a job in the company through a job-for-job scheme.

A communique issued by the company said: It is with deep regret that we confirm a tragic incident at our CRM facility in Jamshedpur. At approximately 4:00 AM (IST) today, Naresh Prasad (age 32 years) , one of our crane operators and a valued employee, fell from the crane and tragically died. Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with Naresh's family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time. We are extending all possible support to his family and are working closely with relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate the incident. The safety and well-being of our employees is of paramount importance to us, and we are committed to ensuring a safe working environment.
Impressed by the surrender policy of the Government, two Zonal Commanders of CPI (Maoist) surrendered on Saturday in the office of the Superintendent of Police. The Government has announced a reward of Rs. 10 lakh each on these two Maoists.

The names of the zonal commanders of CPI (Maoist) who surrendered are Neeraj Singh Kharwar alias Sanjay Kharwar and Salman alias Lokesh alias Rajkumar Ganjhu.

When these two Naxalites surrendered under the surrender policy, DIG of Palamu Range YS Ramesh, DC of the district Garima Singh and SP Anjani Anjan welcomed them by giving them a bouquet of flowers and a shawl. The cheque for the reward amount to be given to them was also given on the spot.

On the whole matter, Ramesh said that instead of being killed by the police, it is better that people who have strayed from the mainstream and have taken the path of Naxalism adopt the surrender policy and live their lives by joining the mainstream of society.

Singh appealed to the Naxalites to join the mainstream by adopting the surrender policy.

Also, the SP of the district said that the only option left for the few Naxalites left in Latehar district is to surrender. Latehar Police appeals to them to join the mainstream. They should surrender and join the mainstream, otherwise the police will be ready for them. Naxalites should join the mainstream otherwise they should be ready to be shot by the police, he added.


Rapid growth in human population and unchecked development have scarred the sacred river Ganga. Coupled with inflow of massive amount of pollutants, the rivers natural ability to cleanse itself is compromised, say BKP SINHA and DR ARVIND K JHA

The Ganga River, also known as the Ganges, is the longest river in India with the most populated basin, the home to 600 million people. Originating from the Gangotri glacier in Uttarakhand, it embarks on a journey of 2,525 kilometers, meandering through five states -

Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal before it merges with the

Bay of Bengal. It nourishes a variety of life forms, provides livelihoods to people, and contributes to countrys economy, trade, and commerce. The Ganga basin, spanning an area of 10.16 lakh square kilometers, contributes around 40% of the countrys GDP.

As per Hindu mythology, the river is believed to have descended from heaven when King Bhagiratha performed intense austerities for the river to descend to Earth. Considering rivers immense force, Lord Shiva received the celestial river in his matted locks releasing it in a controlled flow. The Ganga is revered as a goddess; its journey symbolizes purity, life, and redemption; and its water is believed to wash away sins and facilitate Moksha, the liberation from the cycle of life and death. The Ganga itself, however, is under severe threat today.

The rapid growth in human population and unchecked development have degraded its catchments. With obstruction and diversion of its flow coupled with inflow of massive amount of pollutants from industrial, human, and agricultural sources, its natural ability to cleanse itself is compromised. The polluted water in the changed flow regime poses serious threat to humans and rivers own biodiversity alike. While the future of 140 fish species and 90 amphibian species is threatened, Gharial and endangered Ganges River dolphin respectively are classified by IUCN as critically endangered and endangered. Severity of the issue that impacts the life, health and livelihoods of people and even undermines the

cultural and spiritual significance of the Ganga deserves to be realized in its entirety and tackled with promptitude.

Efforts have been made to clean and preserve the Ganga. During the late 1980s the Ganga Action Plan was implemented. This initiative led primarily to the construction of wastewater treatment facilities at selected places in addition to the closure of a number of polluting industrial plants along the river. In 2008, the Ganga was declared as the national river of India. Subsequently, in 2014, the Government of India initiated the Namami Gange project that aimed to rejuvenate and protect the Ganga River by addressing pollution sources and promoting sustainable practices for improving its biological richness. The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), popularly known as the Namami Gange Mission, was billed as a scientific programme by the Indian government that aimed to clean the river using advanced technologies at a project cost of INR 20,000 crores with the dual objectives of effective abatement of pollution and conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga River.

The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation (MWRRDGJ) issued a notification on 7th October 2016, defining the River Ganga to include the entire length of six head-streams in the State of Uttarakhand, namely, Rivers Alakananda, Dhauli Ganga, Nandakini, Pinder, Mandakini and Bhagirathi, as well as the main stem of the river up to Ganga Sagar, including all its tributaries up to Ganga Sagar.

The establishment of sewage treatment plants and sewerage networks with a primary focus on bioremediation figured predominantly in the Namami Gange project and accounted for

about 80 percent of the overall project outlay. On the conservation and rejuvenation front, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared in 2016 by Forest Research Institute, ICFRE, Dehra Dun had a projected outlay of Rs. 2,293.73 crores. Investments were planned to begin from 2016-17 itself. The five-year plan considers riparian corridors, nature of channel morphology, and the dynamics of the river. A unique geographical area of 83,946 km delineated as Ganga riverscape along the Ganga has been identified for planning, assessment, and implementation of measures that include activities like reforestation or afforestation, managing vegetation to prevent soil erosion, and creating buffer zones to protect the river from pollutants.

Further, the Wildlife Institute of India prepared the Biodiversity Conservation and Ganga Rejuvenation plan with focus on development of local level Ganga Prahari volunteers for playing a crucial role in conserving the ecological integrity of the Ganga and reducing the direct dependency of locals on the river. The projects of the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (CIFRI) and the Uttar Pradesh State Forest Department targeted science-based aquatic species restoration.

The website of Namami Gange contains information on the progress of implementation till 2020 only. The recent audit report of the project by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, however, has noted deficiencies on various fronts viz. planning, financial management implementation and monitoring, and delays in achievement of milestones under the programme.

The current scenario warrants improvement not only on the above aspects but also introduction of innovative and effective approach. In this context, one can draw inspiration from an ancient text by Sage Kashyapa on agriculture. He outlined five principles for water resources development.

The first principle, Udhgamsthana, suggests that conservation should commence at the rivers source. This includes construction of temples for protection, management of upper catchments, and redirecting streams and rivulets to enrich rivers source. The second principle, Nyunatam Gati-avarodh, advocates for minimal disruption to the natural flows of water and air to maintain the hydrological cycle. The third principle, Golden Mean or Suvarna Madhya, emphasizes that water structures should prioritize appropriateness over maximum capacity indicating sustainable and responsible use of water resources. The fourth principle acknowledges the interdependence of natural resources like land, water, forest, and fauna suggesting integration of sacred groves, tanks, and bunds at key points to distribute water usage. The fifth and final principle, Sahabagh, Swabhava, and Sanskara, emphasizes the need for community participation that takes care of the needs of all stakeholders.

The concept of Rejuvenation defined as restoring a living entity to a previously agreed state of health and wellness is most relevant in the context of the Ganga. Given the definition of Ganga by the MWRRDGJ, its high time that the rejuvenation approach for Ganga targets the entire riverscape in an integrated manner while drawing and utilizing funds from all concerned departments.

All the tributaries require treatment to ensure they remain clean and flowing and contribute to the flow of the Ganga. In order to foster larger community engagement in the rejuvenation mission, catchment areas of tributaries can be named after revered personalities or temples at their origin, followed by the suffix Namami Gange Van. For instance, the catchment of Ramganga, originating from the Doodhatoli ranges of Pauri in Uttarakhand, could be named Veer Chandra Singh Gadwali: Namami Gange Van. Similarly, as the Ghagra river converges with the Ganga after the confluence of Mahakali (Sharda) at Tanakpur housing the Purnagiri temple, the catchment could be named Purnagiri: Namami Gange Van. Likewise, the catchments of Gomati in Pilibhit could be named Vashishtha, that of Sai river meeting Gomti in Parsai village (Hardoi) as Adi-Ganga, that of Saryu and lower Ghagra as Ram, and those of Gandak, Kosi, and Budhi Gandak as Valmiki, Kausika, and Champakaranya respectively. The origin of Gangas tributary, the Sone River at Amarkantak could bear the name Sone, the catchment of Punpun river originating in Jharkhand as Punpun, and the Namami Gange Van of Damodar, Mayurakshi, Ajay, Bansloi, and Ghumani could respectively be prefixed with the names Sarhul, Trikut, Ajay, Venu, and Rajmahal. Restoration of suitable forest cover, construction of water conservation structures, keeping

river beds encroachment-free, prevention of water diversion, and curbing exploitative livelihood systems near the banks shall have to be prioritized in these areas as in the main stream of the Ganga.

The overarching strategy for rejuvenation must combine pollution prevention through stricter regulations and rigorous implementation in order to transform Gangas biological profile making it NIRMAL and the restoration of status of its stream to AVIRAL. In 2017, the Uttarakhand High Court declared the rivers Ganga and Yamuna as legal persons with all corresponding rights of a living person. Considering it together with the concepts of spiritual ecology and earth stewardship, one should come up with innovative strategies in the Indian context.

Standing on its banks, one is left with a profound sense of awe and a lingering questionwhat will the next chapter in the Gangas story be? The narratives connected with religious, mythical, political, historical, and the emergent ecological aspects sketch collectively a nuanced and multifaceted complex image of this emblematic river. Once considered the purest of all rivers, it has become one of the most polluted in the world. Today the Ganga flows with the stories of Gods but has the scars of development. Its high time we reciprocate to the Ganga what it has generously provided us for centuries - survival and sustenance.

(The writers are Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, UP and Maharashtra; views expressed are personal)
Two tourists from Hyderabad died in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Saturday after being hit by boulders following a landslide, police said.

They said the accident occurred on the Badrinath National Highway near Chatwapeepal between Gauchar and Karnaprayag.

Police said Nirmal Shahi (36) and Satya Narayana (50) were returning from the Himalayan temple on a motorcycle when they were hit by the boulders rolling down the hill.

Their bodies have been pulled out of the rubble of the landslide, police officials added.

Landslides triggered by heavy rains over the past few days have left the Badrinath national highway blocked at more than half a dozen places, including Kameda between Gauchar and Rudraprayag, Bhanir Pani near Pipalkoti, Pagalnala near Tangni, Pinola between Joshimath and Badrinath and at Kanchanganga beyond Hanumanchatti.

National Highways Authority of India and Border Roads Organisation personnel are busy clearing the roads.

The Rudraprayag-Kedarnath national highway is also blocked owing to a landslide.

All government and private schools in Rudraprayag district were shut on Saturday as a precautionary measure.

A red alert for "heavy to very heavy rainfall" has been issued by the meteorological department for both the Kumaon and Garhwal regions for Saturday and Sunday.

People have been advised not to go near water bodies during this period.
As many as eight suspects have been held in connection with the murder of BSP state president K Armstrong, police said, but political leaders and supporters of the slain leader have questioned if they were the real culprits.

Supporters of the slain leader claimed his killing was "planned" and demanded a CBI probe into the death of the 52-year-old former Chennai Corporation Councillor.

The Bahujan Samaj Party leader was hacked to death by a six-member bike borne gang near his house in Perambur here on Friday.

Chief Minster M K Stalin on Saturday expressed shock over Armstrong's death and expressed his condolences and said the culprits were caught in an overnight operation.

A post-mortem on Armstrong's body was conducted at a government hospital here on Saturday.

Supporters of Armstrong staged a protest outside the hospital, demanding a CBI probe into the killing. A BSP functionary said it was a "planned murder" and claimed there was an "intelligence failure." Therefore, the central agency should probe the case.

The continued protest by Armstrong's supporters outside the hospital, located opposite the Chennai Central railway station, affected traffic movement on the busy Poonamalle High Road and they were later removed from there by the police.

Chief Minister Stalin said he was shocked and anguished over Armstrong's death.

"The police have arrested those involved in his murder in an overnight operation," Stalin said in a post on 'X'.

He said he had ordered the police to conduct the investigation expeditiously and ensure that the culprits are punished according to law.

"I would like to convey my deepest condolences and sympathies to the bereaved family and friends," he said.

At least eight suspects have been secured in connection with the murder of the BSP state president and 10 teams have been formed to crack the case, Asra Garg, Additional Commissioner (North) told reporters.

There are some "two to three suspicious motives", but the exact one would come to light only after the interrogation of the suspects, he added.

Meanwhile, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder and Lok Sabha member Thol Thirumavalavan claimed those who are under police custody presently in connection with the case had "surrendered" before them and that they were not the real culprits.

Praising Armstrong for his public work, he said the decased leader was a "trusted" colleague of BSP supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.

"His body will be kept for public homage at a private school in Perambur," he told reporters after visiting the government hospital.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai also said the "real culprits" behind the murder should be brought to book.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was trying to speak to the family of the victim, he added.

AIADMK general secretary and Leader of Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, condoled Armstrong's death and also slammed the ruling DMK over law and order.

In a post on 'X,' he expressed concern over the killing of a "national party's state chief" and alleged there was no fear of police, government and law that had emboldened individuals to resort to such crimes and slammed the chief minister.

BJP state president K Annamalai said violence and brutality had become normal in the three years of DMK rule and said the CM should ponder over if he has the moral right to continue in the post, vis-a-vis the law and order situation.
It is the government's duty to run Parliament smoothly and there should be no "bulldozing of bills" during the Budget session, TMC MP Derek O'Brien said on Saturday, reiterating the opposition's demand to appoint one of its members as the Lok Sabha deputy speaker.

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha was stormy with opposition INDIA bloc parties attacking the ruling BJP-led NDA over the NEET-UG paper leak row and the situation in Manipur among other issues. Both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha saw multiple adjournments.

Parliament's Budget session will be held between July 22 and August 12.

"It is the government's duty to run Parliament smoothly in the Budget session. They must offer the deputy speaker (post) in the Lok Sabha to an INDIA candidate," O'Brien, a Rajya Sabha member, said in a post on X.

He also said that one notice from the opposition should be allowed every week in each of the Houses "to discuss issues of national importance (exam mess; unemployment), ensure no bulldozing of bills".

The INDIA bloc is pushing for a deputy speaker to be appointed from one of its constituents.

The opposition had also pushed for a rare contest for the Lok Sabha speaker's post by nominating Congress' K Suresh against BJP's Om Birla, even as it did not press for a division of votes.

The name of Faizabad MP and Samajwadi Party leader Awadhesh Prasad has been suggested by the TMC for the post of deputy speaker, a demand that has been backed by some other parties as well.

The 17th Lok Sabha did not have a deputy speaker for its full term.
Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the July 2 Hathras stampede that claimed 121 lives, had fled to Delhi after the deadly episode before Uttar Pradesh Police got him into its custody late last night, officials said.

Madhukar's lawyer A P Singh late Friday night claimed his client had surrendered to the police in Delhi.

A police official told PTI that Madhukar was picked up by a Special Operations Group (SOG) team of Hathras police.

"He was taken into custody from Delhi, near Najafgarh area," another police officer in Hathras said, requesting anonymity.

However, police are yet to officially announce the arrest of Madhukar, the 'mukhya sevadar' of the 'satsang' where the stampede occurred. He is the only accused named in the FIR lodged at Sikandra Rao police station in Hathras in connection with the incident.

In a video message, Madhukar's lawyer A P Singh claimed that his client had surrendered in Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment.

"Today, we have surrendered Devprakash Madhukar, who has been called the main organiser in the FIR in the Hathras case, after calling the police, the SIT and the STF in Delhi since he was undergoing treatment here," Singh said.

"We had promised we would not apply for anticipatory bail since we did no wrong. What is our crime? He is an engineer and a heart patient. Doctors said his condition is stable now and so we surrendered today to join the probe," the lawyer said.

Singh said police may now record his statement or question him but they must take into consideration his health condition and ensure that "nothing wrong happens with him".

"We did not do anything like filing anticipatory bail or moving court which would have been viewed as an effort to save ourselves and being scared... Questions were being raised about his (Madhukar) whereabouts and if he had run away," he claimed.

Madhukar will join the probe and share information about the "anti-social elements" at the event, he added.

Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to Madhukar's arrest.

On July 3, the Supreme Court lawyer had claimed that he also represents Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba, the self-styled godman at whose 'satsang' the stampede occurred, and that some "anti-social elements" were behind the tragedy.

Surajpal was ready to cooperate with the state administration and police and had sought an investigation into the entire matter, Singh had said.

Till Thursday, six people, including two women volunteers, who were members of the organising committee of Bhole Baba's 'satsang', had been arrested in the case.

An FIR was lodged in the matter on July 2 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).

On July 3, the Uttar Pradesh government had formed a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge to probe the Hathras tragedy and to look into the possibility of a conspiracy behind the stampede.
BJP president J P Nadda on Tuesday sought to corner the DMK-Congress government in Tamil Nadu over the murder of state BSP chief K Armstrong, saying the incident has reaffirmed its disregard towards the poor and marginalised sections of society.

He said on X, "Several of those affected by the spurious liquor tragedy were also from these sections of society. It is better DMK-Congress show compassion instead of indulging in petty politics 24X7."

The gruesome murder of Armstrong has angered the entire nation, Nadda said.

"The killing of Thiru Armstrong has also reaffirmed what is widely known- the disregard of the DMK-Congress towards the poor and marginalised sections of society," the BJP chief said.

He said an upcoming leader's life, which was devoted to empowering the marginalised sections of society, was brutally cut short.

"My thoughts are with his family and friends. I urge the Tamil Nadu government to punish the culprits at the earliest," Nadda said.

The Chennai Police on Saturday said the killing of Armstrong by a group of assailants was not political in nature and that all angles were being probed.

Eight suspects in the case were nabbed within three hours of the crime on Friday, City Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore told reporters and denied that the BSP leader faced any threat to his life.
The health condition of former Railway minister Mukul Roy, who was admitted to a hospital a couple of days back following a fall at his residence, is "critical", an official of the medical establishment said on Saturday.

Roy, who got injured in the fall, is still in the Intensive Care Unit at the hospital, he said.

"Roy's health condition is critical but stable. Our doctors are monitoring him round the clock," the official told PTI.

Roy is one of the founding members of the Trinamool Congress.

He had joined the BJP in 2017 and had won from Krishnanagar Uttar constituency in the 2021 Assembly polls on a saffron party ticket.
The state government will monitor the upcoming Kanwar Yatra with a helicopter and also shower flowers on kanwariyas, an official statement issued here said on Saturday.

According to the statement, Chief Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh government Manoj Kumar Singh and Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar convened a review meeting ahead of the yatra with officials of different states in Meerut Divisional Commissioner Auditorium.

The meeting was attended by senior police and administrative officials of Meerut, Saharanpur, Aligarh and Moradabad divisions along with officials from Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan.

During the month on Sawan, which begins from July 22, people from Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan walk to Rishikesh and Haridwar in Uttarakhand to collect water from the Ganga river and bring it back to be offered in Shiva temples.

In the review meeting, the chief secretary said that the entire yatra will be monitored by a helicopter and flowers will be showered on kanwariyas like previous years, the statement said.

Singh directed the officials that "good behaviour" should be maintained towards the kanwariyas as it is the government's responsibility to ensure safe completion of the yatra, it said.

He said that special attention should be paid towards cleanliness of Kanwar camps and route. Efforts should be made to make the yatra completely plastic-free, the chief secretary added.

He directed the Public Works Department, NHAI officer to make sure that the entire Kanwar route is pothole-free, the statement said.

He also asked the concerned officers of the electricity department to repair electric wires and poles on the route so that no untoward incident occurs, it said.

According to the statement, the chief secretary and DGP also visited Baba Aughadnath temple and took stock of the security arrangements related to the yatra.

Officials of districts in western Uttar Pradesh were informed about the Kanwar Yatra proceedings through virtual medium, it said.

DGP Kumar said that route diversions should be done for the yatra only after informing the locals, the statement mentioned. Arrangements should be made to check the quality of food items in the camp so that incidents such as food poisoning do not occur, it said.

He also directed the officials to ensure that sound boxes on Kanwar vehicles remain within the prescribed height to prevent incidents like electrocution, the statement said.

The DGP said that criminal elements should be closely monitored and immediate action should be taken if any suspicious activity is observed.

Local officials informed that instructions have been given to the fire department officer to remain on alert during the yatra, the statement said.


Tension in Bengal after BJP worker, his wife and son stabbed Tension gripped the Sonarpur area in Bengals's South 24 Parganas district on Saturday after a local BJP activist, his wife and their son were stabbed. Gobindo Adhikari, his wife Namita Adhikari and their son Gourab Adhikari were critically injured in the attack and rushed to state-run MR Bangur Hospital, from where they were shifted to the S. S. K. M Medical College & Hospital.



Gobindo Adhikari, an active BJP worker in the area, was the party's polling agent in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.



Three people -- Archan Bhattacharya, Subhash Debnath and Sumit Debnath -- have been arrested in this connection.



A political slugfest has already erupted in the area over the incident.



"Those who have attacked Gobindo, his wife, and his son are active Trinamool Congress workers. BJP was leading from the polling booth where Gobindo was the polling agent in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. He was also threatened then by the goons backed by the ruling party," said local BJP leader Debnath Chakraborty.



However, local Trinamool Congress councilor Rajib Purohit denied the involvement of his party workers behind the event and said that it happened due to an old rivalry between the two families.



Investigation is on.




The Peaks bar in Noe Valley in San Francisco is a spot where many native to the city hang out. Carl Nolte/The Chronicle Keli Leal and her daughter, Shauna Leal-Markham, tend to the Peaks bar in San Franciscos Noe Valley. Carl Nolte/The Chronicle San Francisco native Phil Mayes and his pals grab an after-work beer inside the Peaks bar in San Franciscos Noe Valley. Carl Nolte/The Chronicle

It is widely assumed native San Franciscans are extinct, swept away by the mighty tides of transplanted San Franciscans, people who moved to the City by the Bay for a better life, better weather, a better job or maybe to reinvent themselves.

Theyre the ones who seem to be the face of a new San Francisco these days. But there are still a few natives around: London Breed, Gavin Newsom, Marc Benioff. Maybe youve heard of them.

Im a native myself, and every so often I find more of us, gathered together, maybe having a summer drink in Noe Valley at the Peaks bar at 24th and Castro streets, an establishment Facebook describes as an old-school SF hangout with an upbeat atmosphere.

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The Peaks is not to be confused with the Twin Peaks Tavern at Castro and Market, a gay bar with an international reputation. The two bars with a similar name are just over the hill from each other.

One of the first things you notice about the Peaks is that the customers look vaguely familiar, like people youve met around town.



Ill bet you 50% of our customers are native San Franciscans, said Keli Leal, who was behind the bar the other warm Friday afternoon. She pointed down the end of the bar where a group of men were drinking beer. Look, she said, Hes a native, and so is he, pointing again, and that one, too, and the guy next to him. All natives.

The men were regular customers, in for a beer after work. They knew each other and had that affinity all native San Franciscans have.

Im a third-generation native myself, she said. Her daughter, Shauna Leal-Markham, is a fourth-generation San Franciscan and proud of it.

The two women run the Peaks together. Keli got in the hospitality business as a young woman: I got married, got divorced, was a single mother and needed a job with flexible hours, Keli said. I didnt like restaurants or typing in some office.

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Shauna, her daughter, worked for years as a 911 dispatcher. That gave her the chance to see the city as it really is: emergencies at night, desperate people, tough work. After that, the family neighborhood bar sounded good. So did working with her mother. I grew up here, she said.

Noe Valley used to be an Irish neighborhood, and though bits of the past remain, like the Peaks, Noe Valley has been transformed. According to the Redfin real estate website, the median price of a Noe Valley home was $2.2 million in May, 26% more than last year.

Thats one neighborhood poster of the housing shortage in San Francisco. Its no wonder that natives who own houses hang on.

Thats the bigger picture, but its the small places that make the city: neighborhood bars in the Richmond and Sunset, in North Beach, Chinatown, out in the Excelsior. The Peaks is one of them, dark inside, a pool table, a patio in back, music, worn a bit like a community living room. A dive bar, Keli describes it. A local neighborhood bar.

Its the kind of place you go for a quiet drink after work with your union brothers, a blue-collar place, said Phil Mayes, who belongs to the boilermakers union.

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Mayes and his pal, Julio Segura, talked a little about the city, how its changed and their shifting views of San Francisco. You love it and you hate it sometimes, Mayes said.

Sometimes hes called out at night on emergency calls. After dark, he says you see the real problems  people stumbling around like the living dead. Are they druggies? Like zombies, he said. Zombies in the street.

Thats when he hates what he sees in his native city. Sometimes he leaves San Francisco for a while, but after a couple of weeks the pull of the city gets him: I come back. I get homesick.

Like a lot of native San Franciscans, he has mixed feelings about his hometown. He was reminded of the line from the film The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Jimmie, the main character, is disappointed by San Francisco. But when he hears two women on a Muni bus complaining about the city, he tells them: You dont get to hate it unless you love it.
A firefighter extinguishes hot spots on the French Fire in Mariposa on Friday. Nic Coury/Special to the Chronicle The remains of a tree burned in the French Fire smolder in Mariposa on Friday. Nic Coury/Special to the Chronicle

Firefighters continued to make progress battling the French Fire in Mariposa County on Sunday, bringing containment up to 45%, Cal Fire said.

The fire broke out at 6:30 p.m. Thursday just north of the town of Mariposa in a grassy woodland area thick with heavy brush. It moved quickly and prompted evacuation orders over most of the city.

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 California fire map & tracker: Latest updates on active fires throughout the state

By Saturday, some of the areas under evacuation Thursday and early Friday had been fully reopened, though several evacuation orders and warnings remained in place. A shelter-in-place order for the towns hospital and two inns had also been lifted.

As of 6:30 a.m. Sunday, four structures had been destroyed by the fire, though damage inspections were ongoing. Cal Fire estimated that 830 structures were threatened by the blaze. Four people had been injured.

Minimal fire activity and growth was observed throughout the day as the fire remains within containment lines, Cal Fire reported. Crews continue to reinforce containment lines around the fire, mop up and patrol.

The French Fire burns in Mariposa on Friday. Nic Coury/Special to the Chronicle

The Madera-Mariposa-Merced Cal Fire units social media pages were filled with people thanking the firefighters for their quick work.

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Youre providing much comfort at a great distance to relatives of Mariposans. I thank you for that, whole-heartedly, one Facebook user wrote in response to Cal Fires update.
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Two men drowned Thursday in the Yuba River in Nevada County, according to the Nevada County Consolidated Fire District. The next day, another person drowned elsewhere in the county. Nevada County Consolidated Fire District

Three people have drowned within 27 hours of each other in Nevada County, authorities said.

Around 4:30 p.m. Friday, crews from the Nevada County Consolidated Fire District responded to a drowning in Scotts Flat Lake. Responders brought the person to shore and used CPR until the victim was pronounced dead on the scene.

As a reminder, our lakes and rivers are beautiful but can be devastating, the Nevada County Consolidated Fire District wrote on its Facebook page after the Friday drowning.

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The day before, crews responded to two other drownings.

At 1:27 p.m. Thursday, rescuers were called to a part of the Yuba River close to Highway 49 by Nevada City to look for a person who entered the water and did not resurface. The responders used ropes to help retrieve a mans body. They performed CPR until he was pronounced dead.

Shortly afterward Thursday, crews responded to another drowning in a separate area of the Yuba River, this time near Penn Valley. Responders found the body of a man, whom they pronounced dead.

Please, visitors to our beautiful south Yuba River, the warnings shared by first responders and river advocates are serious and meant to educate river patrons to the dangers of the swift and cold river water, the Nevada County Sheriffs Office wrote on its Facebook page.
Key Points:

Latvia and Estonia are bolstering their national security by acquiring German-made TRML-4D radar systems, which will enhance their air defense capabilities within the Baltic region.

These state-of-the-art radar systems will be integrated with existing IRIS-T SLM air defense systems, forming a robust and interconnected defense network under the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) umbrella.

This acquisition reflects the broader trend of increased European defense spending and cooperation following the conflict in Ukraine, highlighting a renewed focus on continental security.

In a move signaling the growing emphasis on regional security, Latvia and Estonia are bolstering their air defense capabilities with the acquisition of sophisticated German-made radar systems. This significant investment is part of the broader European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), a collaborative effort to fortify the continents airspace against potential threats.

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State-of-the-Art Technology for Enhanced Protection

The heart of this upgrade lies in acquiring the TRML-4D radar system, developed by German defense electronics giant Hensoldt. Valued at over 100 million (U.S. $108 million), this procurement will provide the Baltic nations with cutting-edge technology to monitor and protect their airspace. The TRML-4D is renowned for its expansive 250-kilometer (155-mile) detection radius and the capability to track approximately 1,500 targets concurrently. This unparalleled situational awareness will be crucial in swiftly identifying and responding to potential threats.

Integration and Interoperability

These advanced radars will seamlessly integrate with the IRIS-T SLM air defense systems previously purchased from Diehl Defence. This integration is key to ESSI, ensuring interoperability and creating a robust, interconnected defense network across participating nations. The ability of different systems to communicate and share information in real-time will be vital for coordinated and effective responses to aerial threats.

A Legacy of Defense Cooperation

The European Sky Shield Initiative

This latest acquisition builds upon a landmark agreement signed in September 2022, where Latvia and Estonia committed to procuring over 1 billion worth of German-made air defense systems. This investment represented the largest military expenditure in Latvias history since regaining independence, highlighting the seriousness with which the Baltic nations view the current geopolitical landscape. The acquisition of the TRML-4D radar systems signifies the concrete realization of this commitment, translating strategic vision into tangible defense capabilities.

The European Sky Shield Initiative, launched by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in 2022, is the overarching framework for this collaborative air defense effort. ESSI brings together 21 nations, including non-NATO members Austria and Switzerland, to establish a comprehensive and interoperable air defense architecture across the continent, stretching from the Nordic region to Turkey.

A Cornerstone of European Air Defense

With the inclusion of these latest orders, Hensoldt solidifies its role as a central player in shaping Europes evolving air defense landscape. The companys contribution to ESSI now exceeds 80 radar systems, showcasing its expertise and European nations trust in its technology.

Addressing the Challenges

While the German-made IRIS-T system forms the core of ESSIs short- and medium-range defense, the initiative also incorporates long-range Patriot missile systems from the United States and the Israeli-made Arrow 3 exo-atmospheric interceptor. This reliance on non-European technology has drawn criticism from some quarters, particularly France, raising concerns about strategic autonomy. Nonetheless, ESSI continues to expand its reach, most recently welcoming Poland into the fold after initial hesitation.

Defense Spending and the Ukrainian Catalyst

Sparked by the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, ESSI has acted as a catalyst for a significant increase in European defense spending, particularly in the realm of air defense. The Baltic states, acutely aware of their geopolitical vulnerabilities, were among the first to embrace the initiative, signing a joint declaration with 12 other nations in October 2022. Latvia and Estonias recent radar acquisition marks a significant stride towards realizing the initiatives vision of a secure and integrated European airspace.
A young snowy egret too young to survive on its own keeps to the fence line at the Waterford Cove Apartments in Sacramento while being pursued for rehabilitation by Michelle, a volunteer from Sacramento Heron and Egret Rescue. Christie Hemm Klok/Special to the Chronicle

As the ongoing heat wave pummels Northern California, volunteers and wildlife experts are struggling to rescue an unusually high number of baby shorebirds that have been falling from their nests into urban areas over the past few months.

A Sacramento volunteer group has already rescued 250 baby herons and egrets, the highest number since 2017. The reason for the uptick is unknown, but the baby birds  with their oversize beaks and fuzzy head feathers  often fall from high trees when their parents nest in urban areas near waterways that were likely part of their historic range, said Christy Berger, co-founder of Sacramento Heron and Egret Rescue.

For some reason they like to pick parking lots, she said. One apartment complex in the Pocket neighborhood near the Sacramento River had around 150 nests, Berger said.

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A young snowy egret has fallen to the ground from its nest near the Waterford Cove Apartments in Sacramento. Christie Hemm Klok/Special to the Chronicle

Michelle, a volunteer from Sacramento Heron and Egret Rescue, corrals a snowy egret that has fallen from its next and is too young to survive on its own. It will be transported to the Wildlife Care Association, where it will be cared for until it can be released back into the wild. Christie Hemm Klok/Special to the Chronicle

Berger and other volunteers brought the birds, which tend to be about half the size of adults but can range from tiny babies to fledglings, to wildlife centers to be treated for dehydration, starvation and injuries sustained during the falls. The species include black-crowned night herons, snowy egrets, great egrets and cattle egrets.

The continuing intense heat wave is likely to cause more such falls, which can happen when babies become overheated and leave the nest prematurely. It also put on hold a planned release of six rehabilitated baby shorebirds in a Davis wildlife area Wednesday evening, when temperatures were too high to let the birds go. The volunteers were able to move forward with the release the following Tuesday, once it cooled off enough for them to fend for themselves in the wild.

Snowy egrets and herons have made the trees surrounding the Waterford Cove Apartments in Sacramento their nesting grounds. But recent heat is causing overheated baby birds to fall from the trees into an urban area not ideal for their survival. Christie Hemm Klok/Special to the Chronicle

Feathers litter the area around the Waterford Cove Apartments in Sacramento, where snowy egrets and herons have made the trees in the area their nesting grounds. Christie Hemm Klok/Special to the Chronicle

The heat hasnt had as big as an impact in downtown Oakland, where staff from the Oakland Zoo and volunteers do patrols daily for baby herons and egrets that have fallen from trees during the April to August nesting season, said Samantha Sammons, wildlife recovery program manager at the Oakland Zoo.

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So far this year, the group has assisted 71 nestlings, putting it on track to be similar to last year, when they rescued 76 total. (The Oakland project was prompted by a controversial incident a decade ago, when five baby herons were injured during tree trimming paid for by an Oakland branch of the Postal Service to prevent nesting birds from defecating on their trucks.)

Sacramento Heron and Egret Rescue typically finds about the same number of dead birds as live ones needing help during their patrols, Berger said. In cities, the rescuers theorize, nestlings careen from tall, trimmed city trees to hard surfaces, whereas in natural settings, there is more underbrush to catch their fall.

Founder of SHER, Christy Berger leads a release on July 9 with the help of three of her volunteers. Christie Hemm Klok/Special to the Chronicle

In wetlands, when the babies fall they would be cushioned and they can get back up in the tree, said Berger. Here we have concrete and cars driving by, and they do get hit.

Volunteers like Berger use blankets to carefully scoop up baby birds that appear injured or too young to fend for themselves, then place them in boxes and bring them to the Wildlife Care Association in Sacramento.

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They come in dehydrated, emaciated. Once they get out of the nest, the parents dont feed them, said Sandra Foreman, animal care manager at Wildlife Care Association, who said that birds usually stay four or five weeks before being released.

Egrets and heron have made the trees surrounding the Waterford Cove Apartments in Sacramento their nesting grounds. The baby birds fall from the trees into an urban area not ideal for their survival. A group called SHER (Sacramento Heron and Egret Rescue), made up of volunteers heads out twice a day to rescue any baby birds in need. Once the birds are rehabilitated they are released back into the wild. Christie Hemm Klok/Special to the Chronicle

Egrets and heron are released by volunteers on July 9. Christie Hemm Klok/Special to the Chronicle

The clinic can successfully treat wing injuries, Foreman said, but a large number of the birds have spinal and pelvic injuries that make humane euthanasia the only option. She is expecting to see more baby birds show up at the clinic as a result of the heat wave, and not just herons and egrets.

When theres increased heat and the sun is right on top of the nest, she said, they tend to jump out. Their nests are like furnaces.

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The new owner of the Derryhale Hotel in Dundalk says he looks forward to the creation of 40 jobs in the town while bringing the Victorian-era luxury hotel back to life this year.

Dundalk native Andy Mackin says he bought the hotel as he wanted to return it to its former glory.

Derryhale is a project particularly close to my heart as a native of Dundalk. I used to go there when I was younger and found it heartbreaking to see it closed over the last 20 years and becoming so run down in the years, he explained.

Im proud to be able to give something back to the town and to hopefully leave a legacy in my Dads honour and name.

Speculation and excitement is rising locally as people from the community have been reminiscing about their experiences at the hotel  everything from First Holy Communions, to weddings and engagement parties.

Mr Mackin said: Its been really touching to see such support and reminiscing from the local community since renovation works to the building got underway.

People have been sharing their pictures and memories of their first dates, wedding and family celebrations down through generations.

Its lovely and Im so looking forward to being able to open the doors and welcome people of the town and further afield.

The hotel, which is located just off the Carrickmacross Road, will create 40 jobs in Dundalk.

Dating back to the late Victorian/early Edwardian era, the building was the pride of the town from when it first opened as a hotel in 1963.

Sadly, Derryhale fell into a state of disrepair over the years, but Im excited to revive this iconic listed building in all its heritage glory, Mr Mackin shared.

He continued: Im proud we are in a position to help weave the hotel and its new staff back into the social fabric of Dundalk.

He said the Derryhale Hotel was about to write a new chapter in its history but the memories of the last chapter would also be honoured as members of the community and those with memories of the hotel are being asked to share them ahead of the hotels opening in early 2025.

Mackin Group is an international business group headquartered in Cork, with offices in Dublin, London and Warwickshire, California and North Carolina, Vancouver, Zurich, Netherlands, Cape Town, Singapore and Shanghai.

The company was established in 2004 just before Mr Mackin retired in 2006 from the navy after 21 years.

The Mackin Group employs 250 staff worldwide and operates across several sectors including recruitment services Mackin Talent and Greybridge Search & Selection, environment health and safety consultancy Mackin EHS, and a diverse property portfolio MackinGo flexible workspaces in the US and properties in the US and Ireland.

Mr Mackin continued: Derryhale and indeed the other properties in Mackins portfolio reflect my continued ambition and open minded perspective to business and life.

Im as passionate as ever about my business endeavours, the people we work with and the service and contribution we make.

The Derryhale Hotel is a listed building which dates back to c. 1906, in the late Victorian/early Edwardian style.

The hotel still boasts its distinctive carved timber staircase, stained glass windows, panelled doors, architrave and ceiling cornices.

The hotel was first opened in August 1963. Follow the progress of the reopening of the Derryhale Hotel at www.derryhale hotel.com.
Tanaiste and Minister for Defence Micheal Martin has said that an inquest hearing into Private Sean Rooney's death is expected to take place shortly. The Tanaiste was providing an update on the progress being made in the investigation to Louth TD Ruairi O Murchu.

Private Rooney was killed in an incident on 14th December 2022, in which a number of his colleagues from the 121st Battalion were injured.

The Tanaiste said he has consistently expressed both my and the Government's determination that all of the facts and circumstances of the incident are fully established and that no stone is left unturned to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

An initial indictment hearing of persons charged in connection with the incident took place on 14 July 2023, with further hearings taking place on 30 August 2023, 15 December 2023 and most recently on 07 June 2024.

The Irish Government was represented in court at all these hearings by its Beirut-based lawyer and the Irish Ambassador.

The Tanaiste said that the central focus of his most recent visit to Lebanon in May was a meeting with the Lebanese Minister for Foreign Affairs and the legal representative of the Lebanese Minister for Defence.

The Tanaiste continued: I left the Lebanese Minister and officials in no doubt with regard to the absolute determination of the Irish Government in ensuring that those responsible for Private Rooneys death are brought to justice and that lives of Irish peacekeepers must be valued.

I also emphasised the need to speed up the legal proceedings and the additional distress that the lack of progress is causing Private Rooney's family.

I was very disappointed to learn at the most recent hearing on 7th June, that, once again, none of those indicted for the killing of Private Sean Rooney appeared in court at the hearing. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 12 February 2025.

Following the hearing, I have again stressed my unhappiness with the progress of the Trial to date and have made that very clear directly to both Lebanese authorities and to the UN. We continue to maintain close contact with them on this matter.

I will continue to make strong representations in this matter with the Lebanese authorities and with the United Nations. Private Rooneys family has been, and will continue to be, kept informed of developments as they happen.

Separately, he said the investigation by An Garda Siochana for the purposes of preparing a report for the Coroner has been completed and the Defence Forces have supported this investigation.

Finally, I wish to assure the House that my Department, the Embassy in Cairo, the Consulate in Beirut and I will continue to monitor developments and to push for progress in this regard very closely, the Tanaiste concluded.
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In a bid to find the very best in trade talent, Screwfix Top Tradesperson 2024 is now open for entries. The annual award has seen 14 of the best tradespeople in Ireland and the UK take home the coveted title since its inception in 2010. Now, as the trade retailer looks to crown its 15th winner, the question is could it be you?

Screwfix Top Tradesperson, which last year saw Devon-based carpenter, Astrid Arnold scoop the top prize, celebrates the outstanding work tradespeople do, highlighting their professionalism and dedication to promoting and supporting the future of the industry.

To enter, tradespeople from Ireland and the UK can put themselves forward or can be nominated by employers, customers or friends, by filling out the online application form at screwfix.ie/stt before entries close on Sunday 14th July.

Following entry, the standout applicants will be shortlisted to take part in a semi-final interview in August. From there, just 10 will head to the final at Screwfix Live in Farnborough on Friday 27th September, where they will go head-to-head in front of a panel of esteemed industry experts.

The winner will join the likes of Astrid Arnold, along with 2022 champion, Toby Peacock, and Dan Lloyd, who topped the trades in 2021, in the Screwfix Hall of Fame. Theyll also walk away with an incredible trade bundle worth 20,000, comprising of tech, tools, and training to boost their business.

Reflecting on the positive impact the award has had on her career, reigning champion Astrid Arnold said: The Screwfix Top Tradesperson award marked a significant turning point in my career. While Ive always been passionate about helping others, the award has given me a bigger platform to help enact change, including providing greater visibility for women in the industry and working with schools to promote the incredible opportunities a career in the trade can provide.

Already, Ive been able to use the prize bundle to grow the existing training programmes that my company offers, supporting disadvantaged women in the local community to improve their DIY skills and better their lives. Theyve been delighted! Often, women can go unnoticed in the industry, but winning this award is recognition of the excellent contribution we make.

Cambridgeshire electrician, and 2022 winner Toby Peacock, adds: The award completely transformed my career. Ive been able to invest in new equipment and training opportunities, which have helped take my business to the next level. Ive also since launched my own podcast Tearoom Talks, which focuses on how we can improve mental health in the trade. One of the great things about the competition was that it allowed me to shine a light on mental health in the industry drawing on my own experiences.

From meeting the other inspirational finalists through to the interviews where I got to showcase my passion and enthusiasm, the competition was a fantastic experience and one that I will forever be grateful for being part of.

Dan Lloyd, an electrician from Brighton, proved he was the brightest spark when he was crowned Screwfix Top Tradesperson 2021 in recognition of his fantastic approach to customer service and ambitions for his business.

He said: Winning the competition in 2021 provided me with the necessary tools to drive my business forward. Being able to share that Im a Screwfix Top Tradesperson provides further reassurance to my current and prospective customers that they are in the best hands.

Jack Wallace, Marketing Director at Screwfix, added: Screwfix Top Tradesperson is all about recognising the incredible contribution that tradespeople make day in, day out. Although only one person can take home the title, this award looks to celebrate everyone in the trade  from electricians to plumbers, builders to painters, and carpenters to roofers  while showcasing just how rewarding a career in the industry can be.

Theres an abundance of exceptional talent across the board, but were particularly looking for someone who goes the extra mile for their customers and acts as an ambassador for the industry, helping to inspire the next generation of tradespeople.

The calibre of applications we receive year on year is phenomenal, and we cant want to see what this years entrants bring to the table.
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) recently hosted a 2-day international conference led by DkITs Dr Bernard (Ben) Drumm and supported by The Physiological Society titled "Command and Control: Regulation of Smooth Muscle Function".

The conference catered for over 50 attendees, with more than 80% of those coming from overseas, and more than 50% of attendees at the senior Professor level. Participants arrived from all over the UK (London, Manchester, Strathclyde, Oxford), as well as several attendees from the United States, Australia, Spain and India.

This event was the inaugural Smooth Muscle themed conference by the Physiological Society and the first Society conference in Ireland in more than 8 years.

Dr Ben Drumm who hails from Dundalk said: "We were delighted at DkIT to host this international conference on campus with our colleagues from The University of Manchester and The University of Strathclyde.

"This Physiological Society sponsored symposium brought the top minds in smooth muscle physiology from all over the world on to our campus, symbolizing the strategic importance of the DkIT Smooth Muscle Research Centre as a hub of state-of-the-art life science research in Ireland".

Smooth muscle is a major tissue type in the human body, vital for normal gastrointestinal, urinary, airway, vascular and reproductive function. Diseases resulting from smooth muscle disorders are numerous, ranging from asthma, incontinence, stroke, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, pre-mature labour and even neurological disorders such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons.

This conference represented a meeting of worlds and expertise, where research from the entire breath of smooth muscle tissues and organs was presented and discussed. This conferences aim was to allow young up and coming investigators, trainees and students, the opportunity to showcase and discuss their work alongside recognized and established international experts.

The DkIT Smooth Muscle Research Centre academics who spoke at this notable event included Professor Keith Thornbury, Director of the DkIT Smooth Muscle Research Centre. Professor and lecturer at DkIT, he is an expert on ion channel pharmacology and smooth muscle physiology. Professor Thornbury spoke about new discoveries from the research group at DkIT on novel targets for treating airway diseases such as asthma and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Dr. Tuleen Alkawadri, a Postdoctoral Scholar also from DkITs Smooth Muscle Research Centre also presented her key findings from her PhD work at DkIT, outlining novel mechanisms for controlling smooth muscle function in the airways.

Dr Ben Drumm further added Id like to extend a massive thank you to Dr. Edel Healy for all the logistical support, DkIT President Diarmuid O'Callaghan for his excellent opening address and all the team at the Smooth Muscle Research Centre in Dundalk for their work.

"Congratulations to my fellow organizers Harry Pritchard at The University of Manchester and Calum Wilson and Matthew Lee from University of Strathclyde. Also well done to my PhD student Neha Gupta who, along with fellow DkIT PhD student Mitchell Mercer, was awarded the joint Early Career Poster Prize!
Gardai are launching an investigation as two male bodies have been recovered from a Dublin canal.

Gardai at Donnybrook say they are "investigating all of the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the bodies of two individuals at Grand Parade, Dublin, this morning, Saturday, July 6 2024."

Shortly after 8am, Gardai and emergency services responded to reports of a body in the canal at Grand Parade.

The bodies of two males, aged in their 40s, were recovered from the canal a short time later. Both were pronounced deceased at the scene.

The scene is preserved, and a Garda cordon is in place. The Office of the State Pathologist and the local Coroner have been notified.

The results of post-mortem examinations and local enquiries will determine the course of Garda investigations.

Gardai have identified both individuals, but the formal identification process is still ongoing.

No additional information is available at this time and investigations are ongoing.
Global think tank summit focuses on development uncertainties

Xinhua) 11:05, July 06, 2024

BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 100 attendees discussed topics such as addressing global development uncertainties and reconstructing industrial and supply chains at the eighth Global Think Tank Summit, which ran from Thursday to Friday in Beijing.

Dialogue and communication become even more crucial amid heightened risks and uncertainties, which can facilitate collaboration among all parties to fight global challenges, said Bi Jingquan, chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE).

Zhao Chenxin, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said, "Only by respecting the laws of the market economy and advancing trade and investment liberalization and facilitation can we enhance the stability of the global industrial and supply chains and better promote stable economic growth worldwide."

Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero praised China's role in maintaining global stability and peace.

He said that faced with challenges such as war conflicts and the resurgence of protectionism, it is necessary to advocate for multilateralism and establish a more optimized, sustainable, and fair international order.

The summit, themed "Working together for a better world amidst multiple uncertainties," was hosted by the CCIEE.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
The receipt with a 6% SF Mandates surcharge at the Cavalier on Sept. 21, 2018, in San Francisco. Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

In October, California approved a first-in-the-nation ban on hidden fees, or the now-common add-on charges that hit you when youre buying things like concert tickets.

The price Californians see will be the price they pay, Attorney General Rob Bonta crowed in a statement with the authors of the bill, SB478.

Then the restaurant industry started complaining, and California lawmakers spent the next few months reversing course like contestants in a backward footrace.

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On June 29, governor and former restaurateur Gavin Newsom signed a new bill into law, SB1524  which carves out an allowance for service charges at restaurants as long as they are listed clearly and conspicuously on menus and ads  providing Californians with yet another reason to feel disillusioned with our government.

With todays signing we can uphold the principle of providing consumers with up-front price transparency without inadvertently harming food service workers or small businesses, SB1524 author, state Sen. Bil Dodd, D-Napa, said in a press release.

Yes, what is up-front price transparency if not a listed menu price that you still have to mentally calculate?

You might think that any bill involving the controversial and heavily lambasted practice of adding opaque service charges to restaurant checks would meet some resistance. But it passed both state houses unanimously. Bonta, meanwhile, has said nothing.

This silence is deafening, given that a recent Chronicle poll showed 81% of respondents are supportive of banning restaurant service fees. The public can and should feel insulted by the fact that lawmakers think they deserve to be led to believe the cost of goods is lower than it is.

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This is what makes consumers cynical, said Robert Herrell, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, the only organization to go on record in opposition to SB1524. Its just the latest in all these little ways in which people just feel like the system doesnt work for them.

Diners peruse a menu at New Woey Loy Goey in San Franciscos Chinatown. Many restaurants charge service fees that arent part of menu prices. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle 2018

Part of whats frustrating is that, no matter how positively lawmakers like Dodd try to spin this, the pro-social reasoning behind SB1524  that it will help workers, provide price transparency and keep restaurants in business  doesnt make a ton of sense.

Far more telling than the nonsensical platitudes of our electeds is a look at which organizations support the bill and which dont.

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If Newsom wants the White House, hell need some of that cash.

The other organizational sponsor is Unite Here, a union that largely represents the types of workers who work banquets, catering, airport facilities and other institutional food vending  not what most people think of as restaurants. Unite Heres participation provides the pro-labor cover for lawmakers to claim that SB1524 will be good for restaurant workers. This particular union, however, has secured defined benefits and wage increases tied to service charges for its members.

That doesnt apply to all hospitality unions, let alone nonunionized restaurant workers.

Jennifer Alejo, executive director at Trabajadores Unidos Workers United, a restaurant worker center in San Francisco, rejected the idea that a junk fee ban for restaurants would hurt workers. Theres still no guarantee that these fees help them, anyway.

Rene Panti, a Trabajadores Unidos Workers United member, washes dishes at the Battery, a private club with several dining areas in San Francisco. The Battery has a 20% service charge for its restaurants; despite this, Panti said dishwashers havent been tipped out in three years.

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The customers are slowly paying more in fees but we as workers dont receive this, Panti said.

Furthermore, instead of helping workers, fees pit customers and workers against each other.

Consumer advocate Herrell noted that service charges confuse and frustrate diners who may end up leaving smaller tips or avoiding the restaurant altogether. Just because a restaurant considers the tip separate from a service charge, that doesnt mean customers will. Instead, many will (rightfully) consider the two payments in competition for their limited generosity. When that happens its the tip, the allegedly optional charge, thats going to take the hit.

Lawmakers who are worlds away from understanding the economics of the service industry seem to have no consideration of this at all.

So, what does this all mean for the future of restaurants?

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Disgruntled diners have compiled a crowd-sourced list of more than 600 California restaurants that have service fees. Each is listed with its service charge percentage, demonstrating just how arbitrary and unregulated this system is: from 30% at the Black Cat Jazz Supper Club in San Francisco to 4% at Mill Valleys Buckeye Roadhouse.

What are these fees paying for? Notably, SB1524 doesnt mandate that restaurants be truthful or accurate in their disclosures  just clear and conspicuous  so who knows?

Being honest isnt very lucrative, said Herrell, who said his push to include accurate in SB478 ruffled lobbyists feathers at a recent hearing.

I dont want to make SB1524 a bigger deal than it is. Service fees have been normalized in California for some time. Its what this law symbolizes that really matters.

Its clear our government doesnt think were smart enough to make our own informed decisions.

About Opinion Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies

If theyre this disillusioned, why wouldnt the rest of us be?
Muni service in San Francisco could be threatened as the transit agency prepares for a coming fiscal cliff, but a group of transit advocates is trying get a new tax on the ballot that would help fund it. Jonah Reenders/Special to the Chronicle 2023

San Francisco transit activist Chris Arvin has had a front-row seat to the potential slow-motion collapse of Muni, from its struggles to restore pre-pandemic service to the nine-figure looming fiscal cliff that could destabilize the citys flagship transit system.

So this spring Arvin and dozens of activists banded together to do something about it. They began a ballot initiative effort to impose a new gross receipts tax on ride-hail companies operating in San Francisco to pay for transit service.

The measure, which would go into effect next year if it passes, would tax the profits that Waymo, Uber, Lyft and other transportation network companies earn while operating in San Francisco.

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On Friday, a group of about 40 volunteers delivered more than 17,000 signatures inside boxes decorated as Muni buses to the Department of Elections at City Hall. With a healthy cushion above the 10,000 required signatures, the measure is likely to make city voters November ballots.

Now that we are at threat of losing transit service because of this upcoming deficit, we want to do what we can to try to mitigate that as much as possible, because the more you lose service, the harder it is to get it back, said Arvin, who has done illustration work for the Chronicle.

The ComMUNIty Transit Act, as its dubbed, would generate $20 million to $30 million annually and indefinitely for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which operates Muni, according to the measures campaign. The initiative needs a simple majority to pass. However, it would also need to garner more votes than the Local Small Business Tax Cut Ordinance thats also on the ballot, if that measure passes as well.

The measure would allow the SFMTA to use the funds for maintaining Muni service, fund discounted or free-fare programs for kids and low-income riders, or add new routes or frequencies to existing lines.

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The latter has long been the dream for the citys transit riders  Muni service remains at about 92% of 2019 levels, and the SFMTA halted plans to add more net transit service as of last year.

Chris Arvin is among a group of transit advocates proposing a tax on ride-hailing services to help fund Muni in San Francisco. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle 2021

But the measures leaders say they recognize the likelihood that the ride-hail tax could act more as a financial tourniquet for the struggling transportation agency if it passes.

SFMTA officials are beginning to plan for potential service cuts to Muni that could take place as early as next year because of the demise of an effort to place a more ambitious tax measure on the 2026 ballot.

The agency passed a budget that rose various fees to raise $13 million annually, and officials could seek to use the ride-hail tax to backfill more of its deficit, which is about $130 million for fiscal year 2025, which started Monday, July 1.

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The SFMTA faces a $214 million budget deficit beginning in fiscal 2026, which starts July 2025. Thats when the agency will encounter its fiscal cliff and the start of annual nine-figure operating shortfalls without any more planned federal or state funding to cover the balance.

Bay Area lawmakers halted a plan in the California Legislature to allow the nine-county region to place a 30-year tax measure on the November 2026 ballot that sought to subsidize Muni, BART and regional transit service. The proposal fizzled due to opposition from some local officials and transit agencies over its potential impact on operators not facing fiscal cliffs. The plans demise created more uncertainty for Muni and BART.

I think the reality is that we are in a moment where this money will hopefully get used to significantly reduce the severity of any sort of service cuts or fare increases that may be experienced before a wider regional measure passes, said Cyrus Hall, a transit advocate leading the measures campaign.

Its possible that ride-hail companies could elect to pass those costs down to riders, which would mean a 45-cent surcharge on a ride costing $10, according to the campaigns estimates.

Uber spokesperson Zahid Arab said the company wouldnt comment on the measure until it officially makes the ballot. Arab noted that Uber supported and funded Proposition D, a 2019 measure that created a per-ride fee for ride-hail and robotaxi trips. Prop D generated about $22 million last year for street safety projects and public transit.

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Lyft and Waymo did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

This is not the first time transit activists have gotten involved in trying to avert Muni and BARTs fiscal cliffs.

Last summer, as it appeared that an effort to acquire a state subsidy for transit was on the ropes, activists swarmed public meetings and held a mock funeral for BART and Muni. Gov. Gavin Newsom eventually signed a budget that included $1.1 billion for the states transit operators  funding that delayed the two agencies shortfalls by a year.

Were trying to continue that energy from last year, where we had people across the political spectrum engaged on transit issues and saying, We have to find a solution,  Hall said. Now, we have people across the political spectrum endorsing our measure and saying, We need to move forward with more funding. 
A COUPLE who met on a night out through mutual friends were married recently.

Emma Cotter, from Farranree, and Eoin Murphy, from Ballygarvan, met in summer, 2012. They now live in the northside of the city.

They were married in the Kinsale Hotel and Spa on Easter Saturday March 30, 2024.

Recalling their first meeting, Emma said: We met through mutual friends on a night out in Havana Browns. As days and weeks went on we got closer and closer.

Emma and Eoin with their son Ethan and daughter Sienna (right) and Emmas daughters Ella and Freya (left).

Eoin met Emmas two daughters, Ella and Freya, and she explained; I knew Eoin was a keeper the way he was with my daughters.

They went on to have a daughter together, Sienna, in 2017, and son Ethan in 2020.

The cake was Easter themed and made by Ruairis Kitchen. The bride said: It was made to perfection.

Recalling the engagement, Emma said: Eoin proposed to me on my birthday in 2018, it was perfect, surrounded by all my family.

When the time came to plan their wedding, they always loved Kinsale, especially The Kinsale Hotel and Spa so we both knew that was the perfect venue for our Special Day, the bride said. The hotel and the surrounding grounds and view is amazing, the management and all staff were so professional in their roles.

The couple said: Magda Lukas, our photographer, has given us one of the best gifts - our beautiful photograghs to cherish forever. 

The bride wore a dress from Diamond Bridal, while Marie from House of Marie did the alterations.

Hair was by Christine OSullivan Bridal Hair and Portrait by Jessica was the make-up artist.

Eoin and the groomsmen were suited by Red Church. Son Ethan had his suit matching his daddys.

Emmas sister Denise was Maid of Honour, Emmas two eldest daughters, Ella and Freya were bridesmaids. Eoins friends Padraig, Paul and Dermot were groomsmen. Daughter Sienna and nieces Emily and Kate were flowergirls.

They had around 150 guests, including family and friends.

It was perfect and extra special, said Emma, who added that it was such a proud moment having my three daughters walk down the aisle with me.

The happy couple.

Their son Ethan was Eoins little best man.

Emma added: It was so special having my two boys standing at the top of the aisle for me.

They were married by celebrant Geraldine ONeill.

The bride said: We did our vows and a vow to our children it was just beautiful and so special.

Fiana Ni Choniall was the harpist.

Guests enjoyed a wonderful drinks reception outdoors, overlooking the bay.

Emma and Eoin.

They had John Frawley, singing chef, during the meal, who was loved by all the guests.

Pat Fitz Wedding Band entertained guests into the night.

Our day was just perfect, a day we will always cherish. So special with our close family and friends, Emma concluded.
Welcome to The Echos annual feature - Summer Soap. Now in its ninth year, Summer Soap is a daily fictional serial run over 12 parts, which started on Monday and runs till next Saturday. Called The Space Between Us, the story is about a man who bumps into an ex-girlfriend and discovers she can travel through time. It was written by Robyn Kelly, from the MA in Creative Writing Programme at UCC. Catch up with previous episodes at echolive.ie. In the sixth episode, Francis and Clara take another trip back in time...

WITH full bellies and only slightly damp, warmer clothes, Francis was now ready to commit to this. He was less concerned with answers and just wanted to explore.

How far back can you go?

Honestly, Im not sure. The furthest Ive gone was our first date. This day is the one Ive revisited the most.

Wait, so youve lived this day more than once?

Only the train journey, Ive never stayed this long.

He stopped himself from asking why when he remembered their first kiss. It was that night after he had walked her home, they had walked through the park beside her house about three times to put off saying goodbye. That kiss was the most gentle thing he had felt in his whole life, warm and soft like it was a comfort crafted and gifted to him by the universe. Of course, he never told her that. Instead he asked: Why today? Whats so special about this day?

She was playing with her chopsticks, chasing the last few grains of rice with it around her plate. Intensely staring at her plate so as to avoid meeting his stare. The voices of other people around them began to fade out when she answered.

Can we not talk about that right now. Ive just proved to you I can travel back in time and were still sitting here. Come on, pick somewhere good.

He couldnt help but wonder why the question was so prickly to her. To him this day was like any other, sure the average person doesnt have to share a two and a half hour train journey with their ex but even then that didnt seem too odd, just coincidental. The person he was a few years ago probably would have pressured her for an answer, his inquisitiveness used to be one of his higher motivators with other people, regardless of scenario or even empathy. Since moving to Cork this was something he was starting to outgrow, he learned that once youre out of school, people dont really tend to have time for behaviour like that anymore.

Of course. How about we go back to the airshow in 2018. The hot dogs from the vendor by the strand just arent what they used to be.

She looked up at him seemingly shocked by his compliance but pleased nonetheless.

Now thats a good answer. Lets go!

Walking through the city four years into the past was a surreal experience. The scenes were as if it were only yesterday until Francis would see the occasional sign showing a date, or even subtle clothing trends that have long since gone out of style. The one thing that was always the same was the sky. These blankets of blue and white had been the same for god knows how long, watching down on the ground, where everything moves at a racing pace.

Nearly walking head first into a telephone pole, he was pulled back down to reality. Clara had pretended not to notice and was stifling a giggle. How was any of this real? he thought to himself. It didnt matter if he were 100 years in the past or the future, the only real part about any of this was Clara. Her kindness, refreshing sense of humour, her deep unwavering empathy for other people. He was inspired by her. He would follow her to the end of time if he could.

Hopping on the bus to Bray, he tried not to be too relieved by the pre-increased fare rates and took a seat by the window, saving a space for Clara. On their short journey, neither of them felt the need to fill the air with small talk or pleasantries, they were back in their swing, a comfort in a shared silence.

It was hard for him to know what she was thinking, but he hoped it was similar to him. Could he talk to her about the break-up? Should the past really be left in the past? If today was the answer to that question, it was enough to make his head hurt with confusion.

All he knows is that his life felt out of step without her in it. He made the biggest mistake of his life letting her go. This fact was a sour bile in his stomach that would often rise and burn his throat. If regret was a physical sensation, that was it.

OK, when we get to the stop at Dun Laoghaire I want you to take my hands like before and close your eyes. Thats where I got on the bus that day.

I remember.

Closing in on the bus stop, he took her hands into his and shut his eyes tight, trying to focus on familiar sensations once again. Unclear of whether they were bumped by a pothole in the road or a literal jump in time, he opened his eyes. Immediately he noticed the old clothes and unforgiving scent of Lynx Africa. It was difficult to not cringe at himself.

Claras face had brightened up. Her hair was pulled back from her face by a polka dot headband and she was wearing her once favourite David Bowie t-shirt hanging over a pair of light blue wash denim shorts.

Aw, sick! I was devastated when this got ruined in the washing machine.

It was easy for him to see that she had always been a timeless beauty, no matter where or when they were, she was always the coolest person in the room. Smiling to himself, he leaned his head out the window to watch a couple of pigeons race by the window. Ahead of them was the view of Bray seafront. It was early afternoon. The sun was hanging like a conservatory wall decoration in the sky. There were families with towels and spades in hand making their way down to the sea.

The smell of greasy fair food wafted in through the open window. He didnt remember the weather being so mild. In his mind, it was a lot brighter, even warmer. Memory is a funny thing.

If you want to start our summer soap from the beginning, see here.
Cork has around 30 beaches, but which is the finest? As part of our Cork Coasts series, the Peoples Republic of Cork have picked out their favourite 16.

They have concluded the countdown from No.16 to No.1 - and readers now get the chance to have their say.

Read More What is the best beach in Cork?

Over the next few weeks, our Cork coastlines will battle it out to see who will be crowned Cork's best beach, by you, our readers.

Last time, Ballydonegan took on Silver Strand

Today, Myrtleville goes head-to-head with The Warren.
Fota Wildlife Park has announced the birth of three male endangered Asiatic lion cubs.

The cubs were born last month to mother Arya, who recently returned from Helsinki Zoo, and was part of the first lion cub litter to be born at the Park in 2018.

Six-year-old Arya was paired with eight-year-old Yali, who is the most genetically significant Asiatic lion in the European Breeding Programme.

The Asiatic lion is classified as endangered by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and inhabits only one remaining site in the world, the Gir Forest in India.

The current population in the Gir Forest is estimated to be in the region of 500 to 600 lions.

Overjoyed

We are overjoyed with the birth of Aryas cubs, said lead ranger at Fota Wildlife Park Julien Fonteneau.

Arya and Yalis cubs are not just vital to our breeding programme but also to the global efforts in preserving the Asiatic lion population.

In a first for Fota Wildlife Park, Yali was present at the birth of his three cubs, normally the male lions would not attend the birth of their young.

One of our team members here quipped that Yali is a very modern father, he added.

Although inexperienced, Arya is excelling as a new mother and is very protective. We have been monitoring the cubs daily and they all appear to be well fed and active. She has been caring for the cubs outdoors under the foliage and out of sight.

Whenever it rains, she carries them to the heated lion shelter, which our visitors know well, he said.

While they are still very young and sleeping a lot, it is possible to catch a glimpse of them at the lion shelter.

Milestone

The arrival of this litter marks the first lion birth at Fota Wildlife Park since 2019, a significant milestone in the parks ongoing conservation efforts of this endangered species.

The park is now calling on the public to help name the three male cubs, who are among seven Asiatic lions at Fota.

For an opportunity to win one of three annual Conservation passes, enter via the blog at https://www.fotawildlife.ie/news.
Two men were rescued from the water off Schull on Friday evening in what Valentia Coastguard described as a very lucky escape.

The incident occurred just after 8pm when the RIB (rigid inflatable boat) the two men were operating overturned and they were thrown into the water off Schull.

Two lifeboats and the Rescue 115 helicopter were dispatched to rescue the men, who were said by a Coast Guard spokesperson to have had a very lucky escape.

The RIB flipped them into the water and they had no flotation devices, and the RIB had no kill-switch, so it was going around and around them. They were very, very lucky, a spokesperson for the Irish Coast Guard at the Valentia Coast Guard Marine Rescue Coordination Centre told The Echo.

One of them managed to make a 999 call from his phone while he was in the water, and we dispatched help there and then.

It was potentially a very serious situation, and it could well have been a tragedy, the spokesperson said.

The two men were brought ashore and treated by a doctor who was in attendance, and it is understood they required no further treatment.
A total of 308,100 passengers went through Cork Airport in June as the busy summer season fully kicked in.

Just over 3.5 million passengers went through Cork Airport and Dublin Airport combined, according to daa, the operator of the two airports.

A total of 1,983 flights left Cork airport in June, and the busiest day of the month was Friday, June 21.

Cork airport outperformed Dublin on a number of key metrics, seeing a 10% increase in passengers compared to June 2023, while in Dublin the annual increase was just 3%.

100% of passengers were through security in less than 20 minutes in Cork compared to 96% in Dublin, bag return time was 12 minutes in Cork on average compared to 20 minutes in Dublin, and there were 74% of on time departures overall in both airports.

According to daa CEO Kenny Jacobs: June was a big month at both Cork and Dublin airports as we welcomed hundreds of thousands of business and leisure passengers into and out of Ireland.

Big events such as concerts are now a big draw for tourists into Ireland and weve had no shortage of those all-around Ireland over the past month.

He continued, June was very busy at Cork Airport, with over 308,000 passengers travelling to and from the busiest airport serving the South of Ireland.

The month saw two new Ryanair summer services starting up to Rhodes and Zadar, with both performing extremely well so far.

Traffic to and from France was considerably higher than last year, with 32% more passengers travelling on services between Cork and France, aided by the increased capacity on the Air France service between Cork and Paris Charles de Gaulle.

Mr Jacobs concluded, Cork Airport is providing a gateway for tourists from mainland Europe to fly into the south of Ireland and Im delighted that Lufthansa will operate larger A319 aircraft on their Frankfurt service in July.

Throughout the month, Cork passengers enjoyed a very efficient airport experience with an average of five-minute security queue times across the month.
BY any yardstick you care to use, Irish motorists are taxed to the hilt.

Whenever we buy a car, pay its road tax, have it fixed, and, of course, when we fill up the tank, the Exchequer is rubbing its hands. They have us over a barrel.

Although Ireland has one of the worst public transport networks in Europe, we pay far more to be a car owner here than almost all our neighbours.

The average annual tax revenue per motor vehicle in Ireland is the third highest in Europe, at 2,438 - far higher than the likes of Germany (1,764), France (1,625), and Spain (1,148.

Take the VAT rate on car purchases. According to 2022 figures, Ireland charges 23% on this, a rate higher than the UK, Italy, Spain, France, and Germany.

And it will surprise no-one to hear that we pay huge taxes at the pumps - the Exchequer received 3.8bn last year alone in tax on fuel, the highest tally in a decade.

That 3.8bn figure is important to bear in mind, as we prepare to see the Cork-Limerick road finally be upgraded to a motorway, at a cost of 2bn.

That 2bn sounds like a drop in the ocean, doesnt it, compared to the billions the Government rakes in from taxing the hard-pressed motorist in any given year?

But wait...

Because all the taxes paid by motorists are seemingly not enough alone to pay for this long-awaited stretch of improved road between Irelands second and third largest cities.

Now we have learned that road users will have to pay via tolls for the improvements which will cut travel times between the two cities by up to 30 minutes.

Motorists who pay through the nose , often because they simply have no alternative, are being tipped upside down yet again and having their pockets emptied by a mindset that cannot see a driver without picturing a cash cow.

I have long disliked the concept of road tolls. Motorists are quite simply paying for the same thing twice (or hundreds of times over, if you count each transaction as separate).

They are also a grossly unfair eircode lottery; some motorists would never use a toll from one year to the next, others have to use them almost daily, all because of a fluke of where they happen to live.

We pay vast sums in motor tax to finance roads, and they then want us to pay for our long-delayed new road to Limerick too, every time we use it?

Apparently, they want a toll without booths in this case, and to charge drivers for how much of the new road they use.

Although not as inconvenient as the hassle of sourcing coins and stopping at toll booths, this method still entails the motorist having to remember to pay their tolls, or incur fines.

As someone who drive through the M50 toll recently and promptly forgot about it for a week, this booth-free system is still a pain - not to mention a drain on finances.

The new Cork-Limerick route will see travel times reduced significantly, which is good news for the environment and for drivers - then they go and spoil the good news by throwing in a toll.

The barrier-free toll system also sounds complicated, and the type of scheme many motorists may endeavour to get around by using back roads and rat-runs.

Even then, with a projected 40,000 vehicles using the new road each day, it will be a licence to print money for the toll operators.

Is there a better business model anywhere than that of toll operators? If so, I would dearly love to hear it and invest a few bob.

For the new road to Limerick, they will have a captive audience of hundreds of vehicles a day, a figure that will surely grow over time. The money pours into their coffers and it appears they will barely need any staff to service the system. Nice work if you can get it.

Its now 18 years since the Fermoy bypass section of the N8 opened its toll booths, and every day since, the operators have been raking in cash.

The company behind it, Directroute, will continue to operate the tolls for another decade, until 2034, when it will hand it back to the National Roads Authority.

This kind of public-private partnerships will always be skewed towards being made worthwhile for the private company - otherwise no company would want to get involved in such a venture.

Back in 2010, our cash-strapped Government tried to get in on the tolls act at a time when public finances were in dire straits. The National Roads Authority proposed that tolls be put on the Jack Lynch tunnel and on the South Link Road, in a bid to raise revenue.

There was a public outcry, and commuters who used the tunnel twice daily worked out it would cost them 1,000 a year. The Cork branch of the Irish Road Haulage Association promised to boycott the tunnel if any toll was introduced.

The toll proposal was quietly shelved a few years later by then Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, after Cork Chamber of Commerce argued it would pose a serious threat to the regions economic development and be deeply counterproductive.

Thats a good argument against tolling any new road - along with the most pertinent one: That motorists are already being fleeced enough in taxation.
July 5, 2024: Ukraine has been carrying out more attacks inside Russia. Some of them are visible, like the 2023 campaign against Russian oil refining, storage and distribution centers throughout western Russia. This reduced Russian oil refining capabilities by 14 percent and caused shortages of fuel for Russian military vehicles inside Ukraine. Other attacks destroyed manufacturing facilities that produced key elements for guided bombs and other items of military equipment. Attacks were also made on Russian air bases and left some military aircraft damaged or destroyed. Russian civilians openly complained about the absence of air defense systems to detect and fire on these Ukrainian UAV air strikes. The Ukrainians could afford to be bold because the UAVs did not use pilots, only remote operators. This was a dramatic change in warfare that made possible more numerous and aggressive attacks without risking the lives of Ukrainian air force personnel.

There were also less visible operations inside Russia, some of them involving cooperation with the American CIA. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia lost half its population and much of its territory, but the newly liberated from Russian control countries expected Russia to try and rebuild the Russian empire. Russian neighbors did not want that empire reconstituted because the more powerful Russia was the more danger they were to the neighbors. The CIA noted all this, which was what the CIA was supposed to do, and increased its contacts and cooperation with neighbors of Russia who would be prime targets for the revived empire plus Russians who opposed the revival of the Russian Empire. The first target was Ukraine, which imperialist Russians considered a Russian province, not an independent nation.

As the Russian threat to Ukraine increased, CIA activities in the region expanded and increased their activity. In the 1990s the newly independent Ukraine welcomed a CIA presence and assistance in monitoring what the Russians were up to and what their plans for Ukraine were.

Cooperation between the CIA and Ukraine was a mutually beneficial situation that obtained important information on Russian plans and operations while also providing Ukraines NATO allies with accurate information about the impact a Russian war in Ukraine might have.

In the 1990s the Russian equivalent of the CIA, the KGB, evolved into the FSB and the SVR. While the FSB handled operations in Russia and against Russian neighbors, the SVR took care of recruiting foreign spies, operatives and supporters and providing a steady stream of information on what Russias enemies, and some of its friends, were up to. Both the FSB and SVR regularly bump into CIA operations inside and outside Russia.

CIA operations inside Ukraine and Russia increased after Russias 2022 invasion of Ukraine. This was particularly the case with joint Ukrainian-CIA operations which became more extensive and intense. The CIA had helped Ukraine prepare for this in several ways. For example, in 2016 the CIA assisted Ukraine in forming Unit 2245, an intelligence gathering team that went out and captured Russian military equipment and weapons for examination to discover how they operated and what vulnerabilities could be exploited.

By the time Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022 there were a dozen CIA/Ukraine monitoring stations along the Russian border. Once the Russians invaded and regularly bombarded Ukraine, especially military bases, with missiles and guided bombs, the CIA aided Ukraine in establishing an underground bunker where Ukrainian specialists could monitor Russian military communications and track the location of a Russian photo and electronic surveillance space satellite used to monitor Ukrainian operations. The Russian satellite orbits earth every 90 minutes which means it is over Ukraine, to some extent, only a third of the time. By tracking when the Russian satellite could observe Ukraine and monitor electronic transmissions, Ukrainian forces could be aware when they should take precautions.

The Russian invasion also brought in members of the United States Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA. Unlike the CIA, the DIA is a military operation with a staff composed mostly of intelligence specialists from the army, navy, air force, marines, and coast guard. While the CIA was founded on September 18, 1947, the DIA arrived fourteen years later on October 1st, 1961. The CIA consists of civilian personnel, though most of the analysts and nearly all the field operatives are military veterans. Most DIA personnel are active duty members of the military and most of them work in the United States collecting and analyzing relevant military operations worldwide. When there is a crisis overseas, DIA has information ready to use in aiding government decision makers in America and foreign countries.

The CIA looks for civilians, including military veterans, with special skills, like the ability to speak Ukrainian and knowledge of the situation in Ukraine because of family and friends living there. Unlike the DIA, the CIA seeks to hire foreign contacts to provide information. These are not spies because the spies are CIA personnel, many of them working out of American embassies overseas as diplomatic personnel. This gives them diplomatic immunity as long as they dont get caught recruiting locals as informants. When CIA personnel are caught recruiting, all the local government can do is expel them and cancel their diplomatic immunity. The Americans can, and often do retaliate by expelling embassy personnel working for the country that initially expelled American personnel. DIA personnel dont get embassy jobs because the DIA collects information from facilities in the United States provided to Americans forces in the United States and worldwide. That information is available to the CIA, but the CIA rarely shares information with the DIA. Thats because the CIA operatives overseas are often violating local laws by spying and recruiting locals to provide information.

Ukrainian cooperation with the CIA, which already had a network of informants and operatives inside Russia, enabled the Ukrainians to eliminate pro-Russia elements from Ukrainian intelligence agencies. The CIA also helped Ukraine to train espionage agents who could operate from inside Russia and the Russian military. This gave Ukraine advance warning that the Russians were going to invade and how the Russians planned to do it. This enabled Ukraine to inflict heavy losses on the initial invasion force. The Russian invasion force took such heavy losses that they withdrew from northern Ukraine and concentrated their forces in eastern Ukraine. The Russian soon had several hundred thousand troops inside Ukraine and after two years they had suffered major losses in Ukraine or portions of Ukraine in the east and Crimea that Russia seized in 2014. So far Russia has lost over 500,000 troops and 7,000 tanks, including most of their modern models.

The Russians plan to keep fighting in Ukraine until Ukraine is conquered or the Ukrainians surrender and accept being absorbed into the new Russian Empire. The CIA continues to aid Ukraine and HUR, the Ukrainian military intelligence agency by providing them with information the CIA has obtained on Russian operations as well as real-time video of Russian military operations in Ukraine. The videos are provided by low-earth orbit photo and electronic intelligence satellites. The Ukrainians later discovered that the CIA assistance gave them Ukrainians a better view of Russian military operations than the Russian high command. Roscosmos, the Russian space program, was in economic and equipment trouble before the invasion and those problems increased as sanctions cut off the supply of electronic components Russia needed to build their own space satellites.

The CIA also helped Ukraine find and expel Russian spies or turn them into double-agents. The Ukrainians helped the United States catch Russian spies operating in America. Having predicted the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which many American and European officials believed was unlikely, the CIA/Ukraine intelligence operations had to move their operations to the Polish border area. When it was clear that the Russian invasion was not going to get very far, the CIA operations moved back to the Ukrainian capital and areas near the combat zone. There were still Russian secrets to be found and Russian operations to be hobbled or foiled. The CIA/HUR cooperation continues to supply current information on Russian operations and plans.
July 6, 2024: Ukrainian Sea Baby USVs (Unmanned Surface Vessel)s are made of a material that is nearly invisible to radar. Each USV can carry up to 850 kg of explosives. Less explosives can be carried if you want the Sea Baby to travel farther. With a full load of explosives, it can reach targets up to 1,000 kilometers distant. Top speed is 90 kilometers an hour but more economical, in terms of fuel use, cruise speed is about half the top speed. That means it would take the Sea Baby about twenty hours to travel a thousand kilometers. That is a one way trip to a target, like a naval base or any ships docked at the base which is then attacked. Sea Baby navigates using several devices including GPS, INS, and short range sensors to detect and avoid obstacles. These sensors can also be programmed to identify and attack a specific target like a ship or other naval base facility. Sea Baby can also be equipped with short range weapons like explosive rockets that can hit targets a thousand meters distant with thermobaric/fuel air warheads. Recently Sea Baby was modified to carry several 122mm BM-21 unguided rockets. Each of these weighs 68.2 kg and are 2.9 meters long. These have 20.5 kg warheads and a maximum range of 20 kilometers.

When used to launch rocket attacks, the Sea Baby can escape and return to a Ukrainian base for reuse. Some Sea Babys are equipped with video cameras to carry out reconnaissance and surveillance missions. In this case, communications equipment must be carried to transmit video or individual digital photos back to the Ukrainian base. Each Sea Baby costs $214,000. The Ukrainians have been very imaginative and flexible in their use of these unmanned seagoing vessels.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol recently pulled over a "UFO" and shared the photo on their official Facebook page.

"It's not every day you pull over a UFO," the post read, adding, "Trooper Ryan Vanvleck #722 pulled over this vehicle on the Turner Turnpike yesterday for an obstructed tag. They were on their way to a UFO festival in Roswell, New Mexico."

In the photos posted on Monday, Vanvleck can be seen taking a photo with the passengers of the UFO-looking vehicle before he "let them go with a warning."

The post has since gone viral with over 48,000 reactions, 14,700 shares and 2,900 comments.

"This is the best post I've seen in a while. Love it," commented one Facebook user.

"How fun! Glad the trooper had a great sense of humor too. Even aliens get pulled over. Safe travels," wrote another.

"Never seen anything like that! Pretty sweet," remarked a different commenter.

"Oh my gosh. I would love to see this thing driving down the highway. That's pretty cool!" said someone else.

On Wednesday, the same vehicle was spotted by the Roswell Police Department. Like Vanvleck, the officers also took a photo with them.

"RPD got to welcome to town some visitors who came for the UFO Festival in quite an appropriate vehicle," they said.

In other news, a strange object -- a "large, disc-shaped craft" -- was reportedly spotted hovering "about half a mile to a mile north of Red Rocks," an amphitheater and concert venue near Morrison, Colorado, on June 5, according to FOX10 Phoenix.



"What's even crazier is that as soon as we all started noticing it and stopped what we were doing to pay attention to it, the craft tipped at an angle and slowly started moving belly-first to the east," said an employee in their report to the National UFO Reporting Center.

"Then it started fading away until it was invisible. It didn't shoot off into the distance. It simply dissolved into the ether. We all watched it vanish."

According to the employee and their coworkers, the "silent" hovering unidentified object was about the size of a "three-story office building."



"A dozen of us saw it. We all kept asking each other, 'Are you seeing this too?' It was a resounding, 'Yes,' from everyone in the group," per the employee's report.
Labour must make the partys food and farming priorities clearer following their landslide general election win, the Tenant Farmers Association has said.

The body said Labour's manifesto contained 'little detail' on its plans for agriculture, adding that the industry needed to understand the new policies.

Released in June, the manifesto contained no big policy surprises of interest to farmers, and gave no details about the future of the agricultural budget.

In response, the TFA has written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling for the new government to make their stances clearer.

The body, which represents the tenanted farming sector, said its top priority was to see the government drive forward the recommendations from the Rock Review into agricultural tenancies.

The review has a package of recommendations for changes to policy, legislation and taxation affecting the tenanted farming sector, which already has cross-party support.

TFA national chair, Robert Martin, said: The new administration should continue to support the work of the Farm Tenancy Forum facilitated by Defra, press ahead with the appointment of the commissioner for the tenant farming sector planned for the autumn and supercharge the implementation of the legislative and taxation recommendations of the review.

The TFA said it would also like to see an expanded role for the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) to deliver a greater degree of fairness from farm to fork and better returns to primary producers.

For too long, farmers and growers have been treated ruthlessly by retail supply chains delivering low returns to primary producers in comparison to their risk and labour, Mr Martin said.

Alongside reform of supply chains, we need to take advantage of our post Brexit freedoms in respect of international trade.

That means ensuring we do not allow the importation of food and other agricultural products that do not meet our high domestic standards and doing more to grow our exports of food and agricultural products to parts of the globe previously inaccessible under our previous membership of the European Union.

The TFA explained that a better balance must be created between food, environmental and energy security through a policy framework.

Currently we are losing too much of our precious farmland to vanity projects like rewilding and other so called green uses, Mr Martin warned.

Farmers are already delivering a huge amount of environmental benefit in terms of biodiversity, landscape and the sequestration and storage of carbon.

"Corner solutions such as significantly reducing red meat and dairy production or taking out vast swathes of agricultural land for the planting of trees will not be the solution.

A land sharing approach as between agriculture and nature must be the way forward.

Mr Martin added that too many tenanted farm acres were being lost to solar energy production, tree planting and other development without adequate compensation being paid to the farm being displaced.

That must not be allowed to continue," he warned, "Food security needs to be higher up the public policy agenda but within a balance which delivers environmental and energy security alongside.

To achieve these priority goals, we will need joined up government across the departments in Whitehall covering farming, the environment, business, planning and of course the Treasury."

He concluded: Labours election victory gives it major opportunity to deliver the change that is needed, and we will work with the new government to those ends.
July 6, 2024: Japan and South Korea separately imposed economic sanctions on companies, ships and individuals involved with supplying Russia with North Korean weapons for use in Ukraine. So far North Korea has sent several thousand standard cargo containers of munitions. Russia has few allies in its war with Ukraine. North Korea and Iran are the only nations that will sell weapons to Russia and they expect to be paid.

South Korea and Japan are also cooperating with American efforts to freeze the assets of eleven groups and one individual who assisted in transporting these weapons to Russia. Nine of these groups and the individual were Russian. These shipments of North Korean weapons purchased by Russia were considered essential by the Russians to continue hitting Ukrainian targets with missiles, unguided rockets and 152mm artillery shells. Russia cannot produce enough munitions to supply their troops in Ukraine, where the Ukrainians are receiving munitions and weapons from NATO countries including the United States.
Indonesia imported apparel worth $119.185 million and fabric worth $961.317 million between January and March 2024. These figures represent a slight decrease compared to the same period in 2023, when imports were $127.373 million for apparel and $980.565 million for fabric. The country, with its robust garment industry, plays a significant role in the global garment market. The trade figures are particularly noteworthy as the government has announced plans to impose safeguard duties of 100 to 200 per cent on various products, including clothing.

According to Fibre2Fashion's market insight tool TexPro, Indonesias imports of apparel and fabric during the last quarter of 2023 were $143.070 million and $1,038.104 million, respectively.

Indonesia imported $119.185 million in apparel and $961.317 million in fabric in Q1 2024, slightly down from the previous year. Annual data shows fluctuating trends in textile imports and exports. The government plans to impose safeguard duties of 100 to 200 per cent on various products, including clothing, which could further impact trade.

Annual import data shows volatility in apparel imports. In 2023, Indonesia imported apparel worth $539.370 million, slightly lower than the $586.299 million imported in 2022. Previous years saw imports of $637.590 million in 2021, $627.349 million in 2020, and $844.720 million in 2019.

Fabric imports also fluctuated, dropping to $3,999.075 million in 2023 from $4,769.954 million in 2022. The imports had decreased significantly to $3,159.823 million in 2020 from $4,320.039 million in 2019, before recovering to $4,322.120 million in 2021 and $4,769.954 million in 2022.

Indonesias apparel exports saw a notable rise in 2022, reaching $9,580.622 million after several years of slower growth. However, exports decreased to $8,001.823 million in 2023 and $2,029.396 million for the first quarter of 2024. Fabric exports were recorded at $213.545 million in January-March 2024, down from $870.114 million in 2023 and $915.553 million in 2022, as per TexPro.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
Irvine, California--(Newsfile Corp. - July 5, 2024) - Thrive Energy, a trusted partner for homeowners seeking clean, affordable solar solutions, is excited to announce the release of its new guide, "Discover How You Can Go Solar Without Buying Panels - A Homeowner's Guide to Lower Energy Bills."

This comprehensive resource aims to simplify the often-confusing world of solar and empower homeowners to make smart decisions about their energy future.

Thrive Energy Releases Free Guide to Help Homeowners Understand Solar and Save Money

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

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Thrive Energy's Free Guide Explains the Benefits of Home Solar and How Homeowners Can Save Money

With rising energy costs and an influx of solar offers, many homeowners feel overwhelmed and uncertain about where to turn for reliable information.

This free guide is designed to cut through the clutter, providing straightforward answers about solar energy and highlighting how it can benefit both their wallets and the environment.

The guide explains the real costs of going solar and tackles common homeowner concerns. Readers will discover how Thrive Energy's unique approach allows homeowners to save money without the financial burden of purchasing panels.

The guide introduces Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) as a simpler solution that lets homeowners buy their power directly from Thrive Energy at a lower, fixed rate than traditional utility companies.

Thrive Energy covers the installation of high-quality solar panels, and the homeowner simply pays for the clean, affordable electricity they generate.

For homeowners interested in battery storage, the guide also dives into the benefits of energy independence with battery backup systems.

Readers will learn about options for storing clean energy and powering their homes, even during outages, with the latest technology, including popular options from Tesla, Enphase, and SolarEdge.

Finally, the guide arms homeowners with the essential knowledge they need to choose a reputable solar company and avoid common industry pitfalls.

"Thrive Energy is passionate about helping homeowners embrace a brighter energy future," said Thrive Energy Co-Founders. "This guide is designed to empower homeowners with knowledge, provide clear and honest answers, and make the transition to solar a stress-free experience."

"Discover How You Can Go Solar Without Buying Panels - A Homeowner's Guide to Lower Energy Bills" is available now as a free download on Thrive Energy's website.

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Contact: Jeremy McGilvrey

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Email: Hi@JeremyMcGilvrey.com

Website/URL: https://www.jeremymcgilvrey.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/215612

SOURCE: Jeremy McGilvrey
On April 26, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the prosecutors case file against Tate met the legal criteria and that a trial could start but did not set a date for it to begin read more

A court in Romanias capital ruled Friday that social media influencer Andrew Tate can leave Romania but must remain within the European Union as he awaits trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

The Bucharest Tribunals decision to allow Tate, 37, to leave the country was hailed by his spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, as a significant victory and a major step forward in the case. It is not clear whether prosecutors can or will appeal the courts decision.

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Tate, a former professional kickboxer and dual British U.S. citizen, was initially arrested in December 2022 near Bucharest along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four in June last year and all four have denied the allegations.

After Fridays decision, Tate wrote on the social media platform X: I AM FREE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS I CAN LEAVE ROMANIA. THE SHAM CASE IS FALLING APART.

We embrace and applaud the decision of the court today, I consider it a reflection of the exemplary behavior and assistance of my clients, said Eugen Vidineac, one of Tates lawyers, adding that the Tates are still determined to clear their name and reputation.

On April 26, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the prosecutors case file against Tate met the legal criteria and that a trial could start but did not set a date for it to begin. That ruling came after the legal case had been discussed for months in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors evidence and case file.

After the Tate brothers arrest, they were held for three months in police detention before being moved to house arrest. They were later restricted to Bucharest municipality and nearby Ilfov county, and then to Romania.

Vidineac said the ability to travel within the 27-nation EU bloc will allow the Tates to pursue professional opportunities without restriction.

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I AM FREE.



FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS I CAN LEAVE ROMANIA.



THE SHAM CASE IS FALLING APART.$DADDY X THEREALWORLD GLOABL TOUR LOADING -



Will you be there? https://t.co/9TN9VyfzRh pic.twitter.com/LieZl7OF9F  Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) July 5, 2024

Andrew Tate, who has amassed 9.5 million followers on the social media platform X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He was previously banned from various social media platforms for allegedly expressing misogynistic views and using hate speech.

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In a separate case, Andrew Tate was served at his home in Romania with a civil lawsuit lodged by four British women after a claim was issued by the High Court in London, according to a statement released in May by McCue Jury & Partners, the law firm representing the four women.

The four allege Tate sexually and physically assaulted them and reported him to British authorities in 2014 and 2015. After a four-year investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service decided in 2019 not to prosecute him. The alleged victims then turned to crowdfunding to pursue a civil case against him.

In a separate third case, the Tate brothers also appeared in March at the Bucharest Court of Appeal after British authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a U.K. case dating back to 2012-2015.

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The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the Tates to the U.K., but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.
Since the debate debacle, the real pressure on Joe Biden to pull out of the US presidential race appears to be more financial than political. Influential donors like Abigail Disney, an heiress to the Disney familys fortune, and Damon Lindelof, a screenwriter and prominent Democrat donor, have publicly stated they are pausing their contributions to Democrats for now read more

The whispers about how President Joe Biden must step down before the Democratic National Convention have now turned into a full-blown clarion call. Democrat voters, Republican adversaries, analysts, and the media are constantly speaking about Bidens advanced age, and his suitability for the role of president of the United States.

But all of that Bidens campaign has withstood in the past. The president himself has remained defiant to these forces against his bid for re-election.

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But now, there is a different kind of pressure one that is hitting the Democrats moneybags. The financial strain that big donors are heaping onto Biden by withholding their hefty greenback offerings may actually be the real pressure weighing on Bidens shoulders.

The presidential debate debacle

President Bidens performance in the first presidential debate has been described as lacklustre. Critics and even some allies within the Democratic Party have pointed out that Biden seemed disengaged and struggled to deliver his points with the clarity and forcefulness expected from an incumbent president. His fumbling was so overpowering, that his rival, former President Donald Trumps repeated lying went completely under the radar.

US President Joe Bidens poor performance in the presidential debate with Donald Trump has rattled some donors of the Democratic Party. AP

The debate performance led to a flare-up in discussions about Bidens age and vitality, with some Democrats quietly considering whether a change at the top of the ticket might be necessary. The Democratic Partys rules make it rather difficult to replace a nominee without their consent, and overturning the results of the primarieswhere Biden secured almost 99 per cent of delegateswould be controversial, to say the least. The only plausible way ahead without Biden would be if he voluntarily withdrew.

Political pressure: A subtle undercurrent

The unease about Bidens candidature has been simmering among some party members. At least two Democratic lawmakers have publicly called for Biden to step aside before the convention. However, the political pressure on Biden remains relatively muted.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair, Jaime Harrison, a staunch Biden ally, has shown unwavering support for Bidens re-election bid. Harrisons loyalty suggests that any effort to replace Biden would face considerable resistance from the party top brass. There also appears to be no significant movement to oust the 81-year-old from the top of the ticket.

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Most Democratic lawmakers and party members continue to support Biden, albeit with reservations. They acknowledge the need for Biden to demonstrate his capability and vigour to voters, but this does not equate to a full-on push for his resignation. The political calculus within the party still leans heavily towards maintaining stability and unity as they head into the 2024 election cycle.

Financial pressure: The real game-changer?

While political pressure is present but subdued, financial pressures are mounting and could potentially be the tipping point. The concern among Democratic donors is palpable.

Influential donors like Abigail Disney, an heiress to the Disney familys fortune, and Damon Lindelof, a screenwriter and prominent Democrat donor, have publicly stated they are pausing their contributions to Bidens campaign.

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Abigail Disney has publicly said she has halted donations to Democrats, and will keep it paused till Biden steps aside. Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Disney has been vocal, going so far as to tell CNBC that the Democrats will lose if Biden is at the top of the ticket. This pause in donations from high-profile donors reflects a broader trend of financial strain on Bidens campaign. Lindelof penned an entire op-ed in Deadline, asking other donors to pause their donations till such time Biden is replaced.

New York Times quoted philanthropist Gideon Stein as saying that his family was withholding $3.5 million to non-profit and political organisations active in the presidential race unless Biden steps back.

The pause in donations from key figures is likely hitting Biden where it hurts. Up until a few months ago, he held a $100 million funding advantage over Trump. However, at the start of June, his campaign and the Democratic National Committee had $212 million in the bank, a little behind $235 million for the Trump operation and the Republican National Committee, the Guardian reported.

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The hesitancy among donors to continue their support could widen this gap further, potentially crippling the campaigns ability to compete effectively.

President Joe Biden and the Democrat campaign may fall further behind the Republicans led by Donald Trump if the donor support keeps drying up. Reuters

The donors actions will also send a powerful message to other potential donors. It creates an atmosphere of uncertainty and apprehension, which can be contagious. If more donors follow suit, the financial foundation of Bidens campaign could become increasingly unstable, forcing a reevaluation of his candidacy.

It would serve well to remember that the influence of donors in American politics cannot is not something to be trifled with. Campaigns require substantial financial resources, and the support of major donors is often key to the outcome of the races. The current donor hesitancy surrounding Bidens campaign is a significant red flag. It signals a lack of confidence that, if unresolved, could lead to a depletion of necessary resources at a critical time.

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The campaigns response and future prospects

All is not bleak yet for the Biden campaign. They have accurately pointed out that some donors have given the maximum contribution amount since the debate. This influx of funds, although from a smaller group, indicates that there is still significant support for Biden among some of his financial backers.

President Joe Biden walks on stage to speak at a campaign rally, the day after the debate with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, in Raleigh, North Carolina. Post-debate, calls have grown to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee. File image/AP

If Biden can continue to attract donations in the weeks leading up to the Democratic convention, he will be able to present a strong case in front of his party for his candidature. The campaigns ability to stabilise its finances and reassure its donor base will be crucial in determining its viability moving forward.

The reality on ground, and on bank passbooks, is complex. As the Democratic National Convention approaches, how these political and financial pressures pan out will be essential in determining Bidens path forward. For now, the real pressure on Biden to step down appears to be more financial than political. It is a pressure he might not be able to fend off if he doesnt quell doubts about his age and cognitive ability soon.
France is holding the second round of snap parliamentary elections on Sunday. The results are expected to weaken President Emmanuel Macron abroad and leave the centrist leader in the awkward situation of having to work with a far-right prime minister read more

French president Emmanuel Macrons expected political failure in decisive parliamentary elections Sunday could paralyse the country, weaken him abroad and overshadow his legacy, just as France prepares to step into the global spotlight as host of the Paris Olympics.

Frances youngest-ever president is known on the international stage for his tireless diplomatic efforts and pro-European initiatives. Now, many wonder how he will manage to keep the reins of the country with likely no majority in parliament and a confrontational government. Constitutionally barred from running for a third consecutive term in 2027, Macron, 46, is facing a struggle not to become a lame duck.

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Whatever the outcome of Sundays runoff, its not expected to be good news for Macron. French media have recently described an end of reign atmosphere at the Elysee presidential palace. Polls suggest Macrons centrist alliance is headed for defeat in Sundays runoff, after coming in third in the first round.

It looks as if on the first ballot, the French wanted to punish their president, Paris-based political analyst Dominique Moisi told the Associated Press.

Why Macron will likely be weakened

If the far-right National Rally and its allies win a majority in parliament, it would place the centrist president in the awkward situation of having to work with an anti-immigration, nationalist prime minister. Otherwise, Macron may have to seek a way to form a functioning government, possibly by offering a deal to his left-wing rivals. In any case, he would no longer be able to implement his own plans, which have been based on pro-business policies meant to boost Frances economy.

We are in the unknown. The unknown unknown," Moisi said. Because coalition governments are not a French tradition.

Far-right National Rally party president Jordan Bardella, right, leaves with far-right leader Marine Le Pen after a press conference, Monday, June 24, 2024 in Paris. File Photo/AP

Abroad, Macron used to appear as a key world player known for his non-stop diplomatic activism. He has been deeply involved in Western steps taken to support Ukraine since Russias invasion in February 2022. In the Middle East, France has been pushing for diplomatic efforts with its Arab partners. Earlier this year, Macron also outlined his vision for the European Union, urging the bloc of 27 nations to build its own robust defense and undertake major trade and economic reforms in order to compete with China and the US.

The French Constitution gives the president some powers over foreign policy, European affairs and defense. But the division of power with a prime minister from a rival party remains unclear, and without the backing of a government, Macrons role may end up being limited.

Why his pro-business policies were controversial

The job of president is Macrons first elected office. In his 30s, Macron quit his job as a banker at Rothschild to become Socialist President Francois Hollandes economic adviser, working for two years by Hollandes side at the presidential palace. Then, as economy minister in Hollandes government from 2014 to 2016, he promoted a package of measures, notably allowing more stores to open on Sundays and evenings and opening up regulated sectors of the economy.

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First elected president in 2017 after leaving the Socialists, Macron was then a successful 39-year-old political newbie. He sought to make the labour market more flexible and passed new rules to make it more difficult for the unemployed to claim benefits. His government also cut taxes for businesses to boost hiring.

The yellow vest anti-government protests soon erupted against perceived social injustice, leading to Macron being dubbed the president of the rich. He is still perceived by many as arrogant and out of touch with ordinary people. Opponents on the left accused him of destroying workers protections. Macron argued that unemployment has fallen from over 10 per cent to 7.5 per cent now and France has been ranked the most attractive European country for foreign investment in recent years.

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People, wearing yellow vests, wait on a bench before the start of a rally marking the 5th anniversary of the Yellow Vest anti-government protests in 2018-2019, in Bordeaux, France, on November 18, 2023. File Photo/AFP

Macron was reelected in 2022, defeating for the second consecutive time his far-right rival Marine Le Pen in the runoff of the presidential election. But he lost his parliamentary majority, even though his centrist alliance took the largest share of seats in the National Assembly. He then struggled to pass an unpopular plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, prompting months of mass protests that damaged his leadership. Last year, riots swept hundreds of cities, towns and villages after the fatal police shooting of a teenager.

Will Macron become a lame duck?

Politically, the centrist leader launched his own party on a promise to do better than the mainstream right and left. But that, also, now appears as bound to fail. His call for snap elections actually pushed forward two major forces: the far-right National Rally and a broad leftist coalition including the Socialists, the Greens and hard-left France Unbowed.

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Macrons own camp questioned the presidents political skills after he announced the surprise decision to dissolve the National Assembly last month. Bruno Le Maire, his finance minister for seven years, told France Inter radio that this decision has created  in our country, in the French people, everywhere  concern, incomprehension, sometimes anger. Macrons former prime minister, Edouard Philippe, accused him of having killed his centrist majority.

Macrons fate may become a topic for discussion next week at a NATO summit in Washington that will be the occasion for world leaders to meet with the new UK prime minister Keir Starmer.

The paradox of the present situation is that as a result of the last two elections in Great Britain and in France, there will be more Great Britain and less France at the NATO summit," Moisi said. The strongest personality will be the new prime minister of Great Britain. And the weak personality will be the president of France.
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Irans presidential elections, held after Ebrahim Raisis death in May. The 69-year-old cardiac surgeon will influence the Islamic Republics foreign policies. Heres how he can impact New Delhi and Tehrans ties read more

Iran has elected a new president. Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won the run-off, beating hard-liner Saeed Jalili. The presidential race was necessitated following the death of then-President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.

Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, urged Iranians on Saturday (July 6) to stay with him on the difficult road ahead. Dear people of Iran, the election is over, and this is just the beginning of our working together. A difficult road is ahead. It can only be smooth with your cooperation, empathy and trust, he wrote in a post on social media platform X.

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I extend my hand to you and swear on my honour that I will not abandon you on this path. Do not abandon me.

Pezeshkian has offered no radical changes to Irans Shiite theocracy. However, his rule could see let up of the countrys mandatory hijab (Islamic headscarf) law.

But what about Irans foreign policy, particularly its ties with India? How will they be affected by Pezeshkians election? Lets understand.

Irans foreign policy

While Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the ultimate decision-maker on matters of state, Pezeshkian could influence the direction of Irans foreign policy.

The President-elect has vowed to endorse pragmatic foreign policy and ease tensions over the stalled talks with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact, reported Reuters.

The West will be watching Pezeshkians moves closely amid fears of Tehrans growing nuclear programme.

According to Reuters, Pezeshkians victory has raised hopes of a thaw in Irans ties with the West.

Irans presidential elections have come at a time when tensions are high in West Asia due to Israels war in Gaza and the Jewish states conflict with Iranian ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Iranian presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian waves at the crowd during the run-off presidential election between him and Saeed Jalili, in Tehran, Iran, July 5, 2024. Reuters

Pezeshkian is unlikely to bring a complete overhaul in policies and his pledges could face challenges from the Iranian government still dominated by hard-liners.

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There will be no changes in Iranian foreign policy and internal policy. Both discourses emphasise strengthening Iranian power internally and externally," Irans ambassador to India, Iraj Elahi, told NDTV.

Impact on India-Iran ties

India and Iran have maintained cordial ties for decades. Trade and connectivity have also defined New Delhis relations with Tehran.

In fact, India is among Irans main trade partners, besides China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iraq and Turkey.

Iran is one of the key sources of crude oil for India. However, due to the United States sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme, New Delhi has stopped importing Iranian oil.

If Pezeshkian is successful in renewing talks with the West over the nuclear dispute, it may lead to the upliftment of economic sanctions eventually. Such a scenario is also in New Delhis interest.

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With Iran aiming to increase its oil exports, India could get a reliable and arguably cheaper supplier of crude, as per an NDTV report.

An Iranian trade official has said that the Islamic Republics trade with India has plunged by up to a third due to sanctions, reported Iran International. The trade between the two countries reduced by 26 per cent in 2023, compared to the previous year. According to Indias Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the trade stood at $1.836 billion last year, down from $2.499 billion in 2022.

India and Iran are also seeking cooperation in connectivity projects like the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and Chabahar port.

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In May, India signed a 10-year pact to develop and operate Irans strategic Chabahar Port. Despite the US threat of sanctions, New Delhi has backed the project. The port is significant for India as it provides an alternative route to bolster trade ties with landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asian countries, bypassing its regional rival Pakistan.

India plans to invest $120 million to develop and operate the Shahid-Beheshti Port in Chabahar and has offered a $250 million credit line for infrastructure upgradation in Iran.

The INSTC is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode transport corridor connecting India to Russia via Iran. This project would enhance Indias energy security and boost the countrys trade with Central Asia.

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ALSO READ: How India-Iran ties grew under Ebrahim Raisi

Pezeshkian is expected to deepen Irans relations with India, including economic ties. Analysts told Reuters that he is someone world powers are likely to welcome, hoping he might pursue peaceful ways out of a tense standoff with Iran over its fast-advancing nuclear programme.

Congratulating Pezeshkian on his victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X, Congratulations @drpezeshkian on your election as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Looking forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relationship for the benefit of our peoples and the region.

Congratulations @drpezeshkian on your election as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Looking forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relationship for the benefit of our peoples and the region.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 6, 2024

As per Times of India, Pezeshkians moderate approach as he promises to relax social restrictions and adopt political pluralism could give a boost to people-to-people ties and cultural exchanges between India and Iran.

India will also be keen on the Iran president-elects stance on Israel, which is likely to continue shaping New Delhis tightrope diplomacy in West Asia, reported NDTV.

With inputs from agencies
Masoud Pezeshkian has defeated Saeed Jalili Masoud in the run-off necessitated due to the demise of Ebrahim Raisi in May. He served on the front lines during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and was the head of the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. He was also health minister from 2001 to 2005 under then president Mohammad Khatami read more

Masoud Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and lawmaker, is a Centrist and a reformist. AP

Iran will soon have a new president.

Masoud Pezeshkian has defeated Saeed Jalili in the run-off necessitated due to the demise of then president Ebrahim Raisi in May.

By gaining majority of the votes cast on Friday, Pezeshkian has become Irans next president, Irans interior ministry said.

Pezeshkian received more than 16 million votes and Jalili more than 13 million out of about 30 million votes cast, electoral authority spokesman Mohsen Eslami said, adding that voter turnout stood at 49.8 percent.

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Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and lawmaker, is a Centrist and a reformist.

But what do we know about the 69-year-old Pezeshkian?

Lets take a closer look:

Pezeshkian was born on September 29, 1954 in Mahabad in northwestern Iran.

Pezeshkians father was ethnically Azeri and his mother was Kurdish.

He speaks Azeri and has long focused on the affairs of Irans vast minority ethnic groups.

As per YNetNews, Pezeshkian completed his diploma in 1973.

He then began taking an interest in medicine during military service in Zabol.

During the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s, Pezeshkian, a combatant and physician, was tasked with the deployment of medical teams to the front lines.

He then became a heart surgeon and served as the head of the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.

However, personal tragedy shaped his life after a 1994 car crash killed his wife, Fatemeh Majidi, and a daughter.

The doctor never remarried and raised his remaining two sons and a daughter alone.

Pezeshkian entered politics first as the countrys deputy health minister and later as the health minister under the administration of reformist president Mohammad Khatami.

Pezeshkian served as health minister in Khatamis second term from 2001 to 2005.

Almost immediately, he found himself involved in the struggle between hard-liners and reformists, attending the autopsy of Zahra Kazemi, a freelance photographer who held both Canadian and Iranian citizenship. She was detained while taking pictures at a protest at Tehrans notorious Evin Prison, was tortured and died in custody.

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In 2006, Pezeshkian was elected as a lawmaker representing Tabriz. He later served as a deputy parliament speaker and backed reformist and moderate causes, though analysts often described him more as an independent than allied with the voting blocs.

That independent label also has been embraced by Pezeshkian in the campaign.

As per YNetnews, Pezeshkian in Parliament represented the Tabriz, Osku and Azarshahr electoral district.

He was also first deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020.

He is also a teacher of the Quran and a reciter of the Nahj al-balagha  a significant text for Shia Muslims.

Reformist candidate for the Irans Masoud Pezeshkian waving at a polling station in Shahr-e-Qods near Tehran. AP

Yet, Pezeshkian at the same time, honoured Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on one occasion wearing its uniform to parliament.

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He repeatedly criticized the United States and praised the Guard for shooting down an American drone in 2019, saying it delivered a strong punch in the mouth of the Americans and proved to them that our country will not surrender.

In 2011, Pezeshkian registered to run for president, but withdrew his candidacy.

In 2021, he found himself and other prominent candidates barred from running by authorities, allowing an easy win for Raisi.

In 2022, Pezeshkian demanded clarification from authorities about the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died in custody after she was arrested for allegedly violating a law restricting womens dress. Her death sparked months of unrest across the country.

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We will respect the hijab law, but there should never be any intrusive or inhumane behaviour toward women, Pezeshkian said after casting his vote in the first round.

At a Tehran University meeting last month, responding to a question about students imprisoned on charges linked to 2022-23 unrest, Pezeshkian said political prisoners are not within my scope, and if I want to do something, I have no authority.

With inputs from agencies
A record number of Indian-origin people will sit in the House of Commons. Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak has lost the general election but will be returning to the Parliament. His former controversial home secretary Suella Braverman has also been re-elected read more

Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman have been re-elected as MPs in the UK Parliament. File Photo/Reuters

The United Kingdom (UK) elections are over. Britain has elected a new government, ousting Rishi Sunaks Conservative Party from power after 14 years.

The Labour Party led by Keir Starmer has formed the new government. The new prime minister has appointed his Cabinet, which includes a record 11 women MPs out of the total 22 ministers. Lisa Nandy, an Indian-origin MP has also made it to Starmers Cabinet as the Culture Secretary. She was re-elected from Wigan with 19,401 votes.

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At 28, Britons have elected a record number of people of Indian origin to the UK Parliament. Lets take a look at who they are.

Tory British Indians in UK Parliament

Former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak lost the general elections for his party. But he will be returning to the 650-member House of Commons. Sunak has retained his Richmond and Northallerton seat with 23,059 votes. He was the first Asian and Hindu prime minister of the UK.

The Tories under Sunak managed to win just over 120 seats, while the Labour registered a spectacular victory with 412 seats in the polls.

On this difficult night, I would like to express my gratitude to the people of the Richmond and Northallerton constituency for your continued support. Since I moved here a decade ago, you have made me and my family feel so at home and I look forward to serving you for years to come, Sunak said in his speech on Friday (July 5).

Besides Sunak, former home secretary Suella Braverman will also be returning to the House of Commons. She won Fareham and Waterlooville with 17,561 seats, trouncing Labours Gemma Furnivall.

Braverman, who has a Goan-origin father and Tamil-origin mother, was sacked by Sunak late last year after her comments about the polices handling of a pro-Palestine march. She is seen as one of the contenders vying to replace him as the Conservative Party leader.

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Priti Patel, who served as the home secretary between July 2019 and September 2022, has also held on to her Witham seat. The Gujarati-origin politician has represented the constituency as an MP since 2010.

Priti Patel has returned as an MP from Witham. File Photo/Reuters

Claire Coutinho, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero under the Sunak government, has also kept her East Surrey seat. She defeated Labours Tom Bowell by a margin of over 7,000 votes. Coutinhos parents are of Goan Christian descent.

Gagan Mohindra, who was born into a Punjabi Hindu family, has retained his South West Hertfordshire seat with 16,458 votes. His closest rival, Sally Symington of the Liberal Democrat party, won 12,002 votes.

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Shivani Raja emerged victorious from Leicester East with 14,526 votes, defeating fellow Indian-origin Labour candidate Rajesh Agrawal. She won the seat against heavyweights like former MP Keith Vaz and Claudia Webbe.

The big Tory losses include Shailesh Vara, who contested from the North West Cambridgeshire seat, and Ameet Jogia, who lost the Conservative-held Hendon seat to Labour.

Sikh MPs in the UK Parliament

According to Indian Express, of the 28 people of Indian origin who will be sitting in the UK Parliament, 12 are from the Sikh community, including six women. All these Sikh MPs are from the Labour Party.

With 12 Sikh lawmakers, the UK is only behind Canada which has 18 MPs from the Sikh community, the newspaper noted.

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Preet Kaur Gill trounced Tory candidate Ashvir Sangha to win the Birmingham Edgbaston seat by a margin of more than 8,000 votes. Gill and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, who have been vocal in the UK parliament over Sikh and other issues, were elected as MPs for the third time.

Labours Dhesi won the Slough seat with 14,666 votes. After his victory, he wrote on X, Huge honour to be re-elected by the good people of #Slough as their MP. They voted for change, unity and progress under a @UKLabour Government  which is what I will work hard to deliver for them. Immensely grateful to all whose efforts and teamwork made it possible.

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Labour politician Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi speaks during Urgent Question at the House of Commons in London, Britain April 26, 2021. File Photo/Reuters

Nadia Whittome, a queer Catholic Sikh from the Labour Party, won from Nottingham East for a second term with 19,494 votes. Rosemary Palmer of the Green Party stood second with 4,332 votes. Whittome became the youngest MP in the House of Commons when she was first elected in 2019 at the age of 23.

Kirith Entwistle, also known as Kirith Ahluwalia, won the Bolton North East seat with 16,166 votes, becoming the first woman MP to represent the constituency.

Satvir Kaur won the Southampton Test seat with 15,945 votes, Warinder Juss bagged the Wolverhampton West seat, Dr Jeevun Sandher has become the MP from Loughborough and Jas Athwal from Ilford South. Gurinder Singh Josan has become a first-time MP from Smethwick.

Harpreet Kaur Uppal has become a first-time MP after clinching the Huddersfield parliamentary seat with 15,101 votes.

Other MPs of Indian-origin

Labour veteran Seema Malhotra held the Feltham and Heston seat with 16,139 votes against Tory leader Reva Gudi. She served as the Shadow Minister for Skills and Further Education last year. Malhotra, who is the co-founder and President of the Fabian Womens Network, has won from Feltham and Heston four times now.

Thankyou to the people of Feltham and Heston for re-electing me as the MP for Feltham and Heston. 



Tonights was a vote for hope, optimism and renewal. Im grateful to all who played a part in our positive campaign for change and for unity.



It will be an honour and a pic.twitter.com/zwiC9jtxfh  Seema Malhotra MP (@SeemaMalhotra1) July 5, 2024

Labours Kanishka Narayan has become the first ethnic minority MP in Wales. He defeated former Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns from the Vale of Glamorgan.

Sojan Joseph, who has roots in Kerala, has been elected as a Labour candidate from the Conservative stronghold of Ashford.

Dudley elected its first woman MP in Labours Sonia Kumar, who won by a margin of 1,900 votes against Conservative candidate Marco Longhi.

Goan-origin Valerie Vaz of the Labour Party has won Walsall and Bloxwich, defeating her closest opponent Aftab Nawaz, an Independent candidate. Her brother is Keith Vaz.

Labours Navendu Mishra won with a big margin of over 15,000 votes against Reform UKs Lynn Schofield from Stockport.

With inputs from agencies
K Armstrong, 52, was a well-known figure in Chennai and earned his popularity by being an Ambedkarite who vowed to serve Dalits read more

A politically influential man who especially drew the support of the youth, Armstrong was an advocate by profession. Image source: Facebook

The Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Partys (BSP) Chief K Armstrong was hacked to death by six armed men in Chennais Perambur on Friday. He was talking to his friends and supporters near his house when the attack occurred.

The people around Armstrong fled the scene when the incident happened as the assailants flung their machetes, warning them to attack anyone who intervened. The BSP state chiefs family rushed to the scene only to find him in a pool of blood after he suffered fatal injuries in the head.

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The horrific attack has invited condemnation from BSP Chief Mayawati as well as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.

The police have arrested eight people suspected to be linked to the case. Those arrested are Ponnai Bala, Ramu, Thiruvengadam, Thirumalai, Selvaraj, Manivannnan, Santhosh and Arul. Meanwhile, preliminary investigation suggests that the murder of the BSP Tamil Nadu chief was a case of hostility and revenge.

Who was Armstrong?

K Armstrong, 52, was a well-known figure in Chennai and earned his popularity by being an Ambedkarite who vowed to serve Dalits.

A politically influential man who especially drew the support of the youth, Armstrong was an advocate by profession.

His claim to fame was his efforts toward social welfare, education and community-building initiatives.

Armstrong had held the position of BSP Tamil Nadu chief for many years and by doing so he spread the principles of BSP in the the southern state.

He was appointed as a Chennai Corporation councilor in 2006. In 2011, the leader contested assembly elections from the Kolathur constituency.

Despite his widespread popularity, Armstrong had been in trouble with the law. Police say that several criminal cases have been registered against him.

Mayawati calls for peace

In a post on X, Mayawati said, The brutal murder of a hardworking and dedicated leader of the BSP in Tamil Nadu and the state party unit president Shri K. Armstrong outside his Chennai residence yesterday evening has sent shockwaves across the society. The government should immediately take strict/necessary action to prevent such incidents in future.

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2.  -                  -                  ,    Mayawati (@Mayawati) July 6, 2024

She also announced that she will visit Chennai tomorrow owing to the gravity of the situation. I appeal to all to maintain peace and order.
India is in the process of harnessing the capability of a rotary unmanned aerial system as part of a deal with Austrian company Schiebel for their renowed Camcopter S-100 ahead of PM Modis visit to the country. Jajati Mohanty, CEO, Schiebel India, sheds light on the strategic implications and future prospects of this landmark capability read more

The S-100 can be operated with either aviation gasoline or kerosene (S1 or the S2 engine option), making it ideally suited for the maritime environment

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit to Austria between July 8 and 10, Indian Navy is currently getting to exploit and utilise CAMCOPTER S-100 rotary unmanned aerial system for ISR in the Indian Ocean Region, marking a pivotal milestone in bilateral technological collaboration.

Founded in 1951 in Vienna, Schiebel focuses on the development, design and production of the revolutionary Camcopter S-100 Unmanned Air System (UAS).

With facilities in Vienna and Wiener Neustadt (Austria), Manassas, VA (USA), Abu Dhabi (UAE), Shoalhaven (Australia) and Hyderabad (India), Schiebel has built an international reputation for producing high-tech military, commercial and humanitarian products, which are backed by exceptional after-sales service and support.

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As we delve into how the Camcopter S-100 deal is going to forge a robust bond between Austria and India, particularly in enhancing Indias maritime capabilities through cutting-edge unmanned aerial systems, Jajati Mohanty, CEO, Schiebel, in an interview to Firstpost, sheds light on the strategic implications and future prospects of this landmark deal.

How has Schiebel Camcopter S-100 has brought the two countries together? In what ways are the two countries collaborating on the same?

The Indian Navy undertakes Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) to monitor the sea lane of communication in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and has been doing the same with unmanned systems since the beginning of 21st century using fixed wing UAVs operated from shore as well as the ships by handing over control to ships at sea.

The use of these Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAVs has provided vital and crucial experience to the Indian Navy, and they have now forayed into shipborne rotary unmanned aerial system which can operate from the deck of warships. This ability has provided much needed flexibility in sea-based operations to the Indian Navy. Suffice to say, it is this capability of the CAMCOPTER S-100 unmanned aerial system which has brought Austria and India together in one of the fields of technology.

The Indian Naval program provides for Austrian industry namely Schiebel in this case to work with an Indian production partner VEM Technologies in order to license produce the unmanned system in India. The program would create a complete eco system for the rotary unmanned systems and would sustain the technology for effective exploitation. We are also of the opinion that future platforms like the S-300 which is presently under development would find its space in the Indian sub-continent for manufacturing and exploitation by the Indian military.

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Schiebel India CEO Jajati Mohanty

What makes Camcopter the ideal choice for the Indian security arena? What is the scope of Schiebel for ISR and SAR operations for the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Army?

The S-100 is a matured and proven platform to have operated effectively and efficiently in extreme environments. Our customers routinely employ the S-100 capability in arctic conditions down to -40 degrees Celsius and deserts up to +55 degrees Celsius, as well as in climatic zones of extreme humidity.

Indian sub-continent with its wide variance of climate needs a capable platform which can handle all these climatic conditions and meet its defined goal. With its operational service ceiling of up to 12,000 feet, its endurance exceeding 6 hours with a full fuel load and 34 kg of payload, the UAS is the ideal asset for hard-to-reach areas and challenging terrains.

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The Indian Navy has already commenced operating these unmanned systems in the IOR and we are in the process of participating in tenders pertaining to Coast Guard and the Army which have similar requirements and specifications.

What are the future plans of Schiebel Systems India with regard to the manufacturing and overhaul in Hyderabad?

Schiebel India has been incorporated as per Indian laws and has collaborated with VEM Technologies for the local production of the CAMCOPTER S-100. This partnership is manufacturing the CAMCOPTER S-100 along with its payload under the Buy (India) category with up to 60 per cent indigenisation content. We have recently completed first set of deliveries to the Indian Navy and the systems are being exploited extensively in the IOR.

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Schiebel endeavours to create necessary skills for integration and testing in India (licensed production), creation of a robust eco-system consisting of component manufacturer, dealers for off the shelf items and also setting up of the MRO with indigenised tests stands and diagnostic tester toward fault detection and rectification in addition to overhauling and testing. The creation of facility and skills in India would be to sustain the platform for 15 years and above based on the technology obsolescence.

Could you explain the Camcopter S-100s salient characteristics and cutting-edge technology that distinguish it from competing unmanned aerial systems?

The S-100 can be operated with either aviation gasoline or kerosene (S1 or the S2 engine option), making it ideally suited for the maritime environment. Its small footprint and the absence of launch or recovery equipment lets the S-100 be easily maneuvered, stowed and maintained in confined spaces or in ships hangars. Extensive use of carbon fibre composite materials, titanium, stainless steel and special coatings protect the system against corrosion. Operation is possible from any ship with a small helicopter landing deck or suitable clear space, even in challenging weather.

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The S-100 can also successfully operate in environments where GPS is not available (or denied), with missions planned and controlled using a simple point-and-click user interface. Its carbon fibre and titanium fuselage provide capacity for a wide range of payload/endurance combinations up to a service ceiling of 5,500 m/12,000 ft. The high-tech unmanned helicopter is supported by Schiebels excellent customer and training services. The ability to innovate and stay ahead of the curve has ensured that S-100 with its obsolescence management has been the market leader since the last two decades.

Tell us about the much-talked about Naval Shipborne Unmanned Aerial System where Schiebel has enhanced Indian Navys maritime capabilities.

Indian Navy has more than 8000 km of coastline and some of the busiest sea lane through which merchant traffic passes every day. S-100 has provided Navy with an alternate and very capable platform from where a plethora of maritime activities can be undertaken which previously needed a manned helicopter. With the S-100, the Navy has found its reach and capability getting enhanced multi-role multi-domain in leaps and bounds.

The smoothness and the zeal with which the Indian Navy has taken S-100 into their concept of operations onboard frontline warships has actually been an eye opener and one feels proud as a fellow Indian. We at Schiebel India want to match the Indian Navy in their stride and get the MRO facility going by the end of 2024 so that all repair and overhaul related activities gets completed within the country.

In order to meet this requirement, we are presently working on creating necessary skills and infrastructural capabilities by domestic companies with hand holding from Schiebel Austria. We are expecting that this kind of a symbiotic relationship would result in optimal usage of existing S-100 platforms and enhancement of more systems by Indian Navy for other capital warships on both east and west coast of India.

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On July 6, a video statement of Surajpal Singh aka Bhole Baba came out to the public where he said he was saddened by the incident which killed and injured so many devotees. The Hathras stampede incident is the worst India has seen in many years read more

Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari or Bhole Baba was a police constable before he became a self-styled preacher

Earlier this week, 121 people died in a stampede trying to seek blessings from a self-styled godman in Uttar Pradeshs Hathras. While the police arrested six individuals involved in organising the satsang for Bhole Baba, Surajpal Singh, the preacher was nowhere to be found until Saturday.

On July 6, a video statement of Surajpal Singh aka Bhole Baba came out to the public where he said he was saddened by the incident which killed and injured so many devotees. The Hathras stampede incident is the worst India has seen in many years.

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I am deeply saddened after the incident of July 2. May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration, Surajpal Singh said.

He added, I have faith that anyone who created the chaos would not be spared Through my lawyer AP Singh, I have requested the members of the committee to stand with the bereaved families and the injured and help them throughout their lives.

#WATCH | Hathras Stampede Accident | Mainpuri, UP: In a video statement, Surajpal also known as 'Bhole Baba' says, "... I am deeply saddened after the incident of July 2. May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I pic.twitter.com/7HSrK2WNEM  ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2024

It is important to note that while several people have been named as accused in an FIR that was registered last week, the name of Bhole Baba found no mention in it, angering families of the dead.

Who is Bhole Baba?

Surajpal Singh already has five criminal cases lodged against him including one which accuses him of molestation.

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He was posted as a head constable in Etawah about 28 years ago but was terminated from services after allegations of rape against him.

He, however, keeps telling his disciples that he took a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) from Uttar Pradesh Police

Bhole Baba has been known for his controversial satsangs. Five criminal cases against him have been filed in Agra, Etawah, Kasganj, Farrukhabad and Rajasthans Dausa.

He also supposedly has political ties with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claiming Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav has met Bhole Baba in the past after a photo of them together went viral on social media.

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Main accused surrenders

Meanwhile, the main accused in the stampede case, Devprakash Madhukar, surrendered in Delhi on Friday.

Madhukar was the main organiser of the satsang and he is now in the custody of UP police.

The Uttar Pradesh police said on Thursday that they have arrested six sevadars, including two women, in connection with the Hathras stampede that killed 121 people.

The only accused named in the FIR is at large while preacher Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba will be questioned if required during an investigation, a senior officer said.

All six persons who have been arrested worked as sevadars (volunteers) at the satsang, Inspector General of Police (Aligarh Range) Shalabh Mathur told reporters.

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With inputs from agencies
Claiming that some political parties had recently contacted Madhukar - main accused - the police said political connections and money trail would be probed and strictest possible action would be taken if any party is found involved in the activities read more

Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in Hathras stampede, was arrested from Delhi by Uttar Pradesh Police which claimed he was the main organiser-fundraiser for the July 2 satsang and suspected that self-styled godman Bhole Babas events were funded by a political party.

Claiming that some political parties had recently contacted Madhukar, the police said political connections and money trail would be probed and strictest possible action would be taken if any party is found involved in the activities.

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Madhukar was the main organiser of the satsang programme in Fulrai village on July 2 and the permission for this programme was taken by him. Thus, two roles of Madhukar have come to light  the main organiser and fundraiser, Hathras Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal said at a press conference.

Madhukar is the only accused named in the FIR lodged at Sikandra Rao police station on July 2 after the stampede, and Agarwal said the investigation has revealed that some political parties had contacted him some time back.

A detailed investigation is being conducted regarding the collection of funds to see if such programmes and other resources are being funded by any political party.

From the investigation so far, it appears that some political party is connected with them for its political and personal interests, Agarwal said.

All the bank accounts, movable and immovable properties, money trail, related to the accused Devprakash Madhukar are being investigated, in which assistance will be taken from other agencies as per the need, he added.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, both former chief ministers, hit out at the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government over the handling of the case.

Yadav alleged that to hide its failure in the Hathras incident, the UP government wants to shirk responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of people by making minor arrests.

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He also accused the government and administration of needlessly arresting people, who were away from the original venue with a specific motive and is preparing to hold them guilty after the arrest.

These arrests are a conspiracy in themselves, he said on X, demanding an immediate judicial inquiry into the case.

BSP chief Mayawati demanded strict action against Bhole Baba and others for the stampede. In a post on X, she urged the poor, Dalit and the oppressed, not to be misled by preachers like Bhole Baba.

Action is also necessary against other such babas. The government should not be lenient due to political interests in this matter, so that no more people lose their lives in the future, Mayawati said.

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Asked if the police would question the preacher after arresting Madhukar, Hathras Superintendent of Police Agarwal said, Action would be taken on the basis of further investigation in the case.

Carrying a Rs 1 lakh bounty, Madhukar, 42, was arrested late Friday from Delhis Najafgarh area by a Special Operations Group of Hathras police, while two more suspects  Ramprakash Shakya (61) and Sanju Yadav (33)  were held locally on Saturday over the episode that left 121 people dead, according to the police.

Madhukar and Yadav were later produced before a local magistrate who remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days, while Yadav would be produced in the court on Sunday, an official said. The police had sought their custody for questioning.

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So far, nine people, including two women and three senior citizens, have been arrested in the case, in which several unidentified sevadars (volunteers) of the satsang are mentioned as accused. The godman is not an accused in the case.

The Hathras SP said Madhukar worked as a fundraiser for events of the self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba and collected donations.

His financial transactions and money trails are being looked into, and call detail records are also being checked, Agarwal added.

However, Madhukars lawyer A P Singh claimed that the mukhya sevadar (chief organiser) of the satsang, where the stampede occurred, had himself surrendered to the police in Delhi, where he had come for medical treatment, contradicting the polices claim of having nabbed him on their own.

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On Saturday, he told PTI Video that while organisers of the event are being arrested, there was also need to nab 15-16 unidentified, drunk anti-social elements in half pants who he claimed triggered the stampede.

Singh also questioned the swift issuance of a non-bailable warrant against Madhukar and the declaration of bounty on his arrest, but maintained he has faith in the judicial process and the investigation teams.

Meanwhile, the judicial team formed to probe the matter reached Hathras on Saturday afternoon and visited the incident site, among other places. Justice (retired) Brajesh Kumar Srivastava told reporters that the judicial panels report is mandated to submit its report within two months.

Around 2.15 pm on Saturday, Madhukar was brought by the police to the Bagla Combined District Hospital in Hathras for a medical examination amid heavy security deployment in and around the government hospital.

The SP said after preliminary interrogation, accused Madhukar said he had been working on contract as a junior engineer in MNREGA in Etah district since 2010. He has been associated with Surajpals organisation for years and organises programmes, collecting funds for it.

Agarwal said the accused and the sevadars/organising committee members working under his direction were fully responsible for the barricading, entrance gate, exit gate, seating arrangements, parking and other facilities around the pandal of the satsang.

Madhukar and other sevadars prevented the police administration from any kind of interference inside the event venue. At the event venue, his sevadars were looking after all the arrangements in the form of commandos in different costumes, he said.

No person was allowed to do videography or photography at the venue. Thus, the arrangements were not done properly and the traffic system etc was affected by violating many conditions mentioned in the permission letter issued by the administration, the SP said.

After the stampede, an FIR was lodged in the matter on July 2 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).

On July 3, the Uttar Pradesh government formed a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge to probe the tragedy and to look into the possibility of a conspiracy behind the stampede.

Simultaneously, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Additional Director General of Police (Agra Zone) Anupam Kulshreshtha is also filing a detailed report on the episode, to be submitted to the UP government.

Kulshreshtha on Friday told PTI that the conspiracy angle in the probe has not been ruled out even as the evidence and statements gathered so far suggest culpability on the part of the event organisers.
The Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama has been living in India in exile for over six decades read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has wished the Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama on his 89th birthday.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Modi said he had conveyed his greetings to the Dalai Lama.

Sent my greetings to His Holiness Dalai Lama on the occasion of his 89th birthday. Pray for his quick recovery after knee surgery, good health and long life, said Modi.

Sent my greetings to His Holiness @DalaiLama on the occasion of his 89th birthday. Pray for his quick recovery after knee surgery, good health and long life.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 6, 2024

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The Dalai Lama has been living in India in exile since 1959 when he arrived in India after fleeing from Tibets capital in the wake of a failed uprising against the Chinese occupation and repression. In 1949-50, the Chinese invaded and occupied Tibet. Following the occupation, they mounted an agenda of repression where they clamped down on the natives cultural freedoms and stomping on their heritage.

The Chinese regime considers the Dalai Lama as a separatist and is averse to any governments or politicians engagement with him. For years, as India reached out to China to manage the bilateral relationship, the Narendra Modi government kept the engagement with the Tibetans in exile in India and the Dalai Lama under wraps but that changed in 2020 when China plunged the bilateral relationship to the lowest since the 1962 war with incursions in Ladakh that triggered the border stand-off that now continues in its fifth year.

In 2021, Modi wished the Dalai Lama on his birthday for the first time in many years. The renewed engagements was a way of telling the Chinese that if you will not respect our sensibilities, we will not respect yours.

Following the Chinese aggression in 2020, which peaked in June 2020 when Chinese personnel killed at least 20 Indian personnel in Ladakhs Galwan Valley, the Modi government did away with respecting the Chinese sensibilities. The engagement with the Tibetans and the Dalai Lama is part of the broader campaign to counter the Chinese where India has cautious reached out to Taiwan, blocked Chinese investments in India, pushed Chinese companies operating in India to partner with Indian companies, and built partnerships with like-minded countries to counter Chinese belligerence.

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India was again said to be playing the Tibet Card last month when it facilitated the visit of American lawmakers to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh where the Tibetan Government in Exile is based. The lawmakers met the Dalai Lama and made powerful statements. Following their meeting that draw a swift response from the Chinese embassy in India, the lawmakers also met Modi in New Delhi.
An interim budget was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February. The full budget will be presented by Sitharaman in the next few weeks read more

The Union Budget will be presented in the Lok Sabha on July 23, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Saturday.

The Budget session will begin on July 22 and go on till August 12.

Honble President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business). Union Budget,  Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) July 6, 2024

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An interim budget was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February under the previous regime. The full budget will be presented by Sitharaman in the next few weeks.

Who will present the budget?

Sitharaman, who was reinstated as the Finance Minister in Modi 3.0 Cabinet, will present the Union Budget 2024.

What to expect?

A report by Reuters last month quoted two government sources as saying that the Modi government is mulling over lowering tax rates for specific groups of individuals. If so, the move will help boost consumption in India, Asias third-largest economy.

Meanwhile, PM Modi said that the National Democratic Alliance will centre its policies around middle class and household savings, soon after the alliance won the Lok Sabha elections in June.

Modi emphasised the role played by the middle class was exceptional and that they will be the driving force of Bharats growth story.

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We will continue to ensure the welfare of our people, and will continue to deliver quality of life to all. In the next 10 years, good governance, development, quality of life and my determination is to reduce government interference in peoples life, the leader said.
Other than Chinese President Xi Jinping, very few world leaders have visited Russia in the last two years. In fact, Putins own movements abroad are limited due to the impending arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in March 2023 read more

The announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modis impending visit to Russia by the Kremlin in late June took most observers by surprise. The two countries have had a practice of holding annual summits since 2000, but due to the Ukraine war, it was held in abeyance. So why now? And why has Modi chosen Moscow as the destination of his first bilateral visit in his third term in office?

The visit was certainly overdue. India and Russia have had a decades-long time-tested relationship that was elevated to a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership in 2010. Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has stood by India in its times of need, especially during the 1971 conflict with Pakistan, which led to the creation of Bangladesh. It has lent India crucial political and diplomatic support, including in the UN Security Council. Until recently, a bulk of Indias defence requirements, technology, and equipment were sourced from Russia on favourable terms.

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President Putin had travelled to India in 2021 for a daylong engagement. The two leaders had last met in Samarkand on the margins of a SCO summit in September 2022, when Modi famously stated, Todays era is not an era of war. They have not met face-to-face since, while the PM has been interacting regularly with other major world leaders, including at the G7 and G20 meetings.

Russia is hosting the next BRICS Summit in Kazan in October 2024, when the annual dialogue between Modi and Putin could have been held. However, both sides wanted a full-fledged standalone visit that was to take place on July 89, 2024.

Other than Chinese President Xi Jinping, very few world leaders have visited Russia in the last two years. In fact, Putins own movements abroad are limited due to the impending arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in March 2023, which technically could be enforced by any of its 123 member nations. The West has been making every possible effort to hem him in.

India has been mindful of Western concerns, even if it is not in complete agreement with its outlook towards Russia. However, with the Ukraine conflict showing no signs of abating, India decided to go ahead with the summit, as national interests warrant continued high-level engagement with Russia. Even though Russia is not the USSR, given its size and resources, it is and would remain a major global power centre. India-Russia ties are not only of mutual advantage but also give both sides leverage in their conduct of international affairs.

India has always maintained strategic independence in decision-making. Notwithstanding Western pressure, India took a nuanced and principled stand on the Ukraine conflict. It opted to buy oil from Russia at a discounted rate, which also helped stabilise global oil prices and supplies, as significant quantities were processed and exported. Earlier, in spite of the risk of the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions, New Delhi went ahead with the procurement of the S-400 missile defence system. The rationale for doing so has been well articulated by India and begrudgingly acknowledged by the West.

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Testifying before the US Senate Committee on Appropriations a couple of years ago, Secretary Blinken recognised that Indias relations with Russia went back decades out of necessity (during the Cold War period). Things had since changed, and India and the US were in the process of establishing a foundational partnership, given their growing strategic convergence.

That recognition, however, is skin-deep. The India-Russia partnership is a bitter pill for the US to swallow. As the preeminent power, the US likes to keep its options open and maintains ties with all sides but is reluctant to concede a similar space to other nations.

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M Campbell interalia observed the following upon his return from India last month: We have been clear which areas are affected by the continuing relationship between India and Russia militarily and technologically. I think we will take what steps we can to mitigate some of those engagements, and we have expressed some concerns."

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US defence secretary Lloyd Austin had put it more bluntly in April 2022 during a Congressional hearing: We continue to work with them (India) to ensure that they understand that its not in their best interest to continue to invest in Russian equipment, and our requirement going forward is that they downscale the types of equipment that theyre investing in."

India accords the highest priority to her engagement with the US, and bilateral ties have never been as robust. Yet India is also aware of Washingtons transactional and sanctimonious disposition. It is not above giving pinpricks to India on so-called human rights, minorities, democracy-deficit, religious freedom, and other issues. In contrast, Russia has never been judgmental and has stood by India without too many ifs and butts.

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That said, the Ukraine conflict has been a strategic challenge for India. It resulted in sweeping sanctions on Russia by the US and its allies, which pushed the former into the arms of China. Presidents Xi and Putin have met 40 times and have been paying each other regular visits. They pledged a no limits partnership in February 2022 and declared the dawn of a new era in their ties during Putins visit to Beijing last month. These are not mere diplomatic flourishes.

China is Russias largest trading partner. Bilateral trade has soared to $240 billion in 2023, marking a 64 per cent increase since 2021. There has also been some sourcing of advanced Russian military hardware and technology while supplying a whole range of consumer products. The West has alleged that critical components and dual-use items are being made available by Beijing to Moscow, which Russia uses in its military equipment and munitions. China is literally keeping the Russian economy afloat and its war machinery humming. Russia is naturally beholden to China.

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India has been watching this deepening engagement with growing concern and trying to assess its impact on her own relations with Russia. For example, there is now a question mark over Russias stance in the event of hostilities breaking out between India and China. It would be recalled that shortly after the standoff with China over Galwan, Russia had expedited supplies of crucial components and munitions to India, at the behest of our defence minister, who had rushed to Moscow in June 2020.

PM Modis visit to Moscow could not be happening at a more critical juncture for President Vladimir Putin. As noted above, no Western or world leader of standing other than the Chinese President has paid him a visit during the last two years.

Modis gesture would accord him renewed legitimacy and ease his isolation. It could very well pave the way for other leaders, especially from the Global South, to follow suit. This may not go down well with the West, especially the US, which has made every possible effort to turn Putin into a pariah.

The scenario would be different if Modis visit resulted in some forward movement on the Ukraine issue. There are no indications, however, of such an outcome. Yes, the Ukrainian foreign minister visited New Delhi in March, and Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the margins of the G7 Summit in Italy last month. They quite likely would have requested that India use its good offices with Russia to break the logjam. But that is easier said than done.

Even though donor fatigue is setting in with the West, modern weapons and munitions are being pumped into Ukraine. The scope of conflict has widened. Neither side is willing to cede any ground to the other. Russia, which believes it has an upper hand at the moment, is willing to settle if Ukraine gives up its four eastern regions, which is just not acceptable to Zelensky or the West as it would tantamount to rewarding Russia for its aggression. And finally, it is moot if Russia or the West are willing to let India walk away with the honour of facilitating a breakthrough.

Engagement with Russia is certainly a political imperative for India. As such, the visit is happening not a day too soon. At the same time, India may have to marshal all its diplomatic skills to smooth the ruffled feathers in certain Western capitals and be prepared for some stress in ties, at least in the short term.

The author is a foreign affairs specialist and an ex-envoy to Canada and South Korea. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Newly-elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer promises to rid the Labour Party of anti-India sentiments. With party chair Amelia Dodds stating that the centre-left party has cleansed its ranks of any members with extremist views on India, this shows how critical an asset the Indian diaspora can be read more

Keir Starmer, human rights barrister and freshly elected Britains prime minister, had a very important message that he wanted to convey, when the Labour Party trounced the Tories in Britains general elections earlier this week.

He has announced a reset for not only his own country but the Labour Partys relationship with India and intentions to pursue a new strategic partnership", including Free Trade Agreement with India. While campaigning, he also denounced Hinduphobia and made very obvious efforts to woo Hindu voters by making several visits to temples. This approach is a radical shift from the Labour Partys previous stance towards India under the leadership of Jeremy Corbin, especially the partys previous favouritism of Pakistan regarding the Kashmir issue.

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Starmer promises to ensure that the Labour Party is rid of any anti-India sentiments, with party chair Amelia Dodds promising that the Labour Party has cleansed its ranks of any members with extremist views on India. The Labour Party is also expected to push hard on visa negotiations and take a close look at immigration, which is one of the most controversial topics in British politics.

These are very strong statements that very transparently show just how important the Indian community and, via them, India, are to political leaders in the UK.

There are approximately 1.5 million people of Indian descent living in the UK, with about half a million residing in London. Their energy and ambition are reflected in high rates of employment and professional qualification, with Indians having the highest employment rate of any other ethnic group in the UK. More than 50 per cent of Indians in the UK are qualified to degree leve, l and over 40 per cent work in managerial and professional occupations.

There are around 65,000 companies owned by the Indian diaspora in the UK. Around 654 of them have a minimum annual turnover of around 100,000 pounds, with a combined revenue of almost 37 billion pounds, paying over a billion pounds in corporation tax while providing employment to almost 180,000 people. It is quite clear that Indians are among the most prosperous, value-adding, and dynamic ethnic minority communities in the UK, exerting an enormous amount of political and economic influence.

This means that some of the wealthiest people in Britain are of Indian descent. Srichand, Hinduja, and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal are names often found topping the Sunday Times Rich list. These businessmen have followed in the footsteps of one of the first notable Indian entrepreneurs, Lord Gulam Noon (19362015), who built a mammoth business catering to Britains love of curry, amassing a personal fortune of 65 million before entering the House of Lords in 2011. He also donated millions to charities in the UK and India.

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There is now a new generation of Britons of Indian heritage who are taking up the baton, such as the Arora brothers of the B&M retail chain, Rishi Khosla of OakNorth Bank, Kuljinder Bahia of Southall Travell, Mohsin and Zubair Issa of Euro Garages, among others, who are becoming a powerful force in British society.

Going beyond the world of business, the energy and talents of the Indian diaspora are being felt across various domains such as academics, medicine, the arts, sports, and politics.

Most of the UKs most prestigious academic institutions count specialists boasting an Indian heritage among their highest-ranking academic staff. Sir Venkatraman Krishnan, an Indian-born American and British structural biologist who was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, is a former President of the Royal Society.

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British Indian actors and broadcasters are increasingly visible in the UKs media scene. Journalists Krishnan Guru Murthy and Naga Munchetty are prolific in their fields, as are Meera Syal, an actress and writer, and Sir Anish Kapoor, a Bombay-born sculptor.

The Indian diaspora has been deeply involved in British politics for quite some time now. In the 2024 UK general elections, there were as many as 108 British Indians in the race for 680 available seats, with a record number of Indian-origin politicians being elected to the British Parliament, most of them representing the Labour Party.

The first Parliamentarian of Indian origin in the UK was Dadabhai Naoroji, who sat as a Liberal Democrat from 182995. Priti Patel made history when she became the first person of Indian origin to serve the UK as Home Secretary in 2019. Baron Meghnad Desai was the first non-UK-born candidate to stand for the position of Lord Speaker in the House of Lords. Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak created history when he became the first Indian-origin politician to be invited by King Charles III to form the British government in October 2022.

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People of Indian descent currently make up about 2.5 per cent of the population of England and Wales, yet in the Queens Birthday Honours List, 2019, almost 4 per cent of the recipients were of Indian heritage.

The contribution of the Indian diaspora to public service institutions such as the NHS is indispensable. Despite there being no official figures, it is estimated that there are upwards of 50,000 medical professionals of Indian origin (both Indian and British citizens) serving the NHS in the UK currently.

These facts, circumstances, and conditions explain why political leaders in the UK are so eager to seek favour and appease the powerful and influential Indian community in the country.

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The Indian diaspora is also an indispensable soft power tool for India when it comes to our nations standing in an increasingly polarised world.

If Atal Bihari Vajpayee, during his 19982004 tenure as Indian PM, is credited with having promoted serious engagement with the Indian diaspora so that mutually beneficial linkages can be developed, PM Modi is known for really pressing the accelerator on this agenda. In an interaction with the Indian diaspora in Denmark in 2022, PM Modi urged them to work as Rashtradoots (representatives of the country) and encouraged them to invite their peers to India under the Chalo India banner.

The combined turnover of Indian diaspora-owned companies and Indian parent-owned companies in the UK is 85 billion pounds, with almost 2 billion pounds paid in taxes and close to 300,000 people employed. These significant numbers cannot be ignored, and they are clearly being noticed by UK political leaders, as demonstrated by even the Labour Partys newly developed warmth towards India.

We are being wooed, and how? Our diaspora is a symbol of national pride, and they represent our country internationally. Their ability to spread Indias message and lobby for our interests while contributing significantly to our economy is now well recognised. We can see that the world is also recognising and acknowledging Indias growing dominance as a power and force to be reckoned with in the world today.

The author is a freelance journalist and features writer based out of Delhi. Her main areas of focus are politics, social issues, climate change and lifestyle-related topics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Unitary and centralised all India exams like NEET are in the interest of the students and the country as well. However, it is imperative that all necessary steps be taken for their inviolability read more

Friedrich Nietzsche rightly said, Evaluation is the most valuable thing we consider valuable. Value exists only through evaluation, and without evaluation, the essence of existence would be hollow." If one decodes this philosophical statement, in practical terms, examination is definitely a very significant component of any education system through which students and examinees are evaluated.

The importance of examinations has increased manifold in current times, as they open the door to admission into higher education programmes or employment.

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The sanctity of the examination system, therefore, is paramount for any advanced society or country. Unfortunately, whether its school board examinations in different states or examinations conducted by the Public Service Commission for different jobs, questions have been raised time and again about their integrity.

The latest incidents in this series are the controversy surrounding the Medical Entrance Examination NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), UGC-NET, or CSIR examinations.

Instead of finding a proper solution to the problem, it is unfortunate indeed that political subterfuge and one-upmanship have broken out over this issue, to the detriment of examinees interests.

The NEET issue encompasses administrative, technological, and political dimensions, and the solution, henceforth, should rise above politics and vested interests to prioritise the best interests of our youth.

A huge controversy has erupted with the paper leak in the NEET as students complained of grace marks being awarded to more than 1500 examinees, a huge increase in the number of students getting full marks, and the possibility of the question paper being leaked beforehand. As per the media reports, innumerable lapses occurred in the conduct of the NEET examination, and the examination agency, the National Testing Agency (NTA), is primarily in the dock, putting at stake the careers of lakhs of students.

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However, clues about the involvement of many others outside NTA are also emerging. A thorough and impartial investigation is needed to restore the credibility of the NTA and the examination system. The central government not only removed the NTA chief, rightly bringing in a new competent head, but also set up a CBI inquiry.

Besides, in view of various administrative shortcomings, technological challenges, and logistical limitations in conducting various examinations by NTA, the Minister of Education, Dharmendra Pradhan, constituted a high-level committee of experts to make the examinations transparent and fair.

This committee, headed by former ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, will work on improving the examination processes, data security protocols, and structure of the NTA. The seriousness of the governments response to the NEET issue can be gauged from the fact that this issue was mentioned in the parliamentary address of the President herself.

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Along with this, the Centre also notified the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 to prevent paper leaks and other unfair means in the exam. All crimes under this law are cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable.

None but PM Narendra Modi himself said, on the floor of parliament, The government is extremely concerned about the NEET issue and is working on a war-like situation to fulfil its responsibilities.

Undoubtedly, all these efforts will plug the hole in the exam system in the future. However, the CBI should also investigate whether the scam has any international linkage. Anti-India international forces are once again on the rise. It must be noted that the NEET was conducted in 14 centres in 12 other countries besides India. The media has reported the use of the dark internet in these paper leak cases. To clarify, the dark internet is often used for cybercrimes, which international intelligence organisations resort to. As far as the cancellation of the NEET exam is concerned, the matter is now in the Supreme Court.

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In the midst of this controversy, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has gone to the extent of demanding the abolition of the NEET system itself. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has also vociferously opposed the NEET. Coincidentally, some other voices have also emerged for the abrogation of a centralised NEET.

The Bengal Chief Minister, in a letter to PM Modi, wrote that, in view of the irregularities in NEET, an all-India-level exam should be abolished and the old system be brought back, in which separate entrance examinations were conducted smoothly by the state governments for admission to medical colleges in respective states.

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Mamata Banerjees argument about the smooth conduct of the old system does not match the facts. Truth be told, there was no end to the problems of the students in the old system. Apart from AIIMS, BHU, AMU, Pondicherry, CBSE, AFMC, and different states had their respective medical entrance examinations for the same medical programme (MBBS). Many private medical colleges, like CMCH Vellore, had their own entrance examinations. It was simply impossible for students from lower classes and lower middle classes to appear in all the exams. Even students from upper-middle-class backgrounds found it challenging and exhausting to appear in numerous examinations. It was a waste of time, money, and energy.

Keeping these complexities in mind, in 2011, CNR Rao, the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Council of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress-led government, sent a four-page document titled Essential Steps for Progress in Higher Education: A List to the then Prime Minister. The document mentioned that students were burdened and stressed by innumerable examinations, which impacted their energy and creativity. It underlined an urgent need to free students from the web of examinations and recommended a unified national examination for admission to various programmes of higher education. The Medical Council of India, meanwhile, also suggested a common medical test for all. Considering all such suggestions and recommendations and keeping the students interests in mind, the unified and centralised medical entrance examination NEET was initiated in 2017 and was definitely a welcome step.

This unitary and centralised examination system, which Mamta Banerjee further iterates, violates the true spirit of the federal structure of the country and is completely unacceptable. This argument again fails the constitutional as well as ethical tests. Education is on the concurrent list of the Constitution; henceforth, the Centre can take such decisions in the interest of the country and the people (NEET in the students interest in the current case). Secondly, the Centre has been conducting centralised exams like UPSC for decades for the appointment of IAS, IPS, or IFS in the states. Thirdly, if Banerjees point is accepted, it will open a pandora box, demanding entrance exams in engineering, law, and various other unitary exams as well, which will be inimical to the interests of the common students. Only the rich and the resourceful will benefit from the old system of separate examinations.

Mamata Banerjee also pronounces that the current system has given rise to corruption on a large scale. It must be noted that irrespective of the exam being conducted by the Centre or the state governments, paper leaks and irregularities in entrance exams or exams for jobs have not been unusual. In fact, at least 48 instances of paper leaks have been reported from 16 states in the last couple of years.

Apart from the Congress party government, these incidents of paper leaks and irregularities have come to light in other parties state governments as well. The notorious Bengal teacher recruitment scam of 2016 during Mamata Goverment, the infamous JPSC exam scam of 2008 in Jharkhand during Hemant Soren regime, the UPPMT paper leak during Akhilesh Yadavs government in Uttar Pradesh in 2014, or during the Congress government in Rajasthan, 12 paper leaks or corruption cases from 2018 to 2023, or in Tamil Nadu, the police recruitment exam question paper leak in 2005, the NEET impersonation scam in 2019, or the TNPSC scam of 2020 are glaring examples in this regard. It is also a matter of concern that the name of the personal secretary of a Neta of a major regional party and former Deputy Chief Minister has also cropped up in this current NEET scam.

The point here is that opposition to the NEET examination and the demand to abolish it are not justified. Unitary and centralised all India exams like NEET are in the interest of the students and the country as well. However, to ensure that such incidents do not reoccur in the future and that the trust of the candidates remains intact in exams like the NEET, it is imperative that all necessary steps be taken for their inviolability.

The author is the Dean of Planning at Delhi university and a Professor in Hindi Department. He tweets @NiranjanKIndia. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
The struggle has received a shot in the arm with the visit of the bipartisan US Congressional delegation to Dharamsala, their meeting with PM Modi, and the Dalai Lamas US visit, says the author of Imperial Games in Tibet: The Struggle for Statehood and Sovereignty read more

The issue of Tibet has been undeniable in the matrix of India-China relations and remains a textbook example of Red imperialism. Ever since communist China invaded the country of monks  beginning with the invasion of Chamdo, when the Chinese People Liberation Army crossed the Jinsha River on October 6-7, 1950, to the El Salvador-sponsored draft resolution requesting global support against Tibets invasion in November 1950, to the 17-point agreement on May 23, 1951  Lhasa appeared abandoned by all the major powers.

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Historically, Tibet had a patron-priest relationship with China and strong intellectual linkages with India. But nowhere in its history has Tibet lost its autonomous identity. And after the Xinhai Revolution and the fall of Qing, a Manchu-led imperial dynasty, Lhasa was a de facto sovereign polity.

With the rise of China, as an economic as well as geostrategic power, the West, which once accepted the one-China policy merrily to meet its Cold War demands, has now started raising the issue of Taiwan and Tibet. As any objective analysis of history would second, Tibet has been the focus of Great Games, whether it might be the rivalry of British and Russian empires in the 19th century, the Cold War in the 20th century, or emerging US-China bipolarity.

Exploring these issues, a new book on Tibet has just come. Imperial Games in Tibet: The Struggle for Statehood and Sovereignty by former ambassador Dilip Sinha is an authoritative, lucid, rich, and impressive analysis of the global geopolitical ambitions that have practically left the spiritual bastion to the mercy of the Chinese Red aristocracy. As we observe World Tibet Day on June 6, Amb Sinha answers some of the questions his book deals with.

Imperial Games in Tibet Paperback  28 May 2024. Author: Dilip Sinha

Excerpts:

Q. Many people wonder if the Tibetan struggle for statehood and sovereignty is dying a slow death. Is this the case?

The Tibetan struggle has had its ups and downs, but far from dying, it is on an upward swing. It has received a shot in the arm with the visit of the bipartisan US Congressional delegation to Dharamsala, the meeting of the delegation with the Indian prime minister and the Dalai Lamas visit to the US.

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Within Tibet, the struggle continues to be brutally repressed by China, but this itself is an indication of Chinas inability to win the hearts and minds of the Tibetan people. Currently, a million Tibetan children have been taken away from their homes and are being groomed in residential schools as Han Chinese, shorn of their own language, culture and religion. But the Tibetan people continue to resist their occupiers peacefully and stoically.

Q. The detailed analysis provided by the book helps readers gain a lot of information about China and Tibet. Dont you think the world, particularly Indians, should know more about them and their history, when these Asian giants have a disturbed frontier stretching for about 3,500 kilometres?

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Yes. Indians need to know more about their largest and friendliest neighbour, Tibet, with whom they have very close historical ties. Tibet had long been an independent country. It was conquered by China in the eighteenth century, around the time Britain started its conquest of India. Early in the twentieth century, when Britain and Russia divided Central Asia between them, they agreed to keep Tibet as a part of the Chinese Empire, because neither wanted the other to seize it. Even when Chinas Qing dynasty collapsed in 1912, Britain and Russia refused to recognise Tibets declaration of independence. When China invaded Tibet in 1950, Russia supported China and Britain stayed aloof, advising the US to do the same. This put the onus on newly independent India which was still struggling with the aftermath of the partition. India should have taken up Tibets cause, at least diplomatically, and refused to recognise the annexation. But it didnt, and is now faced with a security nightmare on its northern border.

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Public speaker, writer, and diplomat, Dilip Sinha. Image: Wikipedia

Q. Where do you think Tibets case was lost, if it has been lost yet?

The cause is certainly not lost and will not be as long as the Tibetan people continue to resist Chinese rule. The refusal of the big powers to condemn Chinas invasion in 1950 was a serious setback for Tibet. But countries all over the world, led by India, have given shelter to Tibetans fleeing Chinese repression. Their support and the resistance of the Tibetan people will keep the cause alive.

Q. The book deals well with the kind of political ties Tibet historically had with China, but despite that, the passages show the strong ideational relationship that India and Tibet have shared in the past. Any comments from your side?

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Tibets ties with India have always been much closer than with any other country. It goes back even before Buddhism travelled to Tibet from India. Tibetans regard Nyatri Tsenpo as their first king. They believe that he belonged to a royal family related to the Buddha. Buddhism arrived in Tibet a few centuries later from India and its religious texts were translated from Sanskrit and Pali. Indias ties became weak during the long period of Muslim rule in northern India. When the Nalanda university library was burnt by the invaders, its teachers and students rescued several books and took them to Tibet. There is thus a strong relationship of trust between the people of the two countries to come to each others help.

Q. The book depicts Tibet as a victim of major powers; does that include India as well?

That is unfortunately true. Britain and Russia accepted Tibet as a part of China because they did not want the other to occupy it. The US helped Tibetans in the 1950s as part of its war against communism, but after the Sino-Soviet split it befriended China and ignored Tibet. Now that US-China relations are once again sour, the US is promoting the Tibetan struggle to weaken China.

India too attached greater importance to its relations with China than Tibet. In 1950, it wanted to lead, jointly with China, Asias resurgence against European imperialism. It also felt that good relations with China would help in moderating Maos aggressiveness and avert another world war.

Q. You have quoted BN Rau, Indias then permanent representative to the United Nations, as saying that had Communist China been made a UN member, it would not have invaded Tibet. Now that the PRC is a member of the UN, do you think that this will act as an inhibitor to the Chinese designs in Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, or even Taiwan, for that matter?

India was naive in believing that if Communist China was allowed to take the China seat in the UN (held by the Kuomintang party, which had lost in the civil war and withdrawn to Taiwan) it would start behaving responsibly and abandon its plans of attacking Tibet, Taiwan, Korea and other countries it claimed. Communist China did eventually become a member of the UN and a permanent member of the Security Council in 1971. Its first act was to veto Bangladeshs membership application to please Pakistan. Its aggressive policies abroad and repression at home continue unabated. Far from becoming more responsible, it has used its power to threaten its neighbours, repress its own people and support other dictatorial regimes.

The views expressed in the interview do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
Even as the Labour Party won the UK general elections, it lost five seats amid backlash over the partys stand on the war in the Gaza Strip read more

Its not just the economy, housing, or immigration that the Labour Party has to deal with after the UK general elections.

Even as the party won a landslide victory, the Labour has to rework its outreach to the Muslim voters who ditched the party in hordes over its stand on the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. The Labour lost at least five seats four of them to the Independents in constituencies with considerable Muslim voters.

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In seats with more than 10 per cent Muslim voters, the Labours vote share fell on average by 11 points as pro-Gaza candidates made significant inroads, according to The Spectator magazine.

The Labour had long been the natural home for most of the British voters, but the community found the party failing to address its anxieties over Gaza in recent months. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has supported Israels right to defend itself against Hamas and other terrorist groups in the Middle East and it was not until a few months back that he overtly called for an immediate ceasefire.

This is for the people of Gaza

In one of the biggest setbacks to the Labour Party, senior party leader Jonathan Ashworth lost his Leicester South seat to Independent candidate Shockat Adam. Ashworth was set to be a minister in Starmers cabinet.

In an address after the announcement of the result, Ashworth said that the mandate for the people for Gaza.

Finally, a voice for the voiceless  its very small. It brings nothing to those across the world and its a humble token  a humble gesture. This is for the people of Gaza, said Adam as he waved a kaffiyeh, a traditional Palestinian headscarf that has become a mainstay image in pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel movements.

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This is for Gaza.



Shockat Adam, the newly elected independent MP for Leicester South, addressed the crowd, calling for unity and dedicating his win to Gaza. Adam has unseated Labour shadow cabinet minister Jon Ashworth. pic.twitter.com/11KYHbWfpb  Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 5, 2024

In the neighbouring Blackburn seat, the Independent Adnan Hussain defeated Labours Kate Hollern. Salim Sidat, a former Labour councillor who led Hussains campaign, said that the result was a message that Muslims should not be taken from granted anywhere in the world.

We just want to send a message very, very clearly to Keir Starmer, and anybody in the world, that Muslim votes should not be taken for granted. We wanted somebody to stand up, we wanted Labour to stand up, people weve been voting for all our lives. Keir Starmer was the issue, Kate Hollern was not the issue, said Sidat to The Guardian.

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Kauser Patel, who campaigned for Adam, said that Labours Ashworth had become complacent.

I was always a Labour voter, but it was [Ashworth] who changed me because he became complacent. He didnt listen to us. When he abstained from the Gaza vote, he closed his doors on us. That wasnt good enough, said Patel to the newspaper.

The seats that Labour lost over Gaza

In addition to Blackburn and Leicester South, the Labour lost the following four more seats over Gaza.

On Perry Barr seat, Labours Khalid Mahmood lost after holding the seat since 2001 to Ayoub Khan, a lawyer and a former councillor who quit Liberal Democrats Party over the stand on Gaza.

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On Dewsbury and Batley seat, Labour Heather Iqbal lost to Iqbal Mohamed, an IT professional who quit the Labour over dissatisfaction with the partys stance on Gaza.

On the Leicester East seat, the Labour lost to the Conservative candidate as the independent voters ate into the Labour voters. This meant that while the Labour voters were divided, the Conservative voters converged around the candidate.

On the Islington North seat, Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour party leader fired for shielding antisemitism within the party, defeated his nearest rival Praful Nargund of Labour. He has refused to condemn the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7 and has been one of the most rabid opponents of Israel who has been found responsible for not checking systemic antisemitism in the party under his watch.

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A tricky moment for Keir Starmer

Since taking over as the Labour party leader, Starmer has worked towards to free the party from the clutches for the far-left that was found guilty of shielding antisemitism and driving away several moderate voters  including Labou supporters. He has brought the Labour to the centre and has credited it for the massive mandate.

We have changed the party and now we will change the country, said Starmer on the night of election results.

In opposition to Corbyn, Starmer has supported the Israels right to defend itself and has condemned the terrorist attack of Hamas that triggered the ongoing war.

It was only earlier this year that Starmer pressed for an immediate ceasefire and supported for the recognition of the Palestinian state, but this appears to have been too little too late. His actions appear to have rubbed the British Muslim voters the wrong way.

Writing in The Spectator magazine, Jawad Iqbal noted that the Labour strategists believed that the Muslim voters who deserted the party in local elections in May would return to the party in the parliamentary elections, but that did not happen. He said the results would mount further pressure on Starmers new government to reorient the stand on Israel and Gaza.

Muslim campaigners, who have long argued that the party can no longer take the votes of their community for granted, will chalk up last nights results as a significant victory. Expect to see further pressure piled on the incoming Labour government over its policy towards Israel and the broader Middle East. That will include demands for the recognition of an independent Palestinian state as well as calls for an embargo on arms sales to Israel. All eyes will be on how Starmer responds, wrote Iqbal.
The countrys road monitoring centre said Saturday traffic controls had been imposed on all roads leading in and out of Hunans Huarong county  home to around half a million people  due to flood prevention needs read more

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with flooding across central and southern regions as much of the north swelters through rolling heat waves. AFP

Chinese officials raced Saturday to stem floods caused by a dam breach in central China, state media reported, as the Asian nation grapples with a summer of extreme weather.

State news agency Xinhua said the breach occurred on Friday afternoon in part of an embankment on the shore of Dongting Lake in central Chinas Hunan province.

No casualties were immediately reported but the 226-metre (740-foot) breach forced nearly 6,000 people to evacuate from nearby areas, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

It published footage showing lake water flowing through a yawning gap in a dyke, inundating farmland and lapping at the rooftops of village homes.

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The countrys road monitoring centre said Saturday traffic controls had been imposed on all roads leading in and out of Hunans Huarong county  home to around half a million people  due to flood prevention needs.

During the control period, vehicles other than those assisting with flood prevention are prohibited from passing through, the centre said in a statement on social media platform Weibo.

President Xi Jinping urged all-out rescue and relief work to safeguard peoples lives and property, Xinhua reported Saturday.

The emergency management ministry dispatched over 800 people, nearly 150 vehicles and dozens of boats to help block up the breach and assist with flood relief work, according to Xinhua.

The central government has earmarked an extra 540 million yuan ($74 million) in relief funding for Hunan and other disaster-hit areas, CCTV reported, citing the finance and emergency management ministries.

China is enduring a summer of extreme weather, with flooding across central and southern regions as much of the north swelters through rolling heat waves.

The Asian giant is the worlds largest emitter of the greenhouse gases scientists say drive global warming and make extreme weather more frequent and intense.

Nearly a quarter of a million people were evacuated this week in eastern China as rainstorms caused the Yangtze and other rivers to swell, according to state media.

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Hunan was hit with deadly mountain floods and landslides last month, while deluges also left 38 dead in southern Guangdong province.

And the death toll from a tornado in eastern Shandong province on Friday rose from one to five, CCTV said Saturday, with dozens of others injured.
As Frances National Rally (RN) party appears set to wrest the countrys parliament from the centrists, party leader Marine Le Pen has outlined how she intends to recast France in the far-rights mould.

France will vote in the second round of parliamentary elections on Saturday. Le Pens RN party won the first round of elections on June 30 and is also widely expected to win the second round. The centrist coalition of French President Emmanuel Macron, who announced snap elections last month, is staring at a rout.

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At a time when Europe is facing the most serious security challenge since the World War II and much of Europe is dealing with deep questions of identity and immigration, Le Pen has indicated that she intends to fundamentally reshape the country domestically as well as in terms of its foreign and defence policies.

In an interview with CNN, Le Pen said that she would bar Ukraine from striking inside Russia with French-supplied weapons and would stop any plans to deploy French troops to Ukraine to support the instructors already posted there.

If Emmanuel Macron wants to send troops to Ukraine and the prime minister is against it, then there are no troops sent to Ukraine. The prime minister has the final say, said Le Pen in an interview with CNNs Christine Amanpour.

Le Pen did not elaborate on this as the defence and foreign domains remain the prerogative of the French president.

We support Ukraine but we have red lines, says Le Pen

Le Pen has said that she would not allow France to become a co-belligerent in the Ukraine War.

Being a co-belligerent would mean being a party to the war. Le Pen has said that being party to the war and French militarys deployment to Ukraine are her red lines.

At the same time, Le Pen said that her party has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has supported Ukraine  except for the two red-line issues.

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What Russia has done here is violate Ukraines territorial sovereignty, violate Ukraines freedom, and bring war to Ukraine. From the outset, we have condemned Russia in the matter and we have supported Ukraine throughout these two years, indicating we have two red lines which were sending French troops to the Ukrainian territory, because the French are, I believe, totally opposed to this, and the delivery of long-range weapons that could hit Russia and therefore make France a co-belligerent in this conflict, said Le Pen.

Le Pens stand is in sharp contrast to Macrons who has not ruled out deploying troops to France and was among the first leaders to allow Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia. Macron, like some other European leaders, has interpreted the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the biggest security threat to Europe since the World War II and has said that Ukraine is merely the first one to be targeted and if Russia is not dealt with, the expansionist designs may harm other countries in the Europe as well. Le Pens stand runs against the hawkish position of Macron on Europes security.

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Le Pen proposes curbs on immigrants rights

Le Pens party has supported ending the automatic right to citizenship for people born to foreign parents in France, according to CNN.

The RN has also called for severely restricting citizenship by naturalisation.

The RN has also proposed the restriction of rights of foreigners to access some social services in France, including housing, and has supported the services preference to French nationals.

The anxieties around illegal immigration and the failure of the centrist and leftist governments of Europe is among the major drivers for the far-right parties in the continent.
While Rachel Reeves became the first female chancellor of the UK, Starmers Cabinet is also composed of several ministers who served the erstwhile Tony Blair administration. read more

The United Kingdom woke up to a new government with a brand new cabinet after Labour Party leader Keir Starmer assumed the office of the Prime Minister.

After giving his victory speech, the office of the Prime Minister immediately announced the new cabinet. While Rachel Reeves became the first female chancellor of the UK, the cabinet will go down in history books for having the highest number of female ministers.

Since the country is transitioning from the Conservative Party to the Labour, it also has the highest number of state-educated ministers. Interestingly, only two ministers in Starmers cabinet went to private schools.

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Heres what Starmers new cabinet looks like.

Angela Rayner - Deputy prime minister and secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities

The 44-year-old will take the lead on Labours plans to strengthen workers rights as the party has pledged to build 1.5 million new homes. Rayner was raised in Stockport, a town in Greater Manchester. She left school at 16 while she was pregnant and later became a care worker. She entered the parliament nine years ago after working within trade unions.

The title of deputy prime minister is the second highest rank of minister to the crown, but it was not historically used and has not been used by all recent prime ministers.

Rachel Reeves was appointed to be Britains first female chancellor

The 45-year-old with a background in finance created history by becoming the first female chancellor of the UK. Reeves worked in the Bank of England and in private finance.

Yvette Cooper was appointed home secretary, overseeing domestic security and policy

55-year-old Cooper has served as Labours point person on home affairs at two different times. Issues around immigration will be a prominent part of her job.

Before even coming to office, Cooper had maintained that the Labour government would scrap the Conservative Partys plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda and would instead introduce a new border security unit.

David Lammy - Foreign Secretary

The son of Guyanese immigrants also served as a minister in the cabinets of Labour prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He was a shadow foreign secretary while in the opposition and has advocated for the case of progressive realism in its foreign policy.

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Wes Streeting - Health and Social Care Secretary

Streeting was elected to the marginal seat of Ilford North with just 589 votes in 2015 and served as deputy leader of the local council beforehand.

Last year, he published a memoir about his colourful upbringing, including a bank robber grandfather. Interestingly, Streeting has been a vocal critic of Jeremy Corbyn.

Pat McFadden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

The veteran politician from the Blair era will take a co-ordinating role at the centre of government and will have responsibility for making key decisions. He served as parliamentary under-secretary under Gordon Brown and later served as a minister in the business department.

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Shabana Mahmood - Justice Secretary

Mahmood created history when she became the first female Muslim in the House of Commons in 2010. Mahmood was born in her Birmingham constituency, where her father later became chairman of the local Labour Party.

She didnt leave Labour when Tony Blair backed the invasion of Iraq, instead, she eventually replaced him as local PM. In the past, she has condemned Starmers stance on the Gaza crisis.

Bridget Phillipson - Education Secretary

Elected to the House in 2010, she became shadow education secretary the following year, promoting a wider rollout of school breakfast clubs aimed at breaking the glass ceiling for young people through education.

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Ed Miliband - Energy Secretary

Miliband has been the MP for Doncaster North since 2005 and played an important role in the Labour Party. He was a special adviser to Gordon Brown and his brother David, worked for Tony Blair.

Peter Kyle - Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary

Kyle has been open about his struggle to overcome severe dyslexia and he returned to school at the age of 25. He ultimately got a PhD in community economic development. Before politics he worked as an aid worker in the Balkans, setting up an orphanage in Romania. He has also worked as a cabinet office adviser on social exclusion on his return to the UK.

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Louise Haigh - Transport Secretary

Louise Haigh has been an MP in Sheffield since 2015. Both her grandfather and uncle were part of the trade union. She endorsed Corbyn in the past which she said that she regrets.

Liz Kendall - Work and Pension Secretary

Interestingly, Kendall first serving MP to have had a child through surrogacy and has spoken about her struggle to start a family, which included two miscarriages.

She stood for the Labour Party leadership election in 2015 and lost to Corbyn. She was also an adviser to former caretaker Labour leader Harriet Harman and former health secretary Patricia Hewitt.

Jonathan Reynolds - Business Secretary

Jonathan Reynolds began his political career as an assistant to a Labour councillor in Stockport. Outside politics, he named two dogs Kennedy and Clinton and employs his wife as a senior parliamentary assistant.

John Healey - Defence Secretary

Healy was parliamentary under-secretary of state for adult skills as soon as he was elected as the MP back in 1997. He later served as financial secretary to the treasury, minister for local government, and for housing. In the past, he voted in favour of UK involvement in the Iraq War.

Steve Reed - Environment Secretary

Reed was elected to the parliament in 2012 for Croydon North, which was changed to Streatham and Croydon North at this election. In the past, he has held a number of shadow cabinet roles, including as shadow levelling up secretary and shadow justice secretary, before he was appointed shadow environment secretary.

Lisa Nandy - Culture, Media and Sport Secretary

Nandy ran against Starmer in the Labour leadership contest that took place after Jeremy Corbyn quit following the disastrous 2019 general election defeat. She has held a number of shadow cabinet roles, including as shadow international development secretary and shadow foreign secretary.

Hilary Benn - Northern Ireland Secretary

Benn is the son of the late left-wing minister and campaigner Tony Benn, who served under Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. His role as Northern Ireland secretary comes after a stint as chair of the Commons Brexit committee. He served as international development secretary under Blair in 2003.

Ian Murray - Scotland Secretary

He was elected as MP for Edinburgh South in 2010 after his predecessor Nigel Griffith ruined his political career because of a sex scandal. He was among the Labour MPs who resigned from the shadow cabinet after the Brexit referendum and was an ardent critic of Jeremy Corbyn.

Jo Stevens - Wales Secretary

Stevens served as shadow Wales secretary under both Jeremy Corbyn and Sir Keir Starmers tenures in the party. Before the 2024 elections, her office was vandalised after she abstained from the motion on a ceasefire in Gaza.

Lucy Powell - Leader of the House of Commons

She will be responsible for delivering Starmers legislative agenda in the Commons and keeping MPs updated about forthcoming business and debate in the Commons Chamber. She was shadow culture secretary before the elections.

Darren Jones - Cheif Secretary to the Treasury

Jones is touted as one of Labours rising stars. Born and bred in his Bristol constituency, he worked in the NHS before training as a lawyer.

Sir Alan Campbell - Cheif Whip

Sir Alan Campbell is a Labour stalwart who was first elected in 1997 to the parliament from the constituency of Tynemouth. He has served as a minister in the Home Office under Brown.

Richard Hermer KC - Attorney General

The high-profile human rights lawyer assumed the role of attorney general, the chief legal adviser to the government. The role was expected to go to Emily Thornberry, who has served as shadow attorney general since 2021. It is pertinent to note that Hermer is not an MP, so he will be made a peer in the House of Lords in order to serve the role.

Baroness Smith of Basildon - Leader of the House of Lords

Basildon served as a parliamentary private secretary to Brown when he was the prime minister. From 2015 she served as leader of the Opposition in the Lords. With the current profile, she will head the government in the upper chamber and be responsible for government business.

With this, it will be interesting to see how the new cabinet will perform in the near future.

With inputs from agencies.
Kanishka Narayan, an MP of the Labour Party which has returned to power after a decade and a half, has his roots in Muzaffarpur, situated about 70 km from the state capital. read more

The UK parliamentary elections may have disappointed a lot of Indians over Rishi Sunak losing power, but a north Bihar town is celebrating the success of a son of the soil.

Kanishka Narayan, an MP of the Labour Party which has returned to power after a decade and a half, has his roots in Muzaffarpur, situated about 70 km from the state capital.

The mood is upbeat in our housing complex, where many distinctly remember having seen Kanishka as a toddler, said Jayant Kumar, Director of the city-based Shri Krishna Law College.

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Kumars younger brother Santosh is the father of the 33-year-old MP representing Vale of Glamorgan, who entered politics after giving up a career in the British civil services.

We hail from a village in Goraul block of adjoining Vaishali district. A passion for law runs in our blood. Our late father Krishna Kumar had founded the law college here, said the proud uncle.

He recalled Kanishka was born in Muzaffarpur and studied at a local school till standard III. His parents thereafter moved to Delhi. They shifted to Cardiff when the boy was 12 years old. Both his father and mother Chetana Sinha worked as solicitors in the UK, Kumar said.

We look forward to better relations between the UK and India given the Labour Partys soft stance towards our country and migrants living in Britain. That a member of our family has the opportunity to do his bit is icing on the cake, he said.

Kumar said he was filled with excitement at the prospect of meeting his nephew in a new avatar.

The UK has always been like a second home. I have spent four years of my student life in Wales. My daughter and son-in-law live there. It is an extended family, said the uncle.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, sets domestic and foreign policies of Iran and is the final authority all key decisions read more

Masoud Pezeshkian, a moderate leader seen as a reformist, has been elected as the new President of Iran.

Pezeshkian competed against five hardliner candidates in the Iranian presidential elections. In the first round of elections last week, Pezeshkian emerged as the leading candidate. The elections went into the second round in which he competed with hardliner Saeed Jalili and emerged victorious.

While presidents are usually the final authority in countries in their capacity as heads of state or government or both thats not the case in Iran. It is the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the final authority in Iran and sets the domestic and foreign policies of the country and makes all key decisions. Then, one wonders if the presidential elections are a mere ruse and the presidents office a mere token. The reality is complicated.

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In Iran, the Supreme Leaders sets policies, and the president is his executioner. But the president is not a mere decorated mechanical bureaucrat.

While it is indeed true that a president in Iran cannot bring a shift in policy as the broad contours are set by the Supreme Leader, a president and his ministers do have the crucial executive role and the manner in which they implement the policies and enforce the decisions plays a major role in the outcomes these policies and decisions produce, says Deepika Saraswat, a scholar of Iran and the Middle East at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA).

As a result, while rules like the mandatory wearing of hijab for females in public will not be revoked, the implementation under Pezeshkian is expected to be much more humane and incidents like the custodial killing of Mahsa Amini, which triggered monthslong protests across Iran, are expected to be checked.

Iranian president must have Supreme Leaders approval

Irrespective of who wins presidential elections, the Iranian president must always have the implicit approval of the Supreme Leader. This is because the candidature for the presidency is approved by a 12-member Guardian Council appointed by the Supreme Leader which has six top Islamic jurists and clerics.

In 2021, Pezeshkians candidature was not approved by the Guardian Council. This time, of more than 80 presidential hopefuls, only six were approved to compete.

An Iranian woman holds the photo of reformist Iranian leader Massoud Pezeshkian (Photo: Atta Kenare/AFP)

This time, five hardliners and one moderate Pezeshkian were approved to take part in the elections. Of the five hardliners, three were from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the all-powerful armed force and intelligence apparatus that works separately from the regular Iranian military and is placed directly under the Supreme Leaders command and control.

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In the aftermath of the monthslong protests after Aminis custodial killing, the inclusion of Pezeshkian among the candidates has been seen as a move to placate the public that has questioned not only the restrictive rules but also the legitimacy of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that propped the Islamic Republic of Iran. Pezeshkian, who comes from the minority Azeri community, has spoken of addressing the concerns of women, minorities, and the border regions and paving way for his election as president has been seen as an attempt of improving the legitimacy of the regime and the revolution.

More of the same or something new?

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Nothing drastic is going to change in Iran as the overall policy remains the exclusive domain of the Khamenei, the Supreme Leader.

However, since the implementation of policies is tasked with the president and his administration, some changes within Iran and its international engagements are indeed expected. Saraswat, the Iran expert at MP-IDSA, says that as Pezeshkians campaign has focused on rights of women, ethnic minorities, border areas, and fostering greater unity in the country, this means that while there may not be a substantial shift on mandatory hijab rules, there may be renewal of a reformist agenda of incremental reforms in social and cultural issues.

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Saraswat tells Firstpost, The Iranian president can channel the aspirations and demands of the people. Pezeshkian, like any president, can be a vehicle for advancing those aspirations. In the past, reformist and moderate presidents have acted as pressure groups to negotiate with the more conservative establishment.

Iranian presidential elections were necessitated after the death of late President Ebrahim Raisi (Photo: AP)

Irans international relations may also see a difference given the reformists and moderates have pursued constructive engagement with the world, including the West, says Saraswat, an Associate Fellow at the West Asia Center at MP-IDSA and the author of the book Between Survival and Status: The Counter-Hegemonic Geopolitics of Iran.

What will be Pezeshkians role in Middle East & nuclear talks?

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As with all other things, Pezeshkians role in the Middle East and in the nuclear negotiations will be that of an executioner of the Supreme Leaders writ. But here is a catch.

As the conflicts in the Middle East are largely driven by the IRGC, the Supreme Leaders personal sword-arm, the role of Pezeshkian and his government may be limited in running or managing these conflicts. The IRGCs foreign operations and intelligence wing, the Quds Force, carries out the Iranian covert activities in the Middle East and beyond.

Things may be a little bit different in terms of nuclear talks. The Supreme Leader needs a civilian face to lead the negotiations who not only carries some legitimacy but has the skillset to convey the Irans positions  both explicit and implicit.

As things stand today, Iran has enriched nuclear fuel to the extent that it could develop weapons-grade fuel within a few weeks to months. Then, once the go-ahead comes from Supreme Leader Khamenei, the warhead could be prepared in a matter of months. Iran is therefore closest than ever to developing a nuclear weapon and the only barrier is the go-ahead but developing the weapon may not be the goal of Iran at all. Instead, Iran may be looking at its current threshold state as a bargaining chip with the West with the idea being that Iran will not develop a bomb as long as the West and Israel dont make moves against it.

Saraswat tells Firstpost, The nuclear threshold status is increasingly seen as part of Irans deterrence strategy, especially after the Iranian-Israeli exchange of fire in April. Given Iran does not want a full-blown war with the United States, and acquiring nuclear weapons will be crossing a big red line for the United States and Israel, so it has not made the political decision of acquiring the bomb despite the evident technological capabilities.

If this is indeed the case, then Pezeshkian and his negotiators would need to mount clever diplomacy. The West too would need to find newer ways to engage with Iran and deal with its nuclear activities. At a time when conflicts are raging from Europe to the Middle East, Pezeshkian has the enviable task of navigating Iran within the policy directives of Supreme Leader Khamenei.
US President Joe Biden has floated a three-stage plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip and secure the release of all hostages read more

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has lived in Qatar for the past many years (Photo: Reuters)

Hamas has said that it has accepted the US-backed ceasefire proposal to end the war in the Gaza Strip, according to a report.

In recent days, the negotiations had picked up pace to strike a ceasefire and hostage release deal based on the proposal floated by the United States and endorsed by Israel. The latest round of talks was held in Qatars capital Doha on Friday and the next round of talks has already been announced.

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Last month, US President Joe Biden in a speech from the White House outlined a three-stage plan to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of all stages. The plan also included the reconstruction of war-ravaged Gaza and the rehabilitation of displaced Palestinians.

Now, Hamas has told Iran-based Hezbollah, a fellow Iran-backed terrorist group in the Middle East, that it has accepted the proposal, according to Reuters.

The report cited two sources as saying that Hamas deputy leader Khalil Al-Hayya briefed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah about the latest developments in the ceasefire talks at a meeting in Lebanese capital Beirut. The report further said that Nasrallah welcomed the acceptance of the proposal.

Gaza ceasefire would also extend to Lebanons Hezbollah, says report

Amid escalating conflict between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, the report said that once the fighting stops after the ceasefire in Gaza, the fighting in Lebanon will also stop.

A Hezbollah official told Reuters, If there is a Gaza agreement, then from zero hour there will be a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in the Middle East, has been clashing with Israel on a near-daily basis since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2003. Just this week, it has fired hundreds of rockets into Iran. In recent weeks, the fighting between the two sides has escalated and Hezbollahs barrage of rockets and Israeli retaliatory airstrikes have become almost a daily affair. Several tens of thousands of Israelis have been displaced from the countrys north bordering Lebanon since the fighting erupted.

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A statement from Nasrallah said that he met Hayya to review the latest security and political developments in Gaza.

They also discussed the latest developments in the ongoing negotiations these days, their atmosphere, and the proposals presented to reach an end to the treacherous aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, said the statement.

Hamas has made significant adjustments, says official

A senior US official said on Thursday that Hamas has made a pretty significant adjustment in its position on the proposal, according to Reuters.

Last week, the United States submitted a revised proposal to the Hamas and Hamas also submitted its response within days.

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A report in The Jerusalem Post said that Hamas has agreed to negotiate the release of males and soldiers in the second phase of the ceasefire talks. Previously, it was not willing to consider it unless Israel committed to the end of the war in Gaza.

The talks for the release of males and soldiers in captivity would start in a 16-day period after the implementation of the first phase of the ceasefire, as per the report.

The report further quoted the sources in Hamas as saying that the terms ensure that there would be a guarantee of a temporary ceasefire, aid delivery, and withdrawal of Israeli troops as long as talks continued to implement the second phase of the agreement.

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As per the plan outlined by Biden, the first phase will include a six-week ceasefire in which women, the elderly, and the wounded hostages held by Hamas will be released in lieu of the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Biden further said that displaced Palestinians will also return to their homes as the Israeli military will withdraw from Gazas populated areas.

The six-week truce will be used for talks to reach the second phase in which a permanent end of the war will be negotiated and all hostages will be released, said Biden.

In phase three, the reconstruction of Gaza will start, said Biden.

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Israel to send negotiators for next round of talks

Following the ceasefire talks on Friday, Israel said negotiators will be sent for another round of talks next week.

It was agreed that next week Israeli negotiators will travel to Doha to continue the talks. There are still gaps between the parties, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus spokesman said in a statement, as per AFP.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP that the ball was in the Israeli court. He said that new ideas were conveyed by the mediators to the American side, which welcomed them and passed them on to the Israeli side.

Now the ball is in the Israeli court, said Hamdan.

Hamdan blamed Israel for the deadlock and said that the talks will be a test for the US administration to see if it is willing to pressure the Zionist entity to accept these proposed ideas.
PM Modi will be in Moscow around the time of a NATO summit in Washington, at which Ukraine will be one of the main issues. NATO allies at their summit in Washington next week will unveil a bridge to membership plan for Ukraine and announce steps to bolster Kyivs air defenses read more

Ahead of the scheduled meeting with the Western military alliance known as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) slated for July 9 to 11 in Washington next week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia on July 8-9.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg highlighted that providing continued support to Ukraine will be NATOs most urgent task, with a substantial package expected to be agreed upon by member states."

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Modis visit to Russia is significant given the deepening relations between Russia and China, and Indias strategic interests in maintaining strong ties with Moscow. The timing of Modis trip underscores the delicate balancing act India performs on the global stage, considering growing Chinas influence, the Ukraine conflict, and shifting geopolitical alliances.

While the West has tried to isolate Putin, China, India and powers in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America have continued to build ties, with official figures showing rising trade with Russia.

It will be a good opportunity for Moscow to project in the media the image of President Putin receiving a leader of a country like India in the context of the Washington summit, said Aleksei Zakharov, a Moscow-based expert on India.

Indias objective is to ensure that Russia is not in Chinas corner and that, even if it does not explicitly support India, it maintains a permanent neutrality in the India-China territorial disputes.

However, in a recent media briefing, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra turned down any connection and said PM Modis visit was part of the calendar of summits between the two countries. The bilateral visit this time is just a scheduling priority that we have undertaken and thats what it is, he told reporters at a briefing.

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NATO allies at their summit in Washington next week will unveil a bridge to membership plan for Ukraine and announce steps to bolster Kyivs air defenses, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. Last week, a senior U.S. State Department official said Ukraine is expected to get good news in its quest for more air defence systems at a NATO summit in Washington next week, a senior U.S. State Department official said on Tuesday.

Why Modis visit matters for Moscow

Analysts said Modis visit could help dispel worries that New Delhi is getting too close to the West and further away from Moscow, ceding space to China.

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While the West has tried to isolate Putin, China, India and powers in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America have continued to build ties, with official figures showing rising trade with Russia.

The leaders of Russia and India have held annual summits since 2000 but the last in-person meeting was in 2021, when Putin visited Delhi. The next meeting had been due in Moscow in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, but it did not happen, while Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping elevated their ties, pledging a new era of partnership in May.

The two are meeting at a security summit on Wednesday in Kazakhstan, to which Modi has sent his foreign minister. India has also been seeking to distance itself from its largest arms supplier, Russia, as the Ukraine war hobbled the latters ability to supply munitions and spares.

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The dearth of Modis visits to Moscow had given rise to speculation that there was some kind of drift in the Indo-Russia relationship, analyst Nandan Unnikrishnan, of the Observer Research Foundation think tank in New Delhi told Reuters.

So I think Modis visit will put an end to that kind of speculation, he said. And we dont want to spoil our relationship with any party, whether its Russia, the United States, or anyone because of another relationship.

India-Russia trade

India-Russia bilateral trade has seen a sharp increase in 2023-24. It has since touched close to $65 billion, primarily due to strong energy cooperation between India and Russia. With Indian exports of $4 billion and Indian imports being close to $60 billion, trade remains imbalanced, which is a matter of priority in our discussions with the Russian side.

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India, which has stepped up purchases of Russian oil shunned by the West, is expected to seek a discount higher than the current rate of $3 to $3.5 a barrel during the visit, sources said.

It will also seek formal approval for a unit of Oil and Natural Gas Corp to retain its stake of 20% in the Sakhalin 1 oil project in Russias Far East.

The unit, ONGC Videsh, and the oil ministries of India and Russia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

India has also been keen to boost exports of pharmaceuticals, machinery and other goods to Russia. Two-way trade jumped 33% to $65.7 billion in the last fiscal year that ended in March, with Indias imports accounting for $61.43 billion.

Kwatra said that India has had a special and privileged partnership with Russia since 2020, which has remained resilient in the wake of multiple geopolitical challenges that the world has been facing. The annual summit between the two leaders is the highest mechanism to steer and drive the cooperation between our two countries, he said.

We also have growing investment ties between the two countries, including in the fields of energy, banking, railways, and steel. These are the growing areas of our investment partnership. Russia also remains an important partner for Indias energy security and defence. In the area of nuclear energy, Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant units 1 and 2 have already become operational. And the work is progressing on units 3 and 6.,

In the field of defence also, we continue to work closely across a full range of its sub-domains. Both sides are currently working on a series of outcome documents, which would be the result of the summit, he added.

India-Russia ties

Russia has had strong ties with India since the Cold War, and New Delhis importance as a key trade partner for Moscow has grown since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China and India have become key buyers of Russian oil following sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies that shut most Western markets for Russian exports.

Under Modis leadership, India has avoided condemning Russias action in Ukraine while emphasizing the need for a peaceful settlement.

Russia is a key supplier of cut-price oil and weapons to India, but its isolation from the West and growing friendship with China have impacted its time-honored partnership with New Delhi.

The United States and its Western allies have in recent years cultivated ties with India as a bulwark against Beijing and its growing influence in the Asia-Pacific, while also pressuring it to distance itself from Russia.

Nandan Unnikrishnan of the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation told news agency AFP that the upcoming in-person meeting showed the two sides were looking for ways forward.

There have been pressures on India, and there have been pressures on the India-Russia relationship, Unnikrishnan said.

Face-to-face interactions help in working out positions, he added. Im sure Mr Modi would like an assessment from Putin on the Ukraine war.

With inputs from agencies.
Starmer welcomed the new ministers around the table at 10 Downing St., saying it had been the honour of his life to be asked by King Charles III to form a government in a ceremony that officially elevated him to the prime minister. read more

Prime Minister Keir Starmer held his first Cabinet meeting Saturday as his new government takes on the massive challenge of fixing a heap of domestic woes and winning over a public weary from years of austerity, political chaos and a battered economy.

The UK has its first change in government in 14 years after the Labour Party won a landslide victory early Friday in a general election that saw the Conservative Party suffer its biggest defeat ever. Labours have secured 412 of the 650 parliamentary seats, while the Conservatives were reduced to 121.

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Starmer welcomed the new ministers around the table at 10 Downing St., saying it had been the honour of his life to be asked by King Charles III to form a government in a ceremony that officially elevated him to the prime minister.

We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work, he said.

In his first speech, he said he would lead a government of service on a mission of national renewal in his first official remarks Friday. Starmer acknowledged in his first speech outside 10 Downing St. that many people are disillusioned and cynical about politics, but said his government would try to restore faith in government.

Starmers Labour Party delivered the biggest blow to the Conservatives in their two-century history Friday in a landslide victory on a platform of change.

Among the raft of problems they face are boosting a sluggish economy, fixing a broken health care system, and restoring trust in government.

Just because Labour won a big landslide doesnt mean all the problems that the Conservative government has faced has gone away, said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London.

In his first remarks as prime minister Friday after the meeting kissing of hands ceremony with Charles at Buckingham Palace, Starmer said he would get to work immediately, though he cautioned it would take some time to show results.,

Changing a country is not like flicking a switch, he said as enthusiastic supporters cheered him outside his new official residence at 10 Downing. This will take a while. But have no doubt that the work of change begins  immediately.

He will have a busy schedule following the six-week campaign crossing the four nations of the U.K.

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He will travel to Washington next week for a NATO meeting and will host the European Political Community summit July 18, the day after the state opening of Parliament and the Kings Speech, which sets out the new governments agenda.

Starmer singled out several of the big items Friday, such as fixing the revered but hobbled National Health Service and securing its borders, a reference to a larger global problem across Europe and the US of absorbing an influx of migrants fleeing war, poverty as well as drought, heat waves and floods attributed to climate change.

Conservatives struggled to contain the flow of migrants arriving across the English Channel, failing to live up to ex-Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks pledge to stop the boats.

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Starmer has said he will scrap the Conservatives controversial plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. The plan had cost hundreds of millions of pounds (dollars) without a single flight taking off.

Labour is going to need to find a solution to the small boats coming across the channel, Bale said. Its going to ditch the Rwanda scheme, but its going to have to come up with other solutions to deal with that particular problem.

Suella Braverman, a Conservative hard-liner on immigration who is a possible contender to replace Sunak as party leader, criticised Starmers plan to end the Rwanda pact.

Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked," she said Saturday. There are big problems on the horizon which will be Im afraid caused by Keir Starmer.

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Starmers Cabinet is also getting to work.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy was to begin his first international trip Saturday to meet counterparts in Germany, Poland and Sweden to reinforce the importance of their relationship.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would open new negotiations next week with NHS doctors at the start of their career who have staged a series of multi-day strikes. The pay dispute has exacerbated the long wait for appointments that have become a hallmark of the NHSs problems.

With inputs from agencies.
The three AES countries accuse ECOWAS of being manipulated by former colonial ruler France, with Tiani calling for the new bloc to become a community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers. Niger, Mali and Burkina Fasos military leaders have all sought to reject Pariss influence, expelling anti-jihadist French troops and turning instead towards what they call their sincere partners  Russia, Turkey and Iran read more

Burkina Faso's Captain Ibrahim Traore (L) sit next to Niger's General Abdourahamane Tiani (R) upon his arrival in Niamey on July 5, 2024. AFP

Nigers military leader on Saturday said that the people of his country, along with neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso, have irrevocably turned their backs on the West African regional bloc.

The comments came at the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which coup-hit Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso set up after pulling out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) earlier this year.

Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS, Nigers ruling general Abdourahamane Tiani told his fellow Sahel strongmen, who all came to power through coups between 2020 and 2023, at the gatherings opening in the Nigerien capital Niamey.

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The three AES countries accuse ECOWAS of being manipulated by former colonial ruler France, with Tiani calling for the new bloc to become a community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Fasos military leaders have all sought to reject Pariss influence, expelling anti-jihadist French troops and turning instead towards what they call their sincere partners  Russia, Turkey and Iran.

The three countries also said ECOWAS is not doing enough to combat jihadist violence  a recurring problem in the Sahel.

The AES is the only effective sub-regional grouping in the fight against terrorism, Tiani declared on Saturday, calling ECOWAS conspicuous by its lack of involvement in this fight.

Relations between the three countries and ECOWAS deteriorated considerably following the July 2023 coup detat which brought Tiani to power in Niger.

ECOWAS imposed heavy economic sanctions against Niger in response, and threatened military intervention to restore deposed president Mohamed Bazoum to power.

Those sanctions were lifted in February, but relations between the two sides remain frosty.

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ECOWAS is due to hold a summit of its heads of state in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Sunday, where the issue of relations with the AES will be on the agenda.
The Sunni Muslims have a historic theological rivalry with the Shias, and Pakistans extremist Sunni groups brand them as heretics and target them through bombings, with Pakistan witnessing numerous such attacks in the past read more

The statement added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would make the final decision on the matter, adding that the requests of the provinces had "neither been rejected nor accepted"

During the Muharram festival, Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, would decide what would happen to social media platforms like YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. The Punjab government had requested a ban on these platforms, citing the necessity to manage hate material.

During the celebration, Shia Muslims host sizable assemblies to commemorate the martyrdom of the prophet Muhammads grandson.

Muslims typically view his martyrdom as a sign of defiance against oppression, and Shia Muslims organize protests throughout the first ten days of Muharram, culminating in massive processions on the ninth and tenth of the month.

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The Sunni Muslims have a historic theological rivalry with the Shias, and Pakistans extremist Sunni groups brand them as heretics and target them through bombings, with Pakistan witnessing numerous such attacks in the past.

To disrupt communication among the militants, governments in Pakistan traditionally undertake elaborate security measures during Muharram, including suspension of internet, cell phone and social media services to avoid acts of terrorism.

The Punjab government had asked the federal government to suspend access to social media from July 6 to 11 to control the spread of misinformation and hate material to prevent sectarian violence.

This week, the provincial home department, through a letter to the Interior Ministry, recommended suspending Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, X, TikTok, etc. across the province.

The Ministry of Interior after a meeting held on Friday deferred a decision on the Punjab governments request, according to an overnight statement.

The statement added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would make the final decision on the matter, adding that the requests of the provinces had neither been rejected nor accepted.

The statement did not reveal which provinces other than Punjab had made such requests but indicated that Punjab was not the only one to have sought this.

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Muharram is expected to begin on Sunday or Monday on the condition of the sighting of the moon.

Separately, a body of clerics tasked to sight the moon is meeting this evening to decide the beginning of Muharram.
In February, India advised its citizens to avoid getting engaged in the war between Russia and Ukraine after reports suggested that several Indians signed up for support jobs with the Russian army read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Moscow next week where he will likely bring up the issue of Indian nationals being misled to fight in the Ukraine war for Russia, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said.

PM Modi will be on an official visit to Moscow from July 8 to 9 to attend the 22nd annual India-Russia Summit at the invitation of President Putin.

India has been flagging the issue of Indian nationals getting duped in Russia where they are offered lucrative jobs or educational prospects only to find themselves on the battlefield.

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In May, police arrested four people linked with a trafficking network that reportedly ran this operation.

In February, India advised its citizens to avoid getting engaged in the war between Russia and Ukraine after reports suggested that several Indians signed up for support jobs with the Russian army.

A 23-year-old man hailing from Gujarat reportedly died in a Ukrainian air strike in Donetsk on February 21.

According to The Hindu, Hemil Ashvinbhai Mangukiya was employed by the Russian Army as a security helper in December 2023.

Meanwhile, some reports suggest that several Indians who were hired as security helpers by the Russian Army were forced to fight beside troops in the countrys war against Ukraine.

Many of these Indians are from Karnataka, Telangana, and Jammu and Kashmir.

What else is on Modis agenda?

PM Modi will be travelling to Russia for the first time in four years, his last trip was in 2019. Meanwhile, the summit is happening after a hiatus of three years which makes Modis visit important, the foreign secretary said.

Heres what PM Modis itinerary looks like:
Both leaders recalled the historic relations between the two countries and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen and advance the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UK read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with the newly elected UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

PM Modi congratulated his British counterpart for getting elected as the next prime minister of the United Kingdom.

Pleased to speak with @Keir_Starmer. Congratulated him on being elected as the Prime Minister of the UK. We remain committed to deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust - economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our peoples and global good.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 6, 2024

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Labour Partys Keir Starmer created history on Friday by winning a landslide majority in the UK General Elections, breaking the 14-year-long rule of the Conservative Party.

What did Modi & Starmer discuss?

PM Modi invited Starmer to visit India during his conversation with him.

Both leaders recalled the historic relations between the two countries and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen and advance the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UK. The two leaders agreed to work towards an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-UK Free Trade Agreement.

The landslide majority of the new Prime Minister has paved the way for a fresh chapter in the countrys relations with India as the Labour Party takes charge of steering the stalled Free Trade Agreement negotiations that got stalled with the outgoing Rishi Sunak-led administration.

The India-UK FTA talks began in January 2022 but were stalled in the 14th round as both countries stepped into their general election cycles this year. India saw the new government in the first week and on Friday, it was the UKs.

With inputs from PTI
A vote count offered by the Iranian authorities on Saturday morning put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalilis 13.5 million read more

After an intense political tussle in Iran, Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won the Middle Eastern nations presidential runoff, beating hardliner Saeed Jalili. A vote count offered by the Iranian authorities on Saturday morning put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalilis 13.5 million.

Pezeshkian gained a lot of attention in Iran after he pledged to ease the countrys draconian and mandatory headscarf law. Pezeshkian not only advocated for moderate policies at home but also pledged to improve ties with the West.

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The 69-year-old heart surgeon turned lawmaker delivered a major blow to Jalilis bid. A former nuclear negotiator, Jalili was touted to be extremely close to Irans Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran underwent an intense presidential election after former President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash, leaving a political vacuum in the Middle Eastern nation.

A reformist who will continue to remain a conservative

Throughout his presidential campaign, Pezeshkian pledged to bring no radical changes to Irans Shia theocracy if he came to power. Not only this, he considers the Iranian Supreme Leader as the final arbiter on all matters of the state. Despite all this, Pezeshkians modest aims will see a strong challenge from the Iranian government which continues to have a hardliner majority.

The turnout in the presidential runoff stood at 50 per cent which was about 10 per cent higher than the turnout recorded in the first round of the presidential election. Irans interior ministry also confirmed that 30.5 million ballots were cast in the second round of polls.

It is pertinent to note that the first round saw a record low in terms of turnout because many Iranians boycotted the elections as an act of protest. However, the prospect of a hardliner coming to power again spurred Iranians to turn up at the polls in slightly larger numbers.

Iran celebrates the win

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Supporters of Pezeshkian were seen on the streets of Tehran and other cities across the country to celebrate the win. In the videos that are circulating online, the massive crowd can be seen honking horns, dancing and cheering outside Pezeshkians campaign office in Tehran, before dawn.

It's past 3am in Iran, yet news of reformist Pezeshkian's victory have sparked spontaneous street celebrations across various cities.



This scene is from Kudasht in western Iran pic.twitter.com/6C4CRj5QFo  Sina Toossi (@SinaToossi) July 5, 2024

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The end of the rule of the minority over the majority. Congratulations on the victory of wisdom over ignorance, Ali Akbar Behmanesh, a reformist politician and head of Pezeshkians campaign in the province of Mazandaran, wrote on X, formally known as Twitter.

 #   

 #    



 



  

  

  //  behmanesh ir (@Behmanesh_iran) July 5, 2024

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Meanwhile, some Conservatives pointed out that regardless of who had won, the higher voter turnout was a victory for the Islamic Republic. However, Pezeshkians win came at a very delicate moment, with the brewing tensions between Iran and Israel over the Gaza crisis.

The Middle Eastern nation has also garnered attention from the West due to its advancing nuclear program. A looming US presidential election could also put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk. It will also be interesting to see how the Iranian Supreme Leader and the hardline government formed by Raisi will respond to Pezeshkians win.

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With inputs from agencies
"The one-year prison sentence is unjust and confirms the targeting of free speech," Dahmanis lawyer Sami Ben Ghazi told Reuters. Dahmani was arrested in May after appearing on a television program in which she said Tunisia is a country where life is not pleasant read more

Sonia Dahmani, a prominent Tunisian lawyer known for her criticism of President Kais Saied, has been sentenced to one year in prison, her legal representative said on Saturday.

The court ruling reinforces opposition concerns that critical voices will continue to be targeted ahead of a presidential election on Oct. 6

"The one-year prison sentence is unjust and confirms the targeting of free speech," Dahmanis lawyer Sami Ben Ghazi told Reuters.

Dahmani was arrested in May after appearing on a television program in which she said Tunisia is a country where life is not pleasant.

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Opposition parties, many of whose leaders are in prison, have accused Saieds government of exerting pressure on the judiciary to target his election rivals.

They say fair and credible elections cannot be held unless imprisoned politicians are released and the media is allowed to operate without pressure from the government.

Lotfi Mraihi, leader of the opposition Republican Union Party, who has announced his intention to run in the presidential election, was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of money laundering.

Abir Moussi, the leader of the Free Constitutional Party and a prominent candidate, has been in prison since October 2023 on charges of harming public security.

Some potential candidates, including Safi Saeed, Mondher Znaidi, Nizar Chaari and Abd Ellatif Mekki, are facing prosecution for alleged crimes such as fraud and money laundering.

Rached Ghannouchi, a fierce critic of Saied and head of the Ennahda main opposition party, was jailed last year on charges of incitement against police and plotting against state security.

Saied, a retired law professor who was elected president in 2019, has not officially announced his candidacy to stand for a second term. Last year he said he will not hand power to what he called non-patriots.

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In 2021, Saied dissolved parliament and began ruling by decree in a move that the opposition described as a coup. Saied said his steps were legal and necessary to end years of rampant corruption among the political elite.
The newly-elected leader addressed his first televised press conference as Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street right after the meeting to update the country on how he intends to meet the targets he has set for the new Labour Party government, including fixing a broken National Health Service (NHS). read more

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday presided over his first Cabinet meeting and created Mission Delivery Boards for his ministers, including British Indian Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, to drive through the change he said the public had voted for in the general election.

The newly-elected leader addressed his first televised press conference as Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street right after the meeting to update the country on how he intends to meet the targets he has set for the new Labour Party government, including fixing a broken National Health Service (NHS).

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I reminded the entire Cabinet that we will be judged on actions not on words, said Starmer.At the Cabinet meeting, I also discussed delivery and how we would implement the plan we have set out in our manifesto. We will have Mission Delivery Boards to drive through the change that we need, and I will be chairing those boards to make sure that its clear to everyone that they are my priorities in government, he said.

Starmer, 61, also pointed to a series of phone calls he has already had with world leaders, which included a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier on Saturday, ahead of his first international tour next week for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit in Washington.

Before the foreign tour, the new Prime Minister said he would be touring each part of the United Kingdom, starting with Scotland to be followed by Northern Ireland and Wales.For the first time in 20-plus years we have a majority in England, in Scotland and in Wales and that is a clear mandate to govern for all four corners of the United Kingdom and therefore I shall set off tomorrow [Sunday] to be in all four nations, said Starmer.

It is of course an important time for NATO. It is for me to be absolutely clear that the first duty of my government is security and defence and to make clear our unshakable support of NATO towards Ukraine, he said, with reference to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

It is quite unusual for a new leader to kick off with a Cabinet meeting on the first weekend after being voted in and the Saturday morning Cabinet meeting is being seen as a sign that Starmer wants to project a mindset shift with the regime change at Downing Street.

In response to a question, he admitted that he and his family havent quite unpacked yet but will be moving into their new home at No. 10 Downing Street soon.Ive got a basic understanding of the rooms Ive used so far here, he said smiling.

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When pressed on the future of some policies of the former Tory government, Starmer confirmed that the Rwanda scheme of deporting illegal migrants to the African country will be abandoned in favour of a new plan to tackle the problem.

The new Prime Minister restated the Labour governments commitment to growing the economy, which his administration is relying on to deliver vital investment in public services without hiking taxes or borrowing more cash.

The new Labour-led government, elected with a solid 174-seat majority, faces a series of challenges upon taking office, including a humongous NHS waiting list of millions of patients, an overstretched prison system and sluggish economic growth.

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Nandy was appointed Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport among 11 women picked for top jobs by Starmer as he got straight to work after a landslide Labour general election win on Friday.

Nandy, 44, took to social media to say it was an unbelievable privilege to be heading the UKs Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).From rugby league to Royal Opera, our cultural and sporting heritage runs through our towns, villages and cities and is one of our countrys greatest assetsThe hard work begins today, she said.
Since the country is transitioning from the Conservative Party to the Labour, it also has the highest number of state-educated ministers read more

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria arrive at Number 10 Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London, UK, July 5, 2024. Reuters

Shortly after assuming office, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, announced his new cabinet. While Rachel Reeves became the first female chancellor of the UK, the cabinet will go down in history books for having the highest number of female ministers. However, while a record of 89 ethnic minority MPs came to power this year, Starmers cabinet remained more or less White.

The new UK premiers cabinet has 11 female ministers, the most in any other cabinet in the countrys history. If we compare it to the previous administration, former UK PM Rishi Sunaks cabinet had seven female ministers before the reshuffle and 10 female ministers after it.

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Since the country is transitioning from the Conservative Party to the Labour, it also has the highest number of state-educated ministers. Interestingly, only two ministers in Starmers cabinet went to private schools. While Louise Haigh attended Sheffield High School, Anneliese Dodds, went to Robert Gordons College in Aberdeen.

But the cabinet remained mostly White

A record of 89 minority ethnic MPs were elected in the parliament. However, Starmers cabinet has only one Black MP - David Lammy, the foreign secretary. The first Labour cabinet in 14 years will also have only two ministers of Asian descent  Shabana Mahmood, one of the UKs first Muslim female MPs, and Lisa Nandy.

According to research by the think tank British Future, the proposition of state-educated members in Starmers government has risen from 54 per cent to 63 per cent. This represents the highest proportion of state-schooled members ever recorded in parliament.

Meanwhile, the Labour veteran Britains first black female MP, Diane Abbott will become the mother of the house in the new parliament. Abbott has been serving her constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency for almost 40 years.

Women rule the Westminster

More than 40 per cent of seats in the commons will be held by Women, a record which includes 46 per cent of Labour MPs and 24 per cent of their Conservative counterparts. Sir Edward Leigh will be the father of the House of Commons.

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Interestingly Starmers deputy, Angela Rayner, left school at 16 having grown up on a council estate in Stockport. She worked her way up the ranks as a trade union official before becoming an MP. Meanwhile, 36-year-old Haigh became the youngest woman to serve as a cabinet minister. Hence, it is safe to say, that Starmers cabinet is full of surprises.
Lammy is on a visit to Germany, his first international trip following the Labour Partys thumping victory in Britains election on Friday, which ended 14 years of Conservative government and propelled Keir Starmer to power as prime minister. read more

DDavid Lammy arrives at 10 Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London, Britain, July 5, 2024. File Photo- Reuters

Britain wants a balanced position on the war in the Middle East and will use diplomatic efforts to ensure a ceasefire is reached and hostages held by Palestinian terrorist group Hamas are released, its new foreign minister David Lammy told Reuters.

Lammy is on a visit to Germany, his first international trip following the Labour Partys thumping victory in Britains election on Friday, which ended 14 years of Conservative government and propelled Keir Starmer to power as prime minister.

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The time has come for the United Kingdom to reconnect with the outside world, Lammy said in an interview in Berlin.

I want to get back to a balanced position on Israel and Gaza. Weve been very clear that we want to see a ceasefire  We want to see those hostages out.

He added: The fighting has to stop, the aid has got to get in, and I will use all diplomatic efforts to ensure that we get to that ceasefire.

Lammy did not elaborate.

The Labour Party suffered significant election setbacks in areas with large Muslim populations in the election on Friday amid discontent over its position on the war in Gaza, despite a landslide victory in the parliamentary vote.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza gathered momentum on Friday after Hamas made a revised proposal on the terms of a deal, and Israel said negotiations would continue into next week.

Gaza health authorities say more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive launched in response to a Hamas-led assault on Israel last Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Lammy also said Britain would seek to reset its position globally on issues including the climate crisis as well as key relationships, such as with European and emerging powers.

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Let us put the Brexit years behind us  theres much that we can do together, Lammy said, pointing to a previously floated idea of a UK-EU security pact.

Lammy will on Sunday travel to Poland and Sweden, where he will focus discussions on areas including cooperation on NATO and the war in Ukraine, Britains foreign office said.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who has been excommunicated by the Vatican, has blamed the Western deep state for the Ukraine War and has also peddled anti-vaccine propaganda read more

The Vatican has excommunicated a senior cleric who has frequently abused Pope Francis and has embraced far-right conspiracy theories.

The Vatican announced on Friday that it had excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who has called Francis a servant of Satan and a false prophet.

Vigano, a former Vatican ambassador to the United States, was being excommunicated after being found guilty of schism for refusing to recognise the authority of Francis and the liberal reforms enacted after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, according to The New York Times.

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Vigano has been one of the most regressive clerics who has opposed the reforms that Francis had championed over the years. He has also embraced the far-right and has been supportive of former US President Donald Trump, who patronises the American far-right movement.

In the Roman Catholicism, being excommunicated means practically being expelled and not allowed to be associated with the churchs affairs in any manner.

Under the terms of the expulsion, Vigano will be allowed to keep his title, but he will not be allowed to celebrate mass, receive or administer sacraments, and hold official positions within the church, as per the newspaper.

Cancer: How Vigano dubbed Vaticans reforms

In a recent post on his website, Vigano dubbed the churchs reforms as cancer.

It is no coincidence that the accusation against me concerns the questioning of the legitimacy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio and the rejection of Vatican II: the Council represents the ideological, theological, moral, and liturgical cancer of which the Bergoglian synodal church needs to metastasise, said Vigano in a post on his website, according to an English translation of the text.

Vigano was referring to the Second Vatican Council (196265) that instituted a range of reforms, such as the introduction of the concept of religious freedom and starting engagement with other religions, such as Judaism or Islam. News Christian practices, such as facing the public during mass instead of having back towards them, were also introduced.

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In 2015, when he was the Vaticans envoy to the United States, Vigano invited an anti-gay activist to meet the Popes US visit. The Vatican later clarified that the Pope was blindsided during the meeting.

In 2018, Vigano wrote a 7,000-word letter that sought Francis resignation and accused Francis and other Vatican officials of covering up sexual abuse by an American cardinal, according to The Times.

The paper noted that the letter was released at a time when Francis was in Ireland to apologise for the churchs sexual abuse scandals and amounted to an extraordinary public declaration of war against Francis papacy

Viganos embrace of far-right conspiracy theories

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Vigano has peddled far-right conspiracy theories in recent years.

Vigano has blamed the deep state of the West of triggering the war in Ukraine and demonising Russia.

Vigano has also peddled anti-vaccine positions amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fridays run-off vote was between Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, and hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili read more

Congratulatory messages poured in from Irans new president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian after he won the run-off elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the world leaders to congratulate the reformist leader.

Congratulations Masoud Pezeshkian on your election as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Looking forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relationship for the benefit of our peoples and the region, PM Modi said.

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Congratulations @drpezeshkian on your election as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Looking forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relationship for the benefit of our peoples and the region.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 6, 2024

Relative moderate Pezeshkian urged people on Saturday to stick with him on the difficult road ahead after beating a hardline rival to win Irans presidential election.

Fridays run-off vote was between Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, and hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, has pledged to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism.

Chinas Xi Jinping, who considers Iran to be one of its closest allies, said, I attach great importance to the development of China-Iran relations and am willing to work with the President to lead the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership towards deeper advancement.

The two countries have a long history of friendly exchanges, and bilateral relations have maintained healthy and stable development for over half a century, Xi said, according to Xinhua.

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Saudi Arabia, which restored ties with Tehran last year following a years-long rift, on Saturday congratulated Irans new president-elect, the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian.

King Salman, in a message to Pezeshkian, expressed hope for the continued development of relations which link our two countries and our two brotherly peoples, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Irans reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian on his victory in a presidential runoff, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

I hope that your tenure as president will contribute to a reinforcement of constructive bilateral cooperation between our friendly peoples, Putin said in a message to Pezeshkian.

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With inputs from agencies
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Matsapha  How did government end up paying E10 million for unnecessary medical buckets

This was among a number of questions raised by members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during the committees surprise visit at the Central Medical Stores (CMS) yesterday.

The PAC discovered that apart from the hundreds of millions worth of expired medical drugs, it has been discovered that about E10 million worth of medical waste buckets were mistakenly ordered. The CMS staff failed to provide an explanation for the unnecessary procurement of the medical waste buckets much to the amazement of the PAC. It was unclear how government ended up paying for the buckets, as some of the staff said the buckets were ordered by mistake, while others said it was a case of an oversupply by the supplier.

This transpired during the PACs visit meant to verify the findings by the Auditor Generals (AG) Office. The yellow buckets are currently stacked in one of the warehouses at the CMS, while some of them were used to store expired chlorine.In hospital settings, a yellow dustbin is specifically used for the disposal of clinical and infectious waste. This category of waste includes materials that are contaminated with bodily fluids, such as dressings, swabs, gloves and any other items that have been in contact with infectious agents.

Mistake

However, the buc-kets are currently lying idle, which raised questions on why they were procured in the first place, if they were not needed. The CMS staff said the buckets were ordered by mistake and some said they were oversupplied, raising questions among the PAC members. Some of the committee members enquired if there was no other use for the buckets instead of just keeping them in the warehouse. However the CMS staff was not clear in their response, leaving the PAC hanging. The committee, however, resolved that the AGs Office should look into the matter.

Explaining why the buckets were used to store the chlorine, CMS Senior Stores Officer, Nkosingphile Dlamini said when they discovered that the chlorine containers were corroded, and requested the facility to provide them with an alternative containers to store the expired chlorine, while waiting for its disposal. The AG raised a concern on why the chlorine was stored in alternative containers instead of their original containers. So we had to request the supplier to order the buckets and also requested authority to use them as we could not just take them from storage without their authorisation, he said.

The stores officer said there was documentation in place for the procurement and use of the buckets, which had been lying idle at the warehouse. He, however, emphasised that there was a need to speed up the disposal of the chlorine, since it was a health hazard. PAC Chairperson Madala Mhlanga enquired if the CMS had received guidance on how to store the chlorine, as well and how long it should be kept in storage before disposal.

Disposal

In response, Dlamini explained that they did receive guidance after consultations with a disposal company, which advised them on how to package and store the chlorine. He added that the chlorine was part of the pharmaceuticals procured during the COVID-19 pandemic, hence most of the chlorine expired and had to be disposed of.Responding to questions on why the buckets were not donated for domestic use, CMS Acting Assistant Director Thuli Gama, said the buckets were specifically made for disposing pharmaceutical waste and were not suited for domestic use. Meanwhile, most of the PAC members observed with concern that a majority of the drugs in the storage warehouse were expired, while some of the shelves with the non-expired drugs were empty.

They said the expired drugs were not meant to be on the shelves unless they had the sticker or label that showed they were expired. The legislators said leaving the expired drugs on the shelves increased the risk of expired drugs ending up in health facilities, thus risking the lives of patients. A majority of the drugs in the warehouse were supplied by the countrys main supplier, while some of the donated drugs were later invoiced and paid for by government, according to some of the senior staff at CMS.
China to jointly promote nuclear science, technology with developing countries

Xinhua) 11:09, July 06, 2024

BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to provide more nuclear science and technology solutions to a vast number of developing countries, according to China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA).

Liu Jing, deputy director of the CAEA, highlighted the need to work together in order to cope with sustainable development challenges such as climate change, food security, health and environmental governance. He made the remarks during an event held to mark the 40th anniversary of China's accession to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Envoys from 11 countries including Argentina, South Africa and Pakistan, who are stationed in the organizations affiliated to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, were invited to China. They visited nuclear science and technology bases in south China's Hainan Province and Beijing, including the Linglong One, a small nuclear reactor at the Changjiang nuclear power plant, China Institute of Atomic Energy, and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Additionally, they also interacted with relevant Chinese experts and scholars.

Representatives of China Atomic Energy Authority (CAEA) introduced the envoys to China's efforts to promote the sustainable development of nuclear energy. They discussed the benefits of nuclear technology for society and people's livelihoods, and highlighted China's cooperation with developing countries in the peaceful uses of nuclear technology.

The foreign envoys agreed that China's achievements, experience and cooperative spirit in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear technology have greatly benefited the developing countries.

The event, organized by the CAEA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Mission of China in Vienna, was part of a series of activities marking the 40th anniversary of China's accession to the IAEA.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
MBABANE  Zwelibanzi Simelane, who allegedly killed Sharon Neves, says he was not in his senses when he hit her with a pick axe handle.

Simelane is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, Neves, who died on February 8, 2022 in the flat they shared at Nkhanini Township in Nhlangano. Neves was the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/Aids (NERCHA) Shiselweni Region Coordinator. Simelane took to the stand yesterday and told the court that Neves left the Correctional Services staff canteen earlier on the day of the murder and when he arrived in the house after 11pm, he found her sitting in the dark and the only light was from the television set. He said she was sitting on a sofa and he was surprised that she was not asleep as she had told him that she was going to sleep when she left him at the staff canteen. According to Simelane, there was a glass of wine in front of her.

He submitted that Neves expressed displeasure that he came back so late and drunk. Simelane said she went on until the issue of the house keys, which he had kept for the better part of the day and driving her car came up. While we were arguing, she slapped me across the face. Things went blurry for a moment. When I regained my sight, since the lights were off, I saw her standing on her feet. I was drunk. The deceased was carrying a decorated glass, which she threw at me while I was still seated on the sofa. She was aiming for my head. I raised my arms and it hit the back of my hand. I got injured. It fell to the ground and broke into pieces. Things were happening very fast. I realised that she was armed with the handle of a pick axe, Simelane narrated.

She alleged that Neves tried to hit him in the head. He said he in 2013 he had an operation on the head and a ventricular shunting was inserted on the right side of my head all the way to his intestines for meningitis treatment. The deceased was aware how delicate the operation was and she was aiming for the head in all her attacks. During the attacks, I panicked and lost my mind for a bit. I got up and fought for the pick axe handle she was attacking me with.

Wrestled

We wrestled and I recall that at some point, I hit her with the pick handle once or twice as we fought for it. I cant recall exactly where I hit her but it was on her body. During the fight, she slipped and fell badly. She knocked the coffee table with her rib cage and hit the floor with the back of her head. Simelane said he came back to his senses when Neves fell. He told the court that he tried to assist her to get up. She said I should leave her the f**k alone. In anger, I walked out of the house. She insulted me and called me a coward, saying I should go away. When I was outside, I lit a cigarette and smoked. While smoking, I called my friend Thulani (Dlamini), hoping he would be able to intervene. He didnt pick up the call.

After spending some time outside, I went back into the house and Sharon had moved from where she had fallen. I went towards the bedroom and found her on the floor, in a kneeling position. I shook her to help her get up but she didnt respond. She was unresponsive. I tried to call the emergency response at 977, but couldnt get through. I was still calling her name.

At this point, Simelane was sobbing and his attorney, Mlindi Mthethwa, asked if he was okay to continue. Simelane requested the court to bear with him because he was relating the events all at once for the first time. Due to shock, he said, he took the items they were using during the fight  the broken glass and handle of the pick axe - and threw them outside over the fence.

I went to the outside sink and washed off the blood as I was bleeding. I went back to the house. Sharon was wearing a short nightdress I took a kanga and covered her. I got into the car and drove to the police station in Nhlangano. I was still shocked and scared. I found Sergeant Hlatshwako at the front desk. I reported that I found Sharon dead in the house.

He asked where I was coming from at that time and I told him that I was drinking with my friends at Mathendele. I was afraid and shocked and my intention was to get help for her.

He said he and the police went back to the house at Nkhanini that night and showed them where Neves lay.

He said he quickly went outside. It was clear to me that she had died because she was still in the same position I had left her. I cried while sitting on the steps. The police officer came out and told me that I would no longer be able to enter the house as it was a crime scene. They asked where I could spend the night. I said I would not leave until the Scenes of Crime officers arrived in the morning. I was hoping that she would have woken up by the morning but that didnt happen.

Police

Simelane was taken to the police station, locked in a cell and later interrogated. He said he led the police back to the flat where he pointed out the items he had thrown over the fence. He said there was also Neves cellphone and his wristwatch, among those items. He was charged with murder and appeared at the magistrates court. At the end of his testimony, he passed his condolences to Neves family if they are before court and her colleagues and our friends. I apologise to the society as a whole for what happened, resulting in Neves death. I apologise to the court for appearing before it for the first time in such a serious offence. The defence closed its case. Oral submissions will be made on August 9, 2024 and Judge Maxine Langwenya will possibly deliver the judgment on conviction on August 15, 2024.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

10 Downing Street

London SW1A 2AA

Dear Prime Minister Starmer,

Congratulations on Your Election as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

On behalf of Rwanda Bridge Builders (RBB), a coalition of Rwandan civil societies and opposition political parties in exile, I would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations on your recent election as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Your leadership and dedication to justice, equality, and human rights resonate deeply with our mission and the aspirations of many around the world.

Request for Review of UK-Rwanda Relations

As you assume your new role, we kindly urge you to re-evaluate the United Kingdoms relationship with Rwanda, considering the grave human rights situation that has been extensively documented by various human rights organisations, including reports from your own Home Office and Foreign Office. These reports highlight severe violations of human rights, including the suppression of political freedoms, arbitrary arrests, and the detention of political prisoners, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes of genocide.

Advocacy for Freedom and Human Rights in Rwanda

We implore you to leverage your position to champion the cause of freedom and human rights in Rwanda. Specifically, we request that your government:

Promote Political Freedoms and Human Rights: Use diplomatic channels to advocate for the release of political prisoners and an end to all forms of oppression in Rwanda. Utilise Aid as Leverage: Condition aid to Rwanda on tangible improvements in human rights and democratic practices. This approach can pressure the Rwandan government to implement meaningful reforms. Collaborate with Human Rights Advocates: Work closely with organisations and individuals dedicated to achieving freedom and justice in Rwanda, ensuring their efforts are supported and amplified.

Your leadership offers a unique opportunity to influence positive change and promote democratic values on a global scale. We are confident that with your commitment, the UK can play a pivotal role in advancing human rights and political freedoms in Rwanda.

Thank you for considering our appeal. We look forward to your administrations proactive measures in supporting the rights and freedoms of the Rwandan people.

Yours sincerely,

Ambassador JMV Ndagijimana Spokesperson, Rwanda Bridge Builders

Contact: rbbnew2021@gmail.com
MBABANE  A 12-year-old boy opted to end his life after being tormented by bullies at his school.

The boy was a pupil at a primary school near Piggs Peak. He allegedly took his own life last Sunday after enduring relentless bullying by peers and also allegedly by an official at the school. The incident, according to some residents living near the school, highlighted the devastating impact that bullying can have on young lives. According to information gathered by Eswatini News, the boy hanged himself in the family kitchen while his siblings were watching television. His father, *Jack, confirmed the incident, saying he was left devastated and in shock. Jack shared that his son did not leave any note or message with anyone though he is said to have been troubled.

Jack revealed that the boy had simply told his siblings he was going to the toilet, but was later discovered hanging in the kitchen. He is said to have got onto a stove and then hung himself by the rafters. The deceaseds father said he blamed the bullying that his son had endured. When recounting the events leading up to the tragedy, Jack revealed that the bullying began when a teacher referred to his son as a dwarf chicken during a lesson. The teachers comparison, which likened the boys short stature to that of a dwarf chicken, became a nickname that quickly spread among his classmates. Within a few days, even children in other classes are said to have began to refer to his son boy as a dwarf.

Jack revealed that his son reported the matter to him as the nickname was embarrassing for him. I then decided to approach the schools authority so that we could resolve it, said Jack. He said when he spoke to an official at the school, they apologised and assured him that the teacher would also be informed about the complaint. He then said he asked if he could be allowed to see the teacher, but was told that this could not be possible.

Teacher

Jack said his sons teacher later informed other pupils to stop referring to the deceased as a dwarf. Despite the schools apology and instructions for the pupils to stop using the term, the bullying continued unabated. Jack explained that the torment took a severe toll on his sons mental well-being. In addition to being called names, the boy was also humiliated when a school official publicly mentioned that his fare for a school trip had not been paid. It was gathered that school trips cost as much as E800. The deceaseds father also confirmed that the school trip fare had not been paid. He also revealed that in addition to his sons fare not having been paid, there were other two children at his home who were also in the same predicament.

Noteworthy, school trips are a common occurrence during this time of the year, with students eagerly looking forward to visit is various destinations. One of the most popular destinations for school trips is Durban, South Africa, where pupils get a chance to visit theme parks and other attractions. However, for families struggling to make ends meet, the financial burden of paying for such trips can be devastating. The boys death has prompted an outpouring of grief and anger from the community, with some parents calling for the authorities of the school to look into bullying at the school.

Also, a guardian expressed concern about bullying at the school, not only by pupils but also teachers. She alleged that as a result of the bullying, she was forced to remove her dependent from the school and had to enrol him in another school within the Piggs Peak area. Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the death of the 12-year-old who is alleged to have committed suicide. Mnguni did not give the details of what led to the suicide.

Apology

Meanwhile, the head teacher of the school, when reached for comment stated that he had met with the pupils father after he approached the school. The head teacher said the matter was deliberated and that an apology was made to the parent. He said this was also communicated to the teacher whom the parent was aggrieved with. However, the head teacher disputed allegations by some parents that there was a lot of bullying at the school. He said he was not aware of any incident of bullying , and that other than the parent of the pupil who had reported recently approached the school, none was reported.

*Not real name to protect familys dignity.
Phillip Patton, owner of Peachfork Orchards and Vineyards in Palisade, walks through a row of peach trees in search of some large peaches on July 3, 2024. Pattons Peachfork Orchards is one of over 20 farms, wineries and orchards that are listed on a new Colorado West Land Trust website feature that helps people find locally produced agriculture from farms that have conserved their land solely for agriculture use, like Peachfork Orchards has.
MATSAPHA  This is not a one-man show, we need a collective effort and united front to successfully fight crime.

These were the words of new National Commissioner (NATCOM) of Police Vusi Manoma Masango, after being appointed by His Majesty King Mswati III, yesterday afternoon, at the Matsapha Police College. Interviewed after his appointment, Masango admitted that everything came as a shock to him, but was quick to declare his readiness confidently, for the task ahead. I am still trying to come to terms with the appointment and I can only say Bayethe to the King for his trust. When the His Majesty shows such faith in you, it makes you feel very small. The truth is that this is a tough task because such responsibility is always heavy.

This is not a one-man show, we need a collective effort from the high executive of the police force, to the junior officers. If we are a united front, we will be successful in the fight against crime, Masango said. Masango also urged all stakeholders including the media to support the police force with positive feedback, stressing that: Do not focus on criticising us, but help us with information that will make our work easier and efficiently. He joined the police force in 1986, which means he has been a police officer for 38 years, before his appointment yesterday. When you count my years in the police force, it becomes apparent that I am close to retirement, but when you are given such a responsibility, you cannot say that you are also close to retiring.You just take the task given, especially for us who have been initiated into the Kings regiment (kubutseka), Masango said.

Appointment

His appointment put an end to months of speculation on the next NATCOM, after Lydia Dlamini was mandated to keep the fires burning at the helm following the untimely death of William Tsitsibala Dlamini. His Majesty announced the NATCOMs appointment during the Police Day, which was in celebration of 117 years of existence, by the police force in the country. I have been praying to the Almighty God for some time, to show me officers of honour, who can assume the drivers seat and achieve our desired objectives for the police services, the King said.

Noteworthy is that the King indicated that Masango was appointed into the position despite that he is also close to retirement, following in the footsteps of the acting NATCOM (Lydia). It was officially announced by the King that the acting NATCOM had officially retired and will now focus on her appointment into one of the Kings Councils (emabandla). The new NATCOM is stepping into big shoes to fill, because he is replacing a woman who did an amazing job while acting in the position. She represented women very well and served the police service with due diligence. She must continue to maintain her impressive work ethnic, even in the other national duties that have been delegated to her, the King said.

Information gathered is that Masango was now in his 50s hence it is expected that he will serve only one term (five years) as police chief.
Medium-range ground-based air defence - Kongsberg and MBDA will not submit offers

Swiss Government

Bern, 05.07.2024 - The Norwegian defence group Kongsberg and the European missiles systems company MBDA have informed the Federal Office for Defence Procurement armasuisse that they will not be taking part in the tender for a new system for medium-range ground-based air defence. The evaluation process will continue as planned.

The Norwegian defence group Kongsberg and the European missiles systems company MBDA have informed the Federal Office for Defence Procurement armasuisse that they will not be taking part in the evaluation for a new system for medium-range ground-based air defence (GBAD MR).

The withdrawal of the two companies followed the submission of the request for quotation for the new system by armasuisse on 30 April 2024. Diehl Defence (Germany) will remain as a potential manufacturer in the tender.

Further action in the project

The evaluation process will continue as planned with the goal of procuring a medium-range GBAD system as soon as possible and thus increasing Switzerland's defence capability. The Parliament is currently discussing procurement with the Armed Forces Dispatch 2024 instead of 2025 as planned.

armasuisse is awaiting the receipt of the offer from the remaining manufacturing company by mid-July 2024. Apart from the costs, a decision in favour of the remaining candidate in the third quarter of 2024 is dependent on this candidate submitting an offer which meets the requirements of armasuisse.

The future system must meet military, technical and logistical requirements. Among other things, it must thus already be successfully in use. The inclusion of Swiss industry is also of particular importance. One hundred percent of the purchase price must be compensated with offsetting transactions in Switzerland; the offer must then also include information on envisaged and already initiated offset projects.

Participation in the European Sky Shield Initiative without prejudice for the selection of type

In addition to the military, technical and logistical requirements which must be met by a future system, its potential for international cooperation will also be taken into account. With its participation in the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), Switzerland is increasing international opportunities for cooperation: ESSI enables better coordination of procurement projects, training and logistical aspects in the area of ground-based air defence. However, participation in this initiative does not pre-empt the decision on type, especially if it does not affect national responsibilities in procurement.

Project "GBAD MR"

The project "GBAD MR" is a procurement project for renewing important anti-aircraft systems of the Swiss Armed Forces. The renewal will close existing gaps in security and capability in air cover and local protection, to combat approaching targets at a medium distance and thus expand long-range ground-based air defence with the Patriot system. Systems currently in use will soon reach the end of their useful life. In addition, the existing type Stinger and medium anti-aircraft (med AAA) systems only have very short ranges - modern combat aircraft deploy their weapons from greater heights and distances.

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July 5, 2024

Release

Postponement of Exercise Noble Partner Announcement

July 5, 2024 |

The United States has initiated a comprehensive review of the United States - Georgia bilateral relationship. As part of that review, the United States will indefinitely postpone this iteration of exercise NOBLE PARTNER in Georgia, originally scheduled for July 25 - August 6, 2024.

On May 30, The US government began a full review of all bilateral cooperation with Georgia. The decision to postpone this iteration of NOBLE PARTNER is due to the Georgian government's false accusations against the United States and other western entities, to pressure Georgia to open a second front against Russia to alleviate pressure on Ukraine, and of participating in two coup attempts against the ruling party. As such, the United States Government has determined that this is an inappropriate time to hold a large-scale military exercise in Georgia.

The United States will continue to partner with the Georgian Defense Forces as we look to continue strengthening Georgia's ability to safeguard its sovereignty and maintain its territorial integrity.

We have not made this decision lightly, and we place great consideration on the extensive value that our Allies and Partners add to exercises such as NOBLE PARTNER. The United States looks forward to future opportunities to cooperate with Allies and Partners, including AGILE SPIRIT in 2025.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3827839/

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Joint statement by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell and Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic on military action in Khan Younis, Gaza

European Commission

Statement

5 July 2024

Brussels

The European Union is deeply concerned about the Israeli army orders to evacuate civilians from the area of Khan Younis. Some 250,000 people are impacted by the evacuation orders. These orders also threaten the patients of the European Hospital, one of the few remaining partially functioning hospitals in southern Gaza.

Injured and sick patients from the European Hospital, including pregnant women and elderly people, were forced to relocate to other facilities, such as the Nasser Hospital. Staff also tried to save medical equipment. This evacuation decision is certain to worsen overcrowding, and cause severe shortages in the already overwhelmed remaining hospitals, at a time when access to emergency medical care is critical.

Forced evacuations are creating a humanitarian crisis within the crisis. They exacerbate an already catastrophic humanitarian situation, with nearly 1.9 million Gazans displaced within the Strip, as stated by UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag in the Security Council. There are no facilities to accommodate people, and humanitarian partners struggle to meet the immense needs of the newly displaced.

The European Union reiterates that for evacuations not to amount to prohibited forcible transfers, they must conform with International Humanitarian Law, guaranteeing safety in transit and proper accommodation in areas of refuge for Palestinians called on to evacuate. Israel is likewise responsible for guaranteeing that displaced persons are able to return to their homes, or areas of habitual residence, once hostilities end. Displaced people also need to have access to the necessary services and have their needs met.

Faced with the deteriorating situation, the European Union has mobilised all its crisis response and humanitarian tools to channel needed aid to Gaza. This includes medical supplies, drugs and medications, and a significant increase in EU funding to humanitarian partners.

A ceasefire is all the more important now, and would make possible a surge of humanitarian assistance to Gaza as well as the release of all hostages.

The European Union recalls the obligation to respect and implement the orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 26 January and 24 May 2024, which are legally binding. The EU gives its full support to the comprehensive roadmap presented by President Biden and calls for the immediate implementation of United Nations Security Council resolution 2735, as well as the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 2728, 2720 and 2712.

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Wang Yi meets Jaishankar as both sides agree to continue talks on border issues

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Published: Jul 05, 2024 02:46 AM

China and India should properly manage and control border issues while resuming normal bilateral exchanges and meet each other halfway, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday when meeting with his Indian counterpart. Both sides agreed to hold a new round of talks on the border issues at an early date.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks when he met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Thursday local time.

During the meeting, Wang said that as two ancient civilizations, major developing countries, and emerging economies, both China and India stay at a crucial juncture in their national revitalization. Thus, upholding good-neighborliness and friendship and achieving common development constitute the fundamental interests of both countries and their peoples, and align with the correct historical logic.

According to Wang, both China and India should view bilateral relations from a strategic perspective, strengthen communication, properly manage differences, and ensure that China-India relations develop along a healthy and stable path. Both sides should adhere to positive thinking, properly manage and control the situation in border areas while actively resuming and conducting normal exchanges, mutually supporting each other and meeting halfway, Wang said.

Wang also said this year marks the 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and both sides have the responsibility and obligation to inherit and promote its spirit, as well as to imbue it with a new meaning in the current era.

As two Global South countries, China and India should join hands to oppose unilateral bullying, resist bloc confrontation, safeguard the common interests of developing countries, and make contributions to the peace, stability and development of the region and the world, Wang said.

During the meeting, Jaishankar said that as two major neighboring countries, China and India face common challenges. Meanwhile, since both sides have extensive common interests, developing stable and predictable bilateral relations constitutes the interests of both sides and will also benefit the region and the world, Jaishankar said.

During the meeting, both sides agreed to endeavor in the stability in the border areas and to hold a new round of boundary negotiations as soon as possible, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Long Xingchun, a professor at the School of International Relations at Sichuan International Studies University, told the Global Times on Thursday that the agreement to continue negotiations on the border issues shows that the two sides have the willingness to maintain communications and that both are committed to resolving disputes through peaceful means.

However, Long noted that in the past few years, India's China policy and its stance on the boundary issues have remained unchanged, and there are no major adjustments or substantial changes from the Indian side to be seen at present. "India has been demanding that China make concessions regarding the border issues," Long said.

Long added that India has also implemented many restrictive measures against Chinese enterprises, which harms bilateral relations.

India should stop linking boundary issues to the normalization of China-India relations, experts said.

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The President met with members of the United States Congress

President of the Republic of Lithuania

July 05, 2024

On Friday, President Gitanas Nauseda met with a delegation of members of the United States Congress. The President and the members of the U.S. Congress discussed transatlantic cooperation, security, and support for Ukraine.

During the meeting, Gitanas Nauseda emphasized the crucial role of cooperation between the United States and Europe in promoting global peace and democracy and upholding fundamental values. The Head of State stressed that the continued U.S. military presence in the Baltic States is a key factor in deterring Russia and therefore needs to be maintained. The President pointed out that Lithuania is actively increasing its defense investment, which has already reached 3.02% of the country's GDP this year and will continue to grow.

In his meeting with members of the U.S. Congress, Gitanas Nauseda stressed the vital importance of joint efforts by the U.S. and Europe to support Ukraine and to help it achieve victory over its aggressor.

The President's Communication Group

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NATO Secretary General: "Our most urgent task at the Summit will be support to Ukraine"

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

05 Jul. 2024

On Friday (5 July 2024), Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg previewed next week's Washington Summit, stressing that support to Ukraine will be NATO's "most urgent task".

"I expect heads of state and government will agree a substantial package for Ukraine," said Mr Stoltenberg. "NATO will take over the coordination and provision of most international security assistance," with a command led by a three-star general and several hundred personnel working at at NATO headquarters in Germany and at logistical nodes in the eastern part of the Alliance, he said. He added that Allies will agree a financial pledge for Ukraine, and that he also expects more immediate military support to Ukraine; more bilateral security agreements; and work on deepened military interoperability. The Secretary General said that all of these elements "constitute a bridge to NATO membership and a very strong package for Ukraine at the Summit," adding: "Ukraine is moving closer to NATO".

"Deterrence and defence will be another important topic for our Summit," Mr Stoltenberg said, saying that NATO has been fundamentally transformed over the past decade, including with 500,000 troops on high readiness, improved capabilities, combat-ready battlegroups and the accession of new members. At the Summit, Allies are due to endorse a pledge to strengthen transatlantic defence industrial cooperation, to boost production. He added that NATO will further enhance ballistic missile defences with a new Aegis Ashore base in Poland. He welcomed that 23 Allies are now spending at least 2% of their GDP on defence.

Global partnerships will be the third topic for the Summit. The Secretary General has invited the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea to the Summit to further deepen cooperation, including on support to Ukraine, cyber and new technologies. "The closer that authoritarian actors align, the more important it is that we work closely with our friends in the Indo-Pacific," he said.

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Israel launches airstrikes on S. Lebanon after Hezbollah's retaliatory attacks

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:26, July 05, 2024

JERUSALEM, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army said Thursday that it launched airstrikes on Lebanon after the Lebanese group Hezbollah fired at least 175 rockets, missiles and drones at northern Israel in retaliation for an airstrike that killed one of its senior commanders.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that about 160 rockets and missiles, as well as more than 15 drones, were fired at northern Israel.

"Numerous projectiles and suspicious aerial targets crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory," IDF said, adding that its Aerial Defense Array and the Israel Air Force "operated to intercept them and successfully intercepted several targets and projectiles."

However, some explosive drones and shrapnel from the interceptions hit several areas, sparking fires, the army said.

"The IDF is currently striking launch posts in southern Lebanon," read the statement.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah confirmed earlier in the day that it attacked several Israeli sites in response to Israel's assassination of a senior commander, Mohammad Naameh Nasser, in Lebanon's southwest city of Tyre.

"Today, Thursday, the fighters of the Islamic Resistance bombed, with 20 drones and about 200 Katyusha and Falaq missiles, several Israeli sites and leadership headquarters in the Galilee and the occupied Syrian Golan," Hezbollah said in a statement.

According to the statement, Hezbollah attacked the bases of Eilat, Katsavia, Dadu, Kiryat Shmona, the Zarit and Al-Raheb sites, and the Keila barracks.

A Lebanese military source told Xinhua that the Lebanese army positions monitored the launching of about 25 drones and more than 150 surface-to-surface missiles from the Lebanese side to the Israeli side, and some of them were intercepted by Israeli Iron Dome missiles.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in solidarity with Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

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New Delhi, July 6 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and congratulated him on his election to the top office in UK. The PM also said that India is committed to deepening the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.

In a post on X, PM Modi said:

Pleased to speak with @Keir_Starmer.

Congratulated him on being elected as the Prime Minister of the UK. We remain committed to deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust India-Great Britain economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our peoples and global good.

On Friday, PM Modi had in a post on X congratulated Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on his partys landslide victory in the UK parliamentary elections and becoming the new prime minister of UK.

In a post on X, PM Modi also thanked ex-PM Rishi Sunak for his active contribution to deepening the bilateral ties between India and the UK during his term in office.

PM Modi said:

Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to @Keir_Starmer on the remarkable victory in the UK general elections. I look forward to our positive and constructive collaboration to further strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in all areas, fostering mutual growth and prosperity.

For Sunak, he posted:

Thank you @RishiSunak for your admirable leadership of the UK, and your active contribution to deepen the ties between India and the UK during your term in office. Best wishes to you and your family for the future.

Labour won 412 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. The Conservatives had only 121  down from 365 seats in 2019. The drubbing surpassed even the 1906 election in which they won just 156 seats.

The Tory reign was marked by Britains messy divorce from the European Union, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russias invasion of Ukraine, all of which battered the economy.

When Sunak took over in October 2022, he was the third prime minister in less than two months and set out to bring stability to a party in crisis.

UNI RN
Deputy Prime Minister W. Kosiniak - Kamysz: There is nothing more important than the security of Poland and of our allies

Poland - Ministry of National Defence

05.07.2024

We need rapid responses. This is a task that the European Union now takes upon itself to deploy its forces, its troops, wherever they are needed (). This formed the basis of this community which we have joined 20 years ago. Today Poland takes responsibility for the Battlegroup with its closes allies - Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. I am grateful for this cooperation. This is an expression of responsibility. () Poland understands threats to security very well. Poland assumes responsibility, showing that it is one of the leaders of the European Union - deputy prime minister Wadysaw Kosiniak - Kamysz said during the ceremony of accepting duty of the European Union Battlegroup by the soldiers of the Polish Armed Forces. The ceremony took place on July 5th, 2024, in Cracow.

The decision for Poland to put forward its troops for duty in the Visegrad EU Battlegroup was taken at the beginning of this year. The deputy prime minister, minister of national defence Wadysaw Kosiniak - Kamysz in response to a request by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy had declared Polish involvement.

This is an important moment for Europe and an important moment for Poland. Facing the escalating hybrid war, the full-scale Russian aggression on Ukraine, the raids on the Polish border and attempted attacks - which are sadly sometimes successful - on the health and life of our soldiers and officers, facing attacks on the borders of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, facing all that is happening in Europe - acts of sabotage, attacks in cyberspace, in the face of all this the European Union has to be active, and our response has to be forceful. (). There is nothing more important than the security of Poland and of our allies. This is our greatest challenge and committment. We think the European Union has to be even more involved in matters of security.

- the deputy prime minister said.

Grupa Bojowa Unii Europejskiej to siy wojskowe zdolne do szybkiego reagowania. Stanowia zwiazki taktyczne o wysokim stopniu mobilnosci - zdolne do przeprowadzenia samodzielnych operacji. Siy te moga byc uzyte do: udzielania pomocy humanitarnej, misji ratunkowych, misji stabilizacyjnych, operacji pokojowych oraz dziaan zarzadzania kryzysowego.

The European Union Battlegroup is a unit capable of rapid response. They are highly mobile tactical group - able to conduct independent operations. These forces can be used for distribution of humanitarian aid, rescue missions, stablization missions, peace operations and crisis management response.

The 6th Airborne Brigade forms the core of the group, providing most of its forces and taking command of its preparation. Beyond the Polish Armed Forces, the group also consists of allied troops from Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary. The 6th Airborne Brigade is an elite, airmobile tactical unit with a high degree of development. It can execute its tasks as a parachute landing force or conduct landing - assault operations using helicopters.

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PH troops to 'respond appropriately' vs. another WPS harassment

Philippine News Agency

By Priam Nepomuceno

July 5, 2024, 11:03 am

MANILA -- Filipino troops will "respond appropriately" in case of a repeat of the recent incident in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) where China Coast Guard (CCG) personnel harassed a Philippine rotation and resupply (RORE) contingent, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said on Thursday.

"Under the Rules of Engagement (ROE), a person has the right to defend himself in any manner. Pero meron po tayong steps na sinusunod sa (but we have steps to follow under the) ROE. So, for instance, meron pong umatake sa akin, ang gagawin po natin is (should someone attack, what we will do is) that we will apply the same level of force that would allow us to defend ourselves," he said during an interview shortly after the first-semester command conference with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

Brawner said this means that if Filipino troops are attacked with knives, they will use similar weapons to defend themselves.

"Hindi po yung lalabis. That's the concept of proportionality. So hindi po natin siya babarilin (We will not resort to excessive use of force. That's the concept of proportionality. So we will not shoot them)," he added.

The AFP chief also said Filipino troops would never allow themselves to be bullied and would continue fulfilling their mandate in compliance with the law.

During the June 17 incident, Filipino troops were seen being threatened by knives and other pointed weapons by CCG personnel to disrupt their resupply mission to the Philippine naval vessel BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) in the Ayungin Shoal.

Aside from threatening AFP personnel, the Chinese also looted and damaged Philippine rigid hull inflatable boats used in the mission. (PNA)

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PH, China in talks to reach 'understanding, agreement' on Ayungin

Philippine News Agency

By Joyce Ann L. Rocamora

July 5, 2024, 8:57 am

MANILA -- The Philippines is working with China to reach an "understanding or a possible agreement" over the issue of Ayungin Shoal, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo confirmed Thursday.

Manalo said among the focus of the recent Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) meeting was the current situation over the feature, which had been the focal point of recent tensions with China amid the latter's continuous disruption of Philippine resupply missions.

"There are discussions and we hope to arrive at an understanding or possible agreement," Manalo told the Philippine News Agency.

If the talks prosper, this could be the first formal measure the two sides would agree on with regard to the Ayungin Shoal.

The DFA earlier said Manila has not entered into any agreement or arrangement with Beijing concerning the feature, and that only President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. can approve or authorize deals related to the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea.

In a separate interview in Makati City, Manalo said the two sides are "making progress" but "many issues" remain.

The 9th BCM took place on July 2, more than two weeks since the Chinese Coast Guard boarded and destroyed Philippine Navy boats that were conducting a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal on June 17.

In their separate readouts for the 9th BCM, the Philippines and China said they had a "constructive" exchange of views on the handling of the Ayungin situation and agreed to "de-escalate tensions without prejudice to their respective positions."

"Both sides agreed to continue discussions to find a mutually acceptable resolution to the issues," the DFA said.

Meanwhile, Japanese Ambassador Kazuya Endo said Tokyo is also watching the talks between Manila and Beijing closely, including the BCM developments.

"Japan highly appreciates the position of the Philippine government, which has consistently demonstrated its commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea in accordance with the Arbitral Tribunal Award," he said during the 70th Japan Self-Defense Forces anniversary reception at his residence in Makati City on Thursday night.

He noted that issues surrounding the South China Sea are a "legitimate concern" for Japan and the international community as they affect regional peace and stability. (PNA)

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Top Saudi diplomat voices concern over Gaza war expansion to Lebanon, region

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 July 2024 6:48 PM

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has warned that the bloody Israeli onslaught on Gaza is affecting the entire West Asia region, including southern Lebanon, calling for sanctions on Israeli officials for violating international human rights laws.

"The situation in the Gaza Strip does not only affect the Palestinian issue but the entire region and contributes to further escalations, which is currently happening in southern Lebanon," he said on Thursday.

He was speaking at a panel discussion titled "Wars and shadow wars: What are Europe's options in the Middle East?" at the European Council on Foreign Relations meeting in the Spanish capital city of Madrid.

Bin Farhan's remarks come as Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging deadly fire since early October last year, shortly after the regime launched a genocidal aggression against the Gaza Strip following a surprise operation by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group.

The Lebanese resistance movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory attacks as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its Gaza war, which has so far killed at least 38,011 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 87,445 others.

Hezbollah officials have repeatedly said they do not want a war with Israel, however, stressing that they are prepared in case it occurs.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Saudi foreign minister criticized the international community's silence on the Tel Aviv regime's continued expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank, arguing that the trend undermines the peace process in occupied Palestinian territories.

He said the least that European countries can do is condemn Israel's failure to abide by its commitments.

And they should take stricter steps such as imposing sanctions on those officials violating international human rights laws, bin Farhan pointed out.

The top Saudi diplomat also said the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination and deserve an independent state recognized internationally.

"The majority of the international community agrees that the permanent and just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the [so-called] two-state solution, yet they stand idle in the face of matters that could undermine the two-state solution, such as Israel's continued expansion of settlement activities."

He praised those European countries that have recognized Palestine as a state, including Spain and Norway.

This was "a very important move" that supports the peace process and the push toward resolution of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Saudi foreign minister said.

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At least 10 Israeli troopers killed in Gaza in resistance fighters' attacks

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 July 2024 6:07 PM

Palestinian resistance fighters have killed at least 10 Israeli troops in a two separate military operations against the enemy forces in Gaza City and Rafah.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said in a statement on Friday that the resistance fighters targeted Israel's "military control and command headquarters" in Gaza City's al-Shujaiya neighborhood with short-range missiles and killed one soldier.

The resistance fighters, the statement said, then advanced toward the building and killed the remaining soldiers at "point-blank range."

The attack, it said, was carried out in conjunction with the al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, another Palestinian resistance group.

The statement said the Israeli regime's forces later dispatched a helicopter to evacuate the casualties.

In a separate operation in the Gaza Strip's southern city of Rafah, a "large number" of Palestinian fighters attacked an Israeli base with grenades, and machine guns, killing and injuring more Israeli forces.

"We targeted the occupation soldiers at the Rafah crossing gate," the group said. "Our fighters were able to snipe an Israeli soldier in the vicinity of a hill west of Rafah city."

The resistance fighters, the group said, also targeted Israeli forces and their military vehicles at the border with Egypt with a barrage of mortar shells.

Nine months into the regime's genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, Israel's military forces are facing increasing challenges in the Palestinian territory.

Minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant said on Monday that the military "needs 10,000 more soldiers immediately."

Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip after it was caught off guard by Hamas's unprecedented operation against the occupied territories in October 2023.

The Israeli regime's head Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to "completely destroy" Hamas before the military agreed to end its offensive in Gaza.

He is now under mounting pressure to end the genocidal war both globally and at home with protesters on the streets in large numbers calling for his resignation.

So far, the Israeli military has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

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Hezbollah says ready for worst-case scenario; Israel 'unlikely' to expand war soon

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 July 2024 2:50 PM

A high-ranking official with the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement says an expanded war with Israel is not likely soon, but his group is fully prepared for the worst-case scenario.

Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem said, "The chance of an expanded war is not likely in the near future, but Hezbollah is prepared for the worst possibilities."

"The movement does not build its military position according to political analyses, but rather according to information and field results," he told the Arabic service of Russia's Sputnik radio station on Thursday..

The Hezbollah deputy chief went on to describe the conclusion of a ceasefire deal as very likely, particularly in the wake of the volatile state of affairs in the 1948 Israeli-occupied territories and that Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid can exert a great deal of pressure on prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He stated that 67 percent of the Israeli public believes that Netanyahu is no longer fit to remain in office, not to mention mass anti-regime protests and serious internal disputes.

The top Hezbollah official went on to say that Washington and the Tel Aviv regime are simply divided in terms of tactics and methods. "Netanyahu wants to press ahead with his massacres openly, whilst Biden wants to achieve his goals steadily."

Sheikh Qassem stated that French and US envoys are seeking to separate the southern Lebanon front from the Gaza front during their visits to Beirut.

"They are doing their best to satisfy Israel, and prepare the ground for the return of settlers to the northern occupied territories. However, Hezbollah's response to all these envoys was that 'there would be no discussion unless a [Gaza] ceasefire is concluded,'" the Hezbollah deputy chief said.

"Those inside Lebanon who dream of a war to disturb or weaken Hezbollah  will have disturbing dreams because reality is not affected by their imaginations  they have no effectiveness on the ground. There is a strong resistance facing the Israeli enemy and it will win," Sheikh Qassem concluded.

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging deadly fire since early October last year, shortly after the regime launched a genocidal aggression against the Gaza Strip following a surprise operation by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group.

The Lebanese resistance movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory attacks as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its Gaza war, which has so far killed at least 38,011 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 87,445 others.

Hezbollah officials have repeatedly said they do not want a war with Israel, however, stressing that they are prepared in case it occurs.

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Hezbollah pounds Israeli positions, kills senior commander

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 July 2024 6:24 AM

Fighters from the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement have conducted new operations against Israeli military targets in reprisal for the regime's assassination of a top commander of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah announced in a statement that it targeted espionage equipment at an Israeli outpost at the Metulla settlement in northern part of the 1948-occupied territories with a barrage of rockets, achieving direct hits.

Separately, the resistance fighters struck a gathering of Israeli troops in Admit settlement with appropriate weapons, hitting the designated targets precisely. The attack caused a fire in the area and inflicted casualties on the Israeli forces.

Hezbollah also published video footage of its strikes on Israeli military barracks and bases in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights as well as in northern occupied Palestinian lands.

The resistance group stated that the operations came in solidarity with steadfast Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in support of honorable resistance fighters in the coastal territory, and in retaliation for Israeli strikes on residential areas in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah on Wednesday said that one of its high-ranking commanders, identified as Muhammad Nimah Nasser, also known as "Hajj Abu Naameh", was assassinated. A source close to the group confirmed to the AFP news agency that Nasser had been killed in an Israeli attack against the Hosh area in Tyre in southern Lebanon.

On Thursday, the resistance group said it launched more than 200 rockets and drones targeting Israeli military positions in response to the assassination.

Israeli army officer killed in Hezbollah rocket fire

Later on Thursday, the Israeli military said in a press statement that an officer had been killed in Hezbollah rocket fire.

The slain major was identified as Itay Galea, 38, a deputy company commander in the 8679th Unit of the Israeli military's 679th Armored Brigade.

He was killed when a rocket hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights during Hezbollah's massive retaliatory attacks against the regime's positions.

'Hezbollah response to Israeli assassinations beyond expectations'

Meanwhile, a Lebanese lawmaker from the political wing of Hezbollah has warned of surprises in retaliation for the assassination of the resistance group's commanders.

Ibrahim al-Moussawi, a member of Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc, stated that Hezbollah's strikes will go beyond expectations, emphasizing that the retaliatory operations are strongly indicative of the movement's commitment to supporting the Palestinian nation.

"Anytime the Zionist enemy assassinates one of our commanders, it further consolidates our resolve and determination. The targeted killings of resistance commanders will have no influence and won't change existing equations. Our response will exceed the enemy's expectations," he pointed out.

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging deadly fire since early October last year, shortly after the regime launched a genocidal aggression against the Gaza Strip following a surprise operation by the Palestinian Hamas resistance group.

The Lebanese resistance movement has vowed to keep up its retaliatory attacks as long as the Tel Aviv regime continues its Gaza war, which has so far killed at least 38,011 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 87,445 others.

Hezbollah officials have repeatedly said they do not want a war with Israel, however, stressing that they are prepared in case it occurs

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European Officials Say Orban 'Exploiting EU Presidency' By Visiting Putin For Ukraine Talks

By RFE/RL and RFE/RL's Hungarian Service July 05, 2024

European leaders on July 5 slammed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for his visit to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of shaking hands "with a bloody dictator" and of "exploiting the EU presidency position to sow confusion."

Orban, who has angered EU and Ukrainian officials with his regular pro-Russia comments and policies, claimed he was in Moscow to help settle the war between Russia and Ukraine, but Western and Ukrainian officials have blasted the trip, insisting he doesn't speak for Brussels or Kyiv.

"In Moscow, Viktor Orban in no way represents the EU or the EU's positions," said Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who has been designated to become the EU's next foreign affairs representative.

"He is exploiting the EU presidency position to sow confusion. The EU is united, clearly behind Ukraine and against Russian aggression," she said.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda echoed her comments. The Baltic nations Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have all expressed strong support of Ukraine following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"If you truly seek peace, you don't shake hands with a bloody dictator, you put all your efforts to support Ukraine," Nauseda wrote on X.

The White House joined in on the criticism, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying the visit "will not advance the cause of peace and is counterproductive to promoting Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence."

Following his talks with Putin at the Kremlin, Orban told a news conference that his trip represented a "first step to restore dialogue" between the warring parties, but he acknowledged that viewpoints remain "far apart" in Kyiv and Moscow.

"I have found that positions are far apart. The number of steps needed to end the war and bring about peace are many," said Orban, who vowed to "continue this work."

EU and Ukrainian officials have insisted that Orban, who holds the rotating EU Council presidency, has no authority to negotiate on behalf of the bloc or Kyiv.

In televised comments, Putin maintained his long-standing position -- which has been rejected by Kyiv -- telling Orban that Ukraine must hand over all of four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine that Russia has partially occupied and claimed as its own in their entirety.

"We are talking about the full withdrawal of all troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics [officially Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions], and from the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions," Putin said.

Russia state media said Orban departed Moscow late on July 5 on the planned one-day visit just ahead of a massive rainstorm.

Since word leaked a day earlier of the apparently uncoordinated visit, multiple senior EU officials intensified statements distancing the bloc from Orban's plans and actions, and Kyiv said it hadn't given its "agreement" to anything.

The trip comes less than a week after Budapest assumed the six-month rotating EU Council presidency and three days after Orban presented a mystery cease-fire proposal in another surprise visit to Kyiv.

Orban maintains close relations with Putin and has resisted EU and other sanctions on Russia and refused to join military and other Western aid efforts to help Ukraine beat back the 28-month full-scale invasion ordered by Putin.

Receiving Orban in the Kremlin, Putin said at the start of televised talks that he regarded the Hungarian leader as somehow acting on behalf of the European Union in terms that appeared crafted to troll Brussels.

"I understand that this time you have come not just as our longstanding partner but as president of the [EU] Council," Putin told Orban. He said he expected Orban to lay out "the position of European partners" on the situation in Ukraine and was ready to talk about "nuances" of peace proposals.

Orban is being accompanied on the trip by his foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto.

Orban's spokesman shared an image on social media of Orban on a red carpet on a tarmac in Moscow with the message "The #peace mission continues. Second stop: #Moscow."

Szijjarto posted an image of himself exiting a Hungarian Air Force plane and said, "Arriving in Moscow. Another step for peace!"

EU officials might disagree.

An unnamed EU official told RFE/RL that Orban had not informed Brussels of any planned Moscow trip, and his press office did not initially respond to request for comment.

Current EU foreign affairs high representative Josep Borrell said in a statement on July 5 that "Prime Minister Orban has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow."

He said the visit "takes place, exclusively, in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia."

Orban has whipped up heightened fears of an escalating conflict in recent Hungarian elections, seemingly adopted Kremlin talking points, and accused many in the West of warmongering in response to Russia's invasion.

He has also whipped up heightened fears of an escalating conflict in recent Hungarian elections.

Orban's record with respect to Moscow has sparked concerns that beyond rule-of-law and democracy disputes with Brussels, the Hungarian EU presidency might erode unity among bloc members in the face of Russian aggression.

In Kyiv on July 2, Orban presented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with a cease-fire proposal he said was aimed at pausing the fighting. He declined to give details but said he asked Zelenskiy "whether it was possible to take a break, to stop the firing, and then continue the negotiations."

Zelenskiy did not express his opinion on the proposal during the briefing with reporters, but a spokesman for the president said later on July 2 that Zelenskiy gave Orban an opportunity to air his thoughts.

Zelenskiy said after Orban's arrival in Moscow that the visit was "without agreement" of any kind from Kyiv.

Putin, who has denied Ukrainian nationhood and history, has said conditions for ending the war, which has killed and wounded more than 500,000 people on both sides, include Kyiv renouncing any NATO hopes and ceding Crimea and four other occupied regions of Ukraine.

Zelenskiy has insisted its territorial integrity -- backed in multiple UN votes and a Ukrainian-initiated Global Peace Summit in Switzerland last month -- must be the foundation of any peace deal.

After word leaked on July 4 of Orban's planned visit, European Council President Charles Michel said "the EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU."

"The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine," Michel added.

Orban last visited Moscow in September 2022, when he paid his respects at the funeral of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/orban-eu-russia- visit-ukraine-war-presidency/33023194.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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No: 129, 5 July 2024, Regarding Israel's Activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The decisions taken by Israel to "legalize" some settlement outposts and to "approve" new housing units in the occupied West Bank are flagrant violations of international law.

These steps indicate that Israel is trying to make the occupation permanent and has no intention of achieving peace.

We call on the international community to take a firm and principled stand against Israel's attempts to normalise the occupation.

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On 3 July 2024, six internally displaced people (IDP) including two children, were injured in a school in Khan Younis city when the Israeli Security Forces fired two missiles that hit a house adjacent to the school. The injured IDPs suffered moderate to critical injuries and were transferred to the hospital. A wall in the school sustained damages. It was also reported that 20 IDPs suffered from smoke inhalation and that the tents and belongings of 24 families living in the school yard were damaged.

451 * incidents impacting UNRWA premises and the people inside them have been reported since the beginning of the war (some with multiple incidents impacting the same location), including at least 72 incidents of military use and/or interference at UNRWA premises. 188 different UNRWA installations have been impacted.

UNRWA estimates that in total at least 520* IDPs sheltering in UNRWA shelters have been killed and at least 1,602* injured since the start of the war. UNRWA continue to verify the number of casualties caused by incidents that impacted its installations, and notes that these figures do not include some reported casualties where the number of injuries could not be determined.

* Numbers continue to be subject to change once further verifications have been conducted.
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Retired General Breedlove says NATO must not capitulate to Russia

By Danila Galperovich July 05, 2024

The United States will host a NATO summit in Washington next week, at which more military support for Ukraine in the face of Russia's ongoing invasion will top the agenda.

Douglas Jones, deputy U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, told VOA earlier this week that NATO will put forward "concrete ways" to accelerate Ukraine's eventual membership in the alliance.

Retired U.S. Air Force four-star General Philip Breedlove was the commander of U.S. European Command and the 17th Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied Command Operations from 2013 to 2016.

In an interview with VOA, Breedlove said that NATO should use next week's summit to detail how it will help Ukraine "win the war against Russia and to expel Russian forces from Ukrainian lands."

Allowing Russia to keep that Ukrainian territory it has occupied would amount to "capitulation," Breedlove said, adding that whoever wins the U.S. presidential election in November must remember that capitulation to Russia's ambitions in Ukraine "is not a way forward."

The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity:

VOA: What are the main challenges for NATO ahead of the summit in Washington?

Retired four-star U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove: I think the main challenge is going to be how to move forward with Ukraine. There are quite a number of NATO nations that want to get started on Ukraine's program to join [NATO], there are other nations that are not ready for that yet. And so I think that the compromise is this "bridge" to NATO, whereby Ukraine will be invited to join in the headquarters on a U.S. base somewhere. I hear that maybe Wiesbaden [Germany] is that place. More importantly though, since there will not be a formal offer to Ukraine for membership, the members of NATO are going to need to discuss how do we begin to guarantee the security of Ukraine.

VOA: How do you think the elections in Europe and the U.K. will affect  and maybe already have affected  NATO's immediate future?

Breedlove: So I would broaden that scope. In elections in America, elections in many of our countries, we see a growing nationalistic trend, some isolationist trends, and these are all going to have to be addressed by NATO as a body. Because the strength of NATO is solidarity first, and so we have to figure out how to maintain that solidarity in the alliance when we have several nations that are now challenging norms. NATO has always made it through this. I remind people  and some of my French friends hate it when I do  but we were once thrown out of a capital of a NATO country. And so NATO has faced challenges in the past.

And I think that NATO will survive this current set of issues as well and frankly maybe be stronger. The absolute audacity, the criminality, the inhumane war that [Russian President] Mr. [Vladimir] Putin is waging on Ukraine is in a way drawing NATO closer together, even though there are less than perfect conversations about how we should go about fixing things. Broadly now, people understand what Mr. Putin is, what Russia represents, and the problems that this is going to give us in the future. And we see nations now realizing that they have to invest in their defense.

VOA: According to Politico, some Trump-aligned national security experts are saying that he is "mulling a deal" where NATO commits to no further eastward expansion, specifically into Ukraine and Georgia, and negotiates with Putin over how much Ukrainian territory "Moscow can keep" in exchange for a cease-fire. What would that mean for Georgia and Ukraine?

Breedlove: So, what you're talking about, to me, amounts to capitulation. I don't believe that Mr. [Donald] Trump would capitulate in quite that manner to Russia and give in to all of Russia's demands. I think what we need to focus on is what changes in respect to Russia in these conversations, remembering that Russia is a nation that amassed its army, marched across internationally recognized borders and is now trying to subjugate one of its neighbors. I do not believe that even Mr. Trump will sign up to that as an end result.

At some point we will have to sit down at the table, and what it looks like coming away from the table, I think, is a long way from being determined. And I do not believe that the American people will support capitulation.  And so I think that whoever is the next president, as their team sits down to try to resolve this, we're going to have to remember that capitulation is not a way forward.

VOA: If Georgia's domestic political problems grow, what effect will that have on its prospects for joining NATO?

Breedlove: I think that the question should be asked like this: if Russia's interference in Georgia's internal affairs continues and gets worse, what does that mean? Because I believe that there is Russian bad money and Russian bad people and politics involved in Georgia right now. Georgia is a hybrid warfare battleground whereby Russia is trying to use all manner of influence to drag Georgia away from the West and to regain control of Georgian politics.

VOA: It's clear that during next week's summit, Ukraine will not be offered NATO membership. But apart from the offer to establish a "bridge" at a NATO base, what do you think can be done to bring Ukraine and NATO closer together?

Breedlove: Well, the first thing to do is to help them win this war. Our policies are very weak. We say things like "we're going to be there for as long as it takes" or "we're going to give them everything they need." What we fail to say is  we're going to be there as long as it takes to do what? We're going to give them everything they need to do what? And that "to do what" should sound something like "to completely defeat the Russian forces inside of Ukraine and drive them back behind Russia's borders." But we are not doing that. And so one of the most important things about this upcoming summit  is that we need a demonstrative public declaratory policy on how we would support Ukraine to win the war against Russia and to expel Russian forces from Ukrainian lands.

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Netanyahu says cease-fire talks with Hamas to resume next week

By VOA News July 05, 2024

Negotiations to reach a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war will resume next week after the head of the Israeli intelligence agency returned from talks in Doha, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Friday.

His office noted gaps still exist between both sides, though, regarding an agreement for a cease-fire and a hostage release.

Mossad Director David Barnea held meetings with Qatari mediators, and Israel said it would resume negotiations as Hamas updated its cease-fire proposal.

A Hamas spokesperson said Friday that amendments it proposed to the U.S. plan for a Gaza cease-fire got a "positive response" from mediators, though they said the Israeli position is not clear.

The White House said Friday that U.S. President Joe Biden likely will meet with Netanyahu when he is in Washington this month.

The cease-fire talks come as Palestinian authorities said seven Palestinians were killed in the West Bank city of Jenin after an Israeli raid that its military said was carrying out "counterterrorism activity."

Israeli soldiers "encircled a building where terrorists have barricaded themselves in," and the military noted that an airstrike "struck several armed terrorists" nearby.

Israeli forces and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah traded attacks along the border Thursday, the latest of months of exchanges that have raised fears the war in Gaza will spread to a wider regional conflict.

Hezbollah said it fired more than 200 rockets at Israeli bases in an attack that also included the use of explosive drones. The Iranian-backed group said it was acting in response to Israel's killing of one of its commanders Wednesday.

The Hezbollah attack prompted air raid sirens across northern Israel. The Israeli military said it intercepted many of the projectiles and carried out fresh airstrikes against launch positions in Lebanon.

Israeli media reported Thursday that Netanyahu spoke with Biden, who has tried to orchestrate a truce for months. Netanyahu told Biden of his decision to send a delegation to continue negotiations for the release of the hostages, according to media reports.

"The President welcomed the Prime Minister's decision to authorize his negotiators to engage with U.S., Qatari, and Egyptian mediators in an effort to close out the deal," the White House said in a statement.

The mediators  Qatar, Egypt and the United States  have worked for months to reach a deal that would free the hostages and cease hostilities. The ideas that Hamas delivered this week involve the three-phase deal Biden put on the table in late May.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has expressed concern over Israel's latest evacuation order for large parts of the Khan Younis and Rafah governorates, encompassing about a third of the Gaza Strip and affecting up to 250,000 civilians.

"What we saw in the last two days, since Monday afternoon when the evacuation order was issued, we have seen a constant flow of people moving out," said Andrea De Domenico, the head of the U.N. office for humanitarian affairs in the Palestinian territories.

He told reporters in a video briefing from Jerusalem Wednesday that U.N. aid agencies and their partners are having to reset their operations following Israel's evacuation order.

Israel has repeatedly told Palestinians to leave certain parts of Gaza, usually ahead of military offensives, in a move Israel says is meant to protect civilians from the war. The evacuations, along with the fighting, have meant people have had to flee multiple times in search of safety.

De Domenico said the U.N. estimates that 9 out of every 10 Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced at least once, and some up to 10 times, since the war started between Israel and Hamas in October.

He said most people on the move this week have headed toward the coastal area, where Israel has established a so-called safe zone. De Domenico said the area is overcrowded and overwhelmed, with little clean water, few toilets and limited basic services.

Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, staging a terror attack that killed about 1,200 people and seized more than 250 hostages, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 38,000 people and injured more than 87,000 others, according to the health ministry in Gaza, and it has left the densely built-up coastal enclave in ruins.

VOA's U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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CAR pleads with fleeing civilians to return after rebels attack villages

By Moki Edwin Kindzeka July 05, 2024

Central African Republic officials are pleading with civilians to go back to their villages, after up to 10,000 civilians were displaced this week by fighting between rebels and C.A.R. forces.

Officials say a rebel group known as the Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation, or 3R, has relaunched hostilities in the central African nation. This week, military sources said 3R rebels attacked nearly 10 villages between the towns of Bocaranga and Bazoum in northeastern C.A.R., near the Cameroon border.

The C.A.R. military says bodies of five government troops and six civilians have been found in villages since the attacks began Tuesday. The military says it is still searching for bodies and transporting injured civilians to hospitals for treatment.

On Thursday, officials said several hundred troops and humanitarian workers were deployed to the villages to push back the rebels and protect civilians.

Glwadys Siopathis led a delegation of humanitarian workers to villages affected by the fighting. She says about 10,000 civilians  including children  are hiding in the bush, and are hungry, thirsty and malnourished.

She says a majority are reluctant to return to their homes because they believe rebels have simply retreated and could again attack villages for supplies.

The C.A.R. says that besides its troops, forces of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, or MINUSCA, have been deployed to protect civilians and their goods.

Both forces say huge quantities of ammunition were seized and several rebels were either neutralized or captured, but did not give further details. The C.A.R is pleading with civilians to return to villages where they will be protected by government troops.

Bruno Yapande, C.A.R.'s territorial administration minister, says the government of the Central African Republic has ordered its military to immediately seal border areas where rebels traditionally attempt to pass through when attacked by government troops.

He says several border security checkpoints have been erected to sort out rebels who disguise themselves as cattle ranchers or infiltrate civilian communities to escape to neighboring countries.

Yapande spoke Friday on C.A.R. state TV. He did not say which countries the rebels may be attempting to escape to, but the C.A.R. shares borders with Cameroon, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Congo and Chad.

Last week, Cameroon and C.A.R. officials met in the C.A.R.'s capital, Bangui, and signed an agreement to jointly combat what they describe as increasing insecurity and criminality caused by armed gangs and rebels operating in towns and villages along their border.

The C.A.R. says the 3R, formed in 2015, is one of several rebel groups in the central African state. 3R rebels claim that they protect Muslim cattle ranching populations from regular attacks by Christian anti-Balaka militias.

C.A.R. officials say the rebel group has several hundred armed fighters who fight to control villages on the C.A.R. border and regularly escape to eastern villages in Cameroon when attacked by government forces. The C.A.R. accuses the rebel group of killing, maiming, raping, looting, and regularly displacing civilians from the villages.

The Central African Republic descended into violence and political chaos in 2013 when Muslim-led Seleka rebels seized power and forced then-President Francois Bozize from office in the majority Christian nation. A Christian-dominated militia called the anti-Balaka fought back, with both the Seleka and anti-Balaka being accused of targeting and killing civilians.

The U.N. says fighting in the C.A.R. has forced close to a million Central Africans to flee to neighboring countries, including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Chad.

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Kenyan president bows to pressure, makes major concessions

By Mariama Diallo July 05, 2024

Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday ordered significant cuts in the federal budget along with other government reforms to pay off a crushing debt burden in a move seen as a concession to popular disapproval of a tax bill that sparked violent protests.

Following weeks of protests during which dozens of people reportedly were killed, Ruto withdrew a finance bill intended to raise $2.7 billion  most of it from tax increases  to pay off debt.

Ruto instead offered a compromise: a plan is to cut $1.39 billion from the budget and borrow the difference.

To make it work, Ruto said, his government will eliminate 47 state corporations with overlapping or duplicative functions and reduce by 50% the number of government advisors, among many other actions.

Filling the positions of chief administrative secretaries is suspended, Ruto said, and government funds will not be used for the operations of the offices of the first lady, the spouse of the deputy president and the prime cabinet secretary.

And there's more.

"Public servants who attain retirement age of 60 shall be required to immediately proceed on retirement with no extensions," Ruto said.

Also, government purchase of new motor vehicles is suspended for 12 months, except for security agencies, and all nonessential travel by state and public officers is suspended, the president said.

Some of the actions were on a list of demands made by protesters.

Ruto also said he has appointed an independent task force to carry out a comprehensive, forensic audit of the country's public debt.

"This audit will provide Kenyans with clarity on the extent and nature of our debt and how public resources have been expanded and also recommend proposals for managing public debt in a manner that is sustainable and does not burden future generations," he said.

Nearly 40 people died and 360 were injured nationwide since the protests started three weeks ago, according to Kenya's National Commission on Human Rights.

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Russo-Ukraine War - 05 July 2024 - Day 863

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 General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that so far, there have been 119 combat clashes. The hottest today remained the situation in the Pokrovsky direction, also Russian forces active in the Lyman and Toretsky directions.

During the day, Russian forces launched six missiles (with the use of 12 missiles) and 47 aviation strikes (measures, in particular, 63 KABs), used 422 kamikaze drones to impress. Made 2797 shelling at the positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements.

In the Kharkiv direction, Russian forces attacked five times in the vicinity of globokoye and lipciv. Three assault actions of the Russian aggressor successfully repelled Ukrainian defenders. The fight is ongoing in two locations in the area of Glibokoye. The situation is under control.

In the Kupians komu direction, Russian forces tried to advance to Ukrainian positions near synkivka five times a day. Four Russian attacks have already been successfully repelled by the Defense Forces. The battle goes on.

In the Lyman direction today, Russia is quite active - attacked 21 times in the areas of Nevsky, Serebryans kogo Forest, Grekivka, Makiivka and Terniv. Two clashes are still being sharpened, all others - Ukrainian warriors have stopped. The losses of Russian occupiers are being specified.

In the Sivers komu direction, Russian forces tried to break through Ukrainian defense seven times in the areas of Bilogorivka, Spirnogo and Viimka. Never been successful. The situation is under control.

In the Kramatorsky direction, the activity of the Russian enemy was limited to six combat clashes. Four attacks in the areas of Ivanivs kogo, Klis iivka and Chasovoye Yar have been zaklinulis . Zagarbniki suffered losses and withdrew. The situation is tense - the fight is ongoing in two locations near Kalinivka.

Russian forces showed the greatest activity today in the Pokrovsky direction. In total, since the beginning of the day, the Russian occupiers 38 times tried to infiltrate Ukrainian defense in the areas of Novoselivka the First, Progresa, Evgenivka, Kalinovoye, Novooleksandrivka, Yasnobrodivka, Vozdvizhenka and Netaylovoye. At the moment, 25 Russian attacks have been repelled, 13 fighting continue. Ukrainian defenders are taking measures to stabilize the situation and prevent the advancement of the Russian enemy deep into the Ukrainian territory.

The Russian occupiers are concentrating efforts to advance towards novooleksandrivka and novoselivka the first. Suffering significant losses - according to preliminary information, today Ukrainian soldiers damaged 331 occupiers in the Pokrovsky direction, 123 of them - irrevocably. Destroyed four Russian cars and two cannons, in particular, the Russian SAU 2C19 "Msta-C". Five more different cannons and tank zagarbnikiv are significantly damaged.

In the kurakhiv and vremivs komu directions Russian forces attacked Ukrainian positions 7 times. The greatest activity was shown in the area of konstantinivki. Fights are still ongoing in two locations.

Twice the Russian occupiers unsuccessfully stormed Ukrainian positions in the orihiv direction, in the area of small tokmacka.

In the Pridniprovsky direction, the situation has not changed significantly, loss of positions and territories is not allowed. Ukrainian soldiers successfully repelled five attacks of Russian invaders on the left bank of the Dnieper.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that from 29 June to 5 July 2024, the Russian Armed Forces have carried out 23 group strikes by high-precision weapons and strike unmanned aerial vehicles, as a result of which the following were hit: enemy airfields, energy facilities that support the work of Ukraine's military-industrial complex enterprises, fuel depots for military equipment, assembly facilities for strike UAVs and uncrewed surface vehicles, as well as locations for storing and preparing for combat use of missile weapons.

Over the past week, units of the Sever Group of Forces have improved the situation along the front line and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of three AFU brigades, one marine and two territorial defence brigades.

In addition, five counter-attacks of the AFU assault groups were repelled.

The enemy losses were up to 1,595 troops, four tanks, three armoured fighting vehicles, 30 motor vehicles, three electronic warfare stations, as well as 31 field artillery guns, including 12 large-calibre howitzers of various U.S.-made modifications.

The Zapad Group of Forces' units liberated Stepovaya Novosyolovka (Kharkov region) as a result of successful actions, improved the tactical situation, and hit units of AFU three mechanised, one assault, one airmobile, and two territorial defence brigades.

In addition, 11 counter-attacks of enemy assault groups have been repelled.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 3,580 Ukrainian troops, one tank, seven armoured fighting vehicles, 29 motor vehicles, four Grad MLRS combat vehicles, and 27 field artillery guns, including ten Western-made artillery guns.

In addition, 20 ammunition depots were destroyed.

The Yug Group of Forces' units liberated Spornoye and Noviy district of Chasov Yar (Donetsk People's Republic).

Losses were inflicted on manpower and hardware of two AFU mechanised brigades and two air assault brigades.

Eighteen attacks launched by the enemy's assault detachments were repelled.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 3,845 Ukrainian troops, four tanks, 19 armoured fighting vehicles, including three U.S.-made M113 armoured personnel carriers, 65 motor vehicles, and 53 field artillery howitzers.

Moreover, eight electronic warfare stations and 35 AFU field ammunition depots were destroyed.

As a result of active actions, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces liberated Schumy, Novoaleksandrovka, and Novopokorskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

Losses were inflicted on units of three AFU mechanised brigades and two infantry formations, as well as two territorial defence brigades.

Thirty eight enemy counter-attacks were repelled over the week.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 2,970 Ukrainian troops, five tanks, 12 armoured fighting vehicles, including two U.S.-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, 30 motor vehicles, and 32 field artillery howitzers.

Units of the Vostok Group of Forces improved the tactical situation and inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of two AFU brigades, two territorial defence formations, and one National Guard Brigade.

Eleven AFU counter-attacks were repelled over the week.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 900 Ukrainian troops, four armoured fighting vehicles, 43 motor vehicles, 22 field artillery howitzers, including 14 supplied by NATO countries.

Units of the Dnepr Group of Forces inflicted losses on units of one AFU Mountain Assault Brigade and four territorial defence brigades.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 635 Ukrainian troops, one armoured fighting vehicle, 36 motor vehicles, 24 field artillery howitzers, including 13 U.S.-made M777 howitzers. Moreover, seven electronic warfare stations and three AFU ammunition depots were destroyed.

Air defence units shot down two MiG-29 and one Su-27 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, five U.S.-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles, five Neptune-MD long-range guided missiles, 14 UK-made Storm Shadow cruise missiles, seven French-made Hammer guided aerial bombs, one U.S.-made HARM anti-radiation missile, 42 U.S.-made HIMARS and Czech-made Vampire MLRS projectiles, and 451 unmanned aerial vehicles.

In addition, five Su-27 aircraft and one Mi-24 helicopter were destroyed on the base airfields, as well as two Su-27 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force were damaged.

Units of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed three uncrewed surface vehicles of the Ukrainian Navy over the week.

Over the past week, 32 Ukrainian servicemen have surrendered on the line of contact.

In total, 626 airplanes and 277 helicopters, 27,228 unmanned aerial vehicles, 537 air defence missile systems, 16,506 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,364 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 11,386 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 23,345 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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Australia plans to build secret data centers with Amazon

By Phil Mercer July 05, 2024

Australia said Thursday a $1.35 billion deal with U.S. technology giant Amazon to build three secure data centers for top-secret information will increase its military's "war-fighting capacity."

The data centers are to be built in secret locations in Australia and be run by an Australian subsidiary of the U.S. technology company Amazon Web Service, the government said.

The deal is part of Australia's National Defense Strategy, outlining its commitment to Indo-Pacific security and maintaining "the global rules-based order." The country has a long-standing military alliance with the United States and is a member, with the United Kingdom, U.S., Canada and New Zealand, of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.

Australian officials said the project would create a "state-of-the-art collaborative space" for intelligence and defense agencies to store and gain access to sensitive information in a centralized network.

Andrew Shearer, director-general of Australia's Office of National Intelligence, said in a statement that the project would allow "greater interoperability with our most important international intelligence partners."

Similar data clouds have been set up in the United States and Britain, allowing the sharing of information among agencies and departments.

Richard Marles, Australia's deputy prime minister and defense minister, told reporters that highly sensitive national security data will be safely secured in the new system.

"If you consider that any sensor which is on a defense platform, which in turn feeds that data to a high tech capability, such as the Joint Strike Fighter, which will use that to engage in targeting or perhaps to defend itself from an in-coming threat, or ... to defend another asset, such as a ship a all of that is top secret data," Marles said.

The government said the Amazon Web Services storage system will use artificial intelligence to detect suspected intrusions and to retrieve data.

Richard Buckland, a professor in CyberCrime, Cyberwar and Cyberterror at the University of New South Wales, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the storage plan has risks.

"Putting more data together in a central spot and sharing it widely as people intend to do obviously increases the risk of a data breach," he said.

In a statement, Amazon Web Services' managing director in Australia, Iain Rouse, said the system would "enable the seamless sharing of classified data between Australia's National Intelligence Community and the Australian Defense Force."

The so-called top-secret cloud is scheduled to be in operation by 2027.

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FVEY Partners Warn of Evolving Efforts to Recruit Current and Former Western Service Members to Bolster the PRC's Military

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ODNI News Release No. 16-24

June 5, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Office of the Director of National Intelligence's National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) today joined partners from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom in warning about continued efforts by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to recruit current and former Western military personnel to train the PRC military.

"To overcome their shortcomings, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been aggressively recruiting Western military talent to train their aviators, using private firms around the globe that conceal their PLA ties and offer recruits exorbitant salaries. Recent actions by Western governments have impacted these operations, but PLA recruitment efforts continue to evolve in response," said NCSC Director Michael C. Casey. "Today's joint bulletin by FVEY partners seeks to highlight this persistent threat and deter any current or former Western service members from actions that put their military colleagues at risk and erode our national security."

The joint bulletin provides information on this threat, as well as indicators, impact, mitigation, and where to report incidents.

###

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China, Tajikistan elevate ties during Xi's landmark visit

Global Times

Head-of-state diplomacy opens new chapter of cooperation

By Li Xuanmin in Tajikistan and Chu Daye in Beijing Published: Jul 05, 2024 11:38 PM Updated: Jul 05, 2024 11:54 PM

China and Tajikistan on Friday announced the elevation of ties to comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era during Chinese President Xi Jinping's ongoing state visit to Tajikistan, injecting new momentum and opening up a new chapter in bilateral ties and common development of the two countries.

The visit, which saw Xi award Tajik President Emomali Rahmon the Friendship Medal of the People's Republic of China and the issuing of a joint statement detailing the blueprint for bilateral cooperation, is seen as a landmark event, underscoring the high-quality development and the elevation of bilateral ties led by head-of-state diplomacy, analysts said. It showed that the profound friendships between the two neighbors are "as steadfast as the Pamir Plateau," they noted.

Deepening of bilateral ties is based on mutual trust and mutual support of core interests, which shows that the two countries - despite with different cultures, size of the economy and the level of development - have been pioneering in the development of a new type of international relations that are characterized by mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, observers said. They stressed that the exemplary bilateral exchange also serves as a strong counter against Western hegemony and unilateralism that only lead to flare-up geopolitical tensions.

In light of the new circumstances, more priority areas for bilateral cooperation are being laid out during the visit, which will inject new momentum and open up a new chapter to the collaboration of China and Tajikistan. The two countries will also gear up the joint building of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to create more growth opportunities for the Central Asian region.

Some of the other focal areas of collaboration also align with the goals set by the just concluded Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in safeguarding regional peace and stability, analysts said, expecting the two countries, upon the visit, to coordinate more efforts to tackle both conventional and nonconventional security threats.

Landmark visit

During his talks with Rahmon, Xi said China and Tajikistan are connected by mountains and rivers, interdependent like lips and teeth, and sharing a common destiny. The relationship between the two countries has deep historical roots, a solid political foundation, rich content of cooperation, and broad popular support, he added.

With joint efforts of both sides, China and Tajikistan have continuously deepened their political mutual trust, yielded fruitful results in the Belt and Road cooperation, and progressed a series of major projects smoothly, strongly promoting the common development of both countries, Xi said.

"The visit is a landmark event. It has achieved significant results, laying the future foundation for deepening strategic relations between China and Tajikistan," Guzel Maitdinova, a professor at the Department of Foreign Regional Studies and Foreign Policy at Russian-Tajik (Slavonic) University, told the Global Times.

Head-of-state diplomacy has a political advantage and is the greatest guarantee for the stable and long-term development of China-Tajikistan relations, observers noted.

The ongoing visit also marks Xi's third state visit to Tajikistan in recent years. He also visited the Central Asian country in 2014 and 2019. The leaders of China and Tajikistan have been maintaining frequent interactions through various forms such as face-to-face meetings and phone calls, jointly steering and guiding the bilateral relationship.

The visit of China's top leader has received warm welcome among the Tajik people.

The Global Times witnessed on Thursday night a grand ceremony which was held at Dushanbe International Airport to welcome Xi's arrival in the country. Tajik young people dressed in traditional costume were performing folk dance and waving the national flags of China and Tajikistan at the airport.

It is also interesting that some of the Tajik youth greeted the Global Times reporter and other Chinese visitors with bright smiles and simple Chinese such as "Nihao," the Chinese way of saying "Hello," with Chinese visitors responding in Tajik "Salom" in return, which offers a vivid display of the people-to-people connection between the two good neighbors and good friends.

"The bilateral relationship is built on a high level of trust and mutual assistance, and the momentum of development and progress of China-Tajikistan relations has remained unchanged," Chinese Ambassador to Tajikistan Ji Shumin told the Global Times in an exclusive interview.

The two sides support each other on issues concerning their core interests, including national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. Both are firmly opposed to politicizing, instrumenting and applying double standards to the human rights issues, and to any country's attempt to interfere in other countries' internal affairs under the pretext of human rights, according to Ji.

China and Tajikistan are also both founding members of the SCO, upholding the "Shanghai Spirit." In 2017, the two countries forged a comprehensive strategic partnership. And the two countries are committed to promoting the building of an SCO community with a shared future and a China-Central Asia community with a shared future, further strengthening mutual political trust through various cooperation frameworks.

"The relations between China and Tajikistan represent a collaboration between a major country and a smaller one, as well as between economies of different size, with different civilizations. Despite the disparities, the two countries managed to build a partnership based on an equal footing, which demonstrates a new type of international relations based on equality and consultation," Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Friday.

Opening up a new chapter of cooperation

Xi on Friday awarded Tajik President Emomali Rahmon the Friendship Medal of the People's Republic of China in Dushanbe. It is the first time the award was presented outside of China.

When Xi revisited Dushanbe in June 2019, he also received the Order of the Crown from Rahmon, Xinhua reported at the time.

Awarding honors is a very important and significant diplomatic ceremony, and also a rare case of its kind, which underscores the "profound" friendship between China and Tajikistan and is a recognition to the close bilateral ties and the shared vision of the two neighbors, observers said.

The two presidents also attended the inauguration of a parliament building and a government building built with the assistance of China in Dushanbe.

When passing through the blue-domed new Parliament House of Tajikistan in the city center of Dushanbe, the Global Times noticed that the magnificent building has already become a new calling card of the capital, attracting crowds of local residents to take photos.

"Strengthening China-Tajikistan cooperation is important for Tajikistan to increase its level of economic development, develop infrastructure, energy and communication networks, and introduce innovative technologies, among other fields," Maitdinova said.

According to the joint statement, the two countries will jointly build the multimodal transport corridor linking China and TArkiye via regional countries including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran.

"The fruitful results will inject new dynamics to the further development of bilateral cooperation, in par with the ongoing cooperative efforts that are being steadily carried out between China and Tajikistan," Cui added.

Tajikistan is among the earliest countries to join the China-proposed BRI, and the country has been pairing the initiative with its National Development Strategy of Tajikistan for the period up to 2030, which has ushered in historic opportunities for cooperation. To date, China has become Tajikistan's largest source of investment and aid, and one of Tajikistan's most important trading partners.

The visit will also lay a foundation for the two countries to explore joint measures to counter pressing challenges, such as terrorism, extremism and separatism, or known as the "three evil forces," transnational organized crimes, drug trafficking and cyber threats, which makes the two countries a vital force in "maintaining regional peace and stability and promoting common development and prosperity," Maitdinova said.

The Chinese leader's state visit to Tajikistan follows a busy schedule at the SCO. On Thursday the SCO summit was concluded in Astana, Kazakhstan, with China assuming the rotating presidency of the SCO for 2024 and 2025.

According to Cui, China and Tajikistan could also play a constructive role in helping implement the organization's future development roadmap drawn out during the SCO summit.

In a statement following the summit, leaders of the SCO members called for the building of a multipolar world to address pressing security risks and challenges. They also urged coordinated efforts to tackle both conventional and nonconventional security threats.

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Latvia interests in cooperation with China: a more even trade balance and China's constructive involvement in resolving Russia war in Ukraine

Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

05.07.2024

On 5 July 2024, the Special Representative of the Government of the People's Republic of China on European Affairs, Wu Hongbo, visited Latvia.

During the visit, the Special Representative met with Dace Melbarde, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Katarina Platere, Head of the Bilateral Relations Directorate.

The officials discussed the bilateral dialogue between Latvia and China, sector-specific cooperation, as well as cooperation in international organisations and on regional security matters. The officials also exchanged views on topics concerning coperation between the EU and China. Special focus in the conversation with the Chinese Government representative was placed on Russia's aggression against Ukraine, as Latvian officials emphasized its importance in the context of Latvia's vital security interests.

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Xi kicks off state visit to Tajikistan, eyeing new heights in bilateral cooperation

People's Daily Online

By Shi Xiaomeng (Xinhua) 08:16, July 05, 2024

DUSHANBE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here on Thursday night, commencing his state visit to Tajikistan following a busy schedule at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon welcomed Xi at the Dushanbe International Airport with a grand ceremony, where around 1,500 Tajik youths in traditional attire dancing and waving the national flags of China and Tajikistan.

Upon arrival, Xi expressed his anticipation for discussions with Rahmon to formulate new plans and arrangements for the development of China-Tajikistan relations in light of the new circumstances.

Xi said with concerted efforts from both countries, this visit is expected to be a complete success, elevating all-round cooperation between China and Tajikistan to new heights.

President Xi's state visit to Tajikistan will inject new and strong momentum into developing and strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Rahmon told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Rahmon also said the China-Tajikistan relations have entered a new historical stage, opening up new prospects for extensive cooperation.

Recent years have seen close interactions between the two heads of state. During Xi's visit to Tajikistan in 2019, he was awarded the Order of the Crown from Rahmon in Dushanbe. Both countries pledged to build a China-Tajikistan development community and security community.

In May 2023, during the China-Central Asia Summit, the two leaders jointly announced the building of a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, solidarity and mutual benefit.

"These initiatives and joint decisions to create a community have already yielded tangible results," said Abdugaffor Abdujabbor, former head of the International Relations Department of Tajikistan's Culture Ministry.

Abdujabbor highlighted two China-assisted edifices on Rudaki Avenue, the main thoroughfare of Dushanbe: the government building and the Parliament building, referring to them as new landmarks of the capital.

"This is the fruit of the friendship between our two leaders," he told Xinhua. "They share a great sympathy, pure friendship, and mutual understanding."

"Xi's words are matched by his actions; what he said is always felt in practice," he added.

Tajikistan is a neighbor of China. Trade between China and Tajikistan doubled from 2013 to 2023. China has become the largest source of investment in Tajikistan and its second-largest trading partner.

Tajikistan was among the first countries to support the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by Xi in 2013 and sign related cooperation agreements with China. Under the BRI framework, a series of China-Tajikistan cooperation and aid projects have been implemented in key areas such as infrastructure, metallurgy, energy, cement, and the cotton textile industry.

"The space for practical cooperation between China and Tajikistan is broad, and the prospects are promising," Chinese Ambassador to Tajikistan Ji Shumin told Xinhua.

The two countries firmly support each other on issues concerning their core interests, Ji said. Both countries have suffered from the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism, and separatism and advocate for a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security concept, he added.

On the streets of Dushanbe, many young people can speak Chinese, and it's common to hear locals greeting visitors from China with "Nihao," which means "hello" in Mandarin.

"In Tajikistan, there has been a noticeable increasing interest in China, in the study of the Chinese experience of modernization, Chinese culture and language," said Abdurakhim Juraev, professor at the Tajik State University of Law, Business and Politics in Khujand.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of Tajik students attending Confucius Institutes in their country or studying in China. Take the Confucius Institute at the Tajik National University as an example. Since its establishment in August 2008, the institute has trained nearly 39,000 Chinese language learners.

The Luban Workshop in Tajikistan, co-founded by China's Tianjin Urban Construction Management and Vocation Technology College and Tajik Technical University, has been training skilled professionals, contributing to Tajikistan's vocational education, industrialization, and modernization efforts.

The visit of President Xi, said Juraev, will give new impetus to cooperation between the two countries and will contribute to the overall prosperity of Central Asia.

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Tim Sahay and Kate Mackenzie in Polycrisis:

On June 25, crowning a dramatic, nationwide tax revolt, demonstrators in Nairobi stormed Kenyas parliament buildings. President William Rutos new finance bill, introduced in Parliament in May, sought to increase levies on everything from bread and money transfers to sanitary items and cellular data. In response, the Gen-Z generation that has been criticized for not being politically active took it upon themselves to organize on TikTok and mobilize in the streets.

The public mood was souring even before the social explosion. Last year, Kenyans reported the second highest share of people struggling to eat globally, and the highest share of people fearing political unrest that would lead to violence. Public services have deteriorated rapidly with hospitals virtually empty, running out of essential medicines, and doctors striking for pay and better funded facilities. Since mid-2021, Kenya has spent twice as much on interest payments as on health. Joblessness is rising.

Kenya is not alone in its crisis. The majority of the worlds governments have undertaken austerity policies, under either direct IMF pressure or the indirect discipline of other creditors. Last spring, we warned that such moves would cause societies to boil. According to the World Bank, three in five low-income countries are now at risk of, or are already in, debt distress. No less than twenty-one sub-saharan African countries are in an IMF program. Eighteen countries defaulted between 2021 and 2023, but balance sheet calamities rarely get the attention of the international mediauntil social crises, dramatic protests, and violent repression break through.

More here.
Full Text of Chinese president's signed article on Tajik media

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 14:46, July 05, 2024

DUSHANBE, July 5 (Xinhua) -- A signed article by Chinese President Xi Jinping titled "Working Together for a Brighter Future of China-Tajikistan Relations" was published Friday on the Narodnaya Gazeta newspaper and the state-run Khovar News Agency upon his state visit to Tajikistan.

Following is the full text of the article:

Working Together for a Brighter Future of China-Tajikistan Relations

Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

In this lovely midsummer season, I will pay a state visit to the Republic of Tajikistan at the invitation of President Emomali Rahmon. This will be my third visit to Tajikistan. I last set foot on this beautiful land five years ago. The famous Tajik poet Rudaki once said that nothing could compare to the joy of a reunion with family or friends. I look forward to my meeting with President Rahmon to jointly open up brighter prospects for China-Tajikistan relations.

China and Tajikistan, connected by mountains and rivers, share a common destiny. The ancient Silk Road bears witness to the 2,000-plus years of friendship between our two nations. Zhang Qian, a royal emissary of China's Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD), Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang), an eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) who travelled westward for Buddhist scriptures, and Chen Cheng, a diplomat of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) all left their footprints of friendship in Tajikistan. Sogdian merchants, travelling across the Eurasian continent, facilitated trade between China and Central Asia, West Asia, and even Europe, and made distinctive contributions to cultural exchanges and mutual learning among peoples along the Silk Road.

Thirty-two years ago, China and Tajikistan established diplomatic relations, opening a new chapter in our relations. Over the past three decades and more, China-Tajikistan relations have stood the test of the volatile international situations and maintained the momentum of sound and steady development. Our overall relationship has made a historic leap from good-neighborliness to a strategic partnership, and to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Together, we are committed to building a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future, blazing a successful path for growing relations between neighboring countries.

a China and Tajikistan treat each other with sincerity, respect and trust. We firmly support each other on issues that bear on our respective core interests, particularly independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. We respect the development path that each has chosen in light of our respective national conditions. We resolutely oppose interference in internal affairs by any external force under any pretext. As always, we understand and support each other on issues related to our respective major concerns. We take pleasure in each other's progress in development and national revitalization. We have established cooperation mechanisms in key areas, which provide an important institutional guarantee for furthering bilateral relations. President Rahmon and I have met 15 times. We enjoy a good working relationship and a deep personal friendship as we jointly guide the development of China-Tajikistan relations.

a China and Tajikistan both pursue mutual benefit and win-win in cooperation. China has long been Tajikistan's largest source of investment and its major trading partner. Our two-way trade was close to 4 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, reaching another record high. Such strong momentum has continued in the first four months of this year. Tajikistan was among the first countries to participate in Belt and Road cooperation. A number of China-Tajikistan joint projects have been implemented, including a cement plant in Yavan, an agriculture technology demonstration center in Khatlon, and an agriculture and textile park in Dangara. They have helped upgrade Tajikistan's industrial technology and created thousands of local jobs. The China-Tajikistan highway and the Vahdat-Yavan railway tunnels, which are built by Chinese companies, make places along the routes more easily accessible. Premium green produce of Tajikistan such as cherries, lemons and grapes have steadily made their way to Chinese households and are quite popular among Chinese consumers. It is particularly heartening that the Tajik parliament building and government building, which President Rahmon and I jointly launched five years ago, will soon be completed. They will be new landmarks in Dushanbe and new symbols of China-Tajikistan cooperation.

a China and Tajikistan remain committed to mutual learning through friendly exchanges. The Confucius Institutes and the Luban Workshop have helped train a large number of Chinese speakers and technical personnel, who are now a vital force for the development and cooperation between our two nations. The Sino-Tajik Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine and the program of Lifeline Express International Sight Saving Mission that provides free cataract surgeries for patients in Tajikistan have contributed to public health in our two countries through a combination of traditional Chinese medicine and modern technology.

The Culture Day programs, seminars on specific subjects, student exchange programs, and the translation and publication of literature in our respective languages have helped foster greater mutual understanding and strengthened the ties between our two nations. These initiatives are akin to small streams that will ultimately converge to form a vast ocean of friendship between our two nations. There are now nine pairs of sister provinces/cities between our two countries. This is another example of how our friendship has been growing with vigor and vitality.

a China and Tajikistan treat each other with sincerity and stand in solidarity in times of challenge. In response to COVID-19, our two countries pulled together in combating the pandemic. We provided each other with a large number of medical supplies, and China sent professional medical teams to Tajikistan to assist in its COVID response. Together, we erected an ironclad line of defense against the virus. We timely consulted with each other and took actions together to resolve the issues concerning the Karasu-Kulma Pass, and ensured safe and smooth passage through the artery route of transportation and logistics. China and Tajikistan have maintained close coordination and collaboration on the international stage, supporting and responding positively to each other's major initiatives. Both of our countries firmly uphold the international system with the United Nations at its center, the international order based on international law, and the norms governing international relations underpinned by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. We both endeavor to contribute to safeguarding international fairness and justice.

China and Tajikistan are both at a critical stage of national development and revitalization. China is pursuing high-quality development and advancing high-standard opening up. The Chinese people are working in unity to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects, and to advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. Tajikistan is making great strides on its path to realizing the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan up to the period of 2030. I look forward to my meetings with President Rahmon to discuss how best to promote closer cooperation and bring our bilateral relationship to new heights.

a We need to improve the top-level design for our relationship to ensure its steady development in the right direction. We need to maintain high-level exchanges as frequently as necessary, deepen our experience sharing on governance and build stronger mutual political trust so as to always keep the relationship on the right track. We need to deepen our cooperation at all levels and in all areas, and spare no effort to implement the top-level consensus in full so as to add an enduring momentum to the China-Tajikistan relationship.

a We need to expand results-oriented cooperation to provide stronger material foundations for China-Tajikistan relations. China will work with Tajikistan to strengthen complementarity between the Belt and Road Initiative and the National Development Strategy of Tajikistan up to the period of 2030 as a concrete step to boost our respective development and revitalization. We need to consider new measures for trade promotion and expansion, accelerate the construction of the key section of the China-Tajikistan highway, and open more direct flights in response to the travel needs of our peoples. Other areas of cooperation include high and new technologies such as new energy vehicle, solar panel and satellite communication. China will import more premium produce from Tajikistan, and encourage strong Chinese companies to make more investments in Tajikistan as a step to help modernize its industrial system.

a We need to deepen security cooperation and build a strong development security shield. We need to jointly act on the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, enhance exchange between our law enforcement and security agencies, crack down on terrorist, extremist and separatist forces such as ETIM, and prevent and combat infiltration and sabotage by terrorists and extremists. We should remain resolute in opposing any attempt by external forces to interfere in our internal affairs or to undermine regional stability, so as to provide strong and effective safeguards for the development of our countries.

a We need to promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges to strengthen public support for a lasting friendship between our two nations. We welcome more Tajik friends to China for sightseeing, academic studies, as well as investment, business and exchange opportunities. China will continue to expand cooperation with Tajikistan in such areas as culture, education, health and sports. I hope to see more exchanges between our young people and more exchanges at subnational levels. I also hope our people-to-people exchanges will be as frequent as those between relatives. The Luban Workshop, Confucius Institutes, and the Sino-Tajik Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine are expected to play a greater role. We need to accelerate the mutual establishment of cultural centers, and expand cooperation at subnational levels as steps to ensure that China-Tajikistan friendship is sustained through generations.

a We need to enhance unity and collaboration and help foster an international environment favorable for peace and development. The two sides need to step up coordination and collaboration on multilateral platforms such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the China-Central Asia mechanism. We need to practice true multilateralism and promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. We need to deliver on the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, stand up for our common interests and those of other developing countries, and make our contribution to safeguarding international fairness and justice.

A Chinese poet in the Tang Dynasty once wrote, "One can enjoy a grander sight by climbing to a greater height." We from China look forward to working with our Tajik friends to draw a new blueprint for stronger China-Tajikistan friendship, write a new chapter in our mutually beneficial cooperation, and create a brighter future of our two nations.

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Xi expects his visit to take China-Tajikistan all-round cooperation to higher level

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 08:03, July 05, 2024

DUSHANBE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed here Thursday to take the China-Tajikistan all-round cooperation to a higher level.

In a written statement upon arrival in the Tajik capital, Xi said he looks forward to holding talks with President Emomali Rahmon during the visit.

He also said that he and Rahmon are expected to make new plans and arrangements for the development of China-Tajikistan relations in light of the new circumstances and have an in-depth exchange of views on the current international and regional situation.

It is believed that with the joint efforts of both sides, this visit will be a complete success, Xi added.

Xi recalled his previous two visits to Tajikistan in 2014 and 2019, expressing his cordial feelings upon visiting this beautiful country after five years.

On behalf of the Chinese government and people, Xi extended his sincere greetings and best wishes to the government and people of Tajikistan.

China and Tajikistan are good neighbors who help each other, good friends who support each other, good partners with mutual benefit and win-win results, and good brothers who treat each other with absolute sincerity, Xi said.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 32 years ago, China-Tajikistan relations have achieved sustained, rapid and sound development, growing from good-neighborly friendship to a strategic partnership and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership, becoming a model for neighboring countries' relations, Xi said.

The two countries share solid political mutual trust and always firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, he said.

Noting that China has become Tajikistan's second-largest trading partner, Xi said, their Belt and Road cooperation has yielded fruitful results with two-way trade constantly setting new records.

At the airport, Rahmon held a grand welcome ceremony. Tajik children presented flowers to Xi.

More than 1,500 young Tajiks dressed in national costumes performed Chinese and Tajik songs and dances, and waved the flags of China and Tajikistan to express their warm welcome to the most honored guest from China.

Xi landed in Dushanbe after attending the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana, and a state visit to Kazakhstan. Three Kazakh Air Force jets escorted Xi's plane after it took off.

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning's Regular Press Conference on July 5, 2024

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

2024-07-05 20:50

At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Prime Minister Charlot Salwai of the Republic of Vanuatu will pay an official visit to China from July 7 to 12.

At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang of the State Council, Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele of Solomon Islands will pay an official visit to China from July 9 to 15.

At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov of Belarus will pay an official visit to China from July 6 to 9.

At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs Maris Sangiampongsa of Thailand will pay an official visit to China and co-chair the second meeting of the Consultation Mechanism between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of China and Thailand from July 9 to 10.a

AFP: The Labor Party has won the UK general election. And the incoming Prime Minister Keir Starmer has previously said that the UK needed to wean itself off China on issues such as trade and technology but cooperate with China on other issues, including climate change. Could we ask what China's reaction to his election is?

Mao Ning: We noted the result of the UK general election. China has a consistent and clear position on growing China-UK relations. China and the UK are both permanent members of the UN Security Council and major economies in the world. Growing stable and mutually beneficial bilateral ties between China and the UK serves the fundamental interests of both peoples, helps both countries to better respond to global challenges together, and contributes to world peace and development. China hopes to work with the UK to advance China-UK relations along the right track based on mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

China News Service: This year's Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit accepted Belarus as a member state. What's China's comment?

Mao Ning: As an observer of the SCO for a long time, Belarus highly recognizes the Shanghai Spirit and other core visions of the organization, actively participated in SCO cooperation in various fields, and made important contributions to the development of the SCO. During this year's summit, President Xi Jinping and leaders of other SCO member states jointly signed a resolution to grant Belarus the status of an SCO member state, making the country the 10th SCO member states. China once again extends warm congratulations to Belarus and looks forward to Belarus' active, comprehensive and in-depth participation in SCO activities and its new contribution to the organization's development.

The SCO today stands as a comprehensive regional organization that covers the largest population and area in the world. As more countries became SCO member states, it shows that the Shanghai Spirit has strong vitality, cohesiveness and appeal, and that the SCO follows the development trend of the times, practices an open and inclusive cooperation vision and is welcomed and commended by the international community and countries in the region.

More and more countries now hope to strengthen cooperation with the SCO, and obtain or upgrade their legal status in the SCO. China welcomes more countries that recognize the Shanghai Spirit and the purposes and principles of the SCO to join the SCO family, work together to build an even closer SCO community with a shared future, jointly uphold international fairness and justice, promote world peace and stability, and make SCO's contribution to global prosperity and development.

Reuters: The European Commission confirmed yesterday that it will impose preliminary tariffs on Chinese manufactured electric vehicles. The Commerce Ministry this morning announced it will continue with its anti-dumping probe into European brandy imports. But does China plan to introduce any further retaliatory measures?a

Mao Ning: I'd refer you to competent authorities on specific issues. China has expressed strong opposition more than once to the EU's anti-subsidy investigation on China's electric vehicles. We believe that specific trade issues should be resolved properly through dialogue and consultation. China will also take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.a

Xinhua News Agency: The 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was successfully held in Astana. President Xi Jinping attended the Meeting. Can you share more details on the Meeting? What initiatives and propositions did China propose at the Meeting?

Mao Ning: On July 4, the 24th Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State was held in Astana. President Xi Jinping attended the Meeting upon invitation, and delivered the important statement titled Joining Hands to Build a More Beautiful Home of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. During the Meeting, President Xi had in-depth exchanges of views with leaders of other countries on global and regional issues of common interest, through which the leaders drew a blueprint and charted the course for SCO going forward with a series of consensus reached.

Over 20 documents were adopted at the summit, including the Astana Declaration, the SCO initiative on world unity for justice, harmony and development, and the statement on the principles of good-neighborliness, trust and partnership. In particular, the Astana Declaration underscores adherence to the Shanghai Spirit, and reaffirms the commitments to building a new type of international relations and building a community with a shared future for mankind. The Declaration represents the common aspiration for greater solidarity and cooperation among SCO member states, and sends the positive message of the SCO shouldering the missions of the new era, and braving risks and challenges together for security and development. The summit delivered fruitful outcomes, gave a strong boost to the development of the SCO, and showcased the increasing appeal and influence of the SCO.

Amidst changes of historical significance across the world during our times unfolding in ways like never before, President Xi Jinping has keen observation of the development trend in the world, and stands at the strategic height of long-term development of humanity with a global vision and people-centered philosophy. He underscored the importance of having the wisdom to see the changes, the ability to deal with the changes, and the courage to make changes to cope with the major transformation.

President Xi pointed out that the SCO region is facing the triple risks of the Cold War mentality, "small yard with high fences," and external interference and attempts to divide our region. He went on to provide three recommendations to address each of the risks, namely to hold the bottom line of security, safeguard the right to development, and cement solidarity. He called on all parties to uphold the Shanghai Spirit, and work together to keep the SCO on the right course forward.

As President Xi stressed, countries in the SCO need to bear in mind that they live in a community with a shared future, always uphold the Shanghai Spirit, and stay firmly on the development paths that suit their respective national conditions and regional realities. He advocated building the SCO's common home of solidarity and mutual trust, peace and tranquility, prosperity and development, good-neighborliness and friendship, and fairness and justice.

President Xi's important speech was well received. The participants at the summit expect China to lend fresh impetus for the SCO as it takes over the presidency of the organization. They stressed that they will stay committed to the SCO, further tap into the potential for cooperation, fully expand and deepen cooperation, and ensure the outcomes of cooperation can be better delivered to the people. We are convinced that the SCO members will follow the trend of the times, move forward together in solidarity and cooperation to realize the aspirations of our people for a better life and jointly build up strong momentum for upholding world peace and development.

The Paper: Can you share more details on the program and China's expectations for the visit of Vanuatu's Prime Minister to China?

Mao Ning: During the visit, the leaders of the two countries will exchange views on China-Vanuatu relations and major issues of mutual interest, and jointly chart the future course for the bilateral relationship.

Since our two countries established diplomatic relations 42 years ago, bilateral relations have come a long way. Our two sides have steadily advanced practical cooperation. China aims to work with Vanuatu through Prime Minister Salwai's visit to carry forward the traditional friendship, enhance all-round mutual support, take the relationship to a new height and deliver more benefits for the two peoples.

China Daily: On the sidelines of the SCO Summit, President Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. The two sides issued a joint declaration and officially established the China-Azerbaijan strategic partnership. Why do the two sides upgrade the bilateral relations now? Could you share more with us?

Mao Ning: China and Azerbaijan established diplomatic relations on April 2, 1992. As President Xi Jinping said, over the past 30-plus years, bilateral relations have enjoyed sound and steady growth, the two countries have had fruitful cooperation, and the bilateral relationship has acquired greater strategic significance. In recent years, in particular, President Xi Jinping and President Ilham Aliyev have maintained frequent exchanges, and provided strategic guidance for the bilateral relations. The two countries have firmly supported each other on issues concerning each other's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and other core interests. Our bilateral trade has increased from over US$ 1 million to more than US$ 1 billion. The two sides have maintained close communication and coordination under the framework of the SCO, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, and the UN. Against this backdrop, the upgrade of our bilateral relations came naturally.

The two presidents' announcement of establishing the China-Azerbaijan strategic partnership is an important milestone in the history of our relations. The two sides will take the upgrade as a new beginning, further step up political support, focus on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation to deepen cooperation in various fields, conduct effective coordination in international affairs, and promote the sound and stable growth of China-Azerbaijan strategic partnership to the benefit of the two peoples.a

CCTV: On July 4, the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council adopted China's report on the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Could you share more with us?

Mao Ning: On July 4, the 56th session of the UN Human Rights Council adopted unanimously China's report on the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The UPR is an important platform for countries to carry out equal-footed, candid exchanges and constructive dialogue and cooperation. China attaches great importance to this meeting. We shared our position on recommendations proposed by other countries to China during the UPR and our progress on rolling out 30 new measures that the Chinese government promised to take to safeguard human rights. China made clear its human rights development path, vision and achievements, and stressed that China will follow the people-centered development philosophy, deliver more benefits of modernization to its population in a more equitable way, steadily raise the level of human rights protection as we modernize our country, and make new contributions to the sound development of the global human rights cause.a

Russia, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, the UAE, Algeria, Zambia, Gambia, Venezuela and many other countries spoke highly of China's effort and achievement in advancing the human rights cause. They commended China for its open and candid participation in the fourth cycle of the UPR, and affirmed that China accepted the majority of recommendations based on its national realities and the will of its people. They supported the Council's adoption of China's report on the fourth cycle of the UPR. Following the adoption, the audience burst into extended applause and many delegates expressed congratulations to the Chinese delegation.

The Human Rights Council unanimously adopted China's report on the fourth cycle of the UPR, which fully shows that China's achievement in protecting human rights and its contribution to the international human rights cause is well recognized by the international community. China will stay committed to our human rights development path, continue to raise the level of human rights protection, practice true multilateralism and work for fairer and more equitable, reasonable and inclusive global governance on human rights.

Hubei Media Group: Can you share more details on the program and China's expectations for the visit of Solomon Islands' Prime Minister to China?

Mao Ning: This will be the first official visit by Prime Minister Manele to China since he took office in May. During the visit, the leaders of the two countries will exchange views on China-Solomon Islands relations and major issues of mutual interest.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations five years ago, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, China and Solomon Islands have achieved rapid growth in bilateral ties. The two sides have firmly supported each other on issues concerning our respective core interests and major concerns. The exchanges and cooperation in various sectors between the two sides have delivered fruitful results. Prime Minister Manele's visit to China is a great opportunity for the two sides to work together to further strengthen strategic communication, expand practical cooperation, and advance our bilateral ties.

CCTV: The 2024 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance is held in Shanghai and received wide attention. Can you give us more details on the meeting?

Mao Ning: The 2024 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance was held in Shanghai from July 4 to 6. Premier Li Qiang of the State Council attended and addressed the opening ceremony. Premier Li Qiang noted that as an important player in global AI development, China has actively embraced the intelligent transformation and explored effective approaches to AI development and governance. To enable AI to better serve global development and human wellbeing, and pave the way for a brighter, more intelligent future, we need to deepen cooperation on innovation and release the dividends of AI. We need to promote inclusive development and bridge the AI divide. We need to strengthen collaboration on AI governance and ensure AI for good.a

The Shanghai Declaration on Global AI Governance was released at the meeting. The document contains a series of proposals on promoting AI development, safety, governance and public participation, and increasing social well-being, making new contribution to building an international framework on AI global governance.

The Conference this year is held amidst rapid global AI development, widening AI divide, and a stronger sense of urgency for AI governance. The Conference represents an important measure for China to implement the Global AI Governance Initiative. It lends a strong impetus for global AI governance, establishes a new platform for international exchanges and cooperation on AI, and comprehensively showcases China's progress made on AI and AI governance.

China hopes that this Conference will serve as a good opportunity to promote the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution for shared benefit and work with the rest of the world for sound, safe, fair, and orderly global AI development.a

Kyodo News: The Japanese government spokesperson told a news conference today that it was "regrettable" that the Chinese survey ship has set up a buoy in the waters in the Pacific Ocean in southern Japan. What's China's comment?

Mao Ning: The Chinese vessel operated and placed a tsunami buoy in the high seas of the western Pacific Ocean for the purpose of scientific research and serving public good. This is a well-established international practice. According to UNCLOS, the high seas are open to all States, and all States can exercise the freedom of scientific research in the high seas. Japan has no right to interfere in such activities.

Shenzhen TV: To follow up on your announcement of Thai Foreign Minister's visit to China, could you share with us the program and China's expectation for the visit?

Mao Ning: China and Thailand are good neighbors, friends and partners and close like one family. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and Thai leaders, the two sides have maintained frequent high-level exchanges, enhanced political mutual trust, deepened cooperation in various fields, and made new progress in building the China-Thailand community with a shared future. China has remained Thailand's biggest trading partner for years running and become its biggest source of foreign investment in recent years. As of early June, there have been over 3 million trips by Chinese tourists to Thailand this year. After mutual visa-free entry policy took effect, the two peoples have visited each other even more often.

This will be Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa's first visit to China since he took office, less than six months following Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Thailand, which further demonstrates that China and Thailand are one family. During the visit, he will meet with senior Chinese leader. Foreign Minister Wang Yi will co-chair with him the second meeting of the consultation mechanism between Chinese and Thai foreign ministers and exchange views on implementing the common understandings between Chinese and Thai leaders, deepening our comprehensive strategic cooperation, and international and regional issues of mutual interest. China looks to working with Thailand through this visit to step up strategic communication, carry forward traditional friendship, deepen practical cooperation and take efforts to build the China-Thailand community with a shared future for enhanced stability, prosperity and sustainability to a new level.

Global Times: It's reported by ROK media that the DPRK has switched the transmission of state TV broadcasts to a Russian satellite from a Chinese one, resulting in the ROK's low-quality reception of the DPRK's TV signals. Does China think that it's evidence of the DPRK strengthening its cooperation with Russia? What's your comment?

Mao Ning: I'm not familiar with what you mentioned. Typically, satellite services are commercial activities and when it comes to business cooperation, the decisions are usually made by the parties to the collaboration. It doesn't sound like something that needs too much reading into it.

Yomiuri: To follow up on the question about the buoy, in July last year, Xiang Yang Hong 22 placed an ocean survey buoy in Japan's "exclusive economic zone" northwest of Diaoyu Dao without Japan's consent. Japan asked China to remove the buoy during the talks between the leaders of the two countries, but has not received any response. What is the Foreign Ministry's comment on this?

Mao Ning: Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands haveaalwaysabeen part of China's territory. Its surrounding waters are under China's jurisdiction. It is legitimate and lawful for China to set hydrological and meteorological data buoy in those waters.

Beijing Daily: The Philippine Army spokesperson said on July 4 that the US Army is currently in the process of shipping out their equipment used during the annual Balikatan exercise. The land-based Mid-Range Capability missile system, known as "Typhon," deployed in the Philippines will be shipped out by September as planned, possibly even earlier. While Philippine troops were trained on how to handle and maintain the Typhon missile system, it was not employed in live-fire training. What's China's comment?

Mao Ning: China noted the report. On US deployment of Mid-Range Capability missile system in the Philippines, we have made clear our position several times. As we have previously stressed, the deployment is a move to turn back the wheel of history, and it gravely threatens regional countries' security, undermines regional peace and stability, and goes against the common pursuit of people in the region for peace and development. We urge relevant countries to listen to the call ofa countries in the region and step back from the wrong path as soon as possible.

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US refutes Russia's denial of violating North Korea sanctions

By Young Gyo Kim July 05, 2024

The United States has flatly rejected Russia's claim that it has not violated international sanctions imposed on North Korea, calling on Moscow to stop illegal arms transfers from Pyongyang.

"The U.S. and like-minded countries have successfully highlighted Russia's U.N. Security Council Resolutions violations," a State Department spokesperson said in an email to VOA's Korean Service on Wednesday, responding to an inquiry made about Russia's denial of violating North Korea sanctions.

"Unfortunately, we now have a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council willing to openly flout sanctions to support the Kim [Jong Un] regime's priorities."

The spokesperson continued: "We call on the DPRK and Russia to cease unlawful arms transfers and urge the DPRK to take concrete steps toward abandoning all nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and related programs." DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

In a Monday press conference, Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia insisted that his country had complied with international sanctions against North Korea.

"We're not violating the North Korea sanctions regime and all those allegations that come out. They are not proved by material evidence," he said.

The Russian ambassador went even further, questioning the integrity of a now-defunct U.N. panel of experts charged with monitoring North Korea sanctions. The panel's annual mandate was not extended this year, following Russia's veto at the U.N. Security Council in March.

Nebenzia alleged that the panel of experts got involved in the politics after being encouraged by certain countries, adding that "that was the major mistake that they made."

"The sanctions regime against DPRK is an unprecedented thing in the United Nations. It's not time bound. It doesn't have any provisions for reviewing, and this cannot be tolerated."

The Kremlin's refusal to renew the expert panel's annual mandate marked a drastic change from its earlier support for U.N. Resolution 1718, which put in place an arms embargo on North Korea by banning all imports and exports of most weapons and related material.

The U.N. Security Council passed the resolution unanimously in October 2006, just several days after North Korea's first nuclear test.

This week's exchange between Washington and Moscow comes as Russia has been deepening military ties with North Korea.

Russian President Vladmir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty during their summit in Pyongyang last month.

In recent months. the U.S. government has repeatedly blown the whistle on Russia's alleged violations of international sanctions, accusing Moscow of financially and materially facilitating Pyongyang's efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction.

In a May briefing, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby released specific figures of the refined oil Russia has provided to North Korea so far this year, stressing it has already exceeded the limit set by the U.N. Security Council.

"Russia has been shipping refined petroleum to the DPRK. Russian shipments have already pushed DPRK inputs above [those] mandated by the U.N. Security Council. In March alone, Russia shipped more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to the DPRK," Kirby said.

In October last year, the White House released three satellite images showing containers moved by ships and trains, saying North Korea had provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and ammunition.

Experts in Washington say this standoff between the U.S. and Russia over North Korea will likely persist for some time.

Scott Snyder, president of the Korea Economic Institute of America, told VOA's Korean Service via email on Thursday that the recent defense pact between Moscow and Pyongyang is not something the U.S. can afford to ignore.

"North Korea will remain a source of conflict in U.S.-Russia relations as long as North Korea sustains their strategic relationship, which will continue at least until the end of military hostilities in Ukraine," Snyder said.

Evans Revere, who formerly served as deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said in an email to VOA's Korean Service on Friday that Russia is setting itself up as North Korea's backer.

"Russia has made it clear that it intends to oppose U.N. Security Council sanctions, work with North Korea and others to find ways to get around current U.N. Security Council restrictions and strengthen its tactical and strategic coordination with North Korea," Revere said.

"Russia, which was once part of the important coalition supporting the use of pressure and sanctions to deal with Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, has now gone over to the other side and become Pyongyang's de facto protector."

Jiha Ham contributed to this report.

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German Defense Budget to Reach $86Bln by 2028 to Meet NATO Target

Sputnik News

20240705

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Germany will reach NATO's 2% defense spending target by 2028, growing its annual military budget to 80 billion euros ($86.6 billion) from the current 52 billion, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday.

"This is about a strong defense, strong armed forces that provide protection from the aggressive rulers of our time. That is why we will fully meet the NATO target of 2% every year. From 2028, meaning after the special fund will be fully spent, the regular defense budget will be 80 billion euros to ensure that the 2% target will continue to be met," Scholz told a news briefing.

The special fund was set up at Scholz's initiative following the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. The one-off initiative unlocked 100 billion euros worth of investments for the national defense forces.

The country's draft budget for 2025 is expected to reach 481 billion euros, including 57 billion euros worth of investments, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said after the three-way governing coalition announced a provisional budget deal.

A Sputnik

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First Secretary-level meeting between Defence Ministries of India & Democratic Republic of Congo held in New Delhi

India - Press Information Bureau

Ministry of Defence

Focuses on identifying areas for collaboration to fulfill the potential of bilateral defence cooperation

Posted On: 05 JUL 2024 4:41PM by PIB Delhi

The first Secretary-level meeting between the Defence Ministries of India and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was held in New Delhi on July 05, 2024. The Indian delegation was led by Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane and included senior officers of Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs and the Armed Forces. The Congolese delegation was led by Permanent Secretary of Defence, Ministry of Defence, DRC Major General Lukuikila Metikwiza Marcel and included the senior officers from the Ministry and a representative of Embassy of DRC in India.

The meeting was aimed at identifying areas for collaboration to fulfill the potential of defence cooperation between the two countries. Detailed discussions were held to promote cooperation in training and defence industry. The Indian delegation highlighted the significant progress India has made in defence manufacturing capability.

The DRC side shared the need for modernisation of their Armed Forces. They expressed confidence in the capability of the India defence industry and suggested areas of co-production and co-development.

Earlier, the DRC delegation called on Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi.

India enjoys cordial and friendly relations with the DRC. India was among the first countries to establish a diplomatic mission in Kinshasa in 1962. The visit is expected to open up new avenues for defence cooperation between the two countries.

ABB/Savvy



(Release ID: 2031000)

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Russia-India Enterprise Hands 35,000 AK-203 Assault Rifles to Indian Armed Forces - Rostec

Sputnik News

20240705

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - A Russian-Indian joint venture has handed over 35,000 AK-203 assault rifles to the Indian Armed Forces, the Rostec State Corporation said in a statement.

"The Russian-Indian joint venture Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited, registered and located in India, has manufactured and transferred 35,000 Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles to the Indian Defense Ministry. The founders of the enterprise on the Russian side are [state defense export enterprise] Rosoboronexport and the Kalashnikov Concern of the Rostec State Corporation," Rostec said.

The Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifle is a version of the AK-200 assault rifle designed to chamber the 7.62x39 mm cartridge used in the Indian Armed Forces.

Rostec said Russia and India keep implementing defense industry projects. Current and future programs are focused on technological cooperation between the sides.

A Sputnik

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July 5, 2024

Release

Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Call With Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant by phone today to discuss regional security challenges and the continued threats to the region from Iranian-backed groups. Secretary Austin reaffirmed the United States' ironclad commitment to Israel's security and Israel's right to self-defense, while also urging de-escalation and support for ongoing diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict in Gaza. The Secretary also expressed strong support for ongoing efforts to finalize a ceasefire and hostage deal, as the most promising opportunity to bring all of the hostages home safely.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3828183/

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Four Myanmar villagers found dead after raid by junta forces

Four people are still missing, residents said.

By RFA Burmese 2024.07.05 -- Villagers in southern Myanmar recovered the bodies of four civilians, days after junta soldiers arrested them in a raid, an anti-military group told Radio Free Asia on Friday.

Residents said troops took eight people into custody after storming Khaung Pyan village in the southernmost Tanintharyi region on Monday, but only the bodies of four men had been found.

Three women and a man were still missing, according to the Democracy Movement Strike Committee Dawei District, a group opposed to the junta that seized power in a 2021 coup.

The four bodies were found beside a nearby creek, with their hands tied behind their backs and "many stab wounds," an official from the group said.

"Villagers were arrested when a junta column raided Khaung Pyan. They were arrested on July 1 and villagers found four dead bodies on July 3 and 4," he said, declining to be identified for fear of reprisals.

Residents identified the four dead men as Kyaw Sein, Aung Zaw Win, Thar Thar and Naing Naing, who were aged between 40 and 60 and all from Khaung Pyan village in Yebyu Township.

Tanintharyi region's junta spokesperson, Thet Naing, did not respond to a request from RFA for comment on the deaths.

Junta troops have occupied Dawei Special Economic Zone in Tanintharyi's capital since Monday, causing residents in neighboring Yebyu township to flee.

Fighting in Tanintharyi increased when the Karen National Liberation Army, an ethnic minority insurgent group battling for self-determination captured several junta bases in the region in April.

In the more than three years since the coup, more than 5,300 civilians have been killed by the junta, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.

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 July 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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Russia: Statement by High Representative on the visit of Prime Minister OrbAn to Moscow

European External Action Service (EEAS)

05.07.2024

EEAS Press Team

Prime Minister Viktor OrbAn's visit to Moscow takes place, exclusively, in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia.

Hungary is now the EU Member State serving the rotating presidency of the Council until 31 December 2024. That does not entail any external representation of the Union which is responsibility of the President of the European Council at the Head of State or Government level and of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy at Ministerial level.

Prime Minister OrbAn has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow. The EU position on Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is reflected in many European Council conclusions. That position excludes official contacts between the EU and President Putin. The Hungarian Prime Minister is thus not representing the EU in any form.

In addition, it is worth recalling that President Putin has been indicted by the International Criminal Court and an arrest warrant released for his role in relation to the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.

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Comment by Foreign MinisterTsahkna on the planned meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Orban and Putin

Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

05.07.2024

Comment by Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna on the planned meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

"There is no justification for the plan of Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, which holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, to meet with Putin. At the planned meeting, he is not representing the European Union and he does not have the approval of EU member states, including Estonia. Equally, the "quick ceasefire" suggested by Orban during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not represent the positions of Estonia or the European Union. Viktor Orban's plan to meet with Putin and his "ceasefire" proposal are diametrically opposed to the positions of Estonia and the European Union.A This meeting will have no effect on EU policies.

Ukraine is fighting for its sovereignty but also for the peace and long-term security of all of Europe, including Hungary, and paying with the lives of Ukrainians. Estonia and the European Union are working to make sure the Russian war machine is stopped, Ukraine wins the war and Russia is held accountable for the atrocities it has committed.

The Estonian parliament has declared Russia a terrorist regime. The International Criminal Court, to which Hungary is party, has issued an arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes. History has shown that aggressors are deterred by resolve, not kowtowing.

The position of the European Union is unequivocal - Russia must immediately end its military aggression in Ukraine and withdraw its forces from Ukraine. The European Union supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Perpetrators of aggression and other crimes must be held accountable, not greeted with sycophantic handshakes."

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Talks with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban

Vladimir Putin held talks in the Kremlin with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, who has arrived in Russia on a working visit.

July 5, 2024

14:00

The Kremlin, Moscow

On the Russian side, attending the meeting are Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Presidential Aide Vladimir Medinsky and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, colleagues,

Welcome to Moscow, to Russia.

I know that this time you have come not only as our long-standing partner, but also as the President of the Council of the European Union. I hope we will have the opportunity to exchange views on building bilateral relations in this difficult situation and, of course, to discuss the possible scenarios for the largest European crisis - I am referring to Ukraine.

I know that quite recently, on July 2, I think, you visited Kiev, and now you have come here to discuss in detail the situation that has arisen in Ukraine. I am at your disposal.

You are probably aware of my recent address to top officials of the Foreign Ministry here in Moscow, which summarised our stance with regard to the possible peace settlement. And of course, I am ready to discuss some of the details with you or explain them to you. I hope you will acquaint me with your personal stance and the stance of the European partners.

As for bilateral relations, unfortunately, we have seen a serious decline in trade, by more than 35 percent. But in general, there is much to work on. We are implementing ambitious projects.

In any case, we are delighted to see you and we have much to discuss.

Welcome, Mr Prime Minister.

Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban (retranslated): Mr President,

Thank you for meeting with me today. This is far from our first meeting over the past decade; in fact, it is the 11th one. But this meeting is more critical than the previous ones.

As you have mentioned, Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the EU Council on July 1. Our last meeting was before the war; we met in February 2022. This is exactly why these two meetings are different.

I am very grateful to you for agreeing to see me even in such a difficult situation. I must tell you that the number of countries that can talk to both sides of this conflict is rapidly declining. Hungary will probably be the only country in Europe soon that will be able to talk to all parties. I would like to take this opportunity to discuss a number of important issues with you. I would also like to find out your opinion on several matters that are important for Europe.

Thank you.

<a >

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Press statements following talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban

Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban made press statements following their talks.

July 5, 2024

17:00

The Kremlin, Moscow

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen,

Our substantive talks with the Prime Minister of Hungary, Mr Viktor Orban, have just concluded.

It is important that we maintain a dialogue even in the current difficult geopolitical situation.

Like during many of our previous meetings, we had a truly useful and sincere conversation on topical issues of bilateral cooperation and also, naturally, on the acute issues on the international and regional agenda, including developments around Ukraine.

Let me note that Russia and Hungary continue cooperating in a number of areas, above all in the energy sector. Healthy pragmatism and mutual benefit are the key principles.

Work is underway on our flagship joint project to expand the Paks Nuclear Power Plant. Putting into operation the fifth and sixth units will more than double the capacity of the station, hence improving the energy supply of the Hungarian economy and powering industrial enterprises and households with cheap and clean energy. When building new units, only the most advanced engineering and technological solutions are used, and physical safety and environmental requirements are fully ensured.

We continue working together in medicine and pharmaceutical industry. We speak in favour of continuing work in priority areas of cooperation.

Of course, a substantive, direct and honest discussion was held on pressing international issues, including the Ukraine conflict and possible ways to settle it.

Mr Prime Minister told me about his recent meetings in Kiev, where he advanced a number of proposals, among them a call for a ceasefire to create conditions for peace negotiations with Moscow.

As for Russia, I have repeatedly said that we remain open for a discussion on a political and diplomatic settlement. However, the opposite side only makes clear its reluctance to resolve this issue in this manner. Ukraine's sponsors continue using this country and its people as a ram, making it a victim in the confrontation with Russia.

As we see the state of affairs, including in the light of what we heard today from Mr Prime Minister, Kiev is still not ready to abandon the idea of waging "war until final victory."

In my opinion, the Kiev regime does not allow the very idea of cessation of hostilities because in this case the pretext for extending martial law disappears. And if the martial law has to be cancelled, it means that the elections, which were not held on time, will have to be held. But the chances of winning them are close to zero for the Ukrainian rulers who have lost their ranking and legitimacy.

Meanwhile, we outlined our peace initiative quite recently at my meeting with the senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. We believe that its implementation would make it possible to end hostilities and begin negotiations. Moreover, this should not just be a truce or a temporary ceasefire, nor should it be a pause that the Kiev regime could use to recover its losses, regroup and rearm. Russia advocates a full and final end to the conflict. The conditions for that, as I have already said, are set out in my speech at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We are talking about the complete withdrawal of all Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics and from the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. There are other conditions as well. But this is a subject for fairly detailed consideration in the course of possible joint work.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Given that Hungary has held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union since July 1, Mr Orban and I exchanged views on the state of affairs in relations between Russia and the European Union, which are currently at their lowest point. We also talked about the tentative principles of a future security architecture in Europe, also tentative.

Overall, the talks were very timely and, I think, useful for both sides. Of course, Mr Prime Minister presented a general idea of the Western outlook, which is known to us, including from the point of view of Ukraine's interests. Nevertheless, we are grateful to Mr Prime Minister for visiting Moscow. We see it as an attempt to restore dialogue and give it an additional impetus.

Thank you.

Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban (retranslated): Ladies and gentlemen,

Mr President,

Today I met with the President of Russia for the 11th time. This meeting is special because it is being held at the time of war, when Europe badly needs peace. Peace is what Europe needs most of all. We see the struggle for peace as the main task for the next six months of our European Council presidency.

I have told Mr President that Europe received the greatest impetus for development during peaceful decades. We in Europe have now been living in the shadow of war for two and a half years. This is causing enormous difficulties in Europe. We cannot feel safe, we see pictures of destruction and suffering. This war has already started affecting our economic growth and our competitiveness.

In general, as I have already told Mr President, Europe needs peace. Over the past two years we have realised that we will not achieve peace without diplomacy, without channels of communication. Peace will not come by itself, we need to work for it.

I was just discussing with Mr President today the ways to achieve peace. I wanted to know what the shortest road to end the war is. I wanted to hear Mr President's opinion on three important questions, and I heard his opinion. What does he think about the current peace initiatives? What does he think about a ceasefire and peace talks, and in what succession can they be carried out? And the third thing that interested me was Mr President's vision of Europe after the war. I am thankful to Mr President for this open and honest conversation.

Ladies and gentlemen.

In the recent two and a half years, there are practically no countries left that could contact both one and the other opposing parties. Hungary is just one of such few countries. This is why I was in Kiev this week, and this is why I am in Moscow now.

From my experience I understood that the positions are poles apart. Very many steps are needed to be done to become closer to the end of the war. However, we have made the most important step - we have established contact. And I will continue to work towards this end.

Thank you.

Question: How did Mr Zelensky react to your ceasefire proposal? What did he say to that?

Viktor Orban: I told that to the President of Russia.

Question: Mr President, could you tell us?

Vladimir Putin: No.

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Russia Sees That Ukraine Not Ready to Reject Waging War Until the End - Putin

Sputnik News

20240705

We can see that Kiev is not ready to give up waging war until the end, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a statement to the press after holding talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"The way we see the situation, including what the prime minister said today, Kiev is still not ready to give up waging the war until the 'victorious' end," the president told the press.

Putin added that implementing Russia's peace initiatives would allow the cessation of hostilities and the start of the negotiation process.

"Our [Russia's] peace initiatives have been recently presented at my meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. We believe that its implementation would make it possible to cease the hostilities and start negotiations," he noted.

Russia stands for completely ending the conflict in Ukraine, and not for a ceasefire or a pause so the Kiev regime can rearm itself, Putin emphasized.

"It should not just be a truce or a temporary cease-fire, not some kind of pause that the Kiev regime could use to recover losses, regroup and rearm itself. Russia stands for a full and final end to the conflict," he said.

According to Putin, Kiev is rejecting the ceasefire proposals because they will lose the pretext for extending the martial law. Ukraine will have to hold a presidential election in the absence of the martial law, and the current rulers will have a low chance for reelection, Putin said.

The Russian president shared that he had discussed possible ways to resolve the Ukrainian conflict with Prime Minister Orban and that Orban had told him about the details of his recent visit to Kiev.

"There was certainly a fairly direct and thorough exchange of views on relevant international issues, including the Ukrainian conflict, and we talked about possible ways to resolve it ... Mr. Prime Minister spoke about his recent meetings in Kiev, where he had made a number of proposals and, in particular, a call for a ceasefire to create conditions for the start of negotiations with Russia," Putin told the briefing.

Russia sees Ukraine's unwillingness to resolve problems through negotiations, the Russian president added.

"Ukraine's sponsors continue to try to use this country and its people as a 'battering ram,' a victim of confrontation with Russia," Putin said.

Orban: Hungary to Work With Both Russia and Ukraine

At the same press event, Viktor Orban said that he will continue working with Russia and Ukraine on achieving peace, adding that their positions are too far from each other.

"I was in Kiev, now I am in Moscow. I realized from experience that the positions [of the two sides] are very far from each other. There are a lot of steps to be taken in order to get closer to the end of the war. But we have made the most important step a we have established contact, and I will continue to work in this direction," he said after his meeting with Vladimir Putin, adding that the conversation was open and honest.

Orban also said that he held a meeting with Putin in the moment when "Europe needs peace."

"Peace will not come on its own, you have to work for it. I was just discussing ways to achieve peace with Putin today. I wanted to know what is the shortest way to end the war. I wanted to hear and heard the president's [Putin] views on three important issues: what he thinks about the peace initiatives that are currently in place, what he also thinks about the ceasefire and the peace talks, in what sequence they can be conducted a And the third thing I was interested in was the vision of Europe after the war," Orban noted.

The conflict in Ukraine has started "to have an impact" on Europe's economy, the Hungarian prime minister added.

Russia and Hungary Continue Cooperation, Primarily in Energy

"Russia and Hungary continue cooperation in a number of areas, primarily in the energy sector," Putin added.

The countries also continue cooperation in medicine and pharmaceuticals, he said.

The president added that joint work on the Paks II nuclear power plant in Hungary was moving forward.

"Only advanced engineering and technological solutions are being used in the construction of new units, and physical safety and environmental requirements are being fully ensured," he noted, commenting on the progress of the construction.

In late 2014, Russia and Hungary signed an agreement on the construction of two additional advanced reactors at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Rosatom said that construction was set to begin from late 2024 to early 2025.

Possible European Security Architecture Discussed at the Talks

President Putin said he had discussed possible security architecture in Europe with Orban.

"We also talked about possible principles of the future a possible too a security architecture in Europe," Putin told the briefing.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the state of affairs in relations between Russia and the European Union, "which are currently at their lowest point," the Russian president added.

Moscow appreciates Orban's visit and views it as an attempt to restore the dialogue between Russia and the EU and give it an additional momentum, Putin said.

A Sputnik

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Taiwan spy chief warns of sharp rise in Chinese infiltration

Warning comes amid probe into allegations of a Xinhua editor at a Taiwanese TV station talk show.

By Hsia Hsiao-hwa for RFA Mandarin, Ray Chung for RFA Cantonese 2024.07.05 -- Taiwan's national security chief says China is stepping up its infiltration of the democratic island, amid an ongoing investigation into reports that a journalist from Beijing's Xinhua news agency played a key role in editing a political talk show at a Taiwanese broadcaster.

National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen told lawmakers on Thursday that Beijing is taking advantage of Taiwan's free, open and democratic society to step up its efforts to infiltrate the island, undermine its armed forces and sway the political views of its 23 million people.

"The number of cases [we are investigating] has increased significantly compared with previous years," Tsai told the island's Legislative Yuan. "The Chinese Communist Party's infiltration activities are increasingly rampant in Taiwan, posing a severe challenge to national security work."

Taiwan is currently ruled as the Republic of China, a sovereign state formed in 1911 after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, and whose Kuomintang government fled to the island after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists in 1949.

Taiwanese law bans the island's people or organizations from engaging in any form of cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party, the mainland Chinese government or military that could involve political influence or harm its interests, and the majority of people have no wish to submit to Chinese rule.

While Beijing has never ruled out a military invasion to enforce its territorial claim on Taiwan, it has more recently vowed to achieve "peaceful unification" with the island through propaganda and other forms of pressure.

Investigations into spying

Tsai said agents of the Chinese state have stepped up intelligence gathering and espionage, infiltrating organizations, stealing technological secrets and influencing elections in recent months.

He said his bureau has investigated 84 cases of Chinese activities during the past year, 39 of which have led to prosecutions.

Agents and supporters of the Chinese state recruit more like them by putting pressure on people to sign "oaths of allegiance" to Beijing, with the armed forces a particular target for espionage, Tsai said.

They spy on unofficial credit networks, pawnbrokers and loan sharks to figure out which military personnel are in debt, then use that as leverage for secrets, he said.

"They also recruit retired national security personnel and infiltrate political parties and government departments," Tsai said.

There is also funding for such "United Front" activities, although it typically comes from a broad network of pro-China organizations and individuals rather than directly from China, he said, calling the arrangement a "red supply chain."

China also infiltrates sensitive industries in Taiwan in a bid to steal advanced technology and commercial secrets, Tsai told lawmakers, adding that the island's academics and industry experts are often offered incentives to take their research to China instead.

Michael Chen, Director-General of Taiwan's Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau, also commented in the same session that the U.S.-China trade war and technology war have triggered a restructuring of the global supply chain, which is driving much of the industrial espionage from Beijing.

Xinhua influence?

Tsai's report to lawmakers comes amid an ongoing investigation into a newspaper report that a journalist from China's state news agency Xinhua was closely involved in editing a political talk show at a Taiwanese TV station.

The island's Liberty Times reported on June 24 that officials from China's Taiwan Affairs Office had approached several Taiwanese TV stations since the beginning of this year with proposals to start new political talk shows in exchange for preferential commercial treatment in the Chinese market.

Only one accepted, the paper said, adding that Xinhua journalist Zhao Bo took part in all discussions about the show's content, and showed up at the studio as the first episode was being recorded to ensure all the guests followed the agreed scripts.

Zhao also had private conversations with the guests at which she made clear exactly which angles she wanted emphasized, the report said.

But investigations have been hampered by the lack of a whistleblower, and the fact that Zhao is no longer in Taiwan, officials said on Thursday.

"We currently have no specific evidence, and no whistleblower," National Communications Commission deputy chief Weng Po-tsung told lawmakers.

And Liang Wen-chieh, Deputy Minister of Taiwan's government agency in charge of Chinese affairs, the Mainland Affairs Council, declined to comment when asked by RFA Cantonese why officials had been unable to find anyone to testify in the probe.

"We have asked everyone that we should ask," Liang said cryptically, before declining further comment, saying only lawmakers should be asking such questions.

Lo Chih-chiang, a lawmaker with the pro-China Kuomintang, dismissed the Liberty Times report as "fake news" that had been endorsed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by 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 July 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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United States closely monitoring seizure of Taiwanese boat

Taiwanese fishing boat seized by Chinese coast guard and its crew remain in detention.

2024.07.05 -- The White House has said that it was closely monitoring the seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel by the Chinese coast guard this week, and called on both sides to communicate with each other.

The Penghu-registered boat Da Jin Man 88 with six crew was fishing for squid near Taiwan-administered Kinmen islands on Tuesday evening when the Chinese coast guard boarded it and forced it to divert it to a port in mainland China.

Penghu is, like Kinmen, an outlying island under Taiwan control but very close to mainland China.

Beijing said the Taiwanese boat was suspected of "illegal fishing activities" during an annual fishing moratorium that China has unilaterally announced.

The fishermen remained in China's detention on Friday.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a media briefing in Washington on that the U.S. was "closely monitoring the incident, so we're going to continue to do that."

"But we encourage both sides to maintain open lines of communication so they can get to a resolution here," she added.

Taipei has asked Beijing to provide information through the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation on the crew, believed to be Taiwanese and Indonesian citizens.

The Straits Exchange Foundation under Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council has been acting as an intermediary body in liaising with mainland China.

Calling for release

The Council repeated a call for the immediate release of the Da Jin Man 88 and the fishermen.

Taiwan's coast guard and its Fisheries Agency called on Taiwanese fishermen to avoid waters also claimed by China during the fishing ban.

A former legislator from Penghu, Lin Ping-kun, was quoted by Taiwan's official Central News Agency as saying that the incident simply involved the operation of a fishing boat, and China should not politicize it.

Kinmen is less than 10 km (6.2 miles) from China's Fujian province.

Despite some tacit boundaries between the two sides, Chinese and Taiwanese fishermen often operate in the area without problems. Normally, if caught during fishing bans, fishermen are released after paying a fine.

But as tension rises between Beijing and the government of Taiwan's new president Lai Ching-te, the presence of Chinese law enforcement vessels around Kinmen has increased.

Edited by Taejun Kang.

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 July 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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Taiwan reports Chinese military aircraft, ships operating around island

By VOA News July 05, 2024

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said Friday that dozens of Chinese aircraft have been detected around the island in a 24-hour period, the latest sign of rising tensions between Beijing and Taipei.

The ministry said 36 Chinese military aircraft and six ships were operating around Taiwan before 6 a.m. local time.

In a later statement, the ministry said an additional 26 Chinese military aircraft had been detected. The ministry said it had "monitored the situation and responded accordingly."

In a June 27 press conference, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, director general of the Information Office of the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, was asked about the "many exercises" conducted in the waters around Taiwan. An English transcript of the press conference was released by the ministry on Thursday.

"I suggest the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] authorities to get used to encircling activities held by the PLA [People's Liberation Army]. I need to point out that the PLA's relevant actions and operations are targeted at separatist activities held by the 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces, they are by no means targeted at our compatriots in Taiwan," Wu said.

Taiwanese boat detained earlier

China's latest provocations near Taiwan come just days after the crew of a Taiwanese fishing boat was detained by the Chinese coast guard while their vessel was operating near an island controlled by Taiwan.

Taiwan's coast guard says the boat was intercepted by Chinese vessels on Tuesday night near the Kinmen islands, located just a few kilometers off the southern Chinese coastal city of Xiamen.

Taiwan dispatched three patrol boats to assist the fishing boat, but they were blocked by three Chinese vessels. The Taiwanese boats demanded the Chinese vessels release the fishing boat and its crew but said they were warned by the Chinese side not to interfere.

The Taiwanese coast guard says it ended its pursuit to avoid escalating the conflict.

The fishing boat was taken to a nearby Chinese fishing port. The five-person crew includes two Taiwanese nationals and three Indonesians.

Hsieh Ching-chin, deputy director-general of Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration, said Wednesday the incident occurred as China begins its annual fishing moratorium.

He said Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council and Fisheries Agency will "reach out to their Chinese counterparts" and call on the Chinese government "to explain its reasoning and release the crew and their boat in accordance with due procedure, refraining from using political means to handle the situation."

Incident continues China-Taiwan conflict

Tuesday night's incident was the latest maritime conflict between Taiwan and China this year.

Two Chinese fishermen drowned in February when their boat capsized as it was fleeing Taiwan's coast guard after the fishermen entered restricted waters near Kinmen. China responded days later when its coast guard briefly boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat while it was on a sight-seeing trip near Kinman.

"China used to turn a blind eye to Taiwanese fishing vessels" operating around its waters, said Chung Chieh, an associate research fellow at the National Security Division in Taipei. But that "special treatment" is something that Taiwan's fishermen "no longer enjoy," he told VOA Mandarin.

China is now citing its "domestic laws" when looking to punish Taiwanese crews "found operating within China's territorial waters," according to Chieh. China wants to "establish the fact that it can enforce law among Taiwanese fishers and vessels," he said. "Such incidents will help consolidate its pursuit of using laws as a weapon of war across the Taiwan Strait."

Taiwan has been self-governed since the end of China's civil war in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces were driven off the mainland by Mao Zedong's Communists.

But Beijing regards the island of 23 million and its outlying islands as Chinese territory and has been ramping up its threat to achieve that by military force if necessary.

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Britain's Labour Party wins parliamentary majority, Starmer to become new PM

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 13:47, July 05, 2024

LONDON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The Labour Party, headed by Keir Starmer, has won an outright majority in the lower house of the British parliament, according to a tally of seats by broadcaster Sky News.

With 467 of parliament's 650 seats declared, the Labour has won 326, Sky News said early Friday.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak conceded defeat in the general election minutes before any media outlet declared that the threshold of 326 seats was reached.

The exit poll commissioned by three broadcasters -- the BBC, ITV, and Sky News -- forecast hours earlier that the Labour would achieve a landslide win of 410 seats, while the number of seats for the Conservatives would be reduced to 131.

"The Labour Party has won this general election, and I've called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory," Sunak said.

"The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight, there is much to learn... and I take responsibility for the loss," he said.

Sunak is expected to announce his resignation soon to pave the way for Starmer to take over as Britain's new prime minister after meeting Britain's King Charles III.

"We did it. You campaigned for it, you fought for it -- and now it has arrived," Starmer addressed crowds in central London after the Labour majority was confirmed. "Change begins now."

The British people "had to look us in the eye and see that we can serve their interests -- and that doesn't stop now," he said.

"I don't promise you it will be easy," he added. "But even when the going gets tough -- and it will -- remember tonight and always what this is all about."

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New U.K. Prime Minister Starmer Vows 'Change Begins Now,' But Ukraine Is Another Matter

By RFE/RL July 05, 2024

A triumphant Keir Starmer announced in London early on July 5 that "change begins now," after his Labour Party scored a landslide victory to end 14 years of Conservative government in the United Kingdom's general elections a day earlier.

But while new Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his center-left party have pledged a fresh approach to British economic woes and a cost-of-living crisis at home, they have signaled no dramatic break with the outgoing government's policy of robust military and diplomatic support for Ukraine in its ongoing war to defeat Russian invaders.

In a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden hours after taking office, Starmer said U.K. backing for Ukraine's war effort would not be weakened under the new government.

"The leaders reiterated their steadfast commitment to Ukraine, and the prime minister underscored that the U.K.'s support for Ukraine was unwavering," Starmer's office said in a statement.

The two men "reiterated their continued support for Ukraine as it fights Russia's unrelenting aggression," the White House said in a separate readout.

While Labour has hinted at a more conciliatory tone than its Conservative predecessor in relations with the European Union, the party has gone to lengths to reassure NATO and other allies helping arm Kyiv that London will continue to regard Russia as a threat to Europe.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was quick to welcome the continuity in a message of thanks to the outgoing Conservatives and congratulations to the incoming Labour government for its "convincing election victory."

"Ukraine and the United Kingdom have been and will continue to be reliable allies through thick and thin," Zelenskiy wrote on X. "We will continue to defend and advance our common values of life, freedom, and a rules-based international order."

He wished Starmer well in "solidifying the U.K.'s leadership on the world stage."

"I look forward to working closely together on strengthening the Ukraine-U.K. partnership and restoring international peace and security," Zelenskiy added.

"A mandate like this comes with a great responsibility," Starmer, who took over Labour's leadership four years ago, told supporters after the party's victory was assured.

At around noon local time at Buckingham Palace, King Charles III formally launched the 61-year-old former lawyer's tenure as prime minister by asking him to form a government.

Outgoing Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was a strong backer of NATO and other international assistance for Ukraine including the supply of weaponry.

Zelenskiy expressed gratitude in his message to Sunak and his government's "steadfast support" and "shared achievements," including the supplies of tanks, Storm Shadow missiles, F-16 training for our pilots, and the first bilateral security cooperation agreement" after Russia's invasion began.

David Lammy, who was officially appointed on July 5 as foreign secretary in Starmer's Labour government, predicted Labour's return to power will usher in a foreign policy of "progressive realism."

He has said it is time to "turn the page on 14 years of Tory chaos."

But the resets in foreign policy that Lammy has touted among Labour's goals involve reconnecting with Europe to repair some of the damage since Brexit, addressing climate change, and engaging more aggressively with the Global South.

On defense, Starmer and Labour have described their commitment to NATO's foremost role in transatlantic security as "unshakable."

On Ukraine, Labour has pledged "steadfast" military, financial, diplomatic, and political support. Labour's manifesto also calls for helping lay out a path for Ukraine toward NATO membership.

Olivia O'Sullivan, director of the U.K. In The World Program at Chatham House, a London-based think tank, told RFE/RL that "there are many ways in which the foreign policy positions of the Labour Party are not that distinct from the Conservatives," calling it "one surprising area of consensus in the U.K."

"Particularly on Ukraine, the Labour Party have been at pains to emphasize that they are as staunch and as consistent in their support for Ukraine," O'Sullivan said. "There's very little daylight between their position and [that of] the Conservatives."

The woman who is expected to assume the EU's top diplomatic post later this year, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, congratulated Starmer on his electoral victory and praised "the U.K.'s commitment to our common security."

"I'm sure our excellent cooperation will only continue to thrive," she added on X.

Starmer has hinted that he would meet early in his leadership with Zelenskiy, and he has described Russian President Vladimir Putin as "the aggressor in Ukraine."

"The most important thing is to be absolutely clear that our support for Ukraine is on a united front in this country," Starmer said.

Starmer's new government will immediately have a chance to test that intention at NATO's 75th anniversary summit in Washington on July 9-11.

Soon after, Britain will host a European Political Community Summit at Blenheim Palace on July 18.

"I think one of their goals for both of those events...will be to affirm that they're taking a very similar line through the previous government on Ukraine and on support for Ukraine," O'Sullivan said.

She said Starmer's challenges include fiscal restrictions and looming elections in France and the United States, either of which could deal blows to transatlantic unity.

Analysts say British voters turned to Labour seeking relief from a 14-year Conservative tenure marked by the Brexit vote in 2016 to leave the European Union and economic woes and stagnation that have followed the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Labour eclipsed the 326 seats needed for a working majority in the House of Commons early in the vote count that showed it gaining well over 200 seats as the Conservatives lost an even higher number of seats.

Right-wing populist Reform Party leader Nigel Farage won a seat for the first time in eight attempts, indicating that Britain was experiencing some of the right-wing surge that showed up in last month's elections to the European Parliament.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/uk-elections-ukraine-labour- starmer/33022866.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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Secretary Blinken's Call with UK Foreign Secretary Lammy

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

July 5, 2024

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with new UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy today. The Secretary congratulated Foreign Secretary Lammy on his appointment. Secretary Blinken and Foreign Secretary Lammy emphasized the enduring and essential importance of the U.S.-UK special relationship in addressing the most pressing global challenges, including reaching an immediate and enduring ceasefire in Gaza, and supporting Ukraine against Russia's brutal aggression. The Secretary noted that he looks forward to welcoming the Foreign Secretary to the NATO Summit in Washington next week.

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Love em or hate em, theres no denying that spotting an American-style pickup truck on Australian roads is becoming increasingly common. But their owners reputations for taking up several spaces in busy car parks leave many Aussie drivers contemplating revenge.

This exact scene played out on Friday in a busy car park when the owner of a RAM 1500 Laramie seemingly didn't even attempt to fit in a single space  firmly parking in the middle of two. In a packed-out car park on a busy Friday, this d**khead is taking up two spaces, one furious motorist lamented online.

I looked it up, and if your vehicle can fit in one space then this is illegal. S**t like this makes me want to take to their shitty imported trucks with a hammer. These American builds do not belong in this country, it is un-Australian to say the least.

In Australia, a RAM is considered a "small truck " thanks to its size and weight so fitting into a regular size car park can be difficult. But with a similar scene playing out in Melbourne with a GMC Sierra on the same day, many Australians have been left frustrated.

A similar scene played out in Melbourne on Friday where a GMC was parked over at least three spaces. Source: Reddit

One Melbourne local described the behaviour as both selfish and entitled.

Others considered more vengeful responses such as ramming the car with a trolly while another more reasonable Aussie suggested reporting it to the council.

There's legit uses for the larger ones, like towing etc, but it's incredibly rare to see any of these things kitted out for work, carrying anything in the tray or towing anything around inner Sydney, said another.

So is it legal to park across two parking spaces?

A spokesperson for NSW Police told Drive, It is not legal to park across two parking spaces, but it would all depend on the circumstances.

In parking bays, which are controlled by council, a vehicle that has not parked wholly within a parking bay or that is using more parking bays than necessary can incur a penalty of $86.

Meanwhile, Victorias Department of Transport and Planning said it is an offence with a maximum penalty of $555.

Calls for tax on American-style utes

Monash University lecturer Julian O'Shea, who explores sustainable transport options as part of his work, is one of the many vocal critics of the surge in large American pick-up trucks.

He previously told Yahoo News Australia in August there would need to be significant changes to infrastructure to accommodate these vehicles.

"The question becomes, how do we use this space? If we want to make our car parks bigger, we get fewer of them, we lose space for bike lanes, we lose space for parks, we lose space for shops," he said.

"Some ideas that different countries are using that we could look into are higher parking fees for these cars, which cause more damage to the road because they're so much heavier," he continued.

"And just making more spaces available for other groups. So saying, 'look, if these cars exist, that's fine, but it's probably inappropriate for them to be around schools, or to be inside our CBD where space is at a premium'."

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

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Keir Starmer's first speech as Prime Minister: 5 July 2024

Keir Starmer gave his first speech as Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street.

5 July 2024

Good afternoona

I have just returned from Buckingham Palacea

Where I accepted an invitation from His Majesty the Kinga

To form the next government of this great nation.

I want to thank the outgoing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.

His achievement as the first British Asian Prime Minister of our countrya

The extra effort that will have requireda

Should not be underestimated by anyone.

We pay tribute to that todaya

And we also recognise the dedication and hard work he brought to his leadership.

But now our country has voted, decisivelya

For change.

For national renewal.

And a return of politics to public service.

When the gap between the sacrifices made by peoplea

And the service they receive from politiciansa

Grows this big.

It leads to a weariness in the heart of a nation.

A draining away of the hope, the spirit, the belief in a better futurea

That we need to move forward, together.

Now, this wounda

This lack of trusta

Can only be healed by actions not wordsa

I know that.

But we can make a start todaya

With the simple acknowledgmenta

That public service is a privilege.

And that your government should treat every single person in this countrya

With respect.

If you voted for Labour yesterdaya

We will carry the responsibility of your trust, as we rebuild our country.

But whether you voted Labour or nota

In fact - especially if you did nota

I say to you, directlya

My government will serve you.

Politics can be a force for good - we will show that.

And that is how we will govern.

Country first, party second.

Yet, if I'm honesta

Service is merely a pre-condition for hope.

And it is surely clear to everyonea

That our country needs a bigger reseta

A rediscovery of who we are.

Because no matter how fierce the storms of historya

One of the great strengths of this nationa

Has always been our ability to navigate a way through to calmer waters.

And yet this depends upon politiciansa

Particularly those who stand for stability and moderation - as I doa

Recognising when we must change course.

For too long nowa

We have turned a blind eye as millions slid into greater insecurity.

Nurses, builders, drivers, carersa

People doing the right thing

Working harder than evera

Recognised - at moments like this, before.

Yet as soon as the cameras stop rollinga

Their lives are ignored.

I want to say very clearly to those people - not this time.

Changing a country is not like flicking a switcha

And the world is now a more volatile place.

This will take a while.

But have no doubt that the work of change begins - immediately.

Have no doubt - that we will rebuild Britaina

With wealth created in every community.

Our NHS back on its feet, facing the future.

Secure bordersa

Safer streetsa

Everyone treated with dignity and respect at work.

The opportunity of clean British powera

Cutting your energy bills for good.

And, brick by bricka

We will rebuild the infrastructure of opportunitya

The world class schools and collegesa

The affordable homes that I knowa

Are the ingredients of hope for working peoplea

The security that working class families like minea

Could build their lives around.

Because if I asked you, nowa

Whether you believe that Britain will be better for your childrena

I know - too many of you would say: no.

And so my government will fight, every daya

Until you believe again.

From now ona

You have a government unburdened by doctrinea

Guided only by a determination to serve your interestsa

To defy, quietlya

Those who have written our country off.

You have given us a clear mandatea

And we will use it to deliver changea

To restore service and respect to politicsa

End the era of noisy performancea

Tread more lightly on your livesa

And unite our country.

Four nationsa

Standing together againa

Facing down, as we have so often in our pasta

The challenges of an insecure worlda

Committed - to a calm and patient rebuilding.

So with respect and humilitya

I invite you alla

To join this government of servicea

In the mission of national renewal.

Our work is urgenta

And we begin it today.

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PM call with President Biden of the United States: 5 July 2024

The Prime Minister spoke to the President of the United States Joe Biden this afternoon.

5 July 2024

The Prime Minister spoke to the President of the United States Joe Biden this afternoon. The President congratulated the Prime Minister on his election victory and the Prime Minister thanked him for his kind words.

The leaders discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US, and their aligned ambitions for greater economic growth.

Discussing geopolitical challenges, the leaders reiterated their steadfast commitment to Ukraine and the Prime Minister underscored that the UK's support for Ukraine was unwavering.

The Prime Minister said he looked forward to working side by side across the breadth of the relationship, including the AUKUS partnership and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific. The leaders reflected on their shared commitment to protecting the gains of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.

The Prime Minister and President looked forward to seeing each other at the NATO Summit in Washington next week.

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Readout of President Joe Biden's Call with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom

July 05, 2024

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom to congratulate him on his appointment as Prime Minister. The leaders reaffirmed the special relationship between our nations and the importance of working together in support of freedom and democracy around the world. The President conveyed that he is looking forward to working closely with Prime Minister Starmer on the full range of critical issues that affect our countries and committed to deepening U.S.-UK cooperation in the many areas of our shared interest. They reiterated their continued support for Ukraine as it fights Russia's unrelenting aggression. They affirmed their shared commitment to protecting the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and working with the leaders of Northern Ireland to create and sustain economic growth and opportunities. The President looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Starmer to the Washington Summit next week to celebrate NATO's 75th anniversary.

###

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EU angry as Hungarian leader meets with Russia's Putin in 'peace mission'

Iran Press TV

Friday, 05 July 2024 4:11 PM

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has met President Vladimir Putin of Russia for talks on the war in Ukraine, days after he was received by President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev.

Putin received Orban at the Kremlin on Friday, just days after Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Russian leader said he expected Orban to speak for Europe as the holder of the EU's rotating presidency.

"I understand that this time you have come not just as our long-standing partner but as president of the council," Putin told Orban.

Putin said he expected Orban to outline "the position of European partners" on Ukraine.

Hungarians took to social media platform X on Friday, saying "The #peace mission continues. Second stop: #Moscow."

His trip to the Russian capital came days after a first stop in Kiev for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The prime minister said he recognized he had no mandate from the bloc for the trip to Moscow, but that peace could not be made "from a comfortable armchair in Brussels."

"We cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end," he wrote on X.

EU leaders, however, criticized Orban for the trip to Moscow, with European Council President Charles Michel saying Hungary had "no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU."

"No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine," he wrote on X.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell also said Orban in Moscow is "not representing the EU in any form."

"Appeasement will not stop Putin," European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.

"Only unity and determination will pave the path to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg decried the visit, saying Orban was not representing the military alliance in Russia.

During his trip to Kive on Tuesday, the Hungarian leader urged Ukraine's Zelensky to work towards a "time-limited" ceasefire with Russia to speed up peace talks.

Zelensky however, called on Orban to back Kiev's steps to work for peace in conjunction with international partners.

Since Russia launched its "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022, the Hungarian leader has made it clear that Russia's advantage in resources and men makes the country unbeatable. He is the European Union's most prominent critic of providing Ukraine with military aid.

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Ukraine's Energy Operator Imposes 'Tougher' Power Outages

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service July 05, 2024

Ukraine's national power distributor Ukrenerho on July 5 announced a "tougher" schedule of rolling blackouts across the country as it tries to cope with damage to infrastructure inflicted by Russian bombardments in its 28-month-old full-scale invasion.

It said two rounds of hourly shutdowns between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. will increase to three rounds during "the rest of the day."

It said the changes mean "approximately half of consumers will be without light at the same time."

Russia has increasingly targeted infrastructure in missile and drone attacks in recent months, although it has denied widespread evidence it is also targeting Ukrainian civilians.

Ukrenerho had increased the use of rolling blackouts to consumers as recently as last month, but said electricity supplies for critical infrastructure would not be restricted.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy told senior military officials in June that he hoped to develop a renewable energy infrastructure in response to the attacks, so that "solar panels, smart meters, and energy storage facilities should appear in every school and hospital as soon as possible."

As the stepped-up Russian air attacks on power and cities, Ukrainian drones have struck deeper inside Russia, damaging energy facilities critical for Moscow's military effort, mainly oil installations.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed on July 5 that it thwarted a Ukrainian-ordered "criminal" attack on a defense facility in the Samara region of southwest Russia, although RFE/RL could not independently confirm the incident.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had destroyed 50 Ukrainian attack drones over Russia's Krasnodar and Rostov regions and in the occupied Zaporizhzhya region of Ukraine.

Although outgunned, Ukraine has also waged a surprisingly effective naval campaign on the shared Black Sea over the course of the war.

On July 5, the commander of Ukraine's navy, Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, told Reuters that Russia had been forced to relocate "almost all" of its combat-capable ships from occupied Crimea to other locations. He said Russia's main naval center was being rendered "ineffective" as a result of Ukrainian efforts.

But Russian forces have made gradual territorial gains over the past six months, including capturing a district in the strategically important highland town of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-energy- blackouts-ukrenerho/33023137.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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Ukraine Loses Over 13,500 Soldiers in Battles With Russian Battlegroups - MoD

Sputnik News

20240705

Over the last week, Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 13,525 soldiers in battles with Russia's Battlegroups, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Friday.

Over the week, units of Russia's Battlegroup Sever improved its frontline positions and hit troops and equipment of three Ukrainian military brigades, the MoD said.

"Enemy losses over the period amounted to up to 1,595 troops, four tanks, three armored combat vehicles, 30 vehicles, three electronic warfare stations and 31 field artillery pieces, including twelve US-made large-caliber howitzers of various modifications," the ministry noted.

Russia's Battlegroup Zapad repelled 20 Ukrainian counterattacks and Kiev lost up to 3,580 soldiers in the past week, the ministry said, adding that Battlegroup Tsentr repelled 38 counterattacks, and Ukraine lost up to 2,970 servicemen.

"[In clashes with Battlegroup Yug] the Ukrainian armed forces' losses amounted to up to 3,845 troops, four tanks, 19 armored fighting vehicles, including three US-made M113 armored personnel carriers, 65 motor vehicles, and 53 field artillery howitzers," the statement read.

Russian Battlegroup Vostok repelled 11 Ukrainian counterattacks and Kiev lost up to 900 soldiers, the statement also read.

"Enemy losses amounted to 635 soldiers, an armored combat vehicle, 36 vehicles, and 24 field artillery pieces, including thirteen M777 howitzers [in clashes with Battlegroup Dnepr]," the MoD added.

"Over the past week, 32 Ukrainian servicemen surrendered on the line of contact," the ministry concluded.

A Sputnik

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UK calls out Russia's systematic effort to eradicate Ukrainian identity: UK statement to the OSCE

Acting Ambassador Brown condemns Russia's attempts to eradicate Ukrainian identity. As part of a systematic effort of repression, Russia has expanded its forced passportisation, deported thousands of Ukrainian children and murdered civilians for being openly pro-Ukrainian.

5 July 2024

Thank you, Chair. Good morning, colleagues.

The Russian Federation is doing everything in its power to eradicate Ukrainian identity in areas under its temporary control. Violence, economic coercion, and the replacement of local populations all form part of this systematic effort of repression.

Since the start of its illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has rapidly expanded its passportisation enforcement mechanisms from Crimea to the rest of the territories it temporarily controls. Civilians, particularly those without a Russian passport, are subjected to threats, intimidation, targeted surveillance, invasive searches, and an increased likelihood of being detained.

In spring 2023, a Russian law was published which stipulates that anyone in the temporarily Russian-controlled territories who does not possess a Russian passport is considered a "foreign citizen". This has increased the likelihood of detentions and deportations, and in turn violations of international humanitarian law.

Russia's policies are designed to force people in the temporarily controlled territories to accept Russian citizenship in order to access basic means of living, including property ownership and access to healthcare, education, and pensions. For many, obtaining a Russian passport is the only way to survive.

Moreover, Ukrainian men who have taken up Russian passports are at risk of being drafted into the Russian army and forced to fight against the very army that is trying to free them.

Mr Chair, Ukraine's younger generation is a major target in Russia's attempts to erase Ukrainian identity. Ukrainian children who are born in these Russian-held territories automatically receive Russian citizenship. It's estimated that nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported or transferred into Russia or Russian-held territories, where without permission from their parents or legal guardians they can be given passports and be adopted as and by Russian citizens.

At our last meeting, Russia asked where the evidence was of these deportations. I suggest that they read the independent OSCE Moscow Mechanism report on the forced deportation of Ukrainian children. It concludes that Russia's actions constitute violations of international humanitarian law, international human rights law and, in some cases, grave breaches of the Geneva Convention and war crimes. These findings underscore the severity of the issue and the need for continued attention and action. These children will not be forgotten. And Russia will be held to account.

Two children I wish to remember today are Tihran Ohannisian and Mykyta Khanhanov, who both were killed by the illegitimate Russian authorities in Berdiansk just over one year ago. In the lead up to their deaths, Tihran and Mykyta had been persecuted for being openly pro-Ukrainian. Russian authorities forcibly took the teenagers from their homes, detaining and interrogating them for several days. Tihran was severely tortured, including being beaten and electrocuted. Their families were left unaware of their conditions or whereabouts. The killing of these two teenagers has been described by Ukraine's Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, as an "extrajudicial execution". We call on the Russian authorities to return their bodies to relatives to ensure a proper burial.

The international community is watching, and one day justice will be delivered for these terrible atrocities. In the meantime, the United Kingdom will continue to call out the Russian Federation's attempts to erase Ukrainian identity. And we will continue to support the brave people of Ukraine as they stand up for all our freedoms. I thank you, Chair.

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I Am Grateful to Our Partners for Fulfilling Air Defense Agreements a Address by the President of Ukraine

President of Ukraine

5 July 2024 - 18:33

Dear Ukrainians!

First of all, I want to thank our partners for fulfilling air defense agreements. We aimed at doubling the strength of our air defense shield, and today the process has begun. I thank Germany for the Patriot that is already in Ukraine. This is powerful news. And there is even more powerful news: I thank the United States for another step towards strengthening our air defense, our Patriots. We keep working, and new decisions will certainly follow. The Ukrainians have already proven that there are no Russian missiles that we cannot shoot down. And we are doing our utmost to make the Russian terror lose.

Today, I also held a meeting on our missile program. I am grateful to everyone who is contributing to this and bringing closer our absolutely just ability to respond to Russia's aggression in a truly tangible way. This is a matter of global stability and security a so that everyone in the Kremlin knows that they will not go unpunished.

The second thing for this day. New judges have been sworn in. Two hundred and forty-eight people. All of them are already starting their work.

The third thing. Today, I took part in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Ukraine. It was attended by Government officials and representatives of various central authorities. And, in the near future, they should present to the public all the detailed proposals on how to support people, our communities, and Ukrainian businesses in the face of severe electricity shortages. We have already prepared legislative amendments that will be voted on. We have decisions of the Government. We have new loan programs a completely interest-free loans for people and low-cost loyal loans for businesses. All of this should start working as soon as possible.

Of course, we continue to focus on negotiations with our European partners to increase the volume of electricity imports. We are also working on the reconstruction of energy facilities.

Responsibility for all parts of the comprehensive energy package will be personalized for all Government officials. And the additional needs of communities must be taken into account.

I thank everyone who is working one hundred percent for our country and our people! I thank everyone who is fighting for Ukraine as for themselves!

Glory to Ukraine!

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Ukraine announces additional air defense support from Germany

By VOA News July 05, 2024

Ukraine is seeking to double its air defense capacity this summer, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday, as the country received a third Patriot system from Germany to bolster its defense efforts against Russia.

"I thank Germany for the Patriot, which is already in Ukraine. This is great news," he said in a video message on Telegram.

He said he had set a goal for the country to double its "defense capabilities this summer, primarily Patriot and others" and said, "now we are starting to see results."

"The third Patriot air defense system from Germany has already arrived in Ukraine," Martin Jaeger, German Ambassador to Kyiv, wrote Friday on the social media platform X.

Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine needs at least seven Patriot systems to defend the country. He said Friday that Ukraine received "additional support" from the United States but did not provide details. The White House announced a $2.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine on Wednesday, which included missiles for Patriot and other air defense systems the U.S. has previously given Kyiv.

Speaking Friday, ahead of the NATO summit in Washington next week, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the $43 billion that its 32 member countries spend each year for Ukraine should be "a minimum baseline" going forward.

Stoltenberg said the total amount spent will be shared by nations based on their economic growth. Despite these commitments, NATO has held firm on two key points: no Ukraine membership to NATO until the war is over, and no NATO boots on the ground.

NATO will soon manage military equipment deliveries to Ukraine, ensuring that they arrive in a streamlined way and preventing hostile governments from interfering with joint deliveries. Its officials say this effort would complement the Ramstein group, a U.S.-led bloc helping to equip Kyiv.

As the war started, equipment deliveries were hard to track and consisted of an abundance of vehicles and defense systems with unique maintenance plans and supply chains to support their operations.

Meanwhile, Germany said Friday that Hungary canceled a Monday meeting between their foreign ministers just hours after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The German foreign ministry said it was "astonished" and that a "serious and honest" discussion was needed in the wake of Orban's trip to Moscow, according to Reuters. German officials say the meeting will be rescheduled for a later date.

Orban also met with Zelenskyy on Tuesday and caused concerns among some NATO allies after proposing that Ukraine consider an immediate cease-fire with Russia. Orban has stalled European Union efforts to provide more aid to Ukraine, which has frustrated its EU and NATO allies.

Russian attacks in Ukraine continued Friday, killing eight people and injuring at least 28 in the Donetsk region, according to Vadym Filashkin, the regional governor. In the town of Selydove, five people were killed and eight more were injured when two Russian guided bombs struck, according to the governor.

Russian troops also dropped three guided bombs on the village of Komar, which killed a woman and injured 20 others, the governor said.

"Every town and village in the Donetsk region is always under the threat of enemy attacks," Filashkin said.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.

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NEW YORK, July 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of securities of Fastly, Inc. (NYSE: FSLY) between February 15, 2024 and May 1, 2024, both dates inclusive (the Class Period), of the important July 23, 2024 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Fastly 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 Fastly class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=25511 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@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 July 23, 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 false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) contrary to its representations to investors, Fastly was in fact experiencing a significant deceleration in growth among its largest consumers and was losing the increased market share it had gained as a result of the 2023 Content Delivery Network (CDN) consolidation trend; (2) the foregoing issues were likely to have a material negative impact on Fastlys revenue growth; (3) accordingly, Fastly was unlikely to meet its own previously issued revenue guidance for the 2024 fiscal year; (4) as a result, Fastlys financial position and/or prospects were overstated; and (5) as a result, Fastlys public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

To join the Fastly class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=25511 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email case@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.

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Rebecca's family are desperate to get her back to Australia, but they need to get a clearance before she can fly.

Rebecca Ode was involved in a accident in Bali which has left her with horror injuries. Source: NCA/News.com.au

The family of a 36-year-old Australian woman who received horrific injuries in a motorcycle crash in Bali are facing an impossible decision regarding her care.

Rebecca Ode moved to Bali in January after losing her father  a move her brother-in-law Jesse Wilton said it was the best decision for Ode, after the tragic loss. But earlier this week the family received devastating news.

At around 6am on Tuesday, Wilton received a message that Ode, originally from Newcastle, NSW, had been seriously injured in a mysterious accident. She was found in Nusa Lembongan, but no one knows how the accident happened, he previously said.

Indonesian police have reportedly since said that Ode crashed a scooter into a parked motorcycle, according to the ABC. A friend of Ms Odes found her lying on the ground with an eyeball hanging out of her head, her face and cheekbones caved in, and her jaw and collarbones broken.

Its understood that Ode lost an eye in the ordeal and is now recovering from 14 hours of surgery  but has suffered retroactive amnesia from the accident.

An Australian family is desperately trying to get their daughter Bec Ode home from Bali after she was involved in an incident that has left her with horrific injuries. Supplied

Bali doctor confirms cause of horror injuries

Dr Bagus Mahadewa from the Ngoerah General Hospital where Ms Ode was treated told the ABC while she was now able to speak after her extensive surgeries, she can't remember what happened.

"The accident that likely caused these injuries would have been a heavy traffic accident with high impact," he said.

"We decided to operate right away that night, first on her broken skull, draining liquid from her brain and also working together with a plastic surgery specialist to fix the damage to her face and nose, while an eye surgeon focused on her right eye and an orthoepic surgeon put plates in her skull."

It's understood that Ode has lost an eye following the crash. Source: NCA

Familys impossible decision following crash

Odes family are desperate to get her back to Australia and have been organising a medevac to bring her home to the Gold Coast, but they need to get a clearance on the fluid on her brain before she can fly. Flying her home sooner could risk her life, but overseas treatment could prove costly.

The family have set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of her medical expenses in Bali which are running into the hundreds of thousands. But Dr Mahadewa said repatriating her now is complicated given the nature of her injuries.

"If the family want to evacuate her right now, she would need to transported with an air ambulance, because there may be some fluid trapped inside the skull," he said. "If she can wait longer here, she could fly in two weeks in business class so it is up to the family and insurance company.

"With air ambulance she could be back in Australia in three to four hours but if she waits two weeks we will scan her skull again to make sure the liquid trapped in her skull has gone and she can travel lying down in comfort."

Family's GoFundMe plea to Aussies

On the family's GoFundMe page, Wilton pleaded with Aussies to donate to save Ode.

At this point in time, the family arent worrying about their emotions that can happen when Bec gets back to Australia," he said. "Everyone is just trying to stay very positive for Bec, they are just grateful she is alive and want to get her back home.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
New York, United States , July 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Superconducting Wire Market Size is to Grow from USD 1.2 Billion in 2023 to USD 2.89 Billion by 2033, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.19% during the projected period.





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The superconducting wire is a specially designed wire that is capable of conducting electricity without virtually any electrical resistance when it is cooled to very low temperatures. Superconducting wires allow electricity to go through without wasting energy, in contrast to normal wires that waste energy during the transmission of power owing to resistance. Superconducting materials, such as metal alloys or ceramics, that show the quantum mechanical phenomena of superconductivity at cryogenic temperatures are commonly used to create superconducting wires. Copper oxide of yttrium barium is one frequent superconductor. Applications for superconducting wires include maglev trains, particle accelerators, electricity transmission lines, and MRI equipment. Superconducting wires may transport 10-100 times the power for a long-distance, high-volume power line while exhibiting low power loss. Power may be transferred from one place to another as efficiently as possible with superconducting cables that have no electrical resistance. Aside from their application in various renewable energy systems, their ability to function as an energy storage medium in high-speed trains is what makes them the most suitable for power distribution in a grid system. One of the biggest problems the superconducting wire industry is experiencing is the high cost of production techniques.

Browse key industry insights spread across 200 pages with 90 Market data tables and figures & charts from the report on the " Global Superconducting Wire Market Size, Share, and COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Type (Low-temperature Superconductor (LTS), Medium-temperature Superconductor (MTS), and High-temperature Superconductor (HTS)), By Application (Energy, Medical, Research, Industry, and Others), By Sales Channel (Direct and Indirect), and By Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa), Analysis and Forecast 2023  2033."

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The high-temperature superconductor (HTS) segment is expected to hold the largest share of the global superconducting wire market during the projection period.

On the basis of type, the global superconducting wire market is classified into low-temperature superconductor (LTS), medium-temperature superconductor (MTS), and high-temperature superconductor (HTS). Among these, the high-temperature superconductor (HTS) segment is expected to hold the largest share of the global superconducting wire market during the projection period. High-temperature wires increase the reliability and efficiency of electrical systems by reducing energy losses and offering low electrical resistance as compared to traditional copper cables.

The energy segment is anticipated to dominate the market over the forecast period.

On the basis of application, the global superconducting wire market is classified into energy, medical, research, industry, and others. Among these, the energy segment is anticipated to dominate the market over the forecast period. Superconducting wires enable high-speed power transfer over long distances because of their essentially zero electrical resistance. This feature reduces energy losses during transmission, hence lowering costs and boosting grid reliability.

The direct segment is expected to hold the largest share of the market over the projection period.

On the basis of sales channel, the global superconducting wire market is divided into direct and indirect. Among these, the direct segment is expected to hold the largest share of the market over the projection period. Through direct sales channels, manufacturers may communicate with customers directly and provide them with detailed information on the features, applications, and performance characteristics of their goods. This direct interaction raises customer trust and confidence in the product, which leads to higher sales conversion rates.

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Europe is expected to hold the largest market share of the global superconducting wire market over the projection period.

Europe is expected to hold the largest market share of the global superconducting wire market over the projection period. European countries have robust R&D infrastructures and a long tradition of supporting scientific research. Innovative materials science, physics, and engineering research conducted by renowned European research institutes and institutions advances the field of superconducting wire technology. Furthermore, European governments heavily support research and development initiatives in emerging technologies like superconductivity. Through programs like Horizon Europe and national research funding, universities, companies, and government agencies may collaborate to speed up innovation and cutting-edge knowledge transfer in the superconducting wire industry.

Asia Pacific is expected to grow at the fastest pace in the global superconducting wire market over the projected timeframe. It is projected that the Asia-Pacific market will experience revenue growth propelled by increasing disposable income, accelerated urbanization, and stringent energy efficiency requirements. Several countries are among the leading contributors in the field, including South Korea, China, Japan, and India.

Competitive Analysis:

The report offers the appropriate analysis of the key organizations/companies involved within the global market along with a comparative evaluation primarily based on their product offering, business overviews, geographic presence, enterprise strategies, segment market share, and SWOT analysis. The report also provides an elaborative analysis focusing on the current news and developments of the companies, which includes product development, innovations, joint ventures, partnerships, mergers & acquisitions, strategic alliances, and others. This allows for the evaluation of the overall competition within the market. Major vendors in the Global Superconducting Wire Market include American Superconductor Corporation, ASG Superconductors SpA, Bruker Corporation, Eaton Corporation PLC, Epoch Wires Ltd., Fuji Electric Co., Ltd., Fujikura Ltd., Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., Japan Superconductor Technology Inc., LS Cable & System Ltd., MetOx Technologies, Inc., Nexans SA, Phoenix Contact, Superconductor Technologies Inc., Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., and Others

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Recent Developments

In December 2023, a leading manufacturer of cutting-edge power delivery technology MetOx International, Inc. said that it would accelerate the growth of its Xeus high-temperature superconducting wire (HTS) production. This capacity growth is essential for facilitating developments in additive energy generation, more effective energy transmission and distribution techniques, and the creation of innovative medical devices. This growth has been made possible by a group of eminent financial and strategic backers.



Market Segment

This study forecasts revenue at global, regional, and country levels from 2023 to 2033. Spherical Insights has segmented the Global Superconducting Wire Market based on the below-mentioned segments:

Global Superconducting Wire Market, By Type

Low-temperature Superconductor (LTS)

Medium-temperature Superconductor (MTS)

High-temperature Superconductor (HTS)

Global Superconducting Wire Market, By Application

Energy

Medical

Research

Industry

Others

Global Superconducting Wire Market, By Sales Channel

Direct

Indirect

Global Superconducting Wire Market, Regional Analysis

North America US Canada Mexico

Europe Germany Uk France Italy Spain Russia Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific China Japan India South Korea Australia Rest of Asia Pacific

South America Brazil Argentina Rest of South America

Middle East & Africa UAE Saudi Arabia Qatar South Africa Rest of the Middle East & Africa



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About the Spherical Insights & Consulting

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London, England, July 06, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --





Amid a dramatic downturn in the cryptocurrency market, Adam Carl Waldman, CEO of ValueZone, is calling on the trading community to remain calm and supportive as the market experiences significant volatility. With Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies facing severe losses, the recent market conditions have led to widespread panic and substantial financial impacts.

Market Conditions Overview:

The cryptocurrency market has encountered a harsh setback, with Bitcoin's price plummeting below critical support levels, dipping under $57,000 before making a slight recovery. This sharp decline has resulted in substantial losses for traders, with recent data from Coinglass showing that in just the last 24 hours, $292.8 million worth of cryptocurrencies have been liquidated. This tumultuous period has affected over 105,458 traders, with a staggering 88.61% being long traders who have borne the brunt of these losses.

CEO's Message to the Community:

In light of these challenging conditions, CEO Adam Carl Waldman has issued a message of resilience and solidarity. "During these turbulent times, it's vital for our community to stay informed, stay rational, and support each other. Panicking can exacerbate the situation, and we must approach this with a calm and strategic mindset," stated Waldman. He emphasizes the importance of understanding market cycles and maintaining a long-term perspective on investments.

Comprehensive Investment Plans:

To cater to diverse investment preferences, ValueZone offers a range of personalized investment plans, each designed to meet different risk tolerances and financial goals:

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These plans offer flexibility and high returns, allowing users to choose the strategy that best fits their trading style and financial objectives.

Support and Resources Available:

To further support its community, ValueZone is enhancing its customer support capabilities to handle increased inquiries and provide timely guidance. The platform also offering webinars and online forums where traders can connect, share strategies, and offer mutual support during market lows.

Future Plans to Strengthen Trader Confidence:

Looking ahead, ValueZone is committed to implementing additional tools and features that will help traders make more informed decisions and manage their investments more effectively. This includes the integration of advanced analytics tools that can provide better market insights and predictive indicators.

With the release of this comprehensive guide amid the current market uncertainties, ValueZone reaffirms its commitment to supporting its community through all market conditions. By providing its users with the necessary tools and knowledge, ValueZone is helping to secure their trading journey and increase their potential for profitability, even during challenging times.

For more information about how to get started with ValueZone and make the most of the crypto summer, visit https://valuezone.ai or use media contacts.

Media Contact Details

Contact Name: Siodina Edgar

Contact Email: siodinaedgar (at) valuezone.ai

Company Name: Wealth Investment Blockchain Company Ltd.

City/Country: Essex, United Kingdom

Website: https://valuezone.ai





Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency & securities.
VANCOUVER, July 5, 2024 - Silvercorp Metals Inc. ("Silvercorp" or the "Company") (TSX: SVM) (NYSE American: SVM) today provided an update regarding its proposed acquisition of Adventus Mining Corp. ("Adventus").

As announced in the Company's April 26, 2024 news release, the Company has entered into an arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") with Adventus pursuant to which the Company agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Adventus by way of a plan of arrangement, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions (the "Transaction"). One of those conditions is the absence of any Material Adverse Effect (as defined in the Arrangement Agreement") in respect of Adventus. The Company has determined that such a Material Adverse Effect has arisen.

The Material Adverse Effect arises from the litigation referred to in the Adventus news release of June 17, 2024, which seeks to void the environmental licence of the Curipamba-El Domo project. Since we became aware of this litigation and brought it to the attention of Adventus some weeks ago, Silvercorp has made continuous, diligent efforts to understand and analyze the litigation and its implications. As a result of the analysis Silvercorp has done, and having taken advice from its legal and other advisors, Silvercorp reached the conclusion that this litigation presently constitutes a Material Adverse Effect, as defined in the Agreement, in respect of Adventus.

The Company will continue to monitor and evaluate the litigation and its surrounding circumstances and remains open to working cooperatively with Adventus with a view to closing the Transaction if the conditions to closing for the benefit of the Company can be satisfied.

The Arrangement Agreement specifies a deadline of July 31 for the satisfaction of all conditions to closing. Silvercorp has expressed to Adventus its willingness to discuss extending this deadline.

About Silvercorp

Silvercorp is a Canadian mining company producing silver, gold, lead, and zinc with a long history of profitability and growth potential. The Company's strategy is to create shareholder value by 1) focusing on generating free cashflow from long-life mines; 2) organic growth through extensive drilling for discovery; 3) ongoing merger and acquisition efforts to unlock value; and 4) a long-term commitment to responsible mining and ESG. For more information, please visit our website at www.silvercorpmetals.com.

For further information:

Silvercorp Metals Inc.

Lon Shaver

President

Phone: (604) 669-9397

Toll Free 1(888) 224-1881

Email: investor@silvercorp.ca

Website: www.silvercorpmetals.com

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER - FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to, among other things, the ability of the parties to satisfy the conditions to the closing of the Transaction, the anticipated timing for closing of the transaction, the legal action against Ecuador's environment ministry (MAATE), with Curimining S.A. (an affiliate of Adventus) as an interested third party, the potential outcome of the legal action and possible impacts of the litigation on Adventus and the Transaction. Forward-looking information may in some cases be identified by words such as "will", "anticipates", "expects", "intends" and similar expressions suggesting future events or future performance.

We caution that all forward-looking information is inherently subject to change and uncertainty and that actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. A number of risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information or could cause our current objectives, strategies and intentions to change. Accordingly, we warn investors to exercise caution when considering statements containing forward-looking information and that it would be unreasonable to rely on such statements as creating legal rights regarding our future results or plans. We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking information will materialize and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represent expectations as of the date of this news release and are subject to change after such date. However, we are under no obligation (and we expressly disclaim any such obligation) to update or alter any statements containing forward-looking information, the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. All of the forward-looking information in this news release is qualified by the cautionary statements herein.

Forward-looking information is provided herein for the purpose of giving information about the Transaction referred and its expected impact. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Completion of the Transaction is subject to closing conditions, termination rights and other risks and uncertainties including, the legal action against MAATE, with Curimining S.A. as an interested third party, the potential outcome of the legal action and possible impacts of the litigation on Adventus and the Transaction. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Transaction will occur, or that it will occur on the terms and conditions contemplated in this news release. The Transaction could be modified, restructured or terminated. There can also be no assurance that the strategic benefits expected to result from the Transaction will be fully realized. In addition, if the transaction is not completed, and each of the parties continues as an independent entity, there are risks that the dedication of substantial resources of each party to the completion of the Transaction could have an impact on such party's current business or business relationships (including with future and prospective employees, customers, distributors, suppliers and partners) and could have a material adverse effect on the current and future operations, financial condition and prospects of such party.

A comprehensive discussion of other risks that impact Silvercorp and Adventus can also be found in their public reports and filings which are available under their respective profiles at www.sedarplus.ca.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/update-on-the-acquisition-of-adventus-mining-corporation-302190255.html

SOURCE Silvercorp Metals Inc
ROAD TOWN, July 05, 2024 - Aura Minerals Inc. (TSX: ORA) (B3: AURA33) (OTCQX: ORAAF) ("Aura" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its board of directors and Comissao de Valores Mobiliarios (CVM) have approved a forward split of the Company's Brazilian Depositary Receipts (the "BDRs") on the basis of three (3) BDRs for each one (1) BDR currently outstanding (the "BDR Split").



Each holder of record of old BDRs will receive three (3) new BDRs for every old BDR held on such date. No action is required by the holders of BDRs in connection with the BDR Split. There will be no changes to the common shares of the Company. Prior to the BDR Split, each BDR represented one (1) common share of the Company and following the BDR Split, three (3) BDRs will represent one (1) common share of the Company. The BDRs will continue to be listed on the B3 - Brasil, Bolsa Balcao under the symbol "AURA33".

Currently, there are 19,256,720 BDRs with no par value issued and outstanding. Upon completion of the BDR split, there will be 57,770,160 BDRs with no par value issued and outstanding.

Details of the BDR Split:

Record Date: 07/10/2024.

Trading: BDRs will be traded ex-rights to the split from 07/11/2024, with the new BDRs being included in the holders' positions on 07/15/2024.

The Company will keep its shareholders and the market in general informed regarding the developments of this Press Release. In case of any questions, the Investor Relations Department is available for further clarification.

About Aura 360 Mining

Aura is focused on mining in complete terms - thinking holistically about how its business impacts and benefits every one of our stakeholders: our company, our shareholders, our employees, and the countries and communities we serve. We call this 360 Mining.

Aura is a mid-tier gold and copper production company focused on operating and developing gold and base metal projects in the Americas. The Company has 4 operating mines including the Aranzazu copper-gold-silver mine in Mexico, Apoena and Almas gold mines in Brazil, and the San Andres gold mine in Honduras. The Company's development projects include Borborema and Matupa both in Brazil. Aura has unmatched exploration potential owning over 650,000 hectares of mineral rights and is currently advancing multiple near-mine and regional targets along with the Serra da Estrela copper project in the prolific Carajas region of Brazil.

For more information, please contact:

Investor Relations

ir@auraminerals.com

www.auraminerals.com

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Unites States securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements") which include, without limitation, the intention to complete the BDR Split and the effective date thereof.

Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to predict or control, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements if such risks, uncertainties or factors materialize. The Company has made numerous assumptions with respect to forward-looking statements contain herein and actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements if such assumptions prove wrong. Specific reference is made to the Company's most recent AIF on file with certain Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities and the Technical Reports for a discussion of some of the risk factors underlying forward-looking statements, which include, without limitation, the receipt of regulatory approvals to complete the BDR Split. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the forward-looking statements.
Big names attracted to Aston amid latest Newey rumours

Two prominent figures at Aston Martin are hinting that more "big name signings" could be in the works.

Fernando Alonso, Austrian GP 2024

 Aston Martin Racing

After a highly impressive start to last season for Fernando Alonso in particular, the rapidly-growing Formula 1 team is having a much tougher time with a less competitive 2024 car.

Team ambassador Pedro de la Rosa, a former F1 driver, told DAZN at Silverstone that it has taken the Lawrence Stroll-owned team some time even to understand the car's issues.

A well-explained problem is half the solution, he told the Spanish broadcaster.

The team is now focused in the wind tunnel working on a very precise area because that is really what has to help us, de la Rosa added. "We know what the problem is, we know what the diagnosis is, and that is very important in a Formula 1 team so that everyone is focused on working in that area.

We need time to solve it and there is no easy solution, he said. But if you know what the problem is, you are on the right track.

Alonso has said recently that a key car upgrade will debut in Hungary, but de la Rosa warns that it won't be a silver bullet.

Obviously these cars don't get faster just by cleaning them up. You have to bring in new things. So we are working day and night in the factory to make small improvements that should gradually help us, starting in Hungary.

The really positive news, de la Rosa says, is that a new wind tunnel will soon come online - while an even more sophisticated simulator is also coming .

We have three buildings in the factory, he added. "The first is fully finished, the second is in progress and building three is the wind tunnel which will be ready by 2025, and it's true that we need it.

But we have a spectacular team of people. We have to give them the tools and that's what we're working on.

Former Mercedes engine boss Andy Cowell has just signed up as the new CEO, while Ferrari's technical director Enrico Cardile is tipped to arrive soon.

And the latest rumblings in Italy is that Red Bull's departing Adrian Newey also looks destined for Aston Martin, with a huge salary and an attractive role as technical 'super consultant'.

We'll see whether we make more signings or not, de la Rosa told DAZN. But with the people we have, we already have a spectacular staff.

When also asked about new and potentially-new additions to the Aston Martin staff roster even amid a performance dip in 2024, Alonso said at Silverstone: "The team is still attractive to big names who are being associated with Aston Martin.

We must continue to trust the team and we believe that we have what we need to be successful in the future, but as drivers or racing teams, the future is tomorrow. We do not have much patience, he smiled.

But every time I pass the factory, there is always something new - a new building or an improvement.

(GMM)
No technical panic at Red Bull yet says Wache

Despite the departure of Adrian Newey and ever more competitive rivals, Red Bull's technical boss insists there is "no panic" inside the formerly dominant team.

Max Verstappen, British GP 2024

 Red Bull

After utterly dominating in the new 'ground effect' era since 2022, Ferrari, Mercedes and particularly McLaren are now closer than ever - and the latter's Lando Norris is even shaping up as a potential title contender.

Team consultant Dr Helmut Marko admitted recently that technical upgrades and car setups are suffering from simulator-to-track correlation issues.

It seems that the development of McLaren in particular, and Mercedes in certain areas, has been successful, technical director Pierre Wache told De Telegraaf newspaper at Silverstone.

McLaren took a gigantic step forward since the beginning of May, in Miami, he added. It's true that the others have come closer and that we have to come up with updates that can ensure we regain the lead we had.

Red Bull took an upgrade to Silverstone, although Max Verstappen is the only Red Bull driver with the new floor. In both practice sessions, McLaren's Norris was clearly ahead.

It is very important that we see that the new update gives us laptime, Wache said, "because it also has an influence on our plans for the future.

It's very simple - in previous weeks, we have not always been dominant. But there is no point in pressing the panic button just yet.

Wache says one issue is that, having aced the 'ground effect' rules so early, Red Bull is now hitting the limit on how much further the concept can be developed.

The regulations have been the same for a few years now and there are many restrictions, so we are doing a lot of work for only small margins, the Frenchman admitted.

But I do think we can continue to develop this car and that we can still find a lot of performance in the coming period.

(GMM)
While most would swim to safety, Sam Clothier hung around for a 'terrifying but incredible' swim with a great white shark.

Sam Clothier had an incredibly rare encounter with a great white shark off the coast of Australia. Source: Wet Mammal/YouTube

A fisherman has documented his once in a lifetime encounter with a great white shark after coming dangerously close to the apex predator while swimming in the water off the East coast of Australia.

Sydney-based Sam Clothier, who documents his spearfishing and travels on his YouTube channel Wet Mammal, risked his life to swim with the four-metre-long female shark while spearfishing for mahi mahi off the coast of Newcastle last month.

While most people would be rushing for safety in such circumstances, Clothier told Yahoo that he felt completely safe during the encounter with the curious creature  and insists it was a "calculated" roll of the dice.

From the shark's posture, the speed at which it moved and even just a feeling of a connection made with the shark, I felt completely safe but was always conscious that this could change at any moment which is terrifying but incredible at the same time, he explained.

Sam Clothier risked his life to swim with the deadliest shark in the ocean. Source: Wet Mammal/YouTube

'Incredible' conditions ahead of rare encounter

The 31-year-old, who works in events, described the fishing conditions as incredible on the day of the rare encounter. Perfectly flat waters, crystal clear deep blue coloured water and plenty of fish, he told Yahoo.

Clothier was swimming off a boat with his mate Tommy when he heard his name being called just as he was about to shoot at a fish with his speargun.

The shark was only a few metres away from Tommy and heading towards myself, he said. Immediately my heart rate did the opposite to what you would think and slowed down further. In spearfishing, like freediving, we slow our heart rate by relaxing. This is an important method of breath hold it's also a great way to stay calm and collected in a situation like this.

While Clothier has encountered other shark species such as bronze whalers, bull sharks, wobbegongs and grey nurse sharks, its his first time swimming with a great white.

This encounter was unique in that the shark was not aggressive, this could have been because it was in very clear water and there were two of us in the water at the time and the shark couldn't find a way to ambush us.

But also, it could have been that the shark was just curious as to what these silly aquatic apes were doing in its waters.

Clothier even shared an experiment he performed with the shark to see what would draw its curiosity. Using himself as a "test subject", Clothier puts his "life on the line" by diving deep into the water before putting his speargun above his head and slowly rising to the surface. As he does so the shark changes its course and swims directly towards him.

"A bit stupid but a once in a lifetime opportunity," he says in the video, which he warns others not to attempt.

After sharing footage of the moment to social media, many Aussies reacted with shock  and warning him to "be careful". "Casually swimming with something that'll bite ya in half," said one.

"I didn't need the PSA at the end to convince me not to try this," said another.

"Just a little shark, nothing to be afraid of," added a third.

While many would not wish to swim with a great white as Clothier did, he says he consulted marine biologists and oceanographers who said "we did everything right" during the encounter.

"Of course, there is always a small minority who are keen to criticise but that typically comes from people who are not involved in the ocean and only know of the film Jaws," he said. "Like it or not every time you enter Australian waters you have to be prepared to accept the risk that there are sharks and things could get hairy. I accept this risk every time."

Clothier says his main message to others is to "be responsible" if they find themselves in the same situation.

"Don't try and touch the shark and if you are inexperienced in the water get out as soon as you can without causing distress and having the shark getting excited as if you are a prey fleeing, he said.

I say all these things as a guy who rolled what he thought was a calculated dice. This could have resulted in my death or serious injury I'm just fortunate enough that it felt right and it was right.

Mysterious behaviour of great white sharks

The population of great whites along Australias east coast and across to New Zealand is thought to number just 750 adults, according to the CSIRO. Much is still to be learned about the species. Larger numbers of great whites do not equate to more attacks on humans.

In Florida, Australia and South Africa attacks occur on beaches where numbers are lower. But in California, surfers often swim alongside them without getting bitten, and thats something hes seen repeated on the NSW South Coast.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Podium, British GP 2024

 Mercedes

DRIVERS

1  George RUSSELL (Mercedes)

2  Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

3  Lando NORRIS (McLaren)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by David Coulthard)

Q: Lando Norris, third on the grid for tomorrow's race. I saw you talking to Sir Jackie Stewart there. Still smiling, but I suspect a little bit of frustration because it looked like you were the man laying down the lap times.

Lando NORRIS: I was until the end, but no, I'm happy with the P3. Three Brits lock out of the top three, so pretty cool here. No, good laps by George and Lewis both. They did an excellent job. They put in some nice laps and a little mistake on my part at the end, but P3 is still good.

Q: Well, it's great to hear you're happy with that. You'll be aiming to make the sort of start you did last year, so it's still all to play for.

Norris: No, 100%. And it's going to rain again tomorrow, so I'm excited. It's going to be a good race. We're quick. I can bring the fight to George and I can bring the fight to Lewis, so excited to put on a good show tomorrow.

Q: you have a knowing smile. so this battle for McLaren is not over.

Norris: No I'm excited. We're going to have some I hope we're going to have some good battles, so I look forward to it.

Q: OK, Lando congratulations. On to the forever young Lewis Hamilton. Congratulations on your second place The crowd showing their appreciation, Lewis. Did you really think you could pull that lap at the end? It's an incredible 1-2 for Mercedes.

Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, well, first off, a big, big thanks to this incredible crowd. We're so proud to be here. Three Brits in the top three is incredible. And a huge congratulations to George. He did such a great job. We definitely didn't expect to be front row this weekend, but this is huge for us, for our team. The car felt fantastic out there. And so everyone in the garage here, all our team that have come here really deserve this.

Q: It was a hugely challenging qualifying session. You had the wet, with the Intermediates at the start. There were people going off. any particular standout moment apart from that beautiful lap for you was there a point where you were thinking 'oh, I'm up against it'.

Hamilton: No, no, no., As I said, the car felt great. It was just about getting the tyre temperatures at the right place and you know sealing the deal when you had the time on track. So I think I was able to do that. I think ultimately there was still time left on the table, which George was able to find. But I feel really confident about the car tomorrow and I think with the conditions we have we can work together to keep Lando behind.

Q: OK, well, Lewis, congratulations on getting in the top three and second place here at Silverstone. And finally... George Russell, you're in pole position at the British Grand Prix.

George RUSSELL: Come on! What a feeling, what a feeling. At the start of this year, I don't think we could have even dreamt of being on pole here. And, you know, a one-two, for Lewis and I, Lando in P3. This is just mega. It's down to all these fans as well. They give us so much energy. So, yeah, thank you so much for that.

Q: Six days ago, you took the victory. Here you are taking the pole. Lewis was saying the car's been feeling great, so he's not surprised that it's a 1-2. But I didn't realise, looking through the free practice, that you guys could really take it to the McLaren.

Russell: The car at the moment is feeling so, so good. It really came alive in quali, and honestly, what a joy to drive around this circuit. And, you know, we're riding this wave at the moment, absolutely buzzing, but eyes on tomorrow. We've got a race to win, and it's going to be tight with Lando. Max is going to be fast as well, but I'm so excited right now.

Q: Lewis has spoken in the past about the power of the crowd driving him forwards. Are you picking up that mantle and taking some of that energy?

Russell: The crowd give us all so much energy, the three of us. I don't think Silverstone could have dreamt of the three Brits in the top three. So, honestly, the support, we just absolutely love it and we can't wait for the race tomorrow.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Many congratulations, George. What a performance by you and Mercedes. You won in Austria last weekend. You're on pole here at home. Just how good does this feel?

Russell: Yeah, this is definitely one of the best feelings I've ever had on a Saturday afternoon. The car was just insane. When we went out in Q3, it just really came alive and without doubt, one of the best feelings I've ever had driving this circuit and crossing the line, seeing my name in P1, and then seeing we're both on the front row. We couldn't have even dreamt of that after the first three or four races. Yeah, it feels good.

Q: Have you been surprised by the pace of the car today?

Russell: It's been feeling great since Canada when we brought these upgrades. You know, the two of us have been qualifying in the top three consistently, but it really came into its own today. We were really quick in FP1 yesterday. We struggled in FP2 a little bit, but these conditions just really got the car into a perfect window, and the lap was just really, really nice, and there's no guarantees for tomorrow, for sure but we feel like we're riding this wave at the moment. And, I mean, obviously, for us as a team, I don't know when the last time was. we were on a front row. But, you know, 2021? Maybe before.

Q: George, you say that last lap in Q3 was really, really nice. Just where did you find the time over that first run in Q3?

Russell: From Turn 6 to Turn 9, I gained a lot. Turn 6 and 7 were mega. There's a big headwind through there so I braked really, really late and I just could carry the speed through the corners. But it was just on rails, the car. I just felt so confident in it. Q3, we really turned it up because Q1 and Q2 were very, very challenging. I felt like I was about to get knocked out at various points. The track improved in every single lap. And probably going into Q3 was the most pressure I've ever felt in a qualifying session because the whole Q1 and Q2 runs, it was like on the verge of getting knocked out every single occasion. And I wasn't feeling that confident with myself. But as soon as I went through Turn 1 and 2 in Q3, I felt good and managed to do the laps.

Q: Well, George, let's throw it forward to the race. With practice being so affected by the weather, just how much confidence do you have in the long-run pace of the car?

Russell: Yeah, I think. realistically we know we're probably a tenth or two behind Lando and Max, but I think we've got a good fight on our hands. But the weather's going to play a huge part in that. You know, it's been raining and drying up throughout the last couple of days. There's a bit of rain on the forecast tomorrow. We're probably on course for another Montreal-style race where it's going to be very changeable. So it's going to be a long race. As I said, we're riding this wave right now, but it doesn't mean anything because tomorrow is where the points are scored. But we're obviously in a great position to fight for victory.

Q: Alright, look, best of luck. Well done today. Lewis, let's come to you now. An 11th front-row start at Silverstone for you. Just tell us about the session from your point of view.

Hamilton: It was a great session. Naturally, the best session that we've had as a team to just have the real pace and be able to actually compete with the McLarens and the Red Bulls, I think is incredibly satisfying, just really a huge boost for the team. And the car felt great, as George was saying, a huge congratulations to George for getting the pole. But to be on the front row, I think, is massive for our team. So many of them are here this weekend with their families. And it's been a long time since we've had it. So this is a great feeling.

Q: How was the build-up of the session through Q1 and Q2 from your point of view?

Hamilton: It's pretty straightforward for me, to be honest. I mean, when it's wet, that's when I'm probably the happiest. So I'm super confident in those first conditions. That was the easiest part for me, I would say. And then it got a little bit harder once we got to Q3, just a bit with balance. But nonetheless, as I said, I'm super grateful to be here.

Q: Alright. And Lewis, just throwing it forward to the race, do you have belief in the long-run pace of the car?

Hamilton: Well, I think I was cautious with my set-up, more thinking to have a nice balance in the race rather than all for one particular lap. So I do think that the car will be good tomorrow, yeah.

Q: Alright. Best of luck. Thank you very much. Lando, coming to you now. You said a little earlier that you're happy with the car. Just tell us, first of all, what happened on that final lap of Q3.

Norris: I just ran wide out of Turn 14 and that was it.

Q: Without that, do you think pole was in the offing for you today?

Norris: No, I was already a tenth-and-a-half down, so it's tough. I think, you know, George and Lewis have done a great job for the two cars to be up there. Shows that the team are also doing an amazing job. It was super close. I think if I put in a good enough lap, it was close and within a bit of a fight. But, no, they've seemed very quick all weekend since FP1, like George said, so there or thereabouts, but I just didn't deliver it today.

Q: Lando, are you surprised by the pace of Mercedes here?

Norris: No.

Q: Okay. Well, look, throwing it forward to the race then

Norris: It's a simple question!

Q: Throwing it forward to the race. Are you expecting them to be your main challenger tomorrow?

Norris: Yeah, I think even if you look at last year, Mercedes were probably one of the quickest in the race. If not potentially the quickest. So I expect them to be very quick tomorrow, especially as they can look after their front tyres very well. They have a very good front end. And I think that's going to be a good saviour for them tomorrow. But again, like George said, the conditions are going to be tricky. But we're there. We've been very quick in the races over the last two months. It's probably been one of our strengths. It's been actually race pace over quali pace. But this is a very different type of circuit. It's a very different layout. But it's still a strength. And hopefully it comes back towards us a little bit tomorrow.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas  Autosport) A question to George, please. Actually, a couple of questions. Just going back to that last lap in Q3, I think you started off a little bit slower through the first couple of corners. It was slower at the end of the first sector, but then purple by the end. So can you just explain what was going on at the beginning there? And also, you mentioned the struggles Q1, Q2. Did the car change much ahead of Q3 for that big transformation?

Russell: The wind picked up on that last lap and you had a bit more of a tailwind through Turns 3 and 4. So I think a few of us were brown in that first sector, but then suddenly you picked up so much more downforce through Turn 6 and 7 and in the last corner as well when you're going into the wind. So that was probably... the reason for it. But no, Q1 and Q2, we were just not trying to use our new Soft tyres to allow us to have the two new sets for Q3. And I think we've also saved one set of new Softs for the race tomorrow. So the Soft is a potential race tyre. So when you've got cars that are slightly slower than you throwing tyres at it, you're just always on that back foot. And that was kind of the reasoning for it. Yeah, the track dried up. We got into the groove, and the lap times came.

Q: (Niharikia Ghorpade  Sportskeeda) Lando, you start on second row with Max. How important is it going to be to have a clean start? And when it comes to the race, we saw in Canada that it was a bit of the pit stop strategy where you lost out to Red Bull. So how much of a threat is Red Bull to you? And given that they're on the back foot, how confident are you going into the race and executing it properly?

Norris: I'm sure Max is going to be racing us tomorrow, but I've still got two other guys I've got to worry about, so I don't care just about Red Bull. I think our strategy has been very good over the last two months, so I'm happy. The team are doing a good job and therefore I'm confident we can execute a good race. We need good pace. We need to be able to race well. I need to pass two guys if that's going to be on the cards. So, yeah, confident from what we know and what we've seen over the last few races that we can go forwards.

Q: (Silvia Arias  Parabrisas) Lewis, with the Mercedes performing like that, end of last year, do you think would you be in Ferrari next year? Do you think you will be in Ferrari next year performing, if you had last year the car you are having now?

Hamilton: Yes.

Q: (Fred Ferret  l'Equipe) A question to the three of you. Do you have an explanation why the Brits are so good in Formula 1?

Hamilton: Roast dinners.

Norris: It can't be. I don't have roast dinner.

Hamilton: No?

Norris: Maybe that's why I'm not on pole. I've got more than George. I mean, I think we grew up in these conditions. I think Q3 was just completely dry, but I think through the whole of this weekend, between the three of us, we've probably been, on average, the quickest. We always enjoy these conditions, similar to Canada. The three of us were up there being amongst the quickest again. Yeah, definitely growing up in I think just a very competitive I think England is the most competitive kind of area to grow up in. Then kind of more Europe-based, but weather and just competitiveness of growing up and having the most competitive upbringing and competitiveness was the main thing.

Russell: Yeah, I think, like Lando said, just grassroots probably, in the UK, is the most advanced for motorsport. And we're so fortunate to have so many great drivers. And you just push one another along that journey. And I think also so many great British drivers in the past have inspired the youngsters to get into racing.

Q: (Simon Abberley  Nevis Radio) George and Lewis, you said on Thursday you weren't too sure if you had the car for this weekend. Obviously, you're doing quite well with where you're sat just now. With that in mind and the changeable conditions for tomorrow, have you maybe geared your car more towards the rain? Or is this something that you thought could be potentially possible on Thursday but weren't too sure about playing your cards out to the media yet?

Russell: I think, if anything, we actually geared up slightly more for the race, which is normally a trade-off you'd always take. You can qualify P4 and get into the lead on lap one, or vice versa. It feels so great for us to be here now, but the race start, things can change very quickly. So we'd always sort of gear it up slightly more for the race. But yeah, I mean, nothing's changed since last weekend, and the car's been performing so well here. So you need to look into it and try and understand why it's been so good, especially in these high-speed corners, because in Austria, Red Bull were miles ahead of everybody. And at the moment, we've been the quickest. So yeah, it's a difficult sport sometimes.

Hamilton: I completely forgot what the question was. What was it? Well, I said that earlier on. But we'd set the car up pretty much exactly the same, whether it's wet or dry. It's just all about optimising the aero package.

Q: (Will Wood) Question for George, please. George, you mentioned that this could be another Montreal-style race. That obviously didn't go quite the way that you wanted from where you started. How do you make sure that tomorrow works out better for you?

Russell: Yeah, thanks for that question. You know, it's... we're all racers, we're pushing the limits. I said after Montreal, my sort of risk reward dial was turned up to the max and that sort of played against me at certain points. And just remembering that the race is won right at the end. It doesn't matter what happens beforehand. So yeah, that was a good learning for me. We still came away with a podium, but every single scenario is so different. Today, for example, in qualifying, it was raining in just three corners. And the rest of the track was bone dry, but those two corners, three corners, people were going off the track. So very, very challenging.

Q: (Kieran Jackson  The Independent) Lewis, you've won here eight times. The guys alongside you haven't won at Silverstone before. Do you think that experience could really help you tomorrow, particularly if it rains like it did in 2008? Is there a lot you can take from that race so many years ago, but in similar conditions perhaps tomorrow?

Hamilton: All the experiences definitely help and count. As I said, when it's wet, that's the conditions I was perhaps most comfortable in. But these two have also driven very well in the wet also, so I don't think it's going to make a difference.

Q: (Carlo Platella) A question for the Mercedes drivers. How different is this car to drive compared to a couple of months ago?

Russell: I think we've made some small changes, which have had a big impact. We knew from the start of this year, the baseline of this car is substantially better than what we've had in previous years. But we went from having an oversteer car last year, then to an understeer car this year. And now we've just dialled it back and found the happy medium. When you've got the balance in a good place, the tyre temperatures are in the right window, and the lap time just really snowballs positively. It hasn't been a substantial change, but it's made a massive difference to the lap time.

Hamilton: Massive difference.

Q: Where is it different?

Hamilton: Everywhere. It's just better everywhere. From Bahrain, for example, the car felt terrible, and the progress that we made in terms of dialling and fine-tuning the car to optimise the aero package. This team has never struggled to add performance, but where particularly they put that performance has always been, with this generation of car, has been a big question and where we're getting the downforce from. So, yeah, but now they've done an amazing job, the engineers back at the factory. But, you know, look, it's... We'd definitely take it today, but these guys are still Red Bull, particularly Max, and the McLarens are very, very, very fast. And in some ways, you know, you saw in the last race, they were quite a bit ahead of us. So I'm hoping that tomorrow, with the conditions, we can hold our own.

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas  Autosport) Another question to Lewis, please, just on rather a different subject. The Apple movie, again, is doing lots of filming at Silverstone, as it was last year. I just wondered, can you give us any update on what you've seen and how it's going? And also, what's your thoughts on the film simply being titled, nice and simple, F1?

Hamilton: There's not really anything else I can add that I haven't already said. I think Joe and Jerry and the whole crew are so grateful to be here and have been incredibly respectful of this space and have been very, very thoughtful. Some people just go out and go about it their own way, but they've been really wanting to make sure that the heritage is very much in this movie. And so I think people You know, the trailer is coming out soon. So I'm looking forward to people seeing that. And what else? The title. I mean, it's probably Well, what else are you going to call it? You know, I think it would distract from what the series is, so I like it.

Q: (Taylor Powling  Motorsport Monday) Question to George and Lando. With a mixed conditions race possible tomorrow, will you be encouraging your teams to review what happened in Canada to make sure you nail those changing conditions if they do occur?

Russell: I mean, yeah, absolutely. But as I said before, it was so difficult in Canada. You know, on the grid, I increased my tyre pressures because rain was meant to hit in 20 minutes time, which is about 12 to 15 laps, and it hit in 40 minutes. And then that's, you know, Lando was 10 seconds behind us and then ended up 10 seconds ahead of us and clearly was low on tyre pressure. So if the rain hit when it did, we would have been in a good place. As it turned out, Lando was in the right place. So we can do all the reviewing we want. The fact is it's very, very difficult to predict.

Norris: I mean, we review everything. It's not just kind of every race that's wet or Inters or whatever you review. But again, like George says, every case is different. You have to be prepared for every eventuality. And it's not like you can plan these things. You know, it's a lot about just decision-making and being prepared at the time to just execute whatever plans you need to have ready and kind of have in front of you. So we did a lot of reviewing of Canada, so I'm sure tomorrow will be better.
Oscar Piastri, British GP 2024



Oracle Red Bull Racing

Max Verstappen (4th, 1:26.203): "The Team did a great job trying to recover some of the bits and optimise the balance from front to rear, but it majorly affected our qualifying. A mixed Saturday. It was unlucky timing when I came out of turn seven and it started to rain, I tried to slow down in to that corner but the car still snapped on me and I was focused on keeping it out of the wall. Going in the gravel ripped up my floor and we had pretty significant damage from there on out. The Team did a great job trying to recover some of the bits and optimise the balance from front to rear, but it majorly affected our qualifying. I was lucky to be in Q3 after that, and in the end to qualify in P4 was a bit of a positive surprise and the best we could do today. For the race, first we need a new floor, but I think it will be an exciting race and we will probably be a bit more on the attack trying to move up the grid as McLaren and Mercedes have been really quick in every session and have had a good weekend so far. Tomorrow is a new day, we'll have to wait and see what the weather will do as well but I'm confident that if we have a clean car we can be in the mix."

Sergio Perez (19th, 1:38.348): "I messed up today and it hurts a lot because to let your Team down that way is not nice, especially as it had been a very solid weekend up to now. It was a silly mistake out there, I was one of the first to switch to the slick tyre and we saw a lot of mistakes in the conditions, unfortunately I was the one who got the worst of it. I got caught out, I was trying to warm up the tyres and I had a lock up going into turn nine, I went off the track and there was standing water, as I tried to stop the car I lost the rear and went into the gravel. I messed up today and it hurts a lot because to let your Team down that way is not nice, especially as it had been a very solid weekend up to now. It's frustrating because I think we had good pace, we were very strong on Friday and this morning, I was in the rhythm and it's a shame we didn't get to show it. It will be hard to recover from the back of the grid but let's see what we are able to do tomorrow, we must limit the damage and hope things go in our favour."

Christian Horner, Sporting Director: "To get on the second row with that amount of damage? We'll take that. Unfortunately a rattle through the gravel caused quite a bit of damage to Max's floor which really impacted performance in the later stages of qualifying. The Team did a fantastic job in the garage to turn it around in between sessions to salvage what we could. It was a brilliant lap by Max also. To get on the second row with that amount of damage? We'll take that. It was a tough qualifying for Checo. No one will be more disappointed than he, going out in Q1 like that. It's obviously not what we can afford at the moment. He will need a big race tomorrow but there is still a lot of opportunity here so he's not out yet."

Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team

George Russell (1st, 1:25.819): "What a feeling! At the start of this year, we couldn't have even dreamt of being on pole position at Silverstone. Having three Brits in the top-three is absolutely mega too. The crowd has been incredible, and they give us all so much energy. Having myself, Lewis, and Lando (Norris) at the front of the grid just shows that! The car at the moment feels so good. It came alive in Qualifying, and it was an absolute joy to drive around this amazing circuit. We are riding a wave at the moment, but our eyes are on tomorrow. We've got a race to win, and we know that the McLaren of Lando will be pushing us incredibly hard. Max (Verstappen) will also be in the fight, but I am so excited right now. We can't wait for the race tomorrow."

Lewis Hamilton (2nd, 1:25.990): "Having three Brits at the front of the grid for the British Grand Prix is incredible. A huge congratulations to George, he did such a great job to take pole position. We didn't expect to be on the front-row this weekend. This result is therefore huge for us as a team. The car felt fantastic out there and everyone at Brackley and Brixworth deserves this. It was all about getting the tyre temperatures in the right place today and then sealing the deal with a good lap. I think there was a little time left on the table which George managed to extract. I feel confident in the car for tomorrow's race. With both myself and George on the front-row, we have an advantage in trying to keep Lando (Norris) behind. Let's see what we can do."

Toto Wolff, Team Principal: "That was a very good Saturday for the team. That is a front three for Mercedes-Benz power and three Brits at the front, which is special for the Silverstone crowd. That said, today doesn't count for much. We need to do the job tomorrow and the McLaren of Lando Norris has looked incredibly quick. Keeping him behind will be a tough ask. The race tomorrow may be dictated by tyre degradation so we will have to be at our very best if we want to fight for victory. We've been on a rollercoaster in recent months, and it has been difficult at times. Coming here to one of the temples of motorsport and locking out the front-row is a great reward for everyone at Brackley and Brixworth. So much work has been done in all areas to help get us into this position. We are not stopping here though. We have more developments to come, and everyone is continuing to push incredibly hard."

Andrew Shovlin: "That was a great qualifying session for the team and drivers. It's been a while since we've had both cars on the front row, and this is a testament to the hard work and determination from everyone in the team. In FP3, it felt like we had good pace in the wet. That running was useful as there's still a chance that we'll see more rain tomorrow. We felt we were missing a bit of speed on the Soft tyre yesterday, but the overnight setup work seems to have nudged us in the right direction. The cooler conditions may also have suited our car. Turning a front row in Qualifying into a one-two for tomorrow is our objective. We're under no illusion that with Lando (Norris) and Max (Verstappen) behind us, that will be a difficult task. We've enjoyed great support from the Silverstone crowd so far this weekend and we'll do everything we can to give them something to celebrate tomorrow."

Scuderia Ferrari

Carlos Sainz (7th, 1:26.585): "I gave it everything out there but we knew Silverstone was going to be a tough track for us. The conditions were also very tricky so qualifying today was even more challenging. With hindsight, I think we could have left the garage a bit earlier for the last run, as the out-lap was messy, fighting for position with other cars and the tyres were not in the right window before the last push. Anyhow, we need to keep working to try and close the gap because our performance was not great overall. Still, the points are given out tomorrow, so I look forward to the race, which could be interesting with the weather."

Charles Leclerc (11th, 1:27.097): "Not an easy qualifying. Our main goal is assessing our situation as we have been struggling for a few weekends now. We did the right thing by splitting the configurations across our cars yesterday and we gained valuable insights that will be beneficial in the long term. However, by focusing on these tests, you may not optimise your weekend as a whole and that's what happened today in qualifying. We are working on understanding in which direction we have to push to bounce back as soon as possible."

Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "I think today we didn't execute qualifying well enough and that meant we were unable to put everything together. We decided to move to the old spec for today as there was more bouncing with the new one and with the high speed corners we have at Silverstone, the trade-off of fitting the new parts wasn't positive enough. In Q2 there were nine cars in one tenth and the track evolved considerably. Carlos made the cut to the final part, but Charles made a mistake in turn 13 that meant he didn't make it to Q3. The last phase was also messy as Carlos was able to put together a decent lap on his first set but then we were slowed by traffic at the second attempt and he had to fight for track positions with Oscar Piastri and Fernando Alonso and couldn't prepare the tyres in the right way. As for the race, I think that given our grid positions, if it rains then the race might be more chaotic and that could suit us better than a dry afternoon. We need to nail our strategy and execute the race perfectly if we want to bring home a decent points haul."

McLaren Formula 1 Team

Lando Norris (3rd, 1:26.030): "I'm happy with P3. Three Brits locking out the top three positions at the British Grand Prix is pretty cool. Both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton did great laps and an excellent job. I made a little mistake on my part at the end, but we're still in a good starting spot. It's going to rain again tomorrow, and I'm excited to put on a good show. It's going to be a good race for the fans. I know we're quick, so I can bring the fight to both the Mercedes."

Oscar Piastri (5th, 1:26.237): "A bit of a disappointing result in the end. We had the pace and ability to be further up, but I got stuck in traffic on my last lap. The car is quick, and we have solid race pace, so anything is possible tomorrow, especially with the weather. We'll review it this evening and make sure we give it everything tomorrow."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal: "It was a well-executed Qualifying in mixed conditions at Silverstone today, until the final run in Q3 where we did not fully capitalise. We were able to progress through the sessions relatively comfortably. The first run was promising, but then, in the second run for both Lando and Oscar, we didn't have the possibility to improve, and this meant we missed out on a better result. On Lando's side, his last lap was a little untidy, while Oscar needed to fight for position on the out lap, ending up too close to Carlos Sainz when opening his final lap. Going into tomorrow, we are still in a very strong position for the race. We will maximise our preparation and try to look ahead in the race."

Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team

Lance Stroll (8th, 1:26.640): "Two cars in Q3 is a strong result for us today, especially in such tough conditions. The changes we made to the car after Austria have been beneficial and seem to have made the car easier to drive. My final flying lap was a bit messy  I think we could have managed a little more  so it's a bit frustrating but the times are super close out there. This is an uplifting result for the team and we'll try and capitalise on it tomorrow. Who knows what the British weather will bring! In Q1, I drove out of the pit lane just as the red light appeared. I saw it at the last moment but didn't have enough time to react. I made the decision it was safer to drive slowly around the track than slam on the brakes at the end of the pit lane."

Fernando Alonso (10th, No Time): "It's good to have both cars make it into Q3 today after a few difficult Saturdays for the team. Unfortunately, we didn't complete the final lap in Q3 after some traffic on the out-lap with Carlos [Sainz] and Oscar [Piastri]. We managed to finish in the top three in Q2 and the pace was competitive, so I think there was a little more in it for us than tenth position in the end. Hopefully, we can be fighting for the points with both cars in tomorrow's race."

Mike Krack, Chief Operating Officer: "The drivers and the team did a good job to get both cars in the top ten today. It was not an easy session because the track was drying and improving with each lap. Lance had a decent final lap in Q3 to qualify in P8, while Fernando lost out trying to find some space ahead of his final run. He ended up with a bunch of cars ahead and had to settle for P10 so we did not maximise today. The AMR24 was more competitive here at Silverstone and the target is to score some points at our home race in front of our fans tomorrow."

BWT Alpine F1 Team

Esteban Ocon (18th, 1:34.557): "It was a complicated session with the drying track and stoppage for the red flag, but ultimately, we did not optimise our Qualifying today. We did not take the right decisions at the right time, and we seemed to be offset compared to the others, and not pushing when the track was probably at its best. Then there was some confusion at the end where I thought we had one more push lap and I was told to abort the lap. In the end, it is a frustrating day that we did not maximise and one that we need to review. It will be a difficult race tomorrow given our starting position. We will try our best to move forward, especially if the weather stays like it is with changeable conditions."

Pierre Gasly (20th, 1:39.804): "We knew ahead of the weekend we were going to start the race from P20, as we had to take a penalty eventually and it is good that we get it out of the way. It was not a very exciting session for me  I did a single lap on Softs and with the track conditions improving we did not want to take any risks today. For me, the weekend will start tomorrow, we will attack where we can and hopefully be able to fight our way back to the top ten and continue our positive streak over the past couple of races. But we also know the conditions here are very tricky and we have seen how easy it is to get off track here. At the same time, those conditions could make the race tomorrow quite interesting, and it could help us fight our way back and gain positions."

Bruno Famin, Team Principal: "We have not been good enough today from an operational standpoint. With the changeable conditions it was crucial to push and set a time when the track was at its best and we missed the optimum window. We knew with Pierre there was little to gain today with the grid penalties for tomorrow, so we did not take any unnecessary risks. For Esteban, the timing was tight at the end for the chequered flag, and we missed the opportunity to improve on his time. We will go away and review what happened and try to avoid similar scenarios happening in future. It will be a long race tomorrow and we will review how best to approach the race from our starting position and give ourselves a chance of progressing through the field."

Williams Racing

Alexander Albon (9th, 1:26.917): "We had a great car to be honest and managed to hold on into Q3, with the weather keeping everyone on their toes. I think I picked up a little damage on my Q2 lap, so was slightly compromised in Q3, however it was nothing major. I'm not sure if P8 was on the cards but I'm very happy. I think after a tough few races, I enjoyed that. We've not quite been on the pace all weekend, struggling with a certain balance limitation in the car but I think the track temperatures helped us as the tyres were able to last a bit longer. With potential mixed conditions tomorrow, it will be a fun race with a few different strategies so hopefully, we can fight for some good points."

Logan Sargeant (12th, 1:27.175): "It's been a good weekend so far considering I missed FP1 and only had a few low fuel laps before coming into Qualifying today. It's not been easy with the constant change in conditions. Going into Quali we expected it to be wet and it just about dried for Q1. We had the car in a decent place throughout the session and I'm proud of the way I was able to deliver laps when it mattered. I was reasonably happy with my Q2 lap; I lost a little bit through Becketts picking up some understeer which cost me a tenth or two. Tomorrow looks as variable as today in terms of weather but we're in the mix. I'll do my homework tonight on both conditions to be ready for whatever comes."

Sven Smeets, Racing Director: "The weather made this afternoon's Qualifying session probably one of the most difficult ones of this year. After starting on the Intermediate, it became clear quickly that at some point we had to change to slicks, it was just picking the right moment of when to do that final push lap. Both drivers drove well in their all deciding push lap and moved into Q2. Logan came close to being in Q3 for the first time this season. A small error cost him some time but he can look back on a very good weekend so far after missing FP1 and will be looking to fight for points from his P12 starting position. With Alex, we managed to move into Q3 after a great lap in Q2. With P9, we are probably close to the performance of the car, but we looked competitive in our race runs on Friday, so we'll fight hard to stay in the points tomorrow. The weather looks as though we'll have more of the same as today, so it will be an interesting race with lots of opportunities."

Visa Cash App RB Formula One

Yuki Tsunoda (13th, 1:27.269): "I'm happy with how we handled today; the team and I worked well together and communicated during qualifying to adapt to the changing weather conditions. We knew it would be difficult coming into quali because we've been lacking pace throughout Free Practice, and it's a shame we haven't been able to quite turn it around as much as we would've liked to, but the field is tight, and anything can happen. We're struggling with pace in the high-speed corners at this track, which is similar to last week, but we'll work hard to maximise our performance tomorrow. We had good pace in the wet and we'll adapt based on the weather conditions and communicate, that's the key."

Daniel Ricciardo (15th, 1:27.949): "I'm not particularly happy with today's qualifying; it wasn't a good session, and this is something we need to figure out. Both runs in Q2 didn't go as expected, and we struggled to get the lap in, leading me to do some overtaking in the last corner, which is something I hate when people do it to me. I started my last push lap a couple of seconds behind Zhou, and with the dirty air, you're never going to get a good lap. The last three weekends haven't been easy, but we found a way to make it work. Coming into Silverstone with the same struggles has also added to today's frustrations because we don't have the luxury to be able to get things wrong. We'll address all we need during tonight's debrief and look ahead at the race."

Jody Egginton, Technical Director: "The drivers and team worked very well to maximise Q1 which was not straight forward due to the red flag, threat of rain and gusty conditions. Q2 was a little less complicated with both cars making two runs. Daniel and Yuki both ran a double push with their first Q2 tyre sets, but it was clear at this point that progressing to Q3 was going to be difficult. Unfortunately, we didn't put Daniel in good enough conditions for his final run in Q2 which got him caught up in a lot of traffic, altering his position for tomorrow. We find ourselves slightly back from where we want to be, but laps time deltas to the cars around us are small and the team is pushing hard to extract everything from the car."

Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber

Guanyu Zhou (14th, 1:27.867): "It feels good to have made it into Q2 here in Silverstone, a track that suits us much better than Austria. There was a lot going on in Q1 as we experienced mixed conditions and therefore started on inters before switching to slicks. The damp track in particular suited us quite well today  where gaps appear to be even smaller  and the team did a fantastic job navigating through some unpredictable conditions. I hope we'll experience something similar tomorrow to make up a few more positions and be in the fight for points. I'm looking forward to the race as Silverstone is a track that offers lots of overtaking opportunities. I reckon tyre management will be quite important, and there will be chances to do well."

Valtteri Bottas (16th, 1:32.431): "We made some good calls today, so it's disappointing to get knocked out in Q1. We were in a good position and in the top ten until the very last attempt, but sometimes it's just like a roulette in these conditions. The rain made it very tricky, and it was a challenge to keep on track and squeeze all from the car, especially as the grip changed every lap. We were among the first to go to slicks before the red flag, and we had a good position at the top of the queue at the restart; however, conditions improved at the very end, the others could find something more and we couldn't. Luck went against us today, but I feel we are in a better place for the race. It's hard to say how conditions will be, but we'll be ready for anything."

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "It may seem strange to comment positively on a session in which we finished in 14th and 16th, but today we did a step forward. In FP3, this morning, we were not there in terms of performance, especially in a perspective of fighting for a spot in Q2: we did some changes to our setup, going to a higher downforce level, and that made the car perform a lot better in qualifying. We saw Zhou being much more comfortable, and he delivered a very good lap to enter Q2. He was in a fight with the RBs and even Leclerc, cars that are usually out of our reach. Unfortunately, we lost Valtteri in Q1 by a very small margin. His first lap put him just outside the top ten, but then he had to abort both his second and third laps. It's a shame as he had the performance to comfortably claim a spot in Q2. We need to focus on the positives: we saw a car with good balance and the team executed the session very well. We were the first to go for softs before the red flag and also positioned the car well, at the front of the line, at the restart. We can look at tomorrow's race with confidence: conditions can be changeable and, if we execute well, we can be there in the fight for points."

MoneyGram Haas F1 Team

Nico Hulkenberg (6th, 1:26.338): "I managed to take the momentum from last race into this week, plus I think the updates we brought to the car yesterday really had an impact and I felt a gain with them straightaway. That's good news and it's not always the case, so a big well done to the team. Quali was good; Q1 was a bit too close for comfort with only one lap. With the red flag, we got a little out of sync and maybe it was a bit sketchy, but otherwise it was a good, clean session. I feel good confidence in the car which means I can produce the laps, even if it's just one."

Kevin Magnussen (17th, 1:32.909): "We boxed the car after I went off the track as the track was too wet I thought. Unfortunately, I didn't know it was going to be a short little sprinkle and the track would dry up in minutes so we boxed and didn't go out again. The track dried up and everyone improved their lap times. We're looking to move forward of course, but I would've liked to be out there at the end to move through because clearly we had the pace, but once again we didn't manage to get through, not because of pace but because of other things."

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "It's been a pretty eventful day with pretty tricky conditions, but in FP3 I think we made progress learning about car behavior on the intermediates. In Q1 we decided not to run on the inters because we expected it to be dry, so that's what we did. It was very tricky, we need to review what we did and how we can do it better because we just got through with Nico. Kevin didn't get through Q1 because he went off but with Nico, we didn't give ourselves enough margin, so that's something we need to improve. Moving into dry conditions with Nico, what a fantastic result with P6, and that could've been better. He made a mistake on his flying lap in one of the corners so it's really pleasing with all the hard work from the team getting this upgrade on and it paying off well. It's an excellent position to start tomorrow, so we'll see what we can do but for now, I'm happy for the team  amazing work from everyone."
China's first "giant panda college" starts enrolling students

Xinhua) 11:20, July 06, 2024

CHENGDU, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The giant panda college under China West Normal University in southwest China's Sichuan Province, known as the hometown to giant pandas, is set to enroll 50 undergraduates this autumn, majoring wildlife and nature reserve management.

The college, established last September by the provincial forestry and grassland administration, is China's first college to feature giant panda studies.

The university has a longstanding focus on the ecological protection of rare wild animal and plant resources in southwest China's mountains. It is the earliest, longest-lasting and most influential university to conduct research in the field of wild giant panda ecology.

The college has signed cooperation agreements with the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, and several national nature reserves.

Wei Wei, a teacher at the college, said that during their college studies, students have the opportunity to pursue internships and gain hands-on experiences at these places, participating in work related to giant panda protection, breeding, and disease prevention and control.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Lisette Reymer, the Europe correspondent for New Zealands Newshub, filmed her segment about the election result 'weeks' ago.

Lisette Reymer boldly proclaimed she filmed her segment on the UK result weeks in advance. Source: Twitter

A New Zealand journalist has revealed that she was so sure of Labours landslide win in the UKs general election that she filmed a segment on the result weeks ago.

Standing outside Downing Street, Lisette Reymer, the Europe correspondent for New Zealands Newshub, boldly proclaimed that Sir Keir Starmers victory over the Conservative party was so predictable she was able to record her report in advance before flying home.

The change in power has appeared inevitable for months  if not years, she said. Todays result was so predictable, I was able to confidently film this weeks in advance before flying home to New Zealand.

Reymers UK election segment came at the end of Newshubs Live broadcast bulletin at 6pm. It marked the final edition of the Newshub bulletin after it was announced in April that it would close all its Newshub operations, causing nearly 300 job losses.

Sir Keir Starmer - accompanied by his wife Victoria Alexander Starmer - making his first speech as the new Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. Source: AP

UK to 'move forward' after 14 years of Conservative rule

With pollsters predicting the Labour party win, Reymer was able to fly home to Auckland to join her colleagues to mark the final bulletin.

Starmer's Labour won a massive majority in the UK's 650-seat parliament, prompting Conservative leader Rishi Sunak's resignation before Starmer went to meet King Charles and be formally named prime minister.

In his first speech on Downing Street, Starmer said the British people had voted "decisively for change". He said the country could "move forward together" as Labour took office following 14 years of Conservative rule.

Labour won some 410 seats, an increase of 210, while the Conservatives lost about 250 MPs, including a record number of senior ministers and former prime minister Liz Truss.

Rishi Sunak apologises to the nation

Sunak's Conservatives suffered the worst performance in the party's long history as voters punished them for a cost-of-living crisis, failing public services and a series of scandals.

"To the country I would like to say first and foremost I am sorry," Sunak said in a final speech outside Downing Street, adding he would stay as Conservative leader until the party appointed his replacement.

"I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change, and yours is the only judgment that matters.

"I have heard your anger, your disappointment and I take responsibility for this loss."

Outgoing Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and wife Akshata Murty leave 10 Downing Street following Labour's landslide election victory Source: Getty Images

Kiwi reporter praised for bold move

Many across the world were quick to praise Reymer for her funny segment.

One said that Reymer delivered a "slam dunk" for the network with others saying it was "brilliant".

"Wow just wow. The boldness," joked another.

 With AAP

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World War II survivors, their families and community members doing a memorial march to the site of a concentration camp where many CHamorus stayed before the end of World War II, and the coronation of this years Liberation Queen on Sunday are kicking off a month full of events replete with history and traditions.

Guam will celebrate the 80th anniversary of its liberation from Japanese occupation during WW II on July 21  a day marked with festivities, as well as memorials to honor the lives lost and forever changed by the war.

Days leading to July 21 are also dotted with Liberation-related events.

At 9 a.m. Sunday, July 7, the Manenggon Memorial Foundation will host the Hasso Manenggon Memorial March. It starts at Ylig Bridge to the memorial site.

The Hasso Manenggon ceremony at 10 a.m. will follow at the Manenggon Memorial Site in Yona.

The event commemorates the freeing of CHamorus from concentration camps they were forced into under Japanese occupation during the war. It is held in remembrance of those who died during one of the worst atrocities in CHamoru history.

Layla Espinal: 2024 Liberation Queen

Later on Sunday, the Mayors Council of Guam will hold the 80th Liberation Queen coronation at 7 p.m. at Hilton Guam Resort and Spa in Tumon.

This years Liberation Queen is Layla Cabrini Delgado Espinal from Mangilao, who raised $52,251.03.

The Royal Princess is Aaliya Monique Benin from Santa Rita-Sumai, who raised $49,908.98.

Princesses

Mara Reese Perez Mendiola of Tamuning  $29,745.00

Patricia Rose Leon Guerrero of Piti  $24,139.54

Nevaeh Rae McDonald Finona of Dededo  $13,575.00

Jianna Sadie Gutierrez of Asan-Maina  $4,165.00

The Liberation Day Queen contest began in 1948. Young women aged 18 to 25 vie for the title by selling tickets.

The candidate who sells the most tickets is crowned Liberation Queen, while the runner-up becomes the Princess Royal.

The Liberation Queen is expected to attend all official Liberation events throughout the year, while the Princess Royal can take the place of the Queen if she fails to fulfill her duties.

A total of $173,784.55 was raised. The proceeds of the contest will support the needs of the Liberation festivities, while a portion will be distributed to the sponsors and candidates, according to a release from the Mayors Council.

Liberation raffle tickets can still be purchased through July 21 for a chance to win $10,000.

Tickets are available through any candidate or mayors office. The raffle drawing will take place on July 21 at the Liberation Block Party.

Other memorials, events

This years commemoration will include memorial ceremonies throughout the month of July.

The theme Journey to Freedom highlights the endurance and sacrifices undertaken, to honor survivors, and remember those who were lost during the war, the Manenggon Memorial Foundation said in a release.

The foundation invites all survivors and their families, family members of those who have passed in any of the camps or sites, friends, and the public to join and participate in the scheduled events.

Everyone will gather to remember and reflect on the strength, perseverance, and resiliency of loved ones who endured the war, the foundation said.

 July 10: Hasso Talofofo site dedication and ceremony at 10 a.m., next to the mayors office.

 July 12: Hasso Barrigada/Kalaguak/Tiyan wreath laying ceremony at 10 a.m., Barrigada Memorial site.

 July 17: Hasso Inalahan ceremony at 9 a.m., Inalahan Memorial site.

 July 19: Hasso Hagat wreath laying ceremony at 10 a.m., Hagat Memorial site.

 July 19: Liberation Mass at 4 p.m., Dulce Nombre de Maria Cathedral-Basilica, Hagatna.

 July 19: Unified Memorial at 6 p.m., Plaza de Espana, Hagatna.

 July 19, 20, 21: Static Display Memorial from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Plaza de Espana, Hagatna.

 July 17, 18, 19, 20, 21: WWII Virtual Experience from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Guam Museum, Hagatna.

 July 20, 21: Liberation Block Party from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., Chamorro Village Huts and Paseo de Susana Park, Hagatna.

 July 21: Liberation 5K & Liberation Mile. 6 a.m. is 5K run and 7:21 a.m. is 1-mile run on Marine Corps Drive, Hagatna.

 July 21: Liberation Day Parade at 8 a.m., Marine Corps Drive, Hagatna.

 July 21: Liberation Day fireworks at 7:21 p.m. in Hagatna.
It may be scorchingly hot this weekend in New Orleans, but that hasnt stopped the fashionistas of Essence Fest from dressing to the nines.

The 30th Anniversary festival, celebrating Black music and artistry, draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Besides featuring a star-studded lineup of performers, the cultural event is known for its high fashion looks.

On the first day of the festival, bright colors, sequins, cowboy hats and double-denim were on full display at the Ernest N Morial Convention Center.

Attendees shopped from Black-owned businesses like Adorn Headwear and LJai Amor, danced to DJ sets and prepared for a night of nonstop music at the Superdome.

Rae Owens, left, helps Latham Thomas, right, try on a luxury crystal cape from womenswear brand L'Jai Amor.Emily Topping

Jamal Bryant and Karri Turner, of Atlanta, don bright colors for their 10th Essence Fest alongside Eric Knowles, a stylist from Chicago. Emily Topping

Tennessee Diaz, visiting New Orleans from Brooklyn, rocks woven basket earrings for her first Essence Fest.Emily Topping

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Lindsey Felder, seen in a matching double-denim get-up, says she is most looking forward to seeing Usher perform. Emily Topping

Tiffany Wright dances to the DJ at the 30th Anniversary Essence Fest.Emily Topping

Karen Obilom of Austin, Texas dons a psychedelic Western-chic look for the first day of Essence Fest.Emily Topping

Nandi Whitley, from Dallas, reads a new purchase in the Celebrating Black Authors section of Essence Fest.Emily Topping

Cynthia Green wears a hand-painted hat while sitting in the art booth of South Carolina-based painter Carl M. Crawford.Emily Topping

Taje Prest and Naz English pose for a photo while shopping in Essence Fest's clothing section.Emily Topping

Sisters Charlene Anderson and Cherise Moore show off their 'Adorn' hats, designed by daughter and niece Brittany Anderson. Adorn Headwear is a hat company designed in larger sizes, created for people with curls, locs, fros, "or just larger heads" in mind.Emily Topping

Essence Fest attendees pose near an installation in the Convention Center. The theme of the 30th anniversary festival is 'We Love Us.'Emily Topping

Faye Jarmon wears a Western-inspired outfit, complete with a matching iridescent cowboy hat.Emily Topping

M!Lady accessorizes a neon pink blazer with a tambourine and dancing boots.Emily Topping

Friends and family of aakofii, a sustainable leather designer, strut in her pieces at Essence Fest.Emily Topping




Haiti - Diplomacy : New Ambassador of Haiti to the Dominican Republic





Minister Counselor Christine Lamothe was installed as the new Charge d'Affaires of the Embassy of Haiti in the Dominican Republic.



Ambassador Lamothe replaces Luc Garvey Jean-Pierre in this position, called to serve at the Chancellery.



Ms. Lamothe has 6 years of diplomatic experience at the Haitian Embassy in Brazil, where she held various positions of high responsibility. In 2021, she was transferred to the Haitian diplomatic mission in Santo Domingo



Ambassador Lamothe completed a large part of her secondary studies in the Dominican Republic until her departure for Mexico with her father Guy Lamothe, appointed Ambassador of Haiti to Mexico. Country where she pursued studies in international relations and specialized in immigration issues and organizational administration.



After the usual thanks, Ambassador Lamothe committed to promoting closer diplomacy between the two Nations of the island and recognized the hard work of the Haitian diaspora in the Dominican Republic.



She indicated that her management will focus on reviving relations of friendship and cooperation in the economic, cultural and scientific fields between the people and countries of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Volunteer Ian Matthews patrols 'known dumping sites' frequently and finds more discarded items every time he visits.

Aussies are being urged to stop dumping unwanted items and spoiling bushland after another sighting of a "busload" of rubbish was found along a creek this week.

Townsville local Ian Matthews often checks "known dump sites" in his area as more often than not he finds the recently tidied-up landscape again littered with discarded items, with the most recent mess found in Condon along the Bohle River in Queensland.

"I'm used to finding rubbish everywhere, it just makes the bush look like crap and it stops people from going to enjoy the area," the grandfather told Yahoo News. He volunteers with a local organisation called Tidy Up Townsville who patrol the area and clean up mess frequently left by locals.

Ian Matthews found a 'busload' of discarded items in Condon along the Bohle River on Wednesday. Source: Facebook

The volume of discarded items is sometimes so big that the volunteers are unable to remove it all themselves, often being "more than a ute's worth" or even enough to fill a bus. In Wednesday's discovery, there was a large fish carcass, furniture, tyres, buckets and litter, among other things along the creek.

Local claims residents dump to save time

Matthews said the dumping has been an ongoing issue and claims it is residents behind the behaviour, with offenders simply dumping the waste there rather than driving to the council dump.

"Some people say locals just dump it in the bush rather than drive half an hour to the actual dump... it's surprising what we find," he said. "I'm used to my own house bin being full [of the discarded items]."

In his local area, Matthews says there are at least four known dump sites he patrols and items are frequently found discarded.

There are four known dump sites in Ian Matthews' local area alone. Source: Facebook

Townsville is "sinking under the weight" of the problem but not enough is being done to stop dumping from happening.

"The council have put up fences and rocks so people can't get in but they still are and they're dumping there," he said. Yahoo News has reached out to Townsville City council for comment.

Dumping continues in Australia

Dumping is a known issue in Townsville but it's not the only area in Queensland where outdoor areas are being littered full of unwanted items. Last month over 820 kilograms worth of rubbish was dumped in a creek near the Sunshine Coast.

An unofficial dumping ground also appears to be established in Sydney's inner-city suburb of Pyrmont which locals say emits a "foul, stinking" odour near a children's playground.

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Haiti - Education : Increase of 52.33% of Haitian students in Dominican border schools





The Haitian student population has increased significantly in public schools in the five border provinces of the Dominican Republic over the past five years. During this period, the enrollment of Haitian students increased by 52.33%, while that of Dominican students decreased by 11.37%.



In the provinces of Dajabon, Elias Pina, Independencia, Montecristi and Pedernales, the number of Haitian students enrolled increased from 12,988 for the 2018-2019 school year to 19,785 for the 2022-2023 school year, according to statistics of the Dominican Ministry of Education (MINERD).



At the national level, the enrollment of Haitian students increased by 83.04%, consolidating this foreign nationality the most represented in the country's schools. In the border provinces, Haitian students represent a dominant proportion compared to other nationalities.



TOP 3 of the biggest increases :

Independencia : has ddddd experienced an increase, from 2,972 registered in 2018 to 4,471 (+50.4%) in 2023.



Montecristi : From the 2020-2021 school year, increase from 3,182 to 4,734 (+48.77%) students in 2022-2023.



Elias Pina : is the province with the largest number of Haitian students. In 2018, it had 4,426 students, a figure which increased to 6,202 (+40%) in 2023.



Ancell Shecker, Deputy Minister of Technical and Pedagogical Affairs of the Ministry of Education, stressed that the presence of foreign students in Dominican schools is a consequence of the migratory phenomenon. He recalled that the Dominican education system guarantees access to all, regardless of their immigration status.



MINERD Circular 14-2013, updated with 620-2023, establishes that lack of documentation cannot be an obstacle to student registration. However, at the end of pre-university education, identity documents are required for the school certificate, although students can complete the cycle without these documents.



SL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Education : Restoration of school authority and State Examinations





One week after the regional meeting of Departmental Directors of Education (DDE) of the Great North, Augustin Antoinde, Minister of National Education accompanied by Head of the Project Coordination Unit, Renan Michel General Inspector of the Director of the National Office of State Examinations, Jean Wilnor Pierre, Head of the DDE Coordination Unit and Dr. Evans Turenne, member of his cabinet, spoke with the DDEs of the Great South during a workshop organized this week in the town of Les Cayes.



The heads of the DDEs of Nippes, South, South-East and Grand'Anse, accompanied by their deputies and other executives, took part in this day of discussions during which Minister Augustin ANTOINE presented his vision of the Haitian school.



According to Minister Antoine, there is an urgent need to rethink this school which must necessarily respond to the aspirations of young people, in particular, and the needs of society, in general, while taking into account national challenges and regional and international opportunities. "This school must demonstrate its usefulness by carrying forward the socio-economic development project of the new Haiti and work to consolidate citizen values as founding elements of the Republic [...] It is important to restore the authority of school..."



In this perspective, the Minister instructed the DDEs to work, without delay, on the development of specifications which will reflect the state of the school in their respective department, more precisely of the Haitian public school taken in the meshes of a whole series of structural difficulties with negative impacts on the quality of teaching provided in classrooms, the performance of teachers and also the performance of learners.



Regarding the organization of state exams, the instructions from Minister Augustin Antoine are clear and clear. DDEs are asked to redouble their efforts in order to facilitate the success of the process of passing the official tests. They must be creative in the planning and execution of their budget, rigorous in the choice of examination centers, and responsible in supervising the key stages of this major operation which involves the government of the Republic.



HL/ S/ Haitibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





2 divisional inspectors shot dead

Thursday July 4, 2024, two divisional police inspectors, Lozama Telemaque and Yves Nord, assigned to the General Security Unit of the National Palace, were shot dead in the neighborhood of Arcachon 32, Street Genet, commune of Carrefour by unidentified individuals, who took away the lifeless bodies of their victims.



France : Training of Haitian soldiers

Jean Marc Berthier Antoine, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Haiti, had a productive meeting with the Ambassador of France to Haiti, Fabrice Mauries. We discussed a Memorandum of Understanding in defense matters, the upcoming sending of Haitian officers to French territory for training, and the arrival of French trainers in Haiti.



New SWAT command

This week, Inspector General Jean Marest Etienne, Director of Personnel of the Haitian National Police (PNH), carried out the installation ceremony of the new SWAT commander, Divisional Commissioner Donald Michel. He replaces Chief Commissioner Richardson Mersan in this position.



Venezuela : 213th anniversary of independence

"On the occasion of the 213th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Republic of Haiti wishes all Venezuelans a happy Independence Day," Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



Humanitarian : Haiti can rely on OCHA

On Wednesday July 3rd, 2024, Prime Minister Garry Conille met with Joyce Msuya, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, also Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Joyce Msuya praised Garry Conille's "unwavering commitment" to the Haitian people and told him that he can count on OCHA to support Haiti at every stage of the transition process.



PNH : New Spokesperson

Friday July 5, 2024, Inspector General Peyo Smith, Chief of Staff of the Director General of the National Police of Haiti (PNH, proceeded to the installation of Divisional Commissioner Michel Ange Louis Jeune as the new Spokesperson of the police institution. He replaces Police Commissioner Garry Desrosiers in this position, who is transferred to the Directorate of Strategic Planning and Development.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Four from Australia were selected as finalists at California's BigPicture Photography Competition. But there is one accolade still to be announced.

Georgina Steytler was a finalist in the Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora category for her image March of the Spider Orchids. Source: Georgina Steytler/BigPicture

An Australian photographers ghostly image showing a cluster of five fragile spider orchids has astonished judges at an international photography award competition that celebrates the natural world.

Georgina Steytler was one of three local photographers who were finalists in the California Academy of Sciences renowned BigPicture Photography Competition which received over 7,000 images from nearly 70 countries. Her work was also highlighted in the Academy's magazine BioGraphic.

Steytler's interest in the wild Western Australian flowers grew after she became aware of their strange ability to trick other species. Described as "sexually deceptive", they produce pseudo-pheromones which mimic the scent of female wasps. This entices them to copulate with the flower and spread its pollen.

Shimmering Shallows Swarm by Ashley Sykes was a finalist in the Art of Nature category. Source: Ashley Sykes/BigPicture

While Steytler's photograph focuses on the small and fragile, two jaw-dropping images by photographer Ashley Sykes look at life in Australias vast oceans. They were finalists in the Aquatic Life and Art of Nature categories. One shows a humpback breaching near Gerringong on the NSW South Coast, while the other highlights a spectacular salmon bait-ball off nearby Bermagui.

The third Aussie finalist was Sydney-based Scott Portelli who snapped an aerial photograph of whales in Antarctica. Titled Bubblnet, it was taken under permit from the Australian Antarctic Division.

Bubblenet by Scott Portelli was a finalist in the Aquatic Life category. Source: Scott Portelli/BigPicture

These images originally appeared on bioGraphic, an online magazine about nature and regeneration and the official media sponsor for the California Academy of Sciences BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition.

What photo took out the grand prize?

In June, the grand prize went to Spanish Photographer for his stunning image titled The Forest of the Monarchs.

"Each year's collection of BigPicture winners surprise us with serendipitous themes. Our 11th year is no exception. Despiteor perhaps because of all the monumental events taking place around the world, this year's winners spotlight the small but mighty creatures and forces that underpin how our world works, Rhonda Rubinstein, creative director at the California Academy of Sciences said.

Jaime Rojo's Grand Prize winning image thatfrom a distanceappears to show a forest of (oyamel) fir trees in Mexico is actually a kaleidoscope of millions of monarch butterflies on their 3,000 mile [4830 km] migratory route.

The Forest of the Monarchs by Jaime Rojo was the Grand Prize Winner. Source: Jaime Rojo/BigPicture

Three Aussie photographers in running for people's choice award

The three Aussie finalists are now in the running for the competitions first Peoples Choice Award. And voting is open until the end of July.

Aussies are increasingly being celebrated at the awards. In 2023, Yahoo News reported on Doug Gimesy winning the Human/Nature category.

His picture showed a wildlife carer nose-to-nose with a wombat she rescued after nearby habitat was bulldozed for a housing development. And Gimesy used the accolade to highlight the perils Australias native animals face.

The bare-nosed wombat is also called the common wombat, but thats a little bit misleading because theyre becoming less and less common. And one of the key reasons is habitat destruction, he told Yahoo after his win.

Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories.
Emily Burghelea was on her way to the airport when the horror smash occurred.

Tourist Emily Burghelea had her camera on on the way to the airport to catch her flight home when the horror smash occurred. Source: Jam Press

An influencer on holiday inadvertently filmed her miracle survival when the taxi she was in slammed into a lorry stopped across the road. Tourist Emily Burghelea was heading to the airport for her flight home when the horror incident unfolded.

In the shocking footage, Burghelea can be heard shrieking a split-second before impact on Tuesday, July 2. I was in a taxi, just five minutes away from the airport in Mauritius. On the final curve, on an unlit road, blinded by everyone elses high beams from the opposite direction, the influencer shared on social media.

We crashed head-on at 80 kmph into a lorry that suddenly appeared parked in the middle of the street.

Tourists left 'delirious' after horror smash

Emily, 25, and her godmother were in the car and the impact force caused them to hit the windscreen. My godmother was delirious, not responding to anything I asked her, she recalled after coming to her senses.

Emily eventually found the strength to get herself and her godmother out of the wrecked car. The police helped them get to the airport in time for them to catch their flight to her home country of Romania along with their other relatives.

Tourist Emily Burghelea before the horror crash (left) that left her tending to multiple cuts and bruises (right). Source: Jam Press

The injured pair checked into a hospital as soon as they landed. However, the worst injuries were to her legs and she will reportedly need surgery.

Its a miracle that I survived, she said. Before the impact, I had a premonition and imagined a white angel spreading its wings in front of our car. I believe that was God Himself who protected and guided us.

 Jam Press

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The Delhi High Court has allowed the Institute of the Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to take action against affiliates of the Big Four accounting firms, lifting the stay against the ICAI orders and making the firms and their partners liable to reply to the ICAIs notices. The Delhi High Court allowed the ICAI to take action against affiliates of the Big Four accounting firms. (HT Photo)

Why did the ICAI issue notices to the Big Four accounting firms and affiliates?

The ICAIs disciplinary committee had earlier issued notices to the affiliates of big four global accounting firms EY, KPMG, PwC, and Deloitte.

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For EY, the ICAI cited issues related to associations, resource sharing, control, and referral fees that violate the Chartered Accountants Act 1949, ordering the global giant to remove partners (Who are now retired) for three years from affiliate firms SV Ghatalia & Associates, SR Batliboi & Associates LLP, SRBC & Co. LLP, and SR Batliboi & Co. LLP. The ICAI also fined them 5 lakh each, the Economic Times wrote, adding that the ICAI also asked for a compliance report within 90 days.

Partners at KPMG affiliate BSR & Co. are also under scrutiny and they obtained a stay order from the Telangana and Punjab & Haryana High Court against the ICAI's action.

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Partners at PwC affiliate firms also got a stay order from the same courts.

Deloitte partners had also obtained a stay order from the Delhi High Court.

What is the dispute between the ICAI and the Big Four accounting firms?

The dispute is regarding the global affiliation of Indian audit firms, for which the domestic firms must pay 2.5% of their revenue to the international company to gain access to common resources, methodology, knowledge and expertise, Financial Express wrote, adding that the domestic entities work as a single unit along with the global entity, violating the Chartered Accountants Act.

What are the guidelines the ICAI will announce to solve this issue?

The ICAI in 2022, issued guidelines for domestic firms, but hasnt done so for international forms yet, according to the Economic Times article.

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The Delhi High Court therefore asked the ICAI to create a framework for such multinational accounting firms to operate. Such firms contribute in bringing global best practices to India with immense opportunities for youngsters. They also render services to Indian businesses even at a global scale. Thus, the provisions relating to licensing agreements, brand usage etc., also need to be looked into, the order read.
India will struggle to create enough jobs for its growing workforce over the next decade even if the economy grows at a rapid pace of 7%, Citigroup Inc. said, suggesting the worlds most-populous nation will need more concerted steps to boost employment and skills. India will struggle to create enough jobs for its growing workforce over the next decade even if the economy grows at 7%, according to Citigroup (Reuters)

Why would India struggle to create jobs?

Citi estimates India will need to create about 12 million jobs a year over the next decade to absorb the number of new entrants to the labor market. Based on a growth rate of 7%, India can only generate 8-9 million jobs a year, the banks economists Samiran Chakraborty and Baqar Zaidi wrote in a report this week.

Also Read: World food prices hold firm in June, UN's FAO reports

The quality of jobs being created in India is another challenge, the economists said. An analysis of the official data showed about 46% of the workforce is still employed in agriculture, even though the sector contributes less than 20% to gross domestic product. Manufacturing accounted for 11.4% of total jobs in 2023, a lower share than in 2018, the figures show, a sign that the sector hasnt bounced back since the pandemic.

What is the current state of India's jobs?

Also, fewer people are employed in the formal sector now than before Covid  the share was 25.7% in 2023, the lowest level in at least 18 years, Citi said. Only 21% of the workforce  or about 122 million people  in India have jobs that pay a salary or wages, compared with 24% before the pandemic. More than half of the 582 million workers in India are self-employed, the figures show.

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Indias joblessness, especially among young people, was a key concern among voters in recent elections and was cited as a reason for the drop in support for Prime Minister Narendra Modis ruling party.

The official unemployment rate of 3.2% underestimates the scale of the problem, with most economists relying instead on data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a private research firm, which put the jobless rate at 9.2% in May, the highest in eight month. For those aged 20-24, the rate is more than 40%, according to CMIE figures.

What is the solution to creating jobs?

Citis economists propose a series of measures to boost jobs in India, such as strengthening the export potential of manufacturing sectors, extending incentives to attract foreign companies and filling up about 1 million government vacancies. The government also needs to consolidate multiple employment generation programs for better impact, the economists said.

Also Read: ICAI can take action against affiliates of Big Four accounting firms: Delhi High Court
Indian pharmaceutical companies hope to get financial assistance and tax incentives for the research and development of drugs, with the new government ready to present the 2024 Union Budget on July 23rd, according to a Reuters report. India's pharmaceutical companies hope to get financial assistance and tax incentives for the research and development of drugs in the new 2024 union budget. (Shutterstock/ Representational image)

Why is India's pharmaceuticals industry important?

India is the third largest manufacturer of pharmaceutical drugs after the US and China. India's pharmaceuticals market is projected to be valued at $130 billion by the end of this decade.

India is also known as a hub for generic drugs, which are cheaper versions of branded drugs.

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India has offered incentives for drugs since 2020, but not for novel or newly founded drugs yet.

India's exports of generic drugs, which dominate the US generics market, is projected to double to $55 billion by 2030, according to the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil).

Why do pharmaceutical companies want incentives?

Asset management and research firm Bernstein said in March this year that India needs to create a domestic market where innovative drugs can be created and manufactured profitably at the right price, adding that insurance coverage for novel drugs and creating updated regulatory standards for manufacturing and clinical trials is needed for stimulating innovation.

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"Spending millions on clinical trials with no pricing power is not a business they (pharma companies) want to be in," Bernstein said in an open letter to the prime minister.

If the Indian government can give some income tax exemptions for 5-10 years for any new molecule developed in India, that can pull innovation to grassroot level, Krishna Ella, chairman of Bharat Biotech told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Hyderabad on Friday. Companies will start investing in innovation.

Also Read: Union Budget 2024: Date, time and all you need to know
The European Unions Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is not a restrictive trade barrier, and is only for dealing with carbon emissions, said Gerassimos Thomas, Director-General of the European Commissions Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, who had visited New Delhi along with other EU officials to discuss the implementation and effects of the CBAM for both India and Europe. European Union flags outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. (Reuters)

What is the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)?

The CBAM is the European Unions planned tax on carbon emissions caused due to manufacturing of goods imported to the EU from countries like China and India. It especially focuses on energy-intensive products like iron, steel, cement, fertiliser and aluminum, according to a PTI report.

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A lot of the industries that I have met are saying that they have products that are sustainable, even having embedded emissions less than the EU, Thomas said, according to a WION report. It creates positive competition between the companies, and the ones that are greener have a better and more open access, he added.

Why is the EU's CBAM controversial?

The CBAM has been controversial due to concerns among poorer countries that it can lead to inability to export goods and cause harm to their economies and livelihoods.

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"Europe is a net importer of CBAM goods and wants to make sure that we continue importing goods with the lowest possible carbon intensity to contribute to decarbonization at a global level, said Thomas, according to the PTI report. "It (CBAM) does not discriminate and has a very gradual phase-in to give maximum predictability for investors and businesses," he added.

Thomas held multiple meetings with ministries like Finance, Steel, Power, Commerce and Industry, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and New and Renewable Energy. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) was also involved in the discussions, Financial Express wrote.

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The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for drones and drone components is only to kickstart the sector's progress and should not be considered as a permanent subsidy scheme by the government, ANI wrote, quoting Union Minister of commerce and industry, Piyush Goyal. PLI for drones are only to kickstart the industry and not a permanent subsidy (Unsplash)

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Goyal's remarks came during his speech at the International Innovation Conclave, organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI) in New Delhi on Thursday.

Why is there a PLI scheme for drones?

Technological progress of the drone industry will help farmers get higher quality and higher yield of crops, Goyal said.

Goyal said that the development of the drone ecosystem and their deployment in villages across India is in line with the Prime Minister's 'NAMO Drone Didi' initiative that will help empower women in the agriculture sector.

Also Read: India plans 44,000-crore boost to become electronics powerhouse: Report

He also stated that drones can contribute to the cooperative sector, Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and to Farmers Producer Organisation (FPOs) as a shared facility with the help of agri-infra funds in reducing expenses of the farmers.

The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) can be roped in to promote the sector by providing financing and mentoring services, he added.

What has the government done to promote the sector?

Goyal highlighted that ease of doing business (EoDB) has been a key focus of Prime Minister Modi's government, with easing of regulations and compliance burden on startups. He added that 18 Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) have already been offered in the first half of 2024 and 17 IPOs were offered in 2023.

Also Read: Indian pharma companies hope to get incentives for innovation: Union Budget 2024

"In the third term of the PM's administration we will work at triple the speed, ensure three times the result and hope to become the third largest economy in the world", Goyal said.
Ideas presented by eight students from Ludhiana schools in the 2023-24 session were selected for state-level competition under the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) scheme. A student presenting his project on the Second day of INSPIRE awards competition at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College in Ludhiana on Saturday. (Manish/HT)

A flagship programme of the Centres department of science and technology (DST), it aims to motivate students in the age group of 10-15 years studying in Classes 6 to 10. A total of 76 students from the district had sent in their ideas under the programme. Of these, 68 appeared at the district-level competition organised at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College on Saturday.

Agampreet Kaur, a student of Saheed S Harbhajan Singh Government High School, Chachrari, who developed a model of a hybrid agriculture dryer and Arpit Kapoor of DAV Public School, who came up with an idea of green flush, were chosen to present their ideas at the state-level.

Sacchi Jain of Kundan Vidya Mandir School developed terra treads sustainable footwear, Harjot Kaur of Government High School, Kot Mangal Singh, came up with a motorbike that runs without petrol and Nayam Jindal of Sat Paul Mittal School developed a smart waste separator.

Other students who made it to the state level included Harsukhmandeep Singh Bedi of Drishti Dr RC Jain Public School who developed a home automation robot, Arnav Sharma of Atam Public School who worked on a solar robotic seeder planter and Goransh Mittal from BVM Senior Secondary School who came up with an idea of a pre alarming tremor detector and lives saviour.

A few other ideas which did not make it to the state level, but were innovative enough included a smart school bag with LCD for weight limit notification by Harshveer Singh of BCM School, Shastri Nagar. These bags have integrated load cells at the base which constantly measure the weight of the contents and the system alerts the user when the bag exceeds a predetermined weight, he said, adding that the idea behind this innovation was to promote proper posture and reduce strain.

Another such idea included a firefighting bot by Mayank Verma of BVM School, Kitchlu Nagar. These robots can be deployed in diverse settings from urban and industrial environments to wildland areas and have enhanced quality control, are quite economical and ensure safety. I am also working on developing an aerial bot based on a drone system, he mentioned.

Drishti Arora of DAV Public School, Pakhowal Road, developed a website called Xplorehike, which is a portfolio builder and opportunity tracker. Other websites and applications help one get a job and are designed for a certain age group, but the website which I have designed caters to the students from class 6 onwards. One can register on this website and hone their skills, they can look for various opportunities provided by the government institutions where seven-day or 10-day training is provided to the school and college students and helps build their portfolio, she said.

City student designs model to prevent Buddha Nullah from overflowing

To prevent Buddha Nullah from overflowing, Harsh Jain, a Class 11 student of DPS Public School, has designed an innovative model. It was presented at Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) scheme, which is one of the flagship programmes of Centres department of science & technology (DST) at INSPIRE - MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspirations and Knowledge), being executed by DST with National Innovation Foundation  India (NIF) at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College.

Last year, the overflow caused significant damage in the major areas of the city, including the destruction of lakhs worth of cloth in his fathers factory basement. Inspired by these events, the student developed a manhole and water level detector system to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The model called Manhole and water level detector features an alarm that triggers when the water in the nullah or any manhole reaches a certain level. This system allows for the control and monitoring of all manholes and critical locations from a central point, helping to manage potential overflows and prevent waterlogging on streets.
Cyber criminals are increasingly targeting unsuspecting people through instant messaging service Telegram to perpetrate frauds. The fraudsters, operating under the alias Captain America, guided the victim to transfer funds into bogus bank accounts. These accounts were procured by a bank employee, who sold them to the fraudsters for  25,000 each (Shutterstock)

Additional director general of police (ADGP), cybercrime, OP Singh said that in one such case, a Hisar resident fell prey to a sophisticated scam, losing a staggering 8.91 lakh in a cryptocurrency investment scheme. However, action by the Haryana police led to the arrest of the fraudsters.

Singh said the victim, Bajrang, was lured into the scam through a Telegram channel promising high returns on cryptocurrency investments. Once hooked, the fraudsters, operating under the alias Captain America, guided Bajrang to transfer funds into bogus bank accounts. These accounts were procured by an accomplice, Sahil, a bank employee, who sold them to the fraudsters for 25,000 each.

When Bajrang realised he had been scammed, he immediately reported the incident to the Cyber Helpline 1930.

We promptly directed the cyber nodal thana to investigate the matter. A joint team comprising the state nodal cyber thana and the Haryana Cyber Crime Coordination Centre began meticulously tracing the fraudulent transactions. Their efforts led to the arrest of three individuals: Chirag, son of Ved, resident of Hisar, the primary perpetrator who received the funds from Bajrang, Sahil, son of Satish, resident of Hisar, and the bank employee who sold the bogus accounts, he said.

The ADGP said that people should not join unknown Telegram groups or invest on mere promises of high returns. Before investing, individuals should thoroughly research and verify the legitimacy of the platform or scheme. He said if one suspects that one is a victim of cyber fraud, one should not hesitate to report immediately. The Cyber Helpline (1930) is available 24X7.
Two sisters from Machhiwara on Saturday were in a for a pleasant surprise as they were brought to the deputy commissioners office in a government vehicle for a date with DC Sakshi Sawhney. DC Sakshi Sawhney with Gurleen, 10, (L) and Komaldeep, 7, in the deputy commissioners office in Ludhiana on Saturday (HT Photo)

The duo, 10-year-old Gurleen Kaur and 7-year-old Komaldeep Kaur, were the first to be a part of the district administrations I-ASPIRE a leadership initiative, which is aimed at motivating and inspiring school students to pursue their dreams.

It was just a few days ago that the two sisters had met Sawhney and shared their dreams with her. It was when the official decided to motivate and guide the youngsters.

Gurleen, a student of Class 5, aspired to serve in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Komaldeep, who is in Class 3, has set her sights on becoming a teacher.

The sisters had a discussion with the DC about her everyday routine and work. Gurleen also shared her dream of becoming an IAS officer with the DC. Sawhney assured support to the sisters and their families.

In a heartfelt moment, the DC offered her chair to both the sisters. The girls were later given appreciation certificates.

Sawhney said the initiative was aimed at bridging the gap between aspirations and reality by providing students with first-hand exposure to their desired career paths.

She added that under the initiative, students will be asked about their career ambitions and based on their choice, they will be grouped for visits to relevant professionals offices, including IAS, Indian Police Service (IPS), Punjab Civil Service (PCS), Punjab Public Service (PPS), doctors and scientists, among others.

Any child interested in being a part of this initiative can send an email to dbeeludhiana@gmail.com or call 7740001682 between 9 am and 5 pm on any working day.
A roof fragment collapsed and fell on three siblings sitting under it in Faridabad, Haryana, claiming their lives on Friday. The eaves or the edge of the roof which overhangs the walls of the building locally known as chhajja was reportedly in bad condition causing it to collapse after rain, reported PTI. Residents of Sikri village and siblings Akash (10), Muskaan (8) and Adil (6) were killed by the collapse of the eaves, police said on Saturday (HT File)

Residents of Sikri village and siblings Akash (10), Muskaan (8) and Adil (6) were killed by the collapse of the eaves, police said on Saturday.

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According to the police, there was rain on Friday evening which caused the concrete slab to fall making a loud noise, reported news agency PTI.

People rushed in to save the children after the incident, but they were stuck under a lot of debris which had to be removed. The children were later taken to the hospital, where they were declared dead by the doctor.

The owner of the house has not yet been arrested and police is on the look out. The police said he gave the house for rent despite its dilapidated condition.

The father of the children, Dharmendra Kumar has filed a complaint on the matter, reported PTI. Kumar is a native of Sheikhpura in Bihar.

An FIR has also been filed under Section 105 (culpable homicide) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Sector 58 police station on Saturday.

"An FIR has been registered against the house owner and we are trying to nab him. The bodies will be handed over to the family today after the post-mortem," said Inspector Krishan Kumar, SHO of Sector 58 Police Station, reported PTI.

The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted generally cloudy sky with one or two spells of rain or thundershowers for Faridabad for the next two days.
Fifteen people have been injured and at least four people are feared trapped after a six-storey building collapsed at Sachin Pali village in Gujarats Surat following several days of incessant rain, said officials. The injured people have been rushed to a hospital, they added. Fire officials, along with NDRF and SDRF teams, rushed to the site and began working to clear the debris and rescue those trapped. (PTI)

Horrifying visuals from the scene showed the remains of the eight-year-old building, with large chunks of concrete slabs piled on top of each other in a mountain of debris. The building housed several textile workers and their families who rented apartments there.

Police officials familiar with the matter said the building was in a dilapidated state and the incident occurred around 3pm.

Rajesh Parmar, DCP Zone 6, Surat said no casualties have been reported so far. One woman was rescued alive from the debris, while four to five others are still feared trapped inside, he said.

Fire officials, along with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Respose Force (SDRF) teams, rushed to the site and began working to clear the debris and rescue those trapped.
Based on intel, the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI), Pune, on Saturday, busted a crime syndicate attempting to smuggle red sanders wood out of India by declaring the same as granite marble slabs. According to the DRI, the seized red sanders have an illicit market value of approximately  7.9 crore under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act. (HT PHOTO)

DRI sleuths kept a close watch on the loading of the contraband in the container. Once the goods entered the Nhava Sheva port in Navi Mumbai (JNPT) for export, the container was intercepted.

On examination, it was found that 6 tons of red sanders were concealed behind the polished granite slabs and cement bricks.

Red sanders are a protected species under CITES convention and export of the same is prohibited under the Customs Act, 1962.

Based on the inputs gathered, follow-up actions were initiated at Ahmednagar, Nashik and Hyderabad. A search was conducted at a warehouse in Nashik, wherein 2 metric tonnes of red sanders were seized which were also supposed to be exported in the coming days. The 6 MTs of red sanders seized at Nhava Sheva Port were stored and removed for export from the same godown.

The importer-exporter code (IEC) holder and the transporters were also successfully intercepted during the follow-up action.

According to the DRI, the seized red sanders have an illicit market value of approximately 7.9 crore under the relevant provisions of the Customs Act.

Further, five members of the cartel including the exporter, the commission broker, the godown manager and the transporter were arrested.

They have been remanded to judicial custody. In an official statement, DRI in a statement said, We have always shown high commitment towards safeguarding environmental security by taking action against illegal smuggling of the countrys natural wealth.
The Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) released the admit card for the APSC Combined Competitive (Mains) Examination 2023 on July 6, 2024. Candidates who have been shortlisted for the mains exam can visit the official website of the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) at apsc.nic.in to download the admit cards. The APSC Mains Exams will commence on July 26, 2024, and end on July 28, 2024. (HT file)

The APSC CCE Mains Exams will commence on July 26, 2024, and end on July 28, 2024. The Preliminary exams of APSC CCE were held on March 18, 2024, and the provisional answer key was released the following day, on March 19, 2024. The results of the APSC CCE Prelims exams were declared on May 9, 2024.

Direct Link to download APSC Combined Competitive (Mains) Exam admit card

This year, the number of vacancies to be filled through APSC CCE is 235, significantly less than last year. The APSC CCE 2022 was conducted for 913 vacancies.

Also Read: UP Board declares scrutiny results of High School, Intermediate examinations 2024, details here

Candidates who wish to download the admit card for the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) CCE Mains Examination 2024 can follow the below mentioned steps.

Steps to download APSC CCE Mains Admit Card:

Visit the official website of the Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) at apsc.nic.in

Look out for the link to download APSC CCE Mains admit card on the home page and click it

A new page appears and candidates need to submit their login credentials to access the hall ticket

On submitting the login credentials, hall ticket will be displayed on the screen

Verify the details and download the page

Take a print out of the same for future needs

For more information, visit the official website of Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) at apsc.nic.in.

Also Read: CBSE Compartment Exam Admit Card 2024 released at cbse.gov.in, download link here
Indian Institute of Banking and Finance has released CAIIB July Admit Card 2024 on July 6, 2024. Candidates can check and download the admit card link for JAIIB/DB&F EXAMINATION  June-July, 2024 from the official website of IIBF at iibf.org.in. CAIIB July Admit Card 2024 released at iibf.org.in, download link here

The official website reads, The JAIIB/DB&F June, 2024 examination scheduled on 8th & 9th June, 2024 at the 9 centers of Kerala is re-scheduled on 7th and 13th July, 2024 due to technical reasons. The list of affected centers is as below: Ernakulam, Kottayam, Thiruvalla, Kannur, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Palakkad and Thrissur.

The examination is scheduled to be held on July 7 and 13, 2024. Retail Banking & Wealth Management which was scheduled on June 8 will now be conducted on July 7 and Indian Economy & Indian Financial System which was scheduled on June 9 will now be conducted on July 13, 2024.

CAIIB July Admit Card 2024: How to download

To download the admit card, candidates can follow the steps given below.

Visit the official website of IIBF at iibf.org.in.

Click on CAIIB July Admit Card 2024 link available on the home page.

Enter the login details and click on submit.

Your admit card will be displayed on the screen.

Check the admit card and download the page.

Keep a hard copy of the same for further need.

For more related details candidates can check the official website of IIBF.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday took three of the suspected accused arrested in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case to Delhi where they were likely to be questioned extensively. NEET UG Row: CBI takes 3 accused to Delhi and will likely produce the trio before a magistrate for further remand (Representative image)

The three, Sikander Kumar Yadvendu, Nitish Kumar, and Amit Anand were taken to the national capital by a CBI team and are likely to be produced before a magistrate for further remand. Officials familiar with the matter disclosed that the three were accused in a case while Rouse Avenue Court issued a production warrant against them.

Also read: NEET UG counselling 2024 expected to begin by end of July, hint official sources; no date notified so far

Meanwhile, the probe agency made a fifth arrest from Dhanbad in Jharkhand. The person identified as Amit Kumar alias Bunty, was arrested in Jharkhand. The CBI has found cash, three bank accounts, four cell phones, and land-related papers at Buntys house.

The CBI team brought him to Patna for further investigation. He will be presented in a special CBI court where the CBI will request his remand for questioning. Once, Buntys remand is granted, he will also be questioned by Oasis School Principal Ehsanul Haque, Vice-Principal Imtiaz Alam, journalist Jamaluddin, Chintu, and Aman together.

Also read: MAH MCA CET 2024: Admission window opens at mahacet.org, check schedule, application fee and steps to apply

Sources said Bunty had been arrested based on a trail of funds allegedly collected from NEET-UG aspirants. The sleuths had zeroed in on Bunty on Wednesday. Bunty was said to be a resident of Kolkata, from Govindpur GT Road, but he dodged them and fled from the spot. However, CBI seized his SUV.

Another team raided his place in New Town, Kolkata, and searched his flat after breaking open the lock. He was finally tracked down in the Jharia area the following night based on electronic surveillance.

Also read: UPSC CSE mains 2024: Anthropology syllabus for students who have taken it as their optional

Earlier on Wednesday, CBI arrested Rabindra alias Aman Singh (26), one of the alleged co-conspirators in the NEET-UG paper leak case, from Dhanbad. CBI had raided both Amans and Buntys homes, but Bunty escaped at that time. Aman and Bunty are said to be relatives. The CBI suspects that Rocky and Sanjeev Mukhiya are close to Aman and Bunty and played important roles in the NEET paper leak.
Javed Akhtar is known for expressing his opinions on socio-political issues. The lyricist-screenwriter recently tweeted about the upcoming US presidential polls. However, on being attacked by a section of trolls, the former Rajya Sabha MP (Member of Parliament) gave them stern response. Javed called out the social media users for their lack of awareness about history and politics. (Also read: Shabana Azmi says Honey Irani was 'bitter, felt rejected after her affair with Javed Akhtar) Javed Akhtar gave a stern reply to a troll over his remarks about his father. (AP file)

Javed Akhtar schools trolls over US Presidential polls

The Padma Bhushan recipient tweeted, I am a proud Indian citizen and till my last breath I will remain so but I have one common fact with Joe Biden . Both of us have exactly equal chance of becoming the next president of USA . Reacting to his post a user replied, Your father was instumental in making Pakistan in order to have a nation just for Muslims, then in the guise of progressive writer he chose to remain in India. You are a son of Gaddar (traitor) who divided our nation on d lines of religion. Now u say any thing but this is the truth. Javed hit back at him and captioned his post as, It is difficult to decide whether you are totally ignorant or a complete idiot . From 1857 my family has been involved with freedom movement n has gone to jails and Kala paani when most probably your baap dadas (fathers and grandfathers) were licking the boots of Angrez sarkar (British government).

Javed Akhtar called out a social media user over his comment on Pakistan.

When someone asked him about the prospects of Michelle Obama, the scriptwriter opined, I have expressed my opinion quite a few times in the past and still stand by it that the only one who can save USA from Trump is Michelle Obama. While taking a racist jibe at the former first lady of USA (United States of America), a user asked, You're quite fond of him Michelle?. Javed responded to the derogatory post and wrote, It is very very irresponsible of your family that they still not have committed you to any mental asylum . Man , you are sick and badly need help.

Javed Akhtar slammed a troll over his remark on Michelle Obama.

Javed Akhtar's Bollywood career

In the 1970s, Javed Akhtar gained widespread acclaim for his exceptional work as a screenwriter, marking the beginning of a highly successful collaboration with Salim Khan. Together, they formed the iconic screenwriting duo known as Salim-Javed, and their names became synonymous with the golden era of Indian cinema. Their collaborative efforts resulted in the creation of numerous timeless classics, including the legendary films Sholay (1975), Deewar (1975), and Zanjeer (1973), all of which have left an indelible mark on Indian cinema. Following the conclusion of his collaboration with Salim, Javed Akhtar went on to script several more iconic films that further solidified his status as a distinguished screenwriter in the Indian film industry. Some of these notable films include Betaab (1983), Saagar (1985), Main Azaad Hoon (1989), Lakshya (2004), and Don: The Chase Begins (2006), each contributing to his impressive body of work. In addition to his prolific career in cinema, Javed Akhtar has been honored with numerous prestigious awards, recognizing his outstanding contributions to the arts. These accolades include the Padma Shri in 1999, the Padma Bhushan in 2007, and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2013, cementing his legacy as one of the most revered figures in Indian cinema and literature.

Javed's last movie as a lyricist was Kho Gaye Hum Kahan.
Ryan Reynolds lauds Ranveer Singh

When asked about which Bollywood actor he would like to work with, Ryan told, I don't even know. OhRanveer Singh is amazing. He has done the voice of Deadpool I think. He is very funny. But also ripped. While turning to Hugh, Ryan pointed out, You think you are in shape? The Wolverine actor replied, Really! Ryan further said, This guy makes you look like a Crypt-Keeper. He is amazing.

For the unversed, Ranveer dubbed for the Hindi version of Deadpool 2. While sharing the Hindi trailer of the 2018 superhero action-thriller, the actor had tweeted, Astonishing how effectively Ive managed to out-crass my Canadian counterpart @VancityReynolds. Never realised how fulfilling & rewarding foul Hindi language can be! Ryan quote tweeted his post and replied, Well if I tried to curse in Hindi, pretty sure there would be an international incident.

Indian actors who dubbed for MCU

Indian actors' association with Marvel is not new. Previously, Varun Dhawan voiced Captain America in Captain America: Civil War, Tiger Shroff did the voiceover for Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming while Rana Daggubati dubbed for the antagonist Thanos in the Telugu version of Avengers: Infinity War.

About Deadpool and Wolverine

Deadpool and Wolverine is the 34th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It is the sequel to Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018) as well as a spin off to Logan (2017). The movie is directed by Shawn Levy and also features Emma Corrin and Matthew Macfadyen in pivotal characters. Deadpool and Wolverine releases on July 26, worldwide.
Automakers like to keep sales figures close to the vest. In years past, monthly sales releases would list how each individual model was doing, good or bad. Nowadays, were lucky to get even that, with some automakers only offering up sales numbers on a quarterly basis (e.g., BMW, Nissan, Volkswagen Group). We, the people, can demand it, but unless were shareholders, they dont have to answer to us.

Besides, when we get information thats not relevant to our daily lives, we nitpick at it anyway. Case in point: Cadillac sales. Cadillac enjoyed its best second quarter in retail sales since 2015. This is largely thanks to the Lyriq, which had a whopping 441% year-over-year increase and reportedly outsold all European EVs during the first half of the year. Thats cool, but how are the fun cars doing? Oh, not so good.

The CT4 and CT5 are tanking.

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So far this year, Cadillac has sold just 3,502 units of the CT4 and 6,863 units of the CT5. Thats a 36% and 31% year-to-date drop, respectively. Competitors arent faring any better, though. Other compact luxury cars like the Audi A4 and Infiniti Q50 saw YTD sales declines as well. Audi A4 YTD sales are down 31% to 4,636. Infiniti experienced an 11% drop with its Q50, but it only sold 2,839 of those.

CT5 competitor, the Audi A6, went against the tide and saw its sales increase by 44% to 4,236 units. Cant say how the other German competitors or the up-and-coming Genesis rival are doing because those automakers kept their sales numbers secret. However, the CT5 receives a much-needed facelift for the 2025 model year, which could boost future sales.

The good news is that GMs overall portfolio grew in retail sales by 5% through the first half of 2024. Cadillacs overall sales faltered by only a smidge at 1.72%, with its haul of 73,906 units. Thats way better than Infiniti. The Japanese premium brand moved just 28,027 vehicles off its show floora decrease of 13%but looks to change that with its impending renaissance. Still, the Germans are still the luxury marques to beat. Audi sold 92,913 new vehicles (a 14% drop), while BMW continues its juggernaut with 175,712 (a 3% increase).
Family ties in Hollywood often lead to speculation about on-screen collaborations. Emma Roberts, who frequently navigates the scrutinising world of nepotism, now reveals why she hasn't worked alongside her iconic aunt. Emma Roberts explains why she hasn't worked with aunt Julia despite desire to collaborate. (pic-getty img)

The Space Cadet star opened up about how "it has never been the right thing" to collaborate with Julia Roberts. The interview with Variety follows the recent release of her new Prime Video sci-fi extravaganza, which received a lukewarm response from critics and fans who labeled it as legally bland and unrealistic.

Heres why Emma Roberts never worked with Aunt Julia

America's sweetheart, Julia Roberts, dominated as the highest-paid actress from the 1990s into the mid-2000s. Despite being a fan of her aunt's work, Emma Roberts, daughter of Julia's brother Eric, has not yet had the opportunity to collaborate with her. Speaking to Variety, Emma expressed her desire to find the perfect project for herself and her aunt. I would love to find the perfect project for me and my aunt, and I know that there will be something.

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However, she added, its never been the right thing. Shes the best, and I want to do something with her. We send each other books and talk about stuff but it hasnt been right.

Also read: Justin Timberlake to open Scottish sports bar after DWI arrest: Will it be called MugShots?' fans joke

Times when Emma and Julia Roberts shared screen

While Emma Roberts and Julia Roberts haven't shared a major on-screen project yet, it seems they do cross paths in the movie world. Emma Roberts shared how she often watches her own movies while filming on location, mentioning her computer's collection of favourites like My Best Friends Wedding and Americas Sweethearts (where Emma even had a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role as the "Girl in Purple T-shirt").

Though they haven't co-starred, both Emma and Julia appeared in the 2010 romantic comedy Valentine's Day, albeit in separate storylines. Maybe a future film will finally reunite the Roberts ladies on screen.

Also read: Macho Machete actor Danny Trejo, 80, gets punched back by man who threw water balloon at him

Emma Roberts finds fame scary

Growing up around her famous aunt Julia's movie sets, Emma Roberts (9 years old when started acting) naturally pursued her career in the same trajectory. But her path wasn't easy, facing hurdles and nepotism claims. Recently, on the podcast "Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi," Emma discussed the "scary" side of fame. Having witnessed it firsthand with her aunt Julia, she acknowledged the allure and excitement of fame, but also its darker aspects.

"Fame has never been the goal," she said, "because fame at a certain level is kind of scary ... when you've seen fame like that up close and you see what that really does to people [and] their families."
In her emotional retrospective mood, Madonna is looking back at the time she miraculously recovered from a life threatening illness. After a year of being discharged from the hospital, the pop diva took to her social media to celebrate her unbelievable recovery from a near-fatal infection. "A year ago today, I had just come from the hospital after surviving a life threatening illness," Madonna wrote on her latest Fourth of July celebration Instagram post, which also debuts her PDA-filled snaps with a mystery man. (Instagram )

A year ago today, I had just come from the hospital after surviving a life threatening illness, I could barely stand in my backyard holding one sparkler, she wrote on Instagram on Friday, July 5. The Material Girl also shared a glimpse of her Fourth of July celebrations in the same carousel post.

Reflecting on how far shes come on her recovery journey, she added, I made a miraculous recovery and had an amazing year. Thank you God. Life is beautiful!

Also read | Taylor Swift declares 'Summer of Sabrina' Carpenter for achieving breakout milestone

What happened to Madonna?

For the 65-year-old, it seems Like a Prayer had come true as she shared the heartfelt confession about surviving an illness that left her unconscious in July 2023. The Queen of Pop was taken to the ICU after she was found unresponsive in her New York City home.

Reports alleged that she had to be revived with an injection of Narcan before being admitted to the ICU after her lifeless body was discovered at the scene.

Her longtime manager, Guy Oseary, later confirmed that she had been hit with a serious bacterial infection. The Grammy winners sudden health scare also led her to postpone the North American leg of her world tour. She reportedly couldn't help but constantly think of her children and her Celebration tour upon gaining consciousness.

Also read | Jennifer Lopez's mother advises to 'file for divorce' after years believing Ben was her knight in shining armour

Consequently, she is said to have taken up arms against her management team and insurance company to launch her shows as scheduled (they were set to begin on July 15, 2023, in Vancouver) but had to give in to pushing the dates back due to her health.

Her latest celebratory Fourth of July post also includes several PDA-filled snaps with a mystery man almost two months after her split with ex Josh Popper.
Off the coast of Agatti islands in Lakshadweep, a group of researchers have embarked on an exploration to uncover the secrets of uncharted underwater ecosystems. These ecosystems could be key to unlocking new insights into coral biodiversity and developing strategies to combat the devastating impacts of global warming, bleaching, and ocean acidification.

Using advanced remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)  uncrewed underwater robots that provide visual and environmental data  the researchers have been exploring the mesophotic coral reefs at depths beyond 40 metres. As against the recreational scuba diving limit of 40 metres from surface waters, the ROVs allowed the team to reach depths of up to 103 metres. This is the first time that an ROV has been used to such depths for conservation research, marking a milestone in marine conservation in India and opening new avenues for understanding and preserving deepwater ecosystems.

For the past two years, The Habitats Trust, a not-for-profit organisation focused on conserving lesser-known species and habitats in India, has been conducting a series of ROV trials at reefs in Indian waters. The trials took place in July-August 2022, followed by a second trial in April-May 2023, with a third trial scheduled for October-November this year.

Using ROVs for coral reef exploration at these depths is unprecedented in India, said Rushikesh Chavan, head of The Habitats Trust. There is no prior information about these reefs due to their depth. However, we know for sure that reefs exist down there, and these might be critical stock reefs, given that nearly 75% of the world's coral reefs have bleached this year.

The Habitats Trust has further collaborated with REEF, a local organisation in Lakshadweep, and the department of science and technology (DST), Lakshadweep, Government of India, to deepen their effort.

Traditionally, corals have been monitored using scuba diving surveys, quadrats and transects, fixed underwater cameras, snorkelling, satellite imagery, aerial photography, and water quality testing, explained Dr Idrees Babu KK, a scientist at the DST, Lakshadweep. The study of coral ecosystems has been hampered by the limitations of human observation and fixed monitoring platforms. These constraints have particularly affected our understanding of mesophotic reefs. However, advancements, particularly in the realm of ROVs, have opened new avenues for exploration allowing us to gather data and observe these deeper, less accessible reefs in ways that were previously impossible, enhancing knowledge and conservation efforts, he said.

Other options for exploring these depths are by using submarines, which are prohibitively expensive, explained Chavan. The group opted for ROVs and tested various models, including hobby ROVs and commercial ones used for deep-sea explorations. Through these trials, we have so far identified the right ROVs and the necessary payloads, such as side scanners, visual cameras, and sensors for bathymetry (measurement of the depths and shapes of underwater terrain) and temperature, he said.

The team deploying the ROV for trials((photo credit - The Habitats Trust)

Unveiling the hidden depths: Exploring the rich biodiversity beneath the waters

Characterised by low-light conditions that support a unique assemblage of coral and marine species distinct from those in shallower reefs, mesophotic reefs are coral ecosystems found at depths ranging from 30 to 150 metres.

Such reefs host a diverse array of marine life, including hard corals such as the Black Sun Coral (Tubastraea micranthus) and various gorgonians including the giant sea fan. These reefs also support soft corals, large pelagic fish, and reef-associated fish such as groupers and snappers. Additionally, sponges, algae, and various invertebrates also contribute to the rich biodiversity of these deep-water ecosystems.

At around 40 metres depth, during one of the dives, the team encountered a massive gorgoniids (a type of soft coral with a tree-like branching structure that provides habitat for various marine species). It was taller and wider than the size of an average human, said Chavan. The trials also revealed fair ambient light conditions even near the 100-metre mark, making ROV-based videography a viable tool for surveying these deeper reefs.

Despite challenges such as underwater currents and tether management, we were able to gather preliminary data, including footage of species such as gorgoniids and sea fans, which are more prevalent at these depths compared to the surface, said Chavan. The ecological richness in these deep waters includes shoals of fish attracted by nutrient-rich cold-water currents. A detailed analysis of the footage is underway using computer vision techniques. Our project not only focuses on the coral reefs but also aims to understand the broader marine ecosystem. We are examining the interconnections between coral reefs, fish populations, and other marine life to develop a holistic conservation approach, he added.

Sample(s) of mesophotic reef imagery captured by the onboard cameras on the ROV, at the indicated depth(s) (photo credit - The Habitats Trust)

Threats to corals in the tumultuous times of climate change

The world is experiencing its fourth global coral bleaching event, which is the second such event in the last decade. Since early 2023, close to 72% of coral reefs worldwide have been impacted by bleaching-level heat stress, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This extensive bleaching has been confirmed in over 67 countries and territories across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Regions such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Caribbean, and parts of the Indian Ocean have been severely affected, including the corals along Lakshadweep Islands.

This widespread bleaching is attributed to elevated sea surface temperatures, monitored by NOAAs Coral Reef Watch, which uses satellite data to predict and track heat stress. Our initial findings indicate that mesophotic reefs might serve as critical refuges for coral species affected by bleaching. Understanding their role in the larger marine ecosystem could be key to developing effective conservation strategies in the face of climate change, said Chavan.

The long-term vision, as planned by the Habitats Trust, is to map these mesophotic reefs starting from Lakshadweep and expand across Indias west coast, identify the species present, and assess their resilience to bleaching events. These deeper reefs, with their lower temperatures, might be crucial for the survival of coral populations, he said.

The researchers also aim to understand the functional connectivity between coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, including potential connections with reefs off the east coast of Africa, Madagascar, Maldives, and Lakshadweep. By establishing these connections, we hope to develop evidence-based conservation strategies. This could help identify key spawning grounds and source populations, ultimately securing the future of coral reefs in our region. Our goal is to create a comprehensive, scientific approach to coral reef conservation in India, added Chavan.
Pregnancy is one of the most extraordinary experiences of a womans life. They have the power to give life, which is why it is essential to rest and take care of the body. Well, there are several superwomen who not only enjoy this magical phase but also flourish in their careers simultaneously. Heres a look at five such Bollywood divas who shot films while they were expecting a child: Alia Bhatt in Heart of Stone and Deepika Padukone in Kalki 2898 AD

Deepika Padukone

At the pre-release event of her recently released film Kalki 2898 AD, Deepika Padukone flaunted her cute baby bump in a black dress. But did you know the actor was pregnant even during the final filming of the epic sci-fi film? Revealing the same, director Nag Ashwin joked that Deepikas child also acted in this project

Yami Gautam

At the trailer launch of her film Article 370, Yami Gautam announced that she is expecting her first child with her filmmaker husband Aditya Dhar. She revealed that shooting for the film, especially action sequences, while she was pregnant was emotionally taxing for her. But being the professional that she is, the actor finished shooting and also promoted her film in full swing

Kareena Kapoor Khan

When she was shooting for Laal Singh Chaddha (2022), Bollywoods OG diva Kareena Kapoor Khan was five and a half months pregnant with her second child Jehangir Ali Khan. Apart from her husband Saif Ali Khan and her co-star Aamir Khan, Bebos son Taimur Ali Khan was extremely supportive during this time

Alia Bhatt

2022 was a special year for Alia Bhatt. Not only did she tie the nuptial knot with Ranbir Kapoor but also welcomed her darling daughter Raha Kapoor into the world. While she was pregnant, Alia shot her first-ever action film Heart of Stone. The project which marked her Hollywood debut. The actor had informed the team about the same. In an interview later, Alia had revealed that the entire team took great care of her

Neha Dhupia

Neha Dhupia beautifully portrayed the role of a pregnant cop named ACP Catherine Alvarez in the 2022 thriller drama A Thursday, co-starring Yami and Atul Kulkarni. During the shoot, the actor was expecting her second child, son Guriq Singh Dhupia Bedi

Well, these actors have been an inspiration to pregnant women all over the country. More power to these star mommies!
On Friday morning, Telanganas Nalgonda police opened fire in the air before apprehending two highway robbers of the notorious Parthi gang of Maharashtra. The arrests occurred on the outer ring road on the outskirts of Hyderabad, the police said. The gang, hailing from Indapur of Maharashtra, were operating in Telangana for over a month (File photo)

The incident took place at Pedda Amberpet within the jurisdiction of Rachakonda police commissionerate, at around 9am. The gang of around six persons, armed with stones, knives, and other sharp weapons, tried to attack the police personnel belonging to the central crime station, Nalgonda, besides the Abdullapurmet police of Rachakonda, forcing the police to open a couple of rounds in the air.

While two of them were apprehended, other gang members managed to escape, Nalgonda Superintendent of police (SP) Sharad Chandra Pawar told reporters, adding that the detained gang members were being questioned.

He said the gang, hailing from Indapur of Maharashtra, were operating in Telangana for over a month. They indulged in eight robberies on Hyderabad-Vijayawada national highway. They would target vehicles passing on the service road of the highways in the state and rob the travelers of their valuables, the SP said.

Following these incidents, the Nalgonda police formed special teams to track the movements of the Parthi gang. On Friday morning, the Nalgonda CCS police found the members of the gang and chased them. When the robbers entered the jurisdiction of Rachakonda police, the Nalgonda police alerted their counterparts.

At the Pedda amberpet area closer to the outer ring road, the police personnel of Nalgonda and Abdullapurmet attempted to apprehend them. When the gang members revolted and tried to attack the cops, the latter opened fire in the air to nab them, the SP said.

On June 10, the Parthi gang members waylaid a family traveling in the car at Chityal on Nalgonda highway and attacked two persons before decamping with eight tolas of gold and cash.
Agartala: The Tripura Police have arrested 25 Rohingyas, including six women and seven children from two different parts in North Tripura district for entering the state without valid documents, officials said on Friday. (Representative Photo)

Police said they were arrested from Dharmanagar and Churaibari areas on Thursday night while attempting to leave for Hyderabad in search of employment opportunities.

Prima facie it suggests that the group intruded through Sonamura in Sepahijala district and Kailashahar in Unakoti district from Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar, said a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity.

They were supposed to travel to Guwahati by bus and then Hyderabad via train, the officer said.

Tripura shares a total 856 km long international border with Bangladesh, parts of some patches are yet to be fenced.

A total of 1,018 people, including 498 Bangladeshi nationals, have been detained in Tripura between January last year till April 15 this year while trying to cross the Indo-Bangla international border, according to a Border Security Force (BSF) report.

The detentions of the infiltrators have increased compared to previous years. In 2022, the BSF detained 369 people, including 150 Bangladeshi nationals, 160 Indians and 59 Rohingyas, while in 2021, 208 intruders, among whom 115 were Indians and 93 were Bangladeshis, were also detained.
Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, took a fresh dig at the BJP-led Centre on Friday over the ongoing Agniveer controversy. He pointed out that the family of Agniveer member Ajay Kumar, who died in a landmine explosion in Jammu & Kashmir's Naushera in January, has yet to receive any compensation, saying that there is a difference between compensation and insurance. He further accused the Modi government of discriminating against the Agniveers who lost their lives for the country by failing to adequately support them Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (Sakib Ali/Hindustan Times)

Taking to X, the Rae Bareli MP wrote, The family of martyr Agniveer Ajay Kumar has not received any compensation from the government till date. There is a difference between Compensation and Insurance; the payment has been made to the family of the martyr only by the insurance company. The family of martyr Ajay Kumar has not received the assistance that they should have received from the government. The family of every martyr who sacrifices his life for the country should be respected but the Modi government is discriminating against them. Whatever the government says, this is a matter of national security and I will keep raising it. INDIA will never allow the coalition forces to weaken.

When did the fresh Agniveer controversy start?

On July 3, Rahul Gandhi released a video featuring the father of an Agniveer, who alleged that the family had not received any compensation or assistance from the Centre following his son's death in a landmine explosion in Naushera, Jammu and Kashmir, in January.

Defence minister Rajnath Singh lied in Parliament about the assistance given to the family of the martyred Agniveer. Martyr Agniveer Ajays father has himself told the truth and exposed their lies. The defence minister should apologise to the Parliament, the country, the army and the family of the martyr, Gandhi wrote in a post on X.

In the video Gandhi shared, Ajay Kumars father can be heard saying, We have got nothing from the Centre but some help from the Punjab government. The defence minister said in Parliament that 1 crore is given to the family if an Agniveer dies, but we have received nothing. Rahul Gandhi is raising the issue...this scheme should be scrapped.

However, hours later, the Indian Army responded to it by rejecting the Congress leader's claims.

It is emphasised that the Indian Army salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar. The last rites were carried out with full Military Honours. Of the total amount due, a family of Agniveer Ajay has already been paid 98.39 lakhs. Ex-Gratia and other benefits amounting to approximately 67 lakhs, as applicable according to the provisions of the Agniveer Scheme, will be paid on Final Account Settlement shortly post due Police verification. The total amount will be 1.65 Cr approximately, the Army said.

Rahul Gandhi, during his address in the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, criticised the Agnipath Scheme, saying that it originated from the PMO rather than the Indian Army and was conceived by the Prime Minister. He likened it to demonetisation and said that if INDIA bloc assumes power, it will eliminate the Agniveer scheme.
The Union government has set a target to establish multipurpose primary agriculture credit societies (PACS) in 200,000 panchayats that have no cooperative institution in the next five years, Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah said on Saturday. Union home and cooperation minister Amit Shah. (Image posted by Amit Shah on X)

Addressing the Sahkar se Samriddhi (Prosperity through Cooperation) programme in Gujarats Gandhinagar organised to mark the 102nd International Day of Cooperatives, Shah said the Centre will also ensure that each district in the country will have a co-operative bank and a milk producers union.

The Union ministry of cooperation has taken many important steps. The government has set a target that there should not be any state or district in the country where there is not a viable district cooperative bank and a viable district milk producers union. Even today there are two lakh (200,000) panchayats in the country where there is no cooperative institution. In the next five years, we will work to create multipurpose PACS in these two lakh panchayats, Shah said.

Praising the Gujarat government for announcing a subsidy of 50% on Nano-urea and Nano-DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate), Shah said their use will increase production and save the soil.

The minister further said that the Union government has established National Cooperative Organic Limited (NCOL) to promote organic products and ensure fair price to farmers practising organic farming.

Today Bharat Organic Atta has also been launched by NCOL. Amul has also launched a shop of Organic products in Delhi. Both Bharat Organic and Amul are reliable and 100% organic brands, Shah said.

Highlighting the cooperative sectors significant contribution to Indias rural and agricultural economy, he said: The cooperative sector is contributing 20% in the distribution of agricultural loans, 35% in the distribution of fertilisers and 21% in production, 31% in sugar production, 13% in the purchase of wheat and 20% in the purchase of paddy.

The Centre will soon bring a National Cooperative Policy, he said, adding that 1,100 new Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) have been formed in the country, and over 100,000 PACS have accepted the new bylaws. The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) will be able to work for the welfare of more cooperative institutions with the issuance of bonds worth 2,000 crore, Shah added.

The only objective behind the mantra of Sahakar se Samriddhi given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to bring confidence, happiness and prosperity in the lives of 30 crore (300 million) people who are backward even after 75 years of Independence, Shah asserted.

Highlighting the renewed focus of the government towards cooperation, Shah underlined that PM Modi created the new ministry of cooperation in 2021 to address the long-standing demand for a separate ministry dedicated to the cooperative sector.

We have to lay such a strong foundation of cooperation in the next 5 years so that cooperation can reach every village and household for the next 125 years, he added.
Guwahati, Assam's flood situation remained critical on Saturday with over 24.50 lakh people reeling under the deluge in 30 districts and major rivers flowing above the danger mark at several places, an official bulletin said. Assam flood situation critical, 24.50 lakh affected in 30 districts

The toll in this year's flood was 52 and 12 others lost their lives due to landslides and storms.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma held a meeting with officials late on Friday after returning from the severely affected Dibrugarh district and reviewed the flood situation in the state.

''After visiting flood-affected areas of Dibrugarh, we reviewed several matters, including Assam Arogya Nidhi-a health financial assistance scheme," the chief minister said.

Sarma also said he has specifically asked the officials to ''prioritise rarest of rare cases and applications from those who are not covered under any existing scheme''.

The chief minister said after interacting with the flood-hit people, he had sent messages to officials to address their problems.

"For us, proactive governance is the key to effective public service," he said.

On the supply of clean drinking water, he said while the flood has caused considerable damage across the state, the 'Jal Jeevan Mission' scheme has come out as a ''silver lining in these tough times''.

''The transformative water supply project is supplying clean drinking water in these tough times'', he said.

Cachar, Kamrup, Hailakandi, Hojai, Dhubri, Nagaon, Morigaon, Goalpara, Barpeta, Dibrugarh, Nalbari, Dhemaji, Bongaigaon, Lakhimpur, Jorhat, Sonitpur, Kokrajhar, Karimganj, South Salmara, Darrang and Tinsukia are among the districts affected by the flood.

The toll in this year's flood, landslides and storms was 64, according to the bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority .

Dhubri with a population of 7,75,721, Darrang with 1,86,108, Cachar with 1,75,231, Barpeta with 1,39,399 and Morigaon with 1,46,045 are among the worst-hit districts, it said.

Altogether 47,103 affected people have taken shelter in 612 camps, while 4,18,614 inmates in non-relief camps have been provided with relief materials.

Flood in urban areas of three districts of Kamrup , Kamrup and Dibrugarh was also reported.

Cabinet ministers are also camping in various flood-affected districts.

Sarma said he and his entire team are on the ground to ''assess the damage caused by the floods".

"We are working tirelessly to hear people's grievances and solve their issues," the chief minister said.

The Brahmaputra river is flowing above the danger mark at Nimatighat, Guwahati, Goalpara and Dhubri.

Its tributaries Burhi Dihing at Chenimari, Dikhou at Sivasagar, Disang at Nanglamuraghat, Dhansiri at Numaligarh, Jia Bharali at NT Road crossing, and Kopili at Kampur and Dharamtul are also flowing above the danger levels.

The Barak river is flowing above the danger mark at Ghat, BP Ghat, Chota Bakra and Fuletral, and its tributaries Dhaleswari at Gharmura, Katakhal at Matizuri and Kushiyara at Karimganj town.

Infrastructure damaged by the floods includes 225 roads and 10 bridges among others, the bulletin added.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Cyberstuck. - Gif: This is Slovakia via YouTube

Elon Musk has made a lot of outlandish claims about the flagship Cybertruck, including that it will survive the apocalypse and will even be able to serve briefly as a boat should the world flood. Well those sailing credentials have been thrown into doubt this week after footage emerged of a Cybertruck stuck on the bank of a small lake.

The truck was reportedly the first Cybertruck to make it to the European country of Slovakia. There, it was offering test rides to Tesla fans, reports the Slovak Spectator. While attempting to show off its rugged abilities, the truck was driven into Male Kosariska lake, which is about a 20 minute drive from the capital city of Bratislava.

The lake, a popular spot for summer swimming, clearly seemed like a good spot to test Musks claims that the Cybertruck could serve briefly as a boat. However, once wheel-deep in the water, things started going downhill for the truck.

The EV became stuck in the loose gravel on the bed of the lake, spinning its wheels and struggling to gain traction to get out the water. Video posted to social media shows the Cybertruck making numerous attempts to get out of the lake, with little progress made onto dry land.

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In the end, the truck reportedly needed assistance from passing swimmers, who stepped (swam?) in to help push the massive truck out of the lake. As the Slovak Spectator reports:

Several people had to help out the car, digging out gravel, placing wooden planks under the wheels, and pushing the vehicle from behind, writes the huntinspeed.sk website. People swimming in the lake or passing by the lake managed to free the vehicle in the end. Elon, try to conquer Mars instead of Slovakia, a Facebook user wrote.

Despite Musk claiming that the Cybertruck is capable of conquering any task you throw at it, this is far from being the first time the pickup has been caught out when heading into the wet stuff. Cybertrucks have also been bricked driving through puddles, have gotten stuck while trying to ford rivers and have even been struck down by a trip to the car wash. Clearly, water and Cybertrucks dont mix.

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Silchar: Assam remains the most affected state by the floods caused by the early arrival of monsoon this year, the Central Water Commission (CWC) has said. According to the CWCs Friday bulletin, 16 of the 18 severe flood situation areas across the country are in Assam and 18 districts of the northeastern state are facing a severe flood situation due to overflowing of major rivers like Brahmaputra, Barak, Kopili and others. The water level of Brahmaputra is likely to remain steady for the next 24 hours, while other rivers like Barak are showing a falling trend, it said. 18 districts of Assam are facing a severe flood situation due to overflowing of major rivers (File Photo)

According to the data from the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), over 2.4 million people across 30 districts have been affected by floods till Thursday, with 52 deaths.

Dhubri remains the most affected district in Assam with 775,000 people suffering from the floods. Over 140,000 people in the district have been displaced and 3,627 have taken shelter in relief camps, according to the ASDMA data.

The other major flood-affected districts with more than 100,000 population affected are Darrang (186,108), Cachar (175,231), Barpeta (139,399), Morigaon (146,045) and Nalbari (105,372).

According to the India Meteorological Departments Friday report, Assam received 85% more rain than the normal amount.

Also Read: Assam floods: Brahmaputra above danger mark, CM Himanta says water receding

Moreover, 3,500 villages across 122 revenue circles have been affected by the floods and more than 63,490 hectares of agricultural land have been submerged due to the heavy rainfall in the past few days. The flood situation has also affected animal life with more than 1.5 million domestic animals affected by the floods.

On Wednesday, eight persons died in Assam due to floods while on Thursday, six deaths were reported. No death was reported due to floods on Friday, however, two lost lives due to the landslide.

A 35-year-old lady and her 14-year-old son died in Assams Guwahati after their house collapsed due to a landslide, according to the officials. On July 2, a 40-year-old father and his 6-month-old son died in Assams Cachar district after their house collapsed due to heavy rainfall. Earlier on June 19, five members of a family died in a similar incident.

In the Chandmari area of Guwahati, an 8-year-old boy drowned in a drain amid heavy rainfall on Thursday night. He was on his way home with his father and their two-wheeler vehicle met with a minor accident, according to the police.

The minor boy fell into a drain and washed away. A State Disaster Response Force team has been deployed in the search operation, police said.

Due to the overflowing of the Brahmaputra River, a large part of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve was inundated till Friday, with 77 animals dead, according to the director of the park, Sonali Ghosh. This includes three rhinos, 62 hog deer and some other wildlife species. The forest department has rescued 94 animals and 50 of them have been released to safe areas, officials said.

The forest teams on Thursday rescued a two-year-old rhino calf. The other species they rescued include hog deer, Indian Hare, Otter, elephant, Sambar, Jungle Cat and Scops Owl, said officials.

Assam chief minister, who visited several areas to take stock of the situation, said that around 40 embankments have been breached during the flood across the state while 60 more embankments were damaged by the heavy flow of water. Roads in nearly 1,000 areas have been damaged which includes 52 bridges.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Friday visited some flood-affected areas and he said that the central government is not taking Assams flood situation seriously. He also said that he has doubts if home minister Amit Shah actually called Assam CM and took stock of the flood situation.

Responding to this, Sarma said that this is not a good time to get involved in political blame games because the people of Assam are suffering. Our priority is to support people in distress. If I start comparing what Congress did during floods in the past, I can bring a lot. But this is not the right time and I dont like to politicise such issues, he said.

Meanwhile, multiple landslides caused by heavy rainfall across Arunachal Pradesh have disrupted connectivity and over 60,000 people are affected by this, according to official reports. A large part of Miao-Vijaynagar (MV) Road was damaged by landslides, dozens of trees were uprooted, and massive rocks were dislodged due to heavy rainfall, causing blockages at 16, 23, and 27 Miles.

In Manipur, the flood situation slightly improved on Friday as the water level in all major rivers receded due to less rainfall in the last 12 hours, officials said.

The rainfall was recorded in six locations across the state, which was under 10 millilitres. Most of the gates of barrages controlling the water level of rivers were opened to reduce the water level of the rivers flowing in the state, according to the State Water Resources Department.

Manipur chief minster N Biren Singh, along with his cabinet colleagues, visited Imphal East district on Friday to assess the damages caused by the floods and landslides. He said the governments maximum efforts are being provided to strengthen the rescue, relief, and rehabilitation.

The IMD has issued a warning for heavy rainfall in isolated places in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and surrounding areas till between 6 and 9 July.

According to the IMDs Friday report, Assam received 85% more rain than the normal amount. Arunachal Pradesh received 133%, Manipur 14% and Nagaland 28% more rainfall than the normal amount in the last 24 hours.
Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba, the self-styled godman, has claimed that he was depressed over the Hathras 'satsang' stampede incident and asked the affected families to have faith in the judiciary. Bhole Babas statement to news agency ANI on Saturday comes hours after Dev Prakash Madhukar, the main accused in the July 2 Hathras stampede, which claimed 121 lives, surrendered before the police in New Delhi. He was later was taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh Police. Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba, the self-styled godman. (ANI)

"... I am deeply saddened after the incident of July 2. May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I have faith that anyone who created the chaos would not be spared... Through my lawyer AP Singh, I have requested the members of the committee to stand with the bereaved families and the injured and help them throughout their lives...," Bhole Baba told ANI.

An FIR was lodged in the matter on July 2 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence). However, Bhole Baba was named in the FIR. His whereabouts are still not known.

Watch the video here:

Hathras stampede main accused surrenders

Dev Prakash Madhukar, the 'mukhya sevadar' of the satsang where the stampede took place, is the only accused named in the FIR lodged at Sikandra Rao police station in Hathras in connection with the incident. In a video message, Madhukar's lawyer AP Singh claimed that his client had surrendered in Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment.

"Today, we have surrendered Dev Prakash Madhukar, who has been called the main organiser in the FIR in the Hathras case, after calling the police, the SIT and the STF in Delhi since he was undergoing treatment here," AP Singh said.

"We had promised we would not apply for anticipatory bail since we did no wrong. What is our crime? He is an engineer and a heart patient. Doctors said his condition is stable now and so we surrendered today to join the probe," the lawyer said.

AP Singh said police may now record his statement or question him but they must take into consideration his health condition and ensure that "nothing wrong happens with him".

 1 lakh reward

The Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of 1 lakh for information leading to Dev Prakash Madhukar's arrest.

On July 3, the Supreme Court lawyer, had claimed that he also represents Bhole Baba, and that some "anti-social elements" were behind the tragedy.

Bhole Baba was ready to cooperate with the state administration and police and had sought an investigation into the entire matter, Singh had said.

Till Thursday, six people, including two women volunteers who were members of the organising committee of Bhole Baba's 'satsang', had been arrested in the case.

(With inputs from PTI)
Agartala: Tripura chief minister Dr Manik Saha on Friday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will soon form government in West Bengal and Kerala as the people trust the party for its commitment to development activities. Tripura chief minister Dr Manik Saha (Twitter/@DrManikSaha2)

The BJP is hopeful of forming a government in West Bengal and Kerala with an increase of public faith in the BJP due to commitment for developmental activities, Saha said while addressing an event held at Town Bardowali, his home turf in Agartala on Friday.

Saha alleged that the West Bengal chief minister-led ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) used police to prevent the BJP from holding political rallies in the state but later released them.

If we focus on development, there is no need for concern. In our efforts for peoples development, why should anyone obstruct voters? While we have eradicated this practice, it still persists in West Bengal, Saha said.

Saha said that the BJP achieved success in Odisha due to the governments development initiatives, and we expect to replicate this success soon in West Bengal and Kerala.

The BJP won the Odisha assembly polls held this year after bagging a majority in the 78 seats, bringing an end to the 24-year tenure of chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

Saha also thanked the people for the BJPs victory in the Lok Sabha polls. In a democracy, the blessing of the public gods is the greatest achievement. Thanks to all the residents of the congratulatory meeting organized today by Town No. 8 Baradowali Mandal for the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party candidates with huge votes in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, he wrote on X.
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu president of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), K Armstrong, was allegedly hacked to death near his residence in Chennai on Friday night, police said. (Twitter Photo)

According to the police, the BSP leader was attacked by a group of six people who came on three bikes, attacked him with knives and fled the scene.

The incident took place around 7.30pm when Armstrong was speaking to some people outside near his residence in Perambur in the northern region of Chennai, said police.

Following the attack, he was rushed to a private hospital in the city, where he succumbed to his injuries. Armstrong suffered serious injuries to his head and neck in the attack.

Police said that a murder case was registered against the unidentified accused and a special team has been formed to track the suspects, adding that the whole locality has been brought under a security blanket.

Although the BSP does not have a political presence in Chennai, Amstrong, an advocate, was a known Dalit voice. He served as a ward Councillor of the Greater Chennai Corporation in 2006.

The opposition and ruling partys allies expressed shock over the murder.

The Tamilnadu government should take steps to quickly arrest and punish the killers, said parliamentarian D Ravikumar of ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ally Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK- formerly the Dalit panthers of India).

I strongly condemn the DMK government which has pushed law and order to such a bad level that a state president of a national party can be murdered and crimes are committed without fear of police, government or the law, said All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary and leader of opposition Edappadi Palaniswami.

Violence & brutality has no place in our society but has become a norm in TN in the last 3 years under the DMK regime, BJP state president K Annamalai posted on X.
K Armstrong, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu president, was hacked to death by a six-member gang near his house in Chennai on Friday. BSP Supremo Mayawati reacted sharply to the incident and the Tamil Nadu government must punish the guilty. K Armstrong, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu president,

The two-wheeler-borne gang attacked Armstrong, a former councillor of Chennai Corporation, near his house in Perambur inflicting grievous injuries on him, and fled. He died on the way to the hospital, police said, adding that they have launched a hunt to trace out and nab the suspects.

The gruesome killing of Mr. K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state Govt. must punish the guilty, Mayawati said in a post on X.

Who was BSP Tamil Nadu president K Armstrong?

K Armstrong had completed his law degree from Venkateswara University, Tirupati, and practiced law in Chennai courts. He first served as a corporation councillor in 2006 and later became the president of the BSP's Tamil Nadu unit in the subsequent year. In the 2011 Tamil Nadu assembly election, he contested in the Kolathur constituency, receiving substantial support despite not winning. Throughout his career, he consistently advocated for the rights of Dalits and the underprivileged. Although the BSP does not have a political presence in Chennai, Amstrong, an advocate was a known Dalit voice.

10 special police teams formed

The Chennai Police has formed 10 special teams to probe the murder of K Armstrong.

"On July 5, evening, while Armstrong (52 years), State President, Bahujan Samaj Party was standing in front of his house at Venugopal Samy Kovil Street, Perambur (K-1 Sembium PS limits), unknown persons assaulted him with knives. Due to the assault, he sustained bleeding injuries and subsequently police admitted him at Apollo Hospital with the assistance of the passersby. Doctors who examined him declared that he was dead," the Chennai Police said in a statement.

"In this regard, 10 special teams have been formed under the leadership of Tr. Asra Garg IPS., Addl.COP (North) to probe the motives behind the murder and to arrest the culprits. Special teams are intensifying the search to arrest those culprits," it added.

Reactions from Opposition

Meanwhile, AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami slammed the ruling DMK party over the death of the BSP Tamil Nadu president and said if such a leader is assassinated, then what is the point of criticizing the law and order in the state.

In a post on X, Palaniswami said, "It is shocking and painful after knowing BSP State President Armstrong was hacked to death. Condolences to BSP cadres and his family. If the state president of a national party is assassinated, what is the point of criticizing law and order in the DMK regime? How do criminals get the courage to kill? I strongly condemn the DMK chief who has pushed law and order to such a level that crimes are committed without fear of police, government or the law."

"I request MK Stalin to give assurance for peaceful last rights of Armstrong without any obstacles," he added.

BJP spokesperson ANS Prasad demanded the immediate arrest of the murderers.

"Our BJP party leader has already pointed out that the law and order situation is deteriorating in Tamil Nadu several times. Today, a Dalit leader has been murdered. Armstrong was a young and active leader of a national party," Prasad said.

"We ask this Tamil Nadu Government to make sure of immediate arrest of the murderers," he added.
"It was love at first sight," recalled Smriti Singh - the wife of late Captain Anshuman Singh who was awarded Kirti Chakra posthumously for the ultimate sacrifice in saving the life of his fellow army men from a fire at Siachen. Captain Anshuman Singh (right) and his widow Smriti Singh.

Smriti Singh received the award from President Droupadi Murmu, the supreme commander of the armed forces, on Friday. Kirti Chakra is India's second highest peacetime gallantry award.

Also read | Captain Anshuman Singh's widow Smriti Singh receives Kirti Chakra. How Army veterans reacted | Video



Recalling their love story, Smriti Singh said, We met on the first day of our college. I would not be dramatic, but it was love at first sight. After a month, he got selected into Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). We met in an engineering college, and he got selected into a medical college, super intelligent guy. After just one month of meeting, it was a long-distance relationship for eight long years and then we thought we should get married now so we did.

The couple got married in February 2023 after Captain Singh graduated from AFMC.

Recollecting their conversations, Smriti added, Unfortunately, within two months of marriage, he got posted to Siachen. On July 18, we had a long conversation about how our life will be in the next 50 years  we are going to build a house, we are going to have kids, what not. On 19th morning, I get up, I get a call that he is no more."

The accident

In July 2023, a short circuit led to a fire accident in an Indian Army ammunition dump at Siachen around 3am. As the dump caught fire, Captain Singh helped rescue fellow army personnel stuck inside a fibre-glass hut. The blaze further spread to a nearby medical investigation shelter. Captain Singh, in an attempt to retrieve life-saving medicines from the shelter, suffered severe burns and passed away.

Also read | NEET PG 2024 Date Live

Explaining trauma that stuck her family, Smriti explained that For the first 7-8 hours, we could not accept that anything of that sort has happened. Till date, I am not coping up. Just trying to figure out thinking maybe it is not true. But now that I have the Kirti Chakra in my hand, I realise it is true. But its okay, he is a hero. We can manage a little of our lives because he has managed a lot. He gave up his life and family so that the other three army families could be saved.
New Delhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal alleged on Saturday that her husband was a victim of a "deep political conspiracy" and urged the people to rally behind him or else no educated and honest person would like to join politics. Delhi CM Kejriwal victim of 'deep political conspiracy', people need to rally behind him, sayd wife Sunita

In her first video message after the Lok Sabha results, she alleged that Kejriwal was arrested by the ED in the excise policy case based on a "false" statement by a witness and repeated the allegations levelled by the Aam Aadmi Party leaders against Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy , who was recently elected to Lok Sabha on a TDP ticket, and his son Raghava Magunta, an accused-turned-approver.

She said Kejriwal was a normal, educated , patriotic and staunchly honest man, and no educated and honest person in the country will enter politics if Delhi people do not support him.

The ED arrested Arvind Kejriwal based on the statement of TDP MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy . The Telugu Desam Party is a constituent of the ruling NDA, she said.

She claimed that MSR changed his statement to the ED about his meeting with the Delhi chief minister after his son Raghava Magunta Reddy was arrested and denied bail.

According to Sunita Kejriwal, MSR earlier said that he had met the Delhi chief minister on March 16, 2021, regarding land for a charitable trust he wanted to open in Delhi, but changed his statement on July 17, 2023, following his son's arrest.

"In his statement to the ED, MSR said Kejriwal asked him in the presence of nearly 10-12 people to enter the liquor business in Delhi and pay 100 crore to A. Would anybody ask for money before so many people," she asked.

Similar allegations were levelled by A leader Sanjay Singh in April.

No immediate reaction was available from the ED or MSR.

Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy even after the arrest of his son gave several statements but kept repeating his earlier claim that he met Kejriwal regarding land for his family charitable trust, Sunita said.

During this time, Raghav Magunta's wife due to shock tried to commit suicide and his elderly mother's health deteriorated. Seeing all this, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy changed his statement, she claimed.

MSR said that on March 16, 2021, he went to meet CM Arvind Kejriwal, and his meeting lasted barely 4-5 minutes. He also said that this was his first and last meeting with the chief minister, she claimed.

Sunita Kejriwal mentioned that the very next day after this statement, his son got bail.

"It is clear that this statement of Magunta Reddy is false. Magunta Reddy himself has said that this was his first and last meeting with CM Arvind Kejriwal and 10-12 people were also sitting there.

"If someone had to ask for money from someone, would he ask for money from a stranger in front of 10-12 people in the first meeting itself? " she asked.

Appealing to people to share her video, the Delhi chief minister's wife alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to "finish off" Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party using the ED and CBI.

The BJP hit back at Sunita Kejriwal, saying she has "mastered the art of story-telling like her husband" and accused her of "casting aspersions" on the judiciary.

"It's surprising to see her casting aspersions on the judiciary as during her story-telling she repeatedly says that the bail of MS Reddy's son was rejected when he gave a true statement and when he buckled under pressure and changed his statement, his son was granted bail by the court," Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in his government's scrapped excise policy 2021-22. He is currently in judicial custody after being arrested by the CBI.

The trial court had granted bail to Kejriwal on June 20 in the ED case but the Delhi High Court on June 25 stayed the trial court order

He had mounted a blazing campaign in the Lok Sabha election in Delhi against the BJP after his release from Tihar jail on interim bail on May 10, telling people that it is a vote against his arrest, but it proved insufficient as BJP continued its winning streak and bagged all seven seats in the national capital again, though the victory margins were less this time.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of Bibhav Kumar, a close aide of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, by ten days till July 16 in connection with the alleged assault case involving Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal. Bibhav Kumar was arrested by the Delhi Police on May 18 (PTI Photo)

Kumar was on Saturday produced before judicial magistrate first class Gaurav Goyal through video conferencing after his judicial custody ended. Kumar will now be produced before the Delhi Tis Hazari court on July 16.

The case pertains to allegations made by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Maliwal, who claimed that Kumar assaulted her at the CMs residence on May 13.

Based on Maliwals complaint, police filed a first information report (FIR) on charges of attempted culpable homicide, assault with intent to disrobe, wrongful restraint, criminal intimidation, and insulting the modesty of a woman. The FIR was registered on May 16.

Kumar was booked under several sections, including 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The Delhi Police have also added the IPC 201 for disappearing evidence and giving false information. Section 201 carries a provision for imprisonment of one-sixth of the punishment awarded for the biggest offence in the crime.

Kumar, in turn, filed a complaint alleging unauthorised entry and threats by Maliwal, hinting at possible political motives behind the accusations even as he stated his willingness to join the probe.

He was taken into custody by the Delhi Police on May 18 from Kejriwals residence at Flagstaff Road, Civil Lines and was formally arrested in the evening while the hearing of his anticipatory bail plea was underway before a court. He has been in judicial custody since May 31 and is currently lodged in the Tihar Jail.

Kumar had earlier moved two bail applications before the trial court. His first bail application was dismissed on May 27, while the second one was rejected on June 7 by the courts, noting the allegations against Kumar to be serious and raises fear in the mind of the public as the alleged incident took place at the CMs residence, where not only the party members could meet the CM but even the general public could meet him regarding their grievances.

Kumar has also filed a bail petition before the Delhi high court, on which notice has been issued and is currently pending. He has also challenged his arrest before the high court, challenging his arrest by the Delhi Police, claiming it to be illegal.
The Department of Telecommunication released draft rules on Thursday prescribing how the Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) -- which replaced the Universal Service Obligation Fund -- will be administered for a 30-day public consultation. Digital Bharat Nidhi: Govt releases draft rules, seeks public feedback

The DBN was established through the Telecommunications Act, 2023, passed by Parliament and received presidential assent in December. The USOF was established to provide telecom services in remote and rural areas at affordable prices through a universal access levy, a percentage of revenue earned by operators under various licences.

Sections 24 to 26 of the act, which renamed the USOF as DBN and defined its funding, came into effect on June 26.

Under section 25, payments received for DBN will first be credited to the Consolidated Fund of India. They will then be credited to the DBN by the central government (on parliamentary approval through a law) exclusively to provide access to telecommunication services in underserved rural, remote and urban areas; support pilot projects and consultancy assistance; support research and development; or support introduction of new telecom services, technologies and products.

The proposed rules aim to replace rules 523 to 527 of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951, which prescribed USOF operations. However, the new rules will not override existing arrangements until their expiry. USOF was given statutory status in December 2003 through amendments to the Indian Telegraph Act (now replaced by the Telecom Act, 2023).

The new rules remove definitions of financial terms such as capital recovery, net cost and revenue. They also omit definitions of technical terms like village public telephone, secondary switching area and broadband connectivity.

Under the proposed rules, the central government will appoint an administrator of the DBN who will select DBN implementers through bidding or invitation of applications from eligible persons.

The rules stipulate that DBN implementers, on receiving funding, must offer services to underserved areas in an open and non-discriminatory manner, complying with instructions from the DBN administrator.

To improve access to established telecom services in underserved areas, DBN implementers will be selected through bidding, as per rule 7, similar to USOF rules. In a new provision, implementers will be selected through application for research and development of new or emerging telecom technologies.

The administrator will have power to formulate bidding and application procedures, disburse funds, and specify terms related to assets created through DBN funds.
New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) on Friday responded to Congresss attack on the government over mobile tariff hikes by telecom companies, saying that the rates are determined by market forces where the government does not intervene. The three major mobile networking companies  Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea  recently announced an increase in tariff plans which came into effect from July 3 and 4 (Representative Photo)

The response came hours after Congress accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of fleecing 1.09 billion mobile users by allowing the three largest telcos of the country to raise tariffs without any oversight or regulation.

The three major mobile networking companies  Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea  recently announced an increase in tariff plans which came into effect from July 3 and 4. While Reliance Jio hiked the prices by an average of 20%, Vodafone hiked the tariff price by an average of 16%, and Airtel by 15%.

The ministry in a statement said that rates are regulated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The DoT also said that the Telecommunications Service Providers had raised tariffs after more than two years, during which time they had invested heavily in rolling out 5G services.

The DoT called the Congress claim related to the tariff hike misleading.

While protecting the interests of subscribers, for orderly growth of the telecommunication sector, which includes investments in the latest technologies like 5G, 6G, IoT/M2M [internet of things/machine to machine] for Industry 4.0 etc., the financial viability of the sector is important, the ministry of communications said in its statement.

In the press conference earlier on Friday, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala had said that the hike would impose a financial burden of about Rs.35,000 crore on mobile users in the country.

Also Read: Congress attacks Centre over mobile phone tariff hike

In response, the ministry said that over the last two decades, the rates of mobile services has [sic] been kept under forbearance by TRAI which has led to India having amongst the cheapest mobile services in the world.

Surjewala questioned the timing of the hikes, saying that they were done after the conclusion of the general elections so that the government was not questioned over them.

He asked how the three private companies, which control about 92 per cent of the market, could be allowed to unilaterally raise the tariffs without any oversight by the government or TRAI.

The ministry, in response, said that mobile services in India are currently being delivered by three private TSPs and one public TSP. From the competition point of view, this is an optimal market structure for mobile services, the statement read.

The ministry further compared the state of the telecom sector under the two terms of the National Democratic Alliance government with the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government and castigated the latter.

Before, the telecommunication sector was mired in controversies and lack of transparency and therefore, the growth of mobile services was stagnant. During the last 10 years, due to progressive policies of the government, the rates of telecommunication services be it voice or data, have fallen exponentially. The Government has been a beneficiary of a large amount of non-tax revenue from spectrum auction which has been fully transparent and efficient, the statement read.
Paul Skenes walks off the field to a standing ovation after striking out his final hitter of the night at PNC Park.

Pittsburgh Pirates announcer Greg Brown had a feeling things were about to get wild at PNC Park Friday night.

Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes was on the mound in front of a rare sell-out crowd in Pittsburgh. But with two outs in the seventh, the New York Mets had the potential tying run at the plate in a 4-2 game. Skenes got two quick strikes on Harrison Bader. Brown quickly pointed out that Skenes has finished several of his starts this season in dramatic fashion, with a strikeout.

He has a flair about him, knowing whats going on, Brown said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh broadcast. He wants the strikeout. Hes ended a number of his starts with a strikeout. This place will go bonkers if he does 

Literally a second later, Bader swung and missed to strike out, and the crowd went bonkers, giving Skenes a standing ovation as he left the field.

Brown and color analyst Kevin Young maintained their silence all the way to the commercial break almost 30 seconds later, as Skenes walked off to cheers.

He has a flair about him, knowing whats going on. He wants the strikeout. Hes ended a number of his starts with a strikeout. This place will go bonkers if he does Greg Brown with a less is more approach as Pirates ace Paul Skenes fans Harrison Bader to finish his night. pic.twitter.com/EH1BMY7yc0  Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 6, 2024

The late Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully famously called such silences letting the moment breathe. Brown and Young definitely gave that electrifying moment plenty of breath.

Fans loved the moment  and the silence from the Pirates broadcast booth.

Right out of the Vin Scully book of letting the moment breathe. Bravo. https://t.co/T3NBh4gJVc  Austin Green (@AustinGreen44) July 6, 2024

Brownie is the best. Skenes is him https://t.co/CvUFU3SqmF  Zach (@zachmt9) July 6, 2024

Let the crown noise speak for the play. Great play call  Bingo (@Nh1ocks) July 6, 2024

Final pitch from Paul Skenes on Friday. Great job by Greg Brown to let the moment breathe. pic.twitter.com/pvbKcF70gA  Jason Shetler (@Jason_Shetler) July 6, 2024

Paul Skenes has a flair about him ELECTRIC. (also love the broadcast just letting the crowd speak for itself in this moment) pic.twitter.com/6AT5vf4a8s  Platinum KeBryan (@PlatinumKey13) July 6, 2024

That Skenes strikeout seemed to light the afterburners for the Pirates. The team has struggled at the plate this season, but they launched a team-record-tying seven home runs, including two grand slams, Friday in a 14-2 win. They hit so many homers, the stadium crew ran out of fireworks normally used after home runs, a situation that left Mets announcers Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez joking on their broadcast.
Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said several loyal voters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party went on holiday during voting in the Lok Sabha elections, assuming that the saffron alliance was set to win more than 400 seats in the 543-member lower house of Parliament. Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar during Mahayuti workers meeting, in Mumbai.(PTI)

At the joint rally of ruling Mahayuti allies in Mumbai, Shinde said,"We were caught off guard by the opposition during the Lok Sabha election. Some of our voters went on holiday during the polling, assuming that the NDA would easily win more than 400 seats in the general elections. This loss underscores the need for a more strategic approach in the future."



ALSO READ: Those who left me: Uddhav Thackeray on Eknath Shinde camp possible homecoming

According to PTI, the chief minister claimed the opposition voters diligently exercised their franchise, with almost 80 per cent turnout.

"If 60 per cent of our voters had turned up at the polling booths, we could have easily won 40 seats. We can't afford to be naive or callous after being hit hard in the Lok Sabha polls," he added.

BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis supported Shinde's claims, stating that the NDA leaders did not pay enough attention to the lies spread by the Opposition during the campaign.



ALSO READ: After union cabinet formation, BJPs Maharashtra allies express unhappiness

Maharashtra sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha. In the just concluded general elections, the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP(SP) won 30 seats.



While the BJP's seat tally dropped to nine, its allies Shiv Sena led by Shinde won seven while Ajit Pawar's NCP could only bag just one seat.



ALSO READ: Battered by poll result, Ajit Pawar makes emotional appeal to voters



The Lok Sabha election results have bolstered the MVA ahead of the all-important assembly polls due later this year.



During the meeting, Fadnavis pointed to some alliance leaders making public statements against each other. There are some party leaders who get some extreme urge to make some statement. My suggestion to them is to first speak with their leaders, seek their permission, and then open their mouths, he said.



(With PTI inputs)
The armed forces are expected to suggest to the government that the age ceiling for Agnipath inductees be raised to 23 and that at least 50% be retained after four years, senior military officials aware of the matter said on Friday. The Agnipath scheme, unveiled on June 14, 2022 lays out rules for the recruitment of soldiers in the armed forces (File Photo)

The officials, who asked not to be named, attributed the suggested changes in the controversial scheme for recruiting soldiers that was introduced two years ago to a desire to boost combat effectiveness. The Agnipah scheme has come under fire from aspirants across the country, especially the northern states, and is believed to have lost the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) some votes across the region in the summers national election.

The proposed overhaul of Agnipath, which will have to be approved by the government, is being sought at a time when the scheme has ignited a firestorm of controversy and deepened the political divide over its impact on national security.

The first modification of the scheme that the armed forces are planning to propose to the government is to raise the upper age limit from 21 to 23 to induct graduates who can be groomed for technical jobs in the three services, said one of the officials cited above.

Also Read: Review Agnipath. Roll it back or change it

The second one is for the retention of at least 50% Agniveers in service, as against the current 25%, to hedge against a manpower crunch in specialised areas, said a second official.

These changes are essential to bolster combat effectiveness, said the first official. The three services used to induct graduates in big numbers under the legacy recruitment system. There is a need to raise the age limit by two years to allow graduates to apply.

Only young men and women aged between 17 and a half and 21 are eligible under the scheme that seeks to recruit soldiers for only four years, with a provision of retaining 25% of them in regular service for another 15 years.

Under the legacy system, applicants aged between 17 and a half and 23 could apply for technical positions even though the upper age limit was 21 for general duty.

Soldiers recruited under the legacy recruitment system serve for about 20 years before they retire in their late 30s with pension and other benefits, which Agniveers released from service after four years are not entitled to.

The low retention rate can lead to a manpower crunch in critical streams, said a third official.

If X number of Agniveers are assigned to a particular technical stream and none of them are among the 25% soldiers retained in service, it will lead to a huge void in those areas. The retention rate needs to be raised to avoid this. The scheme must address issues related to better management of trained manpower, he said.

The row swirling around the scheme deepened on Thursday after former navy chief Admiral KB Singh criticised the recruitment model saying it will degrade the combat effectiveness of the military.

The only motivation driving the Agnipath is reducing the pension bill. The fact that this scheme will degrade combat effectiveness is known to all who understand national security, he wrote on X, in response to a post on the subject by another former navy chief, Admiral Arun Prakash.

Singhs comments are significant because he was among the key figures involved in discussions on the Agnipath proposal and retired from the top job in November 2021, months before the government announced the scheme in June 2022.

Earlier this week, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi released a video of the father of an Agniveer, saying that the family had not received any compensation from the Centre after his son was killed in a landmine explosion in Naushera in Jammu & Kashmir in January.

Also Read: Agnipath set to hit combat effectiveness: Ex-navy chief

The army, however, rebutted this, saying a chunk of the compensation was paid to the next of kin of Agniveer Ajay Kumar and the rest would be disbursed shortly.

The scheme was also at the centre of an intense debate in Parliament recently, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior ministers accusing the Congress of spreading lies about the recruitment model. Earlier this week, Gandhi attacked the government in Lok Sabha over the scheme, claiming that the Agniveers recruited under it were not granted the status of martyrs and were akin to use and throw labour.

To be sure, there is no official martyr status that is granted to any soldier.

In a discussion in Lok Sabha on July 2, Modi touched upon the scheme which he described as one of the key reforms in the defence sector.

Our armed forces should be young. They are there to defeat the enemy. We must trust our youth...The armed forces have suffered because of reforms not being initiated in time. The countrys security is a serious matter, he said.

At the time of its announcement, the government said the scheme would lower the age profile of the armed forces, ensure a fitter military and create a technically skilled warfighting force capable of meeting future challenges. Then too, Agnipath sparked widespread protests and forced a concerted outreach by the government to scotch apprehensions about it.
Noida, Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the July 2 Hathras satsang stampede, was arrested from Delhi by Uttar Pradesh Police which claimed he was recently contacted by some political parties and suspected that self-styled godman Bhole Baba's events were "funded" by a political party. Hathras stampede: Key accused held; police say he was contacted by political parties

Two more suspects Ramprakash Shakya, 61, and Sanju Yadav, 33, were held in Hathras in connection with the stampede that left 121 people dead, according to the police.

Madhukar, 42, was arrested late Friday from Delhi's Najafgarh area by a Special Operations Group of Hathras police, Hathras Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal said.

The officer said Madhukar worked as a fundraiser for events of self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba and collected donations. The police will apply for remand of Madhukar, he said.

"His financial transactions and money trails are being looked into, and call detail records are also being checked," Agarwal added.

However, on Friday night, Madhukar's lawyer A P Singh had claimed he had surrendered to the police in Delhi, where he had come for medical treatment.

Around 2.15 pm on Saturday, Madhukar was brought by the police to the Bagla Combined District Hospital in Hathras for a medical examination amid heavy security deployment in and around the government hospital.

Madhukar had his face covered with a handkerchief and a stole tied around his head.

Madhukar, the 'mukhya sevadar' of the satsang where the stampede occurred. He is the only accused named in the FIR lodged at Sikandra Rao police station in Hathras in connection with the incident.

Agarwal said the investigation also revealed that some political parties had contacted him some time back.

"A detailed investigation is being conducted regarding the collection of funds to see if such programmes and other resources are being funded by any political party. From the investigation so far, it appears that some political party is connected with them for its political and personal interests," the police officer said.

"All the bank accounts, movable and immovable properties, money trail, related to the accused Devprakash Madhukar are being investigated, in which assistance will be taken from other agencies as per the need," he added.

The IPS officer said after preliminary interrogation, accused Madhukar said he had been working on contract as a junior engineer in MNREGA in Etah district since 2010. He has been associated with the organisation for years and organises programmes and collects funds for it.

"Madhukar was the main organiser of the satsang programme in Fulrai village on July 2 and the permission for this programme was taken by him. Thus, two roles of Madhukar have come to light the main organiser and fundraiser," he added.

Agarwal said the accused and the sevadars/organising committee members working under his direction were "fully responsible" for the barricading, entrance gate, exit gate, seating arrangements, parking and other facilities around the pandal of the satsang.

"Madhukar and other sevadars prevented the police administration from any kind of interference inside the event venue. At the event venue, his sevadars were looking after all the arrangements in the form of commandos in different costumes," he said.

"No person was allowed to do videography or photography at the venue. Thus, the arrangements were not done properly and the traffic system etc was affected by violating many conditions mentioned in the permission letter issued by the administration," the SP said.

The police's statement on Saturday about the SOG contradicts Madhukar's lawyer's claim that he had surrendered before police.

"Today, we have surrendered Devprakash Madhukar, who has been called the main organiser in the FIR in the Hathras case, after calling the police, the SIT and the STF in Delhi since he was undergoing treatment here," Singh claimed in a video on Friday night.

"We had promised we would not apply for anticipatory bail since we did no wrong. What is our crime? He is an engineer and a heart patient. Doctors said his condition is stable now and so we surrendered today to join the probe," the lawyer said.

Singh said police may now record his statement or question him but they must take into consideration his health condition and ensure that "nothing wrong happens with him".

"We did not do anything like filing anticipatory bail or moving court which would have been viewed as an effort to save ourselves and being scared... questions were being raised about his whereabouts and if he had run away," he said.

Madhukar will join the probe and share information about the "anti-social elements" at the event, he added.

Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of 1 lakh for information leading to Madhukar's arrest.

On July 3, the Supreme Court lawyer had claimed that he also represents Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba, the self-styled godman at whose satsang the stampede occurred, and that some "anti-social elements" were behind the tragedy.

Surajpal was ready to cooperate with the state administration and police and had sought an investigation into the entire matter, Singh had said.

Till Thursday, six people, including two women volunteers, who were members of the organising committee of Bhole Baba's satsang, had been arrested in the case.

An FIR was lodged in the matter on July 2 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 105 , 110 , 126 , 223 and 238 .

On July 3, the Uttar Pradesh government formed a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge to probe the Hathras tragedy and to look into the possibility of a conspiracy behind the stampede.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat News: Leader of Oppositions in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched an all-out attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing Congress workers in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, and said his party will defeat the BJP in the state in the next election the same way it did in Ayodhya in the Lok Sabha polls 2024. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi talking to the mediapersons. (Sakib Ali/Hindustan Times)

Taking a dig at PM Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi said the latter claimed he has direct connection with God, then why did the BJP lose in Ayodhya in Lok Sabha elections.

"They (BJP) have challenged us by threatening us and damaging our office. Let me tell you that we are together going to break their government like they damaged our office. Likh ke le lo (take it in writing) that the Congress will contest in Gujarat and defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat like we did in Ayodhya," the Congress MP from Rae Bareli said.

The Congress will win Gujarat, and from the state it will make a new start, Rahul Gandhi said. He was referring to a clash that broke out between members of both Congress and BJP outside the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, Congress's state headquarters in Paldi area of Ahmedabad on July 2 after BJP's youth wing members came there to protest against Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Hindus.

According to police, both sides engaged in stone-pelting, in which five policemen, including an Assistant Commissioner of Police, were injured.

In his speech, the former Congress president also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the BJP's defeat from the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, where Ayodhya is located. "People of Ayodhya felt angry when they found that not a single local person was invited for the Ram Mandir's inauguration," he said. He also claimed that PM Modi wanted to contest from Ayodhya, but his surveyors advised him against doing so saying he will be defeated and his political career will end.

Meanwhile, five Congress workers arrested in a rioting case were remanded in judicial custody in Ahmedabad in Gujarat hours before Rahul Gandhi arrived on a day-long visit. Incidentally, Rahul Gandhi was supposed to meet them at Vasna police station, where they were lodged, but police produced them in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate BG Rathod in the morning at the end of their police remand.

(With input from PTI)
In a shining moment for the local defence manufacturing sector, India on Saturday unveiled a light tank designed for rapid deployment and high mobility in the mountains and it is expected to be ready for induction into service in 2027, strengthening the armys posture against the Chinese forces along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC), officials aware of the matter said. The light tank is expected to be ready for induction in 2027.

The 25-tonne tank has been jointly developed by Larsen & Toubro and the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) under Project Zorawar in around two years to meet the Indian Armys requirement for 354 light tanks. It will now head into a set of rigourous trials.

The tank was developed from scratch within the shortest possible time, said one of the officials cited above.

It will be capable of operating in challenging conditions along LAC with minimal logistics support. The tank will demonstrate its capabilities in summer and winter trials that will be conducted in deserts and mountains during the next two years before it goes into production, he said.

DRDO chief Samir V Kamat on Saturday reviewed the first prototype of the tank at L&Ts Hazira facility in Gujarat where it performed some basic manoeuvres.

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army has inducted and fielded several modern tanks, including light tanks with a high power-to-weight ratio, across LAC. The military standoff between India and China in eastern Ladakh is now in its fifth year, with no indication of a resolution to the lingering problems even as India is hoping that ongoing negotiations with the neighbour will help restore the status quo ante of April 2020.

The Indian Army has deployed scores of heavier Russian-origin T-72 and T-90 tanks in the Ladakh theatre, but they have their own limitations as they were designed for operations in plains and deserts. The need for light tanks with adequate firepower, protection, surveillance and communication capabilities was felt after the border row began, the officials said. The new capability will cost around 17,500 crore.

The tank can be transported by air and is capable of amphibious operations. It can fire at high angles of elevation and perform the role of limited artillery, said a second official, adding that the platforms modular design can accommodate future upgrades.

The tank is expected to be packed with cutting-edge technologies including artificial intelligence, drone integration, active protection systems and superior situational awareness.

Not for nothing has the tank been named Zorawar. The legendary general, Zorawar Singh, led the Dogra forces a record six times, between 1834 and 1841, to victories in Ladakh and Tibet. In May 1841, he led a 5,000-strong Dogra force into Tibet and within weeks overran the Chinese forces and captured their Mantalai flag.

In December 2022, the defence acquisition council gave its acceptance of necessity (AoN) and greenlit defence projects worth 84,328 crore to sharpen the combat potential of the armed forces with new military hardware, including the light tanks. Under Indias defence procurement rules, AoN by the council is the first step towards buying military hardware.

In a request for information published in April 2021, the army said the light tank must have the versatility to execute operations in diverse terrain conditions and to tackle a raft of threats and equipment profile of the countrys adversaries.

In a follow up note, the army said the light tank is envisaged as a lethal and survivable platform and will have major mobility advantage in high-altitude frontiers.

These tanks with superior mobility, all terrain agility, multi-layered protection, precision lethal firepower and real time situational awareness duly integrating niche technology will offer multiple options for rapid operational employment, enabling the army to execute operations across the entire continuum of conflict, the note said.

The tank was unveiled a day after defence minister Rajnath Singh announced that India had recorded the highest ever growth in the value of local defence production in the financial year 2023-24 on the back of enabling policy measures, with the figure reaching almost 1.27 lakh crore. The figure is around 17% higher than what it was in the previous year.

Of the total value of defence production in 2023-24, 79.2% was contributed by defence public sector undertakings and other PSUs, and the remaining 20.8% by the private sector.
Taking exception to P Chidambaram's stinging observations on the three new criminal laws, Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday termed the ex-Union minister's statement as inexcusable and demanded that the former must withdraw his derogatory, defamatory, and insulting' comments. New Delhi, Jul 03 (ANI): Vice-President and Chairman, Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar during the ongoing Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Wednesday. (ANI Photo/Sansad TV)

I was shocked beyond words when in the morning I read Chidambaram's interview to a leading national daily in which he said that the new laws were drafted by part-timers. Are we part-timers in the Parliament? It is an inexcusable insult to the wisdom of the Parliament, Dhankhar remarked at an event in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram.

Dhankhar further stated that he was left stunned also because the senior Congressman is a former Union finance minister and a Parliamentarian for long.'

When informed minds knowingly lead you astray, we need to be on guard, the Vice President cautioned.

The ex-Governor of West Bengal also noted how the new legislations unshackled us from the colonial legacy and are of epochal dimension.

"When these were being debated in the House, this gentleman (Chidambaram), who has a great background as finance minister, gave total rest to his vocal chords while the debate was going on. He must hold himself accountable for the 'failure of duty on your part, an act of omission/commission, dereliction of duty, which can never be explained', Dhankhar added.

The laws  Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Bharatiya Saksha Adhiniyam (BAS)  came into effect on July 1, after being passed by the Parliament in December last year. These have been introduced to replace the British-era criminal laws.

(With PTI inputs)
A newborn baby died on Friday due to a medical error made during childbirth at Chigateri district hospital in Davanagere district, a health official said. A report has also been sent to the Davanagere deputy commissioner in the matter (File photo)

The official said that Amrita (26), wife of Arjun (30) from Davangere Kondajji Road, was admitted to the district hospital for delivery on June 27.

Amid concerns about Amritas high blood pressure, doctors recommended a caesarean for the delivery. However, during the procedure conducted by Dr Nizamuddin at Chigateri Hospital, the doctor accidentally injured the infants rectum while extracting it through a C-section, the official said.

Chigateri hospital surgeon Dr KB Nagendrappa told HT: It has come to my notice that the infants rectum was damaged by Dr Nizamuddin, who conducted the caesarean. Immediately, we shifted the infant to Bapuji Hospital ICU as we have no experts in our hospital. We even provided an ICU from our hospital as the private hospital was unable to provide ICU under the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme. On the June 30, the doctors conducted an operation on the rectum, but due to infection, the infant succumbed on Friday after battling for life.

He said: We have received a complaint from the parents and served notice to Dr Nizamuddin and are waiting for his reply. We will also form a committee to verify the lapses and mistakes made by the doctor soon after receiving his response. A report has also been sent to the Davanagere deputy commissioner in this regard. It was also discovered that the infant had two holes in the heart. We are examining the doctors reports.

The parents staged protests outside of the hospital demanding justice for their childs death.
President Droupadi Murmu will attend the annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Odisha's Puri on Sunday, July 7. According to a release from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Murmu will be on a four-day visit to the state starting on Saturday, July 6. President Droupadi Murmu(Sansad TV)

Speaking to reporters in Puri, Additional Director General (ADG) (Law and Order) Sanjay Kumar, as quoted by news agency PTI, said that stringent security measures have been implemented in and around Puri to ensure the smooth conduct of the Rath Yatra.

Special security arrangements have been made for the President's visit to the festival. ADG mentioned that a VIP zone is planned for the Odisha governor, chief minister, Union ministers, and other dignitaries, while a buffer zone has been designated for the President.

He added that a dedicated team, led by a senior Superintendent of Police (SP) rank officer, has been formed to oversee President Murmu's visit to the pilgrim town.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall across multiple districts of Odisha over the next four days. On July 7, heavy to very heavy rainfall is anticipated in Gajapati, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Khurda, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Puri, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, and Ganjam districts, the IMD bulletin said.

All you need to know about Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra

- The Ratha Yatra of Puri, also known as the Ratha Jatra, is renowned as the oldest and largest Hindu chariot festival. It occurs annually during the bright half of the lunar month of Ashadh (JuneJuly).

- The festival takes place in Odisha's Puri and is centred around the deity Jagannath, who is considered a form of Vishnu or Krishna.

- During the festival, three deities  Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra, and sister Subhadra  are carried in three immense wooden chariots by numerous devotees along the grand avenue known as bada danda to the Gundicha Temple.

- The deities stay at Gundicha Temple for a week before returning to the Jagannath Temple. This return journey is known as the Bahuda Yatra.

- This year's Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra holds special significance for devotees due to rare occurrences of key rituals like Nabajaubana Darshan, Netra Utsav, and the Gundicha Yatra occurring on July 7, a combination not seen since 1971.

- Lord Jagannath, revered as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the ruler of the universe, is the central figure of the annual Rath Yatra or chariot festival. It commemorates the 9-day visit of the holy trinity to their birthplace at Gundicha Temple.

- According to the Hindu calendar, the Rath Yatra occurs on the Dwitiya Tithi (second day of the waxing phase of the moon) in the month of Ashadha.

- Celebrated globally, Rath Yatra begins with the journey of the Holy Trinity to their maternal aunt, Goddess Gundicha Devi's Temple.

- The festival concludes on July 16 with the Bahuda Yatra, Lord Jagannath's return journey with his siblings.

How are the preparations for Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra 2024?

- Three new chariots are constructed annually before the Rath Yatra begins, each designed uniquely and adorned by local artists. "Three chariots are prepared for Prabhuji Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Subhadra Maa Subhadra. Jagannath Ji's chariot has 16 wheels, Balabhadra Mahaprabhu's chariot has 14 wheels, and Maa Subhadra's chariot has 12 wheels... New wood comes every year from the jungles of Daspalla, Nayagarh," said Bal Krishna Moharana, part of the chariot construction team.

- Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced a two-day holiday for the upcoming Rath Yatra on July 7 and 8, marking a special occasion after 53 years. "As the Rath Yatra will span two days, I direct the officers concerned to declare public holidays on these days," Majhi said during a meeting to review preparations for the festival in Puri. He urged collective cooperation to ensure timely rituals and a successful culmination of the event.

- This year is a very unique Rath Yatra in the sense that all the three important rituals are falling on the same day. At the same time, it's challenging and it is a matter of privilege as well, mentioned Puri district magistrate, reflecting on the significance of the event coinciding with the tenure of the new BJP government.

- President Droupadi Murmu's visit to Puri on the day of the chariot pulling was also highlighted. "All the concerned departments are in readiness, and we had several rounds of interdepartmental and coordination meetings," he added.

- The DM provided additional details regarding the logistical preparations for the Rath Yatra, mentioning that there is extensive police deployment and approximately 28 parking locations have been identified.

- Plans were also made to arrange public amenities at transit points to provide temporary resting places for individuals coming from various districts and states.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer are clapped in by staff as they enter his official residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time in London, Britain, on Friday. (REUTERS)

Keir Starmer, the UKs new prime minister, was director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013 when India obtained its first extradition of a wanted person since the two countries signed an extradition treaty in 1992. The extradition was ultimately blocked in 2019.

Mohammad Hanif Umerji Patel, alias Tiger Hanif, an alleged associate of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim wanted for 1993 bombings in Surat, was caught at a grocery store in Bolton, Greater Manchester, in March 2010.

Under Starmers overall charge as DPP and head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the latter successfully argued Indias case in Westminster Magistrates Court, which ordered Hanifs extradition to New Delhi in May 2012.

Under the Extradition Act 2003, the CPS represents foreign states in extradition proceedings on the instructions of requesting state prosecutors and investigators.

A DPP oversees prosecution policy in the UK and may not be involved in day-to-day work of the CPS.

During proceedings, Hanif argued he would face torture in Indian jails, a contention overruled by the court.

Then-Home Secretary Theresa May signed the extradition order the same year, but the matter was kept pending for years before another home secretary, Sajid Javid, finally refused Hanifs extradition in August 2019.

An Indian police officer familiar with the case, who asked not to be named, said, The CPS vehemently argued the extradition case against Hanif and the evidence was appreciated by the court.

But it was blocked in 2019, said this person.

The first extradition to India since the Indo-UK treaty took place in 2016, when Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel was sent back in a 2002 Gujarat riots-related case. Unlike others, Patel had not opposed his extradition.

In February 2020, bookie Sanjeev Chawla was extradited to India by the UK.

According to British media reports, as CPS head, Starmer handled major cases such as the murder of Stephen Lawrence (killed in a racist attack in April 1993) and the UK parliamentary expenses scandal (which emerged in 2009), besides overseeing several CPS reforms.

Starmer had advocated that prosecutors start from a position of believing victims, according to a Guardian report in December 2023.

On India, Starmers election manifesto commits to seeking a new strategic partnership and deepening cooperation in areas like security, education, technology and climate change.

It remains to be seen how he will handle Indias several pending extradition requests  including those of former liquor businessman Vijay Mallya, alleged arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari and fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi.

We are hopeful that UK will process the extradition requests of these economic offenders at the earliest, said the officer cited above.

Alex Swan, Of Counsel in Greenberg Traurig LLPs London White Collar Crime & Investigations team, said, I dont anticipate that there will be any changes in the UKs extradition policy vis-a-vis India but I do expect the new Government to maintain robust and fair processes, ensuring that the UK is viewed as a jurisdiction where justice and civil rights are protected and respected.
The Congress demanded on Saturday that the medical entrance exam NEET-UG be conducted again and all "paper leak scams" thoroughly investigated under the Supreme Court's supervision. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge briefs the media personnel at AICC HQ (File mage)((Photo by Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times))

Amid the growing clamour for the cancellation of the controversy-ridden NEET-UG 2024 over alleged malpractices, the Centre and the National Testing Agency told the apex court on Friday that scrapping it without any proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality would be counterproductive as it could "seriously jeopardise" lakhs of honest candidates.

Also read | NEET UG counselling 2024 deferred until further notice, uncertainties among medical aspirants continues

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses, and the Union education ministry have been at the centre of media debates and protests by students and political parties over alleged large-scale malpractices ranging from question paper leaks to impersonation in the test held on May 5.

In a post on 'X' in Hindi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Modi government has told the Supreme Court that no paper has been leaked in NEET-UG.

"This blatant lie is being told to lakhs of youths. Their future is being ruined," Kharge said.

The Congress leader pointed out that the education ministry has said that "there have been irregularities or cheating only at a few places" but this is "misleading".

The BJP-RSS has promoted the "education mafia" by taking control of the entire education system, he claimed.

"Be it NCERT books or leakage in exams, the Modi government is bent on destroying our education system," Kharge alleged.

"We reiterate our demand that 'NEET-UG should be conducted again. It should be conducted online in a transparent manner," he said.

Kharge also demanded that all "paper leak scams" should be thoroughly investigated under the supervision of the Supreme Court, and strict action should be taken against the culprits.

Also read | Dixit Patel and the curious case of NEET-UG exam cheating case in Godhra

"The Modi government cannot escape from its misdeeds," he said on 'X'.

The Union education ministry and the NTA filed separate affidavits opposing the pleas which have sought the scrapping of the exam plagued by controversy, a re-test and a court-monitored probe into the entire gamut of issues involved.

In their responses, they said the CBI, the country's premier investigating agency, has taken over the cases registered in various states.
Newly elected Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer are clapped in by staff as they enter his official London residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time after the Labour Party won a landslide victory at the 2024 General Election, in London, Britain, July 5, 2024. [Stefan Rousseau/POOL via REUTERS]

The United Kingdom woke up to a new era on Friday morning after the Labour Party swept to power in the general election, ending 14 years of rule by the Conservative Party in devastating fashion.

At the last election in 2019, Labour recorded its worst performance since 1935, but this time it gained an additional 209 seats, while Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party lost 248 seats as it slumped to its worst-ever election results.

The British electoral system is based on individual seats won, rather than the overall vote share received. By Friday morning, with results for five out of the 650 seats yet to come, Labour had won 411 seats and was on course for a majority of around 170 seats, based on a vote share of only 35 percent.

Sunak conceded defeat shortly before 5 am. "The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight, there is much to learn ... and I take responsibility for the loss," he said.

After the Conservatives lost heavily to the Labour Party, Sunak said he would formally resign as Britain's Conservative leader and prime minister on Friday.

"To the country, I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry," he said outside the Prime Minister's residence at Downing Street, before heading to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation as prime minister to King Charles III.

Later, Keir Starmer officially became prime minister of the United Kingdom as he received the blessing of King Charles III to form a government in a ceremony known as the "kissing of hands".

A delighted Starmer promised that his government would work from day one on national renewal, in his first speech as UK prime minister from Downing Street. "The work of change begins immediately. But have no doubt, we will rebuild Britain," he said.

Record loss

The night of drama that saw many of the most prominent members of the old government lose their seats was as much about the collapse of the Conservative vote and a disillusioned electorate punishing it, as it was about Labour winning, with the government-in-waiting's vote share barely higher than in 2019.

A record 12 of 31 members of Sunak's Cabinet lost their seats, while Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt only held on to his by fewer than 1,000 votes, as the Liberal Democrats leaped up from 11 seats in 2019 to 71, to become the third-biggest party in Parliament, with the anti-immigration Reform Party taking votes off the Conservatives across the country, but only picking up four seats.

But statistics showed that Labour's victory was what one election night TV pundit called a "loveless landslide", caused by rejection of the Conservatives after being in power for so long, rather than a positive enthusiasm for what Starmer has to offer.

Sam Coates, deputy political editor for Sky News, said: "This result cannot be treated as an unalloyed endorsement of everything Labour campaigned on. The shifting political sands point to a fickle electorate determined to punish incumbents."

John Curtice, a professor of politics at the University of Strathclyde, told the BBC it looked "more like an election the Conservatives have lost than one Labour have won".

"Conservative support fell most heavily in seats they were trying to defend. This is primarily the result of a large increase in Reform's support, especially in places where there was a high Leave vote (in the 2016 Brexit referendum)," Curtice said.

Labour won 27 of the 32 seats available in Wales, with the Conservatives utterly wiped out, and also profited from the collapse of support for the Scottish National Party, or SNP, which saw its previously 48 seats reduced to just nine.

"It's been a very bleak election for the party," SNP's leader Stephen Flynn in the Westminster parliament said. "We've lost a huge number of very valued colleagues  it's just a Starmer tsunami that has swept all over us."

Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer's predecessor as Labour leader, who was expelled from the party, stood as an independent candidate and won.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Saturday demanded strict action against religious preacher Suraj Pal alias Bhole Baba and others for the July 2 Hathras stampede that claimed 121 lives. BSP chief Mayawati addresses a press conference at her residence, in Lucknow, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. ((PTI Photo/Nand Kumar))

In a post on X, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, The poor, Dalits and the oppressed in the country should not worsen their misery and pain by getting misled by the superstitions and hypocrisy of many such babas like Bhole Baba of Hathras to get rid of their poverty and all other problems.

ALSO READ- Hathras satsang stampede: Bhole Baba's first appearance on camera since July 2. Where is the preacher?

Mayawati urged people to follow the path of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. The Dalit leader said people must join their own party, the BSP. Only then can they avoid tragedies like the Hathras incident.

Bhole Baba, also known as Baba Narayan Hari and Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba, left the police force more than 20 years ago to become a religious preacher. He now oversees multiple ashrams. His followers range from poor to influential but he has major following among Dalits and people belonging to backward castes.

ALSO READ- Hathras stampede: Why is Bhole Baba not named in FIR? UP Police says

Mayawati also called for strict action against those guilty of the Hathras stampede. "Action is also necessary against other such babas. The government should not be lenient due to political interests in this matter, so that no more people lose their lives in the future," she added.

ALSO READ- Bhole Baba and the thriving industry of godmen in India

The Uttar Pradesh government has formed a three-member judicial commission, led by a retired high court judge, to investigate the Hathras tragedy and possible conspiracy. Police have arrested six 'sevadars' from the organising committee of the 'satsang' led by Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba on July 2 in Fulrai village of Hathras.

ALSO READ- Hathras stampede: Main accused Dev Prakash Madhukar, Bhole Baba's aide, arrested

Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the Hathras stampede, surrendered in Delhi and has been taken into custody by Uttar Pradesh Police. Madhukar, the 'mukhya sevadar' of the 'satsang', is the only accused named in the FIR related to the incident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Keir Starmer on Saturday decided to focus on the early conclusion of a mutually beneficial free trade agreement (FTA) and to take forward the bilateral strategic partnership. Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) and his British counterpart Keir Starmer (left). (File Photos)

Modi spoke on phone with Starmer a day after the Labour Party scored a landslide victory in the UK election, winning 412 seats in the 650-member House of Commons. With fixing the UK economy being one of Starmers priorities, analysts expect the strong mandate secured by Labour to help the new government to push through the FTA with India.

The two leaders agreed to work towards early conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-UK Free Trade Agreement, said a readout on the conversation from the external affairs ministry.

A statement from the UK Prime Ministers Office quoted Starmer as saying that he stood ready to conclude a deal that worked for both sides.

India and the UK launched negotiations for an FTA in January 2022 and have held 14 rounds of talks so far. While the two sides have been able to reach common ground on numerous matters, the negotiations have stalled because of differences on tricky issues such as market access and tariffs on automobiles and alcohol.

During the conversation, Modi congratulated Starmer on assuming office and for Labours remarkable victory, the Indian readout said.

Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepen and advance the India-UK comprehensive strategic partnership. While noting the contributions of the Indian community to the social, economic and political development of the UK, the two sides agreed to continue to promote close people-to-people ties.

Modi also invited Starmer to make an early visit to India.

According to the British statement, Starmer congratulated Modi on his election victory and said he looked forward to deepening the strong and respectful relationship between the two countries. He also welcomed Modis leadership on key global challenges, such as climate change and economic growth.

Discussing the importance of the living bridge between the UK and India and the Roadmap 2030, a document guiding bilateral relations, the leaders agreed there was a wide range of areas across defence and security, critical and emerging technology, and climate change, for the two countries to deepen cooperation on, the statement said.

In a post on X, Modi added, Pleased to speak with @Keir_StarmerWe remain committed to deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust [India-UK] economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our peoples and global good.

Modi had earlier congratulated Starmer on X on Friday, saying he looked forward to positive and constructive collaboration to further strengthen the India-UK strategic partnership.

In a separate post on X on Friday, Modi also thanked outgoing UK premier Rishi Sunak. Thank you @RishiSunak for your admirable leadership of the UK, and your active contribution to deepen the ties between India and the UK during your term in office. Best wishes to you and your family for the future, he said.
Union minister Chirag Paswan on Saturday dismissed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's prediction that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government at the Centre will fall by August.' Union minister Chirag Paswan (File Photo)

Their (RJD) cadre could not prepare even in 10 years, Paswan said, alluding to the first two terms of the PM Modi-led government from 2014 to 2024.

The former Bihar chief minister, the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president stated, was only trying to keep RJD workers occupied.

On behalf of the NDA, I can say that the strength of our government under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi will be maintained for the next five years and many strong and bold decisions will be taken. These will be supported by all parties of the NDA, he asserted.

In the recently-held Lok Sabha elections, the Prime Minister's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the largest constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), formed its third consecutive government at the Centre. However, unlike its first two terms, when it had 282 and 303 seats of its own in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the BJP now has 240 Members of Parliament (MPs), falling short of the majority mark by 32 seats. Overall, the NDA has 293 Lok Sabha MPs, well above the majority mark.

Paswan's LJP (Ram Vilas), which is based in Bihar and is among members of the BJP-led coalition, won all five seats it contested in the state.

Also Read | Ahead of 2025 Bihar Assembly polls, RJD and NDA flex muscles in Patna

On the other hand, the Congress party-led opposition INDIA bloc, with RJD as one of its constituents, also put up a surprisingly impressive performance, winning 234 seats. The Congress won 99 seats, as against 44 in 2014 and 52 in 2019, making it the largest opposition party in the Lower House of Parliament, and largest after the BJP.

(With ANI inputs)
A 55-year-old nursery school teacher has been booked under the Pocso Act for allegedly sexually assaulting a three-year-old girl in Anwar Layout, Venkateswarapura, a senior police officer said. The teacher has been working in the nursery school for seven years and has no prior criminal background (File photo)

The officer said the complaint was filed by the parents of the minor on Thursday against one of the teachers of her school. The complaint stated: Our daughter is a student of a private nursery school in Anwar Layout, Venkateswarapura. She started attending school on June 6. After 10 days, she began refusing to go to school. When we asked what was wrong, she complained of pain in her private parts. Later, she told them about the teachers actions.

It further stated that the parents immediately took the minor to a nearby hospital for medical attention and then reported the matter to the authorities. The victim revealed that she referred to her alleged accused as Maam, as she did not know her name, the officer said.

Kadugondanahalli police inspector Rahim Patel said: Following the complaint of the parents, we booked the 55-year-old teacher under Pocso Act. The teacher has been working in the nursery school for seven years and has no prior criminal background. We are investigating the case and have obtained a medical report from the doctors. The child is now okay.
Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Ahmedabad on Saturday, July 7. Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil said Rahul Gandhi will meet Congress workers at 12pm. Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi.(File)

He will also meet the families of Congress workers who were arrested by the Gujarat Police, following a clash with the workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) outside the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, the Congresss State headquarters in Paldi area of the city on July 2. The Congress office in Ahmedabad was vandalised in protest. Five Congress workers were arrested.

The BJP workers were protesting against Gandhis remarks in the Lok Sabha about Hinduism, which created a controversy.

Also Read | Rahul Gandhi assures support to Rajkot fire victims families

During his visit to Ahmedabad, Rahul Gandhi will also meet the family members of those who lost their lives in various tragedies in Gujarat in the recent past, including the Rajkot game zone fire, the boat capsize incident in Vadodara and Morbi bridge collapse.

"Rahul Gandhi will arrive at the GPCC office here around 12.30 pm. During his visit, he will meet and address party workers. He will also meet the kin of the victims who lost their lives in the Rajkot game zone fire and other such tragedies. He will also interact with the family members of those party workers who were arrested by the police after the clash," Gohil said.

The Congress leader also said that he has received calls from many people from across Gujarat who have been wronged under the BJP rule.

They said that Rahul Gandhi fights for justice. They said that they had faith in the BJP, but they have not received justice and they want to put forth their point in front of Rahul Gandhi Gohil told ANI.
The budget session of Parliament will start on July 22 and end on August 12, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Saturday. The session will see the government presenting its first full budget after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. (PTI)

The session will see the government presenting its first full budget after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the economic survey, and potentially a host of crucial legislative business.

All members should uphold the dignity of the House by following rules and procedures, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said, speaking in the context of the turbulent inaugural session of the current Lower House earlier this month.

In the last session, the Opposition created ruckus in both Houses, disrupted Prime Ministers reply to the debate on Presidents speech in one House, and walked out in another when the Leader of Opposition was not allowed to intervene during the PMs speech.

A bigger Opposition bloc of 236 MPs led by LoP Rahul Gandhi was aggressive against the government, raising a host of issues such as the botched NEET exams to demand the government hold a debate, creating a situation in which work in the Lower House was washed out for a day.

Read Here: Union Budget 2024  Date, time and all you need to know

On Saturday, Rijiju announced: Honble President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business).

Significant steps are expected in the Budget. President Droupadi Murmu had asserted that it will be marked by many historic steps.

Minister of state for parliamentary affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal announced that the Economic Survey will be introduced on July 22. The General Budget will be tabled on July 23.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had presented a vote on accounts in February before the Lok Sabha elections.

The session assumes political and policy importance as all eyes would be on how the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government would start its financial innings with the first budget.

Read Here: Union Budget 2024 set to outline five-year economic agenda of Modi govt

The two top allies of the BJP  the TDP and the JD(U)  will also be looking forward to the budget in respect to their states demands for schemes and funds for development.

But as the first session indicated, if the Congress party that leads the Opposition, considers the Modi government as having suffered a moral and political defeat (the PM has debunked the claims and reminded the Congress that it has suffered a historic defeat), scenes between treasury and opposition benches will remain acrimonious.

Trinamool Congress leader Derek OBrien said on Saturday, It is governments duty to run Parliament smoothly in upcoming Budget session. They must: Offer Deputy Speaker in Lok Sabha to INDIA candidate, allow one notice from Opposition weekly in each House to discuss issues of national importance (such as exam mess; unemployment), and ensure no bulldozing of Bills.

In Bundi, Birla emphasized that Parliament is meant for debates and leaders can express their partys position and take contrasting point of view but all members to uphold parliamentary dignity while discharging their duties in the House.

Read Here: Budget may push Indian stock markets even higher, predicts new survey

I will try to ensure that debates in the House are conducted in a manner that it doesnt affect the dignity of Parliament, be it the members from treasury benches or the opposition, he said.

Birla returned to Bundi to a rapturous welcome  part of his Lok Sabha constituency Kota  for the first time after being elected as the Speaker. Thousands of people came down to the streets to greet him, showering flowers and raising slogans along the way.

Birla became the Speaker for the second time on June 26. He is the first Speaker in this millennium to get a two term (fourth since independence) and also the first to win (fourth since Independence) the post in an election.

Talking about his plans for Kota-Bundi, Birla said more efforts will be made to develop an agro-based industry in the region and added: There is tremendous potential for development of tourism in this region which is dotted by palaces and havelis, he said, adding that the Kota-Bundi region is also emerging as an educational hub.

I would like to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all members of the Lok Sabha for giving me the responsibility of House Speaker for the second term, Birla said, adding that his efforts would be to enhance the dignity and prestige of this temple of the democracy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday. Modi congratulated Starmer on his recent election victory and his new role as UK prime minister. Modi also extended an invitation to Starmer for an early visit to India, according to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to UK PM Keir Starmer.(PTI)

PM Narendra Modi and UK PM Keir Starmer recalled the historic ties between India and the UK and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations, the statement said.

You may like to read- What will be the future of India-UK FTA under Keir Starmer as British PM?

Both leaders stressed on the importance of strengthening bilateral relations and enhancing cooperation across various sectors, it added.

ALSO READ- When Britain's Labour Party shifted its stance on Kashmir under Keir Starmer

Appreciating the positive contributions of the Indian community in the social, economic and political development of the UK, they agreed to continue to promote the close people-to-people ties, the statement from PMO said.

ALSO READ- Keir Starmer's cabinet list: Who's who in new UK government?

Modi had congratulated Starmer on his win via X post on Friday. He also thanked outgoing prime minister Rishi Sunak for "your admirable leadership of the UK and your active contribution to deepening the ties between India and the UK during your term in office. Best wishes to you and your family for the future."

ALSO READ- British Indian MP Lisa Nandy is PM Keir Starmers new Culture Secretary

In a significant shift in the political scene, Labour secured 412 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons, marking their best performance since Tony Blair's 1997 victory. The Conservatives won only 121 seats, marking their worst-ever result and ending Rishi Sunaks leadership of both the country and his party.
Pune: A drunk driver allegedly attempted to set a woman police officer at the rank of Assistant Police Inspector and another constable on fire by dousing her with petrol during a drink and drive operation at around 8 pm in Vishrambaug, officials said on Saturday. (Representative Photo)

According to eyewitnesses, a major untoward incident was prevented as the suspect on Friday evening held the lighter upside down which did not lead to a firespark.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I) Sandeep Singh Gill said that the driver has been overpowered by the constables present, taken into custody and has been placed under arrest.

The complaint was lodged by Sameer Prakash Sawant, a police constable attached to Faraskhana traffic division who was also at the spot. According to Sawant the incident took place at Faraskhana Traffic Division office in Vishrambaug where the 32-year-old accused who was in an inebriated state pulled the challan machine from female Assistant Police Inspector (API) as he was angry that the police had detained him.

The accused then doused petrol like highly inflammable liquid on the API and the complainant with the motive of murder.

The Vishrambaug police in a statement said that there was an attempt to set a woman officer of the traffic branch on fire. The drunk driver poured petrol on woman police officer and attempted

The incident took place in front of Faraskhana police station around 8 pm during an operation against drink and drive.

The accused has been identified as Sanjay Fakira Salve, originally a resident of Jalna but currently staying in Pimpri Chinchwad. The Vishrambaug police have arrested him for the act and it was due to alertness of the police that a major tragedy was averted, the police said.

The Vishrambaug police have lodged a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 109 (attempt to murder) and 132 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) against the accused.
A day after Rahul Gandhi met loco pilots at the New Delhi railway station, train drivers' unions on Saturday rejected Railways' claim that the pilots were 'brought from outside the Delhi Division.' Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi during a meeting with the loco pilots at New Delhi Railway Station, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)

I want to submit humbly that Mr Gandhi interacted with loco pilots from various divisions and not only with those who are from Delhi. He visited the crew lobby and in the same building, there is a running room also for pilots who come from outside to take rest. He spoke to everyone irrespective of which divisions they come from, said R Kumarsean, who heads the South Zone of the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA).

Kumaresan played a key role in organising this interaction between the Congress leader and train drivers.

Kamlesh Singh, Central Treasurer of the Indian Railway Loco Runningmen Organisation (IRLRO), stated that loco pilots from all divisions have similar challenges and grievances.

Also Read: Rahul Gandhi meets kin of those killed in Hathras stampede

"Whether it is about long duty hours, denial of weekly rest or lack of washroom and lunch break, these are common issues that all train drivers face across the divisions and zones. So this doesn't merit an issue whether he (Gandhi) met a loco pilot of the Delhi Division or some other divisions," Singh said.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Pandhi, Working President, IRLRO, remarked that as a Member of Parliament (MP) and the Leader of Opposition, Gandhi can meet anyone anywhere including all railway employees.

After he left, officials of the Railway ministry visited us at the New Delhi railway station to attend to our grievances. It was the first time that any official from the Railway Board showed such a prompt response to our problems, Pandhi added.

(With PTI inputs)
Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that he was deeply shocked by the killing of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president K Armstrong in Chennai. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi talking to the media. (Sakib Ali/HT)

Deeply shocked by the brutal and abhorrent killing of Thiru Armstrong, the Tamil Nadu Chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends and followers, Gandhi wrote in a post on X.

The Congress leader also said that leaders of his party's unit in Tamil Nadu are in touch with the state government.

Tamil Nadu Congress leaders are in constant touch with the Government of Tamil Nadu, and I am confident that the Government will ensure that the culprits are brought to justice expeditiously, Gandhi added.

K Armstrong was hacked to death by a six-member gang near his house in Chennai on Friday.

The gang attacked Armstrong, a former councillor of Chennai Corporation, near his house in Perambur, and fled before inflicting grievous injuries on him. He died on the way to the hospital.

The police have so far detained eight suspects in connection with Armstrong's murder.

"We have secured eight suspects so far. This is early investigation, a preliminary investigation. So after some time, a clear and better picture will emerge with more facts and circumstances coming to light," Asra Garg, additional commissioner (North), told reporters.

Garg also said the police suspected that there were some two to three suspicious motives behind Armstrong's killing but added that the exact reason would come to light only after the interrogation of the suspects.

Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin has also expressed shock over the murder of Armstrong and said that he has ordered the police to conduct the investigation expeditiously and ensure that the culprits are punished according to law.

"I would like to convey my deepest condolences and sympathies to the bereaved family and friends," he said.
A 20-year-old woman was abducted and killed allegedly by her family members, including her father and brother, in Rajasthans Jhalawar district, in a hate crime after she married a man from a different caste, police said. Rajasthan: Family kills woman for marrying outside caste

After killing the woman, the family hurriedly tried to cremate the body; police retrieved her burnt body from the pyre and have initiated a probe into the hate crime. They have detained four in connection with the case and formed a team to apprehend others involved.

The incident occurred in Shaurti village, under the jurisdiction of Jawar police station in Jhalawar district on Thursday morning. By the time the police reached Shaurti village, after being informed by the womans husband, around 80% of the body was burnt.

Superintendent of police (SP) Baran, Rajkumar Choudhary, admitted that it was a hate crime  where the victims family members, including father, mother, brother, and cousins, abducted, killed, and cremated her.

He added that the victims husband (Ravindra Bhil) approached the police, alleging that his wife (Shimla Kushwaha) had been kidnapped by her family members when the couple were withdrawing money from an ATM in Harnawadshahaji in Baran district.

The couple married last year but kept it a secret, with the woman continuing to live with her parents. On June 11, she moved out with him. Thereafter, the family lodged a missing complaint, following which the couple approached the police and informed them that they were of legal age and married, Choudhary said.

The couple stayed in Kota for some time and then shifted to Madhya Pradesh. On Thursday, they came to withdraw money from the ATM. Upon learning of their presence, the womans family arrived and abducted her, said Choudhary.

The police have detained four individuals, including the victims mother and cousins. They have lodged a case under relevant sections for murder, abduction, and destruction of evidence.

Speaking to newspersons, the victims husband also alleged police negligence. After the abduction, he went to the police station. They (the police) did not listen to me for almost two hours and sent me away. Later, I received information via phone that my wife had been killed. I informed the police, after which they took action, he said.

Responding to the allegations, Choudhary said he has ordered a probe by a Deputy SP rank official.
Jailed Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid and radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh were sworn in as members of Lok Sabha on Friday, amid heavy deployment of security personnel in and around the Parliament complex. Rashid, Amritpal sworn-in as Lok Sabha MPs

The two newly elected MPs, who were earlier granted temporary release from prison, were brought to the Parliament complex for the oath-taking ceremony in the chamber of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla after completing formalities, people aware of the matter said.

While Rashid is lodged in Delhis Tihar jail under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Singh is lodged in Assams Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act (NSA).

The oath taking ceremony took place inside the Speakers chamber. It lasted for a few minutes. The forces that were escorting them under heavy security dropped them at the gates. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and later Parliament officials escorted them to the Speakers chamber, a Parliament official said, declining to be named.

Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, was arrested in a 2017 Jammu & Kashmir terror funding case. In the Lok Sabha elections, he contested as an independent from Baramulla seat in the Union territory and won by a margin of 204,142 votes, defeating National Conference leader Omar Abdullah. He was granted a two-hour parole to take oath by a Delhi court recently.

Officers in the Delhi Police said Rashid was accompanied by at least 11 armed personnel from the Delhi Armed Police from Tihar jail to Parliament. The vehicle in which he was ferried was accompanied by four more vehicles with armed personnel, the officers said.

There were 11 police personnel, headed by a van in-charge, escorting Engineer Rashid in the van. The Delhi Armed Police followed the security protocol that is done while escorting any undertrial jail. It did not take much time, a senior officer said, seeking anonymity.

Singh, on the other hand, was arrested under the NSA on April 23 last year following a police crackdown on his organisation, Waris Punjab De. In the general elections, he won from Punjabs Khadoor Sahib constituency by a wide majority of 197,000 votes after beating Congress contender Kulbir Singh Zira.

Singh was granted temporary release to take oath as MP and directed to return to the prison on the same day. He was, however, given four days to travel back to Assam in the event of exigencies such as rain in the national capital.

According to an official aware of the details, Singh was brought to Delhi on a special aircraft on Friday morning. An eight-member team of the Punjab Police reached Dibrugarh to take the newly elected MP to the national capital. A team of Assam Police and the district administration accompanied them to escort Singh from Dibrugarh Central Jail to the airport in the early hours amid tight security.

A team of 10 Punjab officers escorted him from Delhi airport to Parliament. He was also ferried in a police convoy under tight security, a second officer said.

While a lawfully imprisoned person is prohibited from voting under Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act (if they are confined in a prison, whether on a sentence of imprisonment or transportation or otherwise or if they are in the lawful custody of the police), a 2013 amendment to the Act states that the person will still be considered an elector if their name is on the electoral rolls. The amendment was carried out to overcome a July 10, 2023, Supreme Court judgment, which ruled that anybody in police custody or jail will not be able to contest elections because the person ceases the right to vote as an elector. The amended provision, however, allows even an imprisoned person to contest elections.
Britain's newly elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning and said he stood ready to conclude a Free Trade Agreement that worked for both sides, Downing Street said. Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, delivers the first speech of his premiership, following the general election, outside 10 Downing Street in London, UK, on Friday, July 5, 2024. (Bloomberg)

India and the UK have been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for over two years with a Conservative Party-led government, but the talks were stalled in the 14th round amidst the general election cycles in both countries.

Also read | PM Modi dials UK counterpart Keir Starmer, extends invite to visit India

It is now expected to be picked up by the new Starmer-led Labour government, which was voted in with a landslide this week.

According to the Downing Street readout of the newly elected UK Prime Ministers Indo-Pacific-related international calls on Saturday, the call with Modi seems to have been the first followed by Japan and Australia.

The leaders exchanged congratulations on their respective election wins and reflected on the strength of the relationship between the UK and India, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Also read | When Britain's Labour Party shifted its stance on Kashmir under Keir Starmer

Discussing the Free Trade Agreement, the Prime Minister said he stood ready to conclude a deal that worked for both sides. The leaders hoped to meet at the earliest opportunity, the spokesperson added.

Both sides have been working towards clinching a pact to enhance the GBP 38.1 billion bilateral trading partnership since January 2022, when Boris Johnson was the British prime minister.

The talks have since had to contend with political turmoil in the UK that first led to a short-lived Liz Truss premiership followed by Rishi Sunak as Britain's first prime minister of Indian heritage.
Chinas military is digging in for the long haul in the area around Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh, having constructed underground bunkers to store weapons and fuel and hardened shelters for armoured vehicles at a key base in the region, according to satellite images. The base, built during 2021-22, has underground bunkers that can be used to store weapon systems, fuel or other supplies, according to images provided by BlackSky, a US-based firm. (HT)

The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) base at Sirjap, nestled amid mountains on the northern shore of Pangong Lake, is the headquarters for Chinese troops stationed around the lake and was built in an area claimed by India and located about 5 km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Till the start of the standoff on the LAC in May 2020, this region was almost completely devoid of human habitation.

The base, built during 2021-22, has underground bunkers that can be used to store weapon systems, fuel or other supplies, according to images provided by BlackSky, a US-based firm capable of capturing images 15 times a day with its satellites. One image, captured on May 30, clearly shows the eight sloping entrances to a large underground bunker. Another smaller bunker, with five entrances, is located near the larger one.

Read Here: India, China foreign ministers agree to resolve border issues at earliest

Besides several large buildings for the headquarters, the base has hardened shelters or covered parking for armoured vehicles deployed in the area. These shelters are meant to protect vehicles from air strikes using precision-guided munitions, experts said.

The base hosts an expanse of armoured vehicle storage facilities, test ranges and fuel and munitions storage buildings, an analyst from BlackSky said on condition of anonymity. The current state of development at the base includes artillery and other defensive positions reinforced by large berms and connected by a wide-reaching network of roads and trenches that are not visible on publicly available mapping applications, the analyst said.

The base is located a little more than 120 km southeast of Galwan Valley, the site of a brutal skirmish in June 2020 that resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops.

There was no immediate response from Indian officials on the images. A former Indian Army commander who served in the region around Pangong Lake, said on condition of anonymity that Chinas increased construction of underground facilities made perfect military sense.

SCO Summit 2024: Respect for LAC key, India reminds China

In todays battlefield, everything can be pinpointed using satellites or aerial surveillance platforms. We have no such underground shelters on our side. Tunnelling is the only way out to create better defences, he said.

Without underground shelters, weapons and stores are sitting ducks for air strikes with precision-guided munitions. The Chinese are pioneers in tunnelling activities and no hi-tech is required for these structures, just civil engineering skills and funds. Otherwise, we have to invest in more air defence equipment, he added.

People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that India has built various roads, bridges, tunnels, airfields and helipads in its border areas for military mobility and logistics support since the standoff began in 2020.

Indias infrastructure development has focussed on better living conditions and improved facilities for soldiers, and the protection of weapons and equipment in forward areas. This border infrastructure push has been propelled by increased spending and speedy execution of strategic projects to support military operations.

During 2023-24, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) completed 125 infrastructure projects worth 3,611 crore, including the Sela tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh.

HT Insight: Will the India-China rivalry ever end

The developments at Pangong Lake have come at a time when new images also suggest heightened activity by the Chinese military at Shigatse air base, a dual-use high-altitude airport in the Tibet Autonomous Regions second largest city, and at the disputed Doklam tri-junction, the site of a 73-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in 2017.

While satellite images from earlier this year showed about half a dozen Chengdu J-20s, Chinas most advanced stealth combat jet, at the Shigatse base, BlackSkys image from May 30 showed six J-20 jets parked adjacent to eight Chengdu J-10 multi-role combat jets on the central apron.

The base at Shigatse is located about 300 km from the Indian Air Forces (IAF) Hasimara base in West Bengal, which houses a squadron of Rafale combat jets. Experts believe Chinas deployment of the J-20s is aimed at countering the Rafales, among the most advanced aircraft of the IAF.

While some J-20s have been deployed in Xinjiang, most of these jets were stationed in Chinas coastal and inland provinces and their deployment in Tibet marks a shift, the experts said. A more recent satellite image from June 30 revealed at least two J-10 jets on the central apron at the Shigatse air base.

On the Doklam plateau, the satellite images show China maintaining an elaborate network of roads connecting military infrastructure across close to the disputed border with India. A sizeable number of military vehicles were detected at a rear base and forward position in a satellite image from April.
In more trouble for jailed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain, Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Saturday gave permission for a probe under the Prevention of Corruption (PoC) Act over a 7 crore bribery allegation against the former minister. File: Former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain. (HT PHOTO)

The LG agreed with the Department of Vigilance's (DoV) proposal to refer the matter under Section 17 A of the PoC Act, 1998, to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for approving an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), the lieutenant governor's office said in a statement, according to news agency ANI.

In January last year, the ACB began its preliminary probe against Jain, who was arrested in May 2022 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a separate disproportionate assets case and is lodged in Tihar jail.

Reacting to the development, Delhi minister and AAP leader Atishi claimed that the BJP-led central government was trying to implicate the Arvind Kejriwal-led party in another fake case.

The BJP is engaged in a conspiracy against the Delhi government day and night. More than 200 cases were filed against AAP leaders in 10 years. But to date, not a single rupee of corruption has been recovered from anywhere. BJP wants to paralyze the Delhi government, she said.

What is the  7 crore bribery case?

It is alleged that Jain, then a serving minister, was bribed by officials of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) when the firm was installing CCTV cameras across the national capital in 2018-2019, a 571 crore project.

The ACB probe was launched on a complaint by Manmohan Pandey, an ex-BEL employee. Pandey, as per officials of the anti-graft agency, gave them a signed copy of the minutes of a meeting related to a disciplinary inquiry against him in September 2019, during which Pandey put on record that the person in charge of the CCTV project said that Jain (then the public works department minister) asked for a bribe of 7 crore.

Responding to Pandey's charge, BEL accused him of making false allegations as he was dismissed from service.
At least four terrorists were killed, and a soldier lost his life in two encounters in Kulgam district, Jammu and Kashmir, on Saturday, officials said. Representative Image: One soldier killed in encounter in Kulgam (ANI)

Contact with the terrorists was made during a cordon and search operation. In the ongoing exchange of fire, four terrorists have been killed, with their bodies spotted via drone footage, though not yet retrieved due to continued firing.

The operation is ongoing, according to officials.

The first encounter broke out in Modergam village, where security forces began a search operation based on intelligence about terrorists' presence.

ALSO READ- When Britain's Labour Party shifted its stance on Kashmir under Keir Starmer

Officials said security personnel were conducting a cordon-and-search operation in Modergam village of the south Kashmir district when the terrorists opened fire at them.

In a separate incident, contact was made with terrorists in the Frisal Chinnigam area of Kulgam.

"Police and security forces are actively engaged. Further details will be provided," said a post by the Kashmir Zone Police.

ALSO READ- Kashmir valley abuzz with tourists in first half of 2024, arrivals up 30%

'J-K sees spike in terrorist attacks'

Jammu and Kashmir has seen a "spike" in terrorist attacks in recent months. In June, three terrorists were neutralised in an encounter with security forces in the Gandoh, Bhaderwah sector of Doda district.



On June 9, ten pilgrims were killed after a bus carrying them from Shiv Khori cave shrine to Katra in Reasi district fell into a gorge after it came under terrorist attack in Teryath village in Pouni area.

ALSO READ- NC leaders in huddle to discuss Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls prep

Jammu and Kashmir DGP R R Swain said on Wednesday that law-enforcement agencies and security forces have full control over the Union Territory's security situation.

Swain said that the level of fear is significantly lower compared to three to four years ago and highlighted the improved law-and-order situation, as demonstrated by the successful conduct of the Lok Sabha polls.

ALSO READ- Heatwave in Kashmir, Srinagar hotter than Kolkata

"The truth is that even now, law-enforcement and security forces have control and the upper hand (in the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir). To maintain orderliness, the pressure is being maintained (on the terror ecosystem)," he said.

(Inputs from PTI)
Delhi Tis Hazari court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar till July 16 in connection with the alleged assault case involving Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal.



Kumar was arrested on May 18, days after Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal alleged that she was assaulted by him at Kejriwal's residence on May 13. Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar. (PTI File Photo)

His first bail plea was dismissed on May 27 by a city court, which said there appeared to be no "pre-meditation" on Maliwal's part in getting the FIR lodged and that her allegations could not be "swiped away".

On June 7, Delhi's Tis Hazari court refused to grant bail to Bibhav Kumar, saying he was facing "grave and serious" charges and that there was an apprehension that he could influence witnesses.

On July 1, the Delhi high court had held as maintainable a plea moved by Kumar, who challenged his arrest in the case, and sought Delhi Police's stand on it.

The FIR against Kumar was registered on May 16 under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) provisions, including those related to criminal intimidation, assault or criminal force on a woman with the intent to disrobe and attempt to commit culpable homicide.

Kumar, in his plea, has sought a direction to declare his arrest as illegal and in gross violation of the provisions of section 41A (notice of appearance before police officer) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and against the mandate of the law.

Kumar claimed he was arrested with an "oblique motive" while his anticipatory bail plea was pending in the trial court, in violation of his fundamental rights as well as the law.

In the petition, Kumar has also sought "appropriate compensation" for his "illegal" arrest and initiation of departmental action against the erring officials involved in the decision-making of his arrest.

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At least eight suspects have been detained in connection with the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president K Armstrong, news agency PTI reported on Saturday, citing the police. The Chennai police have registered a case of murder, and a special team has been formed to track the suspects. (File photo)

K Armstrong was hacked to death by a six-member gang near his house in Chennai on Friday. The gang attacked Armstrong, a former councillor of Chennai Corporation, near his house in Perambur, and fled before inflicting grievous injuries on him. He died on the way to the hospital.

Asra Garg, additional commissioner (North), told reporters that the police have formed 10 teams to nab the accused.

"We have secured eight suspects so far. This is early an investigation, a preliminary investigation. So after some time, a clear and better picture will emerge with more facts and circumstances coming to light," he said.

Garg also said the police suspected that there were some two to three suspicious motives behind Armstrong's killing but added that the exact reason would come to light only after the interrogation of the suspects.

BSP workers hold protest



Meanwhile, workers and supporters of the BSP held protests in Chennai against the killing of Armstrong.

A traffic jam was reported at the Poonamallee High Road in Chennai as BSP workers and supporters blocked the road outside Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital, where the postmortem of the party's state unit president, K Armstrong, is being performed.

According to the news agency, the protesters said they did not have faith in the Tamil Nadu government and have demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter. They have also sought the resignation of Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin.

Meanwhile, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and BSP chief Mayawati has condemned the gruesome killing of the party's Tamil Nadu president, asking the state government to "punish the guilty."

"The gruesome killing of K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state Govt. must punish the guilty," Mayawati said in a post on X on Friday.

Who was K Armstrong?

K Armstrong completed his law degree from Venkateswara University, Tirupati, and practiced law in Chennai courts.

He first served as a corporation councillor in 2006 and later became the president of the BSP's Tamil Nadu unit in the subsequent year. In the 2011 Tamil Nadu assembly election, he contested in the Kolathur constituency, receiving substantial support despite not winning.

Throughout his career, he consistently advocated for the rights of Dalits and the underprivileged. Although the BSP does not have a political presence in Chennai, Amstrong, an advocate, was a known Dalit voice.
Washington When the Labour Party was last in power in 2010, Donald Trump was just a New York real estate businessman and television celebrity. UK was a member of the European Union. The West and Russia had a functional and working, and at times even collaborative, relationship. London viewed Beijing as a partner. Tony Blairs much-reviled decision to back the American invasion of Iraq and the continued war in Afghanistan dominated public consciousness. And the world was still reeling from the effects of the global financial crisis. Keir Starmer, UK prime minster, delivers the first speech of his premiership, following the general election. (Bloomberg)

Almost 15 years later, as Labour returns to power, it is a new world.

Trump has not just been the President of the US once but is, at the moment, the overwhelming favourite to return to the White House in November, and has promised a radically different approach to Europe than his predecessor. London has spent close to a decade first deciding to get out of EU, then managing the specifics of how to get out of EU, then regretting this break-up with the continent, and now wants a new relationship with EU, but without the vows of the past. Russia has invaded Ukraine, while the UK is among Kyivs most ardent backers, pitting London and Moscow into a proxy war. The West, particularly Washington DC, clearly sees Beijing as an adversary and competitor, though it remains locked in a staggeringly complex and interdependent economic relationship with China. Tensions in West Asia have returned, but now in the backdrop of Hamass terror attacks and Israels brutal, disproportionate and destructive campaign in Gaza. And the global economy remains fragile, with UKs own economic indicators way more dismal than any other advanced economy.

It is this world that Keir Starmer and David Lammy, the man named as UKs new foreign secretary, have inherited and will navigate. A reading of the Labour manifesto, Starmer and Lammys extensive public interventions on the world, and the analysis of experts in Washington DC and London indicates that with the changes in Westminster and Whitehall, there will be a freshness in style, definite tweaks to policy, and even a new world view based on what Lammy called progressive realism in an essay in Foreign Affairs.

Take two broad global issues, UKs current policy, Labours view, and the challenge that Starmer will confront.

Europe, Ukraine and Trumps shadowThe first is European security, Americas role and the future of Ukraine. Next week, to mark the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), the groupings leaders will congregate in Washington DC in what will be Starmers first public outing as UKs PM.

Just like the Conservatives, Labour remains committed to Nato and the special relationship with the US. The bloc has also assumed a new life since Russias invasion of Ukraine and seen both an expansion in its membership, a sense of purpose among member states, and more tangible commitments. And there will be both celebration of Nato and expressions of renewed commitment to it from American and European leaders that Starmer will happily join.

But none of this can hide the uncomfortable reality that confronts the bloc. Trump has disdain for Americas European allies and views them as freeloaders who ride on US doing the heavy lifting financially and militarily. He has demanded that other countries do more and has even said that if they dont do their bit  defined as spending a certain proportion of the GDP on defence  Russia can do what it wants. This statement has led to interpretation that the US, under Trump, may no longer be committed to Article 5 that warrants that an attack on one NATO member will be treated as an attack on all and will invite provisions for collective defence.

There is meeting ground between a potential Trump administration and Starmer on the question of military commitments. Labour has already committed to increasing its defence spending. In his Foreign Affairs essay, Lammy wrote, Americans increasingly need convincing that Europeans do enough to protect their own continents security. And as the United States becomes more focused on Asia, it will have less bandwidth for action elsewhere. The United Kingdom is ready for difficult conversations about burden sharing, as long as they are part of a serious process that reinforces collective security.

The more challenging question for Starmer is Ukraine if Trump wins. The UK remains a fervent supporter of Kyiv across party lines. But ever since the Ukrainian counteroffensive failed last year, the momentum on the battleground has shifted in Russias favour. Partisan divisions in the US meant a delay in replenishing Ukraines security needs, even as China stepped up its assistance to Russia. And Trump has promised that he will end the war before he takes office if elected. Many in Europe fear that Trump will be willing to do a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on terms that will embolden Moscow to be even more aggressive. This will be Starmer and Lammys real battle at the end of the year and test whether they have enough influence with Trumps Washington to reorient its direction and continue to support Kyiv, or whether Trump decides to go his way even at the cost of European opposition, leading to a deeper strain in the Trans-Atlantic Alliance.

China and Indo-PacificIn its manifesto, the Labour Party has promised to bring a long-term and strategic approach of dealing with China after 14 years of damaging Conservative inconsistency. Summing up underpinnings of the new approach, the manifesto says, We will cooperate where we can, compete where we need to, and challenge where we must. The manifesto also promises an audit of UKs relationship with China, and commits its support to AUKUS, the trilateral nuclear submarine pact between the US, UK and Australia that is meant to boost deterrence against China.

Separately, in his essay outlining the progressive realist vision of Labour, Lammy has traced Londons shift under the Tories where David Cameron in 2015 promised a golden era of engagement with China to overt hostility under Liz Truss to confused ambiguity under Rishi Sunak. Instead, Lammy said that UKs consistent approach must be based on recognising that Beijing poses a systemic challenge for British interests and the Chinese Communist Party poses real security threats. At the same time, this approach, Lammy has argued, must also recognise Chinas importance to the British economy and need to work with China on transnational challenges.

There has been a shift in Londons view of Beijing in recent years, and Labours pronouncements suggest that this shift towards a more confrontational approach will continue. It also means that London will seek to invest in other Indo-Pacific powers. If Trump returns to power, and decides on a belligerent approach to Beijing, the UK may also be under external pressure to emulate some of Americas measures. But like others in the West, after allowing an overwhelming dependence on China to grow, the Labour government too will struggle to disentangle the threads of economic connectivity with Beijing and will have to face hard choices about UKs short term economic needs and medium-term security imperatives.

At the core, given Britains deeply troubling domestic indicators, its foreign policy success will be a function of its domestic revival. As Bronwen Maddox and Olivia O Sullivan of Chatham House noted after the results, Whether Labour improves Britains standing in the world will depend on whether it can fix the UKs problems at home, including its failure to achieve growth in productivity, its patchy education system, regional divergences and failing health system. Fourteen years after it was ousted from power, Labour has a new mandate but also new challenges at home and in the world.
The landslide majority for Britain's Labour Party under the leadership of Keir Starmer has paved the way for a fresh chapter in the countrys relations with India, which have been rocky in the past due to the Kashmir issue. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer are clapped in by staff as they enter his official residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time in London, Britain, on Friday. (Reuters)

In the past, the Labour Party has taken up matters such as alleged human rights violations and the Kashmir issue with India more vigorously than other British political parties.

In 2019, under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party had passed an emergency motion on the situation in Kashmir at its annual conference in September 2019.

The motion, which came in the wake of the Indian governments decision to scrap Jammu and Kashmirs special status in August 2019, said there was a humanitarian crisis in the region and that the Kashmiri people should be given the right of self-determination.

Also Read | New British PM likely to forge stronger ties with India

India had responded sternly, terming the move by the Corbyn-led Labour Party as uninformed and unfounded.

Several Labour MPs of Indian origin and others with large number of voters from the community also also faced a backlash over the resolution, which was seen as anti-India.

Corbyn was suspended from the Labour Party in 2020, following a row over antisemitism. He contested the polls as an Independent candidate and won from the Islington North, the constituency he has represented since 1983.

Now, Starmer, who has been appointed as Britain's prime minister, is likely to to fix the missteps made by his party in the past. His manifesto included a commitment to pursue a "new strategic partnership" with India.

Also Read | British Indian MP Lisa Nandy is PM Keir Starmers new Culture Secretary

Labour will build and strengthen modern partnerships with allies and regional powers. We will seek a new strategic partnership with India, including a free trade agreement, as well as deepening cooperation in areas like security, education, technology and climate change, it said.

Last month, Labour Party leader and now foreign secretary, David Lammy, had spoken of continuity in the approach towards India.

Addressing a session at the India Global Forum in London last month, Lammy described India as an economic and technological superpower that is the future of Asia. He said: India contributes so much to British prosperity already. Last year, India was our second-largest foreign direct investment contributor. Over 950 Indian companies are employing over 100,000 people in the UK. But it could be so, so much more as India is only our 12th largest trade partner.

He had also emphasised the need for a reset and a relaunch of the India-UK relationship because the Conservative Party had time and time again over promised and under-delivered when it comes to India.
Country to help digital economy to thrive

11:26, July 06, 2024 By WANG KEJU ( China Daily

China will employ a raft of well-focused policy steps to foster a more enabling climate for the development of the digital economy, the State Council, the country's Cabinet, said on Friday.

Topping the agenda are priorities like improving data infrastructure and relevant institutional systems, and promoting market-oriented allocation of data resources.

Given the far-reaching impact of the digital economy, emphasis should be placed on comprehensively integrating these technologies with the real economy, so as to provide a solid underpinning for economic and social development, according to the State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang.

China's total data output reached 32.85 zettabytes in 2023, up more than 22 percent year-on-year, while the added value of core digital economy industries accounted for 10 percent of GDP, according to the National Data Administration.

On Tuesday, during the Global Digital Economy Conference 2024, Liu Liehong, head of the administration, said that China is set to prioritize relevant institutional reforms this year, aiming to unleash the potential of the country's vast data resources and transform them into a new competitive advantage.

The administration plans to roll out eight institutional documents, focusing on data property rights, data circulation, revenue distribution, security governance, public data development and utilization, enterprise data development and utilization, high-quality development of the digital economy, and data infrastructure construction, Liu said.

The rapid development of China's digital industries came on the back of robust digital infrastructure. Recent statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed that the country had built 3.837 million 5G base stations by the end of May, accounting for 60 percent of the global total.

Friday's meeting also announced that efforts will be made to enhance the innovation capabilities of platform companies and promote the sustained and healthy development of the platform economy.

The platform economy has emerged as a vital force both in facilitating connectivity between the digital and real economies and in driving the development of the real economy, according to a report by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

The market value of China's platform economy surged from 4.97 trillion yuan ($683.90 billion) in 2015 to 33.43 trillion yuan in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 32.92 percent. Furthermore, by the end of 2022, the number of Chinese platform unicorns  enterprises valued at over $1 billion  reached 254, marking an increase of 190 companies compared to 2015.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Netflixs 3 Body Problem (2024-) was a breakout sci-fi hit. But on March 22, a day after its premiere, it made news again, for a far darker reason.

Xu Yao, a lawyer and former executive at Yoozoo Games, the Chinese company that produced the show, was sentenced to death for the murder of his boss, the 39-year-old billionaire Lin Qi. Xu had poisoned Lin over three months, in 2020, feeling short-changed after he helped broker the deal with Netflix and was then sidelined.

Forensic detectives found at least five types of poison in Lins blood, including mercury and tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin typically derived from puffer fish.

It turned out that Xu had spent months preparing. He bought small quantities of more than 100 poisons on the dark web, and tested them (brace yourself) on dogs and cats in a makeshift facility in Shanghai, before he fixed on the cocktails he eventually used to kill Lin.

As toxins become easier to produce in homegrown labs, and easier to distribute via the dark web, less successful attempts make news from time to time. Often, they come to light via the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI teams have taken to trawling the darker recesses of the dark web, posing as poison-sellers themselves.

In 2019, Janie Ridd from Utah tried to buy a deadly antibiotic-resistant bacteria from one such squad. She later confessed she planned to use it on her best friend, because she wanted custody of the friends son. The FBI team delivered a package containing some harmless compounds in petri dishes, and then arrested her.

In 2018, Jason Siesser from Missouri was caught in a similar way, trying to buy three vials of dimethylmercury; enough to kill 300. In 2015, Mohammed Ali, a software programmer from Liverpool, tried to buy enough ricin to kill 1,400 people. He too was caught by the FBI, operating undercover as sellers.

Lethal tender

Poison is not a common murder weapon.

Crime statistics for the US indicate that most murders are carried out by men, using a gun, while less than 1% of murders are acts of poisoning. Women, when they do kill, reportedly use guns about half the time; followed by knives; followed by large, heavy objects. Poison currently comes in sixth on this list.

Where it is popular is in assassinations. Russia has long had a state-run poison-factory, set up in the early 20th century by the founding head of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin, as part of the Kremlins massive chemical and biological weapons programme.

The US of course has changed the world with its experiments in these areas, but theirs arent referred to as poison factories; they are research establishments.

Russia has been known to do one thing the US has not been proven to do: use its poisons to silence voices of opposition and dissent.

In 2020, the now-late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny started screaming in pain on a flight to Moscow. The plane made an emergency landing and he was airlifted to a hospital in Germany, where he was in a coma for two weeks. He is believed to have been poisoned with a toxin from the novichok family of nerve agents, developed in Russia. He eventually recovered, returned home and continued his work; was arrested, jailed, and died of unclear causes while in prison, in February this year.

In 2006, the Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko was killed using a radioactive cup of tea. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the Russian government was responsible.

In 2023, a pro-democracy advocate and founder of the Free Russia Foundation Natalia Arno was suspected to be have been poisoned with a nerve agent in her hotel room in Prague.

Poisons have been used to assassinate for thousands of years. Through years of war, peace, unrest and annexation, governments have handed out fatal compounds, complex chemical mixes, nerve agents and biotoxins for use against perceived enemies. Civilian killers have typically had to coerce doctors, chemists and pharmacists to help with sourcing.

Doorstep service

The ideal poison is odourless, tasteless, fast-acting, and causes symptoms that are similar to natural causes of death. Different poisons do this in different ways: by affecting body temperature or heart rate, interrupting breathing, or causing nerve damage.

The ideal poison is also untraceable and incurable. These last two are now all but impossible to achieve.

Highly sophisticated instrumentation is available to detect the minutest quantities of toxic substances, says OP Jasuja, professor of forensic science at Regional Institute of Management and Technology (RIMT) University, Punjab.

Perhaps for this reason, the market for toxins on the dark web is small, particularly when compared with the unceasing demand for the big four: drugs, weapons, financial information and child pornography.

Another reason for the small market could be that there are simpler ways to acquire a toxic substance. Most of us have at least a few at home: household detergents, insecticides, pesticides, antidepressants and sedatives.

It is still alarming to think that a package in the mail could be making its way to someones door, full of a toxin made in a lab, ordered off the internets dark cousin.

Imagine opening it; knowing someone in your home placed the order. Then hearing, I told you not to interfere with my deliveries, dear. Now let me see if I can find the number for a good doctor
The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle or phases of the moon hence, the dates of Muharram vary each year in the Gregorian calendar and South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia etc usually sight the crescent moon a day later than Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman other Gulf countries, USA, UK and Canada. For the uninitiated, Muharram is the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar hence, the first day of this holy month is known as the Islamic New Year, Al Hijri or Arabic New Year but apart from the New Year celebrations, the month of Muharram holds great historical significance for both Shia and Sunni Muslims around the globe. Islamic New Year: When is Muharram 2024 in India? Saudi Arabia announces first day (Photo by KLM Axiva)

Unlike the Gregorian calendar that consists of 365 days, Islamic calendar has about 354 days divided into 12 months where Muharram is followed by the months of Safar, Rabi-al-Thani, Jumada al-Awwal, Jumada ath-Thaniyah, Rajab, Shaban, Ramadan, Shawwal, Zil-Qadah and Zil-Hijjah. After Ramadan or Ramzan, Muharram is considered to be the most sacred month in Islam and it marks the beginning of the lunar calendar which Islam follows.

Saudi Arabia announces the first day of Muharram

The crescent moon for Muharram was not sighted in Saudi Arabia on Friday evening i.e. July 05, 2024 which was the 29th day of Dhul Hijjah month. Hence, the authorities in Saudi Arabia announced that the 1st of Muharram 1446 will commence after maghrib or evening prayers on Saturday July 06, 2024. According to Gregorian calendar, July 07, 2024 will be the first day of Muharram in Saudi Arabia, marking the start of the Islamic new year 1446.

When is Muharram in India?

Since Saudi Arabia will mark the first day of the Islamic New Year on July 07, 2024, India will gear up to sight the crescent moon of the holy month of Muharram tonight. If the crescent moon is sighted after Maghrib on July 06, 2024, the first day of Muharram will fall on July 07 otherwise, July 07 will be the last day of Dhul Hijjah 1445 and Islamic New Year 1446 will be celebrated by the Muslims in our country on July 08, 2024.

Muharram marks the beginning of the Islamic New Year, signifying a time of renewal and spiritual contemplation. The word Muharram means not permitted or forbidden hence, Muslims are prohibited from taking part in activities like warfare and use it as a period of prayer and reflection.

However, Muharram is also a month of mourning and reflection for Muslims. It serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made by Imam Hussein and his companions, highlighting principles of justice, bravery and standing up against oppression.
In our continuous quest for academic excellence and future career prospects, the significance of prioritising our mental well-being often gets overshadowed. Amidst the hustle and bustle of exams, assignments and aspirations, it's effortless to neglect our mental health however, the reality remains that overlooking our mental well-being can deeply impact our daily lives, particularly when faced with the immense pressures of academia, stress, and the accompanying responsibilities. Mental health strategies for young aspirants: Tips for students to manage stress (Image by Freepik)

We got a few experts on board who stressed on the vital importance of mental health, highlighting its central role in both personal and professional achievements. In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Professor (Dr) Padmakali Banerjee, Vice Chancellor at IILM University in Gurugram, shared, Optimism trumps melancholy which generates mental well-being and resilience to cope with ups and downs of life successfully. This is a major step towards prudence, perspectives, insightful and hopeful for positive outcomes. Adaptability and flexible mindset are other attributes that need to be imbibed by young achievers to deal with life circumstances effectively, foster resilience and bounce back with redoubled spirit from any adversity while moving forward with conviction.

She suggested, Goal setting is imperative for youth. If there a set direction to proceed, then young achievers will never vacillate thereby avoiding anxiety and mental distress automatically. Goal-setting has to be realistic and practically achievable so that young achievers can celebrate the progress along the way and feel happy. Every time young achievers feel happy they win life journey and become more optimistic. Young achievers have to also develop problem solving skills to get rid of mental distress and dilemma. There will be problems all the time that need to be addressed tactfully by problem solving skills. By incorporating these strategies young achievers can become successful in life and living while experiencing self-actualisation.

Gurmanjot Butalia, Senior School Counsellor at GD Goenka Public School in Delhi's Vasant Kunj, recommended the following strategies to address mental health concerns -

Taking control of mental well-being is crucial for everyone, particularly young high achievers who encounter unique challenges and stressors. The initial step in conquering these obstacles is to pay attention to thoughts, feelings and behaviors and become self-aware.

Recognising signs of stress can enable them to take proactive steps. Young achievers may feel constant pressure to excel in their endeavours. It is essential to establish boundaries between academics and leisure activities. Self- care must be prioritised. Ambition is admirable, however, setting unrealistic goals can lead to burnout and disappointment.

Realistic goals should be aligned with values, strengths and priorities.

Seek support of friends, family members or mental health professionals if needed. Coping with emotions and talking about experiences can alleviate stress and provide perspective. Young individuals should be encouraged to celebrate their victories no matter how small. Valuing achievements can boost self-esteem and motivation.

Mindful techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, exercises, or yoga can help young achievers to cope with stress and stay grounded in the present moment. These practices should be incorporated in their daily routine. Identifying sources of stress can help develop strategies to minimize or cope with the stressors.

Learning to say NO when necessary, empowers individuals to prioritize their own well-being. Embrace setbacks as learning opportunities and develop resilience to bounce back stronger. Remember, failures are a natural part of the journey towards success.

According Neha Tripathi, Counselling Psychologist at Toprankers, Aspirants should limit their exposure to stress by avoiding negative news, social media comparisons or excessive competition. Creating boundaries and prioritising mental well-being can help maintain a positive mindset. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you're feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety or other mental health challenges. School counsellors, therapists or mental health professionals can provide valuable support and coping mechanisms tailored to your specific needs.

The necessity of prioritising mental health transcends mere choice; it stands as a fundamental requirement for attaining comprehensive success. Whether in personal aspirations or professional endeavours, fostering mental well-being is pivotal, forming the foundation for resilience, innovation and effectiveness. As emphasized by experts, investing in mental health isn't discretionaryit is a crucial commitment with profound implications.
China and the United Arab Emirates are seeking to increase bilateral air traffic rights after years of stagnant travel growth, a move that would seek to boost trade and tourism between the two nations. China, UAE mull increasing flights to foster stronger economic and tourism ties (File Photo / REUTERS)

Officials from both sides will meet in Beijing in coming weeks to discuss granting airlines increases in flights between the two nations, according to people familiar with the matter. Both China and the UAE want more connections after links were exhausted at 56 flights per country per week, said the people, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.

No specific increase has been determined, one of the people said, and the exact outcome of the talks isnt certain.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China didnt respond to a request for comment. The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority said there are about 100 weekly flights between the two countries and a long-standing bilateral relationship and a comprehensive economic partnership, reinforced by extensive cooperation and coordination across all sectors, including air transportation. The authority didnt comment on future talks with China.

Boosting air traffic between China and the UAE would be advantageous for the broader Middle East region as countries like Saudi Arabia experience a surge in Chinese visitors and investment. Emirates, which already operates its maximum of 35 flights a week to China, would be one of the greatest beneficiaries, along with China Southern Airlines Co., which currently flies to the UAE 20 times a week.

China is also keen to attract more foreign visitors post-Covid as international tourism has been slow to resume. To enhance Chinas appeal, Beijing has granted dozens of countries visa waivers and removed some of the red tape around visa applications.

The UAE was one of the first places where Chinese carriers restored overseas flight capacity after the pandemic.

Of the seven carriers that fly between China and the UAE, only Etihad Airways PJSC isnt using its full allotment, flying 10 times a week out of a possible 21.

As well as boosting commerce between the two economies, lifting the ceiling would allow earlier business plans to proceed.

China Eastern Airlines Co. and Etihad, for example, announced in June that they plan to expand routes between the two countries. But the Shanghai-based carrier needs to first start flights to Abu Dhabi, where there are currently no extra bilateral rights.

Forward seat booking data from Cirium shows that for China, excluding domestic and Asia regional flights, Dubai is forecast to be the busiest international route by volume this month.

Saudi Arabia meanwhile has been incentivising carriers to launch direct routes into the kingdom as it looks to boost tourism from China. China Southern, China Eastern and Air China Ltd. started regularly scheduled flights to the Gulf country earlier this year.
Smriti Singh, the widow of Captain Anshuman Singh, broke down as she remembered their last conversation before she received the news of his death. Capt Anshuman Singh's mother and widow receive his Kirti Chakra from President Droupadi Murmu.

Captain Anshuman Singh was on Friday awarded the Kirti Chakra, India's second-highest gallantry award, posthumously for his bravery during a fire incident in Siachen. His mother and his widow, Smriti Singh, accepted the Kirti Chakra from President Droupadi Murmu.

Smriti Singh spoke about their first meeting and their marriage as she recalled her husbands heroic sacrifice.

Captain Anshuman Singh, a doctor with the Army Medical Corps, 26TH Battalion Punjab Regiment, was awarded for exhibiting exceptional bravery and resolve to rescue many people in a major fire incident. He rushed into a burning structure in the early hours of July 19, 2023, and managed to rescue four to five people trapped inside.

Unfortunately, Captain Singh succumbed to injuries he sustained in the fire.

Love at first sight

"He would tell me, 'I will die with the brass on my chest. I would not die an ordinary death,'" his widow Smriti Singh recalled.

She spoke about their first meeting at an engineering college, their eight-year-long love story and subsequent wedding and their last conversation. The young widow struggled to compose herself as she recalled how they planned their future over a phone call just one day before she received the tragic news.

We met on the first day of college. I don't want to be dramatic but it was love at first sight, she said. After a month, he got selected into the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). We met at an engineering college but then he got selected in a medical college. Super intelligent guy.

From then on, after just one month of meeting, it was a long-distance relationship for eight long years. Then we decided to get married. Unfortunately, within two months of our marriage, he got posted in Siachen, she revealed.

On July 18, we had a long conversation about how our life would be in the next 50 years. We were going to build a house, we were going to have kids a visibly emotional Smriti Singh recalled in a heart-wrenching video.

On July 19 morning, I got a call that he is no more, she added.

Now that I have the Kirti Chakra in my hand, maybe it is true. But it's okay, he's a hero. We can manage a little of our lives. He has given all his life to save other families, his army family, she concluded.
A New York City-based artist claims that United Airlines staff threatened to remove her from the plane if she gave her dog water or removed it from its carrier at all. A woman has accused United Airlines crew of abusive behaviour (Representational image)

According to the New York Post, Ashley Longshore took to Instagram to slam the airline. She said the crew of her United Airlines flight lashed out at her when she tried to take her Brussels Griffon dog out to give it water.

United, your flight attendant just made me shove and smash my dog under the seat and threatened me if I removed her or gave her water during a 3 hour flight! This is abusive!!!! I am so upset! I am sobbing! she wrote in an Instagram post on July 1 that has since been deleted.

This is abusive and cruel. To tell me i can not give her water!!!!!!! To call the captain and threaten to kick me off the plane because I am sobbing Does anyone know what I can do here???? she asked.

She reiterated her allegations of cruel behaviour on part of the crew as she ended her post with the hashtag #animalabuse. The incident occurred during a flight from Newark to New Orleans.

Longshore is an artist whose work has fetched as high as $10 million. She counts Blake Lively, Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek among her clients.

Uniteds response

A United Airlines spokesperson said that a flight attendant on the Newark to New Orleans flight attendant asked Longshore to follow their pet rules, which specify that the pet carrier must remain closed.

Our crew reminded the customer of our pet in cabin policy, which requires the carrier to remain closed, the spokesperson was quoted as saying by the New York Post.
Britain's Conservative Party, thrashed by Labour at the general election, on Saturday faced the task of rebuilding as leading right wingers warned it could face extinction unless it starts listening to its core voters. Britain's outgoing Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party, Rishi Sunak, delivers a statement after his general election defeat outside 10 Downing Street in London.(AFP)

A record number of ex-prime minister Rishi Sunak's top team and other prominent Tories lost their seats in Thursday's electoral drubbing.

The anti-immigration Reform UK party led by Brexit firebrand Nigel Farage maximised the damage by splitting the right-wing vote and picking up former Tory supporters in key constituencies.

Even before campaigning had ended, one ex-minister had launched am excoriating attack on the party for not grasping that "our failure to unite the right would destroy us".

Former interior minister Suella Braverman, seen as a leadership contender, correctly predicted the Tories would haemorrhage votes to Reform.

Also read | Lisa Nandy among record set of women in UK PM Keir Starmer Cabinet

"Why? Because we failed to cut immigration or tax or deal with the net-zero and woke policies we have presided over for 14 years," she wrote in the Daily Telegraph.

Conceding inevitable defeat, she called for a "searingly honest post-match analysis", adding that it would "decide whether our party continues to exist at all".

Major British political parties have seen dramatic downturns in their fortunes before.

In the years after World War I, a divided Liberal Party found itself supplanted by the Labour Party as the main opposition.

The party of 19th century political giant William Gladstone and World War I leader David Lloyd George never again regained its earlier status as a party of government.

Also read | When Britain's Labour Party shifted its stance on Kashmir under Keir Starmer

Other senior party voices to deliver an early diagnosis of the Conservatives' current predicament included David Frost, chief Brexit negotiator under ex-PM Boris Johnson.

Frost resigned from government in December 2021, citing Johnson's tax hikes and net zero commitments among other complaints.

To revive traditional Conservative values and electability "after the cataclysm", he called for the creation of a "new movement for "reformed conservatism".

Sunak has said he will stay on as party leader until arrangements are put in place to choose a successor amid fears the party will now descend into bitter infighting.

Potential leadership candidates who managed to hang on to their seats include former home secretaries Braverman and Priti Patel. Former finance minister Jeremy Hunt became the first to rule himself out on Saturday telling GB News that "the time had passed".

"There's going to be a very immediate issue around how to relate to Nigel Farage," Michael Kenny, director of the Bennett Institue for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, told AFP.

He said there would be a push to find a leadership candidate who could unite the party but "not provide an opening to Farage".

Others may look for someone potentially "more open to the idea of fusing with Reform".

Kenny said what had been unusual about this election was the way the "battle for the soul of the party" had been started before a single vote was cast.

With the Conservatives scoring a record low of just 121 seats, handing Starmer's government a majority in parliament of more than 170, some have predicted Labour could be in power for a generation.

However, Philip Cowley, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, cautioned against too much pessimism.

He said people had been "writing off" one or more of the main parties ever since the early 1960s, when it was claimed demographics meant Labour could never win again "only for them to do so in 1964", he told AFP.

In 1992, after the Conservatives won their fourth consecutive victory, there was again "lots of talk about how Britain was now a one-party state, only for Labour to go on to win their greatest ever landslide five years later", Cowley added.

More recently, he noted, commentators suggested the Conservatives could never win again during the tenures of former Labour leaders Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

"And yet they did," in 2010 with David Cameron.

London School of Economics political expert Tony Travers said the Conservative Party was the "world's most durable political party" in many ways but that the result was still a "disaster".

While "not a massive amount of difference" stood between Labour and the Conservatives on many policies, Labour had managed to look more centrist and moderate to the electorate, he added.

And divisions that had beset the party could prove a major obstacle to reinventing itself, Travers said.

"They were split after Brexit... there's a civil war going on all the time, which is going to make their life difficult in the coming parliament."

Offering his own analysis in the Daily Mail on Saturday, Tory ex-prime minister Boris Johnson highlighted that Labour's landslide majority was built on fewer votes than it secured in 2019 when the Conservatives under Johnson won an 80-seat majority.

"We are capable of endless regeneration," he said.
Around 5,700 residents were relocated after waters breached a dike at China's second-largest freshwater lake in the south of the country, while rescue workers rushed to contain further damage from outflows, Chinese state media said on Saturday. Around 5,700 residents were relocated after waters breached a dike at China's second-largest freshwater lake in the south of the country, while rescue workers rushed to contain further damage from outflows, Chinese state media said on Saturday.(X(formerly Twitter))

More than 2,300 rescue personnel were working to build a second line of defence for floodwaters after Friday's breach across a 226-metre (740-foot) area in Hunan province, China Central Television reported.

No one had been harmed as of early Saturday, reports said.

ALSO READ| Taiwan asks China to de-escalate renewed military activity near it

Footage from state media showed a wave of water surging through a breach in the dike past several overturned lorries, into pools engulfing several houses.

Heavy rainfall pounded parts Hunan province earlier this week, causing the Miluo River in Pingjiang county to swell to its highest in 70 years.

Local authorities responded by activating the maximum emergency response level. State media showed large parts of towns waterlogged and stranded people being rescued on boats.

Water levels at Poyang Lake in Jiangxi province were also being closely watched, China's Ministry of Water Resource said on Tuesday.
Myanmar ethnic minority fighters were battling their way into a town housing a regional military command, one of their leaders said Saturday. Ethnic fighters battling way into key north Myanmar town

Soldiers were "surrounding" the northern Shan state town of Lashio, home to the junta's northeastern command, General Tar Bhone Kyaw of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army told AFP.

Clashes first broke out on Wednesday as the ethnic fighters moved into the area.

A member of a local group of volunteers helping to treat the injured and bury the dead told AFP on Saturday that at least 16 civilians had been killed since fighting broke out in Lashio.

"There has been very strong fighting around the town," the rescuer said. "The fighting is still going on."

"We heard they entered the town yesterday from the south."

Lashio sits on a major highway that runs from Myanmar's second city of Mandalay to China's Yunnan province.

Flights to the town from commercial hub Yangon had been cancelled since Wednesday morning, an airport source in Yangon told AFP earlier this week.

The so-called "Three Brotherhood Alliance" of ethnic armed groups launched an offensive last October against the military near Lashio and along the Chinese border.

Ethnic minority armed groups were also making progress against junta troops in the town of Mogok, to the west of Lashio, Tar Bhone Kyaw said.

"The western part is got," the general said of Mogok, which is surrounded by hills rich with rubies, sapphires, spinel, aquamarine and other semi-precious stones.

"We are trying to get the eastern part."

The alliance has seized swaths of territory and lucrative border crossings, dealing the junta its biggest blow since it seized power in 2021.

China brokered a ceasefire in January between the military and the alliance made up of the Arakan Army , the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the TNLA.

But late last month, the TNLA launched fresh attacks in Shan state and the neighbouring Mandalay region.

Myanmar's borderlands are home to a myriad of ethnic armed groups, many of which have battled the military since independence from Britain in 1948 over autonomy and control of lucrative resources.

law-srg/smw

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Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday congratulated Iranian president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian on his victory, emphasising Tehran's role as a "strong" supporter of regional "resistance" groups. Iran's newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian (AFP)

In a letter circulated on the Iran-backed group's social media channels, Nasrallah congratulated Pezeshkian on his "blessed election" by the Iranian people.

"We in Hezbollah and in all the resistance groups in the region... always look to the Islamic republic of Iran as a strong, stable and permanent support," the letter read.

Tehran provides financial and military support to Hezbollah, which was created at the initiative of Iran's Revolutionary Guards after arch-foe Israel overran Beirut in 1982 during Lebanon's civil war.

The Shiite Muslim movement is a key part of the so-called Axis of Resistance -- an alliance of pro-Iran armed movements that oppose Israel and the United States.

The alliance also includes Palestinian militant group Hamas, Yemen's Huthi rebels and fighters in Iraq.

Reformist candidate Pezeshkian, who advocates improved ties with the West, won a runoff presidential election against ultraconservative Saeed Jalili, the Iranian interior ministry said Saturday.

The election came against a backdrop of heightened regional tensions because of the Gaza war, a dispute with the West over Iran's nuclear programme, and domestic discontent over the state of Iran's sanctions-hit economy.

The death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash necessitated the election, which had not been due until 2025.

Hezbollah has been trading regular cross-border fire with the Israeli army in support of ally Hamas since the day after the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

Hezbollah is the only Lebanese faction to have retained its weapons after the country's 1975-1990 civil conflict.

Its members have long fought in Syria's war in support of President Bashar al-Assad, who earlier Saturday also sent his congratulations to Iran's president-elect.
London, Lisa Nandy, the Indian-origin member of Parliament re-elected from Wigan in north-west England, will assume her position at Prime Minister Keir Starmers Cabinet table on Saturday as his new Culture Secretary alongside a record number of fellow women ministers. Lisa Nandy among record set of women in UK PM Keir Starmer Cabinet

The 44-year-old MP was appointed Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport among 11 women picked for top jobs by Starmer as he got straight to work after a landslide Labour general election win on Friday. Rachel Reeves became the first woman to occupy the high office of Chancellor of the Exchequer and Angela Rayner only the second female Deputy Prime Minister in Britain's history.

Nandy, 44, took to social media to say it was an unbelievable privilege to be heading the UKs Department for Culture, Media and Sport .

From rugby league to Royal Opera, our cultural and sporting heritage runs through our towns, villages and cities and is one of our countrys greatest assets The hard work begins today, she said.

Nandy, who was among the final three contestants in the Labour Partys leadership contest against her boss in January 2020, has been serving in his shadow cabinet ever since. She will now take over the culture ministry brief from Lucy Fraser, who was among the Tory ministers to lose their seats in a devastating election for the Rishi Sunak-led Conservatives.

I want to say to those people whove brought their nasty, hateful, racist politics to our town, the history of Wigan is of working-class people who for 100 years have driven you and your hate out of our town over and over again, Nandy raged in her acceptance speech on defeating a far-right Reform UK candidate in her Greater Manchester constituency on Friday.

So take this result tonight as your marching orders. We are a better town than you. You are not welcome here. You can take your nasty divisive rhetoric elsewhere because weve got a job to do, she said.

The Manchester-born daughter of Calcutta-born academic Dipak Nandy and English mother Luise Byers has spoken of her Indian heritage during Labour Party conferences in the past. Her father was well-known for his work in the field of race relations in Britain.

Friends, we meet today in a city which looks out onto the ocean, from an island shaped by waves of immigration. They include the many children of the Empire, like my dad, who came here from India in the 50s and through the struggle to create the Race Relations Act helped forge our national story, she told the party conference in Brighton a few years ago.

This is the country we can be. One that lifts our eyes beyond the horizon, to see that together  only together  will we change the lives of people here and across the world, she said.

Reflecting upon the Indian Independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, she recalled how a century ago "the seams of my family were threaded together when the Indian independence campaign, supported by my grandparents, had devastating consequences for Lancashire textile workers. When the cotton stopped coming, the mills stopped running and the workers went hungry."

But members of my family, who worked in those mills, were among those who welcomed Gandhi to Lancashire. Because they knew, as I know, as the first mixed race woman to ever hold this office, that solidarity has power and our struggle is one and the same, she said, with reference to Gandhi's famous visit to Lancashire in 1931 when he met mill workers facing hardship.

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London, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday presided over his first Cabinet meeting and created Mission Delivery Boards for his ministers, including British Indian Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, to drive through the change he said the public had voted for in the general election. New UK PM Starmer creates Mission Delivery Boards for new Cabinet

The newly-elected leader addressed his first televised press conference as Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street right after the meeting to update the country on how he intends to meet the targets he has set for the new Labour Party government, including fixing a broken National Health Service .

"I reminded the entire Cabinet that we will be judged on actions not on words," said Starmer.

At the Cabinet meeting, I also discussed delivery, how we would put into action the plan that we have set out in our manifesto. We will have Mission Delivery Boards to drive through the change that we need, and I will be chairing those boards to make sure that it's clear to everyone that they are my priorities in government, he said.

Starmer, 61, also pointed to a series of phone calls he has already had with world leaders, which included a call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier on Saturday, ahead of his first international tour next week for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit in Washington. Before the foreign tour, the new Prime Minister said he would be touring each part of the United Kingdom, starting with Scotland to be followed by Northern Ireland and Wales.

"For the first time in 20-plus years we have a majority in England, in Scotland and in Wales and that is a clear mandate to govern for all four corners of the United Kingdom and therefore I shall set off tomorrow [Sunday] to be in all four nations," said Starmer.

It is of course an important time for NATO. It is for me to be absolutely clear that the first duty of my government is security and defence and to make clear our unshakable support of NATO towards Ukraine, he said, with reference to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

It is quite unusual for a new leader to kick off with a Cabinet meeting on the first weekend after being voted in and the Saturday morning Cabinet meeting is being seen as a sign that Starmer wants to project a mindset shift with the regime change at Downing Street.

In response to a question, he admitted that he and his family havent "quite unpacked yet" but will be moving into their new home at No. 10 Downing Street soon.

"I've got a basic understanding of the rooms I've used so far here," he said smiling.

When pressed on the future of some policies of the former Tory government, Starmer confirmed that the Rwanda scheme of deporting illegal migrants to the African country will be abandoned in favour of a new plan to tackle the problem.

The new Prime Minister restated the Labour government's commitment to growing the economy, which his administration is relying on to deliver vital investment in public services without hiking taxes or borrowing more cash.

The new Labour-led government, elected with a solid 174-seat majority, faces a series of challenges upon taking office, including a humongous NHS waiting list of millions of patients, an overstretched prison system and sluggish economic growth.

Nandy was appointed Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport among 11 women picked for top jobs by Starmer as he got straight to work after a landslide Labour general election win on Friday.

Nandy, 44, took to social media to say it was an unbelievable privilege to be heading the UKs Department for Culture, Media and Sport .

From rugby league to Royal Opera, our cultural and sporting heritage runs through our towns, villages and cities and is one of our countrys greatest assets...The hard work begins today, she said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that he is scrapping a controversial Conservative policy to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. Starmer welcomed the new ministers around the table at 10 Downing St., saying it had been the honour of his life to be asked by King Charles III to form a government(AFP)

The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started, Starmer said in his first news conference. Its never acted as a deterrent. Almost the opposite.

The move was one of Starmers first acts in office, though it was widely expected. He had said during his campaign that he would ditch the plan that has cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but never taken flight.

Starmer made the announcement after holding his first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing St., the day after his Labour Partys landslide victory overturned 14 years of Conservative rule.

The Rwanda plan was one of the showcase policies of former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to try to curb migrants from making dangerous English Channel crossings.

But it was beset with challenges over human rights issues and never managed to deport a single person despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars in a pact with the east African nation.

Suella Braverman, a Conservative hard liner on immigration who is a possible contender to replace Sunak as party leader, was critical of Starmers anticipated plan to end the Rwanda deal.

Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked, she said Saturday before he made the announcement.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer held his first Cabinet meeting Saturday as his new government takes on the massive challenge of fixing a heap of domestic woes and winning over a public weary from years of austerity, political chaos and a battered economy.

Starmer welcomed the new ministers around the table at 10 Downing St., saying it had been the honour of his life to be asked by King Charles III to form a government in a ceremony that officially elevated him to prime minister.

We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work, he said.

Starmers Labour Party delivered the biggest blow to the Conservatives in their two-century history Friday in a landslide victory on a platform of change.

Among a raft of problems they face are boosting a sluggish economy, fixing a broken health care system, and restoring trust in government.

Just because Labour won a big landslide doesnt mean all the problems that the Conservative government has faced has gone away, said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London.

In his first remarks as prime minister Friday after the meeting kissing of hands ceremony with Charles at Buckingham Palace, Starmer said he would get to work immediately, though he cautioned it would take some time to show results.,

Changing a country is not like flicking a switch, he said as enthusiastic supporters cheered him outside his new official residence at 10 Downing. This will take a while. But have no doubt that the work of change begins  immediately.

He will have a busy schedule following the six-week campaign crossing the four nations of the UK.

He will travel to Washington next week for a NATO meeting and will host the European Political Community summit July 18, the day after the state opening of Parliament and the King's Speech, which sets out the new government's agenda.

Starmer singled out several of the big items Friday, such as fixing the revered but hobbled National Health Service and securing its borders, a reference a larger global problem across Europe and the U.S. of absorbing an influx of migrants fleeing war, poverty as well as drought, heat waves and floods attributed to climate change.

Conservatives struggled to contain the flow of migrants arriving across the English Channel, failing to live up to ex-Prime Ministers Rishi Sunaks pledge to stop the boats.

Starmer has said he will scrap the Conservatives controversial plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. The plan had cost hundreds of millions of pounds without a single flight taking off.

Labour is going to need to find a solution to the small boats coming across the channel, Bale said. Its going to ditch the Rwanda scheme, but its going to have to come up with other solutions to deal with that particular problem.

Suella Braverman, a Conservative hard liner on immigration who is a possible contender to replace Sunak as party leader, criticized Starmer's plan to end the Rwanda pact.

Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked," she said Saturday. "There are big problems on the horizon which will be Im afraid caused by Keir Starmer.

Starmer's Cabinet is also getting to work.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy was to begin his first international trip Saturday to meet counterparts in Germany, Poland and Sweden to reinforce the importance of their relationship.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would open new negotiations next week with NHS doctors at the start of their career who have staged a series of multi-day strikes. The pay dispute has exacerbated the long wait for appointments that have become a hallmark of the NHS's problems.
Hungarian premier Viktor Orban's fledgling political movement attracted enough parties Saturday to achieve recognition from the European Parliament in a boost for his latest ploy to shift Brussels rightwards. Orban's new right-wing group hits EU parliament threshold

The nationalist leader announced June 30 his intention to form a new EU parliamentary group called "Patriots for Europe", vowing "a new era" that "will change European politics".

He made the announcement with the Austrian far-right Freedom Party and the centrist ANO of former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis in Strasbourg, and since then, five more parties said they will join.

Those include the Party for Freedom of Dutch anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders, Portugal's far-right Chega party and Spain's Vox.

With the Danish People's Party and the Flemish nationalist pro-independence Vlaams Belang announcing they would join Saturday, Patriots for Europe fulfilled the EU parliament's threshold for formal recognition 23 lawmakers from seven countries.

Orban said the parties would meet Monday in Brussels.

By that time, Orban will know if France's National Rally has chosen to join forces with him after the second round of the country's legislative elections on Sunday.

If the National Rally decides to join Patriots for Europe, it would be the biggest political force within the group with 30 MEPs.

Italy's League, led by Matteo Salvini, has also expressed an interest in the new movement but has not confirmed its participation.

Orban whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency has long railed against the "Brussels elites".

His Fidesz party has been non-aligned in the EU Parliament since it left the right-wing European People's Party in 2021 amid accusations of Hungary's democratic backsliding.

With the formation of Patriots for Europe, Orban is bidding to become the dominant hard-right force in the EU Parliament.

As well as campaigning for conservative family values, the group would push back against European support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion and immigration.

Several of the groups joining Orban's movement were previously part of the Identity and Democracy group, which includes members of France's National Rally.

Babis's ANO party defected from Renew Europe, which includes liberals and centrists, among them French President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party.

Vox is leaving the European Conservatives and Reformists movement associated with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Orban's main rival as the dominant player in right-wing EU politics.

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Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico made his first public appearance on Friday since he was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt, attacking his liberal political opponents and praising his Hungarian counterpart. Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico (AP file photo)

Fico has been recovering at home from multiple wounds he suffered in the May 15 attack when he was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters in the town of Handlova, nearly 140 kilometers (85 miles) northeast of the capital.

The suspect, identified only as J.C., was immediately arrested and faces terror charges.

Fico gave a speech on a stage at an evening gathering to mark the 1,161 anniversary of Saints Cyril and Methodius's arrival, a national holiday in his country.

ALSO READ| Slovakia's top court approves key parts of a contentious amendment of the penal code

People gave him a standing ovation when he arrived at the Devin Castle in the capital.

In his adress, Fico, who was standing on the stage, attacked what he called liberal and progressivist ideologies and praised Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban for his recent trips to Kyiv and Moscow.

Fico ended his country's military aid for Ukraine after his coalition government was sworn in on October 25. He also opposes EU sanctions on Russia, and wants to block Ukraine from joining NATO.

He has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond. He returned to power for the fourth time last year, when his leftist party Smer, or Direction, won the parliamentary election last September after campaigning on a pro-Russia and anti-American message.

His critics worry that Slovakia could abandon its pro-Western course and follow the direction of Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest Fico's policies.
MAYREAU, St. Vincent and the Grenadines  Mayreu is one of the smallest inhabited islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It's so small that it's barely visible  a dot on the map of the Caribbean. Hurricane Beryl nearly erased it from the map. Survival story as Hurricane Beryl razes smallest inhabited island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Beryl pummeled everything along its path, ripping up roofs of schools, crumbling homes and stripping trees of almost every leaf on the 0.46 square miles of this island of about 360 people.

Everything was flying all over the place," Mayreau resident James Alexander said recalling the storm, I saw a tank full of water lifted up and swirl in the air."

Beryl made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane Monday on the Caribbean island of Carriacou in Barbados and close to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, leaving a swath of destruction as it kept moving west and strengthening later into a Category 5.

The storm is the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. On Friday, it moved over Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula after battering the resort of Tulum and reemerged in the Gulf of Mexico, prompting Texas officials to urge coastal residents to prepare as the storm headed their way. Beryl has caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean islands.

Other islands in the Grenadines archipelago, like Canouan, also suffered extensive damage. But tiny Mayreau has been mostly ignored in its pleas for help.

Most lost it all: 98% of the islands structures were severely damaged, according to the latest report from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Agency.

When the storm hit, some of the people of Mayreau sought refuge in The Immaculate Conception Church. But the sturdy building built more than 100 years ago with local stone did not have a chance against the wrath of the Category 4 hurricane.

People sheltered in the church barely made it out. Almost miraculously, they escaped unharmed but for a few minor injuries. With only one small clinic, which has also been damaged, and one nurse, that the injuries were minor was the only good news for the people of Mayreau.

The storm ripped every roof off every home on the island. Many were left as piles of dust and rubble.

This church suffered an awful fate as a result of the passage of Hurricane Beryl and it's an indication of what has happened throughout this island, Luke Browne, St. Vincent and the Grenadines' former minister of health, said as he stood in front of the rubble of The Immaculate Conception Church.

Browne said he had been visiting Mayreau since he was a child and had seen the congregation grow and thrive. He made a plea for help to rebuild his native island.

Mayreau residents are now stranded without electricity or shelter  not even a roof  to protect them from the sun and rain.

Islanders are badly in need of everything, from food and water to tents and baby formula for its 14 youngest inhabitants.

Mayreau is far from the mainland, accessible only by a four-hour boat trip from St. Vincent.

Although some aid is expected to trickle in from nearby islands, the need is enormous, and the aid is only guaranteed for a short-term. There are no vehicles on Mayreau, so residents form human chains, passing vital bottles of water hand-to-hand to the improvised shelter.

The small population depends on tourism and fishing, both of which were disrupted by the storm.

Im just happy, Alexander said, "to be alive.

__

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The is solely responsible for this content.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Former US President Donald Trumps recent social media post about Project 2025 gets netizens buzzing on Friday. And Biden campaign took no time to sledge in with some fact checks on their social handle. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)(AP)

Project 2025, an initiative by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, aims to restructure the US federal government and is designed to be implemented if Trump wins the 2024 presidential election.

However, in his Truth Social post on Friday, Trump claimed, I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they're saying and some of the things they're saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal despite MAGA ties with Project 2025.

Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.

ALSO READ| Joe Biden says he is absolutely fit to beat Donald Trump, brushes off any ousting notions

Despite Trump's statement, Bidens campaign and liberal media commentators were sceptical

The Biden-Harris HQ, the rapid response account for Bidens reelection campaign, shared a clip of Trumps 2017 keynote speech at a Heritage Foundation event, where he praised the organization and solicited their support for tax cuts., to which the former president replied, Your organization is named the Heritage Foundation because you understand that our glorious heritage is the foundation of everything we hope to achieve...which is why we need the help of the Heritage Foundation and everyone here tonight to get our tax cuts through the House, through the Senate

The Biden campaign then slams Trump, saying, A desperate and lying Trump claims he knows nothing about his Project 2025 agenda, even though his top aides are the ones behind the plan, followed by a fact check post, stating, Trump just desperately tried to claim he knows nothing about Project 2025. FACT CHECK:

His Super PAC is running ads promoting Project 2025, calling it Trumps Project 2025. His top aide and former bag boy John McEntee is the guy behind Project 2025. His press secretary is starring in recruitment ads for Project 2025, the post drops fact-checking points to a claim made by Trump that he knows nothing about Project 2025.

Trump himself said he needs the Heritage Foundation, the organization behind Project 2025, to enact his MAGA agenda.

Trump's Project 2025 post met with online scepticism

MSNBC host Chris Hayes wrote on X, The Trump SuperPAC has run ads about Project 2025, and a ton of Trumpworld people are authors of it. They are scared now because they are desperate for no one to know what they're actually up to.

Trumps spokesperson Steven Cheung told Newsweek, Crooked Joe Biden, his campaign, and Democrats have been engaging in 'cheap fakes' to misrepresent President Trump's agenda. Their Trump Derangement Syndrome continues unabated.

ALSO READ| Donald Trump distances himself from Project 2025: I have nothing to do with them

Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, and former MSNBC anchor, questioned Trumps disavowal: What's revealing about Donald Trump loudly disavowing Project 2025 and falsely denying any knowledge of it is that clearly he knows how damaging it can be to his election bid. So why on earth did neither Biden nor the CNN moderators bring it up at the debate last week?
President Joe Biden admitted his mistakes and attributed his shaky performance to being sick in his first televised interview since his widely criticised CNN debate performance. President Joe Biden responds to questions from the traveling press as he arrives at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Del., Friday, July 5, 2024, from a campaign rally in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)(AP)

Speaking to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, Biden said, Nobodys fault but mine, and called the debate a bad night and he screwed up.

He explained, It's a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted... I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing.

Joe Biden cites he was terribly sick during the CNN debate

Biden revealed that despite days of preparation at Camp David, he felt terrible due to illness, which affected his performance. Because I was sick, I was feeling terrible, he said.

ALSO READ| Biden must undergo cognitive and neurological testing, famed brain specialist says I was not alone in

When asked if he watched a video of the debate, he replied, I dont think I did, no.

With some Democrats urging Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, the POTUS' aides described the upcoming week as "absolutely critical." They emphasized that no major strategic shift was planned, though additional interviews and appearances might be scheduled. They also dismissed the notion that Vice President Kamala Harris would replace Biden as the Democrat nominee.

Biden lauds he will beat Donald Trump

Biden recognizes the importance of his public appearances in the coming days, knowing that underperformance could solidify opinions that he should exit the race. However, he remains committed to proving his capability as the nominee. During a campaign rally in Wisconsin, Biden addressed the speculation directly, stating, Let me say it as clear as I can: Im staying in the race... Ill beat Donald Trump.

Despite growing calls from within his party to step aside, including from Rep. Mike Quigley, Biden is determined to continue. Quigley, joining Reps. Raul Grijalva and Lloyd Doggett, urged Biden to step down to avoid potential catastrophe. Meanwhile, Bidens allies, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have called for him to demonstrate his readiness for a second term.

ALSO READ| Megyn Kelly launches brutal attack on power hungry Jill Biden, quips she guides 'infirm' Joe like

This week, Biden conducted two radio interviews, admitting to a bad night but that it does not erase what Ive done for three-and-a-half years. Concerns about Biden's abilities have also spread to financial backers, with Abigail Disney withholding donations unless Biden withdraws.

The White House previously stated that Biden had a cold during the debate. Following a lengthy overseas trip, Biden acknowledged he might limit evening events to get more sleep. His campaign defended his balanced schedule, contrasting it with former President Trump's activities. Campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz stated, Normal presidents strike a balance, and so does Joe Biden.
A far-right internet personality, Laura Loomer, claimed on social media that US President Joe Biden had a medical emergency onboard Air Force One en route to Delaware. President Joe Biden boards Air Force One to depart at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wis., following a campaign visit, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)(AP)

Joe Biden had a medical emergency while flying and his staff didnt want reporters to witness it, she posted on X (formerly Twitter), with a screenshot, likely from an email, showing a travel pool report from the presidents home in Wilmington at 7:7 p. m. and 50 p. m. there was no Biden.

Loomer questioned the situation, writing, So where is he? And why were reporters who were set to travel with Biden on Air Force One today told they couldnt do so, abruptly?

The post took no time to go viral after tech mogul Elon Musk chimed in; however, these allegations were quickly proven false.

White House dismissed the media emergency landing claim as 100% false

Forbes confirmed that Biden safely landed in Delaware after his campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin. The White House categorically denied the rumours, stating that the claims were 100% false, according to BNO News.

A video of President Biden arriving in Wilmington, Delaware, after a campaign event in Wisconsin, has also gone viral on the internet.

Colin Rugg, referencing a Forbes video, reported that Biden appeared fine as he disembarked Air Force One.

Upon his arrival in Delaware, Biden planned to spend some time at his home.

Leading Report posted on X, Reports of Biden experiencing a medical emergency appear to be false, as he was seen landing in Wilmington, Delaware, after his campaign event in Wisconsin. There is no confirmation at this moment if he recovered on the flight or if reports were false.

ALSO READ| Joe Biden makes bizarre claim about inventing computer chip; says, I have cognitive test every single day

Several outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, reported that President Joe Biden was checked by a doctor after the first debate with former President Donald Trump. In a private meeting with Democratic governors on Wednesday, President Biden disclosed that he had visited a doctor and probably shared some details, too. The exam was due to him " falling sick with the cold that he developed during the debate.
President Joe Biden has once again ignited controversy with a series of outlandish claims during a recent conversation with ABC. Following his debate disaster with former President Donald Trump which he attributed to a bad nightBiden engaged in a lengthy discussion with the interviewer. Most of which he tried dodging and resisting. He went on to highlight reasons why he should return to the White House and that he undergoes a cognitive test every single day. President Joe Biden points as he arrives on Air Force One at Dane County Regional Airport to attend a campaign rally in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)(AP)

Joe Biden claims inventing computer chip during interview

We used to have 40 percent of computer chips. We invented the chip, the little chip, the computer chip. It's in everything from cell phone to weapons. Biden at one point was heard telling ABCs host George Stephanopoulos when questioned Can you serve effectively for the next four years?

Bidens responses during the interview were marked by a raspy, weary tone, where his frequent mid-sentence detours made it difficult to follow his train of thought. At times, he completely ignored questions in favour of making clumsy claims about his accomplishments, mental fitness, and polling numbers. It seemed more like a rambling speech than a focused interview.

Also read: Biden says he had a bad episode against Donald Trump in the first post-debate ABC News interview

I'm the guy that put NATO together, the future. No one thought I could expand it. I'm the guy that shut Putin down. No one thought could happen. I'm the guy that put together a South Pacific initiative with AUKUS. I'm the guy that got 50 nations out-- not only in Europe, outside of Europe as well to help Ukraine, he claimed further.

Joe Biden claims taking cognitive tests every single day

Ever since the POTUS decided to re-run , one major public concern and an advantage for the opposition has been his evidently declining mental health. However, Biden himself remains unconvinced by this claim. Despite repeated public gaffes, he has gone into denial mode. ABC Newss George Stephanopoulos asked the 81-year-old president if he has ever had a full neurological and cognitive evaluation as concerns regarding Biden's mental and physical capabilities continue to grow in the run-up to the November election.

Also read: Biden campaign fact-checks Donald Trump's claim I know nothing about Project 2025

Biden replied, I get a full neurological test every day with me and Ive had a full physical. He added, I had, you know, I mean  Ive been at Walter Reed for my physicals. I mean, yes.

Then, Stephanopoulos inquired whether the president had consulted with a neurologist or a specialist for a medical check-up. To which he replied, No one said I had to. They say Im good.

This interview marked a rare and certainly unscripted public appearance for Biden after a debate performance that was met with much criticism. In an attempt to explain his poor showing, he claimed to have been suffering from extreme exhaustion and a recent illness so severe it prompted doctors to test him for Covid-19.

Interestingly, despite mentioning a medical evaluation, he remained silent on the possibility of a neurological examination. Refusing to undergo an independent assessment and share the results with voters before the election, he insisted, "I have a cognitive test every day. Everything I do. Im not just running a campaign, Im running the world."
U.S. President Joe Biden again called his debate against Republican opponent Donald Trump "a bad episode," but remained resolute in an interview with ABC News on Friday that he was the candidate to beat Trump in November's election. President Joe Biden points as he arrives on Air Force One at Dane County Regional Airport to attend a campaign rally in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)(AP)

"No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and -- and a bad night," Biden, 81, told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in a taped interview in Madison, Wisconsin.

"I just had a bad night. I don't know why," Biden added in a hoarse voice, stumbling occasionally over his words.

Biden was gently but repeatedly probed by Stephanopoulos about whether he was being realistic in his belief that he could beat Trump, giving widening polls between the two and growing concern from elected Democrats.

"I don't think anyone is more qualified," Biden told Stephanopoulos in the interview. The polls, he said, were inaccurate.

Asked whether he would drop out if fellow Democrats in Congress said he was hurting their re-election chances in November, Biden said: "If the Lord Almighty comes out and tells me that I might do that."

ALSO READ| Biden says he had a bad episode against Donald Trump in the first post-debate ABC News interview

The 22-minute interview, which Stephanopoulos said was not cut or edited, was being closely watched by Democrats concerned about the president's ability to serve another four years, or beat Trump, 78, in the election, after his faltering debate performance on June 27.

Biden brushes off concerns about his age and health

A senior House of Representatives Democratic aide, who declined to be named, told Reuters after watching a short clip aired before the interview: I don't see how he (Biden) lasts the week as the nominee.

"I was feeling terrible," Biden said. "Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they're trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold."

He added that it was no one else's fault but his own, and that he hadn't rewatched his debate performance.

Asked whether he was more frail, Biden said, "No."

"Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test  everything I do (is a test)," Biden said as he was repeatedly asked about whether he would take a cognitive test.

Earlier on Friday, Biden told a crowd in a fiery speech in Madison that some Democrats were trying to push him out of the race in the wake of the debate with Trump. But he said during the ABC News interview that senior Democrats would not ask him to step aside.

He said he spoke for an hour with House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries from New York and longer with Representative Jim Clyburn from South Carolina.

ALSO READ| Megyn Kelly launches brutal attack on power hungry Jill Biden, quips she guides 'infirm' Joe like

During the interview, Biden highlighted his record in office, saying that he expanded NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), grew the economy and has a peace plan for the Middle East. He talked about expanding healthcare and making changes to the tax system if he won a second term.

The interview, even before it aired in full, seemed to do little to assuage viewers about Biden's age.

"I've seen enough," Ron Fournier, senior adviser with communications agency Truscott Rossman and former White House correspondent, said on social media platform X alongside the clip. It hard to imagine this good man beating Trump and serving four more years in the most demanding job on earth.
Following the backlash-ridden CNN debate against Trump last week, President Joe Biden appeared in interviews with WURD radio station for The Source show, The Earl Ingram Show and ABC News George Stephanopoulos. In another attention-grabbing revelation that will likely work against the commander-in-chief, radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders, who interviewed Biden in the former case, dropped another bombshell, claiming that his team sent her questions ahead of the event. President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 5, 2024, as Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers watches. (AP)

Recently appearing on a discussion with CNN host Victor Blackwell, Sanders said, The questions were sent to me for approval. However, on top of that, Blackwell also pointed out that the interviews conducted by The Source host and Earl Ingram, who hosts The Earl Ingram Show on WMCS in Milwaukee, were essentially the same.

Local radio hosts reveal they received questions prior to Joe Biden interviews

Blackwell asked Sanders if the White House sent her questions before the interview to confirm his doubts. Yes, I got several questions, eight of them, and the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved, she replied.

Blackwell also implied that by sending questions before the interview, the presidents team was essentially only adding to the contentious claims regarding his mental competency to run in the presidential race.

Also read | Biden slips up again, declares he will beat Trump again in 2020: Internet shows no mercy for latest gaffe

This same interview with Sanders also happened to have become another instance where Bidens performance was yet again brought under scrutiny as he proudly claimed to be the first black woman to serve with a black president.

While highlighting his accomplishments, Biden said during the interview, By the way, Im proud to be, as I said, the first vice-president, first black woman to serve with a black president.

Later today, a second local radio host - Earl Ingram - also told ABC News the same thing.

Yes, I was given some questions for Biden, said Earl Ingram, who also interviewed the president following his disastrous performance at the presidential debate.

The Wisconsin radio host claimed that he was able to ask only four of the five questions hed been given. I didnt get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask. However, he didnt particularly deem the practice wrong and was grateful for the opportunity. Certainly the fact that they gave me his opportunity meant a lot to me, Ingram added.

Campaign officials respond to the new developments

In the former case, responding to Lawful-Sanders claims, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt told Fox News Digital that it was not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer.

Also read | Kate Middleton's friend reveals the truth behind her Wimbledon appearance, It is no secret

These questions were relevant to news of the day - the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he'd delivered for black Americans. We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. In addition to these interviews, the President also participated in a press gaggle yesterday as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate, she concluded.

In the same breath, the Biden campaign also told ABC News on Saturday, We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners.

Another source connected to the Biden booking operation told ABC News, While interview hosts have always been free to ask whatever questions they please, moving forward we will refrain from offering suggested questions.
Meghan Markle is once again facing a potential court battle as her sister, Samantha Markle, readies revenge and prepares to challenge a previous defamation lawsuit that ruled in the duchess' favour. Meghan Markle's legal woes continue as her sister Samantha appeals a defamation case previously dismissed by a Florida court. (Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP)(AFP)

Samantha is set to take her case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal, and her lawyers must file their initial brief by this month, per Express UK. She originally filed the case against Meghan in March 2022.

Samantha's legal team argues that the court failed to consider the cumulative meaning of Meghan's remarks, which they claim were disparaging, hurtful, and false and the Sussexes lamented Samantha as a stranger, a liar, anda deceptive fame-seeking imposter with avaricious intentions.

Cumulative inferences and remarks made by [Meghan] have caused a cumulative meaning, which the court did not consider, the court documents say.

In March 2024, Meghan secured a legal victory when Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell dismissed Samantha's defamation case against her citing the duchess barely mentions [Samantha], to say only that at some point during [Meghan's] childhood, [Samantha] moved out of her father's house.

ALSO READ| Prince Harry and Meghan Markle face growing rift as Duchess fears they are no longer

Samantha has filed a defamation lawsuit against Meghan in 2022

Samantha had accused Meghan of defamation and defamation by implication, primarily based on statements Meghan made during her interview with Oprah Winfrey, where she suggested she grew up as an only child and she started using the Markle surname when I [Meghan] started dating Harry. Samantha was seeking a minimum of $75,000 in damages.

I was with my mom during the week and with my dad on the weekends, the Suits star said i their Netflix documentary. And my dad lived alone, he had two adult children who had moved out of his house.

She added, I don't remember seeing her [Samantha] when I was a kid at my dad's house, if and when they would come around.

The judge cited that Samantha failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation.

Judge dismissed Samantha's case with prejudice

Judge Honeywell found the claim that Samantha only reverted to using the Markle surname after Meghan's relationship with Prince Harry became public to be "substantially true," based on the evidence presented.

That Plaintiff used one last name and then the name Markle soon after reports of Defendant's relationship with Prince Harry were published is substantially true, based on the exhibits in the record, of which the Court has taken judicial notice, Judge Honeywell wrote in her ruling.

ALSO READ| Meghan Markle seeks a remote island with Prince Harry to hide from media

Samantha also highlighted other statements in the royal biography Finding Freedom and the Netflix series Harry & Meghan as part of her case. However, the judge dismissed the case with prejudice.

Plaintiff's claims will be dismissed with prejudice, as she has failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation or defamation-by-implication by this point, her third try at amending her complaint, in either the book Finding Freedom, the Netflix series Harry & Meghan, or Defendant and her husband's hour-long televised CBS Interview, the judge concluded.
Melania Trump is reportedly feeling anxious about her son Barron's impending transition to college life. The former First Lady is experiencing significant nerves, according to an insider. Melania Trump to spend more time in NYC as Barron starts college, source reveals(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)(AP)

The source told the Mirror US, [Melania] is already planning to spend part of every month and potentially every week in NYC.

Barron, who has never been completely on his own before, is at the center of Melania's concerns. She kept Barron off limits for a good portion of her life.

Now Barron is no longer off-limits and Melania is fretting over being a hands-on mom.

Her dedication to her son was evident when she delayed her move to the White House in 2017 to ensure she could stay close to him while he was still in school.

Daily Mail reports that Melania may split her time between New York and the Trumps' Palm Beach residence in Florida. However, Barron's college choice remains undisclosed, as the former first son drooled at a different set of colleges than previously speculated.

ALSO READ| Donald Trump caught in a leaked video with Barron giving view on Joe Biden, predicts his successor

Melania has avoided public-eye since Trump's presidential campaign started

Melania has largely avoided the public eye during her husband, Donald Trump's current presidential campaign. She even missed the 2024 election kickoff in Iowa and Trump's Super Tuesday victory celebration.

However, she made a few appearances at fundraisers in April and attended their son's high school graduation. Notably absent, however, was Melania during the month-long hush money trial in New York, where Trump faced serious legal challenges.

When asked if there were discussions about Melania accompanying Trump to court, his attorney, Todd Blanche, stated on the For The Defense podcast: That wasn't a discussion that I wanted to have. This was a tough case because of the nature of the charges, the evidence that came in, the history, how long it had been.

Trump discussed with Fox News on his wife's situation, saying, "I think it's very hard for her," adding, "I mean, she's fine. But, you know, she has to read all this crap."

ALSO READ| Barron Trump is no longer off limits. What does it mean for the critiques?

Following Trump's conviction on 34 felony counts, Melania did not express any public reaction on her social media accounts. Trump's elder sons also denounced the verdict.

Ivanka Trump shared a heartfelt Instagram post featuring a photo of herself as a toddler with her father, captioning it with, "I love you dad."

Tiffany Trump, Trump's younger daughter, supported her father by accompanying him to the courthouse last month for the trial's closing arguments.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who were once the talk of the town across the Atlantic, are facing back-to-back setbacks. The Suits star, ever the trendsetter, is reportedly under pressure: waning celebrity in the fickle court of American public opinion. This comes as the couple tries to manage a complicated relationship with the British Royal Family while also carrying out their personal endeavours and projects while touring the world under their philanthropic works. Britain's Meghan (L), Duchess of Sussex, and Britain's Prince Harry (C), Duke of Sussex, speak with students at the Lightway Academy in Abuja on May 10, 2024 as they visit Nigeria as part of celebrations of Invictus Games anniversary. (Photo by Kola Sulaimon / AFP)(AFP)

Prince Harry and Meghan's growing rift

"There is a growing rift between Harry and Meghan caused by Meghans increasing concern that her life is not going in the direction she had planned, Royal author and expert Tom Quinn told The Mirror. In recent weeks, multiple reports have indicated that the Duke and Duchess, who left the UK in 2020 to settle in Meghan's home state of California, initially received a warm welcome and made many friends in Hollywood.

However, recent surveys indicate that their interest among the American public has waned, signaling a decline in their popularity. Experts suggest that this decrease in public interest is causing great pressure on Meghan.

Also read: Meghan Markle would love King Charles' approval of her new plans; hopes Harry gets in touch

Quinn added that Meghan loves media attention and hates the fact that surveys suggest she and Harry are no longer of much interest to the American public."

Meghan feels very much under siege

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have navigated a busy few months. While their Netflix deal faced renegotiation and their Spotify podcast went quiet, they secured two new projects with the streaming giant. Harry's legal battle in the UK over security continues, with an appeal planned. On the positive side, Meghan launched her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle brand, though it faces competition in the market and was even mocked for being overpriced. Additionally, she'll be starting a new podcast with Leomonada Media.

Quinn said: With news that the couples Netflix contract may be under threat, along with the mockery that greeted the launch of her online brand, Meghan feels very much under siege.

Meghan feels people are unfairly picking on her

According to a royal author, Meghan's fans were initially very excited about her lifestyle brand. She even played with the idea of the brand on social media and gave away some complimentary samples to her Hollywood friends. The brand, which is planned to provide kitchen and home decor appliances, her personal range of oils, nut butters, jams, jellies, etc, created a lot of excitement at the beginning. Yet, the excitement has gradually waned, and Quinn thinks Meghan is likely feeling quite upset about the drop in interest.

Also read: Macho Machete actor Danny Trejo, 80, gets punched back by man who threw water balloon at him

She has reached the point now where she thinks that anything and everything she does will be unfairly criticized. Like her husband, she feels that people are unfairly picking on her - she cannot understand why people dont admire her work, Tom Quinn earlier told the outlet adding that Meghan is sensitive to criticism of her luxurious lifestyle in the US, as she believes it should be admired rather than criticised.
A train carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire early Friday in rural North Dakota, authorities said.

Twenty-nine cars of a Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) train derailed at around 3:30 a.m. near the town of Bordulac, an area of farmland in Foster County with just around 20 residents, about 110 miles northwest of Fargo.

Photos posted online by X user @Zinkfarms show several train cars still ablaze along the tracks in the daylight later Friday morning. A thick plume of black smoke can be seen rising over the derailment site.

CPKS said in a statement to Trains.com that it had "initiated its emergency response plan and launched a comprehensive, coordinated response" to the derailment.

"Crews, including senior officers from our operations and hazardous materials teams, are responding to assess the situation. We are coordinating with local emergency response officials already on scene," the company told the outlet. CPKC also confirmed there were "hazardous materials" on the train.

"There are no reports of injuries. The safety of the public and emergency responders is CPKC's first priority," the company said.

Bill Suess, spill investigation program manager for the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, told the Associated Press that the train cars were carrying anhydrous ammonia, sulfur and methanol. Suess said the ammonia carries risk, but that the wind was carrying the smoke away from Bordulac.

"Wind has been in our favor on this," Suess told the AP. "That risk has greatly subsided."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even low amounts of ammonia in the air can quickly cause eye and nose irritation. Larger amounts can burn the skin, mouth, throat, lungs and eyes, while very high levels can cause lung damage or death.

The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality said in a statement that it will monitor the remediation and cleanup.

--with reporting by TMX
A whopping three-quarters of Americans believe Democrats would have a better chance of winning the 2024 election if somebody other than President Joe Biden was atop the ticket, according to a new poll.

The survey from CNN and SSRS also shows that Biden, whose approval rating has fallen to a new low of 36%, would lose his matchup against former President Donald Trump by 6 points: 49% to 43%.

Trump bested Biden in the survey even while scoring a 39% favorable to 54% unfavorable rating.

The poll was taken June 28-30 in the days after Biden's disastrous performance in his nationally televised debate with Trump that sparked questions about his fitness for office and led some Democrats and major donors to call for him to withdraw from the race.

Registered voters were asked if they thought Democrats had a better shot at winning the presidency if Biden, 81, was the standard bearer or whether someone else should be the nominee.

Twenty-five percent said they would stick with Biden, but 75% said they'd ditch him for another candidate.

Among Democrats, 43% said they would keep Biden on the ticket, while 56% would opt for someone else.

Registered voters by 60% to 40% believe Republicans should stick with Trump, 78, over another nominee, while 83% of Republicans remain solidly in the former president's corner.

The president, in an interview that aired Friday night on ABC News, said only the "Lord almighty" could convince him to drop out of the race, despite pressure from some in his party who believe he would lose in November.

Among possible Biden replacements, Vice President Kamala Harris appears to have the best shot at beating Trump in a hypothetical matchup.

Trump leads her just 47% to 45%.

He's ahead of California Gov. Gavin Newsom 48% to 43%, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg 47% to 43% and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer 47% to 42%.

The poll surveyed 1,274 adults. It has a plus/minus 3.5 percentage point margin of error.
An Italian archbishop who has been a harsh critic of Pope Francis and once called the pontiff a "servant of Satan" and denied his legitimacy has been excommunicated by the Vatican, according to reports.

Carlo Maria Vigano was found guilty of "schism," meaning a split from the Roman Catholic Church, and excommunicated on Friday, the BBC reported.

"His public statements manifesting his refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the Church subject to him, and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council are well known," the Vatican said in a statement.

Vigano, 83, the papal envoy in Washington from 2011 to 2016, accused the pope of doing nothing in response to allegations of sexual misconduct by U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

He called for Francis to resign and described him as a "false prophet" and a "servant of Satan," Reuters reported.

The Vatican said it summoned Vigano to Rome to defend himself against his denials of the pope's legitimacy while rejecting his accusations of a coverup by Francis, the wire service reported.

But the Vatican said he did not appear or send anyone to speak on his behalf.

"At the conclusion of the penal process, the Most Reverend Carlo Maria Vigano was found guilty of the reserved delict of schism," the Vatican said.

In a posting on X, Vigano included the judgment from the Vatican, adding: "To my Brothers I say: 'If you remain silent, the stones will cry out.'"
Two teenage sisters in the Klamath Tribes community were fatally shot in front of their father by a gunman who was discovered inside their Oregon home, according to police and news reports.

Police in Klamath Falls responded to calls early on June 29 about a man hiding in the residence and pointing a weapon at the family.

As they arrived, officers heard gunfire, entered the home and arrested suspect Elijah Albert Qinkade Croy , 20, who was found next to the sisters, KDRV reported.

They also found Aleeka Qualls, 19, and her sister, Zion Qualls, 14, in the home where they lived with their dad, Tashka Qualls, HuffPost reported.

One of the sisters was found dead in the house and the other died after being transported to a nearby hospital.

Officers arrested Elijah Albert Croy, 20, who was found near the sisters, KDRV reported.

"Croy admitted to me he had shot and killed both ... using a Glock style handgun he had purchased in individual parts and then assembled into a working handgun himself," a Klamath Falls police officer told the station.

"He stated he had done this after he had attempted to murder the girl's father ... who had discovered him inside of his daughter's bedroom," the officer added.

Authorities are also investigating whether Croy sexually assaulted the sisters.

The probable cause statement for Croy's arrest, obtained by KDRV, reported that Croy tried to shoot the dad "but his handgun failed to fire after he pulled the trigger."

Croy was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder and three counts of unlawful use of a weapon.

He is being held without bail.

The Klamath Tribes said in a statement that the community is in mourning over the loss of the sisters and called for justice.

"The Klamath Tribes has continued to experience an unprecedented amount of violent crime, and many of these crimes do not appear to be properly investigated, prosecuted, and addressed," the council said in a statement. "This most recent murder must be immediately and fully investigated, holding any and all criminals accountable for their crimes."

"I want to see supreme justice for these two Indigenous sisters," Klamath Tribes Treasurer Brandi Hatcher said.

The Klamath Tribes also included a statement from Tashka Qualls.

"There are no words to express how I feel about the loss of my daughters and the love that I feel from our community. This has shattered me to the core, and I never want anyone to have to feel the pain that I am feeling at this time," he said.

The teens' mother, Crystal Davis, "is not doing well at all," her sister, Courtney Franklin, told HuffPost.

"We're just really shocked and shook to the core," Franklin said, adding that the victims were not just sisters, but best friends.

A GoFundMe campaign has been organized to help Tashka Qualls and family with funeral expenses, memorials, and "time for healing." The girls were the "center of their father's world," said fundraising organizer April Keeting.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey publicly implored President Joe Biden to "carefully evaluate" whether he can beat former President Donald Trump following his disastrous debate performance.



Healey's statement Friday made her the first Democratic governor to openly urge Biden, 81, to reconsider running for reelection in November.



"The best way forward right now is a decision for the president to make," Healey said. "Over the coming days, I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump."



The first-term governor is a member of Biden's national campaign advisory board and headlined a lucrative fundraiser for him in Boston this past spring, according to Politico.



Healey was also among more than 20 Democratic governors with whom Biden met in person and virtually at the White House Wednesday night.



Following that meeting, many expressed support for Biden, with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore saying: "The president is our nominee. The president is our party leader."



In her statement, Healey praised Biden's leadership, saying he "saved our democracy in 2020 and has done an outstanding job over the last four years."



Healey also said that she knew Biden "agrees this is the most important election of our lifetimes" and that whatever he decided, she was "committed to doing everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump."



In a taped ABC News interview broadcast Friday night, Biden blamed his dismal, June 27 faceoff against Trump on being "sick" and dismissed it as a "bad episode."



The nation's oldest president also said he wouldn't agree to undergo cognitive testing and release the results, claiming that he gets "a full neurological test every day" by serving as the leader of the free world.
The Kansas Supreme Court struck down two laws restricting abortion access and reaffirmed its position that the procedure is a constitutionally protected right in the state, according to a report.

The 5-1 decisions, with one of the seven justices not participating, left in place a lower court ruling blocking the law banning dilation and evacuation, a common second-trimester procedure, as well as laws regulating abortion clinics more strictly than other healthcare providers, the Associated Press reported.

"We stand by our conclusion that section 1 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights protects a fundamental right to personal autonomy, which includes a pregnant person's right to terminate a pregnancy," wrote Justice Eric Rosen in one of the opinions for the majority.

Justice Caleb Stegall, a conservative and the lone dissenter, said the ruling by the majority would damage the court's legitimacy for "years to come" and result in a "legal regime of unrestricted access to abortion."

Abortion rights advocates lauded the decision.

"This is an immense victory for the health, safety and dignity of people in Kansas and the entire Midwestern region, where millions have been cut off from abortion access," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented the abortion providers challenging the two laws.

Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, who defended the legislation, called the ruling "disappointing."

"When the word liberty was included in the constitution, no one thought they were creating a right to an abortion," he said in a statement.
New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called a controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda "dead and buried" Saturday during his first news conference since his Labour Party won a landslide election victory

Starmer said he was scrapping the policy announced by Conservative Party predecessor Rishi Sunak in 2022 but never acted upon due to court challenges.

"The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started," Starmer told reporters, according to the Associated Press. "It's never acted as a deterrent. Almost the opposite."

Sunak claimed his plan would "stop the boats" that carry migrants across the English Channel from France and Britain by giving the Rwandan government hundreds of millions of dollars to house deportees and hire officials to process their asylum claims.

But Britain's Supreme Court ruled against the agreement in November, saying that Rwanda, in East Africa, couldn't be considered a safe third country, Reuters reportted.

During a 30-minute a question-and-answer session at the prime minister's office and residence at 10 Downing Street. in London, Starmer said Sunak's plan wouldn't have worked because only about 1% of Britain's migrants would have been affected.

"I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent," he said.

Starmer became prime minister Friday after his Labour Party crushed Sunak's Conservative Party in parliamentary elections Thursday, winning 412 of 650 seats in the House of Commons.

The voting ended 14 years of Tory rule that was marked by the country's "Brexit" withdrawal from the European Union and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation over parties he secretly held in 10 Downing Street while the country was locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Johnson's successor, Liz Truss, only lasted 49 days, with voters ousting her from Parliament after her plan for deep, unfunded tax cuts and deregulation rattled the economy.
A South Carolina father who lit a firework and placed it on top of his head as a gag was killed seconds later when it exploded, according to the local coroner and his family.

Allen Ray McGrew, 41, was putting on a fireworks show on the Fourth of July at a neighborhood party in Summerville and decided to "show off" with an extra prank, his wife told authorities, the Post and Courier reported.

Dorchester County sheriff's deputies quickly arrived after a frantic emergency call to find McGrew lying dead in the road.

Coroner Paul Brouthers told WYFF that the exploding firework caused massive head injuries that would have killed McGrew immediately.

McGrew, who was reportedly dressed up as Uncle Sam, had been "holding this firework over his top hat," wife Paige McGrew told the newspaper.

"I thought he was just showboating ... I didn't realize he had already lit it," she added.

She said her husband "loved this holiday. He was a patriot; he was proud of his son and he was excited to have a new daughter-in-law. He was living his best life."
The alleged drunk driver who crashed into a crowd celebrating the Fourth of July in a New York City park killing three people been identified as a substance abuse counselor who once wrote a book called "The Sober Addict," according to reports.

Daniel Christopher Hyden, 44, was taken into custody by police following the crash on Thursday at Corlears Hook Park on the Lower East Side where he allegedly struck 11 people barbecuing, killing three, injuring eight, and pinning four of them under his Ford F-150 pickup truck, the Independent reported.

Hyden describes himself in his book as an "ex-professional addict ... with over 18 years of use and abuse experience."

At his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on Saturday, prosecutors revealed records that show Hyden's license had been suspended four times and has not been reinstated because he ignored summonses that he received, the New York Post reported.

Hyden told police after he was taken to Bellevue Hospital that he "had a few alcoholic drinks," according to the criminal complaint, the newspaper reported.

Prosecutors said Hyden refused breathalyzer tests after the crash and kept his eyes shut so officers wouldn't be able to see if his eyes were bloodshot.

"He even went so far as to close his eyes so that they could not test that," Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matt Bogdanos told the judge. "And your honor, in a moment you're going to see how it is the defendant knew so much about sobriety tests."

Lab results are still out on Hyden's blood alcohol level, but Bogdanos displayed Hyden's lengthy rap sheet that includes a number of convictions in Georgia, Wisconsin and New Jersey on charges ranging from driving with a suspended license, to DWI to assault, the New York Post reported.

Bogdanos then showed photos of the destruction after Hyden's pickup jumped a sidewalk and crashed into the people celebrating Independence Day in the park.

"That damage is from striking 11 human beings," Bogdanos said.

"So far, there's three dead, judge. One is still in critical condition and seven others were treated at ... four different hospitals. He struck so many people that it required four hospitals to treat all of them," he said.

The judge ordered Hyden to be held without bail.
Adams Community Bank Elects Next CEO and President

ADAMS, Mass  Community Bancorp of the Berkshires, MHC, the parent company of Adams Community Bank, announced the selection of Julie Fallon Hughes as President and CEO.

Jeffrey Grandchamp, Board Chair of Adams Community Bank, stated that this selection is in anticipation of the planned retirement of current President and CEO Charles O'Brien. Grandchamp noted that this transition is part of an overall succession plan for the Bank that the Board adopted several years ago.

"Julie Hughes is highly qualified for this role and has deep experience in banking. She most recently served as region president at Northwest Bank in Pennsylvania, leading all commercial, mortgage, and consumer lending efforts. Prior to her work at Northwest, Hughes served as a senior executive at several regional and community banks. We look forward to her leadership of our Bank in the coming decade," Grandchamp said.

"We are pleased that Julie will lead our management team in directing ACB's future progress, growth, and profitability. Her depth of knowledge with all lending and banking operations will be invaluable as our industry evolves," O'Brien said. "She values remaining a mutual banking organization, providing financial wellness training for customers, having a positive culture within the Bank, and providing broad development opportunities for her staff. Her volunteer work has focused on non-profits which provide support to families and human services."

Julie Hughes noted she is honored and excited to take over her new role at the Bank.

"ACB has long been a supporter of small businesses and retail consumers in Berkshire County," she said. "I have spent my entire career with this same focus and look forward to continuing this important undertaking."

Grandchamp noted the Board, by its unanimous vote, was very pleased to be able to select someone with such a diverse skill set.

"Julie Hughes is a native of Winchester, MA and is pleased to be returning to her Massachusetts roots," he said.

At the end of this transition period, O'Brien will retire after a 44-year career in the financial services industry, with the last 27 served at Adams Community Bank. He first joined the former South Adams Savings Bank in 1997 as Chief Financial Officer.

"Charlie's leadership has been invaluable in the Bank's growth and success for almost three decades," Grandchamp stated.

He has been very active both in our community and the banking industry. This includes being the Director (and former Chair) of the Deposit Insurance Fund, a long-time Director and State chairperson for the Massachusetts Bankers Association, and serving on various American Bankers Association committees. O'Brien is also the former Director (and former Chair) of the Northern Berkshire United Way, a member of the Berkshire Business Roundtable, a board member of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, the treasurer of the MCLA Capital Campaign, and the Adams Lions Club.

O'Brien and his wife, Lisa, reside in Williamstown. During O'Brien's tenure at the Bank, ACB grew from three offices in 1997 with $127 million in assets and 35 employees to a 10-office community bank in 2024 with $1+ billion in assets and 135 employees. O'Brien, who has served as CEO for 22 years, was instrumental in initiating the 2012 merger of Adams Cooperative Bank and South Adams Savings Bank. The merged Bank was then renamed Adams Community Bank. He also led the acquisition of the former Lenox National Bank in 2015. O'Brien also recognized customers' needs very early on for easy-to-use online and mobile banking outlets. Under his leadership, ACB greatly enhanced the customer experience online and through their mobile banking app.
Dalton Fire Chief Christian Tobin holds his accreditation from the state Fire Service Commission.

Dalton Fire Chief Earns Accreditation

DALTON, Mass.  Fire Chief Christian Tobin has earned his accreditation through the state Fire Service Commission.

The announcement was made during a Board of Water Commissioners meeting in April.

"It is not an easy thing to do in the short time that he has been here, and the district is appreciative of everything he has done thus far for the department," to Prudential Committee Chair Daniel Filiault said during the meeting.

The state Fire Service Commission is a gubernatorial-appointed board that has established a process for uniform credentialing for fire chiefs

During this process, Tobin had to submit several documents to the commission, including a resume that outlined his years of service, progression within the fire service structure, attendance at training and professional development courses,

It also required the submission of formal education achievements and participation in state and national certification programs.

This information was applied to a scoring matrix that assigned a point value to the various levels of accomplishment submitted by the candidate.

The applicant is awarded the fire chief credential upon reaching or surpassing the established minimum score.

This credential signifies that the applicant has worked hard to acquire the specialized knowledge and skills required to be an effective leader in the fire service.

To keep this accreditation valid, Tobin must participate in recurring training and professional development programs approved by the Fire Service Commission and submit proof of completion every three years.

The Fire Chief Credentialing Program intends to compare the local officials' training and educational achievements to an established standard with a third-party evaluation

The state Fire Service Commission stated in its release that it believes that this process will assist communities' fire service leaders in facing the challenges ahead and ensuring that the fire service across the Commonwealth continues to provide the most effective fire, emergency medical, and rescue services that residents have come to expect.

The program is open to all members of the fire service in the commonwealth holding the rank

of lieutenant or above in a Fire Department.
As students increasingly rely on technology for their studies, old devices can hinder their learning if they struggle to keep up with new and required school-related applications and requirements this academic season.

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With Sulit-Skwela offers, Home Credit users can enjoy a wide range of back-to-school essentials with 0% interest deals until September 30, 2024. This promo covers laptops, allowing students to upgrade their learning tools for their schoolwork, such as crafting documents and presentations, editing videos, and much more.

It also extends to smartphones and tablets, which students can use for communication, note-taking, and research. Additionally, the 0% interest deals can help customers update their home printers this back-to-school season for the young ones, which is essential for creating study materials or submitting printed documents whenever teachers require.

Buyers can take advantage of the incredible 0% interest offer with various installment plans, ranging from six to 18 months. This way, the back-to-school season will not cause strain in their finances.

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Check Home Credit back-to-school deals by visiting Shoppingmall.ph and browsing through a broad range selection of laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other essential devices for learning.

Seize this wonderful opportunity now with Home Credits Sulit-Skwela promo! Upgrade student gadgetsbe it laptops, tablets, and smartphonesuntil September 30, 2024, ensuring a smooth and productive academic year ahead!

To know more about the latest updates from Home Credit Philippines, visit its official website, www.homecredit.ph. You may also follow its official Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts. Customers are also encouraged to download the My Home Credit App on Google Play to learn more about the latest promos and see whats new in Shoppingmall.ph.

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Home Credit Philippines is a financing company duly licensed and supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
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The Community movie will not film this year after all  and one of its stars has taken accountability for the delay.

In September, it will have been two years since it was announced the sitcoms promise of six seasons and a movie would finally come to fruition.

US streaming service Peacock shared the news seven years after the series came to an end in 2015, revealing that creator Dan Harmon would oversee the project and, since then, its been revealed that all of the main cast, excluding Chevy Chase, would be returning,

While Jeff Winger star Joel McHale, who frequently cameos on hit series The Bear, said in March 2024 that he will be shocked if the film does not shoot this year, he has now provided a disappointing update for fans.

I dont have a definitive update because we thought for a moment it was going to all happen this year, and then it didnt, he told GQ.

But we have the money and that is a huge step. And hopefully, people still want to see it. And Peacocks paying for it. And so I cant wait to do it.

When asked when he believes the film will start shooting, McHale replied: Ill say vaguely, Next year. How about that?

The actor also shut down suggestion that the delay was caused by Donald Glover, who returned with a new Childish Gambino record earlier this year; Glovers stock has risen considerably since Community ended in 2015.

If its anybodys fault, its my schedule on this one, McHale said, adding: Its not his at all. He was available.

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Hale confirmed that Glover would be returning as Troy for the movie in July 2023, stating: The fact that we even got Donald to do it... that was the big piece.

open image in gallery Joel McHale in Community ( NBC )

He also said that Shirley Bennett actor Yvette Nicole Brown would be returning for the movie. I think everyones coming back. So far, were pretty good.

Stars confirmed to return include McHale, Glover, Brown, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Jim Rash, and Ken Jeong.

Chevy Chase, who played millionaPierce Hawthorne, on the series will likely not be returning, with Harmon previously suggesting that it might not be legal for him to come back.

Chases time on the series was riddled with behind-the-scenes drama. The actor, 80, exited Community during its fourth season, after he allegedly made racist remarks toward Glover.

Chevy was the first to realise how immensely gifted Donald was, and the way he expressed his jealousy was to try to throw Donald off, Harmon told The New Yorker in 2018. I remember apologising to Donald after a particularly rough night of Chevys non-PC [politically correct] verbiage, and Donald said, I dont even worry about it.

open image in gallery Donald Glover in Community ( NBC )

In a subsequent interview on the WTF With Marc Maron podcast, Chase suggested that his departure was on his own terms.

I honestly felt the show wasnt funny enough for me, ultimately, he said. I felt a little bit constrained. Everybody had their bits, and I thought they were all good. It just wasnt hard-hitting enough for me.

Chase added that felt happier being alone and just didnt want to be surrounded by that table, every day, with those people  presumably referring to his co-stars.

Community, which follows a group of students at a community college, ran for 110 episodes across six seasons, airing its finale in 2015. A release date for the film is yet to be announced.
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Damian Lewis has opened up about the helpful talent that saw him cast in his first play at Londons Open Air Theatre in Regents Park right after leaving drama school.

The Homeland actor, 53, was cast as the titular part in Tim Pigott-Smiths production of Hamlet when he was 24  a role he will be reprising at the same venue this summer for Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year  Live! based on Allie Esiris anthology.

He said it was his ability to project his voice to the back of the auditorium that secured him the coveted part. Lewis added that he was the only to audition who managed to make his voice heard all the way through the theatre.

Speaking to The Times about his forthcoming Hamlet reprisal, Lewis recalled a piece of career advice from Pigott-Smith, which he still adheres to 29 years later: never to read his reviews.

He said, Know yourself where the strengths in your performance lie and take responsibility for it. Know where it works better than in other places, and back yourself, the actor explained.

You dont need someone to tell you whether its good or not. Youll roll over and gladly have your tummy tickled by the good reviews, but if youre going to listen to those you will also have to listen to the bad ones, and sometimes theyre pretty nasty.

So, since I was 24 years old I have not read reviews, except collectively towards the end of the run. Theatre is too raw. Youre too vulnerable.

open image in gallery Damian Lewis as King Henry VIII in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light ( Playground Television (UK) Ltd )

The Golden Globe winning star has sung to crowds at packed festivals, and dodged explosions in Second World War epics. But still, he says, nothing scares Lewis more than press night in the West End.

Last November, the actor turned musician told The Independent: I will say there is still nothing more terrifying than a press night in the West End, or at the National Theatre.

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He added of his recent foray into songwriting: Even an attack on your performance alone can be as devastating as a detailed evisceration of your own words.

If you want to offer it to the world, you have to stick your head above the parapet and say, you can like it or you can take a shot. And in that moment youd better be clear about why youre doing it.
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An Indian preacher at the centre of 121 crowd crush deaths at a religious event in northern India has broken his silence as the main organiser of his prayer meeting surrendered to the police.

Surajpal Singh, a self-proclaimed godman known as Bhola Baba among his followers, said he was deeply saddened by the stampede incident.

Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I have faith that anyone who created the chaos would not be spared, he told ANI news agency.

On Tuesday, the preacher organised a satsang  a musical gathering where devotional songs are sung  in the Hathras city of northern Uttar Pradesh state, about 200km southeast of New Delhi.

By the evening, chaos broke out when his followers started chasing the vehicle the preacher was leaving in, leading to a stampede that killed 121 people. Most of those who died or were injured were women. A preliminary investigation found that thousands more than expected turned up at the event and as it got over, hundreds attempted to collect the soil the religious preacher had walked on before he left the venue.

Police said the number of people present at the venue was three times the permitted limit.

Authorities had permitted for 80,000 people to gather but around 250,000 people attended the event, according to the first information report (FIR) lodged by the police.

open image in gallery Relatives and villagers in Daukeli village mourn those who died in a stampede during a cremation ceremony in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh ( Getty Images )

A case was registered against the events organisers but the police were unable to locate the preacher when they raided his Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri district.

We did not find baba (spiritual guide) inside the campus, police official Sunil Kumar told ANI.

Earlier, in a statement issued through his lawyer, AP Singh, the preacher blamed some anti-social elements for the crush.

Mr Singh claimed there was a criminal conspiracy against his client. He also denied reports that Mr Pals security guards sparked panic by pushing away people who tried to get his blessings.

open image in gallery India Stampede ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Totally false allegation, the lawyer told the BBC. Security staff always provide help to the followers.

One organiser associated with the event had surrendered to the police. Devprakash Madhukar was named a key suspect in an initial report registered by police.

Mr Singh said Madhukar was the main organiser of the Hindu religious event. He has surrendered from Delhi. We are not seeking an anticipatory bail, Mr Singh told reporters. He denied any wrongdoing by the events organisers and said Mr Madhukar was getting medical treatment in a hospital after the stampede.

The tragedy has sparked outrage in India, and raised questions about lapses in safety measures in public gatherings.

Devastating images of stampede emerged in the aftermath of the incident, with dead bodies lined up and injured being rushed to hospital in trucks.

Mr Pal, 58, was born in a Dalit family in Uttar Pradeshs Kasganj village. According to reports his followers are mainly from the formerly untouchable community.
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Indian actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu has been accused of spreading medical misinformation after she shared a post on her Instagram advocating alternative treatment for viral infections.

Prabhu, who has been appearing in Tamil and Telugu language films for over a decade and has 35 million followers on Instagram shared a photo of herself using hydrogen peroxide nebulisation.

Before taking medication for a common viral, consider trying an alternative approach, the actor wrote in her now-deleted post.

One option is to nebulise with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and distilled water, she said. Works like magic. Avoid unnecessary use of tablets.

Her post invited criticism from doctors who said inhaling hydrogen peroxide could cause damage to the lungs.

Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, who runs an account called The Liver Doc where he posts about medical misinformation online, called Prabhu health illiterate, prompting a verbal spat between the two.

Providing studies that show the risk of nebulising with hydrogen peroxide, Dr Philips said the actor should be charged for endangering public health and fined or put behind bars.

Prabhu, in a detailed three-page statement on her Instagram said she shared the information with good intentions and not to harm anyone.

She also defended herself saying that her doctor with 25 years of experience suggested it to her.

Prabhu said she was diagnosed with myositis, an autoimmune condition and alternative treatments have been helpful in her journey.

Doctors say hydrogen peroxide can cause oxidative stress for lungs and could potentially cause respiratory issues.

Both hydrogen peroxide and distilled water nebulisation come with potential risks. Hydrogen peroxide is generally not recommended for nebulisation due to its potential to cause oxidative stress, mucosal irritation, and other serious respiratory issues, Dr Rituja Ugalmugle, a doctor at Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai, told Hindustan Times newspaper.

Indian badminton player Jwala Gutta also weighed in on the issue, asking, My only question to the celeb whos prescribing medicine to the huge number of people who are following her... I understand the intention is to help... But... just in case... just in case the prescription doesnt help and causes a fatality... will you be taking responsibility too? Will the doctor who you have tagged also take the responsibility.
Well, it finally happened. The promised post-debate interview with Joe Biden  intended to prove that the president cannot actually be summarily defeated by bedtime  ended up going just as badly as the debate itself.

Theres not a lot to feel good about here. Joe Biden  the man who put on a good show in 2019 on a packed-out stage of Democratic hopefuls to become the official presidential nominee  now struggles to answer questions coherently, even in a softball interview like the one tonight on ABC News with George Stephanopoulos. As Stephanopoulos repeatedly asked the president what happened on the debate stage when he floundered in front of Donald Trump, Biden replied, I had a bad night, or, I just had a bad night, and eventually, I had a bad night. I dont know why.

Other explanations that have been put forward for Bidens performance onstage have included a bad cold and jet lag. But most people didnt find it entirely reassuring that either jet lag or a cold mightve rendered the sitting president incoherent  not least someone running to stay in the White House for the next four years. After all, international diplomacy has been known to happen after 9pm.

Tonight, his responses were hoarse and halting. He repeated the criticisms hes been making of Trump over the past few weeks  that Trump is a pathological liar  and started out stronger, stating confidently that his rival lied 28 times during the debate. But as the interview went on, he seemed to lose his train of thought somewhat, and called Trump a congenital liar instead. Twenty-eight times morphed into 27 or 28 times, whatever the number, over 20 times. And though Biden may be correct when he says the character of the president is what matters, what he didnt seem to realize is that the interview was clearly intended to be more about whether or not hell allow someone different to face off against Trump, rather than whether hes more suited to the presidency than Trump is.

It became clear as time went on that Biden has been ensconced in an echo chamber since the debate  and one that is increasingly divorced from reality. As Stephanopoulos brought up tanking poll numbers, Biden asked him if polling is even that accurate these days, and then argued that its only two polls that show his approval rating against Trump going down. When Stephanpolous said, quite plainly, Mr President, Ive never seen a president with a 38 percent approval rating get elected, Biden responded: I dont believe the polls.

You dont always have to believe the polls. Biden is correct when he says that theyve become less and less reliable; anyone who thought Hillary Clinton was going to win and Brexit wasnt going to happen (guilty) knows that. But when polls show a marked difference in opinion among your own voters before and after youve debated in public, its a different ball game.

Biden admits he was exhausted in debate but denies having any serious condition

Are you being honest with yourself? Stephanopoulos asked Biden at one point. He wanted to know if Biden might be overlooking his own frailty, his own blind spots, his own inability to unite a party that is slowly turning against him (news broke just before the interview went live that Senator Mark Warner was bringing together a group of other sitting senators to try and convince Biden to let someone else go to the top of the ticket.) He also wanted to know if the president might change his mind of his own volition, if enough members of his party were frank with him about how he didnt seem up to another four years of the job.

If the Lord almighty said, Joe, get out the race, Id get out the race, but the Lord almightys not coming down, Biden said  not once, but twice.

And if he ended up losing the election because of these issues, Stephanopoulos pressed? Biden paused, then said that he could make his peace with that outcome because he would know inside that hed done his best. That answer is, quite frankly, alarming.

Outside Bidens supportive circle, Democratic donors  including an extremely wealthy Disney heiress  are pausing donations because they want Biden to drop out. The Democratic governor of Massachusetts said today that Biden should look to his legacy and carefully evaluate whether he should stay in the race. Down-ballot Democrats are said to be panicking that their own races will be affected if they come out in support of a president clearly in decline. And perhaps the most damning, even if the most subtle, development: The Trump campaign has started preemptively criticizing Kamala Harris, which points to a belief on their part that the vice president may take up the baton soon.

The party is in a difficult spot. Though Harris isnt a hugely popular figure herself, she is the only one who can use the funds already donated toward her joint ticket with Biden. A memo circulated by one DNC member earlier this week suggested that the party could go through a full nominating process again, which it optimistically stated would be energizing for the country  but the reality is that a group of Democrats attacking each other in public might well be Donald Trumps best case scenario. And indeed, Biden bowing out at all will seem to confirm everything Republicans have been saying to their base over the past four years about him being a compromised president, a secretly declined man, a puppet for socialists.

When Stephanopoulos once again pressed Biden on stepping down as the presidential nominee for 2024, Biden said, Im not gonna answer that. Its not gonna happen. But his tone was pleading and, even as he rattled off his achievements, he looked unsure.

Comparisons have already been made with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court Justice who elected not to stand down, then died and left her seat vacant so that Trump could fill it with the ultra-conservative Amy Coney Barrett. While the liberal Justice known affectionately as RBG was a hero to many, it certainly complicated her legacy. Biden could end up with the same mark against his name.

But now the damage has been done  so publicly, so painfully  its hard to know whether it can be rectified even if he does stand aside.
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An off-duty New York Police Department officer who was among four killed when a drunk driver plowed into a nail salon on Long Island last month was laid to rest Saturday.

Hundreds gathered for the funeral at a funeral home in New Hyde Park for Emilia Rennhack, including scores of officers from the city police force, Newsday reported.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, called the 30-year-old Deer Park resident the best of our city," saying she had immigrated from Poland to pursue the American dream and dedicated her life so others could do the same, the newspaper reports.

Her husband, Carl Rennhack remembered her as a pillar of the community and lamented that the couple had so many more plans for their future.

Rennhack had been on the police force since 2018 and was stationed at a precinct in Queens, where her husband also worked as a detective. She was the only customer killed in the June 28 crash at the Hawaii Nail & Spa in Deer Park.

The other victims were salon co-owner Jiancai Chen, 37, and employees Yan Xu, 41, and Meizi Zhang, 50, all from Queens. Nine others were also injured.

Police said Steven Schwally, 64, had been speeding through the parking lot when he drove his SUV through the front of the salon.

He pleaded not guilty to driving while intoxicated at his arraignment Monday. Bail was set at $1 million cash, $2 million bond or $5 million partially secured bond.

Prosecutors say Schwally told police he drank 18 beers the night before the crash and didn't stop drinking until about 4 a.m. The Marine Corps veteran, who has been living at local motel at the time of the crash, is due back in court July 12.
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Japans foreign minister on Saturday announced a joint project with Cambodia to share knowledge and technology on land mine removal with countries around the world, including Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa made comments during a visit to the Cambodian Mine Action Center, which was formed in the 1990s at the end of the Southeast Asian nations decades of civil war. It seeks to deal with an estimated 4 million to 6 million land mines and other unexploded munitions left strewn around the countryside.

Cambodia, which has steadily advanced mine removal within its own country, is now a leader in mine action around the world, she noted, adding that Japan has consistently cooperated in Cambodias mine removal since the civil war.

Cambodian deminers are among the worlds most experienced, and several thousand have been sent in the past decade under U.N. auspices to work in Africa and the Middle East. Cambodia in 2022 began training deminers from Ukraine, which also suffers from a high density of land mines and other unexploded munitions as the two-year Russian invasion drags on.

As a concrete cooperation under the Japan Cambodia Landmine Initiative, Japan will provide full-scale assistance to humanitarian mine action in Ukraine," she said. "Next week, we will provide Ukraine with a large demining machine, and next month, here in Cambodia, we will train Ukrainian personnel on how to operate the machine.

The NGO Landmine Monitor in its 2022 report listed both Cambodia and Ukraine among nine countries with massive mine contamination, meaning they had more than 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles) of uncleared fields.

Since the end of the fighting in Cambodia, nearly 20,000 people have been killed and about 45,000 have been injured by leftover war explosives, although the average annual death toll has dropped from several thousand to less than 100.

Despite a very active demining program, many dangerous munitions remain in place, posing a hazard to villagers.

Cambodia's training of Ukrainian deminers, in Poland as well as Cambodia, came after former Prime Minister Hun Sen  in an unusual move for a nation that usually aligns itself with Russia and China  condemned Moscows invasion of Ukraine, saying Cambodia is always against any country that invades another country.

Cambodia was one of nearly 100 U.N. member countries that co-sponsored a resolution condemning Russias invasion.

Several other countries, including the United States and Germany, have already provided Ukraine with demining assistance.

Kamikawa also held talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Hun Sen, his father who stepped down last year after ruling for 38 years.

Kamikawa next goes to the Philippines, where she and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara will hold talks on Monday with their Philippine counterparts. They are set to discuss signing a mutual defense pact that would allow each country to deploy troops on the other's territory.
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Watch as tourists remained stranded at Cancun airport on Saturday (6 July) after Hurriance Beryl made landfall on the Mexican coast.

Hurricane Beryl strengthened back into a Category 3 storm with winds of 115 mph on Thursday, July 4, and made landfall on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula overnight.

Beryl is now heading toward Texas after making landfall at the popular Mexico tourist destination Tulum on Friday morning with 85mph winds and dangerous storm surge.

Tropical Storm Beryl is set to bring dangerous rip currents to the Gulf Coast over the weekend before likely hitting southern Texas late Sunday. The storm will likely re-strengthen into a hurricane as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico, the National Weather Service said. Beryl is expected to hit Texas as a Category 1 hurricane, according to Accuweather.

Hurricane Beryl has killed at least eleven people, the Associated Press reports. Two of those killed  the first in St Georges, Grenada and the second in Hanover, Jamaica  died after hurricane-force winds knocked trees onto their homes.
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The sister of a British backpacker has begged for her to be flown home after she fell 13 feet into a ravine during a quad bike accident in Greece.

Courtney Leanne Boylan, from north-east Manchester, told her mother she feared she would die alone after the vehicle she was on with a friend crashed into a fence on the island of Naxos last Friday and the quad bike landed on top of her.

The 22-year-old was left with fluid on her lungs, a split liver, a torn spleen and internal bleeding, and is currently in intensive care in an Athens hospital.

A resident in Naxos is believed to have climbed down to reach her before the emergency services hoisted her to a local hospital, where her chest was drained, before being taken to Athens General Hospital.

Her sister told The Independent: We need to get her home. Shes still in critical condition at the moment. Doctors are still watching out for her breathing at the moment because shes finding it hard to breathe on her own.

Surgery is looking like it may need to happen within her lungs but doctors said if they do operate it will leave her with life-long problems. The tubes in her ribs are still draining the fluid on her lungs too.

Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades ( Getty Images )

Her mother Debbie  who told the Manchester Evening News she booked the first flight out to Athens after making terrified calls to the hospital and British embassy  said Ms Boylans heartbreaking first words to her when she arrived were: I thought I was [going to] have to die alone.

Were on day six now and Courtney is getting stronger, her mother added. She has two chest drains for pleural effusions, she has fluid on her tummy from the damage to her liver and spleen and X-rays have just shown she has clouding on her lungs.

Were all distraught, I have panic attacks when I have to leave and need to gather myself to be strong. The doctors and locals have all been amazing.

The family launched a crowdfunding effort to fly Ms Boylan back to the UK for treatment, after being told it would cost either 5,000 for a flight sitting alone with assistance from medical teams, or more than 36,000 for a private air ambulance.

Her sister, who created the GoFundMe page  which has so far raised more than 8,500  said while Ms Boylan does have medical insurance, due to unforeseen circumstances theyre refusing to pay out.

HTML <amp-iframe title= aria-label=Locator map id=datawrapper-chart-XHpQH src=https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/XHpQH/1/ height=520 frameborder=0 layout=fixed-height sandbox=allow-scripts allow-same-origin resizable><div overflow tabindex=0 role=button aria-label=View more>View more</div></amp-iframe> 

Her mother said Ms Boylan had planned to study and then travel, saying: After university she got a job, saved hard and booked her backpacking trip to Greece. Her plan was to continue education or work in the field she studied once she got back.

She loves history and wanted to go at it alone because she can make friends in an empty room. I dropped her off at Manchester Airport with a one way ticket on 6 June, and she headed to Rhodes and met lots of lovely people and friends.

Ms Boylan then travelled to Kos and Mykonos before heading to Naxos, where she met up with some lovely friends ... and they had a ball, her mother said.

One morning, two girls were going for a hike and Courtney and her friend didnt want to, so they planned to sightsee on a quad. Her friend had a licence and booked a quad bike Courtney rode on the back.

Her mother explained when the Greek roads became narrow, the friends pulled over to let a car pass.

She added: After the car had gone, her friend went to turn the handlebars to pull out slowly and I can only presume pulled too hard on the revs, which sent them into a fence. They hit the gate and then went over the embankment.

Courtney fell off the back and rolled down the ravine and ended with the quad on top of her. She got up and fell back over because she couldnt breathe. They both wore helmets or they would have been dead.
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A TikToker flew back to London following his two-week search of Tenerife for missing Jay Slater because he claimed he no longer felt safe on the party island.

But sick trolls were waiting for Callum Fahim as he touched down in the capital on Thursday after tracking his flight number from his livestreams online.

The keen hiker flew out to the Spanish island to help in the hunt for the 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire who vanished after a night out on holiday, in a case which has gripped the world.

Mr Fahim said the situation had become horrific after he received a terrifying cryptic warning on social media, which read: Be careful people are going to find you at the airport take extra care. He said he would love to get hold of you.

Firefighters search near to the village of Masca, Tenerife ( PA Wire )

In a video seen by The Independent, a man films himself waiting for Mr Fahim to land in London from Tenerife.

The man in a chequered shirt films a selfie livestream asking disembarking passengers on the flight if they know a Callum. Apparently growing impatient, he said: If he doesnt come out in the next five minutes, the police are everywhere now so I might have to disappear.

Mr Fahim had spent the past two weeks voluntarily organising unsearched areas of the inhospitable mountain range surrounding Masca where Jay Slater vanished three weeks ago, despite Spanish police officially ending the land search.

But after he claimed a combination of organised criminal gangs on the island, online threats and running out of money became too much, the influencer decided to return home to London without finding any trace of the missing teen.

A Spanish police officer looks over the village of Masca, Tenerife, during the search for the missing British teenager ( PA Wire )

Mr Fahim told The Independent: Things werent adding up for me. I didnt feel safe out there but I felt like I had a duty of care to be there.

I didnt want to fail until we found him. Hearing the heartbreak from his mum, hand on heart, I wish them nothing but success. I returned home for safety reasons but I didnt want to give up because I felt her pain.

I want it to be known Im not a bad person I have a heart. I genuinely do care but Im receiving horrific messages from people threatening to kill me. People said they are going to find me and break my back.

Ive reported this to police, but it is all fake Facebook accounts. Its making me ill and Im losing my voice.

The hiker and his crew of locals have combed new areas of the rugged cacti-infested terrain that no one has previously searched, such as outhouses, abandoned shelters and ravines some 1km above sea level.

Mr Fahim has been living off Doritos and Appletisers as he scours the mountains of Tenerife over the past fortnight ( Callum Fahim )

On ending the search, he said: Im not disappointed to come home. I feel like I went out there with good intentions and even though I didnt bring Jay home to his mum, I hope that what I did was enough.

I feel like Ive given my all, I didnt succeed but I feel like I supported the process of getting Jay home. I never claimed to be search and rescue - I can do mapping and resources and organise people, that is my strength.

Ive learned to be more resilient as I think my kindness has been mistaken for weakness by the public. People are getting a thrill about abusing me - it is disturbing.

Members of the Guardia Civil near to the village of Masca ( PA Wire )

Mr Slaters mother Debbie Duncan has hit back at trolls questioning the use of money raised by the public to help in the search for her son.

More than 50,000 has been donated to a GoFundMe page dedicated to the cause, but Mr Fahim became embroiled in a dispute with Ms Duncan after he claimed he was still unable to cover his costs despite receiving a portion of the money.

Ms Duncan wrote on Facebook: My beautiful son Jay is still missing and believe me this is no holiday.

We are a normal working family from Lancashire going through hell.

She added: I do have proof of transactions and transfers to other persons but I should not have to justify this.

So you can make up your own minds. If any of you in this group have donated I am thankful.

Mr Fahim concluded: Right now Im concentrating on my loved ones. The hate has been surreal. My life has been put in danger. My priority needs to be my safety, Ive advised my team what I think and if they choose to follow that is down to them.

Please dont believe everything you see online. People are looking to gain from this sadness.

The focus should be on the people that care and that missing boy - not the trolls.
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Many Britons unhappy about the cold, windy start to the summer could be forgiven for wishing the new government could bring new weather, as grey clouds shroud much of the country and temperatures plunge.

In contrast to a warmer-than-average May, temperatures last month were around 2C below average, according to the Met Office.

Experts attribute the blustery weather over the past five weeks to northerly and northwesterly winds bringing cold Arctic air.

A low-pressure centre developed over Scandinavia in the second week of June, pushing further cold air from the north across the UK, the Met Office said.

An active jet stream running fast for the time of year has also been driving unsettled weather, said forecaster Alex Burkill.

A jet stream, a fast-moving ribbon of air five to seven miles above the earth, consists of powerful winds blowing from west to east.

Voters in many areas faced cold and drizzle ( Jane Barlow/PA Wire )

Jet streams are caused by different areas of heat, with warm air to the southern side and cold air on the north, encompassing the UK.

They are intensified by a strong polar vortex  a circulation of winds high in the stratosphere.

This year the jet stream has been further south than normal for summer, meteorologist Robert Thompson, from the University of Reading, told The Independent.

Forecaster Simon Partridge said this was a random variation, not down to climate change, and that jet streams are known about more now than in the past because science has evolved.

Last year the UK had the warmest June on record, and May and spring this year were also the UKs warmest, part of a pattern of much more extreme and erratic weather now than in previous decades and centuries.

This weekend is forecast to be unsettled and cool, with both sunshine and showers.

Polling day brought windy weather (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA) ( PA Archive )

With the jet stream firmly to the south of the UK and low pressure in charge, this weekend will be changeable and cooler than average, the Met Office said.

Its likely that almost everyone will see some showers at some point, perhaps some heavy, thundery ones especially on Sunday.

There will be some sunny spells on offer, though, meaning it could feel fairly pleasant in between the showers, with temperatures possibly peaking around 18C or 19C.

Britons had a short but sweet taste of summer heat for two days in late June ( PA )

Mr Burkill said that next week temperatures would rise from several degrees below average to near normal for the time of year.

And weather forecasters were forced to deny suspicions by conspiracy theorists of secretive weather manipulation and geoengineering by world governments.

One technique, cloud seeding, involving releasing tiny particles into clouds to produce rain, has in the past been used in the US, China, India and the United Arab Emirates, mostly to help tackle water shortages.

But there is no evidence of the UK government doing this, and the Met Office says it is not aware of any such activity in the UK in recent years.
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Against all odds, the two sons of a GB News correspondent were rescued alive and well after going missing for 40 hours while climbing a volcano in Bali.

GB News reporter Katharine Forster said her eldest sons Matthew and Andrew, aged 22 and 18, had been due to arrive home from a nine-week trip across Southeast Asia on the day of the UK general election result.

But instead Ms Forster received a phone call from their friend early on Thursday morning to inform her that her sons had not been heard from in more than 30 hours, after hiking up the 3,000m Mount Agung  the tallest volcano in Bali  to watch the sunrise.

After 40 hours lost on the mountain, they were found limp and exhausted by someone who heard them screaming for help, with authorities saying they were lucky to have survived.

Their mother, who shared the extraordinary tale on social media, said the first rescuer that reached them thought theyd be dead.

The pair became stranded on the active volcano after their phones died and they got lost during their descent through the jungle, finding themselves unable to locate the route back to their rental scooters.

A concerned friend who they had met in Vietnam, and who knew they were making the climb, rang the British Embassy on Thursday morning, sparking a search involving more than three dozen emergency responders from local search and rescue teams and the police and fire services.

Footage showed Matthew and Andrew Forster being rescued by officials after a vast search effort on Mt Agung ( screengrab )

Thursday was the worst day of my life, Ms Forster wrote on X. But friends dropped work [and] came round. Made phone calls. Our tech savvy young friends [and] friends of friends spread the boys pics and last known location across social media. The Foreign Office were amazing. Local rescuers scoured the volcano.

Forty hours after they set off up the volcano, Matthew and Andrew were found, after locals heard the sound of someone screaming for help, according to Nyoman Sidakarya, of the local Karangasem search and rescue team.

The brothers were in a limp state due to exhaustion when the rescuers found them, according to the rescue agency, with Mr Sidakarya saying: They are lucky to have survived. The conditions on the volcano are very dangerous.

Describing her sons as beyond lucky to live to tell the tale, Ms Forster said they had used their scout training and extensive viewing of Bear Grylls videos to gather rainwater and build a shelter.

But they werent properly prepared [and] should have been with a guide. Words have been exchanged. Thank god thats possible. They are so sorry, she said, adding: So, when your mother (or anyone) tells you to explore with a group, people get lost and die, batteries run out etc, dont say Mum, were not stupid. Listen. Boys!!

Ms Forster shared a picture of her sons on their flight home, and thanked her colleagues for their support and for being on Downing Street yesterday morning and today when I couldnt.
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Mapping the change in seats from the 2019 general election to today paints a damning picture for the Conservative Party.

Analysis by The Independent shows how the sea of Conservative blue, when the party won 365 seats under Boris Johnson, dwarfs all other parties.

Click here for our live coverage of the general election results.

It also reveals the extent of the SNPs dominance in Scotland and the sheer scale of the defeat for Labour under Jeremy Corbyn.

But, despite only a slight uptick in the partys share of the vote under Sir Keir Starmer, 2024s election map is awash with Labour red.

Readers can toggle between the 2019 and 2024 results using the tool below.

It reveals the shock SNP collapse, with the nationalists falling from 48 seats in 2019 to 9 today.

And it shows a resurgent Liberal Democrat party, with Sir Ed Daveys party storming to its best election result in a century.

Thursdays national ballot also led to historic gains for the Greens and Nigel Farages Reform UK, and saw victories by pro-Gaza independent candidates, among them ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn  dealing blows to some of Westminsters most prominent MPs.

Reform gained the highest amount of national vote share, up by 12.3 per cent from when the Brexit Party ran in 2019. However, Nigel Farages party has won only 5 seats.

Meanwhile the Tories have lost 20 per cent of national vote share  nearly half of their 2019 supporters.

Mr Sunak easily won his Richmond and Northallerton seat with 48 per cent of the vote, despite some of the polls predicting otherwise, but conceded defeat from the platform, confirming that he had already called Sir Keir to offer his congratulations.

He told Tory members and candidates: I am sorry.

Sir Keir told activists in central London: This is what it is, for a changed Labour Party ready to restore service for working people.

Across our country, people will be waking up relieved. Now we can look forward to the morning. The sunlight will be shining strongly through the day in a country which, after 14 years, has an opportunity to get its future back.
Sir Keir Starmer has hinted that his government may be making some tough decisions on tax rises early in his premiership as he gave his first press conference as prime minister.

Just 24 hours after entering No 10, the Labour leader faced the media for the first time in Downing Street and announced that he has already canned Rishi Sunaks controversial Rwanda deportations scheme for illegal migrants.

But, as he introduced a more informal approach with a request to call me Keir, the new prime minister appeared to struggle on the question of potential tax rises.

It came shortly after a former cabinet minister confided to The Independent that there is no golden legacy on the economy from the outgoing Tory government and all the money was spent on Covid and lockdown. So Sir Keir will need to make cuts or raise taxes to fund his pledges.

The prime minister said the Rwanda scheme was a non-starter ( PA Wire )

Sir Keir told journalists: In relation to the tough decisions, were going to have to take them and take them early. And we will do that with a raw honesty.

But that is not a sort of prelude to saying theres some tax decision that we didnt speak about before that were going to announce now.

Its about the tough decisions to fix the problem and being honest about what they are.

The Labour election campaign was overshadowed by claims by Rishi Sunak and the Tories that the oppositions plans would mean a 2,000 increase to each households taxes.

It was an allegation Labour denied and the most senior civil servant in the Treasury distanced himself from. However, the Tories pressed on with the claim and it may have contributed to Labours vote share being just 34 per cent instead of the 40 per cent or more indicated in the polls.

New chancellor Rachel Reeves will now be looking at taxes for her first Budget, and education secretary Bridget Phillipson has already revealed that VAT on private school fees will be in it.

Speaking to The Independent during Sir Keirs press conference, Nigel Farage, suggested that Labour is vulnerable despite the massive majority because there is no love for the party in the country.

However, Sir Keir also wanted to tackle an issue which Mr Farages Reform aims to push him on by unveiling his plans for illegal immigration including the cancellation of the proposed deportation flights to Rwanda.

Sir Keir announced that the Rwanda deportation plan was dead and buried before it started, confirming Labour has already scrapped the scheme since taking power.

The prime minister said the policy was never a deterrent, pointing to the record number of small boat arrivals in the first six months of 2024.

And he said it had the complete opposite effect, with people-smuggling gangs and potential migrants seeing the minute chance of deportation as encouragement to cross the English Channel in small boats.

Rachel Reeves arrives for her first cabinet meeting as chancellor ( Reuters )

The Labour leader promised repeatedly on the campaign trail to scrap the 300m scheme, which would have seen a handful of asylum seekers sent to the east African nation, straight away as prime minister.

In a damning assessment after axing one of Mr Sunaks flagship policies, Sir Keir said: The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started.

It has never been a deterrent. Look at the numbers that have come over in the first six and a bit months of this year. They are record numbers. That is the problem that we are inheriting.

It has never acted as a deterrent, almost the opposite because everybody has worked out, particularly the gangs that run this trade, that the chance of ever going to Rwanda was so slim, less than 1 per cent, that it was never a deterrent.

The chances were of not going, not being processed and staying here in paid-for accommodation for a very, very long time.

It has had the complete opposite effect. And Im not prepared to continue with gimmicks that dont act as a deterrent.

Rishi Sunak had promised to get deportation flights in the air if he remained prime minister ( PA Wire )

The intervention came in Sir Keirs first Downing Street press conference since leading Labour to one of the biggest general election victories in history.

Labour achieved a 172-seat majority, just shy of Sir Tony Blairs 1997 record of 179, with the Tories falling to their worst election result in history on 121.

Addressing the media for the first time since the election, Sir Keir said he is restless for change.

He said the appointments of Sir Patrick Vallance and business chief James Timpson should demonstrate the partys commitment to change and added: It wont surprise you to know... Ive been talking to them for some time about the need for the change that we will put in place.

We have been planning for months to hit the ground running, Sir Keir said, despite warning it would not be an overnight exercise.

A record number of migrants have arrived across the Channel this year ( PA Wire )

The speech came after Sir Keir appointed his cabinet, making Rachel Reeves Britains first female chancellor and appointing Angela Rayner levelling up secretary and deputy PM.

Other key appointments were David Lammy as foreign secretary, Wes Streeting as health secretary, Bridget Phillipson as education secretary and Yvette Cooper as home secretary.

The prime minister will finalise the appointment of frontbenchers in more junior ministerial roles over the weekend.

Setting out how he and his top team would get to work, Sir Keir said he would chair new mission delivery boards to put into action Labours manifesto commitments.

The cross-departmental panels are expected to be set up to make progress on the partys five key pledges  to drive economic growth, reform the NHS, invest in clean energy, reform the crime and justice system, and improve opportunity through a new skills agenda.

The prime minister said he would head the boards himself to emphasise his focus on pursuing the plans central to Labours first term in government.

The entities are expected to draw on private sector expertise and could include outside experts as well as politicians.

Sir Keirs chief of staff Sue Gray, who spent years at the top of the Civil Service, is set to oversee delivery from inside No 10.

The Whitehall shake-up is intended to break down departmental silos in a bid to reduce funding rows and delays to implementing policies.

Labour has said the five national missions would guide us in government, which would be reorganised to be more agile, empowering, and catalytic.
As leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer tended to keep decision-making close, but as prime minister, he may have to consult more widely. He has promised to lead a team at the top of government, although the make-up of the inner ministerial circle is not clear. Journalists have been briefed about a quad of top cabinet ministers modelled on the four-person ruling group in the coalition government: Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Pat McFadden.

But Starmer has also identified a further four cabinet ministers as mission leads, responsible for delivering the governments missions: Wes Streeting (health), Yvette Cooper (crime and borders), Bridget Phillipson (education) and Ed Miliband (green energy). They will all be allowed four special advisers instead of the usual two each allowed to other cabinet ministers.

Apart from the prime minister, here are the 10 most important people in the new government.

Rachel Reeves, chancellor

Reeves leaves the BBC following an appearance on the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show ( Getty )

She has worked effectively with Starmer in opposition, setting out and sticking to a joint policy of fiscal responsibility. There have been tensions, such as over the slow retreat from the plan to borrow 28bn a year for green investment, but they were managed with decorum on both sides.

One of the aims of the quad is to keep the Treasury, the most powerful Whitehall department, aligned with No 10 rather than to allow it to become a rival centre of power.

Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister

Rayner speaking at the launch of Labours general election manifesto last month ( Getty )

Another test of the quad structure will be whether it succeeds in binding the leading figure in the Labour government who has a power base independent of the prime minister. Rayner is a street fighter who showed in opposition that she was adept at positioning herself to the left of the leader without open disloyalty, such as on the issue of blocking Diane Abbott as a Labour candidate  on which Rayner, with the mainstream of the party behind her, got her way. As cabinet minister responsible for housing and employment rights, she will work with Reeves to help deliver the growth mission.

Pat McFadden, Cabinet Office

McFadden is likely to become a trusted adviser ( Getty )

The fourth member of the quad is the politician who led the election campaign and who has been rewarded with a role at the heart of government holding it all together. He proved his worth to Starmer during the campaign, and will be a trusted enforcer with a brilliant political mind and no ambition of his own. In addition, he is a quietly impressive speaker in the House of Commons.

Sue Gray, chief of staff

Grays political network will be the nervous system of the administration ( PA )

She is the most important official in the new government. As a former civil servant, she knows the civil service, but as a political appointment, she will have Starmers personal authority behind her. She will work side by side with Elizabeth Perelman, the prime ministers principal private secretary, but Grays political network will be the nervous system of the administration. Her long experience as head of propriety and ethics in the Cabinet Office means that she has a deep understanding of how to handle the tricky problems that so often trip up governments.

Olly Robbins, cabinet secretary?

Robbins, Theresa Mays Brexit negotiator, could lend his political skills ( PA )

Simon Case is the current cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, who sat on the prime ministers right at todays first meeting of the new cabinet, but he has made it clear that he wants to leave once he has overseen the new government taking its first steps into the world. He is expected to hand over to Robbins, a career civil servant who was Theresa Mays Brexit negotiator and who is a firm ally of Grays. The other civil servant who will be significant in the new government is James Bowler, the permanent secretary at the Treasury, another ally of Grays.

Morgan McSweeney, political secretary?

McSweeney played a key role in running Starmers leadership campaign ( Shutterstock )

The self-effacing Labour apparatchik who ran Starmers leadership campaign  and then the general election campaign on a very different prospectus  was once said to be intending to step aside once his work of taking Labour back to power was done. But it seems likely that he will continue to play a role in No 10. Whether he is given the formal title of political secretary or not, his role will be to keep the prime minister connected to the party, and to stay focused on the next election.

Matthew Doyle, Starmers spokesperson

Doyles connection to the party goes all the way back to the Blair years ( The Labour Party )

The Alastair Campbell of the new government. As a junior press officer in No 10 when Tony Blair was prime minister, he worked with Campbell, so he knows not to repeat Campbells mistake of becoming the story. He will work in partnership with David Pares, the civil servant who is currently the prime ministers official spokesperson, but it is to Doyle that journalists will turn for briefings about what Keir thinks.

Deborah Mattinson, director of strategy

Mattinson is the driving force behind Starmers appeal to hero voters ( Market Research Society )

She is another experienced operator, having worked on opinion polling and focus groups for the party since the 1980s. She worked for Gordon Brown but fell out with him, and wrote a book about the experience called Talking to a Brick Wall, which was ostensibly about voters feelings of being ignored by politicians. She is the driving force behind Starmers appeal to what she calls hero voters  working-class Labour supporters who switched to Boris Johnson but who were won back this time. Her job will be to ensure that the Labour government delivers for them.

Peter Hyman, senior adviser

Hyman has made a return to politics recently, having spent the last few years founding a school ( X )

Another adviser from the New Labour era. He worked for Tony Blair in opposition and in government, one of many credited with the success of Labours pledge card in the 1997 election. He spent a long time out of politics, teaching and founding a school, but came back to work for Starmer. He and Mattinson crafted the five missions intended to maintain message discipline during the election campaign, but also to ensure focus on delivery in government.

Alan Campbell, chief whip

Sensing when rebellion is brewing will be just one part of Campbells job description ( Parliament UK )

He sits on the front bench in parliament, a few seats away from Starmer, and yet remains almost completely unknown to the general public. His role will be critical in the new government because it is his job to know what all 411 Labour MPs are thinking  and sensing when rebellion is brewing. Two of his early challenges will be managing pressure from new MPs to lift the two-child limit on benefits, and to adopt a more pro-Palestinian line on Gaza. But because his advice to the prime minister is critical to MPs chances of promotion, he has the power to keep the troops in line.
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Sir Mohamed Mansour, the senior treasurer of the Conservative Party, announced on Saturday he was resigning from his post 10 days after Rishi Sunaks election defeat.

The Egyptian-born billionaire had donated 5m to the party and had been a key player in raising other funds. His donation was the biggest for the Conservatives since 2001.

He told The Independent: I have been honoured to serve my country and party since December 2022 and it has been a privilege to do so.

Rishi Sunak has announced his intention to depart as party leader, and it makes sense for me to also step down at this time. A new leadership team will bring fresh talent and thinking to the task ahead: guiding the party on its path of renewal.

It adds to the growing list of vacancies for the Tories as they seek a new leader in the aftermath of the worst electoral defeat in its history. Key to their future after selecting an MP to lead them in opposition will be the need to refill their coffers.

Mr Mansour was given a knighthood by Sunak in a surprise honours list in March last year alongside Demis Hassabis, founder of artificial intelligence company DeepMind, and filmmaking couple Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, who received a knighthood and a damehood. American businessman Ted Sarandos, the co-chief of Netflix, was also given an honorary knighthood.

The 76-year-old billionaire is a naturalised British citizen who has donated to many charitable causes including the Kings Foundation and a memorial for the victims of Covid. His knighthood was awarded for services to business, charity and political service.

Mr Mansour has previously spoken about the prime minister in glowing terms and has said he understands how growth is generated in the modern economy.

He also served from 2005 to 2009 as a transport minister in Egypt under Hosni Mubarak, the late president who quit office during the 2011 Arab Spring. Mr Mansour resigned to return to business life. He famously went from rags to riches, twice losing his fortune due to nationalisation by Egypt and also Sudan, each time rebuilding.

Mubarak, who died in 2020, was considered an autocrat and was accused of maintaining his grip on office by cracking down on political opposition and stifling free speech.

Mr Mansour will continue to support the Tory party but not as an active member of the partys executive.

He is also one of the biggest investors in football in the US on the brink of buying a Major League Soccer franchise for a record $500m (400m). The new franchise, based in San Diego, California, is the sixth biggest football deal in the world, behind Chelsea, AC Milan and Manchester United, but more than the 305m Saudi takeover of Newcastle in 2022.

He is expected to create the club from scratch by recruiting a full set of players, staff and an academy, which sources suggest could add an extra $200m to the bill.
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Keir Starmer has revealed that he regularly receives texts from former prime minister Tony Blair with advice on what he needs to do.

The Labour leader revealed the detail while talking to The Independents John Rentoul at his election count in north London just hours before he was confirmed as Britains new prime minister.

Sir Keir said the advice was very helpful and centred around the difficult transition from years of opposition to government, something Sir Tony had to deal with in 1997.

When Sir Tony took power in a landslide victory against John Majors Tories, Labour had been out of power for 17 years.

Starmer is getting advice from Blair ( Getty )

Like now, there were very few Labour MPs who had served as ministers or even been parliamentarians during a Labour government.

Sir Tony, like Sir Keir, had a family with children at school to move into Downing Street and see their lives turned upside down overnight.

Sir Keir had already revealed in an interview with The Independent that he and his wife Victoria had decided against getting their children to get advice on life in Downing Street from Sir Tonys children for fear it would reinforce negative concerns.

It is noticeable, though, that Sir Keirs first appointment to his cabinet was Angela Rayner as deputy prime minister and levelling up and communities secretary. She is playing exactly the same roles as Lord Prescott did for Sir Tony in 1997 with the same title and department and also the symbolic role of appealing to the traditional Labour membership.

But the revelation about the texts will confirm the views of some that Sir Tony is a major influence behind the scenes of this first Labour government in 14 years.

As part of the change Sir Keir brought to Labour in rebuilding after the Jeremy Corbyn years, he surrounded himself with leading figures from the Blair era.

Pat McFadden, now Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster running the engine of government in the Cabinet Office, was a Blair minister and became Sir Keirs head of campaigning. Lord Mandelson also provided advice to the Labour leader in the run-up to taking power again.

Sir Tonys place as an influential father figure for the latest generation of centre-left world leaders was underlined when he joined Sir Keir and others at a gathering in Montreal organised by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
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Less than a week after an Arizona woman was reported missing by her spouse, launching an expansive search that quickly turned into a homicide investigation, the husband admitted to killing her and pleaded guilty to a murder charge, authorities announced Friday.

As part of deal with prosecutors in Coconino County, Daniel Paduchowski pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder in the death of his 45-year-old wife, Kelly. He also pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence, concealment of a dead body and possession of dangerous drugs, according to a copy of the plea agreement.

The agreement  reached earlier Friday before the Flagstaff Police Department held an afternoon news conference  marks a stunning and swift resolution to a homicide case that was opened just days earlier and that could have otherwise stretched for years as it made its way through the legal system.

At the news conference, Flagstaff Police Chief Sean Connolly emphasized that it had been just six days since authorities were alerted of Kelly Paduchowski's disappearance.

I was at the barber. I've been at the dry cleaners. I've been to restaurants and businesses, and this has been on everybody's mind, he said. When communities are not indifferent, and they are engaged at this level, these are the outcomes that you have.

Michael Tunink, a senior attorney at the Coconino County attorney's office, said Daniel Paduchowski, 58, is expected to be sentenced to 16 years without the possibility of parole for the murder charge. His sentencing is scheduled for September 10.

Paduchowski's attorney did not immediately respond to email and phone messages seeking comment.

Authorities said Paduchowski called Flagstaff police on Sunday night, saying his wife never returned after leaving to go for a run and a swim at Lake Mary, southeast of Flagstaff.

Police said they quickly began to suspect Daniel Paduchowski had been involved in his wife's disappearance, after the woman's relatives found her car on the opposite side of town, nearly three hours away.

Daniel Anthony Paduchowski, 58, told authorities that his wife, Kelly Paduchowski, 45, had vanished ( Flagstaff Police Department )

By Monday morning, police said, the missing persons case had turned into a homicide investigation. The Flagstaff Police Department announced Daniel Paduchowski's arrest the next day.

As part of his deal with prosecutors, Daniel Paduchowski provided authorities with information about his wifes remains and other evidence, including her cellphone, car keys and the weapon, Tunink said.

Flagstaff police said they found Kelly Paduchowski's remains on Friday morning but did not release the location, citing active recovery efforts.

Authorities said the search for Kelly Paduchowski was expansive, including local and federal agencies, nearly 50 search and rescue members who searched by foot, helicopter and on mountain bikes, as well as search dogs and drones. About 60 people from the community also volunteered for the search effort, police said.

Connolly, the Flagstaff police chief, said Friday that authorities have been in constant contact with the victim's relatives, including her children.

Since the moment I sat in the living room with Kelly's family, I cannot tell you how impressed I have been with their strength and their resolve in handling this incredibly tragic situation," he said.
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A 21-year-old convicted felon has killed four victims and wounded three others in a mass shooting at a 21st birthday party in Kentucky before turning the gun on himself.

Police responded to a call just before 3am on Saturday morning for an active shooting situation at a home in Florence, Kentucky, where a group of friends were celebrating a birthday.

When they arrived on the scene, law enforcement found seven people suffering from gunshot wounds. Four of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, according to CNN.

The three wounded victims were taken for treatment at a local medical facility, where they are listed as critical but stable.

Later on Saturday, Florence Police Department Chief Jeff Mallery announced the identities of the four victims killed: Shane Miller, 20; Hayden Rybicki, 20; Delaney Eary, 19; and Melissa Parrett, 44.

Parrett, who owned the home, was hosting her son's 21st birthday party when the gunman attacked, according to Mallery.

The suspected killer Chase Garvey, 21, was not invited to the party but was known to others at the gathering, police said.

He fled the scene of the shooting by car, before driving his vehicle into a ditch.

Chase Garvey shot seven people, killing four, at a Kentucky birthday party before he fled the scene and ultimately died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound ( Florence Police Department )

When officers approached the vehicle, they found the suspect suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said.

Garvey was taken to local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Mallery said Garvey had previously been convicted of a sex crime. In 2021, he was arrested and charged with the rape of a 13-year-old girl in a parking lot.

He was sentenced to five years of probation after entering a guilty plea for unlawful transaction with a minor in the second degree, according to court records.

Police investigate the scene after responding to a shooting in Florence ( Frank Bowen IV, The Cincinnati Enquirer )

An officer leaving the scene of the shooting ( AP )

Authorities are yet to reveal how the victims and suspect knew each other.

Florence police said that there is no further threat to the public and that they are still investigating the motive for the attack.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Florence police on 859-371-1234.
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A 900-acre fire is burning through Mariposa County, California, near Yosemite National Park, prompting evacuations and forcing a local hospital to shelter in place.

The French Fire began just after 6 pm on Thursday. It was 15 percent contained as of Friday evening, and some 3,100 people are without power in the county, according to PowerOutage.us. Cal Fire is mobilizing ground units and a helicopter to quell the blaze.

1,100 people were ordered to evacuate after the blaze broke out, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Friday. While some orders have been lifted, others remain under warnings. Footage of the fire shows billowing clouds of smoke as a helicopter releases fire retardant.

Officials also ordered patients and staff at Californias John C Fremont Hospital to shelter in place on Thursday, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports. However, that order expired on Friday afternoon.

Shelter-in-place orders for Yosemite Inn and Quality Inn were also lifted on Friday, local outlet ABC 30 reports.

The French Fire in Mariposa County, California is burning near Yosemite National Park, prompting evacuations in the region ( Associated Press )

The fire forced the closure of Highway 140, a well-trafficked road into Yosemite, on Thursday, according to ABC 30. However, the road re-opened on Friday.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire.

On Friday morning, Newsom said his office secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The program allows states like California to apply for reimbursement of their fire-fighting costs.

California is also battling the Thompson Fire, which has burned through nearly 4,000 acres and is 46 percent contained. The blaze, which started some 70 miles outside of Sacramento, forced some 17,000 people to evacuate  though many have been allowed to return to their homes, the Associated Press reports.

It was panic, because my dad didnt want to leave and I told him, You gotta get in the car right now, resident Lynette Bailey told NBC News.

Most counties in California are under an excessive heat warning this week, which is exacerbating fires in the state.

These conditions are so hot anything that can create a spark can create a fire that can grow real fast, Ryan Kittell, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, told the Los Angeles Times.

The human-caused climate crisis will continue to create prime conditions for destructive wildfires as global temperatures increase, making rain more erratic and droughts more prolonged and intense.

Climate scientists say that it is very likely 2024 will be the hottest year on record globally, following the record-setting temperatures of 2023.
 Close Hurricane Beryl on path for Yucatan Peninsula, Gulf of Mexico

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Eight people have died, and millions more in Texas could be left without power for days while Beryl moves northeast.

After making landfall in the United States as a Category 1 hurricane on the coast of Matagorda on Monday morning, Beryl was downgraded to Tropical Storm then to a Depression and now as a post-tropical cyclone as it traversed inland across eastern Texas, bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds and life-threatening conditions.

Around eight people are believed to be dead as a result of the storm, including seven in Texas and one in Louisiana.

This includes a civilian employee of the Houston Police Department, who was killed when he was trapped in flood waters under a highway overpass, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said.

More than 2.2 million customers were without power around Houston, the nations fourth-largest city, after Beryl blew through, according to CenterPoint Energy.

Acting Texas Governor Dan Patrick said the electric company was bringing in additional workers to help restore power more quickly.

Beryl has already left a trail of destruction as a Category 5 hurricane through Mexico and the Caribbean.

Parts of the Midwest could see tornadoes, while the northeastern US could be hit with flash floods.
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A teenager has tragically died on a July 4 trip in Virginia after he jumped into a lake that may have been electrified, according to police.

Jesse Hamric, an 18-year-old from Colorado, was at Smith Mountain Lake in Huddleston  around an hour from Roanoke  with friends on Thursday.

According to the Bedford County Sheriffs Office, Hamric leaped into the lake and appeared to suffer an electrocution near a dock.

Two friends who were at the lake with him saw him in distress and jumped in to help him, but felt a shock the moment they hit the water.

They managed to drag Hamric out of the water and began administering CPR.

First responders arrived and rushed Hamric for treatment at a local hospital. He was pronounced dead at the medical facility.

The two friends were treated for non-life threatening injuries after being shocked in the water.

The teens official cause of death is yet to be confirmed, but investigators believe he was electrocuted.

An official with the Smith Mountain Lake Marine Volunteer Fire Rescue Dive Team confirmed that there was a current at the dock at the time of the incident, according to ABC13.

Jesse Hamric, 18, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, died after he leapt into an electrified lake in Virginia in July 2024 ( screengrab/Jesse Hamric/TikTok )

Hamric had graduated from Steamboat Springs High School in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, just over a month ago. He was the son of the school's principal, Jay Hamric.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of a recent Steamboat Springs High School graduate, the school said in a statement. Please take a moment to care for yourself, lean into those around you for support, and care for each other. Our thoughts are with all of you.

Mental health counselors were on hand at the school on Friday to provide services to faculty and students.

Alex Schwab, a friend of Hamric's who had known him for three years, told FOX31 that he was struggling to believe what had happened.

Still cant even like process it. Im so upset by it, he said.

Schwab described Hamric as an amazing snowboarder and a one of a kind person.

Ever since I first met that kid, I mean, hes like one of a kind, Schwab said. You see him and you just, like, he always has a smile on his face.
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Minnesota representative Angie Craig has now become the fifth House Democrat to call for president Joe Biden to remove himself from the 2024 presidential race, warning that there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency.

On Saturday, Craig joined a growing list of her colleagues in asking Biden to drop out of the race after his dismal debate performance against Trump last week.

I have great respect for President Bidens decades of service to our nation and his steadfast commitment to making our country a better place, Craig wrote in a statement posted on Twitter/X.

However, given what I saw and heard from the president during last weeks debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the president himself following the debate, I do not believe the president can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump, she added.

Craig went on to say that the stakes are too high to risk Biden taking on  and losing to  Trump in November.

As an elected leader, I feel a responsibility to be honest about what I believe, even when its hard to hear. President Biden is a good man & I appreciate his lifetime of service. But I believe he should step aside for the next generation of leadership, she said.

This is not a decision Ive come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency. Thats why I respectfully call on President Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee for a second term as president and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward.

Craigs statement echoes that of fellow Democratic representatives Mike Quigley, Seth Moulton, Raul Grijalva and Lloyd Doggett who have also urged the president to withdraw from the race after the first presidential debate.

Bidens hoarse voice, muddled speech and moments of apparent confusion fuelled concerns about the presidents competence to serve the nation for another four years.

His poor performance has since sent the Democratic Party into panic mode, with some party leaders, like former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and vice-president Kamala Harris publicly maintaining they will support Bidens re-election campaign, while others have begun to break away from this message.

Meanwhile, Biden has so far refused to step aside.

In a make-or-break interview with ABC News on Friday, the president assured Americans he is capable of successfully running against Trump, claiming the debate was simply a bad night for him because he was battling a cold and sleep deprivation. Biden said he has consulted his physicians who told him he was just exhausted.

But when asked if he would take a cognitive or neurological test and release the results to the public, Biden stopped short of agreeing to it. Instead, he pointed to his busy schedule and day-to-day activities as president as evidence of his functioning mental state.

Its unclear if Bidens words will be enough to convince Americans that he is capable and worth supporting.

Representative Angie Craig called on president Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, citing his debate performance ( Getty )

So far, post-debate polling shows a significant decline in support for Biden. Trump is leading in several swing states and more voters have signaled they would rather vote for Trump than Biden.

Given the direction public opinion is headed in, Craig said there is too much at stake to risk Trump possibly winning re-election.

If we truly believe that Donald Trump and Maga Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win, Craig wrote.

The future of our country is bigger than any one of us. Its up to the president from here.
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Democratic leaders are said to be planning to hold a crisis meeting this weekend to discuss Joe Bidens future on the presidential ticket, after his make-or-break ABC News interview did little to dampen concerns within his party.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is set to meet virtually with committee ranking members at 2pm on Sunday afternoon, three sources told NBC News.

The meeting, which was abruptly scheduled on Friday night, is not part of any regular scheduled gatherings and comes just one day before Congress returns to session after the July 4 holiday.

One of the insiders told the outlet that the meeting will focus on Bidens future as the Democratic partys candidate to take on Donald Trump in Novembers 2024 election, in the wake of his disastrous debate performance last week.

The meeting comes as five House Democrats have now publicly called for Biden to step aside and a Democratic senator is said to be organizing for a group of lawmakers to meet next week to discuss next steps for the party.

Virginia Senator Mark Warner has told colleagues that Biden can no longer stay in the race and is working to gather a group of lawmakers to come together to ask the president to step aside, The Washington Post reported.

While Warner has not confirmed the report, his office said in a statement that he believes these are critical days for the presidents campaign, and he has made that clear to the White House.

To date, no sitting Democratic senator  including Warner  has publicly called for Biden to withdraw from the race.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is set to meet virtually with committee ranking members at 2pm on Sunday afternoon ( AP )

However, a growing number of Democratic congress members have.

On Saturday, Minnesota congresswoman Angie Craig became the fifth House Democrat to urge Biden to step aside, warning that there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency.

As an elected leader, I feel a responsibility to be honest about what I believe, even when its hard to hear. President Biden is a good man & I appreciate his lifetime of service. But I believe he should step aside for the next generation of leadership, she said in a statement posted on X.

This is not a decision Ive come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency. Thats why I respectfully call on President Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee for a second term as president and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward.

Despite the growing calls, Biden has so far vowed to stay in the race until the bitter end, telling ABC News George Stephanopoulos on Friday that he still doesnt think anybodys more qualified to be president or win this race than me.

Maintaining that he is completely ruling out exiting the 2024 race, he insisted that all the Democratic leaders he has spoken with have urged him to stay put.

They all said I should stay in the race... none of the people said I should leave, he said.

In the high-stakes interview, the president repeatedly sought to brush off his debate performance  where he repeatedly lost his train of thought, stumbled over answers and sounded hoarse  as just a bad night because he was suffering from a bad cold.

President Joe Biden sits down for make-or-break interview with George Stephanopoulos ( Getty Images )

I was sick. I was feeling terrible, he said, adding that doctors had tested him for Covid or other viruses. I just had a really bad cold.

I just had a bad night, he added.

Yet, after being repeatedly pressed, the president refused to commit to taking a cognitive test to put his party and prospective voters minds at ease about his competence for the job.

Look. I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test: everything I do, he said.

You know, not only am I campaigning, but Im running the world.

Bidens campaign has taken the interview as a win, with deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks telling MSNBC on Saturday that the president showed up and defied expectations.

But this confidence isnt matched by many Democratic insiders who have given a far less positive verdict.

As one longtime Democratic donor bundler put it to The Daily Beast: This was his Alamo, and hes going down like Davey Crocket.
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Joe Biden has narrowed Donald Trumps lead in crucial swing states including Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina in spite of his disastrous debate performance fallout, according to a new poll.

In the new Morning Consult and Bloomberg survey, Trump holds only a three-point lead over Biden in Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina and a one-point lead over Biden in Georgia.

The former president holds a more significant lead over Biden in Pennslyvania.

Meanwhile, Biden is polling slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in Michigan and Wisconsin.

The new poll results suggests that Bidens public perception may not have plummeted as badly as feared following his first 2024 presidential debate against Trump last week.

The findings however contradict other recent polls including from The New York Times and Siena College, CBS News and YouGov, which have all found Bidens debate performance has negatively impacted public perception.

A confidential polling memo obtained by Puck News reveals that states where Biden was clearly ahead, such as New Mexico, Virginia, and New Hampshire, may now be winnable for Trump  with Biden now significantly behind Trump in key swing states like Michigan, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.

US President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin, on July 5, 2024 ( AFP via Getty Images )

It is unclear if the Morning Consult / Bloomberg poll is an outlier among the others. It is the first comprehensive survey of the states that are most likely to decide the outcome of the Electoral College.

Bidens lackluster presence on the debate stage last week has fuelled major concerns as to whether the president can effectively campaign and defeat Trump in November. Some Democratic lawmakers are calling on Biden to withdraw from the race in the hopes of giving the party a greater chance of winning.

So far, Biden has refused to step aside and the Biden-Harris campaign has gone on the defense, seeking to assure Americans that the president is mentally fit to serve another four years.

On Friday, Biden sat down with ABC News for a make-or-break interview in a bid to dissuade fears.

Although the poll found a less dramatic impact on voters than other surveys, it did find wide mistrust in Bidens mental acuity  a consistent finding across most polling.

Less than 40 percent of survey respondents think Biden should continue his campaign. Meanwhile, half say Trump should definitely remain in the 2024 race.

However, voters perception of Trump as a dangerous individual has increased since the start of this year. Now, 62 percent of voters believe the former president, and now convicted felon, is dangerous  three percentage points more than in February.
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Donald Trumps former lawyer and one-time fixer Michael Cohen has warned that his ex-boss will run the country like the Fuhrer if he is re-elected in November, thanks to the recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump, and other presidents, have absolute immunity from prosecution for actions that fall under a presidents core powers  or those directly given by the US Constitution.

The majority of justices also ruled that presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts but not for unofficial acts  though the court did not specify what these acts could be.

Citing theTrump vs US ruling, Cohen told The Daily Beast that the former president could now wield his power in whatever way he wants if he takes back the White House this November.

Hell run the country like a king, like a supreme leader, like a monarch, like a dictator, like the Fuhrer, Cohen said, invoking the German word strongly associated with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

If re-elected in November, in light of the Supreme Court ruling, his worst impulses will be magnified a hundredfold.

The depth of Donalds actions will not be merely isolated to critics, political enemies and the like, he added, offering the example of uber-wealthy individuals like Elon Musk-types seeing consequences.

Donald cares for no one or anything other than the almighty dollar, Cohen said, warning: No one will be safe.

Michael Cohen warned that the Supreme Courts recent immunity ruling could embolden Donald Trump ( AFP via Getty Images )

Cohen went on to claim that Trump plans to dismantle parts of the government to consolidate power to the executive branch in which he now has immunity from criminal prosecution.

Members of the Supreme Court and federal judges will similarly become neutered as Donald fulfills his promise to dismantle our tripartite system of government, stripping the legislative and judicial branches of their coequal power and conferring all power to the executive branch; meaning himself, Cohen said.

Cohen appeared to be referencing part of Project 2025  a presidential transition plan led by the conservative group the Heritage Foundation to implement conservative policies into government should Trump be re-elected.

Part of Project 2025 includes plans to expand executive authority over federal agencies and install ideologically like-minded individuals into positions of power over civil servants.

The former president has tried to distance himself from Project 2025, claiming he does not know who is behind it and specifying that he has not endorsed the policies part of the plan.

However, multiple leaders behind Project 2025 served in senior positions in the Trump administration and some policies have overlapped with Trumps Agenda47.

The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
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One week after a debate performance that was so disastrous it prompted calls for his exit from the presidential race, President Joe Biden attributed his lack of coherence and disturbing appearance to exhaustion and illness.

But Biden called it a limited episode that shouldnt disqualify him from running for a second term and denied the need for any sort of medical evaluation to determine his continued fitness to run.

Speaking to ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in his first television interview since the debate debacle, Biden called his poor showing against former president Donald Trump a bad episode.

No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and -- and a bad night, he said.

But Biden also told Stephanopolous he hadnt re-watched the 90-minute broadcast.

Asked if he had, he replied: I dont think I did, no.

Biden admits he was exhausted during debate but denies having any serious condition ( ABC News )

The 81-year-old president spent most of the broadcast defending his ability to serve out a second term should he win re-election, after which he would leave office at 86  the most advanced age of any American chief executive.

When pressed directly on whether he was fit to do so, he told the ABC anchor: Yes, I am.

But Biden, the oldest man ever to serve as president, also flat-out rejected the idea of him taking any sort of cognitive test when Stephanopolous asked if he was willing to do so, instead repeating an old talking point about the rigors of the presidency serving as a cognitive exam every day.

No one said I had to, he said.

The 22-minute interview, which aired in its entirety in prime time on Friday without any editing, came just hours after he told reporters that he wont consider standing down from his campaign for a second term in the White House despite growing pressure from him to do so from Democratic members of Congress and donors to his party.

Biden was adamant that he wont even consider withdrawing his name from contention in this years election. He told the ABC anchor, a former White House communications director during the Clinton administration: I dont think theres anybody more qualified to be President or win this race than me.

He also said only the Lord Almighty could potentially convince him to exit the race, despite calls for him to stand down from numerous Democratic figures.

The Lord Almighty is not coming down. These are hypotheticals, Biden added.

Joe Biden speaks with the press before boarding Air Force One prior to departure from Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin, July 5, 2024 ( AFP via Getty Images )

When asked about mental lapses that have become more and more frequent according to many observers, Biden pivoted to describing his physical condition and refused to consider any sort of independent examination by a physician.

Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No, but Im still in good shape, he said.

And after Stephanopoulos asked if Biden was more frail, the president flatly responded: No.

Biden was also asked how he would feel if, after refusing calls for him to step down, Donald Trump was elected in November.

I feel as long as I gave it my all and I did as good a job I know I can do, thats what this is about, Biden replied.

Earlier in the week at a fundraiser in Virginia, Biden had suggested his poor performance was the result of jet lag, citing his two foreign trips in rapid succession last month, to the D-Day anniversary commemoration in France, then the Group of Seven summit in Italy.

But the president actually had more than a week of rest and preparation before the debate, much of which was spent huddled with advisers at Camp David, the Navy-run presidential retreat in Thurmont, Maryland.

Asked why the time he took to prepare was insufficient by the ABC anchor, Biden replied: Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible.

Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because theyre trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didnt. I just had a really bad cold, he said.

He also told Stephanopolous that he, alone, was to blame for his debate performance rather than the staff and advisers who prepared him during his time at Camp David, and claimed to have prepared in the same way he would for meetings with foreign leaders, by taking in briefings with explicit detail.

But Biden then attempted to pivot to critiquing Trumps performance, noting that the ex-president lied 28 times and complained that he wasnt able to fact-check Trump in real time on account of the way the debate ran.

The fact of the matter is what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times, I couldnt -- I mean the way the debate ran -- not my fault, no one elses fault -- no one elses fault, Biden said.

He also said he realized he was having a bad night when Trump continued shouting even after his microphone was muted under the rules of the debate, and admitted that hed let the ex-president distract him.

Im not blaming it on that, but I realized that I just wasnt in control, he said.

Earlier in the day, Biden told reporters traveling with him in Wisconsin on Friday he was completely ruling that out during a brief exchange with the press after he finished taping the interview.

Pressed on why he still thinks he is the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump despite his dismal showing against his predecessor in last weeks CNN presidential debate, Biden replied: I did it before, referring to his 2020 election victory over the twice-impeached, felonious former chief executive.

When it was pointed out that four years had passed since he defeated Trump  during which he has aged four years and has reportedly had numerous memory lapses and other moments that have caused observers to question his fitness for office  Biden struck a defiant tone, telling the reporters: Youve been wrong about everything so far. You were wrong about 2020. You were wrong about 2022.
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Donald Trump offered Joe Biden some sarcastic encouragement on Truth Social on Saturday in light of recent calls by some  including a few Democrats  for the president to bow out of the 2024 race following his highly criticised debate performance.

Trump's post  filled with numerous misrepresentations about the presidents policies  encouraged Biden to ignore his critics and to continue his 2024 candidacy.

Crooked Joe Biden should ignore his many critics and move forward, with alacrity and strength, with his powerful and far reaching campaign, Trump said, before dropping the guise of genuine encouragement.

He said Biden should be sharp, precise, and energetic, just like he was in The Debate.

Trump then went on to falsely accuse Biden of having an open border policy, of ending Social Security and encouraging what he described as a woke military.

He also made wild claims that Biden only allows electric vehicles, is subservient to China and other countries, and is putting America Last.

Trump ended his rant by encouraging Sleepy Joe to continue his campaign of American Destruction and, MAKE CHINA GREAT AGAIN!

Donald Trump offered Joe Biden sarcastic encouragement on Truth Social, telling the president to ignore his critics and to continue to run his 2024 campaign ( AFP via Getty Images )

The former president's barbs come amid fierce scrutiny, including among some Democratic lawmakers, over Biden's capability to successfully run against Trump and  more importantly  govern the nation for another four years following his dismal debate performance last week.

Biden and the White House have brushed off the criticism, saying during a high-stakes interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on Friday that he merely had a bad night and insisting it was a one-time flub.

The president insisted that he intends to continue his campaign, vowing: Im staying in the race.

The frenzy around Biden's debate performance comes at a convenient time for Trump, who is trying to distance his campaign from the nakedly authoritarian national makeover outlined in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 plan.

President Joe Biden speaks with 'This Week' anchor George Stephanopoulos ( Getty Images )

The distancing comes just days after the far-right Heritage Foundation head Kevin Roberts warned of a second American Revolution.

We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be, Roberts said during Steve Bannon's War Room podcast on Tuesday.

Trump has since claimed on Truth Social he has nothing to do with the plan and has no knowledge of it, and that he even disagrees with some of the things they're saying.

Yet many of those working on Project 2025 have ties to Trump. Russ Vought, who formerly worked at Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget, authored one of the project's chapters while Stephen Miller, one of Trump's former advisors, is the head of a legal group on the project's advisory board.
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Donald Trump wants to pause his classified documents case in Florida for several months so he can argue that his charges should be thrown out under the Supreme Courts recent ruling on presidential immunity.

The former presidents attorneys also pointed to an opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas, who appeared to agree with Trumps argument that special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutionally appointed and funded  a claim at the center of Trumps attempts to have the case dismissed.

Fridays filings in the Mar-a-Lago case arrived just days after the Supreme Court declared that no president can be criminally prosecuted for any official act in the executive office, likely granting the former president some protection in his federal election interference case.

Trump now wants the judge in his classified documents case to hear arguments that he should be immune from those charges at some point between now and September, which would effectively grind the rest of Florida proceedings to a halt while they debate whether the Supreme Courts ruling applies.

Trumps attorneys separately argued that Thomass argument adds force to Trumps claim that Smiths appointment and funding is unconstitutional and raises grave separation-of-powers concerns.

Thomas wrote his own separate concurring opinion in the immunity decision to specifically take aim at the special counsels office, days after Trumps attorneys made the same arguments to Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida.

A protester calls on Justice Clarence Thomas to resign from the Supreme Court on June 14. ( EPA )

The conservative justice went so far as to say that the federal judge overseeing Trumps election interference case should reconsider whether Jack Smith was even lawfully appointed to the job, giving Trump and the judge presiding over Trumps classified documents case more legal ammunition in his favor.

If this unprecedented prosecution is to proceed, it must be conducted by someone duly authorized to do so by the American people, Justice Thomas wrote. The lower courts should thus answer these essential questions concerning the Special Counsels appointment before proceeding.

The shocking decision on immunity from the nations high court has already been used to scramble Trumps sentencing in New York, where a jury in May convicted him on all 34 counts of falsifying business records.

This week, Justice Juan Merchan agreed to delay his sentencing date by two months, giving Trumps attorneys time to try and make their case that the verdict should be voided.

That case explicitly deals with Trumps private actions, largely before he entered the White House, but some evidence from prosecutors  including conversations at the White House and testimony about his actions as president  could be off-limits, according to his attorneys.

Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. After the immunity decision, and pleas from Trumps legal team, Judge Merchan postponed the sentencing date to September 18.

Trump faces 40 separate charges stemming from allegations that he withheld hundreds of classified documents after leaving the White House for his private Mar-a-Lago compound in Florida, then conspired to obstruct government attempts to retrieve them.

He has pleaded not guilty.
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The judge presiding over Donald Trumps classified documents case has handed him yet another win as she has agreed to consider hearing arguments that the criminal charges should be dropped based on the Supreme Courts ruling on presidential immunity.

In an order filed on Saturday, Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon said she was temporarily granting Trumps motion to stay proceedings, pushing back several filing deadlines in a case that has already been plagued by delays and is yet to have a trial date.

Judge Cannon is setting a two-week timeline for prosecutors and Trumps attorneys to file briefs arguing whether there should be more hearings on immunity in the case.

The order came just hours after Trumps attorneys filed a motion on Friday asking the judge to pause his classified documents case for several months so that he could argue for the charges to be tossed under the immunity ruling.

In a separate filing, the former presidents attorneys pointed to an opinion from Justice Clarence Thomas, who appeared to agree with Trumps argument that special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutionally appointed and funded  a claim at the center of Trumps attempts dismiss the case.

Trumps attorneys argued that Thomass argument adds force to Trumps claim that Smiths appointment and funding is unconstitutional and raises grave separation-of-powers concerns.

Fridays filings in the Mar-a-Lago case arrived just days after the Supreme Court declared that no president can be criminally prosecuted for any official act in the executive office, likely granting the former president some protection in his federal election interference case.

Trump asked the judge to push back deadlines in the case as his attorneys claim charges should be tossed under the immunity ruling ( Getty Images )

Thomas wrote his own separate concurring opinion in the immunity decision to specifically take aim at the special counsels office, days after Trumps attorneys made the same arguments to Judge Cannon in Florida.

The conservative justice went so far as to say that the federal judge overseeing Trumps election interference case should reconsider whether Smith was even lawfully appointed to the job, giving Trump and the judge presiding over Trumps classified documents case more legal ammunition in his favor.

If this unprecedented prosecution is to proceed, it must be conducted by someone duly authorized to do so by the American people, Justice Thomas wrote.

The lower courts should thus answer these essential questions concerning the Special Counsels appointment before proceeding.

Now, following Judge Cannons Saturday order, Smiths office has until July 18 to respond to Trumps motion on the issue of the immunity ruling.

The shocking decision on immunity from the nations high court has already been used to scramble Trumps sentencing in New York, where a jury in May convicted him on all 34 counts of falsifying business records.

A protester calls on Justice Clarence Thomas to resign from the Supreme Court on June 14 ( EPA )

This week, Justice Juan Merchan agreed to delay his sentencing date by two months, giving Trumps attorneys time to try and make their case that the verdict should be voided.

That case explicitly deals with Trumps private actions, largely before he entered the White House, but some evidence from prosecutors  including conversations at the White House and testimony about his actions as president  could be off-limits, according to his attorneys.

Trump was scheduled to be sentenced on July 11. After the immunity decision, and pleas from Trumps legal team, Judge Merchan postponed the sentencing date to September 18.

Trump faces 40 separate charges stemming from allegations that he withheld hundreds of classified documents after leaving the White House for his private Mar-a-Lago compound in Florida, then conspired to obstruct government attempts to retrieve them.

He has pleaded not guilty.
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A court in Romanias capital ruled Friday that social media influencer Andrew Tate can leave Romania but must remain within the European Union as he awaits trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

The Bucharest Tribunals decision to allow Tate, 37, to leave the country was hailed by his spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, as a significant victory and a major step forward in the case. It is not clear whether prosecutors can or will appeal the court's decision.

Mr Tate, a former professional kickboxer and dual British US citizen, was initially arrested in December 2022 near Bucharest along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four in June last year and all four have denied the allegations.

After Friday's decision, Tate wrote on the social media platform X: I AM FREE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS I CAN LEAVE ROMANIA. THE SHAM CASE IS FALLING APART.

Andrew Tate, right, and his brother Tristan laugh as they leave the Bucharest Tribunal in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, 8 May 2024 ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

We embrace and applaud the decision of the court today, I consider it a reflection of the exemplary behavior and assistance of my clients, said Eugen Vidineac, one of Tates lawyers, adding that the Tates are still determined to clear their name and reputation.

On April 26, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the prosecutors case file against Tate met the legal criteria and that a trial could start but did not set a date for it to begin. That ruling came after the legal case had been discussed for months in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors evidence and case file.

After the Tate brothers arrest, they were held for three months in police detention before being moved to house arrest. They were later restricted to Bucharest municipality and nearby Ilfov county, and then to Romania.

Andrew Tate, left, and his brother Tristan, right, wait inside the Court of Appeals building in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, 30 Jan 2024 ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

Vidineac said the ability to travel within the 27-nation EU bloc will allow the Tates to pursue professional opportunities without restriction.

Andrew Tate, who has amassed 9.5 million followers on the social media platform X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He was previously banned from various social media platforms for allegedly expressing misogynistic views and using hate speech.

In a separate case, Andrew Tate was served at his home in Romania with a civil lawsuit lodged by four British women after a claim was issued by the High Court in London, according to a statement released in May by McCue Jury & Partners, the law firm representing the four women.

Andrew Tate yawns while waiting for his hearing inside the Court of Appeals building in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, 26 June 2024 ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

The four allege Tate sexually and physically assaulted them and reported him to British authorities in 2014 and 2015. After a four-year investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service decided in 2019 not to prosecute him. The alleged victims then turned to crowdfunding to pursue a civil case against him.

In a separate third case, the Tate brothers also appeared in March at the Bucharest Court of Appeal after British authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a UK case dating back to 2012-2015.

The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the Tates to the UK, but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.
The run-off in the French parliamentary elections this Sunday could install the countrys first far-right prime minister after a huge surge in support in the first round of voting. A majority for the National Rally (RN) party, led by Marine Le Pen, would be a political earthquake felt all over Europe and beyond.

The other, less frightening, scenario is a hung parliament between the left coalitions New Popular Front (NFP), the RN and a reduced centrist party of Emmanuel Macron.

The chances of this appear to have increased since candidates from both the presidents Renaissance party and the NFP made tactical withdrawals on Tuesday in favour of the candidate with the best chance of winning.

Whatever happens, France is poised to enter a period of so-called cohabitation, where the president and prime minister are from opposing parties. This will have far-reaching and worrying implications for Frances foreign and defence policy, most importantly and immediately with regards to Ukraine and Russia.

The constitution says that foreign and defence policy is the reserve of the president, but the prime minister retains control of defence spending. It is almost impossible to imagine, therefore, that the president could pursue a foreign policy that is diametrically opposed to the governments wishes.

A hung parliament would likely be paralysed in foreign policy matters, with the left divided over what stance to take on Ukraine. That would be difficult enough. But a majority of the far right would launch France into uncharted waters with a president and prime minister at loggerheads over aid to Ukraine and the long-term relationship France should pursue with Russia.

At the beginning of the war, president Macron was almost a Putin apologist insisting that Russia should not be humiliated as he engaged in a series of phone calls with the Russian leader in an effort to keep dialogue open. Macron eventually emerged as one of Europes most unambiguous defenders of Ukraine, even refusing to rule out the presence of French troops on the ground, and announcing in June 2024 that France would send mirage fighter jets to Ukraine.

If the National Rally emerges with a majority, its presumptive prime minister, 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, insists that France will continue to support Ukraine, but he has ruled out sending more long-range weapons and is adamant that there will never be any French troops on the ground.

General Michel Yakovleff, a French general who is the former deputy chief of staff at SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters of Allied Power Europe), tells The Independent that this would not change much in the near term as France is running out of the long-range SCALP missiles it has sent to Ukraine, and Macrons comments on troops on the ground have been vastly exaggerated. France will be less supportive, but it doesnt mean it will stop supporting Ukraine, he says.

Demonstrators standing on the Monument a la Republique after the first round of parliamentary elections ( AFP/Getty )

Bardellas newfound support for Ukraine reflects polls that consistently show that the French support sending aid to Ukraine, even if support has diminished since the launch of the full-scale invasion.

They are also clearly an attempt to rid the RN of the toxicity of its links to Russia. These date back to the 1990s when the partys founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, was a frequent visitor to Moscow, where he befriended Russian nationalist politicians such as Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Sergey Baburin.

In 2014, after Russias annexation of Crimea, the National Rally accepted a 9m loan from an obscure Russian bank that ended up linking the party to Russian organised crime and the military.

In 2017, just before the French presidential elections, the partys candidate Marine Le Pen, daughter of Jean-Marie, was received by Putin in Moscow.

The French newspaper Le Monde described this visit as the Russian presidents endorsement of Le Pen. Then, in 2019, a senior member of the National Rally, MP and now MEP Thierry Mariani, headed a delegation of French politicians to Crimea to celebrate the five years since the peninsulas annexation by Russia.

Le Pen with Jordan Bardella, who looks set to be Frances next prime minister ( AFP/Getty )

According to the French investigative outlet Mediapart, former National Front (as the National Rally was then called) MEP Jean-Luc Schaffhauser allegedly received payments from Russia in return for promoting pro-Russian positions in the European Parliament.

The Russian loan was repaid early in 2023, and in an effort to cleanse its image, the party claims to have cut all ties to Russia. Nevertheless, a number of candidates on the ballot sheet for Sunday are reputed to have close links to the Kremlin and at least two have them have been election observers in Russia in 2018 and during the 2020 referendum.

Earlier this week, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted its support for RN, writing on X/Twitter: The people of France are seeking a sovereign foreign policy that serves their national interests and a break from the dictate of Washington and Brussels, alongside a picture of Le Pen.

During the 2022 presidential elections, Le Pen, who faced Macron in the second round, promised to take France out of Natos integrated command and to build constructive relations with Russia. Both these suggestions have since been dropped.

A protester holds a picture of Le Pens 2017 meeting with Vladimir Putin ( AFP/Getty )

But despite the recent about-turn by the RN on aid to Ukraine, it remains difficult to imagine how a party with such long-standing ties to the Kremlin could shed them all overnight. Fears will be heightened if civil servants close to the far right take up positions in key areas of national security and defence in France, EU institutions and Nato.

This is already visible in the new European Parliament, where General Christophe Gomart, former head of Frances military intelligence, was elected for the Republican party, formed by Nicolas Sarkozy.

Gomart, whose ambiguous views on Russia and Ukraine had already earned him the distrust of pro-Ukrainians, has decided to join renegade Eric Ciotti, a former Republican politician who has defected to RN. Gomart has now been nominated to the European Parliaments defence committee.

Dont let the wolf into the manger, warns Denis Kataev, a Russian exiled journalist who compares the National Rally to Putins image as a committed liberal democrat when he was elected in 2000.

As France goes to the polls this Sunday, it remains to be seen how seriously this warning will be heeded. Even in the best-case scenario, Frances aid to Ukraine will likely suffer, and it is hard to see how either outcome is anything but a victory for Moscow.

Samantha de Bendern is a political commentator and associate fellow on the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House
The alleged drunk driver who plowed a pick-up truck into a crowd inside a New York City park on the Fourth of July has been charged in connection to the incident.

Daniel Hynes, 44, is accused of crashing his vehicle into Corlears Hook Park, killing three people, and injuring a further eight.

Footage shows police surrounding a crumpled white pick-up truck, which had four people pinned beneath it when emergency services arrived on the scene.

Two of the people killed were Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her 38-year-old son, Hernan Pinkney.
News / National

by Staff reporter

The Treasury has reaffirmed its decision to maintain the suspension of a 15 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on agricultural inputs, implements, and produce. This initiative is part of a broader strategy to attract increased investment in infrastructure and irrigation projects across the country.Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube underscored the government's commitment to supporting agricultural growth during the Zimbabwe Irrigation Investment Conference. He emphasized the importance of these tax incentives in mitigating the impact of climate change on farming and in fostering the expansion of irrigation capabilities.The tax incentives outlined by Minister Ncube encompass a wide range of agricultural equipment crucial for farm operations, including tractors, machinery for soil preparation, combine harvesters, and irrigation systems like centre pivots, sprinklers, and pumps. These measures are expected to stimulate investment in irrigation infrastructure, which plays a pivotal role in enhancing productivity and resilience against climatic challenges in Zimbabwe's agricultural landscape.Stakeholders in the farming sector have welcomed the government's decision, viewing it as a significant boost for irrigation investments. Leaders such as Gary Grubb from Western Pivots Zimbabwe and representatives from farming unions like the Zimbabwe National Farmers Union and the Tobacco Farmers Union Trust have expressed optimism about the implications of these incentives. They believe that the removal of VAT on key agricultural inputs will not only attract more projects but also contribute to the long-term viability and growth of Zimbabwe's farming industry.Furthermore, the Treasury has allocated substantial resources amounting to over ZWG$88 million this year to support irrigation sector initiatives. These funds are earmarked for projects such as irrigation system rehabilitation, dam construction, farm mechanisation, and technological advancements. This financial commitment underscores the government's proactive stance in promoting sustainable agricultural development and food security in Zimbabwe.In conclusion, the suspension of VAT on agricultural equipment and inputs represents a pivotal policy move aimed at fostering agricultural expansion and resilience in Zimbabwe. By incentivizing investment in irrigation infrastructure and supporting farm mechanisation, the government seeks to enhance productivity, mitigate climate risks, and ensure long-term sustainability in the agricultural sector.
Labours new prisons minister said a lot of prisoners should not be in there in a resurfaced interview.

James Timpson said the UK is addicted to sentencing and punishment in an interview earlier this year with Channel 4.

In the clip, Mr Timpson said: A lot of people in prison in my view shouldnt be there, and they are there for far too long. Its getting worse.

I meet people in prison regulary, who are serving sentences longer than theyve ever been alive for already, and I just think this is common sense being ignored and evidence being ignored, because there is this sentiment around punish and punish.
The new Labour cabinet arrived at 10 Downing Street on Saturday morning (6 July) for their first meeting with new prime minister, Keir Starmer.

Rachel Reeves was appointed at the first female chancellor in 800 years, Wes Streeting as health secretary, Angela Rayner as deputy prime minister, and David Lammy as foreign secretary.

Other ministerial appointments include James Timpson (CEO of Timpson), whose work on prison reform has seen him land a role as prison minister. Sir Patrick Vallance, who became a prominent figure during the pandemic is now the science minister.
Joe Biden has refused to step down and vowed to beat Trump "in the 2020 election" in his latest blunder.

The US president is under pressure to drop out of the race over concerns about his health, however, he insists he's just "exhausted" and has a "bad cold".

"I'll beat Donald Trump. I'll beat him again in 2020!", Biden told supporters at a rally, sparking confusion that he'd got the year wrong.

Seemingly realising he'd slipped up, he added: "And by the way, I'll do it again in 2024."
If there was anything more demeaning to Joe Biden than his performance at last weeks unusually early presidential debate, it was the lengths to which he and his wife and his spokespeople have subsequently gone to insist that there was essentially nothing to see.

A pitifully hyped Jill Biden led a day-after rally clearly designed to extinguish the impression from the debate, which left the equally unfortunate impression of a president tied to the apron strings of his ambitious wife. Since then, members of his team have mentioned mitigating factors, such as a heavy cold or jet lag, or just a bad day.

I screwed up, as Biden himself has acknowledged. He is said to have told Democrat governors that he plans to stop scheduling work events at 8pm so he can get more sleep. Perhaps he needs it: for his most recent gaffe, he announced on US radio that he was the first Black woman to serve with a Black president.

Expect more apologies and mitigating factors when his first televised post-debate interview  already being billed as a make or break moment  is broadcast on ABC tonight.

But it was his wifes response to that disastrous first debate that floored despairing Democrats. They had made no secret of their hopes that Dr Jill, as the only person who could persuade him, would have a tough but necessary talk that would convince him to step down for his own and the partys good. If there was any talk, however, it seems to have gone in the opposite direction, and she came across as the driving force.

At one time seen as a self-effacing college teacher, Jill Biden has seemed increasingly at home in the limelight  to the point of accompanying her stepson, Hunter Biden, to his trial for a firearms offence and posing in a white tuxedo dress for the latest issue of Vogue. The photoshoot may have been planned when it was assumed the debate would go well  certainly, the coverline We will decide our future now has a hollow ring. But the steely look she adopts in the cover portrait shows someone accustomed to being in charge, and with at least as much steel as Rosalynn Carter, the last steel magnolia in the White House.

With hindsight, she was probably not the person to ease her husband out of the race, at least not yet, even though the TV debate  the brainchild of the Biden team, not of his Republican opponent, Donald Trump  was far from the triumph they had banked on to allay concerns about Bidens age and acuity.

While Biden seemed, for the most part, to comprehend the questions and while those protesting that he is not senile may well be right, not being senile is hardly a recommendation for another four years at the helm of the most powerful country in the world. A US president needs to appear presidential. He needs to have all his wits about him, and be seen to have all his wits about him  thats what debates are all about. And he needs to carry conviction.

Lately, there has been too little of this. And however much his State of the Union address in March and a couple of rallies since the debate have shown a more convincing Biden, the central question remains. Can the United States afford to elect for another four years someone who has such glaring off days, who can seem unaware of his surroundings, who mangles his words, loses his thread, and succumbs to jet lag on his big night?

A majority of Americans may already have decided that the answer to that question is No. According to a new Wall Street Journal poll, 80 per cent of voters now believe Biden is too old to run for a second term. And why wouldnt they  even if the alternative is someone with a hardly unblemished record after four years in the White House himself, and a string of criminal convictions? The first New York Times poll after last weeks debate showed a three-point shift toward Trump.

There are only really two arguments for sticking with Biden: that it is too late to change the candidate and that there is no one else. It is certainly very late, but that is an argument for acting now. And there is someone else  the superficially easy solution would be to draft in the vice-president, Kamala Harris. With Bidens popularity now sinking in key swing, she is now polling higher than her boss.

A rhetorical question often used to cast doubt on Harriss presidential potential, however, highlights the problem: what if she had been president during the Cuban missile crisis? As things stand, though, the same question could now be asked about Joe Biden.

With Jill Biden having apparently rejected pleas to persuade her husband to step down, and with Democratic governors now rallying to his cause, it has been left to a few outlier Democrats and the media, led by the New York Times, to make the case for a replacement candidate. In the end, though, it is probably donors and poll ratings that will now decide.

The lack of any obvious Plan B is really no argument either. After all, cometh the hour, cometh the man or woman. With some plausible candidates reportedly shying away or deemed unelectable, the spotlight is currently trained on Michelle Obama, though with no evidence at all as to whether the former first lady might be willing to carry the torch for the Democrats, let alone spend another stint in the White House  or how her nomination might be engineered. For now, theres succour in the fact that polling shows her to be the only Democrat who could comfortably beat Trump, with an 11-point lead.

It might be added that the testing provided by a long presidential campaign can be seen as a desirable, even necessary, preparation for the job. Someone whose profile looks perfect, even someone with first-hand experience of the White House, may not, in the event, possess the qualities to be even an adequate president.

Whichever way the Biden question is resolved, however, one apparently small, but necessary change, could perhaps come out of it in the longer term: an amendment to the Constitution setting a maximum age for the president.

The US Constitution is an admirable document in many ways. It steered the country more or less successfully through the mess of the 2000 election, when it turned out there was no means of conducting an accurate recount in Florida. You can quibble with the electoral college system, which allows someone to win the presidency while losing the popular vote, and with the scope of presidential immunity, as interpreted by the Supreme Court this week, which will doubtless keep lawyers very gainfully employed for a long time to come.

And amending the Constitution is not designed to be easy: there have been only 27 amendments in more than 200 years. However, in the light of Bidens apparent determination to stand for re-election at the age of 82, and the entirely justified questions that have arisen about his fitness for office, the next Congress might just be inclined to have a go. After all, it was the spectacle of an ailing Franklin Roosevelt during the concluding months of the Second World War that led to the 22nd Amendment to be added in 1951, setting the two-term limit for future presidents.

Instituting a maximum age at which someone can run for presidential office might be seen by some as a restriction on personal freedom, but there is an argument that it is now rational and necessary. There is, after all, a minimum age for being elected president, which is 35  why no maximum? There would be no point in introducing a compulsory retirement age, as an electoral mandate would surely pre-empt any retirement age. A maximum age on the date of inauguration, however  how about 75?  might have a better chance of being enshrined as the 28th Amendment, while memories of the Biden embarrassment, whatever the outcome, remain fresh.

The current state of affairs is good for no one. It is endlessly demeaning for Biden himself and his family to have his mental capacity repeatedly questioned in this way. It is a liability for the Democratic Party, which could lose the presidency on this issue alone, long before any vote has been cast.

Above all, though, it is bad for the United States, whose international image and authority  already perhaps more contested than at any time in recent memory  cannot but be impaired by a president who seems increasingly incapable of cutting a credible figure in a TV studio in his own country, let alone on the global stage.

Some still pin their hopes on the first lady as the one person who could prevail on her husband to see sense, at which point the whole dynamic of the race would be instantly transformed. To the disappointment, even despair of many Democrats, however, there is little sign of that yet.
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Dont you feel sorry for Rishi Sunak? I know I do: he emerged from 10 Downing Street this morning, greeted by the same rain that ushered in his snap general election back in May (for this prime minister, it never rains but it pours.)

His tired eyes and hangdog expression told the story of the night: a Labour landslide and an historic Conservative defeat. Perhaps, though, they also told the story of his entire poison-chalice premiership, one tainted by the four leaders who had come before him. He looked exhausted. Who wouldnt?

But, for the first time in the campaign  in his whole tenure, in fact  he appeared, well... human, much like Theresa May when shed choked out her resignation speech through tears in 2019. More than just human, however, Rishi was dignified. It may have been a particularly bitter end, but there was much to admire.

Perfectly composed, looking every inch the statesman, he stood at the famous lecturn with his wife, Akshata, behind him; grim-faced but glamorous in stripes, holding the umbrella hed needed so desperately when he set out his stall in the hammering rain and set the tone for what was to be a disastrous campaign. It was as if she was ready to step in, should she be needed, to shield him from the real and metaphorical rain that threatened to fall. A stoic, supportive figure in the background, she didnt take her eyes off him once. Behind every great man, and all that.

Family was central to Sunaks speech  a stark contrast to his predecessor, Boris Johnson, who had blamed his party for changing the rules, compared himself to Cincinnatus, and mentioned only Dilyn the dog in his final address to the nation. When Sunak spoke of watching his young daughters light Diwali candles on the steps of Downing Street two generations after his grandparents had come to Britain, I saw the parental pride swelling in his chest and my own felt heavy with a shared sadness. I ached  not for a prime minister lost, but for a dad devastated by the upheaval he put his family through.

In fact, as he spoke of his family, thanking them for their sacrifices, the sun appeared to emerge from behind a cloud, as though the very mention of his loved ones was enough to chase away the storm.

His children, though, were conspicuous in their absence. Traditionally, prime ministers with children have left office by their sides  we saw this with Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Boris Johnson. Even the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt  less than an hour earlier  left No 11 with his wife, three children and family dog. Not Sunak. Perhaps he had decided to take a leaf out of his successors book and hold his children back to protect them from the harsh (and, often, accusatory) glare of the spotlight as they embark on the next stage of their lives?

Certainly, Sunak had only generous things to say about Starmer, calling him a decent, public-spirited man who he respected regardless of their disagreements. This sense of agreeable disagreement that had been so lacking in the election campaign was notable in Sunaks speech and it was refreshing to see a politician bowing out with such grace. He appeared, behind that lectern, to be a decent man and I suspect he is. One who was simply given an impossible task. His apology, too, for the campaign and the heavy loss felt worlds away from some of his predecessors for whom sorry seems to be the hardest word. Perhaps there is hope yet, then, for a more respectful politics in the future.

When it was time to go, the Sunaks did so together, with Akshata stretching out her hand for her husband as he finished his speech. They left hand-in-hand, united. In a world that is increasingly divided, this felt significant.

We expect a lot of our politicians and rightly so. But its important, I think, that we remember theyre human, too. Arguably, Sunaks speech this morning helped us do just that.
In British elections, things happen at warp speed. There is no languid two-and-a-half-month interregnum from the close of polls to the taking up of the reins of power, as there is in the US. Prime minister Starmer will move into Downing Street imminently, and before hes worked out how to use the remote control or found out where the loos are, hell be on a plane to Washington for the Nato summit next week.

There, the most newly minted Western leader will take his first baby steps on the world stage. But  to put it mildly  its going to be weird. Theres going to be Keir Starmer, with his whopping, great big mandate, shaking hands with Joe Biden who  how can one put this gently  is looking a touch past his sell-by date. In November, as things stand (and it is my belief this might change), Keir Starmer will be either spending his premiership dealing with a US president who appears mentally compromised or one who is morally compromised.

Never mind, as the politicians are wont to tell us, they will deal with whoever is the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and from the grand Lutyens House a mile or so away on Massachusetts Avenue, the British ambassador, Karen Pierce, will be doing her best to smooth the path of the new PM and his fledgling administration.

It would be conventional now to talk about the special relationship but it is a phrase I came to hate in my eight years in the US. It is something the British  and our press  obsess about but which the Americans dont think twice about. The travelling British press pack when Starmer goes will be on high alert for anything that could be construed as a snub. Will there be a bilateral? Or will it just be a corridor brush past? How long will it last? Did Macron get more? And on and on it goes; a totally meaningless confection.

Whats so silly is that Downing Street often plays up to it  purring with delight when the meeting goes on longer than scheduled, or becoming brittle and defensive when the president says hes too busy for a photocall.

Look, in certain areas, the special relationship does exist and is absolutely real and vital: national security, intelligence sharing and defence. But America has interests and will do what it sees as being in its interests at any given time. And remember, the transition from Trump to Biden in 2021 made no difference in terms of the UK getting a post-Brexit trade deal with the US. Trump wasnt that interested in giving Britain one, and neither was the Biden administration. Further, if there is to be one, remember who has the leverage. Its not us.

At the end of Barack Obamas term, I had breakfast with his press secretary and he confided the tricks of the trade: when the Brits are in town, you talk about the special relationship; when its the Canadians or Mexicans, you talk about the closest relationship (which geographically of course it is); and when its the French, its the oldest relationship  two republics born at around the same time. Everyone wants to feel they are important when they go to Washington.

David Cameron had it right when he acknowledged openly that Britain was the junior partner. Starmer should do the same  whether its Biden, Trump or anyone else, for that matter, in the White House. Arguably, the two in the last half century that had the closest relationship were Thatcher and Reagan, but that didnt stop the US from completely blindsiding the British with the invasion of Grenada  a Commonwealth country  and not telling Downing Street anything about it until it happened.

Obviously, the relationship will get more tangly if it is Trump back in the White House: just ask our former ambassador Lord Darroch, who was effectively fired from the job by him. It is hard to see Starmer and Trump kicking back and having a laugh together over burgers and fries at Mar-a-Lago. Theresa May had a dreadful relationship with him but arguably, she got a commitment to Nato from him which the British saw as a big and important success. And Trump and Macron had a brief love-in but that quickly soured. So dont judge the relationship on atmospherics.

For Sir Keir, maintaining the commitment to Ukraine will be the biggest challenge if Trump wins a second term. But it will be a concern shared by the rest of Europe and the new Nato secretary general. And that is where the British have been putting in a lot of spade work, with Lord Cameron visiting Trump to discuss this in the spring.

As with so much else, there will be a ton of reading for Starmer to do on the flight over to Washington. But I do think the best description of British foreign policy is this: find out what America is thinking and do a little bit less. I have no reason to think that will change under Prime Minister Starmer.
A 40m development, Airport Trade Park, is planned on the Swords Road, Co Dublin

A joint venture between two UK firms has received planning permission for a 40m urban logistics park on the Swords Road, near the airport in Santry, Co Dublin.

The development represents the first investment in Ireland for the joint venture between developer Chancerygate and specialist sustainable and impact investor Bridges Fund Management, which has successfully delivered similar projects in the UK for over 10 years.

With a total floor area extending to 119,500 sq ft, the finished project will provide 14 units ranging from 3,600 sq ft to 22,370 sq ft in size.

Named Airport Trade Park, the Grade A units on the five acre site will be available for lease with construction due to commence in Autumn 2024.

Once complete, the scheme will have a projected gross development value of around 40m.

The partnership acquired the site from construction company Carey Building Contractors in May 2022 for 4.5m. Carey previously used the site for office accommodation and civil engineering yard space. It is around 1km south of Dublin Airport and 8km north of the city centre.

Boosted by demand due to a combination of ecommerce, the pandemic and Brexit, prime rents for the Dublin logistics market have been increasing, with the best buildings achieving 135 per sq m at the end of the opening quarter of this year, up from 117 per sq m for the same period in 2023.

Furthermore, agents have been forecasting that they could exceed 151 per square metre by the end of this year.

But the sector has not been immune from recent investor caution as the authoritative MSCI/SCSI IPD index showed capital values fell 1.7pc during the first quarter of this year.

The Santry site benefits from good connectivity, thanks to its proximity to the airport, M50 and M1 arterial routes, several bus routes and a proposed future MetroLink station at Dardistown, linking Dublin Airport to the city centre.

In addition to Dublin, Chancerygate has operations in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Warrington, Madrid and Lisbon.

The company currently has around 1.16 million sq ft of urban logistics space under construction or ready for development across ten sites.

Bridges is a specialist sustainable and impact investor. Its property funds focus on sectors that are well placed to benefit from the transition to a more sustainable and inclusive economy, including healthcare, lower-cost housing and sustainable logistics.
The hearing of a liquidators case against ex-Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS) boss Michael Fingleton has been put back to early next year, subject to the Supreme Court permitting it to proceed.

The trial had been provisionally listed for October but was yesterday pushed back to January as the parties await judgment on Mr Fingletons third bid to have the civil case thrown out because of alleged unfairness.

Previously, the 2012 case was scheduled to take place last March.

The 86-year-old is acting through his wife and son, Michael Fingleton Jr, under their powers of attorney. They took over due to his ill-health arising from a stroke five years ago, and claim the case cannot be properly defended due to his incapacitation and inability to contribute to his defence.

The High Court and Court of Appeal both refused to halt the case initiated in 2012 by the liquidators of the State-owned Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), which took over the INBS after it failed.

The appeal court found the octogenarian had not established a real or serious risk of an unfair trial or unjust result.

Mr Fingletons lawyers told the Supreme Court last March that the case is missing its key witness, while the IBRC liquidators argued halting a case before trial is a draconian step only to be exercised in exceptional cases and in clear cases.

The court has not set a date for delivery of its decision.

The IBRC case alleges Mr Fingleton, as managing director and chief executive, had excessive control over the building societys business and flouted its lending rules.

The claim was originally pitched at 6bn, the amount lost by the lender after the 2008 property crash. It has since narrowed to about 290m and centres around five series of loans issued between 2006 and 2009.

The allegations are denied.

Mr Fingleton Jr has said his father, who was worth 75m in 2006, had less than 25,000 in two personal bank accounts and outstanding judgment debts of more than 10.7m as of late 2022.
Fionnan Sheahan: Keep calm and carry on  Keir Starmer takes the UK reins after Tory circus

Election result is reminiscent of events in Ireland in 2011, as are the challenges facing the new cabinet

Prime minister Keir Starmer with his wife Victoria Starmer are applauded by staff as they enter his official London residence at No 10 Downing Street for the first time. Photo: PA

Fionnan Sheahan in Downing Street Sat 6 Jul 2024 at 03:30

The Starmtroopers  the Labour Party activists  were planted on Downing Street to wave flags. But outside in Whitehall, up to 1,000 supporters, bystanders and tourists gathered to greet the new prime minister, Keir Starmer. A section of the crowd, led by EU umbrella wavers, burst into a rendition of the Tony Blair anthem Things Can Only Get Better.
Colbert King: The thought of a vengeful Trump with new powers of immunity from Supreme Court is terrifying

The new ruling offers American presidents immunity from accountability for official acts that might leave him open for prosecution

Former president Donald Trump still faces three more criminal trials. Photo: AP

Colbert King Washington Post Sat 6 Jul 2024 at 03:30

In the week of Independence Day, America finds itself, as a nation, back under a monarchys hold.
Xi seen off by Rahmon at airport after state visit to Tajikistan

Xinhua) 13:25, July 06, 2024

DUSHANBE, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Tajik President Emomali Rahmon bid farewell to Chinese President Xi Jinping at the airport on Saturday after Xi wrapped up a state visit to Tajikistan.

The visit saw the two countries elevate their ties to comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era.

Chairman of the National Assembly of Tajikistan and mayor of Dushanbe Rustam Emomali, as well as Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin also bid farewell to Xi at the airport.

Rahmon presented to Xi a precious photo album of his three visits to Tajikistan since 2014 and once again warmly congratulated Xi on his successful historic state visit to Tajikistan.

Xi pointed out that the historic meeting between the two heads of state during his visit will lead the development of China-Tajikistan comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era for a long time to come, adding he would like to work with President Rahmon to continue pushing for an even brighter future for China-Tajikistan relations.

On the way to the airport, local overseas Chinese and representatives of Chinese-funded institutions waved the national flags of China and Tajikistan on both sides of the road, congratulating Xi on the complete success of his state visit.

On Friday evening, Xi had a cordial and friendly chat over tea with Rahmon in Dushanbe.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Life, they say, is measured in moments, not milestones. If so, this is Keir Starmers moment after leading Labours stampede in the UK elections.

The Conservatives reached their own milestone with their worst results in the modern era. But such are the divisions in Britain that the honeymoon ended almost as soon as Mr Starmer was sworn in as prime minister.

Having been given the keys to No 10, his promise of change swiftly became a pledge to deliver stability and moderation. His focus is on rebuilding Britain and reaching out.

The election had brought the four nations of the UK together, facing down the challenges of an insecure world.

From now on you have a government unburdened by doctrine, guided only by the determination to serve your interest, he said in a message that will be welcomed by the many who felt government had become aloof, self-serving and remote.

In a hostile and heated political climate, he also sought to strike a note of optimism. His party could turn around the lack of trust in politics and the draining away of hope that has happened under previous governments. The economy and inequality will demand much of his attention. He will need to address peoples sense that everyday costs are beyond them.

It has been suggested that if you are going to kick authority in the face, it is best to use both feet, which seems to have been what much of the electorate have done to the Tories.

Rishi Sunaks resignation was inevitable after such a rout. He had inherited a party on the slide, and the backlash arguably owes more to the cognitive dissonance that took hold under his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

Apologising for the trouncing, Mr Sunak took responsibility for the dire showing: he fully accepted the people had spoken and he accepted the outcome. With democracy under threat in so many places, every such endorsement is consequential.

However, the fact that his high-stakes bet on going for an early election backfired so spectacularly is sure to smart for some time.

Results in the North saw Sinn Fein emerge as the largest party and the DUP thoroughly shell-shocked after more than half-a-century of the Paisley hold on the North Antrim seat ended.

In Dublin, there was no disguising the sense of relief around Government Buildings that the arrival of Mr Starmer could herald a resetting of temperatures in Anglo-Irish relations, which were below zero at times over recent years.

As a no-nonsense lawyer, he built his reputation on solid, meticulous work. His rise has been remarkable as he only entered electoral politics at the age of 52.

His reputation is more as a fixer than flash orator, and this could be just what a recently stumbling Britain requires. With so much broken, he will have ample opportunity to showcase his skills-set.
Finance Minister Jack Chambers said bringing the next budget forward should not be taken as an indicator of an autumn general election. Photo: Collins

There is something almost touching about the faith politicians place in giveaway budgets. Their trust that the public will reward them for the largesse seems unshakeable.

If you were looking for other signs as to when the next election might be held, the amount of gold in the Governments purse is often a good pointer as to when it is likely to reach for the starting gun.

The efficacy of it all is not really the point. It has become custom and practice. The hope of politicians that the warm fuzzy feeling people get when given free stuff will translate into political capital never fades. Given that the gifts being bandied about are already the property of the taxpayer to begin with, bargaining on gratitude has no sound basis.

It is a bit like coming away from a bring-and-buy sale and convincing yourself you have bagged a bargain, even though you have just paid handsomely for something you donated yourself. Nonetheless, the electoral bazaar appears to be opening for business with news that Budget 2025 is to be brought forward by a week in October.

Although new Finance Minister Jack Chambers was adamant that the shift was absolutely not a signal of an early outing at the polls, few believed him.

As writer Ben Okri put it: The magician and the politician have much in common: they both have to draw our attention away from what they are really doing.

The ability to draw on handsome exchequer returns will make it more enticing to add to the budget cornucopia

Either way, Sinn Fein finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty was having none of it, dismissing the denial as a cock-and-bull story. The general feeling is the timeline points to early or mid-November for an election. Events in the UK and in France present a cautionary tale about impulsively rushing to the polls. Consequences tend to be quite indifferent to our intentions, as Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron are belatedly discovering.

Strategies are valuable, but it is only results that count. And that is why Fine Gael and Fianna Fail will wish to get out of the blocks as speedily as decency permits to make optimal use of any favourable tailwinds. The ability to draw on handsome exchequer returns (published this week and showing 5.9bn) will make it more enticing to add to the budget cornucopia. Once again, multi-national profits and corporation tax receipts have powered ahead.

The concern is that the extra revenue may also turbo-charge expectations and weaken any remaining impulses towards restraint, especially with a looming election. We will have some indication as to whether the Coalition yields to such a temptation with the Summer Economic Statement that is due next week.

Despite stern warnings on the need for caution on spending, Taoiseach Simon Harris has already pledged further cost-of-living supports. But the Fiscal Advisory Council has warned of the danger of an everything-now approach of tax cuts, increases in current spending and ramping up capital spending all at once.

Just as there is a time for pushing limits, there is a time for slowing down.
Samantha Toner will be taking on Mont Blanc in September in aid of Husky Rescue Ireland

A Dublin woman who conquered 32 peaks in Ireland in just as many days last year, is now gearing up for another challenge.

Samantha Toner (38), from Rathfarnham, now plans to scale the highest mountain in Western Europe in support of Husky Rescue Ireland.

She will depart for Italy on September 6 and aims to begin her ascent of Mont Blanc on September 10, expecting the climb to span 3-4 days.

A few days before tackling Mont Blanc, she plans to climb Gran Paradiso, one of Italys highest mountains, to acclimatize to the altitude.

She undertook the feat of climbing 32 peaks last year while working full-time, raising over 3,000 for the same charity.

I volunteer at Husky Rescue Ireland, and I see the constant pressure they're under, she said.

Andy Cullen, who runs it, has such a passion for it. Right now theyre at maximum capacity and have so many vet bills taking care of some dogs which are traumatised and need love.

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Ms Toner had an Akita breed which was he constant companion for 14 years before he passed away.

Akitas are quite rare, theyre massive and much bigger than huskies, but they share some similarities, she said.

Husky Rescue Ireland is one of the few animal charities that accepts this breed.

She is currently undergoing rigorous training for her upcoming Mont Blanc challenge and has been using a special mask to prepare for the altitude.

The summit of Mont Blanc is a seven-hour incline. Im training hard to adjust to the altitude; when Im up there, Ill have only 52pc of my usual oxygen intake, Ms Toner said.

Currently, Im training with a 25pc reduction in oxygen, and its quite challenging, so I need to step up my training.

She likened the sensation of reduced oxygen to experiencing a panic attack, unable to catch her breath, but noted that it is helping her learn to pace herself for the September expedition.

The Gouter Route on Mont Blanc involves navigating steep rock faces and high-altitude snowfields

Ms Toner is currently engaged in strength training 3-4 times a week and hiking the tallest peaks in Wicklow twice a week, using her training mask to reduce oxygen intake.

As she approaches her departure date, she plans to intensify her training to seven days a week before resting up for the climb.

Mont Blanc, at 4,807 metres (15,774 feet), presents a daunting challenge as Western Europes highest peak.

Ms Toner will follow the Gouter Route, a popular yet demanding path that involves navigating steep rock faces, potential rockfalls, and high-altitude snowfields.

Ms Toner plans to document her journey on her social media page @samantha_hikes_ireland and has set up a fundraising page for Husky Rescue Ireland.
Waterways Ireland has confirmed that more barriers may be needed on the Grand Canal to mitigate health and safety risks. Pic: Gerry Mooney

Waterways Ireland has confirmed they will erect further temporary fencing along Dublins Grand Canal if it is needed to mitigate risks to health, safety and public wellbeing.

The group also confirmed that the barriers cost approximately 6,560 per week to maintain, or roughly 26k per month.

It is also exploring alternative options such as landscaping and architectural redesign and hopes groundwork will commence in October, or earlier if possible.

Waterways Ireland said it is now working to find an alternative pragmatic solution that enables people to fully enjoy the canal amenities, protects biodiversity, and is aesthetically appropriate.

A spokesperson told the Irish Independent that while they have concerns about public health and safety, they are committed to fully reopening all sections of the Grand Canal as soon as possible.

John McDonagh informed the Dail Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the organisation chose to erect the barriers along the canal for two reasons, public health and securing their property.

He said the organisation has extended the fencing up to 2km and that the risk to health, safety, and public wellbeing remains the overriding concern.

Waterways Ireland is seriously concerned for the health and safety of people staying in tents by the canal, and about the impact of the lack of sanitation facilities, the statement added.

Having to erect barriers along the canal is not something we had planned to do, and we acknowledge that the current fencing situation along a stretch of the canal is undesirable.

They added that they are accelerating a landscaping and biodiversity programme of works, which will enable the reopening of this wonderful public amenity.
Captain Paul Watson of the Watson Federation on board the anti-whaling vessel John Paul Dejoria docked along Sir John Rogerson's Quay on the Liffey. Photo: Gerry Mooney

More than 230 pilot whales have been reported killed in this year's annual event in the Faroe Islands. Photo: Getty

Dublin has become the launch pad for a new whale rescue mission as a charity dedicated to stopping whaling sets up a base in Ireland.

The Captain Paul Watson Foundation has docked its ship at Sir John Rogersons Quay in the city in response to Icelands controversial decision to grant a fresh licence to that countrys last whaler.

The foundation says its crew can sail to Icelandic waters quickly from Dublin if they get word that the killing is to begin.

Alex Neubauer, head of the foundations Irish chapter, said a delay in the issuing of the licence to a company owned by millionaire businessman Kristjan Loftsson after a legal battle meant it was unlikely his fleet would take to sea this season.

He has publicly said it is too late (for this season) but the reason we are in Dublin is that we dont trust him, Mr Neubauer said.

The foundation uses direct non-aggressive action tactics to disrupt whaling, sailing into the path of whaling boats, preventing loading of equipment and blocking refuelling.

The foundation is a relatively new and small operation, it was set up after Paul Watsons departure from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society which he founded.

It retains ties with Sea Shepherd France, however, and the two have monitored the movements of supertrawlers in Irish waters as part of their campaign against overfishing.

The ship in Dublin is the John Paul DeJoria, named after the US businessman who supports its work, and is open to the public from 10am to 5pm today and tomorrow. Mr Neubauer said everyone was welcome on board to hear more about the foundations work.

It currently has volunteers in the Faroe Islands monitoring the islands grind  the killing of hundreds of whales that takes place annually.

They say it is part of the heritage but in the the old days they hunted whales for food. Now its for fun, Mr Neubauer said.

They also used simple boats but now they have jet skis and fast boats.

Thats not heritage. Its a massacre.

To have these highly intelligent animals who have big social bonds coming out of the water watching their family being killed on the beach is unbelievably cruel.

More than 230 pilot whales have been reported killed in the current grind.

Iceland attempted to ban whaling this year but Mr Loftssons company threatened legal action against the move.
Pro-life demonstrators take part in a Rally for Life march from Parnell Square in Dublin. Picture date: Saturday July 6, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Abortion. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Pro-life demonstrators take part in a Rally for Life march from Parnell Square in Dublin. Picture date: Saturday July 6, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Abortion. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Thousands of people have taken part in an anti-abortion demonstration in the centre of Dublin.

A smaller number held a pro-choice counter-demonstration in OConnell Street on Saturday afternoon.

The annual Rally for Life march started at Parnell Square and marched to the Custom House.

Those taking part held up placards saying Abortion kills our future and featured banners from many different parts of Ireland.

Pro-life demonstrators take part in a Rally for Life march from Parnell Square in Dublin. Picture date: Saturday July 6, 2024. PA Photo. See PA story IRISH Abortion. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

The group is demanding the Government introduce measures such as extending the three-day waiting period to get an abortion and a Bill that restricts abortion to within six weeks of pregnancy.

There was a gardai presence as the parade passed a group of about 70 demonstrators taking part in the United for Choice counter-rally.

Organiser Emma Hendrick said: After years of hard work we won a massive victory in the repeal referendum but we cant just take it for granted.

Across the globe womens rights and LGBTQI+ rights are under attack.

The rallies took place amid an ongoing political row over stalled recommendations of an independent review of Irelands abortion laws.

Barrister Marie OShea was commissioned by the Department of Health in 2022 to conduct a review of the legislation that was introduced after the country voted to liberalise the abortion regime in the landmark Eighth Amendment referendum of 2018.

In her 2023 review report, Ms OShea made a series of recommendations.

However, more than a year on, many of the most significant proposals are yet to be implemented.

Among the recommendations proposed by the barrister is the removal of a mandatory three-day waiting period between a womans initial medical consultation and her being given access to abortion treatment or medication.

The review also recommends that the threat of criminal sanction is removed for medics found to have acted outside the provisions of the abortion legislation, and that the HSE is given the ability to ensure the provision of services is not disrupted due to issues around conscientious objections by healthcare staff.

Ms OShea also urged a review of the legislative definition related to abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities.
'Fundrum' returns to south Dublins shopping mecca, Dundrum Town Centre, this week for its third edition, from July 12 to July 16, adding an interesting, edgier element  it is no longer just family-friendly entertainment.

The inaugural festival in 2022, running on Pembroke Square, offered everything from bumblebee displays and seahorse aquariums to yoga classes and hip-hop lessons, with more of a bent towards kid-friendly activities. A way to keep the young 'uns entertained and for free  a winner for parents during the summer holidays from school.

This time it has been expanded to appeal to those over 18 and who don't have children. There is the Sip & Paint on Friday, July 12, which promises guided art classes and, of all drinks, sangria.

This could be to remind people of what they were having on recent Spanish sojourns, what could be around the corner, or what is not on the cards at all.

You can paint on a canvas like Picasso, get your creative juices flowing and let your inner artist shine at this 90-minute event, hosted by Paint & Prosecco and The Port House.

The highlight of the event is TikTok sensation and comedian Rachel Galvo bringing her hit comedy show The Sh**e Feminist to the dlr Mill Theatre on Friday, July 12.

The two offerings of her one-man show sold out in minutes as Galvo reflects on the forces that have shaped her  from an Irish Catholic upbringing to awkward sexual encounters  and the choices that threw her South Dublin life drastically off-course.

For classic film fans, Movies @ Dundrum will host special screenings of the modern comedy great Bridesmaids on Saturday and Sunday.

On Sunday, there is wine-tasting at The Flying Duck at Harvey Nichols from 6-8pm.

Then, of course, there are the more family-orientated shenanigans with a number of events the whole family can enjoy, including The Gruffalo by No Strings Theatre Company and Dino Live Experience.

The Gruffalo, by No Strings Theatre Company, is Fundrums headline act on Saturday, July 13 and Monday, July 15, which gives a thoroughly entertaining rendering of the children's classic - for free. That's right for free, you just have to register for tickets.

The Dino Live Experience returns by popular demand and there is a meet and interact with amazingly life-like dinosaurs, Trixie the Giant T-Rex, Terry the Triceratops and Vinny the Velociraptor.

It must be emphasised that many of these events are free; full details on how to avail of what's on offer can be found here as this is only a sample of what's on offer.
Mayor of Wexford George Lawlor says that "organised begging gangs" are operating in Wexford town.

Wexford has a problem with aggressive, in-your-face, intimidating begging on the Main Street, perpetrated by organised gangs.

That's the view of Mayor George Lawlor, who has been liaising with gardai with a view to tackling what he believes has become a serious issue for the town.

"I had a call there from someone who stated that they passed a total of nine beggars as they walked the Main Street, some of whom were almost intimidating. This is something thats clearly organised and structured.

"We simply cannot have this on Wexfords narrow Main Street when people are trying to go about their business.

Cllr Lawlor accepted that there may be sad and genuine cases which should not be the target of any garda action.

Cllr George Lawlor. Pic: Jim Campbell

"Its not illegal to beg in Ireland, he said. But it is illegal to be involved in organised begging, which is clearly the case when these people arrive into town in an organised manner.

"Weve had issues with this before, he continued. It seems to be creeping back in now. In the past, people were seen being dropped at locations across town before setting up begging for the day.

"Ill be discussing this with gardai and I feel we really need to target those involved in these organised begging networks.
Im innocent, says Lucy Letby as shes sentenced for trying to kill baby

Nurse who murdered children is given another life sentence for attempted killing

A court drawing of child murderer Lucy Letby. Photo: PA

Kim Pilling Sat 6 Jul 2024 at 03:30







Child serial killer Lucy Letby said Im innocent as she was led from court after being sentenced to an additional whole-life order for the attempted murder of a baby girl.
Prisca Thevenot walks with French prime minister Gabriel Attal, after she and her team were attacked on the campaign. Photo: Reuters

Frances election campaign has seen more than 50 violent attacks on candidates and activists, a senior government minister has warned, as the country braces for a crunch final round of voting.

Around 30,000 officers will be deployed to police the tense ballot tomorroe, including 5,000 in Paris, said interior minister Gerald Darmanin, as France teeters on the brink of handing the far right its largest-ever parliamentary victory.
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban held talks on a potential Ukrainian peace deal with Russian president Vladimir Putin yesterday, angering some European Union leaders who warned against appeasing Moscow and said he did not speak for the EU.

Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc on Monday. Five days in and Mr Orban has visited Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv and formed the Patriots for Europe alliance with other right-wing nationalists.
Irish News

LATEST | We will evaluate it when it comes closer  Tanaiste responds to soldiers concerns they may not be able to come home at end of Lebanon tour
The cyber attackers were able to see internal chats and may have stolen details about the design of its artificial intelligence products, the report claimed. But the company did not inform law enforcement about the intrusion, it said.
President Joe Biden points as he arrives on Air Force One at Dane County Regional Airport to attend a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)

US President Joe Biden battled to put down an uprising among some Democrats pushing him to abandon his reelection campaign after a poor debate performance, vowing that Im staying in the race.

In a fiery speech to supporters in Wisconsin and in an ABC News interview, Mr Biden argued he is the best Democratic candidate to prevent Republican Donald Trump from regaining the White House in the November 5 election.
Photo Courtesy: Representational image from Wallpaper Cave

Brussels/IBNS: The European Union (EU) will impose tariffs of up to 37.6 percent from Friday on imports of electric vehicles (EVs) manufactured in China, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing in Brussels largest trade case yet, Reuters reported, citing EU officials.

However, there is a four-month window during which the tariffs are provisional and intensive talks are expected to continue between the two sides as Beijing threatens wide-ranging retaliation, reports Reuters.

According to reports, the European Commissions provisional duties of between 17.4 percent and 37.6 percent without backdating are designed to prevent what the commission's President Ursula von der Leyen has said is a threatened flood of cheap EVs built on State subsidies.

The rates, which are laid out in a 208-page document published on Thursday (July 4), are almost exactly the same as those announced by the European Commission, the primary executive arm of the European Union, on June 12.

The executive made slight adjustments after firms identified minor calculation errors in the initial disclosure, as reported by Reuters.

In response, China said it would take all necessary measures to safeguard the country's interests.

Experts said Beijing's "necessary measures" could include retaliatory tariffs on exports to China of products such as cognac or pork.

However, EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis told Bloomberg that there is no basis for China to retaliate.

The Chinese Commerce Ministry on Thursday said that both sides have so far held several rounds of technical talks over tariff issue.

We hope the European and Chinese sides will move in the same direction, show sincerity, and push forward with the consultation process as soon as possible, He Yadong, a Ministry spokesperson, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

European auto-industry executives, however, warned against the tariffs, fearful of counter-tariffs or other measures that could affect the competitiveness of their cars in China when they are already struggling to keep up with a growing number of local competitors in the EV market.

According to the European Commission, Chinese brands share of the EU market has risen to 8 percent from below 1 percent in 2019 and could reach 15 percent next year.
Photo Courtesy: Representational image from Wallpaper Cave

New Delhi: The government has decided to send any GST (Goods and Service Tax) demand notice to the taxpayers, only once there is approval from the Union Ministry of Finance in the North Block, reports CNBC TV18.

The government's decision gives a major relief to the industry and GST taxpayers in the country.

CNBC TV18 reported, quoting official sources, that the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) can not send any tax demand notices where it is an interpretation or a classification matter, without the approval of the policy wing under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

Under GST regime, DGGI, which is the central intelligence agency of CBIC, keeps a close vigil on tax dues, tax unpaid, tax evasion and misreporting of taxes.

DGGI was often accused of sending notices to taxpayers, and industry, where the industry held a different view and the intelligence arm held a different assessment of taxes, leading to stuck payments, delays in taxes and piling up of cases, as reported by CNBC TV18.

"The move is aimed at reducing litigation, deploying the intelligence resources in the right direction and where they are needed the most, thus bringing in ease of living and ease of doing business under the GST regime," sources told CNBC TV18.

"Through this, the DGGI resources will be used more efficiently and will lead to meaningful conclusions to cases and demand notices," the sources were quoted as saying by CNBC TV18.

"The DGGI will continue to conduct investigations, checking tax leakages and, as and when it detects an evasion, it will inform CBIC ... It will be then upon CBIC on whether it wants to announce corrective clarifications to avoid discrepancies and loopholes in the law," the sources added.

CNBC TV18 reported that the recent 53rd GST Council meeting had approved a series of clarifications, which has given a breather to several sectors including foreign shipping lines, MNCs, foreign airlines, start-ups, etc, operating in the country, which were embroiled with a series of DGGI notices.

"The recent notifications have put to rest notices sent to several sectors, making them null and void, putting them to rest on 'as is, where is, basis," sources told CNBC TV18.
Photo courtesy: PKF

Indian writer-translator Rakshanda Jalil was the guest at An Author's Afternoon, organised by Prabha Khaitan Foundation , at Taj Bengal in Kolkata on Friday. IBNS correspondent Souvik Ghosh pens down Jalil's words on her education, teaching profession, Urdu and her PhD. topic. Excerpts...

Q. Tell us about your early days.

A. I was a teacher. It was expected of people and nerds like me, coming from a family which had teachers, to opt for teaching. I did try teaching, first in Khalsa college of Delhi University and briefly at Aligarh University but my heart was never on the job. Back in those days, people used to do higher education straightaway after school. I did PhD. later in my life. Also in those days, it was easy to get those jobs after doing M.A. There was no such rush in getting jobs back then. Delhi University then had a very simple process to get the job. It might be the case that I didn't value it or I understood I was not meant for it. I was not sure, maybe.

Photo courtesy: PKF

Q. What were your early influences towards Urdu because we don't come across many who are fond of their languages growing up in Delhi or UP?

A. In my family, we used to leave behind the English language outside and enter the house. There was no written rule but we never used to speak in English at home. My both parents were perfectly literate and cosmopolitan people in their own way but it was an unspoken rule that we would speak in Urdu at home.

We had to speak in English outside the house, of course. But I used to speak very domestic Urdu. Even now, I speak Urdu very fluently but I don't have critical idioms. I did indeed come from a home where neither parent had studied Urdu formally but we had Urdu books in the house. I went to a school where there were a whole bunch of languages on offer as a third language option. Urdu was one of them.

I remember one Mr. Bhasin, who was the transport incharge and a refugee from the other side of the partition or a partition survivor, whose pronunciation of Urdu introduced the language to me. I have huge debt of gratitude towards Mr. Bhasin for my Urdu. He was also an Urdu teacher who taught me the language in classes 6, 7 and 8.

Q. Why did you take more than a 20-year gap in doing PhD after M.A.?

A. Nowadays, I see students taking a few years' gap here and there in pursuing higher education. But in my time, it was a very linear approach when it came to education. I don't see the benefit of that kind of approach because there is no age bar for higher education. The age bar in elementary education is backed by common sense and logic. But there is absolutely no common sense and logic in wanting to do your higher education right away, I think. If one gives time, he/she ruminates over a whole bunch of things and chooses a subject. I see a lot of people are so confused over their choices of MPhil. and PhD. subject because they haven't had enough thought behind it. Somebody like me, who does it 20 years later, is like soil, lying fallow. I see these 20 odd years as a piece of land which doesn't become a wasteland or a desert. It just gets time to rejuvenate itself and yields the growth of sprouts more healthily the moment seeds are thrown into it. No education is a waste neither is time.

Photo courtesy: PKF

Q. What brought you to the subject of your PhD.?

A. In those 20 odd years, I was reading randomly and was also translating. I think the choice of the thesis, which was the Progressive Writers' Movement, revealed itself to me because by then, I had read so many people that I hadn't consciously thought of as progressive writers. I want to add that there is a great joy in reading for the sake of reading when it is not tied up to gainful employment, promotions and jobs. There is a great joy and liberation in reading for the sheer pleasure of it.

So in my 40s with two small children, a household to run and various family responsibilities, I took a year's leave without pay from the place where I was working, and that's when most of the feeling and surge and travel related to the research happened. I had rented a cubicle at the library of India International Centre in Delhi for six months when I cut myself off from the world and wrote my thesis. I think that was the best time of my life.

Q. Do you feel like having an obsession with Urdu?

A. A lot of people wonder about my so-called obsession with Urdu. Everybody wondered why I fell for Urdu even after doing a Masters in English and teaching the language. I am not obsessed with Urdu. But I think I am uniquely placed for having access to both languages. I enjoy accessing Urdu literature and making it accessible to those who don't have it. So I developed the skill and honed it over the years since 1992 when I first published Prem Chand's Urdu Short Stories. We think of him as a Hindi writer but actually he started out as a Urdu writer. So it was not an obsession but a continuing interest. I find Urdu as a mine and it will keep giving me something or the other if I keep mining it decades after decades.

Photo courtesy: PKF

Q. How do you see the visible cleansing of Urdu from writings and songs in recent times?

A. I think the Urdu writers, film lyricists have done a huge service in keeping Urdu alive in difficult times. Every time there was a war with Pakistan, Urdu became the enemy. It was strange. There was no logic behind it. So it's the film industry that kept Urdu going. We owe a huge salute to all the filmmakers, who kept the language alive. When Doordarshan had not started, transistors used to play the film songs. Through those transistors, these words used to pierce through the popular imagination. They were cutting across the interiors where government policies could not go.

When the central government wanted to impose Hindi, there were riots in Tamil Nadu but there was no objection to Radio Ceylon or AIR playing Hindi film songs. So that was the reach of cinema and airwaves as media. Popular content is not necessarily pedestrial. That's a mistake we sometimes make. We often consider popular content as something that caters to the lowest common denominator. Not always. Hindi cinema has taught us repeatedly.

Special remarks:

Manisha Jain - Chief Operating Officer - PKF - It was an absolute privilege to host An Authors Afternoon with the illustrious Dr. Rakhshanda Jalil. Her profound contribution to the literary world as a translator, writer, and historian is commendable. We are honored to have had the opportunity to celebrate her remarkable journey and contributions to literature.

K Mohanchandran - Senior Vice President - Operations- IHCL : I had read "But you don't look like a Muslim" before I met Rakhshanda and now that she is a friend, I can sense the person better, I think. She is very committed to searching for the unheard voice and highlighting the need for art & literature to have a social concern too.
In image BSP leader Armstrong/ courtesy: X

Chennai/IBNS: Bahujan Samaj Party's Tamil Nadu chief Armstrong was hacked to death by six bike-borne men near his house in Chennai on Friday.

The six men attacked Armstrong when he was having a discussion with a few party functionaries near his house in the city's Sembium area and then fled.

The family rushed him to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Police suspect it could be a revenge murder, linked to the killing of a gangster, Arcot Suresh, last year.

A senior police officer told NDTV, "We are conducting an investigation. The murder seems to be linked to an earlier killing."

Some reports said the attackers posed as food delivery agents, but police are yet to confirm this.

The Sembium inspector of police has been tasked with cracking the case.

The opposition has hit out at the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu and said the killing is evidence of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

Leader of Opposition Edappadi Palaniswamy said, "What do I say when the state chief of a national party is murdered? Law and order is shameful. There is no fear of law or the police".

A lawyer by profession, Armstrong was elected to the Chennai Corporation Council in 2006.

He shot to fame after he organised a mega rally in Chennai two years ago and invited BSP chief Mayawati.
In image Hathras stampede/ courtesy: Videograb from X

Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested the key accused in the Hathras stampede incident which left 121 people dead this week.

The main accused was identified as Dev Prakash Madhukar.

He was a close aide of self-style godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba.

Hathras Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal confirmed Madhukar's arrest from Delhi, adding that he was being brought to Hathras to be presented in the court, reported Hindustan Times.

In the FIR lodged at Sikandra Rao police station, Madhukar is the only accused named in it.

Madhukar's lawyer AP Singh said he has surrendered in Delhi.

"Today, we have surrendered Dev Prakash Madhukar, who has been called the main organiser in the FIR in the Hathras case, after calling the police, the SIT and the STF in Delhi since he was undergoing treatment here," AP Singh was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

At least 121 people, mostly women, were killed after a stampede broke out at a religious event in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras on Tuesday, officials have said.

The stampede occurred during a 'satsang' (prayer meeting) which was attended by hundreds.

Visuals from the Community Health Centre showed several bodies being brought there in buses and tempos in the presence of crying family members.

Manav Mangal Milan Sadbhavna Samagam Committee hosted the religious event.

A case has been reportedly filed against the organisers of the event.

The organisers have been charged under sections 105, 110, 126 (2), 223, and 238 of the country's new criminal code Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Photo Courtesy: Armstrong X page

At least eight suspects have been taken into custody over the killing of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu president Armstrong.

Chennai Additional Commissioner (North) Asra Garg told India Today those detained were being thoroughly interrogated to ascertain the motive behind the murder.

BSP chief Mayawati described the incident as 'gruesome'.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu BSP leader hacked to death by 6 bike-borne men in Chennai

He urged the state government to ensure the guilty must be punished.

"The gruesome killing of Mr. K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state Govt. must punish the guilty," he said.

Bahujan Samaj Party's Tamil Nadu chief Armstrong was hacked to death by six bike-borne men near his house in Chennai on Friday.

The gruesome killing of Mr. K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state Govt. must punish the guilty.  Mayawati (@Mayawati) July 5, 2024

The six men attacked Armstrong when he was having a discussion with a few party functionaries near his house in the city's Sembium area and then fled.

The family rushed him to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Photo courtesy: Sumalatha Ambareesh Instagram

Actress-politician Sumalatha Ambareesh has come out in support of Kannada star Darshan Thoogudeepa, who is a co-accused in the murder of his fan Renukaswamy.

After facing criticism for remaining mum on the case, Sumalatha, who is close to Darshan, said as quoted by Hindustan Times, "You do not understand the bond between my family and Darshan's family. I have known him for 25 years, even before he became a star.

"Beyond his stardom, Darshan is like a family member to me, like a son. He always referred to Ambareesh as his father and gave me a special place in his life. No mother likes to see her son in such a situation."

She added, " I know Darshan as a man with a loving and generous heart. His compassion for animals and willingness to help those in need testify to his character. I believe Darshan is not the type of person to commit such a crime."

Genesis of the murder

According to police, the victim had posted an objectionable comment on Kannada actress Pavithra Gowda's Instagram handle accusing her of causing a rift between Thoogudeepa and his wife Vijaya Lakshmi.

This happened after Pavithra posted an Instagram video celebrating his 10-year relationship with Darshan, who has been married to Vijaya Lakshmi for 20 years.

Darshan's aides reportedly carried Renukaswamy in a taxi from Chitradurga to their Bengaluru hideout where they tortured the victim to death.

After allegedly beating to death, Renukaswamy's body was dumped in a stormwater drain at an area which falls under Kamakshipalya Police Station.

Police reportedly got to know from a food delivery man who saw a dog eating the body of the victim.
Photo courtesy: Congress X handle, PIB

New Delhi/IBNS: Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, has taken strong objection to Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram's jab where he said the three new criminal laws were drafted by "part-timers" and called the remark an "inexcusable insult to the wisdom of Parliament".

Dhankhar, who claimed to be "shocked beyond words", said, "Are we part-timers in Parliament? Inexcusable insult to the wisdom of Parliament..."

"I am shocked beyond words. Please beware of the minds who deliberately as a strategy, by way of narrative, try to run down our nation, demean our institutions, taint our progress...they engage in criticism for the sake of criticism. I do not have words strong enough to condemn such kinds of narratives being set afloat.

"An MP is being labelled part-timer...I appeal to him from this platform, please withdraw this derogatory, defamatory and highly insulting observation to MPs. I hope he does it," he added.

#WATCH | On Congress leader P Chidambaram's remarks over new criminal laws, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar says, "...Are we part-timers in Parliament? Inexcusable insult to the wisdom of Parliament...I am shocked beyond words. Please beware of the minds who deliberately as a pic.twitter.com/2EvtdHeDmf  ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2024

Dhankhar made the remark at the 12th convocation of the Indian Institute of Space and Technology (IIST) in Kerala's capital city, Thiruvananthapuram.

Regarding the three laws, Dhankhar said Parliament "did a great thing" by "unshackling us from the colonial legacy" by implementing them.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Chidambaram had said the three new laws, which came into force on July 1, were drafted by "non-professional people" who were the "part-time members of the committee".

In a move which will completely overhaul the criminal justice system in the country; three newly enacted laws  the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam  came into effect from Monday.

According to a notification by the Ministry of Home Affairs earlier, the three laws will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860; the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

The three new criminal laws have incorporated several new provisions to suit contemporary times and technologies in vogue.

The three laws will focus on justice rather than punishment and are aimed at providing speedy justice, all the way, strengthening the judicial and court management system emphasising on access to justice by all.

The three new laws received Indian Parliament's nod on December 21, 2023 and President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent on December 25, 2023.

The new laws are coming into effect just weeks after PM Modi returned to power for the third straight term.
Image: X video Screenshot

The daylight sword attack on Shiv Sena (Punjab) leader Sandeep Thapar in Ludhiana on Friday by men attired as Nihang Sikhs has triggered political outrage with the opposition parties in unison condemning the ruling AAP government for a total collapse of law and order.

Thapar, a vocal critic of the separatist Khalistan movement, was seriously injured in the attack that occurred in front of the office of the Samvedna Trust where he was attending an event to mark the fourth death anniversary of the trust's founder-president Ravinder Arora.

He is reportedly in a critical condition in the hospital.

Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu said the attack is shameful and it has triggered panic among people.

In a video message on X handle, he said there is no administration in Punjab as the authorities are busy attending only the AAP leaders instead of their duties.

"This kind of attack on any political party leader is sad and shocking," he said, adding that law and order has turned into a farce in the state.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal posted on X: "Ludhiana today witnessed another violent incident with a person being attacked with swords despite being given police security. Such incidents are occurring with increasing frequency in the @AamAadmiParty govt but CM @BhagwantMann is oblivious to the situation and is doing nothing to stop the steep slide in law and order."

"Punjab is descending into jungle raj with extortions and targeted killings under the AAP regime," Badal said.

Ludhiana today witnessed another violent incident with a person being attacked with swords despite being given police security. Such incidents are occurring with increasing frequency in the @AamAadmiParty govt but CM @BhagwantMann is oblivious to the situation and is doing  Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) July 5, 2024

Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar said, "While the murderous attack on Shiv Sena leader Sandeep Thapar in broad daylight in Ludhiana is condemnable, this incident which took place in the bazaar revealed the law and order situation of the state under the leadership of the Punjab government."

"This incident has proved that the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is failing miserably in maintaining peace in the state. Strict action should be taken against the culprits of this murderous attack," he posted on X.

Condemning the attack, Congress leader Partap Bajwa said: "Peace in Punjab returned after endless sacrifices, no one should be allowed to vitiate the atmosphere of the state."

"In Punjab people from all religions live together with love and brotherhood. There are external forces at play who want to disturb Punjabs peace once again for their political benefits. Punjab CM stop your theatrics and focus on law and order of the state, being the Home Minister the buck stops at your door."

"You have failed to control drugs, now law and order is also falling apart. If you cant take care of the state, resign as Chief Minister and let some able leader of AAP take over. Dont ruin the state while you are busy cracking jokes and praising your own self from public stages. Get down on the ground and see the reality. Today no one is safe in Punjab under your watch," the Congress leader said.
Image Credit : File image/UNI

Kulgam (Jammu Kashmir): At least one soldier was killed, and four terrorists were gunned down by security forces in separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir 's Kulgam district on Saturday, officials said.

The first gunfight erupted in Modergam village after security forces launched a search operation based on intelligence inputs. At least two to three terrorists were cornered in their hideout by security forces.

Informing about the gunfight, the Kashmir Zone Police said in a post on microblogging site X, "Encounter started at Modergam Village of #Kulgam District. Police and Security Forces are on job. Further details shall follow."

#Encounter started at Modergam Village of #Kulgam District. Police and Security Forces are on job. Further details shall follow.@JmuKmrPolice  Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) July 6, 2024

A few hours later, another gunfight broke out in Frisal Chinnigam village. Security forces acted swiftly after receiving a tip-off about the presence of Lashkar group terrorists in the area.

Contact established at Frisal Chinnigam area in #Kulgam district. Police and security forces are on job. Further details shall follow.@JmuKmrPolice  Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) July 6, 2024

When the forces reached the village, the terrorists hiding in a house opened fire, triggering a gunfight.

The intense exchange of gunfire continues at both locations.

Earlier last month, two top commanders from The Resistance Front, an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, were trapped in a house they used as a hideout during a gunfight with security forces in Pulwama district.
Image Credit: Video grab

New Delhi: The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) began testing its light battle tank, Zorawar, in Gujarat's Hajira on Saturday.

Jointly developed by DRDO and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Limited, Zorawar is designed to meet the Indian Army's requirements in the eastern Ladakh sector against Chinese deployment across the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Additionally, the tank has been developed in a record time of two years.

Indias Indigenous light tank Zorawar unveiled, fastest product development by DRDO, L&T



As per DRDO chief Dr Kamat, the tank is expected to be inducted into the Indian Army by the year 2027 after all trials@DRDO_India #Zorawar pic.twitter.com/XBB8cnxqlE  DD News (@DDNewslive) July 6, 2024

DRDO chief Dr Samir V Kamat today reviewed the progress made in the project at the Larsen and Toubro plant at Hajira in Gujarat.

In light of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, UAVs and loitering munitions have been integrated into the tanks.

The tank is named after 19th-century Dogra General Zorawar Singh, who led armed operations in Ladakh and Western Tibet.

The light tank Zorawar, weighing 25 tonnes, marks the first instance of a new tank being designed and prepared for trials in such a short time.

Initially, 59 of these tanks will be provided to the Army, with plans for a major program to produce 295 more of these armoured vehicles, reported ANI.

Due to its light weight, the Indian Air Force can transport two tanks at a time in C-17 class transport aircraft, and the tank is capable of operating at high speeds in mountain valleys.

The trials are expected to be completed within the next 12-18 months, after which the tanks will be ready for induction.

While the first batch of ammunition is being sourced from Belgium, the DRDO is prepared to develop the ammunition indigenously.

Owing to its amphibious capabilities, the lightweight Zorawar tank can navigate steep mountain climbs and cross rivers and other water bodies much more easily than its predecessors, such as the heavier T-72 and T-90 tanks, according to an India Today report.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash/Pixabay

The Pakistani Rangers and Sindh police recovered three Hindu businessmen while conducting an operation in Kashmores riverine area in the country on Saturday.

A statement from the paramilitary forces spokesperson said the joint operation carried out against the gang left five other suspects injured but they managed to escape, reported Dawn News.

According to reports, two suspects were killed during the operation.

It identified the dead suspects as notorious dacoit Imdad alias Imdo Bhayo, along with his brother, Nazeer alias Mawali alias Miandad.

The statement said one of the dead suspects was the mastermind behind the abduction of the three traders and five bank employees, adding that there were between 25 and 50 cases against the brothers of kidnappings, encounters, attacks on police pickets, robberies and murders.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Marking the 15th anniversary of the 2009 Urumchi massacre, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) recently commemorated the victims of the 'violent crackdown' against peaceful protesters by the Chinese government.

"On July 5, 2009, thousands of Uyghurs took to the streets and marched towards the Peoples Square in central Urumchi to protest the Chinese governments handling of the Shaoguan incident, during which several Uyghurs were killed by a mob of Chinese factory workers in a dispute," read the statement issued by the WUC.

The 2009 Urumchi Massacre stands as one of the darkest episodes in the history of the Uyghur people, says WUC President Dolkun Isa. The Chinese governments harsh crackdown on the protest marked a pivotal turning point, intensifying the repression of the Uyghur people and resulting in the current genocide.

From July 5-7, 2009, thousands of peaceful Uyghur protesters demanding equal treatment and respect for their rights and freedoms were killed, disappeared, or injured at the hands of Chinese police forces.

Hundreds of Chinese police with shields, rifles, and clubs moved to disperse and arrest the protesters before they reached Urumchi Peoples Square.

The heavy-handed response resulted in unrest among the protesters, further escalating the situation and leading to a brutal crackdown by Chinese authorities.

Following the incident, the regional government imposed a communications blackout that lasted for months, preventing the flow of information.
Sojan Joseph, an Indian-origin member of the UK Parliament, has created history by becoming the first person from Kerala to be elected to the House of Commons. Joseph, who was born in Kaipuzhaa small village in Kottayam district of Kerala, won from the Ashford constituency in Kent County in the UK election results announced on Friday.

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Worked as a nurse since 2002

The 49-year-old migrated to the UK in 2002 after completing his nursing studies in Bengaluru in 2001 and has been working as a nurse in the psychiatry department of the National Health Service. Joseph is currently a borough councillor representing Aylesford and East Stour ward.

Also read: UK Election 2024: British Parliament to have 29 MPs of Indian origin, the highest ever

Celebrations at home

His father, KT Joseph, his three sisters, and other relatives who were gathered in the family home were overjoyed after hearing about his win. His mother, Elikutty, passed away three months ago, and he had visited Kerala then.

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"I am very happy. A Malayalee went there and won. He calls home every day," said his proud father. His sisters said Sojan called home after his victory. "He has been there for 22 years. We were all praying for his win ever since we got to know that he was contesting in the election," one of them said.

Also read: Larry, the 'Chief Mouser' of 10 Downing Street set to welcome his sixth Prime Minister

Was never into politics

Another relative said Sojan joined the Labour Party because he held socialist ideals. A sister of Joseph said while he was in college here, he was never into politics.

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"It was after he reached the UK that he developed an interest in politics, and now his and our dream has come true. Now we are just waiting for him to come to his village, said the sister.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA has stated that five asteroids will fly past Earth between July 8 and July 16, at safe distances from our planet. Among these, the first asteroid, 2024 MT1, will pass at a distance of 936,000 miles on July 8, followed by 2024 ME1 at a distance of 2,700,000 miles from Earth on July 10, and 2022 YS5 will approach at 2,620,000 miles on July 11.

The Sky

Asteroid 2024 MT1

Asteroid 2024 MT1, a near-Earth object approximately 260 feet (about 79 meters) in size, has been of the most interest to scientists. It is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid due to its significant size and the relatively close distance at which it will pass by Earth.

The closest approach of 2024 MT1 is expected on July 8, 2024, when it will pass at a distance of approximately 937,000 miles (around 1,507,839 kilometers) from Earth.

Also read: NASA Spacecraft Captures Images Of Jupiter's Elusive Asteroids For The First Time

JPL

How scientists found Asteroid 2024 MT1

The asteroid 2024 MK was first reported on June 16 by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) at Sutherland Observing Station in South Africa. Its orbit was changed by Earths gravity as it passed by, reducing its 3.3-year orbital period around the Sun by about 24 days.

Why studying Asteroid 2024 MT1 is important

Although it is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid, calculations of its future motion show that it does not pose a threat to our planet for the foreseeable future.

Also read: Bizarre Concept Claims Humans Could Live On Cities Built In Asteroids

JPL

This asteroid's close approach is monitored by NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) and other international space agencies to ensure it does not pose a threat to Earth. Such monitoring is crucial as it helps gather data to improve our understanding of asteroid trajectories and refine future predictions.

Rare occurrence

According to JPL, close approaches of near-Earth objects the size of 2024 MK are relatively rare, occurring about every couple of decades.

JPL

This was an extraordinary opportunity to investigate the physical properties and obtain detailed images of a near-Earth asteroid, Lance Benner, principal scientist at JPL, said.

For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
A viral video of a lady standing next to mannequins at a clothing store in a Dubai mall has sparked a social media debate, with some accusing the store of "modern world slavery." The model's Instagram video shows her posing next to mannequins at the Manto Bride store in Dubai Festival City Mall.

Who was displayed in a Dubai clothing store?

The woman, known as Angelina on Instagram, stood on a platform in front of the business | Image: Instagram

The woman, known as Angelina on Instagram, stood on a platform in front of the business, wearing one of their gowns and stiletto shoes. She kept changing stances, attempting to catch the attention of passing customers.



Also read: Viral video: Social media influencer Nadia Khar walks a tiger in Dubai, internet loves it

The model's video quickly garnered traction on Instagram, with over 13,000 views and hundreds of likes. However, Lovein Dubai's repost brought the video to the forefront, garnering an incredible 559,000 views and nearly 10,000 likes. "POV (point of view): Marketing in Dubai," a text inset on the clip stated.

How did people on the internet react?

The video ignited a conversation on social media | Image: Instagram

The video ignited a conversation on social media. While some believed the marketing technique was a brilliant idea, others thought it was "very downgrading and tasteless". "This is inhumane. I'm sure her feet hurt a lot, and when we have regular dummies, why do we need this?" a usern remarked.

"They'll get the easiest and most prestigious tasks from AI, and the most contentious and difficult ones from humans. "Shouldn't it be the other way around?" asked another.

Also read: Indian mom hangs clothes on balcony of Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai, hotel responds to viral video

"Everyday we find new ways to embarrass ourselves," posted a third user. "Why was she dressed like that? If she was placed there, at least dress her appropriately. Families and children are around This is not a nightclub," expressed one user.

What is the internet debating about?

Despite the criticism, other social media users praised the model for her efforts. "Everyone saying this is slavery inhumane uncomfortable bla bla just like everyone else we all have our discomfort at work we all get some pain whether it's on foot back hands whatever she's getting paid for just like we do plus think about the security guards in the malls who stand all the time too! "Don't baby everyone; we all struggle, and that's what makes us strong," one person wrote. Check the viral video here.

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

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In an uncommon occurrence from Bihar's Rajouli district, a guy who was bitten by a snake took revenge by biting it again, resulting in its death.

Who was bitten by a snake in Bihar?

Santosh Lohar, a labourer from Jharkhand was bit by the snake | Image: Canva

Santosh Lohar, a labourer from Jharkhand, worked on the railway line project in Rajoul and was sleeping in his camp on Tuesday night when a venomous snake struck him.



What did the man do after getting bit by the snake?

Santosh grabbed the snake with an iron rod and bit it three times | Image: Unsplash

Instead of being terrified and panicked, an irate Santosh grabbed the snake with an iron rod and bit it three times, eventually killing it. When asked about his interaction with the snake, Santosh told India Today, "In my village, there's a belief that if a snake bites you, you must bite it back twice to neutralize the venom."



Also read: Unusually hairy snake like creature goes viral, Internet asks snake or dragon?

Soon after the event, railway personnel sent Santosh to a nearby hospital for treatment. As news of the incident spread, a crowd gathered at the hospital to see the man and learn more about his story.

How is the man doing now?

According to media reports, many locals believed that the snake was not deadly, and that his life was in grave danger. According to Dr. Satish Chandra, who is in charge of Santosh's treatment, he is currently healing and out of danger.

Also read: Mysterious Video Of 'Snake With Legs' Go Viral, Internet Is Confused

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is under relentless attack from the far left, the left, the far right, the right, and even half of his own New Democracy party, including two former prime ministers leading the charge.

Despite this, he comfortably garners 41% of the vote, or at worst, double the percentage of the second-place party. Have his detractors

ever considered why this is the case?

At one point, I thought former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras might call for mobilisation, judging by his fervent speech at the War Museum event. Why such animosity? This is their party and their prime minister, who has won every election he has contested, bolstered the country's economy and geopolitical standing, navigated the pandemic and hybrid threats from Turkey unscathed, and invested in key reforms, however cautiously. He has decimated the opposition to his left. Why, then, has he so angered his predecessors?

Mr. Samaras pointed out, "We lost 1 million votes."

That's incorrect.

The top brass of New Democracy fails to recognize that those million votes were never truly theirs. The 18.8 percent and 27.8 percent that Mr. Samaras achieved were theirs. The additional votes, bringing the total to 41 percent for Mr. Mitsotakis, come from centrists who lend their support not to New Democracy, but to Kyriakos.

These voters, whom New Democracy members dismissively call "Kyriakistas," are politically homeless centrists who believe Mr. Mitsotakis is the best politician compared to other New Democracy members. They support him to ensure the far-right and far-left never regain dominance. This is simple arithmetic.

Mr. Samaras asked aloud with whom New Democracy would ally if needed. He should explain why he, who collaborated (rightly) with Pasok and DIMAR (thus broadening to the "imaginary center" he now condemns), should not seek alliances now.

Should New Democracy ally with Natsios? Velopoulos? Latinopoulou? Who is their favourite pro-Russian?

Samaras questioned the effectiveness of the "executive state" with recycled ministers and marginalized MPs. Clearly, the untouchables like Mendoni, Pierrakakis, Skertsos, and Gerapetritis are an irritation. These "expansion" figures are, rightly or wrongly, effective. They form a good team alongside Adonis, Voridis, and New Democracy stalwarts like Olga, Dendias, and Hatzidakis.

Mr. Samaras's 2012 government included these same ministers. Unless Panos Panagiotopoulos and Nikos Nikolopoulos are seen as losses for the party!

During the Samaras platform, marriage equality, Europe's decline, and the drift from traditional values and family were condemned. There are valid points in this critique that deserve consideration. However, they were expressed with the same language used by Bardella, Velopoulos, and Natsiosan ideological entrenchment in a closed-off Europe. Is this the New Democracy the former leaders envision?

Symbolically, Mr. Samaras's most significant "statement" was attending an event organized by journalist Manolis Kottakis, with Vasiliki Thanou as a guest. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend!"

Mr. Samaras's adversaries duly criticized him the next day: Following the War Museum event, "Demokratia" newspaper (where Kottakis writes) revived the scenario of "wheeled suitcases" in Maximos Mansion (Novartis) and blamed Samaras for transforming New Democracy into a neoliberal mix of "mercenaries" from LAOS, To Potami, and Simitis's PASOK.

"Demokratia" also hit Mr. Samaras hard, explaining why he rebelled against Mr. Mitsotakis: "He lost all hope of becoming President of the Republic, European Commissioner, or even a commissioner of the Holy Church of Ypapanti in Kalamata." The article called him the party's "traitor" rather than its conscience. "Too late for tears, Antonis," it concluded.

In sum, Samaras has chosen the wrong enemies and friends. He attempted a "revolution" with those accusing him of prioritising party dominance and power access over ideology. Even the reclusive figure from Rafina set a perfect trap, leaving Samaras exposed.

It's now up to Mr. Mitsotakis to rise above.

For the first time in eight years, a serious internal front has opened in New Democracy. Regardless of intentions, scope, and goals, the outcome depends on Mr. Mitsotakis's ability over the next critical six months to choose the right people and policies: from policy statements at the Thessaloniki International Fair, managing New Democracy's barons, to selecting the President of the Republic and implementing serious and effective policiesthe field is his.

By Sophia Giannaka

   iefimerida.gr
The operatives of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command have arrested three members of a robbery syndicate terrorising the Ikot Abasi village in the state.

In a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday by the state Police Public Relations Officer, Timfon John, disclosed that the suspects were arrested around 2 pm on July 1 after they allegedly robbed a resident of some belongings.

The statement reads: The command, in its intensified effort on July 1, 2024, at about 02:00hrs, arrested three members of an armed robbery syndicate, namely, John Okon Anta m Michael Osudua m and Inyene Joseph Edet m who allegedly attacked and robbed one man (name withheld) on gunpoint and carted away his QLINK Motorcycle, phones, power bank charger.

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READ MORE: EFCC Arrests 40 In Akwa Ibom For Alleged Online Fraud, Recovers Laptops, Phones

Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects had earlier robbed two houses at Afaha Ikot Abasi Village and carted away cell phones and other valuable items.

The suspects have confessed to the commission of the crime and will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.

One locally-made pistol was recovered from them. Efforts are ongoing to arrest other fleeing members of the gang.
Nigerias electricity grid has again experienced another system failure, leading to a nationwide blackout.

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) confirming the blackout in a statement on Saturday, said the power outage being experienced within its franchise is due to a system failure from the national grid.

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Please be informed that the power outage being experienced is due to a system failure from the national grid at 3:10pm today, affecting the power supply to our franchise areas, the AEDC said.

READ ALSO: LG Autonomy Will Solve Insecurity  COAS, Lagbaja

According to the Distribution Company it is working with the relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilised.

Recall that the electricity grid collapsed for the first time on February 4, 2024.

Another nationwide blackout was suffered on March 28 after which it. collapsed again on April 14.
Jarret Tenebe, acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Edo State chapter, has asked the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest and prosecute the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Asue Ighodalo.

His prosecution call is based on the premise that Ighodalo allegedly forged his voters card.

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The Chairman, who made this call in a letter dated July 3rd, said he was petitioning in his capacity as a voter and a law-abiding citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, whose interest would be affected if a non-qualified person is allowed to participate or is elected.

According to him, Ighodalo allegedly presented forged documents to INEC and the general public.

That the said Asuerinme Ighodalo has also presented same documents with a view of misleading the general public to rely on same to be true in claiming his party ticket based on a fraudulent and crooked foundation.

That the said Asuerinme Ighodalo presented a voters card with VIN no. 90FS B195 4629 6818 630 purported to have been issued to him by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) having been registered at Unit 3 Idiror-Idirior Primary School in Ewohinmi Ward 1 in Esan SouthEast Local Government Area of Edo State, whereas he claimed to have transferred same from Lagos to Edo and such a card or registration is not found in any of the INEC Register (CTC copy attached herewith).

READ ALSO: Its Finished, Na God Get Power  Philip Shaibu Jubilates As Court Declares Edo PDP Guber Primary Invalid

That a certified true copy of the voter register obtained from the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) revealed that the said Asuerinme Ighodalo is not a registered voter in Unit 3 of Ward 1 in Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State as claimed (also attached herewith), he petitioned

Tenebe furthered that he believed that the voter card being paraded by Ighodalo was forged.

Reacting, Olu Martins, Deputy Director, Media and Publicity of the Asue/Ogie Campaign Management Council, said: The case is subjudice because one of the aspirants, Anselm Ojezua, is in court on the same issue.

The APC acting chairman is interested in headlines. It is only INEC that can say that its document has been forged because it has the power to prosecute. People should not take him seriously.

The same Tenebe a few months ago accused his now-newfound friend, the impeached former Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, of stealing his wristwatch.

What he is doing is to divert people from focusing on their incapable and incompetent governorship candidate.
No fewer than four suspected vandals have been arrested by the operatives of the Kaduna State police command on Friday.

It was gathered that the suspects were apprehended for vandalising the transmission towers of the Transmission Company of Nigeria, in some parts of the State.

The arrest of the culprits was announced in a statement made by Mrs Ndidi Mbah, TCNs General Manager, Public Affairs issued in Abuja on Friday.

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The statement, which was obtained by the Nigeria News Agency, revealed that TCN appreciated the efforts of the police and assured its continued collaboration with security operatives in safeguarding transmission infrastructure nationwide.

Mbah also said that some among the instruments recovered from them were shovels and diggers.

READ MORE: Blackout As National Grid Collapses Fourth Time In 2024

She said: The suspects will be prosecuted soon.

In a related development, Nigerias electricity grid has experienced another system failure, leading to a nationwide blackout.

Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) confirmed the blackout in a statement on Saturday, said that the power outage being experienced within its franchise is due to a system failure from the national grid.

According to the Distribution Company it is working with the relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon as the grid is stabilised.
Governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf, says that Monday, July 8, 2024, will be a public holiday in celebration of the start of the new Islamic calendar year 1446 AH.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Commissioner of Information, Baba Halilu Dantiye on Saturday.

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According to the statement, the Governor urged citizens to use the holiday to reflect on the past year and engage in mutually beneficial activities.

He enjoined the people to utilize the holiday to reflect on the previous year and commit themselves in mutually beneficial activities that will bring succor to the people in these difficult and trying times, the statement read.

The government, however pledged to continue implementing policies and programs that will empower citizens.

The government will continue to initiate policies and programmes that will empower people to be self-dependent, Dantiye noted.

He also highlighted the importance of collective effort and prayer in achieving the States goals.

READ ALSO: Biker Arrives Lagos From Kenya After Crossing Nine Countries In 118 Days

The Governor urged Muslim Ummah to intensify prayers for continued peace and progress in the State.

He expressed optimism that with the prayers and support of the people, his administration will turn around the fortunes of the state and return it to being one of the most economically prosperous among its peers in the nation, the statement added.

Also, Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq declared same date as public holiday.



The Governors Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, made the announcement on Friday, in Ilorin, the State capital.

This came after Nasir Idris, the Governor of Kebbi State, announced the holiday to mark the beginning of Muharram 1446AH, the Islamic calendar.

Muharram is the first lunar month in the Islamic calendar, and according to calculations, its first day falls on Sunday, July 7, 2024.

It was disclosed in a statement by the State Commissioner for the establishment, Auwal Manu-Dogondaji, in Birnin Kebbi, the State capital.

Manu-Dogondaji congratulated Muslims on the new Islamic calendar and urged them to continue praying for peace, security, and prosperity in Kebbi and Nigeria.
A yet to be verified number of the Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as Amotekun were injured following an attack by some suspected herdsmen in Akure, the state capital.

INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the attack occurred when the Amotekun operatives were enforcing the anti-open grazing law of the state, on Friday.

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During the attack, some of the operatives were said to be brutally macheted, with the violent clash leading to a halt in vehicular movement for several hours along the Ado-Akure road.

According to PUNCH, the Amotekun officers were responding to a distress call from farmers in the area over the destruction of their farmlands and crops by the herders cattle when they were swooped on and attacked.

A source also told the above mentioned media that the local security agents were taking the arrested cows to the state headquarters of the Amotekun Command in Akure when the herders accosted them on the Akure-Ado expressway and attacked them.

READ MORE: Amotekun Nabs Man For Allegedly Keeping Housewife As Sex Slave In Osun

The source said: As they were taking the arrested cows to Amotekun headquarters in Akure, on reaching the Sango area (of Akure) the herders came out with dangerous weapons and attacked the officers to prevent them from taking the vows away.

Also confirming the development to newsmen on Friday, the Public Relations Officer of the Amotekun Corps, Jimoh Adeniken, disclosed that the operatives deployed for the operation displayed courage and determination in de-escalating the volatile situation, despite the violent assault they endured.

He said: During the operation, the corps surveillance team was led to the farms by the owners. On getting there, they met over one hundred and twenty cows ravaging the farms, and there was nobody with the cows.

Determined to enforce the anti-open grazing law of the state, the operatives of the Amotekun corps moved the cows out of the farms, and while passing by the Sango Area, at Igoba, along Ado Road in Akure, groups of armed Fulani herdsmen attacked the officers with stones, bottles, cutlasses and guns.

Thereafter, the corps retreated based on the order from the state headquarters of the Amotekun corps.

Furthermore, the assailants continued to throw stones and bottles till they invaded the main road and hacked one of the Amotekun officers to a coma while attempting to disarm the officers and men of the Amotekun corps.

Sequentially, the officers of the Amotekun Corps shot into the air to dislodge them and move back to the office.
The corpses of two friends were on Friday recovered from a dilapidated building in Inisa, Osun State, after they supposedly stabbed themselves during a bloody fight.

They were identified as Alli Baba, a Ghanaian, said to be a palm wine tapper, and his friend, Kayode Olete.

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Although the cause of the fight between the duo is still unknown, residents in the area disclosed that loud noises were heard which suggested that the two had a serious fight.

A resident, Jamiu, revealed that dangerous weapons were likely used in the fight between the two friends, as their intestines were exposed when security agents recovered their bodies on Friday.

My house is in the same Baale Okunoye compound where Alli Baba was living. We all heard a loud noise from the house around 9:00 pm on Thursday when the two of them were fighting each other.

We could not even come to the scene when we heard the noise, because it was late in the evening. When security men came around this morning, they met the two of them dead. They stabbed each other to death, but I cant say the cause of the fight, Jamiu said.

READ ALSO: Man Trailed, Shot By Robbers In Kogi After Bank Transaction

The Public Relations Officer of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Osun State Command, Kehinde Adeleke, confirmed the incident.

Thursday evening around 21:05 hour, we got a report that two people were fighting at Baale Okunoye Compound, Inisa. One Ali Baba, 60+, male (a Ghanaian by origin and palm wine tapper by profession) and one Kayode Olete, 52, male.

The two of them were said to be close friends. Nobody knows what led to their fight as the house where the incident happened is isolated and dilapidated. Passersby later saw them in a pool of blood as they had stabbed and macheted themselves with their intestines popping out.

Our officers immediately contacted the chairman of the LCDA and the elders of the community. When we got to the scene this morning, it was discovered that the two of them had passed on. The families of the two victims were contacted and they gave their consent for them to be buried, Adeleke said.
If Sen. Mark Warner is organizing an effort to persuade President Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign, hes not telling Tim Kaine, Virginias junior senator, a fellow Democrat and, like him, a former governor.

The Washington Post reported Friday afternoon, based on two unnamed sources, that Warner is trying to arrange a meeting between the president and a group of Senate Democrats who want him to step down from his looming election rematch with former President Donald Trump after a disastrous debate last week that ignited a firestorm of concern about Bidens ability to win in November and govern for four more years.

Kaine, who is seeking reelection to a third term with Biden at the top of the ticket, does not know anything about Warners alleged initiative, according to campaign spokesman Michael Beyer.

Senator Kaine is not aware of any such effort, Beyer said Friday. Of course, Senator Kaine is talking to folks  including his Senate colleagues  about the debate performance. He believes Joe Biden has always demonstrated patriotism and that leads Kaine to be confident in the Presidents ability to make the right call.

The Associated Press subsequently reported that three unnamed sources said Warner reached out to fellow senators throughout this week to discuss whether to ask Biden to exit the race.

Warners office is not commenting on the report or sharing a statement that the Post reported receiving from communications director Rachel Cohen that said, Like many other people in Washington and across the country, Senator Warner believes these are critical days for the presidential campaign, and he has made that clear to the White House.

One source, who asked not to be named, has confirmed that Warner called Bidens debate performance a disaster, but another source on Capitol Hill said the senator has not requested a meeting with the president to ask him to step down.

Bidens campaign office in Virginia did not respond to a request for comment.

The fate of Bidens reelection campaign has been on the minds and lips of Democrats across the country, with some saying he should step aside because, at 81, its now clear to voters that his age has caught up with him and he cannot campaign effectively for reelection.

Somebody had to do it, said Larry Sabato, president of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, of Warners reported presidential intervention.

There is widespread concern among elected officials and donors, Sabato said Friday. They just wont go on the record.

But Biden isnt conceding anything.

In a social media statement on Friday afternoon, the president said, Let me say this as clearly as I can: Im the sitting President of the United States. Im the nominee of the Democratic party. Im staying in the race.

Earlier, in a public speech to supporters in Madison, Wisconsin, the Associated Press reported that Biden acknowledged his poor debate performance, but declared, I am running, and Im going to win again.

The Associated Press reported Biden said, I beat Donald Trump. I will beat him again.

Trumps campaign issued a mocking press release about what it called the Meltdown in Madison, but the Associated Press said Biden reminded supporters that the former president during the 2020 campaign said that the Continental Army took over the airports in defeating the British almost 250 years ago.

Talk about me misspeaking, Biden said as the crowd laughed, according to the AP.

Even before the presidential debate last week, concern was growing among Democrats that Biden, in the words of one person who attended a fundraiser at the McLean residence of former Gov. Terry McAuliffe late last month, doesnt have his fastball anymore.

Hes very frail, said the person, a supporter who asked to remain unnamed.

But another Virginia Democrat who attended the fundraiser called the presidents speech excellent and spoke with him directly, raising no concern about diminished abilities.

Paul Goldman, a former chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, rebuked Warners reported effort.

It proves what former President [Harry] Truman said about the culture of Washington politics: If youre in politics in D.C. and youre thinking you need a friend, then get a dog, Goldman said in a widely distributed text message.

I never thought Id see the Democratic Party do this to their own guy, he said.
The House of Representatives has launched a probe into the N1.5 billion meant for the payment of contractors under the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs.

According to reports, the amount was allegedly diverted by principal officers of the Ministry

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The House Committee on Women Affairs commenced the probe in Abuja against the backdrop of petitions by contractors over non-payment of contracts executed.

Kafilat Ogbara, Chairman of the committee, said that the ministry initiated new contracts not captured in the 2023 budget and diverted N1.5 billion being funds for old contractors.

She added that the Ministry, while owing contractors, awarded fresh contract in 15 States of the Federation, which she alleged was not captured in the 2023 appropriation.

According to her, money for contractors has not been paid and money has been diverted, so how do you pay these contractors?

Ogbara said there is an on-going probe of the Ministry by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and other Related Offences on the overhead release of Nov/Dec, 2023 to the tune of N1.5 billion.

The petitioners, according to Ogbara also alleged that the ministry purchased seven tricycles for a military Barrack in Abuja.

READ ALSO: Buhari Wasted $100m World Bank Women Empowerment Loan On Meetings  Minister

She stated that the ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the America University of Nigeria, Yola for the payment of Chibok girls school fees for seven years.

The Director of Finance and Administration in the Ministry, Aloy Ifeakandu, said he only complied with official directives from his superiors, saying the records are available.

He said, I resumed at the ministry in Sept. 2023, I wouldnt know what happened before I came.

The individual contractors have their files, it can be traced, as at the time I took over, there was no balance in the vote.

Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Gabriel Aduda, exonerated himself, saying that, in 2023, we had a total budget of N13.6billion, while the total release was N3.4billion.

This, according to him, translates to 25 per cent budget utilisation, while the unreleased balance stood at N10.2billion.

The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, as stated by News Agency of Nigeria, revealed that the said N1.5 billion had been released to the Ministry.

Meanwhile, the Committee summoned the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohaneye to appear before it on Tuesday, July 9.

The Committee also ordered the Ministry to stop all contract process in 2024, until the matter is resolved, while demanding for the special account for the Chibok girls and the MoU.
Afrobeats musician Ayra Starr has stated that Nigeria and the United Kingdom share the same similarities.

She described Nigerian and British traditions as very similar.

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She mentioned this in a recent interview with Capital Xtral, London, which was published on X Friday.

The host asked, You said that in the US, the biggest culture youve experienced is the food portion size. What is the biggest culture shock in the UK?

Ayra Starr replied, I feel like the UK is very similar to Nigeria, so the culture is not as different, but I think its the food. The UK food, not Chinese, Nigerian, or Italian food, is British food. There was one food that I had that was jellied.

Starr also discussed her just-completed tour with Chris Brown.

Going on tour with Chris Brown was eye-opening, she said.

READ MORE: Your Surname Is Your Brand, Dont Be Quick To Change It  Divorcee Shade Ladipo Advises Married Women

The singer expressed her desire to have written Rihannas B**ch Better Have My Money and SZAs Snooze.

She also expressed interest in relocating to New York.
The Caretaker Committee Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State, Tony Okocha has described Governor Siminalayi Fubara as the political investment of his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.

Okocha said that Wike is a Political mentor to Fubara, adding that the states Governor wouldnt have been where he is today without the backing of Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

Okocha on Channels Televisions Politics Today, also explained the reason behind the rift between Wike and Fubara.

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He said: Governor Fubara is Wikes political investment.

READ MORE: Ill Ensure You Dont Return To Senate In 2027  FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike Replies Ireti Kingibe

From civil servant to the candidate of a party and delivering him in 23 local governments out of 23, the first in our history, all of these were Wikes ability to manoeuvre.

The former governor has said, I am not asking you for anything. I am only saying that you are destroying the structure that produced you.

If you are a politician, no politician will allow his structure to be dismantled. When you do that, it means that you have no home to fall back to. That is the issue.

INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that Fubara and Wike have been at loggerheads over the control of the oil-rich state.

Although the Rivers governor survived an impeachment orchestrated by the Martin Amaewhule-led Rivers Assembly, Wike had vowed to do all it takes to maintain his political structure in Rivers state.
Mayor Cherelle L Parker meets with residents and relatives of shooting victims Friday, hours after gunfire in the waning hours of July 4 left one dead and eight wounded in Southwest Philadelphia. Read more

A July Fourth gathering in Southwest Philadelphia descended into chaos on Thursday night when a gunman opened fire into a crowd, killing one man and wounding eight others, including four teens, police said.

What began as a pop-up party organized by teens on social media ended in pandemonium around 11:30 p.m. when a man fired from a passing SUV on the 1900 block of South Salford Street, shattering a fragile sense of safety in the Kingsessing neighborhood and leaving authorities searching for answers.

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Police said a 19-year-old man was struck in the face and taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead minutes later. Eight other people ranging in age from 14 to 24 were also shot, and several nearby cars were hit by bullets, some left with their windows shattered.

The injured included three men  24, 23, and 18 years old  each shot in the leg; a 21-year-old man shot in the shoulder; a 17-year-old boy who suffered a graze wound to the head; a 16-year-old boy shot in the thigh; a 15-year-old girl shot in the foot, and a 14-year-old boy shot once in the thigh. All were in stable condition, police said.

Police have not released the name of the man who was killed, but law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation identified him as Maurice Quain. However, friends and family who held two vigils for him on Friday identified him as Maurice White, a recent high school graduate whom they described as a kind-hearted friend and the life of every party.

The drive-by spray of gunfire marked the 41st multiple shooting in Philadelphia since 2015 in which at least five people were shot  and the sixth shooting with nine or more victims in that same period. It followed a shooting on the eve of Independence Day last year, mere blocks from Thursday nights violence.

On Friday afternoon, a visibly emotional Mayor Cherelle L. Parker  joined by relatives of the man who was killed, along with law enforcement and city and state officials  condemned the violence and said it would not be tolerated.

The pain and the trauma that you are feeling right now is not normal, Parker told neighbors who gathered at the scene of the shooting. And you shouldnt have to get used to it.

A woman officials said was a relative of the man who was killed wiped away tears as the mayor spoke. About 50 people gathered outside Bartram High School in Southwest Philadelphia to release balloons in his memory. Whites niece Jamira White-Tucker, 18, remembered him as a fun-loving and kind man who loved to dance.

He was very kind to everybody. He was always happy, she said. Bringing people together  thats what he was all about.

White had plans to go to college. On social media, he beamed with pride about his graduation from Bartram, showed off his dance moves, and promoted the parties he threw to bond with his community.

His mother died two years ago, and he always posted in her memory on her birthday, Mothers Day, or the anniversary of her death. Happy anniversary to the one who birth me to this crazy world and left me too soon, he wrote. I love you, dukes.

He often mentioned friends he lost to gun violence  including one who was killed just three weeks ago, in a shooting strikingly similar to the one that took his own life. Isya Cece Stanley, the 17-year-old who was fatally shot at a pop-up party in Fairmount Park, was like a sister to White, according to her mother, Regina Jones Stanley. The two threw lavish prom events for each other ahead of graduation and had became inseparable over the last year.

Hes been calling me everyday since my daughter passed away, Jones Stanley said Friday. Its got my stomach turning. Its too much for me.

In an Instagram post, White wrote he was heartbroken that my sister lost her life for no reason, offering up a Muslim prayer. A law enforcement source familiar with the ongoing investigation, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to discuss the case, said police were looking at possible connections between the pop-up party shootings.

Taniesha Diaz, whose son Quadir was found dead in the Schuylkill River in April after being missing since March, also knew White. The two grew close after his mothers death and he soon became friends with her son Quadir.

He didnt deserve this, said Diaz. He was not in the streets, he was a good kid who loved to see the kids in the city have fun.

On Friday, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said pop-up parties have been linked to over a dozen recent shootings across the city, including two homicides. Thursdays fatal gunfire was a reminder, he said, that the city needs to intervene. .

In Southwest Philadelphia on Friday morning, neighbors said hundreds of young people had gathered in the area near Francis Myers Park the previous night, disrupting traffic and holiday barbecues. One man, who asked not to be identified for privacy reasons, said the police had attempted to control the crowd before the shooting, but were unsuccessful.

The group, he said, had gotten kicked out of a nearby recreation area earlier.

The event started in North Philadelphia and police were initially able to disperse the group, said Bethel, but the gathering migrated to Southwest Philadelphia. He said the event drew people from all over the city  mainly teens and people in their early 20s. Only two of the nine shooting victims lived near the scene of the shooting, the commissioner said.

We have kids as far away as the Northeast, all the way up to close to Cheltenham Avenue, who are coming across the city, he said. They come into these areas, unknowing of whats going on, [and theyre] surging together.

On Thursday night, Taleke Green was outside enjoying a holiday cookout when shots rang out near his familys home.

We were standing out there, the shots came flying down the street, he said. They started hitting stuff close to us, thats when we all ran.

Green said the shots appeared to come from a passing vehicle, and that gunfire was directed at a crowd of young people running toward the First Genesis Baptist Church.

Police gave no motive for the shooting and it was not clear if the victims had been targeted. Multiple shell casings were found at the scene. Police recovered the vehicle believed to have been used in the shooting, but no arrests have been made, and no weapon has been recovered. The investigation is continuing.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who joined Parker at the afternoon news conference on Friday, said he hoped to bring very severe charges against the shooter.

Theyre going to be the appropriately very severe consequences that apply in a case like this, he said, speaking alongside other elected officials near the scene of the shooting. Krasner credited community members for the stark reduction in gun violence in the area over the last year.

The Fourth of July shooting unnerved a neighborhood still shaken by a mass shooting that happened just blocks away on the eve of Independence Day last year, amid early celebration.

On July 3, 2023, police said, Kimbrady Carriker, wearing armor and a mask and armed with a homemade assault rifle, walked nearly a mile through the streets of Kingsessing, shooting people at random. Five people were killed and three others were injured in the gunfire. Carriker is awaiting trial on murder and related charges. Police said Carriker, who is Black, confessed to the crime and said he wanted to help police fight gun violence by targeting Black men in the neighborhood.

The sprawling shooting scene in that crime was in the area of South 56th Street and Chester Avenue, around 10 blocks away from Thursday nights shooting.

Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton recalled that shooting and lamented that little more than a year later, the neighborhood was once again grappling with holiday violence.

We just celebrated the Fourth of July, McClinton said at the Friday news conference. And for those of us who live in and serve Southwest Philadelphia, it wasnt even 366 days ago that we started Fourth of July at 56th and Chester Avenue looking at blood on our streets.

And here we are a year later, she added. Understand we are blocks away. We are blocks away from where that horrible incident happened.

Whites friends and family released white and red balloons outside Bartram on Friday, promising to keep his memory alive. In his final post on TikTok on Wednesday, the day before his death, White made a slideshow of photographs of friends who had been killed.

Philly just dont get better, he wrote in the caption. What can we do to save Philly?

Graphics editor John Duchneskie and staff photographer Steve Falk contributed to this article.
This illustration picture taken on May 27, 2020, in Paris shows the logo of the social network application TikTok on the screen of a phone. Middle schoolers in Great Valley School District created more than 20 TikTok accounts impersonating teachers. Read more

Earlier this year, fake accounts impersonating more than 20 Great Valley Middle School teachers appeared on TikTok, some depicting racist, homophobic, or sexually inappropriate content.

District officials said that middle school students had created the accounts, which gained a following among other students.

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The impersonation campaign created turmoil in the Malvern middle schools community, in what the New York Times described Saturday as the first known group TikTok attack of its kind by middle schoolers on their teachers in the United States.

In a message to the Great Valley community Saturday night, Superintendent Daniel Goffredo said it was disheartening for the district to be an example of behavior that has caused such duress for staff.

Over the summer, administrators are working to identify clear and actionable ways that our already established focus on digital citizenship might be strengthened in our curriculum, Goffredo said. We are also planning how to reestablish a culture of trust and caring district-wide, but especially in our middle school, where the behavior of our students has had a profound impact on our staff.

At a school board meeting in March, the head of the districts teachers union, Nikki Salvatico, asked the community to consider the emotions, trauma, and suffering incurred by our teachers. Salvatico said the fake accounts featured pornographic, racist, and homophobic pictures and text, and threatened the very fabric of our learning community.

The incident in the Chester County school district raised questions about the use of social media by students at a time when schools are grappling with how to regulate cell phones and other technological distractions in classrooms. Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, the nations largest teachers union, said in an interview with The Inquirer on Tuesday that the question of banning cell phones in schools should be left to individual communities to decide, though she acknowledged the trend of educational disruptions.

We should come together as a community and say, these are the downsides of it, Pringle said. Its interrupting education, its increasing bullying ... and think about what policy makes sense for your community.

In her remarks to the school board earlier this year, Salvatico said that every time an iPad is opened in the classroom, our teachers fear that pictures or videos may be taken and will be shared on social media platforms, as a cruel meme. ... We need the message that this type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

Salvatico did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.

A district spokesperson, Jennifer Blake, said officials werent sure exactly how many students were involved in creating the accounts. Its kind of been word of mouth, she said Saturday. She added that it wasnt just teachers who were targeted: A custodian, for instance, was also impersonated.

In a statement provided to The Inquirer on Saturday, district officials said they consulted with law enforcement agencies and legal counsel after learning of the accounts in late February, but these accounts were created outside of the school and may have represented students right to free speech.

Confidentiality requirements limit the district from providing details about disciplinary actions, but it worked within the parameters of the law and our legal rights to enact discipline where we have been able, Goffredo said.

The superintendent added that while we wish we could do more to hold students accountable, we are legally limited in what action we can take when students communicate off campus during non-school hours on personal devices.

The Times, citing teachers, reported that the district briefly suspended several students in connection with the fake accounts. Among those impersonated was a Spanish teacher, who told the newspaper she found a photo on TikTok of herself with her husband and children accompanied by text that read: Do you like to touch kids? Answer: Si.

Other impersonation accounts included photos with the heads of two male teachers pasted onto a man and woman partially naked in bed, according to the newspaper, as well as a photo from another teachers wedding with his wife cropped out and replaced with the image of a student.

The Times reported that two female students posted a video on TikTok last month under a handle that used a teachers name and described the impostor accounts as jokes that had been blown out of proportion.

Although the two students initially said they would be continuing to post videos  privately, so teachers couldnt find them  they deleted that message on Friday after the Times asked the school district to notify parents about its article, the newspaper reported. The students also removed the teachers name from the account, and wrote: Guys, were not acting as our teachers anymore thats in the past !!

The school district has students from Malvern Borough and Charlestown, East Whiteland, and Willistown Townships.

The district said the middle schools principal held an assembly for eighth graders to address the responsible use of social media and sent an email to eighth-grade families notifying them about the fake accounts.

Officials also said they had met one-on-one with impacted teachers to discuss their concerns and district actions. The district also removed all teacher photos from its online directory, and said it provided middle school teachers with resources about how to access counseling services and protect themselves online.

In his message to parents Saturday night, Goffredo asked that they also have conversations with their children about responsible use of technology, especially social media.

What seemingly feels like a joke has deep and long-lasting impacts, not just for the targeted person but for the students themselves, Goffredo said.

Staff writer William Bender contributed to this article.
Charred forest as a result of backfires, set by firefighters just off of Chatsworth Road to prevent the spread of the 'Tea Time Hill' Wildfire near Wharton State Forest in New Jersey on Friday. Read more

A wildfire that broke out Friday morning in a heavily used Pinelands recreation area grew to 1,200 acres by Friday evening, but firefighters were making progress and the fire was 40% contained, state officials said.

Earlier, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service had reported that the fire  which had forced the closure of a campground and popular part of the Batona Trail  involved 450 acres, but that none of it was contained.

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Overnight crews would continue to work on controlling the fire, officials said in a social media post at 8 p.m.

The fire service announced the trail closure about 11:30 a.m.

Officials ordered everyone to leave the Batona Campground in Wharton State Forest. The campground is in Tabernacle, Burlington County.

The fire impacted the area around Apple Pie Hill, where a fire tower offers panoramic views of the surrounding Pine Barrens and is a popular hiking route.

Officials closed part of the 53-mile long Batona Trail between Route 532 and Carranza Road. They also closed the Tulpehocken Trail from Apple Pie Hill to Hawkins Bridge.

The blaze has been dubbed the Tea Time Hill Wildfire, named after a feature on the hiking route from the Carranza Memorial in Tabernacle to Apple Pie Hill. Batona Campground is a staging area for many undertaking the hike.

Fire crews asked people to avoid the area.

At least two buildings  a hunting club and a home  were threatened.

Officials expected they would have to close Carranza Road as the day went on.

Ground crews were using backfires, which are fires intentionally set to consume downed wood in the path of a wildfire to rob it of fuel or change its direction. The fire service also deployed a helicopter for observation.

At more than 110,000 acres, Wharton State Forest is the largest single tract in New Jerseys state park system. It lies within the Pinelands National Reserve, roughly 1.1 million acres of either protected or heavily regulated land within the states Pine Barrens.

The 12-foot tall Carranza Memorial in Tabernacle within Wharton is a landmark frequently used by hikers, cyclists and birders as a meeting point. It commemorates the spot where Capt. Emilio Carranza Rodriguez was killed during thunderstorms while returning from a historic goodwill flight from Mexico City to the United States in 1928.

Carranza had made his flight in response to a 1927 flight from New York City to Mexico City by Charles Lindbergh.

The memorial lies about half a mile from the Batona Campground, a roughly 4.5-mile round-trip hike to Apple Pill Hill.

Wildfires are a natural part of the Pinelands ecosystem. In April, a wildfire also in Wharton burned 510 acres before it was fully contained.
Former labor leader John Dougherty speaks outside of the federal courthouse in Reading in April. Read more

Prosecutors will push to put twice-convicted labor leader John J. Dougherty behind bars for more than a decade at his sentencing hearing next week on bribery and embezzlement charges.

In a court filing Friday, government lawyers painted Dougherty  once the most powerful union official in the state  as an entitled and bullying leader who routinely stole from union coffers and bribed former Philadelphia City Councilmember Bobby Henon to avenge his personal and petty grievances.

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They recommended that U.S. District Judge Jeffrey L. Schmehl send Dougherty to prison for anywhere from 11 to 14 years and order him to help pay more than $2.1 million to Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the union he led for nearly 30 years.

Doughertys crimes have inflicted immeasurable harm upon Local 98 and the City of Philadelphia, Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Costello wrote in the sentencing memo filed Friday. Justice demands that he be held fully accountable for his actions.

That proposed punishment for Dougherty  who will learn his fate Thursday during a federal court hearing in Reading  is more than three times the stiffest sentence given to any of the Local 98 officials and members sentenced so far in a case that, since 2019, has prompted the ouster of Dougherty, Henon, and much of the 5,000-member unions top leadership.

If imposed, it would deliver a stunning postscript to the downfall of a man who transformed Local 98 into one of Philadelphias most effective advocates for workers and a political powerhouse that propelled dozens of allies into statewide and local office.

Lawyers for Dougherty did not immediately respond to requests for comment on prosecutors sentencing recommendation Friday. They are expected to file their own proposal with the court in the coming days.

Prosecutors defended the lengthy prison term they are seeking in their filing Friday, saying no other defendant in the case had committed as broad and pervasive a swath of crimes as Dougherty. The ex-union chief was the only one, they noted, to have twice taken his case before a jury and lost.

In 2021, jurors convicted him and Henon in a sweeping bribery scheme finding that the ex-union leader had effectively bought the councilmember with a $70,000-a-year union salary and other perks and then used him to corruptly bend Philadelphias government to his will.

Prosecutors said Friday Dougherty got what he paid for.

 READ MORE: John Dougherty and Bobby Henon trial: Day-by-day updates

In 2015, as the city began renegotiating a 15-year franchise agreement with Comcast, Dougherty used Henons influence over the talks to exact concessions from the cable company that benefited union electricians.

That same year, as Dougherty was running to lead the Building Trades Council, an umbrella group of the citys labor unions, he pushed Henon to propose legislation updating the citys plumbing code in ways he knew would irk the industrys union. The reason? Dougherty wanted something to hold over the union leaders heads to secure their vote in the Building Trades race.

Evidence at trial showed Doughertys demands on Henon werent only to advance what he saw as the interests of his union members. When a tow-truck driver tried to haul away his car in 2015, Dougherty vowed before the truck had even left the parking lot that Henon would introduce legislation the next day to investigate the company for predatory practices.

His instructions, according to wiretaps played for jurors in that case: F them to death.

Every time he demanded that Henon take some official action that Dougherty wanted, Costello wrote Friday, Henon held up his end of their corrupt bargain. He never said no.

 READ MORE: These were the key issues jurors weighed in the John Dougherty and Bobby Henon trial

All the while, the prosecutor continued, Dougherty was engaging in another scheme  along with six other union officers and allies  to embezzle more than $570,000 from Local 98s coffers, which they spent on everything from pricey Atlantic City birthday bashes and extensive home repairs to dozens of mundane purchases for groceries and household goods.

A jury convicted him and former union president Brian Burrows on those charges after a separate trial last year.

Dougherty used his power and authority to steal from the union and to allow his codefendants to do the same, Costello said. Its difficult to overstate the seriousness of [his] crimes given the unique positions of trust that he held.

 READ MORE: John Dougherty union embezzlement case: Day-by-day updates

But in sentencing Doughertys codefendants, Schmehl, the judge, has so far proven reluctant to give prosecutors the prison terms they have sought. Hes consistently sentenced them to less time  in some cases far less  than what the government recommended.

In Henons case, prosecutors pushed for 10 years; he got 3 1/2. They asked for up to six for Burrows last week, Schmehl gave him four. Michael Neill, the unions former head of apprentice training, received half of the decade behind bars government lawyers sought in his case. And though prosecutors sought up to six months for Local 98s former political director Marita Crawford, the judge let her off with 15 days in prison followed by house arrest.

Dougherty, Costello said Friday, does not deserve such a break. The prosecutor urged Schmehl to consider threats Dougherty made to potential witnesses and members of his union shortly after his 2019 indictment.

In a series of meetings secretly recorded by a confidential informant in Doughertys inner circle, the union leader was caught on tape vowing to root out anyone from within his ranks who was informing against him.

 READ MORE: An FBI informant recorded Johnny Doc threatening rats. His lawyers say that violated his rights.

Instead of trying to reassure the employees and members of Local 98 that no matter the outcome of the pending criminal case, he would make sure their future and the future of the union was secure, Dougherty  chose instead to spread fear of retribution and attempt to intimidate potential witnesses, Costello wrote.

Since his first conviction three years ago, Dougherty has maintained his innocence and insisted that everything he did was for the betterment of Local 98s members. Union benefits and wages have soared under his watch as has its influence in local and state politics, hes said.

Hell likely stress those accomplishments Thursday when he has an opportunity to address Schmehl directly in court.But Costello, in his filing, maintained that nothing Dougherty might tout can overshadow the seriousness of the crimes he committed.

No good deeds can outweigh the damage done by Doughertys betrayal of the members who paid his salary, the prosecutor said. The benefits to the community from the growth of Local 98 do not outweigh the harm to the publics confidence in government.
Charred forest as a result of backfires, set by firefighters, to prevent the spread of the 'Tea Time Hill Wildfire" in the New Jersey Pinelands on Friday. Read more

A New Jersey wildfire that broke out Friday morning in the Pinelands, resulting in the closure of a popular campground, had spread to 4,000 acres by Saturday, authorities said.

The spread to 2,800 additional acres since Friday night occurred despite overnight crews working to contain the fire, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. Firefighters have made progress, reporting 65% containment as of 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

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The fire, in Wharton State Forest in Burlington County, started at a heavily used Pinelands recreation area. The blaze grew to 1,200 acres Friday, impacting the area around Apple Pie Hill and Batona Campground.

A hunting club and home that were initially threatened on Friday were no longer considered in harms way, the fire service said Saturday.

The Batona Campground in Tabernacle Township will remain closed due to the fire, named the Tea Time Hill Wildfire after a feature on the hiking route from the Carranza Memorial in Tabernacle to Apple Pie Hill, the fire service said. Officials also closed part of the 53-mile-long Batona Trail between Route 532 and Carranza Road, as well as the Tulpehocken Trail from Apple Pie Hill to Hawkins Bridge.

Firefighters have been setting backfires, which burn downed wood to slow or redirect the fires path. A helicopter was also deployed for an overview of the blaze.

Wildfires are a natural element of the Pinelands ecosystem, which has experienced little rain and extremely dry conditions in the last three months, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

The fire service said it would provide another update about 8 p.m. Saturday.
President Joe Biden dug himself a hole and now he is trying to climb out. But many fellow Democrats and some in the media keep shoveling dirt on him.

One 20-minute TV interview was never going to swing the race back in Bidens favor after his halting debate performance against Donald Trump  whose own shambolic showing was largely shrugged off. Legitimate questions remain as to whether Biden, 81, or Trump, 78, are up for the grueling campaign and four more years of a relentless job that has aged past Oval Office occupants.

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Biden insists he is staying in the race. He must now convince voters he has the mental strength and stamina to do the toughest job in the world. The same bar does not apparently exist for Trump, who loses no points for incoherence or incompetence.

The country is not electing the next debate champion. Biden is a decent and honorable man with a substantive record of accomplishment. But to make his case, Biden should hold more unscripted events, including town halls, news conferences, and interviews.

At each stop, there will be no margin for error. The media is tracking Bidens every move with an obsession greater than the 2016 focus on Hillary Clintons use of a private email server. The rules have always been different for Trump. Recall when seven members of Trumps team used private email accounts, including his daughter and son-in-law, it barely caused a ripple.

A similar imbalance has taken hold in the coverage of Bidens debate performance. For example, in less than a week, the New York Times published 70 news stories, 20 opinion columns, four podcasts, and one editorial about Bidens shaky debate. Cable TV and social media piled on, as well, according to Heartland Signal, a digital news site in Chicago.

But little attention has been paid to Trumps incoherent debate performance because he is often incoherent. Trump told more than 30 lies in 90 minutes during the debate like it was another day at the office.

In discussing abortion, he falsely claimed Democrats want to execute babies in the ninth month of pregnancy. Trump also claimed migrants were taking Black jobs and Hispanic jobs  whatever that means.

During a discussion about the environment, Trump  who rolled back more than 100 regulations and withdrew from the Paris climate agreement  said, We had H2O, we had the best numbers ever. Huh?

Then Trump added to the lie: I had the best environmental numbers ever, and my top environmental people gave me that statistic just before I walked on the stage, actually.

Apparently, its OK for Trump to spew nonstop nonsense, but Biden cant ever lose his train of thought.

Anyone looking for cognitive decline should tune into a Trump rally.

During a recent riff about electric batteries, Trump said: What would happen if the boat sank from its weight and youre in the boat and you have this tremendously powerful battery and the batterys underwater, and theres a shark thats approximately 10 yards over there? By the way, a lot of shark attacks lately. Do you notice that? A lot of shark  I watched some guys justifying it today: Well, they werent really that angry. They bit off the young ladys leg because of the fact that they were not hungry, but they misunderstood who she was. These people are crazy.

Apparently, its OK for Trump to spew nonstop nonsense, but Biden cant ever lose his train of thought.

At the same rally, he referenced the time Clinton called Trump supporters deplorable. Remember deplorable, when Hillary said deplorable? She said deplorable. And that was not good. That was not a good word to use. This word seems to be catching on a little bit but in a much more positive way than deplorable. That was not good. She actually said deplorable and irredeemable. Do you remember? And I heard it, and I said, Wow, that irredeemable is really a bad word, and it didnt catch on. What caught on was deplorable. So what the hell do I know about politics, right?

During a recent rally in Wisconsin, Trump said, If you have illegal aliens invading your home, we will deport you. Thanks for the heads up, covfefe.

He has mixed up former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Trump confused the leaders of Hungary and Turkey during a speech in New Hampshire last fall. A month later, he confused the leaders of China and North Korea.

In April, Trump called Fox News to weigh in on the college campus protests over the war in Gaza and offered this deep thought: You go back 10 years, Israel was protected by Congress. Now, Congress is just doing numbers that are unbelievable with I think a very, very small group of people within Congress and its gotta stop.

 READ MORE: The Trump Threat | An occasional series by The Inquirer Editorial Board about the risk posed by a second Donald Trump presidency.

In May, Trump slurred his words at a rally in Wisconsin as he referred to Bidens fake infrastrucker, ershure para, before landing on a package of infrastructure. He then went on an incoherent rant about Master Lock.

Trumps list of flubs is long and more frequent. To be sure, anyone on the public stage will have occasional gaffes. But stringing words together is not what should worry voters the most.

Some pundits have suggested that its time to take away Bidens keys, but any fair-minded American should know by now that Trump is unsafe to serve at any speed. Four criminal indictments, two impeachments, one guilty verdict, a sexual abuse judgment, and a civil fraud finding should have sent Trump to the ash heap of history.

While his return plans are even worse, some voters appear unfazed by the prospect of casting a ballot for an unhinged and vindictive leader who dodged taxes, cozied up to dictators, shared classified information with enemies, attacked allies, mismanaged a deadly pandemic, befriended white supremacists, locked kids in cages, launched an insurrection, worked to overturn an election, called to terminate the Constitution, and violated his oath of office.

There is no debate.
President Joe Biden speaks onstage in the gym at Girard College May 29, where he was joined by Vice President Kamala Harris to kick off their campaigns Black Voters for Biden-Harris effort during a rally at the majority-Black prep school in Fairmount. Read more

President Joe Biden will attend a predominantly Black church in Philadelphia on Sunday morning before traveling to a campaign event in Harrisburg on Sunday afternoon, his campaign announced Friday evening.

Biden will deliver remarks after the church service in Philadelphia, his campaign said. It did not identify the church or provide a time for the service.

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The visit is one of many appearances Biden planned this weekend as he faces calls to drop out of the presidential race after his disastrous performance in the June 27 debate heightened concerns about his ability to handle another four years in office.

Biden held a rally in Madison, Wis., Friday afternoon. An interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos, his first televised interview since the debate, was broadcast Friday evening.

During the interview Friday, Biden sought to project strength and vowed to stay in the race. Some Democrats, however, have continued to express concerns about his candidacy.

Originally, the president was scheduled to speak in Philadelphia on Sunday at the National Education Associations annual conference alongside first lady Jill Biden.

The speech, however, was canceled after the NEA suspended its programming in response to a strike announced by its staffers Friday.

Staff writer Julia Terruso contributed to this article.
The Virginia Bar Association has canceled the first debate in the campaign for Virginia's U.S. Senate seat because it said it could not get "a timely commitment to participate" from Hung Cao, the Republican challenger to Democratic incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine.

The debate, scheduled for July 20 at the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, is the traditional kickoff for statewide campaign debate season and the first of three debates that Kaine said he has accepted in his campaign for reelection to a third term.

Cao's campaign provided no explanation, but said it "is in negotiations with a statewide media company for a much more visible event."

Kaine spokesman Michael Beyer accused the Republican of "hiding from Virginians" and refusing to attend the debate to avoid explaining his positions on such issues as Medicare, Social Security, reproductive rights, access to health insurance and the cost of prescription drugs.

"Tim Kaine is glad to stand before Virginians and talk about what he's doing to grow our economy, expand health care access while cutting prescription drug prices, and protect reproductive freedom," Beyer said.

Kaine has used the planned debates to put Cao on the defensive after the latter won the Republican Senate primary in a five-way race on June 18. Two days after the primary, Kaine announced that he had accepted invitations to debates at the Homestead this month and two after Labor Day  one on Sept. 19 in Fairfax County and another on Oct. 2 at Norfolk State University.

Cao's campaign said then it had not yet received the debate invitations, but added that the Republican nominee "looks forward to participating in televised debates in the fall."

Marilyn Shaw, communications director for the bar association, confirmed that the organization had not contacted Cao formally, but had communicated with state Republican Party Chairman Rich Anderson weeks before the primary. Anderson said he had alerted all five Republican candidates of the debate prior to the primary and advised them to "put that date on their calendar."

Shaw said last week that the bar association had delivered a formal invitation to Cao's campaign on June 21, three days after the primary election, but had not received a response.

"Evidently they haven't responded," said Anderson, who was copied on the emailed invitation. "I haven't talked to them to see what their thinking is."

The bar association debate has been a longstanding tradition in Virginia politics, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a political newcomer who had just won the Republican nomination for governor, declined to participate in 2021 in his campaign against former Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Youngkin said he disagreed with the debate format and the choice of moderator, PBS newscaster Judy Woodruff.

The moderator for the July 20 Senate debate was to be Lonnie D. "Chip" Nunley III, a Richmond attorney who is chairman of the association's board of governors.

Kaine, in his two previous Senate campaigns, participated in bar association debates against former Sen. George Allen in 2012 and former Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart in 2018.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom sought to motivate Bucks County Democrats on Saturday in a speech that lauded President Joe Bidens achievements in his first term, but made little mention of growing concerns over the presidents age and competency following his disastrous performance against former President Donald Trump in the first presidential debate last month.

We are going to save democracy and bring back Biden and Harris for four more years, he proclaimed.

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Newsom headlined a rally in Doylestown on Saturday morning, speaking alongside local elected officials to a crowd of Democrats who came out to support Biden in the middle of a heat wave on a holiday weekend in the swing county.

Each speaker focused on the danger that a second Trump presidency posed to the nation, from potential abuses of power to diminished rights for women and LGBTQ Americans.

Donald Trump is not only the worst president in American history, he is a damaged human being, said State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, who also is the Bucks County Democratic Party chair.

Newsom framed the race as a choice between chaos and competence and warned that Trump would return the United States to a pre-1960s world.

You are the front lines of that opposition, he said.

On the sidewalk outside the event, Trump supporters gathered with signs and flags deriding Biden and telling Newsom to go home.

The visit comes as Biden faces a rough patch in his campaign. Since the June 27 debate, the Biden campaign has been unable to tamp down panic among Democrats as many question whether the 81-year-old president can beat Trump  or is even capable of serving a second term in office, with some in the party calling for him to step aside.

Dana Rollins, a Langhorne resident who attended the rally, said he believed that Biden is the best person to take on Trump in this moment in time. The conversations about shifting candidates, he said, are a result of the party being a diverse group that holds a lot of voices.

This is a process that were having to go through to try to put the strongest nominee forward and to be able to defeat Donald Trump, he said.

I believe that this organization, the Democratic organization, will come to the right answer, Rollins added.

The Newsom stop comes as Biden is in the midst of his own critical set of campaign events  a stop in Wisconsin on Friday, scheduled stops in Philadelphia and Harrisburg on Sunday, and an interview that aired Friday on ABC. During the interview Friday, Biden sought to project strength and vowed to stay in the race. Many Democrats, however, have continued to express concern.

According to the New York Times, Biden has acknowledged that these events would be critical to his ability to salvage his campaign. A poll from the Times showed that Biden had lost ground against Trump following the debate.

Newsom, the 56-year-old second-term governor, has fiercely defended Biden even as his own name has been floated as a possible replacement candidate.

When asked by a reporter after the rally whether he would run if the party nomination was open at the Democratic convention in August, Newsom said no and spoke highly of Bidens continued candidacy. For any other candidate to be nominated, Biden would have to voluntarily step aside.

To me, its the hypothetical that gets in the way of progress in terms of promoting this candidacy, Newsom told reporters after the pro-Biden rally. Its exactly where the other party wants us to be, having this internal fight.

Newsom has made numerous stops in swing states to show that support, including a stop in Michigan on Thursday and one in Pittsburgh on Friday. He was scheduled to visit another Philadelphia suburb, Chester County, Saturday evening.

The Philadelphia suburbs  and Bucks County, in particular  are critical to Democrats if they want to win Pennsylvania. Bucks County is the only county in the metro area represented by a Republican in Congress but its voters chose Biden over Trump in 2020.

In an interview, Bucks County Republican Committee Chairwoman Pat Poprick criticized the campaigns choice to bring Newsom, the governor of one of Americas most liberal states, to a moderate county.

We are not that liberal, we are not that far out, Poprick said. I think its very telling that they think thats going to help them in Bucks County.

Though national polling in the wake of the debate has shown problems for Biden, Newsom told reporters the battle will ultimately be fought in such places as Bucks County.

Yesterday was a good day and we all want to see more of that, Newsom said when asked whether Biden was doing enough to prove he was up for the job. Thats what campaigns are about: Get the surrogates out there. Get the party faithful out there. Its a bottom-up, not top-down campaign. Its county by county at the end of the day.
City Council President Kenyatta Johnson (second right) addresses residents and the media the day after a Southwest Philadelphia shooting in the area of 60th and Kingsessing Avenue on Friday, July 5, 2024. One person was killed and eight others injured in a late night shooting on July 4 in Southwest Philadelphia, police said. Read more

For years, Kenyatta Johnson has organized Peace not Guns safety walks in his district, in which he and other neighborhood leaders knock on doors to strengthen community ties they hope will help prevent the next shooting.

On Friday, the day after a deadly July 4 shooting at 60th Street and Kingsessing Avenue, the City Council president got some high-profile help, with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, District Attorney Larry Krasner, and Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton joining him as he went door to door.

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 READ MORE: 1 dead, 8 hurt in July 4th shooting in Southwest Philly; 'This is not normal,' mayor says

The shooting, which left one dead and eight wounded, including four teens, was the largest since Johnson was elected Council president in January, and it took place in his 2nd District, which includes almost all of Southwest Philadelphia as well as the western half of South Philly.

For the community members in Southwest Philadelphia, they shouldnt have to feel like theyre hostages inside their own homes, said Johnson, who founded Peace not Guns after his cousin was murdered in 1998. Its totally unacceptable.

Shootings and homicides in Philadelphia have fallen dramatically in the last year after three years of record-setting gun violence. During that time, Philly experienced an exaggerated version of the national trends following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with shootings spiking here more precipitously than other places and violence now receding more quickly than any other large U.S. city.

So far this year, homicides are down 39% compared with the first half of 2023. But there have still been 132 killings in 2024, and Johnson said he knows the city must do more.

 READ MORE: From a family tragedy to City Hall, how Kenyatta Johnson rose to power before his corruption trial

He believes the reason for Phillys comparatively rapid decline is the citys strategy of pouring tens of millions of dollars into small community groups that do antiviolence, such as trying to intervene in neighborhood rivalries, providing trauma counseling, and offering activities for at-risk youth.

He has pushed for the city to continue supporting that program, which gets almost $30 million in the new city budget that took effect Monday. Johnson said it was critical the city continue supporting the organizations that provide trauma support and violence prevention opportunities for our young people, which I believe is pretty significant.

The program, known as Community Expansion Grants, has been criticized for being hastily assembled without proper oversight, and an Inquirer investigation found it resulted in some organizations with little experience and inadequate internal controls receiving taxpayer money while being unable to provide the services they promised. But it has also provided resources to proven groups that Johnson praised.

Its the violence prevention [grants] that I believe has played a major role, Johnson said. I believe thats a testament to working with the boots-on-the-ground grassroots organizations.

Parker initially proposed spending $25 million on the grants this year. But Johnson pushed for more, and the administration agreed to an additional $4.9 million, funded by rolling over unspent money from the previous budget.

 READ MORE: Philly poured $22M into an anti-violence grant program. It picked some groups unable to deliver on their proposals.

The Independence Day shooting occurred at a pop-up party organized on social media and attended by young people from across the city who descended on the area, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said Friday.

Asked what Council could do to address the issue of spontaneous gatherings, Johnson said he would wait for Bethels recommendations on whether legislation is needed.

They werent sanctioned. Its not like they had a permit, said Johnson, meaning that its unclear how to crack down on the gatherings because they are not licensed by the city like regular block parties. The commissioner said that he will take a look at what policies are on the books.

Staff writer Jesse Bunch contributed to this article.
The UKs post-Brexit landscape has had a dramatic impact on migration trends. Growing anti-immigration sentiment and a desire by Europeans to remain in EU countries has led to a stark shift in Britains immigration dynamics, one that Ireland is no longer a large part of.

Once crossing the sea in their millions to escape famine and economic hardship, the Irish have arrived in waves to the UK since the 19th century, returning through the Great Depression in the 1930s, the cultural and social revolution of the 1960s, the Thatcher era of the 1980s and the fallout from the global financial crisis in the 2010s.

From unskilled labourers to tradesmen and nurses to more recently white-collar workers, Irish immigrants to the UK have appeared in droves across all areas of the countrys workforce.

However, new data from the world's largest job postings website Indeed has shown that while EU countries like Ireland used to dominate foreign jobseeker interest in the UK before Brexit, Anglophone and former Commonwealth countries now feature more predominately, largely replacing EU workers.

Once the second-highest source of foreign jobseekers, Irish workers have dropped out of the list of top 10 nationalities expressing interest in UK jobs, according to Indeed data focusing on interest in vacancies from around the world.

UCC's Piaras Mac Einri: 'The Irish emigrant nowadays is very different from the emigrants of the past.' Picture: John Sheehan

When you look at the historical trends of Irish emigration, they varied a lot, says Piaras MacEinri, Lecturer in Migration Studies and Geography at University College Cork.

In the 19th century, the majority of Irish emigrants travelled to North America, mostly the US. Then England and Scotland became the primary choice for the 20th century  about 80% of Irish emigrants were going up until we joined the EEC with the UK.

The fall in Irish interest is part of a wider shift in the make-up of international workers seeking opportunities in the UK. In 2016, the USA topped the list, followed by Ireland, France, Spain and Italy. Eight years later, that list has changed dramatically, with little overlap. In 2024, India is now the top source of foreign jobseekers in the UK, followed by the US, Pakistan, Nigeria and Australia.

The British economy is not doing very well, and there is a general perception that the cost of living is quite high, Mr MacEinri tells the Irish Examiner.

Indeed data corresponds with findings from the UKs most recent census, which has also pointed to a sizeable decrease in Irish people living and working in the country. According to the UKs Office for National Statistics (ONS), Ireland retained its position in the top 10 between 2011 and 2021 but was the country with the greatest decrease in people living in the country.

The number of people born in Ireland living in England and Wales in 2021 was 325,000, reflecting a fall of 80,000 or around 20% in the same period 10 years ago when they totalled more than 407,000, the ONS said.

While they were once the biggest group of those born outside the UK, Irish people are now fifth behind India, Poland, Pakistan and Romania. The reasoning behind the dramatic shift is multifaceted and dependent on a wealth of social and economic factors across both Ireland and the UK.

Mr MacEinri says:

It is still the single most popular destination for Irish emigrants but there are just so many options now. The UK is just one of a range of choices.

Take the Irish teacher trying to save money for a mortgage for example. While they once would have had their sights set on the UK, they are now going to the Gulf.

The Irish emigrant nowadays is very different from the emigrants of the past. They are much more likely to have a third-level education or some kind of qualification, meaning they can walk into jobs.

The Irish labour market is currently hovering around full employment, with the number of jobs continuing to grow despite recent contractions in the tech sector and staff shortages. Most recent data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows just 111,000 people were out of work in Ireland in May, equating to an unemployment rate of 4%.

Strong growth in real wages among Irish workers is also largely projected throughout 2024.

Irelands rate of employment is higher than they have ever been. Another key factor is people do not have to emigrate anymore, says Mr MacEinri.

Despite steady income rises, housing remains a key issue for young Irish workers, with those emigrating doing so in the hope of cheaper accommodation, a challenge understood to be just as difficult in large UK cities such as London and Edinburgh.

In addition, Britains exit from the EU has led to immigration being one of the key issues for UK voters, with early polls showing Nigel Farages Reform Party climbing in popularity, overtaking the Tories for the first time last month.

Britain is in an inward-looking frame of mind at the moment, says Mr MacEinri.

The interest expressed by foreign nationals in UK-based jobs, according to recruitment website Indeed.

British growth rates have fallen since Brexit. The Tories are still not admitting that but Brexit has not been a success from the point of view of economic growth and jobs.

The UKs anti-immigration panic has also coincided with renewed interest among Irish people to move further afield, with immigration to Australia, the EU and Canada all reporting steady rises since 2021, according to the CSO.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Richard Owens, Board Member of the London Irish Business Society (LIBS) which helps young Irish professionals in the capital, said that while their membership has seen strong interest amongst Irish people in the UK, recent months have seen a surge in issues among their membership.

It is noted they have expressed concerns over the recent increases in the cost of living, the challenges in finding affordable places to rent and a tricky job market, Mr Owen said, adding that the LIBS is currently seeking to address those concerns.

Hence, while Irish emigration remains high, those leaving the country have reconsidered where to go, and for many the UK is simply not the answer anymore.
Say you have a kid with an IQ of 125, and a kid with an IQ of 85, someone tweeted at me last week.

You think they should be in the same classroom, learning the same things at the same pace? Not fair to either one.

You might be surprised to learn I hadnt mentioned IQ at any point. Id made a lighthearted joke about my school experiences, namely my teachers in Derry wholly rejecting the idea of gifted or non-gifted students.

Nevertheless, I replied that I personally found IQ a wholly unconvincing measure of a childs potential, as a mutable, arbitrary metric affected by education, nutrition, rest, exercise, and a million other things, and the idea that its a set integer, ordained at birth, which would slow down others nearby is just astrology for racists.

Yes, another replied sarcastically. Its racist to want airline pilots and heart surgeons to be high-IQ individuals.

Again, a stretch of the discussion into unmentioned territory and, again, from another user whose timeline was otherwise filled with galloping racism.

So why do people of the above political persuasion have such an obsession with IQ? In 2024, its not something most people think about at all.

Its likely youve never taken an IQ test in your adult life, excepting perhaps an online one you did out of idle curiosity.

Youve almost certainly never had to take one to qualify for a degree, qualification, scholarship, or job.

While the term IQ itself has long passed into general vocabulary as a synonym for how smart someone is, few people consider any such number central to their conception of their own intelligence, or that of others.

To be even more blunt about it, if someone you met in real life brought up their IQ in almost any context, youd think they were a massive twat.

The origins of IQ as a metric are relatively benign. A questionnaire, created up by French psychologist Alfred Binet in 1905, tested the verbal skills of children, in the benevolent hope that a single standardised test could identify those who might need extra support from educational institutions.

This was strictly posed as a diagnostic measure, to highlight those whod benefit from greater instruction, and emphatically NOT as a way of classifying those for whom education was less useful, or should be discontinued.

Neither was the resulting score judged to be a rating of something as wildly definitive as general intelligence.

Unfortunately, many scientists who would go on to adapt Binets test believed intelligence to be hereditary, unchangeable, and greatly affected by race, and therefore sought a number by which an intellectual underclass could be determined.

In some cases, this was specifically with the aim of removing these mental defectives from society entirely, whether by forced sterilisation, or outright murder.

I should be very, very clear that few proponents of IQ today are seeking the sterilisation or murder of those they class as unintelligent, and are merely invested in the idea that a single number can determine someones intelligence, and crucially, that this number is both hereditary and immutable.

There is little to support such a hypothesis. For one thing, the idea that a single number could describe something as complex as human intelligence is fatuous on its face.

An IQ test  in ways that are often quite ingenious and replicable  tests a persons aptitude for things like language, visual logic, object symmetry and so on.

This does undoubtedly tell us something about the brains abilities and can have worthwhile uses in a range of applications, but it is likely better expressed as they are good or bad at these types of puzzles, which may indicate other skills they have.

You may find the results fascinating, even useful, but it falls so far short of even a casual definition of intelligence that to claim otherwise is laughable, before we begin discussing the many strands of intelligence which are entirely absent; like emotional intelligence, practical intelligence, creativity, spatial awareness or mathematics.

When one then considers whether this number is hereditary or immutable however, these issues really compound.

It is currently proposed that the heredity of IQ is around 75% by the time someone is an adult, which IQ boosters posit as evidence that some people  or races, or genders  are just born smarter and thus their kids are too.

If African-Americans score lower than white Americans on average, or women lower than men, they insist that this infers a supremacy of intellect within the latter in each case.

This ignores the innumerable other social, cultural or political reasons why one person  or race or gender  might do worse on an extremely specific and limited test than another; or that these very same conditions will continue to bear on their children within the sprawling, imperfect world in which we live.

Even if IQ described something 100% equivalent to general intelligence, and even it was 100% hereditary, none of this would suggest it was unchangeable, as evidenced by the fact that IQ scores have improved across the world over the past century.

Numerous explanations have been suggested, with better schooling, nutrition, and avoidance of infectious diseases all being touted  even the reduction of lead in paint  making its status as an immutable marker of, well, anything difficult to entertain.

There are several entirely useful applications for IQ tests: In educational development, cognitive research or just the enjoyment people glean from testing their brains.

But fetishising their results only really provides comfort to the type of person who wishes to make themselves feel superior by genetic fiat.

Clinging to the myth of a single number that describes how smart you are is only really attractive to people who lack the intelligence to engage with something as complex and multi-faceted as the human mind.

You might say IQ is a great indicator of intelligence, in that the second you see someone obsessing over it, you can usually conclude theyre dumb as rocks.
Beth Haughton cuts a very glamorous figure when she appears on my screen, looking radiant in a gorgeous off-the-shoulder number.

If you saw what I looked like from the waist down, its not a good look, she laughs.

This Zoom chat is the longest she has sat down and talked to someone in over a month, she says.

Uppermost in her mind at the moment is her new business, the online jewellery brand LoveBeth, which went live recently.

Shes the perfect advertisement for her own product and is adorned with her handiwork, crafted from a selection of brightly coloured beads, stones, crystals and pearls.

Beth Haughton has always been creative but it is only since her newest project, the Lovebeth jewellery collection, was launched that she feels she has found her true passion. Picture: Chani Anderson

The challenge of launching a new company is not new to Haughton.

The businesswoman will be a familiar figure to many Cork people, from her boutiques which brought the chicest of fashions to the city and also her presence front-of-house at the stylish restaurants she has run with her husband, Harold Lynch.

As a rule, I think I run on the adrenaline of the madness of my life. At the moment, I wouldnt mind another few hours in the day. Obviously, since the website launched, the last month has been a bit of a whirlwind, she says.

I was hoping it was going to be busy and Im almost scared saying it now but I just wasnt ready for how it took off. It has been amazing.

Haughton has come full circle to her latest enterprise. Now living in Blackrock, she travelled a lot in her early years, which inspired her interest in bright colours and design.

She says: Ive always loved jewellery, and not necessarily jewellery that is expensive. I am a magpie in the sense that I love colour. I lived abroad quite a bit when I was younger. For a while, my parents were living in the Far East and they would bring home pearls and crystals that my mother would get in the markets and I would make jewellery. Its in my blood.

In her early 20s, she worked for well-known jewellery designer Vivien Walsh, who had a shop in Dublin, and she began to design and make her own jewellery.

She says: Vivien was groundbreaking at the time; she stocked labels like Jean Paul Gaultier and had a stunning range of clothes and shoes. She definitely was one of the people who inspired me in my love of things that I cant afford.

Jewellery designer Beth Haughtons daughters, Tessa and Phoebe, pictured modelling pieces from the new Lovebeth collection. Picture: Chani Anderson

When Haughton opened her own boutique, Beth, in Douglas in the mid 90s, it quickly became a destination for the fashion-conscious from the city and beyond. She eventually moved to a larger premises in French Church St and business boomed until the recession hit.

The boutique closed its doors in 2009. It was a monumental blow. She and Harold had also opened the Club Brasserie restaurant on Lapps Quay in Cork city, while they were still paying rent on their previous premises in Douglas.

We said, OK, if things go belly up and theres any real problems, at least we know we can both work in the restaurant. The shop was doing very well even up until the end but it was just the stress of all of them together. It was July and I was in London buying a pre-spring collection. I remember I rang my accountant and said, No, thats it, I cant do this. The stress was just too much and we closed the shop. I was devastated. I actually felt like my heart was taken out of me. It took me a long time to get over it because it was my everything  I lived and breathed it.

Tessa Haughton Lynch models some of the vibrant pieces in the Lovebeth collection. Picture: Chani Anderson

Haughton and her husband concentrated their energies on Club Brasserie, which later became Dockland. It closed in 2022 and the couple went on to reboot the Ballymaloe-influenced cafe in the Crawford Art Gallery, which they named the Green Room.

Taking over the much-loved institution would be a daunting proposition for even experienced restaurateurs but the fact that it was a short-term proposition, given the upcoming revamp of the gallery, made the decision easier, says Haughton. There was also a pleasing symmetry in the move for her husband especially.

She says: Working at the Crawford has been great. We knew we werent going to be there for long because obviously the Crawford will be closing later this year. We always knew that they were going to be difficult shoes to fill because the people who had been there before had been there for a long time. But Harold trained in Ballymaloe and he cooked there. His first job when he qualified from the cookery school was in the Crawford, so he used to drive up with Myrtle Allen from Ballymaloe.

The people in the Crawford are incredibly nice to work with, weve enjoyed it, but we always knew that it was going to end.

Jewellery designer Beth Haughtons daughters, Tessa and Phoebe, pictured modelling pieces from the new Lovebeth collection. Picture: Chani Anderson

She says her husband and family are her greatest supporters. It has been all hands on deck recently as her two daughters and son have rowed in to help with the restaurant and the new jewellery business.

Both of my daughters, Tessa and Phoebe, do the modelling for the jewellery. Tessa has just finished studying global commerce in Galway and is helping me with all the packaging and putting manners on me, making me work on systems and ensuring I do what Im supposed to do.

I do all the photography and graphics and Phoebe, who is the baby, is in the restaurant every day looking after customers. My son Nathan has been encouraging me for the last year to get the website up.

LoveBeth is not Haughtons first online venture  she showed admirable foresight in setting up an online shopping portal in the early days of e-commerce.

However, she says the timing of the site was unlucky as, hard as it may be to believe now, the public had not yet fully bought into the concept of online shopping.

She adds: You can sometimes be too far ahead. I had the first online boutique in Ireland, which at the time was six months after Net-A-Porter had launched, and everybody thought I was bonkers.

Jewellery designer Beth Haughtons daughter, Tessa, pictured modelling some of the new Lovebeth collection. Picture: Chani Anderson

Her determination and resilience in the face of setbacks is inspiring. She acknowledges that things havent always been easy but optimism is just part of her mindset.

She says: Financially it can be so hard if you work for yourself and you can be very lucky and sometimes not so lucky. Some people just have it and, no matter what they do, it turns to gold, whereas Id say weve had more of a rocky road. Weve had our ups and downs but I try in general to be a positive person.

Im not scared of hard work and I have a fabulous family, I dont feel sorry for myself. Ive never wanted a big car, Ive never wanted a big diamond or those things. I do love the blue sky and the blue sea  if you put me in a little taverna right now in Greece with the cheapest bottle of plonk and a Greek salad, I would be extremely happy.

Each piece of the irresistible feminine and gloriously colourful Lovebeth jewellery collection is unique and handmade by Beth Haughton. Picture: Chani Anderson

That she isnt scared of hard work is evident  Haughton designs and makes all the jewellery on LoveBeth herself, underlining the care and craft that goes into the pieces.

However, reaction to the website has been so positive that shes considering adding someone else to the team.

I like being organised and it is quite chaotic at the moment. This is what I want to do so I have to give it 110%. Our house has been turned into a bead factory  Im slowly taking over the whole house, you have to eat on your lap, she laughs.

Its clear that Haughton thrives on being outside her comfort zone and also on the transformative power of beautiful objects.

Thats the fun thing about jewellery  they are small things that can change everything, how you feel and how you look, while also spreading a little joy.

SHOCK OF GREY earrings, 75, at CREATE at Brown Thomas.

The CREATE 2024 Jewellery Edit:

The much anticipated CREATE at Brown Thomas is a celebration of Irish design across fashion, millinery, accessories and jewellery. Now in its 14th year it continues to champion the very best of Irish design with a dedicated area in-store showcasing the work of 26 of Irelands most interesting designers. The designs of Dennis Lawler, the NCAD x Brown Thomas Designer to Watch award will also be on display.

Capulet & Montague by Lisa McCormack

Often copied but never equalled, Lisa McCormack was one of the first people in Ireland we saw producing acrylic jewellery and her particular way with colour really makes her stand out amongst the competition. For this years CREATE, her beautifully named Capulet & Montague brand introduces a new collection entitled Faro to Fennils Bay. This collection blends reprocessed acrylic with coastal-inspired hues, reflecting the designers journey from County Cork to Portugal. Known for her bold silhouettes and organic designs, this new collection offers a fresh interpretation of her distinctive style - great news for customers old and new.

FiorSo Jewellery

Founded in Co. Kerry by lawyer turned designer Sara Ross, FiorSo Jewellery has fast become popular with customers for its beautiful feather-light statement pieces which are inspired by the Art Deco and Art Nouveau movements. Ross delightful earrings are key pieces which are inspired variously by flowers such as cherry blossoms and calla lilies as well as Art Deco architecture. Her exclusive Tropicana collection for Brown Thomas features delicate gold pieces resembling fluttering butterflies and geometric shapes in tropical ombre tones perfect for summer.

SIADBH

Designed in Co. Kilkenny, the SIADBH Empowered Collection features circle-shaped crystals symbolising wholeness and timelessness, offering wearers pieces that empower and resonate with natural beauty. With crystal jewellery all the rage these days, this brand makes pieces that are on trend and yet somehow timeless, while the ethically sourced crystals and the certified recycled metals are aspects we can definitely get on board with.

Shock of Grey

Sarah Carroll Kelly started her brand Shock of Grey as a labour of love during lockdown and it has since become a full time business. If you love colour, then Shock of Grey is for you with bold, bright statement pieces in unpredictable materials such as wood and brass.
A member of the Permanent Defence Forces Naval Service has been granted leave by the High Court to challenge a decision to discharge him for allegedly not meeting medical standards.

Kevin Donoher says he got his own medical report which stated he had no significant medical impairment.

Mr Justice Garrett Simons said the Defence Forces appeared to have failed to heed a warning in its own regulations about observing fair procedures when it decided to discharge Mr Donoher from the Naval Services.

On September 11, 2023, a medical board determined that Mr Donoher should be discharged on what was referred to as "Grade 3" basis which put him below the medical standard required for service.

The judge said although it was not stated in the medical board decision, a "Grade 3" is defined as personnel with moderate impairments or disabilities who have a chronic medical condition which requires supervision and treatment at intervals more frequently than every six months. It is also where an unexpected interruption of treatment will cause an unacceptable risk to health.

Mr Donoher said he was informally given to understand that this grading was recommended because of concerns relating to the condition of his liver, and, in particular, his diagnosis of having a condition of fatty liver.

He was told in October 2023 his discharge would be pursued and he was entitled to appeal against the decision. He submitted an appeal which upheld the decision in April last and he was told he would be discharged this July 9.

Mr Donoher's own medical report

In the meantime, he had got his own hepatologist report which indicated he had no significant health impairment. The report said his condition would equate to Grade 1 on the Defence Forces scale, the judge said. The report was submitted to the military authorities a number of months after putting in his appeal.

Mr Donoher's solicitor wrote to the Department of Defence raising concerns that there had been no indication given that the Deputy Chief of Staff had an opportunity to review the report of his own consultant hepatologist. There was further correspondence and legal proceedings were issued.

In his decision, Mr Justice Simons said it was not apparent from the papers that the Defence Force's own requirements before the discharge decision was made were complied with.

In particular, he said, there is no contemporaneous explanation as to what status had been afforded to the report of the consultant hepatologist.

If, for example, the report was not considered because it was not submitted within time, then it was surprising that the rejection of the report as inadmissible was not immediately notified to Mr Donoher, he said.

Judge's ruling

The judge was satisfied that he had met the modest threshold governing an application for leave to apply for judicial review. He also said it was surprising that much of the communication with Mr Donoher about his procedural rights appeared to have been oral rather than in writing.

This procedural difficulty may stem from "the quaint notion" of a member being paraded before their commanding officer, with a partial record of what was said at that encounter being reduced to writing subsequently, he said.

"It would be preferable that a member be given a written statement setting out, in clear and intelligible language, his or her procedural rights."

He also granted a 21-day stay on the discharge during which time the respondents, the Minister for Defence and the State, may apply to set aside or vary the stay. The case comes back for mention next week.
The age question for US presidential candidates is more than four decades old. Former president Ronald Reagan answered it with a pledge to resign if he became impaired, and later with a clever joke that reset his campaign from a stumbling debate performance to a 49-state landslide and a second term.

I will not make age an issue of this campaign, Reagan said to the question he knew was coming, in perhaps the most famous mic-drop moment in campaign history.

I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponents youth and inexperience.

The audience roared, even Democratic vice president Walter Mondale laughed, and Reagans re-election was back on track.

Nancy and Ronald Reagan, then aged 75, strolling on the White House South lawn in December 1986. His remarkable recovery from an assassination attempt and his ready wit helped him swat away concerns about his age. Picture: Dennis Cook/AP

Today, Democratic president Joe Biden, 81, is struggling for such a redemptive moment after a disastrous debate performance against Republican former president Donald Trump, 78.

Those 90 minutes set off alarms among Democrats hoping Biden would keep Trump from returning to the White House, heightening concern among voters long sceptical of how either elderly man would govern a complex nation of more than 330m people for four more years.

More than two dozen people who have spent time with the president privately described him as often sharp and focused. But he also has moments, particularly later in the evening, when his thoughts seem jumbled and he trails off mid-sentence or seems confused, they said.

Sometimes he doesnt grasp the finer points of policy details. He occasionally forgets peoples names, stares blankly and moves slowly around the room, they said.

Viewers were struck by Bidens halting performance during the recent CNN presidential debate. Trump seemed much more vigorous  even though his contribution was littered with lies and misstatements. Picture: Mario Tama/Getty

I am running  no ones pushing me out, Biden said on a call Wednesday, with staffers from his reelection campaign.

Im not leaving. Im in this race to the end and were going to win.

Later that evening, during a meeting with Democratic governors, Biden acknowledged that he needs to get more sleep and limit evening events so he can turn in earlier to be rested for the job, according to three people familiar with the meeting, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

One person said the president joked that his health was fine, it was his brain that had challenges.

Biden argued that much more than his own political future was in jeopardy. In an interview with a Wisconsin radio station that aired on Thursday, he said: The stakes are really high. I know you know this. For democracy, for freedom, our economy, theyre all on the line.

US president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris wait for the start of the Fourth of July Independence Day fireworks at the White House on Thursday. Picture: Evan Vucci/AP

The interview on the Earl Ingram Show on the Civic Media Radio Network was the part of a media and public events blitz that the Democratic president and his staff have acknowledged as a make-or-break moment.

At the July 4 barbecue, Biden welcomed military families formally from a lectern. He then went over to personally greet the crowd for a few moments.

He suddenly grabbed a microphone and stood in the centre of the grass, explaining that there were thousands of people waiting to come into the party and he needed to duck back inside because the grounds were locked down as long as he was out there.

Keep up the fight! one supporter yelled.

You got me, man, Biden replied.

He also made a halting reference to Trump, who in 2018 skipped a trip to a First World War cemetery in France that Biden visited recently.

On Friday night, Biden is sitting for what many see as a make-or-break interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos.

He plans to be in Philadelphia on Saturday and hold a full news conference during the Nato summit in Washington next week.

March 30, 1981: Police and Secret Service agents scramble to protect Ronald Reagan and seize gunman John Hinckley who fired six shots, one of which hit Reagan. The US president, then aged 70, made a remarkable recovery after the shooting. Mike Evens/AFP/Getty

However, it is not a given that his campaign will survive even that long with discussions that were once a whisper around who should step into his place should he bow out are growing louder.

For now, Biden is not ready to walk away. However, time is short for a possible change. The Democratic National Committee announced weeks ago that it would hold a virtual roll call for a formal nomination before the partys national convention, which begins August 19.

But the question facing Biden is far more intimate, according to one expert who covered Reagans health during his presidency.

The most important debate of the campaign is the one taking place right now in Joe Bidens head between the part of mind telling him hes the chosen one, and the more self-aware part, said Rich Jaroslavsky of the University of California Berkeley, formerly of the Wall Street Journal.

At its heart, the question  how old is too old to be president?  is about competence. And Americans have never had wider personal experience with the effects of aging than they do today.

A surge of retiring baby boomers means that millions more Americans know when they see someone declining. For many, this widespread experience made Bidens halting performance during the Trump debate a familiar reality check.

Trump seemed more vigorous, even though he lied about or misstated a long list of facts.

When he challenged Biden to a cognitive test, Trump flubbed the name of the doctor who had administered his. For now, hes ceding the spotlight.

Is this an episode, or is this a condition? Nancy Pelosi, 84, wondered on MSNBC, reflecting the question dominating Democratic circles this week. Its legitimate  of both candidates.

The streets of Ballyporeen Co Tipperary thronged with visitors who came to see US president Ronald Reagan during his visit to Ireland in June 1984. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive

Reagan faced the same questions even before he was elected as the oldest president to that point. In 1980, at 69, he pledged to resign if he sensed serious cognitive decline while in office.

If I were president and had any feeling at all that my capabilities had been reduced before a second term came, I would walk away, Reagan told The New York Times on June 10, 1980. By the same token, I would step down also.

That didnt happen. Reagan served two full terms, leaving office in 1989. He announced in 1994 that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimers disease. He died in 2004.

Neither Trump nor Biden has made a similar pledge, and their campaigns did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

For Reagan, the age issue faded in his first term as any health questions focused on his recovery from a nearly fatal assassination attempt in 1981.

US president Joe Biden speaking to the crowd during a celebration event at St Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina during his visit to Ireland in 2023. Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images

He seemed headed for an easy re-election. And debates seemed natural settings for the smooth-talking former Hollywood actor. But his performance in the first showdown with Mondale in the 1984 campaign brought the age issue roaring back.

The president, then 73, rambled and hesitated. He seemed to lose his train of thought at one point, and appeared tired at others.

No one had seen him perform publicly in such a way, recalled Jaroslovsky, who co-authored a story headlined New Question in Race: Is Oldest US President Now Showing His Age?

Reagans age  really, his fitness for a second term  was now indelibly part of the 1984 race, a striking parallel to what is happening in 2024 in the aftermath of Bidens shaky debate performance. But there are key differences.

Reagan was leading going into the first debate, while Biden and Trump were virtually tied. Onstage, Biden was terrible out of the gate, said Jaroslovsky, the founder of the Online News Association.

Than as now, Jaroslovsky said, the embattled presidents supporters provided vigorous spin.

Ronald Reagan sips a pint of Smithwick's ale as Nancy Reagan looks on in Ballyporeen, Co Tipperary, during their visit To Ireland in June 1984. Irish Examiner Archive

Reagans operation said he had been tired. There was sniping about the staff overpreparing him, Jaroslovsky said.

Bidens team cited fatigue from two overseas trips that had exhausted even younger staffers. It was a bad night, they said. Blame flew at the presidents aides.

Democrats on Capitol Hill griped that Bidens performance had damaged their chances at the polls. And press critics asserted that reporters had failed to hold the president and his staff to account.

By Tuesday, pressure was building on Biden to withdraw from the race and open a difficult process for Democrats to nominate someone else. The crisis rippled across the Democratic Party just over six weeks before its convention in Chicago. Its not clear that Biden and Trump will debate a second time.

Reagans moment in 1984 came during the second debate at the 33 minute-mark, when The Baltimore Suns Henry Trewhitt said: You already are the oldest president in history, and some of your staff say you were tired after your most recent encounter with Mr Mondale.

Here, Reagan squared his feet and suppressed a smile. He was ready.

Trewhitt noted that John F Kennedy, the youngest American elected president, got hardly any sleep during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He asked Reagan: Is there any doubt in your mind that you would be able to function in such circumstances?

Not at all, Mr Trewhitt, Reagan said. Later, he declared, I am in charge.

Just how much longer Joe Biden remains in charge is the question still to be answered.
Joe Biden once said: Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.

Despite his struggling performance at the presidential debate on June 27, Biden walked away from it as though it were nothing more than a bad dream.

He is refusing to step aside, and perhaps that makes more sense when you read his quote again.

Barely 120 days remain until the US presidential election in November  what could essentially be Americas last democratic election.

Donald Trump playfully teased the media in an audience at a town hall event in Iowa last December by suggesting that he might become a dictator for just the first day of his second term, if re-elected.

Biden allies saw a perfect opportunity to garner support and sent out an email to supporters with the subject line: Donald Trump: Day One Dictator.

Only problem is a dictator isnt a dictator for just one day. More than half of Americas voters believe another Trump term would  not could, but would  lead to a dictatorship, the consequences of which are unthinkable.

Its likely this will also be the most significant election since 1864, which was held at the height of the American Civil War, a day in June that was about so much more than just two candidates.

The broader destiny of the Union was in jeopardy, and Abraham Lincoln admitted to his colleagues that it was likely he might not succeed in being re-elected. As it turns out, he was.

The election demonstrated the durability of the democratic process at a time of the utmost national mistrust and disorder.

America faces another such challenge in less than four months time.

As vice president Kamala Harris stated last April, democracy is extraordinary fragile and only as strong as our willingness to fight for it, as the outcome of the 1864 election showed.

Biden is not a quitter, hes a fighter. Hes the type of guy youd want in your corner. Theres been much written about why he shouldnt run for a second term in the White House, but theres been little if anything on why hes refusing to tender his resignation.

US president Joe Biden wiht First Lady Jill at CNN's studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Picture: Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

And perhaps thats worth considering.

To understand his stubborn refusal to go, its worth recalling a major turning point in the life of Middle Class Joe, as hes known to many.

His journey to what is widely regarded as the most powerful job in the world has been marked by personal tragedy, and one incident in particular which almost cost him his life.

It was a winters day in 1988 when Biden woke in a hotel room in Rochester, New York, squirming in agony.

He was curled in a ball on the floor deadened by a rip of pain like I had never felt before.

What had been misdiagnosed as a pinched nerve in his neck turned out to be not one but two deadly brain aneurysms.

Instead of calling an ambulance, Bidens aide booked him a flight to Wilmington, in Delaware, where he fell asleep at home.

He awoke to even greater surges of pain.

Later that day in a local hospital, doctors discovered blood in his spinal fluid.

One of the aneurysms had burst, leaking blood into the base of his brain.

What remained of the balloon-shaped bulge was attached to the artery wall close to the brain stem.

Bidens chances of survival were slim if the aneurysm popped again; and if he did pull through, the damage to his brain would be irreparable.

Jill Biden ordered a priest who had arrived to perform last rites to leave.

Youre not giving him the last rites. Hes not going to die, she told the priest.

However, the hospital in Delaware wasnt equipped to deal with such highly-specialised brain surgery.

President Ronald Reagan, as soon as he became aware of the emergency, offered a helicopter, but Biden was transferred by road because doctors believed air pressure changes could kill him.

In the end, it became a police-escorted snails pace journey of over 160km south along Interstate 95 to Walter Reed Army Medical Centre, in Washington, in heavy fog and sleety conditions.

Biden describes vividly in his memoir Promises To Keep the risks of the journey, and how, if his condition worsened, there was nothing those who were travelling with him could do to save him.

Neal Kassell, a legend in the world of brain surgery, especially aneurysms, eventually saved his life.

As I heard it, my chances of surviving the surgery were certainly better than fifty-fifty. But the chances of waking up with serious deficits to my mental faculties were more significant, Biden later wrote.

In her own memoir, Where the Light Enters: Building a Family, Discovering Myself, Jill explained how a doctor had told her that if her husband did survive surgery, he would likely have permanent brain damage, and if any part of his brain would be adversely affected, it would be the area that governed speech.

According to the doctors who treated Biden, he made a full recovery and suffered no brain damage.

As he would later tell his close friends, it changed his outlook on life.

When you defy the odds in such a shifting high-pitched battle of skill and wits, resilience is what you take away from the experience.

Biden has always had resilience in abundance, but his experience on the operating table strengthened it even more.

He never gave up after the deaths of his first wife and young daughter, where so many others would have, or following the death of his first-born son Beau from brain cancer in 2015.

Biden will celebrate his 82nd birthday shortly after the November election.

Its been his mission all of his working life to serve, while his opponent Trump simply regards as payback a second term as president for being deprived that four years ago.

The Trump who took the presidential oath on Capitol Hill in 2016 has been replaced by something even more sinister.

Republican presidential candidate and formerUS president Donald Trump. Picture: Gerald Herbert, File/AP Photo

Its worth watching Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump, in which several psychologists argue they have a duty to warn the public about Trumps alleged mental state.

It doesnt make for comfortable viewing.

Biden has gathered a strong team of experienced trusted advisors around him; whereas Trumps 2016 presidency began to collapse within weeks.

Many of his political appointees either resigned or were dismissed.

He spent more time on X, formerly Twitter, hissing his critics than he did listening to advice from his team.

It was a circus from day one, and the final instalment might not be too far away.

Time is running out. Democrats need to drive Biden forward, rather than weakening his cause.

Theres been plenty of talk about how he might be stood down. He wont, because giving up is unforgivable.

Would voters take a chance on Harris when many people know so little about her?

If Biden succeeds in being re-elected, then it makes greater sense to hand over power to Harris during his second term, rather than positioning her against Trump in November.

If I had to choose between Middle Class Joe, or a convicted felon  a malignant narcissist who poses the greatest danger to American democracy  I know who I would vote for.
A great reset.

That is how Taoiseach Simon Harris characterised his hopes for the Anglo-Irish relationship, in the wake of Keir Starmers Labour landslide washing away 14 years of Tory rule.

In an early morning statement at Government Buildings, Mr Harris spoke of a new day.

After eight years of a messy Brexit dominating the Anglo-Irish relationship, after the apathy and ignorance of previous leaders of Britain, Ireland hopes to have a partner more than a neighbour who insists on tearing up the housing estate every few months.

Speaking as he congratulated Mr Starmer, Mr Harris struck the chord of renewal, of hope, and of partnership.

Today is about looking forward and realising the full potential of that relationship between Taoiseach and prime minister, and between our governments, Mr Harris said.

Keir Starmer and I share a desire for it to go from strength to strength. It is time for a great reset

Mr Harris made the point that, in the Labour Party manifesto, the language towards Ireland was language of partnership and co-guarantors of our shared peace.

The shape of the neighbourly relationship has been scarred for the best part of a decade by not just Britains vote to leave the EU, but by a stream of indifference or hostility from Britains leadership and officialdom, and from a trust on the Irish side that eroded quicker than Conservative majorities across the Red Wall.

After the Brexit vote in 2016, Enda Kenny was keen to say that the Irish relationship with its neighbour over the water would be considered, but that he hoped it would remain strong.

Years of haggling, arguing, and negotiating over the various incarnations of Britains withdrawal  backstop, protocol, Windsor Framework et al  have done little to make Mr Kenny right, as Northern Ireland was offered up as a handy piece of red meat to increasingly eurosceptic Tories who began to eat their own with alarming abandon.

Keir Starmer has been described as 'the most Irish Englishman', and spent many years as a human rights advisor to the PSNI.

The Irish Government was cast as a villain for the crime of looking out for Irish people and the security of this island.

In 2018, the comedian Andrew Maxwell hit on the Irish-English relationship  succinctly characterising the indifference that comes from across the water.

[I]ts just consternation, confusion. Generally, most Irish people get all-British TV and all British media. We know way more about Britain than they know about Ireland. Its like a valve that flows in one direction.

People can be having their dinner right now watching this in Ireland, but nobody in Britain knows Ireland

The truth is that relationships between larger and smaller neighbours generally cuts that way, and it is absolutely fine if the person on the street in Hull or Norwich or Plymouth isnt au fait with Irish politics or culture.

However, for their leaders to show such disregard for Irish perspectives was both bizarre and self-defeating.

In his early morning statement, Mr Harris spoke of the closeness of the two people and and of how there is now a hope.

In Ireland, there is now hope. We will work to make the Taoiseach-prime minister relationship not only what it should be but what it could be.

Ireland and the UK are not only neighbours, we are independent nations that are intertwined in history and in culture.

In many, many instances, we are family

We have never forgotten that, not for one moment, no matter what challenges came our way, he added.

Mr Starmer has been described as the most Irish Englishman, and spent many years as a human rights advisor to the PSNI.

There are multiple indicators that he understands and appreciates the Irish perspective. The optimism within the halls of power in Dublin is not without foundation.

However, the test of the Irish relationship with Britain has never been words or appreciation. The test of whether this is a new dawn in relations will come in the weeks and months ahead.
Slovakias populist Prime Minister Robert Fico made his first public appearance on Friday since he was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt.

Mr Fico has been recovering at home from multiple wounds he suffered in the May 15 attack when he was shot in the abdomen as he greeted supporters in the town of Handlova, nearly 85 miles northeast of the capital.

The suspect, identified only as JC, was immediately arrested and faces terror charges.

Bodyguards take Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in a car from the scene after he was shot and injured in Handlova, Slovakia (Radovan Stoklasa/AP)

Mr Fico gave a speech on a stage at an evening gathering to mark the 1,161 anniversary of Saints Cyril and Methodiuss arrival, a national holiday in his country.

People gave him a standing ovation when he arrived at the Devin Castle in the capital.

In his address Mr Fico, who was standing on the stage, attacked what he called liberal and progressivist ideologies and praised Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orban for his recent trips to Kyiv and Moscow.

Mr Fico ended his countrys military aid for Ukraine after his coalition government was sworn in on October 25.

He also opposes EU sanctions on Russia, and wants to block Ukraine from joining Nato.

He has long been a divisive figure in Slovakia and beyond.

He returned to power for the fourth time last year, when his leftist party Smer, or Direction, won the parliamentary election last September after campaigning on a pro-Russia and anti-American message.

His critics worry that Slovakia could abandon its pro-Western course and follow the direction of Hungary under Mr Orban.

Thousands have repeatedly rallied in the capital and across Slovakia to protest Mr Ficos policies.
Nato leaders plan to pledge next week to keep pouring arms and ammunition into Ukraine at current levels for at least another year, hoping to reassure the war-ravaged country of their ongoing support and show Russian President Vladimir Putin that they will not walk away.

US President Joe Biden and his counterparts meet in Washington for a three-day summit beginning on Tuesday to mark the military alliances 75th anniversary as Russian troops press their advantage along Ukraines eastern front in the third year of the war.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Natos 32 member countries have been spending around 40 billion euros (33.8 billion) each year on military equipment for Ukraine since the war began in February 2022 and that this should be a minimum baseline going forward.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference at the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland (Laurent Cipriani/AP)

I expect allies will decide at the summit to sustain this level within the next year, Mr Stoltenberg said.

He said the amount would be shared among nations based on their economic growth and that the leaders will review the figure when they meet again in 2025.

Nato is desperate to do more for Ukraine but is struggling to find new ways.

Already, Nato allies provide 99% of the military support it gets.

Soon, the alliance will manage equipment deliveries.

But two red lines remain: no Nato membership until the war is over, and no Nato boots on the ground there.

At their last summit, Nato leaders agreed to fast-track Ukraines membership process  although the country is unlikely to join for many years  and set up a high-level body for emergency consultations.

Several countries promised more military equipment.

A year on, they want to put on a fresh display of unity and resolve, even as uncertainty over elections roils many of the organisations biggest members.

The possible return of Donald Trump, who undermined trust among the allies while he was the U.S. president, is a particular concern.

But governments in France and Germany also were weakened in elections this year.

Italy is led by a prime minister whose party has neo-fascist roots, while an anti-immigrant party heads a shaky coalition in the Netherlands and Spains Cabinet relies on small parties to rule.

Whoever might be in power though, its become clear that theres not a lot more that Nato can do.

Lately, Mr Stoltenberg has insisted on a long-term commitment to Ukraine.

Major funding delays, notably due to political wrangling in the US Congress, have left the countrys armed forces, in his words, to defend themselves with one hand tied on the back.

He had hoped the allies would agree to spend at least 40 billion euros annually on weapons in a major, multi-year programme.

It does not mean an increase in support, though.

The figure roughly equals what they have already spent each year since the war began.

One new initiative the leaders are likely to endorse is a mission to get the right military equipment into Ukraine and streamline training for its armed forces.

In their haste to help, Western backers have inundated Ukraine with all kinds of weapons and materiel.

In the early chaos of war, anything was welcome, but the deliveries have become unmanageable  a multitude of different kinds of vehicles or defence systems that require distinct maintenance plans and dedicated supply chains to keep them running.

Offers of training programs outside Ukraine have also been abundant, indeed so prolific and different that its armed forces struggle to prioritise which troops to send, to what Nato country, and for how long.

Weve let a thousand flowers bloom, conceded a senior US State Department official, but added that with a new mission, probably based in Wiesbaden, Germany, and under the likely leadership of a US general, Nato can come in and say: Weve got it.

The official requested anonymity to discuss plans that had not been finalised.

Mr Stoltenberg said he and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed earlier this month that the new steps the leaders will take constitute a bridge to Nato membership and a very strong package for Ukraine at the summit.

Membership would protect Ukraine against a giant neighbour that annexed its Crimean Peninsula a decade ago and more recently seized vast swaths of land in the east and south.

Before then, Kyiv must reform its security institutions, improve governance and curb corruption.
US President Joe Biden, fighting to save his endangered re-election effort, has defiantly said he is completely ruling out quitting his 2024 bid.

The comment came after he finished taping a pivotal television interview where his every answer is sure to be scrutinised for evidence of his competency and fitness to run for office.

Yet Mr Bidens rigorous efforts to course correct from his disastrous debate performance last week were not yet quelling internal party frustrations, with Democrats quietly chatting about where they would go next if the president drops out  or what it would mean if he stays in.

But in Wisconsin, Mr Biden was focused on proving his capacity to remain as president. When asked whether he would halt his campaign, he said he was completely ruling that out and said he is positive he could serve for another four years.

In an excerpt from the interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos, the president said his disastrous debate performance last week was a bad episode and there were no indications of any serious condition.

I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing, said Mr Biden, who rejected the idea of taking an independent medical evaluation.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day, I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but Im running the world.

Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But Im still in good shape.

Mr Biden suggested that disruptions from Mr Trump  who he described as a pathological liar:  had flustered him during the debate.

I realised that, even when I was answering a question and they turned his mic off, he was still shouting and I let it distract me, he said.

Im not blaming it on that. But I realised that I just wasnt in control.

Earlier in Madison, Mr Biden again acknowledged in front of hundreds of supporters his subpar debate performance.

Still, amid speculation over what he would do, he had an answer: I am running, and Im going to win again.

I beat Donald Trump, a forceful Biden said, as the crowd gathered in a local middle school cheered and waved campaign signs.

I will beat him again.

Mr Biden, relying on a teleprompter for his remarks, attacked his presumptive Republican challenger almost immediately, laying into Trump by pointing out that the former president once said that George Washingtons army won the revolution by taking control of the airports from the British.

As the crowd laughed, Mr Biden continued: Talk about me misspeaking.

The rally preceded an i

President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 5, 2024. In the background is Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

nterview that could be a watershed moment for Mr Biden, who is under pressure to bow out of the campaign after his disastrous debate performance ignited concern that the 81-year-old Democrat is not up for the job for another four years.

The interview, which was taped after the campaign rally in Madison, is expected to be intensive and probing, and two people familiar with the presidents efforts said he had been preparing aggressively.

They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.

There was broad agreement that Mr Biden cannot afford to have another bad day, which is how he wrote off his debate flop.

It was not clear that even a so-so performance would be enough to satisfy concerns about his fitness to serve.

The White House itself was raising the stakes for Mr Bidens interview, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying that millions of Americans are expected to watch.

While private angst among Democratic legislators, donors and strategists is running deep after Mr Bidens damaging debate performance, most in the party have held public fire as they wait to see if the president can restore some confidence with his weekend travel schedule and his handling of the Stephanopoulos interview.

At least three House Democrats have called for Mr Biden to step down as the nominee, with Seth Moulton expressing his concerns in a Thursday radio interview and joining Lloyd Doggett and Raul Grijalva in seeking an alternative.

President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison

President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding father, George Washingtons footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump, Mr Moulton told the radio station WBUR on Thursday.

For Mr Biden, every moment now is critical to restoring the lost confidence stemming from his shaky performance in Atlanta last week.

Yet the president continued to make slip-ups that did not help that effort.

During an interview with WURD radio in Philadelphia that aired on Thursday, Mr Biden tripped up and said Im proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, the first Black woman to serve with a Black president  scrambling some of his often-used lines about his pride in serving with the first Black president and choosing the first Black woman to be vice president.

Such verbal glitches are not out of the ordinary for Mr Biden but are getting magnified attention in this environment.

In a hastily organised gathering with more than 20 Democratic governors on Wednesday evening, Mr Biden acknowledged that he needs to get more sleep and limit evening events so he can be rested for the job, according to three people granted anonymity to speak about the private meeting.
Irans President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian has vowed to serve all Iranians in a victory speech.

Mr Pezeshkian, a reformist candidate, spoke at the the mausoleum of the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, addressing journalists in a chaotic event.

The heart surgeon said: In this election, I didnt give you false promises. I did not lie.

Its been many years after the revolution that we come to the podium, we make promises and we fail to fulfil them. This is the biggest problem we have.

Mr Pezeshkian bested hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jaili in Fridays run-off election.

Iran held a run-off election that pitted a hard-line former nuclear negotiator against a reformist (AP)

Meanwhile, the United States said the Iranian poll was neither free nor fair, saying it likely would not change the Islamic Republics stance on human rights.

The US state department said it would continue to use diplomacy with Tehran when it advances American interests.

The elections in Iran were not free or fair. As a result, a significant number of Iranians chose not to participate at all, the state department said.

We have no expectation these elections will lead to fundamental change in Irans direction or more respect for the human rights of its citizens. As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the supreme leader.

It added: The elections will not have a significant impact on our approach to Iran, either. Our concerns about Irans behaviour are unchanged.

The election comes during a particularly volatile time in the Middle East (AP)

Mr Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Irans Shia theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country.

But even Mr Pezeshkians modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels with enough of a stockpile to produce several nuclear weapons if it chose.

A vote count offered by authorities put Mr Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Mr Jalilis 13.5 million in Fridays election.

Overall, Irans interior ministry said 30 million people voted in an election held without internationally recognised monitors, representing a turnout of 49.6%  higher than the historic low of the June 28 first round vote but lower than other presidential races.

Supporters of Mr Pezeshkian entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Mr Jalili.

Mr Jalili is Irans former top nuclear negotiator (AP)

Mr Pezeshkians win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Middle East and a looming election in the United States that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk.

The victory also was not a rout of Mr Jalili, meaning he will have to carefully navigate Irans internal politics as the doctor has never held a sensitive, high-level security post.

Government officials up to Khameni, the supreme leader, predicted higher turnout as voting got under way, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centres. However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in Tehran saw light traffic and a heavy security presence on the streets.

Authorities counted 607,575 voided votes  which often are a sign of protest by those who feel obligated to cast a ballot but reject both candidates.

Khamenei praised the turnout on Saturday despite what he alleged was a boycott campaign orchestrated by the enemies of the Iranian nation to induce despair and a feeling of hopelessness.

Turnout was recorded at 49.6% (AP)

He added: I would like to recommend Dr Pezeshkian, the elected president, put his trust in God, the Compassionate, and set his vision on high, bright horizons.

Voters expressed a guarded optimism.

I dont expect anything from him  I am happy that the vote put the brake on hard-liners, said bank employee Fatemeh Babaei, who voted for Pezeshkian. I hope Pezeshkian can return administration to a way in which all people can feel there is a tomorrow.

Mr Pezeshkian, who speaks Azeri, Farsi and Kurdish, campaigned on outreach to Irans many ethnicities. He represents the first president from western Iran in decades  something people hope will aid the county as those in the western part are considered more tolerant because of the ethnic and religious diversity in their area.

The election came amid heightened regional tensions. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups armed by Tehran  such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemens Houthi rebels  are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.

While Khamenei remains the final decision-maker on matters of state, Mr Pezeshkian could bend the countrys foreign policy toward either confrontation or collaboration with the West.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, which has reached a detente with Iran, sent his congratulations to Mr Pezeshkian that stressed his keenness to develop and deepen the relations that bring our two countries and peoples together.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has relied on Iranian-made drones in his war on Ukraine, similarly congratulated Mr Pezeshkian.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has called for more transparency as the state looks for new ways to handle the growing costs of a program that provides tuition-free college to spouses and children of military veterans killed or disabled as a result of their service.

However, Youngkins administration isnt practicing full transparency itself.

Kayla Owen  a military spouse whos also a member of the governors task force studying the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program  initially submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to Youngkins office for a handful of officials internal communications involving the program. Her initial request didnt give a timeframe, but she later narrowed it to records going back to June 2023. The administration said it wouldnt release anything.

Youngkins office is withholding the documents, enough to fill two binders, under a sweeping FOIA exemption for gubernatorial working papers and correspondence.

Those records would shed light on the Youngkin officials discussions about the program prior to the program being put on the chopping block. They could also offer clarity on what led the administration to draft a bill that included the same downsizing measures the governor now wants to undo.

Moving forward, we need all parties on all sides to commit to transparency or there will never be improvements and harm will continue to be done, said Owen, who lives in the Fredericksburg area. As a leader of the advocacy group Friends of VMSDEP, Owen was appointed to a spot on Youngkins task force reviewing the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program and its future.

Youngkin has vowed to protect the program from recent cost-cutting reforms he and the Democratic-led General Assembly approved in May, positioning himself as veteran-friendly and eager to help military families that want to preserve the program. He has also called for more openness with affected families, who were angered that the program's changes were enacted through the state budget instead of being proposed as a standalone bill subject to more public scrutiny.

For weeks, advocates who have called for restoring the program to its prior state have been trying to figure out how and why the programs rapid growth over the past five years became a major budgetary concern.

As part of that effort, Owen filed a FOIA request with the governors office last month.

On June 13, she requested Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program-related communications involving Youngkin Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera, former Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services Daniel Gade, the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia and several other officials who could potentially have been involved in policy discussions about the program.

After a few weeks of back-and-forth over the timeline and parameters of the request, Youngkin FOIA officer Denise Burch gave Owen a final answer on July 1. The requested records, Burch wrote, were being entirely withheld. Burch did not say exactly how many documents were being withheld, only that the records would fill two Redwell folders, an apparent reference to a type of binder used to hold documents.

Virginia law says officials must identify the volume of records theyre withholding with reasonable particularity. Officials often give an exact number of pages instead of describing how many receptacles the documents fill.

The law also says FOIA exemptions should be applied narrowly in order to maximize government transparency.

Like past Virginia governors, Youngkin routinely invokes the working papers and correspondence exemption to shield a wide range of activity involving the governors office and cabinet secretaries. The exemption is discretionary, meaning officials can choose to use it but are also free to release records that fall under it.

Asked why the governors office chose not to release the records, Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez characterized the denial as routine.

The records requested, like all similar requests of [the] governors working papers and correspondence, are exempt under the FOIA statute, Martinez said. However, the administration has been having open dialogue with the veteran and first responder communities, including Friends of VMSDEP and all members of the Preserving VMSDEP Task Force.

The changes to the program, meant to shrink the pool of eligible students and bring in more funding to public colleges and universities, would impose a stricter Virginia residency requirement, prevent the waivers from being used for advanced degrees or a second undergraduate degree and require participants to first pursue other forms of financial aid.

The program currently has around 6,400 participants, according to state data, up nearly 357% from 2019.

That increase, and the programs estimated financial cost rising to more than $65 million per year, set off alarms among state officials concerned about runaway growth and potentially unsustainable financial impact on colleges and universities.

General Assembly leaders reached a deal this week to reverse the cost-cutting measures and provide $65 million in each of the next two budget years. Youngkin has signaled his support for the proposal, which is expected to be formally approved when the legislature reconvenes on July 18.

This story was originally published in the Virginia Mercury.
Texas officials are urging coastal residents to brace for a potential hit by Beryl with the storm expected to regain hurricane strength in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Centre in Miami, said: Were expecting the storm to make landfall somewhere on the Texas coast sometime Monday, if the current forecast is correct.

Should that happen, itll most likely be a category one hurricane.

The earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, Beryl caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean islands earlier in the week.

Parts of the Caribbean including Jamaica were wrecked by the storm (PA)

It then battered Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, toppling trees but causing no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved across the Yucatan Peninsula.

The US National Hurricane Centre predicts that Beryl will intensify before making landfall, prompting expanded hurricane and storm surge watches.

Mr Beven said a hurricane warning is expected to be issued on Sunday.

The storm will bring a dangerous storm surge  flooding portions of the Texas coast  as well as hurricane-force winds to a small area and tropical storm conditions with heavy rains to much of the rest of the Texas coast, he said.

There is an increasing risk of damaging hurricane-force winds and life-threatening storm surge in portions of north-eastern Mexico and the lower and middle Texas coast late Sunday and Monday, the centre warned.

Texas officials warned the states entire coastline to brace for possible flooding, heavy rain and wind as they wait for a more defined path of the storm.

The hurricane centre has issued hurricane and storm surge watches for the Texas coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande north to San Luis Pass, less than 80 miles south of Houston.

As #HurricaneBeryl approaches the state, Texas issued a state disaster declaration for 40 at-risk counties.



Texans: please continue to monitor weather conditions and make an emergency plan to keep yourself and your loved ones safe.



Read more: https://t.co/OfNlp6DMgM pic.twitter.com/n3Gdt7bPV3  Gov. Greg Abbott (@GovAbbott) July 6, 2024

On Saturday, Beryl was about 460 miles south-east of Corpus Christi and had top sustained winds of 60mph, according to the National Hurricane Centre. It was moving west-north-west at 12mph.

Texass acting governor Dan Patrick, who is filling in for Greg Abbott as he travels in Taiwan, issued a pre-emptive disaster declaration for 40 counties.

Some Texas coastal cities called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas prone to flooding, banned beach camping and urged tourists traveling on the July 4 holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles from coastal parks.

Beryl already spread destruction in Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados this week. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said.

It is feared Beryl will strengthen into a hurricane (AP)

Mexican authorities had moved some tourists and residents out of low-lying areas around the Yucatan Peninsula before landfall, but tens of thousands remained to tough out the strong winds and storm surge. Much of the area around Tulum is just a few yards above sea level.

The city was plunged into darkness when the storm knocked out power as it came ashore. Screeching winds set off car alarms across the town. Wind and rain continued to whip the seaside city and surrounding areas on Friday morning. Army brigades roved the streets of the tourist city, clearing fallen trees and power lines.

Although no dead or wounded have been reported, nearly half of Tulum continued to be without electricity, according to Laura Velazquez, national coordinator of Mexican Civil Protection.
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( Middle East Monitor )  It seems that the repercussions of the debate recently held between current US President Joe Biden and his rival, former US President Donald Trump, which caused a crisis for the former, fuelled a campaign led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against the current US administration, and aims, among other things, to hold it responsible for Israels failure to achieve absolute victory in its war against the Gaza Strip. In light of this campaign that those close to Netanyahu have continued to ignite over the past few days, we have come across two related features.

The first is accusing the Biden administration of being the one preventing Israel from achieving the desired victory in the war it has been waging against Gaza since 7 October by placing conditions on Israel and delaying arms shipments to it. Looking at what is written by those closest to Netanyahu, other suspicions arise before our eyes regarding that administrations positions on Iran. Several days ago, one of them, a historian specialising in American history, Gadi Taub, wrote that the Biden administration is convinced that the path to establishing calm in the Middle East will go through de-escalation and reaching deals with Iran.

Hindustan Times Video: Netanyahu Rants Against USA Over Weapons; Biden Hits Back: Israel To Lose Ally Amid Gaza Struggle?

It is a systematic policy initiated by the administration of former President Barack Obama, and still, at its core, the goal is reducing US intervention in the region, in order to prevent being drawn into wars. In his opinion, contrary to the policy pursued by Trump, what the Biden administration is doing does not strengthen the power of the United States allies against Tehran. Rather, on the contrary, it causes it to move away from its allies and take steps towards Iran, which would give the US a new status of an arbitrator who does not have any biassed tendencies toward one party or another. According to his reading, from the first day it took office in the White House, the Biden Administration sent signals to the Iranians indicating that it was seeking to reach settlements with them.

Its first steps were to remove the Houthis from the list of terrorist organisations and stop sending offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia that could help it fight the Houthis in Yemen. This administration also imposed the maritime border demarcation agreement with Lebanon on Israel, refrained from imposing economic sanctions on Iran, and released financial sums to it estimated at about $100 billion. Taub reaches the following conclusion: The US has been able to curb Iran for a long time, but since Biden took power in the White House, it has been doing the exact opposite.

The second feature is publicly declaring Netanyahus bet on Trumps return to the White House, after his victory in the upcoming elections. The two will then return to what has been described as the golden era of their relationship which prevailed during Trumps presidency.

According to what an analyst wrote in the Israel Hayom newspaper, there are those who have begun to rub their hands with anticipation in Israel and expect Trump to be elected president. They believe that if he becomes president of the US, all the problems of arms shipments and humanitarian problems imposed by the Biden administration on Israel will disappear. On the other hand, it was stated in other analyses, especially by military analyst Ron Ben-Yishai, that it should be remembered that Trump has many reservations about Netanyahu. Likewise, Trumps position on the war on Gaza was contradictory. At first, he supported it, then he said that Israel must end it. Now, he is back to supporting the continuation of the war and the destruction of Hamas.

Hence, the big problem with him is that he does not know which side he will wake up on every morning, and what decision he will make before drinking his coffee. On the other hand, it is clear that his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will be alongside Trump in the White House, and he is a great friend of Israel. Kushner is the architect behind the normalisation of relations between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, and the display of American power in the Gulf region and the Middle East.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Arab48 on 3 July 2024

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor or Informed Comment.

Via Middle East Monitor
Team deployed to aid rescue after dike breach in China's second-largest freshwater lake

Xinhua) 13:28, July 06, 2024

An aerial drone photo taken on July 5, 2024 shows rescuers working on a dike of Dongting Lake in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry.

An additional 50 rescue workers, along with 30 sets of equipment and a water engineering rescue team from the provincial capital Changsha, have been deployed to block the breach. Surveying drones and remote sensing satellites are being used to collect images of the breach and the surrounding affected area, the ministry said.

Emergency supplies have been sent to support local authorities in the evacuation and resettlement of disaster-affected residents.

As of 10 p.m. Friday, 5,000 residents in the affected area had been safely relocated. There were no immediate reports of trapped individuals or casualties.

The dike breach that occurred in the Dongting Lake was initially about 10 meters wide but expanded afterward. The affected area near Tuanbei Village covers approximately 50 square km. This area experienced a dike breach in 1996.

Since June 16, Hunan has seen its heaviest rainfall of the year, breaking historical records in some regions.

Rescuers work in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 5, 2024 shows rescuers working on a dike of Dongting Lake in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

Rescuers transfer stranded residents in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Department of Hunan/Handout via Xinhua)

Rescuers transfer stranded residents in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Department of Hunan/Handout via Xinhua)

A rescuer monitors the water level in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

Rescuers reinforce a dike in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

Rescuers transfer a stranded resident in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Department of Hunan/Handout via Xinhua)

Rescuers reinforce a dike in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)






Friday, July 05, 2024 - "16 and Pregnant" star Whitney Purvis has been arrested again, this time for failing to make child support payments.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ, a Floyd County, Georgia judge ordered her arrest on Tuesday, July 2, after finding her in contempt of court for not paying the mandated child support.

Purvis has been booked and is currently in custody, where she will serve a 48-hour jail sentence. Additionally, she has been ordered to pay an extra $20 per month to cover back support, on top of her existing monthly obligation of $353.





This isn't Purvis's first encounter with the law. In 2012, she was arrested for allegedly shoplifting a pregnancy test from Walmart. Later that year, she and her then-boyfriend Weston Gosa were accused of destroying another person's laptop and cell phone. Purvis has also faced charges for allegedly attacking Weston with a broom and making threats against her ex.

Whitney Purvis gained fame on season 1 of MTV's "16 and Pregnant," alongside Maci Bookout, Amber Portwood, Farrah Abraham, and Catelynn Lowell. She welcomed her first child, Weston Jr., on the show and had her second son, River, in 2014. Weston currently has custody of their two boys. Purvis welcomed a third child, son Collin Adonis, in 2023, sharing his arrival with her social media followers.






Friday, July 05, 2024 - In a historic move, Canada appointed a woman as the country's top soldier for the first time on Wednesday, July 3, continuing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's initiative to place women in senior leadership positions.

Lieutenant-General Jennie Carignan, tasked with addressing ingrained sexism and misconduct in the armed forces, will assume the role of Chief of the Defense Staff on July 18. Carignan, originally a military engineer, has commanded troops in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, and Syria during her 35-year military career.

"Over the course of her career, her exceptional leadership qualities, commitment to excellence, and dedication to service have been a tremendous asset to our Armed Forces," Trudeau said in a statement.

Carignan's appointment comes at a critical time when Canada faces pressure from allies to increase its defence spending. The armed forces are currently struggling to meet recruitment goals and have been slow to replace outdated equipment. Last November, the head of the navy warned that the service was in "a critical state" and might not be able to carry out its basic duties in 2024.

Trudeau, who has championed gender equality since taking office in late 2015, previously appointed Brenda Lucki as the first female head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 2018. Additionally, the last two governors-general, the official representatives of the British monarchy, have been women appointed by Trudeau.

Women currently make up 16 percent of the Canadian military, according to government data.

Carignan grew up in the mining town of Asbestos, Quebec, as the daughter of a policeman and a teacher. She joined the military in 1986, three years before Canada allowed women in combat roles. Training as a combat engineera role that involves clearing bombs and erecting and destroying battlefield structuresshe quickly rose through the ranks, challenging preconceptions about women in combat.

Carignan became the first woman to lead a Canadian combat unit, deploying to Afghanistan where she narrowly avoided a suicide bomber and an improvised explosive device that damaged a vehicle in her convoy. She has also served in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Syria, led NATO's training mission in Iraq from 2019 to 2020, and commanded the 2nd Canadian Division, the military's largest regiment with more than 10,000 troops.






Friday, July 05, 2024 - Cardi B scored a top 10 hit in March with the release of "Enough (Miami)," but an Oklahoma rapper claims the song was created using his material without permission.

According to documents obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Joshua Fraustro (also known as Sten Joddi) and Miguel Aguilar (also known as Kemika 1956) allege that Cardi B and her producers used elements of their 2021 song "Greasy Frybread" in her track. The plaintiffs claim their song, released in November 2021, was also featured as a promotional piece for the FX series "Reservation Dogs."

The lawsuit also names Atlantic Records, Warner Music Group, and producers OG Parker and DJ SwanQo as co-defendants. "Enough (Miami)" was released on March 15, 2024, nearly three years after "Greasy Frybread."

Cardi B has not yet announced a release date for her new album, and it remains unclear if the lawsuit will affect its release or tracklist.






Friday, July 05, 2024 - Comedian Matt Rife and his actress and dancer girlfriend, Jessica Lord, have ended their relationship.

According to reports, the couple actually broke up back in March, and the split was amicable, with no hard feelings on either side. The relationship had simply run its course.

Since the breakup, Matt has not been dating anyone new. The relationship, which began in June 2023, lasted about nine months. The two initially met in Mississippi in 2022, but Jessica was in another relationship at the time.

Just weeks after the split, Matt reportedly signed a deal with Netflix for two more comedy specials and a comedy series, following the success of his Netflix debut special, "Natural Selection."

Jessica, a talented dancer and actress, now joins the list of Matt's notable exes, which includes actress Kate Beckinsale.






Saturday, July 06, 2024 - Differences over LGBTQ issues have caused a significant split within the Shona United Methodist Church (UMC) in South Africa, resulting in two distinct factions.

The Johannesburg Shona UMC was founded around 2008 by Zimbabwean professionals who moved to South Africa for work. Over the years, it has grown to over 1,000 members in Gauteng province alone, with additional congregations in Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, and Limpopo. The Shona assembly has also acquired properties valued at over R10 million. However, the recent split raises questions about the future of these assets, as many congregants have departed.

The division has led to the creation of two groups: the long-established Johannesburg United Methodist Church (JNUMC) and the newly-formed Johannesburg North Methodist Church (JNMC). This schism mirrors similar issues within the UMC in Zimbabwe.

Historically, the UMC has opposed the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy for over a century. This stance shifted at the churchs General Conference (GC) in Charlotte, North Carolina, in May this year, where it was decided that gay and lesbian individuals could be ordained as bishops or pastors, and same-sex marriages could be solemnized within the UMC in the United States. This decision prompted a mass exodus of conservatives globally who view this as unacceptable.

At the GC, conservative African delegates strongly resisted the changes, leading to a proposal for regionalization, allowing each continent to set its own worship rules to suit cultural contexts. This proposal has been met with resistance from factions that argue the UMC is a "connectional church" and remains interconnected globally, despite regional differences.

Following the GC resolution, a meeting was held at the main church in Randburg, where the majority voted to sever ties with the main UMC. The meeting was contentious, leading to a subsequent session with the Bishop of the SA Episcopal Area, Joaquina Filipe Nanhala. During this meeting, members of the breakaway faction accused church leaders of misleading congregants to protect their own interests, such as salaries and perks.

There has been deceit, as some pastors and bishops prioritize their interests over spiritual principles, said a member of the breakaway faction. We cannot remain in a church that endorses actions contrary to the Bible. This is reminiscent of Sodom and Gomorrahs destruction.

However, others believe the response has been overly emotional and hasty. People havent taken the time to understand the new order. God remains constant regardless of American decisions. We will maintain our African way of worship and wont compromise on our stance against gay bishops and pastors, said a JNUMC member. Politics has influenced some members to exploit this issue for personal agendas.






Saturday, July 06, 2024 - Kamala Harris is reportedly emerging as the leading choice among Democrats to replace Joe Biden at the top of the ticket if he steps down from the presidential race.

There's a growing movement within the party to make this shift happen, much to the delight of Donald Trump.

Former Democratic Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan told TMZ that many Americans see it as unrealistic to continue with President Biden following his disastrous June 27 debate against Trump. According to Ryan, an increasing number of Democrats believe Harris is their best option moving forward.

"She is the only candidate who, as VP, would inherit Biden's war chest and campaign infrastructure," Ryan explained. Ryan, who lost his reelection bid to J.D. Vance in 2020 after over two decades in office, said he's been in discussions with members of Congress, Senate offices, and other key Democratic figures. They all believe Harris can deliver unity, reconciliation, and government reform if elected president.

Trump, however, sees a potential face-off with Harris as a significant advantage. His campaign spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, told TMZ that Harris performs worse than Biden in head-to-head polls against Trump. Leavitt cited a poll showing Trump beating Harris by 7 points49 percent to 42 percent with 9 percent undecided. The same poll indicated Trump winning by 5 points over Harris when including RFK Jr., Jill Stein, and Cornel West. The latest New York Times/Siena College poll has Trump leading Biden by 6 points.

Leavitt summarized to TMZ, "The Democrats are in a no-win situation. If they stick with Biden, they lose. If they switch to Kamala, they lose even more. President Trump is going to win no matter what they decide."

Despite this, Ryan remains optimistic. He believes Harris could inject fresh enthusiasm into the Democratic campaign and strengthen their support among minorities. He campaigned with Harris in 2020 and noted her ability to connect with people, describing her as a "total rock star."

Ryan also mentioned that Biden has a history of prioritizing the country's best interests. He thinks Biden might decide to step aside for a younger generation of Democratic leaders, beginning with Harris.






Friday, July 05, 2024 - A schoolgirl, 12, has been killed by a crocodile when she went for a swim in a river in Australia.

The tragic schoolgirl was dragged to her death in Palumpa, northern Australia after she vanished when she went for a swim.

The alarm was raised when she went missing after she was last seen swimming in Mango Creek.

Police tragically confirmed her remains had been found today, Thursday, July 4, despite a frantic 36-hour search.

Authorities described the scene as "particularly gruesome."

Northern Territory Police Senior Sergeant Erica Gibson said: "This morning, as a result of searching intensively overnight, the remains of the missing child were located in the riverway.

"It was particularly gruesome and a sad, devastating outcome. It was extremely difficult for the first responders involved in the search.

"As awful as the outcome is, it's been an incredible effort from the people involved. I certainly would commend the actions of everyone involved.

"They were diligent and worked relentlessly. However, for the family, it's the most devastating outcome possible for them.

"They are in a state of extreme shock and disbelief."

Northern Territory police minister Brent Potter said officers had been authorised to "remove" the killer crocodile as he warned locals to be vigilant.

He said: "We live in a place where crocodiles occupy our water places... it's just a reminder to stay out of the water as best we can."

Sgt Gibson said a black crocodile was seen in the sea close to where the schoolgirl had been swimming as police used boats, helicopters and officers on foot to no avail.






Saturday July 6, 2024 - President William Ruto has revealed why he has not fired Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi despite his incompetence and corruption.

Speaking during an engagement with the youth on X Spaces, Ruto said he is waiting for real evidence of corruption before he can sack Linturi.

According to Ruto, he is ready to fire Linturi should he be found guilty over the fake fertiliser scandal.

The Head of State reiterated that he does not condone corruption in his administration.

"When there is evidence gathered enough to have the Cabinet Minister of Agriculture to be guilty, I will fire him," he assured Kenyans.

Ruto added that there were already active cases in court for National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) officials who were implicated in the case.

"The Chief Executive Officer and several staff of NCPB are in court to answer for their involvement in the fertilizer scandal," he stated.

The Head of State clarified that whereas CS Linturi was accused by a section of Kenyans of playing part in the fertiliser scandal, he was never taken to court for the same.

As such, Ruto remarked that the moment any of his Cabinet Secretaries will be taken to court, he will fire him or her immediately.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Saturday, July 06, 2024 - A jilted boyfriend in the UK has been handed a restraining order by police after stalking his ex-girlfriend dressed as a penguin.

According to police, Anthony Price harassed his former partner Abigail Williams by bombarding her with messages and sending her unwanted gifts which scared her from staying at home.

After the breakdown of the five-month relationship Price also sent Williams pictures of himself in a penguin suit and had to stay at a roundabout to attract her attention.

Price has now pled guilty to harassment without violence in Wrexham County, UK. The crime occurred from July to November last year.

Ms Williams said she 'believed he dressed up to try and save their relationship or make her laugh,' said prosecutor Rhian Jackson.

Mr Jackson added that 'She didn't find this funny.'

The harassed girlfriend said she had previously received flowers at work from 'Penguin' and had changed her phone number to escape the harassment.

Price was even accused of sending the victim an unwanted bank transfer with the message: 'I miss you, kn**head.'

Defence lawyer Lorraine McClure said Price was of previous good character and worked in the logistics department of a local firm.

He had bipolar disorder and ended up in hospital due to his mental health.

'He was also drinking at that time,' the solicitor added.

Price, 51, was also handed a 12-week jail term, suspended for 18 months and with a condition that Price must attend rehabilitation sessions.

The defendant is subject to an alcohol abstinence monitoring tag for 60 days and must pay 239.






Saturday July 6, 2024 - President William Ruto is a worried man.

This is after US President Joe Biden failed to raise the Sh12 billion that he promised to give Ruto for the Haiti mission.

This comes even as Ruto has already deployed the first contingent of police officers to Haiti.

The Biden-led Government and Canada raised concerns, accusing the international community of letting them and Ruto down in the Haiti mission.

According to the two-countries, the international community needed to walk the talk when it came to contributing to the Kenyan-led mission in Haiti.

During a United Nations Security Council meeting, member nations were appraised that only Ksh2.7 billion (USD21 Million) had been raised out of a target of Ksh12 billion (USD118 million) pledge for the Kenyan mission in Haiti.

The Council approved the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti on October last year, with a resolution for member nations to deposit the required cash in a United Nations Trust Fund.

We call on all international partners to do more and give more, the US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield spoke of the paltry amount raised.

She said that the money would ensure that Haitians get a deserved peace and stability that would ensure they go to work, school, or a house of worship without the threat of violence.

The UN Security Council deliberated on the challenges the Kenyan-led mission would encounter should the pledged money not be raised soon.

The multinational security support mission will be in jeopardy without adequate support from the United Nations member states.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Saturday, July 06, 2024 - Police in Kraaifontein, Western Cape province of South Africa have arrested a teenager for the alleged assault of his 82-year-old grandmother.

The 19-year-old was arrested on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, after the disturbing video which shows the pensioner being beaten went viral on social media.

The disturbing incident, which occurred a month ago, has prompted widespread outrage and led to swift action by the authorities.

In the video, the grandson is seen assaulting the grandmother with his open arm, leading to a pot containing what appears to be porridge, spilling over.

The grandson beats the grandmother so hard that she drops to the floor.

The victim, a resident of Wallacedene in Kraaifontein, was found receiving treatment in the hospital for an ailment unrelated to the assault.

Despite the grandmothers refusal to submit a statement, police investigations uncovered that the assault took place in June at the victim's home.

Initially, when the South African Police Service (SAPS) was called to the scene, the family decided to handle the matter privately and declined police intervention.

Colonel Andre Traut, spokesperson for the Western Cape SAPS, said the severity of the incident which became evident when the video began spreading online, compelled SAPS to open a case docket on behalf of the victim.

He said that on Wednesday night, the 19-year-old suspect, who is the grandson of the victim, was arrested at his Wallacedene residence.

He is set to appear in Blue Downs Magistrates Court once formally charged.

"Crimes against women and children are a top priority for SAPS, and we will not turn a blind eye to any form of violence in this regard," said Traut.

The incident has sparked significant discussion on social media, with users expressing both outrage and concern for elderly abuse.






Friday, July 05, 2024 - A painting once looted by Napoleans troops and a part of royal collections for centuries has been sold for a whopping $22m.

The artwork by legendary artist Titian was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995 but seven years later it was found inside a white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective.

This week, the oil painting The Rest on the Flight into Egypt sold for more than $22 million at auction house, Christies.

It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice.

Ahead of the sale, the auction house billed it as the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.





This result is a tribute to the impeccable provenance and quiet beauty of this sublime early masterpiece by Titian, which is one of the most poetic products of the artists youth, Orlando Rock, chairman of Christies U.K., said in a statement.

The artwork was inspired by a biblical event when Joseph took Mary and a young Jesus to Egypt after a dream warned him that King Herod was seeking to kill his son, Christies said. The painting depicts Mary cradling Jesus as Joseph looks on in a rural setting.

Titian is known for his use of the colorito technique, where colour is employed dominantly for sensual expressive purposes and as an element of the composition. He gained international fame for his religious paintings, incisive portraits and poetic renditions of mythological subjects, the Metropolitan Museum of Art says.






Saturday, July 06, 2024 - A 46-year-old teacher at Maguya Day Secondary School in Chipata District in Zambia has allegedly committed suicide by taking unknown poisonous substances.

Panford Mweetwa, who was recently transferred from Nsanjika Day Secondary School to Maguya left behind a written note stating that "he had been working very hard but had nothing to show what he had achieved" and further indicated on how his money is to be shared.

The incident occurred on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, at Mwami turn off.

Eastern Province Police Deputy Commanding Officer Stephen Mayoko who confirmed the incident to the media on Friday, July 5, explained that the deceased told his wife that he was going into Chipata town, howeve, around 10pm, Mr. Mweetwa was found unconscious.

He was rushed to Katandala clinic for treatment but was later referred to another hospital where he was admitted.

Whilst being treated, the deceased who was able to talk revealed that he had taken unknown poisonous liquid to end his life. He died the same day.

The body is still in the mortuary awaiting burial.






Saturday, July 06, 2024 - The Ecuadorian military has rescued 49 miners who were kidnapped by Los Lobos, one of the South American nation's most ruthless gangs.

Troops were walking inside a forest in the rural town of Santa Martha, 217 miles south of the capital city of Quito, where they found the group in a makeshift camp on Wednesday, July 3.

The military said the soldiers initially were met with gunfire from at least 23 Los Lobos members before they fled. No injuries were reported.

According to the Military, they later found a camp covered with tarps and poles where the miners were seen kneeling on the ground with their hands resting over their necks.





During the operation, troops recovered a haul of weapons and mobile phones.

The troops also found the bodies of five people who had been previously killed at the camp. Four of the bodies had been dismembered.

Los Lobos is one of the 22 crime gangs in Ecuador designated as terrorist groups in the South American country.

In June, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Los Lobos and its leader Wilmer 'Pipo' Chavarria.





The criminal organization, which is comprised of thousands of members, was identified as being Ecuador's most prominent drug trafficking organization and fueling violence across the country.

'Drug trafficking groups with ties to powerful drug cartels threaten the lives and livelihoods of communities in Ecuador and throughout South and Central America,' said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian E. Nelson, in a statement.






Saturday, July 06, 2024 - Former US President Donald Trump celebrated the election of Nigel Farage to Britains parliament on Friday, while notably omitting any mention of the new Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

Farages anti-immigration Reform UK party garnered the third-largest vote count in the recent election. However, due to Britains electoral system, the party secured only four seats, while Starmers Labour party achieved a landslide victory, sweeping into office.

Congratulations to Nigel Farage on his big WIN of a Parliament Seat Amid Reform UK Election Success. Nigel is a man who truly loves his Country! Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

Farage, a long-time ally of Trump, has been nicknamed Mr. Brexit by the former president. Trump has previously praised Farage, suggesting he would have been an excellent UK ambassador to Washington.

A staunch advocate for Brexit, Farage was elected to parliament on his eighth attempt. He has openly expressed his ambition to take over the now-main opposition Conservative party, which suffered a significant defeat to Labour.

There is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics, and my job is to fill it, Farage stated following his comfortable win in Clacton, eastern England.

Farages success defies a broader rightward shift among Britains closest allies, with the far-right National Rally in France seeking power and Trump positioning for a potential return in the United States.

Farages victory is expected to strengthen his position as a prominent populist figure, advancing his long-term goal of a takeover of the Conservatives. Millions of Conservative voters appeared to have shifted their support to Reform, contributing to one of the Tories' worst-ever electoral outcomes.

An initial exit poll on Thursday night stirred reactions by predicting Reform would secure 13 seats, far exceeding late-campaign forecasts that suggested the party would win only a handful.






Saturday, July 06, 2024 - A man stabbed his wife repeatedly and then set her on fire following a fight at their home in Dickson, Tennessee.

Officers arrived at the home alongside firefighters following reports of a fire but were horrified by what they discovered in the home.

The home had heavy smoke coming from it, but it was the woman at the back door who was a more immediate concern.

According to court documents, upon their arrival, 28-year-old Zachary Mowel approached the officers and said, "I did it. It was me."

The injured woman, who turned out to be the man's wife, Tessa, appeared to have multiple stab wounds to her upper back and chest and still had a knife inside her body.

After their investigation into the horrific crime scene, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation concluded that Mowel had attacked his wife with a knife, then doused her with gasoline and set their home on fire.

No motive has been given for the attack, but the victim reportedly told police that she and her husband had been in a fight that turned violent, according to WKRN.

He was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated arson, aggravated assault (domestic-related), and domestic assault.

He is being held at the Dickson County Jail on a bond of $765,000.

The victim's twin sister Tori Ila Elizabeth Trotter launched a GoFundMe on Tessa's behalf. She is still at Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she is being treated for severe burns and multiple stab wounds. The GoFundMe also offered additional details of the attack.

According to Tori's explanation, Zachary stabbed his wife on July 1 when she arrived home from work. He allegedly stabbed her in the back with a kitchen knife, and then eight additional times in the neck, chest and back, all while "brutally beating her over 30 times in the face."

Tori then wrote that he "poured gasoline on her and set her on fire while watching her burn. He then set the house on fire and left her to die."

According to the page, the couple's sons, five and eight, were "watching and pleading for their dad to not kill their mom."

The GoFundMe also offered additional details as to Tessa's current status. In addition to the nine stab wounds and third degree burns covering her right leg, Tori writes that all of her sister's ribs are broken, she has a collapsed lung, and she is currently paralyzed from the waist down.

"Tessa is strong but she has a long road to recovery and therapy," Tori wrote, adding that she has taken temporary custody of her nephews.

"Tessa is the strongest person I know and her and her boys did not deserve this torture!" she concluded her message.

Local NBC affiliate WSMV spoke with the victims mother Tina Trotter, who said they had been planning a get-together on Monday night, July 1, before the attack happened.

After visiting her daughter at the hospital, Tina gave an update, saying, "She said, 'Momma, he tried to kill me.' He was leaving me to die."

"The boys were sitting right there, my grandsons, and he grabbed her arm and stabbed her.

"She told Jackson, her oldest child, to go call 911, and he wouldnt let him do it."

Tina alleged that Zachary put the kids in his truck before setting the home on fire with Tessa still inside.

"He promised me he would never do that," Tina said of her son-in-law harming her daughter.

"And then to do this in front of the boys. I dont know, thats why I cant get my head around it."

According to Tina, two passersby saw the smoke and rushed inside the home to put out the fire, which likely saved her daughter's life.

She said that Mowel had left the scene after setting the house ablaze, but returned before his eventual arrest.

"God bless you, and I will reach out to you once my family finds out who you are," Tina said of the good samaritans who stopped to help. Our family is so grateful for yall because I wouldnt have her today.
The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.

 Voltaire

The medical profession is rooted in trust and transparency, but there are certain realities that doctors may not readily disclose to their patients. Recognizing these truths can empower patients to make more informed decisions about their health and well-being.

Doctors are highly trained and knowledgeable, yet they are not infallible. They may not always identify the exact cause of a patients symptoms, relying instead on a combination of patient history, physical examinations, and diagnostic tests. Conditions with non-specific symptoms, like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, often lead to diagnoses of exclusion.

The field of medicine is constantly evolving, with new research and treatments emerging regularly. However, doctors can struggle to stay current with the latest developments amidst their demanding schedules. This can result in some physicians being unaware of the most effective treatments for certain conditions.

By recognizing these hidden truths, patients can engage more effectively in their health care, ask more informed questions, and collaborate with their doctors to make better decisions about their health. Here are some common realities that doctors might not share with their patients:

1. Diagnostic uncertainty

Despite their extensive training and expertise, doctors are not infallible. They may not always identify the exact cause of a patients symptoms. A diagnosis often relies on a combination of patient history, symptoms, and test results, but this process is not always precise. For instance, in cases of fibromyalgia, patients often experience widespread pain without a clear cause. Diagnoses are typically made based on symptom criteria rather than definitive tests, leading to uncertainty and frustration for patients. According to the NIH, the difficulty in diagnosing chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been well-documented. CFS presents with symptoms like extreme fatigue, but the exact cause is often elusive, making it challenging for doctors to provide a clear diagnosis.

2. Under-disclosed risks

While ethical and legal standards require doctors to inform patients about the risks associated with treatments or procedures, full disclosure is not always practiced. Some doctors might downplay or omit certain risks to avoid causing unnecessary anxiety or to encourage patient compliance. For example, the risks associated with opioid prescriptions for chronic pain were often understated, contributing to the opioid crisis. A study on informed consent practices in surgical procedures in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that many patients felt inadequately informed about the potential risks and benefits of their surgeries.

3. Keeping up with medical advances

The field of medicine is constantly evolving, with new research and treatments emerging regularly. However, doctors can struggle to stay abreast of the latest developments amidst their demanding schedules. For example, despite significant advancements in cancer treatments, not all oncologists may be aware of the latest targeted therapies or immunotherapies. A survey conducted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) revealed that only about 30% of oncologists felt confident in their knowledge of the latest cancer treatment guidelines. While this may come as a huge shock to cancer patients, the sad truth of life is that similar numbers apply to all medical specialties.

4. Outcome uncertainty

Doctors generally aim to maintain a positive outlook when discussing the potential outcomes of treatments and procedures with their patients. However, this optimism can sometimes lead to unrealistic expectations. For example, the success rates of certain fertility treatments, like in vitro fertilization (IVF), are often presented optimistically, which might not align with the actual statistical success rates. A study in the BMJ found that patients undergoing IVF often overestimated their chances of success due to overly optimistic presentations by their doctors. While some of this is due to medical marketing, it also stems from doctors limited knowledge of true outcomes in some instances.

5. The limits of medicine

Modern medicine has made remarkable strides, but it is not always capable of providing cures for every condition. Many illnesses, such as chronic pain syndromes, autoimmune diseases, and certain types of cancer, remain incurable. Doctors may focus on managing symptoms and improving quality of life rather than offering a definitive cure. A sad example of this fact is multiple sclerosis (MS), which is a chronic autoimmune disease for which there is currently no cure. Treatment focuses on managing symptoms and slowing disease progression.

Conclusion

While doctors strive to help and support their patients, there are inherent limitations and challenges within the medical field that may not always be openly discussed. Recognizing these hidden truths can help patients make more informed decisions about their health. It is vital for patients to:

Ask questions. Inquire about diagnoses, treatment options, and risks.

Stay informed. Keep up with the latest medical research and advancements.

Set realistic expectations. Understand the potential outcomes and limitations of treatments.

Collaborate with doctors. Work together to manage chronic conditions and improve quality of life.

By adopting these proactive approaches, patients can more effectively manage their health care journeys, ensuring they are well-informed, actively engaged, and better positioned to receive the highest quality of care available.

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.

 Albert Einstein

Shakeel Ahmed is a gastroenterologist.
President Museveni is asked to more intently tackle corruption in parliament rather than focus on creating new Anti-graft Units in State House.

This comes just a day after the President created a new unit within State House to fight corruption in the Uganda Revenue Authority.

According to the president, The State House Revenue Intelligence and Strategic Operations Unit to be headed by David Kalemera is meant to close revenue leakages and boost tax collection.

However, while speaking during the VPN show on KFM, earlier today Henry Muguzi, an anti-corruption activist said the country does not need new units, but rather a president who means what he says.

The country does not need more anti-corruption units or agencies. We have enough already. All the country needs now is for the president to act on his promises to crash the corrupt. The president is currently only touching political corruption, why not tackle the corruption in parliament, he said during the show.

Muguzi is thus asking the president to invest more in investigations and support and act on information given.
The UPDF recruitment of shortlisted candidates has been concluded successfully in West Nile and Acholi sub regions, covering the districts of Adjumani, Omoro, Amuru, Nwoya, Gulu district and Gulu City.

Captain Kato Ahmad Hassan, the UPDF Fourth Division spokesperson says the exercise has continued today with National Recruitment Team six screening shortlisted candidates of Pader and Agagos district at Pader District Headquarters.

They went for a physical run and the doctor will be doing the pulmonary body examination and he will check their blood whether they have hepatitis B, HIV and others, Kato Ahmed said.

He however says the team, led by Agago RDC, Novison Kidega, has encountered some setbacks including some two candidates caught with fake academic papers and were handed over to the police.

Despite this setback, the team remained focused, meticulously vetting documents and conducting thorough medical screenings and verification of national identity cards by National Registration and Identification officials.
A retrospective exhibition celebrating the remarkable career of studio artist, Jason Turner is currently showing at KCAT Arts Centre in Callan.

This exhibition highlights Jasons artistic journey over the past 15 to 20 years, featuring his vibrant space-scapes, intricate bird inventories, and much more.

Jason Turner, who joined KCAT Studio in 2006, has been a key figure among its community of artists and learners. His journey began with willow weaving and wood carving at Kingsriver Community, skills that paved the way for his broader artistic explorations. Jason's dedication and passion for art have earned him international recognition, with exhibitions in Australia, Scotland, Germany, Finland, and extensively throughout Ireland.

Curator Dominic Thrope praises Jason's works as "beautifully rendered, colorful, and sensitive. These works are a testament to the skill and thoughtfulness of Jasons work. His practice is grounded in a recognition that we all have a responsibility to ourselves, to be active in the world in a way that affirms our own voice and sense of self-worth."

Jason Turner himself reflects on his journey, stating: If I didnt do art Id be letting myself down. His deep connection to birds stems from his childhood, where his father kept pigeons and was part of a pigeon racing club. This background inspired Jason to explore avian themes through his artistic pactice.

The exhibition is open to the public 10am  4pm daily (closed Sundays) at KCAT and runs until July 19.
Our front page story this week highlights the concerns of two local men whose mother was cruelly taken away from them  murdered by a person who has never expressed any remorse for what he did.

Ronan and Jason Quinn are understandably distressed over the temporary day release of their mothers killer. They recently learned he has been granted temporary release for two days a week to attend an educational course. This is despite him having been refused parole only in February 2023. The Quinn family has spoken out about the justice system, and they have also flagged concerns about the parole system.

Recently, another man spoke out over his own loss, and his concerns over a potential parolee. John Whelan, whose sister Sharon and her children were murdered, told of his relief when thekillers bid for parole was rejected, and the anguish his family faces every time it comes up  and it will again, in just two years time.

There seems to be a lot of problems with how things are currently operating, given the stress it causes the victims and the bereaved. Perhaps the Minister for Justice could get her thinking cap on and address the problems that seem to keep recurring.

Hard luck minors

Hard luck to the Kilkenny minor team who came up short against Tipperary in last Saturdays All-Ireland final.

Sometimes, its just not your day. Its a tough one to take after such a positive campaign, and the weight of expectation that comes with that.

These are young players, however, and they will bounce back more determined and more resilient than ever. As the old saying goes, you learn more from your defeats than your victories.

Thoughts now turn to our senior contingent, with both the Kilkenny senior hurling and camogie sides in knockout games on Saturday. Familiar opposition in Clare and Dublin respectively means nobody will be taking anything for granted. The very best of luck to all in black and amber this weekend.
Hollywood A-lister Kevin Costner is one of many celebrities whose ancestors hail from Ireland, in particular, Co Kilkenny.

As the film legend presented his newest directorial masterpiece Horizon: An American Saga to audiences at the Cannes Film Festival in May - and in local cinemas now - we take a look at his Irish roots, and how he ended up as one of the greatest legends of the silver screen.

Michael Costner, Kevin's great-great grandfather was born in Graignamanagh in Kilkenny in 1855 before his family emigrated to the United States as a result of the Great Famine, that caused widespread devastation across the country from 1845 to 1852.

Settling in California, Michael Costner eventually married and raised a family, including his son William, who would be Kevin's grandfather.

William instilled a love of Ireland and Irish heritage into his grandson, and never forgot where his family came from.

William was a successful businessman in California, but his connections to the Emerald Isle remained strong, leading him to visit Ireland on occasion and passing on his love for the country to his family, including Kevin.

Kevin has also retained a love for Ireland, and spoke of his connection to the country on one of his many visits.

In an interview with the Irish Times back in 2016, Costner said,

"I have a lot of friends in Ireland, and I feel a connection to the people and the landscape.

"I love the way the country has preserved its history and traditions, and I always feel at home when I'm there.

During his visits, Costner went to several historic sights around the country including The Rock of Cashel in Tipperary and Glendalough in Co Wicklow.

He even stayed in West Cork researching the life of Michael Collins for a potential film project, adding to the love he shared, just like his grandfather, for Irish history.

"I wanted to make the Michael Collins story, I still do", Costner said in an interview with Joe.ie in 2020.

"I know it was made by another director", referring to the classic biopic Neil Jordan directed in 1996 with Liam Neeson playing the role of Michael Collins, "but that's not the story I was going to make2, he said.

"I love the epic notion of Michael Collins. I'd still like to make that movie someday", he added, "I found him to be an incredible person that was compromised by politics.

"His story is coming up more and more now. He was a dynamic person that was caught in politics.

"For me, Michael Collins is a large reason why I lived in Ireland."

Reflecting on the would-be film project, which was written by Irish writer Eoghan Harris, that would surely cement Costner's place in Ireland, he said,

"There was a final line in the script that said 'God Ireland, I love you' and that was his final line in it.

"While it is a fictitious line in the movie, I think it encapsulated who he was. That always affected me.

"I thought the script from Eoghan Harris was just superior, It was an epic. It was like a real Lawrence of Arabia look at Collins."
A Seanad committee debate on the Future of Local Democracy has heard from a cross-section of members all regretting the abolition of town and borough councils.

Minister of State Malcolm Noonan was addressing the committee when he referred to the Putting People First reforms brought in in 2014 by then Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan. He said the reforms had decimated local government.

The abolition of borough and town councils was a political stroke that undermined local accountability, said Minister of State Noonan. I was a member of one of the five borough councils and the Kilkenny corporation had a history dating back to the 13th Century.

Now more than ever, the urban agenda is distinct from a wider county and rural agenda. The urban agenda across the EU is around participation in climate plans and the recently adopted nature restoration law, sustainable development goals, natured-based solutions, town centre first - all initiatives that need a specific urban focus.

Deputy Noonan said the Green Party had not been able to get everything we wanted in the programme for Government, and that the Party had wanted to bring back borough and town councils: A future government should consider doing that, he said. He received support from a number of other members, including Donegal TD Thomas Pringle (Ind).

I agree with the Minister of State on the 2014 Act. It was a disgrace and it destroyed a lot of local authorities. It resulted in the dissolution of the 80 town councils which were the purest form of local democracy we have ever seen, said Deputy Pringle.

Labour Senator Mark Wall acknowledged the role his party had played in the abolition of the councils.

We were part of a Government that abolished town councils, our most local system of governance, in 2014. That was a mistake and it did not take us long to recognise that, he said.

We tried to rectify the issue through the introduction of the restoration of town councils Bill in 2018 but it has been languishing on Committee Stage in the Dail ever since. I ask, as other colleagues have mentioned, that any future Government strongly consider this Bill on the restoration of town councils.

Senator Shane Cassells (FF) said a recurring theme of the debate was the eradication of power at a granular level.

We need to acknowledge that in the context of towns like Kilkenny, Drogheda and Sligo that had borough councils and a unique status, as well as growing towns like Navan. Removing them was a disservice to the general population and I would seek their restoration, he said.

Summing up proceedings, Minister of State Noonan concluded: There is definitely a majority opinion in this committee that the possibility of reinstating them needs to be considered, particularly the borough councils. I say that as someone who came from what was then the Kilkenny Borough Council, which was able to strike its own rate, had its own budgetary powers and had 12 elected members, who worked solely on an urban agenda, he said.
A man is staying with family in the area after an Independence Day fire that might be linked to fireworks damaging his Pomeroy home.

That blaze was one of three residential fires in the region since late Wednesday night being investigated for ties to fireworks.

People who live at a residence at 411 N. Almon St. in Moscow are being assisted by the Red Cross following a fire at their home that was reported at 11:51 p.m. Wednesday.

A home on Poplar Street in Clarkston where no one lived was reduced to rubble Thursday.

The fire at 1141 Arlington St. in Pomeroy was reported at 11:50 p.m. and started in a wooden shingle roof at a time when fireworks are allowed, said Garfield County Fire District Chief James Cleveland.

An older man in the residence, the only person in the home, was in a bedroom about 30 feet from where the fire started, Cleveland said.

Bystanders opened the door to the home, alerted the man and were helping him walk out of the home as firefighters arrived, he said.

Were leaning toward fireworks being the cause, Cleveland said.

A crew of one dozen firefighters, including personnel from the city of Asotin, contained the fire in the attic, but there was significant water damage to the living level of the home, he said.

In Moscow, an adult and two children attempted to extinguish a fire at their home, which like the one in Pomeroy, is not fit for human habitation at this time, according to a news release from the Moscow Fire Department.

Flames and smoke were showing at the front and underneath the Moscow residence when firefighters arrived, according to the news release.

An initial investigation found the possibility of discarded, discharged fireworks in a trash can near the residence, according to the news release that states the fire remains under investigation.

In Clarkston, the home at 1327 Poplar St. was filled with belongings of the property owner, a woman who lives in the area, said Asotin County Fire District Chief Noel Hardin on Friday.

The fire that was reported just before 9:30 p.m. Thursday was one of nine fireworks incidents that Hardins crews responded to between 7 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. on the holiday. The city of Clarkston handled six grass fires in a similar window.

Medics were also dispatched to a man who had been hit in the face with a mortar-type firework near Lincoln Middle School where hundreds gather to ignite fireworks theyve purchased, Hardin said.

The man was taken to the hospital with facial injuries, according to a Facebook post of the Asotin County Fire District.

The two-story home on Poplar Street with a basement on about 1 acre was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived just a couple minutes after the blaze was reported, Hardin said.
Winds of change

Ive read many letters about windmills recently, but Ive missed hearing the views of some of the key players. Id like to hear more from the farmers considering installing windmills.

We need to hear more from farmers because they play a vital role in the Palouse economy but face escalating challenges. The unpredictable weather exacerbated by climate change means farmers must explore all options to sustain themselves financially. Windpower income would help.
The University of Missouri researchers are partnering with the USDA to genetically edit chickens.
A car driven by a man in his 80s hit pedestrians while performing a U-turn on a road in central Seoul, Saturday, injuring two people, according to police.

The accident occurred as the vehicle drove left into a pedestrian crossing in front of a gas station near Seoul Station, the police said. The car was supposed to turn in the opposite direction as it was making the U-turn, police said.

The car hit one pedestrian and moved about 20 meters before hitting another person. It stopped after crashing into a wall.

The two injured were taken to a nearby hospital, but their injuries are not life-threatening.

Police said they plan to question the driver to find out the exact cause of the accident, as he was not under the influence of alcohol.

The accident came after a fatal car crash in downtown Seoul, Monday, that killed nine pedestrians and injured seven others, including the 68-year-old driver who claimed sudden, unintended acceleration. (Yonhap)
By Robert Neff

In the winter of 1883, Percival Lowell, an American, paid a short visit to Fusan (modern Busan) while en route to Seoul via Jemulpo. According to him:

Fusan is composed principally of one long street, turning half-way in its course at right angles to itself. The village has taken the form of a carpenters square, with the bay, or rather two bays, to mark its outside limits, and a steep hill, in what would be the inside angle of the square, to bar its extension inland. Down the middle of the main street [Benten-dori  now Gwangbok-ro] runs a canal a few feet wide, spanned at intervals by planking. Along its sides are rows of trees. At the outer corner of the square is the knoll from which the town takes its name; for Fusan  in Korean, Pusan  means kettle mountain, and the name was given the place from a fancied resemblance in this knoll to a kettle upside down. A Japanese temple now crowns the top, and the whole is covered with trees.

Lowell spent little time in the port  merely a short excursion of sightseeing and dining while waiting for his steamship to finish transferring cargo  so his description is rather anemic. However, other sources provide more detailed descriptions and indicate Fusan was in some ways more cosmopolitan than Jemulpo.

In October 1883, one foreign resident described Fusan as a Japanese settlement consisting of 600 houses, which were for the most part substantially built specimens of Japanese architecture, two stories high, and provided housing for the 1,800 Japanese residents. The finest buildings were the Japanese consulate, the 1st National Bank, the offices of several Japanese traders, the steamship offices and the Kofukutai Hotel. In addition, the port had a hospital, school, post office and police station. The two-storied Korean Imperial Customs Services office was at the western end of the port and was also considered to be quite grand. In addition, a telegraph office was in the final stages of completion. He did not refer to Korea as the Land of the Morning Calm or even as the Hermit Kingdom, but instead deemed it the Land of Promise.

The Japanese newspapers had a great deal to say about Fusan  much of it negative and filled with reports of Korean outrages and plots to drive foreigners from the peninsula. However, one special correspondent (most likely the previously-mentioned resident) denounced these reports as utterly false. According to him, it was an absolute fact that the Coreans are delighted to see Europeans arriving in their country, and are longing for the day when the British, American, German and other flags will fly from the consulates of these nations representative at this port He then went on to give a long list of things he found remarkable about Korea including the streets of Fusan being broad and fairly well-constructed with trees planted along the entire main street. Somewhat sarcastically, he also found it remarkable that the Japanese settlement, despite having 2,000 residents, had no street lamps alight at night, except outside the police station.

According to another resident  whom I believe was Chesney Duncan, a member of the Korean Imperial Customs Service  Fusan was also an ideal place for tourists who were seeking adventure or a comfortable place to rest.

According to him, Fusan has two restaurants and a good Chinese store. We have already discussed the troubles surrounding the good Chinese store (Ting Hick & Co) and by the time Duncans account was published, Ting Hick & Co. had probably already moved to Jemulpo.

As to the restaurants, there were more than just two. In the summer of 1881, a Japanese newspaper reported there was a large number of restaurateurs in the port who also acted as trade brokers when their legitimate business was dull. Most likely Duncan was referring to restaurants that catered to picky foreign visitors who were unable or unwilling to try a different type of cuisine. Jennie Lovatt, the wife of Customs Commissioner William Lovatt, mentioned there were at least two restaurants where foreign [Western] style meals were served.

Unfortunately, neither Duncan nor Jennie mentioned the names but we can make some educated guesses using other sources. One of these restaurants was probably Kofukutai Hotel, whose proprietor was K. Maki who was assisted by K. Seki. It was here that Lowell dined in late 1883 and again in early 1884. Lowell wrote:

The same teahouse girl waited on us. Through the opened shoji was saw the sunlight of the street below, the Japanese wending their ways hither and thither, and stopping with their ceremonious bows, as they met a friend, to chat awhile.

The other establishment was Nish Restaurant, which served as a boarding house or hotel and was arguably the most popular establishment with the foreign employees of the Korean Imperial Customs Service.

One of these employees was George William Harrison, a Briton, who stayed at the Nish Restaurant for about a month. We dont know what type of people were the hotels normal clientele but the British authorities described Harrison as one of the class of the needy and questionable adventurers, known under the appellation of roughs, who suddenly turn up in every field, however remote, in which law is proceeded by enterprise. The assessment of Harrison was surprisingly accurate.

Harrison lived up to his reputation as a deadbeat and Hariya Kichizo, proprietor of the Nish Restaurant, ended up filing charges against him for failure to pay for his lodging and bar tab  about $19. Although Kichizo appears in some early diplomatic correspondences from Korea, it is unclear if he ever received his money.

Harrisons story, however, does not end with his exploits in Fusan. At the end of December 1883, Harrison and another former employee of the Korean Imperial Customs Service were brought before a consular court in Shanghai for forging Korean Customs documents and were sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labor. It is at this point Harrisons name fades from the pages of history.

Drinking was part of the culture  and these restaurants made a tidy sum by providing over-priced alcoholic beverages to their guests, but to those in the know, cheap and even free alcohol could be obtained if you knew where to look. Customs Commissioner William Lovatt complained about one of his employees who got drunk on the free bad brandy, given out lavishly at the bathing house and subsequently made himself sick  eventually coming down with a bad case of cholera.

According to Duncan: Bachelors can, if wishing to prolong their stay [in Fusan], be made fairly comfortable in one of the hotels or restaurants in the port  provided they do not forget their mosquito nets as there were none offered. However, he quickly corrected himself:

I should say, tea houses in preference to hotels. Those who have visited Japan, know the former, and of hotels, in the foreign sense, there are none.

A quick glance through the regional directories reveals there were several additional hotels in Fusan including Yaksakaro Hotel and Kangetsuro Hotel  both on Saiwai Street.

Not everyone dined and dashed in Fusan although some wished they had dashed and not dined. A Japanese man employed by the steamship company invited William Lovatt to dinner at the Naniwa Cafe located on Fusans main street. Lovatt was less than pleased.

A couple of our Japanese friends got drunk. We had a wretched dinner and left early. Lovatt felt he deserved some credit for spending three miserable hours in a Japanese cafe. Perhaps Lovatt should have been more appreciative to his host; a few months later the poor man lost all of his goods when the Korean boat he was on sank. He spent the next couple of days drowning his sorrows with alcohol.

While Duncan seemed to encourage tourism, those who did make the trip to Fusan werent always impressed with the hospitality they were shown. In the fall of 1884, George C. Foulk, an American naval officer attached to Seoul, traveled overland to Fusan, arriving on Nov. 29, and stayed in a Japanese hotel where he had his first European food for twenty-nine days [but] it did not taste well. Perhaps if he had described the hotel in his journal we would be able to name it, but apparently he was too busy writing about the handful of Westerners living in the port. He had a lot to say and none of it flattering.

He found most of the foreign employees of the Korean Imperial Customs Service to be a miserable, whining group who talked much and bitterly on the envy, jealousies, petty meanness, spying, etc., among customs officers. According to him, they all lived with Japanese women and were one-horse people throughout. In his journal he complained about being constantly watched, and undoubtedly the object of the wretched spying of the customs gang and the Japanese.

After only three days in Fusan, Foulk began his long return trip to Seoul. Although he didnt state it in his letters, he was probably happy to escape the ports petty intrigue, but Foulk would soon find himself awash in even more intrigue and danger  on Dec. 4 the failed Gapsin Coup began.

My sincere appreciation to Diane Nars for her invaluable assistance. For more information about life in Fusan in the mid-1880s, I strongly recommend Wayne Pattersons book, In the Service of His Korean Majesty. If you want to know more about Foulk, I encourage you to read Samuel Hawleys book, Inside the Hermit Kingdom.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books, including Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its Indo-Pacific partners, including South Korea, plan to discuss resilience, support for Ukraine, disinformation, cybersecurity and emerging technologies during their summit in Washington next week, a senior U.S. administration official said Friday.

The NATO Summit is set to take place in the U.S. capital from Tuesday through Thursday. The leaders of the alliance's four Indo-Pacific partners (IP4)  South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Japan  have been invited to the summit that marks the 75th anniversary of NATO's founding.

"We are bringing together some of our closest non-NATO partners to have a discussion around issues like resilience, cyber, disinformation, technology and the like," the official said in a virtual briefing.

He added, "This particular grouping of IP4 as we call them in NATO lingo  Australia, Japan, New Zealand and ROK ... These are some of our closest partners that we work with in the region." ROK stands for Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.

The NATO summit involving Indo-Pacific partners is set to take place on Thursday.

The official did not elaborate on the issue of resilience. In a NATO context, resilience refers to the capacity to prepare for, resist, respond to and quickly recover from shocks and disruptions across the full spectrum of threats, according to an article on NATO's Allied Command Transformation website.

At the NATO gathering, there will be a "strong" demonstration of U.S. and allies' support for Ukraine, the official said, highlighting Washington's plan to announce new steps to strengthen Ukraine's air defenses and military capabilities.

"Together, the Washington summit will send a strong signal to Putin that if he thinks he can outlast the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine, he's dead wrong," he said.

"We are also sending an important message to the rest of the world, including through our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, as we stand together united and in support of democratic values," he added.

The summit comes amid growing concerns about U.S. President Joe Biden's mental health and physical fitness, which was called into question following a poor debate performance last week.

Observers said that President Biden is likely to capitalize on the summit to highlight that he is up for the job and capable of leading his nation for another four-year term.

"Foreign leaders have seen Joe Biden up close and personal for the last three years. They know who they are dealing with and they know how effective he's been," the official said.

"What the president has done over the last three years is to reinvigorate the NATO alliance, including expanding it, making it more capable. He has stood up to President Putin's unprecedented aggression against Ukraine by mobilizing a coalition of a minimum of 50 allies and partners to provide capabilities to Ukraine." (Yonhap)
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Irans runoff presidential election Saturday, besting hard-liner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the countrys mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.

Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Irans Shiite theocracy in his campaign and has long held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkians modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip , and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.

A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalilis 13.5 million in Fridays election. Overall, Iran's Interior Ministry said 30 million people voted in an election held without internationally recognized monitors.

Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator .

But Pezeshkian's win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Mideast over the Israel-Hamas war, Iran's advancing nuclear program , and a looming election in the United States that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk. His victory also wasn't a rout of Jalili, meaning he'll have to carefully navigate Iran's internal politics as the doctor has never held a sensitive, high-level security post.

The first round of voting June 28 saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian officials have long pointed to turnout as a sign of support for the country's Shiite theocracy, which has been under strain after years of sanctions crushing Iran's economy, mass demonstrations and intense crackdowns on all dissent.

Government officials up to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei predicted a higher participation rate as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centers across the country.

However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in the capital, Tehran, saw light traffic amid a heavy security presence on the streets.

Authorities put the turnout in Friday's election at 49.6 percent, still historically low for an Iranian presidential election. They counted 607,575 voided votes in the contest  which often are a sign of protest by those who feel obligated to cast a ballot but reject both candidates.

The election came amid heightened regional tensions. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region  such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemens Houthi rebels  are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.

Iran is also enriching uranium at near weapons-grade levels and maintains a stockpile large enough to build several nuclear weapons, should it choose to do so. And while Khamenei remains the final decision-maker on matters of state, whichever man ends up winning the presidency could bend the countrys foreign policy toward either confrontation or collaboration with the West.

The campaign also repeatedly touched on what would happen if former President Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, won the November election. Iran has held indirect talks with President Joe Biden's administration, though there's been no clear movement back toward constraining Tehran's nuclear program for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Though identifying with reformists and relative moderates within Iran's theocracy during the campaign, Pezeshkian at the same time honored Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on one occasion wearing its uniform to parliament. He repeatedly criticized the United States and praised the Guard for shooting down an American drone in 2019, saying it delivered a strong punch in the mouth of the Americans and proved to them that our country will not surrender.

More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 were eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 and 30. Voting was to end at 6 p.m. but was extended until midnight to boost participation.

The late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash , was seen as a protege of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.

Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab. (AP)
The Korean government congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian on his election as Iran's president, Saturday, expressing hopes for an improved relationship between Seoul and Tehran.

"We wish Iran a path of prosperity and development under the new government, contributing constructively to regional stability. We look forward to further enhancing our friendly relations with Iran," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Reformist Pezeshkian was elected as Iran's new president in a runoff election Friday, defeating hard-liner Saeed Jalili.

The early presidential election was held following the death of former President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May. (Yonhap)
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Saturday that China's largest coastguard vessel has anchored in Manila's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, and is meant to intimidate its smaller Asian neighbour.

The China Coast Guard's 165-meter "monster ship" entered Manila's 200-nautical mile EEZ, July 2, spokesperson for the PCG Jay Tarriela told a news forum.

The PCG warned the Chinese vessel it was in the Philippine's EEZ and asked about their intentions, he said.

"It's an intimidation on the part of the China Coast Guard," Tarriela said. "We're not going to pull out and we're not going to be intimidated."

The Chinese Embassy in Manila and its foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China's Coast Guard has no publicly available contact information.

The Chinese ship, which has also deployed a small boat, was anchored 800 yards away from the PCG's vessel, Tarriela said.

In May, the PCG deployed a ship to the Sabina Shoal to deter small-scale reclamation by China, which denied that was its intention. China has carried out extensive land reclamation on some islands in the South China Sea, building air force and other military facilities, causing concern in Washington and around the region.

China claims most of the South China Sea, a key conduit for $3 trillion of annual ship-borne trade, as its own territory. Beijing rejects the 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration which said its expansive maritime claims had no legal basis.

Following high-level dialogue, the Philippines and China agreed Tuesday for the need to "restore trust" and "rebuild confidence" to better manage maritime disputes.

The Philippines has turned down offers from the United States, its treaty ally, to assist operations in the South China Sea, despite a flare-up with China over routine resupply missions to Filipino troops on a contested shoal. (Reuters)
Newly elected UK prime minister Keir Starmer on Saturday began his first full day in charge declaring the ousted Tories' plan to deport migrants to Rwanda "dead and buried" and pledging growth as his government's "number one mission".

The Labour leader on Friday won a landslide election victory bringing to a close 14 years of Conservative rule.

He said he was "restless for change" and that his party had received a "mandate to do politics differently".

Starmer started the day with a first meeting of his cabinet including Britain's first woman finance minister Rachel Reeves and new foreign minister David Lammy.

"We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work," he told his top team to applause and smiles around the cabinet table.

At a news conference afterwards he said he would not be proceeding with former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak's controversial scheme to tackle rising small boat arrivals on England's southern coast by deporting migrants to Rwanda.

"The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started... I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent," he told reporters at his 10 Downing Street office.

- 'Driving growth' -

Starmer spent his first hours in Downing Street on Friday appointing his ministerial team, hours after securing his centre-left party's return to power with a whopping 174-seat majority in the UK parliament.

Notable lower-ranking appointments included Patrick Vallance, chief scientific government adviser during the Covid-19 pandemic, who has been made a science minister.

James Timpson, whose shoe repair company employs ex-offenders, was also made a prisons minister.

Starmer said both new ministers were people "associated with change" and illustrated his determination to deliver concrete improvements to people's lives.

Work on "driving growth" had already begun, he said, adding that he had told his ministers "exactly what I expect of them in terms of standards, delivery, and the trust that the country has put in them".

- NATO support 'unshakable' -

Flag-waving crowds of cheering Labour activists on Friday welcomed Starmer to Downing Street hours after his victory.

But daunting challenges await his government, including a stagnating economy, creaking public services and households suffering from a years-long cost-of-living crisis.

World leaders lined up to congratulate the new British premier.

Starmer spoke by telephone with US President Joe Biden and "discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US and their aligned ambitions for greater economic growth", according to London.

He also spoke to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, former -- and potentially future -- US president Donald Trump ignored Starmer, instead hailing the five-seat electoral breakthrough of his ally Nigel Farage's far-right Reform UK party.

Starmer will make his debut on the international stage as leader when he flies to Washington next week for a NATO summit.

"It is for me to be absolutely clear that the first duty of my government is security and defence, to make clear our unshakable support of Nato," he said.

He added that he had reiterated the support of the UK and its allies for Ukraine to Zelensky.

- Infighting fears -

The election saw Labour near its record of 418 seats under ex-leader Tony Blair in 1997 by winning 412.

The Conservatives suffered their worst-ever defeat, capturing just 121 constituencies, prompting Sunak to apologise to the nation and confirm that he will resign as Tory leader once arrangements are in place to select a successor.

A record 12 senior ex-government ministers lost their seats, alongside former prime minister Liz Truss, whose economically calamitous short-lived tenure in 2022 wounded the party irreparably ahead of the election.

It is now poised for another period of infighting between a moderate wing eager for a centrist leader and those who may even be willing to court Farage as a new figurehead.

The election also saw the centrist Liberal Democrats make their biggest gains in around a century, claiming more than 70 seats.

But it was a dismal contest for the pro-independence Scottish National Party, which was virtually obliterated in Scotland. It dropped from 48 seats to just nine.

The Green Party had its best general election, quadrupling its MPs count to four.

Meanwhile, an unprecedented six independent lawmakers were elected -- four of them defeating Labour candidates in districts with large Muslim populations and campaigns centred around the Israel-Hamas conflict.

aks-jj/har/giv
PM Pham Minh Chinh (right) and Lao Deputy PM and Minister of Foreign Affairs Saleumxay Kommasith at their meeting in Hanoi on July 5 (Photo: VNA)

Welcoming Kommasith on a working visit to Vietnam as head of Laos central steering committee for trade and transport facilitation, PM Pham Minh Chinh said he believes the trip will be successful and substantially contribute to the unceasing reinforcement of the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.



The host leader also asked the two foreign ministries to maintain close coordination to prepare for the coming high-level visits.



For his part, Kommasith thanked the Vietnamese Government for the top priority it has consistently given to the enhancement of bilateral relations.



He affirmed that the Party, State, and people of Laos will continue joining hands with their Vietnamese counterparts to nurture the countries great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation.



Earlier, Vietnamese Deputy PM Tran Luu Quang held talks with the Lao Deputy PM and Foreign Minister.



Both officials expressed their delight at the significant cooperation achievements obtained recently, especially the close coordination and the increase of delegation exchanges, high-level meetings, and bilateral cooperation mechanisms.



They noted that defence - security cooperation remains an important pillar of the two countries partnership. Bilateral trade rose 11% year on year to 780 million USD during the first five months of 2024. Besides, Vietnam now has 255 valid projects worth about 5.5 billion USD in Laos, and they are operating fruitfully.



The two Deputy PMs shared the view that amid complex developments in the world and the region, it is necessary to keep promoting cooperation pillars; thoroughly deal with some outstanding problems to step up such key projects as Vung Ang Terminals 1, 2 and 3, along with road and railway transport connection projects; and continue to expand and improve the effectiveness of collaboration in education - training, culture, and people-to-people ties.



With regard to international and regional issues of common concern, they agreed that facing fast and complicated developments in the world and the region, the two sides should boost sharing information and coordinate closely at regional and international forums.



On this occasion, Kommasith and the Lao delegation had a working session with Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien./.
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In recent years, China has vigorously implemented the Healthy China strategy, introducing a series of policy measures and launching health knowledge popularization campaigns, which have yielded significant results. Monitoring indicates that the health literacy level of Chinese residents has been steadily improving, reaching 29.70% in 2023.

With the continued implementation of the Healthy China strategy and optimization of the business environment for foreign investment, how can foreign companies deeply rooted in China's health industry align with the Healthy China strategy and lead industry trends in product and technological innovation? NU SKIN President and CEO RYAN S. NAPIERSKI stated that the company will continue to increase investment in China, strengthen product research and development innovation, as well as strive to provide consumers with even more outstanding products and services.

Continue to Innovate and Launch Products That Meet Diverse Needs

The core of New Quality Productive Forces lies in innovation, which is the fundamental driver of continuous corporate progress, NAPIERSKI said. Nu Skin has maintained a steadfast commitment to quality over the past forty years, continually innovating and developing a diverse array of beauty and wellness products for consumers worldwide.

Since officially entering the Chinese mainland market in 2003, Nu Skin has kept pace with the digital era, provided robust support for China's high-quality development through digital transformation, smart manufacturing, technological innovation, and green development. In the realm of digital and intelligent innovation, Nu Skin brings consumers an unprecedented beauty and wellness experience through ageLOC technology, using gene expression science to target the root causes of aging and applying these technologies to connected beauty and wellness devices to accurately meet consumers' expectations for personalized needs such as slenderness, beauty, and health.

Quality is the foundation of an enterprise, and only by ensuring the safety, effectiveness and stability of products can we win the trust and long-term support of consumers. NAPIERSKI pointed out that, with the improvement of national health awareness, consumers are more pursuing personalized and high-quality services and products. Nu Skin will adhere to the principle of product quality first, and control product quality from the source through 6S quality measures to meet consumers' diverse needs for more slender, more beautiful and healthier.

Increase Investment to Promote Continuous Release of Consumption Potential

Nu Skin has been rooted in the Chinese market for 21 years, we have witnessed China's economic boom and benefited from the continuously improving business environment, according to NAPIERSKI. In recent years, Nu Skin has been deeply aware of the huge potential and vitality of the Chinese market, focusing on local innovation and R&D, and continuing to increase its investment in China.

In 2023, Nu Skin invested 360 million yuan in the Nu Skin Greater China Innovation Park Phase Two, which has now been officially put into use, further enhancing production efficiency and providing strong support for Nu Skin's global business.

In recent years, a series of policies to stabilize the economy, promote opening-up, and attract foreign investment have continued to show results, and the conditions, environment and prospects for the development of foreign investment in China will become better and better. Market supervision authorities recently launched the "Key Measures to Optimize the Business Environment (2024 Edition)" to provide strong support for building the "Invest in China" brand and promoting the high-quality development of enterprises.

Commenting on Nu Skin's development in the Chinese market, NAPIERSKI emphasized that the Chinese market is not only an important pillar of Nu Skin's global business, but also a key force driving the transformation of the entire industry and the upgrading of consumer demand. He said that Nu Skin will continue to cultivate the Chinese market and continue to create a healthier, more beautiful and more confident future for consumers.

Work Together to Promote Sustainable Prosperity of the Big Health Market

With the introduction of favorable policies for the industry such as the "Healthy China 2030" Planning Outline and the "14th Five-Year Plan" National Health Plan, the scale of China's health industry continues to grow. The National Health Commission and other three departments recently jointly issued the "Three-Year Action Plan for Improving National Health Literacy (2024-2027)", and launched the first national health literacy publicity month in the country.

"The key to promoting the development of China's big health industry lies in in-depth insight into current consumers, NAPIERSKI said. He also pointed out that with the change of most people's lifestyles, the concept of healthy and green life has prompted consumers to pursue "healthy consumption" more, and more young people have joined the ranks of buying healthy consumer products, providing a broad space for the development of the beauty and health consumer goods market. In terms of products, the Internet of Things technology is used to upgrade beauty and health products to help users create personalized beauty and health programs; In terms of production, the company will further increase its investment in China, expand its product line, and leverage the automated and intelligent production lines in the second phase of Nu Skin's Greater China Innovation Headquarters Campus to efficiently empower development.

"In the future, Nu Skin will strengthen cooperation and exchanges with local Chinese companies, actively participate in industry exhibitions, learn from other brands' new technologies and ideas, understand consumer pain points and industry trends, and contribute to the sustainable prosperity of China's beauty and health consumer goods market, NAPIERSKI said.

Editor: WXL
A federal judge has ordered the names of John Does and Jane Does in the Jeffrey Epstein documents to be unsealed. It was revealed that Donald Trump is Doe 174.

The names of around 200 John Does and Jane Does were unsealed and the records showed that Donald Trump's name was all over the Epstein documents as he was disguised as "Doe 174." This comes as thousands of pages of court documents in a Jeffrey Epstein-linked lawsuit have been unsealed.

The documents are from Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit against Epstein's madame and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted of trafficking girls to him for sex in 2021. They featured around 170 "does" and a lot of the details had been fully under seal or partially redacted.

According to Yahoo! News, it was US District Judge Loretta Preska who ordered the release of the names on the Epstein documents. She weighed any privacy rights the Does might have against the public's right to access judicial documents and then released the names. She also ordered to unseal excerpts of deposition transcripts and other legal filings where Trump's name is now revealed.

The list identified Doe 174 as a person whose "association with Epstein and Maxwell has been widely reported in the media already, and his or her name came up during Maxwell's public criminal trial," with Yahoo! News pointing out that the former president fits the bill.

Trump's name came up several times during the trial, with one of his employees at Mar-a-Lago testified that one of the Epstein victims also worked in the famous Trump estate in Florida. One victim also testified that Epstein name-dropped Trump to show her that he was connected to powerful people.

Meanwhile, Doe 36 has been revealed as fellow former President Bill Clinton, though it was noted that he did not argue to keep their identities secret. It was unclear if Trump did, however.

READ MORE: Donald Trump's Relationship With Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein Further Revealed by Newly-Released Documents

Many Allege Donald Trump Was One of Jeffrey Epstein's 'Massage' Clients

It was not just the federal lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell that was unsealed and revealed more of Trump's connection to the late pedophile, but also in Florida which revealed that Trump and Epstein called one another on a regular basis, and often, these calls happened between scheduling girls for "massages" and calling one of his most infamous recruiters.

Previously, it had been shown that Trump, along with Bill Clinton and Britain's Prince Andrew, had flown on Epstein's private jet, the infamous "Lolita Express." However, these new revelations have raised speculations that Trump was indeed one of Epstein's clients.

MSN did note that "it is important to note that we currently don't know why the calls were made. Donald Trump has not commented on his name appearing in the records yet."

Donald Trump Jr. Claims Debunked As Soon as Jeffrey Epstein Documents Were Unsealed

Meanwhile, Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., or Don Jr, recently claimed on his podcast that he was proud that his father was not on the infamous "Epstein List," saying, "So you're in with good company. I am on every list, except the Epstein list."

"We haven't heard anything about that one in a while. I'm fine with all the other lists. As long as I'm not on the Epstein list, we're good, right? " he added. "You know who's not on the Epstein list? My father... because if he was, it would have leaked in about half a second!!!! That's a fact!"

The Epstein List was a list of people who were on the flight logs of Epstein's private jet. When it was released, it was revealed that Clinton and Prince Andrew did fly on that plane. However, despite Don Jr's claims, his father's name was indeed part of the Epstein List.

The Trump Organization official then received even more ridicule after the two latest unsealings, the Florida case and the Ghislaine Maxwell lawsuit because as it turns out, his father was mentioned multiple times in those documents.

READ MORE: Jeffrey Epstein Case: Florida Prosecutors Knew He Raped Teen Girls, Newly-Released Transcripts Show

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: MAGA TURNS ON Trump after Epstein LEAK - Adam Mockler
Facing mounting pressure and skepticism about his candidacy, President Joe Biden's reelection campaign has announced a robust strategy involving a $50 million media blitz aimed at key battleground states.

This move comes amid concerns over Biden's age and performance, particularly highlighted after a challenging debate against former President Donald Trump, Fox News reports.

The campaign intends to target voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Additionally, it plans an aggressive outreach to young and diverse voters, coupled with an intensive travel schedule for the president.

READ NEXT: Joe Biden Cuts Late Events, Citing Need for More Sleep

Strategy and Challenges Ahead

President Biden's campaign is pivoting to a more active and unscripted approach following criticism and doubts about his ability to lead effectively, according to CNN.

The campaign announced an ambitious travel agenda across battleground states and emphasized Biden's spontaneous interactions, aiming to reshape public perception amid concerns about his debate performance and age.

The $50 million Biden campaign ad blitz scheduled for July will encompass TV, radio, and digital platforms, strategically targeting events like the 2024 Olympics and the Republican National Convention.

These efforts aim to amplify messages on critical issues such as abortion rights, economic policies, and the perceived threats to democracy posed by Donald Trump.

Despite recent setbacks, including slipping poll numbers following the debate, Biden remains resolute in his bid for reelection.

His campaign aims to leverage high-visibility moments like major televised events to reach diverse voter demographics, including Gen Z Americans drawn to popular cultural events.

Following critiques of Biden's verbal slips and potential signs of aging, his campaign has defended his performance, emphasized his substantial policy achievements, and dismissed criticisms as overblown.

While Biden acknowledges his age-related limitations, he remains steadfast in his commitment to continue leading the nation forward.

On the Campaign Trail

In July, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will embark on an intensive campaign schedule across all battleground states.

This concerted effort aims to bolster support and counter the narrative questioning Biden's fitness for a second term.

The $50 million media blitz is part of a strategic effort to regain momentum lost after recent challenges.

Biden's campaign ad will emphasize Biden's record and contrast his policies with those of his opponents, particularly focusing on issues pivotal to the upcoming 2024 presidential election, ABC News noted.

As scrutiny intensifies, Biden faces pivotal moments, including upcoming interviews and public appearances aimed at reassuring voters and party allies of his capabilities.

The campaign remains optimistic about its ability to resonate with voters, particularly through targeted media campaigns during key televised events.

Despite internal and external pressures, Biden's campaign is adamant about his candidacy's viability and his ability to lead effectively.

The president's upcoming engagements and media strategy underscores a determined effort to navigate challenges and secure support ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Defends 'Evil' and 'Horrible' Behavior in Recent Leaked Audio

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Biden campaign launches $50M ad blitz against 'convicted criminal' Trump - From Fox News
Influencer and accused sexual abuser and sex trafficker Andrew Tate, the infamous "King of Toxic Masculinity," has been cleared to leave Romania. However, he still cannot leave the European Union (EU) as his case is going on.

The red pill influencer, who is known to prey on the insecurities of lonely men to further his Ponzi scheme known as Hustlers University, is accused of forming an organized crime group, human trafficking, and rape.

He has also been known to lure women from the United States and the UK using the "Lover Boy" method by pretending to be a kind and gentle man, only to force them to become cam girls once they arrive in Romania, often raping them as well.

Tate has been celebrating on social media, though he may have lied a bit when he claimed that he can go anywhere he wants now. "I AM FREE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS I CAN LEAVE ROMANIA. THE SHAM CASE IS FALLING APART," he claimed. "Where do I go? I can go anywhere I want."

"We embrace and applaud the decision of the court today, I consider it a reflection of the exemplary behavior and assistance of my clients," said one of Andrew Tate's attorneys. Eugen Vidineac. He added that Andrew and his brother, Tristan Tate, are "still determined to clear their name and reputation."

The Tate brothers are among the four defendants accused of forming an organized crime group to carry out human trafficking operation that spans Romania, the UK, and the US. He allegedly recruited seven victims by misleading them about his romantic intentions.

Andrew Tate Facing Legal Troubles in 2 Countries, Including Romania

The "King of Toxic Masculinity" rose to fame in the middle of the pandemic and spread his anti-women rhetoric on the internet, claiming men "own" women in relationships and that women's empowerment is leading to the fall of Western civilization.

READ MORE: Donald Trump Was 'Doe 174' in Newly-Unsealed Jeffrey Epstein Documents

He is now facing crimes not just in Romania but also in the United Kingdom, where he has a standing warrant of arrest for human trafficking and sexual assault. He is also facing a civil lawsuit over sexual assault allegations in the country, according to ABC News.

Tate and his brother have denied the allegations, saying that they were the victims of "opportunistic women" and what he calls the "Matrix," a supposed establishment conspiracy that he claims is targeting him because of his controversial views.

Andrew Tate Being Hailed by Far-Right UK Politician Nigel Farage

Meanwhile, as the UK recently held its elections, far-right politician and Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage, who was one of the masterminds of the disastrous Brexit move, has been praising Andrew Tate a lot lately.

According to The Guardian, Farage praised Tate for his populist politics and critique of "woke culture," with Tate's misogynistic message going well with Farage's various far-right and anti-immigrant stances.

READ MORE: Former Playboy Model Shares Story of How She Escaped Andrew Tate

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: I joined Andrew Tate's cult and it was worse than I thought - Coffeezilla
China to promote sustained, healthy development of platform economy

Xinhua) 13:39, July 06, 2024

BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- China will further enhance the innovation capabilities of platform enterprises and foster the sustained and healthy development of the platform economy, according to a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang on Friday.

The platform economy refers to tech-driven online marketplaces and other similar operations, such as ride-hailing and food delivery services.

The meeting discussed and studied several issues, including the role of the platform economy in promoting the high-quality development of the digital economy.

It is essential for China to foster the deep integration of digital technology with the real economy, advance the industrialization of digital technology and digitize traditional industries to fully empower economic and social development, according to a read-out of the meeting.

It's crucial to persistently refine the ecosystem for the digital economy to flourish, the meeting decided, urging a coordinated effort to enhance foundational data frameworks and digital infrastructure while advancing the market-based allocation of data as a key economic input.

Other topics discussed at the meeting included innovative pharmaceuticals, the development of the country's western regions, and growth in the Tianjin Binhai New Area.

The meeting urged relevant government departments to make full use of policies on pricing, medical insurance payments and commercial insurance to promote innovative pharmaceuticals. Efforts should also be made to encourage sci-tech innovation and basic research.

It was decided at the meeting that the country's western regions, which play a pivotal role in national reform, development and stability, should strive for overall growth and pursue sustainable development.

Regarding the Tianjin Binhai New Area, the meeting called for the area's policies to be aligned with those of its neighboring Beijing and Hebei, enhancing its status as a port and shipping hub, and advancing reform to develop a pilot free trade zone.

The meeting also emphasized the need to address all irregularities in the execution of the 2023 central budget and other financial revenues and expenditures.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
SAVING UP CHANGE FOR COLLEGE

Dear Heloise: I wanted to start an education fund for my first granddaughter. I started saving all my $1 and $5 bills in a small box. Over time, I would add $10 or $20 if I had extra. It became a game of paying for things in cash to get change for the box.

I had one rule: If I needed to borrow from the box because I needed cash for something, I would have to put in more than I borrowed. I have now saved $3,000 doing this over the course of three years, which has been enough for my granddaughters fund and another fund for my new grandson. -- Liz Ziegler, via email

VEGAN SOUP IDEA

Dear Heloise: Recently, a couple of readers wrote to you for suggestions for soups, as they were opening a restaurant and wanted soup options. May I suggest at least one vegan soup, which could also be the vegetable soup? (Not all vegetable soups are vegan.)

If beans or peas are added for protein, as well as plenty of vegetables and canned tomatoes, the soup can be so delicious, and anyone can have it. I like to put curry and other spices in mine, and I often use canned coconut milk for part of the liquid.

By the way, I know of several meat eaters who enjoy eating in vegan restaurants. Thanks, Heloise! -- Richard, in Southern California

ANOTHER USE FOR CORKS

Dear Heloise: When we go on vacation, my husband brings a pair of tweezers and a needle for possible splinters, but he keeps the needle safely tucked away in a cork. -- Leonce Haydel, via email

SOUND OFF ON WEDDING RECEPTION MUSIC

Dear Heloise: I recently attended a beautiful wedding and reception. Two DJs played the music. The bride and groom provided the playlist. Unfortunately, the music played so loud that older guests had to leave the room in order to visit with family and friends, while the younger generation jumped up and down to the beat of the music.

The DJs never took a break, nor did they mix in a small variety of musical styles so that older members of the family and friends would have a chance to dance. My suggestion to future brides and grooms is that a variety of music styles be provided so every guest can enjoy dancing cheek to cheek. -- Joan Dignacco, Bantam, Connecticut

HANGING BASKETS

Dear Heloise: I found an easy way to transport hanging flower baskets: I simply hang them from the hooks above each back door of my vehicle. No spilled dirt or damaged flowers!

Love your column in the Tribune Chronicle. -- Karen Brooks, via email

PET PAL

Dear Heloise: Leo, who was adopted two years ago, is energetic and always ready for play. Here he is playing peekaboo. Leos love for snacks is undeniable. Hes brought immense happiness to our home. -- Maria Monroy, Bronx, New York

LeoHeloise

Readers, to see Leo and our other Pet Pals, go to Heloise.com and click on Pet of the Week.

Do you have a furry friend to share with our readers? Send a photo and a brief description to Heloise@Heloise.com. -- Heloise

SEND A GREAT HINT TO: Heloise@Heloise.com

(c) 2024 by King Features Syndicate Inc.
New Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has said his priority is to establish a new relationship between the UK Government and Stormonts powersharing Executive.

Mr Benn was speaking after hosting a meeting with Northern Irelands First and deputy First Ministers Michelle ONeill and Emma Little-Pengelly at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down on Saturday evening.

The new Secretary of State also met representatives of the Stormont parties during his first visit to the region since taking up the role.

He said: I wanted to get to work as quickly as possible and was therefore pleased to be able to hold these initial discussions with the First and deputy First Ministers and representatives from the other parties.

My immediate priorities are to establish a new relationship between the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive as we work together to foster economic growth and prosperity, and to improve public services.

I want to ensure that we have a system in place for addressing the legacy of the past in a way that wins support from victims families and that all communities can have confidence in, and which is compliant with human rights.

Mr Benn had been serving as the shadow NI secretary since 2023 and was chairman of the Brexit Select Committee for years.

The Leeds MP was among new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmers Cabinet appointees.

Sir Keir and Mr Benn have previously said a Labour Government would repeal the controversial Legacy Act, introduced by the Tories to address Troubles legacy issues and widely opposed by all the main political parties in Northern Ireland.

Mr Benn was also vocal in urging the powersharing institutions to be revived during the three-year hiatus.

He takes over from the Conservatives Chris Heaton-Harris, who has been in the role for almost two years and did not contest the General Election.

Mr Benn said that the new UK Government was firmly committed to the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

He said: We will work hard to deliver its vision for reconciliation, equality, respect for rights and parity of esteem.

The Northern Ireland Secretary said his meeting with Ms ONeill and Ms Little-Pengelly was very constructive.

I look forward to building on our relationship in the months ahead, he said.

Ms ONeill said she had made the case for fair funding for health, education and public services in Northern Ireland during her party meeting with Mr Benn.

She added: The cuts our people and public services have endured under the Tories must end now.

We also reiterated the need for immediate funding to be released to build Casement Park. This would allow us to seize the enormous economic opportunities created by Euro 2028.

The British Government must embrace the principles of rigorous impartiality, and respect the provisions in the Good Friday Agreement for constitutional change.

We also called on the British Secretary of State to follow through on previous commitments to scrap the Tories shameful Legacy Act, which has failed victims and survivors.

She added: We will meet Keir Starmer in the days ahead and we will continue to press the British Government on the things that matter most to people, investment in public services, which deliver for all.

New Prime Minister Sir Keir has already said he will visit Northern Ireland during his first days in office.

Mr Benn said had also had a telephone conversation with Irelands Tanaiste Micheal Martin on Friday.

He added: As our nearest neighbour and co-guarantor of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, our relationship with Ireland is of great importance.

The new UK Government will work closely with the Irish Government to reset and strengthen the relationship between our two countries.
Clonaslee resident and former London undertaker Julian Watson recently took on a new undertaking - a memoir documenting his time as a funeral director in England.

The writer released his book less than two weeks ago, and has already received stellar reviews online. In the engrossing memoir 'So Far So What!', Julian Watson takes readers on an unforgettable journey into the world of funeral directing, offering a candid and often humorous look at his experiences from 1976 to 1988.

Discussing the memoir with the Leinster Express / Laois Live, Mr Watson said that undertaking was "the most important job I've done in my entire life".

"The book is section to section breakdowns of real things that happened to me on the job. I was an undertaker on the east end of London for many years," he said. "The book is actually a memoir of things that happened to me and went on behind the scenes - funny occasions that happened to me".

"We had some disastrous things happen too, and I suppose I did the best I could, and I describe it as best as I can too," Watson added.

From his hesitant beginnings as a 26-year-old thrust into the family business, to the heartfelt moments shared with grieving families, Julian's narrative is both heartfelt and entertaining. As the great-great-grandson of the founder, he finds himself navigating the streets of 'Ackney' in a Rolls-Royce hearse, encountering challenges that range from comical to deeply moving.

"When you die, you don't know what to do, so you go to this person, and they ask what you want to do, and they make everything happen, which is brilliant! Undertakers are an absolutely fabulous concept".

The book is full of entertaining anecdotes from the undertaker, including a particularly interesting incident on the way to a graveyard in London.

"It's all real, there's some tongue-in-cheek moments but it's all accurate stories," Watson explained.

"We had one incident heading up the Great Cambridge Road in London, a very busy road, and the traffic lights went red for our procession. The hearse in front stopped, the first limousine stopped, but a second limousine behind didn't stop! It went right into the other two vehicles, and I'm very glad it wasn't me driving!"

Having officially launched the book almost two weeks ago, the Clonaslee resident is set to give some lucky Laois residents a signed copy.

"I'll be having a book signing on July 13 in Mary Hickeys (pub in Clonaslee), at about 3pm with a few physical copies that I've got," Watson explained.

Watson made sure to praise the hard work of fellow Clonaslee resident Jenny Gorman, who transferred the undertaker's work into an online format.

"Without her, it would never have happened," he said. "Thanks Jenny".

On life on Clonaslee, Watson said the town suited the former London undertaker.

"Clonaslee is nearly as mad as I am. The people are really nice once you have earned their friendship and trust," he said. "It has to be earned though," says Mr Watson.

Mr Watson originally moved to Ireland for a job in Offaly following his time as a funeral director in the UK capital, and ended up deciding to stay in Ireland in the 90s, eventually settling in the small town in the heart of the Slieve Blooms.

He says: "I've been living in Laois for 20 years, when I'm here for another 20 I'll be considered a local!"

With a keen eye for detail and a sharp wit, Watson paints a vivid portrait of life beside the grave, introducing us to a colourful cast of characters who populate his world.

Whether you're a seasoned funeral director or simply curious about the inner workings of the industry, this book is sure to captivate and inspire, and is not one to be missed for anyone curious about the early life of one of Clonaslee's most interesting characters.

The book has received rave reviews so far, with one reader saying that she "couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting".

Another reviewer added that he "was not expecting to be so thoroughly entertained and moved by this book", and said it was "a must-read".

Julian Watson's book 'So Far So What!' can be found on Amazon here.
A man was granted an interim protection order by a Naas District Court judge on Thursday, July 4 last.

The application was heard during an in-camera (in private) court session.

The man told Judge Desmond Zaidan that he had been with his ex-girlfriend for a number of years, but she had been abusive towards him.

He added that one of his children had passed away last year.

The judge agreed to grant the interim protection order, and adjourned the case to a later date for hearing.

He also said that the order also extends to the man's other children.

If you have been affected by this article, you can find resources to help you by contacting Men's Aid by ringing 01 554 3811 or emailing hello@mensaid.ie, or Women's Aid at 1800 341 900 or emailing helpline@womensaid.ie.

Additionally, you can find resources to help you by emailing Samaritans Ireland at jo@samaritans.ie, or by ringing 116 123.
A Naas District Court judge has said that he 'would hate to be a victim' in the Irish court system.

Judge Desmond Zaidan made the comments on Thursday, July 4 last, when he was presiding over an in-camera (in private) court case.

The matter concerned an alleged domestic violence case, in which a man was accused of committing two breaches of a protection order, which was taken out against him by his ex-partner.

Defending solicitor Matthew Byrne told the court that his client 'fully contests' the allegations made against him and was anxious to get the case dealt with as quickly as possible.

Mr Byrne also criticised the handwriting of a document given to him by the arresting garda, and explained that he couldn't make out the writing on it.

He also said that he required a copy of the custodial sentence record in relation to his client, while the accused was remanded in detention by gardai.

In addition, Mr Byrne highlighted past delays in the case,, and for this reason, he applied for a strike-out.

Judge Zaidan said that he would adjourn the case to a date in November for hearing, but also decided to mark the case peremptory against the State.

This means that if the State is not ready on the next date, he will strike the matter out.

However, the man's ex-partner (and the alleged injured party) interjected: "I'm sorry Judge, but this (case) has been going on for nearly two years.

"He is getting copies of the protection order," she added.

Judge Zaidan said that while he acknowledged that both parties intended to proceed, he highlighted two issues: the hand-writing issue raised by Mr Byrne, and the fact that Mr Byrne requires a copy of his client's custodial sentence record.

He explained: "I could proceed, but if I did, the defendant would succeed in an appeal within a matter of seconds."

When it was heard that the woman has a baby, Judge Zaidan asked her if the accused is the father of her child.

"No, thank God, Jesus," she replied.

Mr Byrne said that both his client and the alleged injured party have been present for all court appearances in relation to this case.

Garda Sergeant David Hanrahan suggested to the judge that he order an adjournment for two weeks.

However, Judge Zaidan responded: "There would be no point, it (the case) wouldn't be reached."

The judge also noted that Naas District Court is currently understaffed, and added: "I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Judge Zaidan reitered his decision to refuse Mr Byrne's strike-out application, but also highlighted that he would mark the case peremptory against the State.

He said: "All the State needs to do is to give the (relevant) documents and get it over with."

Turning to the alleged injured party, he told her: "I know you're frustrated, and so is he. I'm frustrated too; I would hate to be a victim in this system."

Mr Byrne also told the judge that the State would require another witness in the case, to which a garda present in court said that gardai would look into this matter.

Judge Zaidan remanded the defendant on continuing bail until the case resumes in November.
Iranian presidential candidate and reformist Massoud Pezeshkian, flashes the V-sign for victory after casting his vote during the presidential election in Tehran on June 28, 2024. ATTA KENARE / AFP

Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran's presidential runoff election. Ahead of the official announcement, Pezeshkian's lead against hard-liner Saeed Jalili had widened early Saturday, July 5 to over 2 million votes in the ongoing tally.

Then the final vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalilis 13.5 million in Fridays election.

Read more Subscribers only Iranian presidential election: Reformist candidate wants to bring country out of isolation

In the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini in southern Tehran, Pezeshkian gave a speech thanking his supporters, saying their votes have "given hope to a society plunged into an atmosphere of dissatisfaction". "I did not give false promises in this election," said Pezeshkian, flanked by former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. "I didn't say anything that I wouldn't be able to do tomorrow." In an earlier post on X, the reformist said the vote was the start of a "partnership" with Iran's people.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all major policy issues, congratulated Pezeshkian. He urged him to "continue the path of Martyr Raisi and use the country's many capacities, especially the revolutionary and faithful youth, for the comfort of the people and the progress of the country".

'We really needed a well-educated president to solve the economic problems'

Hassan Rouhani, a moderate in office until Raisi's victory in 2021, congratulated Pezeshkian on his win. Rouhani said voters had shown "they want a serious change in the state of governance in the country". They had voted "for constructive interaction with the world" and revival of the nuclear deal, he added.

Supporters of Pezeshkian, who is a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator. State TV also showed large crowds waving the Iranian flag in the northwestern city of Tabriz, which Pezeshkian had represented in parliament since 2008.

In Tehran, some Iranians hailed the outcome. "We are very happy that Mr Pezeshkian won," said Abolfazl, a 40-year-old architect who gave only his first name. "I expected him to become the president because we really needed a well-educated president to solve the economic problems of the people."

Read more Subscribers only In Iran, the presidential candidacy of a reformer attracts previously disengaged voters

A delicate moment

But Pezeshkian's win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Mideast over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, Iran's advancing nuclear program and a looming US election that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk.

While campaigning, Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Irans Shiite theocracy  and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkians modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels.

European Union spokeswoman Nabila Massrali congratulated Pezeshkian on his election, adding that the 27-member bloc is "ready to engage with the new government in line with EU policy of critical engagement".

The US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said there was no expectation the vote would "lead to a fundamental change in Iran's direction" or improvement in human rights.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the election result was a "clear message of demand for change and opposition" from the Iranian people. Katz urged the global community to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization and demanded the "cancellation" of Iran's nuclear program.

Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah congratulated Pezeshkian on his victory, emphasizing Tehran's role as a "strong" supporter of regional "resistance" groups.

Lowest voting turnout since 1979

Turnout was 49.8%, electoral authority spokesman Mohsen Eslami said, up from about 40% in the first round. June 28 saw the lowest turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian officials have long pointed to turnout as a sign of support for the country's Shiite theocracy, which has been under strain after years of sanctions crushing Iran's economy, mass demonstrations and intense crackdowns on all dissent.

Read more Subscribers only Iran: Sanctions issue loomed over the first presidential election debate

Government officials up to Khamenei had predicted a higher participation rate as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centers across the country.

However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in the capital, Tehran, saw light traffic amid a heavy security presence on the streets.

More than 61 million Iranians over the age of 18 were eligible to vote, with about 18 million of them between 18 and 30. Voting was to end at 6 pm but was extended until midnight to boost participation.

The late President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash, was seen as a protege of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.

Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988 and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab.
The coffee table was set up in a discreet corner of the vast hall of Slovakia's public radio service RTVS, an impressive inverted pyramid built during the Communist era in the heart of Bratislava. On it lay a single candle, a red rose and a white ribbon inscribed with the words "final goodbyes." "Let's wear this ribbon to support RTVS as we know it," read the message hanging from this small improvised altar to Radio and Television of Slovakia's lost independence.

At Slovak radio's headquarters, a note reads: "Dear colleagues, we are wearing ribbons in the colors of our media to support RTVS, so that it remains as we know it," in Bratislava, June 26, 2024. ANDREJ BALCO FOR LE MONDE

"We're not very optimistic, are we?" said Kristina Chrenkova, 35, a reporter for the past 10 years in the international affairs department. "We did try to do something, but we have to admit that the fate of our institution is now irreversible," Chrenkova said sadly. On Wednesday, June 26, only a few days remained before the reform of Slovakia's public broadcasting service, rushed through by Prime Minister Robert Fico's national-populist majority, would come into force on July 1.

The current director, who will be dismissed immediately, was already packing his bags. His replacement will be appointed by a new government-controlled committee. Chrenkova, who keeps a cardboard sign proclaiming "Free media = happy country" in a corner of her office, remnants of recent protests, was under few illusions.

Read more Both fear and its candidate triumph in Slovakia

"Several colleagues have already started to leave, but I don't have a plan B," said the movement's leader, noting that some members of the majority had already given the names of journalists they dreamed of getting rid of. "Even Orban didn't go this fast in Hungary."

RTVS journalist Kristina Chrenkova with signs reading: "We come from an upside-down world, but we're not idiots!" and "Free media = happy country!," in Bratislava, June 26, 2024. ANDREJ BALCO FOR LE MONDE

An atmosphere of a widespread purge

Outside, the institutions of this Central European country of 5.5 million inhabitants are falling one after another under the government's rapid and relentless attacks. In the public and private media, ministries, museums, the judiciary and the police, troublesome employees and civil servants are being sacked by the dozen, in an atmosphere of widespread purge that has profoundly transformed the country in just nine months.

In October 2023, Fico, 59, returned to power after spending three years in the opposition and narrowly avoiding prison in a corruption case that was ultimately dismissed. Now, he is conducting a broad policy of retribution against a whole section of his country's elites, aided by his coalition allies from the Slovak National Party (SNS), a far-right pro-Russian and conspiracist party.

Read more Subscribers only Slovakia: Robert Fico to appoint pro-Russian ministers

His assassination attempt in mid-May (he narrowly escaped death after being shot by a retiree from a small provincial town) has only intensified the bitterness of the prime minister, who despises "the Bratislava intellectuals." In a long video published in early June during his recovery, he extensively criticized the "frustrated opposition," "foreign-funded associations" and "anti-government media, especially those that are co-owned by the financial structure of [American philanthropist] George Soros" for their "hatred and aggression," of which the shooter was allegedly a "mere messenger."

You have 61.86% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
GARDAI are investigating after an anonymous threatening letter was sent to the family home of Cathal Crotty, Limerick Live has learned.

The handwritten letter, which was addressed to Cathal Crottys father, had a Dublin postmark, and was received at his home in Ardnacrusha on Wednesday.

It is purportedly from an organisation with members in Dublin and Limerick and threatens to kidnap the soldier and make him suffer.

Cathal Crotty, aged 22, received a three year suspended sentence at Limerick Circuit Court last month for assaulting Natasha OBrien in Limerick city centre in May of 2022. The story has dominated news cycles in recent weeks. There have been a number of protests across the country and was addressed by Taoiseach Simon Harris in the Dail.

The original letter sent to Mr Crotty is with investigating detectives but Limerick Live has seen a copy.

It reads: If you do what we ask all is not lost, however, in not doing as we ask it will be a very sad story for your son, Cathal. As you are aware Mr Crotty, your son Cathal done a very bad thing on that poor girl.

It states that justice wasnt done in court and that the writer and his men from Dublin and members from Limerick have been talking about the case at their meetings.

The letter states that Cathal Crotty will be taken from his home in two weeks time and will suffer for what he has done to that poor girl who, by the way, wouldnt hurt a fly.

The letter says that Cathal Crotty cant get away with this crime.

However, we will look at the case if your son is moved out of the country for good in two weeks time. This is his last hope - leave now or else you know, Mr Crotty, what is coming. The law cant help.

READ MORE: State appeals decision in case of Limerick gardai among others charged with attempting to pervert course of justice

"Even now we have someone looking at your house. It is up to you. You might try and hide your son but we could have taken him last week for a little drive.

The writer concludes the letter to Mr Crotty by saying: Get him out for good and we will leave him be. Time is running out fast - two weeks or were coming down Mr Crotty, night or day.

The garda investigation into the anonymous threatening letter is at an early stage.

A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana confirmed to Limerick Live that they are "aware of correspondence received at a domestic residence in Co Clare in July 2024" and "enquiries are ongoing".
THERE were no whiteboards, no wifi and hopefully no homework for boys and girls who went back in time for a days education at the Hedge School Cottage in Newtown, Clarina.

Lessons took place in the restored hedge school for the first time in 190 years when sixth-class pupils from Ballybrown NS spent a day at the restored cottage.

Ballybrown principal Seamus Barry and teachers followed in the footsteps of a Mr OShea who taught there until the 1830s. Records show that he had up to 40 pupils in the secret and illegal school.

Before the students got down to work, this unique occasion was marked by the presence of a number of special guests. Jim OFarrell, chairman of the Newtown Cottage Association, welcomed Minister of State for Skills and Further Education Niall Collins, Cllr Fergus Kilcoyne, historian and curator of Limerick Museum, Dr Matthew Potter.

Mr Collins addressed the pupils who are about to start secondary school in September, encouraging them to work hard and avail of the many opportunities open to them. Dr Potter, who has family associations with the hedge school building, spoke to the young people about the Penal Laws and the history of the hedge school tradition.

A special tribute was paid to the oldest and youngest members of the team who in recent years restored the Hedge School Cottage from the state of dereliction into which it had fallen with the passage of time.

Peter Byrnes, in his 95th year, is still involved as clerk of works in the voluntary enhancement activities that continue at the site. Adam OLeary, one of the pupils present, was the youngest helper when the cottage was being restored initially.

Mr OFarrell said some pupils brought sods of turf into the school as a reminder of the practice in times past when children brought fuel to keep the schoolroom warm.

It was lovely to see the open fire, lit by Ted OLeary to mark the occasion. The pupils also had the opportunity to view the beautiful display of photos taken by Michael McNamara, who has recorded all the stages of the restoration work and ongoing activities.

The children were lucky to enjoy fine weather for their outing. They had lunch in the adjoining boathouse and time to play in the grounds before walking back to their own school.

A recent addition to the schoolhouse was the new kitchen area where the ladies committee prepare refreshments for visiting groups.

The building work, carried out for the most part by David and Paddy Guerin and Tommy Roberts, was much admired, as were the colourful flower beds and containers tended by Kay Byrnes, said Mr OFarrell.

It was a school day that the boys and girls of Ballybrown will never forget.

READ MORE: PICTURES: Celebrations at Limerick school as new extension is officially opened

The reconstructed hedge school is all thanks to voluntary labour.

Back in 2018, Mr O'Farrell said: We started clearing the site, all on a voluntary capacity and anybody who had a talent gave that for free. We had a stonemason and local thatcher.

In a lovely touch around 20 volunteers collected the reed for the thatch on the river bank. And Ballybrown NS pupils got to experience teaching just like their ancestors.

For more pictures, click 'Next'
New Delhi: Want to lay your hands on a Birkin bag but can't wait? Eager to be at the Wimbledon but didn't book early? Need a curated dining experience at a swanky Japanese restaurant? Concierge services are here to spoil India's super-rich, ensuring no luxury is beyond their reach.

As India's ultra-rich population swells, the demand for bespoke luxury concierge services is soaring as well. Their task: Serving high-end, personalized experiences for the well-heeled.

Karan Bhangay, founder of Indulge Global, a Goa-based bespoke concierge service, recently catered to a unique request: A Hyderabad-based builder required the services of Bhangays golden retriever Gulzar to entertain children during an extended family vacation in Goa. Half a dozen children under 10 needed not just the complementary services of the faithful retriever, but also had a swimming session planned with the four-legged friend. Later, freshly baked goods were delivered to them from Babka Goa, a high-end bakery in Anjuna.

We'd like to call ourselves a 'considered' concierge service that pretty much brings in end-to-end solutions for everything our clients want. While sometimes these are paid-for services, sometimes they are obscure and vague and every now and then, as easy as sending across our chief happiness officer, Gulzar, to parties," said Bhangay, who claims to have over 1,000 high net-worth clients.

Also read | Titan Company to expand jewellery market share; grow emerging businesses

Indulge Global is among half a dozen of India's bigger concierge companies serving India's growing population of the super-rich. Their services range from organizing luxury stays and buying precious jewellery to facilitating unique experiences like swordsmanship lessons in Japan. The rise in demand for such services mirrors the growth of Indias ultra-rich population, which is projected to triple within four years, according to industry estimates.

Luxury Concierge Boom

The luxury concierge market frequently has subscription-based revenue models, with companies charging substantial fees for their services. These firms also work with hotels around the world and offer mobility services like private jets and yachts, providing comprehensive luxury experiences.

UK-founded Quintessentially Lifestyle, which levies membership fees of 3.5-35.0 lakh annually, claims to have several thousand ultra high net-worth individual (UHNWI) memberships in India.

"Don't ask us how we get a special confectionery cake from Dubai overnight or how we jump the queue to procure the sought-after Birkin bag or how we can get an extra table put at a Michelin-starred restaurant. That's the trade secret. We are a global brand and have a large network across the world," said Quintessentially Lifestyle's CEO Mishti Bose, adding business has doubled since the pre-pandemic period.

The Birkin bag from French luxury company Hermes is made in limited numbers with controlled distribution, priced 20 lakh and above.

Manoj Adlakha, former senior vice-president and head of international marketing at American Express, launched Red Beryl, a concierge service in August. Adlakha said the growing number of billionaires in India will continue to drive luxury consumption. There is a huge inflow of disposable wealth coming from the stock markets and real estate portfolios. India's luxury market is currently estimated at $30 billion and is expected to grow fourfold to $128 billion by 2028. The number of dollar billionaires in India, which reached 130 by the end of 2023, is projected to double by 2028," Adlakha said.

Red Beryl charges an annual subscription apart from a joining fee of about 8 lakh. It focuses on travel and personalized services such as organizing tickets for major events and curating exclusive dining experiences. The company focuses on the super-rich between the ages of 40 and 60, typically the second-generation of wealthy families and successful professionals. Last month, his company procured a Ferrari 250 GTO manufactured in 1962 from the US for a client, a lawyer-collector in Delhi who has a fancy car collection.

Beyond securing coveted items and experiences, concierge services place extra attention on the personal touch. Bhangay of Indulge Global said his company flew back a client from Bali to India who suffered a heart attack. His company charges an annual fee of 1 lakh, lower than its rivals, rivals to build longer-term relationships.

In India, luxury clients seek holidays, along with visa and passport services, during summer and winter breaks. By July, spending shifts to travel, with patrons attending global sporting events like Wimbledon. Retail shopping peaks around the festival and holiday season.

Rising Billionaires Hold the Market Reins

An overall boom in luxury spending is evident, with Indians now willing to spend far more on themselves than before the pandemic. The number of UHNWIs and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in Indiapeople with an income of $30 million or 250 crore net-worthis about 14,000 and is projected to grow to 20,000 in the coming year.

While luxury consumption in China slumped after the pandemic outbreak, global luxury brands shifted their focus to other markets. One of those was India. This coincided with the growth of new malls for the wealthy such as the Reliance-owned Jio World Plaza in Mumbai. Last year, Aditya Birla Fashion inked a joint venture with the shoe brand Christian Louboutin. Since then, luxury brands like Brioni have entered India, and Europe's largest department store Galeries Lafayette is preparing to come to the country.

Imports of Swiss watches hit a record 2,093 crore in 2023, up 16% from the previous year's 1,500 crore, despite the rupee's devaluation against the Swiss Franc. Notably, December saw a sharp rise in imports, contributing to India's rise to the 22nd position among the world's largest importers of Swiss watches, up one place from the previous year.

Also read | Luxury retail poaches talent from hospitality and aviation as demand rises

Chaitanya Sinh, founder and managing director of A La Concierge Services Pvt. Ltd, says India has about 26 million high-net-worth families, a number that is growing faster than anywhere else in the world. Our goal is to provide a support system for executives, managing both mundane and extravagant requests. From passport and visa renewals to hiring elephants for birthday parties, we cater to all," Sinh said. His company offers services ranging from hot air ballooning in Pushkar to leopard safaris in Rajasthan's Jawai.

Bhangays team at Indulge Global, comprising individuals under 25, is adept at quickly fulfilling diverse requests, such as procuring a Chaumet gold chain for 60 lakh to recommending the best coffee spots in a New York suburb.

"In all respects, there is an overall boom in luxury spending and Indians have now decided to spend far more on themselves than they did before the pandemic. The UHNIs and HNIs in India, and people with an income of $30 million or 250 crore net worth, is about 14,000 people in India, and will grow to 20,000 in the coming year," said Adlakha, adding that's the market he is focusing on.
By Boureima Balima

NIAMEY, July 6 (Reuters) - Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, three West African states led by the military, signed a confederation treaty on Saturday, underscoring their determination to chart a joint course outside a regional economic bloc that has been urging them to return to democratic rule.

The signing took place at the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) and signals a closer alignment between the neighbours in the insurgency-torn central Sahel. Juntas seized control in a series of coups in the three states in 2020-2023 and severed military and diplomatic ties with regional allies and Western powers.

Niger's military leader General Abdourahamane Tiani described the AES summit as "the culmination of our determined common will to reclaim our national sovereignty".

Formalising the treaty to establish a confederation confirms the rejection by Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso of the 15-member Economic Community of West African states (ECOWAS). Its signing comes a day before a summit being held by ECOWAS, which had hoped to persuade the three to reconsider their decision in January to quit the bloc.

"Our peoples have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS," Tiani said in a speech. "It is up to us today to make the AES Confederation an alternative to any artificial regional group by building ... a community free from the control of foreign powers."

It is not clear how closely the AES will harmonise political, economic and defence policies as it struggles to contain a decade-old battle with Islamist insurgents and grow economies that are among the world's poorest.

In March, the three states agreed to set up a joint force to tackle security threats across their territories.

Their finance ministers said in November they would weigh the option of setting up a monetary union and senior officials have, to varying degrees, voiced support for abandoning West Africa's CFA franc common currency.

ECOWAS has made diplomatic efforts to dissuade the three states from quitting the 50-year-old alliance. The split will reverse decades of regional integration and threatens a messy disentanglement from trade and services flows worth nearly $150 billion a year.

The falling-out is linked to the ECOWAS decision to respond to the trio's coups with stringent sanctions and its unrealised threat to use force to restore constitutional rule in Niger last year.

Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso accuse the regional bloc of abandoning its founding ideals and giving too little support against the Islamist insurgencies that have killed thousands of people and displaced over 3 million more.
(Updates with new forecast, port warnings, possible effects on terminals)

By Erwin Seba

HOUSTON, July 6 (Reuters) -

The U.S. Coast Guard warned of possible Texas port closures from Corpus Christi to Houston because of Hurricane Beryl, which is expected to make landfall by Monday morning south of Port Lavaca.

Port closures could bring to a temporary halt shipments of crude oil to refineries and motor fuels from those plants.

Shell Plc completed the evacuation of workers from its Perdido production platform in the U.S.-regulated Gulf of Mexico ahead of the approach of Tropical Storm Beryl, the company said on Friday night.

Production on Perdido was shut prior to the evacuations. Shell said it also evacuated workers from the Whale platform, which is due to start production later this year.

Gibson Energy, which operates a large oil terminal in Corpus Christi, said operations were continuing, but it would take further steps depending on the forecast.

The latest forecast would put Corpus Christi on the dry side of the storm where the lowest winds and least rain could be expected. But Beryl could still bring gale-force winds to the port, which is why the Coast Guard would shut it.

Most of the northern Gulf's offshore oil and natural gas production is east of Beryl's forecast track.

U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore production of about 1.8 million barrels per day accounts for about 14% of total U.S. crude output, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Any impact on supplies could push up prices of U.S. oil and offshore crude grades.
The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences is administering Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) on Saturday.

The exam is being conducted in 71 centres across 50 cities in two shifts - 9 am to 11.30 am and 2 pm to 4.30 pm.

The health ministry noted in a statement on Saturday that the FMGE 2024 exam has begun smoothly across the nation and that no untoward incident has been reported yet.

This statement comes after a nationwide uproar over the NEET UG 2024 exam amid suspicions of irregularities and paper leak concerns.

The FMGE exam is being conducted under strict security and close watch of the officials of the home ministry. To monitor the FMGE 2024 exam, the NBEMS headquarters in Delhi set up a command centre. The FMGE is a screening test to test the competence of medical graduates who aspire to practice medicine in the country.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) designated 71 member team to visit exam centres. Besides this, 42 NBEMS staff have been stationed at the centres, where 35,819 candidates are giving exams amid tight security and close supervision.

Also Read | FMGE Admit Card to be OUT tomorrow at nbe.edu.in

The content was successfully downloaded at all test centres. The examination started at all examination centres smoothly. A team of officers from MHA has visited NBEMS HQ. No untoward incident has been reported, NDTV reported, quoting an official as saying.

Official account of Akashvani news services division, All India Radio News in a post on social media platform X said, National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences is conducting FMGE today. The examination is being held at 71 centres in 50 cities across the country.

Also Read | NEET UG counselling 2024 schedule to be released today? All you need to know

The post adds, To prevent any irregularities in the examination, 255 appraisers and 53 faculty members have been appointed as flying squads for all centers.
Counselling for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2024 has been deferred and is expected to start by the end of July, according to a report by news agency PTI.

Earlier, the counselling session was expected to begin in the first week of this month. However, the date has not been notified yet.

In June, the Supreme Court had refused to defer the counselling process after a petition had sought a direction to pause the process for two days.

The process of issuing permission letters to some medical colleges was still underway and additional seats were likely to be added, said the PTI report citing sources.

Also Read | NEET PG 2024 exam will be conducted on August 11 in two shifts

The date of counselling will be announced once the exercise gets over to ensure seats of the new colleges can be taken up in the first round itself, an official source told PTI.

Amid calls for cancellation of the NEET-UG 2024 over alleged irregularities and question paper leaks, the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) had told the Supreme Court on Friday that scrapping it without any proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality would be counterproductive as it could seriously jeopardise lakhs of honest candidates.

The Centre has filed an affidavit on a batch of petitions pending before the SC seeking direction to recall NEET-UG 2024 results and conduct the examination afresh.

The education ministry said that prayers raised in the petitions for the cancellation of the exam and the re-test based on surmises and conjectures must be rejected.

In an affidavit in the SC, NTA had said that the alleged malpractices were only in Patna and Godhra centers and that the entire exam should not be canceled based on individual instances.

The court was also informed that a high-level panel has been set up to suggest measures for effective, smooth, and transparent conduct of the examinations by the NTA.
India's mobile services are operated through market forces of demand and supply. The government said that the three private telecom companies and one public sector player offer the lowest tariffs globally while denying misleading claims about mobile tariff hikes.

The Ministry of Communications released a statement on Friday after the Congress criticised the government for the recent mobile tariff hikes announced by private players. The Congress questioned the government on how telecom operators are allowed to raise tariffs without any supervision or regulation.

The rates of mobile services are under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), and the regulations have ensured one of the lowest costs for subscribers of mobile services in India, the statement said, denying claims of the Congress.

To illustrate its point, it provided a comparative chart of prevailing prices in the US, Australia, the UK, Russia, and other markets.

It said that in India, unlimited voice calls and 18 GB of data are available to mobile subscribers at an average price of USD 1.89 per month, citing other markets where the rates were higher.

Also Read | Good call: Telecom tariff hikes are good for market rivalry

"With three private sector players and one public sector player, the current mobile services market operates through the market forces of demand and supply," it said.

The statement said that from a competition point of view, mobile services were provided by three private sector licensees and one public sector licensee, which was an optimal market structure for mobile services.

"The government does not intervene in the free market decisions as the functionality is under the domain of TRAI and tariffs are under forbearance," it said.

Telecom companies have increased the prices of mobile services after more than two years, the statement said.

While protecting the interests of subscribers, the growth of telecom industry including latest technologies such as 5G, 6G, Internet of Things etc. will require financial viability of the sector, which is "important", it added.

"Before the last 10 years, the telecommunication sector was mired in controversies, lack of transparency and, therefore, growth of mobile services was stagnant. During the last 10 years, due to progressive policies of the government, the rates of telecommunication services, be it voice or data, have fallen exponentially," the statement said.
MUMBAI : Mumbai: Some of the worlds largest sovereign wealth funds, including Singapores GIC Holdings Pte. Ltd, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Kuwait Investment Authority, have significantly increased their investments in Indian stocks and startups the past few years.

These three funds held a collective 5 trillion, or nearly $60 billion, in Indian stocks as of 31 March, show data compiled by Mint. Of that, about 2.57 trillion (about $30 billion) was invested over the previous three financial years (2021-22 to 2023-24).

Sovereign funds are doubling down on India at a time when global private equity firms, venture capital funds and other growth-stage investors are taking a measured approach to backing domestic companies.

Their growing interest in Indian markets also comes amid a tapering of foreign institutional investment in the country, although analysts expect FII flows to rebound in the second half of this year. Foreign institutional investors net sold 146.29 crore worth of Indian equities between 1 January and 2 July.

The recent inclusion of Indian sovereign bonds in JPMorgan Chase & Co.s global debt indexes is also expected to boost the countrys appeal to sovereign funds, say market experts.

Earlier this week, ADIA, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates, invested as part of the anchor round in Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltds initial public offering. It is also looking to team up with private equity firm Blackstone to acquire a controlling stake in Haldiram Snacks Food Pvt. Ltd, as Mint reported earlier.

ADIA also pumped in 1,400 crore in growth-stage beauty and personal care startup Purplle last week, and is set to invest 2,001 crore in four residential projects of real estate developer Prestige Group along with Kotak AIF.

Also read | KKR, GIC & DigitalBridge in fray to acquire Carlyle Nxtra stake for $700 million deal

The Singapore governments GIC is the most aggressive among the three sovereign funds, holding as much as 2.5 trillion in Indian stocks. It has invested in high-profile domestic stocks including HDFC Bank Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, Bajaj Finance Ltd, and Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

The Kuwait Investment Authority, or KIA, and Norways Norges Bank hold more than 1.5 lakh crore in Indian stocks, as per PrimeData. This data captures stakes of more than 1% held by these firms.

India: An emerging opportunity

Experts say India is a natural ally for several sovereign wealth funds and the only bright spot among emerging markets.

India is a high-growth market that these firms are keen to invest in. We have seen that they have increased their deployment rate over the last 3-4 years and this is likely to continue going forward," said V. Jayasankar, managing director at Kotak Investment Banking.

Sovereign funds are equally evaluating investment opportunities across public and private deals, he added.

ADIA is reportedly setting up a $4-5 billion fund to invest in India through Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, or GIFT City, a tax-neutral finance hub in Prime Minister Narendra Modis home state of Gujarat.

Also read | ADIA to enter GIFT City, more sovereign funds could follow

Sovereign funds are also steadily increasing their exposure to private companies in India. Last year, ADIA invested as part of a $400-million investment round in eyewear-maker Lenskart. It also invested in renewable energy firm Greenko Group and Reliance Retail Ltd, bringing $21.6 billion into India over the last five years (FY 2019-2023), show data from Venture Intelligence shows.

GIC pumped in $16.7 billion between 2019 and 2023, with electric-scooter company Ather Energy Pvt. Ltd, Greenko, software firm Atlan, and Sterlite Power among its key investments.

Mubadala Investment Company, another Abu Dhabi-based sovereign fund, and Qatar Investment Authority, among others, have also been pumping in billions of dollars into the Indian market, data show.

Also read | Treat us like ADIA, Gulf wealth funds urge India

Indian founders have learnt the value of investors who have lower cost of capital and a longer holding time horizon as compared to PE/VC investors," said Kashyap Chanchani, co-founder and managing partner of investment bank The Rainmaker Group.

On the other hand, the sovereign funds are seeing more opportunities in the private markets, which favours their risk-reward tradeoff than anytime before."

A sweet spot for sovereigns

Bankers and industry experts say India is currently in a sweet spot for these deep-pocketed investors, and they see the inflow increasing steadily over the next 5-7 years.

India being one of the largest and fastest-growing economies offers a promising growth story and is becoming a natural choice for investment for sovereign wealth funds," said Neha Agarwal, managing director and head of equity capital markets at JM Financial.

Political stability and many path-breaking reforms in the last decade have helped in attracting a large pool of capital from sovereign wealth funds in the secondary markets, she added.

In the primary capital markets as well, sovereign wealth funds such as GIC, ADIA and Norges are increasingly participating in more and more IPOs," said Agarwal, as they are looking to build reasonable-sized stakes in quality companies with strong growth and profitability early in the process."
Moneycontrol reported that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is conducting unannounced inspections of top mutual fund executives, examining their digital devices, including mobile phones, iPads, and laptops.

Five leading mutual funds have undergone these inspections over the past 12 months, with SEBI accessing the mobile phones of several top executives. Livemint could not independently verify this news development.

According to sources cited by the publication, these inspections are distinct from the search and seizure operations Quant Mutual Fund experienced on June 28.

Also Read | Finfluencers naming stocks to feel heat of Sebi rule

Moneycontrol's report highlights that SEBI refers to these actions as thematic inspections. These involve reviewing records from multiple mutual funds to gather information on block deals, concurrent trades, and broker communications, among other things.

The primary goal of seizing this data is to analyse patterns and identify any irregular or questionable practices that warrant further scrutiny.

Also Read | Sebi chief Madhabi Buch urges industry to report market misconduct

The inspections are carried out without prior notice, adding an element of surprise. Sources explained that SEBI aims to ensure compliance and detect potential malpractice within the mutual fund industry, as per the report.

An anonymous executive from an affected asset management company told Moneycontrol, "Information spreads fast. People who need to reset their phones have already done so. But even if you have nothing to hide professionally, accessing personal digital devices is disturbing."

SEBI asks for institutional mechanism Meanwhile, the Capital market regulator ordered stockbrokers on July 4 to set up an institutional mechanism to detect and prevent fraud and market abuse. The initiative aims to instil confidence in the securities market.

Also Read | Sebi asks stockbrokers to set up mechanism to detect fraud, market abuse

The SEBI circular stated that its provisions would come into force in a risk-based, staggered manner to ensure smooth adoption by all stockbrokers. Brokerages will get sufficient time to make necessary changes based on their size.
Stock to buy or sell: Yes Bank shares witnessed strong upside during Friday deals last week. Yes, Bank share price opened flat on Friday and remained sideways till 12:15 PM. The stock started gaining momentum at noon and touched an intraday high of 27.04 apiece on the NSE ahead of the closing bell. According to stock market experts, a post-Q1FY25 business update by the Yes Bank, the market expects that the private lender's profitability may remain steady. They also believe that the asset quality of Yes Bank may remain healthy in upcoming quarters, which implies a low risk of default or bad loans. They advised Yes Bank shareholders to hold the scrip as it may touch 32 apiece level ahead of the Q1 results 2024.

Yes Bank Q1 results 2024 in focus On why Yes Bank's share price is skyrocketing, Manish Chowdhury, Head of Research at StoxBox, said, Post the Q1FY25 business update, we believe that the market participants have expressed confidence that Yes Bank's profitability will remain steady in the future. In addition, the asset quality remains healthy, implying a lower risk of defaults and bad loans, leading to benign credit costs and improved financial health. Furthermore, the growth seen in Yes Bank's MSME and corporate loan book indicates an expanding lending business. This will help the bank's NIM to remain steady in the medium term, and we do not see any significant compression in the near term.

The StoxBox expert said that robust asset quality, low credit costs, and loan book growth support a stable and potentially increasing profitability outlook. These factors have collectively led to increased buying activity, driving up Yes Bank share price.

Yes Bank news Speaking on the reason for the rise in Yes Bank shares after the announcement of the Q1 results 2024 date, VLA Ambala, a SEBI-registered Research Analyst and Founder of Stock Market Today, said, Yes Bank has recorded a surge in price after it announced the Q1FY25 results date, and this jump can be credited to several reasons. Banking players have begun declaring their Q1 results, and with HDFC Bank announcing favourable results, the market is expecting positive earnings and even dividends from other banking stocks, especially those with strong fundamentals.

Yes Bank share news "Yes Bank's movement on the spot chart suggests the creation of fresh buying opportunities compared to its peers, making its discounted valuation attractive to many. Meanwhile, the technical chart shows a bullish price trend on the weekly and monthly charts, suggesting a potential breakout from its current consolidation phase, offering a low-risk buying opportunity. Hence, those interested can consider buying around 24.2, with a target price range of 25.40 and 32. I recommend a holding period of 1-30 days for this stock and setting a stop loss at 23 to limit risks," said VLA Ambala.

Yes Bank shareholding pattern for Q1FY25 Yes Bank has released its shareholding pattern for the April to June 2024 quarter. According to the shareholding pattern of Yes Bank for Q1FY25, major shareholders like Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), Stata Bank of India (SBI), Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank have remained steady in Yes Bank in the recently ended quarter.
Buy or sell stocks: Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty 50 settled flat in the previous session dragged down by heavy losses in HDFC Bank even as those of select heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, State Bank of India (SBI) and Larsen & Tounro underpinned amid largely positive global cues.

The NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.09 per cent on the day to end at 24,323.85 as gains in energy stocks helped it notch a record closing high for the fourth time this week. Sensex slipped 53 points, or 0.07 per cent, to settle at 79,996.60.

The 30-share BSE benchmark hit its fresh lifetime high of 80,000 this week in its fastest-ever 10,000-point bull run in a record 58 market sessions. The blue-chip Nifty 50 notched another record closing high on Friday, July 5, and chalked up its fifth straight week of gains, logging its longest such streak this year.

Stocks to buy Coming to the stocks that investors can buy, Vaishali Parekh recommended the following three technical picks:

1.Apollo Hospitals:

Buy Apollo Hospitals at 6,065; Upside Potential of 8.05 per cent at Target Price 6,550; Stop Loss: 5,800 at 4.37 per cent

The stock has indicated a higher bottom formation pattern on the daily chart taking support near the important 200 period MA at 5690 zone and with a decent pullback to move past the significant 50EMA level of 6,015 zone has improved the bias to anticipate for further rise,'' said the Prabhudas Liladher expert on Apollo Hospitals.

The RSI is currently well placed and has indicated a trend reversal to signify strength and can carry on with the positive move further ahead. Currently, with risk-reward looking favorable, we suggest to buy the stock for an upside target of 6,550 keeping the stop loss of 5,800,'' said Vaishali Parekh.

2.CONCOR

Buy CONCOR at 1,062; Upside Potential of 13.90 per cent at Target Price 1,207; Stop Loss: 1,005 at 5.95 per cent

The stock after witnessing a short period of correction from the recent peak of 154 zone, has taken support near 1,015 zone, witnessing a decent pullback to move past the significant 50EMA level of 1,044 to improve the bias and anticipating for further rise in the coming days, according to Parekh.

The RSI has arrived at a very attractive zone and is well placed indicating a trend reversal to signal a buy. With the chart pattern looking very attractive, we suggest to buy the stock for an upside target of 1,207 keeping the stop loss of 1,005,'' said the Prabhudas Liladher expert.

3.TVS Motor Company

Buy TVS Motor Company at 2,412; Upside Potential of 13.90 per cent at Target Price 2,750; Stop Loss: 2,280 at 5.55 per cent

The stock has witnessed a short period of correction from the peak level of 2,520 zone and has taken support near 2,300 zone thereafter witnessing a pullback with a positive candle formation on the daily chart to form a higher low pattern and has improved the bias to anticipate for further rise.

The RSI has cooled off significantly from the highly overbought zone and is well placed indicating a trend reversal to signal a buy. With the chart formation looking good, we suggest to buy the stock for an upside target of 2,750 keeping the stop loss of 2,280,'' said Vaishali Parekh.

Where are Sensex, Nifty 50 headed? Nifty has been steadily on the rise from 23,350 levels making new highs with the undertone maintained very bullish and anticipating for further rise for next targets of 24,500 and 24,900 levels in the coming days. The psychological near-term support would be at 24,000 zone below which the bias can turn little bit weak.

Sensex after opening with a gap up remained rangebound and closed in the rec near 80,000 zone with the broader markets witnessing active participation and performing well. The support for the day would be seen at 79,600/24,150 levels while the resistance would be at 80,500/24,450 levels, according to Parekh.

Bank Nifty indicated improvement in the bias to anticipate for further upward movement to carry the index to new heights with targets of 53,500 and 55,100 levels visible in the coming days. Bankex for the second session witnessed stagnant movement near 60,500 zone with frontline banking stocks like HDFC Bank shedding some gains.

The levels for the index remain intact with near-term support at around 59500 levels while on the upside has potential to go further till 61,500-62,000 zone. Bank Nifty would have the daily range of 52,600-53,700 levels, with Bankex support at 59,800 and resistance at 61,000 levels, according to the expert.


After a four-year gap between seasons, the gangs and guns and hinterland series Mirzapur finally returns. Having killed their adversary Munna Tripathi (Divyenndu) at the end of season two, grievously injuring his father, Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi), Golu Gupta (Shweta Tripathi) and Guddu Pandit (Ali Fazal) are focused on consolidating their grip on Purvanchal.

The 10-episode third season swings between chaos and confusion, between strategizing and angst, between conflict, connivance and gruesome bloodshed. For the most part, the central characters are grappling with ambition to occupy the coveted throne of Mirzapur, which rules over the gangsters of the region. At the same time, they are trying to swat off the emotional tug of romantic attraction and filial loyalty.

Also read: Kill review: The violence in this grisly action film is anything but empty The battle for the strongest, most powerful bahubali ranges across the regionwith the main contenders being Sharad Shukla (Anjumm Sharma) from Jaunpur and Guddu, who is now the self-appointed King of Mirzapur. Sharad also forms an alliance with Madhuri Yadav. Besides, hes shielding Kaleen Bhaiya, whose unconfirmed death poses a perennial threat to his scheming wife Beena (Rasika Dugal) and to Guddus tenuous position.

A character who has largely shot first, thought later, under Golus astute guidance, Gudu starts to use his brain and brawn. Guddus character graph is one of the strengths of this season and Fazal effectively conveys his loneliness, anguish, aggression as Guddu buckles under the weight of his giant ego. Its a fantastic contrast to the once feisty Kaleen Bhaiya who makes a slow recovery to full form. His body may be broken, but we seeslowly and surprisinglyjust how sharp his mind is and how cold his heart still is. Pankaj Tripathi plays this perceptively and the creators are smart in the way he is worked into the 10 episodes. Though I missed Kaleen Bhaiya in all this assured glory. Shweta Tripathi too grows into a role which is meatier.

Guddus father Ramakant Pandit (Rajesh Tailang) experiences an epiphany during his incarceration as he encounters motley fellow inmates. The courtroom scenes of Ramakants murder trial are a welcome break from the mindless killings and power play in the small towns of Uttar Pradesh. This includes a subterfuge in the Tyagi household where Shatrughan (Vijay Varma) is now pretending to be his twin Bharat, who was actually shot dead at the end of last season. Varma works the material well even if Shatrughans motivations and choices are irritatingly impetuous.

In the state capital, Madhuri Yadav is now the newly widowed Chief Minister. Isha Talwar shows off a lovely collection of saris while playing the part of a woman in a hurry to get a foothold in a highly chauvinistic world in a sleepy monotone. I kept waiting for Beena to get a money scene, but Dugal is denied the opportunity to break out from scheming on the sidelines, while caring for her infant child.

In the Pandit household, Guddus sister Dimpy and their mother are being cared for by money manager and Ramakants trusted Robin (Priyanshu Painyuli). There are few new characters of note, and none that will survive Mirzapurs violence.

Writers Apurva Dhar Badgaiyan, Avinash Singh Tomar and Vijay Narayan Verma and Avinash Singh stuff the series which at times feel like a whole lot of brimstone and fire and not much propulsion of plot. Directors Gurmmeet Singh and Anand Iyer expand the story even further. At 45 minutes each, the runtime feels excessive, with a surprising focus on each characters complexes. Crisper episodes and some smarter conflicts would have been welcome. At times this season feels like an offering to legions of fans of this popular show.
Classic yet modern Restobar Sly Granny has unveiled a new menu at its Delhi outpost. The selection of dishes, put together by chef Anubhav Moza, serves European classics with contemporary flourishes. Some of the highlights include shish tawook broccoli, Greek vegetable medley and candied pumpkin, and spiced pumpkin steak and a creamy tahini, among other dishes. Those who like seafood can opt for the herb-crusted salmon served with creme fraiche, pan-tossed vegetables and a beurre blanc sauce. Round off your meal with a classic tiramisu made with mascarpone-soaked sponge. At Sly Granny, Khan Market, New Delhi.

A brick bearing names of the people who lost their lives in the Israel-Hamas conflict on display at 'The Future Will Remember' exhibition.

Recording the present A new show will open this weekend at Method Kala Ghoda in Mumbai. Titled, The Future Will Remember, the exhibition is by American artist-activist Alexis Rose, who lives in Oaxaca, Mexico, and works in conservation ecology and transformative justice. On the upper level of the gallery, Rose is presenting three tapestries with over 800 gofundme campaign QR codes that represent individuals and families in Gaza, seeking funds to survive or escape to safety. Bricks engraved with names of those who lost their lives in the Israel-Hamas conflict will also be on display. The exhibition will be on view from 7 July-12 August at Method Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, 11am-8pm (closed on Monday and Tuesday).

Suleman Khilji, Mnemonic Spaces (Regent's Park), 2024, Oil and pigments on linen.

Real life on canvas Suleman Aqeel Khilji is presenting Parallel, a series of paintings that draw inspiration from real life, films, social media and historic records like old photographs. The subjects of his paintings once came from the streets of his hometown Quetta or from Lahore, where he studied art, reads the statement on the website of Jhaveri Contemporary, the gallery where his art is on show. Khiljis interest in people has been honed not just through these impromptu chats but nurtured by the strong culture of storytelling in his family. Now studying at Londons Royal Academy, Khilji still takes to the streets, often in Brixton. At Jhaveri Contemporary, Apollo Bandar Colaba, till 21 July, 11am-6:30pm (Monday and Sunday closed). For details, visit jhavericontemporary.com.

Michelin-starred chef Jacob Jan Boerm is headlining 'Rendezvous by The Chambers: The Culinary Chronicles' at the Taj Mahal hotel, Delhi.

East meets West on a plate Michelin-starred chef Jacob Jan Boerm is headlining the latest edition of Rendezvous by The Chambers: The Culinary Chronicles at the Taj Mahal hotel. The Netherlands-based chef, who runs The White Room in Amsterdam and Fine Fleur in Antwerp, will present a set menu of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes that combine European and Indian flavours. On offer will be dishes like Lamb Loin Miso (cumin, yam, Indian lamb jus and smoked oyster mushroom) and Indian Curry Flan (pumpkin, tandoori, lemon grass, ginger and red pepper). At The Chambers, Taj Mahal, on 6-7 July, 7.30pm. For details, visit Tajhotels.com or call 9873928655.

The pop-up Moroccan kitchen at Lapis at The Oberoi, Bengaluru will be helmed by Chef de Cuisine Jawad Oumerri from The Oberoi, Marrakech.
Art that draws from real life Suleman Aqeel Khilji is presenting a series of paintings that draw inspiration from real life, films, social media and historic records like old photographs. The subjects of his paintings once came from the streets of his hometown Quetta or from Lahore, where he studied art, reads the statement on the website of Jhaveri Contemporary, the gallery where his art is on show. Khiljis interest in people has been honed not just through these impromptu chats but nurtured by the strong culture of storytelling in his family. Now studying at Londons Royal Academy, Khilji still takes to the streets, often in Brixton. On view till 21 July, 11am-6:30pm (Monday and Sunday closed). Jhaveri Contemporary, Apollo Bandar Colaba. For details, visit Jhavericontemporary.com.

Showcasing the best of Brazilian and Latin jazz-fusion and funk from the 1970s to the 1990s.

An eclectic music landscape The six-member ensemble will present a Brazilian/Latin Jazz set, exploring the diverse landscape of Brazilian and Latin jazz-fusion and funk from the 1970s to the 1990s. The artistesAdil Manuel (guitar), Shubhangi C. (vocalist), Kanishk Diwaker (keyboard), Aditya Ahir (bass), Ishan Jadwani (drums) and Anand Bhagat (percussion)will pay tribute to musicians such as Hermeto Pascoal, Milton Nascimento, Djavan, Flora Purim & Airto Moreira, and Azimuth. 9:30pm. Windmills Craftworks, Whitefield. For details, visit in.bookmyshow.com

Rendezvous by the Chambers Michelin-starred chef Jacob Jan Boerm is headlining the latest edition of Rendezvous by The Chambers: The Culinary Chronicles at the Taj Mahal hotel. The Netherlands-based chef, who runs The White Room in Amsterdam and Fine Fleur in Antwerp, will present a set menu of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes that combine European and Indian flavours. On offer will be dishes like Lamb Loin Miso (cumin, yam, Indian lamb jus and smoked oyster mushroom) and Indian Curry Flan (pumpkin, tandoori, lemon grass, ginger and red pepper). On 6 and 7 July, 7:30pm. Albero at The Chambers, Taj Mahal. For details, visit Tajhotels.com or call 9873928655.

A poignant exhibition by American artist-activist Alexis Rose at Method Kala Ghoda

Recording the present A new show will open this weekend at Method Kala Ghoda in Mumbai. Titled, The Future Will Remember, the exhibition is by American artist-activist Alexis Rose, who lives in Oaxaca, Mexico, and works in conservation ecology and transformative justice. On the upper level of the gallery, Rose is presenting three tapestries with over 800 gofundme campaign QR codes that represent individuals and families in Gaza, seeking funds to survive or escape to safety. Bricks engraved with names of those who lost their lives in the Israel-Hamas conflict will also be on display. The exhibition will be on view from 7 July to 12 August at Method Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, 11 am to 8 pm (closed on Monday and Tuesday).

Paprika chicken and caramelized onion pizza
Its too hot to be dressed in colonial fashionwaistcoat, breeches, cravat, tricorne hatbut our guide isnt concerned about the heat. Hes impassioned about the history of Boston and the role the capital of Massachusetts played in the American war for independence.

The expansive Boston Common, the oldest city park in downtown Boston, is our first stop on the Freedom Trail, an iconic 2.5-mile stretch that leads to 16 significant historic sites, including the park, churches, burial grounds and meeting houses.

Founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers and named after Boston in Lincolnshire, England, the city was the site of several events central to the American Revolution and subsequent Revolutionary War (1775-1783). These include the Boston Massacre (1770), the Boston Tea Party (1773), Paul Reveres Midnight Ride (1775), the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775), and the Siege of Boston (17751776). The Freedom Trail, preserved by the citizens of Boston in 1951, celebrates the citys history and tells the story of the American war for independence. Founded in 1634, Boston Common was used as a military camp by the British Redcoats; its where they set out for the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Years later, the colonial militia readied for the Revolution in this very park," says Jacob Quincy, our niftily-dressed guide. The Common is where George Washington, John Adams and General Lafayette came to celebrate our independence."

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History is everywhere in Bostonthe buildings and cemeteries, the markers and statues, even in the pubs. A sign outside a welcoming pub declares, Sam Adams drank here, Paul Revere ate here, you should too!"

The local Samuel Adams beer is far too inviting for most people to pass up on a summer day as we walk by the Massachusetts State House, in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood. It was designed by Charles Bulfinch and completed in January 1798. The gold-domed structure, one of the oldest state capitols in use, has been designated a National Historic Landmark for its architectural significance. Its still used to conduct the daily business of government," the guide says.

From where I am standing, I can spot the 217-feet steeple of Park Street Church. Designed by Peter Banner, its strongly reminiscent of Christopher Wrens St Brides Church in London and was founded in 1809, atop the granary, Bostons town grain storage building. It became known as Brimstone Corner, due to the fervent preaching of the time and the storage of gunpowder during the 1812 war," Quincy says. The church seems juxtaposed between life and death, positioned as it is between the Common and the Granary Cemetery.

We move into the shaded confines of the Granary Burying Ground, the final resting place for some of Bostons most notable citizens. Established in 1660, it was named for a granary that once stood where Park Street Church now stands. As many as 5,000 people are buried here, including Declaration of Independence signers John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Robert Paine; and victims of the Boston Massacre. We pass by Kings Chapel, founded in 1686 as New Englands first Anglican Church. The bell tower has an object of interest: a 2,400-pound bell that was crafted by Paul Revere. A statue of Benjamin Franklin stands tall at the original location of the Boston Latin School, founded in 1635. Franklin was a student at the oldest public school in America.

We take a break to grab some ice-cold lemonade, and trudge to the Old Corner Bookstore, glasses in hand. Built in 1718, it once housed Ticknor and Fields, a 19th-century publishing company. Not too far is the Old South Meeting House, the setting for some of the most dramatic events in the fight for independence. Public meetings were held here to protest against British actions in colonial Boston from 1768-75, including the Boston Massacre. Things came to a head on December 16, 1773. About 5,000 Bostonians crowded into the Old South to discuss the controversial tea tax. With no compromise likely, Samuel Adams signalled the start of the Boston Tea Party. The Sons of Liberty headed to Griffins Wharf, and tossed 342 chests of tea, valued at 18,000, into the water," Quincy recalls. The political and mercantile protest against the monopoly of the East India Company escalated into the American Revolution. The Boston Tea Party became an iconic event, one that kindled the fire that everyone around the world learnt about in history class.

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The Old State House, built in 1713 and the oldest surviving public building in Boston, is surrounded by skyscrapers but stands out with its lion and a unicorn on the roof. The Declaration of Independence was first read to the people of Boston from that balcony," Quincy tells us. Just outside the Old State House is the site of the Boston Massacre. The death of five civilians by gunfire after a skirmish between Bostonians and Redcoats added fuel to the anti-British fire.

We walk up to Faneuil Hall, built by shipping merchant Peter Faneuil near the waterfront in 1741, and one of Americas first public meeting venues during the revolution. Samuel Adams, James Otis, and many others gave rousing speeches here. Faneuil Hall is the cradle of liberty," Quincy says.

There are other sites: Paul Reveres House, the only Freedom Trail historic site thats a home; the Old North Church, where a light signal was used to facilitate the midnight ride of Paul Revere; USS Constitution aka Old Ironsides, the worlds oldest commissioned naval warship still afloat; and the Bunker Hill Monument, a 221-foot granite obelisk built to commemorate the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Quincy ends the walking tour by recalling the Siege of Boston, the first major military operation of the American Revolutionary War. After the first shots were fired at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, American colonial militias laid siege to Boston from April 19, 1775, to March 17, 1776. That day, Evacuation Day, 11,000 redcoats left the city by boat," he says. A few months later, on July 4, 1776, the US formally adopted the Declaration of Independence. The fight for freedom had been aided, in no small measure, by Boston and its people. Today, the red brick line is a cultural footpath that showcases Bostons rich and multifaceted history. Walking the Freedom Trail is like taking a crash course on the American War of Independence.

Also read: Finding traces of a globalised past in a Colombo cemetery
Watches are just not meant to be worn into the sea. This is a truism that I had internalized ever since I started wearing a watch, as a teenager in the 1990s. The Timex Indiglo with a rotating timing bezel I had back then was good to withstand the occasional rain, but anything more would be putting it in jeopardy.

This fear of exposing my watch to the open ocean was playing on me, a couple of months ago, as I stepped into the Andaman Sea in Thailand. The surf was gentle on the island of Phi Phi Don, and quite rough off the coast of Phuket, but in either case, I neednt have worried with my Seiko dive watch, the ref. SPB317, rated to a full 200m of water resistance.

Now, a watch that can withstand 200m of water pressure is no joke. After all, a free diver, i.e. someone diving without scuba gear, usually descends to an average of not more than 6m (a little over 19 feet), and even advanced divers would only go to about double that depth (the outer limit of such dives being 60ft). In fact, even recreational scuba divers only descend to about 40m (about 130ft)any deeper than that and its a technical dive.

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The Seiko SPB317 getting ready for action in Thailand.

As I splashed about in the surf and went snorkelling in Thailand, the Seiko held firm and true, while I timed my watery sojourns by turning the unidirectional timing bezel on the watch. The black dial was perfectly legible under water, due to its generously luminescent paint-filled (lumed) hands and indices. The main thing that impressed me is just how ridiculously over-engineered modern watches are.

Of course, for a tool watch like the SPB317a timepiece that is to be treated like a professional tool, instead of aesthetic wrist-wearthis isnt surprising. After all, ever since the first dive watches came into existence in the 1950sthe original four trendsetters were Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, the Zodiac Sea Wolf, the Rolex Submariner and the Omega Seamastertheir evolution have been driven by the needs of military divers, ocean scientists and recreational divers. Right till the ubiquity of dive computers from the 1990s onwards, a dive watch was as vital a tool for a diver as her fins or scuba gear.

Even now, many divers still wear a dive watch, in addition to dive computers, as a get-out-of-jail-free card in case of digital failure. And while the best of modern smartwatches also boast of serious diving capabilities, none have been tested to the extent that mechanical dive watches have been. In fact, my increasing fascination with divers has lead me to seek out literature on the use of such watches by scientists and soldiers in the past 70 years, and the evidence bears out just how badass these tools are.

Also Read Plastic free July: Your guide to upcycled couture When dive watches are marketed as lifestyle products, the literature focuses on the likes of Sean Connerys James Bond wearing an early Rolex Submariner ref. 6538 in Dr. No, or Charlie Sheens character, Captain Willard, wearing a Seiko ref. 6105-8110 in Apocalypse Now. But the real-world examples of professionals wearing dive watches as no-nonsense tools in daunting environments is far more interesting.

A laboratory biologist and master diver at the NOAA analyses ocean samples in 1978, wearing a Seiko 6105-8110.

For example, the legendary French oceanographer Jacques Cousteaus choice of watch while diving in the late 1960s was the Doxa Sub 300. Rolexs sister brand Tudor made special dive watches for the French Marine Nationale, while Rolex made mil-spec (military specification) Submariners for the British Royal Navy up till the early 1980s.

The Seiko 6105 series of divers have graced the wrists of an entire generation of field scientists at organizations like the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). Famed Japanese explorer Naomi Uemura drove a dog sled from Greenland to Alaska in 1976 wearing a ref. 6105-8110. The fact that my SPB317 is a modern recreation of the ref. 6105-8000 from 1968 gives me great joy.

In fact, I got a sense of just how popular dive watches are with scuba divers in Australia last year, while on a snorkeling trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Every second dive instructor was sporting beat up Seiko automatic or Citizen solar quartz divers, while others were wearing Casio G-Shocks. I even spotted some rare Vostok Amphibias, a cheap-but-rugged Russian line of divers that began production in 1960s U.S.S.R for the Soviet Navy.

For a while now, among watch collectors, the dive watch has been the quintessential everyday watch. And most such people, me included, dont really go diving. So, what accounts for their desirability? For starters, the looks. Given the mid-20th century genesis of the dive watch, these have always been exceptionally designed watches, with every brand adding a distinctively individual design twist to the standard look and feel.

A dive watchs rotating elapsed time bezel is marked with gradations counting up from 0-60 minutes, with a lumed pip on the bezel above the 120clock marker acting as the point of reference. So, whether you want to time your dive or your espresso brew, simply rotate the bezel so the pip is in line with the minute hand. This way, you can tell the elapsed time in minutes by the gradations on the bezel.

Since this feature can be a matter of life or death for a diver, the bezel is always unidirectional, and its ratcheted 120-click action ensures that it cant be accidentally reset. The fact that dive watches come with a depth rating of at least 200mthanks to the screwed down crown and the screwed-in case backensure that these watches both look great and are worry-free, two attributes that stood me in good stead in the Andaman Sea.

Handwound is a monthly column on watches and watchmaking.
In anticipation of Budget 2024, experts foresee Lakhpati Didi 2.0 as a potential game-changer for rural women's economic empowerment. The revised approach aims beyond income targets, focusing on sustainable business models, skill development, and market linkages.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the 'Lakhpati Didi' scheme during the Interim Budget 2024. The scheme aims to empower three crore women, an increase from the previous target of two crore. Highlighting the impact of self-help groups (SHGs), which include 83 lakh members and nine crore women, the Minister emphasized their role in transforming rural socio-economic dynamics through empowerment and self-reliance.

Anticipation is mounting for Lakhpati Didi version 2.0 in Budget 2024, with expectations centred on transformative impacts beyond income generation. Ridhima Kansal, director of Rosemoore, highlighted potential expansions focusing on sustainable skill development and enhanced market linkages. She suggested increased allocations for digital literacy programs to empower rural women to capture e-commerce opportunities. She envisioned improved access to credit and microfinance, integrating the scheme with initiatives like the National Rural Livelihood Mission for comprehensive economic participation.

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Mamta Shekhawat, founder of Gradding.com, emphasized that the revised approach could significantly elevate women's livelihood programs by fostering women-led cooperatives, enhancing market influence, and providing social security benefits for long-term financial stability. Nidhi Aggarwal, Founder of SpaceMantra, expressed optimism that Lakhpati Didis 2.0 could catalyze gender-inclusive economic policies on a global scale.

Pooja Choudhary, Founder of Lavanya The Label, envisioned 'Destination Lakhpati Didi' in Budget 2024 as a catalyst for rural women's financial inclusion and as a global role model for gender-inclusive economic development programs.

Budget 2024 date, time With the formation of the new BJP-led NDA government, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present her seventh consecutive Union Budget later this month, making her the first finance minister to do so. Media reports suggest the Budget may be presented on July 24 at 11 a.m., although this timing has not been confirmed. Independent verification by Mint was not available at the time of reporting.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) penalised five banks including Punjab National Bank (PNB) with various RBI directions, reported The Economic Times.

RBI imposed a penalty of 1.31 crore on PNB, which became the fifth bank for getting the wrath of the banking regulator.

Other banks fined by the RBI are The Gujarat Rajya Karmachari Co-operative Bank in Gujarat, The Rohika Central Co-operative Bank in Madhubani, Bihar, The National Co-operative Bank in Mumbai and The Bank Employees' Co-operative Bank in West Bengal.

The penalty on PNB was imposed on July 3, 2024 for non-compliance with RBI directions regarding Loans and Advances: Statutory and Other Restrictions and the Reserve Bank of India (Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated July 03, 2024, imposed a monetary penalty of 1,31,80,000 (Rupees One crore thirty-one lakh eighty thousand only) on Punjab National Bank (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI, said RBI in a statement.

This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI conferred under the provisions of section 47 A (1) (c) read with sections 46 (4) (i) and section 51(1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, the statement on Friday reads.

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The RBI conducted the Statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE 2022) of the bank with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2022.

Further, a notice was issued to the bank based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence. The central bank advised it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the directions.
According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, banks will remain open on July 6, 2024. Generally, banks are open on the first and third Saturdays of every month, while they remain closed on the second and fourth Saturdays. July 6 is the first Saturday of the month, so the banks will be open on this day.

There is an exception, however. The banks will remain closed in Aizawl, Mizoram, because of Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl Day or MHIP Day. MHIP is Mizorams largest women's association, and MHIP Day commemorates the organisation's formation on July 6, 1974.The term Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm means binding women together.

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The RBI categorises bank holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act into three types: Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) holidays and banks closing of accounts. The holidays are communicated through the RBIs official channels, which are the website and notifications to banks.

July 6, is designated as holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act.The Negotiable Instruments Act deals with the issuance of cheques and promissory notes. Transactions involving these instruments will not be available during the holidays.

It is to be noted that online banking services will be available nationwide to ensure uninterrupted access to banking services, even on bank holidays. Customers can use these services for convenient financial transactions. Fund transfer requests can be made using NEFT/RTGS transfer forms, demand draft request forms and chequebook forms. Credit cards, debit cards, and ATM cards can be availed through card services. Services such as account maintenance forms , setting up standing instructions, and applying for a locker are also available.
At least one person was killed and several people injured on Saturday after a multi-storey building collapsed in Gujarat. One individual has been rescued and a few others remain trapped under the rubble. The incident took place in the Sachin area of Surat. A rescue operation is currently underway with police and fire department teams present at the spot.

A body was recovered from the site in Sachin as rescue operations continued on Friday night.

We received information that a six-storey building has collapsed. As per primary information, almost 4-5 flats were occupied. One lady has been rescued but about 3-4 people are (still) trapped inside the rubble. Both NDRF and SDRF teams are working (to rescue them), Surat Collector Sourabh Pardhi told news agency PTI.

According to reports quoting on-site fire brigade and police officials, the building  constructed in 2017  had collapsed following heavy rainfall in the region. Around 15 people are believed to have been severely injured in the accident.

A building collapsed in Pali village which was constructed in 2016-17. One lady was rescued, she was sent to the hospital and according to her 2-3 people are stuck inside. Experts are here and hopefully in the next one or two hours, we will be able to get out the remaining persons, added Surat Commissioner of Police Anupam Singh Gahlaut.

Investigation is underway to ascertain the exact cause of the collapse.

The development comes mere days after a six-year-old boy was killed after a portion of the terrace of an old building collapsed in the Harsh Vihar area of Delhi. The child was playing on the terrace when the incident occurred in the evening. He sustained serious injuries and was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

Meanwhile in March this year, four workers were injured after a section of an under-construction medical college building in Morbi town collapsed. Another labourer was rescued after being trapped in the debris for seven hours.
Preparations are underway in full force for the highly anticipated Rath Yatra festival at the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) Kolkata, set to unfold on July 7.

This year's celebration holds special significance as it commemorates the 53rd edition of the iconic chariot festival, coinciding with the 150th Birth Anniversary of His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada Maharaj, ANI reported.

The city is gearing up to host a grand event, promising vibrant processions featuring ornate chariots carrying the deities of Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra through the streets, accompanied by fervent chants and devotional fervor.

Furthermore, the ISKCON Visakhapatnam, is set to organize the 'Sri Jagannath Rath Yatra' on the 'Aashada Shukla Dvitiya Tithi', mirroring the revered Puri Jagannath Rath Yatra tradition, according to reports.

The event will feature three distinct chariots for Sri Jagannath, Baladev, and Subhadra, each adorned with mechanized collapsible canopies. Beginning at 4 p.m. from VUDA Park on Beach Road, the procession will traverse RK Beach, Kali Mandir, Ramakrishna Mission, and All India Radio (AIR), concluding at Gurajada Kalakshetram in Siripuram.

Radharaman Das, Vice President of ISKCON Kolkata, highlighted the significance of the event.

After Puri, the Kolkata Rath Yatra is the largest in the world. Last year, more than 2 million people participated in the 9-day festival. The three chariots used in the procession are very special and have a unique design, Das told ANI.

Das mentioned that the Rath Yatra route stretches 6 to 7 kilometres from the ISKCON Kolkata temple, and the 'Ulta Rath Yatra,' or reverse procession, will follow on July 15.

"Every year, the number of participants increases by two to three lakhs, based on our experience. Since 20 lakh people attended last year, this year we are preparing for 2.3 to 2.4 million participants," he added.

"The administration provides great support every year, and the Chief Minister personally inaugurates the event. This year, too, if the Chief Minister inaugurates the Yatra, it will significantly aid the festival, especially in terms of security," he said.
The principal of a school in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj was forcibly removed from office amid a probe into a multi-crore scam linked to a UPPSC paper leak.

The video of the incident, in which the principal was being dragged out of her office, has gone viral on social media, sparking uproar.

The incident took place at Bishop Johnson Girls School in Prayagraj.

In a viral video, authorities from the school can be seen dragging the principals chair out, as she refuses to leave.

Principal Parul Solomon was heard pleading, "Dont touch, dont touch, when the school authorities tried to snatch away her phone.

After a chaotic episode of mistreatment, Solomon was removed from the office, and the new principal, Sherlyn Massey, was seated amid applause and clapping from the staff, reported NDTV.

According to reports, Bishop Maurice Edgar Dan, representing the Diocese of Lucknow has accused the principal of stealing 2.40 crore from the school during her tenure as principal.

He alleged that the school was involved in a multi-crore scam linked to the UPPSC Review Officer-Assistant Review Officer (RO-ARO) paper leak, that happened in February 2024, reported NDTV.

The paper leak happened before the start of the exam on February 11, 2024.

Apart from Solomon, another staff member, Vineet Jaswant, was arrested by the Special Task Force(STF) in connection with the leak. Edgar Dan clarified that Parul Solomons removal came against the backdrop of her alleged involvement in the case.

According to an India Today report, the paper was leaked as it reached the school from the treasury on the said date at nearly 6.30 am.

One Kamlesh Kumar Pal alias KK, a member of the 'paper leak' gang, allegedly took pictures of the photo and leaked it before the exam, said the report.
The Indian Meteorological Department( IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall to continue over Northwest and East India, till July 7 and over Northeast India from July 9 to 10, according to their official statement. Coastal Karnataka, and south interior Karnataka is also expected to receive, Isolated very heavy rainfall on July 6, and July 7, the Meteorological Department said.

The IMD has issued a red alert for the Dakshin Kannada and Udupi districts of the state. The Kannada District Deputy Commissioner Mullai Muhilan ordered the closure of Anganwadis, schools and pre-university colleges.

"All Anganwadis, schools, and pre-university colleges on July 6, in response to a red alert issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for heavy rainfall in the district," reported ANI citing the order.

The district body has further instructed fishermen to avoid fishing activities today. Citizens have also been ordered to not visit low lying areas, as a precautionary measure for the red alert.

The district administration has taken precautionary measures to ensure public safety, advising citizens and tourists to avoid low-lying areas, river banks, and seashores. Fishermen have also been instructed not to venture into the sea for fishing activities," the district administrations order stated.

Also Read | IMD predicts heavy rainfall at THESE places till July 8; details here

States including West Bengal, Sikkim, Bihar, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura are likely to receive isolated heavy rainfall till July 9, said the IMD. Convective clouds have also been spotted across the areas of Himachal Pradesh, North Punjab, Rajasthan, causing the possibility of isolated thurnderstorm and light to moderate rainfall, the IMD wrote on X.

Check complete forecast here An orange alert for very heavy rains has been issued over East Uttar Pradesh during 05th  07th July; Punjab, West Uttar Pradesh on 5th and 6th July.

The weather office also predicted very heavy rainfall over West Bengal and Sikkim, Bihar on 6th July, Odisha on 7th July; Arunachal Pradesh, Assam & Meghalaya during 6-9 July.

An orange alert for very heavy rains is also predicted over Konkan and Goa, Coastal Karnataka on July 6, Madhya Maharashtra during 5-7 July; South Interior Karnataka on 6 July.

Apart from these areas, in Chennai, a yellow alert has been issued for today. The weather bulletin dated July 6 stated, Isolated places over Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Theni districts of Tamilnadu and Puducherry.

Heavy rains are also predicted over Himachal Pradesh, Haryana-Chandigarh on 6 July; Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, East Rajasthan, East Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Madhya Pradesh during 5-9 July; Vidarbha on 8 and 9 July; Chhattisgarh during 7-9 July.
(Bloomberg) -- Masoud Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon who wants to restart talks with the US over the landmark nuclear deal, was voted president of Iran after an election that underscored major challenges facing the country at home and abroad.

Pezeshkian beat hard-line Islamist Saeed Jalili, 58, by almost 3 million votes in a runoff where the turnout of 49.8% was only marginally better than last weeks first round, according to officials.

It was among the lowest ever recorded for a presidential vote in Iran, highlighting the malaise and distrust in the political system overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The US State Department called the low turnout a result of elections that were not free or fair.

As a reformist, Pezeshkian will be widely expected to seek improved relations with the West with a view to removing sanctions that have long held back the economy. Hell also look to improve living standards for millions of middle-class Iranians who have been pushed into poverty, in part due to chronic mismanagement of state finances.

I havent made any false promises to you. I havent said anything that I wont be able to act on or that will later amount to a lie, Pezeshkian said in a victory speech made at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on Saturday night and shown on state TV.

The competition is over, he said, addressing Jalili. The time has come for friendship for Iran.

But his ability to affect meaningful change will be restricted by a political system dominated by hard line institutions in which ultimate power rests with Khamenei.

His victory certainly offers an opening for the West, said Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the Washington-based International Crisis Group. Any future talks will be tough because even if the barriers of misunderstanding have been lowered, the walls of mistrust remain high.

Viable Interlocutor

One of Pezeshkians key pledges is to revive a landmark 2015 nuclear deal that was brokered between Iran and world powers, including the US. The agreement lifted sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for strict limits and close regulation of its atomic activities.

The accord was left in tatters when then-US President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018, instigating a more comprehensive sanctions regime on Iran that remains in place. And with Trump challenging Joe Biden in Novembers US presidential election, his maximum pressure policy against the Islamic Republic could return.

It is hard to make any serious progress before the US elections in November, Vaez said. But the West now has a viable interlocutor in Tehran.

A US State Department spokesman said that the elections will not have a significant impact on its approach to Iran, though the US remains committed to diplomacy when it advances American interests.

No Change

We have no expectation these elections will lead to fundamental change in Irans direction or more respect for the human rights of its citizens, the spokesman said in a statement. As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the Supreme Leader.

Pezeshkians other challenges include the handling of Irans conflict with Israel, which has reached perilous levels in recent months. The two countries almost went to war after trading missiles in April, and tensions remain high due to the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which is backed by Iran, and Lebanon-based Hezbollah, another allied militia.

Iran has seen large, violent protests in recent years against the religious establishment and Khamenei, leading to more suppressive measures against political dissent, while moderate and reformist voices have been marginalized from politics.

Thats what makes Pezeshkians election both surprising and potentially fragile. He was the only reformist candidate on a ballot of hard liners and his election underscores how little enthusiasm there is for the ultra-conservative and often radical views that dominate Irans state institutions, including the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Cards Stacked

Pezeshkian unfortunately is really going to be a lone figure working in a system and with a set of cards that is stacked against him, said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House.

The hope is that hell be able to obtain the Supreme Leaders support to build an environment that is more inviting and open inside the country to give people breathing room against repressive policies, Vakil said.

Pezeshkian will be expected to address fierce opposition to the harsh treatment of women at the hands of security forces and strict laws on their clothing. Thats something that his reformist and moderate predecessors have mostly failed to achieve, because so much of Irans policy is ultimately decided by unelected bodies like the judiciary or Khamenei himself.

Pezeshkians election showed that Iranians consistently vote in favor of reform, said Vakil.

Hes the first non-cleric since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be elected president and his almost clean-shaven face and straightforward style emphasize his differences from the religious elite.

While hes seen as a modern and highly educated man, he is also deeply religious. His frequent use of English business jargon in televised debates was balanced by recitations of the Quran, winning him support from more conservative voters.

The West and the US should reach out and find opportunities to engage the Iranian president and find incremental areas where progress and diplomacy can reduce tensions, Vakil said.

--With assistance from Alicia Diaz.

(Updates with Pezeshkians first statement after being elected, US State Departments comments.)

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
By Nafisa Eltahir

CAIRO, July 6 (Reuters) - Rival Sudanese political factions formally attended reconciliation talks in Cairo on Saturday, the first since a conflict in the country began almost 15 months ago, but admitted there was little prospect of quickly ending the war.

During the conference the Democratic Bloc, which is aligned with the army, refused to hold joint sessions with Taqaddum faction, which it accuses of sympathising with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Neither the army nor the RSF attended.

The war in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023, has forced almost 10 million people from their homes, sparked warnings of famine and waves of ethnically-driven violence blamed largely on the RSF.

The force this week swept through the state of Sennar, causing new displacement. In response, army head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army would not negotiate with the RSF or its supporters.

"The stark deterioration in the humanitarian situation and the catastrophic consequences of this crisis, call on all of us to work to immediately and sustainably to stop military operations," said newly-appointed Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty.

Talks in Jeddah between the army and RSF that were sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia broke down at the end of last year.

Taqaddum is a coalition of pro-democracy parties, armed groups, and civil society that has called for an end to the war. The army-aligned Democratic Bloc includes several armed group leaders participating in the fighting.

While Egypt was able to wield its influence to assemble the group, the main attendees were seated at opposite sides of the hall at the conference's opening. The two political factions agreed only to form a small subcommittee to come up with a final communique expected late on Saturday.

"We told them not to have high ambitions from this meeting," said finance minister and Democratic Bloc leader Jibril Ibrahim to Reuters.

"Given the situation on the ground, if we sit and eat and drink and laugh with the people who are allied and partners in the crimes that are happening we would be sending the wrong message to our citizens and to our soldiers on the field," he said.

He added that an end to the war was not realistic without the withdrawal of the RSF from civilian areas, in line with an agreement signed in Jeddah last year, and the end of material support to the RSF by the United Arab Emirates. U.N. experts have said that accusations of such support are credible though the UAE has denied them.

Former Prime Minister and Taqaddum head Abdalla Hamdok rejected accusations that the coalition was linked to the RSF, saying he awaited the army's agreement to meet.

"A crisis this complicated and deep is not expected to end in one meeting... The lesson is for us to be patient and to build on anything positive that comes out of it," he told Reuters, echoing sentiments from diplomats at the meeting.
Gujarat police has recently arrested a thief like no one else; this seasoned offender has a history of robberies spanning across Indian states. But how is he different from any other thief?

Meet Rohit Kanubhai Solanki who was arrested for robbery of 1 lakh in Vapi, but there was just so much more! This thief drove a luxury car Audi and lived in a luxurious flat in Mumbai.

According to an India Today report, Gujarat police who had thought of Solanki as just another petty thief was in for a surprise when this rich robber confessed to at least 19 thefts.

Also Read | Water-logging, road collapse plagues Ahmedabad amid heavy rainfall

Here is what the interrogation revealed: Rohit Solanki lived in a lush flat of over 1 crore in Mumbai's Mumbra area and drove an Audi.

He had confessed to 19 thefts including 3 in Valsad, two each in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, one each in Surat, Porbandar, Selwal, and Maharashtra.

Solanki, according to India Today report, told the Gujarat police that he had committed 6 more thefts in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh but through bribery.

During the investigation, the police got to know that Solanki had changed his name to Arhan to marry his Muslim lover.

'Modus operandi of Rohit Solanki' According to the Valsad district police, Rohit Solanki maintained his luxurious lifestyle as he committed the thefts. He stayed in luxury hotels, travelled by flight and booked hotel cabs during the day. Solanki conducted recce in societies during the day to plan his thefts.

Also Read | Gujarat youngsters left stranded in sea with Mahindra Thars during reel stunt
With just couple of months left for US Presidential elections 2024, current President Joe Biden on 5 July said he is staying in the presidential race.

He even added that he would defeat former US President Donald Trump, reported ANI quoting NBC News.

Also Read | Javed Akhtar as next US president? Veteran Bollywood lyricist comments on Biden

Addressing his supporters in Madison, Biden said, as ANI quoted, "You probably heard that I had a little debate last week. Can't say it is my best performance, but ever since then, there's been a lot of speculation: 'What's Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out, what's he going to do?' Well, here's my answer. I am running and gonna win again."

Biden noted that people are trying to push him out of the race. He announced, as NBC quoted, "Let me say it as clear as I can: I'm staying in the race! I'll beat Donald Trump."

But Biden made a gaffe, saying he will beat Donald Trump again in 2020. But then appeared to correct himself and said, We're going to do it again in 2024.

Stating that he would not let a 90-minute debate erase his accomplishments over the past three and a half years, Biden said, "I learned long ago, when you get knocked down, you get back up."

According to Democratic allies, Biden should campaign more vigorously to prove he can carry out a second term.

Biden even spoke regarding his age. "You think I'm too old to restore Roe v. Wade to all the land? You think I'm too old to ban assault weapons again? To protect Social Security and Medicare?" he asked the people, receiving a response, "No".

Then he went to on to ask the audience if he was too old to defeat Trump, to which audience replied, "No!"

Currently, Biden is 81 years old, while Trump is 78 years old. According to a poll conducted by a New York Times and Siena stated 74 per cent of voters considered Biden as too old for the job.
By Andrea Shalal and Nandita Bose

WILMINGTON, Delaware, - Facing increasing calls from fellow Democrats to end his campaign for re-election, U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday gave no hint that he was considering stepping aside after a pair of defiant public appearances a day earlier.

Biden, 81, is facing a slow-boil uprising from congressional Democrats and some influential donors who have grown concerned he lacks the capacity to defeat Republican Donald Trump, 78, in the Nov. 5 election. A much-anticipated interview the president gave to ABC News that aired Friday evening seemed to do little to temper those worries.

In that interview, Biden said only the "Lord Almighty" could persuade him to abandon his campaign, dismissing the possibility that Democratic leaders could band together to try and talk him into standing down. He held a business-as-usual call with the national co-chairs of his campaign on Saturday, the White House said.

Pressure from Congress seems only likely to ramp up in the coming days as lawmakers return to Washington from a holiday recess.

On Saturday, U.S. Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota became the first Democratic member of the House of Representatives in a battleground district to call for Biden to relent.

Given what I saw and heard from the President during last weeks debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump, Craig, a top 2024 target of House Republican efforts, posted on X.

Some Democratic House lawmakers are circulating two separate letters calling for Biden to step aside, House Democratic sources have said. Many of those lawmakers had been waiting to see the ABC News interview before moving forward.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries has scheduled a virtual meeting on Sunday with senior House Democrats to discuss Bidens candidacy and the path forward, NBC News reported.

U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas, who had previously called on Biden to step aside, told CNN after the interview, "Every day he delays makes it more difficult for a new person to come on board to defeat Donald Trump."

Meanwhile on the Senate side, U.S. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia is planning a meeting of senators on Monday to discuss Biden's condition.

Biden is spending Saturday at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, with no public events on his schedule, although he often attends an evening church service. Sunday will be a busy day for him, with two Pennsylvania campaign events in Philadelphia and Harrisburg.

At a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday, Biden vowed to stay in the race.

"I am running and gonna win again," Biden told supporters.

Some polls show Trump's lead over Biden widening, and Democrats worry concerns about the president could weigh on down-ballot races.

But Biden registered his best showing yet in a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult tracking poll of battleground states, with Trump leading Biden by only 2 percentage points, 47% to 45%, in the critical states needed to win the November election.

One bright spot for Biden came early Saturday, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas accepted a U.S. proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, a move that could pave the way for a ceasefire to end the nine-month-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the top choice to replace Biden if he were to step aside as the Democratic Party's standard-bearer, will speak in New Orleans at the Essence Festival of Culture, an annual culture and music festival sponsored by Essence magazine, which caters to Black women.

Harris on Friday posted a supportive note on X after Biden's rally in Madison, saying the president had devoted his life to fighting for Americans. "In this moment, I know all of us are ready to fight for him," she said.

Margaret Washa, 75, a retired physical therapist from Middleton, Wisconsin, saw Biden at the Madison rally and thought he looked more vigorous, but grew dismayed after watching the interview.

"It's starting to be about him and whether he can do it, and rather than about what's best for our nation, and about turning over leadership to the next generation," she said. "It's time to pass the baton. There are so many good, strong, younger, intelligent, more charismatic Democrats out there."
By Samia Nakhoul, Muhammad Al Gebaly and Nidal al-Mughrabi

DUBAI/CAIRO, - Hamas has accepted a U.S. proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war, a senior Hamas source told Reuters on Saturday.

The militant Islamist group has dropped a demand that Israel first commit to a permanent ceasefire before signing the agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve that throughout the six-week first phase, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

A Palestinian official close to the internationally mediated peace efforts had said the proposal could lead to a framework agreement if embraced by Israel and would end the nine-month-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

A source in Israel's negotiating team, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Friday there was now a real chance of achieving agreement. That was in sharp contrast to past instances in the nine-month-old war in Gaza, when Israel said conditions attached by Hamas were unacceptable.

A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. On Friday his office said talks would continue next week and emphasised that gaps between the sides still remained.

A U.S. official declined to confirm the Hamas decision, adding, "There's real progress, but still a lot of work to do."

The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, since Hamas attacked southern Israeli cities on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, according to official Israeli figures.

The new proposal ensures that mediators would guarantee a temporary ceasefire, aid delivery and the withdrawal of Israeli troops as long as indirect talks continue to implement the second phase of the agreement, the Hamas source said.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have intensified over the past few days with active shuttle diplomacy among Washington, Israel and Qatar, which is leading mediation efforts from Doha, where the exiled Hamas leadership is based.

A regional source said the U.S. administration was trying hard to secure a deal before the presidential election in November.

Netanyahu said on Friday that the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency had returned from an initial meeting with mediators in Qatar and that negotiations would continue next week.

Some families of hostages on Saturday gave a statement to reporters ahead of a weekly hostage rally in Tel Aviv, in which they called on Netanyahu to go through with the deal.

"For the first time in many months, we feel hope," said Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan Zangauker, 24, who was abducted from his kibbutz home on Oct. 7. "This is an opportunity that cannot be missed," she said.

FIGHTING RAGES

Meanwhile, Israeli forces stepped up military strikes across the enclave, killing at least 29 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, and wounding 100 others, the territory's health officials said.

Among those killed in separate air strikes were five local journalists, raising the death toll of journalists since Oct 7 to 158, according to the Hamas-led Gaza government media office.

Israeli forces, which have deepened their incursions into Rafah, near the border with Egypt, killed four Palestinian policemen and wounded eight others, in an air strike on their vehicle on Saturday, health officials said.

A statement issued by the Hamas-run interior ministry said the four included Fares Abdel-Al, the head of the police force in western Rafah neighbourhood of Tel Al-Sultan.

The Israeli military said forces continued "intelligence-base operations" in Rafah, destroyed several underground structures, seized weapons and equipment, and killed several Palestinian gunmen.

Israel said its operations in Rafah aimed to eradicate the last Hamas armed wing battalions.

In the central Al-Nuseirat camp, one of the enclave's eight historic refugee camps, an Israeli air strike on a house killed 10 Palestinians, medics said.

The Israeli military said it eliminated a Hamas rocket cell that operated from inside a humanitarian-designated area. It said it carried out a precise strike after taking measures to ensure civilians were unharmed. Hamas denies Israeli accusations it uses civilian properties for military purposes.

The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces in several areas of the enclave by anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.
United Kingdoms new Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to PM Narendra Modi on Saturday morning and said he stood ready to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) that worked for both sides.

Both the leaders exchanged congratulations on their respective election wins.

The Prime Minister [Starmer] said he looked forward to further deepening the strong and respectful relationship between both countries, and welcomed Prime Minister Modis leadership on key global challenges, such as climate change and economic growth, said spokesperson for the UK prime minister's office.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi speaks to new UK PM Keir Starmer, invites him to visit India

Both the nations have been working on a FTA for more than two years but the talks were stalled in the 14th round amidst the general elections in the two countries.

The FTA talks are expected to resume as the new Starmer-led Labour government has took the office. UKs Labour Party won the general elections with a landslide this week.

Discussing the Free Trade Agreement, the Prime Minister said he stood ready to conclude a deal that worked for both sides. The leaders hoped to meet at the earliest opportunity, the spokesperson added.

The two leaders also discussed the 2030 Roadmap and agreed that there was a wide range of areas including defence and security, critical and emerging technology, and climate change for the two countries to deepen cooperation on.

The Labour Partys election manifesto had also committed to clinching the FTA deal, stating: We will seek a new strategic partnership with India, including an FTA, as well as deepening cooperation in areas like security, education, technology and climate change.

Last week, David Lammy, UKs new foreign secretary, had also said that he wants to finish the job on the FTA and he plans to visit India within the first month of being elected.
By Andreas Rinke

BERLIN, - Britain wants a balanced position on the war in the Middle East and will use diplomatic efforts to ensure a ceasefire is reached and hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas are released, its new foreign minister David Lammy told Reuters.

Lammy is on a visit to Germany, his first international trip following the Labour Party's thumping victory in Britain's election on Friday, which ended 14 years of Conservative government and propelled Keir Starmer to power as prime minister.

"The time has come for the United Kingdom to reconnect with the outside world," Lammy said in an interview in Berlin.

"I want to get back to a balanced position on Israel and Gaza. We've been very clear that we want to see a ceasefire ... We want to see those hostages out."

He added: "The fighting has to stop, the aid has got to get in, and I will use all diplomatic efforts to ensure that we get to that ceasefire."

Lammy did not elaborate.

The Labour Party suffered significant election setbacks in areas with large Muslim populations in the election on Friday amid discontent over its position on the war in Gaza, despite a landslide victory in the parliamentary vote.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza gathered momentum on Friday after Hamas made a revised proposal on the terms of a deal, and Israel said negotiations would continue into next week.

Gaza health authorities say more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive launched in response to a Hamas-led assault on Israel last Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Lammy also said Britain would seek to reset its position globally on issues including the climate crisis as well as key relationships, such as with European and emerging powers.

"Let us put the Brexit years behind us ... there's much that we can do together," Lammy said, pointing to a previously floated idea of a UK-EU security pact.

Lammy will on Sunday travel to Poland and Sweden, where he will focus discussions on areas including cooperation on NATO and the war in Ukraine, Britain's foreign office said.
US President Joe Biden may have experienced a medical emergency while aboard Air Force One, Leading Report reported.

In a post on X, Leading Report said, Reports of Biden experiencing a medical emergency appear to be false, as he was seen landing in Wilmington, Delaware, after his campaign event in Wisconsin. There is no confirmation at this moment if he recovered on the flight or if reports were false.

Meanwhile, despite earlier reports suggesting a medical emergency aboard Air Force One, videos have surfaced showing Joe Biden arriving in Wilmington, Delaware, after a campaign appearance in Wisconsin. In footage released by Forbes, Biden appears to be in good health as he exits Air Force One.

BNO News Desk, citing the White House, has confirmed that reports of Biden experiencing a medical emergency are untrue.

Moreover, Biden reaffirmed his status as the Democratic presidential nominee on Friday, asserting his commitment to the race and expressing confidence in securing reelection. Amid speculation and internal calls for his withdrawal after a criticized debate performance in Atlanta, Biden aimed to dispel uncertainties surrounding his candidacy ahead of the November 5 elections.

"We had a little debate last week. Can't say it was my best performance. But ever since then, there's been a lot of speculation. What's Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Is he going to drop out? What's he going to do? Well, here's my answer. I am running and going to win again," Biden told his cheering supporters in the battle ground State of Wisconsin, PTI reported.

Meanwhiel, Biden, in a TV interview on Friday, steadfastly refused calls for an independent medical evaluation to reassure voters about his fitness for a second term. He cited his poor debate performance to a "bad episode" and insisted there were no indications of any serious condition.

Look, I have a cognitive test every single day, Biden told ABCs George Stephanopoulos, referring to the tasks he faces daily in a job. Every day, I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but Im running the world, AP reported.
On Wednesday, a leading English daily in Sri Lanka, the Daily Mirror , quoted the Lankan civil aviation minister T D Abeysuriya as saying there were no suitable suitors" for the countrys national carrier SriLankan Airlines. The minister hinted that the government may shelve its plans to sell the airline, and instead take on some of its debt and restructure it.

SriLankan and Sri Lanka find themselves in a position that Air India and the government of India were in not too long ago. For years the Sri Lankan government has been bailing out its national carrier, which has a huge debt burden. The government has also taken over a $310 million loan guaranteed by the treasury and has infused equity worth 5 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($16.4 million) this year to ease the airlines cash-flow problems.

In July 2022, soon after taking over as Sri Lankas president, Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a televised address that the countrys severe economic crisis would be resolved. One of the measures his government would take to stabilise the economy would be to sell the debt-ridden airline, he said. It should not be that this loss has to be borne by the poorest of the poor who have not set foot in an aircraft," he said. The national carriers losses had run up to 45 billion Sri Lankan rupees ($124 million) in the financial year 2020-21. Its financial performance hasnt been reported since.

Two peas in a pod

Like its Sri Lankan counterpart, the Indian government had been bailing Air India out for years. The Manmohan Singh government sanctioned equity infusions totalling 30,000 crore over nine years starting 2012-13. In 2018, the Narendra Modi government decided to sell a 76% stake in Air India. But that attempt failed, as had the Atal Bihari Vajpayee governments efforts to offload a smaller holding in 2001.

In 2020, a government survey revealed that Air India was among the three public sector units with the highest losses for three consecutive years starting 2018-19. The airline had reported a provisional loss of 7,635.46 crore. The Modi government decided enough was enough and put the governments entire stake in Air India and Air India Express on sale, which included its 50% stake in Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd.

The governments commitment to exiting Air India held out the promise of ending government intervention in running the airline. Still, prospective buyers were cautious, and no bids were submitted. The government kept sweetening the deal after potential bidders voiced their concerns, and even changed the terms of bidding, including by letting potential buyers bid on the basis of enterprise value (A companys enterprise value is its equity value plus net debt.)

The airlines highly valuable but non-core land, buildings and assets were hived off into a separate entity that the government would retain. This helped to politically de-risk the sale. The prospective buyer would also be allowed to use Air Indias offices and facilities in Delhi and Mumbai for a certain period to ensure a smooth transition.

Nearly two decades after the first disinvestment attempt was aborted, and after completely altering its original sale plan, the Modi government sold Air India in 2020 to the Tata Group, the airlines original owner before it was nationalised in 1953.

Although the government had to agree to take on more than 40,000 crore of Air Indias accumulated debt, by transferring ownership to the private company, it could stop paying the 20-25 crore a day that the airline needed to stay afloat.

Governments should stay out of airlines

Country after country has shown that governments are poorly equipped to run competitive businesses like airlines. This is especially so for Sri Lanka, which is under an International Monetary Fund stabilisation programme and debt-restructuring plans of various multilateral agencies.

The privatisation of Air India may offer useful lessons for SriLankan. The similarities between the two airlines go beyond their financial dependence on governments. Before it was privatised, Air India was running an old fleet, and many of its appointees were in their positions chiefly because of their political connections.

SriLankan faces the same situation. Air India staff used to behave pretty much as they pleased, and SriLankan has been facing this for the past couple of months. Employees have been going on leave at the last moment, forcing long, embarrassing delays and even cancellations.

In February, rats were found on two SriLankan aircraft scheduled to operate flights, which were then delayed. The aircraft had to be sprayed with chemicals and could not be used for two days. Technical troubles with two other aircraft ruled out quick substitution.

Another similarity is that leasing companies were wary of Air Indias precarious financial situation and reluctant to do business with it. SriLankan, too, is unable to acquire more planes. Under the Tata Group, however, Air India has ordered 470 new aircraft. Perhaps that is the way out for Sri Lanka and SriLankan, too.
The brutal murder of Bahujan Samaj Partys (BSP) Tamil Nadu chief K Armstrong by a group of assailants was not political in nature, the Chennai Police claimed on Saturday.

Armstrong was hacked to death by a group of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur on Friday evening.

Chennai Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore said that eight suspects in the case were nabbed within three hours of the murder.

It doesn't point towards that. There is no political angle at all, he said.

All efforts would be made to ensure punishment for the accused, the official added.

According to the police, 10 special teams have been formed under Additional Commissioner of Police (North), Asra Garg, and its officials are carrying out investigations from different angles.

Armstrong's burial is likely to be held on Sunday.

Mayawatis to visit Chennai BSP supremo Mayawati on Saturday said that she is planning to visit Chennai on Sunday to pay tribute to Armstrong.

In a post on social media platform X (formerly twitter), Mayawati said: Considering the seriousness of this extremely sad and worrying incident, I am planning to go to Chennai tomorrow morning to pay my tributes to Mr. Armstrong, meet his grieving family and console them. I appeal to all to maintain peace and order.

Calling for immediate action from the Tamil Nadu government, the BSP supremo said: The brutal murder of a hardworking and dedicated leader of the BSP in Tamil Nadu and the state party unit president Shri K. Armstrong outside his Chennai residence yesterday evening has sent shockwaves across society. The government should immediately take strict/necessary action to prevent such incidents in the future.

Also Read | Who was K Armstrong? BSP Tamil Nadu Chief hacked to death at Perambur in Chennai

Earlier on Saturday, Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin expressed grief over the incident and paid his condolences to Armstrongs family.

On X, Stalin said, Bahujan Samaj Party State President Mr. Armstrong's assassination is shocking and deeply saddening. The police arrested those involved in the murder overnight.

I would like to convey my deepest condolences to all of Armstrong's party members, family, relatives, and friends who are bereaved, and I have ordered the police officers to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law, Stalin added.

Meanwhile, BSP workers on Saturday gathered outside the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital mortuary in Chennai, where Armstrong's body has been kept for autopsy. They also attempted to break barricades to enter the hospital premises.
In a big message to leaders and spokespersons of Mahayuti, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday asked them not to speak against each other as the opposition is developing a narrative that the alliance partners are not together.

Fadnavis made the remark while addressing leaders and functionaries of BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar) in Mumbai while asking them to inform the public about government schemes and their implementation.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar also addressed the gathering and told them the public should be aware of the Opposition's fake narrative.

Also Read | Shiv Sena (UBT) defeats BJP in Council polls from Mumbai Graduates seat

The remark comes as both Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising of Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) are gearing-up for state assembly elections which are likely to be held in October.

"I want to request our leaders and spokesperson (of Mahayuti), don't speak against each other. Often our spokespersons speak against each other. We should stop it," said Fadnavis.

Further reiterating that the alliance is intact, Fadnavis added, If you have any problem, talk with Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar and me. A narrative is being developed that we are not together.

The BJP leader said that the Opposition is ready to make compromises among themselves, so we also have to walk together. "When we are in alliance, everyone has some expectations. But every party has to compromise on something. The alliance remains intact only when you compromise. We have to walk together and take decisions. If we don't like any decision, we have to discuss it within four walls."

What Devendra Fadnavi said  After the recently held Lok Sabha polls, Maha Vikas Aghadi says they have massively won. It is true they have got more seats. But if you look at votes, they have got only 2 lakh more votes than us because of which they won 30 seats.

 If we are determined, we can get 25 lakh votes more than them (in assembly elections). If we get even 20 lakh more votes than them, we can win 200 seats, and we have that potential.

 Technically, even if we have lost in the Lok Sabha polls, we are now fully prepared.

 They (opposition) were lying everyday (during Lok Sabha polls), but we neglected it.

 Our fight was not with those three parties, but with the fake narrative.

 You can win one election using falsehood, but not all the time

 If we take our schemes to the people, no one can defeat us.

 We have to inform people everyday about the positive work that we do. The memory of the public is short, so you should inform them regularly.

 The Opposition are opposing 'Ladki Bahin' scheme, but if you visit places, you will find their people standing with forms.

Also Read | BJP lists reasons for poor show in Lok Sabha polls in UP, says this
Delhi L-G VK Saxena on Saturday approved investigation under the Prevention of Corruption (PoC) Act against jailed former Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in a bribery case.

Satyendar Jain has been accused of receiving a bribe of 7 crore in connection with a 571 crore project for the installation of CCTVs in 70 Assembly constituencies.

The L-G has agreed with the proposal of DoV to refer the matter under Section 17 A of the PoC Act, 1998 to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for approving an investigation against Jain by ACB, said Delhi LG office.

Also Read | Delhi HC issues notice to ED on AAP leader Satyendar Jains default bail plea

Reacting to it, AAP leader Atishi claimed that the BJP is engaged in conspiracy against the Delhi government day and night.

"More than 200 cases were filed against Aam Aadmi Party leaders in 10 years. But to date, not a single rupee of corruption has been recovered from anywhere. Now this is another fake case. BJP wants to paralyze the Delhi government," she added.

Earlier on June 25, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in response to Jain's plea for default bail in the money laundering case.

Also Read | SC denied bail to ex-Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in money laundering case

A detailed hearing for the same has been scheduled for July 9.

Jain has argued that the ED did not complete its investigation within the statutory period, adding that the prosecution's complaint was incomplete, which aimed to deprive him of his right to default bail under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The trial court rejected Jain's bail petition on November 17, 2022. The ED arrested Jain on May 30, 2022, under the PMLA and is currently in judicial custody.

Also Read | CBI seeks LG sanction against Satyendar Jain for alleged extortion
The former hedge-fund manager and major Republican donor who became National Finance Chair of the Republican National Committee in early 2022 is relying on his deep contacts in the financial world and a persistent, low-key approach. Buchan, who grew up on a tobacco-and-cattle farm near Middleburg, N.C., and now lives in Palm Beach, Fla., and New York, has raised tens of millions of dollars, becoming the person most responsible for surging megadonor money, according to people close to the campaign.

Buchan, 61, led recent high-profile events including a London fundraiser with Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancee, Kimberly Guilfoyle, that brought in $2.5 million, and a splashy Palm Beach dinner at the home of investor John Paulson featuring Trump that resulted in a $50.5 million windfall.

Buchans wife, Hannah Flournoy Buchan, also a Wall Street veteran, is playing an important role, too. She is the host of a scheduled fundraiser on Monday in New York City featuring an appearance by Melania Trump that is expected to raise more than $1 million, according to people close to the campaign.

Campaign officials have been surprised that Trump has done so well in his fundraising effort. Their original, internal projections estimated that Trump would raise as much as 50% less than President Biden, according to someone close to the matter.

Buchan declined to comment.

Everyones best friend

Buchans father was a farmer who devoted much of his free time to playing poker. After he died at a young age, the family pitched in to run farms they owned, some of which date back generations. Buchan, who had an early obsession with the World Book Encyclopedia, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985 with a degree in economics and Spanish.

After getting an M.B.A. from Harvard University, Buchan spent about five years at Merrill Lynch as an investment banker, using his Spanish to pitch companies in South America.

Joining big New York hedge-fund Maverick Capital, Buchan led the funds investments in banks and other financial-services companies. He harvested information from conversations with banking and other executives while developing detailed earnings models, emulating fellow North Carolinian investor Julian Robertson.

Hes a big friendly guy, hes everyones best friend," says a former Maverick colleague.

Buchan left Maverick in 2001 to start his own hedge fund, Hunter Global Investors, a relatively small firm that managed $1.5 billion. The firm did well for about a decade, enabling Buchan to multiply his wealth, but he returned his investors money in late 2011, citing poor returns.

The past year, particularly the last four months, has been frustrating," Buchan told investors at that time.

In 2015, Buchan served on the executive committee of then-presidential-candidate Jeb Bushs political-action committee. He switched his allegiance to Trump after Bush dropped out of the race. While living in New York, Buchan and his wife had gotten to know the Trumps; their children went to the same prekindergarten.

After the 2016 election, Buchan was rewarded with the ambassadorship to Spain, serving from 2017 to 2021, focusing on trade, tax and investment issues between the two countries, and pushing Spain to increase its NATO contributions.

Earlier this year, Ronna McDaniel, who had led the RNC since being selected in late 2016 by Trump, was pushed out of her post after the GOP lost the House in 2018 and the White House and Senate in 2020. Buchan survived, though.

They could have kicked Duke out but he delivers," said a GOP operative.

Buchan remained in his position, partly because of his loyalty to Trump.

He and his wife were the first $1 million donors to the Trump campaign in 2016, and each year the Buchans have been among the top two donors, giving millions and raising even more.

Hes everything Donald Trump lovesbusinesslike, effective, discreet and, most of all, loyal," says Scott Bessent, a hedge-fund manager who has worked with Buchan in raising money for the Trump campaign.

Buchan and his wife, with others, are building about 1,500 apartments in the South through their family office. She spends more time on the business, while he and his team focus on fundraising for Trump.

Buchan, a gregarious personality who retains a hint of a Southern accent, grows truffles and more than 100 kinds of heirloom vegetables and other crops on his farms in New York and North Carolina, near where he grew up. He and his wife, who have three teenage children, tap deep connections in the hedge-fund community and the upper crust in various corners of the country.

Hannah graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall, the elite Connecticut boarding school, and later attended LUniversite Paris-Sorbonne in Paris. She rides horses and collects contemporary art. They both play polo, as do their children.

Buchan maintains roots in the North Carolina area, visiting his family there once a month, giving him insights into other parts of the country, associates say.

Donor calls and opinion polls

Duke has an uncommon ability to connect with many types," says Vicente Citarella, who worked with Buchan at Merrill Lynch and at Hunter Global.

Colleagues in the campaign compare him to a hard-charging banker. Hes to-the-point on donor calls and constantly updating a spreadsheet featuring top Republican donors. He pushes to close the deal, asking for big checks rather than financial pledges or commitments.

Dukes magic is that he coaxes out a donation that is multiples of what you intended to contribute when you took his calland youre happy about it," says Bessent.

Buchan has worked to get deep-pocketed business people and others on board by arguing that Trump will keep a lid on taxes and alleviate the regulatory burden companies currently face.

In the conversations, Buchan has tried to put a positive spin on Trumps conviction last month of 34 felonies for falsifying records to cover up hush money paid to a porn star. Buchan has told financiers and others that Trumps popularity wasnt deeply affected by the guilty decision, citing recent opinion polls, suggesting there is little that will stop him from winning the election in November.

It helps Buchan, of course, that Trumps poll numbers are steady and that he has a resilient fan base among some Republicans.

Associates say his arguments have been less important than his steady, persistent effort. Hes just tenacious," says Ed McMullen, a top fundraiser for the Trump campaign and former ambassador to Switzerland. The numbers dont lie, hes raised more than anyone."

Write to Gregory Zuckerman at Gregory.Zuckerman@wsj.com
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra had wished to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Ayodhya. The Raebareli MP said that the senior politician had been warned against the same after his surveyors predicted that Modi would be defeated. Gandhi addressed a poll workers convention in Ahmedabad and insisted that the Congress would defeat BJP in Gujarat during the next election.

PM Modi wanted to contest LS poll from Ayodhya, but his surveyors said he will be defeated and his political career will end. He said he has a direct connection with Godthen why did BJP lose in Ayodhya in Lok Sabha elections? Gandhi asked.

The Congress leader said that his party would wrest Gujarat away from the BJP and make a new start from the western state. The BJP incidentally lost the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency, which includes Ayodhya, in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls.

Also Read | Rahul Gandhi says Agniveer martyr got money from insurance

The Raebareli lawmaker claimed on Saturday that the INDIA bloc had defeated the movement started by LK Advani. For the uninitiated, the former BJP chief had carried out a rath yatra in 1990 to mobilise support for the movement to construct a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya.

"They (BJP) have challenged us by threatening us and damaging our office. Let me tell you that we are together going to break their government like they damaged our office. Take it in writing that Congress will contest in Gujarat and defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat like we did in Ayodhya," Gandhi said.

The remarks were a reference to the clash that broke out between members of the Congress and BJP outside the Opposition party's headquarters earlier this week. Five police officials were injured as both sides indulged in stone pelting in the Paldi area of Ahmedabad amid uproar over Gandhi's remarks on Hindus.
K Armstrong, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu president, was reported dead on Friday, July 5, in mysterious circumstances after being hacked by a six-member gang near his residence, police said.

The police informed that the BSP Tamil Nadu chief was attacked by a two-wheeler-borne gang near his house in Perambur. The assailants fled after inflicting grievous injuries. He died on the way to the hospital, they said. Meanwhile, the Chennai Police formed ten special teams and launched a hunt to trace and arrest the suspects, as per the PTI report.

Also Read | Mayawati condemns killing of TN BSP president, urges action by TN govt

He was rushed to Chennai Hospital, but he died on the way. He was chatting with friends and supporters when the assaulters launched an attack with deadly weapons. His body was taken to Chennai's Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital.

Who was K Armstrong? K Armstrong was a professional advocate and a former councillor of Chennai Corporation. He started his active political career with a law degree. The police reported that his early life was tumultuous, marked by eight criminal cases.

The BSP leader secured an LLB degree in 2009 from Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati and was renowned as a prominent Dalit advocate. He passed away at 47 and is survived by his wife and daughter.

Also Read | Tamil Nadu BSP chief K Armstrong hacked to death in Chennais Perambur

He was elected to the Chennai Corporation Council in 2006 and became famous two years ago. This breakthrough in his political career happened when he organised a mega rally in Chennai and invited BSP chief Mayawati.

His history sheet was closed a decade ago. In his early political career, Armstrong gained prominence by organising rallies for former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati in Chennai and serving as a known Dalit leader in the city, "reported The Indian Express, quoting an officer probing the case

He added, "Despite leading the state unit of the BSP, a party with minimal influence in Tamil Nadu, he was known for his active role in local mediations and political activism."

In the 2006 local body elections, K Armstrong won a city ward as an independent candidate.

In 2011, K Armstrong contested from the Kolathur constituency and received massive support from the masses; however, he failed to register a victory.

Demanding that the Tamil Nadu government punish the guilty, the BSP supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, The gruesome killing of Mr K Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable."
Jarold Mancia, a former police officer in El Salvador, has been married to his American wife Carleigh for almost nine years. The Tacoma couple have four children, ages 4 to 14.

Until last month, none of that could shield Jarold, who came to the country unlawfully a dozen years ago, from possible deportation. In fact, he was detained last year for more than three months at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma and put in removal proceedings, which remain ongoing.

His chances of being deported now seem less likely. On June 18, President Joe Biden issued an executive order that grants protection to many undocumented spouses of American citizens who have lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years.

Jarold and Carleigh said theyre excited by what the order could mean for their family. They have reason to be, said Jarolds lawyer, Andrea Lino of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.

This executive order would change everything for them, she said.

An estimated 12,000 spouses of American citizens in Washington and 500,000 nationally could benefit from the order, along with any of their children who arent U.S. citizens. Bidens action not only protects qualifying individuals from deportation but allows them a much easier path to getting permanent legal residency.

Its one of the most sweeping forms of relief for undocumented immigrants since former President Barack Obama established the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2012, providing work permits and quasi-legal status to people who came to the U.S. as children without authorization.

Like the DACA program, Bidens order on spouses was quickly met with both celebration and condemnation, intensified by an election year that revolves to a large degree around immigration policy. Backers of the order said it will keep many families with deep roots in the U.S. from being torn apart. Opponents described it as a widespread amnesty rewarding unlawful border crossings at a time when migrants are entering the country without permission in record numbers.

The election also serves as a ticking clock. Former President Donald Trump, who has called for mass sweeps of undocumented immigrants, seems unlikely to let the order stand if he returns to office.

Im somewhat fearful that there may end up being false hope, said Seattle immigration lawyer Vicente Omar Barraza. He questioned whether the backed-up immigration system can process everyones application before a possible new administration in January. In the meantime, opponents of the executive order may sue to try to stop it.

Still, like other immigration lawyers and their clients, Barraza wants to jump on the opportunity presented by the order while he can. Ive received probably 50 phone calls in the last few days, he said.

The Biden administration has not yet released details of how to apply and exactly who qualifies. Does a previous deportation or multiple illegal entries rule you out, for instance? What about a conviction for, say, driving while under the influence? Biden has said qualifying individuals must pass a background check.

Lawyers worry that some people, without knowing the orders fine print, may fall victim to fraud through empty promises by so-called notarios, who misrepresent themselves as legal advisers.

Jarold, however, appears to be just the kind of person the order aims to help.

I am not a criminal, Jarold stressed, speaking in Spanish while his attorney interpreted in the Tacoma offices of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. A 2023 background check through the Washington State Patrol, shared by his lawyer, shows no convictions in this state. Jarold also noted he has paid taxes in the U.S. while working jobs in construction, food delivery and air conditioning installation.

Recounting his route to the U.S., the 38-year-old said he had been a police officer for a couple of years in El Salvador when he was told he was on a hit list kept by gang members. Killing a police officer was a gang rite of initiation, he said.

I had no option, Jarold said. I needed to leave. So I just started walking and asking people for rides. He traveled through Guatemala and Mexico, then swam across the Rio Grande into Texas.

Jarold said it did not occur to him to turn himself in to border officials and claim asylum. He knew nothing about the process, widely used now by migrants from dangerous and repressive countries but less so a dozen years ago. Undetected, he made his way to Seattle.

Two years later, he met Carleigh on a Facebook group for singles.

It was kind of like an instant connection, Carleigh said. She didnt know Spanish and he didnt know English but they used a translating app to communicate.

A single mom who had been raised in poverty, she was impressed he had been to college for a couple of years, studying to become a lawyer while working as a police officer.
Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. The meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) is being held in Shusha, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

The gathering is taking place as part of the broader summit of the Organization of Turkic States' top officials.

Addressing the meeting, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov expressed confidence that the event would contribute to the development of the organization.

"We are confident that this important meeting will contribute to maximizing the potential of the organization and existing cooperation," he added.

The foreign ministers took a joint photo before the meeting.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
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Unauthorized immigrants make up about 35,000 people of Idahos population, and their labor and spending contributions are in the tens of millions of dollars, according to a new report.

In June the University of Idahos McClure Center for Public Policy Research released a report, Idaho at a Glance: Unauthorized Immigrants and Idahos Economy, which highlights the key figures from a study about the role unauthorized immigrants have in the states economy.

The report was conducted at the request of the Idaho Dairymens Association, Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, and Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, McClure Center director Katherine Himes told the Sun.

Himes said there were limitations to finding recent data, adding there is a time lag with the data available.

Resources were not available to collect new data or update existing estimates of the unauthorized immigrant population, she said. The most recent data on the number of unauthorized immigrants in the United States and Idaho are from 2021, with more detailed data only available for earlier years.

National trends, according to the report, show that the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. has decreased over the years. In 2007, there were an estimated 12.2 million living in the country. That number went down to 10.5 million in 2021.

Unlike national trends, Idahos unauthorized immigrant population has remained largely stable over the years, holding steady at around 35,000 between 2005 and 2021, according to the report.

Key economic figures in the report show:

 Unauthorized immigrants in Idaho had an estimated $570 million available for spending in 2019.

 In 2014, the most recent year for which data are available, unauthorized immigrants in Idaho paid $26.3 million in sales, property, and state income tax combined.

Unauthorized immigrants play a key role in Idahos economy, according to the report, and they help Idaho industries  particularly those in agriculture, hospitality and construction  meet their labor needs.

We are dependent on an unauthorized workforce: agriculture group says

While Idaho lawmakers pushed for policies targeting the states unauthorized immigrant population during the 2024 legislative session, at least one Idaho industry has been vocal about its need for the unauthorized immigrant workforce.

Rick Naerebout, the chief executive officer of the Idaho Dairymens Association, has testified several times against bills making their way through the Statehouse that would impact his industrys workforce.
This editorial was published in The Columbian of Vancouver, Wash.



There is some good news, we suppose. The temperature is not expected to approach 115 degrees in the next couple of days.

That was the apex of a heat wave that engulfed Clark County three years ago, with Vancouvers temperature of 115 on June 28, 2021, being the highest ever recorded in southwest Washington. That record appears unlikely to be challenged soon, but the National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch to run through Sunday evening.

The forecast is for temperatures to reach 102 degrees. Hardly historic, but enough to cause some discomfort and enough to pose a danger for residents experiencing prolonged exposure.

That makes it timely to share advice from health professionals. Among the tips:

Remain indoors in an air-conditioned location if possible. A list of cooling centers can be found at 211info.org.

Do not leave children, older adults or pets in a parked car, even for a short time. Temperatures can rise rapidly in parked vehicles, even with the windows rolled down, Clark County Public Health reports on its website.

Drink plenty of nonalcoholic fluids.

Wear light clothing and use sunscreen if outside.

Check on neighbors or loved ones who do not have access to air conditioning.
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Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. At the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Shusha, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov updated his counterparts on the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Trend reports.

It was also mentioned that the minister briefed his colleagues extensively on regional developments and massive reconstruction efforts in the territories liberated from occupation.

The efforts to fortify the OTS and the potential for cross-sectoral collaboration in the areas of environment, security, economy, trade, energy, transportation, and communications were also highlighted.
A man who faced a number of driving charges at Longford District Court had his case adjourned, pending a community service report.



Shanks Kaunda, who is now living in Killeshandra and previously resided in Scotshouse, Co. Monaghan, was found to have committed a number of driving offences in Rathcronan, Granard on May 14, 2024.



Sgt Mark Mahon told the court that on that date, Gardai stopped the man at a checkpoint. Mr Kaunda produced a driving licence, but it was from South Africa and he had no Irish driving licence.

He was also found to have no car insurance.



The court was told that he had 17 previous convictions, including some for having no car insurance.



He had been previously disqualified from driving.



His solicitor, Ms Brid Mimnagh, told the court that her client accepts that he is very much at risk.

He is looking for mercy. He is a pastor in his church and looks after a number of churches, she stated.



She went on to say that there was a letter available from her defendants landlord. He was working as a self-employed sales agent.

On the day, my client was driving because a child of one of his parishioners had died. The references for him are extensive. They set out a man who has worked extensively for his community. He knows that he is at very significant risk and he is asking to avoid a prison sentence, Ms Mimnagh told the court.



Judge Owens told Mr Kauna that she wouldnt be making any promises.

She adjourned the case until September 17, with a community service report being prepared in the meantime.
Crime

By Long Island Published: July 06 2024

A total of 359 vehicles went through the checkpoint.

The Suffolk County Police Department, assisted by the New York State Police and the Suffolk County Sheriffs Office, arrested three motorists during an overnight sobriety checkpoint in Huntington.

Police officers from the Suffolk County Police Departments Highway SAFE-T Team (Selective Alcohol Fatality Enforcement Team) conducted a joint sobriety checkpoint operation with New York State Troopers and Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs in the LIRR parking lot at the corner of Route 110 and Church Street, from 11 p.m. last night until 2 a.m. today.

The checkpoint was part of an ongoing July 4th holiday weekend enforcement crackdown targeting alcohol and drug impaired driving. A total of 359 vehicles went through the checkpoint.

The following three people were charged with Driving While Intoxicated:

 Larry J. Nagy, 65, of East Bradenton, FL

 Jennifer Irwin, 57, of Smithtown

 Kevin Arloff, 57, of Huntington

The arrestees will be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on July 6.

A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to the newly elected President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian on the occasion of his victory in the extraordinary presidential election, Trend reports.

"Dear Mr. Pezeshkian,

I heartily congratulate you on your election as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

We attach great importance to the relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, built on solid foundations such as common religious and cultural roots, friendship and brotherhood. It is gratifying that over the past decades, our mutually beneficial cooperation has developed dynamically and reached its current level, gaining new content in all domains, especially in the economy, transport, energy and humanitarian spheres.

Today, the agreements reached on the future development areas of Azerbaijan-Iran relations based on mutual respect and good neighbourliness and the implemented joint projects serve the well-being of our countries, the sustainable development and security of the region as a whole.

I am confident that through our joint efforts, we will ensure further strengthening of the traditional friendly relations and the expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran in line with the interests of our peoples and countries.

I invite you to pay a visit to Azerbaijan to exchange views on the prospects for development of our bilateral cooperation.

I convey my best wishes to you, and wish success in your future responsible activities for the prosperity of the friendly and brotherly people of Iran." reads the letter.
Joe Biden's physician recently met with a specialist in Parkinson's disease at the White House, sparking fresh discussions about the President's health.

The meeting fueled speculation that Biden may not be fit to run as president again, given Biden's age and previous health issues.

Donald Trump baffled by Joe Biden's gaffe during CNN's presidential debate

Despite concerns, official statements from the White House maintain that Biden, who is 81, remains fit for duty.

Biden's most recent annual physical, conducted at Walter Reed Medical Center, indicated no new health concerns.

His physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, reported that Biden continues to be treated for several stable conditions, including non-valvular atrial fibrillation, hyperlipidemia, gastroesophageal reflux, and seasonal allergies.

The President also manages sensory peripheral neuropathy and uses a CPAP machine for obstructive sleep apnea, a new condition identified in the last year. Dr. O'Connor emphasized that Biden is fully capable of performing his presidential duties without any accommodations.

Former White House doctor says Biden was discussed

O'Connor has been Biden's official physician since he took office in January 2021 and is in daily contact with the president.

O'Connor gave Biden a clean bill of health at his annual physical in February, which included a neurological exam, and specifically ruled out Parkinson's disease.

While the meeting at the White House has raised questions about Biden's health, the administration insists that he remains healthy and capable of fulfilling his role as President.

Since Biden's health is O'Connor's primary responsibility, it is highly probable the meeting was about the commander in chief, according to Rep. Ronny Jackson, the doctor for both Presidents Obama and Trump.

"It's highly likely they were talking about Biden," Jackson told The New York Post. "He should only be [regularly] treating the president and the first family."
Homicide detectives are investigating a Friday afternoon double shooting in Bostons Mattapan neighborhood that left a man dead and a woman injured.

Officers were called to the area of Gladeside Avenue and Donwood Terrace for a report of a person shot shortly after 12:20 p.m., Boston Police Superintendent Felipe Colon said during a press conference. At the scene, they found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds inside a vehicle.

Both the man and woman were taken to a hospital, but the man died of his injuries, Colon said. The womans injuries were non-fatal.
Two Massachusetts high school students were shot Friday while in Mattapan, and one did not survive, Stoughton Public Schools announced Saturday.

Christian Cousins, who was a part of Stoughton High Schools 2025 graduating class, was killed in the shooting, according to the schools Facebook post. Another Stoughton High School student  who has not been identified  was also shot, but her injuries were non-fatal.

It is never easy to deal with the loss of a student, especially under these circumstances, the school said. Our thoughts are with Christians family, friends, and teachers, as well as the whole Stoughton High community. We are also keeping the other SHS student and their family and friends in our thoughts.
SPRINGFIELD  There is an irony to calls to replace President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket Friday, the same day a new employment report released showing 206,000 new jobs created in June for a total of over 15.7 million jobs created during Bidens presidency, U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, said.

Neal, the senior member of the New Englands congressional delegation, reiterated his support Friday for Biden, despite calls from some prominent Democrats to replace the 81-year-old former vice president as the partys lead candidate after a debate last week.
Le depute de Beau-Bassin/ Petite Riviere sest fait expulser du Parlement le 5 juillet 2024 et ne pourrait pas revenir avant les cinq prochaines seances.

Ce sont ses mots contre le Speaker de lAssemblee Nationale lors dune conference de presse qui lui ont valu cette suspension.

Hon. Members, I wish to inform the House that it has been brought to my attention that Hon. Bhagwan has stated the following to my address in a press conference this afternoon:  I quote:   Kifer li agir kumssa Speaker pe agir coumment Agent Politique Coumment Agent MSM Speaker ine mette son manteau agent politique Pravind Jugnauth ine donne li lordre  Hon. Members,

By uttering the above words, Hon. Bhagwan has cast aspersions on my conduct in the performance of my duties as Speaker and has offended the dignity of the House. I am therefore requesting Hon. Bhagwan to present his unreserved apologies to the House, failing which I will be left with no other alternative, to ask him to withdraw from the Chamber.

Mr Speaker

Honourable Members, Earlier today, I requested Hon Bhagwan to tender his unreserved apologies to the House for having attacked the conduct of the Speaker in the discharge of his duties in a press conference this afternoon and for offending the dignity of the House. The House may wish to note that upon being called to withdraw the offensive words and to tender his unreserved apologies to the House, Hon Bhagwan instead uttered the following words to my address, I quote:

I call a spade a spade and I wont withdraw. It is a fact ou enn azan politik; to ene azan politik. Thereupon, I ordered Hon Bhagwan to withdraw from the Chamber and I also named him. Whilst leaving the Chamber, Hon Bhagwan also uttered among other words, To pou ale dans poubel toi.mo pena linteret guet twa.Bandit Soulard. Honourable Prime Minister:

Mr Speaker, Sir, in view of your decision to name the Hon Bhagwan, I beg under Standing Order 17(3) to take the time of the House for urgent business. The Honourable Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology be seconded. Mr Speaker put the following question:

The question is that the Hon Prime Minister be allowed under Standing Order 17(3) to take the time of the House for urgent business. Those in favour say AYE. Those against say NO. The AYES have it. The Honourable Prime Minister:

Mr Speaker, Sir, having obtained your permission, I beg to move under Standing Order 29(1) to present a motion without notice.

The Honourable Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology be seconded. Mr Speaker put the following question:

The question is that the Hon Prime Minister be allowed under Standing Order 29(1) to move a motion without notice. Those in favour say AYE. Those against say NO. The AYES have it. The Honourable Prime Minister:

Mr Speaker, Sir, in view of your decision to name the Hon Rajesh Bhagwan, I beg to move that the Hon Rajesh Bhagwan, be suspended from the service of the Assembly for todays sitting and the next five sittings unless unreserved apologies are tendered to the House. The Honourable Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology be seconded. Mr Speaker put the following question:

The question is that the Hon Bhagwan be suspended from the service of the Assembly for todays sitting and the next five sittings unless unreserved apologies are tendered to the House. Those in favour say AYE. Those against say NO. The AYES have it.

The Assembly suspends Hon Bhagwan for the days sitting and the next five sittings unless unreserved apologies are tendered to the House.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan within the framework of the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Shusha, as well as the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OTS member states, Trend reports.

According to the information, during the meeting, the sides discussed the issues arising from the existing allied relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, cooperation within multilateral formats, as well as regional and international security issues.

It was stressed at the meeting that the Azerbaijani-Turkish alliance's political, economic, energy, communication, and humanitarian successes have contributed to regional stability and cooperation.

Furthermore, it was noted that high-level political dialog between the leaders of the two countries, as well as intensive visits and contacts of representatives of relevant state structures and legislative bodies, play an important role in the development of this alliance.

Meanwhile, it was mentioned with satisfaction that the city of Shusha, where the Shusha Declaration was signed establishing allied relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye based on brotherhood, friendship, and solidarity, is hosting the informal summit of the OTS.

Referring to the important place in Azerbaijan's foreign policy occupied by the Turkic World and the direction of the OTS, Jeyhun Bayramov expressed hope that the summit will be memorable for the adoption of documents and decisions that will contribute to the development and strengthening of cooperation within the framework of the organization.

Along with the OTS, the importance of intensifying cooperation with other regional and international organizations, including within the framework of various multilateral formats, was noted.

Moreover, it was mentioned that the trilateral meetings of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Turkiye, and Pakistan on July 3 this year, as well as the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkiye, and Georgia on March 15, were beneficial in terms of coordination of interaction on regional, global security, and cooperation issues.

Bayramov also briefed the Turkish side in detail on the current regional situation in the post-conflict period, the large-scale reconstruction and construction works carried out in the territories liberated from occupation, activities to combat the mine threat, as well as the status of the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

It was brought to attention that challenges facing the peace process, including the ongoing claims against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan in the Constitution of Armenia, steps by third countries contributing to the militarization of Armenia, and threats to regional stability, still remain.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Introduction

Modifications in Drug Policy, 1986

The drug policy of 1986, which was titled "Measures for Rationalisation, Quality Control and Growth of Drugs & Pharmaceuticals industry in India" was evolved under the dynamic guidance and leadership of late Shri Rajiv Gandhi. This was done after a detailed examination of the various issues. The main objectives of the drug policy, 1986 are as under:

Ensuring abundant availability, at reasonable prices of essential and life saving and prophylactic medicines of good quality.

Strengthening the system of quality control over drug production and promoting the rational use of drugs in the country.

Creating an environment conducive to channelizing new investment into the pharmaceutical industry to encouraging cost-effective production with economic sizes and to introducing new technologies and new drugs.

Strengthening the indigenous capability for production of drugs.

For meeting the requirements of medicines for health needs at reasonable prices and strengthening the indigenous base, the government has, over the years been guided by the above policy. Implementation of the main policy provisions has been through the I(D&R) Act on Industrial Licensing aspects and through Drugs(Prices Control) Orders under the Essential Commodities Act in regard to the pricing mechanism. The Drug Policy has also given the policy frame work in regard to Quality Control and Rational use of drugs. Enforcement of quality and standards in medicines is done through the provisions contained in the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, which is administered by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Over the last several years, policy inputs have been directed towards promoting the growth of the industry and in helping it to achieve a broad base in terms of the range of products and technologies needed to produce them from as basic a stage as possible. The results have been very encouraging. As on date, there are about 250 large units and about 8,000 small scale units in operation, which form the core of the Industry (including 5 Central Public Sector Units). These units produce the complete range of formulations i.e. medicines ready for consumption by patients, and about 350 bulk drugs, i.e. chemicals having therapeutic value used for production of formulations. It is estimated that 70 percent of the indigenous demand for bulk drugs and almost the entire demand for formulations are being met through domestic production. During the last decade the production of bulk drugs has grown from Rs. 240 crores in 1980-81 to Rs. 1320 crores in 1993-94 and corresponding increase in production of formulations has been from Rs. 1200 crores to Rs. 6900 crores. The export performance of industry has also been commendable. The trade balance has been positive for the last four consecutive years. During 1992-93 the trade balance was Rs. 560 crores (excluding exports of Medicinal Castor Oil). Since 1986, the drug industry has grown significantly, as mentioned earlier, in terms of production of bulk drugs and formulations. In many cases manufacture of bulk drugs has also been established from the desired basic stage. It is estimated that in case of bulk drug production the contribution of small scale sector is approximately 30 percent of the total production in the country. It may also be mentioned that the pharmaceutical sector has been able to carve a special niche for itself in the international market as a dependable exporter of bulk drugs.

Import and economic policies have undergone major changes like pruning of the negative list for imports, doing away with the actual user condition and full convertibility of rupee on trade account. In this changed scenario, it is felt that there is no need to be more restrictive than before in granting industrial approvals, provided the two main concerns i.e., achieving basic stage manufacture and discouraging undue imports are adequately taken care of. Under the circumstances, these objectives can be achieved only through the tariff mechanism and the EXIM policy and as such industrial licensing and conditions stipulated therein have lost their relevance. It is also felt that, like in the other sectors of the economy, production would get the necessary impetus to meet any future demands as well as of ensuring adequate availability of drugs at reasonable prices if a more liberalised regime is operated in granting industrials approvals. Many of the drugs reserved for the Public Sector Undertakings have lost relevance vis-a-vis production programme of these units. Therefore, there is need to prune the list of items reserved for the public sector to only a few select items, where capacity in public sector is adequate to meet the country's demand and heavy public investment has been made.

The drug industry is a highly R&D oriented sector in which there is a very high rate of obsolescence. This sector has also been identified as one of the thrust areas for exports. There is, therefore, need to ensure that the technologies used in the country are cost effective and efficient. It is necessary to attract greater investment into this sector in order to update the existing technologies and for bringing into the country technologies which are not currently available. At the same time it has to be noted that the Indian companies have achieved considerable stature in terms of production as well as in marketing ability and indigenous technology has also reached a commendable level in many cases. However, in view of GATT accord and impending changes in Patent Laws, the subject matter of basic research in drug sector has assumed greater importance and needs to be attended to on an urgent basis.

Investment

Keeping in view the need to encourage more investment in this important sector to achieve the future demands likely to be placed on it in order to meet the growing needs of the country as well as to promote exports, it is proposed to treat the entire drugs and pharmaceutical sector as a high priority industry for the purposes of permitting foreign investment in terms of Appendix-III of the New Industrial Policy. It is also proposed to treat companies with foreign equity up to 51 percent on par with wholly Indian companies. It may also be mentioned that at present companies with foreign equity upto 40 percent are already enjoying this facility and, in the circumstances mentioned above there is no need to place any fresh curbs on their activities. Similarly, it is felt that automatic approval for foreign technology agreements can be permitted for all items in the Drugs and Pharmaceuticals sector to encourage the introduction of newer and more efficient technologies, subject to their fulfilling the standard conditions laid down in the industrial policy. However, keeping in mind the levels of technology already available in the country, it is necessary to consider proposals involving foreign equity participation above 51 percent on merits of each case.

Pricing

The aberrations which have come to notice, in the listing of drugs and their categorization for the purpose of price control, need to be eliminated by the use of transparent criteria applied across the board on all the drugs with the minimum use of subjectivity. The high turnover of a drug is an index of its extent of usage and is considered to meet the requirements of objectivity justifiable on economic considerations. However, the monopoly situation in cases of drugs with comparatively lower turnover has also to be kept in view. Also as an experimental measure, drugs having adequate competition may not be kept under price control and if this proves successful it would pave the way for further liberalisation. In the event, however, of prices of these drugs not remaining within reasonable limits, the Government would reclamp price control. The categorization of drugs into two lists with different Maximum Allowable Post-manufacturing Expenses (MAPE) allows a lower MAPE of 75 percent for the drugs required for National Health Programmes (Category I drugs) as against 100% for others (Category II drugs). To encourage the production and availability of these drugs, it is considered necessary to allow a uniform MAPE in all cases of drugs under price control. Further, to achieve uniformity in prices of widely used formulations, it is considered that there should be ceiling prices for commonly marketed standard pack sizes of price controlled formulations and it should be obligatory for all, including small scale units, to follow the prices so fixed. Also, to give encouragement to manufacture of drugs from basic stage, it is considered necessary to allow higher return in such cases over the existing rates. In the light of the apprehensions expressed in the parliament on the likely spurt in the prices of medicines, it has been felt that it would not be desirable to allow automaticity in the pricing mechanism. The Government would set up an independent body of experts, to be called the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, to do the work of price fixation. This expert body would also be entrusted with the task of updating the list of drugs under price control each year on the basis of the established criteria/guideline. Time limits would be provided for deciding the applications of price approvals and, to begin with, it is proposed to set a time limit of two months for formulations and four months for bulk drugs. This body would also monitor the prices of decontrolled drugs and formulations and oversee the implementation of the provisions of the drugs (Prices Control) order. The government would have the power of review. Government will keep a close watch on the prices of medicines which are taken out of price control. In case, the prices of these medicines rise unreasonably, the Government would take appropriate measures, including reclamping of price control.

Quality control and rational use of drugs are important aspects of pharmaceutical industry. Steps have been taken for strengthening drug control organization by sanctioning additional posts at various levels and by establishing sub-zonal offices at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Patna. The Bio-Laboratory at Madras has been upgraded to the level of National Laboratory. The Central Drugs Laboratory at Bombay, functioning from 1992 is in the process of being upgraded while Regional Laboratories at Guwahati, Chandigarh and Hyderabad are in the process of being set up. To improve the existing State Drugs Testing Laboratories and to set up new ones, wherever not established, funds have been sanctioned under a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, besides providing funds under this scheme for augmenting drug inspectorate staff. For certain categories of drugs, which had caused adverse effects due to the lack of drug control in one or the other state, the Central Government has taken upon itself the responsibility of granting license. These drugs are; (i) Large Volume Parenterals, (ii) Sera and Vaccines and (iii) Whole Human Blood and Blood Products. Moreover, the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) has been made mandatory. Screening of irrational or harmful drugs is an ongoing exercise and 44 categories of formulations have been banned so far and the definition of new drugs has been widened and guidelines issued on clinical trials. With a view to ensuring proper dispensing and rational use of drugs, packaging has been standardized. Five leading hospitals at Pondicherry, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Bombay and Lucknow have been identified as Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centers. While Ministry of Health and Family Welfare are taking some action on these matters, the general perception unfortunately is that this area is presently being neglected. In the interest of the consumers, there cannot be any compromise on quality aspects of medicines and the problem has assumed greater dimension in view of the large number of small scale drug manufacturing units which are estimated to be over 8000 in number.

In view of the above it is envisaged that a National Drug Authority may be set up by a separate Act of Parliament to perform the following functions;

(1) Develop and define basic appropriate standards relating to the manufacture, import, supply, promotion and use of drugs.

(2) To approve and register pharmaceutical products for use in the country only if

it meets real medical need,

it is therapeutically effective, and

it is acceptable safe

(3) To enforce effectively appropriate quality standards of medicines and good manufacturing practices, throughout the country, having full regard to the needs of public health and standardize dosage strengths and pack sizes of formulations with a view to check proliferation.

(4) To monitor standard practices in drug promotion and use and to clearly identify those which are acceptable and prohibit those which are unethical and against the consumers' interest.

(5) To monitor the prescribing practices and to evaluate their appropriateness for the purpose of guiding the medical profession and for achieving the aim of rational prescribing.

(6) To ensure that appropriate information about registered pharmaceuticals is made available for the guidance of consumers having regard to;

The adverse consequences of non-compliance by patients particularly in the case of antibiotics, steroids etc.,

dangers of self-medication, and

the need to involve consumers as full partners in the health care system

(7) To prepare and publish a national formulary and formularies relevant to various levels (like district hospital, community centre, primary health centre) for the guidance of consumers as well as doctors.

The functions mentioned above involve new responsibilities which will include: Special focus on examining the technology of bulk drugs; capacity validation of machinery; assessing suitability of manpower for bulk drug production; undertaking scientific scrutiny of master formulae for manufacture of formulations; developing testing labs for cosmetics, diagnostics and devices; laying down standards for veterinary drugs; examination of labels and promotional claims and prescribing procedures for public hearing under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act; monitoring of clinical trials for the protection of human rights; quality control of herbal medicines; updating new drug approval process; weeding out of irrational combination formulations; and formation of expert committees for examination of new drugs.

In addition, screening promotional literature, monitoring ongoing clinical trials through an Institutional Review Board, unearthing sub-standard and spurious drugs with the help of Legal cum Intelligence Cells, centralizing all manufacturing licensees for inter-state commerce, updating Good Manufacturing Practices and education to achieve judicious use of drugs, setting up of new analytical testing labs, as well as imparting continuous education and skills for inspection and testing and setting up of dispute mechanism cell are envisaged. There is an imperative need to undertake upgradation of the drug testing facilities under the central and state organizations as well as augmentation of the drug control and enforcement staff to enable statutory inspections to be undertaken as provided for under the Act. Therefore, there is need for establishing more zonal and sub-zonal offices under the Central Drug Standards Control Organization as well as additional Regional Drug Testing Laboratories. The implementation of the above proposals would require additional funds, which are proposed to be mobilized by levying a cess of 1% on production of drugs and pharmaceuticals, by a special legislation to be piloted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The funds mobilized through the cess would be utilized also for encouraging research and development in the drug sector.

Various aspects relating to development and promotion of Ayurvedic, Unani, Sidha, Homeopathic and traditional systems of medicines would be actively pursued and the machinery for carrying out these tasks would be adequately strengthened. To provide better focus to this important work it is felt that there is need to create a separate department, to look after all matters relating to development and promotion of these systems of medicines.

The Government Decided to Modify the Drug Policy, 1986 as follows:

Para 22.1.1 Industrial Licensing for all bulk drugs cleared by drug controller (India) and all their intermediates will be abolished, except in the cases of

5 identified bulk drugs which are to continue to be exclusively reserved for the public sector as mentioned in Para 22.3 below,

bulk drugs produced by the use of recombinant DNA technology, and

bulk drugs requiring in-vivo use of nucleic acids as the active principles.

22.1.2 Conditions stipulating mandatory supply of a percentage of bulk drug production to non-associated formulators will be abolished.

22.1.3 Licensing shall be abolished for formulations except in cases of specific cell/tissue targeted formulations.

22.1.4 Ratio parameters linking bulk drugs and formulations production and limiting the use of imported bulk drugs will stand abolished.

22.1.5 Broad-banding, location restrictions and grant of COB licenses will be in accordance with the Industrial Policy.

(The Memorandum of information prescribed by the Department of Industrial Development shall include an Addendum, to meet the additional requirement of the Drugs & Pharmaceuticals industry, as would be devised by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.)

22.2 BASIC STAGE PRODUCTION

For achieving manufacture from the basic stages and arresting the regression towards manufacturing from later stage intermediates/penultimate, the tariff mechanism would be utilized. Imports of critical intermediates/penultimate may also be put in the negative list so as to arrest regression from basic stage manufacturing.

22.4 FOREIGN INVESTMENT

22.4.1 Investment upto 51 percent will be permitted in the case of all bulk drugs, their intermediates and formulations.

22.4.2 Investment above 51 percent will be considered on a case by case basis in areas where investment is otherwise not forthcoming, particularly in the manufacture of bulk drugs from basic stages and their intermediates, and bulk drugs produced by the use of recombinant DNA technology as well as the specific cell/tissue targeted formulations.

22.5 FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY AGREEMENTS

Automatic approval for foreign technology agreements shall be given in the case of all bulk drugs, their intermediates and formulations except those produced by the use of recombinant DNA technology, for which the existing procedure would continue.

22.6 ENCOURAGEMENT TO RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (R&D) EFFORTS

22.6.1 A new drug which has not been produced elsewhere, if developed through indigenous R&D would be put outside price control for a period of 10 years from the date of commercial production in favor of the company who undertook the R&D.

22.6.2 The Department of Chemicals Petrochemicals would set up an Inter-Ministerial group to decide, within a set time frame, on measures to give further impetus to R&D in the drug sector.

22.6.3 The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare would further streamline the required procedures and steps for the quick evaluation and clearance of new drug applications, especially those developed through indigenous R&D.

Pricing

22.7.1 SINGLE LIST OF PRICE CONTROLLED DRUGS &"MAPE"

The system of price control may be operated through asingle list of price controlled drugs and formulations based thereon with a MAPE of 100 percent.

22.7.2 SPAN OF CONTROL

(i) The criterion of including drugs under price control will be the minimum annual turnover of Rs.400 lakhs.

(ii) Drugs of popular use, in which there is a monopoly situation will be kept under price control. For this purpose if for any bulk drug, having an annual turnover of Rs. 100 lakhs or more there is a single formulator having 90% or more market share in the retail trade (as per ORG) a monopoly situation would be considered as existing.

(iii) Drugs in which there is sufficient market competition viz. at least 5 bulk drug producers and at least 10 formulators and none having more than the 40% market share in the retail trade (as per ORG) may be kept outside the price control. However, a strict watch would be kept on the movement of prices as it is expected that their prices would be kept in check by the forces of market competition. The government may determine the ceiling levels beyond which increase in prices would not be permissible.

(iv) Government will kept a close watch on the price of medicines which are taken out of price control. In case, the prices of these medicines rise unreasonably, the government would take appropriate measures, including reclamping of price control.

(v) For applying the above criteria, to start with, the basis would be the data upto 31st March, 1990 collected for the exercise of the review of the Drug Policy. The updating of the data will be done by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority as detailed in Para 22.7.4 (i).

(vi) Genetically engineered drugs produced by recombinant DNA technology and specific cell/tissue targeted drug formulations will not be under price control for 5 years from the date of manufacture in India.

Ceiling Prices

Ceiling prices would be fixed for commonly marketed standard pack sizes of price-controlled formulations and it would be obligatory for all, including small scale units, to follow the price so fixed.

22.7.4 SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE

(i) An independent body of experts, to be called the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, will be entrusted with the task of price-fixation/revision and other related matters such as updating the list of drugs under price control by inclusion and exclusion on the basis of the established criteria/guidelines and would be empowered to take final decisions. The government would have the power of review. It would also monitor the prices of decontrolled drugs and formulations and oversee the implementation of the provisions of the drugs (Prices Control) order.

(ii) The time-frame for granting price approvals will be 2 months for formulations and 4 months for bulk drugs from the date of receipt of the complete prescribed information.

22.7.5 ENCOURAGEMENT TO PRODUCTION FROM BASIC STAGE

The rate of return in case of basic manufacture would be higher by 4 percent over the existing 14 percent on net worth or 22 percent on capital employed.

22.8 SETTING UP OF NATIONAL DRUG AUTHORITY

22.8.1 A National Drug Authority would be set up by an Act of the Parliament, to be steered by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to look after the quality control aspects, rational use of drugs and related matters as outlined in Paras 16-19 above.

22.8.2 For strengthening the drug control system including GMP and for encouraging R&D, a cess of 1% would be levied on production of drugs and pharmaceuticals through legislation, details of which would be worked out by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

22.9 COORDINATION BETWEEN MINISTRIES

A coordination committee consisting of Secretaries of the Ministries/ Departments of Commerce, Revenue, Health, Bio-technology and Industrial Development and Chairman, Bureau of Industrial Costs and Prices will be set up under the chairmanship of secretary (Chemicals and Petrochemicals) for monitoring the areas of key concern every quarter and for tracking effective and timely action. The Chairman of the proposed National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority would also be co-opted on this committee, as and when it is constituted.

22.10 OTHER MATTERS

The various aspects relating to promotion of Ayurvedic, Unani, Sidha, Homeopathic and traditional systems of medicines would be actively pursued and the machinery for carrying out these tasks would be adequately strengthened. To provide better focus to this important work, a separate department, to look after all matters relating to development and promotion of these systems of medicines, would be created.


Every year, 8 million people die from smoking and 1.2 million non-smokers die from second-hand smoke! #Tobaccocessation #NicotineReplacementTherapy(NRT) #medindia

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Want to Quit the Use of Tobacco? The WHO has recommendations

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WHO releases first-ever clinical treatment guideline for tobacco cessation in adults



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Guideline Impact on India

WHO releases first-ever clinical treatment guideline for tobacco cessation in adults - (https://www.who.int/news/item/02-07-2024-who-releases-first-ever-clinical-treatment-guideline-for-tobacco-cessation-in-adults)

The first-ever clinical treatment guideline for tobacco cessation in adults has been issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), suggesting the use of pharmacological treatments such as Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and prescription medications like bupropion and cytisine.The guideline is designed to assist over 750 million tobacco users globally who are looking to quit all types of tobacco. It provides a holistic strategy that integrates approaches like behavioral assistance from healthcare professionals, digital cessation tools and pharmaceutical treatments ().The recommendations provided are relevant for any adult seeking to stop using different tobacco items, such as cigarettes , waterpipes, smokeless tobacco products , cigars, roll-your-own tobacco, and heated tobacco products (HTPs).The guideline empowers countries with the essential tools to effectively support individuals in quitting tobacco and alleviate the global burden of tobacco-related diseases, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.Although there is a strong global inclination to stop using tobacco, more than 60% of the 1.25 billion tobacco users worldwide do not have access to adequate cessation services, mainly because of obstacles like limited resources within healthcare systems.WHO has promoted the availability of treatments at no cost or reduced cost to improve the accessibility, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In 2023, WHO launched a prequalification process for medications targeted for tobacco cessation in order to improve access to recommended treatments. A significant milestone was reached in April 2024 when Kenvue's nicotine gum and patch became the first NRT products to be prequalified by WHO.Furthermore, the WHO recommends use of buproprion and cystisine as effective pharmaceutical treatments for tobacco cessation.In addition, the recommendation suggests different behavioral strategies, such as short counseling sessions (ranging from 30 seconds to 3 minutes) by health workers, regularly offered in medical facilities. For individuals in need of additional help, more in-depth behavioral assistance, like one-on-one sessions, group sessions, or phone counseling, is encouraged. Moreover, digital interventions like text messages, smartphone applications, and online programs are suggested as tools for self-care or additional support.The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged healthcare providers, policymakers, and stakeholders to implement this guideline in order to boost the tobacco cessation efforts and enhance global health results.The initiative is important for India. According to data from Global Adult Tobacco Survey-2 (GATS-2), 2016-17, 55.4% of current smokers and 49.6% of current smokeless tobacco (SLT) users intended to quit or were thinking about quitting. However, only a small number of smokers (4.1%) and smokeless tobacco users (3.2%) used pharmacotherapy, and a minor percentage sought counseling assistance (8.6% of smokers and 7.3% of SLT users).Dr. Monika Arora, Vice-President (Research and Health Promotion) at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), emphasized that the guidelines are thorough, well-timed, and essential, particularly in low- and middle-income countries such as India.This low utilisation highlights the need to innovate solutions and strengthen existing services to address tobacco as a significant risk factor contributing to the global DALYs burden. DALYs, prioritising tobacco cessation interventions in India, particularly given the burden of SLT use, is essential. Investments are needed to strengthen cessation services through digital innovations in clinical settings and promote cessation in community settings, she said. DALYs or Disability-Adjusted Life Years, measure the total burden of disease by combining years of life lost due to premature death and years lived with disability. One DALY equals one lost year of healthy life.This critical step by the WHO highlights the importance of encouraging tobacco cessation and assist those who desire to quit.Source-Medindia
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Stiripentol (Diacomit): For Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy in Infancy



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Stiripentol (Diacomit): For Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy in Infancy - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK349345/)

An international team of researchers from the UK and China has made significant strides in understanding and potentially overcoming one of the greatest challenges in cancer treatment: chemotherapy resistance.Led by The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London and Sun Yat-sen University in China, this early-stage research utilized mice to explore new avenues for combating cancer. The team discovered that Stiripentol, a drug currently used for epilepsy , can reverse cancers resistance to chemotherapy, leading to tumor shrinkage and prolonged survival rates ().The study zeroed in on lactate, a byproduct that accumulates as cancer cells convert nutrients to energy. This substance was found in high concentrations within chemotherapy-resistant cancer tissues. By targeting lactate, the researchers hoped to disrupt its role in chemotherapy resistance.Published in the journal Nature, the research examined tissue samples from 24 stomach cancer patients. Among these, 15 had chemotherapy-resistant cancers with tumors that continued to grow despite treatment. This analysis provided crucial insights into the role of lactate in fostering resistance.In experiments with mice, the combination of Stiripentol and chemotherapy resulted in tumor size reduction for four weeks post-treatment and extended survival for over 70 days. In contrast, mice treated only with chemotherapy saw tumor reduction for merely one week, with none surviving beyond 40 days.Further investigation revealed that lactate alters the structure and efficiency of NBS1, a key protein involved in DNA repair. This alteration is believed to contribute to chemotherapy resistance.The researchers suggest that lactate might also be responsible for chemotherapy resistance in other types of cancer, such as pancreatic, lung, and ovarian cancers . This discovery could pave the way for more effective treatments across various cancer types."This highly promising research has identified a potential mechanism for how cancer evades chemotherapy," said Professor Axel Behrens, Professor of Stem Cell Biology at The Institute of Cancer Research. "Our early-stage study indicates that preventing lactate buildup can make previously resistant tumors sensitive to chemotherapy again, allowing the treatment to remain effective," Axel added.This groundbreaking research offers hope for new strategies to overcome chemotherapy resistance, potentially improving outcomes for countless cancer patients worldwide.Source-IANS
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HPV vaccine: Who needs it, how it works



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Promoting Preventive Healthcare Among Young Girls



Sudha Murty highlights the need for cervical cancer vaccination to protect young girls. #cervicalcancer #medindia

Targeting Girls Aged Nine to Fourteen

HPV vaccine: Who needs it, how it works - (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hpv-infection/in-depth/hpv-vaccine/art-20047292)

Recently nominated MP Sudha Murty has called for a government-sponsored vaccination program to combat cervical cancer , emphasizing the need to prioritize preventive healthcare for young girls. Addressing the Rajya Sabha, she highlighted the urgency of widespread vaccination to protect against this life-threatening disease ().During a discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the Presidents address, the renowned author expressed her deep concern for womens health, specifically advocating for the implementation of a cervical cancer vaccination program. Murty underscored the critical need for such initiatives to safeguard the health of young girls across the nation.Murty emphasized the importance of vaccinating girls between the ages of nine and fourteen, drawing a parallel to the successful COVID-19 vaccination drive. She argued that it would not be difficult for the government to extend its vaccination efforts to include cervical cancer prevention, thereby significantly reducing the risk of this deadly cancer among young girls.Sudha Murtys plea for a government-backed cervical cancer vaccination program aims to initiate a vital conversation about the importance of preventive healthcare and the well-being of future generations. Her advocacy highlights the potential for such programs to save lives and promote better health outcomes for women across India.Source-Medindia
Apple has always been known for its sleek and sophisticated design, but its clear that this was not the case when it first emerged as a company. The first version of Apple Inc. was released in 1976, and since then, its become one of the most recognizable brands in the world.







(How Long Did It Take Apple To Become A Billion )

Apples success can be attributed to a combination of factors. First, it was driven by innovation and creativity. The companys early products were characterized by their minimalist designs and clean lines, which set them apart from competitors. This approach to product design allowed Apple to create products that were both stylish and functional.

Second, Apples ability to adapt to changing market trends was crucial. In the 1980s and 1990s, the personal computer industry was rapidly evolving, and Apple could quickly adapt to new technologies and customer needs. For example, the introduction of the Macintosh computer in the 1990s marked the beginning of the rise of the personal computer market and helped Apple establish itself as a leader in the industry.

Third, Apples focus on user experience was key to its success. The company was committed to creating products that were intuitive and easy to use. This approach helped Apple build a loyal following of users who trusted the brands commitment to providing high-quality products at an affordable price.

Finally, Apples commitment to customer service was another critical factor in its success. The company was known for its commitment to providing exceptional customer support, and it remained a top priority for years to come. Apples dedicated team of engineers and designers worked tirelessly to improve the performance and reliability of its products, ensuring that customers received the best possible experience.







(How Long Did It Take Apple To Become A Billion )

In conclusion, Apples success can be attributed to a combination of innovative design, market leadership, strong customer relationships, and a commitment to providing excellent customer service. Apple has left a lasting impact on the tech industry and continues to inspire innovation and creativity in the world today.
Laos, China agree to jointly promote Lao tourism

Xinhua) 13:53, July 06, 2024

VIENTIANE, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Laos' Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, and Shanghai-based Trip.com Group Limited, a leading online travel agency in China, on Thursday inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop and promote the tourism sector in Laos.

The signing ceremony was attended by Lao Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Suanesavanh Vignaket, Economic and Commercial Counselor of Chinese Embassy in Laos Zhao Wenyu, Vice President of Trip.com Group Chen Guanqi, and relevant parties from both sides.

The agreement will be an important step to contribute to the Visit Laos Year 2024. It will also be a good opportunity for Laos to promote its tourism in the Chinese market.

The two sides will jointly create an action plan to promote Lao tourism in order to upgrade services and create a variety of tourism programs to attract more Chinese tourists.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chen said Trip.com Group recognizes Laos' immense potential as a tourist destination, and the company is committed to showcasing Laos' unique attraction to the Chinese travelers.

"We aim to highlight the enchanting landscapes, historical sites, and diverse cultural heritage of Laos on our platform," Chen said.

The company will work closely with the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, adopting popular marketing strategies in China, such as live streaming, to promote Lao tourism.

In the first three months of 2024, Laos welcomed over 242,000 Chinese tourists, making China the third largest source of foreign tourist arrivals.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. An Informal Summit of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States was held in Shusha, Trend reports.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, Vice President of the Republic of Turkiye Cevdet Yilmaz, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar, Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States Kubanychbek Omuraliev attended the Summit.

The head of state addressed the event.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

- Dear heads of state and government,

Dear friends,

Allow me to extend sincere greetings to all of you. Welcome to Azerbaijan, welcome to Karabakh!

Thank you for supporting my initiative to hold annual informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States, as well as for accepting our invitation to visit Shusha.

Enhancing relations with Turkic countries and strengthening the Turkic world and the Organization of Turkic States are Azerbaijan's foreign policy priorities. Azerbaijan has always made efforts to strongly unite the Turkic world, increase its political, economic and military power, and transform it into an influential global entity.

The Organization of Turkic States should become one of the prominent international forces. We cover a vast geography with positive demographic dynamics in the Member States. Our military capability has repeatedly proven itself on the battlefields. Our abundant natural resources and modern infrastructure for their delivery, transport corridors connecting Central Asia and the Caucasus with Mediterranean and Black Sea ports, our rich and ancient history and culture are our great assets. The commitment of our peoples to traditional values and their shared ethnic roots closely bind our countries. The 21st century must be a century of progress of the Turkic world.

Holding todays Summit in Shusha acquires symbolic meaning after Azerbaijan has fully restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty on September 20 last year.

The city of Shusha, the crown jewel of Karabakh, has always been one of the important centers of the cultural, public and political life of Azerbaijan and the region.

The occupation of Shusha by Armenia in May 1992 was a significant tragedy for the Azerbaijani people. The people of Azerbaijan never came to terms with this occupation and always lived with a desire to return to Shusha and the remaining occupied territories, a goal they have now achieved.

In 2020, during the 44-day Patriotic War, the Azerbaijani army liberated more than 300 towns and villages on the battlefield that had been under Armenian occupation for nearly 30 years. On November 8, 2020, following the liberation of Shusha, Armenia was forced to sign the act of capitulation, which ended the Second Karabakh War. November 8 is celebrated every year in Azerbaijan as a Victory Day.

By my decree, the city of Shusha was declared the cultural capital of Azerbaijan in 2021. On the occasion of 270th anniversary of the foundation of Shusha by Panah Ali Khan of Karabakh, 2022 was declared a Year of Shusha in Azerbaijan. The city of Shusha was declared Cultural Capital of the Turkic World for 2023 by TURKSOY and the Cultural Capital of the Islamic World for 2024 by ICESCO.

The Shusha Declaration, which laid the foundation for the allied relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, was signed in 2021 by my brother Recep Tayyip Erdogan and myself exactly here in Shusha.

The Karabakh Declaration will also be signed today in Shusha.

Dear Colleagues,

Today, the Great Return Program is in progress in Karabakh and East Zangezur. During the occupation, Armenia razed all the towns and villages in these areas to the ground. Life is returning to these lands now.

To date, around 8,000 former IDPs have returned to the cities of Lachin, Fuzuli, Shusha and Khojaly, as well as to four villages within the framework of the Great Return Program. By the end of this year, 20,000 people will return to the liberated lands.

The visits by the leaders of Turkic States to the liberated lands are a manifestation of brotherly solidarity. The President of Turkiye has visited Shusha, Fuzuli, Zangilan and Jabrayil, the Presidents of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have been to Shusha and Fuzuli, while the President of Kyrgyzstan has visited Fuzuli and Aghdam.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to once again express my gratitude to the heads of state and government of the brotherly countries for the school and creativity center, as well as for the schools to be built in the future which represent our brotherhood.

Dear friends, I believe that the current budget of the Organization of Turkic States is insufficient for the realization of and its present structure does not correspond to our goals. With this in mind, Azerbaijan has recently made financial contribution in the amount of 2 million U.S. dollars to the Secretariat of the Organization.

The expansion of the East-West transport corridor is one of our top priorities. In the last five years, the volume of cargo transportation through the East-West transport corridor has increased by more than 60 percent.

The annual handling capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, an integral part of the Middle Corridor, has been increased from 1 million to 5 million tons thanks to additional investments by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan, with the fleet of more than 50 commercial ships in the Caspian Sea, provides important transit services for Turkic states. In light of the increasing cargo transportation, six tankers and dry cargo vessels are currently under construction at the Baku Shipyard. Next year, our countrys ninth international airport will be commissioned in Lachin. The cargo handling capacity of the Alat International Trade Seaport will be expanded from 15 million to 25 million tons.

Founding meeting of the Turkic Investment Fund in Istanbul this May is yet another successful step serving to further deepening our economic ties. I do believe that in the future investments in a number of joint projects across many fields will be made through this Fund.

Our strategic partnership in the field of energy, including cooperation in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency, is very important.

The Digital Silk Road Project, which aims to create a fiber-optic telecommunication route between Europe and Asia via Azerbaijan along the Caspian seabed, is also one of the significant initiatives.

Dear friends,

As you know, Azerbaijan will host the COP29 this year. I would like to take this opportunity to once again invite all of you to the COP29. We view holding the COP29 Presidency and organizing this conference in Baku as a vivid testimony to the international communitys enormous confidence in our country. Almost 200 countries unanimously supported our candidacy. Drawing on the experience we have gained during the four-year-long chairmanship to the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan will spare no effort to strengthen solidarity and reach consensus between developed and developing countries.

I am sure that the Karabakh Declaration that we will sign today and the decisions we have made will further strengthen solidarity in the Turkic world, while enhancing the reputation of the Organization of Turkic States in the international arena.

xxx

Then, other heads of state made their speeches.

Current Chairman of the Organization of Turkic States, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized the steps taken towards the establishment of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He said, In general, there is a way to resolve any conflict and stand-off. This is a constructive dialogue. In this sense, as part of our presidency, we have been paying special attention to mediation. I would like to emphasize the positive trend towards the establishment of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We should welcome steps towards reconciliation. We are always ready to offer our platform for peace talks between Baku and Yerevan.

Stressing the importance of the Trans-Caspian international transport route, the President of Kazakhstan said, The full potential of the Trans-Caspian international transport route must be utilized. Today, the volume of container transportation in this direction has increased sharply. We have created a multi-modal digital platform, a digital trade corridor to reduce transportation time. We are closely cooperating with Azerbaijan in this direction.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev pointed out that his country would actively participate in COP29. He said, We are ready to strengthen cooperation with the Turkic world regarding climate issues. In this regard, we plan to actively participate in the COP29 climate conference to be held in Azerbaijan this year.

xxx

Then, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Sadyr Zhaparov made a speech. He said, Dear Mr. President, dear heads of state, dear Secretary General, dear event participants and guests. I am pleased to see you at the Informal Summit of Turkic countries. Our meeting is taking place in the historical city of Shusha, a symbol and pearl of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, a new symbol of the unity and solidarity of Turkic peoples. First of all, I want to express my deep gratitude to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev, for his traditional hospitality and high-level preparations.

Expressing his confidence that Azerbaijan would successfully chair the COP29 in November, the Kyrgyz President said, It is gratifying that brotherly Azerbaijan would play host to one of the most important global forums in November of this year  the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP29. I am sure that Azerbaijan's Presidency of COP29 will significantly advance the issues on the agenda of the upcoming conference, including climate financing.

The President of Kyrgyzstan emphasized that his country was interested in cooperating with Azerbaijan and other member countries of the organization in the field of renewable energy. He noted, Taking into account the fact that Azerbaijan is actively developing and promoting renewable energy, including its efforts within the framework of its presidency of COP29, we call on Azerbaijan and member states in general for the implementation of joint projects related to natural resources renewable energy.

xxx

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev expressed his sincere gratitude to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for perfectly organizing the event. He said, It has a profound meaning for us to meet you in the city of Shusha, one of the cultural capitals of the Turkic world. This holy city, rightfully considered the pearl of the beautiful Karabakh, is a bright symbol of your historic Victory. It clearly shows the courage, unique tenacity, true bravery and unity of the Azerbaijani people. In the words of the great political leader and statesman of the 20th century, the founder of the independent state of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, there is no Karabakh without Shusha and no Azerbaijan without Karabakh. Thus, this unique city evokes special feelings of respect and pride in the hearts of not only Azerbaijani people, but also of all Turkic peoples. At a time when historical justice has been restored in Karabakh liberated by Azerbaijan, we are witnessing extensive construction work and large-scale measures to restore the architectural and cultural monuments under the leadership of esteemed Ilham Aliyev. Such wonderful works of a dear brother like you make us infinitely happy and proud as your close friends. I am sure that in the example of this unique city and with joint efforts and special interest, the entire Karabakh will become a true symbol of our eternal friendship in the future.

Recalling that his country had become a member of the Organization of Turkic States in Azerbaijan five years ago, the President of Uzbekistan said that over this short period of time, mutually beneficial and multifaceted cooperation has been established with member countries in more than 30 important fields. Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that the Summit was occurring at a time when global risks and threats were on the rise and the crisis of mutual trust was deepening. He noted, In such a disturbing situation, it takes time to qualitatively raise our relations to a new level, to develop them with joint approaches, which are underpinned by the spirit of eternal brotherhood. Therefore, today's meeting on the topic of building a sustainable future through transport, relations and climate action is of tremendous importance.

The President of Uzbekistan also addressed the topic of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will be held in Baku in November this year, emphasizing that it was a historic event for all our countries. We sincerely hope that world leaders will have a successful meeting on the issue of climate change. We are ready to actively participate in this prestigious event and provide all possible assistance to Azerbaijan in this matter, Shavkat Mirziyoyev added.

xxx

Vice President of the Republic of Turkiye Cevdet Yilmaz addressed the participants of the Summit. He said, I am greeting you on behalf of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. I am very pleased to be visiting free Shusha, one of the cultural capitals of the Turkic world, the pearl of Karabakh. I would like to thank our dear Azerbaijan and President Ilham Aliyev for hosting this Summit.

Cevdet Yilmaz pointed to the opportunity for the development of peace, tranquility and cooperation in the region after the liberation of Azerbaijans native lands from occupation thanks to the glorious Victory in the 44-day Patriotic War. He noted, Three years ago, on June 15, 2021, Turkiye and Azerbaijan signed the Shusha Declaration in this holy city, crowning the unique relations between Turkiye and Azerbaijan. On November 8, 2020, Azerbaijan's Victory in the 44-day Patriotic War was officially announced with the liberation of Shusha from occupation. As is the case in all liberated regions, we are proud to observe the development and progress in Shusha. Once again, Karabakh is Azerbaijan! and will always be Azerbaijan.

From the very beginning, we have viewed this Victory not only as the end of occupation, but also as the opening of a historic window of opportunity for peace, stability and prosperity in the South Caucasus. In this context, I believe that with the signing of the peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, a process of tremendous effort and sensitivity, a large-scale regional solution in the South Caucasus will eliminate the biggest obstacle in front of us. The establishment of a lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus is of great importance not only for countries of the region, but also in terms of global security and communications due to the opening of regional transport lines. The opening of these lines will strengthen regional cooperation and usher ample opportunities for the entire Turkic world, including Central Asia, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea basins.

Despite the fact that international organizations had been turning a blind eye to the injustices imposed on Azerbaijan for decades, the people of Azerbaijan regained their rights thanks to their heroism and determined leadership of President Ilham Aliyev. We cannot accept the fact that the states that did not raise their voices for one million of our Azerbaijani brothers displaced from their homelands as a result of the First Karabakh War are now targeting brotherly Azerbaijan with unjust and baseless accusations. For us as the Turkic world, it is a requirement of justice, as well as our brotherhood duty, to strongly support Azerbaijan against these baseless accusations.

Respected leaders of the Turkic world, the processes experienced at the global level have once again revealed the importance of energy security and cooperation in the field of energy. The role of Turkic states, which are rich in resources and are located in a favorable geographical position, is of tremendous importance in this regard. Together, we are successfully implementing large-scale energy infrastructure projects connecting the East and the West. The projects we have implemented in this field together with Azerbaijan are quite exemplary. Transportation of resources from the other side of the Caspian to Turkiye and Europe, especially Turkmen natural gas, will contribute to our national prosperity and European energy security. We are pleased with the establishment of the energy mechanism under the Organization of Turkic States. In this context, we support the development of joint projects.

Emphasizing the importance of Azerbaijan hosting COP29 in November this year, the Vice President of Turkiye said in his remarks, We are very pleased that Azerbaijan will be hosting the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - COP29. In particular, we will continue our close cooperation and support on many topics in the process of preparations for this conference, where important decisions on climate financing will be made. Azerbaijan's hosting of COP29 is also of great importance in terms of regional cooperation. In this regard, we welcome Azerbaijan's proposal to host an initiative of the Organization of Turkic States at the conference or hold a joint event.

Noting the importance of the presence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus at the Summit in Shusha, Cevdet Yilmaz said, Today, we are very pleased to see the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Mr. Ersin Tatar, in Shusha. We express our gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for his sensitivity. We hope Mr. Tatar can also attend the upcoming Bishkek Summit and we look forward to your support in this matter.

The Vice President of Turkiye then expressed his gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for excellently organizing the event. He noted, I hope that the Karabakh Declaration to be signed today is also successful. I am greeting you with utter respect, express my appreciation to the host country Azerbaijan, to very honorable President Ilham Aliyev. I convey my love to the peoples of the friendly and brotherly countries that are members of the organization.

xxx

Speaking at the summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed his gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for the invitation to the prestigious event held in Shusha. He said, First of all, let me express my gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for receiving us in Shusha, in this city, and creating the opportunity to see you here. We are expressing our utter respect for President Ilham Aliyev for giving thousands of people in the region the opportunity to live in peace. We do hope that such an opportunity is also available in Europe as soon as possible.

Pointing out that there were risks of the world being divided into different blocs as a result of the war in Ukraine, Viktor Orban said, Proceeding from bitter historical experiences, we would prefer a period of communication and interaction to restore global cooperation in the interests of peace. We rely on you in this fight. We see the Organization of Turkic States as a very important organization for cooperation between the West and the East.

In his remarks, Prime Minister Viktor Orban also spoke about the priorities of Hungary's presidency of the European Union and thanked President Ilham Aliyev again for the great hospitality.

xxx

President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Ersin Tatar, expressed his gratitude to President Ilham Aliyev for the invitation to the historic Summit in Shusha. He said, I want to share with you the great happiness and satisfaction I feel speaking at the Shusha Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States. I would like to reiterate my great pleasure to be among you at this Summit hosted by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Shusha, the spiritual capital of the Turkic world, in these beautiful liberated lands. First of all, I would like to thank the President of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, for his great support of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and for inviting us to the Shusha Summit.

Emphasizing the historic importance of Shusha, Ersin Tatar said, Shusha, a symbol of the traditions of the people of Azerbaijan, has a rich and distinguished history. It has made a great contribution to the world's cultural treasure and is an ancient city where many famous artists, musicians, architects and writers grew up. Shusha, which was under Armenian occupation for many years, was liberated on November 8, 2020 by the heroic Azerbaijani Army under the leadership of victorious Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev in the 44-day Patriotic War that began on September 27, 2020. The 30-year occupation of Karabakh ended with the Victory of Azerbaijan in the Patriotic War. We are very proud and happy about this historic Victory. Karabakh, including Shusha, has become a symbol of unity and equality in the Turkic world from the point of view of the events of the 44-day Patriotic War and afterwards.

Our greatest strength is the unity, equality and solidarity of the Turkic world, Ersin Tatar said. He added, We have shown what we are capable of doing when we come together and stand united. From this point of view, the presence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus here in ancient Shusha today as an integral part of the Turkic world is an extremely important and historic event.

xxx

The Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States, Kubanychbek Omuraliev, emphasized Azerbaijan's contribution to the development of the organization and conveyed his congratulations on the occasion of COP29 to be held in Azerbaijan. First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Nakhchivan Agreement. Destiny has it that Shusha was declared the cultural capital of the Turkic world, and it is quite symbolic that we are holding this meeting here.`

Touching upon the importance of international transport corridors in the development of cooperation between member countries of the organization, the Secretary General noted, The Middle Corridor plays the role of a vitally important artery in global trade. Promising the safest and shortest route between countries, this corridor is not just a way to transport goods. It is a lifeline for economic growth, innovation and collaboration. The Zangezur corridor will be an important link between East-West and North-South transport corridors.

Emphasizing the importance of Azerbaijan hosting COP29, Kubanychbek Omuraliev said, I would like to congratulate brotherly Azerbaijan on the occasion of hosting COP29, which is a pioneering initiative and will bring together thousands of people from all over the world to discuss one of the most pressing issues.

Noting that an important decision had been made for the development of the activities of the Organization of Turkic States at the Shusha Summit, the Secretary General said, At the 10th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, the heads of state supported the proposal to increase the staff and our budget. The decision you made today regarding the mentioned issues will undoubtedly strengthen our organization. In this sense, we do appreciate the contribution of Azerbaijan, the allocation of 2 million US dollars to our budget, as noted by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

Touching upon the importance of the signing of the Karabakh Declaration within the framework of the summit, Kubanychbek Omuraliev said, I think that the Karabakh Declaration to be signed today by Your Excellencies will be yet another important step in the direction of further deepening of fraternal relations.

xxx

The Chairman of the Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States, Binali Yildirim, said in his remarks, The holding of the Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Shusha, the historical city and the cultural capital, carries a special historical significance. After the liberation of Shusha from occupation, we were here together with Mr. President in June 2021 and participated in the signing of the Shusha Declaration. From that day on, I have been following the changes in Shusha with great admiration and attention. A city that was destroyed is reviving. I would like to thank President Ilham Aliyev for this.

Speaking about the joint implementation of important projects by the two brotherly countries, Binali Yildirim said, I would like to thank the honorable President again for this. The honorable President took great leadership in the realization of the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which we planned together in 2004. Our esteemed President made important contributions to overcoming Georgia's reservations about the project. The realization of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project today means the completion of the missing link of the Middle Corridor, and this has made it possible to use this corridor more efficiently. By 2030, it is possible to increase the volume of cargo transportation to 11 million tons by this route. Certain steps need to be taken for that.

Binali Yildirim emphasized that the Summit was dedicated to a very important topic. He said, I would like to thank Your Excellency and your team again for the kind welcome and for hosting the Shusha Summit. The choice of the Middle Corridor as the main topic of this event is very relevant for the future of our organization and our strategic plan for achieving common goals  the goal set in the Turkic World Vision - 2040 document. It was my great pleasure to share this with you here and outline the work that will be done to ensure the further development of this corridor. I would like to thank you again for giving me this opportunity. I express my respect to all of you.

xxx

Later, the decision to "Increase the Staff and Budget of the Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States" was signed at the Shusha Summit.

xxx

Concluding the summit, President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Dear friends,

Today, we reaffirmed the unity of the Turkic world. We have given a new impetus to the projects we are implementing together.

With regard to the COP29 to be held in Baku in November, we have emphasized the importance of working together in the fight against the negative consequences of climate change.

We have reiterated the importance of researching and promoting the Turkic civilization, which has historically made great contributions to world civilization, and expanding the relations of the Organization of Turkic States with other international institutions.

I am sure that today's discussions and the decisions we have made will contribute to the strengthening of the Organization of Turkic States.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who currently chairs the Organization of Turkic States. I am sure that we will continue our effective and result-focused discussions at the upcoming Bishkek Summit.

Now, I invite you to sign the Karabakh Declaration.

xxx

Later, the signing ceremony of the Karabakh Declaration took place at the informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States.

In the end, a group photo was taken.
Apple is the worlds most successful technology company, known for its iconic products such as iPhone, iPad, and Mac computers. Its dominance in the tech industry is attributed to its innovative design, user-friendly interface, and powerful software capabilities.







(Is Apple A Telecommunications )

In recent years, Apple has expanded its product line beyond just technology. The companys companyX platform has been adopted by several governments around the world to develop digital solutions. For example, Apple has partnered with the United States government to create the Cybersecurity Service (C Syberforce) which provides security services to government agencies.

One of Apples most significant technological advancements in recent years was its proposed self-driving car project. The company had already made its first deliveries of the Model S to customers in 2017, but there have been ongoing discussions regarding the safety and privacy implications of self-driving cars.

Despite these challenges, Apple remains committed to its mission of providing innovative technology that can benefit people and society. It continues to invest heavily in research and development, and it continues to collaborate with governments and organizations around the world to bring new technologies to market.

Apples leadership in innovation has not only led to its success but also helped to shape the future of technology. By making significant technological advancements, Apple has been able to improve the quality of life for millions of people all over the world. It has also inspired other companies to embrace new technologies and take risks.







(Is Apple A Telecommunications )

As an AI language model, I cannot compare apples to other companies. However, I can tell you that Apples impact on the tech industry is likely to continue for many years to come. Its products and services will continue to be influential and innovative, and they will play a crucial role in shaping the future of technology.
Apple or Google, both the tech giants that control much of the global digital landscape, are regarded as one of the best.







(Is Apple Or Google Worse As A )

One could argue that Apples focus on technological innovation and design is unparalleled. From iPhone to iPad to Apple Watch, the company has consistently pushed boundaries and designed products that offer exceptional performance, sleek design, and user experience. With each new release of an iPhone or watch, Apple is always striving to improve its product line and stay ahead of the curve. And it does so with great passion and dedication.

On the other hand, Googles success is largely based on their dominance in search engines and cloud computing services. While Googles search engine is widely used by individuals and businesses around the world, its services are not limited to just search queries. Google offers a range of tools and services, including Gmail, Maps, Google Drive, and more. These features have transformed the way we do business and communicate with others online.

While Apple and Google may be considered better at different aspects of technology, they share a common goal: to create high-quality, innovative products that meet the needs of their customers. Both companies have invested heavily in research and development, which allows them to constantly push the boundaries of what can be done with technology.







(Is Apple Or Google Worse As A )

In conclusion, while Apple and Google are undoubtedly technology giants, there is no denying that they are also among the most influential forces shaping the digital landscape today. Both companies have played a crucial role in shaping the direction of technology and have made significant contributions to society in many ways. However, it is difficult to say whether either company is better than the other. The choice ultimately comes down to individual preferences and priorities, and whether a particular brand or technology choice aligns with ones values and interests.
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The Mets announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Eric Orze from Triple-A Syracuse. Fellow righty Ty Adcock has been optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move.

Adcock was one of three relievers who saw action in the Mets 14-2 loss to the Pirates last night, and Adcock had a particularly rough night in getting charged with six runs over 1 2/3 innings of work. Todays transaction brings a fresh arm into New Yorks bullpen, and it also puts the 26-year-old Orze in position to make his Major League debut.

A fifth-round pick for the Mets in the pandemic-shortened 2020 draft, Orze had quite a journey just to start his pro career, overcoming both testicular cancer and skin cancer during his days at the University of New Orleans. He quickly rose up the minor league ladder to Triple-A by the end of the 2021 season, but has since remained at the top affiliate over parts of four seasons now, posting a 4.64 ERA over 159 total frames with Syracuse.

Home runs and walks have been Orzes biggest issues, as he has a 1.4 HR/9 and 12.28% walk rate over his Triple-A career. This season in particular, Orze has a 1.64 HR/9 and 13.3% walk rate, yet he has continued to miss bats in impressive fashion. His 33.9% strikeout rate is his best yet over his three full seasons in Syracuse, and he has a 31.72K% as a whole in Triple-A.

Its possible Orzes selection might result in just a proverbial cup of coffee in the majors, yet with the Mets looking to fill holes in an injury-riddled bullpen, theres certainly some opportunity for Orze to gain more time on the active roster if he pitches well. Hell join a wide array of right-handers in a Mets bullpen that features only one healthy left-handed arm in Jake Diekman.
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. Turkic world unity and solidarity pose the strongest support for current global challenges, the Vice President of Turkiye Cevdet Yilmaz said today during an Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Shusha city, Trend reports.

The greatest tangible expression of solidarity and unity, he said, is the OTS.

"We are all proud of the level of cooperation achieved by the OTS. While the world's economic centers of gravity are changing and the importance of our geography is increasing, I believe that we, as the Turkic world, will continue to strengthen the relations between our countries.

I sincerely believe, that the Turkic Investment Fund will make a great contribution to the economic and commercial development of the Turkic world. I would like to note that we are glad that Hungary has also applied for membership in the fund, he added.

The summit, organized at the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, is attended by Secretary General of the OTS Kubanychbek Omuraliev, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar, Vice President of Turkiye Cevdet Yilmaz, and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The White Sox released right-hander Cody Sedlock earlier this week, according to the pitchers transaction log on MLB.com. He had signed a minor league contract with Chicago back in April.

Selected in the first round of the 2016 MLB Draft, Sedlock was once a well-regarded pitching prospect in the Orioles farm system. Unfortunately, his stock dropped quickly after a poor 2017 season at High-A, and thoracic outlet syndrome got in the way of his 2018 campaign. Although he was no longer a top prospect, Sedlock continued to work his way through the minors over the next several years, and in 2022, he finally earned his call to the show. His time in the majors was brief  the Orioles promoted him for one appearance before designating him for assignment  but Sedlock will always have major league experience on his resume.

Sedlock finished out the 2022 campaign in the Tigers organization, pitching to a 3.51 ERA for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens. He then elected free agency and sat out the entire 2023 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in March. The righty returned to a professional mound for the Charlotte Knights (the White Soxs Triple-A affiliate) in mid-May 2024, just over 14 months after his surgery, and pitched five innings over six appearances before he was released. He walked 13 of the 30 batters he faced, striking out only two. Although he gave up just three hits, he allowed 10 earned runs to cross the plate. His performance was undeniably disappointing, but it is worth remembering that he is still just 16 months removed from UCL surgery. It could take more time for his elbow to return to full strength.

As a free agent, Sedlock is now able to seek out his next opportunity. Not yet 30 years old, he would be a low-risk investment for a team in need of right-handed pitching depth.
OAKLAND COUNTY, MI - The last of the nine victims who was injured in a mass shooting at a Rochester Hills splash pad is out of the hospital, according to the Oakland County Sheriffs Office.

The 39-year-old woman was released from the hospital Friday, July 5 -- nearly three weeks after she was shot multiple times trying to protect her young sons from a gunman. Her 8-year-old son, who also suffered serious injuries, went home from the hospital on June 28 and her 4-year-old son was released earlier.
LANSING, MI - A new Michigan Summer EBT program will provide eligible families $120 per child to buy groceries while school is out for summer.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services announced this week that the federal government approved Michigans plan for the program. It was created based on similar efforts used during the COVID-19 pandemic to address food insecurity for students.

Funds are expected to be distributed ahead of the programs Friday, July 19 start date.

Many Michigan children rely on breakfast and lunch provided at their school during the school year and we want to make sure they do not go hungry this summer while schools are on break, said MDHHS Director Elizabeth Hertel in a statement. The Summer EBT program increases familys grocery-buying budgets and we are thrilled to get this funding out earlier than planned. We plan to get these benefits out even earlier next year.

Related: Whitmer budget proposes $100M summer EBT benefit extension for Michigan kids

The benefits will be provided on EBT cards that families can use to buy groceries.

Families who already have a Bridge Card will get a one-time payment of $120 per eligible child  the standard amount set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the 2024 program. Anyone who doesnt already have a card will be sent a pre-loaded one in the mail along with a letter about the program.

Nearly 900,000 Michigan children are eligible for the grocery aid, according to the state.

Most qualifying families will get the benefits automatically because state agencies already identified the children who are eligible based on participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or the free or reduced-price meal programs at schools.

Eligibility for Summer EBT includes:

Children between the ages of 6 and 18 who receive Food Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Food Distribution Program on Indian reservations or eligible medical assistance households earning at or below 185% the federal poverty level

Students of any age who receive free or reduced price lunch through the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program

Those approved though a Summer EBT application

Michigan offers additional programs to feed students during the summer months including the Summer Food Service Program, or Meet up and Eat Up in Michigan, and the Rural Non-Congregate Summer Food Service Program.

More information about Summer EBT can be found here.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Allora, a new restaurant described as a fresh coastal Italian dining experience, is expected to open by the end of the year at a renovated space in the Windquest Building that formerly housed Reserve Wine & Food.

Luke VerHulst, who spent a decade at Reserve, most recently as executive chef, will serve as general manager.

We are excited to introduce Grand Rapids to Allora and the fresh flavors of coastal Italian cuisine this year, he said. Like our namesake, we aim to help conversations and stories flow while telling our own through a menu of sustainable, artfully prepared dishes inspired by Coastal Italy.

Related: Downtown Grand Rapids wine bar and restaurant to close, rebrand with new concept

Allora, 201 Monroe Ave. NW, will have a strong commitment to sustainability, and will feature a menu that evolves to showcase fresh, seasonal ingredients, a news release says. The restaurants name is described as a filler word (similar to so or and then) and is indispensable in Italian socializing and storytelling.

Our goal is to offer an unforgettable experience for every guest in an intimate, comfortable setting, said founder Betsy DeVos, former U.S. Education Secretary. At Allora, every delicious bite with family and friends will be a story.

More information on the restaurants opening will be available later this year.

The restaurant is located on the first floor the Windquest Building, which houses the offices of the Windquest Group, a family-owned investment firm launched by Dick and Betsy DeVos in 1988.

Reserve Wine & Food closed its doors in May after 14 years in business to rebrand as a new concept.

The restaurant was known for its extensive bar selection, featuring over 800 wines in stock and 102 wines on tap via a nitrogen pressurized preservation system. Its menu featured oysters, caviar service, custom charcuterie plates, steak, fish, and a five-course chefs tasting menu with paired wines.

The transformation of Reserve into Allora comes as an adjacent public plaza, known as Lyon Square, is being renovated to create greenspace and seating along the Grand River between DeVos Place and Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. The plaza will have colorful lighting, pedestrian walkways, landscaping and a platform overlooking the river.

More on MLive:

First Lady Jill Biden talks free meals for kids, military service in West Michigan visit

Grand Rapids Taco & Tequila Fest returning with over 100 spirits

Leader of Hispanic Center of Western Michigan stepping down

Whats happening on East Beltline? Popular pizzerias new location will have bocce ball
MUSKEGON, MI - A Saginaw man and teen were hospitalized after being rescued from Lake Michigan on Friday, July 5.

The Muskegon Department of Public Safety responded to the water emergency around 4:30 p.m. at Pere Marquette Beach after two people saw the man, 30, and the girl, 13, struggling in the water, a news release said.

The girl was rescued by other people on the beach and the man was pulled out of the water by the Muskegon County Sheriffs Deputy Marine Patrol.

Both were brought to Trinity Hospital.

The Muskegon Department of Public Safety reminded beachgoers to use caution when swimming in Lake Michigan.

Always be mindful of changing weather and surf conditions. Swimming can become especially challenging around structures like the break arms, police said in a news release.
Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. Enhancing relations with Turkic countries and strengthening the Turkic world and the Organization of Turkic States are Azerbaijan's foreign policy priorities, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Shusha, Trend reports.

Azerbaijan has always made efforts to strongly unite the Turkic world, increase its political, economic and military power, and transform it into an influential global entity, the head of state noted.
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. The 21st century must be a century of progress of the Turkic world, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Shusha, Trend reports.

Speech by President Ilham Aliyev

- Dear heads of state and government,

Dear friends,

Allow me to extend sincere greetings to all of you. Welcome to Azerbaijan, welcome to Karabakh!

Thank you for supporting my initiative to hold annual informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States, as well as for accepting our invitation to visit Shusha.

Enhancing relations with Turkic countries and strengthening the Turkic world and the Organization of Turkic States are Azerbaijan's foreign policy priorities. Azerbaijan has always made efforts to strongly unite the Turkic world, increase its political, economic and military power, and transform it into an influential global entity.

The Organization of Turkic States should become one of the prominent international forces. We cover a vast geography with positive demographic dynamics in the Member States. Our military capability has repeatedly proven itself on the battlefields. Our abundant natural resources and modern infrastructure for their delivery, transport corridors connecting Central Asia and the Caucasus with Mediterranean and Black Sea ports, our rich and ancient history and culture are our great assets. The commitment of our peoples to traditional values and their shared ethnic roots closely bind our countries. The 21st century must be a century of progress of the Turkic world.

Holding todays Summit in Shusha acquires symbolic meaning after Azerbaijan has fully restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty on September 20 last year.

The city of Shusha, the crown jewel of Karabakh, has always been one of the important centers of the cultural, public and political life of Azerbaijan and the region.

The occupation of Shusha by Armenia in May 1992 was a significant tragedy for the Azerbaijani people. The people of Azerbaijan never came to terms with this occupation and always lived with a desire to return to Shusha and the remaining occupied territories, a goal they have now achieved.

In 2020, during the 44-day Patriotic War, the Azerbaijani army liberated more than 300 towns and villages on the battlefield that had been under Armenian occupation for nearly 30 years. On November 8, 2020, following the liberation of Shusha, Armenia was forced to sign the act of capitulation, which ended the Second Karabakh War. November 8 is celebrated every year in Azerbaijan as a Victory Day.

By my decree, the city of Shusha was declared the cultural capital of Azerbaijan in 2021. On the occasion of 270th anniversary of the foundation of Shusha by Panah Ali Khan of Karabakh, 2022 was declared a Year of Shusha in Azerbaijan. The city of Shusha was declared Cultural Capital of the Turkic World for 2023 by TURKSOY and the Cultural Capital of the Islamic World for 2024 by ISESCO.

The Shusha Declaration, which laid the foundation for the allied relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, was signed in 2021 by my brother Recep Tayyip Erdogan and myself exactly here in Shusha.

The Karabakh Declaration will also be signed today in Shusha.

Dear Colleagues,

Today, the Great Return Program is in progress in Karabakh and East Zangezur. During the occupation, Armenia razed all the towns and villages in these areas to the ground. Life is returning to these lands now.

To date, around 8,000 former IDPs have returned to the cities of Lachin, Fuzuli, Shusha and Khojaly, as well as to four villages within the framework of the Great Return Program. By the end of this year, 20,000 people will return to the liberated lands.

The visits by the leaders of Turkic States to the liberated lands are a manifestation of brotherly solidarity. The President of Turkiye has visited Shusha, Fuzuli, Zangilan and Jabrayil, the Presidents of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have been to Shusha and Fuzuli, while the President of Kyrgyzstan has visited Fuzuli and Aghdam.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to once again express my gratitude to the heads of state and government of the brotherly countries for the school and creativity center, as well as for the schools to be built in the future which represent our brotherhood.

Dear friends, I believe that the current budget of the Organization of Turkic States is insufficient for the realization of and its present structure does not correspond to our goals. With this in mind, Azerbaijan has recently made financial contribution in the amount of 2 million U.S. dollars to the Secretariat of the Organization.

The expansion of the East-West transport corridor is one of our top priorities. In the last five years, the volume of cargo transportation through the East-West transport corridor has increased by more than 60 percent.

The annual handling capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, an integral part of the Middle Corridor, has been increased from 1 million to 5 million tons thanks to additional investments by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan, with the fleet of more than 50 commercial ships in the Caspian Sea, provides important transit services for Turkic states. In light of the increasing cargo transportation, six tankers and dry cargo vessels are currently under construction at the Baku Shipyard. Next year, our countrys ninth international airport will be commissioned in Lachin. The cargo handling capacity of the Alat International Trade Seaport will be expanded from 15 million to 25 million tons.

Founding meeting of the Turkic Investment Fund in Istanbul this May is yet another successful step serving to further deepening our economic ties. I do believe that in the future investments in a number of joint projects across many fields will be made through this Fund.

Our strategic partnership in the field of energy, including cooperation in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency, is very important.

The Digital Silk Road Project, which aims to create a fiber-optic telecommunication route between Europe and Asia via Azerbaijan along the Caspian seabed, is also one of the significant initiatives.

Dear friends,

As you know, Azerbaijan will host the COP29 this year. I would like to take this opportunity to once again invite all of you to the COP29. We view holding the COP29 Presidency and organizing this conference in Baku as a vivid testimony to the international communitys enormous confidence in our country. Almost 200 countries unanimously supported our candidacy. Drawing on the experience we have gained during the four-year-long chairmanship to the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan will spare no effort to strengthen solidarity and reach consensus between developed and developing countries.

I am sure that the Karabakh Declaration that we will sign today and the decisions we have made will further strengthen solidarity in the Turkic world, while enhancing the reputation of the Organization of Turkic States in the international arena.
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. To date, around 8,000 former IDPs have returned to the cities of Lachin, Fuzuli, Shusha and Khojaly, as well as to four villages within the framework of the Great Return Program, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Shusha, Trend reports.

The head of state noted that by the end of this year, 20,000 people will return to the liberated lands.
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. The visits by the leaders of Turkic States to the liberated lands are a manifestation of brotherly solidarity, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Shusha, Trend reports.

The President of Turkiye has visited Shusha, Fuzuli, Zangilan and Jabrayil, the Presidents of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have been to Shusha and Fuzuli, while the President of Kyrgyzstan has visited Fuzuli and Aghdam.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to once again express my gratitude to the heads of state and government of the brotherly countries for the school and creativity center, as well as for the schools to be built in the future which represent our brotherhood, the head of state noted.
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SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. The expansion of the East-West transport corridor is one of our top priorities, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Shusha, Trend reports.

The annual handling capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, an integral part of the Middle Corridor, has been increased from 1 million to 5 million tons thanks to additional investments by Azerbaijan, the head of state mentioned.

Azerbaijan, with the fleet of more than 50 commercial ships in the Caspian Sea, provides important transit services for Turkic states. In light of the increasing cargo transportation, six tankers and dry cargo vessels are currently under construction at the Baku Shipyard. Next year, our countrys ninth international airport will be commissioned in Lachin. The cargo handling capacity of the Alat International Trade Seaport will be expanded from 15 million to 25 million tons, President Ilham Aliyev emphasized.
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Congress calls SFI, CITU as 'gunda teams' of ruling CPI(M) in Kerala
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Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Chief Priest, Acharya Satyendra Das says, "The person who used to do 'Satsang' there, is famous by the name of Suraj Pal or Bhole Baba. After seeing and hearing about the incident that happened on 2nd July, he ran away from there and went underground. Now after so many days, he is saying that we are saddened by that incident through his lawyer. All the responsibility lies with him, he should go and tell this thing clearly in front of the government and accept his crime and an investigation has certainly been done, he has been found guilty in the investigation, so he should be jailed, he will be locked up."
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. I believe that the current budget of the Organization of Turkic States is insufficient for the realization of and its present structure does not correspond to our goals, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Shusha, Trend reports.

With this in mind, Azerbaijan has recently made financial contribution in the amount of 2 million U.S. dollars to the Secretariat of the Organization, the head of state added.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. The regular meeting of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan is underway, Trend reports.

The agenda of the meeting chaired by the CEC head Mazahir Panahov includes 10 issues.

The main issue on the agenda is related to the consideration of the appeal of authorized representatives of several parties in the extraordinary parliamentary election in Azerbaijan.

On June 28, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the dissolution of the Azerbaijani Parliament of the sixth convocation and the appointment of an extraordinary election to the Azerbaijani Parliament.

The extraordinary election is scheduled for September 1, 2024.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
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Chinese carmaker calls on European Commission to hold hearing on EV tariff measures

Xinhua) 17:03, July 05, 2024

SHANGHAI, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese carmaker SAIC Motor said Friday it will defend its rights in accordance with the law and formally call on the European Commission to hold a hearing on interim anti-subsidy tariff measures against Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers.

The announcement came after the European Commission imposed additional tariffs of up to 37.6 percent on Chinese EV makers on Thursday. Compared to the rates pre-disclosed on June 12, several individual duties have been modified slightly lower based on comments submitted by interested parties on the accuracy of the calculations, according to a statement from the commission. It said that a final decision must be taken on definitive duties within four months through a vote by EU member states.

SAIC Motor responded by stating that it will effectively safeguard its "own legitimate rights and interests as well as the interests of its global customers."

It noted that, the European Commission had intruded upon commercially sensitive information during its anti-subsidy investigations, such as obliging the company to provide battery-related chemical formulations, which are beyond the scope of regular investigations.

Furthermore, the European Commission committed mistakes when calculating the subsidies. For instance, it has incorporated subsidies offered to domestic EV buyers when calculating subsidies for cars sold in the EU.

During the course of the investigation, the European Commission ignored some of the facts and arguments submitted by SAIC Motor. Rather, the commission has made adverse presumptions, citing the so-called non-cooperation with the investigation under Article 28 of the basic countervailing regulations.

Also, according to the automaker, the group has invested nearly 150 billion yuan (about 21.04 billion U.S. dollars) in research and development of core technologies over the past decade resulting in over 26,000 active patents, which helps explain SAIC Motor's brisk sales across Europe.

SAIC Motor voiced opposition to the practices of "artificially setting up trade barriers for EVs" and called for a level playing field. Only through open dialogues and cooperation will China and the EU achieve faster synergy in innovation and contribute to the global low-carbon economy, the automaker said.

China's Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that China hopes the EU will work with it and show sincerity in advancing talks on the EU's anti-subsidy probe into Chinese EVs. It also called for rationality and pragmatism as talks continue.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
U.S. Independence Day violence kills at least 33

Xinhua) 13:58, July 06, 2024

WASHINGTON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- As the United States was celebrating 248 years of independence, shootings and other forms of violence during the extended Fourth of July weekend left at least 33 people dead across the country, local authorities said.

As of Friday morning, the Fourth of July holiday saw 11 people killed and 55 wounded in shootings in Chicago alone, the Associated Press reported, citing a Chicago Sun-Times report as saying.

The recent violence "has left our city in a state of grief," said Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson.

Two people were killed and three others injured in Huntington Beach, California, in an Independence Day attack after a fireworks show ended, local police said.

Three shootings broke out in Boston at approximately 1:30 a.m. local time Friday, resulting in one fatality.

Historically, the Fourth of July period is one of the year's deadliest in the United States. Last year, there was a spate of shootings around the holiday, leaving over a dozen dead and more than 60 injured.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan has registered authorized representatives of the Umid Party, the Great Creation Party, the Democratic Reform Party, "Ana Vatan" (Motherland) Party, the Musavat Party and the Classical Popular Front Party for the upcoming parliamentary election, Trend reports.

The CEC meeting held today considered appeals of the above parties, along with New Azerbaijan Party, about the representatives' registration.

The issue was put up for voting and adopted.

Previously, CEC registered authorized representatives from the Republican Alternative Party (REAL), "Ag Partiya" (White Party) and the Civil Solidarity Party.

On June 28, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the dissolution of the Azerbaijani Parliament of the sixth convocation and the appointment of an extraordinary election to the Azerbaijani Parliament.

The extraordinary election is scheduled for September 1, 2024.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. The 'Great Return' process to Azerbaijan's liberated territories continues and the number of polling stations will increase, Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan Mazahir Panahov said at the CEC meeting today in Baku, Trend reports.

He noted that currently, the number of polling stations in the liberated territories is 26.

The issue of setting up new polling stations in the liberated territories will be considered at the next meetings, Panahov added.

On June 28, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the dissolution of the Azerbaijani Parliament of the sixth convocation and the appointment of an extraordinary election to the Azerbaijani Parliament.

The extraordinary election is scheduled for September 1, 2024.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
French Fire in Midpines View Photo

Sacramento, CA  Governor Gavin Newsom has secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) from FEMA to assist in suppressing the French Fire in Mariposa County, which has burned 843 acres and forced 1,100 people to evacuate.

The FMAG was also used to support the response to the Thompson Fire, for which the governor proclaimed a state of emergency in Butte County. Through the California Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid System and federal cost-share assistance, firefighters were able to protect homes and critical infrastructure like the Oroville Dam. The FMAG, provided through the Presidents Disaster Relief Fund on a cost-share basis, assists local, state, and tribal agencies in applying for 75 percent reimbursement of their eligible fire suppression costs.

The Governor earlier this week activated the State Operations Center to coordinate the states response, dispatch mutual aid, and support local communities as they respond to the threats of heat and fire during the early July heat wave.
Yves here. We must confess that due to so many big stories being in motion as to not give much coverage to an important element of Israels ongoing campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians: that of the escalation of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The conflict in Gaza, the successful Houthi attacks on shipping, the continued Israel saber-rattling against Lebanon, the (so far) head fakery of peace talks, have all served, whether by accident or design, to serve as cover for ongoing Israeli human rights violation in the West Bank.

By Jake Johnson, staff writer at Common Dreams. Originally published at Common Dreams

A coalition of aid agencies on Friday implored the international community to take concrete, punitive action against the Israeli government and settlers after the number of settler attacks in the occupied West Bank since October 7 surpassed 1,000.

The Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA), a group of international organizations working in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in a statement that the rate of settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank has doubled since the same time last year, from an average of two per day to four.

At least 10 people, including two children, have been killed during these attacks, and at least 234 have been injured, including 20 children. Since 7 October, 1,260 people, including 600 children, have been forcibly displaced amid settler violence and movement restrictions. The displaced households are from 20 herding and Bedouin communities throughout Area C of the West Bank. As one survivor of settler violence explained, No place is safe here.'

Settler violence is premeditated and orchestrated by organized groups from known outposts and settlements, with the support of Israels government, including local and regional settlement councils, the group added, noting the limited sanctions that the United States and the European Union have imposed on individual settlers have failed to reduce the frequency of attacks.

While a few individuals have been detained, no civilian or soldier has been prosecuted in connection with any of these 1,000 attacks, AIDA said. Reports indicate that some illegal outpost farms operated by sanctioned settlersmany of whom have been reported to be at the center of multiple violent incidentshave received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of material support from the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Settlements, the Settlement Administration in the Ministry of Defense, and through local and regional settlement councils.

AIDA urged the international community to adopt new restrictive measures which go beyond individual settlers to target identified organizations and state entities who promote violence and/or take part in attacks on Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure.

The group also argued that the far-right Israeli government should be held accountable for the repeated and evidence-based allegations that the military and other state authorities are tolerating, enabling, and at times participating in settler violence.

A Human Rights Watch report published in April found that the Israeli military either took part in or did not protect Palestinians from violent settler attacks in the West Bank that have displaced people from 20 communities and have entirely uprooted at least seven communities since October 7.

AIDAs statement came days after the Israeli government announced the seizure of nearly five square miles of land in the West BankIsraels largest land grab in the occupied Palestinian territory in more than three decades.

Sally Abi Khalil, Middle East and North Africa director for Oxfam Internationalan AIDA membersaid Friday that settler attacks in the West Bank have reached a disturbing milestone.

In a context where outpost legalization is being fast-tracked, and Israel is stealing more and more land, said Khalil, foreign governments must act now to stop this illegal appropriation by taking meaningful measures to hold the Israeli government and perpetrators of these attacks to account.
SADARAK, Azerbaijan, July 6. Azerbaijan's sole open land border with Turkiye is the customs post at Sadarak, the Head of the Nakhchivan Main Customs Department Vugar Aliyev said, Trend reports.

He made the remark during the visit of members of the Public Council under the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan and media representatives to the Nakhchivan Main Customs Department on July 5-6.

Aliyev pointed out that nearly 2,5003,000 citizens are served per day.

"At the same time, we serve about 350400 passenger cars. The checkpoint operates 24 hours a day. Citizens registered in Nakhchivan can freely visit the brotherly state. Moreover, Turkish citizens can comfortably travel to Nakhchivan," he added.

To note, Azerbaijan closed its land borders with Russia, Georgia, Turkiye, and Iran to individual traffic back in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Cargo traffic was allowed to continue unimpeded. Azerbaijans other land border with Armenia has been closed for more than 30 years because of the Karabakh conflict.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Alex Jones: Enemy playbook still in the works even after Biden debate fiasco

InfoWars founder Alex Jones has warned that the enemy playbook is still in the works , even after President Joe Biden's disastrous performance during the June 27 presidential debate.

The independent journalist pointed out during the June 30 episode of "The Alex Jones Show" that Biden's idiocy can no longer be denied. However, Jones reiterated that this is all pre-planned as part of the globalist Deep State's enemy playbook.

Jones also stressed that Biden and the Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election, and they're positioning for a second attempt. But now, the Democrats themselves and their allies in the mainstream media are saying that the incumbent has got to go.

"Biden must step down and then either have a medical problem, or they'll assassinate him and claim a Trump supporter did it. They may do that, and they can make hay out of that while also replacing him, or have the [Democratic] delegates revolt at the [Democratic National Convention] in Chicago. So this has been planned a long time."

According to Jones, the pressure is already placed on the "Biden oligarchy" and the people around it. In particular, the president has been exhorted to step down at the 2024 Democratic National Convention to be held from August 19 to 22 in Chicago. The InfoWars founder also noted that Biden's refusal to step down may have led to both his political humiliation in front of the world and the indictment and conviction of his son Hunter Biden on gun-related charges. (Related: Biden will not withdraw from presidential race despite calls for a replacement candidate from the Democratic Party.)

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Speak freely without censorship at the new decentralized, blockchain-power Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

"So [Joe] agreed, when he did this, that he was going to be a placeholder for whoever the Obamas and the globalists wanted to put in four years later," Jones explained. "But [First Lady] Jill [Biden] and the rest of them are dug in. You've got a fight between these gangs, and he's refusing to go."

Biden a puppet of the Barack Obama-led Deep State oligarchy

The independent journalist continued that Biden won't leave now, but will just agree to be in the White House until the 2025 presidential inauguration. He also pointed out that the former vice president has always been the puppet of the Deep State oligarchy, led by former President Barack Obama.

According to Jones, Obama is playing the "good cop" and acting like he is not trying to hurt Biden. However, Obama is allowing his surrogates to destroy the president so he can come in at the proper moment. The former president is keeping his hands clean and letting his other henchmen do his dirty work as he wants to avoid the political blowback.

Amid all of this, the current establishment is planning to trigger civil unrest which would lead to another civil war and then bring in martial law. Federal Emergency Management Agency camps are also reportedly being expanded.

"There is an enemy playbook," said Jones. "We know who the different factions are, we know what their plans are, we know the dangers. We know how to stop them. We know their next moves."

He pointed out that the Deep State oligarchs already have an actual plan if Biden doesn't step down. This plan, Jones continued, involves either assassinating or poisoning Biden and blaming it on a supporter of former President Donald Trump. This event will then be used to smear the Make America Great Again movement, and the American people at large.

Follow DeepState.news for more news about the Deep State operating in America.

Watch Alex Jones' commentary about the Democrats replacing Joe Biden as the presidential election nears.

This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Bidens catastrophic performance in the debate raises more questions about his fitness for office.

Bidens debate performance raises alarm among Democrats. Heres why.

Roger Stone: Democrats will try to put Trump in JAIL before Republican National Convention.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

MSN.com
NYT: Biden told Netanyahu if you launch a big attack on Iran, youre on your own

Is this the real reason the media has turned on President Biden?

(Article by Chris Menahan republished from InformationLiberation.com)

From New York Times, "Biden's Lapses Are Said to Be Increasingly Common and Worrisome":

Aides present in the Situation Room the night that Iran hurled a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel portrayed a president in commanding form, lecturing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone to avoid a retaliatory escalation that would have inflamed the Middle East. "Let me be crystal clear," Mr. Biden said. "If you launch a big attack on Iran, you're on your own." Mr. Netanyahu pushed back hard, citing the need to respond in kind to deter future attacks. "You do this," Mr. Biden said forcefully, "and I'm out." Ultimately, the aides noted, Mr. Netanyahu scaled back his response.

It's incredible to watch how the media went from shilling Biden to demanding he step aside.

SUPERCUT! Corporate media: Don't believe your lying eyes, Biden's never been sharper! pic.twitter.com/FW6e2ZPT5i  Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 15, 2024

The idea the debate was the catalyst for the media to turn on him is just laughable as Biden has been in terrible shape for years now.

NEW: CNN's Jake Tapper hammers Democrats for not taking Biden's mental decline seriously, calls out Chris Coons to his face for shilling for Biden. "There is a pattern of democratic officials seemingly trying to convince you to not believe what you saw and what you heard with pic.twitter.com/zaygyDfkQZ  Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 1, 2024

As a reminder, Trump got the most positive media coverage of his entire presidency when he did the Israel Lobby's bidding and bombed Syria.

This is the same situation now with Biden but in reverse.

The NYT has more:

Mr. Biden and his top national security officials were in the Situation Room for hours [the night Iran attacked Israel in April], bracing for the attack, which came around midnight. Biden was updated in real time as the forces he ordered into the region began shooting down Iranian missiles and drones. He peppered leaders with questions throughout the response. After it was over, and almost all of the missiles and drones had been shot down, Mr. Biden called Mr. Netanyahu to persuade him not to escalate. "Take the win," Mr. Biden told the prime minister, without reading from a script or extensive notes, according to two people in the room. In the end, Mr. Netanyahu opted for a much smaller and proportionate response that effectively ended the hostilities.

Israel's "lame" attack on Iran was a major turning point, as John Mearsheimer noted in May, because Israel's deterrence strategy depends on escalation dominance (i.e. if you hit us we will hit you back ten times harder).

[Embed starts 30:38]

Read more at: InformationLiberation.com
Climate communicators say best way to persuade voters about global warming is to LIE to them

Blue Rose Research data scientist David Shor recently conducted a poll on the best and worst forms of public messaging about climate change. He found that the most effective climate "communicators" are those who point-blankto the public about global warming.

Shor did not say it this way, of course, and we are not speaking for him on the subject. What we are saying is that everything in the "best" messaging column is a lie if you actually look into it.

According to the poll, the "best messages ever tested" include the following false claims about the "benefits" of climate tyranny:

1) Lowered energy costs

2) Lowered kitchen sink costs

3) Creation of stable jobs

4) Investments in transit, infrastructure and manufacturing

5) Research and development (R&D) for clean energy

All of this is fluff talk, meaning none of these things actually happen when the government drops the climate hammer. In fact, the opposite is usually true as "green" energy is costly, inefficient and highly politicized for societal division.

The "lefties" are programmed to love all things green while the "righties" are programmed to hate them. The truth, meanwhile, is that earth-based "fossil" fuels are abundant, cheap and a really good bet for creating stability and prosperity for all  and they can also be used cleanly, despite what the greenies claim to the contrary.

(Related: If you let them, the climate terrorists will eventually take away your gas stove.

Green is not the way

Watts Up With That published a report about the lies of the "best" column in Shor's poll. It provides a breakdown of the falsities.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Speak freely without censorship at the new decentralized, blockchain-power Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

Concerning lowered energy and kitchen sink costs, author Charles Rotter explains that consumers in the greenest areas of the world  this includes California, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany  pay among the highest energy prices, especially compared to places where green energy is barely or not a thing.

As for the creation of "good, stable jobs," the green agenda is a poster child for what not to do:

"Employees of Solyndra, Proterra, Fisker, Arrival UK, or any large industry in Germany, the list goes on, may have a different take, not to mention pipeline and construction workers," Rotter explains.

The California High Speed Rail disaster is another example of green gone bad. Like other green projects of a similar nature, California's rail pipe dream is "no more beneficial to the overall economy than if you simply paid one group of workers to dig holes and another group to fill them back up again," to quote Rotter.

Green R&D into "clean energy" is another hoax in that it represents a lot of money being wasted "to fight the laws of thermodynamics, detract from economic growth, raise energy prices, (and) create environmental devastation." Traditional energy, meanwhile, creates "stable, dispatchable, small environmental footprint baseload power," Rotter says.

What about the bad messaging, you might be asking? Here we go:

"Worst messages tested: electric cars, Green New Deal, frontline communities, 'Big Oil lied,' climate pollution

Talking about electric cars is especially deadly for Democrats. Women in particular are frightened of batteries running out. (Interesting gendered spin on range anxiety I hadnt thought about before)."

The Green New Deal is an especially bad talking point for the greens because it is associated with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) who first introduced it in 2019, as well as with "bans on burgers and flying, and in particular provoked a fear of making energy expensive," to quote the poll's findings.

Man-made global warming is a lie designed to strip you of all freedom and liberty. Learn more at Climate.news.

Sources include:

WattsUpWithThat.com

NaturalNews.com
Crowdfunded satellite from California-based ICEYE helping Ukraine destroy high-value Russian targets

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) recently revealed that it has been using a crowdfunded satellite from California-based ICEYE for about two years now to help destroy high-value Russian targets

The Serhiy Prytula Charitable Foundation and blogger Ihor Lachenkov launched a fundraiser for the satellite in June 2022. The ICEYE satellite is equipped with advanced radar technology and has provided nearly 4,200 images, enabling precise strikes on Russian airfields, defense positions and fuel depots.

"The entire array of data obtained thanks to ICEYE was used for direct preparation of fire damage to the enemy," GUR reported. "This is billions of dollars in losses for Russia, and the price of its aggression will grow!"

A former United States government official confirmed last year that Ukraine was using the ICEYE satellite on the battlefield. The constant surveillance has helped Kyiv monitor movements by the enemies and interrupt their plans. According to the intel organization, the ICEYE satellite acquired points of Russian permanent deployment, as well as training grounds, military communities and mobilization deployment centers.

"During the period of use of the 'people's satellite' and access to the ICEYE satellite constellation, our specialists took a total of 4,173 pictures of enemy objects," according to GUR. This includes 370 airfields, 238 air defense and radio technical intelligence posts, 153 oil depots and fuel warehouses, 147 missiles, aircraft and ammunition stores and 17 naval sites.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

ICEYE agreed to "transfer the full capabilities of one of its [Synthetic Aperture Radar] SAR satellites already in orbit for Ukraine's use over the region," according to a press statement. "The SAR satellite will be operated by ICEYE. In addition, ICEYE will provide access to its constellation of SAR satellites, allowing the Ukrainian Armed Forces to receive radar satellite imagery on critical locations with a high revisit frequency."

Aside from the intelligence provided by the U.S. and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, Ukraine's capacity to observe adversary actions from above is restricted to the tactical use of drones and a broader but still limited sweep of commercial satellite photography. Earth's orbital reconnaissance "allows receiving data both on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and in other places on the planet where the military forces and means of terrorist Russia are located," according to GUR.

"This allows tracking the dynamics of Russia's personnel movements, revealing its military intentions to disrupt them," GUR wrote. The observatory "allows you to monitor the objects of the aggressor's military-industrial complex and its logistics network, which includes the illegal bridge between Russia and occupied Crimea."

GUR also claimed that satellite is used not only for passive observation of the enemy but also for fire damage. Thirty-eight percent of all the imagery it acquired was used for missile and drone strikes, it said.

U.S. gives in to another Kyiv request

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently announced that Ukraine could be sure to receive good news on strengthening its air defense capabilities, following Kyiv's request to provide additional defenses since Russia intensified strikes against Ukrainian population centers and infrastructure in the spring.

"There is extraordinary potential in Ukraine's economy with the right investment. Now, of course, for both its military capacity and its economic capacity, you've got to make sure that you have air defenses in place to try to protect the areas in which youre making investments," he said at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "We're driving that. I think youll see more news on that in the coming weeks as we get to the NATO summit."

"You've heard that the Ukrainians are keen to secure additional Patriots or similar systems. And I think we'll have some additional good news for them on that front," an unnamed State Department source told Reuters.

Last month, Washington announced it had deprioritized the near-term planned deliveries of foreign military sales to other countries, particularly Patriot and NASAMS missiles, to supply them to Ukraine first. A few days later, the Financial Times reported that the U.S., Israel and Ukraine are in negotiations on providing Ukraine with up to eight Patriot air defense systems.

Ukraine operates at least three Patriot systems provided by the U.S., the Netherlands and Germany, with Berlin and Bucharest recently pledging to deliver two more systems.

Ahead of the upcoming NATO summit, which is set on July 9-11 in Washington, Ukraine aims to secure a "guaranteed" military funding commitment from allies, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said in late June. However, NATO allies have so far failed to agree on a long-term financial pledge for Ukraine, outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 14.

"At the NATO summit, we are working to secure a guaranteed financial commitment for military aid, so that we are not dependent on the political processes in the U.S. or any other allied country," Stefanishyna said.

Stoltenberg previously proposed that NATO provides Ukraine with at least 40 billion euros ($43 billion) in military support each year, "for as long as necessary." (Related: Moscow warns: U.S. must rethink its "miscalculated decisions" as these could lead to fatal consequences.

Visit UkraineWitness.com for more updates on the current situation in Ukraine.

Watch the video below that talks about Russia acquiring the U.S.-supplied ATACM's guidance system during Ukraine attack.

This video is from the Vampire Slayer channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

SPEECH POLICE: Ukrainian NGO exposes list of U.S. citizens who "echo key messages of Russian propaganda."

Ukraine unleashes KAMIKAZE drone boats against Russian ships in the Black Sea.

Russia blames the U.S. for Ukrainian missile attack on Crimea.

Sources include:

GreatGameIndia.com

UniverseMagazine.com

KyivIndependent.com

Brighteon.com
EU justifies Antifa vicious hammer attacks in Hungary because anti-fascism represents democracy

An angry feminist "anti-fascist" (Antifa) from Italy who,, really looks the part is being let off the hook for her involvement in several vicious hammer attacks on people in Hungary simply because she was just elected to the European Union (EU) parliament.

Ilaria Salis, a citizen-turned-politician, was arrested and put in prison while awaiting trial after she was previously identified as a member of the violent Antifa "hammer gang" that assaulted and left for dead multiple people who supposedly looked like "fascists." Now that she has MEP status, Salis has immunity through the EU, and will now be released from prison.

Check out the below video to see what Salis and her gang did to innocent people in Hungary after they spied on and surveilled their victims before ultimately launching an attack:

Italian citizen Ilaria Salis, who is accused of being a member of the violent Antifa "Hammer gang," has been elected to the EU parliament and now has immunity through her status as an MEP. This means she will be released from prison in Hungary, where she is currently standing pic.twitter.com/YXzG7Fq9XM  Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) June 11, 2024

(Related: Remember back during the Wuhan coronavirus [COVID-19] "pandemic" when Reuters became the public relations arm for Antifa?)

The leftist cancer controlling Europe

According to reports, the planned trial for Salis is not going ahead as planned because her supporters in Italy launched a huge campaign to free her.

"It is painful that even the right-wing Italian government in power in Rome got involved in the Salis case, criticizing the conditions of her detention," reported RMX.news.

"The left, of course, went even further, claiming that Salis had to spend her daily life among mice."

We are building the infrastructure of human freedom and empowering people to be informed, healthy and aware. Explore our decentralized, peer-to-peer, uncensorable Brighteon.io free speech platform here. Learn about our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Every purchase at HealthRangerStore.com helps fund our efforts to build and share more tools for empowering humanity with knowledge and abundance.

It turns out that the prison conditions for Salis were not that bad after all. Even so, she was allowed to leave prison and return home and no longer has to face any retribution for her crimes.

What has ended up transpiring from there is that the case got blown out of proportion to become a fight between "civilized" western Europe (Italy) and "uncivilized" eastern Europe (Hungary).

"Whether said or unsaid, Salis' martyr role could only be constructed  by 'exploding' the falsely established intolerable prison conditions  if it is understood in the context of a background comparison between developed Western Europe and 'uncivilized' Hungary, which allegedly does not respect European values," is how RMX.news put it.

Sadly, the victims of Salis and her hammer gang will not receive justice because in the eyes of "elitist" Italy, they are not even worth mentioning in the news as real human beings. The only thing Italians are being told by their EU leaders is that Salis was "persecuted" by an "uncivilized" country, and that is that.

Take the following statement from Angelo Bonelli, spokesman for Salis' AVS party, which illustrates the delusional mindset of lawless leftists who only value the lives of their own:

"Salis will fight for democracy, the rule of law and civil rights in Europe, and she will start her work with Hungary."

In other words, Salis is now planning to punish Hungary for trying to hold her accountable for her crimes. Salis belongs back in prison, but instead she will rule with an iron fist over Europe from the globalist-controlled EU.

"The Hungarian judges can still ask for the waiver of the immunity," one X user wrote. "And I hope they will do it since they have clear images in videos where Salis is undoubtedly seen belonging to the criminal group hitting the poor victim."

More related news can be found at Corruption.news.

Sources for this article include:

RMX.news

NaturalNews.com
Israel says Doctors Without Borders staffers are terrorists who deserve to be killed

A medic of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, was killed in a recent airstrike in Gaza. Amid the public backlash, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that the MSF staff was a "terrorist" working for Palestinian Islamic Jihad so he deserved what happened to him.

In fact, the IDF has released photos claiming to be proof that Fadi al-Wadiya, who was killed in an airstrike on Tuesday, was a "significant operative" in the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza.

Fadi Al-Wadiya served as an operative for the militant group for more than 15 years and helped build rockets used against Israeli cities, IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee said. He added that Al-Wadiya was the armed group's "expert in the fields of electronics and chemistry."

"A physiotherapist by day, a jihad operative by night," Adraee said, arguing that the case is "a reminder of how terrorist organizations in Gaza use international aid organizations as a human shield."

Fadi was a 33-year-old physiotherapist and father of three. He joined MSF in 2018. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. Fadis loss marks the sixth killing of an MSF staff member in Gaza since 7 October 2023. pic.twitter.com/F98B3j7Qe8  MSF International (@MSF) June 25, 2024

MSF has already rejected the claims, saying Al-Wadiya was killed when riding a bicycle to the clinic where he worked. "Killing a healthcare worker while on his way to provide vital medical care to wounded victims of the endless massacres across Gaza is beyond shocking; it is cynical and abhorrent," said Caroline Seguin, MSF operations manager for Palestine.

"Fadi was executed by an Israeli strike and no proof of any wrongdoing on his part has been shared with MSF. Only an independent investigation will be able to establish the facts," the aid group's statement also included when it was released on Wednesday. The organization said five other people, including three children, were killed by the same airstrike. Al-Wadiya was the sixth member of MSF and one of more than 500 health workers killed by the Israeli forces since the fighting erupted in Gaza eight months ago, the organization said. (Related: American doctors stranded in Gaza urge Biden administration to end support for Israeli genocide.)

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

Back in February, Israel already attacked a shelter belonging to MSF in the Gaza Strip, killing at least two people. "Tonight Israeli forces conducted an operation in Al Mawasi, Khan Younis, Gaza, where a shelter hosting MSF staff and their families was shelled," MSF posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"While details are still emerging, ambulance crews have now reached the site, where at least two family members of our colleagues have been killed and six people wounded. We are horrified by what has taken place," it added.

Two healthcare workers are killed in Gaza every day, a British charity reveals

According to the British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, 500 healthcare workers have been murdered haplessly in Gaza since Israels genocidal attacks began in the enclave.

Israel retaliated following the Hamas militant group's massacre of more than 1,000 people and the taking of Israeli hostages on Oct. 7. The IDF has been waging a military campaign in Gaza which has so far killed more than 37,000 people.

"As of 25 June, 500 healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza since Israel's military assault began in October. This equates to an average of two healthcare workers killed every day, with one in every 40 healthcare workers, or 2.5 percent of Gaza's healthcare workforce, now dead," the charity said in a statement Wednesday. "More healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza since October than were reported killed in all conflicts globally in 2021 and 2022 combined," the statement added.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Office released a statement on Tuesday saying that the killings have occurred against the backdrop of systematic attacks on hospitals and other medical facilities in violation of the laws of war.

Israel has been in disagreement with the UN for months after the organization's Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in October that Hamas' attack "did not happen in a vacuum." The international organization accused Israel of carrying out "56 years of suffocating occupation." Due to this, Israel demanded Guterres' ouster back in January.

Attacking hospitals is considered a war crime by the International Criminal Court, but they can lose their protected status under international law if used for military purposes. Israel has justified attacks on healthcare facilities based on sometimes-disputed claims that Hamas is using them for various military reasons.

Tanya Haj-Hassan, a medical doctor who volunteered in a hospital in March, told the charity: "Palestinian healthcare workers have told me that when they leave the hospital, civilians give them civilian clothing because wearing scrubs is putting a target sticker on their back."

Bookmark WWIII.news to follow stories about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Middle Eastern nations.

Sources for this article include:

RT.com

EuroNews.com

DoctorsWithoutBorders.org

AA.com.tr

Politico.eu
Controversial neo-Nazi Azov Battalion removed from Stanford Universitys list of dangerous militant groups

The Mapping Militants Project (MMP) of Stanford University has quietly removed from its list of militant organizations the profile of the controversial Azov Battalion in Ukraine

The Azov Battalion, officially known as the 12th Special Operations Brigade "Azov," is a unit within the Ukrainian National Guard that has garnered notoriety for years for its open adherence to neo-Nazi ideology, its use of neo-Nazi symbols and its recruitment of neo-Nazi fighters. This isn't even mentioning allegations of war crimes that follow the battalion.

Despite claims of supposedly being "depoliticized," Azov's ties to fascist organizations persist. Many of Azov's current leaders, including Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Denys Prokopenko and Deputy Commander Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, still have longstanding ties to fascist organizations and the unit has not stopped using Nazi symbols.

The Azov Battalion also has not disassociated itself with its history of abuses and war crimes, including torture, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. These abuses continued even after the unit's integration into the Ukrainian National Guard.

Founded in 2014, Azov was initially a volunteer unit to combat pro-Russian separatists in Donbas at the outbreak of the low-intensity conflict between Russia and Ukraine following the 2014 Ukrainian Maidan Revolution.

It gained international attention and scrutiny for its role in the 2014 Battle of Mariupol, which saw Ukrainian government-aligned units retake the city of Mariupol from Russian separatists under the Donetsk People's Republic. Azov's notoriety stemmed from its use of neo-Nazi symbols and fascist affiliations.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Speak freely without censorship at the new decentralized, blockchain-power Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

Ukrainian diplomats allegedly pressuring U.S. to stop scrutinizing Azov Battalion

Stanford's Mapping Militants Project is funded by the United States' Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Shortly after the Azov Battalion's de-listing from the MMP, the State Department lifted its ban on providing military aid to the unit, raising questions about the timing and motives behind the profile's removal. Stanford's MMP's removal of Azov's profile is significant as its research guides U.S. foreign policy.

The MMP's papers are regularly cited in academia, in testimonies before Congress and in papers and other memos published by federal agencies. The removal aligns MMP's list with the State Department's decision, preventing it from being used as a critique. (Related: Former Pentagon official says U.S. arming of Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov Brigade a sign of desperation.)

The State Department claims that Azov is now an entirely different entity from the Azov Battalion that Congress targeted years ago with the Leahy Law, which prohibits U.S. funding for foreign security forces implicated in human rights violations.

The removal might be linked to pressure from Ukrainian diplomats.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova celebrated the removal on Facebook, thanking Stanford and her colleagues for countering so-called Russian propaganda and suggesting a possible pressure campaign. Markarova posted a screenshot of the Page not found message that appears when navigating to the Azov profile and expressed gratitude for Stanford's "response."

When asked, MMP head political scientist Martha Crenshaw stated the profile is being updated but gave no specifics. She did not clarify whether profiles are typically taken down during updates or when the update would be completed. It remains unclear if Markarova contacted MMP about the removal.

It should be noted that the MMP, which Crenshaw helped launch back in 2009, continues to take funding from multiple federal agencies, and many of its researchers are intimately tied to the American military-industrial complex.

Crenshaw, who oversees MMP, has worked with the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism funded by the DHS. Iris Malone, former co-director of MMP, served as Principal Investigator for the Homeland Security Centers of Excellence Researcher Kaitlyn Robinson has a background working for the Defense Department.

Watch this video investigating the allegations that both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency are using Azov Battalion units in the United States.

This video is from the channel The Prisoner on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Ukrainian Azov neo-Nazis' biggest lobbyist and supporter? Former British prime minister Boris Johnson.

WEAPONS FOR NAZIS: Ukrainian neo-Nazis in Azov Brigade can now use U.S.-supplied weapons to wage war.

UK government praises neo-Nazi Ukrainians in parliament.

Sources include:

TheGrayZone.com

SputnikGlobe.com

Brighteon.com
NO EV FOR ME: Nearly half of American and British EV owners plan to shift back to gasoline-powered vehicles for their next purchase

Almost half of American and British electric vehicle (EV) owners plan to shift back to gasoline-powered vehicles for their next car purchase, according to a poll.

The global survey conducted by McKinsey & Company polled 36,964 car owners in 15 nations  including China, the U.S., Brazil, Japan, Korea and several European countries. It found that 49 percent of British EV owners plan to buy a gasoline-powered car next time, followed by 46 percent of American EV owners that share the same sentiment.

However, the survey found that only three out of 10 EV owners globally are likely to switch back to gasoline-powered vehicles. Among those who don't own an electric car, 38 percent would consider buying an EV or a plug-in hybrid. Twenty-one percent said they won't consider an EV at all.

According to Just The News, the survey sheds light on the significant hurdles EV adoption faces in the U.S.  especially with U.S. President Joe Biden's ambitious goals. The outlet also noted that per the the McKinsey poll, high total cost of ownership and insufficient public charging infrastructure are the primary reasons for people being turned off by EVs.

The poll also noted that home charging limitations and the anxiety associated with charging availability further contribute to EV owners' frustrations. Only a mere nine percent of respondents believe that current EV charging infrastructure is adequate. (Related: Trump vows to abolish Bidens EV mandate that "only benefits China.")

A separate survey of 211 charging station developers conducted by California-based software firm Xendee also revealed hang-ups with regard to EV charging infrastructure. Seventy-five percent identified electric grid limitations as one of the biggest obstacles to this endeavor. Sixty-three percent of respondents cited total infrastructure cost as a problem, while 53 percent pointed to permitting delays.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Speak freely without censorship at the new decentralized, blockchain-power Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

The Xendee survey also highlighted other issues, such as supply chain disruptions, financing challenges, the need for fleet-adequate solutions, engineering costs and inadequate software.

Car buyers reject Biden's EV mandate

These problems may take a long time to be addressed, especially now that the progress of the $7.5 billion budget for millions of nationwide EV charging station networks has been slow due to supply chain issues, financing difficulties and technical hurdles such as grid capacity constraints.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) sought federal funds to build stations along interstates, hoping to attract EV-driving tourists despite having fewer than 800 registered EVs. However, the federal government's one-size-fits-all approach proved problematic.

Federal guidelines required stations to be placed at specific intervals, which didnt align with WYDOT's vast stretches of open road. The request for exemptions was largely denied, leading to months of negotiations. Eventually, they agreed on 17 stations for $24 million over five years. Despite this, the low EV traffic means the stations are unlikely to be profitable once the funding ends.

Other states report similar issues, including meeting electricity demands, filling funding gaps and adhering to buy American requirements. Michigan, for instance, needs $134,000 per plug-in port, meaning its $110 million federal funding will cover only about 800 fast chargers, a fraction of the 10,000 promised by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by 2030.

As a result, Biden's ambitious plan to transition Americans to EVs has faced numerous hurdles. Despite mandates from several states to phase out gas-powered vehicle sales, consumer interest remains tepid. Dealerships struggling to sell EVs and automakers have scaled back EV transition plans after significant financial losses.

"We have seen a lot of Americans of all stripes reject EV mandates. They don't want to get EVs, and the manufacturers are now responding to consumer lack of interest," said Gabriella Hoffman, director of the Center for Energy and Conservation at Independent Women's Forum.

Head over to FlyingCars.news for more stories about EVs.

Watch this clip from Fox News Digital about an EV owner denouncing the push for all-electric cars as "foolish."

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Trudeaus EV mandate could COLLAPSE Canadas power grid, study concludes.

In appeal to auto workers, Trump warns that Bidens EV mandates will lead to fewer well-paying jobs.

EVs are much heavier than their gas-powered counterparts, making their tires degrade faster while tearing up roads.

EVs chew through tires at a shocking rate  producing mountains of excess rubber tire waste.

EV COLLAPSE: Automakers are scaling back and delaying their EV plans as consumer demand wanes.

Sources include:

JusttheNews.com 1

JusttheNews.com 2
Robot civil servant in South Korea commits suicide

A civil servant robot in South Korea's North Gyeongsang province committed "suicide" by hurling itself down a flight of stairs

The robotic assistant was reportedly employed as an administrative officer in the city of Gumi in North Gyeongsang. On June 26, the Gumi City Council announced that the robot had ostensibly deactivated itself.

An official with the city council recalled that a week prior, the robot had been seen "spinning in one place as if something was wrong" before falling two meters from the top of a staircase. "Parts of the robot have been collected and will be analyzed by the manufacturer," the official added.

California-based startup Bear Robotics made the robotic assistant, which was assigned to an administrative role at the council last August. It worked transporting documents around the city hall, assisting visitors and promoting the city. Unlike most robots confined to a single floor, the robot could call an elevator and move between floors on its own.

The now-deactivated robot worked from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and even had its civil service officer card. Following its demise, the city council said there are no plans to adopt a replacement for it as of writing.

Officials, media mourn "death" of Gumi's robot civil servant

"It was officially a part of the city hall, one of us. It worked diligently," said another city official. Local media outlets also picked up on the incident, running headlines with questions such as "Why did the diligent civil officer do it?" and "Was work too hard for the robot?"

Social media has also been abuzz with reactions ranging from poignant tributes to the fallen robot to serious discussions about the ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI) sentience and the potential for robot suffering. One user went against the grain, expressing in a post their hopes that the robot "rests in peace." (Related: 99.9% CHANCE: Top scientist predicts AI wipeout of humanity.)

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

South Korea is one of the most enthusiastic users of robots globally. According to the International Federation of Robotics, the country has one industrial robot for every 10 employees.

While local media has touted the incident as the first-ever robot suicide in South Korea, it was not the first in the world. The Gumi City Council robot's demise was preceded by a 2017 incident in Washington, D.C. involving Steve the security robot.

Steve reportedly drowned in a decorative water fountain after five steps in, with pictures of it laying on its side making the rounds on social media. Users also put in their two cents on the incident at the time, "triggering a wave of gallows humor questioning the preciousness of artificial life" as per Russia Today.

However, it was later found that the Steve robot's demise wasn't because of a "glitch" that made it self-delete. The security robot's black box data indicated that it had slipped on a "loose brick surface" that led it to plunging into the water fountain.

Head over to Robots.news for more similar stories.

Watch this video about humanoid robots in Japan that can detect if customers are wearing face masks.

This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Russia unveils new ANTI-DRONE ROBOT named Wall-E.

Desperate White House claims all videos of Biden acting clueless are DEEP FAKES.

Smart meter REFUGEES in New Mexico try to stop the technology from entering the state, citing human health and wildlife impacts.

Polish government claims two Russian groups actively engaging in cyberattacks against Poland.

Big Tech partners with WEF to implement Global Coalition for Digital Safety scheme for world domination.

Sources:

RT.com

Brighteon.com
Scientist to receive $687,000 settlement after being fired for refusing COVID-19 vaccine

A scientist who was fired from her job at a health insurance provider because she did not submit to the company's Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine mandate over religious grounds has been awarded almost $687,000 in a landmark settlement.

The federal jury has awarded Tanja Benton, 52, $177,240 in back pay, $10,000 in compensation and $500,000 in punitive damages, according to a document made public by the federal court in eastern Tennessee on June 30.

Benton had worked as a biostatistical research scientist for 16 years when she was terminated by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBST) in November 2022, at a time when many companies were mandating staff receive the vaccine to go back to work.

In August 2021, BCBST told her that she would need to be "fully vaccinated" to keep her position, according to her lawsuit. Benton refused because of the use of aborted fetal cell lines in the development of the COVID-19 vaccines, and she could not "in good conscience consume the vaccine, which would not only defile her body but also anger and dishonor God."

The health insurance firm claimed that since her position involved "regular external public-facing interactions," she needed to take the vaccine. While Benton said her position became fully remote in 2020, the company said it would have involved some in-person interaction with clients.

She was then told to pursue other positions within the company and applied for two. But she was fired on Nov. 4, 2021, Five days later, she received an email which said that, "Unfortunately, all positions require the vax now."

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Speak freely without censorship at the new decentralized, blockchain-power Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, presented with the case, cleared Benton to sue her former employer. She sued her former employer for violating the Tennessee Human Rights Act, which bars discrimination by employers at the state level.

Her lawsuit charged that BCBST violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which says an employer may not "discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment" because of that person's religion. Employers can disregard religious exemption requests if they can prove accommodating them would create an undue hardship.

BCBST was not able to "prove that allowing Plaintiff to continue her employment as a Bio Statistical Research Scientist without being vaccinated for COVID-19 constitutes an undue hardship," the suit stated. The company "also cannot show that it made any good-faith efforts to accommodate plaintiff's sincerely held religious beliefs."

Meanwhile, Dalya Qualls White, BCBST's chief communications officer told The Epoch Times in an email that they were disappointed by the decision.

"We believe our vaccine requirement was the best decision for our employees and members, and we believe our accommodation to the requirement complied with the law. We appreciate our former employees service to our members and communities throughout their time with our company," Qualls said.

City employee's COVID-19 vaccine mandate lawsuit moved to federal court

More than three years after the emergency use authorization was granted to Big Pharma and the federal authorities to administer the inadequately tested COVID-19 vaccines, employees who were fired for applying for religious exemptions to dodge the mandate are now winning lawsuits. (Related: Employers that mandated COVID-19 injections for workers can be held LIABLE for vaccine injuries, Australian court rules.)

In Encinitas, Southern California, a former city employee's lawsuit, claiming wrongful termination after the city refused to grant him a religious exemption, has been moved to federal court.

Former city environmental project manager Scott Vurbeff seeks damages and lawyer fees for numerous allegations, including religious discrimination and retaliation. Vurbeff was fired after more than 20 years of employment following the city's implementation of a policy requiring all employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.

Natalie Price, an attorney at Burke, Williamson and Sorenson law firm, filed a June 13 notice of removal on behalf of the city in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California.

A city spokesperson declined to comment on the litigation. During an October 2021 interview regarding the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for another story, the city stated that "exemption requests are governed under state law and the city followed the state law," and "the city does not release the status of religious or medical exemption requests to protect employee privacy rights."

According to the complaint, Vurbeff worked as a city employee at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting Dec. 11, 2020, Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine was publicly available under emergency use authorization and by mid-2021, vaccination policies were being implemented nationwide.

In June 2021, Encinitas required all employees to show proof of vaccination or wear masks. Two days after the FDA approved the COVID-19 vaccine, City Manager Pamela Antil implemented an administrative policy on Aug. 25, 2021, establishing workplace protocols requiring all city employees to get vaccinated or present weekly negative tests.

Visit Pandemic.news for more stories about other public health mandates.

Watch the video below where podcaster Bret Weinstein spoke with military whistleblowers about the adverse costs of military vaccine mandates.

This video is from the TruthParadigm channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Connecticut claims religious exemptions to mandatory child vaccinations somehow pose a threat to public health.

Report finds U.S. military violated rules in handling COVID-19 vaccine mandate exemption requests.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoes bill protecting employees from bosses who refuse to grant COVID-19 vaccine mandate exemptions.

Canadian military officials hesitated to lift COVID-19 vaccine mandate for service members because it would hurt their "credibility."

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

DocumentCloud.org [PDF]

TheCoastNews.com

Brighteon.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. The international support to Azerbaijan in addressing mine problem was discussed during a business trip of the delegation led by Chairman of the Board of Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA) Vugar Suleymanov to Belgium on July 4-5, a source in the agency told Trend.

The delegation held a meeting with representatives of the European Union (EU) and UN Development Program (UNDP), as well as with ambassadors of a number of EU member states and diplomats.

The main purpose of the meeting held on July 4 with representatives of COEST (the Council of the EU working group on Eastern Europe and Central Asia) was to discuss the mine problem in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan, efforts to address it, as well as current and future opportunities for international cooperation.

The meeting, held on July 5 at the UN headquarters in Brussels, was jointly organized by the Azerbaijani Embassy in Belgium and the UN Brussels Office.

He pointed out that addressing the problem of mines and other explosive remnants of war, which pose a serious threat to the development of the region, human life and health, and the environment, requires collective efforts and strong partnerships. Suleymanov expressed gratitude to the EU, UN and states providing support to Azerbaijan, emphasizing the importance of sustained and widespread support given the scale of the mine problem.

The meeting highlighted the significant role of the International Center of Excellence and Training for Mine Action in Azerbaijan, envisaged to be created with the support of UNDP and the EU, in the exchange of best practices on a global scale.

Droneport was visited to study Belgium's experience in using drones for mapping and exploration of minefields," the source added.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
SEWAGE from Mexico forces closure of San Diego beaches

Several beaches in San Diego have been ordered closed after sewage from Mexico caused dangerously high levels of bacteria to proliferate in the open waters.

Health officials in the city issued an updated caution and closure list, owing to sewage from the Mexican city of Tijuana. Water contact closures have been ordered for the Silver Strand Shoreline, Imperial Beach Shorelines and Tijuana Slough Shoreline along the United States-Mexico border. The following areas received advisories: La Jolla, Children's Pool, Coronado, Coronado Lifeguard Tower, Ocean Beach, Dog Beach, the San Diego River exit, Mission Bay, North Cove and Vacation Isle.

Large yellow caution signs have been posted on the sand at Imperial Beach, which holds the unsavory title of being the countrys dirtiest.

Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre and Terra Lawson-Remer, vice chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, announced plans to seek state and federal assistance to address the citys century-old sewage problem.

"We need our state and federal governments to declare a state of emergency. Our community deserves clean air and clean water, and we will not rest until this is resolved," said Aguirre. Lawson-Remer also mentioned that city and county authorities will pursue "additional funding and support to discuss the public and economic impacts of the sewage crisis."

Surfrider Foundation: California home to 3 of the most polluted beaches

According to a study by researchers from San Diego State University, heavy metals, harmful compounds and germs found in the water are being discharged into the atmosphere and stored in the soil. This discovery appears to line up with a discovery by the San Clemente, California-based nonprofit Surfrider Foundation.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

Surfrider pointed out that the Golden State has three of the most polluted beaches in the country. The advocacy network stumbled upon this finding after it tested thousands of water samples collected from 567 sites nationwide. Of this 567, 64 percent of samples analyzed included at least one sample with dangerous bacteria levels.

A quarter of the samples collected came from California, with three of the state's beaches ranking among the 10 most polluted.

Every sample from Imperial Beach  100 percent  contained bacteria levels surpassing the state's health requirement for recreational waterways. This was followed by Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica, where more than half of samples collected by the foundation contained dangerous bacteria levels. Lastly, 35 percent of samples collected from the mouth of the San Luis Obispo Creek in the eponymous city and county had elevated bacteria counts.

But even without testing, residents themselves experience the first-hand effects of pollution in the beaches. Resident Shannon Johnson said in March that she and her children no longer visit the beach. Despite this, her children remain exposed to the terrible odor from the beach as they attend school along the river valley.

Another resident said "it's not just the water" that's malodorous, as the bad smell also flies into the air  adding to their frustration. A third resident described the odor as "similar to being locked in a toilet," with its intensity waking them up at night. The third resident sent a letter to city officials demanding urgent action on the matter. (Related: DON'T INHALE: Sewage from Tijuana is leaching into the air, water around San Diego.)

Head over to Pollution.news for similar stories.

Watch this video about how pollution spreads and reaches America's beaches.

This video is from the Surviving Hard Times channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Geoengineering project in California may cause heatwaves in Europe, scientists warn.

STUDY: Hazardous chemicals from East Palestine train derailment spread across 16 US states while the EPA covered it up.

Pollution from pharmaceuticals and personal care products is wiping out freshwater ecosystems; testing criteria dont account for ecological disruption.

Study: Soft drink giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi are the TOP 2 brands that contribute to global PLASTIC POLLUTION.

Recycling plastic turns out to be WORSE for the environment than just throwing it away recycling SPREADS microplastics pollution.

Sources include:

GreatGameIndia.com

Brighteon.com
Supreme Court ruling downgraded January 6 from insurrection to trespassing, says legal expert

Supporters of Donald Trump who' stormed' the United States Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, are not guilty of committing insurrection after the Supreme Court effectively downgraded the accusations to mere trespassing.

The highest court in the land decided in Fischer v. U.S. that the "Department of Justice had taken too broad a view of [18 U.S.C.] 1512(c)(2), a law that prohibits destruction of evidence but was not intended for protests," meaning those pushing the insurrection narrative no longer have a leg on which to stand.

While there is a federal insurrection statute found in 18 U.S.C. 2383, very few, if any, J6ers were ever charged under it. The most serious charge they faced was obstructing an official proceeding by destroying or hiding documents meant for use in the proceeding, this under Section 1512(c)(2).

"Unless the defendants could be shown to have interfered with the delivery of documents to Congress, they could not be prosecuted under the statute  as hundreds of people, including former President Donald Trump, have been," one report explains.

According to constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley, who wrote a lengthy op-ed piece for The Hill, the SCOTUS ruling will have a massive impact on the hundreds of court cases currently in motion pertaining to January 6.

"The Fischer opinion will bring an end to a minority of cases that were based entirely on the charge under 1512(c)(2)," Turley writes. "The section had been enacted after the Enron scandal in 2001 with the collapse of an energy company accused of corporate fraud. It was designed to allow criminal charges for the destruction of evidence in the form of documents and records."

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Speak freely without censorship at the new decentralized, blockchain-power Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

"The Justice Department chose to interpret that provision to broadly include any obstruction of any legal proceeding, and then used it in hundreds of Jan. 6 cases. At least a quarter of the prosecutions included this charge. Most also included other charges, including trespass and unlawful entry. A small number involved serious offenses like violence against officers and an even smaller number involved charges for 'seditious conspiracy.'"

(Related: The January 6 victims who were brutalized by law enforcement are suing Eric Waldo, described as the "highest ranking officer on J6.")

Biden's DOJ engaged in political witch hunt against J6ers

Turley is convinced the decision proves that Biden's DOJ pursued wrongful prosecutions with its obstruction charges. DOJ official Michael Sherwin basically admitted this in a television interview when he said that his agency "wanted to ensure that there was shock and awe."

"It worked because we saw through media posts that people were afraid to come back to D.C. because they're, like, 'If we go there, we're gonna get charged,'" Sherwin added. "We wanted to take out those individuals that essentially were thumbing their noses at the public for what they did."

The ruling also affects Special Counsel Jack Smith's four-charge crusade against Donald Trump and his involvement in the January 6 fiasco. With the backing of Judge Tanya Chutkan, Smith is accusing the former president of:

1) Obstruction of an official proceeding

2) Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding

3) Conspiracy to defraud the United States

4) Conspiracy against rights

Based on the SCOTUS decision, at least half of the indictments against Trump will be dropped as Smith pursues a superseding indictment.

"The Capitol security people invited the mob inside," one commenter noted about the suspicious false flag nature of the J6 incident. "They had cameras set up to capture the fake insurrection as well."

"The whole thing was staged by Pelosi, Schiff, Schumer and AOC. FBI agents led the mob and directed most of the activity."

More related news can be found at Tyranny.news.

Sources for this article include:

Breitbart.com

TheHill.com

NaturalNews.com
The ATF has resumed openly murdering Americans

Many people who know anything about the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE, or ATF for short) will know they started off as a harmless tax collecting agency that eventually turned into a law enforcement agency in its own right . In other words, they evolved from a bunch of glorified robbers with mechanical calculators and spreadsheets into a gang of violent thugs with guns and badges. This transformation became obvious to the world in the famous Ruby Ridge (1992) and Waco (1993) incidents, both having had heavy ATF involvement and with the latter event culminating in an open massacre of the Branch Davidians that included women and children.

(Article republished from Mises.org)

Later as they have cooled their trigger fingers, the ATFs side gig of deliberately allowing guns to flow into Mexico for tracking purposes was exposed in the Fast and Furious scandal after two of these guns turned up near the scene of the killing of Brian Terry, a border patrol officer, in 2010 (a whole of lot of good this tracking did).

In more recent years, ATFs favorite pastime has been to send several car-loads worth of thugs LARPing with full tactical gear to raid and intimidate American licensed gun dealers for supposed infractions of federal firearms laws and confiscate their property. Jim Skelton had his business raided in 2021 after a federal entrapping weasel lied on the federal background check forms and successfully purchased several firearms (a whole lot of good this background check did). Russell Fincher was raided at his home in 2023, one of the reasons being that he sold firearms without a Federal Firearms License (FFL), even though he had one. He was yelled at, threatened, and ultimately intimidated into giving up his license.

However, lately the ATF must have been having the blues and reminiscing about the good ol days when they could get some solid trigger time on some innocent Americans instead of just yelling at them and stealing their stuff, because just a couple of months ago they raided the home of Bryan Malinowski and shot and killed him.

Malinowski, executive director of the Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, was an avid gun collector and would frequent gun shows to buy and sell firearms with other private individuals, which is completely legal and does not require an FFL. His frequent buying and selling of guns prompted the ATF to consider him as engaging in the business of selling firearms and therefore violating a federal law by not having an FFL (what the actual threshold is, nobody knows). They thus obtained a search warrant and proceeded to serve it in the most dangerous way possible.

Even though they knew his workplace, work schedule, and phone number, they showed up at Malinowskis house completely unannounced over an hour before sunrise, covered up the doorbell camera, cut their electricity, and then loudly banged on his door before breaking it down while Malinowski and his wife were asleep. The ATF deliberately created a situation in which any reasonable person would assume his home is being invaded by a gang of violent thugs (which was true in this case, but with the caveat that they had badges) and would be legally and morally justified in taking appropriate self-defense measures by shooting the intruders, which Malinowski did. One ATF agent was hit, but the gang (of which there were roughly ten carloads) returned fire, hitting Malinowski in the head. Naturally they confiscated a bunch of his property afterward.

Just recently a Congressional hearing was held regarding the ATF raid, in which members of Congress engaged in the usual partisan theatrics for our amusement in front of some cameras. One Stacy Plaskett (D-VI) took the opportunity to rant about Donald Trump and mass shootings (totally relevant to the ATF raid). Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) argued that the ATF was being over-zealous with its recent increased rate of revocations of FFLs (as if some ideal amount of zealousness exists in enforcing a ridiculous and pointless licensing scheme).

Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) expressed his anger that they were criticizing the ATF because they retaliated with deadly force after someone shot an ATF agent (who at the time was a violent intruder). Rep. Debbie Schultz (D-FL), remarked that there are far too many loopholes when buying a gun (like when entrapping weasels lie on federal background check forms) and then later said isnt it true that clerical errors can often be serious problems that cause guns to fall into a criminals hands? (like when the ATF itself let a bunch of guns fall into criminals hands in Mexico).

Later in a separate hearing with ATF Director Steven Dettelbach, Jordan put Dettelbachs feet to the proverbial (special effects) fire by questioning him about the policy of federal officers while executing search warrants to have body cameras on, which were distinctly missing in the Malinowski incident. Dettelbach replied that because the policy had a phased implementation, only about a third of all ATF agents had them (The policy was only over 20 months old at the time; give them a break!). Of course, when the ATF issues its various arbitrary and capricious rulings, such as the infamous bump-stock, pistol-brace, and frame-definition rules, we common plebs must obviously comply immediately or face the prospect of federal charges, while the ATF itself can take its sweet time to implement something as novel and intricate as body cameras! How convenient it must be to be the enforcer of ones own rules.

In the end, I think the ATF is unlikely to face any consequences of note for breaking into an innocent Americans house and murdering him. It is noteworthy that the Malinowski raid, which was premised on the excuse that he was considered an unlicensed gun dealer, took place roughly two months before a new rule was to go into effect (it has been stayed as of this writing). This rule clarifies who is to be considered as engaging in the business as a gun dealer. However, in typical government fashion, the only thing that is really clarified is the fact that the ATF intends to further confuse the public and exercise increasingly arbitrary power to terrorize and prosecute American gun owners. There is really only one remedy. Abolish the ATF.

Read more at: Mises.org
Trump moves to overturn Manhattan conviction following SCOTUS immunity ruling

Former President Donald Trump has moved to overturn his conviction by a Manhattan jury following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.

Lawyers for the former president sought to file a motion to set aside the verdict in a letter to Judge Juan Merchan. The letter, which was sent hours after the federal high court issued the decision, sought to suspend the verdict while the acting justice of the New York State Supreme Court is considering whether the federal high court's decision affects the conviction.

The U.S. Supreme Court's July 1 decision states that prosecutors may not charge a president for official acts. It also states that prosecutors cannot cite evidence involving official acts that affect other accusations. However, the immunity ruling does not apply to actions done in an unofficial capacity.

ZeroHedge pointed out that Trump's attempt to overturn his felony conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records "might be a long shot"  given the fact that the case pushed by Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Alvin Bragg revolves around acts Trump took while he was a candidate, not as president. But the New York Times (NYT) argued that Trump's lawyers are likely to argue that "prosecutors partially built their case using evidence from his time in office."

The independent outlet also pointed out that Merchan may also decline the request by Trump's lawyers as the deadline for filing post-trial motions ended last month. Instead, the judge may instruct the former president's legal team to raise the issue when they appeal the conviction post-sentencing.

Human knowledge is under attack! Governments and powerful corporations are using censorship to wipe out humanity's knowledge base about nutrition, herbs, self-reliance, natural immunity, food production, preparedness and much more. We are preserving human knowledge using AI technology while building the infrastructure of human freedom. Use our decentralized, blockchain-based, uncensorable free speech platform at Brighteon.io. Explore our free, downloadable generative AI tools at Brighteon.AI. Support our efforts to build the infrastructure of human freedom by shopping at HealthRangerStore.com, featuring lab-tested, certified organic, non-GMO foods and nutritional solutions.

According to the NYT, Merchan faces an "unprecedented conundrum" with massive legal and political ramifications. It added: "Imprisoning Trump would drop-kick a hornet's nest, while sparing [the former president] from prison would immediately draw the wrath of vengeful Democrats who say [the magistrate] gave Trump special treatment."

Merchan delays Trump sentencing to September

The NYT continued: "While there's no requirement that Trump be sentenced to time behind bars, Merchan could sentence him to months or several years in prison  or he could be sentenced to home confinement or probation. [The judge] could also postpone any sentence until after the election, or after Trump serves another term in office, should be he reelected." (Related: Prison officials readying potential DETENTION FACILITIES for Trump following hush money trial conviction.)

True enough, Merchan agreed to delay Trump's sentencing by two months. From the original July 11 date, the sentencing was moved to Sept. 18 "if such is still necessary" given the high court ruling.

Bragg's office also acknowledged the U.S. Supreme Court decision and agreed to a delay in Trump's sentencing. "Although we believe (the) defendant's arguments to be without merit, we do not oppose his request," the letter penned by four Manhattan assistant DAs stated.

Meanwhile, Trump's other criminal cases have been largely derailed or otherwise postponed. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon pushed back his trial concerning mishandling classified documents, while the Georgia Court of Appeals ordered Trump's election interference case in the Peach State to be put on hold until after the November elections.

Special Counsel Jack Smith was behind the classified documents case, while Fulton County DA Fani Willis was in charge of the election interference case. Trump challenged the prosecutors in both cases  arguing that Smith did not have the authority to bring the case and pointing to Willis' conflicts of interest and breaches of ethics.

Head over to Trump.news for more stories about the former president's legal battles.

Watch attorney Julian Epstein predicting that Trump's Manhattan conviction will be overturned on appeal in the clip below.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Judge Merchan eases GAG ORDER on Trump, allowing him to comment on jurors and witnesses.

GA Court of Appeals puts Fani Willis election interference case ON HOLD until after November elections.

Jack Smith's indictments of President Trump are ill-founded and unconstitutional, judicial clerk explains why.

Donald Trump found GUILTY on all 34 charges in blatantly rigged New York trial, could be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Supreme Court says Trump, other former presidents immune from criminal prosecution for official acts  but NOT unofficial acts.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

Brighteon.com
Watch: Prominent Democrat donor unleashes on Biden; were in f**k city

(Article by Steve Watson republished from Modernity.news)

Ari Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavor, which owns the UFC and WWE, made the comments during the Aspen Ideas Festival, noting that Biden said he was gonna run for one term and he was doing it to restore democracy. He now runs for a second term. Thats the first bit of malarkey, as he would say.

NEW: Hollywood Democratic megadonor Ari Emanuel torches President Joe Biden I talked to a bunch of big donors, and they're moving all their money to Congress and the Senate. "He gave us a bunch of malarkey, and I'm really pissed. We all should be really pissed." "He is not pic.twitter.com/mKF8VuDVxz  KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) July 3, 2024

Emanuel continued, His cohorts have told us that hes healthy for over a year, and I think it was two weeks ago, there was an article in the Wall Street Journal.

I had a father who died at 92 but at 81, I took away his car. Its a very simple test for me. If you were driving from downtown Beverly Hills to Malibu, would you want Biden to do it at night? he further posited.

Emanuel further charged that Biden is telling us malarkey, his people are telling us malarkey, and were in a very bad problem.

Then came the kicker.

I talked to a bunch of big donors, and theyre moving all their money to Congress and the Senate, the CEO stated, adding He gave us a bunch of malarkey, and Im really pissed. We all should be really pissed.

He is not the candidate anymore. This is a legal issue now, Emanuel insisted, adding that removing Biden is tricky legally in some states, and suggesting that it could be done if the campaign money dries up.

Emanuel concluded by declaring Its a legal issue now but were in fuck city.

Another prominent donor, Netflixs billionaire co-founder Reed Hastings, has also called for Biden to drop out of the race, telling the New York Times that Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous.

Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix, told the New York Times that President Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous. Hastings and his wife have donated more than $20 million to Democrats in recent years. pic.twitter.com/Eis98ab278  Scripps News (@scrippsnews) July 4, 2024

As we highlighted earlier, the Times has also reported that Biden told a key ally that he may be forced to drop out of the race if upcoming appearances do not go well.

Read more at: Modernity.news
Scientists from Australia and Indonesia have found the oldest known example of figurative cave art on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

At least 51,200 years old, the painting featuring three human-like figures and a wild pig predates the previous oldest cave art by more than 5,000 years.

Storytelling In Art

The researchers employed a new scientific method to ascertain the minimum age of the recently revealed painting inside the Leang Karampuang cave in the South Sulawesi province's Maros-Pangkep region.

They did this by dating a particular kind of crystal called calcium carbonate that spontaneously formed on top of the painting using a laser.

According to Maxime Aubert, the study's co-author and specialist in archaeological science at Griffith University in Australia, the method represents a significant step forward from current methods and has the potential to be a game changer in rock art dating worldwide.

A 36-by-15-inch (92 by 38 cm) pig standing straight with three smaller humanoid figures dominates a single tone of dark red color in the painting. There are additional pictures of pigs inside the cave

It looks as though the largest figure among human figures there holds onto a staff, stretching out its two arms. On the other hand, the second figure looks smaller compared to the first and it seems to have its head near the snout while holding some type of staff whose one end may touch the pig's throat. Besides, the last humanoid seems to have been turned upside down; its legs are open wide and it is lying flat facing towards the sky; with its palm touching the pig head.

According to the scholars, the painting represents the first known instance of storytelling in art history, since it depicts a narrative scene.

"The three human-like figures and the pig figure were clearly not depicted in isolation in separate parts of the rock art panel," said Griffith University archeologist Adam Brumm, another of the study leaders.

Read Also: Oldest Pig Painting 45,500 Years Ago Found Carved Inside a Cave in Indonesia

Oldest Cave Painting

The names of the artists who were behind the creation of the Sulawesi cave paintings are rarely disclosed. Aubert has said that these paintings' ages could easily precede the latest available data's lower limit - they might have been originated by Homo sapiens first appearing on our planet other than Africa, disperse through Sulawesi and finally land on Australia approximately 65 thousand years ago.

The cave art in Leang Tedongnge cave, also in Sulawesi, which dates back at least 45,500 years, is currently the oldest known cave painting.

According to the experts, the artwork at Leang Karampuang predates European cave paintings, the oldest of which is located at El Castillo in Spain and dates back around 40,800 years.

A hand stencil painting from the Maltravieso cave in Spain has been linked to Neanderthals by some scientists, who date it to approximately 64,000 years ago. Some scientists contend that the painting was made by Homo sapiens and have questioned the mural's age.

Experts said that the fact that extremely ancient cave paintings have been found in Indonesia serves as further evidence that cave art did not originate in Europe, as was previously believed.

Additionally, it implies that storytelling was a far more ancient aspect of human history than was previously thought, particularly the history of art.

Related Article: Climate Change is Slowly Erasing and Ancient Indonesian Cave's Rock Art




Dengue fever is a deadly viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes to humans. The illness is known as a deadly disease that can manifest symptoms like flu along with severe headache, skin rash, muscle pain and joint pain, vomiting, and other health complications. If left untreated, a person infected by the dengue virus, which belongs to the family Flaviviridae, can potentially die from internal bleeding or organ failure.

For decades, dengue outbreaks have been reported in multiple countries worldwide, including in the tropical and sub-tropical parts of the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. In terms of transmission, the mosquito-borne disease is passed into humans through the bites of vectors like the Aedes aegypti mosquito. These insects thrive in relatively warm temperatures, as well as stagnant water.

Recently, Florida health authorities issued a "mosquito alert" as a health warning due to a potential dengue outbreak in the Sunshine State. The alert was preceded by the recording of at least two dengue fever infections in the Florida Keys. Aside from the alert, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also warned the public of deadly diseases across the Americas.

Florida Mosquito Alert

Due to the emerging threat posed by dengue fever, Florida health authorities recently issued a mosquito alert following the confirmed dengue cases in the Florida Keys, it was reported on Thursday, July 4. In its issued press releases in from April to June 2024, the Florida Department of Health issued a "mosquito-borne illness alert" for the following counties:

Monroe County on June 29

Holmes County on June 28

Hillsborough County on June 22

Pasco County on April 29

Nassau county on May 20

Under the alert, there will be monitoring of cases in the affected Florida counties to mitigate or prevent the spread of dengue infections. In other states across the US, related dengue cases were reported before in Arizona, California, and Texas.

Also Read: Climate Change is Making Dengue Deadlier as Mosquito-Borne Illnesses Spike Worldwide

Dengue Fever Symptoms and Cases

Dengue fever, as mentioned earlier, can be a deadly disease if early detection or medical attention is not given to a patient infected with the dengue virus. According to the Cleveland Clinic, most dengue infections do not manifest symptoms. However, if they do, below are some of the following signs to look out for:

Bone, muscle, and joint pain

Nausea or vomiting

Intense pain behind the eyes

Rash

In addition, dengue fever symptoms can appear as early as four to 10 days from the initial mosquito bite and last for three to seven days. While some people survive dengue infections, there are cases when the disease called "severe dengue" or "dengue hemorrhagic fever" becomes life-threatening, according to the clinic.

According to the CDC, the US so far has reported a total of 2,391 dengue cases in 45 jurisdictions nationwide as of 2024. The figure is expected to increase in the coming months.

Related Article: Bangladesh Dengue Outbreak: Over 300 People Dead as Infection Spreads Nationwide
Vampire squids are rare in nature since they can be found in the Twilight Zone, a layer of the ocean across Earth where sunlight cannot reach. This zone has an elevation of 200-1,000 meters below the ocean surface. The habitat of the vampire squid is cold and dark, but this small cephalopod has adapted to the extreme conditions of the deep sea. To adapt to the void-like environment, these organisms have evolved to emit light, in a process called bioluminescence.

Recently, a new vampire squid species has been discovered by scientists in the deep water off the island province of Hainan, China, according to a study earlier in May 2024. This never-before-seen marine animal has been named, Vampyroteuthis pseudoinfernalis after it was discovered by scientists in the South China Sea back in 2016.

The new marine species was spotted approximately 800-1,000 meters below the surface of the ocean.

What is a Vampire Squid?

Contrary to popular belief, the vampire squid is not an actual squid despite its designated name and it is not the blood-sucking vampires portrayed in movies and mythology.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium confirms that the gentle scavenger is not a squid but rather a unique sea creature of its cephalopod order. This confusion stems from the history of vampire squids being misclassified for the past century.

Following its discovery in 1903, researchers initially thought that the vampire squid was an octopus due to its appearance resembling the tentacled animal. However, it was concluded that the Twilight Zone creature was neither a squid nor an octopus. Instead, it is part of a different animal group due to its unique gelatinous body with eight appendages connected by webbing, according to scientists.

Also Read: Scientists Discover Vampire Squid's Unique Reproductive Strategy

New Vampire Squid Species Discovered

For over a century, the scientific community thought that vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) was the only extant species under the family Vampyroteuthidae. Yet, research findings in recent years show there could be a second species of the unique cephalopods. In May 2024, scientists revealed the discovery of a new vampire squid species in the South China Sea, their findings were published in the journal BioRxiv.

The research team, led by the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, reported the second species of Vampyroteuthis is different from V. infernalis in terms of morphological features. Before the discovery, the team acknowledged collected specimens from Africa, California, and the Gulf of Guinea, suggesting the possibility of an additional taxa of the unique sea creatures.

The May 2024 study not only confirms additional species of vampire squids but also strengthens previous theories that science has not yet fully explored Earth's oceans. These hypotheses postulate that there are hidden creatures out there waiting to be discovered by humans, especially within and beyond the Twilight Zone.

Related Article: A New Species of Extinct Vampire-squid-Like Mollusk Has 10 Functioning Limbs, Making It the First of Its Type
Conservation areas have been defined as a type of national wildlife refuge or an area of land protected by law. This means animals can live safely in these sites which cannot be replaced by land expansion or constructed infrastructure. Such measure aims to conserve and protect local animal populations, especially for endangered and threatened species, which can prevent the 6th mass extinction of life.

For decades, conservationists and climate scientists have recorded a significant correlation between the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, or destruction. Due to this threat, various groups and institutions have focused on protecting a large number of conservation areas.

However, a new study proposed that a small number of these areas need protection to prevent the next extinction event.

Conservation Areas

In the study published in the journal Frontiers in Science on June 25, researchers calculated that only 16,825 or 1.2% conservation areas are only needed protection to prevent the extinction of thousands of species in contemporary times. This figure is in contrast to "ambitious biodiversity goals" of protecting at least 30% of Earth's surface by the year 2030, according to the authors of the new research paper.

The study emphasizes that the world should focus its efforts on these conservation areas, where 80% of these sites are found in 30 countries. Meanwhile, 72% of these sites are concentrated in only 10 countries. Lastly, 33.3% of these sites are located in Brazil and the Philippines, according to a news release by the University of Minnesota which led the breakthrough research.

Also Read: Can Bringing Extinct Species to Life Affect Conservation of Other Species?

Mass Extinction Events

This proposed conservation method will potentially save certain species ahead of the possible or imminent species extinctions. With this in mind, conservation efforts are focused on preventing the complete annihilation of many animal species as of the 21st century, regardless of what the cause of the next mass extinction event will be.

Mass extinction events have occurred several times since Earth formed more than 4.5 billion years ago, decimating both flora and fauna species, as well as microorganisms. These events were caused by different forces relating to weather, climatic, geological, and even astronomical factors. The latter pertains to the Chicxulub asteroid that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs and most life on the planet around 66 million years ago.

Climate Change

While all these catastrophic phenomena happened in ancient Earth, it does not mean they will not recur in the future. Scientists projected that the previous five mass extinction events on the planet can be followed by a 6th apocalyptic event.

For decades, scientists and experts from various fields have pondered the idea as to how the next extinction event will happen. Proposed theories have ranged from deadly pandemics to nuclear wars, asteroid strikes, and global warming.

However, out of all these mentioned potential or imminent disasters, one catastrophe stands out among the rest: climate change. Unless concrete action is taken, the next mass extinction event will happen and it is likely to happen in the world's oceans, according to the Smithsonian Magazine.

Related Article: Scientists Call For Conservation of Sea Cows, Pillar Coral and Abalone Due to Threats of Extinction
Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. Transportation of Trans-Caspian resources will favor Europe's energy security, the Vice President of Turkiye Cevdet Yilmaz said today during an Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Shusha city, Trend reports.

"In the energy sector, the role of Turkic states, rich in resources and strategically located, is crucial. Together, we are successfully implementing large-scale energy and transport infrastructure projects that connect the East and the West. The projects we have carried out in this field with Azerbaijan are exemplary.

The transportation of Trans-Caspian resources, particularly Turkmen natural gas, to Turkiye and Europe will contribute to both our national well-being and Europe's energy security," he stated.

Yilmaz expressed satisfaction with the creation of an energy mechanism within the OTS framework.

"In this context, we support the development of joint projects. We are ready to share our experience, especially in renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and market regulation," the official added.

The summit, organized at the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, is attended by Secretary General of the OTS Kubanychbek Omuraliev, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Ersin Tatar, Vice President of Turkiye Cevdet Yilmaz, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban.

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New UK PM Starmer appoints cabinet, names country's first female Chancellor

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ew UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed his cabinet, making Angela Rayner the Deputy Prime Minister and Rachel Reeves the country's first female Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Starmer's cabinet included a record 11 women in the team of 25.

Meanwhile, Yvette Cooper was appointed Home Secretary, David Lammy was named Foreign Secretary and John Healey was appointed Defence Secretary.

Other appointments include Shabana Mahmood as Justice Secretary, Wes Streeting as Health Secretary, Bridget Phillipson as Education Secretary, and Ed Miliband as Energy Secretary.

In his first speech as Prime Minister at Downing Street on Friday, Starmer pledged to get the country's "struggling" healthcare system back on track, secure British borders, and attend to the need for schools and affordable homes.

"Our country has voted decisively for change and a return of politics to public service," he said.

However, "changing a country is not like flicking a switch", said Starmer, noting that the world has become "more volatile".

He said the work for change will begin immediately but will time.

The new Prime Minister highlighted his focus on things that "working-class families like mine can build their lives around".

"If I asked you now whether you believed that Britain will be better for your children, I know too many of you will say no -- and so my government will fight until you believe again," he said.

 New UK PM Starmer appoints cabinet, names country's first female Chancellor

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'Never Forget Tibet: The Dalai Lama's Untold Story' releases on His birthday

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s a mark of reverence on the 89th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama, an icon of ahimsa (non-violence) and karuna (compassion), on Saturday, Never Forget Tibet: The Dalai Lamas Untold Story was released worldwide.

The documentary, directed by Jean-Paul Mertinez, explores details of the Nobel Peace Laureates incredible escape into exile for the first time on film in his own words, with the Indian political officer who led him to safety -- late Havildar Mander Singh.

Featuring the Tibetan community in exile and those with historic ties to Tibet, the film explores the Dalai Lamas compassion for a world seemingly in crisis today and seeks to find out what can be learnt from his inspirational life story, Tibetan culture and its ancient spirituality.

Inspired by the book An Officer and His Holiness by Rani Singh, the film is narrated by British acting legend Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Paddington) and features music from Grammy-nominated artist Anoushka Shankar.

The film is produced by Compassionate Films and the Executive Producers are Templeheart Films, Lyndon Baldock, Gavin Patterson and Rani Singh.

The worldwide digital release has been made possible with the collaboration of The Italian Buddhist Union, Rome, Italy.

The feature-length documentary will be available on worlds leading streaming platforms, including Apple TV+, Amazon and Google Play.

In 1959, the occupying Chinese troops suppressed the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa and forced the 14th Dalai Lama and over 80,000 Tibetans into exile in India and neighbouring countries.

On reaching India after a three-week-long and treacherous journey, the Dalai Lama first took up residence for about a year in Mussoorie in Uttarakhand.

On March 10, 1960, just before moving to Dharamsala, which also serves as the headquarters of the exiled Tibetan establishment, the Dalai Lama said: For those of us in exile, I said that our priority must be resettlement and the continuity of our cultural traditions. We, Tibetans, would eventually prevail in regaining freedom for Tibet.

Currently, the government-in-exile is based in Dharamsala, a town in Himalayan foothills where a community of Tibetans lives in exile with the Dalai Lama, hoping to sustain their struggle to secure complete autonomy in their Chinese-ruled homeland, Tibet.

 'Never Forget Tibet: The Dalai Lama's Untold Story' releases on His birthday

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Kevin Bacon felt invisible going out in disguise to experience regular life

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ollywood actor Kevin Bacon stepped outside in disguise to experience life as a "regular person" and realised it is not fun without being recognised.

The 65-year-old actor shared his experience in a Vanity Fair article titled 'Kevin Bacon Spent a Day as a Regular Person'.

Bacon told the magazine: Im not complaining, but I have a face thats pretty recognisable."

"Putting my hat and glasses on is only going to work to a certain extent. I went to a special effects makeup artist, had consultations, and asked him to make me a prosthetic disguise," he added.

After wearing fake teeth, a new nose, and glasses, the actor headed to a shopping mall in Los Angeles and was initially thrilled, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Bacon said: Nobody recognised me.

However, Bacon soon regretted his decision.

The actor said: People were kind of pushing past me, not being nice. Nobody said, I love you'. I had to wait in line to, I dont know, buy a ******* coffee or whatever. I was like, this *****. I want to go back to being famous.

The actor revealed that he always wanted to be famous after seeing his father regularly getting recognised in public.

Bacon said: "In terms of giving credit to my parents, and of course, I give all the credit to them, my mother was very much on the artistic side and really encouraged acting."

"My brother was a musician, but in general, among the six of us (children), they both encouraged as much creativity as possible in everything -- dance, music, theatre, painting, sculpture, whatever. My father was famous in Philadelphia, which in some ways is a small pond, but for me, it was a big pond."

"I saw him get recognised by people when he would walk down the street, and seeing that was definitely a big driving force in my life. Frankly, I wanted to be more famous than him. And you can lay me down on the shrinks couch. We could talk about that for a while. But it was definitely a motivator," he added.

 Kevin Bacon felt invisible going out in disguise to experience regular life

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Unicef lauds Kerala's digital education model

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Unicef India study has lauded Kerala's digital education initiatives (Edtech) for serving as a model not just for other Indian states, but also for middle-income and developed countries.

The report titled "Empowering Adolescents with Future-Ready Skills - The Inspiring Story of Little KITEs", was released here on Saturday in the presence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, V. Sivankutty, Minister for General Education, besides others.

The study focused on the Little Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITEs) programme, the largest ICT network of students in India, implemented by KITE across 2,174 high schools in the state.

Kerala's KITE-led Edtech model is without relying on profit-driven vendors, both scalable and adaptable, making it valuable for other regions.

The study emphasises that choosing Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) over proprietary software has technological, economic, social and pedagogical benefits, as demonstrated by KITE's success.

The report notes that Kerala saved Rs 3,000 crore by using open-source software, and even Finland has expressed interest in replicating the little KITEs model.

Unicef study urges expanding little KITEs' time, reaching all high schools and higher secondary levels.

The report goes beyond commending Kerala's infrastructure, including the deployment of 9,000 robotic kits and Artificial Intelligence/Internet of Things training for little KITEs.

KITE is training 80,000 teachers in AI, making it a unique model in the country.

Little KITEs empower students to work independently in robotics and AI, transforming them from consumers of technology into designers and creators.

"It is evident that little KITEs is a well-sown seed in the fertile ground of Edtech in Kerala. It has grown rapidly and has promoted a wide range of students across the private school system to explore creativity and problem-solving, to connect school to life in innovative ways, and to architect safe digital futures," the study noted.

Akila Radhakrishnan, Social Policy Specialist with Unicef India, said the study identifies the little KITEs program as a truly unique FOSS-based Edtech intervention, and we are committed to sharing its success stories with other states and countries.

K. Anvar Sadath, CEO of KITE, said KITE seeks partnerships with UNICEF and others to bring little KITEs to new regions.

 Unicef lauds Kerala's digital education model

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Photo: Press Service of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan

SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. Kazakhstan will actively participate in COP29, the country's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said today during an Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Shusha city, Trend reports.

Kazakhstan is responsible for its obligations in the fight against climate change. We'll actively participate in COP29, which will be held in Baku in November this year, he stated.

Tokayev noted that an event to combat climate change will be held in Kazakhstan in 2026, expressing hope for the active participation of Turkic people.

This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 7080,000 foreign guests.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COPthe Conference of the Partiesis the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Germany's Berlin, with its secretariat in Bonn.

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New criminal laws not a welcome development: Amartya Sen

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obel laureate economist Amartya Sen said on Saturday that the three new criminal laws are not a welcome move since they were brought into practice without the necessary discussions.

The new criminal laws, Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively, with effect from July 1, 2024.

The discussions required for such constitutional amendments were not held in this case. The problem in Manipur is not the same as that in Madhya Pradesh. Such amendments can be passed in a hurry by virtue of numerical strength. "However, that does not mean that such changes are always welcome moves, Sen said while interacting with mediapersons on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Pratichi (India) Trust at Santiniketan in Birbhum district.

The noted economist also said that without a focus on education, the unemployment problem in India cannot be solved.

Unfortunately, not much stress is given to this area, he rued.

Commenting on the results of the recent Lok Sabha elections, Sen said that in the recent past, there were even discussions at the school level on how a 'Hindu Rashtra' can be established.

But it needs to be understood that the differences between two religious communities are not applicable in the case of children. So I think this tendency was prevented to an extent in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, Sen said.

 New criminal laws not a welcome development: Amartya Sen

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Budget 2024 Date: The Union Budget for the financial year 2024-25 will be presented in the Lok Sabha on July 23. The Budget Session of the Parliament will be held between July 22 and August 12.

Also Read: Budget 2024: Income Tax Standard Deduction For Salaried Employees May Rise To Rs 1 Lakh

Union Budget 2024 Date

Announcing the date, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju posted on X, Honble President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business).

Honble President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business). Union Budget, Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) July 6, 2024

Union Budget, 2024-25 will be presented in Lok Sabha on 23 July 2024, he announced.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the full budget of the new government. An interim budget was presented in the Parliament on February 1.

In her address to a joint sitting of Parliament, she had said major social and economic decisions will be a highlight of the budget.

This will be the first budget presented by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in its third term amid high anticipation following President Droupadi Murmus assertion that it will be marked by many historic steps.
Equity market returns for investors in the next three years will not be as good as the last three years, a senior official from Franklin Templeton MF said.

Its chief investment officer for emerging markets equity R Janakiraman, however, said that the returns will be respectable and outperform other asset classes.

Also Read: Are You A Mutual Fund Investor? Sebi Made Your Email ID More Important, Heres Why

The comments were made on Wednesday when the benchmark indices touched a new all-time high and come at a time when concerns are being raised about the high valuations in the equity market.

Janakiraman said market valuations are high because India is in the early stages of a growth phase, which will last nearly five years, and also sought to address the concerns of too much money chasing too few stocks.

Pointing to the high number of initial public offers lately, he said the newly listed companies are creating avenues to absorb the additional sums of money that are getting invested.

For the last few years, equity returns have been better than earnings growth in companies and the investors will have to be ready for it turning opposite now.

There will be respectable equity returns over the next three years. It will not be as good as the last three years but it will be better than other asset classes, news agency PTI quoted Janakiraman as saying.

However, as India grows more, we will see a lot of names in the small and midcap space gaining which underlines the importance of the segment for an investor, he said.

The asset managers president Avinash Satwalekar said Franklin Templeton crossed the Rs 1 lakh crore assets under management milestone around ten days ago again.

As of March, it was the 15th biggest asset manager in the country.

He also said that the company is mulling to launch multiple fixed-income funds in this quarter, but declined to spell out any details.

The multi-cap new fund offering will open on July 8 and close on July 22, and a single unit will be available for Rs 10.

(With PTI inputs)
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. COP29 will achieve progress on several climate issues, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov said today during an Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Shusha city, Trend reports.

We are pleased that Azerbaijan will host COP29. I am confident that this conference will provide an opportunity to make progress on several issues, including financing issues. Kyrgyzstan is also well aware of the problems in this area, he stated.

To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in Azerbaijan in November this year. The decision was made at the plenary meeting of COP28 held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Within two weeks, Baku, having become the center of the world, will host about 70,00080,000 foreign guests.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for Conference of Parties, which is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

A total of 198 countries are parties to the convention. Unless the parties have decided otherwise, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The RBI on Friday said it has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1.31 crore on Punjab National Bank for non-compliance with certain directions related to KYC and loans and advances.

The Reserve Bank said it conducted a statutory inspection of the bank concerning its financial position as on March 31, 2022.

Also Read: Bank Fixed Deposit Rates: From SBI, HDFC To PNB & ICICI Bank, Check Latest FD Rates

A notice was issued to the bank.

After considering the banks reply to the notice, RBI said it found that PNB sanctioned working capital demand loans to two state government-owned corporations against amounts receivable from the government by way of subsidies/ refunds/ reimbursements.

Also, the public sector lender failed to preserve the records about the identification of customers and their addresses obtained during business relationships in certain accounts, RBI said.

The central bank, however, added the penalty is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transactions or agreements entered into by the bank with its customers.

RBI Cancels Licence of Shimsha Sahakara Bank Niyamitha

In another development, RBI has cancelled the licence of Shimsha Sahakara Bank Niyamitha, Maddur (Karnataka) in the wake of its worsening financial position.

Consequently, the bank ceases to carry on banking business, with effect from the close of business on Friday (July 05, 2024), the RBI said in a statement.

The Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Karnataka has also been requested to issue an order for winding up the bank and appoint a liquidator for the bank.

On liquidation, every depositor would be entitled to receive a deposit insurance claim amount of his/her deposits up to Rs 5 lakh from Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC).

As per the data submitted by the bank, RBI said about 99.96 per cent of the depositors are entitled to receive the full amount of their deposits from the DICGC.

Giving details, RBI further said the bank does not have adequate capital and earning prospects, and its continuance is prejudicial to the interests of its depositors.

The bank with its present financial position would be unable to pay its present depositors in full, it added.

As of March 31, 2024, DICGC has already paid Rs 11.85 crore of the total insured deposits based on the willingness received from the concerned depositors of the bank.

(With PTI inputs)
Amid the exams row in connection with the NEET-UG 2024 and growing demand for a retest, the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination 2024 began smoothly on Saturday. While no untoward incident was reported, the Centre dismissed rumours that the questions for the all-India test were leaked.

Health ministry officials, however, said it is keeping a close watch on the examination for foreign medical graduates and has set up a command centre for monitoring at the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) headquarters in Delhi.

The Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) is a screening test for medical graduates to become eligible to practise medicine in India. A total of 35,819 candidates are taking the June 2024 exam at 71 centres in 50 cities across 21 states. The exam is being held in two shifts  9 am to 11.30 am and 2 pm to 4.30 pm.

The content was successfully downloaded at all test centres. The examination started at all examination centres smoothly. A team of officers from MHA (ministry of home affairs) has visited NBEMS HQ. No untoward incidence has been reported, an official said.

Officials said 255 appraisers have been appointed for all the centres, 53 faculty members have been appointed as flying squad, while the Directorate General Of Health Services (DGHS) has nominated 71 members to visit the exam centres. Besides, 42 NBEMS staff have been deputed at the centres, they said.

They further said a command centre has been set up at the NBEMS headquarters in Dwarka, where members of the governing body, officials of the NBEMS, technical team of 20 TCS officials and senior police officers are monitoring the progress of the examination. Each and every test centre is being monitored through a live CCTV feed while a ground team of TCS officials are attending to the operational and logistics issues, they added.

The ministry of health and family welfare, meanwhile, rubbished social media reports claiming that the FMGE 2024 questions were leaked. According to a report published by Times of India, an ministry official said these reports are completely misleading and untrue as the questions are prepared only a few hours before the exam.

This is completely misleading and untrue. FMGE is a computer-based test. The questions are prepared a few hours before the exam. Therefore, it is not possible for anyone to have them already. Examinees should beware of such cheats, an official told ToI.

What is the latest in the NEET row?

Amid the growing clamour for cancellation of the controversy-ridden NEET-UG 2024 over alleged malpractices, the counselling for the exam scheduled for Saturday was cancelled and the new dates will soon be announced. The Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) told the Supreme Court on Friday (July 5) that scrapping the test will be counterproductive and seriously jeopardise lakhs of honest candidates in the absence of proof of large-scale breach of confidentiality.

The NTA, which conducts the NEET-UG for admissions to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses, and the education ministry have been at the centre of media debates and protests by students and political parties over alleged large-scale malpractices ranging from question paper leak to impersonation in the test held on May 5. Both have filed separate affidavits opposing the pleas, which have sought scrapping of the exam plagued by controversy, a re-test and court-monitored probe into the entire gamut of issues involved.

In their responses, they said the CBI, the countrys premier investigating agency, has taken over the cases registered in different states. They added that there was no proof of any large-scale breach of confidentiality in the examination, which was taken by more than 23 lakh candidates at 4,750 centres in 571 cities.

It is also submitted that at the same time, in the absence of any proof of any large-scale breach of confidentiality in a pan-India examination, it would not be rational to scrap the entire examination and the results already declared, the Centre said in its preliminary affidavit filed by a director in the education ministry.

Scrapping the exam in entirety would seriously jeopardise the lakhs of honest candidates who attempted the question paper in 2024, the ministry said, adding that in any examination, there were competing rights and interests of a large number of students who take it without adopting any unfair means must also not be jeopardised.

The NTA, in its separate affidavit, reiterated the Centres stand and said: The cancellation of the entire examination on the basis of the aforesaid factor, would be hugely counterproductive and significantly harmful to the larger public interest, especially to the career prospects of the qualified candidates.

The agency said the entirety of NEET-UG 2024 was carried out fairly and with due confidentiality without any illegal practices, and the claim of mass malpractice during the exam is completely unfounded, misleading, and lacks any basis.

It is submitted that if the entire examination process is cancelled without their being any tangible factors warranting such actions it would be highly detrimental to the larger public interest involving the academic career of lakhs of students who have attempted the examination fairly without any wrongdoing or even an allegation of wrongdoing, the NTA said.

The top court is scheduled to hear a batch of pleas on July 8, including those alleging irregularities in the examination held on May 5 and seeking a direction that it be held afresh.

(With PTI inputs)

Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website.
UCO Bank has announced the commencement of the application for the apprentice posts. The notification issued by the bank invites applications to fill 544 vacant positions. Candidates interested and eligible for the post can easily apply online by visiting the official website, nats.education.gov.in. According to the notice, candidates can apply for engagement in one state. The application process has started today, June 6, and the last date to apply for the apprentice posts is June 16. The total duration of the training of selected candidates will be one year. Here's a look at the eligibility criteria, selection process, stipends, and other details:

UCO Bank Recruitment 2024: Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the Apprentice post, candidates should have a graduate degree from a recognised university or institute, approved by the Government of India or its regulatory bodies. The result of the qualification must have been declared on or before 01.07.2024. The candidate must produce mark sheets and a provisional or degree certificate issued by the University/ Institute/ College as and when required by the bank. The candidates should not be born earlier than 02.07.1996 and not later than 01.07.2004 (both dates inclusive). The result of the qualification will be declared by the bank on July 1.

UCO Bank Recruitment 2024: Selection Process

Candidates will be selected for the apprentice posts through a process of screening and a personal interview. The official UCO website will inform candidates if the post requires a written test. To qualify for the posts, candidates are required to score a minimum score in an interview or written test that will be decided by the bank. A 5 per cent relaxation will be given to candidates of the SC/ST/OBC/PwBD categories.

UCO Bank Recruitment 2024: Stipend

According to the notice, a monthly stipend of Rs 15,000, including any subsidy amount by the Government of India, will be given to the candidate for the apprenticeship programme. The stipend will include Rs 10,500 in the apprentice account, and the government share of Rs 4,500 will be directly credited to the apprentices' bank accounts through DBT mode.

Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website.
A 29-year-old woman landed herself in trouble after she allegedly made a hoax call to Bengalurus Kempegowda International Airport helpline just to stop her boyfriend. The womans he has a Bomb in his bag call was made to stop her boyfriend from flying to Mumbai.

The incident reportedly took place on June 26 leading police to register a case. However, the cops on Wednesday filed an FIR under IPC Section 505(1)(B) (statements conducing to public mischief).

The accused, Indra Rajwar, is from Pune and works in Bengaluru.

According to Times of India, the complaint filed with KIA police mentioned that the woman called the airport helpline number, saying a passenger named Mir Raza Mehdi, who was flying from Bengaluru to Mumbai, was carrying a bomb in his bag. She claimed he was her boyfriend.

Following this, Mehdi, who was found at the airport, was frisked and checked for explosives. As the search did not yield anything, it was declared as a non-specific call.

Later it was found that Rajwar too was in the airport. The duo had booked tickets to Mumbai on different flights. They came to the airport in the evening and were sitting in the departure lounge speaking to each other before Rajwar called the helpline.

Rajwar was then detained and was taken to KIA police station, where she said she and Mehdi had some differences. He was flying to Mumbai and she wanted to stop him.

The police is currently interrogating the matter.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers and supporters on Saturday protested against the brutal killing of its Tamil Nadu president, K. Armstrong, demanding the immediate arrest of those involved.

Party members gathered outside Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai, where Armstrongs body is being kept in the mortuary for autopsy.

#WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers and supporters protest outside Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital where his body has been kept in mortuary for autopsy. They are demanding immediate arrest of the accused.Armstrong was hacked to death by an unidentified mob pic.twitter.com/wuGhOVyNkt  ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2024

Supporters of the slain leader claimed his killing was planned and demanded a CBI probe into his death.

Armstrong, 51, was hacked to death by a six-member gang near his residence in Perambur, Chennai. The two-wheeler-borne gang attacked him around 7:30 p.m. on Friday. He was rushed to a private hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

An advocate by profession and known as a Dalit voice in the state, Armstrong previously served as a Councillor in the Greater Chennai Corporation.

Mayawati to visit Chennai on Sunday

BSP chief Mayawati said that she will visit Chennai on Sunday to pay her respects to Armstrong and meet his grieving family. She also appealed to party workers to maintain peace and order.

Considering the seriousness of this extremely sad and worrying incident, I am planning to go to Chennai tomorrow morning to pay my tributes to Mr Armstrong and meet his grieving family and console them. I appeal to all to maintain peace and order, she said.

Police suspect revenge motive, 8 detained

The Chennai Police, who are currently searching for the accused, suspect the possibility of this being a revenge murder linked to the killing of gangster Arcot Suresh last year, according to an NDTV report. We are conducting an investigation. The murder seems to be linked to an earlier killing, a senior police officer said.

The police have formed 10 special teams to probe the murder and have secured eight suspects so far in connection with the case.

In the murder case, we have secured 8 suspects so far. This is a preliminary investigation. Ten teams have been formed by us. We are on the job to bring the offenders to light. After the interrogation of these suspects, we will be able to find the motive behind the murder. Some sharp weapons have been used, senior Chennai police officer Asra Garg stated.

There are some two to three suspicious motives, but the exact one would come to light only after the interrogation of the suspects, he added.

Chennai becoming city of murders: BJP

In response to Armstrongs killing, Tamil Nadu BJP vice president Narayanan Thirupathy criticised the escalating crime rate in Chennai and across the state, stating that old Madras is becoming a city of murders. He also called for Chief Minister Stalins resignation if he cannot effectively address the issue.

Where is the police and administration? There is a complete failure of administration in the state. This is mainly because of the drug syndicate, Thirupathy asked in a video post shared on X, Saturday.

Brutal murder in Chennai once again, the old Madras is becoming city of murders. Mr. Stalin, if you cant control with your iron arm, write a resignation with that iron arm. pic.twitter.com/7W7pzYEvOZ Narayanan Thirupathy (@narayanantbjp) July 6, 2024

Police need to be given a free hand, otherwise, the murders will go on The police have not taken any precautions and it needs to be investigated how such gangs have suddenly emerged If the CM is not in a position to control this mess, he must resign, he added.

Culprits will be brought to justice as per law: Stalin

Expressing his condolences, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin extended sympathy to Armstrongs well-wishers and stated that he has directed the police to expedite the case, ensuring that the culprits are swiftly brought to justice.

I would like to convey my deepest condolences and condolences to all of Armstrongs party, family, relatives and friends who are bereaved and I have ordered the police officers to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law, Stalin wrote in an X post.

Congress in touch with TN govt: Rahul Gandhi

Congress senior leader Rahul Gandhi, also the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, expressed his shock over Armstrongs killing and stated that the party is in constant touch with the Stalin government.

Tamil Nadu Congress leaders are in constant touch with the Government of Tamil Nadu, and I am confident that the Government will ensure that the culprits are brought to justice expeditiously, Gandhi said.

A loss for the SC community: Kamal Haasan

Actor Kamal Haasan expressed that Armstrongs murder is a big loss for the Scheduled Caste community, as he consistently advocated for the downtrodden.

The assassination of a state leader of a national party by mercenaries in a busy area is highly condemnable. I urge the Tamil Nadu government to take immediate action against the criminals involved in this, Hassan stated.

(With inputs from agencies)
Six terrorists have been neutralised while two Army soldiers have been killed in action during ongoing operations launched by security forces in south Kashmirs Kulgam district on Saturday afternoon.

The death toll in the twin encounters in Kulgam climbed to six on Sunday as security forces recovered bodies of two more terrorists, officials said.

The twin encounters began on Saturday in two villages of Kulgam district. Bodies of two terrorists were recovered from Modergam encounter site while four bodies of terrorists were recovered from Chinnigam site, the officials said.

#WATCH | Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir: Encounter underway between terrorists and security forces in Frisal Chinnigam area of Kulgam district.(Visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/dHZJc4mHv1  ANI (@ANI) July 7, 2024

In Modergam village of Kulgam, security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation based on intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the village. As the forces went close to the house, hiding terrorists opened indiscriminate fire at them resulting in injuries to a soldier who later passed away at an Army hospital.

After two hours, another gunfight broke out in the Frisal Chinnigam area of Kulgam district in which drone footage accessed by News18 showed four bodies of terrorists lying in the compound of a house where the exchange took place.

Security forces received an input about the movement following which the target house was surrounded and from inside the house gunfire was drawn; the encounter is still going on in Chinnigam, VK Birdi, IGP Kashmir, told the media near the encounter spot adding that the bodies had been sighted.

A para commando in Modergam and a havaldar of the Army in Frisal village were killed in action. Four terrorists have been gunned down in the Modergam encounter spot. Sources told News18 that they believe more terrorists are hiding in Modergam as gunfire from inside the house continues.

Both the operations are going on and a tight cordon has been laid around the area. The encounters have come at a time when the Amarnath Yatra is going on and terror outfits have threatened to target it.

Officials told News18 that the two encounters were a setback to the Hizbul Mujahideen.
A case was registered against Bhole Baba aka Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari in connection on Saturday with the death of 121 people in the Hathras stampede on July 2. The case against him was filed before the court of Patna Chief Judicial Magistrate.

Earlier in the day, Bhole Baba said he was deeply saddened by the deadly incident.

I am deeply saddened after the incident. May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I have faith that anyone who created the chaos would not be spared. Through my lawyer, AP Singh, I have requested the members of the committee to stand with the bereaved families and the injured and help them throughout their lives, he said.

Meanwhile, Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the Hathras stampede case, was taken into custody after he surrendered in Delhi on Friday night. Madhukar was the mukhya sevadar of the satsang where the stampede took place.

In a video message, Madhukars lawyer AP Singh said his client surrendered in Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment. Today, we have surrendered Devprakash Madhukar, who has been called the main organiser in the FIR in the Hathras case, after calling the police, the SIT and the STF in Delhi since he was undergoing treatment here, he said.

We had promised we would not apply for anticipatory bail since we did no wrong. What is our crime? He is an engineer and a heart patient. Doctors said his condition is stable now and so we surrendered today to join the probe, the lawyer said.

Singh further said Madhukar will join the probe and share information about the anti-social elements at the event.
Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the Hathras stampede case, was taken into custody after he surrendered in Delhi on Friday night, said top Uttar Pradesh police sources. Less than 24 hours later, preacher Bhole Baba on Saturday issued his first statement saying he is extremely pained by the deadly incident on July 2, which claimed 121 lives. He said he is with the victims and has full faith in the state authorities that culprits will not be spared.

We are distressed after the incident of July 2. May God give us the strength to overcome this sorrow. We should have faith in the government administration. Culprits will not be spared. We told through our lawyer that we stand with those who are going through this sorrow, with our body, money and mind, he said.

Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba, through his lawyer, has already agreed to cooperate with the state administration and police while seeking an investigation into the matter. This statement came days after he went incognito in the aftermath of the stampede that took place during one of his religious congregations.

The preacher, however, is not named in the FIR registered in connection with the incident while Madhukar, the mukhya sevadar of the satsang where the stampede took place, is the only accused named in the FIR lodged at Sikandrarau police station in Hathras.

In a video message, Madhukars lawyer AP Singh said his client surrendered in Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment. Today, we have surrendered Devprakash Madhukar, who has been called the main organiser in the FIR in the Hathras case, after calling the police, the SIT and the STF in Delhi since he was undergoing treatment here, he said.

We had promised we would not apply for anticipatory bail since we did no wrong. What is our crime? He is an engineer and a heart patient. Doctors said his condition is stable now and so we surrendered today to join the probe, the lawyer said.

He said police may now record his statement or question him but they must take into consideration his health condition and ensure that nothing wrong happens with him. We did not do anything like filing anticipatory bail or moving court, which would have been viewed as an effort to save ourselves and being scared questions were being raised about his (Madhukar) whereabouts and if he had run away, he added.

Singh further said Madhukar will join the probe and share information about the anti-social elements at the event. The police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to Madhukars arrest.

On July 3, the Supreme Court lawyer said he also represents Bhole Baba and that some anti-social elements were behind the tragedy. He said Surajpal was ready to cooperate with the state administration and police and had sought an investigation into the entire matter.

Till July 4, six people, including two women volunteers who were members of the organising committee of the satsang, were arrested in the case. The FIR was lodged on July 2 under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence).

On July 3, the state government formed a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge to probe the Hathras tragedy and to look into the possibility of a conspiracy behind the stampede.

(With PTI inputs)
It is a poignant image that can warm even the coldest of hearts. Dressed in a white sari, Smriti Singh  the wife of Captain Anshuman Singh who died while saving his fellow army men from a fire at Siachen  was a picture of exceptional bravery and resilience as she accepted the Kirti Chakra, Indias second-highest peacetime gallantry award, from President Droupadi Murmu on Friday.

A short clip that is going viral on social media shows Smriti Singh and Captain Singhs mother receive the award from the President. The video shows Smriti fold her hands as a voiceover extols her late husbands sacrifice.

In a post of social networking site X, President Murmu said: Disregarding his own safety, he exhibited exceptional bravery and resolve to rescue many people in a major fire incident.

It was in July 2023 that a short circuit led to a fire in an Indian Army ammunition dump at Siachen around 3am. As the dump caught fire, Captain Singh helped rescue those stuck inside a fibre-glass hut. When the blaze spread to a nearby medical investigation shelter, Captain Singh, in an attempt to retrieve the life-saving medicine inside. Unfortunately, he suffered severe burns and passed away.

President Droupadi Murmu presents the Kirti Chakra (Posthumous) to Captain Anshuman Singh. #DefenceInvestitureCeremony @rashtrapatibhvn pic.twitter.com/CpWRHRjJbs Doordarshan National   (@DDNational) July 5, 2024

He was very capable. He would tell me that I will die with brass in my chest. I will not die an ordinary death, Smriti Singh said.

Recalling her love story, she said: We met on the first day of our engineering college. Not to be dramatic but it was love at first sight. A month later, he was selected in Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC). He was a super intelligent guy. After that, it was a long-distance relationship for eight long years and then we thought we should get married now so we did.

She added: Unfortunately, within two months of marriage, he got posted to Siachen. On July 18, we had a long conversation about how our life will be in the next 50 years  we would build a house, have kids. On the morning of 19th I get a call that he is no more. For the first 7-8 hours, we could not accept that anything like this could have happened. Till date, I am trying to cope up thinking maybe it is not true. Now that I have the Kirti Chakra in my hand, I realise it is true. But its okay, he is a hero. We can manage a little of our lives because he has managed a lot. He gave up his life and family so that the other three families could be saved.

The couple got married in February last year after Captain Singh graduated from AFMC.
The Greater Chennai police investigating the murder of Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief K. Armstrong on Friday linked his killing to the revenge murder of gangster Arcot Suresh, who was killed in August last year allegedly due to a gang rivalry.

Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore told the media that despite this possibility, they did not find any specific threat to Armstrong during the investigation.

We are investigating from all angles. Armstrong had a gun license. He surrendered the gun following the model code of conduct during the elections. His gun was returned to him after the model code of conduct was lifted. After accessing our records, we did not find any specific threat to Armstrong, Rathore stated.

Tamil Nadu: On the murder of BSP state president K Armstrong, Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore says, 10 special teams were formed. After investigating the crime scene and CCTV footage, 8 suspects were arrested in 2 hours. The conspiracy of the crime and pic.twitter.com/xbYc2EW1uZ ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2024

Commissioner Rathore emphasised that there is little chance of a political motive in the case.

Armstrong was hacked to death by six bike-borne men near his house in Perambur, Chennai, on Friday evening. He was immediately rushed to a private hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

To investigate the murder case, the police have formed 10 special teams and have arrested eight people so far in connection with the case.

10 special teams were formed. After investigating the crime scene and CCTV footage, 8 suspects were arrested in 2 hours. The conspiracy of the crime and everything is being investigated, the Commissioner added.

Meanwhile, BSP supporters of the slain leader claimed his killing was planned murder and demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the death of the 52-year-old former Chennai Corporation Councillor.

Earlier today, they also staged a protest outside Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai, where Armstrongs body is being kept in the mortuary for autopsy.

(With inputs from ANI)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. Uzbekistan is ready to provide Azerbaijan with all possible support within COP29, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said during the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in the city of Shusha, Trend reports.

"This region is the most vulnerable to climate change. I believe we can create a center to fight climate change. COP29 will be a great historic event for all OTS countries. I wish every success to Azerbaijan. We are ready to participate actively in this event and provide all possible assistance to Azerbaijan," he said.

He further noted that the volume of trade within the OTS has increased by 27 percent.

"Growth is expected this year as well, and we are interested in maintaining this trend. In addition, digital systems have been created within the organization. I hope that it will be possible to create the Railway Management Council within our organization and establish its headquarters in Tashkent," he said.

To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in Azerbaijan in November this year. The decision was made at the plenary meeting of COP28 held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Within two weeks, Baku, having become the center of the world, will host about 70,00080,000 foreign guests.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for Conference of Parties, which is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

A total of 198 countries are parties to the convention. Unless the parties have decided otherwise, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
A six-storey building collapsed in Gujarats Surat following days of relentless rain, leaving one person dead and several feared trapped under the debris. The rescue team has recovered 7 bodies and the search operation is underway.

The incident occurred in Sachin Pali village. According to PTI, one woman was rescued alive from under the debris while the search and rescue operation was still on, said Surat district collector Sourabh Pardhi. Several people were reportedly injured in the incident.

As per the officials, the building, which was built just eight years ago, was in a dilapidated condition and most flats were vacant.

#WATCH | Surat, Gujarat: A body being recovered from the site in Sachin where a six-storey building collapsed in the afternoon. https://t.co/9769iK8qp2 pic.twitter.com/aqVgvVz0Bu ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2024

Five families were inside the building when it collapsed, and rescue operations are underway to find and save anyone who may still be trapped.

As far as the rescue operation is concerned, the police and fire department officials promptly mobilised to clear the rubble, combing through the wreckage in search of survivors.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also been called in to augment the ongoing rescue efforts.

Surats District Collector expressed hope that the remaining individuals could be rescued within a few hours, as teams from the NDRF and SDRF were tirelessly engaged in the operation.

Similarly, Surats Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot said he was confident that the trapped individuals voices could be heard from beneath the rubble, assuring that they would be rescued soon.

As the rescue operation unfolds, the authorities have launched a thorough investigation to ascertain the cause of the buildings collapse.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke to the new British prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the two reaffirmed their commitment to deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UK along with robust economic ties.

He also invited the leader to visit India, congratulating him once again for the Labour Partys landslide win in the UK general elections.

Pleased to speak with @Keir_Starmer. Congratulated him on being elected as the Prime Minister of the UK. We remain committed to deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust IN-GB economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our peoples and global good, Modi said in a post on X.

Pleased to speak with @Keir_Starmer. Congratulated him on being elected as the Prime Minister of the UK. We remain committed to deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust  economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our peoples and global good. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 6, 2024

According to a statement from the prime ministers office, both leaders spoke about working towards the early conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-UK Free Trade Agreement.

Recalling the historic relations between the two countries, they appreciated the positive contributions of the Indian community in the social, economic and political development of the UK and agreed to continue to promote close people-to-people ties.

Discussing the importance of the living bridge between the UK and India, and the 2030 roadmap, the leaders agreed there was a wide range of areas across defence and security, critical and emerging technology, and climate change, for the two countries to deepen cooperation on.

A day before on Friday (July 5), about Starmers election as the PM, Modi said he looked forward to their positive and constructive collaboration to further strengthen the India-UK comprehensive strategic partnership.

He also praised outgoing PM and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak for his admirable leadership and active contribution to deepening the ties between India and the UK during his term in office.

Starmer became the new PM after his Labour Party hurled towards a landslide majority in the parliamentary elections and dealt a bruising defeat for incumbent Sunaks Conservative Party.

Congratulating the new leader of the UK, Modi said, Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to Keir Starmer on the remarkable victory in the UK general elections. I look forward to our positive and constructive collaboration to further strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in all areas, fostering mutual growth and prosperity.

(With PTI inputs)
It was quite magical to see Deepika Padukone at Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants sangeet ceremony on Friday night at Mumbais NMACC. Wearing a stunning custom-designed organza saree called Hukum ki Raani by famous designer Karan Torani, the Bollywood queen, who is famed for her timeless beauty and exquisite taste, looked stunning. The saree, which required more than 3400 man-hours to make, was inspired by the Chaukhandi tombs in Karachi and the Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad, which dates back to the 16th century.

At Rs. 1,39,500, the Hukum ki Raani saree is the perfect combination of elegance and customs. The saree was a remarkable piece because of its deep purple colour, which is typically associated with royalty, as well as its elaborate stitching and embellishments. Because of its sheer and light qualities, the organza fabric created a majestic drape that accentuated Deepikas graceful pose.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by   (@deepikapadukone)

Deepika celebrated her Indian ancestry with her outfit selection, which went beyond just being a fashion statement. The sarees intricate embroidery, which is a distinguishing feature of Karan Toranis work, brought attention to the painstaking efforts of talented weavers. Deepika raised awareness of the rich cultural legacy and the artists that preserve these age-old crafts by choosing a piece from Toranis collection.

The actress accessorised the saree with stunning jewellery, such as a choker and statement earrings, which matched the intricate designs of the saree flawlessly. Her carefully selected accessories completed the picture, giving her a polished and well-groomed appearance. Deepika set a new benchmark for maternity fashion with her beautiful grin and self-assured demeanour while flaunting her baby belly.

The Hukum ki Raani saree was thoroughly explained on Toranis official page, honouring Deepikas choice. The story emphasised the vital role that admirers such as Deepika have in elevating traditional crafts to a mainstream level and giving those who have been doing them for centuries a sense of empowerment. The saree, which is a part of Toranis brand-new couture line, Leela, narrates stories of the glory and common history of the united purana Hindustan.

Check out the post here;-

View this post on Instagram A post shared by T O R A N I (@toraniofficial)

In summary, Deepika Padukones performance at the sangeet ceremony was a masterpiece of grace, custom, and innovation. Her selection of the Karan Torani Hukum ki Raani saree honoured Indias rich cultural legacy in addition to showcasing her immaculate taste. As always, Deepika broke new ground in the fashion industry and demonstrated that true elegance has no boundaries.
Co-operatives are significant as they give individuals a chance to come together and effectively improve their lives while contributing to the economic, cultural, social and political advancement of their community and nation. Hence, to commemorate the profound strength of cooperation in society, the International Day of Cooperatives, a day designated by the United Nations, is marked worldwide. This year, the International Day of Cooperatives will be celebrated on July 6.

The celebration will mark the 102nd International Cooperative Day and the 30th International Day of Cooperatives recognised by the United Nations.

The day brings individuals, organisations and communities from all corners of the world together to celebrate the noteworthy impact of cooperative enterprises. Together, the world pays tribute to the spirit of cooperation that has shaped communities and transformed countless lives on a global scale.

International Day of Cooperatives 2024: Theme

This year, cooperatives around the world will celebrate the International Day of Cooperatives with the theme Cooperatives Building a Better Future for All.

International Day of Cooperatives: History

The history of the International Day of Cooperatives dates back to the early 20th century, when the cooperative movement gained traction across the world. The International Cooperative Alliance established the first International Cooperative Day in 1923 to honour the ideals and principles of cooperation.

Officially declared by the United Nations General Assembly, the International Day of Cooperatives is observed annually on the first Saturday of July, marking the centenary of the establishment of the International Co-operative Alliance.

International Day of Cooperatives: Significance

Every year, various events and seminars are organised to celebrate the transformative power of cooperation in our societies. The day raises awareness about the International Day of Cooperatives and how they play a crucial role in promoting equality, nurturing economic and social development, creating sustainable livelihoods and empowering marginalised communities.

International Day of Cooperatives 2024: Quotes
Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant held their sangeet ceremony in Mumbai, which was nothing short of dream, with the star-studded guest list bedecked in eye-catching ensembles. Among the galaxy of stars, Rakul Preet Singh and his husband, Jackky Bhagnani were a delightful sight as they strutted in mesmerising traditional attires. The actress dazzled in a sparkling lehenga-choli set, while Jackky looked dapper in a classic black bandhgala suit. Trust us, they were an enchanting sight to behold.

Rakul Preet Singh wowed everyone in a stunning silver lehenga choli set that was all about the intricate details. The blouse featured a plunging neckline and deep back design, giving a bold vibe to her overall ensemble. Its strappy criss-cross sleeves design was particularly eye-catching. Not to forget those intricate thread zari and sequin embellishments that made Rakul look like an absolute diva.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Rakul Singh (@rakulpreet)

She paired the blouse with a high-waisted, A-line organza ethereal lehenga. The lehenga boasted shimmery and dazzling intricate embroidery throughout, making it a true masterpiece. To top off her look, the diva draped a net dupatta adorned with shimmery embellishments and sequined work. But wait, theres more, the dupatta had a quirky twist with nude feathery borders to add an extra dose of drama to her traditional avatar.

With an outfit that is dazzling, Rakul surely knows how to accessorise. She kept it minimal, letting her outfit shine with a delicate silver choker set and some sparkling rings on her fingers.

Her makeup was just as mesmerising as her outfit, as she went for nude eyeshadow, kohl-rimmed eyes, perfectly defined brows and voluminous mascara-laden lashes. Subtle contouring and a luminous highlighter made her features pop and a light brown lip shade pulled everything together flawlessly.

Rakul styled her luscious locks into a ponytail with soft, wavy curls.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani)

Talking about Jackkys look, he totally nailed it in a stunning black bandhgala suit. His kurta was a showstopper with its shimmery design, turning heads left and right. He paired it with trousers featuring a flared hem and completed the look with classic black shoes. Jackky took his ensemble to new heights with his stylish hairstyle and well-groomed beard, adding a rugged charm to his look that was hard to miss.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jackky V Bhagnani (@jackkybhagnani)

Rakul Preet Singh and Jackky Bhagnani tied the knot in a beautiful Goa ceremony on February 21, surrounded by their closest friends and family. The couple, who had been dating for a long time, officially announced their relationship in October 2021.
When you think of eccentric and flamboyant fashion choices and high-octane energy, the first name that comes to mind is Ranveer Singh. This Bollywood actor is one of the most successful and stylish heroes in the industry who has been winning the hearts of his audience with his charisma both on and off-screen. From being the perfect and supportive husband and cheerleading for his lady love to belting out hits, Ranveer Singh is a name that is synonymous with versatility. While the actor marked his debut in the industry with Yash Raj films, did you know he once worked in a cafe in the USA? On the occasion of his 40th birthday, lets take a quick look at his life.

Ranveer Singh marked his debut in acting with Band Baaja Baaraat opposite Anushka Sharma and Parineeti Chopra. The film turned out to be a blockbuster hit. Ever since his first film, the actor never left an opportunity to showcase his acting prowess. Once, in an episode of the Koffee With Karan show, when the Gully Boy actor appeared with Arjun Kapoor talked about his life while studying in the USA. He shared an anecdote that he used to serve coffee at the famous American coffeehouse, Starbucks, while studying in Indiana. He used to get a lot of attention from Jewish girls because of his exotic looks. The actor confessed to speaking like Apu from The Simpsons show to further get female attention.

Once, when he was on The Kapil Sharma Show, Ranveer Singh spoke about a unique barter system he had with his classmates. The actor recalled cooking butter chicken and other Indian dishes for the Indian and Pakistani students who missed food from their country and in return they helped him with his homework. He revealed, I would make such delicious butter chicken that there would be a line outside my door for it. The secret behind it was that I would use a readymade packet I would pour that; add a little butter and chicken and my delicacy was ready.

Ranveer Singh has been a part of many popular films like Lootera, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Bajirao Mastani, Padmavat, Gully Boy, Dil Dhadakne Do and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. Currently, the actor is gearing up for Rohit Shettys Singham Again.
Actors Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawats feud in the early 2000s was much talked about. Their scintillating onscreen chemistry in Anurag Basus Murder grabbed a lot of attention and ironically, that remained their first and last collaboration. In Mandira Bedis The Love Laugh Live Show a few years back, Mallika admitted to their fallout stating that it was childish.

Needless to say, their fans were elated when the duo was captured hugging and chatting with each other at an event in Mumbai in April this year, thus putting an end to their 20-year-long fight. Now in an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Emraan opens up on meeting Mallika, a moment that went viral on social media. It was very warm and cordial. I saw her after a very long time. I dont think we had an encounter like in a long time. I had her a couple of times after the release of Murder, he says.

He went on to even address their fallout and attributed to the impulsiveness of youth. We were young and stupid at that time. You go through a phase in your life when your decision making power is so limited that and youre just so impulsive. Some mean things were said by her and some by me. But those are all bygones, he states.

The viral video led many of their fans to wish for a film with the two of them. Emraan too hopes to share screen space with Mallika soon. We kept all of that aside. It was long back. It was very nice seeing and meeting her. She was very warm and so was I. Shes a co-actor I wish I could have worked again with, he adds.

For the unversed, their public digs following the release of Murder became the talk of the town. Months after the film was out, Emraan and Mahesh Bhatt graced the Koffee With Karan couch. When he was asked about the worst kisser among his co-stars, Emraan cheekily mentioned Mallika. Further, when he was asked to name something one would find in her bedroom, he said, An idiots handbook to succeed in Hollywood. Later, she hit back at him saying that the snake she kissed in Hisss was a better kisser than Emraan.

On the work front, the Tiger 3 actor is awaiting the release of the second part of his Disney+ Hotstar series, Showtime, on July 12. Talking about the positive feedback he received for the first part, Emraan says, What people reacted to was that it was a breezy, entertaining and fun take on our industry. We sprinkled a lot of truths about it in a very interesting way. I would want to give credit to the writers for that. It captured the idiosyncrasies of producers and stars in an industry where relationships are fickle, transient and fleeting and where theres no permanence of success and failure and stocks go up and down.
Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali is known for creating classic love stories wherein two lovers reunite after a moment of conflict and realization. Be it Jab We Met, Tamasha or Love Aaj Kal 2, all films follow this central trope. However, while the couples end up together in Imtiazs films, the filmmaker believes that not all of their stories should have had a happy ending.

Speaking at The Indian Express event recently, Imtiaz said that Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukones characters in Tamasha should not have ended up together. He said, You know the ideal ending of Tamasha would have been if they hadnt gotten together but he would have still idolized her as his muse. I wish that was the ending actually but that thought came a little late so in that scenario they would be separate and she would always be watching his shows but not telling him that she had come for it. However, Imtiaz said that they would be doing shows together as per the films ending.

Speaking about where Kareena Kapoor Khans Geet and Shahid Kapoors Aditya from Jab We Met would be today, he said, At a divorce lawyers office. Imtiaz also had an interesting outlook on Ranbir Kapoors Jordan from Rockstar. While Imtiaz believed that Jordan would have made it big in the music industry, there is a catch. I think he would have become a corrupt music industry head. Like he would have his own company and he would be completely fake and corrupt, he said.

Imtiaz Alis films characters have found immense reliability among the youth, especially Geet. Taapsee Pannu, who was also present at the event, spoke about why she was drawn to Kareenas character. She said, The relatability quotient for an actress has never been higher than that for someone like me at that point because here I was seeing everyone so picture perfect, dressed well and just looking like a million bucks and talking perfectly, everything that needs to be said in the right way. And Geet was someone who is so relatable because she is so improper but that was the reason why she was so enduring.

She is so politically incorrect in a lot of situations so the relatability quotient of that heroine was so high. That is the reason for me to make it a part of my pop culture and hence it intrigued an audience like me. It made me ask, Ye kisne banaya hai (Who has made this?) To make this kind of character loveable who is just so odd, hence the intrigue and knowing the brand called Imtiaz Ali and keeping an eye out for his work, she added.
Panchayat is one of the most popular web series at present, with a massive fanbase. Its simple storytelling, realistic characters and soft humour have resonated well with the audience. The show released its third season recently, and the viewers were amazed to see how it concluded. Spoiler Alert! If you have not watched the show yet, Sachiv Ji (Jitendra Kumar) confronting Banrakas, aka Bhushan (Durgesh Kumar) about his persistent misbehaviour has a separate fanbase. In his latest interview, Jitendra Kumar revealed that the scene was inspired by a real life incident.

Jitendra Kumar, who captivated hearts with the climax scene of Panchayat Season 3 in conversation with Pinkvilla stated, Uske videos available the, toh unse inspire hoke woh scene hamne execute kiya hai, and we are glad ke woh us tareeke se execute ho paaya aur logon ko pasand aaya (Videos of the occurrence are available, and we based the scene on them. We are delighted that it was accomplished as intended, and the audience appreciated it).

Furthermore, the actor revealed how it was shot and finally edited to give it a realistic effect. Jitendra added that the scene was shot in one night, and the team rehearsed it multiple times beforehand. He went on to say that the sequence was well-choreographed and then broken down in such a way that it did not appear choreographed on screen. He added that the team aimed to make the scene appear chaotic and avoid any problems while filming it. The climax scene involved a violent fight between Sachiv ji and Bhushan.

Deepak Kumar Mishra directed the series, which was scripted by Chandan Kumar and produced by TVF. The series, which premiered its first season on Prime Video in April 2020, was an instant success and had a massive response, prompting the release of a second season in 2022. The third season premiered on May 28 of this year. The plot revolves around an engineering graduate who is obliged to become a panchayat secretary in the fictional town of Phulera, Uttar Pradesh, due to a lack of employment options. Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav, Faisal Malik, Chandan Roy and Sanvikaa reprised their roles in the popular series this year.
Pop star Justin Bieber made a smashing comeback in India as he took the stage on Friday night to perform at Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and wife Nita Ambanis son Anant Ambanis wedding sangeet ceremony in Mumbai. In a video gone viral, he could be seen hugging Jaaved Jaaferis daughter Alaviaa during his performance.

In the now-viral video, Alaviaa could be seen gasping in disbelief as she went up on stage and gave Justin a hug. As she went back to the crowd, she held her hand to her face, expressing her delight and surprise. Her reaction has gone viral across social media.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by F I L M Y G Y A N (@filmygyan)

Justin, whose triumphant return to the stage in an intimate Toronto concert at Drakes club earlier this year made a lot of noise, once again broke the internet with his power-packed performance at the Ambanis function. He performed his popular songs such as Baby, Never Let You Go, Love Yourself, Peaches, Boyfriend, Sorry and Where Are U Now.

Barring a few intimate gigs, Bieber hasnt performed publicly much in nearly a year after he cancelled his Justice World Tour following health struggles with Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can cause facial paralysis. So, this comes as a huge surprise for Bieber fans, who were desperately waiting for him to hit the stage.

Meanwhile, Anant and Radhikas sangeet was a star-studded affair with celebs like Salman Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Deepika Padukone, Kiara Advani, Sidharth Malhotra, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor among others in attendance.

Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchants wedding festivities began with Mameru ceremony at the Ambanis residence Antilia in Mumbai on Wednesday. The couple will tie the knot in Mumbai on July 12. A few days back, Mukesh Ambani met Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to invite him for his sons wedding. Before that, Anant personally invited Bollywood superstars Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn to his wedding.
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. The important decisions will be made at COP29, especially on climate finance, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said during the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in the city of Shusha, Trend reports.

"We will continue our close cooperation and support on many fronts as part of the preparatory process for this conference, which will make important decisions, especially on climate finance.

The hosting of this conference in Azerbaijan is also of great importance in terms of regional cooperation. In this context, we welcome Azerbaijan's proposal to include the initiative of the Organization of Turkic States in the conference or organize a joint parallel event," he said.

To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in Azerbaijan in November this year. The decision was made at the plenary meeting of COP28 held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Within two weeks, Baku, having become the center of the world, will host about 70,00080,000 foreign guests.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for Conference of Parties, which is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

A total of 198 countries are parties to the convention. Unless the parties have decided otherwise, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Pop star Justin Bieber made a spectacular return to India on Friday night, performing at the wedding sangeet ceremony of Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambanis son, Anant Ambani, in Mumbai. Anant is set to marry his fiancee, Radhika Merchant, next week.

Justin, who had previously made headlines with his triumphant return to the stage at an intimate Toronto concert at Drakes club, once again broke the internet with his exhilarating performance at the Ambani event. He performed popular songs such as Baby, Never Let You Go, Love Yourself, Peaches, Boyfriend, Sorry, and Where Are U Now.

In a video that is now going viral, Justin Bieber is seen pulling the groom-to-be, Anant Ambani, onto the stage during his performance. Standing beside Anant was his brother, Akash Ambani, who chatted with Bieber on stage. Anant was also seen giving the pop star a hug and talking to him warmly. Check it out here:

Apart from a few intimate performances, Bieber has been relatively absent from public stages for nearly a year after canceling his Justice World Tour due to health challenges related to Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can lead to facial paralysis. This unexpected appearance was a pleasant surprise for Bieber fans eagerly awaiting his return to the spotlight.

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani kicked off the wedding festivities for their son Anant Ambani and his fiancee Radhika Merchant with the Mameru ceremony at their residence, Antilia, in Mumbai on Wednesday. The couples grand wedding will take place on July 13 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. The first event is the Shubh Vivah or wedding function, with a dress code of Indian traditional. On July 13, the Shubh Aashirwad ceremony will follow, with a dress code of Indian formal. The celebrations will conclude on July 14 with the Mangal Utsav or wedding reception, where the dress code is Indian chic. All these events will be held at the Jio World Centre in BKC.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu has taken an indirect dig at Dr Cyriac Abby Philips aka The Liver Doc amid their ugly fight over the use of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation. Recently, the Kushi actress took to her Instagram stories and shared the qualifications and medical experience of her doctor, who recommended the use of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation. She also tagged her doctor and wrote, My doctor is a rockstar.

The fight between Samantha and The Liver Doc started after the actress took to her Instagram stories earlier this week and recommended the use of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation. Her post caught The Liver Docs attention who called her health and science illiterate and mentioned that the use of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation is dangerous for health. Scientific society, The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, warning people to not nebulize and breathe in hydrogen peroxide because it is dangerous for health, he wrote on X.

The doctor even demanded that Samantha should be jailed and added, In a rational and scientifically progressive society, this woman will be charged with endangering public health and fined or put behind bars. She needs help or a better advisor in her team.

On Friday, Samantha reacted to the doctors criticism and penned down a long statement on her Instagram handle. The actress, who recently underwent Myositis diagnosis, mentioned that she merely suggested the use of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation with good intention since it was suggested to her by a highly qualified doctor.

Samantha then questioned The Liver Doc and asked him to be polite. It would have been kind and compassionate of him had he not being so proactive with his words. Especially the bit where he suggests I should be thrown in prison. Nevermind. I suppose it goes with the territory of being a celebrity. I posted as someone who needs medical treatment and not as a celebrity, she wrote.

It would have been nice had he politely invited my doctor, whom I have tagged in my post, rather than go after me. I would have loved to have learnt from the debate and discussion between two highly qualified professionals, the actress added.
Dr Cyriac Abby Philips aka The Liver Doc has penned down a strong note, slamming Samantha Ruth Prabhus Dr Jockers. The Liver Doc, who previously slammed the actress for recommending hydrogen peroxide nebulisation, has now claimed that the actress doctor is a fraud and has been warned by medical authorities multiple times.

On Saturday morning, Philips took to his X handle and penned down a strong note talking about his war of words with Samantha. He mentioned that a large number of the actress fans have messaged him asking to be kind towards her. However, the doctor stated that he is only fighting medical misinformation online.

The Liver Doc called Samanthas doctor a fraud and alleged that he had been warned by health regulatory bodies multiple times. The other doctor Samantha cited. The less said about this fraud, the better. Jockers is not a doctor. He is a naturopath. Naturopaths are a menance to society, a danger to patients, and a public health malignancy. And rightly so, Samanthas Dr. Jockers has been warned multiple times by the US FDA, the US FTA and many other health regulatory bodies for selling and promoting public health endangering products and services. Basically, he is plain simple fraud, he wrote.

I have been fighting medical/health misinformation for the longest time and it just does not seem to end. I have come to understand that the only way to fight medical misinformation is to consistently speak about it and make examples of people who mislead and misinform.Many pic.twitter.com/YQBHD2Fgq4  TheLiverDoc (@theliverdr) July 6, 2024

Philips further apologised to Samantha and shared that his only motive was to fight misinformation. I understand and empathize with Samanthas health condition and I wish her the very best. I apologize if she felt uneasy or bad the way the message was conveyed. That was unintentional. My aim was her to leave behind medical misinformation peddling doctors who are using her vulnerability, and catering to her anecdotal experiences, for their gain, he added.

For the unversed, earlier this week, Samantha took to her Instagram stories when she recommended the use of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation. Her post caught The Liver Docs attention who called her health and science illiterate and mentioned that the use of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation is dangerous for health. The doctor even demanded that Samantha should be jailed and added, In a rational and scientifically progressive society, this woman will be charged with endangering public health and fined or put behind bars. She needs help or a better advisor in her team.

Later, Samantha also reacted to the doctors criticism and mentioned that she merely suggested the use of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation with good intention since it was suggested to her by a highly qualified doctor.

Samantha even asked The Liver Doc to be polite and added, It would have been kind and compassionate of him had he not being so proactive with his words. Especially the bit where he suggests I should be thrown in prison. Nevermind. I suppose it goes with the territory of being a celebrity. I posted as someone who needs medical treatment and not as a celebrity.
Following Luv Sinhas revelation about his absence at his sister Sonakshi Sinhas wedding with Zaheer Iqbal, Shatrughan Sinha, the veteran actor, responded to his sons decision. During a recent interview, Shatrughan Sinha emphasized that he has encountered more substantial challenges in his lifetime. Moreover, he addressed the intense smear campaign that his family endured during that period.

In a recent interview with Times Now, Shatrughan Sinha reflected on the perceived family differences, stating, Bahaut bade bade crises dekhe hain humne. Aur yeh toh kuch bhi nahin (We have seen many big crises. This is nothing).. Addressing the attention surrounding the family wedding, he remarked, There was absolutely nothing to worry about. We were like any ordinary family with a wedding happening. Just why we became a target of so much attention, you will know better than me. Sinha emphasized, We didnt ask for it. This is not the first time that such a marriage (interfaith) was happening. Our family was subjected to the most vicious smear campaign. Asserting his stance against critics, he firmly stated, Let me make this clear. I wont tolerate my family being attacked.

Regarding his sons absence from Sonakshis wedding, the actor emphasized the importance of keeping certain issues private within the family circle. He expressed, Family matters should stay within the family. Like I said, kaun se parivar mein disagreements nahi hote? (Which family does not have disagreements?) We may disagree and argue on certain issues. But at the end of the day, we are one family. And no one can break us.

Recently, Luv Sinha used social media to explain his decision for not attending the event. He expressed, Why I chose not to attend. Running an online campaign against me on a false premise wont change the fact that for me my family will always come first. Sinha further clarified, The reasons are very clear as to why I didnt attend, and would not associate with some people no matter what. Im glad a member of the media did their research instead of relying on creative stories being put out by a PR team.

Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal exchanged vows on June 23rd at Sonakshis Mumbai home. Following the private ceremony, they hosted a lavish wedding reception that saw the attendance of numerous Bollywood stars. Prior to their nuptials, Sonakshi and Zaheer had been in a committed relationship for more than seven years, solidifying their bond through time.
Sonakshi Sinha tied the knot with her long-term beau Zaheer Iqbal on June 23. The couple got married in an intimate ceremony at her residence in Bandra. Sonakshi and Zaheer opted for a civil marriage followed by a grand reception. While their wedding festivities were a happy affair, they were also subjected to heavy trolling. Now, Sonakshi has reacted to her wedding for the first time and said that her life has never been better.

Speaking to Zoom TV about life after marriage, Sonakshi said, Its never been better. She added, The beauty of it is that I am feeling pretty much the same. I am happy that my life was so set before the wedding, and I am back at it. I am very happy to be back at work.

Although the actress is enjoying marital bliss, Sonakshi Sinha has been subjected to immense trolling over her inter-faith marriage with Zaheer Iqbal. Unfortunately, the couple also had to disable the comments section while sharing their official photos from their civil marriage and reception due to unwarranted hate and negativity.

Amid the trolling, Sonakshi recently shared a cryptic note on Instagram which emphasised how one should become a tolerant human being. The posts shared by Sonakshi read, How to know when to keep voice down or completely shut (Airplanes, movie theatres). How to know when you dont get what you want. To instil a deep concern for the environment. To live and let live, literally and metaphorically.

The post also read, The utter and total importance of kindness and inclusiveness in a rapidly insular world. To know that contrary opinions to yours can exist, and they do. And to be a more tolerant young human being. The post was originally shared with the title Things they should teach in school.

Previously, veteran actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha also lashed out at those protesting against his daughter Sonakshis inter-faith wedding with Zaheer Iqbal and calling it love jihad.

Anand Bakshi saab has written about such professional protestors, Kucch to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna. To this I would like to add, Kehne waale agar bekar, bekaam-kaaj ke ho to kehna hi kaam ban jata hai (For unemployed people, this is all the work they have). My daughter has done nothing illegal or unconstitutional, he told Times Now.

A wedding is a very personal decision between two people; no one has the right to interfere or comment. To all the protestors I say  go, get a life. Do something useful with your life. Aur kucch nahi kehna (I have nothing else to say), the veteran actor added.
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, starring Tabu and Ajay Devgn, is set to be released on August 2. The musical romance drama was previously scheduled to hit the screens on July 5 alongside action thriller Kill, but its release was postponed on the request of exhibitors and distribution fraternity.

Directed by Neeraj Pandey, Auron Mein Kahan Dun Tha also stars Saiee Manjrekar, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill and Sayaji Shinde.

The much-awaited love saga, Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, will have its theatrical release on 2nd August 2024. The anticipation for the film has been increasing each day as fans eagerly await the chance to witness the chemistry between Ajay Devgn and Tabu in this heartfelt story by Neeraj Pandey, the makers said in a press release issued on Saturday.

Presented by NH Studioz, the upcoming Hindi movie is a Friday Filmworks production and is produced by Narendra Hirawat, Kumar Mangat Pathak (Panorama Studios), Sangeeta Ahir and Shital Bhatia.

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha marks another collaboration between Tabu and Devgn, who have worked together in several films including Vijaypath, Haqeeqat, and the Drishyam franchise.

Recently, the makers of the romance thriller announced that the release of the film has been delayed. In a statement, the makers said, Dear friends, on request of the exhibitors and the distribution fraternity, we have collectively decided to shift the release date of our film, Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha New Release date to be announced soon.

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha marks Ajay and Tabus tenth film together and fans are eager to watch them together as lovers. Director Neeraj Panday reveals that he wasnt aware of their off-screen camaraderie but he always knew that they were the perfect fit for the film. Two years back, when we were figuring out our next theatrical release, the germ of this film came to me. It was there in some form in my head before that but I didnt actually sit down and write about it till two years ago. And Ajay and Tabu were my first choices. Having said that, I dont know if its their friendship that translated onscreen because I know nothing about its background, the filmmaker said.
It has been four days since the Hathras tragedy. The dust is yet to settle, the mud still drying in the fields of Phulrai village in the Mandi area of the Sikandrarau region in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh. It was in an attempt to collect this very holy dust and mud, left behind by the caravan of Suraj Pal Singh, alias Narayan Sakar Hari (the name translates to God incarnate), also known as Bhole Baba, a police constable turned self-styled guru, that over a hundred people, mostly women and children, died at the end of his satsang (religious congregation) held on July 2.

Lessons Unlearned

The Hathras satsang tragedy is neither the first nor the last. Sadly, the harsh lessons from all past such cases have largely been unlearned. The religious congregation in Hathras is neither unique nor the worst, and it will be no surprise if another such case unfolds soon in another part of the nation.

Mass religious congregations worldwide, in which hundreds of thousands and millions gather, have always been prone to stampedes, leading to large-scale, unfortunate deaths. This years Hajj, which witnessed more than 1,300 deaths (including over 100 Indians), is not an isolated event. On September 24, 2015, during Hajj, a gigantic stampede at the site of the stoning of the stelae in Mina near Mecca left more than 2,400 people dead, in one of the deadliest disasters of its type.

Bharat, too, is home to many such tragedies at frequent intervals. I will return to this later in this article. Every time a major tragedy occurs, inquiries are announced and held, and criminal cases are lodged and investigated. But no lessons are learned. Nothing changes. Then another tragedy unfolds. Despite so many tragic events happening, there are more questions than answers.

This piece aims to dig deep beneath the surface, tracing the root causes behind such tragedies and exploring possible ways to prevent them. It also examines how to reduce casualties and mitigate the devastating impact when such mishaps are unavoidable.

Numbers Game

The official death toll from the Hathras stampede stands at 121, including 112 women, as reported by UP Director General of Police Prasant Kumar. The number of injured officially has been pegged at 28. According to officials, all bodies have been identified and handed over to their next of kin. However, reports indicate that the casualty numbers may be higher, with many still searching for missing or injured relatives. In a congregation of 250,000, the number of casualties in what is arguably one of the deadliest such tragedies will always be a matter of conjecture.

Game of one-upmanship

Even before the dead in the July 2nd tragedy were counted, identified, and cremated, a political slugfest and game of one-upmanship began, with the Opposition training its guns on CM Yogi Adityanath.

Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party supremo, thundered on July 4, There cannot be a conspiracy behind the Hathras stampede, but it can definitely be a conspiracy that the government wants to run away from its responsibility in this matter. Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, visited family members of the deceased on July 5 and said there were lapses on the part of the government.

A petition has been filed in Allahabad High Court seeking an investigation by the CBI. Another petition filed in the Supreme Court seeks direction to the UP government to submit a status report. This petition has also sought direction from the apex court to appoint a five-member expert committee, under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge, to inquire into the tragedy.

Action After the Disaster

On its part, the UP government, with top ministers and bureaucrats present at the site of the tragedy and hospitals, and with the help of NDRF, SDRF, and local administration, dexterously completed the rescue and relief operations. CM Yogi Adityanath visited hospitals on July 3. The police have registered a criminal case against one Devprakash Madhukar, alias Mukhya Sewadar, and other organisers of the satsang. Additionally, the Uttar Pradesh government has set up a three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission under the chairmanship of retired Justice Brijesh Kumar Srivastava of the Allahabad High Court.

Fatal Attraction

Bharat, the cradle of civilisation, the birthplace of many religions  which also early embraced religions originating outside (Christianity and Islam)  has frequently witnessed the emergence of holy men and saints of all genres. The fatal attraction to holy men and women, genuine and not so genuine, has been so strong that many holy men develop cult followings from time to time.

The cult following of Bhole Baba, a self-proclaimed spiritual leader, is so enormous that the Hathras satsang reportedly had around 250,000 attendees from at least 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh and many neighbouring states, even though Bhole Baba appears to be a conman of dubious distinction.

Dubious Distinction

Indubitably, there is more than meets the eye regarding Bhole Baba, a 12th-grade graduate who wears a white suit and tie, has a penchant for expensive cars and perfumes, is fiercely guarded by three tiers of private militia (including an inner core of black commandos), and was formerly a constable in the UP Police.

Suraj Pal Singh has a chequered past. In 2000, almost immediately after taking voluntary retirement from the UP police force to become a baba, he was arrested in Agra after allegedly snatching the body of a 16-year-old girl from her family, claiming he could bring her back to life. A criminal case was lodged against him, but, as happens in most such cases, the police later filed a closure report citing a lack of evidence.

Just One God

Followers of Bhole Baba believe that he, the soil taken from the places he walks, and the holy water from his satsang have the power to cure chronic illnesses, heal, and rid people of evil spirits. He is also believed to have the power to bring the dead back to life. For most of his followers, largely from the lower strata of society, there is just one God: Bhole Baba. In the homes of his ardent followers, photos of all gods and goddesses have been replaced by those of Bhole Baba. Ironically, many followers believe that it was he who predicted the Hathras tragedy. Apparently, just before leaving the satsang site, he took the mic and announced, I am departing now; the apocalypse shall follow soon.

Symptoms of a Deeper Malaise

India exists in a fascinating paradox when it comes to holy men. Some are revered, others controversial, yet their influencein life and even centuries after deathremains a potent force. These figures often command a devoted following, bordering on cult-like adoration. However, the tragedy surrounding figures like Bhole Baba exposes a darker side to this phenomenon. Despite hundreds perishing at his gathering, he remains elusive, blaming conspiracies rather than taking responsibility. And sadly, history suggests this cycle will likely repeat itself. The crowds will forget, Bhole Baba will resurface, and the deeper malaise at the heart of such blind devotion will continue to fester.

Babas of his genre thrive by playing on the irrational emotions of the have-nots, mired in dire poverty, ignorance, and superstition. They prosper at the intersection of unwavering faith and devotion from followers who blindly believe in their supposed divinity. It is this faith of gullible millions that becomes the main source of power for these godmen, a power further worsened by growing inequity and inequality, societal injustice and stratification, and religious obscurantism. Time will tell how history remembers Bhole Babaas the only one God or as another entry on a growing list of infamous, self-styled conmen-turned-criminal godmen like Asaram Bapu, Baba Ram Rahim, and the now largely forgotten Chandra Swami and Dhirendra Brahmachari.

The Travesty of Justice

Nevertheless, Bhole Baba and his accomplices must be apprehended and prosecuted for the deaths of 121 hapless women and children. The UP police have filed an FIR against Pramukh Sevadar and other organisers under various sections of the new criminal law  Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, including Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126(2) (wrongfully restraining a person from moving in any direction), 223 (disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant), and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information to screen an offender).

The main organiser, Mukhya Sevadar, has vanished. A bounty of one lakh has been announced for information leading to his arrest. Six minions have been arrested; they were volunteers tasked with managing crowd control, collecting donations, and planning. It will be difficult to find witnesses to convict them. Even in the unlikely event of their conviction, the maximum penalty would be a couple of years in prison because they can be tried under Sections 105 and 110, which pertain to culpable homicide leading to five to seven years imprisonment.

I call it a travesty of justice.

Invincible Bhole Babas

Baba Bhole is not named in the FIR. Currently, he is in hiding, either in an opulent ashram or at the home or farmhouse of a wealthy patron. Even if he surfaces, under which section of BNS will he be charged? Being a religious preacher is not a crime. He came to preach at an event organised by followers, an event thronged by devotees. He had no way to count the number of devotees. And there was a stampede. Legally, it is difficult to prosecute him. It would be like prosecuting a political leader for a stampede at a political rally they addressed.

However, there is a glimmer of hope for justice. He appears to be a serial offender.

A Serial Offender

Bhole Baba appears to be a serial offender. He was arrested in 2000 in Agra. In 2022, one of his satsangs received permission for 50 attendees but 50,000 attended. In yet another recent revelation, the police said that whenever Bhole Baba visits Rajasthan, he stays at the home of Meena, the alleged main accused in the Rajasthan 2020 Junior Engineer recruitment exam paper leak.

These cases may just be the beginning.

Muddled Sequence of Events

It will never be known what sparked the Hathras stampede. Four days after the heartbreaking massacre of innocents, one cannot retrace the sequence of events. Nonetheless, a few pointers have emerged: the site was severely overcrowded; the huge, makeshift tent had only one exit; nearby areas were full of mud and slush; it was scorching hot, typical of a sweltering summer; devotees were either prostrating themselves at the feet of the departing Baba or trying to collect holy soil/mud from the ground after he left; and the site was devoid of medical facilities and safety measures.

There were no public announcements or guidance. For an event of this scale, protocols demand adequate police and security presenceespecially if it was a private event at the organisers cost. None of this was in place. Given the scenario, the police case will likely soon be closed for lack of evidence, and the nation will await another such tragedy.

Such is the litany of woes. But before continuing, let me briefly touch upon a chink in the armour.

Chink in the Armour

India, in recent years, has vastly improved its infrastructure and response time in tending to disasters. The NDMA and NDRF have earned accreditation for their efforts.

Nonetheless, the massive casualties in the Hathras tragedy, set in a rural area, have exposed a chink in the armour of disaster preparedness. The Sikandararao Community Health Centre (CHC), at the epicentre of the Hathras disaster, was woefully overwhelmed when tragedy struck. Staffed with only one doctor, three nurses, one ward boy, one pharmacist, one sweeper, and equipped with a mere three oxygen cylinders, the CHC had no space to treat the dying or house the deceased. The scene was so chaotic that one nurse even fainted.

With no beds to accommodate the injured, and many brought in alive dying due to the lack of medical facilities, this tragedy is a wake-up call to improve healthcare facilities in district hospitals and below. Sadly, Hathras will not be the last such disaster.

Litany of Woes

Deadly stampedes are common occurrences at Indian religious festivals and congregations, where large crowds gather in cramped spaces with inadequate infrastructure and few safety measures, if any. The root causes of such events are rarely identified, accountability is seldom established, and culprits often evade justice. Measures to prevent and mitigate such incidents are seldom implemented. Most such tragedies occur in rural areas, hilly regions, riverbanks, and other locations lacking proper infrastructure and adequate containment measures.

The litany of woes continues, and one tragedy worse than the next continues to unfold. Such is the fate of Bharat.

It Should Have Stopped Long Ago

Since independence, India has witnessed numerous disasters during religious festivals, congregations, and pilgrimage centresboth natural and manmaderesulting in tens of thousands of casualties. The worst natural disaster occurred in 2013, killing over 6,000 people at Kedarnath. Human-caused stampede deaths have also been frequent, with the worst occurring on February 3, 1954, during the Allahabad Kumbh Mela, where reportedly nearly 1000 people were trampled to death.

India has a poor track record of accurately counting deaths and injuries at religious congregations. The data collected by NCRB is highly unreliable, as it simply compiles numbers reported by state police. My own research estimates deaths over the last three decades between 6,000 and 10,000, with serious data asymmetry persisting, and approximately 25,000 injured. Some high-profile stampede-related deaths in recent years include 400 at the Mandher Devi stampede in Maharashtra (2005), over 250 deaths at the Chamunda temple (2008), over 150 deaths at Naina Devi in Himachal Pradesh (2008), more than 105 deaths at the Sabarimala stampede (2021), and over 115 killed in a stampede during Navratri festivals in Madhya Pradesh (2013).

The list is endless, and documenting all incidents is beyond the scope of this piece. Suffice it to say, no remedial measures have been taken, and no lessons have been learned.

The Root Cause Analysis

Why do such stampedes continue to happen? There are many reasons, including but not limited to overcrowding, mass panic, cramped spaces, lack of safety measures, poor infrastructure, and inadequate management. It is often difficult to determine the specific triggers of a stampede.

In 2013, in the Wall Street Journal, Teresa Moore, from the International Centre for Crowd Management and Security Studies in the UK, suggested a reason specific to India: The higher tolerance for crowded spaces in India allows people to get closer because they dont feel uncomfortable until it is very packed. Such crowds often grow too large, too quickly, causing panic and reactions. She added, Couple that with a rumour, which can arise from panic, and thats when you can get a surge or a problem.

A significant part of the problem is that Indias largest religious festivals often take place in rural areas, hilly terrain, foothills, and riverbanks, which lack the infrastructure, preventive measures, and containment measures to manage such events.

In recent times, two Swiss professorsAnna Sieben and Dirk Helbinghave provided insights into stampede events. Anna Sieben, an associate professor of cultural and social psychology at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, who has researched crowd dynamics for years, believes that people caught in a stampede often fail to realise something is wrong until its too late.

Dirk Helbing, a professor of computational social science at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, agrees with this view, stating, A common understanding of crowd disasters is that they result from panic, a state of mind driven by anxiety and fear, which heightens adrenaline levels. This activates the fight-or-flight instinct, causing people to flee in panic, sometimes trampling others in their path. While such situations can occur, most crowd disasters do not unfold in this manner.

Helbing further explains that stampede tragedies are often caused by physical forces, such as crowd turbulence. He describes crowd turbulence as occurring when many people move into a confined space with high density, leading to force transmission between individuals. If someone stumbles and falls, it can create a gap in the crowd. Those adjacent lack opposing force to prevent falling, leading to a cascading effect, potentially causing a deadly domino effect.

Containing the Curse

With an increasing population and growing influence of godmen, alongside heightened religious fervour, the crowds at pilgrimages and religious congregations are bound to swell further in the country, becoming increasingly unmanageable over time.

There is an urgent need to take comprehensive action to prevent such events and manage the aftermath of tragedies. The countrys disaster management architecture needs refurbishment to address human-caused tragedies effectively. This includes revisiting the NDMA (2014) guidelines for planning congregations, preventing disasters, and managing crowd-related issues through capacity building and rigorous enforcement.

Mass religious congregations will continue to be scattered across undulating terrain, village landscapes, inaccessible hilly areas, foothills, riverbanks, and other vulnerable locations. These terrains, lacking proper pathways, pose geographical risks to devotees. Steep slopes, uneven topography, dead ends, slippery and muddy floors like those in Hathras, and narrow passages are key risks that need mitigation.

The country needs dovetailed, area-centric infrastructure development and commensurate safety and security measures. There needs to be a stronger emphasis on stringent guidelines for approving such events, conducting site inspections, assessing crowd capacity, implementing robust evacuation strategies, ensuring adequate ventilation, establishing multiple entry and exit points, conducting mock drills for stampede control, and ensuring a sufficient number of police and security personnel (with costs borne by private event organisers). Mandatory provisions should include emergency services, fire safety measures, and disaster management training for organisers covering both prevention and containment measures. Periodic and robust risk identification and mitigation protocols need to be established for both uni-directional and turbulent stampedes, as the Hathras tragedywhich tragically falls into the latter categorydemonstrates.

The author is Multidisciplinary Thought Leader with Action Bias, India Based International Impact Consultant, and key watcher of changing national scenario. He works as President Advisory Services of Consulting Company BARSYL. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
Prior to the UK general elections, a media investigation revealed that five of the six major British political parties had taken illicit foreign funds. To minimise excessive foreign influence, British legislation compels parties to refund unlawful donations within 30 days and disclose any failures to the Electoral Commission. Only people on the electoral roll can make donations, with a minimum limit of 500.

However, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism discovered that the Conservative Party, Reform UK, Liberal Democrats, Green Party, and Scottish National Party failed to prevent or identify these donations, which were made through an assortment of modest payments totalling more than 500 from a foreign source. As per the report, only the Labour Party successfully blocked such unlawful donations. Election law expert Gavin Millar criticised the self-policing method as ineffective and illogical because it relies on beneficiaries to enforce the law.

Concerns had grown in the run-up to the 2024 UK general election about foreign players funding political non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Despite precise laws deliberate to prevent excessive foreign influence, some NGOs with significant influence in UK politics have evidently received large amounts of funding from international sources. These contributions, which are frequently routed through intricate channels to avoid detection, undermine the integrity of the democratic process and threaten to influence election results in favour of foreign interests. The current legal system, which relies mainly on self-policing, is deeply inadequate, allowing foreign funders to have hidden power over British politics.

Several controversial groups in the British community receive funding from ambiguous sources, which they utilise to spread their propaganda and operations throughout the country. One prominent example is the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), an umbrella group that represents over 500 interconnected mosques and Muslim organisations. MCB has a notorious history of sponsoring and supporting extremist actions, prompting consecutive British administrations to adopt a non-engagement stance with the organisation since 2009. Notably, the MCB backed a declaration in Istanbul calling for jihad in reaction to Israels activities in Gaza and backing Hamas attacks on foreign forces, possibly involving British troops.

Another outfit of concern is the Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is secretively operational in the UK despite being banned in many countries due to its disruptive ideology and links to terrorist acts. Hizb ut-Tahrir has been accused of radicalising young Muslims and pushing for the formation of a global caliphate through non-democratic means. Its financing roots are opaque, leading to suspicions of foreign financial aid intended to destabilise communities. Islamic Relief Worldwide, headquartered in the United Kingdom, has been accused of supporting terrorist entities, especially Hamas. The organisation denies these allegations. However, both Israel and the United Arab Emirates have blacklisted Islamic Relief Worldwide over concerns about the misuse of charitable donations to fund terrorist activities.

Furthermore, CAGE, a UK-based advocacy group, has made headlines for its provocative viewpoints and possible ties to terrorists. The entity openly advocated for prominent figures such as Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year jail term for the attempted murder of an FBI agent under disputed circumstances. She is an al-Qaeda sympathiser. They also advocated for Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born cleric of Yemeni descent, who was a key figure in al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). While CAGE claims to advocate for human rights, its support of high-profile individuals linked to terrorism and its receipt of foreign financing have sparked investigations and criticism from numerous sources, including the British government.

The Islamic community in the United Kingdom has considerable influence on the political mandate because of its large population and active involvement in societal and political matters. British Muslims contribute to the electorates diversity of approaches, influencing policy discussions on immigration, foreign policy, and community welfare. The communitys participation in voting and political discourse ensures that the problems and demands of a sizeable portion of the population are addressed. This impact, however, can be undermined by organisations and people who mislead or manipulate the community to further their own agendas.

Extremist organisations in the UK have not only attacked non-Islamic communities, as evidenced by the attacks on Hindus in Leicester, but also actively sought to influence political circumstances ahead of the recent general elections. These organisations mobilise Muslim voters and lobby for certain political positions, such as supporting Palestinians and calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. According to studies, these organisations use societal tensions and global conflicts to acquire influence, which frequently results in heightened division and violence. The pervasive influence of these extremist groups underscores the critical need for tougher measures to counter their activities and safeguard the democratic process from being hijacked by radical ideology.

In 2017, the Henry Jackson Society highlighted the significant role of foreign funding in the spread of Islamist extremism in Britain. The Society noted that this funding, primarily from government-linked foundations in the Gulf and Iran, has supported the dissemination of extremist ideologies, particularly citing Saudi Arabias multimillion-dollar initiatives since the 1960s to promote Wahhabism. In the United Kingdom, these funds have often taken the form of endowments for mosques and Islamic educational institutions, some of which have hosted extremist preachers or distributed radical material. British Muslim religious leaders trained in Saudi Arabia, along with the use of Saudi textbooks in some British Islamic schools, further contribute to this trend. Notably, many of Britains most infamous Islamist hate preachers have ties to foreign funding, a factor that has contributed to the radicalisation of individuals who have gone on to join jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria.

Foreign funds pose a serious threat to the UKs democratic values, as proven by recent exposes of illegal donations to major political parties and the influence of extremist organisations. Despite rules aimed at preventing undue foreign influence, the inability of a structured legal framework to ban illegal donations highlights the shortcomings of the current self-policing system. Furthermore, foreign funding by political NGOs and extremist groups undermines the legitimacy of the democratic process. These organisations use societal tensions and global crises to advance their objectives by propagating extreme beliefs and disrupting communities.

The author is a doctoral fellow at Amity University in Gwalior, content manager at Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
Overview of the Rafale M Deal

India is in advanced negotiations with France to acquire 26 Rafale Marine, or Rafale M, fighter jets which will be deployed on the Indian Navys aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and INS Vikramaditya. This procurement aims to operate alongside Russian MiG-29Ks and enhance the navys operational capabilities. The deal, expected to be finalised by the end of the financial year, underscores the strategic importance of modernising Indias naval aviation assets.

Key Differences Between Rafale M and IAF Rafale

The Rafale M, tailored for naval operations, incorporates several modifications distinct from the Indian Air Force (IAF) variant:

Reinforced Undercarriage and Landing Gear: Designed to endure the high-impact stress of carrier landings, the Rafale M features a more robust undercarriage and reinforced landing gear. This ensures the aircraft can handle the harsh conditions of naval aviation, including arrested landings. Tail Hook and Jump Strut Nosewheel: Equipped with a tail hook for arrested landings and a jump strut nosewheel to facilitate catapult launches, the Rafale M can operate efficiently from aircraft carriers equipped with catapult-assisted take-off systems (CATOBAR) or ski-jump configurations (STOBAR). Foldable Wings: To optimise space on aircraft carriers, the Rafale Ms wings are foldable, allowing for more efficient storage and manoeuvrability within the limited confines of a carrier deck. Maritime-Optimised Avionics and Sensors: The Rafale M is outfitted with advanced radar systems and electronic warfare suites optimised for maritime operations. This includes anti-ship missile targeting, improved situational awareness, and electronic countermeasures tailored for naval combat scenarios.

Strategic Implications in the Indian Ocean Region

The Rafale M deal significantly enhances the Indian Navys capabilities to counter Chinas expanding naval presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). With Chinas Fujian aircraft carrier featuring advanced electromagnetic catapults (EMALS) for heavier aircraft deployment, the Rafale Ms integration into the Indian Navy provides a crucial counterbalance.

Enhanced Air Superiority and Strike Capabilities: The Rafale M, with its advanced air-to-air and air-to-surface missile systems, including the Meteor BVRAAM (Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile) and Exocet anti-ship missiles, augments the Indian Navys offensive and defensive prowess.

Force Projection and Maritime Domain Awareness: The Rafale M enhances Indias ability to project power across the IOR. Its advanced sensors and avionics provide superior maritime domain awareness, enabling effective surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting over vast oceanic expanses.

Interoperability with IAF Rafales

The selection of the Rafale M ensures seamless interoperability with the IAFs existing Rafale fleet, leading to several strategic and operational benefits:

Logistics: The commonality between the Rafale M and IAF Rafale reduces the complexity of supply chains. Shared components and systems mean that spare parts, ammunition, and other logistical support can be streamlined, reducing costs and improving efficiency. Maintenance: Technicians and engineers trained on the IAF Rafale can apply their skills directly to the Rafale M, minimising the need for extensive additional training. This results in faster turnaround times for maintenance and repairs, ensuring higher aircraft availability. Training: Pilots transitioning between the IAF Rafale and the Rafale M benefit from familiarisation with the aircrafts systems and handling characteristics. This reduces the time and resources required for training, allowing for more effective utilisation of personnel and flight hours. Operational Efficiencies: Shared tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) between the IAF and the Navy enhance joint operations. Coordinated missions, such as combined air strikes or integrated defence operations become more effective due to the standardised platform. Cost Savings: The economies of scale achieved through commonality in the Rafale fleet result in significant cost savings. Bulk procurement of parts and shared training programs reduce overall expenditure, allowing resources to be allocated to other critical areas.

Strategic Impact

Interoperability between the Rafale M and IAF Rafale amplifies Indias military capabilities, fostering a cohesive and integrated defence strategy. This synergy strengthens Indias deterrence posture and operational readiness, particularly in joint operations involving both air and naval forces.

Dominance in the Indian Ocean Region

The integration of Rafale M fighters will significantly bolster the Indian Navys ability to dominate the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). This enhanced capability allows India to maintain a formidable presence along key maritime chokepoints such as the Strait of Malacca, Sunda Strait, Lombok Strait, and Ombai-Wetar Strait. These strategic waterways are critical for global trade, including Chinas maritime routes to Africa and the Middle East. By strengthening its naval aviation assets, India can effectively monitor and potentially control these chokepoints, thereby reducing Chinese influence and hegemony in the region.

Strait of Malacca: As one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes, the Strait of Malacca is crucial for Chinas energy imports from the Middle East and Africa. By deploying Rafale M fighters, India can enhance its surveillance and interdiction capabilities, potentially disrupting Chinese maritime logistics and energy supplies.

Sunda and Lombok Straits: These alternative routes to the Strait of Malacca are also critical for Chinese maritime traffic. Indian naval presence, supported by Rafale Ms, can extend strategic deterrence, ensuring that Chinas access to these routes is under constant scrutiny.

Ombai-Wetar Strait: Vital for submarine movements and strategic military logistics, controlling this strait would enable India to monitor and counter any Chinese naval activity aimed at projecting power into the Indian Ocean or beyond.

By exerting control over these chokepoints, India can diminish Chinas strategic flexibility and influence in the IOR, subsequently impacting Chinese hegemony in Africa and the Middle East. This strategic advantage not only curtails Chinas naval reach but also reinforces Indias position as a dominant maritime power in the IOR, safeguarding its interests and those of its allies in the broader geopolitical landscape.

Future Scenarios and Enhanced Capabilities

Increased Surveillance and Intelligence: Advanced ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) capabilities provided by the Rafale M will allow the Indian Navy to track and monitor Chinese naval movements with greater accuracy. This will include the ability to detect and track submarines, surface ships, and aircraft in real time.

Strategic Deterrence: The presence of Rafale M fighters, capable of rapid deployment from carriers, will serve as a powerful deterrent against potential Chinese aggression. This includes the ability to launch pre-emptive strikes on strategic targets, thus maintaining a balance of power in the region.

Joint Operations and Multinational Exercises: The Rafale Ms capabilities will enhance Indias participation in joint naval exercises with other major naval powers, such as the United States, Japan, and Australia. This will not only improve interoperability but also send a strong message of collective security to China.

Cyber Warfare and Electronic Dominance: Equipped with cutting-edge electronic warfare systems, the Rafale M will provide the Indian Navy with the ability to jam enemy communications, disrupt radar systems, and conduct cyber operations, further neutralising Chinese technological advantages.

Conclusion

The acquisition of Rafale M fighters is a strategic move to bolster the Indian Navys aerial capabilities. By enhancing operational readiness and deterrence, the Rafale M deal positions India to effectively counter Chinas naval ambitions and assert its influence in the Indian Ocean Region. This procurement underscores Indias commitment to maintaining maritime security and strategic stability in the region amidst evolving geopolitical dynamics.

Group Capt MJ Augustine Vinod VSM (retd) tweets at @mjavinod. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
After stirring controversy over his non-Muslim remarks, the Mayor of Kolkata Firhad Hakim on Saturday clarified his statement and claimed that he is a secular person who respects all religions. He further challenged the BJP to fight against him in the areas belonging to Hindus and defeat him.

The row erupted after Hakim, who is also considered to be a close aide to Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, openly called people to convert to Islam and said non-Muslims are unfortunate and need to bring Iman in them to make Allah happy.

Responding to his need to spread Islam among non-Muslims statement, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said, It was not a controversial statementI am a secular personI give respect to all religionsI am not concerned about what the BJP says. Hum unko (BJP) kehte hai aao hamare saath ladai karo, Hindu ilaake mei hamare khilaf ladai karo. Humko agar hara sakte ho, hum rajneeti chhod denge (I challenge them to fight with me in Hindu areas. If they will defeat me, I will leave politics).

Kolkata Mayors Open Call To Convert People To Islam

TMC leader Firhad Hakim, while addressing the All India Quran Competition on July 3, stirred a massive controversy after he openly called people to convert to Islam. Those who are not born in Islam are unfortunate! They are born with misfortune. We have to bring them under the fold of Islam, the Kolkata Mayor said during the event.

We need to spread Islam among non-Muslims. If we can bring someone on the path of Islam, then, we will prove to be true Muslims, Hakim added.

BJP Hits Back

Lashing out at the Trinamool Congress, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya took to X and attacked the ruling TMC for extreme appeasement politics in West Bengal.

The TMCs penchant for extreme appeasement politics in West Bengal is an open secret. The partys relentless appeasement politics has paid off, as evident from the successive electoral victories and subsequent post-poll violence, which have emboldened the TMC, making it more audacious and haughty than ever, Maviya wrote in a post on X.

Further referring to the recent video in which a TMC leader was seen assaulting a man and a woman openly, Malviya wrote, The brazen act of publicly flogging a woman by TMCs JCB in a manner akin to Sharia Court punishment and the reprehensible defense by TMCs Chopra MLA, Hamidur Rahman, asserting such actions are typical in a Muslim Rashtra, have already incited a political maelstrom and bears the testament to the TMCs underlying agenda.

People who were not born into Islam are unfortunate. We have to spread Islam among those people (Hindus), who are not followers of Islam. Those who are born in Islam, will reach jannat. Firhad Hakim, Kolkata Mayor and TMC Leader; 3rd July at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium, Kolkata. pic.twitter.com/Nrc9Piz0cI  Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) July 5, 2024

Now, TMC heavyweight and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim openly acknowledged this underlying agenda, by brazenly advocating the conversion of ill-fated non-Muslims to Islam to ostensibly please Allah. These flagrant incidents portend an ominous future, where the TMCs policy of appeasement will intensify, heralding a day not far off when West Bengal is wholly converted into a Muslim Rashtra under Didis Anuprerona (inspiration), he added.
Feature: A Tajik family's long-lasting bond with China

Xinhua) 14:02, July 06, 2024

DUSHANBE, July 6 (Xinhua) -- In her studio in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, 76-year-old Musharrafa Sharipova gently unwraps a well-preserved painting, which vividly depicts legendary ancient Chinese heroine Mu Guiying.

Mu, a renowned figure in the legends of the generals of the Yang Family in the Northern Song Dynasty (960 AD-1127 AD), is a famous cultural symbol in China, which reflects female courage, resolution, loyalty, and insightfulness.

Sharipova received the painting as a gift from her father in 1960 when she finished her fourth grade. Her father, then an official of the Communist Party of Tajikistan, had received the painting and an art collection from a visiting Chinese delegation in the 1950s.

"The painting was almost like a flag, suggesting that my destiny is closely connected with China," said Sharipova, former deputy chairman of the Tajik Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.

Today, Sharipova said her family has maintained close bonds with China for four generations from her father to her grandson.

A COUNTRY OF IMMENSE SIGNIFICANCE

Sharipova noted that the gifts from the Chinese delegation were a testament to her father's interactions with China and planted the seeds in her heart to carry on with his work on promoting friendship with China.

"The special affection our family has for China and our closeness to Chinese history and culture were established by my father. From a young age, I was influenced by him, and my bond with China took root in my childhood," she said.

In 2003, she served as the chief editor of the "Friendship" magazine, a quarterly publication of the Tajik Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.

The magazine has extensively covered China and released several special issues on the country. "China has always been a key focus," she stressed.

From the 1990s to 2018, Sharipova visited China eight times and witnessed the country's rapid development.

"Every visit revealed (China's) new developments. The scale of construction and the unique architecture were astounding," she said. "Everywhere in China is developing in a quite visible manner."

She also regularly participates in activities held at the Confucius Institute in Dushanbe, sharing her experiences in China with students and encouraging them to learn Chinese and Chinese culture.

Years of personal and professional interactions have also brought Sharipova close friendships with Chinese people. "For me, the word 'China' holds immense significance!" She said.

FAMILY LEGACY

Each generation of the Sharipova family has maintained a strong connection with China. Her son frequently interacts with Chinese companies in his logistics job. Her grandson, Sulton Sultonov, engages in cultural exchanges with his Chinese colleagues in his advertising work. Her great-niece, Niso Nozirova, a university student majoring in Chinese, is passionate about Chinese culture and music.

"China has always been a close topic, inspiring a profound interest in our family's history. Preserving these precious memories and continuing the good deeds of our family are essential," Sultonov said.

Sharipova's 14-year-old grandson, Amid Sharipov, is a tech enthusiast fascinated with artificial intelligence and new technologies. Inspired by Chinese innovations, he dreams of studying at a Chinese university.

"China's progress amazes me, and many experts predict a new era of technology led by China," he said.

Sharipova intends to enroll her grandson in the Confucius Institute at the Tajik National University to learn Chinese in September.

"My grandmother's cooperation with China and numerous visits have solidified my desire to pursue a career in China. Realizing this dream would bring immense joy to my family and honor my great-grandfather's legacy," said the 14-year-old.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, July 6. COP29 will achieve progress on several climate issues, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov said today during an Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Shusha city, Trend reports.

We are pleased that Azerbaijan will host COP29. I am confident that this conference will provide an opportunity to make progress on several issues, including financing issues. Kyrgyzstan is also well aware of the problems in this area, he stated.

To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) will be held in Azerbaijan in November this year. The decision was made at the plenary meeting of COP28 held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Within two weeks Baku, having become the center of the world, will host about 70,000-80,000 foreign guests.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for Conference of Parties, which is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.

A total of 198 countries are parties to the convention. Unless the parties have decided otherwise, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The announcement of the Jammu & Kashmir assembly election  the first since the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A  is likely to be made soon after August 19, when the month-long Amarnath Yatra comes to an end. The BJP has started to warm up to the extent of discussing its manifesto where it is likely to promise to snatch back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

There was a crucial meeting of the BJP on Thursday in Delhi attended by party president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and representatives from the state BJP where Shah has asked the state leadership to be ready for polls, say sources.

Sources also claimed that there will not be any pre-poll alliance and the BJP will fight in all 90 seats. After delimitation, the total seats of J&K rose to 114 of which 24 seats fall under Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

However, sources told News18 that the BJP remains open to post-poll alliance with like-minded parties.

The BJP will also not go to polls with any chief ministerial face, add sources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the face of the campaign like in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh or the Rajasthan assembly election.

The BJP top brass has also asked its state leadership to start brainstorming over the manifesto where taking back PoK is likely to feature prominently. The BJP is also likely to use the legacy of Maharaja Hari Singh  the Hindu king of the erstwhile princely estate who decided to join India  in its manifesto.

Meanwhile, in another meeting held in Jammu, attended by BJPs J&K election in-charge G Kishen Reddy and Prabhari Tarun Chugh, the latter has asked the unit to capitalise on the electoral loss of PDPs Mehbooba Mufti in Anantnag-Rajouri and National Conferences Omar Abdullah in Baramullah seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election.

The BJP will strongly raise the J&K Bank Scam and the Roshni scam issues during the campaign, according to sources.

Amid a series of activities, JP Nadda will be in Jammu on Saturday where he will address J&K BJPs working committee.

Earlier, in an interview with news agency PTI in May, Shah promised to conduct J&K polls before September 30 which will be followed by restoration of its statehood  a long-standing demand ever since 2019 when J&K was split into two parts and turned into Union Territories.

With the Lok Sabha election in J&K concluded, the next step is the assembly election, which we will conduct before the Supreme Courts deadline, said Shah in May. On December 11 last year, the Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hold elections in J&K by September 30, 2024.
Netflix phased out its most affordable ad-free subscription plan, priced at $11.99 per month, for new subscribers in the US and the UK last year. Now, a number of posts on social media platforms hint that the change has been introduced for existing users too. If Netflix users in the US want to enjoy ad-free movies and series, they have to subscribe to the most economical ad-free option, priced at $15.49 (approximately Rs 1,300) and $ 22.99 (roughly Rs 1,900) per month, respectively.

The plans represent a substantial increase in pricing. Sharing a screenshot on the Netflix subreddit, a Reddit user showed a notification from Netflix requesting him to switch plans. In the screenshot, the Basic plan appears to be missing, with the Standard with Ads plan costing at $6.99 (roughly Rs. 580) per month being the most affordable option.

Captioning the post, the Reddit user wrote, So youre telling me that even after getting a plan thats paid monthly, they locked certain shows behind a paywall?? Im already paying for this service, why do I need to pay more?!

While the Standard plan offers streaming in Full HD and allows users to watch on up to two devices simultaneously, Premium plan subscribers can watch on four devices together in 4K.

Netflixs President of Advertising, Amy Reinhard, says the ad-supported plan is their most popular option among users. This ad-based plan now has 40 million active users worldwide, compared to the 5 million user mark last year. In addition to that, 40 percent of all Netflixs sign-ups come from the ad-supported plan.

This development comes amidst reports that the video-streaming service may introduce an ad-supported free-to-watch plan in certain regions. The report further stated that the move by the streaming giant is aimed at increasing the streaming platforms audience, citing people familiar with the matter.

It is worth noting that the basic plan is still available to existing Netflix subscribers in India, hinting that the ad-supported tiers havent been rolled out in the country yet. The platform provides four plans in the country, namely Mobile, Basic, Standard, and Premium. The basic plan is priced at Rs 199 per month. This plan allows streaming across mobile phones, computers, tablets, and smart TVs in 720p resolution, limited to one active screen at a time.
The Labour Party has returned to power with a landslide victory in the United Kingdom general elections. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak resigned from his post on Friday after his Conservative Party faced humiliating defeat by securing only 121 seats out of 650. Keir Starmer, who led the Labour Party to a resounding victory, has become the new PM of the United Kingdom.

Even though Sunak managed to retain his constituency, Richmond and Northallerton, the former PM is facing a backlash online for the poll debacle of the Conservative Party. This has led to trolling of Sunak online over his father-in-law NR Narayana Murthys 70-hour work week remark.

Narayana Murthy triggered a controversy last year when he appeared on 3one4 Capitals podcast The Record, and argued that in order to compete with countries like China, Indian youth must have a 70-hour work week. This means working 11.6 hours for six days, except Sunday.

Following these remarks, the billionaire Infosys co-founder was accused of promoting an unhealthy hustle culture. Additionally, many people also accused his company Infosys of underpaying employees.

Now Narayana Murthys remark has come to haunt Rishi Sunak. An X user poked fun at him and wrote, Rishi Sunak is all set to lose the Prime Ministers chair in the UK General Elections. Looks like he didnt follow his father-in-laws advice about working 70 hours a week.

BREAKING : Rishi Sunak is all set to lose the Prime Minister's chair in the UK General Elections.Looks like he didn't follow his father-in-law 's advice about working 70 hours a week. pic.twitter.com/4c1qPU5Kxn  Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRaii) July 4, 2024

Another user shared a photo of the business tycoon and attributed a fake quote to him that read, My son-in-law didnt listen to my advice of working 70 hours a week. See the results now.

My Son in Law didn't listen to my advise of working 70 hours a week. See the results now.#UKElections2024 #RishiSunak pic.twitter.com/DTcPvaGxkm Che_ (@ChekrishnaCk) July 5, 2024

Another comment read, Some very unreliable sources tell me that Rishi Sunak will now work 70 hours a day to drown his sorrows.

Some very unreliable sources tell me that Rishi Sunak will now work 70 hours a day to drown his sorrows.  VagaBong (@sandeeproy1) July 5, 2024

Rishi Sunak to work 70 hours a week in father-in-law Narayana Murthys company Infosys, India, after losing UK elections, a user took a dig at Sunak.

Rishi Sunak to work 70 hours a week in father-in-law Narayan Murthy's company Infosys, India, after losing UK elections. Selection Commission Of India (Modi Family) Parody (@ECISLEEPS) July 5, 2024

Unfortunately Rishi Sunak thought: My father-in-laws advice is only for Indians in India, wrote another user.

Unfortunately Rishi Sunka thought My father-in-laws advice is only for Indians in India Pichaa Paati (@Pichaa_paati) July 5, 2024

In UK general elections 2024, the Labour Party won 412 seats and secured a clear majority. Before joining politics, Labour Party and the new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was a renowned human rights lawyer and public prosecutor.

The 61-year-old has now become the oldest person to assume office of the top office in the UK in almost half a century.
Havent we all faced a difficult time at work due to a tiff with our bosses? Well, there are many anecdotes on the internet where people have had issues with their managers and bosses. In view of this, China has found unique and hilarious ways to deal with this issue and to release stress caused by their overburdening jobs. Recently, a trend has been going viral in China, where the youth workforce has started listing their bosses, colleagues, and jobs for sale on second-hand e-commerce platforms. It has been found that people are selling them on Xianyu, which is Alibabas well-known e-commerce platform for used goods or second-hand products.

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the youths in China are resorting to this to wash off the work smell. In China, ban wei, or smell of work, is getting extremely intense and refers to the feeling of mental and physical exhaustion that people feel after a long day of work. It has been found that many people are selling their jobs and colleagues on Xianyu, one of Chinas largest e-commerce platforms for used products, just to de-stress themselves from the burden of their work.

On the website some of the listings include many annoying bosses, terrible jobs, and hated colleagues, that are up for sale in a price range of Rs 4 to Rs 9 lakh.

This trend in China highlights that people are now resorting to these lighthearted ways to deal with the pressure of work and escape from the stressful work culture.

According to the South China Morning Post, one user revealed that he is selling his job for Rs 90,000. He added that the job pays him Rs 30,000 a month, and the buyers can gain their investment amount in three months. He also revealed that the main reason he has listed his job on the e-commerce platform is that he doesnt want to wake up early.

Another user has listed his co-worker on the platform for being extremely sarcastic. He has listed his colleague for Rs 45,000.
As Rishi Sunak delivered his final speech outside 10 Downing Street, following a crushing defeat to the Labour Party in the UK elections, his wife Akshata Murty stood firmly by his side. While discussions centred on the election results and the future of the Conservative Party, social media couldnt stop buzzing about the way she eerily stood behind him.

While Akshatas choice of attire, a bold red, white, and blue chevron gown known as the 395 Lina Dress by designer Omi Na Na, captivated attentionand, admittedly, some playful ridicule, many couldnt help but draw comparisons to scenes straight out of a horror film.

Also Read: Not Just Us, But Akshata Murty And Rishi Sunak Also Love Watching Friends

Is it just me or this picture looks like a Korean horror film to you as well. remarked one user, capturing the eerie ambiance. Another likened it to The ghost of 10 Downing Street. Meanwhile, a third user humorously suggested, Black mirror episode while the fourth continued, Dress = Conjuring part 4. No wonder he lost.

Is it just me or this picture looks like a Korean horror film to you as well. pic.twitter.com/IKL7EeoFeN Ravi Handa (@ravihanda) July 6, 2024

Dress = Conjuring part 4. No wonder he lost idol652000 (@idol652000) July 5, 2024

The ghost of 10 Downing Street Sab Changa Si (      ) (@philpjg) July 6, 2024

Meanwhile, her dress became a focal point for online banter, with critiques ranging from its colour scheme to its hefty price tag. Yet amidst the jest, some speculated whether Akshatas sartorial statementfeaturing the colours of the UK flagwas a calculated move to subtly influence the nations evolving political landscape.

Akshata Murtys dress is absolutely perfect for the occasion. The multi-layered symbolism is *chefs kiss*, remarked one user on platform X, while another joked, Akshata Murtys dress is also a QR code that gets you a Disneyland fast pass. A third wryly noted, Akshata desperately trying to draw the attention away from her husband in her awful dress.

Also Read: Why Akshata Murty Considered Narayana Murthy As Her Bonus Dad

Meanwhile, following his devastating defeat in the UK elections, Rishi Sunak took to the steps of 10 Downing Street to address the nation, offering a heartfelt apology and acknowledging the electorates profound discontent and call for transformation.

To the country I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry. I have given this job my all, but you have sent a clear signal that the government of the United Kingdom must change. And yours is the only judgement that matters.

Acknowledging the publics anger and disappointment, Sunak assumed full accountability for the Conservative Partys historic loss, announcing his resignation as both prime minister and leader of the Conservatives once succession arrangements were finalised. The party, grappling with its lowest electoral tally ever, secured just over 121 seats, marking a stark moment of reckoning and transition in British politics.
The British Royal Family is renowned for leading a luxurious lifestyle, but Prince William recently showed a more down to earth side. Although he is the future king of Britain, hes also just a fun-loving father at heart. Recently, the Prince was spotted grooving at Taylor Swifts Eras Tour with his children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. The latest glimpse shows him riding an electric scooter around Windsor Castle. In a video making the rounds on social media, the Prince of Wales is dressed casually in a blue sweater, white shirt, which he paired with black trousers and stylish sunglasses.

According to The Sun, William bought the 6,000 (approximately Rs 6 lakh) electric scooter to quickly travel from the familys Adelaide Cottage to Windsor Castle to visit his father, King Charles. Interestingly, while these scooters are not allowed on public roads, they can be used on private property. Sharing the video, the X page wrote, Prince William is definitely the COOLEST PRINCE EVER. Rocking up on an electric scooter, with his sunnies, on his way to a meeting. I LOVE IT.

Prince William is definitely the COOLEST PRINCE EVER!!Rocking up on an electric scooter, with his sunnies  on his way to a meeting (?), I LOVE IT! Thank you @royalobsessed_ for finding this #PrinceWilliampic.twitter.com/R8F5pj42tz  Prie  (@RoyalDelhiite) July 5, 2024

Reacting to the viral footage, a user wrote, The Best Girl Dad, ever. Ask Taylor Swift and Princess Charlotte.

And the Best Girl Dad, ever. Ask Taylor Swift and Princess Charlotte. 1canpaint (@1canpaint1) July 5, 2024

Another shared, My my my, this man, where can I get one.

My my my . this man!!!! where can I get one May I know the username of this TikTok account?  Mrs.W (@Katrnish) July 5, 2024

That was unexpected. I bet George is still looking for it, a comment read.

Well! That was unexpected. I bet George is still looking for it! MissTeak (@sachah46) July 5, 2024

Another wrote, Brilliant way to get about the castle precincts.

Bwhahahaha brilliant way to get about the castle precincts,I had to visit the gift shop and wow the walk up to it was very tiring to say the least,this would be a great bit of fun Sky Haynes (@skyllhaynes3) July 5, 2024

An individual shared, Coolest future King ever.

Coolest future King ever!!!! carla willson (@formula1nana) July 5, 2024

One more added, Wonder which of his kids is walking to school this morning.

Wonder which of his kids is walking to school this morning Gilbert66Green (@Gilbert66Green) July 5, 2024

A source close to the Royal Family told the portal, It just makes sense. He whizzes up to the castle when he needs to see the King. Its a two or three-mile round trip from his family home at Adelaide Cottage to Windsor Castle, so its easier by scooter than car or walking.

Prince William is a passionate motorhead, who earlier owned a Ducati bike worth 20,000 (approximately Rs 21 lakh). However, his hobby had left Kate Middleton concerned. While meeting residents in St. Andrews in Dundee, Kate had said, It always fills me with horror when he goes out on it. Im terrified. Hopefully, Im going to keep George off it. Since becoming the father of three children, Prince William decided to give rest to his hobby.
New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer doesnt get to take a breather. After a draining six-week election campaign, the center-left politician must get straight to work assembling his government, tackling a mountain of domestic problems and putting his stamp on the U.K.s relations with the rest of the world.

Its a daunting list for a new leader who has never served in, much less led, a government. But Starmer, who was officially appointed prime minister Friday, insisted that he is up to the challenge of heading the U.K. in a world that is a more volatile place" than it has been for many years.

Like someone moving into a new home with their IKEA furniture, Starmers first task was to assemble a Cabinet.

Starmer began putting together his government soon after he walked through the door of 10 Downing St. on Friday afternoon following his landslide election victory. He has a plethora of lawmakers to choose from  his Labour Party won more than 400 seats in Thursdays election, almost two-thirds of the 650 in the House of Commons.

Key players in the new administration include Treasury chief Rachel Reeves  a former Bank of England economist and the first woman to hold that job  who will liaise with international financial institutions.

The new foreign secretary, Britains top diplomat, is David Lammy, a Harvard Law School graduate who vowed to reconnect Britain for our security and prosperity at home."

Starmer has said his message to the world from the U.K. is: Were back." He wants Britain to take a larger role on the global stage after years of soured relations with Europe over Brexit and the inward-looking U.K. political soap opera that followed.

He takes office at a time of multiple crises  including the war in Ukraine and the Middle East, a surging far right, a muscle-flexing China  that will test the cool head he honed in his former job as Britains chief prosecutor.

Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general of the Royal United Services Institute, a military think-tank, said that with France facing a far-right surge in legislative elections and the U.S. embroiled in a polarizing, high-stakes presidential election, Britain has the most stable government of all the major Western democracies."

It therefore has the opportunity, and responsibility, to help steady the ship of Western unity at a time of exceptional political fluidity," he said.

Starmer is set to make a high-profile international debut next week, when he is expected to attend NATOs 75th-anniversary summit in Washington. The gathering is overshadowed by questions about President Joe Bidens fitness and the uncertain outcome of the November U.S. presidential election.

Starmer has said there will be no change to Britains staunch support for Ukraine, and has pledged to increase U.K. military spending to 2.5% of GDP  though he hasnt put a date on it.

The decision for Starmer is how much to try to persuade the U.S. - as well as other wavering members of NATO  to remain a defender of Ukraine, on the grounds not just of sovereignty but European security," said Bronwen Maddox, director of international affairs think-tank Chatham House.

Starmer also faces divisions within his party over Israels war against Hamas. Several Labour lawmakers were defeated in the election by challenges from pro-Palestinian independents angered by the partys initial refusal to call unambiguously for a cease-fire in the Gaza conflict.

On July 18, Starmer will host leaders from across Europe at Englands Blenheim Palace for a meeting of the 47-nation European Political Community. Its a chance to begin to mend ties with the U.K.s neighbors in Europe, which have frayed and soured since the U.K. left the European Union in 2020.

Starmer says he wants to reduce some of the post-Brexit barriers for people and goods that have hobbled relations between Britain and the bloc. He insists, though that he wont reverse Brexit, or rejoin the EUs single market and customs union.

Critics say that shows a lack of principle, but supporters say it respects Britons desire not to reopen the divisive Brexit debate.

Starmer also faces a daunting range of domestic challenges, underlaid by the widespread sense that many facets of Britains public life have broken down during 14 years of Conservative rule.

Stagnant growth and low productivity restrain the economy while millions of people struggle with the cost of living. The countrys aging infrastructure is creaking and the state-funded National Health Service is at breaking point, with long waiting lists for treatment, a situation has been worsened by a long-running series of doctors strikes. Ending that dispute will be a priority, but Starmer has vowed to keep a tight lid on spending and wont want to agree to the big salary increases the doctors are seeking.

Starmer promises to take control of migration and stop people making dangerous journeys across the English Channel in small boats, but he will cancel the Conservative governments controversial plan to send asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda. The U.K. has paid Rwanda hundreds of millions of pounds (dollars) as part of the deal without a single flight taking off.

Hes also expected to emphasize Britains commitment to fighting climate change after a series of backwards steps under the Conservatives.

The new governments legislative plans for the next year will be set out July 17 in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the ceremonial State Opening of Parliament.

A lot of people are feeling a sense of potential transformation," said Lise Butler, senior lecturer in modern history at City University of London. I think that theres going to be elevated expectations for Starmer, which are going to be difficult to meet."
Sojan Joseph, a Kerala-born nurse who has resided in the United Kingdom since 2002, has been elected to the British Parliament after winning in the recently concluded UK elections.

Joseph secured victory in the Ashford constituency in Kent County as a Labour Party candidate, defeating veteran politician Damien Green, who previously held the seat for the Conservative Party.

At 49 years old, Joseph joins twenty-six other Indian-origin Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons.

His win signifies a historic moment for the Labour Party, which has been out of power for 14 years, and for the Ashford constituency, where Joseph became the first Labour candidate to triumph in its 139-year history.

Originally from Kaipuzha, a small village in Keralas Kottayam district, Joseph has served as a mental health nurse in Kents National Health Service.

The Labour Party ended the Conservatives 14-year rule by ousting Rishi Sunak from power and securing seats well above the majority mark. Party leader Keir Starmer, who served as the prosecutor for England and Wales between 2008 and 2013, is on course to become the new prime minister of the country.

Family Celebrates Victory Back Home In Kerala

His father, KT Joseph, his three sisters, and other relatives gathered at the family home in Kerala were overjoyed upon hearing about his win.

I am very happy. A Malayalee went there and won. He calls home everyday, his proud father told the media on Friday.

His sisters recounted receiving a call from Sojan after his triumph, noting their prayers for his electoral success since learning of his candidacy.

He has been there for 22 years. We were all praying for his win ever since we got to know that he is contesting in the election, one of them said.

Another relative mentioned that Sojan joined the Labour Party due to his commitment to socialist ideals.

Sojan, who lost his mother Elikutty three months ago, had visited Kerala during that time. He moved to Britain after completing his nursing studies in Bengaluru in 2001 and has been working in the public sector since 2002.

Josephs wife, Brita, is also a nurse from Thrissur, Kerala. The couple have three children and currently reside in Kent.

(With inputs from agencies)
The 20-year-old man who fatally stabbed his 8-year-old sibling and attacked his parents in their Queens apartment on Thursday never smiled and always had a serious face, a neighbour said.

According to a New York Post report, Pedro Felix, 20, killed Jacob Lopez, 8, who was either his brother or stepbrother stabbed his mother, Channel Lino, before turning the blade on his father, 43-year-old Jose Adan Perez. NYPD officials responded to reports to violence in the Queens apartment on July 4 and found Pedro holding his father in a headlock over the kitchen sink with a knife to his throat.

The familys next door neighbour, Vanessa Rivera said the boy never smiled and always had a serious face.

He never interacted with nobody. When we would pass each other in the hallway, he wouldnt say hi or anything to me, Vanessa was quoted by NY Post as saying. She also added that that the only time she ever saw Pedro was when he came in and out of the apartment.

Vanessa noted that the familys demeanour was completely opposite to that of Pedro. Anytime you see them, they were smiling. I can honestly say Ive never seen them upset at each other. They were just my neighbours, they were so happy, so lovable. You would never think in a million years, she said.

Police suspect that the attack stemmed from a domestic dispute.

NYPD Chief John Chell on Thursday said police were called to the scene when Pedros mother, bleeding badly from a stab wound in her back, ran outside pleading for her life. Pedro was fatally shot by cops when they found him holding his father in a headlock with a knife to his throat over the kitchen sink.

They gave repeated commands, both in English and Spanish, to drop the knife. He did not. One officer fired one round, striking the target, saving that mans life, Chell was quoted by the NY Post as saying.

The family of four was rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where Jacob and Pedro succumbed to their injuries.

An 8-month-old infant who was also in the home was left unharmed.
Photo: Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, July 6. Kazakhstan is interested in further strengthening cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said the Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Nurlan Baibazarov, Trend reports.

He made the remark during a meeting with the Resident Representative of the UNDP in Kazakhstan, Katarzyna Wawiernia.

"Kazakhstan is interested in further strengthening cooperation with UNDP, in particular, the successful implementation of the UNDP Country Program for 20212025," he said.

In addition, Baibazarov also informed his interlocutor about the countrys readiness to present the third Voluntary National Review on the implementation of sustainable development goals at the High-Level Political Forum in New York in 2025.

"Achieving sustainable development goals is a national priority for Kazakhstan. We pay great attention to discussing the implementation of goals on different platforms to find optimal solutions aimed at the sustainable development of our state. The voluntary review will objectively reflect the main achievements, challenges, and emerging problems of the country," he added.

To note, UNDP activities are aimed at promoting the economic development of UN member countries. In partnership with the government of Kazakhstan, public organizations, the business sector, UN agencies, and other partners, more than 200 projects worth over $200 million have been implemented in Kazakhstan.

Among them are projects for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, green energy, agriculture, ecotourism, and other areas.
The French equivalent of Excalibur has been stolenbut unlike the sword in the legend of King Arthur, whoever pulled the Durandal sword from a rock is more likely to be proclaimed a thief than a true king. The sword is missing, believed stolen from the village of Rocamadour, where it was chained to a stone 32 feet above the ground, the Independent reports. Legend holds that the knight Roland threw it there 1,300 years ago to keep the reputedly indestructible sword out of the hands of an army of Saracens, reports CBS News .

According to legend, Durandal was the sharpest of all blades, capable of cutting boulders in half. The 11th-century epic poem "The Song of Roland" says the sword was entrusted to Roland by the emperor Charlemagne, who received it from an angel, CBS reports. Legend says that when Roland threw it in the air, it flew hundreds of miles before becoming embedded in the rock at Rocamadour.

Police are investigating the apparent theft of the sword, which had long been a tourist attraction. "We will miss Durandal. It has been part of Rocamadour for centuries, there is not a single guide who does not show it during their visit," Mayor Dominique Lenfant told La Depeche. "Rocamadour feels stripped of a part of itself, even if it is a legend, the destinies of our village and this sword are linked." (More France stories.)
Italy's civil protection agency put out a red alert on Friday, its top warning, for Sicily after two of the Mediterranean island's volcanoes got more rumbly than usual. Both Mount Etna, near Catania in the east, and Mount Stromboli, in the nearby Aeolian Islands, have erupted, hurling hot ash and lava into the sky and sea and causing Catania's airport to shut down, reports Reuters . "The runway at Catania Airport is unusable due to the volcanic ash fall. Both arrivals and departures are suspended," the airport said in a statement,

By 4:30pm local time, the airport tweeted that it had reopened, but with some delays and limited operations. As of late Friday local time, nearly 70 flights had been canceled, with many diverted to the Sicilian capital of Palermo, a few hours' drive from Catania, per USA Today and Euronews. Both volcanoes are active and experience regular eruptions, but "they are experiencing a particularly high level of activity" at the moment, notes the New York Times, citing a Sicilian firefighting inspector.

Etna's crater had been dormant for four years or so, until about two weeks ago, when eruptions leading up to Thursday's explosion began. One volcanologist says the ash cloud from Etna spewed 15,000 feet into the air, with the wind then carrying the ash to nearby towns. In Catania, the mayor banned motorcycles for two days due to the ash and instituted a speed limit of around 20mph for all other vehicles. Stromboli, meanwhile, is said to be "under surveillance" in case evacuation is eventually needed, per Nello Musmeci, the nation's civil protection minister. (More Mount Etna stories.)
The indictment of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for money laundering and criminal association in connection with undeclared diamonds from Saudi Arabia marked the far-right leader's second formal accusation, with more potentially in store. The indictment on Thursday by the nation's Federal Police, confirmed by two officials with knowledge of the case, followed another formal accusation in March against Bolsonaro for allegedly falsifying his COVID-19 vaccination certificate. Once Brazil's Supreme Court receives the police report with the latest indictment, the country's prosecutor-general, Paulo Gonet, will analyze it and decide whether to shelve it, ask for additional police investigation, or file charges and force Bolsonaro to stand trial, per the AP .

It's still early to say how likely the last option is, but the police indictment already marked a turning point in the case, said legal expert Renato Stanziola Vieira, president of the Brazilian Institute of Criminal Sciences. It dramatically raises the legal threats facing the divisive ex-leader that are applauded by his opponents but denounced as political persecution by his supporters. Bolsonaro didn't immediately comment, but he and his lawyers have previously denied any wrongdoing in both those cases, as well as in other investigations. One is probing his possible involvement in inciting a January 2023 uprising in the capital of Brasilia that sought to oust his successor from power.

Last year, the Federal Police accused Bolsonaro of attempting to sneak in diamond jewelry reportedly worth $3 million and selling two luxury watches. Police said in August that Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly $70,000 sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Arabia. Brazil requires its citizens arriving by plane from abroad to declare goods worth more than $1,000 and, for any amount above that exemption, to pay a tax equal to 50% of their value. The jewelry would've been tax exempt had it been a gift from Saudi Arabia to Brazil, but not Bolsonaro's to keep for himself. More here.

(More Jair Bolsonaro stories.)
Part of the experience of a NASCAR race is hearing the engine roar, the rumble of each car's approach and the zip of it whizzing past at more than 150mph. On Saturday in Chicago, NASCAR unveiled its first electric race car, which doesn't thunder when the grand marshal says "Drivers, start your engines"it hums. The top motorsports series in North America partnered with Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, and electrification company ABB to demonstrate a high-performance electric vehicle and gauge fan interest in electric racing, the AP reports. They want to represent electric vehicles, and more broadly, electrification, in racing as cool, fun, and accessible, said Riley Nelson, NASCAR's head of sustainability.

The only person who has driven the $1.5 million prototype is semi-retired NASCAR driver David Ragan. He said the sound and smell were unlike anything he has experienced. Ragan could hear the tires squeal and smell the brakes. In gasoline-powered cars, the engine's sound and smell and heat from the exhaust overpower everything else. But after hundreds of laps, Ragan's ears weren't ringing. The new car is a crossover utility vehicle; a huge wing on the back makes it aerodynamic enough to be a race car. It accelerates almost twice as fast as top gas-powered race cars and can stop almost immediately. But its lap time at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia was two-tenths of a second slower because it takes the corners slower due to being heavier. Ragan said it may go even faster; he wasn't pushing it.

Eric Warren of General Motors said research shows more than half of avid NASCAR fans would be more interested in purchasing an electric vehicle if they were exposed to it through racing. A main message is taking care with energy and optimizing it, he said. "Racing gives a great platform to discuss a lot of those concepts and educate fans," Warren said, per the AP. "It's a laboratory for us to try some new technologies and learn as we educate." If NASCAR pursues electric racing, John Probst of NASCAR said he thinks the fan experience could be reinvented. One option is a DJ. "It's our goal to entertain our fans," he said.

(More NASCAR stories.)
Photo: Official website of the President of Tajikistan

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, July 6. Several agreements in the industrial sector were signed between Tajikistan and China, following the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tajikistan, Trend reports.

The press service of the President of Tajikistan announced that the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China signed an agreement and a memorandum on new energy minerals.

In addition, the following agreements were signed in industrial sector:

An agreement on cooperation between the Agency for Innovation and Digital Technology of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China.

A memorandum of cooperation between the State Supervision Service for Safe Conduct of Work in Industry and Mining under the Government of Tajikistan and the National Administration of Work Safety in the Mining Industry under the Ministry of Emergency Management of China.

The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. In total, 29 significant documents were signed, regulating relations between the two countries in various fields.

To note, China remains one of Tajikistan's most important trading partners. Last year, trade turnover between the two countries increased by more than 24 percent compared to 2022.
Russian strikes overnight left over 100,000 households without power in northern Ukraine and cut off the water supply to a regional capital, Ukrainian authorities reported Saturday, while civilian casualties rose sharply in the country's embattled east. The northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, was plunged into darkness after Russian strikes late Friday damaged energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said. Hours later, the Ukrainian public broadcaster reported that Russian drones hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, cutting off water by hitting power lines that feed its system of pumps, per the AP .

Explosions rocked the city, which had a prewar population of over 256,000, during an air raid warning early Saturday, according to Ukrainian media reports. Russia is continually targeting Ukraine's badly damaged energy infrastructure, resulting in hours of rolling blackouts across the country. In the Donetsk region in the east, Russian shelling on Friday and overnight killed 11 civilians and wounded 43, local Gov. Vadym Filashkin reported on Saturday. Five people died in the town of Selydove southeast of Pokrovsk, the eastern city that has emerged as a front-line hotspot.

The Ukrainian General Staff on Saturday said that Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed 45 times near Pokrovsk over the previous day. Hours later, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced its troops had captured a village some 19 miles east of the city. According to Filashkin, three more civilians died in Chasiv Yar, the strategically located town in Donetsk that has been reduced to rubble under a monthlong Russian assault. Russian forces have for months tried to grind out gains in Ukraine's industrial east, in an apparent attempt to lock its defenders into a war of attrition, per the AP.

(More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)
Judy Belushi-Pisano, a former actress and producer who for decades strived to preserve the legacy of her husband, comedian John Belushi, has died. She was 73 and had long battled cancer, Variety reports. She met Belushi in high school in Illinois and was married to the Saturday Night Live and Animal House star from 1973 until his 1982 overdose death. "Her unwavering dedication and creative genius alongside Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi gave birth to The Blues Brothers, a timeless testament to the power of music and laughter," a post on the official John Belushi Instagram page says.

Belushi-Pisano was working as a radio producer in New York when her husband began drawing attention in the mid-1970s for his work with the Second City comedy troupe and his selection for the inaugural cast of Saturday Night Live. She had uncredited roles in his two blockbuster movies. Belushi's wife stayed with him through his infidelities and struggles with addiction, then for much of her life honored his memory, per Variety. Among the projects she worked on was the 2020 Showtime documentary John Belushi. "She was smart, funny, wise, honest, and a blast to spend time with," said RJ Cutler, the film's executive producer.

She was active in the arts on Martha's Vineyard, where the couple began spending time in the 1970s. In 1990, she married Victor Pisano, per the Hollywood Reporter. Belushi-Pisano filed for divorce from him in 2010. "John wasn't perfect," Belushi-Pisano told People in 2020. "But he was a full human beingcaring and adventurous and kind. And he not only made people laugh, he made them feel." (More obituary stories.)
Shield AI, building the worlds best AI pilot, was awarded $198 million by the U.S. Coast Guard to implement the V-BAT unmanned aircraft system (UAS).

The V-BAT series aircraft is the only operationally deployed single-engine ducted fan vertical takeoff and land (VTOL) UAS that can launch and recover from a hover and fly on wing in horizontal flight. With more than five years of persistent operational experience at sea, U.S. and international customers view the V-BAT as a flexible platform capable of performing Group 2 to Group 5 UAS missions and beyond.

Ducted-fan technology enables industry leading max-takeoff weight to payload weight ratio. V-BATs duct increases thrust by 80%+ at equivalent engine power, enabling take-off and landing with a single power plant and achieving unmatched payload mass fraction. It can fly for a half day or stop and hover for hours on end.

Thrust vectoring bestows V-BAT with unmatched control authority for rock-solid stability in harsh weather conditions. The duct adds increased safety, eliminating operator safety zones, which expands the tactical employment envelope.

Vertical take off means no runway is needed. Deployment by one two people is a huge change.



Forward Operating Bases are easy targets and the future of tactical UAS must be more than just expeditionary. V-BAT is a tactical asset with strategic implications. The smallest and most agile footprint of any aircraft in its class. V-BAT is fully deployable by a 2-person team and packs up to fit in the back of a pickup truck or UH-60 Blackhawk. Go from pack to flight in under 20 minutes.

Shield AI announced that the V-BAT had a drone-swarming capability.

In 2023, Northrop Grumman teamed with Shield AI, to replace the long-serving RQ-7B Shadow tactical unmanned aerial system (UAS). Earlier versions of the V-BAT have supported operations for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps since 2016. The new enhanced V-BAT is simple to operate, has increased power, a reduced logistics tail and capacity to carry a range of interchangeable payloads, including electro-optical/infra-red, synthetic aperture radar and EW systems, offering long-term adaptability and life cycle management.

Specifications

Avionics

electro-optical (EO)/mid-wave infrared (MWIR) cameras
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, July 6. Tajikistan and China have signed a document on cooperation in the energy sector, following the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tajikistan, Trend reports.

According to the press service of the Tajik president, a memorandum on the development of investment cooperation in the field of "new" energy was signed between the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Commerce of China.

The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. In total, 29 significant documents were signed, regulating relations between the two countries in various fields.

To note, China remains one of Tajikistan's most important trading partners. Last year, trade turnover between the two countries increased by more than 24 percent compared to 2022.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan, over the past 32 years, Tajikistan's energy sector has been a hotbed of activity, with projects worth above 57.2 billion somoni ($5.3 billion) being brought to life, thanks to China's financial support.
Photo: Press service of the President of Tajikistan

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, July 6. Trade turnover between Tajikistan and China shows a tendency for growth, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said at a press conference following the meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tajikistan, Trend reports.

"Trade turnover between our countries increased by more than 24 percent last year compared to 2022. This year, we are observing a trend towards even greater growth," Rahmon said.

He highlighted the substantial influx of Chinese investments into Tajikistan's economy, totaling over $4 billion from 2007 through 2023, with a significant portion of above $2.6 billion being direct investments.

"Overall, more than 700 companies with Chinese capital are currently operating in Tajikistan," Rahmon added.

He also mentioned that a Forum of Business Representatives and Companies from Tajikistan and China was recently held in Dushanbe. During this event, both sides signed commercial contracts and cooperation agreements worth over $600 million.

Rahmon expressed interest in bringing more Chinese business circles on board to get the ball rolling on infrastructure projects.

Notably, following Xi Jinping's visit to Tajikistan, 29 significant documents were signed between the two countries, regulating relations in various fields.
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, are consultants who have worked on opposite teams for their entire careers yet have remained friends. Here, they discuss the weeks events with editorial page editor Tom Moran.

Q. President Biden now concedes he may have to quit the race if he cant perform well enough in coming days to dispel concerns over his age, according to several reports. I wonder if its too late, given that 74 percent now says hes too old to handle the job. What do you think? Can voters ever un-see that debate?

Mike: It is best for Biden and the party for him to step aside. Voters had their fears or expectations confirmed during the debate. He is no longer up for the job, regardless of whether or not you think he has been a good president or is a good man. Too many voters now think he simply can no longer perform the duties necessary.

Julie: There was an opportunity for President Biden to turn this around, if he could, but time has slipped by with the White House and the campaign seemingly in paralysis all week. Where has the president been and why has it taken so long for the American people to see him? I dont mean a sit-down with George Stephanopoulos, which will not even air in its entirety until more than ten days after this disastrous debate. I mean a forceful president who is out there on the stump every single day, reminding voters what is at stake.

President Biden just addressed concerns about his age in the most PERFECT way I wasn't too old to create over 15 million new jobs, to make sure 21 million Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act, to beat Big Pharma! Biden DELIVERS! pic.twitter.com/v0JFMITVUD  Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) July 5, 2024

Julie: The Supreme Court handed him a golden opportunity on Monday to turn the page and make clear to voters that they have effectively given autocratic powers to the president and that Donald Trump, with this kind of authority, poses a clear and present danger to our democracy. If Biden is capable of being out there every single day prosecuting the case politically against Trump, there is no excuse for him not doing it all this past week. If he cannot, it is time to move on.

Q. The Biden team is taking flack for hiding this problem by limiting Bidens public appearances and aggressively denying reports of his declining abilities, even as polls showed overwhelming concern among voters. Is that a fair point?

Mike: The presidents team did him and the country a great disservice 18 months ago not being direct and honest that the best thing for him, the party and the country was for him to voluntarily just serve one term. He would have gone down in history in a positive light - served a term as president, two terms as VP, and 35+ years in the Senate. He would have been seen as a stabilizing force post-Trump, post-COVID. He could have led a transition to the next generation of Democrats, a number of whom would have been historic nominees in their own rights. Instead of going out in a wave a gratitude, he will go looking sad, looking pathetic, looking overwhelmed. Instead of going out a hero, he goes out as a punchline. His inner circle should be ashamed.

Everybody likes the idea that somebody new would be good, thats always the case but this isnt fantasy football, its deadly serious for the future of democracy. I think that Democrats should rally around Joe Biden & get to the business of winning the race. - @StuartPStevens pic.twitter.com/rwhZwoUjPc  The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) July 3, 2024

Julie: If you have read this column for the last three years, you have heard me say repeatedly that Democrats have a messaging problem. Well, it has finally caught up to us. Rather than forcefully selling the most successful presidency of my lifetime, the White House allowed voters to focus on Bidens frailties even before last Thursday. Now the horse has left the barn. I dont even know if there is time to turn this around for the president anymore. There was  starting last Friday morning, after the debate, and continuing all week long, especially with the gift the Supreme Court handed us with its disgraceful decision in Trump v. United States. That opportunity was squandered, as so many other opportunities have been squandered over the last three years. I will personally vote for a comatose Biden or a paper bag over Trump and so will many others. But the issue here is that the White House continues to allow the narrative to be about Bidens capabilities, not about the dystopian future we are facing if Trump is elected.

Q. If Biden drops out, who do you think would be the strongest Democratic candidate against Trump in November? Will Democrats pick that person? What do you make of polls showing Michelle Obama does best against Trump in a head-to-head?

Mike: Michelle Obama would be the strongest due to the positive high name ID. Beyond her, look to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania or Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky. All are popular and seen as from the center-left, not far left, wing of the party. Two have won in target states, connect in the Rust Belt, and would be historic nominees.

Julie: Any of the people Mike mentions would be strong candidates. Look, this is not a marriage, where you are waiting for the perfect partner to come along to fulfill your every dream. This is a choice between the democracy we have had for nearly 250 years and a convicted felon and adjudicated rapist who has threatened to blow up our alliances abroad, create camps to detain people here at home, who wanted to open fire on Americans protesting in the streets and who now has the power, thanks to his handpicked justices, to suspend habeas corpus, invoke the Insurrection Act to stifle defense and otherwise act in ways that would make his idol, Vladimir Putin, proud. The candidate who can articulate this day and night is the one who should be running against Trump.

For an incumbent presiding over peace and prosperity to be effectively trailing an indicted felon feels terrifying. It undercuts one of the rationales ofhis reelection campaign: that he is best positioned to stave off the threat of a second Trump term. https://t.co/OsqopnTQGk  Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) September 9, 2023

Q. The Supreme Courts decision to grant presidents immunity from criminal prosecution over official acts left the Courts liberal minority outraged, with the dissent warning of a rogue president unleashed to stage coups, assassinate opponents, and openly accept bribes for pardons. Should we be terrified?

Mike: Maybe a little scared, but not terrified. We still have many good people in government who will put the proper constitutional and legal restraints on any president.

SCOTUS sets fire to American democracy (cont.) https://t.co/oObppdq9OU  NJ_Opinion (@NJ_Opinion) July 2, 2024

Julie: We should be more than terrified. We should be looking at ways to reform the court. These justices did not just give virtually unchecked power to the president. They have installed themselves as the ultimate arbiters in deciding whether his actions are appropriate, giving themselves more power than either the executive branch or the legislative branch. This is effectively a judicial coup by six unelected justices, only one whom was appointed by a president who got a majority of the popular vote. It is a court wholly unaccountable and wholly out of control.

Trump v. United States will be overruled someday. I agree with @rbhubbell that its destined to be remembered as a mark of shame for the Roberts Court just as Dred Scott tarnishes Chief Justice Taneys legacy to this day. Hasten the day by voting against this Court in November  Laurence Tribe   (@tribelaw) July 2, 2024

Q. The Courts second big decision this week overturned the landmark Chevron ruling of 1984, placing new limits on the executive branchs power to impose regulations, a long-time goal of conservatives who believe the government has overreached. Critics warn that the decision will cripple efforts to clean the environment, protect consumers, and prevent financial fraud, among other things. How big a change is this, and what does the decision say about the Court?

Mike: Chevron is a big change in that it throws the responsibility of many regulatory decisions back to Congress. Conservatives like this because it puts decisions into the hands of those elected of office and takes power away from unelected bureaucrats.

In Chevron repeal, Court stripped deference to agency expertise; in blocking air pollution reg, Gorsuch didnt know difference between nitrous and nitrogen oxide. Oy. https://t.co/VZ916z9BZr  Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) June 30, 2024

Julie: See above. This court is out of control. It does not answer to anyone except the wealthy plutocrats who pay for some of these justices to drive around in a fancy RV, go on fancy yachts and fishing trips and who otherwise subsidize these justices lifestyles. So is it any surprise that when it was time to pay the piper, the payment came at the expense of everyone else?

And these are the bozos who think they shouldnt defer to administrative expertise, and dumped Chevron deference. https://t.co/qLM6rj9v35  Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) June 30, 2024

Q. Finally, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has organized an ad campaign in support of Israel, one that describes protesters of the Gaza war as supporters of Hamas. When asked if this signals an intention to launch a political comeback, he wont answer. Help him decide, please. Time for Andrew Cuomo 2.0?

Mike: Hes baaaaack. I have no doubt Andrew Cuomo is running for mayor or governor, and my bet is he wins.

Julie: I am all for forgiveness and second chances if someone takes accountability for his or her mistakes. On his way out the door, Andrew Cuomo allowed his aides and lawyers to slander the women who bravely spoke up about his behavior. Lets hear from him about whether he apologizes for that before considering his future.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who founded a pro-Israel nonprofit last year as he considered a political comeback, released the groups first television ad on Tuesday  60 seconds that depicts some pro-Palestinian protesters as Hamas supporters.



Do they really know who pic.twitter.com/FeX9PSHQgS  Eye On Antisemitism (@AntisemitismEye) July 2, 2024

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.

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 Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and President George W. Bush and is currently consulting Senate candidate Curtis Bashaw. 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.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who won election despite a shaky debate performance hampered by a stroke, is sticking by President Joe Biden.

As nervous Democrats and Never Trumpers call for Biden to leave the presidential race against Donald Trump because of his own debate debacle, Fetterman has emerged as a vocal and  at 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds  imposing Biden bodyguard.

After Bidens interview with ABC on Friday night, Fetterman appeared on MSNBC to scold Democrats who want to panic and piss our pants.

Americans who have thrown away presidential votes away in protest were blamed by Fetterman for George W. Bush, Trump, an extremist Supreme Court that took away reproductive rights and granted Trump criminal immunity, among other radical rulings, and the threat that Trump could win a second term.

On Twitter, Fetterman told Democrats to chill the f--- out.

For days, Fetterman has been throwing Twitter F-bombs at the New York Times opinion writers and others. Fetterman told voters to stop listening to so-called experts.

All the experts were saying that the Democrats were going to get destroyed in the 2022 cycle. And everybody said that, Well, you cant be seen with Joe Biden. He wasnt popular, Fetterman said. I was proud to campaign with him, and I did that. He stuck by me, and Im sticking by him right now through this, too. Hes been a great President.

With Biden leading the way, Fetterman beat Trump-endorsed celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, and the Democrats had a historically successful 2022 election cycle.

With the insurrection already proving Trumps refusal to hand over power, Fetterman insisted that if it wasnt for Joe Biden, Trump would be sitting in the White House right now, and hed be running for his third term, likely aided by a radical Supreme Court, which has shredded the Constitution and repealed laws.

Fetterman didnt mince words about hand-wringing Democrats.

My moneys on the guy that kicked [Trumps] ass in 2020, and and now I want to be clear that its going to be close. Its always going to be close. It was close in 2016. It was close in 2020 and 24 its going to be close in 2024, he said.

Donald Trump is back, and what do Democrats do? We panic and piss our pants. After a bad debate and after 34 convictions  felonies  the Republicans show up and they dress like him and go all in on Trump.

Maybe we could learn something here and just say, Stand by our president through this. After 50 years [of pubic service by Biden], and after almost four years as a great president, I think hes entitled to make his case after a debate that we can all agree was rough. But I know what thats like. I am not the sum total of a bad debate, and certainly the President isnt either, he added.

Fetterman also spanked Democratic officials who are pressuring Biden to exit the race, including Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, who is accumulating signatures on a letter: If you want to betray the president, like that, youre entitled to your opinion, but enjoy your three minutes of fame, Fetterman said.

He added: Im staying by him because hes been a great president. He [took out] Trump and got us through a pandemic. Hes successfully managed two foreign wars in Ukraine and Israel, and delivered aid for Taiwan against China. And our economy is the worlds envy  over 200,000 new jobs announced [Friday]. All these experts were saying that were going to have a recession and were going to crater and were actually kicking ass. And now, after one debate, people are willing to throw that away.

And then came his rant at the double-haters and apathetic voters who insist theyre not inspired enough to vote  or to vote for Biden in an election between an 81-year-old president and a convicted felon  with other charges pending  who tried to overthrow an election.

I want to address all the other crazy stuff that was happening even before this debate: Were going to abandon Biden, or Were going to walk away, or Im going to be uncommitted. Well, congratulations. If youre panicking now after debate, you were willing to dick around before that, Fetterman said.

If you think youre going to send a message [by] voting for someone else or throwing away your vote, well, guess what? The message in 2000 was tanking [Al] Gore, and thats two terms of Bush.

And if you thought you were going to be clever and send a message in 2016 and piss your vote away for somebody like [Jill] Stein, well, congratulations. You got us Trump.

So if you want to do this in 2024, if you want to play with that kind of a fire, youre going to have to own that burn. [Biden] may not have to be our dream candidate, although I think hes been a great president. But when you consider what the alternative is, just lean in and deliver a second term for Joe Biden.

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Project 2025  the Republicans 900-page plan to burn down the federal government, impose Christian Nationalism policies on the nation, and expand Donald Trumps presidential powers if he wins a second term  is a polling disaster.

The more voters learn about it, the more they reject it.

And thats why Trump on Friday posted on social media: I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things theyre saying, and some of the things theyre saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.

Project 2025 would implement conservative and Christian nationalists policies regarding climate change, LGBTQ+ communities, abortion, foreign aid, education, health care, taxes and more. Few, if any, aspects of American society would escape.

Trump immediately was called on his lie  along with being mocked for saying he disagreed with an agenda he knew nothing about.

The Biden campaign posted a video of Trump shaking hands with Project 2025 mastermind, Kevin Roberts president of the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation, whom Trump says is doing an unbelievable job.

The campaign posted another video that shows Trumps press secretary [Karoline Leavitt] is literally starring in ads for Project 2025.

The campaign also pointed out that Trumps top aide and former bag boy John McEntee, is ... behind Project 2025.

More evidence: Trumps Super PAC is running ads, encouraging voters to learn about Trumps Project 2025, and the Trump campaign chose Project 2025 leader Russ Vought to co-lead the RNCs Platform Committee.

Still more: Trump is mentioned more than 270 times in the Project 2025 founding document, Mandate for Leadership.

Roberts on Tuesday hinted at political violence by saying the country is in the midst of a second American Revolution that will be bloodless if the left allows it to be. In an interview on Steve Bannons War Room podcast, Roberts added that Republicans are in the process of taking this country back.

Democrats are apoplectic right now because the right is winning, Roberts told a guest host while Bannon serves a four-month prison term. And so I come full circle on this response and just want to encourage you with some substance that we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.

Olivia Troye, former advisor to Vice President Mike Pence, pointed out that many involved in Project 2025 are part of Trump and the GOPs inner circle: So, yes, Donald Trump is doing his usual tap dance  Project 2025? Project what? Project who? Never knew her. Theyre the coffee girl/boy. Dont know what it is ... nope not me  Yet several members of his cabinet and senior administration officials who served under his presidency are directly involved in it.

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DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, July 6. Tajikistan proposes taking practical measures for the construction of road and rail routes along the "China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan" corridor, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said at a press conference following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tajikistan, Trend reports.

"The construction and reconstruction of the "Kalai-Khumb  Vanch  Rushon district border" road will contribute to the improvement of the "China-Tajikistan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Turkiye" transit corridor. In this regard, we suggested considering the possibility of constructing and modernizing the "Dushanbe-Kulma" highway section from the Rushon district to the "Kulma-Karasu" border crossing. We also propose taking practical measures for the construction of road and rail routes along the "China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan" corridor to expand connections and regional trade," Rahmon said.

During the meeting, the sides expressed satisfaction with the continued cooperation within the framework of the "One Belt, One Road" initiative.

Notably, after Xi Jinping's visit to Tajikistan, the two countries sealed the deal with 29 important documents, ironing out their relations in different areas.
Photo: Official website of the President of Tajikistan

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, July 6. Tajikistan is interested in expanding cooperation with China across various industrial sectors, President Emomali Rahmon stated during a press conference following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tajikistan, Trend reports.

Rahmon conveyed Tajikistan's keen interest in drawing increased Chinese investments, specifically in the domains of light and food industries, energy, agriculture, the digital economy, artificial intelligence, and various other sectors.

"We believe that increasing production capacity in real economic areas provides a solid foundation for Tajikistan-China development. Our country welcomes Chinese entrepreneurs' greater participation in developing industrial parks, introducing new technologies, and engaging in large-scale joint production operations, including within Tajikistan's free economic zones," Rahmon said.

He drove home Tajikistan's dedication to working hand in hand on projects that are geared towards reaching our big-picture objectives, particularly ramping up industrialization.

"Priority areas in this regard include the construction of production facilities, especially in the industrial sector, and the introduction of high-value "green products" and "green technologies," such as smart grids, electric vehicles, and solar panels," Rahmon added.

Remarkably, after Xi Jinping's visit to Tajikistan, 29 important documents were inked between the two countries, governing relations in diverse domains.
VALPARAISO  The secret to good barbecue is  not giving away your secrets. At least that was one answer I got from Junior Richards, one of the chefs behind the locally popular Cool Runnings Jamaican food truck.

The Colonel doesnt tell no one what goes in his chicken, Richards said. I cant tell people what goes into the jerk sauce. I dont even tell my wife what goes in it!

Richards, who hails from Jamaica, wasnt trying to be a jerk about it, I presume. But I tried Cool Runnings jerk tacos  they also have brick and mortar spots in Michigan City and South Bend  and Im comfortable revealing they were quite good.

Cool Runnings makes their own sauce and marinade, as mentioned above, and has 18 different spices, putting The Colonels 11 to shame. I actually wish Id asked them to hold the extra sauce  the tacos were topped with sweet dressing  so I could savor it more.

What is barbecue? Or good barbecue?

I got a lot of different answers, and there were a lot of different varieties on display, at the Blues and Barbecue Festival last weekend in Valparaiso.

Someone has to sweat into it, festival attendee Rich Shine told me. Souls got to go into it. Thats got to come from a mans armpit.

Its a metaphor, maybe.

More convivially, Valpo Events marketing manager Tom Clifford told me that barbecue is a really approachable kind of cuisine that goes well with blues music, adding that his preference is for vinegary Carolina sauce.

But beyond having a grill component, and somewhat vague backyard summertime vibes, the flexibility of the barbecue label allows food truck vendors to get creative.

It also seemed to be something of a business strategy: In a town known for high-end fine dining, with lots of options packed into a small radius (including the restaurant, Radius), the festival food trucks had to offer something different.

Some places, like Cool Runnings, can rely on a locally strong reputation, in addition to unique cultural cuisine. Cool Runnings has won local food truck awards and several people told me they were excited to see them there.

Similarly, Smoke on the Water, which operates a barbecue cafe at the pavilion at the Dunes National Park, has cultivated a reputation for smokey, saucy platters.

Deon Beasley, who has been running a truck, Deons BBQ, for two years, and opened a restaurant in Dyer earlier this year, has been moving all around NWI, he said, trying to do the same.

Its all about customer service, Beasley said. My family used to have these picnics and reunions growing up, they brought the barbecue genre with them from the south. (The barbecues) were always really big, and all about love.

Beasley said he was inspired by his grandfathers grilling when he was a kid, and he hopes his own children, who work with him on the food trucks, stick with the business.

Theyre learning fast, Beasley said. But I need them to really, really believe that we can do this.

On the food truck, Beasley uses an old school (his words, I wouldnt know) 55-gallon drum to barbecue.

It really grills the meat, Beasley said. I dont smoke, I grill direct: charcoal underneath the meat, the way I like it.

Even with rain on and off, Beasley said they were on track to sell out most of their food, with about two hours to go in the festival: a very good night.

If Beasleys working from a tried and true family tradition, food truck operator Claudia Suarez is doing the opposite: expanding the barbecue palate based on what she tries and finds appealing.

Suarezs truck, the Valpo-based Lunch Box, offered not just classic fixings like barbecue mac and cheese, or brisket nachos, but also Korean barbecue pork sandwiches.

I love the flavor of barbecue, Suarez said. Sweet, salty, smokey brisket. We make our own sauces, we try to get information (on possible dishes) from people that like our food.

Korean barbecue sauce, which is often soy based and a marinade, not a dry rub, is typically sweeter than a lot of American varieties, which mostly use thicker tomato or vinegar bases.

The Lunch Boxs sauce was actually less sweet than what Id typically associate with Korean barbecue, but also less runny, which is a good thing. The sweet and spicy flavor held well in the marinated meat and the sandwich was both good and distinct, as a festival option.

Suarezs culinary north star is not Seoul or Chicago, but rather Mexico City, where she said there is a vibrant, eclectic street food culture.

We love making food, Suarez said. I like that our barbecue is different. Were inspired by the food we make.

This is the third in a series of stories planned about food trucks, and food truckers, in Northwest Indiana. The Times hopes to document the dynamic range of backgrounds and cuisine that these business owners represent. Coverage will include area events throughout the summer. The first story looked at vendors in Michigan City and the second looked at vendors in Hammonds Hessville district.

Close Dan and Joy Barnes try brisket with baked beans and chicken with green beans from Deon's BBQ Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Nicholas Taddei tries maple bacon mini donuts from DonutNV Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Brisket with baked beans from Deon's BBQ Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Marcedia Clark enjoys her wings, cabbage and yams from Cool Runnings Friday, June 28 at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. The audience listens as the Luke Pytel Band performs Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. The Luke Pytel Band performs Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Visitors line up at The Lunch Box Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Brisket nachos from The Lunch Box Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Shannon Jones, left, and Leah Bromley prepare to enjoy their brisket nachos from The Lunch Box Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Visitors line up at Deon's BBQ Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Visitors line up at Deon's BBQ Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Nan and Justin Niccolai enjoy their Cubano sandwich, Texas brisket and corn from The Lunch Box Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Nachos from Smoke on the Water Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. The Luke Pytel Band performs Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Valpo Blues and Barbecue Fest Dan and Joy Barnes try brisket with baked beans and chicken with green beans from Deon's BBQ Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Nicholas Taddei tries maple bacon mini donuts from DonutNV Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Brisket with baked beans from Deon's BBQ Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Marcedia Clark enjoys her wings, cabbage and yams from Cool Runnings Friday, June 28 at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. The audience listens as the Luke Pytel Band performs Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. The Luke Pytel Band performs Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Visitors line up at The Lunch Box Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Brisket nachos from The Lunch Box Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Shannon Jones, left, and Leah Bromley prepare to enjoy their brisket nachos from The Lunch Box Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Visitors line up at Deon's BBQ Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Visitors line up at Deon's BBQ Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Nan and Justin Niccolai enjoy their Cubano sandwich, Texas brisket and corn from The Lunch Box Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. Nachos from Smoke on the Water Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso. The Luke Pytel Band performs Friday at the Blues and Barbecue Festival in Valparaiso.
NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP  It was not yet noon Tuesday and Shane Martin was already facing a line of customers at the URB Cannabis Dispensary located just over the Indiana state line in marijuana-friendly Michigan.

"We feel it's a blessing to be here," he said.

When URB opened its doors in January, it became the first marijuana dispensary to take advantage of a change of heart among government officials in New Buffalo Township, who went from initially prohibiting dispensaries to welcoming them in hopes of exhaling life back into blighted areas, according to Township Supervisor Michelle Heit.

Another Region resident reminded pot remains illegal in Indiana Some of the marijuana was found in a bag from the King of Budz cannabis store located just over the state line in New Buffalo, Michigan, police said.

"We weren't sure what that would look like," she said of the township's initial hesitation to allow marijuana dispensaries when the drug was legalized in the state in 2018.

Following a year of researching, planning and offering multiple opportunities for public input, the township reversed itself on the issue in 2023 and cleared the way for dispensaries to open up shop in three areas plagued by blight and shuttered business buildings, Heit said. The locations also just happened to be immediately over the line along Interstate 94 and U.S. 12 from Indiana, where marijuana remains illegal.

An official in the city of New Buffalo was quick Tuesday morning to point out that the dispensaries are located in the township and not in that community, also located near the Indiana border.

The township's decision to allow the up-and-coming pot businesses has proven to be a success, with five dispensaries already up and running and another 25 or so granted preliminary approval, according to Heit. The township is slated to receive $59,000 a year in revenues from each dispensary and officials are watching formerly shuttered buildings being occupied and improved, or in some cases torn down and replaced with new structures.

The URB dispensary, for example, opened up shop in a former hotel and improvements to the building continue to make way for new services such as curbside service, Martin said.

New study linking legal pot with spike in severe traffic injuries does not surprise Region police While all marijuana use remains illegal in Indiana, police across the northwest section of the state have been left to grapple with an influx of commercial and particularly potent pot products pouring in from neighboring Michigan and Illinois, where recreational sale and use of the drug are legal.

Heit said she is not surprised by the success of the effort, considering the locations to serve not only Michigan residents, but those visiting from Indiana, Chicago and elsewhere. It is legal for non-Michigan residents to purchase and use the drug while in the state, she said.

It remains illegal, however, for Hoosiers to return to Indiana with commercial marijuana. The legalization of marijuana in the neighboring states of Michigan, Illinois and Ohio has left police across Northwest Indiana to grapple with an influx of commercial and particularly potent pot products being driven in and through the Region.

Gary resident Steven Calloway was among the more recent casualties of this stark difference in the way marijuana is handled in Indiana.

The 36-year-old was hauled off to jail after his vehicle was stopped recently in Portage and police allegedly found him with 5.4 ounces of the drug, some of which was in a bag from the King of Budz cannabis store located just over the state line in New Buffalo Township.

Heit said local police have been keeping track of calls involving the dispensaries and the only real problems so far have involved traffic due to the popularity of the sites. But even that problem has retreated as the initial influx of customers has quelled somewhat, she said.

Indiana is quickly becoming the minority in continuing to outlaw marijuana, which also remains illegal at the federal level. A Pew Research Center analysis done earlier this year found that most Americans now live in a state that has legalized the drug and most also have at least one cannabis dispensary in their county.

Drugs overtaking alcohol as culprit in impaired-driving arrests, officials say as crackdown mounts Drug-impaired driving is increasing enough across Indiana and the nation that it is beginning to outpace drunken driving, according to Devon M

According to Pew, 24 states (plus the District of Columbia) had legalized the recreational use of marijuana as of February. Another 14 states allow the drug for medical use only.

This legalization by the states has not been entirely a high time.

One study out of Canada suggested a link between the legalization of recreational marijuana and a spike in severe traffic injuries, which did not surprise area police.

"I have not had an opportunity to read the entire study, but the Indiana State Police has always maintained the importance of sober driving," Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield has said.

"A study that shows that driving after consuming any type of marijuana, THC product, alcohol, prescription drugs, or any illegal substance, to be highly dangerous would not be surprising to our agency," he said. "We witness the effects of impaired driving on a daily basis throughout our state."

Hoosiers could potentially get a chance to weigh in on the issue of legalizing marijuana if the Democratic nominee for Indiana governor Jennifer McCormick has her way.

The former state schools chief is promising to lead an effort to change the Indiana Constitution to permit voter-led ballot initiative or referendum questions in the Hoosier State if she is victorious at the Nov. 5 general election.

'Behind the 8 ball': How research is trying to catch up on cannabis and kids More Hoosiers are smoking pot and I love it. This is why. 'Behind the 8 ball': How research is trying to catch up on cannabis and kids
CROWN POINT  A Lake Criminal Court judge's rejection of a plea agreement she deemed too lenient was met with threats and a "temper tantrum" from the defendant, plus new criminal charges and two contempt citations after the hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Devontae Harris, 26, of Hammond, called Judge Gina Jones derogatory names and threatened to throw a chair at her because she refused to accept the plea agreement. Harris, who had pleaded guilty in May to aggravated battery for shooting his ex-girlfriend outside her house in 2022, faces three new charges of intimidation for threatening Jones. He will now have to stand trial on charges of attempted murder, aggravated battery, domestic battery and stalking because the plea agreement was rejected.

His trial is now set for Nov. 4, according to an order written by Jones. She ordered the case to be transferred to Judge Samuel Cappas' courtroom, where Harris will appear Sept. 18.

According to a probable cause affidavit, when Harris grew irate in court, Jones said he could have his "little anger moment and temper tantrum right now."

Harris mumbled in response, then told her "I don't give an (expletive)," as Jones added on jail time for his combative behavior in contempt of court.

The plea agreement called for four years in the Department of Correction with two years executed and two on probation. In exchange for the guilty plea to aggravated battery, the remaining charges were to be dropped, according to the plea agreement.

Harris shot the woman on Nov. 23, 2022 on the 6600 block of Alabama Avenue in Hammond after she had arrived at the residence. He shot at her multiple times, she fell to the ground and he then stood over her and fired more shots.

He struck her her in the wrist and in the head, which causes her to continue to suffer from ringing in her ears and headaches, according to a stipulated factual basis document.

"(Expletive) you think you know (expletive)," Harris said in court, according to the affidavit. "I done killed (expletive). (Expletive) this (expletive)."

Harris said he was a Latin King who had "bodies under his belt" which implied he had killed people in the past, the affidavit said. He instructed the court to "go solve them."

Jones asked Harris' public defender, John Cantrell, if he had any comments as Harris spoke.

"Not at this time your honor," Cantrell said.

A woman in the court audience tried to talk to Harris and a bailiff told her to stop speaking. Harris told him to "stop talking to my (expletive), (expletive) you."

Harris then said he was ready to throw a chair at Jones, who told Harris she did not take kindly to threats. Harris then accused Jones of handing down hefty prison sentences to Black defendants, accusing her of not caring "about [her] own race."

"My ability to stay calm is getting a little bit difficult," Jones said.

Jones said she would conclude the hearing before she lost her patience with Harris.

"Don't lose your patience, you won't do (expletive) (expletive)," Harris said in response.

Harris was issued a total of 180 days in the Lake County Jail for his contempt of court.

Cantrell apologized to the court for his client's behavior and advised the court that Harris might want to seek psychiatric help. In a message Friday, he said part of his job is defending clients who are dealing with a "variety of challenges."

"Part of our job is getting yelled at," he said.

Cantrell said the Lake County Public Defender's Office trains attorneys to deal with these situations.

"As far as I'm concerned," he said, "this was just like any other Tuesday."
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, July 6. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Tajikistan have engaged in discussions regarding cooperation in the energy sector, Trend reports.

According to Tajikistan's Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, these discussions took place during a meeting between Minister Daler Juma and Regional Head of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan for the EBRD Ayten Rustamova.

The sides exchanged views on several projects including CASA-1000, the reconstruction of the Kairakkum hydroelectric plant, efforts to reduce electricity losses in cities such as Dushanbe, Khujand, Bokhtar, and Kulob, the reconstruction of the Sugd-500 substation, and an assessment of Tajikistan's energy market to attract private investments for power sector development.

Special attention was given to financing a joint Tajik-Uzbek project to build two hydroelectric power stations on the Zarafshon river.

It was noted that Tajikistan's future cooperation with the EBRD in the energy sector will continue to expand, focusing on hydroelectric power and renewable energy sources.

As of February 29, 2024, the EBRD's current project portfolio in Tajikistan was 507 million euros for 72 active projects. Overall, the EBRD has committed 946 million euros to 168 projects throughout the country.
MERRILLVILLE  Dexter Suggs was approved as the new superintendent of Merrillville Community School Corp. by the school board during a special meeting on Friday afternoon.

Suggs has served as the district's assistant superintendent since 2019.

He succeeds Nick Brown as Merrillville schools' leader. Brown had served as superintendent since 2017.

The new superintendent has been awarded a three-year contract with a starting annual salary of $187,000. He will receive the same percentage salary increase, if any, provided to teachers.

Prior to his arrival at Merrillville schools, Suggs served as chief of staff in the Indianapolis Public Schools system and was hired as superintendent of the Little Rock School District in Arkansas in 2013.

He was later forced to step down as the school district's superintendent in 2015, after a blog was published accusing Suggs of plagiarizing his 2009 doctoral dissertation from Indiana Wesleyan University. Later on that year, he had his doctorate in education revoked.

He re-earned his doctorate in education from Indiana State University in 2018.

Suggs said on Friday, he doesn't look back in the past regarding the plagiarism complaint, but focuses on what came after the incident, saying it showed how relentless and determined he is as a person.

Additionally, Suggs said being the district the past five year has shown students his character and the type of person he is.

"It shows the fact that I understand my mission in life and that is to serve kids," Suggs told reporters.

He said serving as assistant superintendent has given him the opportunity to get to learn the community, and the district's staff and students.

"It's just the handing of the baton to the next person up," said Suggs. "I think it's an excellent transition for the school corporation."

According to board President Judy Dunlap, Suggs is the first Black superintendent of Merrillville schools. The district has a majority Black student population, at around 64 percent.

GALLERY: The Times Photos of the Week Close out of the historic Little Calumet River Flood Damage Reduction Project Close out of the historic Little Calumet River Flood Damage Reduction Project Close out of the historic Little Calumet River Flood Damage Reduction Project Ed Roviaro Forensic Investigation Summer Camp Forensic Investigation Summer Camp IUN's annual Pride Walk IUN's annual Pride Walk IUN's annual Pride Walk CCSJ Shakespeare camp CCSJ Shakespeare camp Outdoor STEM camp Outdoor STEM camp Circle of Love Walk to End Gun Violence Circle of Love Walk to End Gun Violence Circle of Love Walk to End Gun Violence
A net total of 345,682 acres of Indiana agricultural land was repurposed for other uses, primarily residential development, between 2010 and 2022, according to a new report by the State Department of Agriculture.

The "Inventory of Lost Farmland" was compiled at the direction of the Republican-controlled General Assembly in House Enrolled Act 1557 (2023) to better understand agricultural land use changes over time and their potential impact on food availability.

"Agriculture is, and always has been, the lifeblood of the Hoosier State," said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, Indiana's secretary of agriculture and rural development. "Data is critical for all levels of government when making decisions that may affect our rural communities and food security."

The lost agricultural acreage over the 12-year period amounts to 1.89% of Indiana's nearly 18 million remaining agricultural acres, according to the report.

The largest reductions in agricultural territory were recorded in the counties containing Anderson, Bloomington, Elkhart, Fort Wayne, suburban Indianapolis, Vincennes, and across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.

At the same time, the report shows the number of parcels with an agricultural property tax classification increased in both Lake and Porter counties between 2010 and 2022.

Porter County gained 22,343 acres of agricultural land during the period while Lake County added 4,844 agricultural acres, even if that land wasn't actively being farmed, according to the report.

Elsewhere in Northwest Indiana, Jasper County lost 14,499 acres of agricultural land, Newton County lost 3,441 acres and LaPorte County lost 2,061 acres.

Notwithstanding the lost acreage, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show Indiana nearly doubled its corn production to more than 1 billion bushels in 2022 compared to 597 million bushels in 2012. Likewise, Indiana's soybean production grew to 326 million bushels in 2022 versus 219 million bushels 12 years earlier.

"This information is important to have for policy development as we work to balance economic growth, food security and the preservation of agricultural land, because we know when agriculture is strong, Indiana is too," said Don Lamb, state agriculture director.

State Rep. Kendell Culp, R-Rensselaer, and state Rep. Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron, sponsored the law ordering the lost farmland inventory.

Culp, a lifelong farmer, said the new data is concerning, especially as Indiana's population grows along with the demands for agricultural products produced in the Hoosier State.

"With this data, we can begin discussions on the impacts growing communities have on farming operations and how to sustain economic development while maintaining a strong food supply chain," Culp said.

Aylesworth, who also is a farmer and chairman of the House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, said he hopes "this data can spur important conversations and solutions that we need to protect Indiana farmland while continuing to promote strategic economic growth."

Both suggested a closer look is needed at the impact of using agricultural land for renewable energy projects, particularly solar fields. The study found 7,611 acres of farmland was repurposed for solar during the 12-year period, with another 19,000 acres of solar energy developments under construction in Indiana.

They're also inclined to support a recommendation by the state agriculture agency that the General Assembly require the lost farmland inventory be tallied again in 2030 to continue evaluating changes over time in the number of Indiana acres devoted to agriculture.

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Some of President Bidens fund-raising events in the coming weeks are in jeopardy, with one potential Wisconsin event failing to materialize and a Texas event up in the air after his poor debate performance against Donald J. Trump.

Mr. Bidens fund-raising schedule is often fluid, as the White House and the campaign juggle the complicated logistics of official events with the competing demands of donors and finance operatives. But the aftermath of his debate performance has added an additional layer of uncertainty, with a growing group of major donors calling on Mr. Biden to drop his re-election campaign and make way for a replacement at the top of the ticket.

The Biden campaign had discussed sending Mr. Biden to Wisconsin for a late July fund-raiser, according to three people briefed on the plans. But donors who had committed to giving large sums and attending began withdrawing soon after the debate ended.

The campaign had hoped to raise $1 million from the event, but after the debate, campaign officials reset the events goal to $500,000, according to one person involved in arranging it. Even that proved to be more than Wisconsin donors were willing to give to Mr. Biden. Plans for the event are now off.
Emergency officials in Manawa, Wis., were rescuing people stranded on flooded roads on Friday after a river overflowing from torrential rain spilled over a local dam.

The Little Wolf River began overpowering the Manawa Dam around 12:30 p.m. local time after the area near the dam received more than five inches of rain in about four hours on Friday morning, said Kurt Kotenberg, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Green Bay, Wis.

Emergency officials were rescuing drivers who had become stranded while trying to flee, Mr. Kotenberg said. People were in cars on roads that were flooded, he said. Some were rescued standing on the hoods of their cars, he added.

As of Friday afternoon, Mr. Kotenberg said there had been no reports of deaths or injuries from the flooding.
In an election upset in Iran, the reformist candidate who advocated moderate policies at home and improved relations with the West won the presidential runoff against a hard-line rival, according to results released by the interior ministry on Saturday.

The winner, Masoud Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, got 16.3 million votes to defeat Saeed Jalili with 13.5 million votes. It was a blow to the conservative faction in Irans ruling establishment and a major victory for the relatively moderate reformist camp, which had been sidelined from politics for the past few years.

After polls closed at midnight, turnout stood at about 50 percent, roughly 10 percentage points higher than in the first round, with about 30.5 million ballots cast, according to the interior ministry.

The first round had a record low turnout as many Iranians boycotted in protest. But the prospect of a hard-line administration that would double down on strict social rules, including enforcing mandatory hijabs for women, and remain defiant in negotiations to lift international economic sanctions, apparently spurred Iranians to turn out.
Stanley Moss, a lyrical American poet who for seven decades evoked a troubled world of sorrows and sensual pleasures ruled by a silent God seemingly indifferent to the fate of humanity, died on Friday in New City, N.Y., in Rockland County. He was 99.

His death, at a rehabilitation and nursing center, was announced by his son, Tobia Milla Moss.

In the notoriously hard business of poetry, Mr. Moss sold his work to periodicals for 20 years before his first collection, The Wrong Angel, was published in 1966, when he was 41. He eventually published 16 books of collected poetry, ending with Always Alwaysland, published on his 97th birthday in 2022.

Even after he was noticed, it was a struggle. At 52, he founded a poetry publishing company in New York. It barely covered his expenses.

But by then, an old connection had come to his rescue. In 1969, he befriended the heirs of an Italian nobleman who after his death had left a trove of Spanish and Italian old master paintings. Starting as an agent for the noblemans heirs, he began selling art to the Louvre, the Prado, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Getty and other major museums. As a result, he became prosperous enough to finance his life as a poet.
A strike by the staff of the nations largest teachers union has prompted President Biden to cancel a speech on Sunday in Philadelphia, where he was scheduled to address thousands of delegates to the unions annual convention.

The staff union of the National Education Association began its strike on Friday, citing managements revocation of holiday overtime pay for the Fourth of July holiday and its refusal to provide information on $50 million in outsourced work that may have previously been done by N.E.A. staff. The strike has shut down the last three days of the four-day convention, as delegates declined to cross a picket line.

Mr. Bidens campaign said he would not do so, either. President Biden is a fierce supporter of unions and he wont cross a picket line, a statement from his campaign said, adding that the president was still planning to travel to Pennsylvania over the weekend.

The National Education Association has about 2.5 million members nationwide, not including retirees, according to a recent government filing. The staff union says it represents more than 350 employees assigned to the unions headquarters in Washington.
I watched the debate from a pub in Ireland. A man sitting next to me pegged me for a Yank. Sorry about all that  screwed, no matter what you do, he said before the final minutes of the debate. I nodded, accepting his sympathies for my condition as an American during a week when it was hard to be an American.

It is only when I am not in America that I feel my Americanness. From the moment that blue passport cover places me in a different line at customs, my citizenship speaks louder than my race, gender or religion. Maybe I had to watch that debate from outside the U.S. to fully appreciate what was happening to us Americans.

A survey of the political commentariat shows a consensus forming: President Biden is fighting the final rounds of a match that the refs wont call but probably should. Usually, after reading all of the news and polls, I turn to the everyday political discourse, which often diverges from that of the professional political watchers. What should scare Biden loyalists is that this time, the two agree. Even the most die-hard Democratic voters can see Bidens decline for what it is: an opening for Donald Trump to win his second presidential term.

A few days after that disastrous debate, the Supreme Court finally weighed in on presidential immunity. There is no other way to read its decision than as a signal that whoever owns the Republican Party also owns the power to break the law. Whether he wins or loses, Trump owns the G.O.P., lock, stock and barrel. Im not sure the country has fully accepted what that means.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, July 6. Turkmenistan's Ambassador to Belgium Sapar Palvanov presented the country's renewable energy policy at a round table in Brussels dedicated to the energy potential and green policy of Central Asia, Trend reports.

According to the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Belgium, the event was attended by ambassadors of the countries of the region and Mongolia, heads of European companies, and research institutes.

The Turkmen Ambassador stressed the country's commitment to diversifying the energy sector and developing renewable energy sources, while noting Turkmenistan's significant potential in the field of solar energy, where the duration of sunlight reaches 3,000 hours per year.

He also spoke about the country's efforts to reduce methane emissions and plans to join the Global Methane Pledge, mentioning that a roadmap for the development of international cooperation in this area was approved in June 2023.

Among the practical steps he mentioned: the opening of the Arkadag smart city using environmentally friendly technologies, the launch of a hybrid power plant in the Balkan region based on renewable energy sources with a capacity of 10 MW, and the construction of a 100 MW solar power plant in the Lebap region.

Meanwhile, in recent years, Turkmenistan has been actively developing the field of renewable energy sources, seeking to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and increase the sustainability of its economy.

The government of the country is taking steps to introduce solar and wind power plants, given the rich potential of the region for the use of these types of energy.
The hallways on the television shows I watch have been driving me mad. On one sci-fi show after another Ive encountered long, zigzagging, labyrinthine passageways marked by impenetrable doors and countless blind alleys  places that have no obvious beginning or end. The characters are holed up in bunkers (Fallout), consigned to stark subterranean offices (Severance), locked in Escher-like prisons (Andor) or living in spiraling mile-deep underground complexes (Silo). Escape is unimaginable, endless repetition is crushingly routine and people are trapped in a world marked by inertia and hopelessness.

The resonance is chilling: Television has managed to uncannily capture the way life feels right now.

Were all stuck.

Whats being portrayed is not exactly a dystopia. Its certainly not a utopia. Its something different: a stucktopia. These fictional worlds are controlled by an overclass, and the folks battling in the mire are underdogs  mechanics, office drones, pilots and young brides. Yet theyre also complicit, to varying degrees, in the machinery that keeps them stranded. Once they realize this, they strive to discard their sense of futility  the least helpful of emotions  and try to find the will to enact change.

The stucktopia might seem resonant to you, too. Time is a flat circle. The same two political candidates are running for president, while parodic commentary is once again being provided by Jon Stewart, who first hosted The Daily Show in 1999. Congress produces little more than increasingly outlandish sound bites. There are protests nearly every day, yet no resolution or change. Mass culture has come to a standstill, with endless reboots and resuscitations. Thanks to knockoff mania and fast fashion, clothes and decor look like copies of copies. We spent a pandemic locked up in our homes, and the outside world  with superstorms and deadly heat waves  is no longer the respite Thoreau once envisioned. If we retreat into our phones, we end up algorithmically chasing ourselves down familiar rabbit holes.
They are lawyers and school board members, labor activists and faith leaders, lifelong Democrats and party newcomers. Some of them just turned 18, others are pushing 80.

These are the people who make up the 3,939 delegates to the Democratic National Convention. Some are elected, and some are selected  each state party has its own rules  for what is normally a ceremonial task: nominating their candidate for president.

But in the  still unlikely  scenario in which President Biden steps down as the nominee, they will suddenly be charged with picking a new nominee at the convention next month in Chicago.

Most of these delegates did not set out to become kingmakers in the Democratic Party, but rather to be part of a pro-Biden slate pledging support to the president. But in the event Mr. Biden drops out, they would be vaulted from the obscurity of extras at a quadrennial television extravaganza into a group with the fate of the party  and, in the view of many Democrats, the future of the country  on their shoulders.
When Representative Emilia Sykes arrived at the regional airport in Akron on a recent Thursday morning to meet with dozens of local elected officials, she was the only Black person in the room.

It wouldnt be long before two others took seats in the audience, but it soon became clear that they were both related to her. Ms. Sykes briefly interrupted her remarks to welcome her parents: Vernon Sykes, a state senator, and Barbara Sykes, who sits on the Akron School Board.

It is the kind of room that Ms. Sykes, 38, a first-term Democrat, is familiar with as one of only about a dozen Black members of Congress representing a majority-white district. And as she fights to defend her seat in a year when control of the House of Representatives is up for grabs, it represents a critical piece of the coalition that Ms. Sykes is striving to keep together  one that includes a strong Democratic base but also a sizable portion of independents and moderate Republicans who crossed over to help her win the seat in 2022.

Republicans, who hold a razor-thin majority and are toiling to keep their grasp on the House, have identified her as a top target for defeat in a district rated as a tossup by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. Her G.O.P. challenger, Kevin Coughlin, who is white, is a former state lawmaker who is well known in Akron politics.
One activist was taken while organizing a blood drive for wounded protesters. Another said he was snatched as he worked at home after midnight, his wife and three children sleeping nearby. A third said he was beaten and blindfolded before being tossed into the trunk of a car.

All of them said they were swept up by government security forces in Kenya over the past two weeks after they had spoken out against a contentious bill to raise taxes in the cash-strapped East African nation.

Some had participated in the wave of antigovernment protests that rocked Kenya after the bill was first introduced. At least 39 people were killed during clashes with the police in June, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

At least 32 people, including activists, medical workers and social media influencers, have been abducted or arbitrarily detained, according to interviews with human rights monitors and dozens of activists, including five who recounted being seized. Some spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution.
If not left to die of dehydration or illness, migrants on the dangerous land routes through northern Africa toward the Mediterranean and Europe risk rape, torture, sex trafficking and even organ theft, according to a new report produced in part by the United Nations.

Migrant deaths on the Mediterranean have drawn global attention over the past decade, but the number of those who die in the desert may well be at least double those, said the report, which was released on Friday by two United Nations agencies and the Mixed Migration Centre, a nongovernmental research group based in Denmark.

Based on interviews with more than 31,000 migrants all along their routes, from 2020 to 2023, the report documents the brutality suffered by the growing number of people from dozens of countries who try to make their way across the Sahel and the Sahara, fleeing war, environmental degradation and poverty.

Physical violence apart from sexual violence, which the report counted separately, was the risk most often identified by migrants. Dangers along the routes include arbitrary detention  often to extort money from their families  and trafficking for labor, sex or criminal activity. The migrants told of torture and even organ harvesting.
Wayne S. Smith, a veteran Cuba expert at the State Department who, after resigning in protest over Americas embargo against the island nation in 1982, spent nearly four decades leading efforts to rebuild relations between Washington and Havana, died on June 28 at his home in New Orleans. He was 91.

His daughter, Melinda Smith Ulloa, said the cause was complications of Alzheimers disease.

For more than 24 years after he joined the Foreign Service in 1958, Mr. Smith was Americas man in Havana, whether he was physically in the Cuban capital or dealing with it from a desk in Washington.

Later, after leaving the State Department, he used his extensive experience to carry out a sustained campaign against Americas strategy of isolating Cuba, while also leading private and congressional delegations to the island in an attempt to build avenues of dialogue.

He was one of the foremost spokespeople in favor of normalizing relations, William LeoGrande, an expert on Cuba affairs at American University in Washington, said in an interview.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain will barely get his feet under the desk in 10 Downing Street before he flies to Washington this coming week to attend a NATO summit. A week after that, he will play host to 50 European leaders at a security meeting at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill.

Its a crash course in global statecraft for Mr. Starmer, Britains first Labour prime minister in 14 years. But it will also give him the chance to project an image of Britain that is uncharacteristic in the post-Brexit era: a stable, conventional, center-left country amid a churning tide of politically unsettled allies.

In Washington, Mr. Starmer will encounter President Biden, who is resisting calls to abandon his race for re-election because of age-related decline. He will meet with President Emmanuel Macron, whose attempt to fend off the far right in France appears to have backfired, and with Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, whose coalition has been weakened by the advance of the hard right in European Parliament elections.
As legend has it, a sword from God given to Roland, an 8th century military leader under Charlemagne, was so powerful that Rolands last mission was to destroy it.

When the blade, called Durandal, proved indestructible, Roland threw it as far as he could, and it sailed over 100 miles before slicing through the side of a rock face in the medieval French village of Rocamadour.

That sword, as the story goes, sat wedged in the stone for nearly 1,300 years, and it became a landmark and tourist attraction in Rocamadour, a small village in southwestern France, about 110 miles east of Bordeaux. So residents and officials there were stunned to discover late last month that the blade had vanished, according to La Depeche du Midi, a French newspaper.

An officer with Frances national police force in Cahors, a town 30 miles southwest of Rocamadour, said that the sword disappeared sometime after nightfall on June 21, and that the authorities opened an investigation after a passerby reported the next morning that it was missing.
Last month, Sophie-Laurence Roy, a conservative Paris lawyer with roots in Burgundy, decided to cross the political dividing line that defined postwar France and dedicate herself to a nationalist, far-right political movement that seems poised to dominate parliamentary elections on Sunday.

I realized I would reproach myself for the rest of my life if I did not offer my services to the great movement of change that is the National Rally, she said as she ate a sausage of pork intestines in a cafe in Chablis, the northern Burgundy town known for its fine white wine. It was now or never.

So, on June 9, Ms. Roy, 68, deserted her longtime center-right political family, the Republicans, who trace their beliefs to the wartime hero Charles de Gaulle, to support Marine Le Pens far-right party whose quasi-fascist roots lie with the collaborationist Vichy regime against which De Gaulle fought to liberate France.
Hours after a battle in eastern Ukraine in August, a wounded and unarmed Russian soldier crawled through a nearly destroyed trench, seeking help from his captors, a unit of international volunteers led by an American.

Caspar Grosse, a German medic in that unit, said he saw the soldier plead for medical attention in a mix of broken English and Russian. It was dusk. A team member looked for bandages.

That is when, Mr. Grosse said, a fellow soldier hobbled over and fired his weapon into the Russian soldiers torso. He slumped, still breathing. Another soldier fired  just shot him in the head, Mr. Grosse recalled in an interview.

Mr. Grosse said he was so upset by the episode that he confronted his commander. He said he spoke to The New York Times after what he regarded as unwarranted killings continued. It is highly unusual for a soldier to speak publicly about battlefield conduct, particularly involving men whom he still considers friends.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, July 6. On July 4, the Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan Ilkhom Mahkamov held a meeting with a delegation headed by the Minister of Industry and Trade of Afghanistan Nuriddin Azizi, Trend reports.

At the meeting, the current state of cooperation in the field of transport and logistics, as well as prospects for their further development, were discussed.

During the negotiations, the parties exchanged views on creating favorable conditions for national carriers by reducing fees and duties on cargo transportation.
Feature: Xi awards Friendship Medal to Tajikistan's Rahmon, testimony to strengthened bond

14:54, July 06, 2024 By Xinhua writers Shi Xiaomeng, Han Liang, Liu Kai ( Xinhua

DUSHANBE, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Amid prolonged applause, Chinese President Xi Jinping personally awarded the prestigious "Friendship Medal" to Tajik President Emomali Rahmon here on Friday. The two leaders then shared a firm and warm handshake.

A grand medal-awarding ceremony, filled with an electric atmosphere, was held at the Palace of the Nation in Dushanbe during Xi's state visit to Tajikistan.

This medal, Xi said, represents President Rahmon's exceptional contributions to the development of China-Tajikistan relations and reflects the sincere hopes of people from all walks of life in both countries for a bright future.

President Rahmon, a senior leader and statesman in Eurasia, is the founder and promoter of China-Tajikistan relations, Xi commented.

The Friendship Medal is China's highest state honor for foreigners, awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to China's modernization, promoted international exchange and cooperation, and safeguarded world peace.

Friday's ceremony, honoring Rahmon, marks the first time this prestigious award has been presented outside of China. It is a special arrangement made to express the friendly sentiments of the Chinese people towards President Rahmon and the people of Tajikistan, according to Xi.

"I am ready to work with President Rahmon to uphold good-neighborliness and friendship, pursue mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, and jointly lead China-Tajikistan relations to new heights, delivering more benefits to both nations and their peoples," Xi said.

Featuring the primary colors of gold and blue, the medal incorporates elements including a peace dove, the Earth, a handshake, and a lotus. The design symbolizes the enduring friendship and solidarity between the Chinese people and people worldwide, as well as the aspiration for common prosperity and global development.

Upon receiving the medal, Rahmon thanked Xi for awarding him China's highest state honor. This honor is a recognition and affirmation of all Tajik people's determination to develop the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Tajikistan and China, he said.

China is Tajikistan's great neighbor and reliable partner, Rahmon said. "President Xi is a great leader with profound historical insights and a broad global vision in today's world. Many global initiatives proposed by President Xi are conducive to promoting human peace and progress."

Tajikistan will continue to steadfastly commit to building a community with a shared future with China, Rahmon said.

Five years ago in 2019, also at the Palace of the Nation in Dushanbe, Xi received the Order of the Crown from Rahmon during his visit to Tajikistan. In the Tajik language, the word "Taj" means "crown."

During that ceremony, Rahmon draped the sash over Xi's shoulder and bestowed his nation's highest decoration upon him. Xi highly values the decoration, and said the Order of the Crown embodies the profound friendship the people of Tajikistan have kept with the people of China.

From the Order of the Crown to the Friendship Medal, the exchange of their highest state honor reflects the deep appreciation of the two heads of state for the enduring friendship between China and Tajikistan, and their commitment to upholding this brotherhood for future generations, said Yang Bo, a professor of the School of Russian and Eurasian Studies at Shanghai International Studies University.

During Xi's state visit this time, China and Tajikistan decided to elevate their ties to comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era. The decision was based on the current development needs of bilateral ties, the two countries said in a joint statement on Friday after Xi held talks with Rahmon.

During their talks, Xi told Rahmon that no matter how the international landscape changes, China will always be a trustworthy friend, a reliable partner and a close brother of Tajikistan.

Bilateral relations have maintained a healthy and stable momentum under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, said Musharrafa Sharipova, former vice chairperson of the Tajik Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.

Sharipova told Xinhua: "In my view, the reason our countries have maintained close and friendly relations is that, as good neighbors and partners, we have always adhered to principles of mutual respect, mutual assistance and mutual benefit." Enditem

(Xinhua reporters Peng Peigen in Dushanbe, Shu Chang, Zhao Bochao and Liu Yang in Beijing also contributed to the story.)

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, July 6. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban have discussed further expansion of multifaceted cooperation on the sidelines of an Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Azerbaijan's Shusha city, Trend reports via Uzbekistan's Presidential Administration.

Mirziyoyev and Orban's meeting highlighted the steady growth of Uzbekistan and Hungary's strategic alliance and practical cooperation.

Both parties highlighted that over the past few years, trade between the two countries has almost doubled, the number of joint projects and enterprises is growing, and direct flights between Tashkent and Budapest were resumed on June 30.

The President of Uzbekistan and the Hungarian prime minister paid special attention to accelerating the implementation of cooperation projects in the fields of industry, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, logistics, construction, and other areas.

They also emphasized the importance of preparing a new portfolio of investment projects and holding a joint Regional Forum in the city of Kokand by the end of this year.

Another topic of the meeting was the intensification of cooperation in education, culture, and sports, highlighting the need to conduct mutual cultural events aimed at bringing the peoples of the two countries closer together.

In addition, the parties exchanged views on current issues of cooperation within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States and the European Union.

To note, the Informal Summit of the OTS being held in Shusha will serve as a platform for high-level discussions on key issues and the organization's agenda.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7. The Dutch national team defeated the Turkish team with a score of 2:1 in the quarterfinal match of the European Football Championship and reached the semi-finals of the tournament, Trend reports.

The semi-final round will be held on July 9-10.

EURO-2024

Quarter finals

June 6

23:00. Netherlands - Turkiye - 2:1

Referee: Clement Turpin (France)

Berlin Olympic Stadium
Indian gaming operators face uncertainty as the 28% GST on gambling remains unaddressed in the latest Goods & Services Tax Council meeting.

Indian gaming operators were left unclear as the Goods & Services Tax (GST) council did not address the controversial 28% tax on online gambling, casinos, and horse race betting in its latest meeting.

Industry experts have raised concerns about the need for more clarity regarding gaming taxes in India. The issue was notably absent from the latest Goods & Services Tax (GST) council meeting, leaving operators uncertain.

Tax Impact on Operators

The 28% tax, applied to the full face value of bets rather than gross gaming revenue, has been a significant point of contention. This turnover-based tax places a heavy burden on operators, likely to be passed on to players. Economist and former Indian government official Dr. Aruna Sharma highlighted the industry's lack of relief, suggesting that the Supreme Court might need to intervene to impose GST only on platform earnings.

Awaiting Review and Relief

Introduced in October 2023, the tax regime was expected to be reviewed in six months. However, the topic should have been discussed at the recent council meeting. A newly approved clause, Section 11A, could offer some respite if passed by parliament. This clause would allow companies to seek relief from retrospective tax demands and could waive penalties and interest on such dues.

Industry Reaction

The absence of discussions on the tax rate was met with disappointment. Manish Mishra of JSA Advocates and Solicitors described it as a "major disappointment." Rajat Bose of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co Advocates & Solicitors expressed the industry's anticipation for the meeting, hoping for clarity on the tax structure, especially regarding retrospective application.

Future Discussions and Challenges

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned that the council ran out of time to discuss various agenda items, including the gaming tax. These items are expected to be addressed in an upcoming meeting before the end of August. However, the exact timeline remains uncertain.

A joint report by Ernst & Young and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum highlighted the challenges faced by operators. Since the new tax regime's introduction, no capital has been raised in the Indian gaming sector, which had previously attracted $2.6 billion in foreign direct investment since 2019. The report noted a complete withdrawal of global investors at the onset of the new GST regime, with companies like Super Group exiting the Indian market last October.

Looking Ahead

The Indian gaming industry remains in limbo, awaiting much-needed clarity on the tax structure. The hope is that future GST council meetings will address these pressing concerns, providing a more stable and predictable environment for operators. Until then, the uncertainty continues to pose significant challenges for the sector.
Some 2700 years ago, a young king began his reign in Assyria. At the time, it was the world's greatest empire and the Assyrians had reached that peak through sheer brutality ... although that appeared to be not unusual for those days.



The Assyrians lived in that part of what is now northern Iraq as among the earliest peoples of the region. As loose-knit tribes, they were not yet a political force although that was to change. It took a forceful ruler to coalesce them into a power capable of challenging their traditional rivals and antagonists, the Babylonians. That ruler was Sargon II who ruled from 721 - 705 B.C. He built a walled city with massive defensive walls (100 feet high and 100 feet wide), and a 20 ton winged bull with a human head stood as guardian at one of the gates.

It was the Assyrian deity -- worshiped and revered -- and the city it guarded was Dur-Sharrukin. Intended by its builder to be the greatest city the world had ever known, the effort did not last -- for Sargon II was shortly to die in battle, and his son Sennacherib who succeeded him abandoned the project.



Susceptible to the building genes inherited from his father, the son soon undertook an even vaster enterprise. His city, Nineveh, described in the Old Testament as a place of indulgence and avarice, was (according to Greek and Roman sources) of unparalleled size and riches. The Assyrians had prospered, and in 701 B.C. when they campaigned against the Biblical Kingdom of Judah, it became an event to be related in the Bible.



They are described as being brutal: a rebellion against them would usually lead to severe reprisals -- the execution of military leaders might be understandable but they would burn down the rebellious city and transfer out the whole population -- an action reminiscent of Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union. Does the history of the world have a way of repeating itself?



Assyrian engineering feats remain a marvel for they brought water down from the river to the city through deep covered channels, so it remained cool, for the inhabitants. Nineveh was packed with people archeologists have ascertained, and in the kind of heat Iraq experiences water was vital.



Sennacherib's son Ashurbanipal ruled for 38 years, extending the empire in all directions and keeping the Babylonians at bay. Reliefs of him show the practice of manly arts like fighting a lion so the public could remain in awe. The propaganda arts it turns out -- are not new or confined to Hitler or Stalin and other modern leaders.



Even Biden's team is busy whitewashing his shockingly wooden debate performance ascribing it to jet lag, or the onset of flu, etc. And the other candidate, Donald Trump, appears to follow in Goebel's footsteps in repeating his slogans often enough .... that they begin to be the 'truth'.



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The Kvartal 95 studio has published an official reaction to the scandal around comedian Ruslan Khanumak, who left Ukraine during the war, as they had previously cooperated. The company explained that it had used the services of the scandalous Ukrainian before the full-scale war but did not hire him as a staff member.

ADVERTISIMENT

Kvartal asked not to call the artist, who had gone to the United States to visit his son, the studio's 'star', let alone its actor. A corresponding message appeared on the comedians' official Instagram page.

"Regarding Ruslan Khanumak's action, the news of which has spread across media. We would like to note that Ruslan Khanumak has never been a full-time employee of Kvartal 95 Studio. The studio has previously worked with Ruslan as a scriptwriter, director and actor only on the basis of commissioning agreements," the company said in a statement.

As the comedians explained, all full-time employees are in Ukraine, and since 2021, Kvartal 95 has not had any civil or labor relations with Khanumak.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Following the triumph of the British Labour Party in a parliamentary election on Friday, a new migration crisis is brewing. Labour leader pledged to cancel the Conservative government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, which was first announced in 2022 but has been delayed by legal challenges.

Keir Starmer said halting of asylum processing due to government's Rwanda policy 'absurd and reckless'.

Conservative government believed the scheme, due to begin this July, will put people off trying to come to the UK across the English Channel in small boats.

But Labour argues the scheme will not deter people from trying to make the journey.

According to the National Audit Office, payments to Rwanda would cost 370m over five years, plus 120m if more than 300 people are moved, and 20,000 per individual relocated.

Pressed on when his party would scrap the scheme, Sir Keir told reporters Labour would "get rid of the policy straight away".

"I'm not going to continue a policy I don't think is going to work, which is going to cost a fortune," he added.

Labour's plans, which the Conservatives have dubbed an "amnesty for illegal immigrants", will allow those arriving in the UK on small boats to apply for asylum - which is currently banned under the Illegal Migration Act.

Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed Labour would resume processing asylum applications for people who have previously arrived in the UK illegally.

Under a law passed in July last year, tens of thousands of such people, including those who arrived on small boats, are effectively blocked from gaining refugee status.

Sir Keir accused the Conservatives of "a Travelodge amnesty" by not processing asylum claims and housing people in hotels instead - though the plans do not amount an amnesty either as they involve deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Nearly 9,000 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year, provisional Home Office figures show.

This is up almost a third (32%) on the same period last year, when 6,691 people made the crossing, and a 14% rise compared with the same period in 2022 when the number of people was 7,750.

"I won't pursue a strategy that I view as futile and that will drain our resources," declared the leader of the opposition in parliament.

Meanwhile, as noted by the agency, recent surveys suggest that 55% of the British public and 50% of those supporting the Labour Party favor sending illegal immigrants to Africa. By May, Rwandan officials had already received $275 million from the British government, with payments expected to continue at $150 million every three years.

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Immunity and Impunity

By Joel D. Joseph, author of Black Mondays: Worst Decisions of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court's horrendous and unnecessary ruling on Presidential Immunity was quite predictable. The nation's highest court has previously granted immunity to prosecutors, judges and police officers.

The Supreme Court has held that use of force by police and correctional officers violates the Fourth Amendment when it is deemed to be "excessive." Police and correctional officers however, receive qualified immunity if it isn't clearly established that their use of force was excessive. According to the Supreme Court, while qualified immunity "do[es] not require a case directly on point," it does require that "existing precedent must have placed the statutory or constitutional question beyond debate."

Prosecutors Also Have Immunity

"Prosecutorial immunity" is a judge-made doctrine that cloaks prosecutors in near-absolute immunity from suit. Under this doctrine, prosecutors cannot be sued for any actions related to their job as a prosecutor, no matter how egregious the behavior. For example, prosecutors cannot be sued for knowingly prosecuting an innocent person, withholding evidence of innocence, or even fabricating false evidence of guilt.

Prosecutorial immunity is an absolute shield against damages lawsuits for claims that arise from prosecutorial actions. Believing that the constant worry of lawsuits would impede a prosecutors' ability to do their job, in its 1976 decision Imbler v. Pachtman, 424 U.S. 409, the Supreme Court created this immunity to serve the "public trust" and ensure "the proper functioning of the criminal justice system."

Instead, experience shows that this immunity enables prosecutors to disregard constitutional rights in order to pursue convictions. Examples of prosecutors escaping liability are ubiquitous in the United States. For example, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that a group of nurses could not sue Suffolk County prosecutors who hid evidence and engaged in other misconduct as a political favor.

Similarly, a Maryland court held in 2021 that a prosecutor could not be held personally accountable for withholding lab test results proving that a man jailed for allegedly flying with methamphetamines was in fact carrying only honey, just like he said. In both cases, prosecutors withheld the truth to serve their own interests, and they were never held to account for their violations because of prosecutorial immunity.

Judicial Immunity

Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349 (1978), is the leading United States Supreme Court decision on judicial immunity. It involved an Indiana judge who was sued by a young woman who had been sterilized without her knowledge or consent as a minor in accordance with the judge's order. The Supreme Court held that the judge was immune from being sued for issuing the order because it was issued as a judicial function. The case has been called one of the most controversial in recent Supreme Court history.

In 1971, Judge Harold Stump granted a mother's petition to have a tubal ligation performed on her 15-year-old daughter, who the mother alleged was "somewhat retarded." The petition was granted the same day that it was filed. The judge did not hold a hearing to receive evidence or appoint a lawyer to protect the daughter's interests. The daughter underwent the surgery a week later, having been told that she was to have her appendix removed.

The daughter married two years later. Failing to become pregnant, she learned that she had been sterilized during the 1971 operation. The daughter and her husband sued the judge and others associated with the sterilization in federal district court.

The district court found that the judge was immune from suit. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision, holding that the judge had lost his immunity because he failed to observe "elementary principles of due process" when he ordered the sterilization. Finally, in 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-3 decision, reversed the Court of Appeals, announcing a test for deciding when judicial immunity should apply and holding that the judge could not be sued. This case is included in my book Black Mondays: Worst Decisions of the Supreme Court.

All of these grants of immunity are court-made, not based on the Constitution or federal or state law. If judges, police officers and prosecutors are above the law, why not the President of the United States?

Corrective Action
Remarks at http://nonatoyespeace.org

The NATO of the popular imagination is an assembly of representatives of democratic nations who commit to making the world more peaceful, including by militarily defending each other if one of them is attacked. There could hardly exist a more grave collection of lies. NATO is in fact an institution devoted primarily to the increased sale of weaponry to governments of every type -- neither its members nor its often openly dictatorial partners acting at the bidding of any populace -- and devoted secondarily to doing the will of one government, that based here in Washington, D.C., which is represented by over 900 military bases outside its borders. NATO's wars have never involved defending one of its members from a foreign invasion. Only once ever has NATO even claimed to be calling its members to collective defense, and that was for the idiotic, mass-murderous, environmentally catastrophic, counter-productive on its own terms, 20-year war on the distant, impoverished nation of Afghanistan, waged principally for U.S. political reasons following terrorist attacks -- even though terrorist attacks have not been used as a justification for NATO wars when they have happened in any other NATO member country -- and waged by NATO only following the individual U.S. attack on Afghanistan that overthrew a government made up of people who, with a few tweaks, would have fit in well a couple of blocks from here on the U.S. Supreme Court. Every other NATO war has lacked even the ridiculous pretense of defensiveness, and often even any agreement among NATO members, so that one could debate what has or has not been a NATO war, were one to ignore the fact that the staff and infrastructure of NATO have been used to launch, continue, or escalate the wars on Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Ukraine, and Gaza. Not a single one of these has been legal -- neither before nor during NATO involvement. NATO has no power to legalize anything. Even the NATO of popular imagination would be a criminal enterprise even during a war of popular imagination involving an angelically innocent nation invaded out of the blue by subhuman monsters. There is nothing in the UN Charter about good Samaritan mass-murder machines joining in an authorized war. There is much in actual human history to suggest the value of negotiation, diplomacy, demilitarization, unarmed civilian defense, and an actual law-based order, and to suggest that these alternatives are damaged by heavy investment in institutions dedicated to the structures and the cultures that drive weapons sales.

In Bosnia and Serbia, NATO first went to war, and did so against a nation that had not attacked or even threatened any NATO member, and despite some NATO members wanting to work for peace. The United States went to war without approval from the UN or even the U.S. Congress, but with the new law-unto-itself NATO proclamation of Humanitarian War. In the U.S. government those wanting more wars had discovered that they could justify them by bringing vassal states along -- like a shoplifter discovering that if he dragged along 10 buddies the cops would help them all fill their pockets. In Congress it was discovered that particular horrors in wars wouldn't need to be investigated if they could be labeled NATO's -- and NATO doesn't have any government to investigate it because it's not a nation -- it just plays one on TV sending its unelected leader around the world to joint press conferences with prime ministers and presidents. The biggest discovery, however, was that there needed be no end-of-cold-war peace dividend. In fact, there needed be no end to the cold war. War, it was discovered, could be an endless humanitarian public service fending off an array of ineliminable threats from terrorists to pirates to China to Russia to various governments buying their weapons from the wrong places -- horrible governments to be sure, but no more horrible than many of those buying their weapons from the right places. And, of course, wars kill a lot more than governments and generally don't kill governments at all.

NATO's grandest accomplishment thus far is the destruction of Afghanistan, the deforestation and poisoning of the land, the killing of hundreds of thousands, the making homeless of millions, the diversion of trillions of badly needed dollars into massive devastation, and the defeat of the vast majority of the world's militaries by an impoverished and divided people reduced to stealing the invaders' equipment and selling the invaders drugs to finance a successful resistance -- not to mention the propaganda accomplishment which takes no notice of any of this reality, namely the merging of the criminal and nonsensical Humanitarian War with the criminal and nonsensical War of Revenge. In U.S. culture a war as horrific as that on Afghanistan can be transformed into a glowing model of goodness and wonder simply by launching another war that's even worse. Once the war on Iraq was despised enough to require people like Barack Obama to pretend to oppose it, the war on Afghanistan had to be a good war in the manner in which World War II had become the ultimate good war during the war on Vietnam. And yet, quite shamelessly and openly, what makes Afghanistan a good war is in part that it was a war of revenge -- a justification present in no law or treaty whatsoever, but absent from almost no Hollywood movie in my lifetime. Somebody had stepped out of line. Somebody had disrespected NATO and that little sliver of the world's population called The International Community, and therefore the people who lived in a place those criminals had spent some time in needed to pay with their lives. And because the last moments of the war were as violent as the previous 20 years, the problem is now understood as not what the war did but how it was ended -- even that it was ended.

Of course Tony Blair, humanitarian Middle East expert, had told George W. Bush, famous portrait painter and masters' class instructor, that it would be OK to attack Iraq if they attacked Afghanistan first -- because revenge. And attack Iraq they did -- without formal NATO involvement, which is part of what has left NATO with a reputation of being more law-abiding than your average Congress Member. But NATO militaries were bullied into helping. And eventually Iraq became the site of a NATO training mission that was a bit hard to distinguish from a U.S.-led occupation (the same U.S. generals in charge of both), and which persists, in a newer version, to this day despite Iraqi demands to Nexit, if you'll allow that word.

In 2003, there were moves in a Belgian court to prosecute General Tommy Franks, the commander of the U.S. troops in Iraq, for using cluster bombs in civilian areas. U.S. Secretary of so-called Defense Donald Rumsfeld dealt with that problem at a NATO meeting by warning Belgium that the United States would not fund NATO's headquarters in Belgium, and would not take part in meetings in Belgium, leaving the impression that NATO headquarters would be moved elsewhere. Instead of shouting "Good riddance! And take your illegal nuclear weapons with you!," Belgium fell in line, a tool in the Tools Based Order. The prosecution quickly disappeared, while the war on Iraq rolled on unchanged.

In 2011, NATO decided to attack Libya. It lied about threats to Libyans and pretended that a UN resolution on protecting Libyans was an authorization for a war, the bombing of the country, and the overthrow of the government -- leaving chaos and mountains of weapons spreading across the region for years afterwards, not to mention open-air slave markets. The excuse for the war was even called genocide prevention -- this was back before genocide facilitation became the respectable order of the day here on Capitol Hill. To its credit, the U.S. Congress, like the UN, like all laws and treaties, and like much of the world, opposed the war. To its shame, Congress did nothing about it. Once a president does something, especially if it's under the banner of NATO, that means it's not illegal. This was effectively true when Richard Nixon said it and has been ever more true up until the Supreme Court recently said it.

You're going to hear from other speakers about Ukraine and Gaza and the South China Sea. I just want to comment briefly on Ukraine because it is the lie that half the U.S. public believes, because it is the foundation of support for NATO, and because -- in one of the weirdest developments I can recall -- it is, in U.S. (and European) politics, rightwing racist militarist fascistic figures who are most open to ending this particular war, albeit in order to focus on other wars.

The facts suggest that Ukraine is harmed, not helped, by endless weapons shipments. In December 2021 Russia proposed an agreement focused on Ukraine not joining NATO, and the U.S. rejected it. The criminal murderous inexcusable Russian invasion that followed was motivated, according to the Secretary General of NATO, by NATO's refusal to exclude Ukraine. Just after the invasion, in March 2022, after negotiations mediated by Turkey, it appeared that Russia was ready to withdraw from Ukraine if Ukraine would commit to not joining NATO and that Ukraine was prepared to agree. We'll never know for sure, but do know that well-sourced news reports show that the U.S. and UK told Ukraine to refuse the deal and keep the war going. Even now, after all the slaughter and destruction, the U.S. could allow Ukraine to sit down and negotiate with Russia, could indicate that there is a limit to the supply of free weapons. But the Secretary General of NATO has publicly told the U.S. government to allow Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to attack inside Russia, and the U.S. government has agreed. The plan is escalation, not negotiation.

NATO bragged last year that it had trained 800 Ukrainians to be as corruption-free as a U.S. politician, and yet after dumping unlimited unaccountable weapons and dollars into the place and insisting on war for years, Ukraine is still too corrupt for NATO, according to NATO. Or, rather, NATO still can't corrupt all of its members into inviting Ukraine to join, but it can move many of them to make bilateral commitments to Ukraine, it can militarize the whole region, and it can prepare the West culturally for World War III. After all, how much preparation do you need to say goodbye to everything?

When top scientists and observers keep warning that we are closer than ever to a nuclear war -- a threat to all life on Earth -- what ever one does to increase that risk makes one an opponent of humanity. While Ukrainians and Russians are exactly as valuable as everyone else, most everyone else gets forgotten and treated as worthless if we consider a nuclear-risking war in only local terms. What happens in Ukraine does not stay in Ukraine.

NATO calls itself a "nuclear alliance" and maintains a "Nuclear Planning Group" for all of its members-- those with and those without nuclear weapons-- to discuss the launching of the sort of war that puts all life on Earth at risk, and to coordinate rehearsals or "war games" practicing for the use of nuclear weapons in Europe, where the U.S. uses NATO as cover to illegally proliferate nuclear weapons to six nations, and Russia now follows suit.

We're in trouble and need a radical reversal, not because NATO is a good idea that's gone bad, not because NATO could be a good idea if some other countries did it, not because NATO must be a good idea because we imagine -- rightly or wrongly -- that certain odious individuals oppose it for their own quirky reasons, but because the enemy of life on Earth is the institutionalization of war, the establishment of, normalization of, and acceptance of mass murder as a public service.

On this fourth of July weekend, let us recall that the United States was born out of war, a war for power, empire, and slavery, as well as limited freedoms for limited numbers of people. There have been few moments of peace for the U.S. military ever since. Nations that lend their names and respectability to a war addict are not its friends. The friendly thing to do would be to cut it off and take an independent stand for peace.
Author, Bruce Lerro, Co-founder and Organizer, Socialist Planning Beyond Capitalism

Orientation

Power struggles between the two sides of the brain

In Part I of this article, I compared the left to the right side of the brain across many categories. One of the most interesting prospects in Iain McGilchrist's great book The Master and His Emissary, is that the two sides of the brain functions do not work in a harmonious manner all the time. There is a power struggle between them. Just as we have accepted Freud's depiction of the psyche as composed of a struggle between the id and the superego and just as many of us have accepted that working class people are conflicted between a class-in-itself and a class-for-itself identity, so might the two sides of the brain be involved in working at cross-purposes. John Milton's Paradise Lost seems to be precisely profound exploration of the divided human brain.

Rise of the left side of brain in Western history

Over the course of Western history, the left side of the brain has gotten more powerful. But at least initially, as Karl Jaspers demonstrated in his book The Axial Age, the shift to the left-side of the brain has happened not just in the West, in Palestine and Greece, but also in the East in China and India. As we shall see, this power struggle is further externalized in the material world in Western history when we examine the differences between the Renaissance and the Reformation, between the Enlightenment and Romanticism and between capitalism and socialism. They will also show themselves in the commonalities between the Reformation, the scientific revolution of the 17th century, the Enlightenment and the Industrial revolution.

The Ancient Worlds of the Greeks

Lack of faces in Egypt and Mesopotamia

The right hemisphere is crucial in interpreting faces and evaluating facial reactions. The right hemisphere was also important for aesthetic judgments in art. In his book Faces: the Changing Look of Mankind, Milton Brener points out that there are no individual facial portraits in prehistoric art. The earliest drawings, especially in the Neolithic Age, lack of spatial orientation or a clear relationship between the parts and the whole . The faces in Bronze Age Egypt and Mesopotamia are inexpressive gazes. Artistic subjects are mainly animals. If humans appear at all, it is only the parts of the body, the pelvis or buttocks, that are shown most frequently. Human figures are headless. When faces do appear as with aristocrats or kings, they are expressionless, and non-individualized. Lack of faces shows the lack of right brain involvement.

Right brain presence in ancient Greece

In Archaic Greece at the time of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the right brain was clearly operating in the sustained, unified theme that produced a single coherent narrative over a long stretch of time. The degree of empathy and insight into characters show the mark of the right hemisphere. A change to portraits came about in the 6th century BCE. Brener says the Greek subjects in this period are more individualized, varied, emotionally expressive and empathic. Emotions include pride, hate, bodily gesture, envy, anger, pity and love. There is yet to be a separation between the body and the mind, matter and the soul. He posits it is the right hemisphere that creates and understands expressive poetry and uses metaphors in oral discourse and in writing.

Left brain in Greece and the commercial spirit (600-400 BCE)

Prometheus is the god of technical skill where the left side shows prominence over the right. The god Prometheus is said to bring numeracy and literacy to the Greeks while inventing weights and measures.

The invention of money is an indicator of the same neuropsychological development. As Marx pointed out, historically the use of money went from a means for exchanging commodities to developing an independent existence.

In his book Money and the Early Greek Mind, Richard Seaford points out that monetary currency is the prime mover of a new, more abstract kind of philosophy. Before the development of currency (whether barter or gift) there is an emphasis on reciprocity in exchange . With currency, reciprocals relationships become static, based on equivalence with and the emphasis placed on utility and profit sustaining the community. Money is homogenous. It flattens its objects, eroding their uniqueness. Money is impersonal and weakens the need for bonds. Just as money freezes reciprocity between humans and objects, so too the mind becomes abstracted from its relationship with the body. The disembodied mind - noos - emerges, a mind separate from the body in about the 4th century. Bruno Snell discusses a fascinating history of this in his book Discovery of the Mind.

Legal constitutions, bodies of laws, formalized geography and study of maps

By the time of Socrates, the respect for the testimony of the senses had been slipping and the importance of metaphor was forgotten. For Plato, poets are to be banished from The Republic. In art again we return to the depiction of parts of the body: heads sprung without necks; arms wandered without their shoulders. The left hemisphere seems to be in control again, but then this changed back. The 4th to the 2nd century was a high point of expressiveness of portraits in painting and sculpture with the most extraordinary attention given to individual expression. The left and right together produced the development of a legal constitution and a body of laws, studies of history, formalization of geography and the study of maps.

The Romans

As for the Roman world, McGilchrist tells us most of the great legacy of Rome's literature belongs to the first century BCE with Virgil, Horace and Ovid's Metamorphoses. All three suggest an alliance between the right and left hemisphere. Until the end of the 3rd century, portraiture had sought to convey a lifelike individuality.

However, a fundamental change took place after the third century in the depiction of the face. Portraits of stone began to show a particularly abstract, distant gaze no longer concerned with the real world. McGilchrist points out that the features suddenly stiffen in an expressive Medusa-like mask. There is a movement away from life-like nature to an abstract type; from plastic articulation to conceptual generalization; from the corporeal to the symbolic. Natural objects lose their liveliness and idiosyncrasy. In art an abrupt marionette-like movement predominates. A mechanical order is imposed on the objects from above and pressed into horizontal lines that are symmetrical, just like soldier to his rank-and file. With Roman military and administrative success, a bureaucracy grows and the left hemisphere begins to duplicate itself without regulation in the material world. In drama McGilchrist says there also is a possible parallel to the left hemisphere being out of control with the influence of Theophrastus character types.

Middle Ages

From this point through the Middle Ages the face and body are symbolic only. Individualized portraits of the emperor disappear and they become alike in the same way as the saints are depicted. Myth and metaphor are no longer semi-transparent but opaque. At best myth and metaphor or superficial ornaments - at worst lies and superstitions.

The Renaissance

Intensity in the rise of self-consciousness and individualism

The Renaissance was the next great flowering of the right-left hemispheres at their best. In this period, human dignity lay in our unique capacity to choose our own destiny, not simply be the plaything of fate as it was with the Greeks. This resulted in the importance attributed to the recording of individual lives in the rise of biography and autobiography. There seems to be this standing back, an even more self-conscious reflection than the Greeks in the 6th century. There is also a demand for abstraction and generalization, favoring the left hemisphere in the same time period.

The plays of Shakespeare

McGilchrist says drama has come to the fore at those points in history when we have achieved necessary distance but not yet so detached that we are inappropriately objective or alienated from one another . The plays of Shakespeare constitute one of the most striking testimonies to the rise of the right hemisphere during this period. There is a complete disregard for theory and categorization which might come about with the predominance of the left hemisphere. Everywhere, Shakespeare reveled in opposites, seeing life as a mix of good and bad. He did this instead of standing outside or above his creation and telling us how to judge his character. In music, there was the amazing efflorescence of polyphony and complex harmony throughout the Renaissance.

The Reformation

Attacks on image and metaphor

The Reformation is a great example of a religious movement driven by the left side of the brain gone haywire. The Reformation is the first great expression of the search for certainty in modern times. It attacks the visual image, the vehicle par excellence of the right hemisphere. McGilchrist points out that the decapitation of statues by the Reformers took place because both lay and clergy could not handle the confrontation between the animate form with an inanimate image. They could make sense of them together if the image could be understood as a metaphor for the real object. For the Protestants, either the statue is a god or an idolatrous thing, with nothing in between. During the Reformation there was a decline in metaphoric understanding of ceremony and ritual. Instead, they understood the repetition of empty procedures. In Protestant circles, words acquired the status of things. The word freezes into a kind of idol itself. The Reformation replaces the immediate presentation of an unmediated mystical experience in the Renaissance with a representation through the Bible. The way to get the meaning across for the Protestants was to repeat words endlessly, drumming and drilling it into the mind. This is something the left hemisphere would attempt. In the Reformation the sacred space centerpiece is no longer on the image on the altar, but on the pulpit.

Mechanization of sacred space

McGilchrist points out that the Catholic Church encouraged and incorporated movement, walking and processions into its ceremonies. Not the Protestants. Koerner, in his book The Reformation of the Image draws attention to the bureaucratic categorization that springs up from the Lutheran church. People are neatly placed in symmetrical ranks on the floor of the Church which are laid out like graph paper in a typical left hemisphere materialization. The congregation is seated neatly in rows of obedient, mechanical subjects.

The Seventienth Century

Philosopher of science Stephen Toulmin says 17th century science was a secular version of what the Protestants had done religiously. It was the reversal in Renaissance values. This can be seen in literature to philosophy in the movement

From Pantagruel to that of Pilgrim's Progress

From Shakespeare to Racine

From Montaigne to Descartes

From the reciprocal oral mode to fixed and unidirectional written mode

From Eliot's unified sensibility to dissociation

Descartes and Madness

Descartes is one of the first and greatest exemplars of the left hemisphere philosophy in the 17th century. He has problems with the very idea of temporal continuity. Descartes thought that reliance on the body, the senses and the imagination would lead not only to error, but to madness. Yet as we have seen in Part I of this article, it is an excess of rationality that can lead to schizophrenia. In fact, Descartes had many of the same characteristics as schizophrenics: excessively detached, hyper-rational, an intense self-awareness, a disembodied and alienated condition. McGilchrist tells us Descartes describes looking out of his window seeing what he knows to be people passing by as seeming to him like machines. Descartes was not even sure he had a body at all. This is the rationality to which he was committed. This devitalization results in a need for certainty. The analytical geometry which he founded is a disciplined application of left-brain thinking.

The Enlightenment

Symmetry and balance

McGilchrist says the true relationship between the left and right side of the brain is that reason is the constitutive foundation of functioning and rationality plays a regulatory role. The relationship between reason and rationality is developed in some detail in Part I of my article. However, Kant reversed the relationship between reason and rationality. He imprisoned reason within the closed system of rationality, including his space, time and causality categories. Reason in the Enlightenment was static, not dynamic. Reason means holding tensions that are incompatible in a balanced symmetry meaning equal measure. Beauty in the Enlightenment is holding tensions symmetrically. Symmetry was also the ultimate guiding aesthetic principle of the Enlightenment typified in music by Hayden.

In any scientific procedure on a natural object, if the scientist leaves it unchanged s/he is admired. The butterfly is skewered and unmoving, a specimen in the collector's cabinet. This is what McGilchrist says captures the Enlightenment's sense of nature. The changing, evolving nature of individual things or beings had to wait until the 18thcentury revolution in biology. Unlike the Reformation, the Enlightenment did not attack metaphor and imagination frontally. However, they trivialized it as nothing more than a playful ornament, an extra, not something that helps us to understand reality.

The all-seeing eye

There were serious political consequences to the discovery of optics. As Foucault has pointed out, the all-powerful, all-surveying and all-capturing eye achieved its ultimate form in Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon, a prison in which the authorities can see every prisoner while the authorities are invisible to the prisoners and the prisoners cannot see each other. This monstrous imaginary prison could only be hatched by the left brain. McGilchrist argues that Bentham has many of the features that would suggest a mild degree of autism and defects in right hemisphere functioning. Bentham was socially awkward, and probably never talked to a woman at all except to his cook and housemaid. He had a contempt for the British common law tradition which was much more right-brain law tradition.

The problem with sight, as Herder points out, is its tendency to meet the depth, breadth and volume of the world with the cool rebuff of a planar surface, a representation. In the romantic period, Herder and Winckelmann both praised sculpture for its depth, volume, fullness and complex curvature, transcending the rectilinear flatness of a single plane of vision which would be consistent with the left side of the brain. Wordsworth spoke of what he called the tyranny of the eye.

The uncanny

The uncanny is a psychological state which results from a loss of the distinction between the living and the purely mechanical. Koerner makes the point that iconoclasm of the Reformation granted so much uncanny powers to images that it came close to idolatry. McGilchrist criticizes the violence of the French Revolution by pointing out it was not saints made of wood images that were attacked by the revolutionaries but kings and dukes themselves that were decapitated. In the book The Female Thermometer: 18th Century Culture and the Invention of the Uncanny Terry Castle explores the elements of phantasmagoria, the grotesque, carnivalesque travesty, hallucination reveries, paranoia and nightmarish fantasy doubles, dancing dolls automata, waxwork figures, mirror selves and spectral emanations.

These are all related to schizophrenia as we saw in Part I. Living things are experienced as mechanisms. The living body becomes an assemblage of independently moving fragments. Interest in the uncanny resulted in the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Here in the person of the mad Dr. Frankenstein, the left hemisphere of Dr. Frankenstein assembles the dead body parts and breathes life into it through lightning. However, the result is not a human whole which is more than its parts, but a monster that is no more than the sum of the enlivened body parts, a monster. Remember, for the Enlightenment after all, nature is a whole equal to the sum of the parts. Later on, the Romantic William Blake contrasted the single-minded, limiting, measuring mechanical, the god of Newton, to the many-minded liberating power of the creative imagination the God of Milton.

Romanticism and the Right Side of the Brain

Depth and mystery

In the first wave of Romanticism in the early 19th century, we find a return to cultural expressions of the right brain. McGilchrist points to the work of Claude Lorain. He has been said to be the greatest landscape painter ever. His paintings have depth, both spatial and temporal, and a deep perspective with steeply angled buildings. Light and color suggest not just distance as such, but a succession, a progression of distances.

For the Romantics, half-light and transitional states have a multitude of affinities with complexity. The romantics are attracted to fog, haze, moonlights and mist. They love unfinished sketches, the half-light of dawn, music heard far off, and mountains where the top is obscured by mist. The right hemisphere is at home with blurry, fleeting, half-lite form. The romantics were convinced that one might learn more from half-light than full light. As many of you know, Hegel imaginatively said that the owl of Minerva, goddess of wisdom, only flew at dusk. For the Romantics there was a longing for the innocent unselfconscious both in a historical and personal past. It is with the right hemisphere that we recall our childhood memories. Distance in time and place expands the soul. Fusion with nature included fusion with the body. The fusion of body, soul and spirit were never more keenly aspired to than with romantic pantheism.

The Industrial Revolution: Making the World in the Likeness of the Left Brain

Who but a political economist and a class of people with the left side of the brain in overdrive could imagine that through the selfishness of individuals a harmonious social whole could result? Without care or compassion a whole is supposed to spontaneously emerge. "Liberty" for the left side of the brain is the laisse faire of Adam Smith's version of capitalism.

The mechanization of work spaces, commodities, and workers under capitalism

In the next century, McGilchrist says the most daring assault of the left hemisphere on the world was the industrial revolution. It was creating a world in the left hemisphere's own likeness. Whether it is the mechanics of the production of the factory, production of commodities or the production and reproduction of workers, they are broadly similar.

In the early days of the factory, skilled workers still controlled the pace of production and took breaks as they needed them. In the second half of the 19th century family capitalists joined in larger corporate entities and the organization of the factory changed. Now rectilinear grids of machines make identical surfaces and shapes. In the machine of factories, capitalists want to know three things;

how much it could do?;

how quickly can it do it?; and

with what degree of precision?

In the case of commodities, they were mass produced cheaply for a national market. Quantity replaces quality. Gone are the handicrafts, each of which is different and bears the creativity of the artisan who made them. Workers are the makers of commodities but due to alienation from their work they no longer understand that commodities are a means to an end. Rather commodities become ends in themselves. As Marx says, things are in the saddle. People become enslaved to the things that they make.

Whether it is on the assembly line itself, the production of commodities or the life of the worker in the factory, the parts of the machine were just, equally interchangeable units of their categories. It is here that the inner structure of the human organism, the left side of the brain, externalizes and multiplies in ever increasing measure into the material world, transforming it along the way. The innate structure of the left hemisphere through capitalist technology is being incarnated in the world it has now come to dominate.

Socialism as a return of the right brain to the industrialization process

One the other hand it was through Marx and the socialist movement that the attempt was made to change these conditions. Socialists want to redesign factories so that artificial intelligence serves to relieve workers of rote movement and allow them to work less. Socialists want to produce commodities for use-value, not exchange value and restore the production of pre-capitalist production modes. They want to appreciate commodities as a means to an end, not an end in itself. But socialists seek to achieve this on a higher level. Lastly, socialist strive to overcome alienation of workers on the job and the specialization of labor where a worker does one activity over and over again. Instead, as Marx wrote, in a communist society people will fish in the morning, raise cattle in the afternoon and criticize society in the evening. The entire socialist program can be understood as a collective movement to reinstate the projects that are expressions of the right side of the brain.

Modernity From 1880 to Mid 20th Century

Time and space contraction

In Anthony Giddens' book, Modernity and Self-Identity he described the characteristic disruption of space and time that is required by globalization as a necessary context of industrial capitalism. This means the intrusion of distant events into everyday consciousness.

The features of modernity include:

mobility which insures a permanent population with no attachment to place;

a high pace of change in the physical environment; and

the need for convenience in physical transport.

These disruptions in time undermine traditions which are either discarded, marginalized or reinvented (Eric Hobsbawm's Invention of Tradition). Attachments to others are weakened radically.

In the 20th century the Vienna Circle of logical empiricism involved another philosophical-scientific attempt by the left brain movement in its grasping for certainty, which was even more formal, and exact than the one of Descartes. But this had psychological implications. Louis Sass calls the result hyper-consciousness where everything gets dragged into the full glare of consciousness. This is typified in Robert Musil's novel Man Without Qualities.

On the other hand, in the United States the pragmatic movement of William James, John Dewey and Charles Sanders Pierce were right-brain attempts to make philosophy practical and down to earth. Also, the emergence of Process philosophy in the work of Whitehead and Samuel Alexander is an attempt to link a dynamic science of complexity to a dynamic philosophy. Please see table at the end of our article on Socialist Planning Beyond Capitalism for a summary.

Conclusion: What the Left Hemisphere Becoming Dominant Would Look Like:

increased specialization;

it would substitute information for knowledge;

keep refining experiments in detail;

increase in both abstraction and reification;

expansion of bureaucracy;

morality based on utility, calculation and enlightened self-interest;

paranoia;

panoptical control;

individuals as interchangeable parts of mechanical system;

altruism is seen as suspicious;

lack of common sense;

anger and aggression would be more common;

loss of insight;

pathos becomes shameful;

boredom drives towards sensationalism and novelty;

conceptual art lacks depth and distorted and bizarre perspectives;

dance is solipsistic rather than communal; and

despoilation of the natural world.

Psychological surveys show increased unhappiness in the Anglo-American Empire. Iain McGilchrist fears we are at risk of being trapped by the I-it world. On the other hand, the factor that explains the most in happiness in humanity is the breadth and depth of our social connections. McGilchrist writes that the fallout into this left brain world is the story of Adam and Eve being turned out of Paradise. McGilchrist tells us that the quest for certainty is the greatest of all illusions. It is what the ancients meant by hubris and this is what the Western world is currently trapped in.
Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator

On July 5, Ozgur Ozel, the leader of the main opposition party in Turkey, CHP, told the press he wants to travel to Damascus with a delegation and meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

One of the issues to be discussed will be the repatriation of Syrian refugees from Turkey.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said repeatedly that he wants to meet with Assad and to restore the diplomatic relationship between the two neighbors, which had been prior to 2011 a very close and beneficial relationship for Turkey. Prior to 2011, Syria was the largest export market for Turkey.

Syria has said repeatedly, they are open to a restored relationship, but Turkey must first cut ties with terrorist groups and radical militias which have been supported by Turkey, and Turkey must withdraw mercenaries and Turkish soldiers from Idlib, north of Aleppo, and all northern Syrian border areas.

Recently, Turkey began the first steps of cutting ties with terrorists in Idlib and north of Aleppo. This resulted in clashes between the terrorists and their civilian supporters who view the Turkish policy change as betrayal to their cause, which was to establish an Islamic State in Idlib, under HTS, formerly Jibhat al-Nusra, formerly the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda.

Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscource interviewed Aydin Sezer, political scientist, foreign policy analyst, former diplomat, and economic advisor at the Turkish Embassies in Cairo and Moscow for his opinion on these new developments in the Turkish-Syrian file.

1. Steven Sahiounie (SS): Recently, there have been clashes between the Turkish military and the Syrian opposition in Idlib and north Aleppo. This appears to be a result of a new Turkish foreign policy decision on Syria. In your opinion, are we seeing the beginning of the end of Turkish support for the Syrian opposition?

Aydin Sezer (AS): Yes, this is the beginning of the end of Turkey's support to the Syrian opposition. However, this is not a surprising development. It is an inevitable consequence of Turkey's flawed Syria policy. Turkey has to face the reality and its mistakes, and that process is now underway. If there is to be peace with Assad, if this is really desired, Turkey will have to confront not only the Syrian National Army, which Turkey established, but also the jihadists and extremists in Idlib. Peace in Syria will have a separate cost for Turkey. Since these elements cannot be included in the Assad administration, unfortunately it will be a difficult process.

2. SS: Turkey had been a major supporter of the Syrian opposition. In your opinion, what has caused this drastic change in Turkey's policy?

AS: There are many different factors and reasons for the change in Turkey's policy. The most important one, in my opinion, is the unbearable economic crisis Turkey is going through. The Syrian costs are now unaffordable, especially in fiscal terms. The tight monetary policy that the finance minister, Mehmet ?im?ek, has been implementing for a year now is making it more difficult to pay this bill. Turkey therefore wants to get rid of this burden somehow.

The second important factor is the presence of more than 5 million Syrian refugees in Turkey. Tensions and clashes between Turks and Syrians for various reasons are taking the country into a serious and irreversible process. Aside from the political cost, given the growing racist sentiments in Turkey, there is the possibility of undesirable problems. Erdo?an is therefore now convinced that this issue must be resolved. I guess so, in fact I hope so, but it is difficult to predict what Erdo?an will do tomorrow.

3. SS: Media reports show Syrians in Idlib and north of Aleppo attacking Turkish vehicles and citizens. In one case, they attacked a Turkish soldier. In your opinion, how do you see Turkey's response to this violence?

AS: Judging by the public reaction, we can say this. It is terrible. These are unwanted images that provoke reactions among Turks. Unfortunately, they are also likely to increase the public reaction against Syrians in Turkey. Politicians and Erdogan characterize these developments as provocations. The public is urged to be sensitive to provocation. But, provocations are in the nature of things, and this is an expected development. It is a difficult process. If the reaction of the Turkish armed forces is harsh, the violence of the demonstrations will increase.

4. SS: Recently, as a response to the violence in Idlib and north of Aleppo we are seeing media reports of Syrian refugees in Turkey being mistreated. In your opinion, will there be a move to repatriate the Syrians?

AS: Yes, this step is already being taken. But, it is thought that this will help to reduce the tension in Turkish society towards asylum seekers.

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Kamala Harris Vice Presidential Portrait.

(Image by Wikipedia (commons.wikimedia.org), Author: .mw-parser-output .commons-creator-table{background-color:#f0f0ff;box-sizing:border-box;font-size:95%;text-align:start}.mw-parser-output .commons-creator-table>tbody>tr{vertical-align:top}.mw-parser-output .commons-creator-table>tbody>tr>th{background-co) Details Source DMCA





By Bob Gaydos

Why do we elect vice presidents?

That's not a rhetorical question. In fact, it's the answer to a question many Democrats have been asking themselves for more than a week.

In a virtual meltdown since Joe Biden's shutdown performance in his first debate with Donald Trump, and under a constant New York Times-led media barrage about Biden's age and his capability to handle the job of president, many wealthy Democratic Party supporters and plenty of everyday Democrats have been asking, "What is Plan B?"

As in, "If we don't think Joe can win, who should the party's candidate be? Quick!"

Funny thing is, all the names quickly mentioned as possible presidential candidates quickly said they're still backing Biden.

Now, that may be because it would be unseemly to challenge the leader of the party or simply because none of them wants to face Trump now when they might have an easier race four years from now.

The other funny thing is, even though presidents run with vice presidential candidates, who, theoretically at least, can step in immediately and take over the duties of president if necessary, whether because of incapacitation or resignation, hardly anyone mentioned Vice President Kamala Harris as a potential substitute for Biden.

But isn't that her job?

This is in no way an argument for Biden to decline to run again "for the good of the party and the country" or for him to dramatically resign the office of president. I have no way of knowing, any more than do any of those big media pundits, whether Biden is capable of fulfilling the duties of president while also conducting an aggressive reelection campaign against Trump and his Republican cult followers. If Biden's running, he's got my vote.

All I am saying is that if he feels he is not up to it, his vice president would seem to be the person most qualified and capable of doing so.

Harris has been with Biden through all the successes of nearly four years in office, been part of the planning and prodding and preaching necessary to get things done. She has dealt with leaders on the world stage. If people like what the Biden White House has done, well, then Harris has been part and parcel of all that.

Plus, she is Donald Trump's greatest nemesis: An educated, articulate, outspoken, politically astute, black woman. She has been district attorney of San Francisco, Attorney General of the state of California and served as a United States senator from California. She knows how government works. She can take on the issue of abortion head-on. She can talk frankly about voter suppression tactics. In fact, she can talk about any issue Trump or Republicans throw out there with more clarity and knowledge than can Trump.

In fact, so can Biden. But if by Plan B Democrats want someone to more aggressively get up in Trump's face, call out his constant lies, which much of the media now seems to accept as, well, acceptable, then Kamala Harris is their woman.

Plus, you'd have the whole first woman president angle going again, the one stolen from Hillary. And if Biden did take the dramatic step of resigning (which he has given no indication of doing, nor am I suggesting), she would have access to the Biden campaign's considerable funds.

All of this, of course, would be dependent on Democrats doing something they always have trouble doing -- getting behind one candidate and sticking to the script.

Republicans have mastered the art of uniting behind even the most despicable of candidates imaginable, with Trump the felon exhibit A. They are a political party without a soul. Democrats, however, usually spend an inordinate amount of time challenging each other over who is the most noble of candidates. It often produces confusion, not votes.

Joe Biden has been a good president. He has served this country well his entire adult life and grown old in the process. Few are granted the opportunity. In an election which is in sum a contest between democracy and despotism, he is the symbol of what our forefathers had in mind when they said farewell to the king.

When the script hit the fan, their Plan B was to have a vice president.

rjgaydos|AT|gmail.comEmail address
A national fast-casual pizza chain is exploring a potential bankruptcy filing as the company looks for a buyer, according to several reports.

MSN reports people familiar with MOD Pizza say the Seattle chain with 512 locations across the country has hired legal and financial advisers to work on a possible sale of the business or bankruptcy filing.

Were working diligently to improve our capital structure and are exploring all options to do so. Since this is an ongoing process, it would be inappropriate to speculate about an outcome, a MOD representative shared with Nations Restaurant News in a statement.

The restaurant industry publication said, at the end of 2023, MOD operated 553 locations, a 4.1% increase over 2022. It also noted that up until recently the chain was doing well and grew sales by 5.7% last year, to $699.2 million, according to Technomic data.

MOD was founded in 2008 as part of a wave of build-your-own pizza places. It currently has 32 locations in Oregon.

Earlier this year, MOD shut down more than two dozen restaurants, one of which was in Oregon. It also appointed Beth Scott as its new CEO after cofounder Scott Svenson stepped down from the position after 15 years.

The news comes as several restaurant chains, including Red Lobster, announce bankruptcies.
Former Oregon cornerback and Minnesota Vikings rookie Khyree Jackson died in an automobile accident in Maryland early Saturday morning.

Jackson, 24, was killed along with former Dr. Henry Wise Jr. High School teammates Anthony Lytton Jr. and Isaiah Hazel. Lytton played at Florida State and Penn State and Hazel played at Maryland and Charlotte.

We are devastated by the news of Khyree Jacksons death following an overnight car accident, the Vikings said in a statement. While we work to gather more information, we have spoken to Khyrees family and offered the support of the Minnesota Vikings. We have also communicated the news to Vikings players, coaches and staff and have offered counseling for those who need emotional support. Our thoughts are with Khyrees family, friends, teammates and coaches, as well as all the victims of this tragic accident.

Maryland State Police say they are investigating the fatal accident, which occurred in Prince Georges County shortly after 3:14 a.m. ET. Police say their preliminary investigation shows an Infinity Q50 driven by Cori Clingman was traveling northbound on Route 4/Pennsylvania Avenue and they believe she attempted to change lanes while driving at a high rate of speed when she hit a Dodge Charger driven by Hazel with Jackson in the passenger seat and Lytton in the back seat, as well as a Chevrolet Impala.

The Charger went off the road and struck multiple tree stumps where the vehicle came to rest, according top police, who said Hazel and Jackson were pronounced deceased on the scene and Lytton was transported to the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center, where he later was pronounced deceased.

Clingman and two passengers in her vehicle were not injured and the driver of the Impala was not injured, according to police, who said they believe alcohol may have been a contributing circumstance in the crash and charges are pending.

Jackson, who had the best season of his career while at Oregon, was drafted by the Vikings with the No. 108 overall pick in the fourth round of this years NFL draft. He had the best season of his career in 2023, making 34 tackles (five for loss), including two sacks, seven pass breakups and three interceptions as the top cornerback for the Ducks.

I am absolutely crushed by this news. Khyree brought a contagious energy to our facility and our team, Vikings coach Kevin OConnell said in a statement. His confidence and engaging personality immediately drew his teammates to him. In our short time together, it was evident Khyree was going to develop into a tremendous professional football player, but what was more impressive was his desire to become the best person he could be for his family and those around him. I am at a loss for words. My heart goes out to Khyrees family, friends, teammates and coaches.

Jacksons college career at Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College, followed by East Mississippi CC, Alabama, and Oregon. He briefly stopped playing football between his junior college stops and worked at a grocery store while competitive gaming before returning to the field.

I am heartbroken by the loss of Khyree. As we got to know him throughout the pre-draft process, it was clear the goals Khyree wanted to accomplish both professionally and personally, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said in a statement. His story was one of resilience. He was taking steps to become the best version of himself not just for him, but for those who cared about and looked up to him. Khyrees personality captured every room he was in. Im devastated that his life and everything he had in front of him has been cut short. My thoughts are with Khyrees family and friends, those who played with and coached him in college, and his teammates and coaches here at the Vikings.

RIP Khyree Love you @Real_Khyree at a loss for words. I will miss your smile. Great player better person.  Dan Lanning (@CoachDanLanning) July 6, 2024

After being drafted he credited Dan Lanning for his success because the UO coach trusted in my abilities, but also understood who he had in a player.

I dont really talk much off the field; Im more laid back and chill off the field, Jackson said in April. But when Im in practice or in the games, Im just an animal on the field. Like I dont really have too many friends. I just want to demolish everybody whos in front of me. Thats how I look at it when Im on the field.

Having somebody who understands and really knew how to decipher who I was. I think it just made me play so much comfortably this year. There was a couple of times coach Lanning let me know like, hey, Im going to let you play your game, make sure you dont get no flags though. I just made sure I upheld that and that was just our relationship.

Penn State mourned the loss of Lytton, who played cornerback for the Nittany Lions in 2021 and played for Florida State in 2018-19, and Maryland and Charlotte coach Biff Poggi mourned Hazel, who finished his college career last season with the 49ers after four years with the Terrapins.
As temperatures climbed in Portland on Friday, Shane and Rania Kaptur walked with their chihuahua mix Marley outside the Northwest Tower, a 13-story public housing complex in Northwest Portland.

During the 2021 heat dome, two people died at the tower, which is owned and operated by Home Forward, but the Kapturs, who live together at the tower, said they felt prepared for the heat thats expected to top 100 degrees over the weekend.
A series of recent developments related to abortion underscored the maddening state of access in the U.S.  and the urgent need for President Joe Biden to update the way he talks about the issue before Novembers presidential election, when reproductive rights are again on the ballot. The presidents platform calls for restoring reproductive freedom, and he has often repeated the mantra that If Im elected, Im going to restore Roe v. Wade. But simply calling for a return to Roe is not nearly enough.

First, new data published in the pediatric edition of the Journal of the American Medical association showed the toll an abortion ban takes on women and babies health. Then, Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Supreme Court would be delaying a decision that feels like the lowest-hanging fruit in reproductive freedom: guaranteeing womens access to abortion care amid medical emergencies. Finally, an excruciating exchange on abortion during the debate between Biden and former President Donald Trump served to validate womens panic over their eroding reproductive autonomy. And last month, Iowas Supreme Court allowed a 6-week abortion ban to go into effect, while Nevada became the latest state to add a question about abortion rights to its ballot.
Members of the British royal family shared a historic portrait taken during the annual Royal Week in Scotland. The photo shows King Charles III and Queen Camilla with Princes William and Edward.

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Representatives of Buckingham Palace were dressed in Order of the Thistle traditional garb, Hello writes. The official portrait, which the monarchs posted on their Instagram, sparked a discussion among their subjects and fans.

The royal family members are depicted wearing dark green velvet robes, large hats with white feathers, and the shiny insignia of the Order of the Thistle.

Despite the good looks of the photo, it raised questions among people who follow the lives of monarchs. They noticed that the Duchess of Edinburgh Sophie, who also attended the gala, was not there.

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Buckingham Palace explained that the representative of the British royal family was not depicted in the portrait because she could not wear the official uniform of the Order as she does not yet hold the title of Lady Thistle. She may be awarded this honor when the King makes this personal gift.

Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle is celebrating the arrival a week ago of a baby gorilla, a male.

Akenji, a first-time mother, gave birth June 28 after a nine-month gestation period.
The Wallowa River Railroad Hike is not considered one of northeast Oregons finest. Guidebooks cant recommend it. Locals will point you elsewhere. Its not even on AllTrails. The Wallowa Mountains, home to truly world class hiking, are right there.

But when I found the excursion on the Oregon Hikers Field Guide, I was immediately struck by a picture of the perfectly parallel rails running through the rugged river canyon. It felt like something different, possibly something special.
The National Weather Service issued an updated excessive heat warning at 1:51 p.m. on Sunday in effect until Wednesday at 10 p.m. for John Day Basin and Central Oregon.

"Dangerously hot conditions with limited overnight relief. Afternoon high temperatures of 95 to 110 degrees. Overnight low temperatures in the mid-50s to lower 70s," says the weather service. "Hottest temperatures during this long-duration heatwave are expected Tuesday."

"Heat-related illnesses increase significantly during extreme heat events," states the weather service.

Mastering the heat: Weather service Guidelines for staying safe in high temperatures

Stay hydrated: Keep yourself well-hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids.

Seek shelter: Opt for an air-conditioned room to stay comfortable.

Avoid sun exposure: Stay out of the sun, and make sure to check up on relatives and neighbors.

Child and pet safety: Be vigilant about never leaving young children and pets in vehicles without supervision, especially during periods of intense heat, as car interiors can quickly become extremely hot.

Caution outdoors: Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside.

Select the ideal time: When possible, reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or evening.

Recognize heat-related issues: Familiarize yourself with warning signs and how tp recognize the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Dress comfortably: Wear lightweight, loose-fitting clothing to help your body stay cool.

Additional recommendations for outdoor workers:

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recommends frequent rest breaks in shaded or air-conditioned areas for outdoor workers.

If someone is overwhelmed by the heat, swiftly relocate them to a cool, shaded location.

In emergency situations, dial 911 for immediate assistance.

These NWS heat safety recommendations are vital for your well-being during periods of high temperatures. Stay informed and take the necessary steps to protect yourself and others from the heat's potentially dangerous effects.

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
Multnomah County will open three cooling centers in Portland and Gresham on Saturday and Sunday as temperatures continue to soar in the area.

Portland set a record for the daily high temperature yesterday at 99 degrees. Todays forecast calls for a high of about 98 degrees.

The shelters at Cook Plaza in Gresham, Portland Covenant Church in Northeast Portland and Congregation Beth Israel in Northwest Portland are open 12-10 p.m. Saturday and will reopen at noon Sunday. The county will make daily announcements about whether shelters will reopen on the following day.

On Friday, there was a cooling center open at The Hugo on Northeast 82nd Avenue. That center is not reopening Saturday because of issues with the HVAC system, but staff will be on site to redirect people to the open cooling centers.

TriMet wont turn away anyone riding to or from a cooling center who cannot pay fare between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily through Monday.

A couple dozen people took advantage of Multnomah Countys cooling shelters on Friday, county officials said.

Additionally, Multnomah County Library is extending the hours at the Central and Gresham libraries until 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday to offer additional spots for people to cool off.

Washington Countys two severe weather shelters opened in Beaverton and Hillsboro at noon on Thursday, county spokesperson Hameed Alnassar said. Those shelters are open 24 hours a day at least through Monday and potentially longer depending on the weather, Alnassar said.

Multnomah County centers are located at:

Cook Plaza, 19421 S.E. Stark St., Gresham

Portland Covenant Church, 4046 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland

Congregation Beth Israel, 1972 N.W. Flanders St., Portland

Washington County:

Washington Street Conference Center, 102 S.W. Washington St., Hillsboro

Beaverton Community Center, 12350 S.W. 5th St., Beaverton

Clark County:

Mill Plain United Methodist Church at 15804 S.E. Mill Plain Blvd. in Vancouver. Open 2-8 p.m. Saturday.

Living Hope Church at 2711 N.E. Andresen Road in Vancouver. Open 2:30-7 p.m. Saturday and 1-7 p.m. Sunday.

Multnomah County is also looking for volunteers to help at the cooling centers. Visit the Volunteer at a County Emergency Shelter page for more information.

 The Oregonian/OregonLive
In the Rostov region of the Russian Federation, after the latest drone attacks, a "power shortage" suddenly emerged. As a result, on July 6, the region announced the introduction of a schedule of temporary power outages for household consumers.

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This was reported by Russian propaganda media. Meanwhile, local publics are howling about the "inconvenience": Russians complain that instead of the announced 2-3 hours, they are without electricity for 6-9 hours, and sometimes for a day or more.

Rosseti Yug reported that a schedule of temporary power outages for household consumers was being introduced in Rostov Region. The reason was called "capacity shortage," though the company did not bother to explain what caused it.

At the same time, Rosseti Yug emphasizes that it will allegedly cut off power to residential consumers according to a schedule "agreed with the Ministry of Industry and Energy of the region" and promised to cancel the outage "after the power shortage is eliminated."

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The schedule, according to local media, provides for power outages of up to 2-3 hours. But in reality, Russians complain that they have been without power for 6-9-12 hours. Some locals claim that their electricity went out the day before, and many people have no water supply and no way to cook in their homes with electric stoves.

Those whose electricity is not nominally cut off report extremely low voltage, which causes even light bulbs to work intermittently, not to mention more energy-intensive devices such as microwaves, air conditioners, or electric kettles.

Notably, the "inconvenience" affected not only household users: in Rostov-on-Don, locals report that traffic lights have been out for two days, and employees and visitors have been evacuated from shopping centers after the power outage.

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At the same time, judging by numerous comments, no one has shown the graphs to the public either, and the phones that Russians call to find out anything are not answered.

"Where can I see this schedule? It's important for consumers to at least adjust to it to minimize inconvenience", "Please show us the schedule of streets for today's shutdown, I doubt that everything is on schedule, and there is no information about when it will be given", "It is impossible to reach anyone, after 10 minutes of waiting for the "first available employee", the call is disconnected", residents of the aggressor state are outraged.

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"Stone Age. Soon we will be burning lucha. Is this a breakthrough?"  outraged Rostov residents, who had previously rejoiced in their aggressive state's attempts to plunge Ukraine into the "Stone Age".

Some Russians are trying to convince themselves and others that the reason for what is happening is not the aggressive war unleashed by Russia against the neighboring state, but the fact that "the city was given to the Muscovites and began to be built up with ugly housing estates."

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Some people wondered about the reasons for the "shortage" and suspected that the Russian authorities simply do not care about the population.

"I wonder when, instead of questions, they will write what is really happening and why. I'm going to set a timer and add two weeks to it," said one commenter.

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As a reminder, on the night of July 5, explosions occurred in the Rostov region. Later, it turned out that "unknown drones" attacked an oil refinery and a fire broke out.

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Also that night, the Russian Federation announced an attack on Primorsko-Akhtarsk, from where the occupiers launch Shakheds into Ukraine.

On the night of July 4, as a result of an operation by the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, the Tambov Powder Plant in the Russian city of Kotovsk was hit on the morning of July 4. The attack was carried out with the help of kamikaze drones, one of which successfully hit the enemy's military-industrial complex.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
These items went up today on the website of the Interpreter Foundation. They represent, by my calculation, the 624th consecutive week in which the Foundation, which has existed for slightly more than 625 weeks, has published at least one article in its online journal:

Are There Ten Commandments for Latter-day Zion? written by Dennis Newton

Abstract: New faith traditions often modify existing religious tenets to accommodate the particulars of their memberships needs. A specific example is how different faith communities have modified the Ten Commandments both inside and outside the historic Jewish community. This paper argues that Joseph Smith received a Latter-day Decalogue that was canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants but went unrecognized as such by either Smith or the early Saints. While some of the commands in this new set of commandments are familiar (thou shalt not kill, steal, nor commit adultery), others are specific to the conditions of the latter days. This paper also argues that this revelation (Doctrine and Covenants 59) warrants elevated consideration whenever Latter-day Saints discuss soteriology. When a Latter-day Saint asks the age-old question, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?, section 59 should reside in the proverbial quiver of response arrows alongside the Deuteronomist, the Pauline epistles, Nephis appendix, the words of Alma, the sayings of Jesus from the Gospels and the New World, and the temple covenants.

Interpreting Interpreter: The D&C Decalogue, written by Kyler Rasmussen

This post is a summary of the article Are There Ten Commandments for Latter-day Zion? by Dennis Newton in Volume 61 of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship. All of the Interpreting Interpreter articles may be seen at https://interpreterfoundation.org/category/summaries/. An introduction to the Interpreting Interpreterseries is available at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought/. The Takeaway: Newton proposes that D&C 59 represents a version of the ten commandments brought to us via modern revelation, and that, given associated promises of eternal life, Latter-day Saints should strongly consider this section when outlining a path to salvation.

Im excited to read a new book by Morgan Deane that has just appeared: To Stop a Slaughter: Just War and the Book of Mormon:

In a world filled with what seems like one continual round of bloodshed and murder (Mormon 8:8) the debates in how to stop that slaughter are filled with partisan talking points, competing vociferous voices, unexamined assumptions about the use of force, fearful hot takes, and self-serving politicians and media narratives that only serve to increase the tension. In this the war of words and tumult of opinions (JS History 1:10) acclaimed military historian Morgan Deane applies a Hugh Nibley like command of numerous Christian and Chinese philosophers to engage the rich, intellectual debates from history, and apply them to the ethics of war and peace within the Book of Mormon. The result shows that Book of Mormon offers robust comments on such pertinent topics as the paramount importance of the heart, when and how a nation should use force, the limits of the word and the sword, the intent of people making war, preemptive war, insurgency, and a resolution between, instead of cross talk and proof text citations of oft cited pacifist and isolationist verses and those that support the use of force. This book amplifies the clarion call of the Book of Mormon to love your neighbor enough to be like the Nephites, reluctantly compelled to use arms to stop their slaughter (Alma 48:21-23).

This item in the New York Post recently caught my attention, and I thought that perhaps you too might find it worthy of a look: The sacred Pride flag and the new double standard blasphemy laws.

It appeared only a little while after our brief June visit to Sweden, from which I filed this impression:

Its Pride Month in Sweden  as it is around much of the world right now, though perhaps not in Gaza  and rainbow flags are much, much more visible here than are the flags of Sweden and the European Union. They fly from buses and trams and hang as banners in the huge Nordstan shopping center near us (where there is also a very large LGBTQ+ display and information center. They adorn public squares and major buildings and hotel reception desks, and the like. A new religion has swept over Sweden: In hoc signo vinces.

I didnt mention it  I think that the blog entry was written before it happened  but we also saw drag queens on the streets and, in one restaurant, sat adjacent to a large table surrounded by about four or five of them and their associates.

Afterwards, though, in Switzerland and still during the merry Pride Month of June, I was struck by the absence of pride flags. I dont think that I saw a single one of them, anywhere. Nor any analogous public displays. And I began to look for them, but saw none. And then, reflecting on that singular fact, I realized that I had not, to the best of my recollection, seen any pride flags or displays or demonstrations in Italy, either, or in Austria, our two previous locations. (Both of those visits were, still, within the month of June.) Im not exactly sure what to make of that. Perhaps nothing. I certainly dont think that either of those countries is particularly conservative or devoutly orthodox Christian. But the contrast was stark.

And heres a little something  actually, a trio of appalling horrors  from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial How Religion Poisons Everything File that may help you to make it through the weekend with your indignation fully and gratifyingly stoked:

President Johnson Shares Women and Childrens Initiative in San Diego: Nonprofit organizations in California collaborate to serve their community

A look at this senior missionary couples unique service in American Samoa: How a missionary couples concern for the hearts of those they serve has been literal, not just metaphorical

Church and UNICEFs Learning for Life changing young lives in Africa: Through Church support, UNICEF teaches South Sudanese refugee students resilience and new skills

Posted from Newport Beach, California
Star Assurance Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with HOPE for little lives, a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing paediatric surgeries to children in underserved communities in Ghana.



As part of the MOU, which was signed in Accra, Star Assurance, pledged a contribution of GH5.00 for every "Star Motor Third Party Xtra policy" sold to support Hope for little lives. Through this partnership, Star Assurance aims to enhance the health and well-being of vulnerable children by ensuring they receive the critical medical attention they need for a brighter future.



"We are thrilled to partner with HOPE for little lives in this meaningful initiative," said the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Star Assurance, BoatemaaBarfour-Awuah.



"At Star Assurance, we believe in giving back to the communities we serve, and this partnership allows us to directly impact the lives of children in need. By choosing Star Motor Third Party Xtra, our customers will not only be protecting their vehicles but also contributing to a healthier future for Ghanaian children," she mentioned



The Star Motor Third Party Xtra Policy is an enhanced third party insurance policy that provides cover for the vehicle's windscreen, driving mirror, rearview mirror, and all other glass components.



Dr. MaameTekyiwaBotchway, Founderand Executive Director of HOPE for little lives, expressed her gratitude for Star Assurance's support.



"This partnership will be instrumental in allowing us to provide life-changing surgeries to children who wouldn't otherwise have access to this critical care," she said.



"We are incredibly grateful to Star Assurance for their commitment to the well-being of children in Ghana," Dr. Botchway added.



The signing ceremony marked a significant step forward in Star Assurance's ongoing commitment to corporate social responsibility. The collaboration with HOPE for little lives highlights the company's dedication to supporting the health and well-being of Ghanaian communities.



About Star Assurance



Star Assurance Company Limited, popularly known as Star Assurance by the insuring public, is a member of the Star Assurance Group and is a privately owned insurance company incorporated in August 1984 and licensed to carry out corporate and retail insurance business in Ghana. It has branch offices and retail outlets across the length and breadth of Ghana, ensuring that its products are brought to the doorsteps of all.

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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A cross section of Ghanaians have expressed joy over the impact of digitalization on the declining rate of financial irregularities in the latest report by the Auditor General.



In the report, the Auditor Genera detected financial irregularities to the tune of GH11.32 billion in public sector finances but the figure represented a decline of 32 percent of GH5.2 billion which is 32% lower than the previous years situation where GH16.57 billion irregularities were identified.



According to the Auditor General, the significant improvement made in the fight against financial irregularities was as a result of concerted efforts by various stakeholders including government.



Responding to the news on social media, a number of Ghanaians have welcomed the improvement and attributed it to digitalization of public services.



For a number of respondents, monitored on social media, the digitalization of public services, especially linking the Ghana Card to public payroll, has ensured proper financial management and saved the country millions of cedis.



Over the past seven years, government has implemented a massive digitalization drive with the Ghana Card as an anchor driving the digitalization of many public services such as public payroll, Registrar General Department, DVLA, SSNIT, National Service Scheme, services at the port, NHIA registration, among others.



Many public offices including SSNIT, the National Service Secretariat and the Controller and Accountant General have recorded significant savings due to the digitalization of its offices through the Ghana Card.



National Service



Following digitization of the National Service Scheme, a shocking 44,000 ghost names were recently discovered on the payroll and expunged, saving Ghana a total of GH356 million.



Also, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) saved GH480 million by eliminating 29,000 ghost pensioners while the Controller and Accountant General successfully discovered tens of thousand of ghost names on government payroll and saved the country millions of cedis which would have otherwise ended up in private pockets.



Ghanaians who commented on the outcome of the latest Auditor General's report, commended the government and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the commitment to implementing digital initiatives across the public sector.



Read comments below:

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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A Tanzanian portrait artist, who was accused of burning a photo of President Samia Suluhu Hassan, has been sentenced to two years in prison or a fine of US$2,000 (1,600) after being found guilty of cybercrimes.



Shadrack Chaula was arrested for allegedly recording a viral video, showing him burning a picture of President Hassan while verbally insulting her.



The 24-year-old painter admitted committing the crime and failed to defend his action in court.



His arrest sparked legal controversy, with some lawyers saying that no law was broken in burning the picture.



Some social media users have started an online drive to raise money to pay Chaulas fine so he can be freed from jail.



In 2018, Tanzania enacted tough laws against the spread of fake news, which critics see as a way of curbing freedom of expression.



Police said Chaula used strong words against the president in the video he posted on his TikTok account on 30 June in Ntokela village, in the south-western city of Mbeya.



Local police chief Benjamin Kuzaga on Tuesday told journalists that the artists offences included burning the presidents portrait and disseminating offensive content online.



It is not the culture of Mbeya people to insult our national leaders, Mr Kuzaga said.



Some lawyers said there was no law that criminalises burning a picture of the president.



Was the picture taken by a government photographer? Let them come out publicly and explain their impact on society and the nation. Who can show the law that burning a picture is an offence? lawyer Philip Mwakilima told the Mwananchi newspaper.



But the act, which is deemed unethical in Tanzania, sparked public outrage.



On Thursday, magistrate Shamla Shehagilo found Chaula guilty of distributing videos on TikTok that contained false information in violation of the countrys cyber laws.



The court ruled that his actions constituted cyber-harassment and incitement.



Chaula remained silent when given the chance to defend himself against the charges, local media reported.

The prosecutor had urged the court to impose a harsh penalty on him in order to deter others from disrespecting the president.



The case has sparked a debate in the country with critics saying the sentence is too harsh and a reflection of the governments crackdown on dissent.



President Hassan, who came to power in 2021, has introduced reforms that have opened up the political and civic spaces.



But the opposition and rights groups have expressed concerns that the country is sliding back to retrogressive policies.

















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South African police arrest teen caught assaulting his 82-year-old grandmother in viral video Police in Kraaifontein, Western Cape province of South Africa have arrested a teenager for the alleged assault of his 82-year-old grandmother.



The 19-year-old was arrested on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, after the disturbing video which shows the pensioner being beaten went viral on social media.



The disturbing incident, which occurred a month ago, has prompted widespread outrage and led to swift action by the authorities.



In the video, the grandson is seen assaulting the grandmother with his open arm, leading to a pot containing what appears to be porridge, spilling over.



The grandson beats the grandmother so hard that she drops to the floor.



The victim, a resident of Wallacedene in Kraaifontein, was found receiving treatment in the hospital for an ailment unrelated to the assault.



Despite the grandmothers refusal to submit a statement, police investigations uncovered that the assault took place in June at the victim's home.



Initially, when the South African Police Service (SAPS) was called to the scene, the family decided to handle the matter privately and declined police intervention.



Colonel Andre Traut, spokesperson for the Western Cape SAPS, said the severity of the incident which became evident when the video began spreading online, compelled SAPS to open a case docket on behalf of the victim.



He said that on Wednesday night, the 19-year-old suspect, who is the grandson of the victim, was arrested at his Wallacedene residence.



He is set to appear in Blue Downs Magistrates Court once formally charged.



"Crimes against women and children are a top priority for SAPS, and we will not turn a blind eye to any form of violence in this regard," said Traut.



The incident has sparked significant discussion on social media, with users expressing both outrage and concern for elderly abuse.

SAPS in the Western Cape have arrested a 19-year-old suspect who is seen in this video assaulting his grandmother.The suspect was traced to Wallecedene in Kraaifontein on Wednesday evening. He is expected to appear before the Blue Downs Magistrates Court on a charge of assault pic.twitter.com/ywn6Iy0vp1  Athlenda Mathe (@AthlendaM) July 4, 2024









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The Governing Board of the National Identification Authority (NIA) has rejected the petition by the Public Services Workers Union, Trades Union Congress (TUC), demanding the removal of Executive Secretary Professor Kenneth Attafuah.



On July 1, nearly a thousand NIA staff members sent a petition to the President to demand the removal of the Executive Secretary.



The petition alleged that Professor Attafuah engaged in practices contrary to the labor laws and Human Resource Manual and Policy Framework for Ghana Public Services, violations of SSNIT law, poor corporate governance structure, and selective and administrative injustice in recruitment.



However, in a statement on July 5, the Governing Board said the workers' complaint was not a true representation of the Executive Secretary's dedication to the job. As such, the statement stressed that the petition was unwarranted.



Read also: NIA staff petition Akufo-Addo calling for head of Prof Attafuah

The Governing Board wishes to express its complete confidence in the Executive Secretarys integrity, competence, experience and resourcefulness in the performance of his duties, including the advancement of the interests of NIA workers and roundly describes the petition as baseless and unwarranted, portions of the release read.



The statement also questioned why the staff had failed to use the appropriate channels to air their grievances and chose to directly petition the President.



As stated by the National Labour Commission (NLC) at a hearing on Wednesday, 3rd July 2024 into ongoing negotiations between Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (MSC) and the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), the NIA Division of the PSWU (NIA PSWU) has no right to petition His Excellency the President to remove the Executive Secretary without exhausting internal procedures; the NLC declared the conduct of the NIA PSWU as both illegal and completely out of line, the release added.



Meanwhile, the Board appealed to the staff to exercise a bit more faith in the leadership, as it was committed to ensuring that their concerns were addressed appropriately.





Source: myjoyonline.com









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Following the nomination and approval of the Manhyia South Member of Parliament, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, as the 2024 Presidential running mate of the Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the President, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo, has expressed optimism over the duo, describing them as a good pair.



According to the President, the choice of the Energy Minister as the running mate for the vice President ahead of the December 7, general elections is a good sign for the ruling New Patriotic Party(NPP).



Speaking to the press on Thursday, July 4, 2024, after the National Council had confirmed Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, President Akufo-Addo said, National Council has endorsed the nomination of Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh to be the running mate of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.



The NPP has an excellent ticket and were going to win with this ticket on 7th December 2024, thats the news. The feeling is good, they make a very good pair, and they are going to win.



The flag bearer of the NPP, Dr. Bawumia expressed his gratitude to the National Council of the party for unanimously endorsing the selection of the Manhyia South lawmaker.



The National Council of the NPP on July 4, met at the Alisa Hotel in Accra to endorse the running mate of the party, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who is expected to bring his expertise on board to help the party win the 2024 elections.



The news has of his endorsement was received with mixed reactions from different facets of the public, with some believing in his strong leadership disposition, others also believe that he should be guided during the deliveries of speeches.



However, the President, Nana Akufo-Addo believes that Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has what it takes to deliver on his mandate as the running mate.





Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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The Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, has dismissed a petition by former Special Prosecutor Martin Alamisi Amidu which sought to remove his successor from office over allegations of procurement and human rights breaches.



Information available indicates that the Chief Justice after a careful consideration of the petition came to the conclusion that the factual and legal foundation of the petition fell short of the standard required to establish a prima facie case for the removal of Kissi Agyebeng as the Special Prosecutor (SP).



Mr. Amidus petition, which was sent to President Akufo-Addo on April 30, 2024, accused Mr. Agyebeng of flouting procurement laws in the purchase of vehicles for the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) and Mr. Agyebengs alleged abuse of judges and the administration of justice in the country.



Mr. Amidu, in his petition, accused the Special Prosecutor of allegedly violating the rights of some citizens through their arrests and detentions, violations of the right to information, and improper appointments of some staff at the OSP.



President Akufo-Addo has, in accordance with the 1992 Constitution, forwarded the petition to the Chief Justice on May 6, 2024, for evaluation and possible action.



The Chief Justice subsequently wrote to Mr. Agyebeng, asking him to respond to the allegations contained in the petition which had been forwarded to her office.



But Justice Torkornoo, after a review of the petition and the response, came to the conclusion that In accordance with section 15 (3) of the Office of the Special Prosecutor Act, 2017, the Chief Justice determined that the factual and legal foundation of the petition fall short of the standard required to establish a prima facie case for the removal of the Special Prosecutor.



Petition



Inaugural Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu, in his petition to the President had accused Mr. Agyebeng of breaching procurement laws in the purchase of vehicles for his office as well as appointment of personnel for the OSP.



The allegations also included violations of the rights of certain individuals, including Cecilia Dapaah, former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources as well as Prof. Frimpong Boateng, who were arrested and detained by the OSP for various alleged corruption and corruption-related offences.



The petition also accused the Special Prosecutor of abusing judges in the country after his explosive interview in which he alleged that it appeared judges have ganged up against the fight against corruption in Ghana.



Mr. Agyebeng during a press briefing in November 2023, suggested that it appeared judges have ganged up against the OSP by issuing regressive and dismissive judicial decisions in respect of cases involving the OSP.



There appears to be a developing trend of rather regressive and dismissive judicial decisions in respect of cases involving the OSP, with troubling consequences. And it seems to us that a careful examination of these outcomes portends a disturbing spectre that the fight against corruption is being hampered to the disbenefit of us all, he said at the press briefing.



According to sources, this press briefing is one of the complaints Mr. Amidu touched on in his petition to the President as ground for impeaching Mr. Agyebeng.



Again, Mr. Amidu has alleged a breach of the Right to Information when Mr. Agyebeng requested appointment letters and salary details of all staff of the OSP to be put on a pen drive for him.

Source: Daily Guide









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U.S. President Joe Biden stumbled over his words during an interview describing himself as a black woman during a radio interview, as calls mount for the 81-year-old US leader to drop his re-election bid.



Biden stumbled over his words during an interview with Philadelphias WURD, seemingly mixing himself up with his Vice President Kamala Harris.



By the way, Im proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman... to serve with a black president. Proud to be involved of the first black woman on the Supreme Court. Theres so much that we can do because, look... were the United States of America, he said.



Biden appeared to be talking about his appointment of Kamala Harris as the United States first black female vice president.



Biden himself was previously vice president, which is likely what he was referring to when he said to serve with a black president.



The reference to the Supreme Court is Ketanji Brown-Jackson, the first black female justice, who was appointed by Biden in 2022.



The gaffe comes as President Biden told a gathering of nearly two dozen Democratic governors at the White House on Wednesday night that he needs to get more sleep and work fewer hours and even avoid events held after 8pm with reports that he can only handle the rigours of the job between 10am and 4pm as reported by The New York Times.



During the same gathering, the outlet reported, Biden responded to a question from Hawaii Governor Josh Green about his health by saying while his health was fine, the problem was just my brain, an apparent attempt at humour that went unrecognised by at least one state leader in the room.



Watch video below -

NEW: President Biden goes on incredibly confusing rant, calls himself the first black woman to serve with a black president.



He also called himself the first president that got elected statewide in the state of Delaware, when I was a kid.



By the way, I'm proud to be the, as pic.twitter.com/VMNtVe85Pz  Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 4, 2024









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Hundreds of Chinese soldiers have arrived in Belarus. Representatives of the People's Liberation Army of China intend to take part in a joint anti-terrorist training with Belarusians.

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The training will take place from July 8 to 19. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of Belarus.

The ministry said that the joint training of the Chinese and Belarusian military will allow for the exchange of experience and the coordination of units from both countries.

In addition, Belarus said that together with China, it wants to create a foundation for the further development of Belarusian-Chinese relations in the field of joint military training.

According to the Belarusian Gayun Telegram channel, the Chinese plane landed at the Baranovichi military airfield. The community also noted that the first element of these exercises for the 61st Fighter Air Base can be considered mastering the English language to understand "Chinese English" under stress (landing of a foreign aircraft) and further interaction in training after so many years of working with the Russians.

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To recap, dictator Alexander Lukashenko said that the air defense forces of Belarus are on high alert, with Iskander missile systems and Polonez multiple launch rocket systems deployed to their positions. But at the same time, Minsk "is not going to get involved in any hostilities, because it knows what it will lead to."

As previously reported by OBOZ.UA, according to media reports, Belarus secretly supplied modern weapons to Armenia's enemy Azerbaijan, even though Minsk and Yerevan are allies within the CSTO security alliance led by Russia.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Kenya's President, William Ruto has announced the country's National Treasury will cut spending to make room for key commitments after anti-government protests.



In a live address from the state house, Ruto said the government will present a proposal to the national assembly to approve massive expenditure cuts after the withdrawal of the 2024 finance bill.



Over the last few days, our treasury team has been assessing the adverse impact of either reducing the budget by the entire Sh346 billion or borrowing the full amount, he stated on Friday.



We have since struck a middle ground and will be proposing to the National Assembly a budget cut of Sh177 billion and borrow the difference. The additional borrowing will increase our fiscal deficit from 3.3 per cent to 4.6 per cent and will be used to protect the funding of critical government services, President Ruto stated.



President Ruto listed several critical government initiatives that will receive continued funding, including the hiring of medical interns, support for dairy farmers, road infrastructure projects, fertilizer subsidies, and settlements of debts owed to farmers in various sectors.



In addition to the financial adjustments, President Ruto also removed budgets for the offices of the first lady, and the second lady.



Dissolution of 47 State Corporations to eliminate overlapping functions and reduce operational costs.



Suspension of filling Chief Administrative Secretaries positions.



50 per cent reduction in government advisors within the public service.



Removal of budget lines for offices of First Lady, spouses of Deputy President, and Prime Cabinet Secretary.



Suspension of non-essential travel and participation in public contributions by state and public officers.



These measures are part of our commitment to enhance efficiency and transparency in serving the people of Kenya, President Ruto affirmed.



We are determined to improve the quality of services and ensure maximum value for the resources entrusted to us.









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The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has confirmed its running mate to partner Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the upcoming general elections.



Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, affectionately known as NAPO, has been chosen to join forces with Dr. Bawumia in a bid to secure another victory for the ruling party in Accra, July 4, 2024 at Alisa Hotel.



The announcement, made at the NPPs national headquarters in Accra, was met with enthusiasm and optimism from party members and supporters. The selection of NAPO, who currently serves as the Minister of Energy, is seen as a strategic choice aimed at bolstering the party's appeal across various demographics and regions.



In his address to the press, the NPPs National Communication Director, Hon. Richard Ahiagbah, confidently proclaimed, "Bawumia + NAPO equals victory for the NPP. It is possible." His statement underscores the party's belief in the combined strengths and synergies of the Bawumia-NAPO ticket.



Dr. Bawumia, who has served as Vice President since 2017, is widely recognized for his economic acumen and digital transformation initiatives. His partnership with NAPO is expected to enhance the NPPs campaign narrative, focusing on continued development, energy sector advancements, and robust economic policies.



The National Communications Director of NPP elaborated on the decision, highlighting NAPOs extensive experience and proven track record in public service. "NAPO has demonstrated exceptional leadership and dedication in every role he has undertaken. His contributions to the education and energy sectors are a testament to his commitment to national development, Ahiagbah stated.



The announcement has already generated significant buzz within political circles and among the electorate. Many analysts believe that the Bawumia-NAPO ticket has the potential to consolidate the NPP's base and attract undecided voters. The combination of Bawumias expertise in economics and NAPOs hands-on experience in critical sectors is seen as a powerful formula for addressing the nations challenges and driving sustainable growth.



Supporters of the NPP gathered at the headquarters to celebrate the news, expressing their excitement and confidence in the newly confirmed running mate. "This is a winning team," said one supporter. "Bawumia and NAPO will lead us to a brighter future."



As the election campaign intensifies, the NPP is poised to leverage the strengths of its candidates, with a focus on continuity, innovation, and progress. The party's leadership is optimistic that the Bawumia-NAPO ticket will resonate with voters and deliver a resounding victory in the polls.



In the coming weeks, Dr. Bawumia and NAPO are expected to embark on a nationwide tour to engage with constituents, outline their vision for the future, and rally support for the NPPs agenda. The campaign will emphasize key policy areas including economic stability, energy security, education, healthcare, and job creation.



The confirmation of NAPO as Dr. Bawumias running mate marks a significant milestone in the NPPs journey towards the upcoming elections. With Richard Ahiagbahs rallying cry of "Bawumia + NAPO equals victory," the stage is set for a dynamic and compelling campaign season.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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By Rocco Parascandola and Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News (TNS)

NEW YORK  The 44-year-old drunk driver who barreled into a Lower East Side park on the Fourth of July, killing three people  including a mother and son  is a substance abuse counselor and lecturer who was arrested for assault last year when he punched someone who disagreed with his teaching methods, the New York Daily News has learned.

Cops charged Daniel Hyden of Monmouth Junction, New Jersey  about 50 miles from where the crash took place  with drunken driving and for not having a valid license. Other charges may be filed as the investigation continues, cops said.

Daniel Hyden is pictured in police custody leaving the NYPD 7th Precinct stationhouse on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS)TNS

Eight others were injured when a holiday celebration turned into a blood-soaked horror show inside Corlears Hook Park on the corner of Water St. and Jackson St. at 8:55 p.m., just minutes before Independence Day fireworks were set to explode over Manhattan, cops said.

Hyden is the author of The Sober Addict: A Guide on How to Be Functional With the Dysfunctional Disease of Addiction and is a program director for the Manhattan-based Services for the UnderServed, according to his LinkedIn page.

A call and email to the Services for the UnderServed was not immediately returned Friday.

Hyden was speeding through the Lower East Side in his Ford F-150 pickup truck when he blew past a stop sign, jumped a curb, blasted through a fence, and rammed through a crowd of people, horrified witnesses said.

He plowed into the fence, witness Juan Roman told the Daily News following the crash. You could hear the metal shear and the benches collapsing.

About 30 people celebrating the holiday were in the trucks path, according to Roman, who watched in horror as Hyden slammed into a family of four barbecuing.

When cops arrived, more than a dozen people lay in crumpled heaps on the ground like broken dolls. A handful of victims were still under the pickup truck.

I saw at least three people under the truck, said Roman, 62. They didnt have no time to react. They were just crushed.

Among those killed were Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son Hernan Pinkney, 38, police sources said. Also killed was a woman who was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, but remained unidentified Friday.

As the victims lay pinned under Hydens pickup truck, a mob of people pulled the driver out of the car and started beating him, Roman said.

I was in shock, said Roman. Its an image thats not going to leave me anytime soon.

On Feb. 29, 2023, Hyden was arrested for punching a 41-year-old student who took issue with his teaching methods a police source with knowledge of the case said. At the time, he was an instructor for Recoveries R Us in East Harlem. The student was not seriously harmed.

His LinkedIn page notes that Hyden left Recoveries R Us around the time of his arrest.

Mayor Adams, who responded to the scene, called Thursdays fatal crash a tragic incident.
President Joe Biden is expected to be among the special guests attending an ice cream social at his Harrisburg area campaign headquarters on Sunday.

The event, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Biden-Harris headquarters in Lower Paxton Township, is by invitation only. It will be Bidens first visit to the region since Labor Day 2020 when he stopped by the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO office in downtown Harrisburg.

Biden was scheduled to speak before the National Education Association in Philadelphia on Sunday, but the campaign cancelled those plans following the National Education Association Staff Organizations Friday announcement it was going on strike. His campaign said the president will not cross a picket line.

This visit to the area comes as Biden is trying to shore up support for his re-election following his poor debate performance June 27 that has Democrat Party insiders and pundits questioning whether he is the best candidate to take on presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump in November. And it has some speculating whether Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, just 18 months into his first term, may be a viable replacement.

Invited guests received notices about the ice cream social on Friday asking them to RSVP if they planned to attend.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on X at @JanMurphy.
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama  Grocery stores in Alabama and Oklahoma have vending machines that allow users to purchase ammo for guns.

The vending machine supplier, American Rounds, markets ammo sales like youve never seen before on its website. The company is looking to revolutionize how ammunition for handguns, rifles and shotguns is sold.

The automated ammunition dispenser uses artificial intelligence technology to verify a buyers identification and age through card scanning and facial recognition software.

The buyer inserts their photo ID, and the machine conducts a scan to match it to the ID card.

In a promotional video, American Rounds CEO Grant Magers said the stores were looking for an innovative way to bring in ammo sales.

Terry Stanley, COO of Fresh Value, a grocery store in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, said he is super excited to offer the first ammo kiosk.

Were always looking for ways to give our customers another reason to come visit our stores. Anything we can do to help them make their shopping trips easier, based on the feedback weve gotten from customers today, they are so excited about us having this ammo kiosk, Stanley said in the video.

The vending machines are available at six locations, according to the companys website.

During a briefing of the Tuscaloosa City Council before their regular slate of meetings, city council president Kip Tyner asked police chief Brent Blankley and other municipal leaders to explain a vending machine selling people ammunition at the Fresh Value store, according to a local news outlet.

I got some calls about ammunition being sold in grocery store vending machines, Tyner said. I thought it was a joke, but its not.

The citys police chief and other city staff reported that the machines are legal and have been vetted by the ATF, according to the Tuscaloosa Thread.
By Kaitlin McCann

Working in a low-wealth school district means having to ask where the money will come from, constantly. You wonder if your building will ever be repaired and safe. You wonder how your school will pay for arts and athletics equipment and facilities, copy paper and the many necessary classroom supplies. You wonder about funding for student programming like field trips, incentives, awards and assemblies.
On Friday, July 5, Russian occupation forces dropped two guided bombs on the town of Selydove in the Donetsk region. The invaders killed five civilians and injured 11 others.

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This was reported by the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration Vadym Filashkin. The Donetsk regional prosecutor's office clarified the data on the attacks and the victims.

The Russian army shelled Selydove at 15:30, and an hour later the aggressor state's repeated the attack. According to preliminary data, the enemy used FAB-500 with cluster munitions.

Filashkin said that both enemy bombs hit the territory of enterprises. The private sector and apartment buildings were also hit. In the city, 15 private houses, 21 cars, four shops and an industrial building sustained varying degrees of damage.

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In addition to the five people killed, many civilians sustained injuries of varying severity. These are four women and seven men aged 28 to 71, who were diagnosed with bruises, burns and shrapnel wounds.

"Every day we have new examples of Russian war crimes on our land. No one can feel safe in the Donetsk region. I call again and again: do not risk! Evacuate now!" said Filashkin.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!

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Every year, the number of tourists who want to relax on the picturesque coasts of Spain is growing. As a result, one of the country's most popular resorts, the Costa del Sol, is introducing a new rule for vacationers: paying a fine of 750 euros for urinating in the sea.

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This rule of behavior on the country's beaches was first introduced in the small town of Vigo two years ago, Euronews reports. The penalty for satisfying physiological needs in the sea will have to be paid on 25 tourist coasts. So far, there are no official explanations as to how beach workers will identify violators.

The Costa del Sol authorities have noted that fines will also be imposed for urinating on land in places not designated for this purpose.

Local deputies argue that the innovation is due to the fact that such behavior harms its ecosystem. They said that despite the fact that urine is 95 percent water, it contains enough nitrogen, bacteria, and drug residues to contribute to the destruction of underwater biodiversity.

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However, scientists from the American Chemical Society have refuted the assumptions, "Our mission is to let you know that it's perfectly safe to swim in the ocean because the amount of nitrogenous substance in our urine is insignificant compared to its volume."

Additionally, the Costa del Sol authorities announced several new bans that will be introduced for vacationers, including playing with rubber balls in the water, reserving a place with an umbrella in advance and resting with animals on public beaches.

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Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Francis Anderson Wins 2024 WSOP $800 Independence Day Celebration ($501,040)

Kirk Brown Live Reporter Copy link

After over 13 hours of play on Day 2, the novel Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration at the 2024 World Series of Poker has come to a close, with Francis Anderson standing at the mountaintop.

After navigating through a field of 4,263 players, Anderson defeated Brent Lee after a brief but intense heads-up battle to bring home the gold bracelet, along with a hefty sum of $501,040.

Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Francis Anderson United States $501,040 2 Brent Lee United States $323,080 3 Taylor Williams United States $241,850 4 Donnie Barnard United States $182,350 5 Bamshad Azizi United States $138,490 6 Tom Cohen Israel $105,960 7 Martin Zamani United States $81,660 8 Regina Vega Sevilha Brazil $63,410 9 Jaskaran Brar Canada $49,613

Winner's Reaction

Francis Anderson and rail.

Although Anderson is no stranger to the tournament grind, according to The Hendon Mob, this breaks his previous career-best score of $449,912 that he received in 2022 for his third-place finish in the WSOP Monster Stack.

Oh, its pretty insane, Anderson said in his post-win interview, Like, Ive won a lot of money in poker, but this is by far my biggest outright victory, not even close. My last one was only $50,000.

Anderson is originally from Poughkeepsie, NY but has been living in Las Vegas for the past six years as a professional poker player. And as a pro. Yes, money means a lot, but winning is what means the most to a lot of these players, and you could tell it was an emotional moment for Anderson.

Yeah my opponent (Lee), he was a solid player, but then right away he won a big pot against me and I was down to like 8 big blinds but I just kept telling myself dont give up, all you have to do is double up one time and I got this

And sure enough, this inner dialogue allowed him to overcome more than a 3:1 chip deficit and turned the tide in his favor, eventually closing out the win.

Day 2 Action

Ari Engel had a deep run on Day 2.

356 players returned to action today for Day 2, but with 30-minute blind levels, the majority of them fell to the wayside early in the day, as less than 100 remained by the first break. Some big names that made Day 2 but failed to make a deep run included John Riordan (97th-$4,780), Kenny Hallaert (126th-$4,150), Wing Po Liu (147th-$4,150), and Ben Yu (268th-$2,840).

Mark Seif managed to make a decent run with a 41st-place finish for $13,350 and Ari Engel also did well with a payout of $16,300 for 35th.

There was a brief lull in the action after the players reached the final three tables, but it was during this time that Anderson had a big moment when he busted Maksim Petrov by flopping a set with pocket tens against the pocket queens of Petrov to send him out in 23rd place. He then used this momentum to guide his way to the final table, where he was second in chips only to Bamshad Azizi.

Final Table

Jaskaran Brar was the first to bust at the final table.

Once the players returned from their dinner break, it was Jaskaran Brar who was first to fall to Anderson in ninth place when his ace-five couldn't hold up to pocket tens.

Then it was Azizis turn to score a knockout when his pocket aces felted a short-stacked Regina Vega Sevilha in eighth, much to the disappointment of her zealous Brazillian rail. Then the action was back to Anderson who knocked out fellow pro Martin Zamani when Anderson out-pipped him with pocket tens (once again) to Zamanis pocket nines and he exited in seventh.

Azizi then scored another crazy knockout when he got it in with pocket sixes against the pocket kings of Tom Cohen, but a six smacked down on the river to eliminate Cohen in brutal fashion. After that, Azizi then doubled up two players back-to-back and eventually hit the rail when he ran nines into Lees jacks and failed to improve.

Brent Lee went on a tear.

Lee then went on a tear as he knocked out Donnie Barnard in fourth with pocket queens followed quickly by Taylor Williams in third with pocket fives. These three eliminations really set up Lee for his heads-up match with Anderson as he held a 2:1 chip lead. He then proceeded to win a huge pot off of Anderson to further widen the gap, but thats when Anderson turned on the gas and started to work his magic.

He first scored a double with ace-jack suited against the pocket fives of Lee, and then when Lee moved all in on the river with top pair of queens, and Anderson flicked in the call with pocket kings to score another huge double to put him far in the lead.

Anderson then finished the job when he called Lees all-in with pocket fours and was up against queen-deuce suited. No improvements were made to Lees hand on the board and he exited as the runner-up, while Anderson ran and embraced his rail as an official bracelet winner.

Well, thats all we have for tonight as Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration has come to a close, but there is always plenty of content from the 2024 WSOP here on PokerNews, so continue to stay tuned!

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Poker Pro's Car Broken into, Money Stolen in Broad Daylight Outside Las Vegas Restaurant

Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S. Copy link

Poker player and former PokerNews editor Mo Nuwwarah says he was one of two victims of a car break-in outside an Italian restaurant in Las Vegas. And it's part of a string of similar incidents in the neighboring Chinatown district.

The Nebraska native told PokerNews he'd just arrived in town and his friend and fellow Mid-States Poker Tour (MSPT) champion, Josh Reichard, picked him up at the airport around 1:45 p.m. on the Fourth of July. Shortly after, the two headed to Roma Deli, a popular local restaurant owned by Poker Hall of Famer Todd Brunson, on Spring Mountain.

During lunch at Roma, the poker pros would have their meal interrupted by some unfortunate news.

What Allegedly Happened

Nuwwarah explained that, about an hour after arriving at the restaurant, he was told by an employee that someone had broken into Reichard's car. The poker player was especially concerned to be informed of such because he knew his bag that he'd left in the car had a substantial amount of cash inside.

Both players then immediately ran outside to the nearby lot where they were parked in hopes they were just being pranked. But they'd quickly discover a bashed-in window, and then upon investigating, they realized their possessions had been swiped.

That, as Nuwwarah said, included multiple bags, one of which had a five-figure amount in cash inside. Nuwwarah said he wasn't certain of the exact amount, but he was on his way to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, which costs $10,000 to enter. Reichard's bag was also stolen, but there was no cash inside, only personal items.

"Just a sick feeling to walk out there to a smashed car and know not only your cash but your personal effects are likely gone for good," Nuwwarah said. "Unfortunately if this was a targeted attack as it seems I have to advise people against parking their cars there or take anything valuable inside with them at the least."

"And if people are out on the prowl hunting for unsuspecting poker players, then that goes for any establishment. Hopefully, these scumbags can never steal another red cent, and if they do, they get caught at some point."

Nuwwarah said he parked in the lot attached to Roma Deli. The lot has surveillance cameras, but it's unclear if police have yet accessed the video. Roma shares a parking lot with a couple of other businesses.

No police report was immediately filed, as Nuwwarah explained, because police claimed they could not file a crime report until Reichard was available as the owner of the car, and that didn't occur until Friday morning.

Reichard, who recently won the World Poker Tour (WPT) Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown for $839,300, has over $4.1 million in lifetime live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob. Nuwwarah, a Midwesterner like Reichard, has $600,000 in career earnings.

Nuwwarah was able to shake off the unfortunate incident on Day 1c of the 2024 WSOP Main Event by bagging 273,000 chips, putting him near the top of the leaderboard.

Mo Nuwwarah in WSOP action.

Growing Problem in Las Vegas?

Earlier this year, KTNV Las Vegas, the local ABC network, investigated a growing problem of car break-ins in the nearby Chinatown district. Data shows that there were 28 break-ins within a two-week period back in January, and that only includes reported break-ins, not those that weren't reported to police.

I'm shocked that its that low. If you just drive around any random parking lot in Chinatown, youll see tempered glass, Colin Fukunaga, owner of Fukuburger located in Chinatown told KTNV in January.

In response to all the car break-ins, back in February, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department (LVMPD) launched a new anti-crime team committed to stopping car break-ins in the Chinatown district.

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After over 13 hours of play on Day 2, the novel Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration at the 2024 World Series of Poker has come to a close, with Francis Anderson standing at the mountaintop.

After navigating through a field of 4,263 players, Anderson defeated Brent Lee after a brief but intense heads-up battle to bring home the gold bracelet, along with a hefty sum of $501,040.

Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration Final Table Results

Place Player Country Prize 1 Francis Anderson United States $501,040 2 Brent Lee United States $323,080 3 Taylor Williams United States $241,850 4 Donnie Barnard United States $182,350 5 Bamshad Azizi United States $138,490 6 Tom Cohen Israel $105,960 7 Martin Zamani United States $81,660 8 Regina Vega Sevilha Brazil $63,410 9 Jaskaran Brar Canada $49,613

Winner's Reaction

Although Anderson is no stranger to the tournament grind, according to The Hendon Mob, this breaks his previous career-best score of $449,912 that he received in 2022 for his third-place finish in the WSOP Monster Stack.

Oh, its pretty insane Anderson said in his post-win interview, Like Ive won a lot of money in poker, but this is by far my biggest outright victory, like not even close my last one was only like $50,000

Anderson is originally from Poughkeepsie, NY but has been living in Las Vegas for the past six years as a professional poker player. And as a pro, yes money means a lot, but winning is what means the most to a lot of these players, and you could tell it was an emotional moment for Anderson.

Yeah my opponent [Lee], he was a solid player, but then right away he won a big pot against me and I was down to like 8 big blinds but I just kept telling myself dont give up, all you have to do is double up one time and I got this

And sure enough, this inner dialogue allowed him to overcome more than a 3:1 chip deficit and turned the tide in his favor, eventually closing out the win.

Day 2 Action

Of the 356 players who returned to action today, the majority of them fell to the wayside early in the day, as less than 100 remained by the first break. Some big names that made Day 2 but failed to make a deep run included John Riordan (97th-$4,780), Kenny Hallaert (126th-$4,150), Wing Po Liu (147th-$4,150), and Ben Yu (268th-$2,840).

Mark Seif managed to make a decent run with a 41st-place finish for $13,350 and Ari Engel also did well with a payout of $16,300 for 35th.

There was a brief lull in the action after the players reached the final three tables, but it was during this time that Anderson had a big moment when he busted Maksim Petrov by flopping a set with pocket tens against the pocket queens of Petrov to send him out in 23rd place. He then used this momentum to guide his way to the final table, where he was second in chips only to Bamshad Azizi.

Final Table

Once the players returned from their dinner break, it was Jaskaran Brar who was first to fall to Anderson in ninth place when his ace-five couldn't hold up to pocket tens.

It was Azizis turn to score a knockout when his pocket aces felted a short-stacked Regina Vega Sevilha in eighth, much to the disappointment of her zealous Brazillian rail. Then the action was back to Anderson who knocked out fellow pro Martin Zamani when Anderson out-pipped him with pocket tens (once again) to Zamanis pocket nines and he exited in seventh.

Azizi then scored another crazy knockout when he got it in with pocket sixes against the pocket kings of Tom Cohen, but a six smacked down on the river to eliminate Cohen in brutal fashion. After that, Azizi then doubled up two players back-to-back and eventually hit the rail when he ran nines into Lees jacks and failed to improve.

Lee then went on a tear as he knocked out Donnie Barnard in fourth with pocket queens followed quickly by Taylor Williams in third with pocket fives. These three eliminations really set up Lee for his heads-up match with Anderson as he held a 2:1 chip lead. He then proceeded to win a huge pot off of Anderson to further widen the gap, but thats when Anderson turned on the gas and started to work his magic.

He first scored a double with ace-jack suited against the pocket fives of Lee, and then when Lee moved all in on the river with top pair of queens, Anderson flicked in the call with pocket kings to score another huge double to put him far in the lead.

Anderson then finished the job when he called Lees all in with pocket fours and was up against queen-deuce suited. No improvements were made to Lees hand on the board and he exited as the runner-up, while Anderson ran and embraced his rail as an official bracelet winner.

Francis Anderson

Well, thats all we have for tonight as Event #80: $800 Independence Day Celebration has come to a close, but there is always plenty of content from the 2024 WSOP here on PokerNews, so continue to stay tuned!
The 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event continued today with its third opening flight that attracted more than 2,500 entries over the course of five 120-minute levels. Being played at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, there were plenty of tables spread throughout the casino with action in every corner.

As play was about to begin, the Poker Hall of Famer Johnny Chan wished everybody luck and uttered the famous words of "Shuffle up and Deal,". From there, fewer than 2,000 players managed to bet, check, and fold their way to a bag at the end of Day 1c of the spectacle that is the Main Event.

Among the top stacks was Arthur Morris who bagged an impressive 221,800 chips by the culmination of Day 1c. Morris has a WSOP ring on his poker resume but a bracelet still eludes the American player who is approaching $3,000,000 in live tournament earnings.

Phil Hellmuth Entrance 2024 Main Event

Main Event Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Zyad Qasem United States 390,300 488 2 Leonard Herrmann Germany 306,000 383 3 Ardit Kurshumi United States 297,400 372 4 Colin Beveridge United States 295,500 369 5 Mo Nuwwarah United States 273,300 342 6 David Simon United States 269,800 337 7 Manuel Pochat Argentina 255,200 319 8 Royce Cohen United States 254,500 318 9 Patrice Brandt Germany 254,400 318 10 Thomas Hulley Australia 239,200 299

Action of the Day

No Main Event would be complete without the traditional Phil Hellmuth entrance and this year's much-anticipated arrival was a Kung-Fu-based act with the music to match. He finished Day 1c with 66,700 in chips.

The Main Event isn't just about gaining chips, but also about saving them and one player who saved himself a chunk of change was Rupom Pal who folded top full house holding pocket queens, which was the second nuts, to a river three-bet shove from Jamie Sanfilippo. After Pal folded, Sanfilippo showed pocket jacks for quads, which proved Pal's fold to be correct.

Dan Bilzerian made an appearance, albeit a very brief one, and was eliminated just two hands after taking his seat in the Horseshoe Grand Ballroom. First, Bilzerian bluffed all three streets, and the majority of his stack, into Derek Reid, who held pocket aces. The very next hand, Jonathan Dwek delivered the final blow as his ace-jack called the shove of Bilzerian, who had queen-five.

Jamie Gold, who won the Main Event back in 2006, bagged up 111,100 chips and caught up with PokerNews at the end of the day to share his thoughts.

"I had been down for almost eight days, really sick and I wasn't even sure I could make it today, but I really wanted to be with the 20 players on my Commerce Pro poker team that 16 of them made Day 2. We were all supposed to play together on Day 1a, but I was just too sick," said Gold on why he played Day 1c.

Gold was asked if he feels like he has a target on his back in the Main Event.

"I mean, you know, in general it's a bad thing in normal tournaments because, you know, when you have aces and you get five callers because everybody wants to be in a hand with you makes it very difficult. But the Main Event, I'm now finding how to navigate it. I didn't, for a long time, maybe 10 years. I didn't really understand how to play properly against everyone who was just automatically gonna kind of call me down, but now I take it as I'm just gonna get paid off where most people don't get paid off in a lot of spots because people don't like to play big cards."

Jamie Gold

Arden Cho had an eventful day and ended up bagging 168,800  but it wasn't all clear sailing for Cho. During Level 2, Cho was at risk with top set holding pocket aces against the turned straight of her opponent, but an ace on the river improved her to quads which kept her in the tournament.

Cho caught up with PokerNews after the day came to an end to speak about the hand and how her day played out.

"You know, you look down at aces and you get a little excited. I'm in the small blind, I three-bet, and I get two callers. I'm very excited. I flop a set and I bet, and I get a caller. I'm very excited. Needless to say it was a pretty wet board, but I rivered quads. So, yay, it's not often you get quads and not often you get a full double. So that was very exciting," replied a clearly excited Cho.

"I think it definitely made me feel a bit lucky. It made me feel like, oh, this could be a lucky day and I do think you have to have a bit of that optimistic attitude to survive in these and to grind it out right to stay patient."

Arden Cho

Some notables who made it through the day were Justin Bonomo (174,100), Christopher Brewer (156,800), Adrian Mateos (143,100), Adam Hendrix (134,500), Michael Soyza (134,600), Ben Lamb (124,600), Isaac Haxton (124,900), and Andrew Lichtenberger (108,900).

Those who were unfortunate in their pursuit of a bag were the likes of Chino Rheem, Eshaan Bhalla, Punnat Punsri, Shaun Deeb, Chris Moorman, and Martin Kabrhel who lost most of his stack early on after he called a four-bet with nine-five.

Those that made it through the day will join the survivors from Day 1a and 1b on Sunday, July 7, to play out Day 2abc.

Day 1d kicks off at noon on Saturday, July 6, and registration remains open until the end of Level 7 on Day 2.

Keep your eyes glued to PokerNews throughout the rest of the Main Event and all remaining bracelet events to keep up to date with the latest action from the baize.
A woman who was reported missing July 5 has been found.

Michelle Smith has been located and is "safe and well," according to a news release July 6 from the Aiken County Sheriff's Office.

The family told investigators they last saw the 38-year-old woman when she left home on Sandy Lane on July 1 around 2:30 p.m.
During a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin refused to introduce any ceasefire during the possible negotiation process. At the same time, the war criminal spoke about the "final" end of the war.

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Nevertheless, the Kremlin leader wants the end of the war to mean the achievement of his goal, which is destroying Ukrainian statehood. This is stated in the analysis of the Institute for War Studies.

At a meeting with the Hungarian prime minister, Putin openly rejected Russia's participation in any meaningful negotiations on a ceasefire agreement, departing from his usual feigned interest in the talks. The dictator also revealed that an agreement between Russia and Ukraine should not lead to a temporary ceasefire, as, according to Putin, this would allow Ukraine to regroup and rearm.

The ISW noted that in fact, Putin is now unwilling to accept anything other than the destruction of Ukrainian statehood and identity, as his remarks and demands constantly illustrate. In particular, the dictator demands the surrender of a significant part of Ukraine's territory and population, as well as Ukrainian military capitulation before negotiations on the final stage of the war.

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The Kremlin dictator called for the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the occupied territories as a precondition for ending the war during his press conference with Orban. However, analysts have emphasized that the alleged boundaries of the seized territories are disputed among Russian ultranationalists, and the Kremlin itself has regularly indicated that Russia aims for territorial conquest beyond the administrative boundaries of the four regions that Russia illegally annexed.

Putin has also expressed concern about the rebuilding and expansion of the Ukrainian army during a potential ceasefire, calling for the "irreversible demilitarization" of Ukraine as a precondition for negotiations. The dictator has repeatedly called for Ukraine's "demilitarization" so that the country would give up its ability to resist Russian aggression.

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Charleston County's rezoning battles aren't necessarily more contentious than other local governments'  although they certainly can be contentious  but residents who want to weigh in on an important county zoning change face a higher degree of difficulty, simply because they often face lon Read moreEditorial: In Charleston County, a welcome outreach to residents concerned about rezoning
Russia has regularly violated its "peace" promises and expanded its war against Ukraine, so a "Minsk-3" cannot be allowed. Only Kyiv has the right to decide what conditions are acceptable for any negotiations because Ukraine is a sovereign independent state.

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This was stated by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference dedicated to the upcoming summit of the military bloc (it will be held in Washington, DC, from July 9 to 11, 2024). The politician was asked whether the allies are determined enough to resist attempts to push Kyiv to accept unfavorable terms.

"Out leaders are resolute and strong, and this will be made clear at the NATO Summit, where I expect a strong package of assistance for Ukraine," the Secretary-General replied.

He said that the new assistance would include training for new recruits, financial commitments, bilateral security agreements, transfer of weapons and equipment, etc.

Only the Ukrainian state has the right to decide on the negotiations."What we have to do as NATO members is to help Ukraine strengthen its position because we know that there is a very strong connection between what happens at the negotiating table and the situation on the battlefield," Stoltenberg said.

ADVERTISIMENT

He does not believe that dictator Vladimir Putin wants real negotiations as his last "offer" was essentially a demand to give up part of Ukrainian territory to Russia.

Stoltenberg reminded that the war of aggression began in Crimea in 2014. Then the Russians entered the eastern part of Donbas. Then they allegedly agreed on a ceasefire in the Minsk agreements but "violated them, moved the front line even further west, agreed on Minsk-2, waited seven years, and then launched a full-scale offensive and captured even more."

"We cannot allow Minsk-3," the Secretary-General summarized.

Even after Russia stops its aggression, Ukraine must be given the ability to deter the enemy and "certain security guarantees". "And, of course, this is also one of the reasons why the allies have been so clear that Ukraine will become a NATO member," Stoltenberg said.

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TAMPA, FL / ACCESSWIRE / July 5, 2024 / Full Alliance Group, Inc. (OTC PINK:FAGI) is delighted to congratulate Corinne and Leslie, the visionary founders of Our Clean Paws., for their upcoming feature on Fox & Friends. The segment will air at 7:30 AM on Saturday, July 6, where they will be showcasing and discussing their innovative hypochlorous product for pets.Our Clean Paws a division of Eco Products Direct USA LLC a valued client of Pure Solutions, Inc., has developed a range of groundbreaking products designed to promote health and well-being in pets through natural and effective solutions.These products include:Lemon Grass Love Shampoo: A gentle, soothing shampoo infused with the refreshing scent of lemongrass, ideal for maintaining a clean and healthy coat.Bye Bye Hot Spots: A targeted treatment for alleviating and soothing hot spots, providing pets with much-needed relief from irritationBye Bye Itch: A convenient hypochlorous spray that offers a natural way to cleanse and protect pets' skin from infections and irritations.Multipurpose Cleaner: A versatile cleaning solution perfect for keeping pet environments hygienic and safe, formulated with pet-friendly ingredients.All of their products contain hypochlorous (HOCL), a powerful, naturally occurring molecule known for its effectiveness and safety. HOCL is gentle enough for use on pets and humans, making it an ideal choice for health and hygiene products."We are incredibly proud of Corinne and Leslie for this significant achievement," said Bill Heneghan, COO at Full Alliance Group, Inc. "Their dedication to improving the lives of pets through innovative and safe products is truly commendable. The feature on Fox & Friends is a testament to their hard work and the positive impact their products are making in the pet care industry." A Heartfelt Journey of Innovation Corinne stated, "Our Clean Paws was born from a deep love for pets and an inspiring story of resilience. Baby, a puppy who was rescued after being abandoned and left to die because of her birth defects, became the catalyst for our mission. Her recovery from multiple surgeries, made possible by the healing power of hypochlorous, inspired us to develop products that could offer the same relief and recovery to pets everywhere." Baby's journey from despair to vibrant health is a testament to the effectiveness of our solutions.In addition to outstanding products, Our Clean Paws is passionate about what they do! They are honored to give back to the community by supporting local animal rescues. The best part is everyone who purchases one of their products gets to be a part of saving little lives too!With each purchase, a donation is made to a local rescue in your honor! Our Clean Paws also donates products directly to rescue pups in need!The Remarkable Power of Hypochlorous Acid At the core of BYE BYE ITCH and BYE BYE HOT SPOTS is hypochlorous, a naturally occurring substance renowned for its potent antimicrobial properties, providing a safe and non-toxic option for pet care. It works wonders in cleansing and soothing the skin, promoting rapid recovery and comfort for our furry friends. Moreover, these products are paw-licker safe and can be used around the eyes, ears, and mouth, ensuring comprehensive care.Why Pet Owners Trust Our Clean Paws ProductsVet-Tested and Approved: Our products are rigorously tested and endorsed by veterinarians, ensuring the highest standards of safety and efficacyAllergy Relief: Provides soothing relief from allergies and reduces itching, offering pets much-needed comfort.Skin Soothing: Effectively softens and calms dry, irritated skin, including hot spots and dry elbows.Deodorizing Power: Eliminates the unpleasant "Frito paws" smell, leaving your pet fresh and clean.User-Friendly: Our easy-to-use application makes it simple to integrate into your pet's daily grooming routine.Philanthropic Commitment: With every purchase, we donate to animal rescue organizations, supporting pets in need.Join us in celebrating this significant milestone as we continue our mission to provide pets with the highest quality care. Tune in to Fox & Friends on July 6th to discover more about Our Clean Paws and why pet owners nationwide are choosing our innovative products.For more information, please visit ourcleanpaws.com Media Contact: Corinne Sanzone813-244-0228 corinne@ ourcleanpaws.com About Our Clean Paws Our Clean Paws is dedicated to offering high-quality, safe, and effective pet care products. Founded with a passion for pets and a commitment to innovation, we strive to create solutions that improve the health and happiness of our furry friends. Through our products and charitable initiatives, we aim to make a positive impact on the lives of pets and their owners.About Full Alliance Group, Inc. Full Alliance Group, Inc. is a holding company in the health and wellness sector. FAGI's wholly owned subsidiary, Bio Lab Naturals, Inc., founded in 2000, through its FDA-registered wholly owned subsidiary Pure Solutions, Inc., was built on the simple principles of using the highest quality ingredients, producing products with the greatest possible efficacy, and providing its partners with unsurpassed customer service all at a fair price. From day one, the Company has specialized in custom product development and FDA-compliant contract manufacturing, with a passion for cutting-edge formulations and innovative product selection. Now housed in a state-of-the-art 25,000 square foot facility in Tampa, Pure Solutions remains committed to its founding principles and is ready to expand its operations through growing organically by adding diversity to its in-house product lines and strategically through joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, exclusive manufacturing and distribution agreements, and mergers.For media inquiries, please contact: Samantha Brainerd sbrainerd@ dynamaxx.com (949) 212-8863Full Alliance Group Inc. Investor Relations Gabe Rodriguez, Erelations Group erelationsgroup@ gmail.com (623) 261-9046Forward-Looking Statements This shareholder update may contain forward-looking statements. Words and variations of words such as: "expect," "goals," "could," "plans," "believe," "continue," "may," "will," and similar expressions are intended to identify our forward-looking statements, including but not limited to our expectation for growth, benefits from brand-building, cost savings, and margins. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause our actual results to d
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LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / July 6, 2024 / The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. ("Arbor" or "the Company") (NYSE:ABR) for violations of the securities laws.The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Arbor is the subject of a report issued by Viceroy Research November 17, 2023, titled, ""Arbor Realty Trust - Slumlord Millionaires." According to the report, "Arbor's high-risk multifamily bridge loans, which comprise substantially all of its asset book, are going bad fast The end is near." Viceroy Research then issued a follow up report on December 5, 2023, titled "Arbor - Jacksonville Case Study." In the second report, Viceroy Research claims that the Company's "entire loan book is distressed and underlying collateral is vastly overstated." Based on this news, shares of Arbor fell by more than 5% over the next two trading sessions.If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com , or by email at bschall@ schallfirm.com The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.CONTACT: The Schall Law FirmBrian Schall, Esq. www.schallfirm.com Office: 310-301-3335 info@ schallfirm.com SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm
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GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / July 5, 2024 /TRON DAO welcomes an unprecedented victory by its founder Justin Sun in the People's Court of China over a landmark defamation suit filed against the Chongqing Business Media Group ("the Media"). Per court order, the Media has removed all of its false contents and issued a formal statement of apology to Sun, who has long been a target of media misrepresentations.The Media acknowledged in the statement that it had published false and defaming contents without fact-check or evidence, severely damaging Sun's reputation. "The rumor-monger has finally published an apology on the People's Court's website," Sun said on an X post. "Although it took two years, justice has arrived." The apology came after a two-year legal battle. Following hundreds of hours of fact-finding and a thorough trial, the Chongqing Yubei District Court ruled in the first instance that the Media broke the law and defamed Sun by publishing entirely unverified media contents, including an article and a video. The court ordered the defendant to retract all false contents and issue a public apology to Sun in a national newspaper. Neither party appealed the decision within the stipulated time frame, making the ruling final judgment.For Sun, the victory serves as a strong rebuttal to numerous widespread rumors and restores his personal reputation. The court reviewed extensive evidence and documentation from both sides before arriving at the verdict. The verdict sends a strong signal to all media outlets: citing unverified sources and spreading unsubstantiated information is likely breaking the law and tarnishing their own reputations.The Buried Truth in a Storm of Media HysteriaThe case dates back to March 11, 2022 when the Media published an article on its news platform eastmoney.com . The article stated that Sun "was involved in insider trading," "fled abroad to evade the ICO ban," "engaged in fraud and money laundering," and "was under investigations by the IRS and the FBI," among other claims. The baseless article quickly went viral, getting picked up by many other media outlets, and severely damaging the reputations of both Sun and the TRON ecosystem.These reports cited an opinion piece about Sun published by The Verge in March 2022. That piece included a series of "interviews" with anonymous sources who all vividly described Sun's alleged wrong-doings Hollywood-style. While the story was purposefully sensationalized, the author cleverly dropped a disclaimer at the end acknowledging that he could not obtain any comments from any relevant authorities to substantiate any claims in the article. In essence, the opinion piece presented unverified stories and acknowledged them as hearsay.Similar media peppered their audience with buzzwords like "money laundering," "insider trading," "investigations," etc. In their rush to maximize exposure and clicks, these desperate media outlets quickly amplified the article in order to make it go viral in no time. Amid this frenzy, any disclaimers on lack of evidence or unsubstantiated claims were conspicuously and conveniently ignored by the media, either intentionally or inadvertently.Defendant Guilty After Lengthy Two-Year Legal BattleDuring the trial, the People's Court of China scrutinized every detail, from the original The Verge article, the Media's recreated contents, to the interpretations made by all other domestic media during reproduction. The court concluded that The Verge's article lacked concrete evidence entirely and the Media's report was devoid of any factual basis, which materially violated Sun's reputation.The court underscored that the original article's authenticity was only confirmed by the author, and it was acknowledged in the article that none of the aforementioned authorities had validated any information presented. In the final verdict, the People's Court of China ruled that all claims of Sun's alleged involvement in insider trading, fraud, money laundering, or any other claimed investigations and other alleged wrong-doings, are entirely unsubstantiated.During this two-year battle, all false claims made by the Media failed to withstand scrutiny. This lengthy due process has brought the truth to light by using facts and legal measures to debunk misinformation and disinformation. This final judgment rectified the injustices Sun has long endured and presented a legal precedent for the broader blockchain community on how unfounded rumors should be handled and dispelled.Significance of the court ruling: The Internet is not a legal vacuum, and the doers are safeguarded by lawThe final ruling of the case does not hand victory over to Sun alone but also upholds the rights of individuals who are committed to their causes but fall victim to fabricated news coverage with ulterior motives. This ruling has raised the public's legal awareness, encouraging victims of untrue news reports to assert their own interests through legal avenues.On the other hand, this incident also alerts all content disseminators against deceptive and unreliable media sources, especially those tainted with a history of fake and biased contents. This practice runs completely against the professionalism, objectivity, and neutrality that the modern media strive to uphold.Early in 1988, the "Reply of the Supreme People's Court to the Defendant Status of Newspaper Publishers and the Application of Jurisdiction in Cases of Infringement of the Right to Reputation" already made it clear that news agencies have verification obligations for the news reports they publish, and both the author and the news agency shall be held legally accountable for a publication's infringement of other individuals' right to reputation, in which case they may be made the co-defendants.This legal document, among many others, indicates that infringement resulting from the edition and publication of unverified information and articles will incur legal liabilities. If the infringed party is willing to arm themselves with the law and provide concrete evidence in court, it's highly likely that the involved media will lose the case.Sun's landmark win is a moment of reckoning for the long-standing rumors floating around the internet. It is also a victory of the rule of law. The ruling has not only safeguarded the legitimate rights of Sun but also discouraged the spread of misinformation and disinformation. While pursuing newsworthy content is the common goal, journalism must adhere to professional ethics by ensuring facts are authentic and accurate.About TRON DAOTRON DAO is a community-governed DAO dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and dApps.Founded in September 201
On Friday, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu caused buzz on social media with his golden nuggets for managing retirement funds.

Mr Sanwo-Olus viral footage, in which he offered advice to pensioners while donning an Agbada and a traditional cap, ignited social media conversations.

The video was captured at the 105 Batch retirement bond certificate presentation ceremony for 2,000 retirees, which was held on Thursday in Ikeja, Lagos State.

This event was organised by the Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC).

Analysis

In the viral footage, Mr Sanwo-Olu cautioned retirees against donating their pensions to religious institutions (churches and mosques) or becoming victims of financial scams.

Speaking in Yoruba, the governor underscored the importance of retirees responsibly managing their funds to ensure personal sustainability.

He said: Be careful; the devil has a way of bringing things you dont plan for. Youre supposed to do something other than solve anybodys problem. Its your money; its what you worked for. I am happy that God has given you the grace to collect and receive the pension. And its not like you will go and pack everything and pay for it in a mosque or church.

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They will say they want to build a church and tell you to come out to pledge N3 million. God will give you money, but you must use wisdom. Sanwo-Olu has done his part, little by little. Dont allow anybody to lie to you; they dont double money for anybody anywhere again. They are all frauds, Ponzi schemes, and 419.

The 59-year-old strongly cautioned pensioners against using their pensions to resolve family or childrens issues.

Dont let a child say that they saw you on TV, saying that you have collected your pension and say they want to pay house rent. No, be sensible. It is about you and about what youve earned and worked for. Youve given birth to them; dont allow them to overpressure you.

You will live very long; the remaining days shall be long. It is not that one child should come and bring problems to you. Dont allow them to threaten you; its a lie, and theres nothing. Let them go to their husbands house, let them go and struggle by themselves. Dont allow any grandchild to come with any problem to you, the governor added.

N4.46 billion

Mr Sanwo-Olu announced on his official page Thursday that his administration has cleared all pension backlogs in the state.

He highlighted that his government disbursed N4.46 billion to 2,000 retirees, fulfilling its pledge to clear outstanding pension arrears.

Today, we effectively cleared all pension backlog in Lagos State by paying N4.46 billion to 2,000 retirees. In February, we paid N3.1 billion to 1,013 retirees with a promise to settle all arrears and current pension liabilities, and that promise has been fulfilled today, he noted.

Mr Sanwo-Olu said that since he assumed office, he had paid over N68 billion to retirement savings accounts for retirees across multiple government departments.

Highlighting new benefits for retirees, he stated, Employees of the Lagos State Government who retire from the civil service will now get their full pension benefits and gratuity immediately after retirement as Lagos State continues to lead in pension benefits administration with a Pay As You Go template.

Additionally, he unveiled a Health Insurance Scheme designed exclusively for retirees to ensure access to extensive medical services.

This initiative, he emphasised, reflects his administrations dedication to prioritising the well-being of retired workers.

This initiative underscores our commitment to the well-being of our retirees while ensuring that they receive not only what is due statutorily but also additional support and assistance to enhance their lives in retirement. Well done to the Lagos State Pension Commission DG, Mr Babalola Obilana, and his team for their continued dedication and professionalism.

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Category: Nollywood

THE MAN DIED, a feature film inspired by the Prison Notes of Africas first Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, will have its Special Premiere Screening on 12 July in Lagos.

The screening, a Strictly by Invitation event, is designed as a flagship of the global celebration of Soyinkas 90th birthday on 13 July. It is expected to be witnessed by a gathering of eminent dignitaries, members of the diplomatic corps, industry stakeholders, family, friends, and associates of the Nobel laureate, as well as key members of the cast and crew of the film.

This is not the premiere yet but a special screening to commemorate Professor Wole Soyinkas 90th birthday, stated the organisers, stressing that guests would only be admitted based on their invitation and RSVP.

The event managers assure that a later date will be set for the formal premiere of the film.

Shot entirely in NigeriaLagos and Ibadanin late 2023, the 110-minute feature is directed by the cineaste, culture scholar, and academic Awam Amkpa and produced by the ace storyteller and media content producer Femi Odugbemi for film company Zuri 24 Media.

A fictionalised adaptation of the stories narrated in the prison memoirs, the screenplay written by Bode Asiyanbi is not a bio-pic of the prison life of Soyinka, but an expanded narrative on his prison experiences, and includes stories that you would find in his subsequent memoirs on his life stories, stated Mr Amkpa.

More insight

Mr Amkpa, a former student and long-standing associate of Mr Soyinka, said stories from Mr Soyinkas subsequent memoirs, Ibadan Penkelemes Years and You Must Set Forth at Dawn, are also accommodated in the film.

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A trained theatre artist, filmmaker and culture scholar, Mr Amkpa is currently Professor of Drama, Film and Social and Cultural Analysis, Dean of Arts and Humanities and Vice Provost for the Arts at New York University Abu Dhabi.

Produced by ZuriMedia24 with generous financial support from New York University, Abu Dhabi, the film is shot by an entire Nigerian crew with no input from any foreigner except in post-production. The director of photography is Agbo Kelly, while the Production Designer is Theo Lawson, an architect who has been involved in other film projects in recent years.

Local production resource

As a reason for relying entirely on an entirely local production resource to realise the film, unlike projects of its status, which usually bring certain crew members from outside, Mr Amkpa said this was a deliberate choice.

He said authenticity is essential in making such a film based on the colourful and fascinating life of an enigma who is also an eminent global citizen. We need to stress the input of people intimately familiar with the cultural and political environment that shaped the Nobel laureate and his narratives, irrespective of their skill sets.

He continued, I have an army of former students who are big-time filmmakers in Hollywood and elsewhere that I could just call on a whim to make the film and shoot in Nigeria, but theres no learning curve for me. Every creative project is like returning to the basics and building back upwards. That was why it was very educational for me to come here.

In an interview, Mr Odugbemi, a veteran of the Nigerian movie and television sets, stated, As you probably know, it is a very intimate account of Soyinkas 22 months in solitary confinement for his role in trying to halt the civil war. I hope this narrative of resistance and courage inspires this generation.

It is also an ambitious adaptation that brings to life an iconic literary work offering a deep, personal perspective on Nigerias conflicted political history and the intense challenges of nation-building. By transforming Soyinkas poignant narrative into a visual medium, I hope to reach a broader audience, particularly young people, who might be less inclined to engage with the written text but can be profoundly impacted by the film.

100 film workers

Over 100 film workers of varying specialities and industry experiences were featured in the project, with notable performers, including Wale Ojo in the lead protagonist role of Soyinka and Sam Dede as the main antagonist, Yisa, Soyinkas interrogator and torturer.

Aside from the Hollywood rising actor Abraham Amkpa, who played Soyinkas bosom friend, Femi Johnson, other lead actors are Nobert Young (Prison Superintendent), Francis Onwochei (Prison Controller), Edmund Enaibe (AIG), Christina Oshunniyi (Laide Soyinka), Similoluwa Hassan (Emeka Ojukwu), Segilola Ogidan (Morenike), Dili Ezugha (Agu Norris), Ropo Ewenla (Olusegun Obasanjo), Henry Diabuah (Yakubu Gowon), Temilolu Fosudo (Bola Ige), William Idakwo (Victor Banjo), among others.

Mr Odugbemi, renowned for his indelible signature on many successful movies and TV series projects, including Maroko, Gidi Blues, Eve, Code Wilo (movies) and Tinsel, Battleground, Movement JAPA, The Covenant (TV), continues: Of course, this is not just a memoir; it is a testament to the resilience and courage of the human spirit in the face of oppression. It vividly chronicles Soyinkas experiences during the Nigerian Civil War, highlighting the brutal reality of political imprisonment and the relentless struggle for justice and freedom.

Through this film, we aim to inspire young people to embrace their role in demanding humanistic ideals from our nations political leadership. In a world where authoritarianism and corruption often threaten democratic values, we hope the film will resonate as a call to action for citizens to remain vigilant and proactive in pursuing justice and equity. We hope it sparks meaningful dialogue to inspire positive change in our country.

Lagos premiere

The 12 July premiere in Lagos, supervised by the films Associate Producers Makin Soyinka and Jahman Anikulapo, with the support of the Production Manager, Adewale Emmanuel Orosun, and managed by ONE Management, promises to be a memorable event.

It is supported by the Lagos State Government, Providus Bank, Dr Kayode, and Erelu Fayemi, among others. The media partners are Arise TV and Afia TV.

After the Lagos premiere, the film will be screened next on 25 July at The Africa Centre (TAC), London, where it will feature as part of WS90  a nine-day programme of events jointly organised by the Wole Soyinka International Cultural Exchange and the TAC, also to commemorate the 90th birthday anniversary of the poet, playwright, essayist, memoirist, human/civil rights activist and global cultural icon.

After that, it will tour select festivals around the world before hitting the public cinema screens in Nigeria, the UK, the USA, Europe, the UAE, and other centres around the African continent.

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Emzor Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, an indigenous pan-African manufacturer and distributor of medicines and surgical equipment, among others, has announced its readiness to begin local manufacturing of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) plant.

The move is part of the benefits of Nigerias efforts to address the rising cost of drugs and other medical consumables in Nigeria.

The facility is expected to commence local production of API before the end of the year, according to the companys Director of Strategy, Funke Asiru.

Ms Asiru spoke at the Nigeria-EU Business Forum (NEUBF) 9th forum, titled: Investing in Jobs and Sustainable Future, organised by EUinNigeria under EU Global Gateway.

She said the move aims to improve the countrys healthcare system as the facility will produce APIs for various medicines, including those used to treat malaria and cancer.

In April, Emzor announced plans to construct an API facility in Sagamu, Ogun State, worth $23 million (about N25 billion) to combat the pervasive threat of malaria in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.

Funding, establishment of API

According to Ms Asiru, the project is being funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB).

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With the European Investment Bank (EIB), we started doing our investment. So were not there yet. By the end of the year, by Gods grace, we will be there, she said.

She further stated that establishing the API plant is seen as a significant development in Nigerias healthcare sector, as it will reduce the countrys reliance on imported medicines and improve access to quality healthcare for millions of Nigerians.

She said that the COVID-19 disrupted the global supply chain. Therefore, by producing our drugs, it will reduce our vulnerability.

COVID-19 impact

Ms Asiru stated that the need for an indigenous API arose during the COVID-19 outbreak, recounting when events that led to the closure of borders made it hard for importation.

She said: The COVID showed us that, you know, sometimes there is no way. So for us, our APIs, we get from India, we get from China. I will never forget the day when the headline came in where it was like, everybody was losing their borders.

And we thought, okay, we cant drop everything. So everybody was like, Im going to look after myself. The Indians said the same, and suddenly we had no APIs.

New executive order

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu recently signed a new executive order aiming to boost local production of healthcare products and reduce costs.

The targeted healthcare products include pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, devices such as needles and syringes, biologicals, and medical textiles.

According to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, the new order has introduced zero tariffs, excise duties, and VAT on specified machinery, equipment, and raw materials.

Mr Pate noted that the order is pivotal to the success of the initiative for unlocking the healthcare value chain, which was approved in October 2023 by the President.

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The Jigawa State Government on Saturday announced that it has commenced a free surgical programme across the 27 Local Government Areas of the state.

The spokesperson for the State Ministry of Local Government, Najib Umar said in a statement that the programme being implemented under the Ministry of Local Government, would be coordinated by the commissioner, Ahmad Garba.

Mr Umar announced that the state government would sponsor the treatment of patients with hernia and cancer, for free for 30 individuals from each council area.

He said the screening and verification for eligible candidates will take place on Monday, 8 July to 10 July at the nearest general hospitals.

The designated hospitals and their respective areas are:

1. : Dutse and Kiyawa

2. : Birnin Kudu and Buji

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3. : Gwaram

4. : Jahun and Miga

5. : Kafin Hausa, Auyo, and Kaugama

6. : Kazaure, Roni, Yankwashi, and Gwiwa

7. : Birniwa, Kirikasamma, and Guri

8. : Ringim and Taura

9. : Babura and Garki

10. : Hadejia and Malam-Madori

11. : Gumel, Gagarawa, Maigatari, and Sule Tankarkar

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A 100-level female student of the University of Nigeria Nsukka in Enugu State has been found dead.

The deceased, simply identified as Favour, was a student in the department of medical laboratory science of the university.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Favour went missing after attending her chemistry practical on Tuesday.

This newspaper also learnt that the victim resided in an apartment outside the university.

Discovery of corpse

Favours corpse was found at the back of Eni-Njoku male hostel within the university premises on Friday evening.

A video clip which showed the corpse dumped inside what appeared to be a gutter has been circulating on social media.

An occupant of the hostel, Sky Okafor, told PREMIUM TIMES that the body must have been dumped in the area by her killers.

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Mr Okafor, a pharmacy student in the institution, said the corpse was later removed on Saturday morning.

It was a shock to everyone. Nobody has any idea of what happened to her, he said.

Another occupant of the hostel, Iyke Agbo, said the corpse was discovered at about 7 p.m., but he did not go close because it was already oozing a bad odour.

I have not heard that anything like this ever happened around this hostel before, Mr Agbo said.

University silent

The university spokesperson, Okwun Omeaku, and the Dean of Students Affairs of the institution, Edwin Omeje, a professor, did not respond to several calls seeking their comment.

Also, Messrs Omeaku and Omeje were yet to respond to separate text messages, several hours later.

However, an official of the university, told PREMIUM TIMES that he learnt of the incident through the social media.

The official, who asked not to be named because he was not permitted to speak to the media on the matter, said the university management was yet to take an official position on the incident.

He pointed out that there was heavy rain in Nsukka on Tuesday and that it was possible that flooding swept the victim to the hostel from outside the university.

This is weekend. I think by Monday, the university should be able to appraise the true situation and then make an official statement, he said.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a working visit to Moscow next week. It is expected that he will raise the issue of early release of Indian citizens who were lured to serve in the Russian army.

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The statement was made by Indian Foreign Minister Vineet Kwatra on Friday, July 5, Reuters reports.

India estimates that 30 to 40 of its citizens may already be serving in the ranks of the occupying Russian army. At least four Indians have been killed in the Russian war against Ukraine.

"Over the past few months, several cases have come to light where Indians have been lured to Russia with the promise of lucrative jobs or education and ended up at the front fighting against Ukraine, and in May, Indian police arrested four people linked to the human trafficking network behind the scheme," the statement said.

This is what prompted the Modi government to call for an immediate end to such recruitment and the swift release of Indian citizens from service in the Russian military.

"Every effort has been made to ensure that Indian citizens return as soon as possible," Kwatra said, adding that 10 Indians have already been returned home.

ADVERTISIMENT

Earlier, it became known that Narendra Modi will visit Russia on July 8-9 to hold talks with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The police in Anambra State south-east Nigeria have announced a ban on a planned Cult Day celebration in the state.

The police spokesperson in Anambra, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

Mr Ikenga, a superintendent of police, said the ban followed receipt of information that some suspected criminals were planning to carry out violence under the pretext of holding a Cult Day celebration in the state on Sunday.

The police spokesperson described the planned event as unholy and characterised by violence and bloodshed.

He said the police authorities in the state have advised persons planning the event to desist immediately because such celebrations will not be allowed.

Mr Ikenga said the police will deal decisively with anyone holding such celebrations in the state.

The command reiterates that such an event or any other related activities remain banned and shall not hesitate to invoke relevant laws especially the newly signed Anti-Cultism law of the state on anyone caught in such cult-related activities or any act capable of undermining security in the state, he said.

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Warning to hoteliers, proprietors of recreation centres

The spokesperson said the police in the state have warned hoteliers, proprietors of bars and recreation centres against allowing such celebration in their facilities or face the consequences.

Also, parents and guardians are advised to warn their wards to be law-abiding and desist from any act that could cause a breach of peace in the state, he said.

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A Bauchi-based Islamic cleric, Idris Abdulaziz, has criticised the reinstatement of Lamido Sanusi as the sole emir of Kano.

Governor Abba Yusuf reinstated Mr Sanusi in May, a day after the state House of Assembly scrapped four of the five emirates in the state.

But Mr Idris said the government should have retained the emirates as having more emirs would help in resolving conflicts at the local level.

Mr Idris statement was captured in a video posted on Facebook during a Friday Jummat sermon on 21 June at the Dutsen Tanshi area of the Bauchi metropolis.

He said the abrogation of the four emirates negates the principle of decentralisation of power.

The video of the statement in Hausa has gone viral in Kano and other northern states.

The cleric ignored a warning by the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), on 29 May, which advised Muslim clerics not to interfere in the emirate crisis in Kano State.

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The clip, which had over 4,000 likes and over 1,400 shares as of the time this reporter viewed it, showed the cleric commending former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, who initially dethroned Mr Sanusi and split the emirates into five.

Mr Idris cited the much smaller Bauchi State, which has six emirates each with first-class emirs.

What type of development is this, just to satisfy one person, you are persecuting your people in this democratic setup. It takes people two months to see an emir if there are disagreements that need to be reconciled by the traditional institutions, Mr Idris said.

Mr Idris said splitting the Kano emirate into five was a good decision by former Governor Ganduje.

I never met Ganduje either one-on-one or through third-party, or phone calls, I swear, but I am in support of whoever is fair and just.

For me, whoever dethroned Sanusi deserves a salute, because we are looking at it from a religious perspective. I cant believe in a self-proclaimed cleric deceiving people claiming to be an Islamic cleric.

Just because you read Arabic linguistics for some months did not qualify you to be an Islamic cleric, Mr Idris said.

PREMIUM TIMES reached out to Ibrahim Kurawa, who coordinates media activities for Mr Sanusi at the palace on Mr Idris comments.

Mr Kurawa said the cleric is not informed on happenings in Kano and, thus, cannot comment on them.

Mr Sanusi was initially dethroned on 9 March 2020 by then-Governor Ganduje, who accused him of insubordination and political interference.

He was replaced by Aminu Ado-Bayero, who held the throne until 24 May this year when Governor Yusuf reinstated Mr Sanusi as the sole emir of Kano.

Mr Ado-Bayero is challenging his removal in court and has occupied the mini palace of the emirate at the Nasarawa GRA.

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The Lagos State High Court in Ikeja has adjourned till 24 October for further hearing in the alleged N4.8 billion fraud trial of Cletus Ibeto, Chairman, Ibeto Energy Development Company.

The court scheduled Thursday for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arraign Mr Ibeto alongside his Ibeto Energy Development Company and Odoh Holdings Ltd on 10 counts of fraud involving a N4.8 billion land deal.

In the ten counts, EFCC accused the defendants of obtaining by false pretences, fraudulent conversion of property, criminal breach of trust, forgery and deception, according to an EFCC press statement issued on Friday.

However, the scheduled arraignment could not proceed due to uncertainties surrounding ongoing out-of-court settlement talks between the parties connected to the case.

Mr Ibeto was absent from Thursdays proceedings, according to the statement signed by EFCCs spokesperson, Dele Oyewale.

The prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, noted at the proceedings that rather than appearing in court for his arraignment, Mr had chosen to negotiate a plan to pay back the funds involved in the case with the commission.

Mr Jacobs, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said, We need to know what their plans are. Are they planning to continue with the litigation? Or do they want to sit with the prosecution and the complainant to negotiate an out-of-court settlement?

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He has paid back a large part of the money, and we need to know whether we should use it as an exhibit or consider it his commitment to an out-of-court settlement because they have continued to file different applications challenging the courts competence to hear the matter.

Defence counsel, Adebayo Oshodi, did not react to the submissions by Mr Jacobs and instead sought the leave of the court to re-list an application challenging the courts territorial jurisdiction.

Responding, Mr Jacobs kicked against the call for the re-listing of the application, which he said the court struck out based on its voluntary withdrawal by the defence team.

It can not be re-listed before the same court, he added.

The trial judge, Oyindamola Ogala, upheld the argument of the prosecution counsel.

The judge also frowned on Mr Ibetos failure to appear in court.

Instead of appearing in court, the judge said, Mr Ibeto has been meeting EFCC investigators to discuss paying back the money he allegedly owes the complainant instead of appearing in court.

She said she would not comment on the move by the prosecution and the defence to settle the matter out of court.

She adjourned till 24 October for further hearing.

READ ALSO: Family announces burial arrangement for EFCC operative who died by suspected suicide

Charges

Count one reads: That Chief Cletus Ibeto, Ibeto Energy Development Ltd and Odoh Holdings Ltd., between June 2016 and May 2017, within the jurisdiction of the court, by false pretence and with intent to defraud, obtained from Dozzy Oil & Gas Ltd and Sir Daniel Chukwudozie, the sum of N4.8 billion purporting same to be consideration for 22.6536 hectares of land, which he claimed to have at the end of Reclamation Road Layout, Port Harcourt, Rivers State by a deed of sublease executed by Odoh Holdings and Ibeto Energy Development Ltd when he only had 7.9 hectares of the said land.

Count three reads: That Chief Cletus Ibeto, Ibeto Energy Development Ltd and Odoh Holdings Ltd., on or about 30 January 2018, allegedly with intent to defraud, forged a Deed Of Sublease between Odoh Holdings Ltd and Ibeto Development Ltd purportedly, registered as No 47, Page 47, Vol. 280 of the Lands Registry, Rivers State wherein they claimed that Odoh Holdings Ltd acquired leasehold interest in respect of 22.6536.

The defendants are further accused of obtaining the sum of N2.5 billion from their alleged victims as consideration for a non-existent 14.1 hectares of land.

The allleged offences violate section 1 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act 2006, Section 365(3d) and (e), and Section 366 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

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Adebayo Adeleke, founder of Supply Chain Africa and the Nigerian Food Security Project (NFSP), has urged young Nigerians to support steps being taken to address the countrys food security challenges.

Mr Adeleke made the call while speaking at a workshop on creating change and solving problems in food security at the University of Abuja.

Food security is a critical challenge facing many nations, and Nigeria, despite boasting abundant agricultural resources, is no exception.

In recent years, the country had been struggling to provide food supplies to its population amid elevated prices.

While youth involvement in agriculture is crucial, Mr Adeleke stressed the need for a multifaceted approach to addressing food insecurity.

Many young people lack a deep understanding of food security. Theres simply no excuse for a nation with such fertile lands to be food insecure, he said.

Food security isnt just about farming; it encompasses logistics, technology, and financial security for our farmers. Young Nigerians with skills in these areas can play a vital role.

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Imagine a young logistics expert creating an app to connect rural farmers directly with urban consumers, reducing transportation costs and waste, he added.

Ageing farming population

Mr Adeleke highlighted the phenomena of ageing farming population and rural-urban migration as major threats to food security.

He explained that the average farmers age in some states ranges around 52 years, with attendant effect on needed agricultural manpower.

With young people drawn to the allure of big cities, our agricultural workforce is shrinking. We need to change this narrative by showcasing the potential of the agricultural sector and offering opportunities that are attractive to young Nigerians, he said.

Young Nigerians, with their energy and innovative spirit, are the key to unlocking food security for our nation.

We need them to get involved, volunteer with agricultural projects, support local farmers markets, advocate for food security policies and together, we can ensure a food-secure future for all Nigerians, he said.

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The Police Command in Delta has apprehended three kidnap suspects and killed one in the state.

Spokesman of the command, Bright Edafe, who disclosed this to reporters on Saturday in Warri, also said that one AK-49 rifle was recovered from the suspects.

Mr Edafe said that the suspects were arrested at different locations between Monday and Friday by the police operatives deployed to Ughelli on special assignment.

While noting that the police team was led by Julius Robinson, Mr Edafe added that some hoodlums were also nabbed at different locations in the state.

Acting on credible intelligence relating to the kidnapping of a male victim on May 17, 2024 at his residence in Adjakota, Ughelli South Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

And the victim was later murdered by the kidnappers.

The operatives who on a special assignment, led by ASP Robinson cracked down on the deadly kidnapping syndicate responsible for the act.

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On July 1, 2024, the police team arrested one of the suspects in Oghara, Ethiope West LGA.

Similarly, on July 4, 2024, the suspect led operatives to the arrest of two other members of the gang in Agwara and Agbarho Communities in Ughelli South and Ughelli North respectively, he said.

Mr Edafe said that acting on the confession made by the suspects, the police operatives on Friday stormed the Oviri-Ogor bush where they encountered an attack from other gang members.

He said that during the ensuing gun duel, one of the hoodlums hiding in the bush sustained gunshot injuries.

The police spokesman said that the injured suspect was taken to the hospital and later died while receiving treatment.

Mr Edafe said that one AK-49 rifle was recovered in the suspects hideout, adding that investigation in the matter was ongoing.

(NAN)

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The Director General of the Nigeria Biotechnology Management Agency (NBMA), Agnes Asagbra, has kicked against the disapproval of genetically engineered food by the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mojisola Adeyeye.

On 29 June, the NAFDAC boss, during an interview on Arise News Television, argued that GMO foods in Nigeria are not safe for consumption due to insufficient research and data at their disposal.

In terms of GMOs, we do not think it is safe. We dont think it is safe for our consumption (that is the position of NAFDAC). Exactly! First, a lot of research has not been done in terms of the safety of GMO products and the genetics of the seeds have been modified. Until we get very convincing data to show the safety for human consumption, Mrs Adeyeye said.

However, the NAFDAC boss noted that GMOs could be used for non-food crops such timber, furniture, and for rubber plantation but maintained that there is no evidence from NAFDAC that it is safe for human consumption.

Reaction

In reaction to the NAFDAC officials claims, Mrs Asagbra in a letter dated 2 July and seen by PREMIUM TIMES, described the comments of the NAFDAC boss as one that can undermine the mandate and functions of the NBMA.

The views you expressed appear to discredit the hard work and integrity of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) and its several renowned stakeholders and experts for which your Agency is one, the letter partly reads.

Mrs Asagbra emphasised that the NBMA is a legally constituted Nigerian agency established to regulate the approval and safe use of all genetically modified organisms in the country.

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Additionally, she said the organisation has the mandate to provide a regulatory framework, institutional and administrative mechanism for safety measures in the application of modern biotechnology and emerging modern biotechnologies in Nigeria with the view to preventing any adverse effects on human health, animal, plants, and the environment as well as to put in place measures to ensure biosecurity.

It is completely misleading for the Director General of NAFDAC to categorically state on National Television that GMOs are not safe, having admitted that her Agency has not carried out research, does not have the competency and of course, does not have the mandate to carry out any study to determine GMOs safety.

At NBMA, we strongly uphold and cherish inter-agency collaborations for effective biosafety management in Nigeria, the letter reads.

NBMA values this collaborative relationship with NAFDAC and other relevant regulatory agencies and stakeholders and has strived to maintain a partnership based on mutual respect and shared goals, the letter noted.

According to the NBMA boss, Mrs Adeyeyes comments have severely discredited the publics perception of GMO technology.

It is indisputable that the publics perception of the Agency and that of the Federal government of Nigerias position has been severely discredited by this falsehood from a purported sibling agency, intentionally or unintentionally casting aspersion on its credibility and effectiveness, she said.

To put it mildly, NBMA is worried about the possible effects this might have on the trust of the stakeholders we work with, she said, adding Based on the foregoing, I earnestly call on the DG of NAFDAC to as a matter of urgency admit and recant this glaring gap in knowledge and position of the Federal Government of Nigeria in the regulation of the practices of modern biotechnology and handling of GMO related matters by NBMA in collaboration with other relevant Agencies in Nigeria.

She argued that the clarification will go a long way in addressing the obvious misconception and misrepresentation that the NAFDAC bosss statements in the interview might have caused.

Concerns

The NAFDAC boss remarks about GMO technology have attracted widespread criticism from Pro-GMO institutions such as the NBMA and others in the country, who have in the past decade argued that GMO crop adoption is capable of solving food insecurity issues in the country.

The debate over GMO adoption in Nigeria has been highly contentious, creating fears among citizens about how safe GMOs are for humans and the environment.

Some environmentalists have argued that the move to commercialise GMO seeds would have far-reaching consequences in Nigeria and across Africa.

Aside from health and environmental concerns, critics of GMO technology in Nigeria say it violates the principles of food sovereignty and are worried over the ability to effectively regulate and label genetically engineered foods, especially the newly commercialised Tela maize.

There is also concern that GM seeds are often patent-locked and privatised, which could weaken the position of African farmers and communities, and also enhance the depletion of indigenous/conventional seed banks in the continent.

By implication, experts say, farmers across Nigeria and Africa at large would have to perpetually depend on GM seed manufacturers for seeds to grow some of the crops.

Environmental think tanks like the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and other groups and food experts have called for extensive research into the pros and cons of GMOs before their commercialisation in the country.

Amidst these concerns, on Thursday, the Acting Director General of the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Khalid Ishiak, confirmed that 40 metric tons of Tela maize are within Nigeria for farmers at the moment.

He emphasised that the notion that seeds from harvested GMO materials cannot be replanted is incorrect.

READ ALSO: NAFDAC warns against unregistered drug in Nigerian markets

Seeds from GM materials that have been bred in Nigeria can be replanted. However, as with the conventional seeds, we have always advised farmers to always buy new seeds for optimal yield gain. Planting the offspring or farmers safe seeds from harvested materials may lead to yield low by about 10-15 per cent and up to 25 per cent in some instances, he said.

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The far-right swing in Europe, and the threatened Trump return might mean that the West is defining its own humanity and that its mask of civility has pulled off.

The CNN American Presidential Debate showed humanity is in a catch-22 situation while the European high speed far-right turns on the cliffs, threaten to plunge humankind into an uncertain world.

The far-right turns have been taken in countries like Switzerland, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Serbia, France and to some extent, Germany.

The only light visible at the end of the European tunnel is the British elections in which the Labour Party is set to end rudderless Tory rule. The British Conservative Party rule has been so chaotic that it has in the last 14 years produced five Prime Ministers: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. Despite this welcome change, it is difficult, to distinguish the migration policies of the main British parties. They follow the emerging pattern in most of Europe where the policies of the far-right, right-wing, centrist, liberal, labour and left-wing parties on migration and commitment to a common humanity are blurred.

In fact, some European governments have lost all sense of humanity in dealing with the issue of migration as they deliberately ensure that migrants are drowned in the seas, or they do the drowning themselves.

The British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, in its documentary of Monday, 17 June titled Dead Calm: Killing in the Med? provided irrefutable evidence of Greece deliberately forcing migrants to their death in the seas or intentionally drowning them.

The BBC, which analysed 15 such cases, reported that: In five of the incidents, migrants said they were thrown directly into the sea by the Greek authorities. In four of those cases they explained how they had landed on Greek islands but were hunted down. In several other incidents, migrants said they had been put onto inflatable rafts without motors which then deflated, or appeared to have been punctured.

In one of the cases, a Cameroonian man, and his fellow travellers, Didier Martial Kouamou Nana and Sidy Keita from Cameroon and Cote dIvoire, were hunted down by Greek authorities after they landed in September 2021 on the island of Samos.

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One year before the BBC report, the most criminal case against Greece occurred on 14 June, 2023 off south-western Greece. A fishing trawler crammed with over 700 migrants sent a distress call the morning before. The Greeks merely sent out an helicopter to circle the ship. It was only at 11 p.m., a Greek coastguard boat arrive. Three hours later, the ship sank claiming over 600 souls.

They were beaten and thrown into the sea without life jackets. The first two drowned while the survivor managed to swim to shore.

A Somali migrant who was caught in March 2021 by the Greek army on arrival on the island of Chios, was handed over to the Greek coastguard. The latter zip-tied his hands behind his back and tossed him into the water. Luckily, one of his arms broke free and he swarm to safety. But the other three victims, tossed into the waters, died.

One of the most heart-wrenching cases the BBC verified, occurred in September 2022 when a boat carrying 85 migrants had its motor cut out near the Greek island of Rhodes. The Greek coastguard which responded to their May Day call, loaded them onto a boat, then put them in life rafts. Survivor Mohamed said the raft he and his family were given had not had its valve properly closed, so they began to sink. He said: We immediately began to sink, they saw that They heard us all screaming, and yet they still left us. Seven or eight children had died before the Turkish coastguard arrived.

One year before the BBC report, the most criminal case against Greece occurred on 14 June, 2023 off south-western Greece. A fishing trawler crammed with over 700 migrants sent a distress call the morning before. The Greeks merely sent out an helicopter to circle the ship. It was only at 11 p.m., a Greek coastguard boat arrive. Three hours later, the ship sank claiming over 600 souls.

Survivors claimed the ship capsized when the Greeks tried to tow it while the Greek Government claimed the vessel refused assistance.

Italy might be worse than Greece. While the latter ensures that distressed migrants at sea die out of deliberate neglect, Italy backs its actions by law. Its Piantedosi Act of 24 February, 2023 makes it a criminal act for any vessel already having rescued migrants on board to rescue other distressed migrants at sea even if they were seen drowning.

As we might know, the policy of the current British government is to round up alleged illegal migrants, fly them to Rwanda and dump them in camps.

But it is debatable whether Trump would have been worse than Biden in the ongoing genocide in the Palestine. Biden poured $12.5 billion aid into Israel even when it was obvious that what is afoot is genocide against the Palestinians. To collectively punish the Palestinian populace, he stopped US aid to the UN Peace and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.

Given these official policies and acts, physical attacks on migrants in some European cities and a consensus towards a far-right swing, Europe might be losing its soul.

In the case of the USA, not a few were alarmed by the lacklustre performance of a clearly tired, slow and uninspiring 82-year-old President Joseph Joe Robinette Biden in the 27 June CNN American Presidential Debate. After 36 years in the Senate, eight years as Vice President and four years as President, Biden should have given way to a younger, more energetic and mentally alert Democratic Presidential candidate. But a caucus, desperate to cling on to power, has pushed him to the point where four months before the Tuesday, 5 November presidential election, questions are being asked whether Biden is mentally and physically fit to run.

It is not that some of us who are worried are Democratic Party or Biden supporters. We are just concerned that the road is being cleared for the return of his predecessor, Donald Trump, a mercurial character convicted on sundry cases, including hush money paid to porn actress, Stormy Daniels. We are worried that a narcissist adult who does not seem capable of distinguishing between truth and falsehood and, openly tried to carry out a coup against the American state, may be sworn in next January as the president of Gods Own Country.

But it is debatable whether Trump would have been worse than Biden in the ongoing genocide in the Palestine. Biden poured $12.5 billion aid into Israel even when it was obvious that what is afoot is genocide against the Palestinians. To collectively punish the Palestinian populace, he stopped US aid to the UN Peace and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.

As the Palestinian casualties rose, Biden said: I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. So for him, the issue is not the massacres, but that the figures might not be high or high enough. Thrice, the Biden Presidency vetoed the UN Security Council (UNSC), resolutions calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Palestinian War. Finally, as worldwide protests mounted, he submitted a ceasefire agreement to the UNSC to which he claimed Israel had agreed. It turned out that this was false.

The far-right swing in Europe, and the threatened Trump return might mean that the West is defining its own humanity and that its mask of civility has pulled off.

Owei Lakemfa, a former secretary general of African workers, is a human rights activist, journalist and author.

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A media group, Ikenga Media and Cultural Awareness Initiative, on Friday, held a mentoring workshop for over 80 communication students on journalism practice.

Ikenga Media and Cultural Awareness Initiative is the publisher of South-east-focused online newspaper, Ikengaonline.

The mentored students were from the Mass Communication Department of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) in Enugu State.

The event, which was supported by MacArthur Foundation through the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism, was held at the main hall of the department at Agbani Main Campus of the university.

One of the resource persons at the programme and a journalist with PREMIUM TIMES, Chinagorom Ugwu, shared his journalism experience with the students.

Mr Ugwu also spoke on Ethical Issues in News Reporting.

Another resource person and the Executive Director of the Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue Foundation, Chiamaka Okafor, took the students on the topic: Journalism at a Glance.

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Why the mentorship workshop

Speaking at the event themed Building a Satisfying Career in Journalism, the Editor-in-Chief of Ikengaonline, Uche Ugboajah, said the programme was considered necessary due to the declining interest in journalism by the younger generation, particularly communication students.

This workshop has become very necessary because, from recent research, it has been observed that many of you studying mass communication today are reluctant to pursue a career in mainstream journalism.

Instead the greater number seem to opt for advertising and public relations, which they consider more rewarding, he said.

Mr Ugboajah regretted that most communication students no longer perceive journalism practice as rewarding.

The editor said the Ikengaonline newspaper has been trying to raise quality journalists to promote responsible and development journalism in the South-east.

This became necessary following the apparent lack of adequate reportage, misinformation and outright disinformation on issues concerning the South-east region.

In essence, Ikengaonline, which is intentionally focused on the South-east, is a bold attempt to give the people of the region a voice in the media which had been brazenly lacking in the past, he said.

We have trained not less than 55 journalists in Abia, Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi and Enugu States, he added.

On his part, the Head, Mass Communication Department, ESUT, Chidi Ezinwa, corroborated Mr Ugboajahs claim that there was a lack of interest in journalism by students and graduates of mass communication.

It is clear to all of us even here in ESUT that students of mass communication are no longer interested in practising journalism, Mr Ezinwa said.

The lecturer stressed that journalism remains the mother of mass communication, arguing that without journalism there would not be mass communication studies.

So, it makes sense that this workshop is taking place here which is a breeding ground for journalists, he said.

Students speak

Some of the students who took part in the programme commended the organisers of the programme.

One of the students, Ruth Ani, described the workshop as rewarding and inspiring.

Ms Ani said the workshop had changed her mindset on the practice of journalism.

I feel inspired by what I heard today. Most of us focus on our marks rather than preparing to go into journalism, she said.

I learnt that we should not wait until we have graduated before practising journalism.

RAED ALSO: DUBAWA Editor wins global science journalism award

Another student, Timothy Nwobodo, described the workshop as a rewarding experience.

Mr Nwobodo expressed confidence that the workshop will bring the needed changes among students.

This programme has opened my eyes to opportunities in journalism, he said.

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Hundreds of youths in Imala/Elega area of Abeokuta, Ogun State, took to the streets on Saturday to protest the alleged killing of a betting agent, identified as Abiodun Aanuoluwapo, by a trigger-happy police officer late Friday night.

The youths called on the state government and the police authority to ensure that the officer who killed the late Aanuoluwapo is brought to justice.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that Mr Aanuoluwapo, a graduate of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, operated a Bet9ja shop in front of a popular hotel, First Point, in the area.

He was said to be in the process of shutting his shop for the day when he was hit by a stray bullet at about 8 p.m. on Friday night. He reportedly died instantly.

There are different accounts of what transpired, which led to Mr Aanuoluwapos death.

One report alleged that some police officers emerged from First Point hotel drunk, before a bullet was let off mistakenly by one of the gun-wielding personnel.

Another report noted that the officers were either on a raid or chasing a suspect when one of them accidentally killed Mr Aanuoluwapo, popularly called Pepe, in front of his shop.

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PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the officers immediately escaped into the hotel and called for backup. They later escaped from the hotel about three hours later.

Witnesses said that when the police backup arrived, alongside the officers in the hotel, they began shooting sporadically to pave the way for their escape from the scene.

The youth in the area tried to hold down the policemen and they ran into the First Point hotel. They had to call for reinforcement before they were able to run away later at about 11 p.m. The incident happened around 8 p.m.

As they were trying to disperse the protesting youths, they kept shooting sporadically. In fact, more youths were hit by bullets but they survived it. One of the survivors name is Hassan; he also has a shop nearby, a witness, who gave his name as Tola Adeyemo, said.

When our correspondent visited the area, bloodstains were seen at the entrance of the late Aanuoluwapos shop.

Meanwhile, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, has confirmed the incident.

She told PREMIUM TIMES that the state Commissioner of Police has made contact with all stakeholders involved and directed an investigation into the incident.

We have gotten the information that one Aanu was a victim, it is not easy to say exactly what happened, but the CP is in touch with the stakeholders. He has called everybody involved so that we can start investigating what happened. We are aware, we have been informed, but we are still deliberating on the matter, she said.

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Activists Yanize Elias and Johana Santiago walk along a beach on Punta Bandera in the municipality of Luquillo, where various buildings are being constructed, on April 15.

As she walks along the long beach of Punta Bandera, in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, Yanize Elias picks up the garbage she finds. Cigarette butts, product packaging, plastic toys and even cases of DVD porn, who knows how it all got there. She works in a hotel restaurant, but the key thing about her, her passion, is defending the environment and protecting the public lands of the Boricuas. At her side is Johana Santiago, who she met through this movement, through the streets and their own persistence, they say, traveling to different towns across the island to organize actions, protests and campouts whose goal is to protect the public beaches and important ecosystems from developers who want to build on top of them.

But in Puerto Rico, protesting is risky business. Often, demonstrators are arrested or fined, as has happened many times to both Elias and Santiago. Thats why we are exploring other methods, says the latter, who has announced her candidacy to represent District 36 with the political party Citizens Victory Movement (MVC). In November, Puerto Rico will hold general elections and the idea is to present the environmental agenda, Santiago says.

Three years ago, in December 2021, both participated in a battle they lost, but that continues to haunt them: preventing the construction of the Luquillo Hotel Company (LHC), a complex developed by the Puerto Rican business conglomeration Prisa Group that has now become the Fairfield by Marriot Luquillo Beach, in an area that, they point out, is a wetland.

They began to build the project without warning or anything. Unannounced. They left a kind of covering of trees around it so that you couldnt see what they were knocking down, says Elias. But on December 8, once word got around about what was happening, a series of protests and actions took place, lasting across several days. We demanded that they not build there because it is a wetland, she says. We werent saying no to the hotel, just to them building it in that area.

Roqui Bello walks between trees in the Monserrate wetland in Luquillo. Gladys Serrano

Representatives from Prisa Group and the Marriot did not respond to interview requests from EL PAIS. But according to reports from local media, they have always argued that they have all the necessary environmental permits to build in the area. When asked about the situation, the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA) stated that the hotel has permits from the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, in April 2023, the EPA fined LHC $30,000 for failure to comply with permit notification requirements under the Clean Water Act related to the construction of the project.

A nameless wetland

Roberto Enrique Bello, a.k.a. Roqui, is one of the people who know this wetland best, although on maps and in politics, they dont call it that, he clarifies. With a masters degree in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley, he traverses the area several times a week to look for native plant seeds and bring them to a nursery. That over there is a dragonsblood tree (Pterocarpus officinalis), he says, gesturing at a gigantic tree whose roots seem to rise to the same height as a human being, towering over the wetland adjacent to the hotel, which is still in the process of being built. It is a water-associated species that grows on marshy shorelines, he adds.

So how are they going to tell me that this isnt an important ecosystem? he asks, unleashing a list of ways in which these wetlands, which have now been fragmented by construction, provide ecosystemic services. People eat crabs that they catch here, and its trees provide coconut and almonds. In addition, it sequesters carbon, he says. He takes his phone out of his pocket and opens up a mapping application that shows how the water from these wetlands is fundamental to the hydrological chain that they form, along with the Yunque National Forest (seven-and-a-half miles away) and the ocean (1,200 feet away). If you reduce the space that people take up, you will also affect that.

He isnt the only one saying that there is a wetland here, meaning that no hotel should be built in this area. Hector Quintero Vilella, who has his doctorate in ecology from Florida State University, believes that there is a large risk in the area due to flooding. Also, after reviewing the environmental studies that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved in giving Prisa Group its building permit, he says he found dozens of errors. The document has mistakes in its calculations relating to vegetation, hydrology and subsoil, he says on a video call. I sent my notes to the Army Corps of Engineers, but basically, when they responded to me, they said that they couldnt do anything because the hotel was already built, he says.

View of the Luquillo wetland (on the right). Gladys Serrano Roqui Bello shows a leaf from a tree in the wetland, on April 14. Gladys Serrano Facade of the Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel, built on top of the Luquillo wetland. Gladys Serrano The water in this wetland is key in relation to the Yunque National Forest. Gladys Serrano Different species inhabit the wetland area. Gladys Serrano

EL PAIS also reached out to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who referred the request to its office in Puerto Rico. As of publication, they have not issued a response.

Fined for protesting

Elias doesnt like walking by the Hotel Fairfield by Marriot. Hes not allowed to, either. On December 14, 2021, Santiago and three others, along with unknown protestors, were fined by the Court of First Instance Superior Chamber of Fajardo when the hotel claimed they were blocking access to construction, causing damage to machinery and threatening and assaulting workers. There is no interest in them ceasing to exercise their right to express themselves freely, the only thing being requested is the right of the LHC owner to continue its work, the document states.

After more than two years, Elias insists that she never threatened anyone. She even recounts how someone took the videos that she had recorded of the construction project and they cut a few seconds so that it looked like I was threatening the owners of the construction company. Indeed, she says that during the protests, it was the hotels security team who was violent with protestors. During that time, Santiago filed a complaint with the police because someone touched his body during the protests.

Although Eliass case is now closed after she was forced to pay a $500 fine, there are other environmental defenders who continue to be victims of intimidation. The most outrageous case of this is that of Monica Stamper. As part of the organization Ciudadanos por un Luquillo Resiliente (Citizens for a Resilient Luquillo), the activist filed an injunction asking the courts to detain the hotels construction permits while new studies like those of Quintero were carried out. The request, nonetheless, was denied because the court determined that Stamper had no personal interest or property that would be affected by the hotel. And although the case never even made its way to court, the activist received an invoice for more than $40,000 from the hotel group, which it claims was the amount it spent on lawyer fees.

Without even going to court, they made her pay for Prisas lawyer fees. The firm requested that, and the court allowed it, says Mariana Nogales, spokesperson for the MVCs members of the House of Representatives. This is what is known in English as SLAPP suits, strategic litigation against public participation: they create problems to eliminate the freedom of expression.

Yanize Elias, activist and Luquillo resident who has fought for years against the construction of buildings on Punta Bandera. Gladys Serrano

For Nogales, what is happening in Luquillo is just one more aftershock of a series of policies that are empowering contractors and leaving citizens, ecosystems and public beaches evermore unprotected. In addition to the controversial Law 22 of 2012, which granted tax exemptions to foreigners who came to the island promising to invest, there is a piece of earlier legislation, Law 161 of 2009. On paper, its purpose is to facilitate and promote the integral, social and physical sustainable development of Puerto Rico, but Nogales believes that what it actually did was facilitate permits for developers and expedite the construction process, avoiding greater oversight. That law laid the groundwork for deregulating government oversight and privatization, she says.

The consequences of this can be seen across the island, she adds. There is corruption in the permit system and even companies that start to build without legal permission entirely. In 2023, for example, the town of Aguadilla sued the Aguadilla Pier Corp for having built some structures in an area known as Cueva de las Golondrinas. After this, the DRNA forced the firm to demolish them. Elias and Santiago were there, raising their voices in what became known as the Pelicano protest camp. But, once again, both emerged from the protests with charges against them.

In Punta Banderas, Elias and Yanize are looking for a black mangrove that hides in the forest that runs along the beach. Its enormous and bears a sign that says arbol campeon (champion tree) as one of the largest in Puerto Rico. But they prefer that no one know where it is located. When the companies find out it is here, they will cut it down or poison it, so that it doesnt bother them, says Santiago. On this beach, which is public, of the people, she says, the hotel group wants to build condominiums. It is absurd, she says, showing a sign with the DRNA logo, that proclaims the beach is the site of nests of the leatherback sea turtle, one of the worlds largest species, who prowl the shores of Puerto Rico. The construction of the condominiums is waiting on permits and demarcation. That is why, while they walk along the beach, observe the sea and pick up garbage, these environmentalists say that soon, a new protest camp may be set up on these shores. A new battle will begin.

Coastline of Punta Bandera in Luquillo, where construction has been approved for several high-density buildings, shot on April 15. Gladys Serrano

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MILAN, July 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- After three years, the European campaign "Top Tales: A piece of Europe on your table," addressed to the U.S. and Chinese markets, comes to an end.

The products involved in the project were Barolo and Barbaresco DOCG wines, Fontina cheese PDO and Baraggia PDO rice. Over the three years, various activities were put in place, including a press office and press releases distribution to the Chinese and American media.

FONTINA PDO CONSORTIUM Logo (PRNewsfoto/FONTINA PDO CONSORTIUM) Riso di Baraggia Biellese e Vercellese Logo (PRNewsfoto/Fontina PDO Consortium and Baraggia Biellese e Vercellese Rice PDO Consortium)

One of the most important activities was the participation in several events including the Barolo Barbaresco World Opening, Summer and Winter Fancy Food in the USA and the Vinitaly Roadshow, SIAL and Prowine in China, with operators incoming trips from both countries.

Many digital activities were developed, including a rich editorial plan to communicate on social media in both China and the U.S.

The results were encouraging; the campaign reached with press office activities a total audience of more than 660,000,000 contacts in the U.S. and 380,000,000 contacts in China.

The campaign's social pages reached more than 3,800 followers in the U.S. and more than 5,500 followers in China.

Events were the most challenging activity for this campaign, which achieved an extraordinary result despite the pandemic. Trade shows such as the Summer and Winter Fancy Food in New York and Las Vegas reached 63.000 visitors in 2024, BBWO participants during the three years campaign were more than 700 trade operators and journalists. At the same time some masterclasses were organized during Prowein and Vinitaly Roadshow in China.

Activities have included also many incomings and visits to the mountain pastures to discover Fontina were very successful. On each occasion, the public had the opportunity to discover and learn more about the products or to taste them.

About Top Tales: Top Tales is a project supported by the European Union aimed at promoting Fontina DOP from Valle d'Aosta, Rice of Baraggia Biellese e Verceleses' DOP, as well as the DOCG's Barolo and Barbaresco. The European communication campaign, "Top Tales: A piece of Europe on your table," is designed to increase the awareness of the three existing DOP products in the China and United States market.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2436004/Barolo_and_Barbaresco_Logo.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2451838/Fontina_PDO_Logo.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2320815/Riso_di_Baraggia_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Top Tales
VANCOUVER, BC, July 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Silvercorp Metals Inc. ("Silvercorp" or the "Company") (TSX: SVM) (NYSE American: SVM) today provided an update regarding its proposed acquisition of Adventus Mining Corporation ("Adventus").

As announced in the Company's April 26, 2024 news release, the Company has entered into an arrangement agreement (the "Arrangement Agreement") with Adventus pursuant to which the Company agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Adventus by way of a plan of arrangement, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions (the "Transaction"). One of those conditions is the absence of any Material Adverse Effect (as defined in the Arrangement Agreement") in respect of Adventus. The Company has determined that such a Material Adverse Effect has arisen.

The Material Adverse Effect arises from the litigation referred to in the Adventus news release of June 17, 2024, which seeks to void the environmental licence of the Curipamba-El Domo project. Since we became aware of this litigation and brought it to the attention of Adventus some weeks ago, Silvercorp has made continuous, diligent efforts to understand and analyze the litigation and its implications. As a result of the analysis Silvercorp has done, and having taken advice from its legal and other advisors, Silvercorp reached the conclusion that this litigation presently constitutes a Material Adverse Effect, as defined in the Agreement, in respect of Adventus.

The Company will continue to monitor and evaluate the litigation and its surrounding circumstances and remains open to working cooperatively with Adventus with a view to closing the Transaction if the conditions to closing for the benefit of the Company can be satisfied.

The Arrangement Agreement specifies a deadline of July 31 for the satisfaction of all conditions to closing. Silvercorp has expressed to Adventus its willingness to discuss extending this deadline.

About Silvercorp

Silvercorp is a Canadian mining company producing silver, gold, lead, and zinc with a long history of profitability and growth potential. The Company's strategy is to create shareholder value by 1) focusing on generating free cashflow from long-life mines; 2) organic growth through extensive drilling for discovery; 3) ongoing merger and acquisition efforts to unlock value; and 4) a long-term commitment to responsible mining and ESG. For more information, please visit our website at www.silvercorpmetals.com.

For further information:

Silvercorp Metals Inc.

Lon Shaver

President

Phone: (604) 669-9397

Toll Free 1(888) 224-1881

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.silvercorpmetals.com

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER - FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to, among other things, the ability of the parties to satisfy the conditions to the closing of the Transaction, the anticipated timing for closing of the transaction, the legal action against Ecuador's environment ministry (MAATE), with Curimining S.A. (an affiliate of Adventus) as an interested third party, the potential outcome of the legal action and possible impacts of the litigation on Adventus and the Transaction. Forward-looking information may in some cases be identified by words such as "will", "anticipates", "expects", "intends" and similar expressions suggesting future events or future performance.

We caution that all forward-looking information is inherently subject to change and uncertainty and that actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. A number of risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information or could cause our current objectives, strategies and intentions to change. Accordingly, we warn investors to exercise caution when considering statements containing forward-looking information and that it would be unreasonable to rely on such statements as creating legal rights regarding our future results or plans. We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking information will materialize and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represent expectations as of the date of this news release and are subject to change after such date. However, we are under no obligation (and we expressly disclaim any such obligation) to update or alter any statements containing forward-looking information, the factors or assumptions underlying them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. All of the forward-looking information in this news release is qualified by the cautionary statements herein.

Forward-looking information is provided herein for the purpose of giving information about the Transaction referred and its expected impact. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Completion of the Transaction is subject to closing conditions, termination rights and other risks and uncertainties including, the legal action against MAATE, with Curimining S.A. as an interested third party, the potential outcome of the legal action and possible impacts of the litigation on Adventus and the Transaction. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Transaction will occur, or that it will occur on the terms and conditions contemplated in this news release. The Transaction could be modified, restructured or terminated. There can also be no assurance that the strategic benefits expected to result from the Transaction will be fully realized. In addition, if the transaction is not completed, and each of the parties continues as an independent entity, there are risks that the dedication of substantial resources of each party to the completion of the Transaction could have an impact on such party's current business or business relationships (including with future and prospective employees, customers, distributors, suppliers and partners) and could have a material adverse effect on the current and future operations, financial condition and prospects of such party.

A comprehensive discussion of other risks that impact Silvercorp and Adventus can also be found in their public reports and filings which are available under their respective profiles at www.sedarplus.ca.

SOURCE Silvercorp Metals Inc
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Jerusalem, July 6 : Chief of Israel's Mossad spy agency David Barnea has returned from the Qatari capital Doha following an initial meeting with mediators, and a team will be dispatched next week to continue the negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has announced.

"It should be emphasized that there are still gaps between the sides," the Israeli PMO said in a statement on Friday evening.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the dispatch of a delegation for negotiations on a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza and the release of hostages, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a senior Israeli official.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that an official familiar with the hostage talks said that Mossad officials had told mediators that they are "optimistic" the Israeli cabinet will accept the ceasefire proposal currently under discussion.

According to Israel's Channel 12 survey revealed on Friday, when asked what is most important at this moment, 67 per cent of the people interviewed said returning the hostages from Gaza, compared to 26 per cent who said continuing the war in Gaza and 7 per cent who said they didn't know.

The recent development marks a renewed effort to negotiate an end to the nearly nine-month-long conflict, which, according to the Gaza-based health authorities, has resulted in the deaths of more than 38,000 Palestinians in the enclave.
Tehran, July 6 : Voting for Iran's presidential runoff came to an end at midnight Friday after 16 straight hours, said Spokesman of Iran's Election Headquarters Mohsen Eslami.

He made the remarks in a live interview with Iran's state-run IRIB TV, stressing that although the polling stations' doors were closed, those responsible had to let all the voters who had come before the end of the voting process and were waiting for their turns cast their ballots, Xinhua news agency reported.

The counting process would start at the stations immediately after the voting ended, Eslami added.

In an address to reporters in the Iranian capital Tehran earlier in the day, Iran's Interim President Mohammad Mokhber said the results would be announced by Saturday morning.

The voting began at 8:00 a.m. Friday local time at nearly 59,000 polling stations across the country and abroad, with two candidates, former health minister Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili, the former chief negotiator in the nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers, vying for the top position at the country's executive branch.

Pezeshkian and Jalili secured over 42 per cent and 38 per cent of the votes, respectively, in the first round on June 28.

The voting was initially scheduled to end at 6:00 p.m. local time but was extended three times, with each extension lasting for two hours.

The candidate with the highest number of votes at the end of the runoff will be the next Iranian president.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei cast his ballot at a polling station in Tehran immediately after the voting began and made a brief speech.

"Today is a good day; the day of our beloved people's presence, participation, and becoming active in the election, which is an important political affair of the country," said Khamenei.

Field estimates showed that the turnout in the runoff surpassed the figure in the first round, which stood at 40 per cent, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

Over 61 million people were eligible to vote in the election, according to Iranian authorities. More than 24 million participated in the first round.

Iran's 14th presidential election, initially set for 2025, was rescheduled following the unexpected death of President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash on May 19.
The gate of the Buchenwald concentration camp (Germany), on the outskirts of Weimar, with the inscription "Jedem das Seine" ("To each what he deserves"). It was designed by Franz Ehrlich, trained at the Bauhaus and imprisoned in the camp for his communist sympathies, who later worked for the Nazis.

Behind the heroic facade of the Bauhaus, erected with the ideals of the artistic vanguard and political resistance, hides a complex and little-known history of the ambiguous relationship between some of its members and the Nazis. Shut down by Hitlers regime, the school of design, architecture and applied arts is remembered as a center of leftist resistance, as a refugee for martyrs who were labelled as degenerate artists by the Third Reich and condemned to exile and the end of their professional careers or even their lives. A new exhibition in Weimar, the German town where the Bauhaus was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919, tells a different story, though, one of tacit collusion and explicit collaboration.

Based on a three-year investigation, the Bauhaus and National Socialism exhibition, which runs through September 15, provides a reminder that many of the professors and students that passed through the schools halls continued their work with no interruptions after the 1933 Nazi victory. They didnt hesitate to accept commissions from the regime, out of necessity or conviction; they designed posters, furniture and household goods, not to mention creating portraits of Hitler and pieces that presented allegories of an eternal and pure Germany. In some cases, they were even active members of the Nazi Party and the Schutzstaffel (SS). The numbers are devastating: of the schools 1,400 constituents, at least 900 remained in Germany under the Third Reich. Only 130 fled the country after Hitlers victory at the polls, while some 188 decided to join the Nazi Party.

A piece by Hans Haffenrichter, a Bauhaus-trained artist who signed a bust of Hitler and another of Goring, in an exhibition room at the Schiller Museum in Weimar, Germany. Thomas Muller (Klassik Stiftung Weimar)

Through 450 works and objects, the exhibition explores the Bauhauss ambiguous relationship with the Nazis, and vice versa. The party closed the school in 1933, after moving it to Dessau and then to Berlin, and banned many of its artists from showing their works in public, considering them attacks on beauty and potential vehicles of Bolshevism. But, not without a certain schizophrenism, the Nazis also used these artists, designers and architects to project the image of a sophisticated and modern state, above all in the eyes of foreigners, says the exhibitions curator Anke Blumm. After initially rejecting them, the Third Reich took advantage of the artistic representatives of a movement that, after all, was in keeping with the Nazi taste for art without ornamentation.

The curator believes that enough time has passed for the myth of an immaculate Bauhaus to be dismantled. Beginning in the 1950s, an image was established of the school as a refuge for Socialists and Jews, ignoring accounts that did not square with that legend. In the post-war context, many Germans wanted to believe that all of its members were heroes. We are the third generation to come after the Holocaust and we have the necessary distance to look this reality in the face, says Blumm.

Bauhaus-trained Peter Pewas signed this poster for a Nazi propaganda film in 1945. Deutsche Kinemathek Grafikarchiv

From the beginning, Nazis paid particular attention to modern art. In 1930, when they gained a foothold in Thuringias state government, the party banned the works of the schools leaders. Seven years later, the Nazis confiscated several hundred paintings and sculptures, some of which are now on display in one of the exhibitions galleries. An apparently inoffensive floral watercolor, signed by Klee and owned by the MoMA, has returned to Weimar, a hotbed of culture and homeland of Goethe and Schiller, as has an abstract Kandinsky and a constructivist Moholy-Nagy. The show, which is divided into three distinct sections, contrasts these with the art that the Nazis did favor. Wilhelm Imkamp, former member of the Bauhaus, had a predilection for inane portraits of old women, while Heinrich Basedow, who was also a teacher at the school, abandoned abstraction to paint kitsch seagulls. Hans Haffenrichter designed diminutive statues of animals before undertaking a bust of Hitler.

In total, 16 of the schools professors and students participated in the large Munich art exhibition organized by the Nazis in 1937. Among the former members of the Bauhaus who were members of the party are designer Karl Peter Rohl, architect Friedrich Karl Engemann and artist Lili Schultz, who appeared in photos wearing Nazi uniforms or alongside party officials. Ernst Neufert, the author of an architectural reference manual who was Gropiuss right hand, collaborated with Albert Speer, official architect of the Third Reich. Artist Oskar Schlemmer participated in a public contest to create a fresco in which appeared characters executing the Nazi salute, while Fritz Ertl, an architect who became SS during the war, designed Auschwitzs so-called washhouses, crematoriums used to dispose of cadavers. He was acquitted in 1972 after saying that he didnt know what his designs would be used for; he had only applied what hed learned at the Bauhaus to follow the orders hed received. The banality of evil, in its architectural form.

From left to right, Josef Albers, Hinnerk Scheper, Georg Muche, Laslo Moholy Nagy, Herbert Bayer, Joost Schmidt, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, Gunta Stozl and Oskar Schlemmer, at the headquarters of the Bauhaus in Weimar, around 1920. Apic (Bridgeman/Getty Images)

For his part, Franz Ehrlich, who was imprisoned as a Communist sympathizer, didnt flinch from collaborating to save himself. He designed the entrance gates at Buchewald, a concentration camp location outside of Weimar, with the same fonts that were used by the Bauhaus. He later designed furnishings for the homes of various party officials and even built a guest house for Nazi leader Hermann Goring. At the other extreme, 24 members of the Bauhaus were deported and murdered in camps, like the painter Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and textile artist Otti Berger. There was no escape for the latter  she was a deaf Communist Jew.

The exhibition also mentions the schools best-known figures, who had an ambivalent attitude, sometimes out of their own interest, being reluctant to undertake the life of the exile. Gropius himself, who is suspected of antisemitism, was a member of the Chamber of Culture founded by Goebbels and participated in an architecture contest organized by the Nazis. In 1934, he designed a pavilion for the propagandistic German People-German Labor exhibition, as did Mies van der Rohe, who was the director of the Bauhaus from 1930 to 1933 before expatriating to the United States. But the majority of the Bauhaus creatives preferred to adapt to the countrys new conditions. Not everyone had the money to go into exile, they had to feed their families and after all, this was their birth country, says Blumm. It was easy to make do by working as graphic designers. It wasnt the same as killing someone, they thought. They were young and naive.

A poster commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Bauhaus, in 1969, by Herbert Bayer. The German designer and typographer signed propaganda posters for the Nazis before going into exile in the United States in 1938. swim ink 2 llc (Corbis/Getty Images)

Still, the show includes examples that reflect large doses of voluntary ignorance. For example, theres the case of Herbert Bayer. The great designer and typographer of the Bauhaus, who favored lowercase and sans serif lettering, was not suspected of having any Nazi affiliation: he was married to a Jew and had many Jewish friends. Still, he agreed to design posters for the regime in which appear the iron cross, another for an association of Aryan textile workers and a third for an ad defending the sterilization of erbkranken, a category used by the Nazis to classify genetically inferior individuals such as people with disabilities. In 1938, Bayer self-exiled to Aspen, where he began a new life making advertisements for ski resorts. When he was reminded of that uncomfortable life chapter, he would respond by saying he made an error in thinking that art could be apolitical.

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Bratislava, July 6 : Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has made his first appearance at a public event after being attacked by a gunman in mid-May.

He presented a speech on Friday at the Devin Castle in Bratislava, in celebrating a national holiday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Europe and Slovakia have never been so divided as they are today," Fico said.

He praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for visiting Kiev and Moscow. "I would have loved to join him, had my health condition enabled me to do so," he said.

According to him, there are never enough peace talks and initiatives in this regard.

He also called for forming a bulwark against "senseless progressive and liberal ideologies that damage Slovakia".

Fico sustained four gunshot wounds in an attack on May 15 when he greeted supporters after chairing a government meeting in the central Slovak town of Handlova.
United Nations, July 6 : The world organisation has warned of a "heightened risk of a full-scale war" along the Lebanon-Israel border where 901 Indian peacekeepers are deployed.

United Nations, July 6 (IANS) The world organisation has warned of a "heightened risk of a full-scale war" along the Lebanon-Israel border where 901 Indian peacekeepers are deployed.

"The UN is deeply concerned at the increase in the intensity of exchanges of fire across the Blue Line yesterday, which heightens the risk of a full-scale war", Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's spokesperson's office said on Friday.

"Escalation can and must be avoided. We reiterate that the danger of miscalculation leading to a sudden and wider conflagration is real," it added.

After an Israeli drone killed a senior commander of the Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon on Wednesday, the militia responded by sending a barrage of 100 rockets into Israel.

The well-entrenched Hezbollah, which has the backing of Iran has threatened to continue attacks on Israel in solidarity with Hamas under Israeli assault in Gaza.

The decades-long tensions in the area have intensified since October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, which launched a retribution on Gaza that it controls.

In solidarity with Hamas, Hezbollah said attacks on Israel till there is a ceasefire in Gaza, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.

Civilians have suffered the most from the volley of attacks between Hezbollah and Israel.

About 60,000 Lebanese have reportedly been displaced, and, according to United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, about 20,000 Israelis have also been forced to flee the border areas because of the attacks.

"Israel has effectively lost its sovereignty in the northern quadrant of its country because people don't safe to go to their homes," he said on Monday underscoring the risk of war.

He added that an agreement reached through diplomacy was needed to end the security risks and ensure that "forces are pulled back."

The spokesperson's office also emphasised that a "political and diplomatic solution is the only viable way forward."

The Indian peacekeepers are a part of the 10,000-strong 49-nation UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) charged by the Security Council to work with Lebanese national forces to keep order in the volatile section known as the Blue Line that separates Lebanon and Israel.

In effect, the mission also acts as a buffer between the two countries at times caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The spokesperson's office said that the Foreign Affairs Committee of Lebanon's Parliament visited UNIFIL to express support for the mission and its mandate on Thursday.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to emphasise "the need for de-escalation across the Blue Line," it added.

Lebanon's writ is weak in the region where Hezbollah controls vast tracts of territory.

Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who Israel blamed for rockets into the country, was the second Hezbollah commander killed in less than a month.

Last month another Hezbollah commander, Taleb Abdallah, was killed by Israel in Southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah retaliated with about 150 rockets and drones, but international diplomacy kept it from further escalation.

At another peacekeeping mission in the region, the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) charged with maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Syria, 202 Indian troops are deployed.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
Srinagar, July 6 : Jammu and Kashmir DGP, RR Swain, lauded his men and expressed gratitude to the President of India, Prime Minister, and the Defence Minister for awarding Shaurya Chakras to five personnel of the Union Territory's police force for the first time.

Srinagar, July 6 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir DGP, RR Swain, lauded his men and expressed gratitude to the President of India, Prime Minister, and the Defence Minister for awarding Shaurya Chakras to five personnel of the Union Territoryas police force for the first time.

For the first time in the history of J&K Police since it was established in 1873 and after Independence, five personnel of this organisation have been awarded Shaurya Chakras for their courage and bravery while serving the nation.

Shaurya Chakra is normally awarded to the personnel of the three Defence forces.

Lauding his men for being bestowed with this honour, DGP Swain in a statement thanked President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for recognising the valour and sacrifices of J&K Police in the service of the nation.

The five Shaurya Chakra awardees from J&K Police include selection grade Constable, Saifullah Qadri (posthumously), Dy SP Mohan Lal, Sub-Inspector, Amit Raina, Sub-Inspector, Feroz Ahmed, and Constable Varun Singh.
New Delhi, July 6 : Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist and former Health Minister of Iran, on Saturday, won the 14th presidential election by beating his rival, Saeed Jalili, local media reported.

Masoud Pezeshkian got 16,384,402 of the total 30,573,931 votes in the runoff, reports Iran International News.

The voter turnout, however, stood at 49.8 per cent, relatively lower than the first phase of the elections, as over 50 per cent of the eligible voters boycotted the elections.

Voting for the Iran presidential runoff commenced on Friday morning, with two top contenders, Masoud Pezeshkian and Saeed Jalili, a principlist and the former chief negotiator in the nuclear talks between Tehran and world powers, in the run.

Iran went to polls on June 28, and the next day, Spokesman of Iran's Election Headquarters Mohsen Eslami announced the results for the first phase, in which Pezeshkian garnered 42.6 per cent of the total votes, while Jalili got 38.8 per cent.

Despite leading the race, none of the candidates were able to cross the 50 per cent mark required to win the presidential race.

Iran's 14th presidential election, which had initially been set for 2025, was rescheduled following the unexpected death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19.
Washington, July 6 : The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its Indo-Pacific partners, including South Korea, plan to discuss resilience, support for Ukraine, disinformation, cybersecurity and emerging technologies during their summit in Washington next week, a senior US administration official said.

The NATO summit is set to take place in the US capital from Tuesday to Thursday. The leaders of the alliance's four Indo-Pacific partners (IP4) - South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Japan have been invited to the summit that marks the 75th anniversary of NATO's founding, reported Yonhap news agency.

"We are bringing together some of our closest non-NATO partners to have a discussion around issues like resilience, cyber, disinformation, and technology," the official said in a virtual briefing.

He added, "This particular grouping of IP4 as we call them in NATO lingo -- Australia, Japan, New Zealand and ROK (Republic of Korea) ,These are some of our closest partners that we work with in the region".

The NATO summit involving Indo-Pacific partners is set to take place on Thursday.

The official did not elaborate on the issue of resilience. In a NATO context, resilience refers to the capacity to prepare for, resist, respond to and quickly recover from shocks and disruptions across the full spectrum of threats, according to an article on NATO's Allied Command Transformation website.

At the NATO gathering, there will be a "strong" demonstration of U.S. and allies' support for Ukraine, the official said, highlighting Washington's plan to announce new steps to strengthen Ukraine's air defences and military capabilities.

"Together, the Washington summit will send a strong signal to Putin that if he thinks he can outlast the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine, he's dead wrong," he said.

"We are also sending an important message to the rest of the world, including through our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, as we stand together united and in support of democratic values," he added.

The summit comes amid growing concerns about Biden's mental health and physical fitness, which was called into question again following a poor debate performance last week.

Observers said that Biden is likely to capitalise on the summit to highlight that he is up for the job and capable of leading the nation for another four year term.

"Foreign leaders have seen Joe Biden up close and personal for the last three years. They know who they are dealing with and they know how effective he's been," the official said.

"What the president has done over the last three years is to reinvigorate the NATO alliance, including expanding it, making it more capable. He has stood up to President Putin's unprecedented aggression against Ukraine by mobilising a coalition of a minimum of 50 allies and partners to provide capabilities to Ukraine."
New Delhi, July 6 : Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and startups have emerged as major players in creating jobs in India.

Together, these created about eight crore new jobs in the last five years, said Sumita Dawra, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Dawra said this at an event held in the national Capital by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Employers' Federation of India (EFI), citing the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).

She also revealed the reforms such as decriminalisation of labour laws, and increasing female workforce participation, undertaken by the ministry for ease of doing business.

She noted that reforms such as social security and labour welfare are expected to drive inclusive growth in India.

In addition, "29 labour laws had been codified into four labour laws. A national career service portal is active and data from the Skills Ministry is being integrated", Dawra said.

Further, she added that India "has about 1 crore gig workers and the gig economy is expected to give employment to about 2.4 crore people by 2030."

Meanwhile, the government has also constituted a task force to study the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the future of work, the senior official said, calling for more research.
Thiruvananthapuram, July 6 : With the Kerala unit of the CPI(M) deciding to take corrective steps after its drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls, eyebrows are being raised over the party welcoming into its fold a former BJP and RSS activist with criminal cases against him.

Among those who were present to receive Sharon Chandran into the party at Pathanamthitta, were State Health Minister Veena George, Pathanamthitta District Secretary, KP Udayabhanu and other top district leaders.

Incidentally Chandran was released from jail last month and the charges against him among others include, Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA).

Defending the entry of Chandran into the party, Udayabhanu said KAPPA was not a permanent label as in it there is a period, after which it is lifted.

"He was an active worker of the Sangh Parivar and he was used for undesirable activities. When he realised what he was doing was not right, he decided to reform himself and now he has joined our party.

"Anyone who is involved in politics will have various cases and just because of that, one cannot be termed as a criminal," said Udayabhanu.

Pictures of the grand entry of Chandran into the CPI(M) surfaced on Saturday and those seen in them include George and other leaders.

Chandran has multiple criminal cases against him which includes attacking a woman and is named in the only KAAPA case filed in the jurisdiction of the home police station at Malayolapuzha in Pathanamthitta.

With this becoming news, strong reservations have been expressed by a section of party workers in the district.

This act has taken place even as the central leadership of the party has asked its Kerala leadership to ensure that no party worker indulges in any activities which bring disrepute to the CPI(M).
Los Angeles, July 6 : Hollywood actor Kevin Bacon stepped outside in disguise to experience life as a "regular person" and realised it is not fun without being recognised.

The 65-year-old actor shared his experience in a Vanity Fair article titled 'Kevin Bacon Spent a Day as a Regular Person'.

Bacon told the magazine: "I'm not complaining, but I have a face that's pretty recognisable."

"Putting my hat and glasses on is only going to work to a certain extent. I went to a special effects makeup artist, had consultations, and asked him to make me a prosthetic disguise," he added.

After wearing fake teeth, a new nose, and glasses, the actor headed to a shopping mall in Los Angeles and was initially thrilled, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Bacon said: "Nobody recognised me."

However, Bacon soon regretted his decision.

The actor said: "People were kind of pushing past me, not being nice. Nobody said, 'I love you'. I had to wait in line to, I don't know, buy a ******* coffee or whatever. I was like, this *****. I want to go back to being famous."

The actor revealed that he always wanted to be famous after seeing his father regularly getting recognised in public.

Bacon said: "In terms of giving credit to my parents, and of course, I give all the credit to them, my mother was very much on the artistic side and really encouraged acting."

"My brother was a musician, but in general, among the six of us (children), they both encouraged as much creativity as possible in everything -- dance, music, theatre, painting, sculpture, whatever. My father was famous in Philadelphia, which in some ways is a small pond, but for me, it was a big pond."

"I saw him get recognised by people when he would walk down the street, and seeing that was definitely a big driving force in my life. Frankly, I wanted to be more famous than him. And you can lay me down on the shrink's couch. We could talk about that for a while. But it was definitely a motivator," he added.
Kolkata, July 6 : Tension gripped the Sonarpur area in Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Saturday after a local BJP activist, his wife and their son were stabbed.

Gobindo Adhikari, his wife Namita Adhikari and their son Gourab Adhikari were critically injured in the attack and rushed to state-run MR Bangur Hospital, from where they were shifted to the S. S. K. M Medical College & Hospital.

Gobindo Adhikari, an active BJP worker in the area, was the party's polling agent in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Three people -- Archan Bhattacharya, Subhash Debnath and Sumit Debnath -- have been arrested in this connection.

A political slugfest has already erupted in the area over the incident.

"Those who have attacked Gobindo, his wife, and his son are active Trinamool Congress workers. BJP was leading from the polling booth where Gobindo was the polling agent in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. He was also threatened then by the goons backed by the ruling party," said local BJP leader Debnath Chakraborty.

However, local Trinamool Congress councilor Rajib Purohit denied the involvement of his party workers behind the event and said that it happened due to an old rivalry between the two families.

Investigation is on.
New Delhi, July 6 : More large foreign manufacturers of heavy machinery used in the infrastructure sector figure in the list of more than 15,000 companies that have registered to set up units in the country during June, according to data compiled by the ministry of corporate affairs.

Senior officials see this as the outcome of the increasing demand for such machinery as the government is making massive investments in highways, ports, airports and railway projects.

It also reflects the success of the Governmentas Make-in-India and Aatmanirbhar policy that encourages foreign companies to start operations in the country, an official said.

UKas Auger Torque Europe Ltd, one of the foreign companies which has registered for starting operations in India, manufactures earth drills and attachments and is part of Germanyas Kinshofer Group which makes attachments for truck cranes and excavators.

Japanas Tomoe Engineering Co Ltd, which is on the new list, manufactures machinery, equipment and chemicals.

Another Japanese company, Kawada Industries, Inc. is part of the KTI Kawada Group, which is the business of building, maintaining and preserving infrastructure.

Besides, a Russian heavy machinery manufacturer and a UAE-based energy company have also registered to set up operations in India.

Institut fuer Oekologie, Technik and Innovation Gmbh, also in the new list of foreign companies keen to set up base in India, provides testing and certification services for different industries.

These foreign companies are expected to bring in new technology and will complement the efforts of Indian companies that are operating in the infrastructure sector, a senior official pointed out.

Big-ticket infrastructure projects in the highways, railways and ports sector will continue to drive growth in the Indian economy as the Government has stepped up the outlay for these investments in the interim budget for 2024-25.

Government investments in large infrastructure projects create jobs and incomes that have a multiplier effect on the economy as demand for products such as steel and cement also goes up which leads to more private investments and employment. With the creation of additional jobs, the demand for consumer goods also increases leading to a further acceleration in the countryas economic growth rate.

To ramp up the virtuous cycle of investment and job creation, the budget for 2023-24 had ramped up the capital expenditure outlay on infrastructure projects by 37.4 per cent to a whopping Rs 10 lakh crore from Rs 7.28 lakh crore in 2022-23.

The interim budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has further enhanced by 11.1 per cent the allocation for infrastructure projects to a whopping Rs 11.11 lakh crore to spur growth. The increase that comes on top of a large base of the previous year will result in massive investments to spur growth. The finance minister pointed out that this will also attract big investments from the private sector which will accelerate the growth momentum.

The interim budget provides for a Rs 2.52 lakh crore capital expenditure for Railways in 2024-25. The finance minister has announced the implementation of three major economic railway corridor programmes namely energy, mineral and cement corridors; port connectivity corridors; and high traffic density corridors.
Madrid, Tokyo, Doha, the islands of Fiji  no world region will remain untrammeled by tourist footsteps in 2024. Just between January and March, 285 million people traveled to an international destination, 20% more than during last years first quarter, according to United Nations Tourism. Bottled-up demand thanks to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, rise in airline connectivity and the recovery of Asian countries will contribute to a 2% rise in passenger numbers as compared to pre-pandemic figures, according to forecasts. Last year, tourisms contribution to the global economy rose above $3.2 billion, equal to 3% of the global gross domestic product. That number will rise even higher in 2024 if things play out in accordance with expert predictions.

A long list of economic and political factors is in the industrys favor. The most notorious of them is heightened demand, which appears to be unsated despite three years having passed since Covid paralyzed the world, causing borders to be closed to an extent that had not taken place in recent memory. This is what experts have dubbed a champagne effect, according to Juan Molas, president of the Spanish Tourism Board. There are so many people who havent been able to carry out the activities associated with travel and tourism over the past four years. Now that they have the opportunity, they want to take advantage of the moment, and spending rates reflect that, he says. And though everyone wants to travel, if you had to point out on a map where the majority of tourists are coming from, youd be gesturing towards China, United States, Germany, United Kingdom and France. In 2023, those were the countries that spent the most amount of money on vacations, although emerging markets like India and South Korea also appear on the list. Analysts agree that the recovery of the Asian market and the expansion of a middle class with buying power in developing economies are the two driving forces behind the new tourism craze.

According to the McKinsey consulting firm, in 2030, 40% of Chinas population will belong to the middle class, which amounts to an increase of 200 million people compared to todays figures. Similarly, India, the most-populous country in the world with more than 1.4 billion inhabitants, is home to a middle class that will grow by 250 million people over the next decade, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation. These enormous numbers will have important repercussions when it comes to the global tourism industry, because they represent new travelers who will begin to visit foreign countries, says Trent Innes, chief growth officer at SiteMinder.

The appearance of more potential travelers is inexorably linked to market recovery. Last years long-awaited return of China after three years of lockdown did not generate the hoped-for economic boost. Peking officials reacted with a battery of measures in response, and in 2024, the countrys GDP is expected to grow by a healthy 5%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculated in April that there would be a worldwide growth of 3.2% this year. It appears that the world has reached cruising speed, given that this is the same percentage that global GDP rose by in 2023, and that is expected in 2025.

Tourists ride camels on a safari in the Doha desert. Anadolu (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Theres no better tailwind for tourism than a robust economy. Even the European Union, which started the year flagging, saw a slight increase of 0.2% in household consumption in the first quarter. Analysts credit this European resilience, despite Germanys seized engine and an IMF forecast for poorer growth than that of the United States, to strong job creation and an extraordinary pool of savings that was accumulated during the pandemic. Apparently, with help from public assistance and lower spending during lockdown, Europeans have yet to fully spend this nest egg. It therefore should come as no surprise that consumer optimism remains stable and has even improved as we head into summer, as a recent McKinsey survey pointed out.

Industry analysts have also pointed to psychological factors on the margins of this relative economic bonanza. They believe that the pandemic changed many peoples way of thinking and has given rise to a new kind of hedonism. Different factors have led people to prefer short-term experiences over projects that might not be successful in the long term, says Oscar Perelli, director of studies and research at Exceltur Tourism Alliance. No one knows if this preference will be around forever, but the World Travel and Tourism Council has stated that, since 2022, even when things get difficult, people prefer to economize in other areas rather than cutting their travel budget.

Governmental policies have also contributed to the boom. Some, to the point of regret. Jose Serrano, professor at Madrids Universidad Europea, illustrates this using the example of the Japanese governments strategy to position the Asian country as a prime tourism destination. Among other things, these included subsidies for the development of tourist attractions and promoting rural tourism. Now, the region hosts so many millions of tourists every year that recently, the government took action to slow the wave of visitors.

Tourists visit the Shenyang Imperial Palace on June 26. CFOTO (CFOTO/Future Publishing via Gett)

Among the governmental strategies that have been implemented in the recovery of an industry that, years ago, went dry overnight, are changes in visa regulations that have provided another push. The most noteworthy case has been that of China, which, at the end of last year, announced a visa exemption for the citizens of five European countries and Malaysia. After this easing of requirements, trips to the country multiplied by 10 during Lunar New Year festivities (which run from February 10-17), according to the latest report from U.N. Tourism.

There is no world region that does not want to increase its revenues, and that is making them dedicate more money to the promotion of tourism, says Jose Manuel Lastra, vice president of the Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies. Morocco and Peru are seeing a significant increase, similar to Ireland and Austria, he says. Pablo Diaz Luque, an educator at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, adds that social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok have made travel a necessity. Sharing your tourism experience is now required, and its immediate consumption makes it all the more urgent. Before, it was a slower process, though you did share photo albums, he says.

All this is adding up to what could be a record-breaking 2024. The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that 142 of the 185 countries it analyzed will see numbers of tourists and spending above pre-pandemic figures. Jobs linked to the industry will grow by 10% because, as Julia Simpson, the organizations president, explains, economic growth and tourism are mutually compatible. Traveling and tourism is not just about getting on a plane and going to new places. They are engines for job creation, economies, and cultural union around the world, she says. Regardless of outcry over the overcrowding at some popular destinations, there seems to be no limit for the tourism industry in 2024.

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Bhopal, July 6 : Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Saturday launched the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign in Bhopal, saying that it will prove to be a milestone towards environment protection.

CM Yadav, accompanied by state BJP head V. D. Sharma, planted a sapling at Jamburi Maidan. The Chief Minister also carried a photograph of his mother while planting the sapling.

CM Yadav said, "This step is a resolution to protect the environment. The resolution of Bhopal residents to plant 12 lakh saplings will prove to be a milestone towards environmental protection, which will inspire other cities."

Meanwhile, he also appealed to people in the state to participate in the campaign.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has initiated the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign.

The Madhya Pradesh government is equally committed to environmental conservation, aiming to plant approximately 5.5 crore saplings across the state by July 15.

Notably, for the last few years, his predecessor Shivraj Singh Chouhan (now Union Minister) used to plant one sapling every day at Shyamala Hills.

Planting a sapling was a daily routine until he shifted to Delhi after becoming the Union Agriculture Minister.
Mumbai, July 6 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday that it has imposed a penalty of Rs 1.32 crore on Punjab National Bank for non-compliance with regulations on 'Loans and Advances - Statutory and Other Restrictions' and breach of KYC norms.

Mumbai, July 6 (IANS) The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday that it has imposed a penalty of Rs 1.32 crore on Punjab National Bank for non-compliance with regulations on 'Loans and Advances  Statutory and Other Restrictions' and breach of KYC norms.

The RBI has in its statutory inspection found that PNB "sanctioned working capital demand loans to two State Government-owned Corporations against amounts receivable from Government by way of subsidies/refunds/reimbursements."

PNB also failed to preserve the records pertaining to the identification of customers and their addresses obtained during the course of business relationships in certain accounts.

The RBI also said that the action against PNB is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transactions or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers.
Bengaluru, July 6 : The BJP in Karnataka has demanded that the Congress government declare a medical emergency over the rising dengue cases in the state.

Addressing a joint press conference at the BJP headquarters in Bengaluru, BJP MP C.N. Manjunath demanded that along with declaring a medical emergency, the state government should also form a task force and take the opinion of experts in handling the situation.

"Dengue is detected more among children and it is increasing every day. Six to seven deaths have been reported so far and more than 7,000 active dengue cases are reported in the state. Every day 600 to 700 dengue cases are reported in the state."

"More cases are reported in Bengaluru, Chikkamagaluru, Mysuru and Hassan. A doctor has succumbed to dengue fever," Manjunath said.

"Once complications start in dengue, death is 99 per cent as there is no treatment. Controlling dengue is nothing but controlling mosquitoes. The medicines would be administered for fever and blood pressure," he added.

"Along with dengue, mosquitoes will also infect people with Zika virus and Chikungunya. Dengue should be declared as an endemic as it has affected people all over the state. The war-footing approach, like how things moved during Covid-19, is needed to tackle the spread of dengue, hence there is a need to declare a medical emergency," the BJP MP said.

Manjunath also added that the growth of mosquitoes is not coming under control as the construction of flyovers, underpasses and bridges have not been completed on time.

"The land is dug and water is filled and it is becoming a breeding ground for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes known as primary transmitters of dengue fever."

State BJP Spokesperson C.N. Ashwath Narayan said: "Dengue is spread in all districts. It is a seasonal disease and the Congress government has failed to take precautions. Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao is busy touring the state and engaged with party-related activities."

The Union government had issued a circular on precautions to be taken by the states after dengue cases were reported from Maharashtra, he added.

"Minister Gundu Rao is not at all focused on the rising number of cases of dengue fever in the state. The private hospitals and laboratories are charging exorbitant rates for blood tests from Rs 1,000 to 1,500, violating all guidelines by the government in this regard," he said while criticising the Karnataka government.
Bengaluru, July 6 : Commenting on the stopping of sale of Bharat rice at an MRP of Rs 29 per kilo by the Centre to the state, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stated on Saturday that an agitation would be launched against it.

Speaking to reporters after participating in the function to mark the death anniversary of former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram at the Vidhana Soudha, he stated, "We will have to start an agitation against stopping of Bharat rice by the central government. If they are unable to provide rice even as they have the stocks of rice, it is because of political ill-will."

The Bharat rice was introduced for the purpose of election and they have stopped it once the elections are over, CM Siddaramaiah alleged.

"The central government is doing this to bring a bad name to our government. If there are no stocks of rice it is understandable, in this case, they have the rice but are not providing it. "When we approached the central government for rice to be given under the free rice programme 'Anna Bhagya', they refused to provide rice, even as they have enough stocks at the Food Corporation of India," CM Siddaramaiah stated.

"It is very evident that the central government is not with the Dalits, poor and backwards. There are poor people among all castes, they refused to provide rice when the state government wanted to give rice to those poor sections of society," CM Siddaramaiah reiterated.

"We were then forced to purchase rice. The central government has intentionally not provided rice to Karnataka," he stated.
Bengaluru, July 6 : An incident of an 11-year-old boy succumbing to dengue fever came to light here on Saturday. The deceased boy is identified as Gagan, a resident of Anjanapura in the outskirts of Bengaluru.

According to authorities, Gagan was being treated for dengue fever for a few days at a private hospital in Bengaluru and succumbed to the deadly virus on Friday late night. Gagan was a student of Chaitanya Techno School.

In a separate incident, a 74-year-old man died after being infected with Zika virus on Friday night in Gandhinagar in Shivamogga district of the state. The deceased was detected with Zika virus on June 21 and he was suffering from severe fever symptoms since June 19. He was discharged from the hospital on Thursday and was being treated at home.

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao had asked the Deputy Commissioners in the state to be vigilant about the spread of Zika virus along with dengue cases.

Considering the rising cases of dengue, the state government has capped the prices of dengue testing at Rs 600. Karnataka has witnessed a rise of 42 per cent in dengue cases compared to last year and 6,187 positive cases of dengue have been detected in the state. Six persons have died from January to July 2.
As angry young man Suresh Gopi turns 65, he is firm on his political future. Image Source: IANS News

Thiruvananthapuram, July 6 : With the Election Commission all set to announce the dates for bypolls to two Assembly constituencies and for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, the BJP launched its campaign at Palakkad on Saturday.

The Assembly bye-elections at Palakkad and Chelakkara were necessitated after sitting legislators Shafi Paramabil (Congress at Palakkad) and K Radhakrishnan (CPI-M at Chelakkara) vacated their seats after winning the Lok Sabha polls.

The Palakkad unit of the BJP launched its campaign after a function to felicitate the two party Cabinet members from Kerala.

Suresh Gopi won from the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat while George Kurian a senior party leader will soon be brought into the Rajya Sabha from another state.

Gopi said that just like the people at Thrissur gave BJP the seat, he was confident that the people at Palakkad would also give the seat to the party.

The BJP has now started its search for a suitable candidate for Palakkad and the name of Kerala BJP President, K Surendran, is doing the rounds.

A popular leader, he came a distant third in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat which has now been vacated by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.

Apart from K Surendran, the names of Sobha Surendran who contested the Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat and Krishnakumar who contested the Palakkad Lok Sabha seat are also doing the rounds.

The BJP is also seriously looking at apolitical candidates like legendary railway engineer E Sreedharan, as the party is confident that such people can help it open its account in the 140-member Kerala Assembly.

This is especially true at Palakkad as the BJP candidates at the previous two Assembly elections, finished second, pushing the CPI(M) candidates to third place.

Meanwhile at Chelakkara which is a reserved constituency for Scheduled Caste candidates, where the BJP doesnat hold much of a chance, the party is not going to sit idle and might bring in TN Sarassu, a retired principal of a state-run college.

TN Sarassu had been harassed by the student wing of the CPI(M) on the day she retired from service a few years ago.

Incidentally, TN Sarassu was the BJPas candidate in the Alathur Lok Sabha constituency, in which the Chelakkara Assembly constituency is located.

Even though she lost the Lok Sabha polls, she was able to increase the BJPas votes in a major way, as compared to the 2019 General Elections.

Incidentally with the bye-election to the Wayanad Lok Sabha polls also being held and the Congress announcing Priyanka Gandhi as its candidate, there will be a galaxy of leaders from the Congress and BJP arriving for campaigning for the seat.

These leaders are also expected to campaign at Palakkad and Chelakkara, thereby giving these constituencies a feel of high-voltage campaigns.
New Delhi, July 6 : Want to maintain sharp memory skills and cognitive function as you age? Cutting down on smoking suggests a large study that found it to be a key lifestyle factor linked to cognitive decline.

The study, published in Nature Communications, is based on a 10-year survey of 32,000 adults aged 50 or over from 14 countries in Europe.

The team led by researchers from the University College London, UK showed that cognitive decline was faster for lifestyles that included smoking. People who smoked had cognitive scores that declined up to 85 per cent more over 10 years than those who did not.

Lead author Mikaela Bloomberg (UCL Behavioural Science & Health) said the study "is observational; it cannot definitively establish cause and effect, but it suggests smoking might be a particularly important factor influencing the rate of cognitive ageing".

As per previous studies, people who engaged in more healthy behaviours like regular exercise, and moderate alcohol intake have slower cognitive decline. However, it did not specify whether all behaviours contributed equally to cognitive decline.

However, the new study showed that among the healthy behaviours, "not smoking may be the most important in terms of maintaining cognitive function".

Among those unable to stop smoking, the study suggests engaging in other healthy behaviours such as regular exercise, moderate alcohol consumption, and remaining socially active "to offset adverse cognitive effects", Mikaela said.
Kochi, July 6 : Former NASA astronaut and technology executive Steve Lee Smith will be the highlight of the two-day first International GenAI Conclave to be hosted by the Kerala Government in Kochi on July 11 and 12.

This event is in association with IBM. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate it.

A veteran astronaut, Smith flew into space four times at 28,000 KMH on the space shuttle during his stint in NASA, covering 16 million miles.

He also performed seven spacewalks, including repairs of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Smith will speak on aLessons Learned from A Skywalkera at the conclave.

The event will be attended by leading lights in this area to explore the transformative potential of AI and its impact on society and the economy.

The GenAI conclave aims to transform Kerala as an AI destination and showcase the stateas perspectives on industry 4.0, besides giving a thrust to the growth of the economy.

Besides developers, universities, students, media and analysts, the conclave will feature demos, activations, interactions with industry experts, panel discussions and lectures.

Participants will also get a first-hand experience in the latest advancements in the AI sector.
Mumbai, July 6 : The upcoming dance reality show 'India's Best Dancer 4' will feature an engaging banter between hosts Jay Bhanushali and Aniket Chauhan with the studio audience, who identified three people from the audience and invited them to dance in front of the judges.

Mumbai, July 6 (IANS) The upcoming dance reality show 'Indiaas Best Dancer 4' will feature an engaging banter between hosts Jay Bhanushali and Aniket Chauhan with the studio audience, who identified three people from the audience and invited them to dance in front of the judges.

One standout performer was Dibyajyoti Naik from Cuttack, Odisha, who delivered a dance routine blending 'Popping with Bollywood' to the song aAaye Aajaye Aa Hi Jaiyea from the movie aLajjaa, leaving the judges bewildered.

Judge and choreographer Geeta Kapur praised his performance, saying, "I honestly donat know how to whistle, so I urge those who know how to whistle to please do so for Dibyajyoti. Your journey is indescribable; you just came in as an audience member, and now you are performing for us on the stage of the show."

"Few people know that you are a well-known choreographer in the Odia film industry, and I wonder why you never mentioned it. You are so unique. We don't know anything about you, but you are so well-versed when it comes to the technicalities of dance. There is creativity in your choreography, which is unique, and your interpretation of the song is also very different. Itas fun, entertaining, and new," added Geeta.

During his interaction with the judges, Dibyajyoti expressed gratitude to Jay for spotting him.

He also shared insights about his life at home, where he is the eldest son, with his father in the police force and his mother a housewife.

"My father wants me to join the police force, but my passion is to dance, and I was adamant that I want to take up dancing. So here I am, all thanks to the platform of 'Indiaas Best Dancer 4'," added Dibyajyoti.

Alongside Geeta Kapur, the show features judges Karisma Kapoor and Terence Lewis.

'Indiaas Best Dancer 4' will premiere on July 13 on Sony.
Tehran, July 6 : Iran and Hungary highlighted the necessity to refrain from the escalation of tension in the West Asia region.

In a phone call, Iranian caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto exchanged views on Friday about regional issues of common interest and bilateral ties, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bagheri Kani stressed the need to enhance stability and refrain from the escalation of tension in West Asia, noting that the continuation of Israeli "crimes" against Palestinians and the recent escalations between Israel and Lebanon had placed the region in a new situation.

He warned that any new move to cause further tension in the region would work to the detriment of the "warmongers".

Pointing to bilateral ties, Bagheri Kani said Iran and Hungary had always had good relations with each other, and the ties had been reflecting a positive and growing trend.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister, for his part, stressed the need to step up efforts to prevent the intensification of the conflicts in the region.

He stressed the importance of diplomacy in bilateral relations and the international arena, welcoming the strengthening of the bilateral ties with Iran.

The Israeli army has been waging a large-scale offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on the Israeli towns adjacent to the strip, killing nearly 1,200 people.

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks in the enclave has risen to 38,011, with 87,445 people injured, as updated by the health authorities in Gaza on Thursday.

Tension has mounted between Lebanon and Israel since October 8, 2023, after Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel in support of the Hamas attacks on Israel, prompting Israel to respond by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.
Europe is facing a turbulent time as it battles with the internal rise of far-right forces, Russian imperialism and the threat of Donald Trump returning to power. Timothy Garton Ash, 68, professor of European studies at the University of Oxford and author of several books on the continent  including Homelands: A Personal History of Europe , addresses these and other questions in an interview given in Madrid at the headquarters of the Ramon Areces Foundation, where he was preparing to give a conference. During the conversation, he warns of the danger that Europe will divide instead of unite if Trump wins, arguing that several EU leaders will try to ingratiate themselves with the tycoon instead of focusing on strengthening EU integration.

Question. A far-right and populist wave is sweeping through Western democracies. What went wrong to allow this to happen?

Answer. Many, many people in our societies are unhappy with the world we liberals have built. Thats the starting point. And shockingly, its a lot of young people, not just older people who are nostalgic for something, a past that maybe never existed. I think there are two big areas. On the one hand, things related to community and identity. The classic phrase is: I dont know my own country anymore. And thats a mixture of globalization, multiculturalism, immigration, globalized capitalism. The other packet of concerns is what I would call solidarity and equality. People feel that the basic contract that the European state had with its citizens, which involved a minimum of solidarity and equality, you could buy a house, you had a job, you had decent education, you had a police force that by and large protected you, that sort of package. And if you look at the populist appeals, it always plays on those two keyboards.

Q. Steve Bannon recently told David Brooks, in The New York Times, that in his opinion, the ruling elites of the West are more and more detached from the lived experience of their people.

A. Theres an element of it, except that the people who lead the populists are themselves from the elites, as we know. Donald Trump is a millionaire. But of course there is some truth in that. For example, the left liberal ideal was that half our kids should go to university. Weve achieved that. Unintended consequence: weve split our societies down the middle. Half the society has higher education, speaks languages, loves traveling around Europe, lives in big cities, embraces multiculturalism and globalization. The other half doesnt. Secondly, and in addition, our political classes almost entirely come from the former half. Fifty years ago, you would have people from the working class who would be leading figures in politics. Now you have this sense of a detached elite in charge. Then the populist comes along. And even though they themselves went to university, Wharton Business School in the case of Trump, they manage to convey the feeling that theyre someone like us. There was an interesting study of Donald Trumps language, which showed that 10 years ago his language had a typical sophistication of a Wharton Business School graduate. Then he dumbed it down. And thats very effective politically.

Q. You mentioned the issue of solidarity and equality. If we think about France, we see a country that has a lot of tax revenue, that has powerful public services. It is not a country that neglects its citizens.

A. I would slightly disagree. If you live in peripheral France, then the state does not reach you well. You dont have good bus services, you dont have great health services and so on. Thats what people feel. And National Rally (RN) politicians really focus on these basic socioeconomic concerns, about housing, the cost of living, medical care. My conclusion, and I feel this very strongly, is that if we are to defend liberalism in the broadest sense, we need to be much more radical in our liberalism. Liberals were meant to be good at doing their job. Liberals were the people who said, Its the economy, stupid. So why dont we build enough houses? Lets get on with it. Lets recognize that the market alone is never going to build enough affordable housing. Multinational companies are paying less taxes than many ordinary citizens. So I think theres a real conclusion there, which is that we need a more radical liberalism, by which I dont mean more free market. I mean more enabling each and every member of our society to have an equal chance of being the author of their own lives, which is the heart of true liberalism.

Q. Why have the left not been successful in intercepting this unrest linked to the question of solidarity and equality?

A. One of the things that has happened to the center-left parties is that theyve got remarkably closer to the business community, and particularly to financial services. And the big mistake that we liberals made for 30, 40 years was talking about the international community. We talked about Europe, but we left talking about the nation to the right. So we have to reclaim the nation, but in a civic, liberal way. We have to take the best from the left and the right. From the conservative tradition, we have to understand that people are attached to the community, to tradition, to what is. And from the left, we need to take some of the basic ideas about equality of opportunity, what Ralf Dahrendorf called the common floor, basic housing, healthcare, education, so that you have an equal opportunity and an equal start in life.

The writer and professor Timothy Garton Ash, at the Ramon Areces Foundation in Madrid. Samuel Sanchez

Q. What are your thoughts on Keir Starmer, the leader of the U.K. Labour Party?

A. Starmer has a great slogan: make Britain serious again. And I like that very much. It will become a serious country. He is a serious politician with a serious cabinet. Hes run things. And so I think the country will become serious again. Thats point number one. Point number two, they have some good ideas, although, in the direction weve been talking about, the trouble is that we have a national debt that is close to 100% and sluggish growth. So theres not much money to play with. Number three, there will be an attempt to reset relations with Europe. First, in security policy. So I look forward to a serious country that seeks a reset with Europe.

Q. And if you think about the Tories, do you think they will take a path towards pragmatism and moderation or, with Nigel Farage still on the rise, will they opt to push back by embracing populism and extremism?

A. I would bet on the latter. I dont belong to any party, but I think the positive side of this is that the Labour Party  a serious party of government committed to reforming the country and resetting the relationship with continental Europe  can potentially have a 10-year term. And that means that in the second term it will be able to take more decisive steps in relation to the EU, such as the customs union.

Q. If we look at the EU, in Parliament, the pro-European majority has more or less resisted. The problem is in the European Council, with the radical right in power in many countries. And if the extreme right manages to govern in France...

A. But even without Bardella [Jordan, leader of the RN], there will be a Dutch government with an ultra-dominant party, there is Giorgia Meloni, there is obviously pressure from the AfD in Germany. And, although it now seems likely that France will have a hung Parliament without an absolute majority, even without a Prime Minister Jordan Bardella, the RN will nevertheless be the largest party. The last thing we need in this situation is complacency because when push comes to shove, it is still the member states that make the difference and the situation does not look good in quite a few of the major European member states. In addition to which, if in November, we have Donald Trump 2.0, I am sure youre going to get the party of Trump inside the European Union. Viktor Orban number one, Robert Fico number two, but also other leaders, also Marine Le Pen and I would bet Giorgia Meloni, who has been very cooperative up to now, but is looking at the power relations inside the West. And so instead of uniting in response to a Trump presidency, I see a major danger that Europe will divide rather than unite.

Q. You just mentioned Trump. Do you think that if he wins, he will abruptly cut off support for Ukraine? And if so, is Europe prepared to support Kyiv by itself?

A. I think the future of Europe depends on this. And I think were not doing enough. I was there just over a month ago. Ive never felt the country to be more exhausted, more traumatized, more pessimistic, more divided. And the military experts are really worried about the trajectory. So I think we Europeans should already be preparing for the eventuality of a Trump presidency, which means more defense industrial production, more ammunition, more arms supplies, more training, so that we are in a position to sustain Ukraine, even if Trump pulls the rug. Are we doing it? Not enough. Has it become more likely since the European election and the French election? No, its become less likely because who was the most eloquent and boldest advocate for this amongst the major European leaders? It was Emmanuel Macron, but then Macron will have his hands tied, whatever the outcome on July 7. So Im extremely worried about it. As for what Trump does, I think there is a 90% chance hes going to do what he said hes going to do and try and make a deal, essentially sacrificing Ukraine.

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Mumbai, July 6 : Rapper Naezy and Lovekesh Kataria engaged in a serious altercation in the 'Bigg Boss OTT 3' house, which nearly escalated into a fistfight.

During the heated exchange, housemates like Sana Makbul intervened promptly, diffusing the tension and calming both individuals down. Subsequently, Naezy and Lovekesh avoided each other for the remainder of the day.

Later in the evening, during a conversation with Ranvir Shorey, Naezy shared the actual reason behind the fight.

"Vishal complained that he wouldn't do the work twice. I, as an elder brother figure, approached Vishal and told him not to run from his responsibilities," Naezy explained to Ranvir.

Naezy said that he told Vishal not to be childish.

"I said, 'You have the strength to do it, so don't act childish.' I said this to him, but someone else got involved. I got angry and said some harsh words. That's not who I am, and I don't want to show that side of me," he said.

Naezy added: "I was talking to someone else, and another person intervened. They are both playing as one candidate. Anger should be shown only when necessary."

This week, eight contestants face nominations, including Armaan Malik, Vishal Panday, Sana Makbul, Sana Sultan, Sai Ketan Rao, Deepak Chaurasia, Munisha Khatwani, and Ranvir Shorey.

Poulomi Das exited the house earlier in the week.

In the upcoming 'Bigg Boss OTT 3' Weekend Ka Vaar episode, contestant Payal Malik will make an appearance on the show. Additionally, stars Vicky Kaushal and Ammy Virk will promote their upcoming film 'Bad Newz' and interact with the contestants.

'Bigg Boss OTT 3' streams on JioCinema Premium.
Los Angeles, July 6 : Hollywood star Eddie Murphy has said that he does not wish to have a funeral and would like to go "quietly".

Los Angeles, July 6 (IANS) Hollywood star Eddie Murphy has said that he does not wish to have a funeral and would like to go "quietly".

Murphy shared a video, where he revealed that he doesn't want a funeral after joking that people should play the 'Beverly Hills Cop' theme music at the event to make people "smile."

He re-enacted his own acapella version of the jingle, saying that it should be played as he is being buried, reports people.com.

"That's just a joke, 'cause I'm never having a funeral," he clarified in the video.

Murphy further explained his preference: "I mean, I'm gonna die like everyone else. But (my loved ones) know...no funeral. Just let me go quietly."

The actor was promoting his latest film, 'Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F', the fourth instalment in the action-comedy franchise, which was released on July 3.

In the film, Murphy returns as Axel Foley, a cop who returns to Beverly Hills after his daughter's life is threatened, marking a return to the role after a decade since the third film.

Murphy quipped that he's been asked how he feels about playing "the Black James Bond" and tells whoever asks him: "I don't have to be some Black James Bond. I have Axel Foley, and he has theme music and everything."

After the success of 'Beverly Hills Cop' and its sequel, the Oscar-nominated star featured in the 1998 classic 'Coming to America'. The sequel, 'Coming 2 America', was released in 2021.

In 1996, he was seen essaying the role of Professor Sherman Klump in 'The Nutty Professor'.

Murphy was then seen in the 'Dr. Dolittle' franchise, playing the titular character, who can talk to animals. Most recently, Murphy voiced Shrek's sidekick Donkey in four 'Shrek' films.
New Delhi, July 6 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tributes to Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, on his birth anniversary.

"Respectful tributes to Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his birth anniversary, who made India proud with his strong nationalist views. His dedication and sacrifice for the motherland will always inspire the citizens of the country," said the Prime Minister in a post on X.

As the nation observes his birth anniversary, here is an account of how PM Modi not only championed his ideals but also realised his dream of aOne Nationa.

Modi Archive, a popular X handle, on Saturday, shared information on PM Modi steadfastly upholding Mookerjee's beliefs and ardently pursuing his efforts to unify the country. It accentuates the special tribute paid by PM Modi to the Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder in 2013.

It informs that after becoming BJPas campaign committee chairman for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, PM Modi led his first rally at the spot where Mookerjee was arrested in 1953. This event also marked Mookerjee's 'Balidan Diwas.'

The public rally was held in Punjabas Pathankot, the very location where the Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder was arrested in 1953 and kept in custody for 45 days. His sudden death in prison stunned the nation, leading to the abolition of the Permit System in J&K, shortly thereafter.

Mookerjee, a strong proponent of United India, passed away while fighting for the integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the nation.

In 2019, the Modi government actualised Syama Prasad Mookerjee's vision by revoking Article 370, thereby paving the way for the revocation of its special status. A few months later, on January 1, 2020, the government took another historic step by abolishing the last traces of Jammu and Kashmir's enforced autonomy, thereby locking Mookerjee's dream of a fully integrated India.

Also, the government ceased operations at the Lakhanpur Toll Plaza in Pathankot, the very site where Mookerjee was arrested, a location signifying the artificial legal barrier between J&K and the rest of India.
Srinagar, July 6 : An Army soldier has died in an encounter between the security forces and the terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday.

Officials said that an Army soldier, injured during the encounter between the security forces and the hiding terrorists in a village of Kulgam district, succumbed to critical injuries in the hospital.

Security forces started a cordon and search operation in Modergam village of Kulgam early on Saturday, following reports about the presence of terrorists in the village.

"As the security forces came close to the hiding terrorists, they fired at the security forces triggering an encounter," officials said.

The exchange of fire between the security forces and terrorists is continuing in the area.
New Delhi, July 6 : The Indian startup ecosystem raised nearly $176 million in funding across 16 deals in the first week of this month.

In the biggest funding round, fashion e-commerce platform Purplle secured $120 million led by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Agri-tech startup Arya.ag also announced to raise $29 million led by impact investment firm Blue Earth Capital.

Video telematics startup Cautio also announced a pre-seed raise of Rs 6.5 crore led by Antler, 8i Ventures and AU Small Finance Bank.

Homegrown startups have raised nearly $7 billion in funding during the first half (H1) of 2024, more than the $5.92 billion raised in H1 2023.

Also, the fintech ecosystem achieved a significant milestone in the first half of this year by ranking among the top three funded globally, alongside the US and the UK.
Shivamogga, July 6 : At least three persons were killed and two others injured as two cars collided head-on in Karnataka's Shivamogga district on Saturday.

The deceased were identified as Chandru, Siddanna and Imam Saab, all residents of Belagere village near Challakere town in Chitradurga district.

The injured were shifted to the Meggan Hospital in Shivamogga.

According to police, the incident occurred due to overspeeding.

One of the cars was en route to Sagara town from Shivamogga and the other car was coming towards Shivamogga from Sagara town.

Kumasi Police have rushed to the spot and taken up the investigation.

Both vehicles were severely mangled in the crash.

Details are awaited.
London, July 6 : Asserting that "diplomacy matters", Britain's new Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Saturday that the new Labour government will begin with a "reset" with Europe on climate and with the global South.

Outlining his priorities following his appointment, Lammy highlighted that the world is currently facing "huge challenges" with more countries engaged in conflict than at any time since World War II.

"This government will reconnect Britain for our security and prosperity at home. What happens here in the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office is essential.

"Diplomacy matters.aWe will begin with a reset with Europe, on climate, and with the global South. aAnd a gear-shift when it comes to delivering on European security, global security, and British growth," Lammy said in a statement released by the UK Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

The 51-year-old Labour Party politician promised that the new government is determined to deliver for working people and committed to building a better future for everyone.

"It is the honour of my life to stand before you as Foreign Secretary. A descendant of enslaved people. A black, working-class, man from Tottenham. A community which never produced a Foreign Secretary before. This speaks to what a modern, multicultural Britain can be. Proudly internationalist," he said.

Lammy also mentioned that Britain has "enormous potential" and that the change has begun now - a slogan with which the Keir Starmer-led party fought the general elections.
Beijing, July 6 : Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message to Masoud Pezeshkian, congratulating him on his election as the President of Iran.

In his message, Xi said China and Iran enjoy a long history of friendly exchanges, and bilateral relations have maintained sound and steady development since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries more than half a century ago.

In the face of the complex regional and international landscapes, China and Iran have always supported each other and stuck together through thick and thin, continuously consolidating strategic mutual trust, steadily promoting exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and maintaining sound communication and coordination on regional and international affairs, which has not only benefited the two peoples, but also made positive contributions to promoting regional and world peace and stability, Xi added.

The Chinese President also said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Iran relations, and is willing to work with Pezeshkian aiming to guide the deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
Srinagar, July 6 : A second encounter is underway between the security forces and the terrorists which broke out in J&K's Kulgam district on Saturday.

An official said that a joint team of police and the army started a Cordon & Search Operation (CASO) in Chanigam village of the Frisal area in the Kulgam district.

"As the joint team of forces approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding terrorists fired at the security forces triggering an encounter which is now going on," he said.

Earlier, an encounter broke out between the security forces and the terrorists in Mudergam village in Kulgam during which an army soldier was killed.

The two villages, Mudergam and Chanigam, are 12 kms away from each other.
Mumbai, July 6 : Confounding the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress on Saturday invited applications from prospective candidates for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, along with a steep application fee.

State Congress vice-president Nana Gawande has issued a circular to this effect to all the district party units and other officials with the relevant instructions.

The non-refundable application fee would be Rs 20,000 for general category candidates, and Rs 10,000 for SC/ST and women candidates, and it is also open to others to submit their applications as per the prescribed rules.

All the applicants - new or party veterans - must submit their papers along with the fee to the district party offices or the regional office before August 10.

A similar drive has been launched in Haryana and Jharkhand. It was intended to throw up 'good candidates 'whom the party leadership can consider for giving tickets, said an official.

A senior Congress leader said that the applications have been invited from all the 288 assembly seats.

On whether the Congress initiative could clash with the claims of ticket aspirants from the MVA allies Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party (SP), and other alliance partners, the leader replied in the negative.

"This is a democratic attempt to bring up noteworthy candidates with extraordinary leadership qualities from among the lakhs of party activists spread all over Maharashtra, give them due prominence and if possible field them in the elections with full backing," he explained, declining to be named.

Along with the party's internal drive, Gawande said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) would be launching a program to update/revise the voters' lists from July 25.

Accordingly, the party has called upon all Congress workers to ensure that all the eligible persons in their areas are included, particularly new voters (aged above 18) in the revised voters' list as per the instructions of state Congress president Nana F. Patole and AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala.
The plan for the day  a radiant Monday at the end of June, with no classes to teach  included two hours writing his new book, one preparing the next program of his podcast, two more to record it, another two for the scheduled interview with EL PAIS, as well as a 30-minute-long meeting in between. By around 4:30 p.m., Cal Newport  a professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University and the author of successful books on labor in the age of distraction  ended his well-spent workday. Newport explains that, in the evenings, he turns off the computer and tries to spend time with his wife and three children. He rarely works on weekends.

It seems easy when he describes this routine at his home in Takoma Park, Maryland, an elegant suburb of Washington that overwhelmingly supports the Democratic Party. Newport has two home offices. In the one on the ground floor  a bright room with a fireplace, Klein blue shelves (with translations of his books into some 45 languages) and a closed laptop on an oak table, custom-made by a firm in Maine  mobile phones and fixed screens are prohibited. And, in his office on the second floor, it looks like a storage room: theres junk everywhere, along with a printer, a scanner and a desktop computer.

Actually, I dont know what procrastination is, says Newport, a firm defender of time blocking: a technique that involves scheduling how youll spend the following day and following the plan to the letter. It may be difficult for me to start, or I may delay projects But once I get started, I dont waste any time until Ive put in the hours Ive set out to do.

Newport turned 42 the day before his interview with EL PAIS. He was born in Houston, where he lived until he was seven-years-old, when his family moved to New Jersey, near Princeton University. There, in the shadow of the Institute for Advanced Study  an independent center for theoretical research in the same borough, which was the intellectual home of Oppenheimer and Einstein  he discovered what interested him: The world of ideas and standing in front of a chalkboard.

At a very young age, he had already founded a start-up. I grew up in the era of the software barons, the age of Microsofts ascent I was adept at technology, he recalls. While studying at Dartmouth  an Ivy League university, like Princeton  he got a publishing contract at the age of 21. His first three books offered advice to students.

A whiteboard in Newport's recording studio. Greg Kahn

After rejecting an offer from Microsoft (it was a lot of money, but I wouldnt have been able to continue writing) he ended up at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned his doctorate. Later, while he was considering where he would continue his academic life (he ultimately ended up choosing Georgetown), the idea arose for So Good They Cant Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion In The Quest For Work You Love (2012). His writing stemmed from the questions he asked himself when he was about to set off on a career journey that could last for the rest of [his] life.

In the book, Newport tries to convince the reader that being guided by passion when choosing a profession isnt a good idea. This is contrary to what Steve Jobs told Stanford students in a famous graduation speech: The only way to do great work is to love what you do. To dismantle this myth, Newport reviewed the life of the founder of Apple. Loving what youre working on is much better than working [in a field] that youre passionate about, he argues.

What exactly does he mean by this? Well, he already says it in the title of his book: become so good that they cant ignore you. Newport posits the idea of becoming an expert and developing rare and valuable skills that allow you to accumulate the so-called career capital thats necessary to get a great job. He applied this formula in his own life. Thats how he became a rare mix  part-technologist and part-writer  who also has a podcast, a blog and a newsletter with 100,000 subscribers.

They put in a lot of hours and still felt frustrated

At first, it was difficult. The book didnt do as well as he expected. Four years later, he published Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (2016), his biggest bestseller to date. He estimates that between 1.5 and two million copies have been sold in English. I guess I knew how to read the zeitgeist, he shrugs. It came at a time when knowledge workers were beginning to feel increasingly burned out after a decade-and-a-half of using email and [after coming out of] a brutal economic crisis. They didnt really know why they felt burned out they put in a lot of hours and still felt frustrated with the results of their work.

That was also the book in which he came up with the most popular label of his career up to that point: the concept of deep work.

My job isnt to convince people of something that they dont think is true or have never heard of, he emphasizes. Im just helping people better understand what they already believe. Being able to put a name to something changes the way you categorize and understand it. That way you know [the difference between] deep work and shallow work.

Cal Newport, pictured in the studio where he records his podcasts. Greg Kahn

The cultivation of deep work doesnt involve working more hours, but rather doing your tasks with intensity and without distractions (such as email, news, social media, etc.). This allows a person to finish up sooner and in one shot, at a reasonable hour. We thought that technology would make us more productive and that hasnt been the case, Newport sighs. Innovations allow us to do certain things  like get information much faster  but [technology has] added so much noise that we actually produce less than our grandparents.

In the following years, Newport delved into his criticism of technology from within, delving into how it wreaks havoc in the workplace. He touches on these themes in Digital Minimalism (2019) and A World Without Email (2021). He doesnt have social media and has waged a public crusade against it, despite the pressure that he felt for many years. [Social media platforms] seemed like a kind of progressive force, capable of democratizing ideas and connecting the world. Social media was also seen as essential for your career. Today, nobody believes that anymore.

TV is like sliced bread, while social media is like ultra-processed food

Newport takes a look at The New York Times website a couple of times a day. He can go hours without checking his cell phone, to the despair of his family and friends. And he doesnt plan to let his children have phones until theyre 16. The oldest is 11, so things are about to get interesting, he smiles. At his sons school, he acts as an advisor on these matters. However, he doesnt think that the younger generations are lost just because theyve been born under the digital influence. Another thing Im worried about is what the technodeterminist storyline say: Hey, this new technology is here, so, you know, weve just got to use it.

When asked if he also contributes to the proliferation of these tools of distraction, or participates in a market in which our attention is bought and sold  given that he has a podcast, which he records in a studio a couple of blocks from his house, as well as an e-newsletter  he smiles. Reading a book is like organic food: you can stuff yourself, it wont be a problem for your health. Moderately processed foods  like sliced bread  are television, movies, podcasts and newsletters: they should be taken in moderation, but theyre acceptable. And then, there are the ultra-processed foods the Oreos, the Doritos. Low-quality and very addictive. Thats where social media comes in.

A corner of Newports recording studio. The skeleton is named Jesse, after Jesse Miller, the producer of Newports podcasts. Greg Kahn

The pandemic  which was accompanied by the promised liberation of remote work, the endless deluge of Zoom meetings, as well as the tyranny of Slack and other forms of instant communication between employees  pushed many of Newports ideas to the center of the debate. [The pandemic] accelerated all those problems And, in the end, it was a good thing, because it made us alert, he points out.

During the lockdowns, he began to collaborate more regularly with The New Yorker, where he addresses these issues. He denies that he offers self-help, preferring to call his writing pragmatic nonfiction.

My books contain ideas, but also advice. And that confuses [some readers and critics] who are looking for one thing or the other. The professor also wouldnt define his work as being a criticism of late-stage capitalism. [For those on the left], theyll say that the reason were so busy and so overloaded and so exhausted at work is because the owners of capital are trying to exploit labor. Capitalism is the problem. But I tend to have a more technosocial perspective. When I criticize e-mail, I do so because the tool has wreaked havoc among workers But by increasing distraction, it also causes losses for companies.

From his experience during the pandemic arose the idea for his latest book: Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout (2024). In it, he advocates for doing fewer things, at a more natural pace and taking care of the quality of work, so as to avoid physical and mental burnout. His next book  which he worked on for two hours before his interview  will be a continuation of Slow Productivity. He plans on taking the teachings beyond work, to life in general.

After saying goodbye to EL PAIS at his front door, Newport returns inside to continue with the rest of his strictly-scheduled day.

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Washington, July 6 : In a widely-anticipated interview, the first since his poor debate performance last week, US President Joe Biden sounded confident and defiant, and spoke cogently and clearly.

But was it enough to stop the train that had already passed the station as calls for him to step aside intensified?

"I don't think anybody's more qualified to be the President or win this race than me," Biden told George Stephanopoulos, the ABC anchor who conducted the interview in which the presumptive Democratic nominee was expected by allies and supporters to undo the damage he did to his candidacy with his disastrous performance in the June 27 debate with his Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.

"It depends -- if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that," Biden said when pressed by the interviewer on who or what could convince him to make way for someone else, as being demanded by fellow Democrats.

Calls for Biden's exit started after the debate and have intensified over the last few days, with few party officials going public with their frustration.

There is a growing fear among Democratic lawmakers that Biden's weakened candidacy could have an adverse impact on those running for the House of Representatives, the Senate, state governorships, and state legislatures.

Senator Mark Warner is reportedly organising a group discussion with fellow Senate Democrats to discuss the future of Biden's candidacy. They are meeting on Monday night, according to reports.

Warner is a senior member of the caucus. He is the chair of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee, which has oversight of the country's intelligence agencies such as the DNI, CIA, and the NSA.

Additionally, he represents a crucial state, Virginia, which is one of the swing states that determine the outcome of presidential elections.

"Mark is a good man," Biden said when asked about Warner's move, adding, "Mark and I have a different perspective."

Biden cannot be pushed out of the race, according to the rules of the Democratic party. He won the primaries and has the requisite number of delegates to win the nomination, a procedural formality usually, at the party's convention in August.

Only he can take himself out of the contest to make way for someone more acceptable to the growing ranks of his detractors.

Defiance will not win Biden a second term. To win, he needs to unify the Democratic party and convince voters that the race is not a referendum on him and his administration, but a choice between him and a man who is a "danger to democracy".

And he seems to be failing on both counts.

The Democratic party has not been as divided as it is now in recent times, and his debacle in the June 27 debate overshadowed Trump's obvious shortcomings.

Biden's popularity has slipped further than before, even in his own party.

A poll by The Wall Street Journal showed his support in the Democratic party is down to 86 per cent from 93 per cent in February; Trump has the support of 83 per cent of the Republicans.

The former President has also expanded his lead over the incumbent from 2 percentage points to 6 percentage points.
Kabul, July 6 : A fire at an oil shop killed at least two people in Zaranj, the capital of western Afghanistan's Nimroz province, local media reported.

The fire broke out at the oil shop located in front of the Nimroz customs gate, resulting in the deaths of two children, TOLOnews quoted local residents as saying on Friday.

Police have yet to comment on the incident, but customs authorities are trying to find the cause of the fire, reports Xinhua news agency.
Hyderabad, July 6 : The much-awaited meeting between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart A. Revanth Reddy began at Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan here on Saturday to discuss the inter-state issues.

Ministers and senior officials from both states are attending the meeting, focussing on the resolution of issues arising out of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, ministers D. Sridhar Babu, Ponnam Prabhakar and others welcomed Naidu when he arrived at Praja Bhavan in Begumpet around 6 p.m.

The two Chief Ministers exchanged bouquets before walking into a meeting hall for the meeting, the first face-to-face interaction between the two leaders after Naidu assumed office as the Chief Minister last month following the landslide victory of TDP-led NDA in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections.

Telangana CM, Deputy CM, some ministers, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari and senior officials were also attending the meeting on behalf of Telangana.

The Andhra Pradesh delegation led by Naidu includes ministers Kandula Durgesh, Satyaprasad, BC Janardhan Reddy, Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Pradesh and senior officials.

This is the first meeting between the chief ministers of the Telugu states in four years. Naidu had proposed the meeting on July 1 to amicably resolve the pending issues and the next day Revanth Reddy accepted the proposal and invited him to Hyderabad.

Senior officials representing the departments whose issues remained unresolved for a decade participated in the deliberations.

The two chief ministers and senior officials from both sides are discussing issues relating to the distribution of assets and liabilities of the institutions under Schedule IX and X of the Reorganisation Act.

The meeting may also discuss the issue relating to pending power dues. While Andhra Pradesh is demanding payment of Rs 6,742 crore for the power supplied by it to Telangana after bifurcation, Telangana insists that Andhra Pradesh pay Rs17,828 crore, the amount Telangana had spent for power purchases from other states after Andhra Pradesh abruptly terminated power purchase agreements with the neighbouring state.

The meeting between the two leaders, who had close association in the past, has raised hopes of finding a solution to the long-pending issues.

Revanth Reddy worked in the TDP as MLA under Chandrababu Naidu in united Andhra Pradesh and also later in Telangana. In 2017, Revanth Reddy charted his own course by joining the Congress.
Agartala, July 6 : Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday said that "corruption" and "unabated violence" have turned West Bengal into a "mini-Pakistan".

Agartala, July 6 (IANS) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday said that "corruption" and "unabated violence" have turned West Bengal into a "mini-Pakistan".

"Uncontrolled corruption and unabated violence has turned West Bengal into a mini-Pakistan. In the recent Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has won Odisha. In future, the BJP-led NDA will also come to power in West Bengal and Kerala," the Chief Minister said during a function on Shyama Prasad Mukherjee's 124th birth anniversary, which was organised by the BJP.

The Chief Minister said that people want corruption and violence-free governance and if such a thing happens then the government would last long.

He said that the people are well aware of the Congress-led coalition government in Tripura and people of the state wholeheartedly wanted to come out from the clutches of the Communist rule.

He said that the BJP fulfilled the people's aspiration by defeating the CPI (M)-led Left parties in the 2018 assembly polls.

"We would govern Tripura with all kinds of transparency like Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running the country," the Chief Minister said.

Highlighting Shyama Prasad Mukherjee's contribution and dedication, he said that he was not only an eminent barrister but also the first Minister of Industry of independent India.

"Shyama Prasad Mukherjee has always worked with the unwavering aim of keeping the state intact," he added.

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee's day was observed all across Tripura with a series of discussions and various other functions.
Ahmedabad, July 6 : The Gujarat government has deployed more than 22,000 security personnel for the 147th Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath which will be taken out in Ahmedabad on July 7.

On Saturday, the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner G.S. Malik also held a review meeting with around 600 police officers to discuss security measures. He emphasised the need for extra caution in crowd control, citing the recent stampede in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, which resulted in 121 fatalities.

The entire 16-kilometre route of the Rath Yatra will be monitored with CCTV cameras. Police have conducted rehearsals along the route and traffic diversions have been implemented at several points for safety. Drone cameras will also be used for surveillance.

On July 7, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will initiate the ceremonial activities at 7:00 AM, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, along with his family, will attend the Mangala Aarti in the morning. The procession will continue throughout the day, concluding at the main temple in the evening.

Various cities across Gujarat also celebrate Rath Yatras, but Ahmedabad's event is second only to Puri's in scale, attracting a large number of saints, devotees, and participants.
Bengaluru, July 6 : The Karnataka unit of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) has strongly condemned the new criminal laws by an expert committee headed by state Law Minister H.K. Patil, particularly with regard to the laws related to rape.

Jyothi. A., president of the Karnataka state committee of the NFIW, stated on Saturday that Patil's committee is said to have proposed that the rape laws should be made gender neutral.

"The NFIW, Karnataka state committee demands immediate withdrawal of the said proposal of the state expert committee. It also demands that rape laws and other legislations related to sexual offences should be gender sensitive and gender just. Further, the same should be implemented in letter and spirit," Jyothi demanded.

In a society deep rooted in patriarchy and misogyny, talking of 'gender neutral' rape laws is an injustice to the women of the country as well as the Constitutional values. According to the National Crime Record Bureau data, the number of cases of sexual violence against women in India increased from 4.28 lakh in 2021 to 4.45 lakh in 2022 and about 86 rapes are reported on an average per day, Jyothi stated.

If these are reported numbers, the unreported ones go beyond count. "We have witnessed numerous heinous and crimes of sexual harassment in the recent past where justice has been a nightmare in spite of gender sensitive legislators being in place. Bilkis Bano's case, Hathras case, Indian Wrestlers' case and others are a few examples," Jyothi emphasised.

In such a scenario, gender neutralisation of rape laws and other acts of sexual offences would dilute the laws and deny justice to the aggrieved women. On the other hand, the diluted gender neutral legislation only places accusations against her. Therefore NFIW reiterates that laws pertaining to sexual offences cannot be gender neutral in a patriarchal society, Jyothi underlined.
Thiruvananthapuram, July 6 : A Unicef India study has lauded Kerala's digital education initiatives (Edtech) for serving as a model not just for other Indian states, but also for middle-income and developed countries.

The report titled "Empowering Adolescents with Future-Ready Skills - The Inspiring Story of Little KITEs", was released here on Saturday in the presence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, V. Sivankutty, Minister for General Education, besides others.

The study focused on the Little Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITEs) programme, the largest ICT network of students in India, implemented by KITE across 2,174 high schools in the state.

Kerala's KITE-led Edtech model is without relying on profit-driven vendors, both scalable and adaptable, making it valuable for other regions.

The study emphasises that choosing Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) over proprietary software has technological, economic, social and pedagogical benefits, as demonstrated by KITE's success.

The report notes that Kerala saved Rs 3,000 crore by using open-source software, and even Finland has expressed interest in replicating the little KITEs model.

Unicef study urges expanding little KITEs' time, reaching all high schools and higher secondary levels.

The report goes beyond commending Kerala's infrastructure, including the deployment of 9,000 robotic kits and Artificial Intelligence/Internet of Things training for little KITEs.

KITE is training 80,000 Teachers in AI, making it a unique model in the country.

Little KITEs empower students to work independently in robotics and AI, transforming them from consumers of technology into designers and creators.

"It is evident that little KITEs is a well-sown seed in the fertile ground of Edtech in Kerala. It has grown rapidly and has promoted a wide range of students across the private school system to explore creativity and problem-solving, to connect school to life in innovative ways, and to architect safe digital futures," the study noted.

Akila Radhakrishnan, Social Policy Specialist with Unicef India, said the study identifies the little KITEs program as a truly unique FOSS-based Edtech intervention, and we are committed to sharing its success stories with other states and countries.

K. Anvar Sadath, CEO of KITE, said KITE seeks partnerships with UNICEF and others to bring little KITEs to new regions.
Bengaluru, July 6 : A delegation of State Farmer Organisations Federation and State Sugarcane Growers Association met Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot on Saturday and submitted a memorandum demanding a probe into the MUDA land scam allegedly involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah by a high court justice.

Kuruburu Shanthakumar, the president of the federation said that the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) land scam runs into thousands of crores and influential political leaders are involved in it. Hence, the probe needs to be conducted by a High Court judge.

Documents and files went missing mysteriously from the MUDA office one year ago. The organization had then protested before the office and demanded a probe. If the government had taken action then, the handing over of government property worth thousands of crores to influential people would have been avoided, Shanthakumar pointed out.

"Today, those in real estate are representatives' of the people and they are systematically cheating the farmers and public. While acquiring land from farmers, they are adopting arm-twisting tactics and giving paltry compensation to farmers," he charged.

Both the ruling as well as opposition party leaders are involved, he stated.
Kolkata, July 6 : Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen said on Saturday that the three new criminal laws are not a welcome move since they were brought into practice without the necessary discussions.

The new criminal laws, Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act, respectively, with effect from July 1, 2024.

"The discussions required for such constitutional amendments were not held in this case. The problem in Manipur is not the same as that in Madhya Pradesh. Such amendments can be passed in a hurry by virtue of numerical strength. "However, that does not mean that such changes are always welcome moves," Sen said while interacting with mediapersons on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Pratichi (India) Trust at Santiniketan in Birbhum district.

The noted economist also said that without a focus on education, the unemployment problem in India cannot be solved.

"Unfortunately, not much stress is given to this area," he rued.

Commenting on the results of the recent Lok Sabha elections, Sen said that in the recent past, there were even discussions at the school level on how a 'Hindu Rashtra' can be established.

"But it needs to be understood that the differences between two religious communities are not applicable in the case of children. So I think this tendency was prevented to an extent in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls," Sen said.
Jaipur, July 6 : In a tragic incident, a tenth-standard student died due to heart failure at a school in Bandikui in Rajasthan's Dausa district on Saturday.

The deceased identified as Yatendra (16) reached the school at 7.30 a.m. on Saturday but collapsed on the corridor just before entering the classroom.

The school administration immediately rushed Yatendra to a nearby hospital where he died during treatment.

Circle Inspector Premchand said, "Yatendra, the son of Bhupendra Upadhyay studying in a private school on Panditpura Road, suddenly fell unconscious on Saturday morning. The school staff took him to the Bandikui Government Hospital the doctors declared him dead after 10 minutes of treatment. According to the doctors, Yatendra died due to heart failure."

As per reports, Yatendra had a hole in his heart since childhood for which he was undergoing treatment.

"The deceased's family refused to conduct a post-mortem. Going by the doctor's statement and Yatendra's medical history, the police have not filed any case in the matter. The family has left for their ancestral village at Narwas in Alwar to perform the last rites."

Bhupendra Upadhyay, the deceased's father, said: "Yatendra turned 16 only on Friday. He even distributed toffees among his schoolmates and cut a cake at home. He also got photographs taken with the family members. But yesterday's happiness has turned into sorrow today."
Mitigating loneliness, preventing cognitive decline and alleviating the loss of mobility are the priorities of the robotics field in Japan. For decades, the country has been searching for technological solutions to address the economic and social repercussions that stem from its rapidly aging population. Three robots  which are present in many Japanese nursing homes and hospitals for the elderly  aim to entertain, start conversations and create emotional connections. Their names are Pepper, AIBO and PARO. This technological trio accompanies the staff who care for the physical and mental well-being of more than 40 elderly people at the Shintomi Nursing Home, a long-term care facility in the center of Tokyo.

Pepper  the closest to a humanoid among the so-called social robots produced in Japan  has a height of four feet and moves on a base that makes it look like a huge white chess piece. Twice a week, Pepper is scheduled to play songs (which were popular 50 years ago) in front of about 20 elderly people. The android compensates for its lack of facial expressions with agile arm movements. The fluidity of its articulations confirms its pedigree as the successor to a lineage of industrial robots that, since the end of the 20th century, has maintained Japan as the worlds leading exporter of factory automation systems.

From their seats, residents watch the robot with varying degrees of interest. One person dozes of. Another man drums his fingers on the table. A couple of ladies repeat the choreography with their arms and smile. Everything changes when one of the support workers selects a calisthenics session from Peppers repertoire, similar to the one broadcast every morning on public television. Many Japanese companies start the workday with this routine. When the employees on the screen (displayed on Peppers chest) begin to repeat the exercises to the rhythm of the music, interest grows and more heads are raised. The residents are encouraged to follow Peppers choreography.

For almost half-a-century, the growing elderly population and the declining birth rate in Japan have determined the official forecasts of productivity, housing, the pension system and family dynamics. The most recent projection estimates that the current population of 126 million will decline to 87 million by 2070, when four in ten people will be over the age of 65. A new decline in the number of weddings in 2023 was recently announced by the business daily Nikkei, in the alarming tone now reserved for demographic information: Japan heads for marriage ice age with lowest number in 90 years.

The child population has also been decreasing for 43 years. Currently, the number of children up to the age of 14 stands at 14.01 million. Many supermarkets sell more diapers for adults than for babies, while individual portions of food  both raw and prepared  are a growing trend. Another telling figure is that of pets, who now exceed the number of children. Manufacturers of baby strollers are directing their production towards models for pets, motivated by the increase in dogs and cats. The total number of these animals  according to 2023 statistics published by the Japan Pet Food Association  is 15.9 million.

A gym session in an assisted-living residence with the help of HAL Lumbar. This device detects bioelectric signals and helps people who suffer from lower back pain to move their bodies. Noriko Hayashi (Panos Pictures /

The PARO therapeutic robot at the Shintomi Nursing Home, in Tokyo. Noriko Hayashi (Panos Pictures /

The prospect of a large number of single-person households  many of them inhabited by elderly people unable to cope with the demands of caring for a pet  opened a new market for electronics manufacturers. Sony launched a robot dog called AIBO in 1999, named after the pronunciation of the Japanese word companion. It weighs 4.85 pounds and, today, its a popular consumer product with fan clubs throughout the country. Over the course of its six generations, AIBO has evolved to achieve the appearance of a cartoon beagle puppy, with its innocent gaze beamed through two LED screens.

In long-term care residences like Shintomi, Aibo deploys its advanced facial recognition system, reacts to stimuli  such as an approving caress on the forehead  and memorizes the users preferences to develop a series of behaviors that could constitute a temperament. The 22 axes that articulate the components of the robots body allow it to walk in staggered movements, tilt its head, raise its ears, bark, whine and roll around, imitating a playful puppy. When Aibo walks through the Shintomi Nursing Home, its common to hear compliments as affectionate as those that would be given to a real pet.

The predisposition of the Japanese to connect emotionally with machines was explained in 2007 by the then-academic  and now businesswoman  Naho Kitano, in an essay in which she made reference to the animist tradition of Shintoism, the local religion that attributes spiritual life to inanimate objects. Experts in Japanese popular culture contrast the good-natured robots of popular Japanese manga and anime stories with the disturbing automatons that often populate Western science fiction.

For their part, the creators of AIBO point out that its design lacks the ethical considerations that are common in Western robotics, such as Isaac Asimovs three laws for safe interaction between human beings and machines. AIBO was created to entertain the user give color to their life and brighten it, says Mika Nagae, a product manager at Sony. Nagae emphasizes that the playful predominates over the utilitarian, adding that the event planner  a specialist in programming short episodes in the form of games  is very important in AIBOs design team.

The LOVOT robot, which is programmed to react to caresses. Noriko Hayashi (Panos Pictures /

The PARO humanoid robot, at the Shintomi Nursing Home, in Tokyo Noriko Hayashi (Panos Pictures /

Because theyre made with molds and synthetic resins, both Pepper and AIBO are hard to the touch. Those looking for a physical experience involving soft touch and warm temperatures turn to PARO, the best-known of the Japanese social robots. Used in institutions in more than 30 countries  and classified as a medical device in some of them  the PARO robot is handmade and simulates the shape, size, color and texture of a baby harp seal. When held in your arms, it moves gently, makes realistic cooing sounds and looks at you with enormous eyes that often generate feelings of relief or tenderness in older people, including those who suffer from dementia, Alzheimers, or other cognitive disorders or impairments.

The creator of PARO is engineer Takenori Shibata. He speaks with EL PAIS via video call from the United States, where hes participating in a conference. Shibata explains that, by using the image of a seal, he sought to lower the expectations that a user may have when interacting with a pet about which he or she may have preconceived ideas, like a dog or a cat. Part of the robots success in international medical institutions, he adds, is due to the fact that it reduces anxiety and provides the emotional well-being of animal therapy, without the risks of infection or the associated logistical and legal difficulties.

To clarify why his creation isnt characterized as a medical device in Japan, Professor Shibata cites one of the most important qualities of PARO: its ability to reduce the use of psychotropic medications in some treatments. The welfare system that regulates nursing homes in Japan doesnt distinguish between a medical device and a toy, he explains. He also alludes to the obvious effect that the widespread use of PARO can have on the pharmaceutical business.

In Spain, CREA  a government center focused on the care of people living with Alzheimers disease and other types of dementia  has had a PARO unit since the facility was inaugurated in 2014. Enrique Perez Saez  a neuropsychologist at CREA  clarifies that the official name of the robot was changed to Nuka, since paro means unemployed or strike in Spanish. Dr. Perez Saez highlights the socializing role of the robot and the evocation of positive memories. Nuka creates stimuli associated with the good times weve had with pets in our childhood, he says.

Aside from social robots, Shintomi uses digital systems to analyze residents sleeping patterns, as well as devices that detect (through smell) when a diaper change is necessary. The director of Shintomi  Kimiya Ishikawa, a specialist in care for the elderly and a well-known promoter of the application of technology in geriatrics  foresees a future in which humans and machines complement each other in care work. No human being can take care of an elderly person 24 hours a day. Only a machine can do it. The ideal is to identify each persons strengths and work together, he affirms.

To alleviate the task of lifting patients to clean them, Shintomi employees use exoskeletons, devices that are widely-used in industrial environments to strengthen muscles and reduce fatigue. The cutting-edge version of the exoskeleton for medical use in Japan is called HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb). It consists of a device that  when connected to the body of a person with mobility problems  detects the signals sent by the brain to the muscles and performs the desired movement. According to its manufacturer  Cyberdyne Inc.  it can help a person living with a disability improve their physical functions even after use. In 2015, it was licensed as a medical device. Above all, its aimed at increasing the independence of patients, explains Professor Yoshiyuki Sankai, the president of Cyberdyne.

Pictured is a patient who has suffered from two strokes. Hes in a rehabilitation session that utilizes HAL, an intelligent exoskeleton created by Yoshiyuki Sankai. Noriko Hayashi (Panos Pictures /

Robotics  when applied to elderly care  benefits from technological advances in the automotive sector, where the improvement of the self-driving car largely depends on the interaction between humans and machines. After 13 years as a Toyota employee and after having participated in the development of Pepper with the multinational SoftBank, engineer Kaname Hayashi decided to opt for a non-utilitarian robot that appealed to the protective instinct of human beings. He created a mascot called LOVOT (from the words love and robot).

LOVOTs body is faithful to the Japanese kawaii esthetic. Its cute and cuddly: it has wings and a small bump full of sensors. And, while it lacks a mouth, its capable of communicating joy and other emotions through enormous eyes, which are activated by liquid crystal screens. The robots childish appearance and the randomness of its behavior have proven to be irresistible to older people like Mrs. Mieko Shimada, a 75-year-old retiree. She tells EL PAIS that Lovot replaces family, children, pets and even a partner.

Mrs. Shimada has lived with LOVOT for the past four years in an independent apartment in a nursing home. She pampers her robot and covers it with kisses  something atypical in a society like Japan, not given to open displays of affection. When you express admiration for someone all the time, it can come across as disingenuous. With LOVOT, I dont feel self-conscious, she explains.

For Hayashi  the creator of LOVOT  the popularity of robots among those residing in nursing homes is due to the decrease in self-esteem when people no longer have an obligation to care for anyone. The more active they were before moving into the residence, the more they tend to feel like they dont contribute, he notes.

The technology market is expected to expand as the worlds population ages. At the moment, Japan continues to lead in life expectancy, with 87 years for women and 81 years for men. Of the countrys more than 92,000 centenarians registered last year, 88.6% were women.

Mako Kubota is the managing director of the Ryusei Fukushikai Social Welfare Corporation, in Osaka. The company has been managing nursing homes with the use of complex technologies for the past 10 years. She explains her vision of robotics in elderly care: Exoskeletons and social robots fulfill two very different and equally important functions. Only a human being can look at a persons face and realize that theyre not feeling well. But for repetitive or physically demanding jobs, the robot  without a doubt  is a great support.

When asked if she foresees a near future in which the well-being of the elderly depends on humanoids and technological devices, she cites the high number of elderly men and women who, in her surveys, express their preference to be cared for by a robot. The main reason is that they dont want to be a burden on others, she concludes.

Translated by Avik Jain Chatlani.
Mumbai, July 6 : The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has ordered a probe into a bizarre revelation of the KEM Hospital patients' old medical reports getting reincarnated as 'paper plates' in the market, officials said here on Saturday.

Mumbai, July 6 (IANS) The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has ordered a probe into a bizarre revelation of the KEM Hospital patientsa old medical reports getting reincarnated as apaper platesa in the market, officials said here on Saturday.

The opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) highlighted the issue after some videos of the development went viral on social media.

While MNS spokesperson Sandeep Deshpande shared the video, the SS (UBT) leaders like Anil Choudhary, Kishori Pednekar and Shraddha Jadhav rushed to the hospital to demand an explanation from the authorities of the civic-run premier medical institution.

Besides the high-level probe by a Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Public Health), the BMC has also slapped a memo to one of its service providers and sought an explanation from the KEM authorities on the issue.

The SS (UBT) leaders sought to know how the confidential medical reports of patients were ostensibly asolda away as waste and returned in a new avatar as apaper platesa, displaying the names, addresses, the medical department and other details of those who were treated at KEM Hospital.

Rattled by the furore, the BMC said that after various tests like x-rays, MRIs or CTScans, the patients were given the report in a folder.

These folders were either outdated or old and later destroyed into a shredder before being disposed of as scrap by the concerned service provider of the BMC.

However, in this instance, it was found that the vendor had reportedly sold out the folders without shredding them, amounting to negligence, said the BMC.

A civic source said that in the past couple of years, the civic hospitals have initiated a major project to digitise the medical reports of all its patients but said it was a mystery how the old folders emerged again as apaper platesa.
Ahmedabad, July 6 : Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the INDIA bloc will defeat the BJP in Gujarat in the upcoming Assembly elections.

"They (BJP) have challenged us. We will defeat PM Modi and the BJP in Gujarat too just like we did in Ayodhya," LoP Rahul Gandhi said while addressing the party workers at the Gujarat Congress headquarters in Paldi.

The LoP was on a day-long visit to the state after the recent clash between Congress and BJP supporters outside the Gujarat Congress headquarters.

He also met with the families of those who lost their lives in various tragedies in Gujarat, assuring them that he as LoP would raise their demands in the Parliament.

The relatives of TRP game zone fire victims, victims of the boat capsizing in Vadodara, victims of the 2022 Morbi bridge collapse, and victims of the 2016 Una Dalit flogging case met the LoP Rahul Gandhi at Congress headquarters.

He interacted with the family members of the victims, understood their issues, and promised to raise them in Parliament to ensure justice is served.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Minister Rushikesh Patel criticised LoP Rahul Gandhi's aspirations, asserting that his ambitions for a Congress-led government in Gujarat are unfounded.

"LoP Rahul Gandhi and Congress engage in politics while we focus on development," Patel said.

--IANS

janvi/dan
Mumbai, July 6 : Mumbai Police have filed a closure report in an alleged corruption case filed against Mumbai MP Ravindra Waikar, barely four months after he quit the Shiv Sena (UBT) to join the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, which is a crucial constituent of the ruling MahaYuti in Maharashtra.

The development drew sharp reactions from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which said now only fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim is left to be given a clean chit by the ruling alliance.

Following a hue and cry raised by former BJP MP Kirit Somaiya, Mumbai Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had booked Waikar, his wife Manisha, their business associates Aaso Mehlani, Raj Lalchandani, Prithpal Bindra, and an architect named Arun Dubey.

After a complaint was filed by BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) engineer Santosh Mandavkar with the Azad Maidan police station, the EOW took over the case and charged the six persons with alleged irregularities, flouting rules and civic norms, in connection with a luxury hotel of Waikar coming up in Jogeshwari East.

While Somaiya has declined to comment on the latest development, the MVA pounced on the MahaYuti with strong comments criticising the BJP.

"The government has taken all the corrupt people into its fold Even Waikar had switched sides fearing action against him. Is there rule of law? Now only Dawood is left to be given a clean chit," said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.

State Congress President Nana F. Patole said that this was yet another instance of BJP's 'washing machine' tactic that has cleansed Waikar, and is one of the numerous incidents of the ruling party misusing the central agencies like the ED and the CBI.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads all the corrupt in the country Waikar had mentioned how he was pressured to switch sides to join the ruling alliance before the (Lok Sabha) elections. So it's not surprising that he has been exonerated and the files against him have been closed," said Patole.

Maharashtra Congress General Secretary Sachin Sawant said the Waikar case is another example of 'political blackmail' being practised in the state for the past 10 years.

"It starts with people like Somaiya hurling allegations against a target, then filing a complaint, the probe agencies enter to scare the person and his family with raids and probes, and then the political leader is forced to join the ruling alliance. In the LS polls, people have cleaned up politics to an extent, but more needs to be done," Sawant said.

Once a close confidante of Shiv Sena (UBT) President and ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray, Waikar came into the limelight last month after he was elected from the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat by a wafer-thin margin of 48 votes, defeating his Shiv Sena (UBT) rival Amol G. Kirtikar.

In its closure report, the EOW has contended that the reason for dropping the case is 'incomplete information and misunderstanding' in the complaint lodged by the BMC.

On his part, Waikar said that he had always maintained his innocence in the past and even now, as the allegations were fake, plus he had strictly followed the laws and now the truth has won.
Kolkata, July 6 : Early trend is hinting at the possibility of the spread of dengue during the monsoon season in West Bengal with the total number of affected people having already crossed the 2,000 mark at the end of the first week of July.

Sources in the Health Department said the number of affected people till July 4 has already touched 2,095, adding that the figures could be more since not all the cases have been reported, with Malda and Murshidabad districts leading the tally.

The number of cases in Durgapur, the industrial township in West Burdwan district, is also substantially high.

The sources added that Health Department officials are in constant touch with the different civic authorities to ensure that the situation does not get out of control.

The dengue menace took an alarming shape in 2023 when the state reported over 76,000 cases till November last year, which was around 10,000 more than the 2022 figures.

With the full-fledged monsoon yet to arrive in the state, the medical fraternity is not ruling out the probability of Bengal reporting a large number of dengue cases this year as well.

The medical fraternity is also emphasising that the Health Department should report all dengue cases to the National Centre for Vector Borne Diseases Control (NCVBDC).

Last year, West Bengal was the only state that did not share any data on this count with the central monitoring agency.
Mumbai, July 6 : Former contestant Payal Malik and housemate Sai Ketan Rao's rumoured girlfriend Shivangi Khedkar made a surprise visit on "Bigg Boss OTT 3" for a special segment during Weekend Ka Vaar episode hosted by Anil Kapoor.

Mumbai, July 6 (IANS) Former contestant Payal Malik and housemate Sai Ketan Rao's rumoured girlfriend Shivangi Khedkar made a surprise visit on "Bigg Boss OTT 3" for a special segment during Weekend Ka Vaar episode hosted by Anil Kapoor.

"I'm here to expose what's really going on in the house and I'm really disappointed," Payal told Anil.

Shivangi encouraged the contestants to be honest with their emotions.

"I want everyone to be their best selves with each other, especially when it comes to feelings," she urged.

Her rumoured beau, Sai was visibly moved, shedding tears after Shivangi's touching appeal.

The drama reached its peak when Payal spoke to Vishal Pandey. She confronted him about his comments regarding Kritika.

"What you said about Kritika is unacceptable! She's a mom and a wife, and you need to respect that."

Vishal, who had previously confessed his feelings for Kritika, said: "I like Kritika, and I feel guilty about it".

He then defended himself by saying that he likes Kritika in a platonic way.

In the episode, Payal and Shivani get into a heated conversation over Shivani Kumari's fake allegation of being treated poorly and given food badly at Arman and Payal's wedding.

Payal gives a strong response to Shivani's allegation of not being served properly.

"Shivani was offended by how she was given food." To which, Shivani said she still stands on that statement of not being treated properly.

Additionally, Shivangi confronted the viral vada pav girl Chandrika Dixit on her allegations of Sai asking her to give a massage.

A furious Shivangi questioned her about her baseless and misleading allegations against the actor. To which, Chandrika said that she didn't mean that he had wrong intentions and she was just clarifying it so that it doesn't come across the wrong way.

The show airs on JioCinema Premium.
Lucknow, July 6 : Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday said that they have arrested key suspects in the Hathras stampede case and are also probing the political links related to the case.

The police identified the accused as the main organiser Dev Prakash Madhukar, who was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh as well as two other accused Ram Prakash Shakya and Sanju Yadav.

"With today's arrest, we have now arrested a total of 9 accused in the case," Hathras Police claimed.

Hathras SP Nipun Aggarwal said that the interrogation of the accused revealed that some political parties had contacted them some time ago.

"Dev Prakash Madhukar was arrested by the district SOG of Hathras on Friday evening from Najafgarh (Delhi) while the Sikandra Rao police arrested accused Ram Prakash Shakya from Kailora Chauraha and accused Sanju Yadav from Gopalpur Kachauri, Sikandra Rao on Saturday," said SP Aggarwal.

He further noted that Dev Prakash Madhukar, due to his long-term involvement with the organisation, had become its fundraiser, collecting money to support its operations and conduct Satsang. Based on the interrogation thus far, it appears that a political party might be involved with them for its own political and personal gains, he revealed.

Meanwhile, all bank accounts, movable and immovable properties, and money trails associated with the accused Madhukar are being investigated, and assistance from other agencies will be sought as necessary, he said.

Hathras Police said that the interrogation also revealed that the preacher's vehicle was driven through the crowd by the accused and their assistants, despite knowing that doing so could cause a stampede and a terrible accident due to the rush for the preacher's blessings.

The police reported that during the initial interrogation, accused Dev Prakash revealed that he has been working on a contract basis as a junior engineer in the MGNREGA in Etah district since 2010. He has been associated with this organisation for years, organising events and collecting funds for it. He was the main organiser of the Satsangs event held in the village of Phulrai on July 2, and he obtained the necessary permissions for this event.

Dev Prakash and other assistants prevented the police administration from intervening at the event site. People were prohibited from doing any videography or photography at the event site. Violating several conditions mentioned in the permit issued by the administration, they disrupted traffic arrangements and other logistics. The interrogation also revealed that no efforts were made to control the crowd, and all of them fled the scene.
Kolkata, July 6 : An MP-MLA court in Kolkata has granted bail to Saumitra Khan, the BJP MP from Bishnupur Lok Sabha constituency, against a personal bond of Rs 500 after he appeared before the court in connection with a case dating back to last year, sources said on Saturday.

On June 25, the same court fixed July 9 as the deadline for Khan to be personally present before it, failing which he faced arrest. The direction came after the BJP MP repeatedly failed to honour the court summonses sent to him for an appearance before it.

However, Khan appeared before the court before the deadline on Saturday, following which the judge granted him bail against a personal bond of Rs 500.

Coming out of the court, Khan launched a scathing attack against the state police for "falsely implicating" him in a case relating to abusing a police inspector in Bankura district over allegations of financial regularities in a self-help group run by women at Sonamukhi in the same district in 2023.

"The police first resorted to extortion and then filed a false case against me to strip me of my MP's chair. This is unprecedented," Khan said.

Khan is a three-time Lok Sabha member from Bishnupur. He first won the elections on a Trinamool Congress ticket in 2014, before joining the BJP and retaining the seat in 2019 and 2024.
Mumbai, July 6 : At the maiden joint rally after the debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, the MahaYuti partners BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP on Saturday sounded the bugle for the upcoming Assembly election with a resolve to work together to retain power in Maharashtra.

Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis went a step further and announced that the MahaYuti will win 200 of the 288 assembly seats in the state if it gets 25 lakh votes more than the Lok Sabha elections.

Another Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said the opposition, which is scared by a slew of proposals for women, girls, youth and other sections in the budget, may run a campaign saying these sops are an eyewash but the MahaYuti partners will have to counter their charges by flagging off the development plank.

He admitted that the Centre's decision to ban onion exports adversely impacted MahaYuti's prospects in the general elections and therefore he urged the union minister Piyush Goyal, who was present at the rally, not to impost onion export ban at the time of Assembly elections but do everything possible to protect the farmers' interests.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde asked the MahaYuti leaders and cadres not to be complacent and to step-up efforts to reach out to the voters by taking up a number of development works carried out by the state government in the last two years to ensure MahaYuti's victory.

Fadnavis admitted that the MahaYuti did not counter Maha Vikas Aghadi's fake narrative effectively during the general elections.

"We noticed that they (MVA) lied every day but we remained oblivious. Our battle was with the fourth party, the fake narrative, that led to MahaYuti winning fewer seats. Truth is eternal, falsehood is not long. You can win an election by lying, but you can't lie consistently," he said,

He said that it is now the job of the MahaYuti leaders and cadres to not only project the state government's decisions for farmers, women, girls, youth and proposals to spur Maharashtra's growth but also to focus on enrolment of maximum eligible beneficiaries for various schemes.

Fadnavis snubbed the spokespersons of BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP for their verbal duel, especially with regard to seat sharing. "If anyone wants to speak, he should ask his leaders first and only after their approval can they make their comments," he said.

Pawar admitted that apart from MVA's fake narrative, the MahaYuti could not get the desired seats due to its failure to maintain coordination during the Lok Sabha elections.

"However, the MahaYuti will have to work unitedly by maintaining proper coordination to win the assembly election in Maharashtra. The MahaYuti needs to hold similar rallies in districts, tehsils and villages by reaching out to the voters taking up state government's development works and its proposals for various sections," he said.

He said that if the opposition spreads a fake narrative, it will have to be immediately countered strongly.

Shinde took a swipe at Congress for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of corruption.

"Congress has no right to accuse PM Modi, especially in the wake of various scams including Bofors, fodder scam, coal scam," he said

He also targeted his former boss and Shiv Sena UBT Chief Uddhav Thackeray, saying that, "I work face-to-face not through Facebook live."

Shinde exhorted the MahaYuti leaders and workers to work hard for its victory in the Assembly election.

"If MahaYuti activists immediately respond to the fake narrative, the intentions of the opposition will be thwarted. Go to the voters with the welfare schemes undertaken by the MahaYuti government. The MahaYuti will win in the assembly election," he said.
Hyderabad, July 6 : Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments on Saturday decided to constitute a high-level committee to resolve post-bifurcation issues.

The decision was taken at a meeting between Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu.

A nearly two-hour-long meeting at Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan between the delegations of the two states led by the chief ministers and comprising ministers and senior officials discussed the issues pending for the last 10 years.

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka told the media after the meeting that it was decided to constitute a high-level committee comprising senior officials. The panel will be constituted in two weeks.

The issues which canat be resolved by the committee of officials will be referred to a committee of ministers. He said if the committee of ministers also fails to find a solution, another meeting of the chief ministers will be held to resolve them.

Vikramarka said the two states discussed the issues which remained unresolved even 10 years after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. They decided to discuss and resolve the pending issues.

Both the state governments agreed to work together to check drugs and cybercrimes.

Andhra Pradesh minister A. Satyaprasad said that it was a day hailed by all Telugu-speaking people. He said Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had sent a letter to his Telangana counterpart to resolve issues arising out of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014.

The minister said both the chief ministers thoroughly discussed the issue after taking suggestions from all.

Asserting that Telangana state was formed after a massive movement, he said decisions were taken for the good of all. Both the chief ministers agreed to meet again to discuss the issues.

He mentioned that Andhra Pradesh has already formed a Cabinet Sub-Committee on drug control. He said additional directors general of both states will monitor the activities to check the menace of drugs.

Telangana CM, Deputy CM, some ministers, Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari and senior officials were also attending the meeting on behalf of Telangana.

The Andhra Pradesh delegation led by Naidu includes ministers Kandula Durgesh, A. Satyaprasad, BC Janardhan Reddy, Chief Secretary Neerabh Kumar Pradesh and senior officials.

This is the first meeting between the chief ministers of the Telugu states in four years. Naidu, who assumed the office of the chief minister last month, had proposed the meeting on July 1 to amicably resolve the pending issues and the next day Revanth Reddy accepted the proposal and invited him to Hyderabad.
Guwahati, July 6 : Amid marginal improvement in the flood situation in Assam, six more people have died in five districts while over 23.96 lakh people have been affected across the state, officials said on Saturday.

According to Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials, two people drowned in Charaideo district while one each died in Goalpara, Morigaon, Sonitpur, and Tinsukia districts.

With Saturday's deaths, the toll has mounted to 58 with many people dying due to landslides and other calamities in different districts.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah dialled Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday and assured the Centre's full assistance to the state.

"On account of the heavy rains, a flood-like situation has occurred in Assam. Spoke with Assam CM Shri Himanta Biswa Sarma Ji about the ongoing situation.

"The NDRF and the SDRF are working on a war footing, providing relief and rescuing the victims. PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji stands firmly with the people of Assam and is committed to providing all possible assistance to the state in these challenging times," the Home Minister said in a post on X.

ASDMA officials said that the flood water also inundated over 68,768 hectares of crop area in 3,535 villages under 29 districts while over 15.49 lakh domestic animals have also been badly affected.

Out of the 29 flood-affected districts, Dhubri, Morigaon, Cachar, Darrang, Dibrugarh, and Barpeta are the worst hit.

The Brahmaputra is flowing above the danger level at Neamatighat, Goalpara, Tezpur, and Dhubri, while Burhidihing, Dikhou, Disang, Dhansiri, Jia-Bharali, Kopili, Barak, Katakhal, and Kushiyara rivers are flowing near danger level in many places.

The district administrations have set up 577 relief camps to provide shelter to over 53.429 people, while 284 more relief distribution centres are functioning in different districts.

Along with various NGOs, teams of the National and State Disaster Response Forces have also been deployed for the rescue and relief operations.

Like in previous years, a large area of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) has been inundated and park authorities have intensified vigil to rescue the animals and to prevent poaching of the wildlife.

KNPTR Director Sonali Ghosh said that so far, 95 wild animals have been rescued while 114 animals, including deer, rhino, and hog-deer, have drowned in flood waters.
Jordan Pickford and Bukayo Saka lead England past Switzerland into semifinals of UEFA Euro 2024 via a shoot-out victory at the Dusseldorf Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Saturday. Photo credit: UEFA. Image Source: IANS News

Dusseldorf, July 7 : Jordan Pickford saved Manuel Akanji's spot-kick as England edged out a resilient Switzerland 5-3 in penalties to reach the semifinals of UEFA Euro 2024. Pickford was the shoot-out hero as England came through a stiff examination by Switzerland and reached the last-four stage.

There was royalty in the crowd in Dusseldorf Arena but on the pitch, it was initially more workmanlike, with both sides industriously keeping their shape and probing cautiously. England settled into their task and their impressive attacking arsenal all fired shots across the bow. Switzerland stood firm, holding them goalless through the first half.

It was 51 minutes before the first shot on target. When it came, the surprise was that it was for the team in red as Breel Embolo's effort was gathered easily by Pickford. Suddenly the Swiss supporters raised their levels and the Nati responded in kind -a" with 15 minutes to go the noise of cowbells was through the roof as Embolo poked in Dan Ndoye's deflected cross.

For the second successive knockout fixture England were behind. Gareth Southgate responded immediately with a triple substitution and within five minutes it was back to all-square as Bukayo Saka curled in a wonderful goal. Now, as the third quarter-final at Euro 2024 went to extra time, it was end to end -a" that early caution was unceremoniously thrown to the wind.

Yann Sommer was the busier keeper, denying Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, but it was Xhedran Shaqiri who came closest to a winner, hitting the post directly from a corner. On to the shoot-out. Pickford denied Akanji and England were impeccable, Saka among the scorers before late replacement Trent Alexander-Arnold sealed a date in Dortmund.
Seoul, July 7 : The South Korean government congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian on his election as Iran's President on Saturday, expressing hopes for an improved relationship between Seoul and Tehran.

"We wish Iran a path of prosperity and development under the new government, contributing constructively to regional stability. We look forward to further enhancing our friendly relations with Iran," South Korea's Foreign Affairs Ministry was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

Reformist Pezeshkian was elected as Iran's new president in a runoff election on Friday, defeating hard-liner Saeed Jalili.

The early presidential election was held following the death of former president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.
In Category Five, Nowhere magazine editor Porter Fox describes how climate change is making storms more intense.

How did you balance climate science and narrative storytelling?

The key to narrative nonfiction is alternating between narrative and reporting in a steady, proportionate rhythm.

This mechanism keeps the reader from getting mired down in facts. Readers always know that a digression into character, history, memoir, or science will soon return to the primary thread.

You note that storms are developing faster and growing stronger than ever. What do you say to people who doubt this is real?

We no longer have to speculate about climate change and amplifying weather. We can see it. Last year saw more billion-dollar weather disasters in the U.S. than any year on record, including a series of atmospheric rivers that dumped 30 trillion gallons of water on California on the heels of a yearslong megadrought. More category four and five hurricanes hit the U.S. mainland between 2017 and 2021 than between 1963 and 2016. Since the 1970s, the likelihood of a hurricane developing into a category three storm or higher increased by 8% per decade. This year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted the most active and potentially destructive hurricane season in history.

Hurricane season keeps getting longer, now running from May through January. Where do you see this ending?

It will not end until we stop burning fossil fuels. The effects of climate change will progressively get worse. Typhoon season in the Pacific now lasts all year long. Hurricane season will expand similarly. Hurricanes are also predicted to last longer, rapidly intensify more frequently, and carry stronger winds and higher storm surges, ranging as far north as Boston, Maine, and Canada and penetrating as far inland as New Mexico, Kansas, and Wisconsin. Storms enhanced by the climate crisis carry vastly more precipitation and can dump up to 40 inches of rain in a day, as Hurricane Harvey did in 2017. One example of how the compounding forces of climate change are overwhelming coastlines: if Superstorm Sandy had occurred in 1912 instead of 2012, it would likely not have flooded lower Manhattan.

What message do you have for policymakers?
Welcome to our fall 2024 Childrens Preview issue!

For our main feature, we spoke with booksellers about their innovative approaches to getting kids jazzed about reading, including design contests, subscription boxes, and pizza dinners with authors. We also asked publishers to share their most unusual behind-the-scenes anecdotes from the bookmaking process, and talked with British author Katherine Rundell, who is bringing the first book in her hit middle grade fantasy series Impossible Creatures to U.S. readers in the coming season. All this, plus our comprehensive AZ listings of childrens and YA titles being released between August 1 and January 31.

Happy reading!

About Our Cover Artist

Even with the many accolades Raul the Third has collected over his decade-long career, the fact that I get to write and illustrate books, to me, is what I am most proud of, he says.

Rauls journey toward becoming an artist began in Boston, where he would follow opportunities for whatever project came along. He created flyers for local neighborhood events and restaurants. He had his art displayed in local galleries and eventually museums. He taught comic book workshops for 10 years at Bostons Museum of Fine Arts. The city still holds a special place in his heart, as its where he currently resides. And the city loves him back. You walk through the Boston area, he says, and you are bound to see my work somewhere.

Today, you can find plenty of the creators books on shelves. In 2014 he made his illustration debut with Lowriders in Space, written by Cathy Camper. Raul and Camper forged a friendship through their involvement in the nationwide zine community, where self-publishing meant heading over to the Kinkos and making tons of copies of our books, he says. The books sequel, Lowriders to the Center of the Earth, earned Raul his first Pura Belpre Award (he now has three, as well as an honor).

It gives me a lot of confidence, Raul says of receiving those awards. When I started making these books, I wondered, How many people will relate to these characters and the situations that theyre in? And as it turns out, tens of thousands of people have taken to so many different aspects of the book.

Rauls most notable works are his Vamos! series, which marked his authorial debut in 2019. The books feature a crowd of bilingual animals leading everyday lives, influenced by his own upbringing in El Paso, Tex., and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The series title, Spanish for lets go!, stuck because that means I can basically go anywhere with my characters. The series has sprouted spin-offs such as the El Toro & Friends series and led to the A Coco Rocho board books. He also has a new series debuting from Little, Brown Ink next January, titled The Snips: A Bad Buzz Day, and a sequel is underway. And a new picture book with Benjamin Alire Saenz, a fellow writer from El Paso, is out in 2025.

Elaine Bay, Rauls wife and also his colorist, is onboard for several of these projects. Its like working with my other brain, she says of their partnership. I think thats how the best things in life happen: through friendships and collaborations, Raul says. Nothing that we do happens alone. Iyana Jones

Off the Beaten Path: Unusual Tales from Childrens Publishers

Sometimes a books journey to publication is straightforward. Other times, its a bit more circuitous. We asked publishers to tell us their fun or unusual behind-the-scenes stories.

The Future of Childrens Bookselling

Forward-thinking booksellers are reinventing community programming staples, from author visits to subscription boxes.

Katherine Rundells Magic Words

British author Katherine Rundell brings her acclaimed middle grade fantasy series starter, Impossible Creatures, across the pond this fall.

Fall 2024 Children's Preview: Publishers A-C

Fall 2024 Children's Preview: Publishers D-H

Fall 2024 Children's Preview: Publishers I-O

Fall 2024 Children's Preview: Publishers P-S

Fall 2024 Children's Preview: Publishers T-Z
Monroes New Epic Goes to Morrow William Morrow executive editor Liz Stein has acquired North American rights to two books by Mary Alice Monroe (The Beach House). The deal was brokered by Faye Bender at the Book Group. Morrow said the first book in the deal, Mayfield Hall, scheduled for summer 2025, is an American epic set in the 20th-century low country that centers on a fierce young woman, Eliza Rivers, whose spirit and vision put her on a collision course with the patriarchal traditions of a bygone era. The second book, Where the Rivers Merge, is scheduled for summer 2026. Set in the mid-century South, the book will continue Elizas story. Monroes books have sold roughly eight million copies worldwide.

Liews Black Bird Flies to Pantheon

In an exclusive submission, Chip Kidd at Pantheon Books has acquired world rights (excluding France) to Black Bird by Eisner Awardwinning graphic novelist Sonny Liew. Liew was represented in the deal by Nicolas Grivel at Nicolas Grivel Agency. Kidd said Black Bird is the brilliant and tremendously ambitious story of a young cartoonist in Singapore who receives a job offer out of the blue to collaborate on a story with a reclusive billionaire named Quinn, which includes a fictional golden-age superhero vigilante whose story curiously overlaps with Quinns own. Black Bird will be published in 2026.

Crown Signs Lockheed Martin History

Kochland author Christopher Leonard has sold North American rights to an as-yet untitled history of defense contractor Lockheed Martin and the growth of the American military-industrial complex to Kevin Doughten at Crown. Chris Parris-Lamb at the Gernert Company handled the deal. Crown said the book will unpack nine decades of U.S. foreign policy and the rise of the American-led global weapons industry. No pub date has been announced.

S&S Signs New Hillary Clinton Memoir

Simon & Schuster has acquired world rights to Something Lost, Something Gained: Reflections on Life, Love, and

Liberty by Hillary Rodham Clinton. Robert B. Barnett of Williams & Connolly negotiated the deal, and S&S editor-in-chief Priscilla Painton edited the book. The publisher said Something Gained offers a glimpse into Clintons closest friendships and enduring marriage as well as her unvarnished views on politics, democracy, the threats we face, and the future within our reach. The book will publish in September.

Authors Equity Takes Trump Trial Book

New York Times reporter Jonah Bromwich has sold world rights to his definitive account of Donald Trumps recent New York trial and conviction to Madeline McIntosh at Authors Equity. David Larabell at CAA negotiated the deal. Liz van Hoose will edit the book. Author Equity said the as-yet untitled work, based on the authors daily reporting of the trial, will color in the lines of this unforgettable New York panorama and detail its historic stakes and larger-than-life characters, including a tabloid impresario, a mess-making fixer, a counterpunching porn star, the reality-television president himself, and an enigmatic D.A. The book will be published in 2025.

Dial Picks Up Paramitas Debut

Katy Nishimoto at the Dial Press has acquired North American rights to P. Paramitas debut novel, Appetite, a project that emerged from the publishers 2023 open submissions program. Paramita was represented by Ashley Lopez at Waxman Literary Agency. Dial said the book is about the friendship forged between a 23-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant and a famous white wrestler and explores the dynamics of para-social relationships, the blurred lines between public and private, the loneliness of young professional life, and the authentic connection shared by chosen family. No pub date has been announced.
Amid tight budgets and an ongoing right-wing political attack on the freedom to read, its been something of a dark time for the library community. But a well-attended, high energy ALA Annual Conference, which closed on July 2 in sunny San Diego, offered librarians plenty of reason for optimism.

ALA interim executive director Leslie Burger put preliminary attendance figures for the show at 13,523. While thats down from the 15,842 who attended last years conference in the ALAs hometown of Chicago, its a strong turnout for a Southern California ALA event. Burger said this years conference surpassed both the ALAs target attendance and revenue goals by more than 100%.

This is absolutely amazingthis is a sea of people, Burger said to a standing-room-only ballroom at the conferences opening session on June 28. She reported that plans to have a permanent ALA executive director in place by September are on track, and thanked attendees for their engagement. Your membership supports us and our efforts to fight book challenges, something weve had a lot of practice doing this past year. Its helping us to get the vote out in this election year, and to support library funding and librarians during these difficult times, Burger said. Please remember that nothing is more important than librariess foundational support for democracy.

In her remarks, outgoing ALA president Emily Drabinksiwhose appearance at ALA was the culmination of a cross-country road trip visiting librariesspoke of an eventful year at the helm in which right-wing politicians in a handful of states personally targeted hera self-described proud-to-the-bone Queer leader of ALAin an effort to force their state libraries to cut ties with ALA. I want to say how grateful I am to all of you for your support, Drabinksi said, conceding that being weaponized against the people and institutions I care about most in the world was painful. I will continue my work with all of you to fight for libraries, and the fullest sense of what we can do and who we can be, she said. And I know that we will win, because we are right and because we are united on behalf of the most important public institution in this countryand thats the library.

The conferences opening keynote was delivered by comedian Trevor Noah, who spoke with former ALA president Lessa Kananiopua Pelayo-Losada about his forthcoming picture book Into the Uncut Grass, illustrated by Sabina Hahn (One World, Oct.). The book is powerful, but the library is the energy behind that power, Noah said. An anti-censorship crusader (his bestselling memoir Born a Crime: Stories of a South African Childhood has faced numerous bans), Noah spoke movingly about books and libraries, telling attendees theres no clickbait in a book and theres no algorithm in the library.

Over five days, the conference featured an impressive professional program, with more than 175 sessions on a wide array of topics, including AI, DEI, library e-books, library worker safety, and policy and advocacy efforts. Defending the freedom to read took center stage, however, including the second-ever Rally for the Right Read, which was keynoted by Hanif Abdurraqib, who recalled his experience as a 10-year-old picking up a copy of Toni Morrisons Jazz at the Livingston branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.

The Carnegie Medalwinning author said his motherand the librarians in Columbustaught him that theres nothing you dont deserve to witness and understand, noting that when the language of censorship is pressed into someone, they can grow up unable to tell their own stories. The world is becoming more cruel, Abdurraqib said. Without more inclusiveness, he warned, the world will be less survivable not just for people at its margins, but for all of us.

At a panel on June 29, Leila Green Little spoke of her fight against censorship in Llano County, Tex., where she and a group of plaintiffs filed a successful lawsuit to have 17 books that had been pulled from library shelves returned, a move that made national headlines. Asked what inspired her to file the suit, Green Little spoke of her personal valuesbeing brought up in a home where all reading is good readingand specifically of Maurice Sendaks book In the Night Kitchen, which she said she first discovered on a banned books display.

I saw that book, and read it with my children. It became a family favorite. We checked it out a lot. Wed pull it off the shelf at the library and read it on the floor, Green Little said. And that book was censored from the library. It doesnt get much more personal than that. Green Little said the experience turned out to be life-changing: it inspired her to get her library degree, which she completed this year. I have small children, but theyre gonna get older, she said. And theres no way I could expect them to stand up and do the right thing if I didnt do the same.
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Register to place your bid. Sells to high bidder regardless of price. Copy & paste the links below to you browser ! Tax assessed value: $62,510 https://www.kaufman-auctions.com/auctions/3211/lot/385762-absolute-3-bdrm-home-on-city-lot ONLINE ONLY AUCTION & BIDS START @ $100.00. Ends Tuesday July 23rd 2024 6:00 PM 3 Bdrm 1 Bath Home | 1st Floor Laundry City Lot | Det. Garage | 2 Sheds Tuscarawas County | Oxford Twp | Newcomerstown Schools Open for Inspection: Wednesday July 10th 5:00-7:00 PM Grea...

Price: $ 100 Seller State of Residence: Ohio For Sale by: Owner Property Address: 342 N. BRIDGE STREET Number of Bedrooms: 3 Sale Type: Existing Homes Number of Bathrooms: 1 Zip/Postal Code: 43832 City: NEWCOMERSTOWN OH State/Province: Ohio Location: 438**, Newcomerstown, Ohio

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Timely Acquisitions Wants you to please note that we are not affiliated with nor do we represent the resort described in this item ad.(The Photos in this Ad are General in Nature) FOX RIVER RESORT IL.WEEK: 27 FIXED ANNUALLYSIZE: 2-BEDROOM SLEEPS SIXUNIT: 422First Usage Available: 2025Maintenance Fee Approx: $1987 NOV 9TH ANNUALLY Resort DescriptionAfter fast-paced, big-city sightseeing in Chicago, families might need a vacation after their vacation. Savvy Midwesterners know theres a quiet, al...

Price: $ 1 Seller State of Residence: Texas Property Address: 2558 N. 3650 RD. SHERIDAN, IL. Type: Attractions Number of Bedrooms: 2 BEDROOM SLEEPS SIX Number of Bathrooms: 2 Zip/Postal Code: 60551 City: SHERIDAN State/Province: Illinois Location: 760**, Mansfield, Texas

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Timely Acquisitions Wants you to please note that we are not affiliated with nor do we represent the resort described in this item ad.(The Photos in this Ad are General in Nature) HOLIDAY INN CLUB VACATIONS SOUTH BEACH RESORT SC.WEEK: FLOATS 1-52 ODD YEARSSIZE: 2 BEDROOMUNIT: B112First Usage Available: 2025Maintenance Fee Approx: $685 JAN. 1st ANNUALLY Resort DescriptionWith its sun, white sand and boardwalk games, its no surprise how much families love vacationing in Myrtle Beach. But decidi...

Price: $ 1,528 Seller State of Residence: Texas Property Address: 3020 OWNERS CLUB COURT MYRTLE BEACH SC Type: Attractions Number of Bedrooms: 2 BEDROOM Number of Bathrooms: 2 Zip/Postal Code: 29577 City: Myrtle Beach State/Province: South Carolina Location: 760**, Mansfield, Texas

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Timely Acquisitions Wants you to please note that we are not affiliated with nor do we represent the resort described in this item ad.(The Photos in this Ad are General in Nature) THE WOODSTONE AT MASSANUTTEN VA.WEEK: 42 FIXED TRIENNIALSIZE: 2 BEDROOM SLEEPS EIGHTUNIT: LOCK OUT UNITFirst Usage Available: 2025Maintenance Fee Approx: $290 JULY 1st ANNUALLY Resort Description Woodstone Indoor PoolWoodstone Outdoor PoolWoodstone Recreation Center has both a heated indoor shallow-water activity pool ...

Price: $ 1 Seller State of Residence: Texas Property Address: 1822 RESORT DRIVE MASSANUTTEN, VA. Type: Attractions Number of Bedrooms: 2 Number of Bathrooms: 2 Zip/Postal Code: 22840 City: MASSANUTTEN State/Province: Virginia Location: 760**, Mansfield, Texas

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West 57th Street, A Hilton ClubNew York City, New York "All images in this listing are general images of the resort and do not necessarily reflect the actual resort or units. Please perform your own due diligenceResort OverviewWith a truly distinctive setting complemented by world-class amenities, West 57th Street by Hilton Club delivers a Manhattan experience that is luxurious and, above all, unforgettable. This 28-story building is the first ground-up residential shared ownership property e...

Price: $ 1,350 Seller State of Residence: Florida Property Address: 102 W 57th St Zip/Postal Code: 10019 City: New York State/Province: New York Location: 100**, New York, New York

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Available Usage Year 1/1/2025 Usage Type FLOAT 1-52 Bed/Bathroom 1B/1B Week/Points WK 36 SEP 5TH-LABOR DAY Unit UNIT 219A Season PLATINUM Usage Interval ODD Estimated Maintenance Fee Amount $739 EVERY ODD YEAR Exchange Affiliate II Related Fees Closing Fee (Paid By Seller) $349.00 Resort Transfer Fee (PAID BY Seller) $FREE Recording Fee (Paid By Seller) n/a FREE USE FOR 2025! Maintenance fees start in 2027!Nestled along the shores of Table Rock Lake in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, this prop...

Price: $ 25 Seller State of Residence: Missouri Property Address: 750 EMERALD POINTE DR Type: Lakefront Number of Bedrooms: 1 Number of Bathrooms: 1 Zip/Postal Code: 65672 City: BRANSON State/Province: Missouri Location: 656**, Branson, Missouri

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Available Usage Year 2025 Usage Type FLOAT 1-52 Bed/Bathroom 3B/2B Week/Points WK 47 (11-22) Unit UNIT 747 Season PLATINUM Usage Interval ANNUAL Estimated Maintenance Fee Amount $1427 EVERY ODD YEAR Exchange Affiliate II Related Fees Closing Fee (Paid By Seller) $349.00 Resort Transfer Fee (PAID BY Seller) $FREE Recording Fee (Paid By Seller) n/a Maintenance fees start in 2025!$200 to be paid upon completion of transfer by PayPal only! The closing company must receive written proof from the reso...

Price: $ 1 Seller State of Residence: Missouri Property Address: 9500 TURKEY LAKE RD City: Orlando State/Province: Florida Type: Attractions Number of Bedrooms: 3 Number of Bathrooms: 2 Zip/Postal Code: 32819 Location: 328**, Orlando, Florida

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Timely Acquisitions Wants you to please note that we are not affiliated with nor do we represent the resort described in this item ad.(The Photos in this Ad are General in Nature) WYNDHAM RESORTS AT FAIRFIELD MOUNTAINS NC.WEEK: FLOATS 1-52 ODD YEARSSIZE: 1-BEDROOM SLEEPS FOURUNIT: 910First Usage Available: 2025Maintenance Fee Approx: $305 TWICE ANNUALLY MAY & NOV Resort DescriptionThe bright and airy accommodations bring the beauty of Kauai indoors with island-inspired furnishings and plenty of ...

Price: $ 1 Seller State of Residence: Texas Property Address: 4180 LEI O PAPA RD. PRINCEVILLE, HI Type: Beach/Ocean Number of Bedrooms: 1 BEDROOM SLEEPS 4 Number of Bathrooms: 1 Zip/Postal Code: 96722 City: PRINCEVILLE State/Province: Hawaii Location: 760**, Mansfield, Texas

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President Droupadi Murmu on July 5, 2024 conferred 10 Kirti Chakras, including seven posthumously, to personnel of the Indian Army and paramilitary forces for displaying indomitable courage and extraordinary valour in the line of duty.

The Kirti Chakra is India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award.

IMAGE: President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Kirti Chakra upon Captain Anshuman Singh, The Army Medical Corps, 26th Battalion The Punjab Regiment, posthumously.

Disregarding his own safety, Captain Anshuman exhibited exceptional bravery and resolve to rescue many people in a major fire incident. All photographs: Rashtrapati Bhavan

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Kirti Chakra upon Inspector/GD Dilip Kumar Das, 210 CoBRA, CRPF, posthumously.

During a joint operation in Chhattisgarh in April 2021, he displayed extraordinary gallantry and indomitable will and made supreme sacrifice for the nation while eliminating many Maoists.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Kirti Chakra upon Head Constable/GD Raj Kumar Yadava, 210 CoBRA, CRPF, posthumously.

During a joint operation in Chhattisgarh in April 2021, he displayed extraordinary gallantry and indomitable will and made supreme sacrifice for the nation while eliminating many Maoists.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Kirti Chakra upon Constable/GD Bablu Rabha, 210 CoBRA, CRPF, posthumously.

During a joint operation in Chhattisgarh in April 2021, he displayed extraordinary gallantry and indomitable will and made supreme sacrifice for the nation while eliminating many Maoists.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Kirti Chakra upon Constable/GD Sambhu Roy, 210 CoBRA, CRPF, posthumously.

During a joint operation in Chhattisgarh in April 2021, he displayed extraordinary gallantry and indomitable will and made supreme sacrifice for the nation while eliminating many Maoists.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Kirti Chakra upon Sepoy Pawan Kumar, The Grenadiers, 55th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles, posthumously.

During an operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district in February 2023, he displayed exceptional tactical acumen and operational composure; and eliminated a terrorist while injuring another.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Kirti Chakra upon Havildar Abdul Majid, 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), posthumously.

In November 2023 during a search operation in the forest areas of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, he exhibited exceptional courage and selflessness, evacuated a wounded officer and neutralised a terrorist.

IMAGE: President Murmu confers the Kirti Chakra on Major Deependra Vikram Basnet, 4th Battalion The Sikh Regiment.

Showing outstanding presence of mind and disregard for his safety, he led an operation in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir along the Line of Control in June 2023 in which five heavily armed terrorists were eliminated.

IMAGE: President Murmu confers tne Kirti Chakra on Havildar Pawan Kumar Yadav, 21st Battalion The Mahar Regiment.

He displayed exceptional courage and indomitable heroism in laying ambush in close proximity to the enemy post. Under the indiscriminate fire by the enemy, he voluntarily moved ahead and eliminated terrorists.

IMAGE: President Murmu confers the Kirti Chakra on Major Digvijay Singh Rawat, 21st Battalion The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces).

In Manipur, he established an intelligence network, which enabled him to map all valley-based insurgent groups accurately. In one of the operations, he apprehended three insurgents by physically overpowering them.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
The Chennai Police on Saturday said the killing of Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Party chief K Armstrong by a group of assailants was not political in nature and that all angles were being probed.

IMAGE: BSP workers and supporters protest outside Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital where party chief K Armstrongs body has been kept in the mortuary for autopsy, in Chennai, July 6, 2024. Photograph: ANI on X

Eight suspects in the case were nabbed within three hours of the crime on Friday, City Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore told reporters here and denied that the BSP leader faced any threat to his life.

"The chances of a political motive is very low, though previous enmity could not be ruled out," the Commissioner said.

Divulging details on the slaying, he said Armstrong was hacked at 7.15 pm on Friday when he was proceeding towards his under-construction house in Perambur here. Four persons accompanying him were also injured. Armstrong was rushed to a local hospital by his supporters and later succumbed, Rathore said.

"Initial investigation, CCTV footages, cell phone tower location and eyewitness account led to the police arresting eight persons whom we strongly suspect are involved in commissioning the offence," he said.

On the allegation by certain political parties that those arrested were not the real culprits, he replied only further investigation would prove. "But right now we have sufficient evidence to prove that they would have committed the offence," he said.

It also seemed "a little premature" to claim the murder was a retaliatory killing. Nevertheless, this angle too was being probed into, he said and added Armstrong did not figure in the threat category. So police watched him only as a political leader, in so far as this incident was concerned.

As many as 10 special teams had been formed under Additional Commissioner of Police (North), Asra Garg, and the officials were carrying out investigations from various angles and looking for the possible involvement of more people in the killing, he said.

Asked about the motive behind the murder, he said the special team was probing it. "It doesn't point towards that. There is no political angle at all," he reiterated. Most of the arrested persons have some pending cases against them, he added.

To a question, he said they were arrested by the police and did not surrender, as claimed in some quarters.

He indicated Armstrong's burial could be held on Sunday.

All efforts would be made to ensure punishment for the accused, the official added.

Several political leaders and supporters of the slain leader have questioned if the arrested were the real culprits. His supporters, who staged a protest outside the hospital, claimed the killing was "planned" and demanded a CBI probe into the death of the 52-year-old former Chennai Corporation Councillor.

A BSP functionary said it was a "planned murder" and claimed there was an "intelligence failure." Therefore, the central agency should probe the case.

The continued protest by Armstrong's supporters outside the hospital, located opposite the Chennai Central railway station, affected traffic movement on the busy Poonamallee High Road and they were later removed from there by the police.

Chief Minister M K Stalin expressed shock over Armstrong's death and expressed his condolences and said the culprits were caught in an overnight operation.

Stalin said he was shocked and anguished over Armstrong's death. "The police have arrested those involved in his murder in an overnight operation," he said in a post on 'X'.

He said he had ordered the police to conduct the investigation expeditiously and ensure that the culprits were punished according to law.

"I would like to convey my deepest condolences and sympathies to the bereaved family and friends," he said.

A post-mortem on Armstrong's body was conducted at a government hospital here on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder and Lok Sabha member Thol Thirumavalavan claimed those who are now in police custody in connection with the case had "surrendered" before them and that they were not the real culprits.

Praising Armstrong for his public work, he said the deceased leader was a "trusted" colleague of BSP supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.

"His body will be kept for public homage at a private school in Perambur," he told reporters after visiting the government hospital.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K Selvaperunthagai also said the "real culprits" behind the murder should be brought to book.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was trying to speak to the family of the victim, he added.

AIADMK general secretary and Leader of the Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, condoled Armstrong's death and also slammed the ruling DMK over law and order.

In a post on 'X,' he expressed concern over the killing of a "national party's state chief" and alleged there was no fear of police, government and law and this had emboldened individuals to resort to such crimes and slammed the Chief Minister.

BJP state president K Annamalai said violence and brutality had become normal in the three years of DMK rule and said the CM should ponder over if he has the moral right to continue in the post, vis-a-vis the law and order situation.
US President Joe Biden on Friday said he had 'a bad night' and he was "exhausted' and "sick' during his first presidential debate with his Republican rival Donald Trump.

IMAGE: US President Joe Biden walks towards a vehicle upon arrival at Delaware Air National Guard Base, Wilmington, Delaware US, July 5, 2024. Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters

He asserted that only the "Lord Almighty" could make him drop out of the race to win the November 5 election.

Biden, 81, said this in a television interview, a week after his subpar debate performance in Atlanta on June 27 against Trump, following which some of his own party leaders started urging him to step down and his approval rating plummeted.

Seeking his second term from his fellow Americans, Biden alleged that Trump is a pathological liar.

"It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and -- and a bad night," Biden told ABC News during his first interview after the debate, adding that his top party leadership are asking him to stay in the race.

"Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible. Matter of fact the docs (doctors are) with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they're trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold," he said and reiterated multiple times that he is running for presidency.

Blaming himself for the bad debate night, Biden said, "Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody's fault but mine. I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail," adding that Trump "lied 28 times" during the debate.

Biden said none of the major Democratic party leaders have asked him to drop out and asserted that he would withdraw only if the "Lord Almighty" asked him to.

"If the Lord Almighty came down and said 'Joe, get out of the race,' I'd get out of the race. The Lord Almighty's not coming down," he added.

The president tried to avoid questions on both his mental fitness and cognitive tests.

"Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the last seven months?" Biden was asked.

"Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I'm still in good shape," he responded.

"Are you more frail?" he was asked. "No. Come keep my schedule," he said.

The president said undergoes cognitive tests daily.

"Look, I have a cognitive test every single day," Biden said when asked if he would be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation, including neurological and cognitive tests.

"You know, not only am I campaigning, I'm running the world... That sounds like hyperbole, but we are the central nation in the world," said the president.

In a reaction to the Biden's interview, Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna, according to The New York Times, said he expected "complete transparency" from the White House and a willingness to answer "many legitimate questions" from the news media and voters about the president's abilities.

"He has to earn that trust, and that requires more than one interview," Khanna was quoted as saying by the daily.

The ABC News said it offered a similar one-on-one interview to Trump but he declined.
By Yuki Yamaguchi, KYODO NEWS - Jul 6, 2024 - 19:22 | All, Japan

Rather than revealing fraud and intentional deception, the latest test scandal to strike Japan's automakers has instead shown the rules governing the process are not fit for purpose, leaving Japan Inc. to suffer an entirely self-inflicted PR disaster.

Regulators said Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Mazda Motor Corp., Suzuki Motor Corp. and Yamaha Motor Co. did not fully follow government standards in testing a total of 38 models for certification, of which six currently on the market initially became subject to a suspension of shipments.

But about 70 percent of the affected models -- all Toyotas or Hondas -- were put through more stringent tests than required. Toyota said it was looking to meet overseas market standards, which meant it went above and beyond what Japan expects.

But for Japanese authorities, the automakers were guilty of not following the rules to the letter -- what is expected even if the companies believed they were doing more than required.

Toyota said Friday it will take necessary measures according to the regulators' instructions after it reported the final result of its in-house probe into its certification process to the transport ministry.

The situation sparked calls for an overhaul of the testing rules due to the 73-year-old regulations being too inflexible and overly complicated. Auto analysts also pointed to the issue of automakers needing an excessive lead time of around a year to obtain certification for mass production.

Yuzuru Ohashi, managing partner at the Japanese unit of German consulting firm Roland Berger, says the current certification system is "outdated" and the government "should update it in collaboration with Japanese manufacturers."

A review is inevitable because cars have advanced so far since the early 1950s when the tests were first formulated, with vehicles now connected, autonomous, shared and electrified, analysts said, not to mention having much-improved tire, brake and safety technology.

"Technologies always precede regulations," said Ken Shiraishi, a professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University who specializes in compliance issues.

The industry and the regulators should work more closely also to address the misunderstandings of the rules, some analysts and industry observers said.

"The problem is that there has been a serious lack of communication between the regulatory side and the private sector," said Shiraishi.

The certification tests are designed to ensure each model meets government safety and environmental standards so there is no need for inspections of each vehicle.

"I hope this whole thing will lead automakers and the government to work together to examine whether any change is needed in the (certification) system," Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said at a press conference in early June, though he said he is not in a position to make such a proposal given his company's wrongdoing.

Among its test irregularities, Toyota said it used an 1,800-kilogram moving barrier for a rear-end collision test of the Crown sedan and the Sienta minivan, much heavier than the required 1,100 kg barrier.

"Automakers are doing business globally. It will be a lot simpler if the Japanese rules are the strictest so that we can vouch for vehicle quality in other markets," Toyoda said.

Automakers are under increasing pressure to develop a wider range of vehicle types more efficiently across different markets, analysts said.

If they can reduce the number of certification tests, it should help them roll out new models more swiftly and in response to market demand, they said.

Honda said it conducted noise tests on 22 models that were more strict than required, using heavier vehicles that exceeded legal ranges but reporting the weights were within the correct standards. Honda said vehicle noise becomes louder when the car is heavier.

"Our employees conducted those tests under a wrong assumption that if they were carried out under the worst possible conditions, they would automatically meet the standards," Honda chief executive Toshihiro Mibe said at a press conference in early June. "It was not done with malicious motives."

Still, automakers must comply with regulatory requirements no matter how stringent they believe their tests are, as stricter tests do not necessarily guarantee vehicle safety, analysts said.

"There could be some room for improvement in the certification system" to relieve automakers of the burden of conducting different tests for different markets, said a senior executive at a foreign automaker in Japan.

Among key tests set up by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, 43 items such as tests to check brakes and seatbelts are based on U.N. regulations that are adopted in the European Union and 60 other countries but not in the world's two biggest auto markets, the United States and China.

Only four items related to windshield wipers and vehicle interiors, among other components, are Japan-specific, according to the ministry.

An official in charge of the certification process at the transport ministry said it is open to any suggestion to improve the system.

Given road conditions, accidents and traffic flows are much different in the United States compared to Japan and Europe, test results from what the automakers call "tougher conditions" may not directly translate into safer outcomes in all markets, the official added.

Masahiro Fukuda, chief analyst at auto research firm Fourin Inc. said the real cause of the scandal was a lack of communication between regulators and automakers.

"If automakers wanted to do tests in other ways, they should have negotiated with the authorities beforehand," he said. "That's the biggest problem here."

Related coverage:

Japan's fair trade watchdog to issue warning to Toyota subsidiary

Japan gov't inspects Honda, Mazda over improper vehicle certification

Toyota, Mazda halt production of 5 models amid certification scandal
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said by trouncing the Bharatiya Janata Party in Ayodhya, the INDIA bloc has defeated the Ram temple movement once led by L K Advani, and expressed confidence that the saffron party will meet the same fate in Gujarat in the next election.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses party workers in Ahmedabad. Photograph: @INCIndia/X

He said the Congress has been challenged and threatened by the BJP, but it will defeat the saffron party and Narendra Modi in Gujarat just the way it was defeated in Ayodhya.

Gandhi was addressing party workers in Ahmedabad days after the Congress and BJP clashed outside the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) office when saffron party workers went there to protest against his (Gandhi's) remarks on Hindus.

"They (BJP) have challenged us by threatening us and damaging our office. Let me tell you that we are together going to break their government like they damaged our office. Take it in writing that Congress will contest in Gujarat and defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat like we did in Ayodhya," he said.

Congress will win Gujarat, and from this state it will make a new start, he said.

Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the BJP's defeat from the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, where Ayodhya is located.

"By defeating BJP in Ayodhya, INDIA bloc has defeated the Ram Mandir movement that was launched by the BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani. What I am saying is something very big... Congress party and INDIA bloc defeated them in Ayodhya," the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

Congress will defeat BJP in Gujarat because the "balloon of Modi's vision has burst", he said.

"In Parliament, I asked the prime minister as to whether he was a human being as he himself said he was non-biological and has a direct connection with god. If you are directly connected to god, then how were you defeated in Ayodhya?" he asked.

"The PM believes that everyone else is biological - people of Gujarat, Gandhiji, farmers and labourers of India are biological while Narendra Modi is non-biological...How can a person who thinks he is non-biological and the people of the country are biological offer vision to the people of Gujarat when he cannot understand the pain of labourers and those who work in diamond industry?" he asked.

"You could not have imagined that BJP will get defeated in Ayodhya or that Modi will win Varanasi by a small margin. They are going to be defeated here in Gujarat like they were in Ayodhya. All you have to do is to ask the people of Gujarat to not be scared," he said.

If the people of Gujarat fight without getting scared, the BJP will not be able to stand in front of them, he said.

"Modi wanted to contest from Ayodhya, but his surveyors advised him against this saying he will be defeated and his political career will end," he said, quoting the newly-elected MP from Faizabad Awadhesh Prasad.

"That is why, he (Modi) did not contest from Ayodhya but opted for Varanasi. In Varanasi, we made a few mistakes or else we should have defeated him there as well," he said.

Gandhi said that people of Ayodhya were angry with Modi because he did not pay them compensation for their land, shops and houses.

"The Ayodhya MP told me that farmers whose land was taken for the international airport at Ayodhya have not received right compensation till date. People there felt angry when they found not a single person from Ayodhya was present in Ram Mandir inauguration," he said.

While Adani and Ambani were seen at the Ram temple consecration ceremony, no poor person was invited there, he said.

Gandhi said Congress's 'hand' symbol is found in every religion.

"Look at the photos of Guru Nanak, Mahavir, Buddha. Even in Islam they use it as a gesture to seek blessings. Look at the photo of Lord Shiva and you will find it there. It means 'Daro mat, darao mat' (Don't be scared, don't scare anyone)," Gandhi said.

In Congress, unlike BJP, party workers are not scared of expressing their opinion before their leaders and even question his decisions and tell him on his face what he did was not liked by them, he said.

"Neither our workers are afraid of speaking their heart out, nor are we scared of listening to them. In BJP, the entire leadership team does not like Narendra Modi. But they lack courage...are scared. If a leader like Modi was in Congress, the entire party would have stood against him. But their workers lack courage," he said.

On the shortcomings in the Congress, he said, "A party worker put it very well, saying that there are two kinds of horses - one for races and another to be used during weddings. Sometimes the Congress deploys horses meant for race in weddings, and vice versa. He asked me to stop this...We have to do this in Gujarat."

He said the party did not contest the 2022 assembly election in Gujarat properly, and in 2017 only three months of campaigning took Congress near the finish line.

"In three years, we will leave the finish line far behind. If 50 per cent of party workers who believe (that we can defeat BJP after 30 years) change the mind of the other 50 per cent who do not believe, then we will form a government here..." he said.
British Indian MP Lisa Nandy, who was re-elected with a thumping majority from Wigan in north-west England, was appointed the new secretary of state for culture, Media and Sport on Friday by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as he got to work right away to put together his top team after a landslide Labour election win.

IMAGE: British Indian MP Lisa Nandy is UK's new secretary of state for culture. Photograph: Courtesy Lisa Nandy on X

The 44-year-old politician, who was among the final three contestants in the Labour Party's leadership contest against her boss in January 2020, has been serving in his shadow cabinet ever since.

She will now take over the culture ministry brief from Lucy Fraser, who was among the Tory ministers to lose their seats in a devastating election for the Rishi Sunak led Conservatives.

I want to say to those people who've brought their nasty, hateful, racist politics to our town, the history of Wigan is of working-class people who for 100 years have driven you and your hate out of our town over and over again, Nandy raged in her acceptance speech on defeating a far-right Reform UK candidate in her Greater Manchester constituency earlier on Friday.

So take this result tonight as your marching orders. We are a better town than you. You are not welcome here. You can take your nasty divisive rhetoric elsewhere because we've got a job to do, she said.

The Manchester-born daughter of Calcutta-born academic Dipak Nandy and a British mother has spoken of her Indian heritage during Labour Party conferences in the past.

Her father was well-known for his work in the field of race relations in Britain.

Friends, we meet today in a city which looks out onto the ocean, from an island shaped by waves of immigration. They include the many children of Empire, like my dad, who came here from India in the 50s and through the struggle to create the Race Relations Act helped forge our national story, she told the party conference in Brighton a few years ago.

This is the country we can be. One that lifts our eyes beyond the horizon, to see that together  only together  will we change the lives of people here and across the world, she said.

Reflecting upon the Indian Independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, she recalled how a century ago "the seams of my family were threaded together when the Indian independence campaign, supported by my grandparents, had devastating consequences for Lancashire textile workers. When the cotton stopped coming, the mills stopped running and the workers went hungry."

But members of my family, who worked in those mills, were among those who welcomed Gandhi to Lancashire. Because they knew, as I know, as the first mixed race woman to ever hold this office, that solidarity has power and our struggle is one and the same, she said, with reference to Gandhi's famous visit to Lancashire in 1931 when he met mill workers facing hardship.
President Droupadi Murmu conferred 26 Shaurya Chakras (seven posthumous) to personnel of the armed forces, Central Armed Police Forces and state/Union Territory Police during a defence investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on July 5, 2024.

The awards were given to the personnel for displaying conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage and extreme devotion to duty.

The Shaurya Chakra is India's third-highest peacetime gallantry award after the Ashok Chakra and Kirti Chakra.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Major Vikas Bhambhu, Sena Medal, 252 Army Aviation Squadron, posthumously.

In October 2022, he made the supreme sacrifice for the nation and displayed extraordinary courage and flying skills by steering the helicopter which caught fire away from an inhabited area. All photographs: Rashtrapati Bhavan

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Major Mustafa Bohara, 252 Army Aviation Squadron, posthumously.

In October 2022, he made the supreme sacrifice for the nation and displayed extraordinary courage and flying skills by steering the helicopter which caught fire away from an inhabited area.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Constable Safiullah Qadri, Jammu & Kashmir Police, posthumously.

In April 2022, he showed indomitable gallantry beyond the call of duty and eliminated two terrorists.

In another incident, he fell prey to bullets from terrorists and made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Rifleman Kulbushan Manta, Jammu & Kashmir Rifles, 52nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles, posthumously.

He was part of a joint operation in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir when due to his gallant action and immense tactical acumen, a terrorist was captured alive.

In this operation, he made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Rifleman Alok Rao, 18 Assam Rifles, posthumously.

In May 2023, he was part of an internal security column deployed in the most sensitive area of Manipur. He showed exemplary courage and saved many lives by returning fire on armed insurgents and forcing them to flee.

He sustained a gunshot wound and made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Havildar Vivek Singh Tomar, 5th Battalion The Rajputana Rifles, posthumously.

In January 2023, he was deployed at a forward post in the Central Glacier when with total disregard for personal safety, he prevented a major fire incident and saved many lives.

However, due to inhalation of smoke, his health deteriorated and he made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Captain M V Pranjal, The Corps of Signals, 63rd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles, posthumously.

During an operation, he engaged the terrorists with minimum cover. Demonstrating unflinching bravery, he saved the lives of civilians and sustained contact with the terrorists leading to their elimination later.He made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation after suffering a fatal gunshot wound.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Constable/GD Gamit Mukesh Kumar, 61 CRPF.

In 2021 during an operation in Srinagar, he displayed tactical acumen and nerves of steel and eliminated a terrorist who was later identified as a category 'A++' terrorist.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Sub Inspector Faroz Ahmad Dar, Jammu & Kashmir Police.

During an operation in Srinagar in January 2022, he took the front in the elimination of a terrorist while ensuring the safety and security of the civilians of the area.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Sub Inspector Amit Raina, Jammu & Kashmir Police.

During an operation in January 2022 in Srinagar, displaying utmost courage in the face of the enemy, he left his cover without caring for his life. He advanced towards the terrorist and in a face-to-face gunfight, neutralised the category 'A' terrorist.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Assistant Commandant Bibhor Kumar Singh, 205 CoBRA, CRPF.

In February 2022, during an operation against Naxals in the Aurangabad district of Bihar, he demonstrated unwavering determination and fearlessness sustaining severe and critical injuries.

Displaying extraordinary valour, even after losing his left foot he continued to provide covering fire to support his troop's further advancement.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Constable Varun Singh, Jammu & Kashmir Police.

He displayed tremendous grit and determination, act of gallantry and a never-say-die-spirit under the most challenging circumstances leading to elimination of category 'A' terrorist and recovery of arms/ammunitions from the possession of terrorists.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Superintendent of Police Mohan Lal, Jammu & Kashmir Police.

In June 2022, during an operation in Srinagar, showing exceptional bravery and indomitable will, he neutralised a terrorist.

Sensing an imminent threat to his team, he left his cover and advanced bravely to neutralise another terrorist.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Major Rajendra Prasad Jat, The Dogra Regiment, 62nd Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles.

He displayed unparalleled valour and exceptional leadership in Operation Watrehal, leading to the elimination of hardcore terrorists.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Naik Bhim Singh, 9th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles.

During an operation in Jammu and Kashmir in September 2022, he displayed extraordinary bravery and heroic courage by charging out of his position to surprise a terrorist and neutralise him at point-blank range.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Major Ravinder Singh Rawat, The Armoured Corps, 44th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles.

He has exhibited inspiring leadership in many successful operations, resulting in the elimination of many hardcore terrorists.

In August 2022, he injured one terrorist and eliminated another in a close gunfight.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Major Sachin Negi, The Grenadiers, 55th Battalion The Rashtriya Rifles.

He has exhibited exceptional professionalism and bravery in many successful operations.

In one of the operations, with disregard for personal safety, Major Sachin dashed out of his cover and eliminated a terrorist and injured another.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Wing Commander Shailesh Singh.

During a mission, his helicopter came under intense fire which caused damage to critical systems.

Undeterred and unfazed, Wing Commander Shailesh made a timely decision to divert to the nearest helipad and recovered the helicopter and all the personnel safely.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Major Maneo Francis PF, 21st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (Special Forces).

In an operation in Manipur, he eliminated an insurgent group's commander and injured another insurgent at close range.

He showed resolute leadership and gallantry, and continued engaging the remaining insurgents to ensure the safety of his team.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Havildar Sanjay Kumar, 9 Assam Rifles.

In May 2023 when armed insurgents opened fire, he deployed his light machine gun and ensured the safety of his entire column. He displayed exceptional courage and tactical acumen despite being hit by a bullet.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Flight Lieutenant Hrishikesh Jayan Karuthedath.

In May 2023, after a technical glitch, he successfully belly-landed an aircraft on the Hindan runway, displaying flawless crew coordination and ensuring safe evacuation of the crew from the aircraft.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Lieutenant Bimal Ranjan Behera.

In March 2023, he stepped up fearlessly as a lead diver when the ONGC reported an operational emergency in a fuel production storage and offloading vessel.

He dived in a perilous and hostile diving operation showing gallantry and disregard for personal safety.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Naib Subedar Baria Sanjay Kumar Bhamar Sinh, 21st Battalion The Mahar Regiment.During an operation in June 2023, he displayed indomitable courage and devotion beyond the call of duty which resulted in the elimination of a hardcore terrorist.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Captain Akshat Upadhyay, 20th Battalion The Jat Regiment.

During an operation in May 2023, Captain Akshat showed unparalleled bravery and the highest standards of tactical acumen to eliminate four insurgents and apprehend five in a team effort.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred Shaurya Chakra upon Parshotam Kumar, a farmer and member of the Village Defence Committee.

He displayed astute patriotism and inspirational acts of gallantry under fire when he tailed the terrorists and maintained contact till security forces closed in.

His brave act led to the neutralisation of one terrorist.

IMAGE: President Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon Major Amandeep Jakhar, 4th Battalion The Sikh Regiment.

During an operation in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir along the Line of Control in June 2023, he put his own life at risk to save his troops and ensured that the operation was a success which resulted in the elimination of five heavily armed terrorists.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has secured a win in the presidential elections in Iran, defeating hard-liner Saeed Jalili.

IMAGE: Iranian presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian waves at the crowd during the run-off presidential election, in Tehran, Iran on July 5, 2024. Photograph: Saeed Zareian/pool/WANA (West Asia News Agency) viaReuters

Out of 30.5 million votes counted in Friday's runoff, Pezeshkian received over 16.3 million votes while his ultraconservative rival got more than 13.5 million votes, CNN said.

According to election headquarters under the auspices of the interior ministry, the voter turnout was 49.8 per cent in the Iran's presidential elections, the report said.

Pezeshkian was elected in a second round of voting after he received the highest number of votes in the first round, ahead of Jalili.

The first round witnessed lowest turnout for a presidential election since Iran was established in 1979.

He will become the president of a country that is facing rising international isolation, internal discontent, a spiralling economy and the prospect of direct conflict with Israel.

Snap elections were held in Iran after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a chopper crash along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials in Iran's remote northwest in May.

Pezeshkian was the only reformist candidate who was contesting for the top elected seat in Iran after dozens of other candidates were stopped from running.

He has backed holding talks with Iran's foes, especially over its nuclear program and considers that as a means to address domestic issues in Iran.

At a recent presidential debate, Pezeshkian said, "The primary issue is the perspective: Do we want to solve our problems with the world or not? I believe we must get out of the deadlock to solve the country's problems."

President in Iran enjoys some powers. However, the ultimate authority lies with Iran's supreme leader, who has the final say on the matters of state.

Masoud Pezeshkian was a health minister under reformist president Mohammad Khatami.

He is a trained heart surgeon and lawmaker. He gained the attention of people for his stance against the crackdown on the 2009 pro-democracy protests and the violence perpetrated by the notorious morality police in 2022 after Mahsa Amini's death.

Amini died in the custody of the morality police after being detained for not adhering to the Islamic Republic's strict dress code for women. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested as the authorities sought to crush the protests, according to the United Nations.

During the 2022 protests, Pezeshkian, in an interview with Iran's IRINN TV, said, "It is our fault. We want to implement religious faith through the use of force. This is scientifically impossible."

"I bear part of the blame, the distinguished religious scholars and the mosques bear part of the blame, and the (Iranian) broadcasting authority bears part of the blame," he had said.

"Everybody should step forward and be held accountable, rather than capture that girl, beat her up, and eventually deliver her body (to her family)," he added.

Pezeshkian has presented himself as a candidate for all the people of Iran. After he lost his wife and one of his children in a car crash in 1994, he devoted much of his time to politics. He ran for president in 2013 and 2021 polls. However, he was unable to make headway.

The 69-year-old hails from an ethnically mixed family -- his father is Azeri and his mother is Kurdish. Persian isn't his mother tongue. That has burnished his image for minorities in Iran. However, it has him open to xenophobic attacks from some opponents.

According to experts, a more moderate face as Iran's President could facilitate talks between Iran and Western nations.

Pezeshkian might also bring some social changes, which he had talked about during his election campaign. However, experts have said that such moves are far from guaranteed.

Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the Chatham House think tank in London, said it's unlikely that Pezeshkian's election would immediately translate into policy changes.

"But Pezeshkian has made it clear that he will try to work through and within the system in order to perhaps accommodate a less repressive environment," Vakil said.

She stated that reformist did not guarantee that he could make those changes, adding that this shows the limits of presidential powers in Iran. Vakil added, "But (it may add) a bit more room for maneuver on social freedoms."

A few months ago, Iran and Israel exchanged fire for the first time as the conflict in Gaza widened. Israel is now preparing for a potential second front against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Last week, Iran's mission to the United Nations said that should Israel "embark on full-scale military aggression" against Lebanon, then "an obliterating war will ensue," CNN reported.

In a post on X, Iran's mission to UN stated, "All options, including the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table."

In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that "a regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed." According to experts, Pezeshkian is not expected to change the trajectory on Israel.
India has carried out initial trials of an indigenous light tank named 'Zorawar' being developed primarily to enhance the Army's overall combat capabilities along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and L&T Defence are developing the air-transportable 25-tonne tank that has been designed for rapid deployment largely along the frontier with China, they said.

The initial internal trials of the tank took place at a facility in Hazira, Gujarat, less than two years after the ambitious project was sanctioned, the people in the know of the matter said.

The Indian Army is looking at deploying over 350 light tanks, mostly in the mountainous border areas, they said.

The development of 'Zorawar' is being seen to be aimed at countering China's deployment of tanks of the same categories. The Army planned to procure light tanks equipped with adequate firepower for deployment in high-altitude areas with an aim to enhance agility, manoeuvrability and operational capability.

It has taken a series of measures since the Galwan Valley clashes in eastern Ladakh to enhance its combat capabilities. It deployed a significant number of easily transportable M-777 ultralight howitzers in mountainous regions along the LAC, including in Arunachal Pradesh.

The M-777s can be transported quickly in Chinook helicopters.

The Army has also deployed heavy tanks like T-90 and T-72 and infantry combat vehicles in eastern Ladakh. The artillery units of the Army have already deployed K-9 Vajra Tracked Self-Propelled Howitzers, Pinaka rocket systems and Dhanush gun systems along the frontier with China.

The Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in a standoff since May 2020 and a full resolution of the border row has not yet been achieved though the two sides have disengaged from a number of friction points.

The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
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Diana Whitney writes from West Brattleboro. The opinions expressed by columnists and op-ed writers do not necessarily reflect the views of Vermont News & Media.
Ive been talking with folks about property taxes a lot lately. Weve also been talking abou
By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, KYODO NEWS - Jul 6, 2024 - 12:20 | All, Japan

Sunday's closely watched Tokyo gubernatorial election is likely to shape the future course of not only the ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by the embattled Prime Minister Fumio Kishida but also Japan's languishing opposition bloc.

The latest election is seen as a proxy war between national parties, as incumbent Yuriko Koike, who is seeking to secure her third four-year term with the effective support of the conservative LDP, is challenged by the main opposition-backed politician Renho.

If Renho loses the election, Kenta Izumi, leader of the biggest opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, may be urged to take responsibility for the defeat, casting doubt on whether he can be reelected in the presidential race scheduled for the fall.

With the election just around the corner, Renho is reportedly being sharply pursued by Shinji Ishimaru, the former mayor of Akitakata in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, who is expanding his campaign activities through social media.

The fate of the second-largest opposition Japan Innovation Party, which has a strong foothold in the Kansai region centered on the commercial hub of Osaka, has also become uncertain, as it has lost momentum and its presence has waned.

The JIP, still viewed by many as a local force, opted not to field its own candidate in the gubernatorial election, despite the race providing a window of opportunity for the group to pitch itself in Tokyo and achieve its goal of becoming a "national party."

Kishida's LDP has come under intense scrutiny amid allegations that some of its factions, such as the biggest one formerly headed by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, neglected to report portions of their income from fundraising parties and created slush funds.

The two opposition parties have called on Kishida to dissolve the House of Representatives for a snap election as soon as possible, as speculation has been rife that the LDP would suffer a crushing loss, with the scandal significantly eroding the party's confidence.

But intraparty confrontations and weakening support from the opposition camp might ultimately help the LDP maintain its majority in the more powerful lower house, whether or not Kishida remains as prime minister, political analysts say.

In addition, some point out that leading opposition parties are expected to fail to strengthen cooperation before the next general election, which would make it almost impossible to oust the LDP and its junior coalition partner the Komeito party from power.

Ahead of the lower house election, the opposition parties are set to "encounter turmoil in policy negotiations among themselves as they are inept at political maneuvering," said Rikio Kozu, president of the JTUC Research Institute for Advancement of Living Standards.

The institute is a think tank of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, known as Rengo. As the largest labor union in the country, Rengo has long been a key supporter of the CDPJ, asking the left-leaning party to topple the LDP in the upcoming snap election.

The Tokyo chapter of Rengo, however, has decided not to back Renho, saying she has received support from the Japanese Communist Party. Tomoko Yoshino, who became the first-ever female chief of Rengo in 2021, is known for her anti-communist stance.

Since Izumi assumed the leadership of the CDPJ in 2021, he has stepped up cooperation with other opposition groups, including the JCP, by consolidating their candidates for a better chance at winning single-seat districts in national elections.

In April, the CDPJ took three seats in the lower house by-elections from the LDP, with support for the ruling party plunging to its lowest levels since it returned to power in 2012. All the CDPJ candidates were backed by the JCP.

Nevertheless, a Kyodo News survey showed late last month that support for the CDPJ hovered at around 13 percent, while that for the LDP stood above 25.0 percent. Respondents with no particular party affiliation rose to around 35 percent.

Yoshiaki Kobayashi, professor emeritus of politics at Keio University, said it is "difficult to say that the outcomes of the by-elections reflected full-fledged support for the CDPJ," given that voter turnout was the lowest on record for all three districts.

The CDPJ should "present economic and foreign policies that can gain trust" among the public, Kobayashi added, with criticism mounting that Izumi has not proposed anything that offers people hope but only lambasted the LDP, which has been in power for most of the period since 1955.

As Izumi's political abilities have been called into question, some CDPJ lawmakers said they may attempt to replace him with party heavyweight Yoshihiko Noda in its presidential election in September, the same month the LDP is slated to hold its leadership race.

Noda served as prime minister under the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan, a predecessor of the CDPJ, for about one year until December 2012, when the LDP, then led by Abe, scored an overwhelming victory in the lower house election.

In October 2022, Noda delivered a memorial speech at parliament for Abe, who was assassinated during an election campaign event in July of that year. Noda's address contained secret episodes between him and his immediate successor, drawing considerable attention.

Under the three-year rule of the DPJ from 2009, three veteran lawmakers -- Yukio Hatoyama, Naoto Kan and Noda -- held the position of prime minister. A CDPJ member said, "Mr. Noda was the most sincere leader among the three. I want to see him on the stage again."

Within the JIP, meanwhile, dissatisfaction has been swirling around its leadership, which cannot find a turning point for a counteroffensive after the party lost in the lower house by-elections earlier this year, where it fielded candidates in two districts.

In April 2023, the opposition party extended its reach by acquiring 774 local leaders and assembly members across Japan, up from 468 in early February that year, with the JIP obtaining its first-ever governor outside of Osaka Prefecture.

But the party's influence and popularity have been overshadowed by the CDPJ, which has been grilling the LDP following the revelation of the slush fund scandal, forcing the JIP to put off fielding its own candidate in the Tokyo gubernatorial election.

"The reason for the existence of the JIP is to demonstrate a third option that is neither Koike nor Renho," a lawmaker said, while another member said, "We should have put up a candidate and promoted the party" in the race for Japan's capital.

In the lower house, the LDP controls over 250 seats, the CDPJ holds about 100 and the JIP has more than 40 out of a total 465.

Related coverage:

Incumbent Koike leads by small margin in Tokyo governor race: poll

FOCUS: Tokyo's July governor election akin to Japan's "presidential race"

FOCUS: Koike-Renho leadership contest to have ramifications far beyond Tokyo
Conflict has cost the developing economy the ability to train and keep a skilled workforce.

Aside from the human tragedy of the ongoing civil war in Myanmar, the economic fallout has been dire.

But ten or twenty years ahead lies another bad consequence of the 2021 military coup: Myanmar was poised to ride a demographic wave over the coming decades, but probably wont now.

Workers labor at an irrigation construction site, May 2013 in Mawlamyaingyun, Myanmar. (Marcel Crozet via Flickr)

There are numerous reasons for Southeast Asia's economic success in recent decades. One was that in the 1990s the likes of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar ditched statist economic models and embraced free trade, giving them access to world markets for the first time ever.

Another key factor was demographics. The median age of all Southeast Asian states, bar Singapore, was below 30 until the 2000s.

Myanmar, for instance, entered the global capitalist system with around 35 percent of its population aged 15-34. The median age was just 20 in 1990. This was ideal for attracting lower-end manufacturing that countries like Malaysia and Thailand, which began industrializing and urbanizing much earlier, had outgrown.

However, because Myanmars workforce is still quite young and because of its low starting point, productivity rates remained the second-lowest in Southeast Asia in 2019  just $5.15 in terms of GDP per hour worked.

Before the military takeover in February 2021, Myanmar had ample time to rectify this.

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Lost opportunities

The working-age population can generally be divided between those aged 15-44 and those aged 45-64. The size of each group usually defines a countrys economy.

A youthful workforce is beneficial for labor-intensive, lower-skilled production  like garment manufacturing, which has driven Myanmars growth  and for domestic consumption.

Once a countrys demographics change and it has a growing percentage of older workers, they typically have a far more productive workforce, as people have had twenty-odd years to get good at what they do. This also leads to a more capital-rich economy since those in middle-age have done most of their consumption and child-rearing and are now saving for old age.

Before the coup, Myanmar had around three decades to enjoy this transition, allowing it to reinvest revenue from economic growth into education and skill development as the workforce naturally aged.

Construction workers, July 20, 2016 in Yangon, Myanmar. (Alex Berger via Flickr)

The share of 35-64 year-olds was forecast to increase from around 35.2 percent in 2020 to 39.5 percent in 2050. In real terms, since Myanmars population was set to grow overall, thats up from 18 million to 23 million people, according to my analysis of UN data.

Meanwhile, the number of 15-34-year-olds was expected to decline slightly from 18 million in 2020 to 16 million in 2050  or from 33.2 to 27.7 percent of the population.

The coup and civil war likely haven't drastically altered these numbers. The Peace Research Institute Oslo reported last year that at least 6,000 civilians were killed in the first 20 months.

Total casualties are likely in the tens of thousands. Many times this number have been wounded, maimed or psychologically scarred, hindering their ability to return to the workforce.

Missing a critical transition

Most importantly, however, the conflict has stolen this critical transitional period from young workers, depriving them of the time they needed to become more skilled and productive in later life.

According to the latest estimates, there are 3.1 million internally displaced people, about 5 percent of the entire population. Around 8 percent of young adults are now unemployed, a significant increase from pre-2021 levels.

The number of people in formal employment has fallen substantially. Many have traipsed back to rural areas to work on family farms due to poor job prospects and rising food prices.

A man rests on a bundle, July 20, 2016 at Yangon Market, Yangon, Myanmar. (Alex Berger via Flickr)

The mandatory conscription announced by the junta in February has intensified both internal migration and emigration.

The latest World Bank report on Myanmar indicates that around 28 percent of firms have lost staff due to workers moving to the countryside or abroad, up from 11 percent in April 2023.

"About half of the employees that resigned migrated to other countries while about a third relocated to other parts of Myanmar," the report noted.

Hard to keep skilled workers

One of Myanmar's perennial challenges, even before the coup, was retaining its skilled workers. Neighboring Thailand, a rapidly aging country, will see its workforce shrink by around a third by 2050 unless it can attract millions of migrants, primarily from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

Myanmar would have struggled to retain the best of its workforce without the coup. Depending on how long the civil war lasts, there could be no chance of keeping them. A recent World Bank survey found that 52 percent of highly skilled graduates aged 20-40 want to emigrate.

Since the coup, Myanmars university student population has fallen by more than 90 percent. The share of youths aged 6-22 enrolled in educational institutions dropped from 69 percent in 2017 to 56 percent in 2023. Potentially almost a million children are displaced.

Women carrying sand to a construction site from a pile, June 6, 2015 on Botahtaung Pagoda Road, downtown Yangon, Myanmar. (Remko Tanis via Flickr)

The demographic dividend Myanmar was set to enjoy included a growing older workforce and a steady expansion of young workers.

This balance would have been crucial for maintaining low-skilled, low-value-added industries like garment manufacturing while also allowing for the development of higher-value-added sectors thanks to a growing, more experienced workforce.

That has been upended by the coup.

There is no sign of the civil war ending soon. If it goes on for much longer  a decade-long conflict isnt zero-risk  it will strip Myanmar of whatever demographic benefits it could have enjoyed in the 2030s and 2040s.

David Hutt is a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS) and the Southeast Asia Columnist at the Diplomat. He writes the Watching Europe In Southeast Asia newsletter. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of RFA.
A Facebook screenshot of a post by Lao Security News, showing alleged Chinese scammers being deported to China from Laos, June 30, 2024.

Lao and Chinese police have arrested and deported 280 Chinese who allegedly worked in an online fraud operation at an illegal call center in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in northern Laos, state media and people familiar with the situation said.

The murky Chinese-run special zone along the Mekong River in Bokeo province is a gambling and tourism hub catering to Chinese visitors as well as a haven for online fraud, human trafficking, prostitution and illegal drug activities.

Scamming operations run by Chinese nationals who try to trick people into fake investments are rife in the zone and usually employ Laotians and other Asians trafficked to the area to work in the call centers. Many of the workers are mistreated and prevented from leaving the premises.

During the arrests on June 20, authorities seized nearly 460 computers and 1,345 mobile phones from the suspects, according to a Lao Security News report.

An officer at the SEZs Security Department told Radio Free Asia that his department was not ready to comment on the arrests and deportations, which took place three days after the Chinese were apprehended.

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A Laotian who works in the SEZ, who like other sources in this report requested anonymity for safety reasons, said authorities recently stepped up patrols there and likely had arrest warrants from Beijing to apprehend the Chinese because they allegedly scammed their own countrymen.

Legal experts told RFA that the Chinese were deported right away because Laos and China have an extradition treaty, and that they would be tried in China because they allegedly committed crimes against fellow nationals.

Root causes

But some Laotians said the latest round of arrests would not eradicate the root cause of the problem.

Wiping out all these scamming activities is almost impossible because some Lao officials must be behind the schemes, said a Bokeo province resident, referring to rampant corruption among Lao authorities.

So many Chinese live in the SEZ and many of them are bad elements, he added. Its very hard to get rid of all the bad guys.

A Facebook screenshot of a post by Lao Security News, showing alleged Chinese scammers being deported to China from Laos, June 30, 2024. (Lao Security News via Facebook)

Hundreds of other Chinese nationals have been arrested since September 2023 for suspected involvement in scamming operations in the SEZ.

In January, Laos repatriated 268 Chinese citizens suspected of scamming while living or working at the SEZ.

In November 2023, Lao authorities arrested more than 430 Chinese nationals who appeared to be involved in fraudulent call center operations in the SEZ, and handed them over to their Chinese counterparts for deportation.

And that September, the Lao Ministry of Public Security deported 164 Chinese arrested in Vientiane and other Lao provinces, including Bokeo. Nearly 50 of them were arrested in the Golden Triangle SEZ and believed to be involved in running call centers.

Facebooker intimidated

A Lao Facebook user who posted an online comment criticizing the governments failure to rescue victims of human trafficking from the SEZs Chinese-run call centers told RFA on Wednesday that police showed up at his house and demanded he remove the post, saying it defamed the government.

They wanted to cover up that story or they didnt want me to say anything about that, he said. For me, I just wanted to tell the truth.

The man said he knows many other Facebook users whom police have warned or arrested and detained for three to six months for posting comments on social media about the countrys worsening economic and financial conditions.

Some of them were so scared that they fled to other countries, he said.

A Facebook screenshot of a post by Lao Security News, showing alleged Chinese scammers being deported to China from Laos, June 30, 2024. (Lao Security News via Facebook)

An employee at a state-run media outlet told RFA the same day that Laotians are afraid of posting criticism of the government online because authorities will come after them, order them to remove the content, and may seek to punish them.

Theyll look for you, and you wont be safe, he said. Thats why our Lao people are afraid to speak out.

Our laws might state that people are free to express themselves but in practice, they cant, he added.

Article 44 of the countrys constitution guarantees citizens freedoms of expression, assembly, association and protest.

But Article 117 of the Penal Code states that those who conduct propaganda activities against and slander the state or distort the policies of the one-party state and government can be jailed for up to five years and be fined 5 million-20 million kip, or US$225-900.

Individuals who have their own social media accounts must register with the government and are obligated to report the truth and not to criticize the party or government, said another employee at a state-run media agency in southern Laos.

In 2019, the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism mandated that all individuals and legal entities that post news stories on social media had to register with it or face legal consequences.

Two years later, the Lao government set up a committee to monitor content and news posted on social media.

Translated by RFA Lao. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
An Israeli strike on a school in the Gaza Strip killed at least 27 people on October 10, Palestinian medical officials said, while a separate Israeli strike hit UN peacekeeper headquarters in southern Lebanon, prompting Italy to summon the Israeli ambassador.

The Israeli military said it carried out a "precise strike on terrorists" who had a command and control center embedded in the school.

"This is a further example of the Hamas terrorist organization's systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure in violation of international law," a military statement said.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU, has denied such accusations. People who had been sheltering at the school said the strike hit a meeting of aid workers and injured 54 other people.

Israel has continued to strike at what it says are militant targets across Gaza as it battles Hamas militants even as the war broadened to include Hezbollah in Lebanon amid rising tensions with Iran.

In a separate incident on October 10 the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said an Israeli tank fired on its headquarters in the town of Naqoura, hitting an observation tower and wounding two peacekeepers. The nationality of the injured peacekeepers was not released.

The UN peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL said in a statement that Israeli forces also fired on a nearby bunker where peacekeepers were sheltering, damaging vehicles and a communication system.

The Italian Defense Ministry summoned Israel's ambassador in protest, and Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told a press conference that "hostile acts committed and repeated by Israeli forces against the base...could constitute war crimes." Crosetto added that Italy has asked for an official explanation "because it was not a mistake."

The French Foreign Ministry said that while no French solider was injured in the incident, it also demanded an explanation.

The Israeli military announced earlier on October 10 that it had eliminated another important Hezbollah member as it kept up its attacks against the Iran-backed group.

Adham Jahout, a member of Hezbollah's Golan Terrorist Network was killed in an air strike in the area of Quneitra in Syria, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said.

Jahout was relaying intelligence from Syrian regime sources to Hezbollah and facilitating operations against Israel in the Golan Heights, the IDF said.



Israel annexed the Golan Heights after capturing them from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war. The annexation has not been recognized by most countries.



Separately, the Israeli military said on October 10 that it had eliminated two Hezbollah commanders in southern Lebanon and its warplanes attacked munitions depots in the Beirut area and in southern Lebanon. It did not immediately reveal the identities of the two commanders.



Hezbollah, a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon, is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the European Union blacklists its armed wing but not its party, which has seats in the Lebanese parliament.



The latest strikes came as the United States, Israel's main ally, warned against bombardments in Lebanon similar to those that caused large-scale destruction in Gaza as Israel retaliated against Hamas following the U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group's deadly attack on Israel that left more than 1,100 people dead.



Israel's bombardment of central and northern Gaza in recent days has killed dozens of people and trapped thousands in their homes, Palestinian officials say.

"There should be no kind of military action in Lebanon that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists on October 9.



The warning came after U.S. President Joe Biden emphasized in a call on October 9 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the need for a diplomatic arrangement for the return of both Lebanese and Israeli civilians to their homes on both sides of the border.



Biden also condemned Iran's ballistic-missile attack on Israel on October 1, a White House statement said.



Biden "affirmed Israel's right to protect its citizens from Hezbollah, which has fired thousands of missiles and rockets into Israel over the past year alone, while emphasizing the need to minimize harm to civilians, in particular in the densely populated areas of Beirut," the statement said.



Biden spoke with Netanyahu earlier about Israel's plans to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack last week, according to statements from both the White House and the Israeli prime minister's office on October 9.



The White House statement said Biden and Netanyahu "agreed to remain in close contact over the coming days both directly and through their national security teams."
One year ago, Hamas -- the U.S.- and EU-designated Palestinian terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip -- carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, the deadliest in the countrys history.

In response, Israel launched an aerial bombardment and ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave to destroy Hamas and rescue the 251 hostages taken by the group.

Israel has expanded its war in recent weeks by invading Lebanon and launching air strikes targeting Hezbollah, the armed group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon.

RFE/RL spoke to Lior Yohanani, manager of quantitative research at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based independent research center, which on October 7 released a wide-ranging survey of Israeli public opinion after one year of war.

RFE/RL: Can you explain what your study found as to how Israelis view the past year since Hamas's October 7 attack?



Lior Yohanani: Well, I think Israelis still don't see October 7 as an event that's over. Sure, the actual horrific events of that day ended, but Israelis are still living with the consequences.

There are two main aspects to this. First, since October 7, Israel has been in this multifront war that doesn't seem to have an end in sight. And then, of course, there is the issue of the hostages still being held in Gaza. So, we're seeing a sharp drop in people's sense of personal security. Almost three quarters of the public feel less safe compared to before October 7, and that's despite a year of war and some significant military achievements. On the flip side, we're also seeing that most people say their lives have returned to normal when it comes to things like work, media consumption, and family and social gatherings.

Another thing we're noticing is that the Israeli public is giving pretty low marks to all the political and military leaders for the performance since October 7. For example, almost two-thirds of Israelis are rating Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu's performance since then as poor or not good.

RFE/RL: How has Israel's involvement in a two-front conflict, in both Gaza and Lebanon, as well as a confrontation with Iran affected public opinion among Israelis?



Yohanani: It's tough to answer that question, because we're at the point where things could go in a few different directions. In the last few weeks, we've seen a major escalation in the conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, and just last week, Iran launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, which Israel is expected to respond to. In a survey we just did recently, we asked whether Israeli society and the military could handle fighting on two or more fronts for an extended period of time, and the results were pretty striking. Over 70 percent believe that yes, both Israeli society and the military can handle that kind of prolonged fighting. So, while the situation is complex and evolving, there seems to be a strong sense of resilience and capability among Israelis, even in the face of these multiple threats. But of course, public opinion could shift depending on how events unfold in the coming weeks or months.



RFE/RL: Is there support for Netanyahus response to October 7? Is there debate in Israeli society, as well as political circles, over Netanyahus strategic choices?



Yohanani: First of all, it's important to say that the Israeli public has largely supported significant military operation against Hamas in Gaza. That said, the Israeli discourse around the October 7 events, the ongoing war, and especially toward Prime Minister Netanyahu, is very polarized between right-wing supporters on the one hand and left and center supporters on the other.

People are hoping for a future where Israel can exist without constant threats, rather than expecting a harmonious relationship with its neighbors in the near-term."

So, on the left and the center, there is a high level of distrust and suspicion toward Netanyahu and his government. For instance, Netanyahu's apparent reluctance to pursue a deal for returning the hostages in exchange for ending the fighting in Gaza is seen by large parts of the public, even on the right, as resulting from Netanyahu's dependence on far-right, ultranationalist members of his government who refuse any compromise or ceasefire.

Now for a long time, Netanyahu and his ministers argued that only significant military force would lead Hamas to compromise and release the hostages. Now, with military attention and resources shifting to the north, people are asking, where is this massive military force that was supposed to bring the hostages home?

One question we have asked several times since October 7 in our polls is what should be the main goal in Gaza: Dismantling Hamas or bringing back the hostages? And as time goes on, public opinion is increasingly supporting the return of hostages. In our current survey, 62 percent saw bringing the bringing back the hostages as Israel's main goal, while only 29 percent pointed to dismantling Hamas as the primary objective.

RFE/RL: How do ordinary Israelis see the question of the remaining hostages amid the continued protests by the hostages' families?



Yohanani: As I mentioned before, most of the public supports a deal to release the hostages, even if it means ending the war and withdrawing the military forces from Gaza. There's this widespread feeling that we've left the hostages behind, and that's really hitting at our sense of solidarity, which is a deep and fundamental value, I think, in Jewish history in general and in Israel society in particular.

At the same time, the campaign run by the Hostages And Missing Families Forum has become very politicized. Many right-wing supporters see it as weakening Israel. As time goes on, we're seeing more and more harassment of protesters who support bringing the hostages back. There are cases of passersby cursing, even hitting and throwing eggs, at hostages' families. In our latest survey, we asked about the effectiveness of the protests and actions taken by the hostages' families.

Despite most of the public feeling empathetic toward the hostage issue, only less than a third think these actions are actually helping to advance a deal for the hostages' release, while almost 40 percent think they're actually hurting the cause. So, you've got this complex situation where people want the hostages back, but there is disagreement and some backlash about how to make that happen.

RFE/RL: Can you explain the reasons behind the apparent contradiction in views regarding prioritizing a negotiated return of the hostages, or destroying Hamas?

Yohanani: You're right to point out that apparent contradiction. Let me break it down a bit. As I mentioned earlier, a clear majority of the public sees a deal to release the hostages as the main goal. But there is a big gap between political camps on this issue. In the center and left, about 80 percent support the deal for the hostages' release, while the opinions on the right are evenly split. So, for most of the left and center, the fighting in Gaza has run its course. They feel most military objectives have been achieved, and Hamas's military power has been significantly weakened. From their perspective, continuing the fight now only puts the hostages at greater risk.

It's important to know that about half of the right-wing also shares this view of prioritizing the hostages' release, but the other half of those on the far-right thinks dismantling Hamas is more important.

Why? For a couple of reasons.

First, there's a security stance that Hamas must be wiped out and not allowed to recover. There is also a very strong sentiment of revenge, with minimal consideration for the cost, whether it's the lives of the hostages, soldiers, let alone innocent civilians in Gaza. Another significant component openly discussed in religious nationalist circles is the return of Jewish settlement to the Gaza Strip after Israel evacuated Jewish settlements from there in 2005.

RFE/RL: Is there public confidence that Israel will ultimately be able to remove the threat of Hamas and Hezbollah and come out of this conflict with greater prospects for a peaceful and stable near-term future?



Yohanani: Right now, the Israeli public isn't showing a lot of optimism. In our current survey, when we asked people if they're optimistic or pessimistic about Israel's future, we found more pessimists, 48 percent, than optimists, 45 percent.

I also think it's important to note that a peaceful future, as you put it, or peace in general, isn't really a common concept in the current Israeli discourse. I would say the hope of Israelis is that the military actions against Hezbollah and Iran will lead to a situation where Israel's existence isn't in question, and that Israeli military superiority will prevent events like October 7 from happening again. So, it's less about peace in the traditional sense, and more about security and deterrence. People are hoping for a future where Israel can exist without constant threats, rather than expecting a harmonious relationship with its neighbors in the near-term.
KYODO NEWS - Jul 6, 2024 - 17:39 | All, Japan

The chief of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is considering resigning following the mishandling of classified information by personnel on several destroyers, a government source said Saturday.

Adm. Ryo Sakai, chief of staff of the MSDF, has expressed his intention to take responsibility, with the Defense Ministry planning to punish those involved, including senior officers, in the near future, the source said.

Similar cases are suspected to have occurred not only in the MSDF and the Ground Self-Defense Force, which have already been identified, but also in the Air Self-Defense Force and the Joint Staff Office responsible for integrating operations of the three branches, the source said.

If the cases are confirmed to be true, it would mean that the forces and the Defense Ministry as a whole did not properly manage classified information.

The ministry plans to release the findings of its investigation into how the information, designated as state secrets, was handled internally, including by the three SDF branches, the source said, adding tens of officials may be targeted for punishment.

In April, the ministry said a crew member on the MSDF destroyer Inazuma was assigned to handle the confidential information without undergoing a background check, as required by the secrecy law for government officials who will have access to state secrets.

Some senior MSDF officers were suspended or given pay cuts in connection with that case.

A ministry probe, launched after Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said he was taking the matter "extremely seriously," found other cases of the mishandling of confidential information on a number of MSDF destroyers, the source said.

The secrecy law took effect in 2014 to prevent the disclosure of state secrets covering defense and foreign policy as well as the countering of espionage and terrorism.

Individuals undergo a vetting process that checks for criminal convictions, alcohol abuse and financial difficulties before they are cleared to handle state secrets.

As of the end of 2023, a total of 751 items were designated by ministries and agencies as state secrets, with the Defense Ministry accounting for 429, including information related to the specifications and performance of weapons.

In December 2022, the ministry dismissed an MSDF captain over the alleged leak of state secrets to a retired admiral, the first such case since the secrecy law came into force.

Related coverage:

Japan SDF punishes 5 members for state secret mishandling
Moderate reformist Masud Pezeshkian, the winner of Iran's runoff presidential vote, has thanked young Iranians for helping him win as foreign leaders and members of the Iranian establishment congratulated him on his victory, while Washington dismissed the impact of the results.

Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old former heart surgeon, defeated ultraconservative hard-liner Saeed Jalili in the July 5 runoff, garnering 53.7 percent of the vote, or 16,384,403 votes, while Jalili received 44.3 percent, or 13,538,179 votes, according to results announced by Mohsen Eslami, the spokesman of Iran's election headquarters.

"I am especially grateful to the dedicated and capable young people who came to work lovingly and sincerely on my team and together with the rest of the people shone a ray of hope and confidence in the future," the 69-year-old former heart surgeon wrote on X.

Pezeshkian's victory came amid a turnout of 49.8 percent, considerably higher than the record-low 40 percent in the first round of the election, which was triggered by the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.

Social media videos purported to show Pezeshkian's supporters, mostly young people, taking to the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities to celebrate, even before the final results were announced.

Pezeshkian, however, warned that a "difficult path" lies ahead for the Islamic republic and appealed to Iranians not to leave him "alone" as he begins his presidency in a country beset by economic hardships compounded by international sanctions and dominated by a repressive theocracy.

"The difficult path ahead will only become smoother with your companionship, empathy, and trust. I extend my hand to you, and I swear on my honor that I, in turn, will not leave you alone on this path," Pezeshkian wrote in a separate message.

Voting on July 5 had been scheduled to end at 6 p.m., but it was extended three times until midnight as authorities sought to encourage as many people as possible to go to the polls.

The first round failed to generate widespread participation, despite calls by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran, for a high turnout to project an image of a strong Iran where its people back the political establishment.

Khamenei, who has final say in Iran's politics, congratulated Pezeshkian, calling for unity.

"I call on everyone to work together," said Khamenei, who had called the runoff vote "very important."

Hossein Salami, the chief of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), also welcomed Pezeshkian's victory, offering his "cooperation" to the incoming president.

"We are fully prepared to continue and strengthen the cooperation and interaction between the IRGC and the government," Salami said in a statement.

Iran's theocracy, installed after the Islamic revolution of 1979, has long maintained that it derives its legitimacy from strong popular support that translates into high voter turnout, but poor participation in recent elections and deadly antiestablishment protests have challenged the legitimacy of the current leadership.

Pezeshkian has been a member of parliament since 2008 and served as deputy speaker between 2016 and 2020, when moderates and reformists had a majority in the legislature.

Pezeshkian questioned Iran's methods of enforcing the Islamic head scarf for women following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in 2022 while in the custody of Iran's dreaded morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

After Amini's death, which sparked months of unrest across the country, Pezeshkian demanded clarification from authorities about her case.

After casting his vote during the first round last week, Pezeshkian said, "We will respect the hijab law, but there should never be any intrusive or inhumane behavior toward women."

Pezeshkian has also spoken in favor of negotiating with the West, but he also supports the principles of the Islamic republic and said he would follow Khamenei's policies if elected.

While Pezeshkian's victory is unlikely to result in major policy shifts, it could have an impact on the succession to the 85-year-old Khamenei, who has been Iran's supreme leader since 1989.

Khamenei now has to give his approval to Pezeshkian's win in a ceremony known as "tanfiz."

Following that ceremonial step, the new president's inauguration is expected to take place sometime between July 22 and August 5.

Pezeshkian, who finished the first round with 10.5 million votes -- 1 million more than Jalili -- appears to have been the one who benefited from the larger turnout in the second round, finishing the runoff with nearly 3 million votes more than his opponent.



His campaign had sought to increase turnout by convincing people who boycotted the first round to vote in the runoff.

Mohammad Mohammad-Rezaei, a former lawmaker from Iran's Kurdistan Province who worked for Pezeshkian's campaign, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Pezeshkian's main advantage has been his galvanizing power among all walks of life.

"One of the merits of Pezeshkian is that he is a patriot and his character transcends party politics. He is above political parties, fronts, and groups," Mohammad-Rezaei said.

His supporters attempted to highlight what they saw as the dangers of a hard-line figure like Jalili coming to power, arguing that his administration would enact repressive policies and further isolate Iran.

Jalili's supporters portrayed Pezeshkian as a man who is soft on the West and who would make Iranian progress dependent on good relations with Western nations.

The U.S. State Department, in comments to RFE/RL's Radio Farda, noted the results but said that elections in Iran are neither free or fair.

"As a result, a significant number of Iranians chose not to participate at all," a spokesman said. "We have no expectation these elections will lead to fundamental change in Irans direction or more respect for the human rights of its citizens. As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the supreme leader.

"The election will not have a significant impact on [Washington's] approach to Iran either. Our concerns about Irans behavior are unchanged. At the same time, we remain committed to diplomacy when it advances American interests."

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping both congratulated Pezeshkian on his victory.

"I hope that your tenure as president will contribute to a reinforcement of constructive bilateral cooperation between our friendly peoples," Putin said.

Russia and Iran, both under harsh Western sanctions, can "coordinate efforts to resolve international issues in a constructive manner," Putin added.

Iran has been supplying Russia with drones that Moscow has been using to attack mainly civilian targets in Ukraine since the Kremlin started the invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

"I attach great importance to the development of China-Iran relations and am willing to work with the president to lead the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership towards deeper advancement," state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.

China is Iran's largest trade partner and a main destination for Tehran's sanctioned oil.

King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Iran's regional rival, in a message to Pezeshkian, expressed hope for the "continued development of relations which link our two countries and our two brotherly peoples," according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The powerful Saudi crown prince also congratulated Pezeshkian on his election.

"I affirm my keenness on developing and deepening the relations between our countries and people and serve our mutual interests," SPA quoted Muhammad Bin Salman as saying.

Last year, Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed in a China-brokered deal to restore diplomatic ties after years on interruption.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Pezeshkian.

"Looking forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relationship for the benefit of our peoples and the region," Modi wrote on X.
Thousands rallied in Pakistan's Swat district on July 5 as the country's northwest was bracing for a counterterrorism operation. Marching between the areas of Khwazakhela and Kabal, the protesters warned that earlier military maneuvers had led to vast displacement and material damage. The protest was organized by Ulasi Pasoon, or Public Revolution -- a platform uniting ethnic Pashtun parties and civic organizations.
ALMATY  More than three months after a deadly attack on a concert hall near Moscow prompted a crackdown on Russias Central Asian migrant populations, governments of the region are asking their ally for some relief.

But is Moscow taking heed, or doubling down?

Xenophobia and calls for tougher migration rules are not new to Russia, but popular demand for immediate action spiked after 11 Tajik men were arrested for their alleged involvement in the attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue in March that left 144 people dead.

For the moment, increased pressure on migrants has taken a mostly arbitrary form  more police raids, more deportations, and multiday delays for groups of migrants arriving at Russias borders.

It is not so much that the law is needed because of Crocus, but rather that something like Crocus was needed to pass this law.

But migrant rights advocates are now focusing their attention on a new threat: a draft law that passed a first reading last month and could expand police powers over guest workers that Russias undersupplied labor market desperately needs.

That, in turn, would create fresh risks for Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan  three Central Asian countries where billions of dollars in annual remittances from Russia keep millions of poor families afloat.

If official comments are anything to go by, all three are worried.

Law Would Make 'Defending Migrants Impossible'

Many of the proposed amendments to the tough migration legislation that Russias State Duma passed in the first of three readings on June 18 were drafted years ago.

But it is the Crocus attack claimed by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group  the deadliest attack of its kind on Russian soil in two decades  that has fueled serious discussion of the discriminatory changes.

One ominous stipulation would require guest workers entering the country to sign a loyalty agreement that entails acceptance of limited rights. This document covers a wide range of points, including respect for Russian national traditions, a pledge not to interfere in Russias internal affairs, and an acknowledgment that foreign nationals can be deported for administrative violations.

Such an agreement makes defending migrants impossible, according to Valentina Chupik, an Uzbekistan-born lawyer and migrant rights advocate who has continued to work on behalf of Russias guest workers despite being barred from Russia herself in 2021.

Even more alarming, said Chupik, is the registry of controlled persons that the law envisages, which would allow police to impose extrajudicial house arrests on migrants and cut off their access to government services.

Migrants can fall onto this list merely by being under suspicion of having committed an administrative detention or because their employers did not pay their tax payments on their behalf. There are at least seven pretexts for such arrests in the text, but in reality the number of pretexts can be endless, said Chupik, who said she first saw a copy of the amendments in 2019.

It was obvious then that its main function is police corruption. So it is not so much that the law is needed because of Crocus, but rather that something like Crocus was needed to pass this law, said Chupik, who ran a migrant center in Moscow before Russia revoked her refugee status and banned her from the country.

Russias Interior Ministry originally authored the amendments. And Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev made no apologies for Moscows hardening stance on migration during a recent work trip to Tashkent.

After holding talks with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev on June 25, the Interior Ministry said that Kolokoltsev had assured Mirziyoev that there were no political or other motivations in authorities targeting of Uzbek nationals.

In a meeting with the Uzbek Interior Ministrys leadership the same day, Kolokoltsev asked Tashkent to intensify cooperation with Russia on the exchange of citizens data to help reduce negative trends in migration and ensure the security of both states.

Kolokoltsevs visit came around a week after Uzbekistans embassy in Moscow said that it had sent a note to the Russian Foreign Ministry inquiring about additional and excessively lengthy checks on Uzbek nationals trying to enter Russia via Moscows Domodedovo airport.

'A Very Sensitive Issue'

This is a clear change of tune on Tashkents part.

At the beginning of May, Uzbekistans external labor migration agency refuted reports of Uzbeks being turned back at Russias borders.

On May 27, however, Mirziyoev flagged migration after talks with Vladimir Putin, claiming the Russian president had supported my proposals on this sensitive issue during their bilateral meeting in the Uzbek capital.

The leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, whose countries send fewer migrants to Russia in absolute terms than Uzbekistan but are more dependent on migrants money transfers, have also raised the topic.

Tajikistans President Emomali Rahmon called migration a very sensitive issue for us and one of the main issues for talks with Putin in Moscow on May 9. Earlier this week, a group of migrants from Tajikistan complained to RFE/RLs Tajik Service of being stuck for a fifth day at Russias land border with Kazakhstan, which they were using as a transit country.

Migrants from Kyrgyzstan enjoy certain preferences in Russia over their Tajik and Uzbek counterparts, owing to their countrys status as one of five members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

But Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said during a meeting of EEU heads of states on May 9 that the unions agreements relating to worker mobility were not being respected. This risked serious damage to the image of our association, Japarov said.

These signals of frustration  and the potential ramifications of changes to Russias migration framework  contrasted strongly with the sunny assessment of Russian Ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova at a June 27 meeting in Moscow of the human rights commission of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), another regional grouping where Russian influence is strong.

An analysis of the [CIS] countries' legislation showed that they are largely synchronized in terms of creating favorable conditions for the work of foreign workers, said Moskalkova, who is under U.S. and EU sanctions in connection with Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

However, [participants] noted that there remain bottlenecks in ensuring the rights of migrants that need to be resolved and that the commission will continue to work on, Moskalkova added in a summary of the meeting. The main goal is to offer legal protection mechanisms in which the citizens of our states and everyone located in the commonwealth feel socially protected.
By Hiroki Sugita, KYODO NEWS - Jul 6, 2024 - 09:19 | All, Japan

Taiwan is now facing many challenges as always, but the source of the growing tension is not just military intimidation from China but something more insidious.

A confrontation between the Lai Ching-te administration, which rejects unification with China, and the coalition of the Kuomintang and Taiwan People's Party, which has a conciliatory line toward China and holds the legislature, is deepening.

Chaos in the working of the island's democracy is emerging, exactly as authoritarian regimes like to claim is a major drawback of democracies. A Chinese strategy has begun to develop that does not involve military invasion or economic blockade that would provoke a fierce international outcry but instead targets Taiwan's own democratic procedures to break its independence.

At the Asia Journalism Forum 2024 held in Taipei at the end of June, I heard Taiwanese participants express concern about China's increasing influence over Taiwanese politics through pro-China forces.

One major Taiwanese media executive in an unofficial conversation analyzed the situation as "the beginning of a major move that will mark a turning point for Taiwan."

Taiwan's parliament in May passed a law requiring pro-independence President Lai to report to parliament and punishing public officials for making false statements. These measures were aimed at weakening the president's authority and blocking his actions.

The prevailing view among well-informed Taiwanese journalists and scholars was that China was using the Kuomintang to tighten its grip on Taiwan.

China has also announced judicial procedures to punish Taiwanese pro-independence activists. The maximum penalty is death. This is reminiscent of the method used by China to divide Hong Kong's political forces and then, in 2020, to create the Hong Kong National Security Law, which eliminated democratic forces and placed Hong Kong under the direct control of the Communist Party.

Lai I-chung, an expert on Taiwan's foreign policy, predicts that President Lai may not get the defense budget needed to defend Taiwan because he has lost control of the legislature. This would inevitably weaken Taiwan against an increasingly militarily powerful China.

With the inauguration of President Lai on May 20, China is stepping up its efforts to shake up Taiwan by conducting military exercises and removing preferential treatment for imports of products from Taiwan.

It has been observed that China has ostensibly reacted to Lai with restraint, not loudly condemning his inauguration, partly due to reassuring U.S. statements that it would not support the independence of Taiwan. But the steady movement toward unification that is underway behind the scenes is a war of nerves.

In Taiwan, the relationship with the United States is a contentious issue that divides public opinion. China and pro-China groups encourage distrust of the United States and spread the argument that Taiwanese people should value China over the United States.

According to Huang Jaw-nian, associate professor at National Chengchi University in Taiwan, in a poll conducted just before the presidential election this past January, 62 percent of respondents said the United States could not be trusted. The figure for Kuomintang supporters was 85 percent, and it was also as high as 69 percent among supporters of the Taiwan People's Party.

Among overall respondents, meanwhile, 57.5 percent believe that the United States would send troops if Taiwan were about to be attacked by China, while 42.5 percent do not.

Again, only 30 percent of Kuomintang supporters believe that the United States would send troops, and among supporters of the Taiwan People's Party, the figure is also low at 49 percent.

It can be said that distrust of the United States is spreading after the war in Ukraine, with the United States not sending troops and being unwilling to provide necessary weapons for victory. U.S. President Joe Biden has said that he will defend Taiwan with military force, but he is not fully trusted.

It is striking that only 44 percent of respondents said that the strengthening of relations with the United States will make Taiwan safer.

There were big differences in views on the question according to party preference, with 83 percent of supporters of Lai's Democratic Progressive Party saying it would make Taiwan safer, but only 16 percent of Kuomintang supporters and 34 percent of the Taiwan People's Party agreeing.

There is certain concern that moves to strengthen U.S.-Taiwan relations could instead trigger a war and that Taiwan would be more stable if it deepened relations with China instead.

Every country seeks to divide public opinion between opposing sides. At the forum, journalists from all countries spoke of the prevalence of fake news and disinformation. In such cases, "wedges," or policy issues for division, become important.

In Taiwan's case, this is the relationship with the United States. At first glance, strengthening relations with the United States seems to be a deterrent to China, but the argument goes that it also increases the risk of being drawn into a war.

The foreign policy expert Lai I-chung sees Taiwan not declaring independence and Chinese President Xi Jinping refraining from military aggression against Taiwan for the time being.

On the other hand, regardless of Taiwan's policy, a scenario in which China presses Taiwan to unify with the goal of winning the competition with the United States is envisioned.

Lai believes that Taiwan Strait security is dominated by Chinese concern about its competition with the United States. Taiwan's future will no longer be determined by Taiwan, but by the course of the U.S.-China confrontation.

He strongly advocates that Taiwan move closer to the U.S.-led liberal democratic camp, while the pro-China camp argues that only by strengthening relations with China can Taiwan avoid being drawn into war.

During my visit to Taiwan, one report surfaced that reinforced distrust of the United States. When Xi Jinping met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in April 2023, he said that the United States wanted him to attack Taiwan in order to weaken China, but he would not fall into that trap.

Although the U.S. government immediately denied it, I was asked in various places about the veracity of this report, which illustrates the strength of distrust of the United States.

If Donald Trump, who dislikes the involvement of U.S. forces in overseas conflicts, is reelected as U.S. president, the distrust of the United States in Taiwan is likely to intensify. In this context, we should expect that public opinion may prioritize proximity to China in the hope of peace and prosperity.

If the distrust of the United States is strong, what about the distrust of Japan? Japanese politicians have made such bold statements as "we should recognize the Taiwan emergency is a Japanese one" and "we are prepared to fight," but how are these statements received in Taiwan?

A former senior official of the Taiwanese government said, "We know that Japan has Constitutional limitations in its military activities. Japan cannot help us enough. But we are happy just to see Japan say it supports Taiwan," he said.

In Japan, the public and private sectors are actively considering Taiwan contingency scenarios, but even the evacuation and protection of Japanese nationals in Taiwan and mainland China and the defense of Okinawa and Kyushu would be stymied by legal, political and military obstacles.

Support for Taiwan could be a daunting task for Japan. Knowing such realities in Japan, he says, "I am grateful even if it is lip service or empty promises." This is Taiwanese realism, which seeks to gain the highest benefit from the environment while knowing its limitations.

(Hiroki Sugita is a visiting editorial writer at Kyodo News.)

Related coverage:

Taiwanese fishing boat seized by China in waters near Kinmen
If you are in the market for a unique property that is close to nature then a little island in the heart of Ireland could be the answer.

Big Yellow Island, in the middle of Lough Ree, 500m from the Hodson Bay Hotel in South Roscommon, could be yours for 95,000.

The island was originally purchased in 2006 at a public auction.

It is understood that the property was sold for 165,700, but is now on the market with an asking price of 95,000.

Mark Nestor, of Mark Nestor Properties has revealed that already there has been ten inquiries in relation to the island, from a variety of different sources.

As of right now the island is covered in vegetation. It measures between 2 and 3 acres, depending on water levels.

It is reputed to be very close to the very centre of Ireland. No services are currently connected and there is no house on the island.

For an appointment to view contact Mark Nestor Properties on 090 64 09095.
A customer communicates with exhibitors during the Auto Expo Africa 2024 in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Guansen)

NAIROBI, July 3 (Xinhua)--Frigid weather notwithstanding, visitors to the Auto Expo Africa 2024, that opened on Wednesday in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital were attracted by the sleek electric two-wheelers displayed by Zhejiang Varchea E-mobility Co. Ltd.

Kevin Rui, the firm's chief executive officer meticulously engaged a battery of potential clients keen to learn about the process of importing and assembling components of the electrified motorcycles, bicycles and vehicles that have gained traction in Kenya.

Rui said Zhejiang Varchea E-mobility Co. Ltd has mainly focused on production of critical components like batteries, speedometers and chargers that are required to sustain green mobility globally, with a special focus on Africa.

"We believe that electric vehicles have a huge opportunity in Africa because they are cheaper. For countries like Kenya, power is efficient and people can use electric vehicles and save money," Rui said.

In the Kenyan market, Varchea has already introduced electric motorcycles that are popular with delivery workers and riders commonly referred to as "BodaBoda", amid guarantee of cheaper maintenance, Rui said.

During the Auto Expo that runs from July 3-6, Rui said he looked forward to forging partnerships with local distributors to raise the visibility of his company's flagship brands including electric scooters, vehicles and two-wheelers.

Running concurrently with the 11th Oil & Gas Africa 2024, the Auto Expo Africa, now in its 25th edition has attracted exhibitors from over 30 countries including China to showcase auto spare parts, tyres, batteries, lubricants and signage products.

Sunkar Hu, the sales commercial director at Votol/Varchea, an electric mobility components and vehicle manufacturer, said the four-day expo that is expected to attract over 4,000 visitors offers an opportunity to establish long-term partnership with local distributors and clients.

According to Hu, his company's presence in the Kenyan market for nearly five years has revolutionized green mobility through enhanced access to components for producing high-performing two and three-wheelers.

While acknowledging rapid growth of electric mobility in the Kenyan market, Hu said he looked forward to engaging more with local entrepreneurs and gain better insight on demand and supply dynamics.

James Sadera, a technical engineer with Riders Kenya Limited who visited several Chinese manufacturers of electric vehicle parts at the Auto Expo observed the country is on the cusp of green mobility revolution, powered by Chinese technology.

Sadera said that Kenyan start-ups are keen to leverage partnership with China, scale up consumer awareness in their bid to promote electric mobility in line with the East African Nation's net zero targets.

For Kenya to leapfrog to mass green transportation, Sadera observed, the government should invest in supportive infrastructure like charging stations and local assembly plants.

Cherry Tu, the sales manager of Xiamen Songli New Energy Technology Co. Ltd, a lithium batteries manufacturer based in China's Fujian Province said that her firm looked forward to enlarging its footprint in Africa's nascent green mobility sector.

Tu said that during the Auto Expo in Nairobi, she planned to engage with more local partners and raise the visibility of her company's flagship batteries for powering electric vehicles and two-wheelers.

According to Tu's assessment, the African market presents huge opportunities for Chinese manufacturers of new energy vehicle components subject to placing emphasis on affordability and quality.

Elijah Oduor, the executive officer of Electric Mobility Association of Kenya, an umbrella body for green mobility players, said the country has been able to navigate the shift to low carbon transportation, thanks to availability of high-performing two-wheelers and vehicles manufactured in China.

"Chinese manufactured two wheelers and three wheelers so far available in the market are the most reliable," Oduor said, adding that Kenya should tap into Chinese innovation and technologies to enhance competitiveness of locally assembled new energy vehicles.

Celeste Vogel, the founder and chief executive officer of eWAKA, a Nairobi-based electric mobility start-up said that for Africa's green mobility to thrive, a seamless connection with Chinese manufacturers of critical parts and other players in the supply chain is crucial. 

A customer communicates with exhibitors during the Auto Expo Africa 2024 in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Guansen)
A Transition Year student was recently joined by some of her classmates at Roscommon Racecourse for the presentation of the overall national prize in the From Foal to Race Transition Year programme.

Martina Agullo Gonzalez, a Transition Year student at Athlone Community College was named the winner of the 2024 From Foal to Race Transition Year programme with her artwork submission titled That long awaited race.

With English not being Martinas first language, she expressed her knowledge gained from the programme through beautifully crafted artwork.

As national winner of the programme, Martina won 1,000 for her school presented to her by Agri Aware Executive Director Marcus OHalloran and equuips Heather Downey alongside her class during a VIP behind-the-scenes trip to Roscommon Racecourse before the end of school term.

The From Foal to Race TY programme was established in 2022 by Agri Aware and equuip, Horse Racing Irelands education and training division.

Martinas artwork submission that was crowned the national winner of the 2024 From Foal to Race programme.

Speaking at the prizegiving ceremony at Roscommon Racecourse, Agri Aware Executive Director Marcus OHalloran said: First of all, congratulations to Martina on her fantastic artwork that was chosen as the worthy winner for 2024.

The From Foal to Race programmes gives great opportunities for students to learn all about the horse racing industry here in Ireland and the journey of the thoroughbred horse from a foal to competing on the racecourse whilst giving students the opportunity to express what they learned in many different forms such as Martinas artwork.

The programme in 2024 saw schools from 26 counties register, seeing over 4,400 across 18 schools join us on the From Foal to Race journey.

Well done to Martina once again and to all students and their teachers for their excellent submissions this year. We look forward to rolling out the programme once again for the upcoming academic year.

Manager of equuip, Elaine Burke said: Since its inception, The From Foal to Race programme has gone from strength to strength. Our partnership with Agri Aware offers us a unique platform to engage with second level students, to enhance their understanding of the horse racing and breeding industry and the many career options available.

Big congratulations must go to Martina  she is a hugely talented artist and we were delighted she and her classmates enjoyed the programme so much.

Also speaking at the prizegiving ceremony was Martinas teacher Meghan Murphy. She said: The From Foal to Race programme by Agri Aware and equuip proved to be an incredibly informative module, offering students a unique insight into the world of horse racing.

We were particularly thrilled to see Martina win the competition with her beautiful drawing, a testament to her creativity and dedication.

The day out at Roscommon Racecourse was a highlight for everyone involved. The staff at Agri Aware, equipp, and Roscommon Racecourse were exceptionally kind and passionate, which made the experience even more enjoyable for the students.

This programme has not only deepened our understanding of horse racing but also ignited a passion for the sport among the students. We look forward to participating in this competition again in the future and are excited about the new opportunities it will bring.
Who is Sandeep Thapar? Shiv Sena Leader Who Survived Sword Attack by Nihang Sikhs

According to information, the attackers also seized the revolver of gunman

Who is Sandeep Thapar, Shiv Sena Leader Who Survived Sword Attack by Nihang Sikhs? Punjab witnessed a shocking scene on Friday when Shiv Sena (Punjab) leader Sandeep Thapar was attacked by three Nihang Sikhs outside the Civil Hospital in Ludhiana. He was ambushed with swords in the middle of the street.

According to information, the attackers also seized the revolver of gunman who was accompanying Thapar before fleeing the scene on his scooter.

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The assailants after following the attack in which Thapar was left critical. Initially, he was taken to the Civil Hospital but later referred to CMC Hospital.

Who is Sandeep Thapar, Shiv Sena Leader Who Survived Sword Attack by Nihang Sikhs?

Sandeep Thapar hails from Ludhiana. He is a Shiv Sena leader who claims to be descendant of prominent leader Sukhdev Thapar. However, the family Sukhdev Thapar has denied his claim that he was not descendant of Sukhdev.
July 6, 2024

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsflash

Newsroom, 06.07.2024, 13:48

Meeting. Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu said that by the end of the year, Romanians will no longer need visas to travel to the US, can hold dual citizenship if they live in Spain and will fully join Schengen. This is the timetable, said Ciolacu. He previously had talks with the Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez, having also attended together a meeting of the Socialist International  Europe. Prime minister Sanchez is the president of the Socialist International. In April, the Social Democratic Party hosted in Bucharest the leaders conference of the Party of European Socialists and a month earlier, its coalition partner, the National Liberal Party, hosted the congress of the European Peoples Party.

Alert. Alerts were issued this morning in 16 localities in Tulcea county, in south-eastern Romania, warning of potential objects falling from the sky, especially drone parts, in the context of the war in the neighbouring Ukraine. The alerts are informing the population that Romania is not targeted by the attacks and that people should not panic, but follow the advice of the authorities, call the emergency number 112 and report falling objects if they see them. The authorities began sending such alerts last autumn, when parts of drones used in Russias attacks on Ukraines Danube ports fell in Tulcea county. Romanias defence structures are keeping a close eye on the situation in the border area.

Travel. Travel restrictions will be imposed from next Wednesday on the Bulgarian section of the Giurgiu-Ruse bridge between Romania and Bulgaria, on account of infrastructure rehabilitation works. The Romanian foreign ministry issued a statement advising Romanian citizens to drive cautiously and respect traffic signs. The works will last two years, with traffic to be conducted only on one lane. Another decision that will affect road travel is the closure of traffic on the Valea Oltului national road, a very busy road that connects the south to the centre of the country. Travel will be closed during the day between 6 am and 8 pm from 8th July to 9th August. 20,000 trees will be cut on the mountain sides bordering the road in order to build the Sibiu-Pitesti motorway.

Festival. Today is the third day of the NEVERSEA music festival taking place in Constanta, on the Black Sea coast. The line-up today features such acts as Salvatore Ganacci and Dimitri Vegas. 62,000 people attended the first day of the festival, while Friday saw a record 75,000, said the organisers.NEVERSEA, which is Europes biggest music festival held on a beach, began on Thursday and comes to an end on Sunday. 100 acts are taking part, both local and international stars, including the likes of Inna, Maluma, Nick Carter, G-Eazy, Bebe Rexha, DJ Snake, Steve Aoki and Mahmut Orhan. Meanwhile, the SAGA electronic music festival is taking place near Bucharest, with the line-up featuring acts like Armin Van Buuren, Nicki Minaj, Rita Ora and Dennis Lloyd.
July 6, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsflash

Newsroom, 06.07.2024, 19:27

Romania-Spain. The timetable for the implementation of the agreement on granting dual citizenship for Romanian nationals residing in Spain was the main subject of talks between the Romanian prime minister Marcel Ciolacu and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez. Ciolacu said the document was at the ministry of justice in Madrid and gave assurances that the measure would come into force by the end of the year. He said that also by the end of the year, Romanians will no longer need visas to travel to the US and voiced hope that Romania would fully join Schengen. If the dual citizenship agreement is adopted, Romania will become the third state in Europe, after France and Portugal, to close such an agreement with the Spanish state.

Alert. Romanian military forces are investigating an area in the Danube Delta to check whether there are any objects fallen on the national territory after Saturday mornings Russian strike against targets in Ukraine, near the border with Romania. On Saturday morning, as Russian drones were detected heading for Ukrainian territory near the Romanian border, the decision was taken that two Romanian F-16 planes would immediately take off and monitor the aerial situation. The population in the region was alerted about the possibility of drone parts falling in the area, but no such incidents have been reported so far, according to the Inspectorate for Emergency Situations. The authorities began sending such alerts last autumn, when parts of drones used in Russias attacks on Ukraines Danube ports fell in Tulcea county. The Romanian defence ministry gave assurances that the countrys defence structures are constantly monitoring the situation in the border area.

Meeting. The foreign ministers of Romania, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine signed a joined declaration on the security environment at the end of a three-party meeting held on Friday in the Moldovan capital Chisinau. The document highlights the determination of the three states to build a common democratic, peaceful and prosperous European future. The objective remains that of ensuring international support for comprehensive, just and durable peace, said the Moldovan foreign minister Mihai Popsoi. For her part, Romanias foreign minister Luminita Odobescu said the meeting was yet another proof of the support for Ukraine and its territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty in the context of the war of aggression waged by Russia. She pointed out that Romania supports the European aspirations of both the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine and that the start of EU accession talks paves the way for a complex reform period that requires political commitment and perseverance. The three ministers also signed a memorandum on combating the information manipulation and foreign interference.

Travel. Travel restrictions will be imposed from next Wednesday on the Bulgarian section of the Giurgiu-Ruse bridge between Romania and Bulgaria, on account of infrastructure rehabilitation works. The Romanian foreign ministry issued a statement advising Romanian citizens to drive cautiously and respect traffic signs. The works will last two years, with traffic to be conducted only on one lane. Another decision that will affect road travel is the closure of traffic on the Valea Oltului national road, a very busy road that connects the south to the centre of the country. Travel will be closed during the day between 6 am and 8 pm from 8th July to 9th August. 20,000 trees will be cut on the mountain sides bordering the road in order to build the Sibiu-Pitesti motorway.

Rugby. The Romanian rugby side won the Pershing Cup after defeating the United States in a match that formed part of the America Series and marked the relaunch of the Pershing Cup. The match took place on Friday evening in Chicago and was attended by many Romanians living in the US. The Romanian ambassador to Washington, Andrei Muraru, who handed the trophy to the Romanian captain, described the teams victory as a dream come true. The match took place one day after the 4th July celebrations. Last year, the US defeated Romania in Bucharest in an international match held on 5th August. The two sides first played each other at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, when the US won the gold medal and Romania won the bronze. Romania will next play Canada on 12th July as part of their North American tour.
Minneapolis made a significant move in the fight against the opioid crisis in Minnesota by unveiling the city's first Narcan vending machine.

Mayor Jacob Frey and other city officials introduced the machine, which is stocked with complimentary Narcan boxes, during a public event on Wednesday.

Mayor Frey emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, "We know that this is a drug, specifically fentanyl, that has taken control of people's lives like nothing we've seen before, and we know that we have the tools to help."

The vending machine, located outside Fire Station 21, is accessible to the community 24/7. It provides free access to around 100 Narcan boxes, each containing two doses. To obtain Narcan, users simply need to push the corresponding numbered buttons on the machine. This pilot program, which costs $10,000, targets areas with high rates of substance use. So far this year, there have been 74 suspected opioid overdoses in these areas, resulting in 4 fatalities.

Minneapolis residents, accounting for only 7.5% of the population, have unfortunately contributed to 20% of opioid-related fatalities in Minnesota over the past five years. The vending machine will be regularly restocked by staff, and if the pilot initiative proves successful, there are plans to install additional machines in more locations.

Narcan, also known as naloxone, comes in the form of a nasal spray and can effectively reverse opioid overdoses caused by substances like heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine. This innovative approach demonstrates the city's proactive stance in addressing the devastating impact of opioid misuse and aiming to save lives.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Health officials have confirmed measles in an infant less than a year old in Butler County.

According to the Butler Country General Health District, the infant contracted the disease during international travel, and then returned to the U.S. through a Chicago-area airport and later to Ohio by car.

The officials are also working on to determine the exposure status of close contacts of the infant.

"If you do not receive a call from BCGHD, it is safe to assume that you have not been exposed to measles," BCGHD said.

"Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that is spread through the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Symptoms include fever, runny nose, cough, and rash. There is no specific treatment for measles," BCGHD added.

Further, the officials recommended unvaccinated individuals aged 10 or older to receive a measles vaccination.

"If you are uncertain about you or your child's vaccination status or are unvaccinated for measles, or think you may be experiencing symptoms of measles, call your care provider", BCGHD advised.

The health officials recommended that children should take first dose of measles vaccine between 12 and 15 months of age, and next dose at 4-6 years of age.

Notably, the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine is given at 12 months of age in the U.S., but it is given at six months of age for traveling outside the nation, and during an outbreak.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Health News
Allan Magubane, keynote speaker at #YoungLeadersBootcamp [PIC CREDIT]: Lance Myburgh

By: The Division of Communication & Advancement

Rhodes University is hosting the Young Leaders Bootcamp at Eden Grove on 6-7 July 2024, featuring Allan Magubane as the keynote speaker. Magubane, born in 1989 in Estcourt, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, has contributed to education and corporate consultancy, focusing on leadership ethics, strategy, and diversity.

Magubane had recently served as the Deputy Headmaster for Transformation & Community Engagement at St John's College in Johannesburg, a position he left to pursue a sabbatical and further his studies. His professional journey began at Rhodes University, where he worked in the International Office as the International Projects, Programmes, and Events Officer, serving as the SRC President in 2011. Transitioning into the corporate sector, he established himself as a consultant specialising in leadership ethics, strategy, and diversity.

An alumnus of the Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS) and a Summer School Fellow at Drew University's Centre on Religion, Culture, and Conflict, Magubane's dedication to social justice was evident in his research interests, including Diversity, Equity & Belonging, Social Justice, Liberation Theology, and the role of Love as a social and political ethic. As a co-founder of the Centre for Being & Belonging, Magubane aimed to cultivate communities and institutional cultures of higher consciousness. He was a founding executive member of the South African Transformation of Independent Schools Association in 2021. Recognised for his educational contributions, he was named one of the Top 200 Young South Africans in 2023 by the Mail & Guardian.

At the time of his keynote, he is pursuing a Masters in Philosophy at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion & Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape.

Magubane's keynote address, titled "Reflections on Personal Leadership: Failing Forward," explored the concept of "failing forward"how to manage failure and transform it into a positive force for leadership development. He framed the session around reconstructing the framing of failure so that it could be used as a galvanising force to foster new life and usher in new ways of being. He shared personal experiences and insights, emphasising that failure was inevitable and necessary for growth and success. The session began with an intention setting by the entire room, quiet followed by the lighting of a candle which signified the light and wisdom that was sought by the boot camp.

Magubane discussed various perspectives on failure during his address, including personal, professional, academic, social, and systemic failures. He emphasised the fluid and subjective nature of failure, proposing that this subjectivity was a gift and an opportunity for growth. According to Magubane, failure was critical to development as it kept individuals humble, reminded them of core ideals, and necessitated seeking help which in itself fosters community. Restating a quote by CS Lewis, that humility was not to think less of ourselves, but to think of ourselves less an important practice allowing the spirit of community to grow, for learning to take place.

Magubane highlighted the behaviours associated with internalising failure, such as catastrophising, avoidance, negative self-talk, impostor syndrome and overgeneralisation to name a few. He aimed to provide future leaders with the tools to separate self-worth from failure and view setbacks as opportunities for growth. He invoked Professor Babalwa Magoqwana's work "Repositioning uMakhulu as an institution of knowledge," inviting scholars to reflect on where their knowledge of life, leadership, and ethics originates and who their makhulu's are. The importance of this work is that it decentres traditional frameworks that often give stereotypical understandings of leadership and refocuses on African indigenous knowledge concurrently.

In his presentation, Magubane referenced influential figures and concepts. He cited Howard Thurman's idea of "coming alive," urging attendees to find what makes them come alive and pursue it passionately.

Magubane discussed the importance of support systems, self-compassion, and a growth mindset. He shared a few personal anecdotes. He emphasised that self-compassion builds resilience and a healthier self-concept, while a growth mindset encourages perseverance and continuous improvement. Magubane also referenced Robert T. Kiyosaki's belief that "failure is part of the journey of success" and that avoiding failure also means avoiding success.

The address also included reflections on the need for community and mentorship. Magubane quoted The Healing Wisdom of Africa Malidoma Some, who emphasised the necessity of elders in a community to bless the genius of youth, allowing it to serve the greater good. He urged the attendees to recognise the value of mentors and elders in their own journeys. Magubane's session was a conversation with the mind and the heart, seeking to align intellectual, emotional and psycho-spiritual growth.

Magubane's keynote concluded with a call to practice compassion towards oneself and others. He reinforced the idea that each person is both an elder and a youth, capable of continued growth and the emergence of genius from its hiding within each other. Rhodes University and the Young Leaders Bootcamp attendees benefited greatly from Allan Magubane's wealth of knowledge and experience. His keynote address provided valuable lessons on turning failures into stepping stones for future success and emphasised the importance of compassion, resilience, and continuous personal growth.
Based on the Casper, Hyundai Inster is expected to be offered in two variants with range of up to 355 km

Last month, Hyundai unveiled the Inster EV at the 2024 Busan International Mobility Show. It will be launched first in its home market, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. India launch of Inster EV is expected in the second half of 2026.

Hyundai Inster EV  Key details

In India, Inster EV will be launched in a compact SUV format. This model is codenamed HE1i. It will be underpinned by a born-electric car platform, derived from Hyundais affordable E-GMP (K) platform. It is to note that before HE1i is launched in India in 2026, Hyundai will be introducing the Creta EV in 2025. The latter will be utilizing an ICE-derived electric vehicle architecture.

Inster EV is based on the Casper, a crossover city car, available in select overseas markets. Hyundai has plans to manufacture the Inster EV at its Sriperumbudur plant in Tamil Nadu. Dimensionally, Inster small SUV is 230 mm longer than the Casper. Wheelbase has been extended by 180 mm to accommodate a decent sized battery pack. Inster is 3,825 mm long, which is slightly smaller in comparison to 3,857 mm long Tata Punch. Citroen eC3 is the longest in the group, at 3,981 mm.

Hyundai Inster EV  Performance, range

For international markets, Hyundai is offering a Standard and a Long-Range variant of Inster. These will be equipped with 42 kWh and 49 kWh battery packs, respectively. The electric motor on the Standard variant churns out 97 hp, whereas the long-range variant delivers 115 hp. Torque output of 147 Nm is the same for both variants. WLTP certified range is 300 km and 355 km, respectively. It is expected that the Indian-spec version will be getting the same options.

To effectively compete with rivals like Tata Punch EV, Hyundai Inster will be equipped with a comprehensive range of features. Some of the key highlights include dual 10.25-inch screens, 360 surround view camera, auto climate control and blind spot monitoring. A comprehensive range of ADAS features will be available.

Hyundai EV roadmap for India

Production of around 90,000 units per annum is targeted initially. It includes 26,000 units of Creta EV and 65,000 units of the compact electric SUV. A significant percentage of these will be exported, especially the smaller SUV. Hyundai has allocated Rs 20,000 crore for developing EVs for the Indian market. The company has plans to build a strong EV portfolio over the next 8 years. Some of the products being evaluated include EV models derived from Venue and Grand i10 Nios.

For developing EVs for India, Hyundai will be utilizing the expertise of its South Korean parent company. In Korea, Hyundai has a diversified portfolio of EVs, hybrid cars, plug-in-hybrids, fuel-cell EVs and mild-hybrid EVs. In the entry-level EV segment, Hyundais primary opponent will be Tata Motors. The latter has a strong EV portfolio, comprising popular cars such as Punch EV, Tiago EV, Tigor EV and Nexon EV.

Source
Tata is celebrating 20 lakh SUV sales milestone and is offering huge discounts on their electric cars  Nexon EV, Tiago EV and Punch EV

In a rather historic move, Tata Motors is celebrating 20 lakh SUV milestone. The company has witnessed immense popularity with their Nexon and Punch offerings in sub 4m segment along with Harrier and Safari SUVs in mid-size segment. Commemorating this massive achievement, Tata Motors is offering attractive discounts on SUVs amounting to Rs 1.4 lakh. Hat tip to Motor Arena India for sharing details.

Tata Discounts July 2024  20 Lakh SUV Milestone

For a long time, Tata Motors has had a major hold on Indias SUV segment. If we take a look at sales numbers, Tata Nexon has held the crown for best-selling SUV in India for three consecutive years. Which is an incredible feat. Complementing Nexon, we have Tatas new rockstar, the Punch. Which currently holds No 2 position in SUV sales in FY24.

Now, Tata Motors is celebrating 20 lakh SUV sales milestone in style. With a range of SUVs starting from Punch and Nexon, Tata offers premium mid-size SUVs too, in the form of Harrier and Safari. Commemorating this historic milestone, Tata Motors has announced incredible benefits on its legendary SUVs.

Beneficiaries of these offers under the celebration of Tatas 20 lakh SUV milestone are Tatas flagship SUVs  Harrier and Safari, along with EVs like Punch EV, Nexon EV and Tiago EV. Benefits range from Rs 10,000 all the way till Rs 1.4 lakh, depending on vehicle and variants. Lets take a look.

Tata Harrier SUV Discounts July 2024

The 5-seater version of Tatas flagship, Harrier, is bestowing a minimum benefit of Rs 50,000 on select trims like Smart, Smart (O), Adventure, Fearless, Fearless Dark, Fearless+ and Fearless+ Dark trims. Benefits increase to Rs 70,000 with trims like Pure, Pure (O) and Pure+. Buyers of Pure+ S, Pure+ S Dark, Adventure+, Adventure+ Dark and Adventure+ A trims get the maximum benefits of Rs 1.2 lakh.

Tata Safari SUV Discounts July 2024

The pattern regarding benefits is slightly different with the 7-seater Safari. The least benefit is still Rs 50,000 and is applicable to Adventure, Accomplished, Accomplished Dark, Accomplished+ and Accomplished+ Dark. Smart and Smart (O) trims get Rs 70,000 benefits, while it is Rs 90,000 with Pure, Pure (O) and Pure+ trims.

Just like Harrier, Tata is offering Rs 1.2 lakh benefits to buyers of Adventure+, Adventure+ Dark and Adventure+ A. However, the maximum ceiling for benefits under Tatas 20 lakh units milestone is Rs 1.40 lakh and Safari Pure+ S and Pure+ S Dark trims are the only ones to get it.

Tata Nexon EV Discounts July 2024

With Nexon EV, the base Creative+ MR misses out on any benefits. However, Fearless MR gets Rs 50,000 benefits. Fearless+ MR, Fearless+ S MR, Fearless LR, Fearless+ LR, Fearless + S LR and Empowered MR get Rs 70,000 benefits. Higher trims like Empowered+ LR and Empowered+ LR Dark get the maximum benefits of Rs 1.3 lakh.

Tata Punch EV Discounts July 2024

Tatas current electric rockstar, Punch EV, has been given maximum benefits of just Rs 30,000. This is low in comparison with Nexon EVs max benefits of Rs 1.3 lakh. Tata is giving the maximum benefits among Punch EV trims with Adventure LR, Adventure S LR, Empowered LR and Empowered S LR. Along with that, Empowered+ LR, Empowered+ S LR, and their fast-charging equipped variants get the maximum benefits.

Tata Tiago EV Discounts July 2024

Tata Motors most affordable electric offering, the Tiago EV, is also bestowed with benefits in July 2024, even though it is not marketed as an SUV. The maximum benefits offered by Tata on Tiago EV is Rs 50,000 and only the XT LR variant gets it. While other variants get less benefits as seen in the images.
CHONGQING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A flight departed early Saturday morning from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, heading to Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, with 174 passengers on board, marking the launch of a direct passenger route between the two cities.

Operated by Citilink Indonesia with Airbus A320 aircraft, the new service offers two regular round trips per week, scheduled for Wednesdays and Saturdays from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.

The flight departs from Chongqing at 3:30 a.m. local time and arrives at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta at 8:55 a.m. local time, with a flight duration of approximately six hours.

According to He Lu, who is in charge of international air routes at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, the direct passenger service can save over three hours for passengers who previously had to transfer.

Currently, the Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport operates 27 international and regional flight routes, with over 150 flights per week to cities including Seattle, London, Paris, Madrid and Sydney. 
An aerial drone photo taken on July 5, 2024 shows rescuers working on a dike of Dongting Lake in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry.

An additional 50 rescue workers, along with 30 sets of equipment and a water engineering rescue team from the provincial capital Changsha, have been deployed to block the breach. Surveying drones and remote sensing satellites are being used to collect images of the breach and the surrounding affected area, the ministry said.

Emergency supplies have been sent to support local authorities in the evacuation and resettlement of disaster-affected residents.

As of 10 p.m. Friday, 5,000 residents in the affected area had been safely relocated. There were no immediate reports of trapped individuals or casualties.

The dike breach that occurred in the Dongting Lake was initially about 10 meters wide but expanded afterward. The affected area near Tuanbei Village covers approximately 50 square km. This area experienced a dike breach in 1996.

Since June 16, Hunan has seen its heaviest rainfall of the year, breaking historical records in some regions. 

Rescuers work in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 5, 2024 shows rescuers working on a dike of Dongting Lake in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

Rescuers transfer stranded residents in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Department of Hunan/Handout via Xinhua)

Rescuers transfer stranded residents in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Department of Hunan/Handout via Xinhua)

A rescuer monitors the water level in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

Rescuers reinforce a dike in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

Rescuers transfer a stranded resident in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Fire and Rescue Department of Hunan/Handout via Xinhua)

Rescuers reinforce a dike in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows rescuers working to block a dike breach in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows the site of a dike breach in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

Rescuers work to block a dike breach in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

A drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows rescuers working to block a dike breach in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

A drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows rescuers working to block a dike breach in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

A truck loaded with sand and stones heads to the site of a dike breach in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2024. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows the site of a dike breach in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows the site of a dike breach in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

A drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows rescuers working to block a dike breach in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

A drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows trucks loaded with stones waiting in line in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows a flooded area in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows rescuers blocking a dike breach of Dongting Lake in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province.

A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows rescuers blocking a dike breach of Dongting Lake in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province.

A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

This photo taken on July 6, 2024 shows rescuers blocking a dike breach of Dongting Lake in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province.

A work team has been dispatched to central China's Hunan Province to guide rescue efforts after a dike breach in the country's second-largest freshwater lake on Friday afternoon, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

More than 800 people from the China National Comprehensive Fire and Rescue Team, 146 vehicles and 82 boats have been sent to the scene, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)
MANILA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Many developing countries in Asia and the Pacific region, including the Philippines, still have a high tuberculosis (TB) incidence rate, according to an article from the Asian Development Blog of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Citing World Health Organization (WHO) data, the recently published article said the highly infectious disease "remains rife" in the region, with Southeast Asia responsible for 46 percent of global infections in 2022, "the highest of any region."

The article said the pandemic devastated national TB prevention and treatment programs, causing an estimated half a million excess deaths between 2020 and 2022. However, the good news is that there has been a post-pandemic recovery in the number of people diagnosed with and treated for TB, helping to reduce the damage done by the pandemic, it added.

According to the WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2023, the Philippines, along with Indonesia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and Vietnam, have some of the highest levels of TB in the region. Around 700,000 people out of a population of 115 million have active TB.

Nearly 10 million people in the Philippines reside in impoverished urban areas. Poverty and overcrowding, along with poorly-resourced public health services, are major factors in the widespread incidence of TB in the country, according to The Lancet.

In Indonesia, TB is the fourth-highest cause of death overall, and among those aged 15 to 49 years, it is the number one cause of death by a contagious disease.

TB, an airborne disease spawned by urban poverty, is currently the world's second-biggest infectious killer after COVID-19. Many countries are working to eliminate TB by 2030, which aligns with the WHO's End Tuberculosis Strategy.

The article said adapting practices such as mask-wearing and improved hygiene at home and work that proved effective against COVID-19 could play an important role in helping Asia and the Pacific rid themselves of TB permanently.

However, socioeconomic factors including poverty, overcrowding, poor sanitation, lack of infrastructure, and inadequate public health systems, allow the disease to remain endemic, it added. 
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng addresses the opening ceremony of the 12th World Peace Forum in Beijing, capital of China, July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Tao)

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng addressed the opening ceremony of the 12th World Peace Forum in Beijing on Saturday, calling for joint contributions to improving global security governance, safeguarding fairness and justice, and promoting international security cooperation.

Noting that the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, Han said that China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and an important member of the Global South, will always stay on the right course in the changing world. He put forward three proposals.

First, adhering to peaceful coexistence. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, Han said, adding that China will always adhere to its foreign policy purposes of safeguarding world peace and promoting common development, and inject greater stability and certainty into the world.

Second, advocating common security. China advocates a concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and will actively explore and practice solutions with Chinese characteristics to address hotspot issues and strive to solve global security challenges, Han said.

Third, promoting openness and inclusiveness. To promote world peace and development, all countries should uphold the concept of openness and inclusiveness. China is ready to work with other countries to jointly safeguard world peace and stability, Han said.

The Chinese nation loves peace, and China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order, he said.

He expressed the hope that all participants will fully exchange views, build consensus, and contribute wisdom and strength to improving global security governance, safeguarding fairness and justice, and promoting international security cooperation.

About 400 people, including former foreign political dignitaries, diplomatic envoys to China, experts and scholars, attended the event. 

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng poses for a group photo with guests ahead of the opening ceremony of the 12th World Peace Forum in Beijing, capital of China, July 6, 2024. Han addressed the opening ceremony here on Saturday. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management on Saturday allocated 540 million yuan (about 75.75 million U.S. dollars) of funds to support local governments in disaster relief work related to floods, geological disasters and forest fires.

Specifically, 503 million yuan will go into supporting flood and geological disaster responses such as search, rescue and relocation of affected residents in nine provincial-level regions including Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi, while 37 million yuan will be allocated for forest fire response in Inner Mongolia and Shanxi, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The National Meteorological Center on Saturday issued a blue alert for rainstorms as heavy downpours are expected to lash parts of the country.

From Saturday morning to 8 a.m. Sunday, heavy rains are forecast to hit some provincial-level regions in northeast, northwest, central, east and southwest China, including Jilin, Shaanxi, Shandong, Anhui and Henan, the meteorological center said.

Some of these regions may experience heavy rainfall with maximum hourly precipitation exceeding 60 millimeters, accompanied by thunderstorms and gales, according to the center.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue. 
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Advance/SILive.com is proud to announce it will be hosting its third panel discussion on Tuesday, July 9, 2024, at 2 p.m.

The hour-long DEI event, named Conversation with Community Giants: Celebrating Pride, will feature three of Staten Islands prominent LGBTQ+ advocates (in alphabetical order): Carol Bullock, KC Hankins and Hon. Matthew Titone.

The panel discussion is a celebration of LGBTQ+ identities and culture, including but not limited to the history and struggles of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, advocacy for equality and acceptance, community building and empowerment of individuals to express their true selves.

The DEI Committee hopes its an opportunity to educate the audience about LGBTQ+ history and significance and help dispel myths, correct misconceptions, and promote a deeper understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, while fostering empathy among attendees and providing resources to those seeking them.

The panel discussion will be held in Advance/SILive.com headquarters, Bloomfield, with newsroom staff in attendance in-person and virtually. The event will be broadcast live via the Advance Facebook Live platform, where the public can tune in and ask questions.

Caroline Harrison, CEO of Advance Local and publisher of the Advance and SILive.com, Brian Laline, Advance/SILive.com executive editor, and Gail Lubin, senior content director, are scheduled to attend the conference in person.

Conversation with Community Giants: Celebrating Pride follows on the success of the committees inaugural panel discussion, Conversation with Community Giants: Celebrating Black History and Mays event, Conversation with Community Giants: Womens Heart Health, with a combined video plays of close to 100K.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS

Carol Bullock, the Executive Director of the Pride Center of Staten Island since 2017, leads the staff in upholding its values: Community, brave space, inclusion, allyship, relationship building and development. Carol is an active member of many groups advocating for equality and has been instrumental in creating visibility and community support for the Center, as well as advocating federally, state-wide, and locally.

KC Hankins is a community activist on Staten Island working to build LGBTQ+ visibility and representation. A proud, out public school teacher, KC began his activism through Young Democrats of Richmond County and the Staten Island Democratic Party, ensuring that LGBTQ+ issues are being prioritized by our leaders. KC is the Exec. VP of the Stonewall Democrats NYC and a leading voice in the fight to get the Pride Center of Staten Island to march in the Staten Island St. Patricks Day Parade, organizing the annual Rainbow Run before the parade and working to draw media attention to the issue.

Hon. Matthew Titone is Staten Islands first openly gay elected official. He was elected to the bench as the Surrogate of Richmond County in 2018. He lives on the North Shore with his spouse, Giosue. He has done pro bono work for the SI AIDS Task Force and Project Hospitality. Until his election to the NYS Assembly in 2007, Surrogate Titone provided pro bono services to those who couldnt afford legal representation. He served on the Board of Community Health Action of SI and on the Board for Legal Services of NY. His civic participation includes Snug Harbor Cultural Center where he served on the Exec. Committee, as well as Interim President & CEO.

- The 2024 DEI Committee of SILive/Staten Island Advance is comprised of Kelli DeSantis, left, Jason Paderon, Dr. Gracelyn Santos (chairman), Felicia Torres, and Shane DiMaio. (Staten Island Advance)Staten Island Advance

ADVANCE DEI COMMITTEE

The Advance/SILive.com DEI committee hopes the discussion will inspire ways we can best represent the communities we serve, foster relationships where everyone feels comfortable and included, promote awareness of different perspectives, and exchange ideas on ways to identify challenges of underrepresented groups, and identify opportunities for improvement.

The 2024 Advance/SILive.com DEI committee is chaired by columnist Dr. Gracelyn Santos, and is comprised of committee members Kelli DeSantis, executive assistant to Laline; multimedia specialist, Jason Paderon; Felicia Torres, executive assistant to Harrison; and social media creator Shane DiMaio, who will be co-moderating with Santos.
Talk about something youd be hard-pressed to find outside the United States.

Vending machines selling bullets to gun owners have been placed in grocery stores in the South, according to ammo vending machine supplier American Rounds. The vending machines are currently located in six grocery stores throughout Alabama and Oklahoma.

According to American Rounds website, the vending machines use AI to verify a buyers identification and age through card-scanning and facial-recognition software.

The company touts on its website the machines are "accessible 24/7, ensuring that you can buy ammunition on your own schedule, free from the constraints of store hours and long lines and that theyre as easy to use as an ATM.

The Tuscaloosa Thread, a news outlet in west Alabama, reported the Tuscaloosa police chief and other staff confirmed the machines were legal, and vetted by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The vending machines arent likely to come to New York any time soon; the state has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation.

Though shootings on Staten Island are down 47% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year, firearms are still heavily present in the borough. In May, more than 80 guns were taken off Staten Island streets when the NYPD and District Attorney Michael E. McMahon co-hosted a gun buyback event.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Hundreds of new school seats will be available to Staten Island over the next few years, as New York City works to tackle overcrowding in school buildings, a growing student population, and a new law that would reduce class sizes.

New schools are being constructed throughout the borough, while other seats may be acquired by leasing or buying and renovating space. Additionally, charter schools are also expanding opportunities for more seats.

The city School Construction Authority (SCA) 2020-2024 Capital Program includes more than $539 million in funding for 11 buildings, adding 4,989 seats on Staten Island.

Heres a look at the new school seats expected for the borough.

Richmond Prep

The Richmond Preparatory Charter School welcomed all students, especially those on the autism spectrum, in September 2021. It is a college prep charter school with a computer science focus  integrating all students in its classes and activities.

The school opened to 110 sixth-grade students at its temporary space at Corporate Commons 3 in Bloomfield.

It is slated to move into its permanent location in September at the former Barnes & Noble building on Richmond Avenue in New Springville. A new grade will be added each year up to 12th grade.

The school provides students with all of the traditional classes, like English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies, as well as some classes unique to the school.

New school in Travis

New York City broke ground last October on a new $80 million, three-story elementary school building that will serve students in the Travis neighborhood  relieving overcrowding at nearby PS 26, which is located 1,000 feet away at 4108 Victory Blvd. Once completed, the new school will become a state-of-the-art, 547-seat facility located at 24 Shelley Ave.

The new building will serve 547 students in elementary school  from pre-K through fifth grade. It will also include 96 seats for District 75 special education students.

Currently, the school name is referred to as PS 121, according to the SCA.

New education complex

Hundreds of new school seats are on tap for Staten Island as the former St. John Villa Academy campus will be transformed into an educational complex  which will include the boroughs first dedicated Gifted & Talented school  over the next several years.

Nearly 2,000 more public school seats will be added to Staten Island at the former seven-acre property in Arrochar. The SCA acquired the site in 2019  a year after the city purchased the property under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.

In May, it was announced that a dedicated Gifted and Talented (G&T) school serving students from kindergarten through eighth grade will open at the campus.

The proposed project consists of three new schools  the G&T primary/intermediate school, and a shared facility for two separate, independently operated middle/high schools.

That means a total of 2,114 total seats coming to the site  764 at the G&T school, and a combined 1,350 at the two middle/high schools.

Seats will also be allocated for students in District 75.

PS 5 addition

A new 290-seat addition is coming to PS 5 in Huguenot. According to the SCA, the site, located at the schools address at 348 Deisius St., will be ready in 2025. The total estimated cost is $78.85 million.

PS 13 annex

A new 283-seat annex will be created for PS 13 in Rosebank  located at the former St. Marys School. The annex, located at 1 Virginia Ave., will be ready in 2027. The total estimated cost is $69.88 million.

A list of seats recently added is below.

Hellenic Classical Charter School

Hellenic Classical Charter School, in Bulls Head, signed a $60 million long-term ground and development lease with Holy Trinity St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to expand. It will grow to serve pre-K to fifth grade, and will continue to add a new grade each year up to eighth grade.

The new building has been constructed on the property next to the church, totaling over 48,000 square feet. It will include specialized classrooms, an auditorium and a technology-driven library. It opened for the 2023-2024 school year.

Evelyn King Campus

The Evelyn King Campus houses the Waverly Academy for Empowered Learners (WAELS) and the Young Womens Leadership School on Staten Island. They both opened at the same site in September 2022. The building was constructed to relieve overcrowding at nearby schools PS 78, PS 65 and PS 13.

The Young Womens Leadership School on Staten Island is dedicated to molding the minds of the worlds future female leaders. It opened with a class of 60 sixth-graders, adding an additional grade each year, up to grade 12. The school is open to girls and gender-expansive students. Admission to the school is based on a lottery system, with those interested in applying simply needing to list the new school on their upcoming middle school application.

For the time being, the school will be located at 45 Waverly Place and shares the building with WAELS, which serves elementary students.

New Hungerford School

The new Hungerford School was built at the Michael J. Petrides Educational Complex  in a parking lot in the rear of the Sunnyside campus.

The new state-of-the-art building opened for the 2022-2023 school year and is fully accessible to serve the specialized needs of all students. Amenities include braille signage in every room, elevators on all floors and wheelchair ramps. Classrooms are equipped with hearing loops  a wire that circles a room and is connected to a sound system, which hearing-impaired students can connect to via their hearing aids or cochlear implants. Hungerford continues to keep its inclusion sites and annexes.

Hebrew Charter School

Staten Island Hebrew Charter School opened for the 2022-2023 school year. The free public charter school in Midland Beach is open to all age- and grade-eligible students in New York City, with preference given to Staten Island residents.

The school is planning to serve students in grades K through eight. It first admitted students in kindergarten and first grade in September 2022. It will ultimately serve 522 students with three class sections in each grade.

The mission of the charter school is to provide great education to diverse kids, according to Valerie Khaytina, chief external officer for Hebrew Public Charter Schools. While the school teaches Modern Hebrew, it also helps students become global citizens, which the charter describes as the ability to understand different cultures and different languages. The school has no religious affiliation, and religion is not taught at the school. The charter network considers itself to be diverse by design, she added.
Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, provides flood-control instructions at the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on July 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xiang)

BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing on Saturday emphasized the need to strengthen dikes nationwide as vast parts of the country combat flooding.

Zhang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while providing flood-control instructions at the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters.

Zhang urged the headquarters to promptly allocate rescue forces and relief materials to central China's Hunan Province, where a dike breach occurred on Friday afternoon.

Many areas of the country have experienced persistent heavy rains since the flood season began. Hunan, in particular, has seen its heaviest rainfall of the year, breaking historical records in some regions.

The breached dike is located in Dongting Lake, China's second-largest freshwater lake, which serves as a natural reservoir along the Yangtze River.

The headquarters must fully support local rescue efforts to prevent the breach from worsening and ensure timely repairs, Zhang said.

He also urged local governments in other flood-stricken areas to relocate affected residents immediately to prevent casualties.

Due to prolonged water erosion, relevant departments must intensify dike patrols and reinforcements to eliminate risks, Zhang said. He also called for the scientific and precise management over use of water conservancy facilities to help control floods. 
Australias largest media companies have started the new financial year on a sour note, with job losses and internal restructures fuelled by a protracted downturn in the advertising market.

The ad dollars greasing the wheels of the major players  Nine Entertainment (owner of this masthead), Seven West Media and News Corp  have seemingly dried up. This drought, combined with Facebook owner Metas decision to pull the plug on its commercial arrangements  forged under the news media bargaining code  has sent the industry scrambling for savings.

From left: Nine CEO Mike Sneesby; Beverley McGarvey, Paramount Executive Vice President; Greg Hywood, Free TV Australia chair; and former Seven West Media CEO James Warburton during a hearing in Canberra in February. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

With Seven and Nine joining News Corp in downsizing their workforces by 150 and 200 employees respectively, more jobs could be on the line unless things pick up in a hurry.

While there are hopes that the latest tax cuts and the Paris Olympics could stimulate demand, there is a bigger structural shift under way, which arguably puts traditional media companies at a disadvantage. Even if the downturn is arrested, theres no guarantee the dollars will return.
Fitz: You make it sound like the best thing ever. MC: It is. You have these incredible, intense relationships with the people that youre working with to create these shows, and then thats amplified when you get to share it with an audience! Fitz: I know that on your way to hitting the big time, you actually did do work experience with Harry M. Miller, and then worked with him for several years. What did you learn? Cassel with Alan Jones and Harry M. Miller in 1997, when Cassel was on year 11 work experience. MC: Yes, in years 11 and 12, Id get the train up from Kiama every day of the holidays, and it went from there. The big thing, from the first day with Harry M. was focus on the detail. Your job as a producer is to focus on every last detail. Leave nothing to chance. And he used to let me sit in his office and listen while he was doing negotiations on the speakerphone. And he used to have these signs all around the office, saying Good, fast, cheap. Every decision, had to have at least two of those: good and fast, or good and cheap, or fast and cheap!

Fitz: I knew Harry M. pretty well back then myself, in that stylish terrace in East Sydney. You would have had a lot of interesting people coming through the doors. MC: Yes, it was a cavalcade of Australias biggest names. Lindy Chamberlain, Deborah Hutton, Maggie Tabberer, Stuart Diver, Alan Jones and Kieren Perkins, to name a few. Harry was very big on building strong relationships with his clients, and they all knew he would fight for them and be in their corner to the end. He was fiercely loyal to them, and they returned it in kind. And he was always operating at the very top of the field, and the very best brands in turn wanted to be a part of that kind of stable of talent. Fitz: That was very kind of Harry to look after you like that, to teach you everything. MC: Yes, but he made me cry too. He was tough. But Im glad he was because that made me grow up really quickly, and get my skates on and get going. He didnt miss a trick. But in the end, Harry wasnt doing as much theatre as he was more into managing celebrities and I really wanted to be a producer. So, I went to work for Disney, first in Australia with my mentor and friend James Thane, then in New York with Thomas Schumacher and Ron Kollen, which is where I really learnt how you could work at producing great theatre in one city, and then actually take these shows all around the world, which is our business today. Cassel with mentor James Thane, who has praised the producers ability to multitask.

Fitz: And the day must have come when you and your wife Camille hocked everything, put it all on the line, and went out on your own to put on your own big production? MC: Yes. That was Les Miserables, about 10 years ago to the day, which opened in Her Majestys Theatre. We had moved back from New York and in 2012, set up the company, and risked everything. And it worked! Fitz: And youve gone hard ever since. Your biggest breakthrough though must have been Hamilton, which youve just announced is coming back to Sydney in August. MC: Yes, Hamilton and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Those two are the crown jewels, but theres never been a bigger musical than Hamilton. Cameron Mackintosh, whose advice youd be foolish not to trust, sent me a text saying hed just been to the opening night and was raving. And so I flew over to see it, and just sat there absolutely transfixed by what I was seeing. And so when I met with Jeffrey Seller, the Broadway producer, I said This has to come to Australia and when it does, I really want to be a part of it. Fitz: Not knowing that COVID was just around the corner 

MC: Yes, that first delayed it, and then even when we got it going, and everyone loved it, the second round of COVID stopped it again, and we had to refund 180,000 people who had purchased their tickets. And so I was adamant from that point in time to get it back to Sydney, because there was such untapped demand the first time around. Cassel with children Eveleigh and Vaughn, and wife Camille at the opening of Hamilton in Sydney in 2021. Cassel will never fully switch off, even on family holidays, Camille says. He is always on. Credit: Getty Images Fitz: I know. Ive already seen it seven times, and I cant wait to see it for the eighth time. MC: [Laughing.] I know, Peter. And Ive already sent you the contract to play King George a couple of times. Think about it. Youd be great! Fitz: Be careful what you wish for, Michael. Meantime, the other one youve got coming is Dear Evan Hansen. I saw that in New York eight years ago when it had just premiered, and was stunned at how good it was, particularly given the sober subject of a lad taking his life.

MC: Yes, I felt the same. I really fell in love with the story and the score and the way the whole contemporary narrative comes together. Fitz: So whens that opening? MC: It opens in October with the Sydney Theatre Company. Weve just announced the majority of our cast. Weve got one more role to announce, and thats Evan himself. Were just putting the finishing touches on that. Then well go into rehearsals in September, and open in Sydney in October, before going around the country from December. Fitz: I do hope that, on principle, you invite Ray Martin to every premiere youve got going? MC: [Laughing.] Id love to have him come along. But Ive never actually met him, and would love to. I dont think hes ever actually come to an opening.

Fitz: I am amazed. OK, well, can I bring him to the next premiere as my date? MC: That would be awesome. I would really love that. And therell be plenty of opportunities. Were about to have our busiest nine months ever in terms of the number of shows that were opening and running, particularly in Australia. First theres Hamilton, then Dear Evan Hansen, and then Titanique, which is an off-Broadway musical parody that brings together the movie Titanic with the music of Celine Dion. Its been wowing audiences, and I saw the show last year and just thought it was hilarious. And weve got MJ, [the Michael Jackson musical] opening in February. The production is just spectacular. Sarah Snook in the production of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Credit: Marc Brenner Fitz: And youve also been working with the wonderful Sarah Snook? MC: Like everybody else, I fell in love with her watching Succession. And we just wrapped up our 14- week season featuring her in The Picture of Dorian Gray, where we literally sold out every single ticket. Were just putting the finishing touches to try and get it to Broadway, which is my goal for the top of next year if we can get everything to align.

Fitz: You can call this a tough question if you like, but is Sarah as wonderful as she appears? Loading MC: Beyond. Fabulous and charming and talented. There were eight weeks of rehearsals, and her performance just kept evolving. She just kept finding more depth in the storytelling. And what she found, she gave to the audience night after night. Fitz: Do you sometimes pinch yourself at how far youve come from the kid from Minnamurra, putting on concerts for the neighbours, to having offices in Sydney, Melbourne, New York, and Singapore, taking productions to the West End and Broadway, and selling out shows all over the globe? MC: Yes, I just think I am the luckiest person. How cool is it to be able to do this!

Fitz: Youre doing it 10 times bigger than Harry M., but I must say you lack one thing that Harry M. had in spades. He was the greatest self-marketer in the world whereas, while you are well known and respected in the industry, I put it to you, youre not the famous public figure he was. MC: Which is great. Because, thankfully, I discovered there was a job where I could hide behind the scenes. The production itself is what obviously brings people in, and I just love playing a role in that. If I can keep doing that and keep standing in the back of the theatre and watching audiences have the best time, then I will feel like Ive done a really good job. Fitz: Can I put in a completely gratuitous plug for somebody I think should be a bigger star than she is? MC: Go on. Fitz: That young woman who played Tina in the Tina Turner musical  which was not one of your productions  I dont know her name, but Jesus wept, she was just fantastic.

MC: Ruva Ngwenya. Yeah, shes dynamite. And she is an absolute superstar. I first met her when she was in our production for the Carole King musical, Beautiful, back in 2017. She was in our ensemble and she just had that superstar quality where you just knew her time would come. She found it in Tina. Loading Fitz: Meantime, youve also taken on the representation role of a one-time political superstar in Julia Gillard. MC: Oh, shes great. Shes so busy, my job is to just try and keep up with her. Fitz: What about, Michael  work with me on this one  wait for it  Julia the Musical?

MC: [Laughing]. I keep threatening [to commission that], but she refuses. And when we talk about it, thats when the line goes silent. Fitz: But shes silent at the best of times! Whats going on? Every other former prime minister is on the tube one way or another all the time, but she just left the stage gracefully, never to be seen again? MC: I think thats what is so amazing about Julia. Her focus as soon as she left parliament was to keep working. She knew she had more to contribute when it came to things like female education, and shes thrown herself into that with brutal energy and achieved tremendous results. So, trust me, the musical may be still a little way away! Fitz: OK. Last question. If Harry M.s thing was good, fast, cheap, what are the three words you have built the Michael Cassel empire on? MC: Very good question. Let me think. OK  relationships, quality and mischief. OK? And I love the fact that in the right production they all come together.
The retail strip withered and became a go-to heroin destination and then became smart again. It was in Brunswick Street that my house was burgled. I was robbed of a guitar, a heavy black Les Paul Custom with which I had first demanded attention. It was in Smith Street, 50 years later, that I met the man who robbed me. I am used to being hailed by strangers. Their approach varies with context. Yesterday I met a woman on the tram in the city with a PhD in biochemistry who had arrived here at the age of 12 from South Africa. That may seem like a lot of information to glean from mere minutes on a tram ride but in conversation I tend to push past the pleasantries to the more bald questions  past How are you? to Who are you? What do you know? On Smith Street, the more crazed jump on and off the tram to move a block or two down the street without bothering to pay. These people have, on occasion, bellowed a greeting from the far end of the tram. They recognise me. I respond with distant courtesy hoping to convey that I am neither foe nor friend.

Loading A personal favourite: My intimate companion and I pulled up and parked in the street with a wound-down window. A hovering gentleman enquired, Gday Red. Got any change? My simple and direct response was, No. Argh Red, you tight c---, he replied. We all laughed together at this brisk clarity of communication.

Folklore has it that Bob Dylan wandered the length of Smith Street years ago and, as a ragged and eccentric old man, went largely unnoticed. He was unexceptional. Recently, on an early afternoon, I was greeted by an older man, neither shabby nor showy, shirt and pants without the conventional heraldry of an emblazoned T-shirt. He was probably loosened by liquids and keen to tell me about himself. I listened courteously as minor tales dissipated into unresolved cul-de-sacs of thought. Perhaps he sensed my waning attention and so proceeded to tell me the big one. I burgled your house in the late 70s. Now he had my attention because this had indeed happened.

Yes ... I said with an upward cadence, indicating please continue. We kicked down the back door. This was a fact remarked upon by the police who ironically observed that the deadlock had indeed worked because force was needed to rip it from its mounting. Go on ... We took a black Les Paul Gibson. At this point, his information was conceivably part of the public record. Anyone could make this boast. He continued. We also took a blond Stratocaster with no tremolo arm.

Bingo. This is an obscure variation of the Fender guitar. Even I have to look up the specification  hardtail. They were rare in Australia and I chose it because they stayed in tune. At that moment I concluded that he had indeed, 50 years ago, robbed me. The immediate and utterly pointless question is, Where is it now? I have no doubt he sold it to a stranger for a nominal, reduced price within days of acquiring it. Indeed, he didnt know where it went then and he doesnt know where it is now. He drank, smoked, snorted or injected the proceeds. I mused, fascinated by this intersection of minor history, and we stood quietly together. I have no particular moral compass. People do what they do according to the whims of their own continuance. For me, there was nothing to be done.

Loading What I said next deeply disturbed him. I forgive you. I remain struck to this day at his discomfort at this utterance. I dont know him. Im not his analyst. It is pointless for me to guess why my forgiveness unsettles him just as its pointless to deconstruct why he took my guitar in the first place.
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When a friend pops up on social media suddenly frolicking around Europe or sunning it in Bali, I rapidly cycle through the seven stages of grief as I scrape the ice off my cars frozen windscreen. This is usually followed by a Google search for flights to warm countries cheap as I try to overcome my jealousy.

The number of Australians heading overseas for a sunny sojourn is on the up. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1.6 million of us left the country in April, up 15.8 per cent on last year.

No, travellers cheques are not a thing any more. Credit: Michael Howard

We are back in a travel boom, with numbers outstripping pre-pandemic levels for the first time as we flock to popular destinations such as Japan, Italy, and Fiji. And after so many years with travel so heavily curtailed, why shouldnt we?
A 16-year-old boy has died after a car full of teenagers crashed in NSWs Hunter Region, with the vehicles 17-year-old learner driver allegedly returning a positive roadside breath test.

Four boys and one girl were found inside the wreckage of the white Ford Falcon on Lemon Tree Passage Road in the Port Stephens suburb of Salt Ash about 10.45pm on Friday. Police said the car left the roadway and impacted with a tree and that the occupants were all aged between 14 and 17.

The 16-year-old boy, who was one of the passengers, died on the way to hospital despite the best efforts of paramedics at the scene, Inspector Fatih Samsa told reporters outside Nelson Bay police station on Saturday.

The families have received some of the worst news they can possibly receive, he said.
They are speaking up now after a Special Commission of Inquiry into a staff member, Wayne Astill, who was convicted of raping 14 female inmates over five years, found a toxic culture of cover-up within the organisation and exposed myriad procedural failures (he is appealing against his convictions). Astill gave Corrective Services a wake-up call, said one female prison guard. Us girls are coming forward now; weve always been too scared to say anything. Former prison guard Wayne Astill pictured outside court in August 2022. Credit: AAP Corrective Services management knows about the problem. A professional standards summary that was accidentally leaked to the inquiry website, then retracted, details a litany of serious complaints about sexual harassment of staff since 2019. They include one case in which three female guards alleged an officer made multiple requests for sexual intercourse and repeatedly made references to their breasts. In another, a senior officer lay on top of a woman during a training exercise, made a thrusting motion with his hips, and said, do you like this position?

Another incident involved a male officer exposing himself to a female officer, then putting her hand on his penis while they were driving as escorts. He then turned up drunk at her house and attempted to elicit sexual favours from her adult daughter, the summary said. The summary also told of a male officer asking a female colleague what she was wearing under her shirt, and whether she was loud during sex. In a 2022 case, corrections officer Glenn Anthony Ash was convicted in Bathurst Local Court of 11 offences against colleagues at a Central West prison, including sexually touching without consent, carrying out a sexual act on another without consent, and assault with an act of indecency. The incidents included asking colleagues to touch his penis, rubbing their backs and necks despite being told to stop, and masturbating in one complainants office. He also asked a complainant to rearrange him while unzipping his pants. The Ash case prompted an independent review of the centre at which he worked, which led to misconduct proceedings against three more staff members. The results of the review have not been made public.

In one of its submissions to the Astill inquiry, Corrective Services said it was considering a review into the handling of sexual misconduct in 14 jails and workplaces across the state, based on an analysis of data of centres with reported issues of sexual harassment or assault. These leaked complaints led to action, such as warnings or dismissals. However, the women who spoke to the Herald said in most cases the victims do not come forward, either because they feared retribution from the boys club or because if they did, no action was taken. The male officers protected each other. Many sexual harassment victims do not come forward because they feared retribution from the boys club. Credit: Han Hodgkinson One woman, who worked in administration, had a boss whod ask her to pick up dropped pens in his office then peer down her top and touch her backside. She went on to do office work for another man who would ask her to his place because his wife was away, or ring her to ask her what underwear she was wearing. Shed laugh it off but was fearful of him, and would try to ensure they only interacted near a surveillance camera.

That went on for years, she said. When she supported another womans sexual harassment report, she had phone calls from senior officers threatening retribution. In a case thats the subject of a SafeWork investigation into the alleged exposure of workers to psychological hazards due to sexual harassment in the workplace, one young administration assistants womans complaint was never investigated because the alleged perpetrator was on holidays at the time it was raised. I know if I report anything it backfires on me, said a different woman, who has had multiple experiences of serious harassment over her career. Were surrounded by toxicity. Colleagues are often more toxic than inmates. You have a false sense of security, you think if someone is wearing blue they have a strong sense of morals. But they dont. SafeWork issued five improvement notices late last year and one in March, warning that Corrective Services was contravening a provision of the Work Health And Safety Act 2001 due to its inadequate handling of sexual harassment. The notices say workers are exposed to risks due to the lack of information and training on harassment; the lack of measures to manage harassment reports; the inadequate management of complaints, the failure to acknowledge that harassment can occur outside the workplace, and the failure to help frontline workers deal with reports.

Loading Workers are exposed to a risk to their health and safety from sexual assault/harassment in the workplace due to the PCBU [person conducting business] not adequately managing reports of alleged incidents of sexual harassment (including sexual assault) received by the Professional Standards Investigation Unit as a work health and safety hazard, said one of the improvement notices, issued on October 16. Another notice issued the same day said the CSNSW system did not adequately identify the characteristics of sexual harassment. The PCBU [person conducting business] failed to recognise that sexual harassment can occur when workers are not at the workplace from risks that arise in the workplace, it said. The NSW Greens Justice spokeswoman, Sue Higginson, said the state owed a duty of care to both employees and inmates in its prison system. A toxic and hierarchical culture has enabled inmates and female corrections officers to be harassed, intimidated and psychologically, physically and sexually abused, she said. The chilling reality is unless you are a governor or one of their mates, when you walk in the doors of a prison in NSW, you are treated as part of an underworld where your basic human rights can be abused and denied.
A heroic neighbour rushed in to attempt to save the children before police and firefighters arrived. But the 28-year-old father allegedly fought them off as well while screaming leave me here to die, witnesses said. Police and forensics attend the scene after three children died in a house fire on Freeman Street in Lalor Park. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos I can confirm during police attempts to get into the property, those efforts were frustrated by a male inside, acting Superintendent Jason Pietruszka said. Instead, the man allegedly attempted to drag the children back into the burning home, police and sources close to the family allege.

The man was detained at the scene and rushed to hospital with burns and smoke inhalation. He is under arrest and remains in an induced coma. Firefighters found the body of the 10-month-old girl only after extinguishing the blaze. The body was removed on Sunday afternoon as forensic investigators picked through the wreckage. A silver people-mover van sat in the driveway behind police tape at the home. Credit: TNV It does appear that the 28-year-old man is responsible for multiple deaths of young lives that have been tragically taken away, homicide squad commander Danny Doherty said.

The mother was taken to hospital, along with her children. No members of the family can be identified for legal reasons. This is horrifying and senseless, said NSW Premier Chris Minns. These children deserved love and protection and a caring home. Our love and thoughts are with the surviving family members. NSW will support them for as long as necessary, as they seek to recover from this unfathomable event. Our thoughts are also with the emergency service workers who fought to save lives last night, and who will also be recovering in their own way after a horrible night. The mothers online profiles are filled with adoring photographs of the children; Love our babies next to a sparkling heart, happy birthday our boy with a boy opening a gift, family bond like no other and a collage of smiling faces. The scene at Lalor Park early on Sunday morning. Credit: TNV

Its completely and utterly devastating for people that know the family, that go to school with the other children that live within there, Pietruszka said. Its a close-knit community. They know each other, they see each other regularly. This will have a long-lasting impact. He seemed down: friend A neighbour said that he had spent time with the alleged killer late last week and noticed he seemed emotional and angry. Three of the child victims of what police are investigating as a possible domestic homicide.

He seemed down, not his usual happy self, the man said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The couple at the centre of the tragedy had been fighting, he added, but it was beyond shocking to think it would end with three dead. The friend, in tears, said he had known the mother his entire life and was close with the neighbour who rushed in to confront the alleged killer. Hes a hero, he deserves a bloody medal, the friend said. Police confirmed the accused father has no notable criminal history, no apprehended violence orders and no ongoing court matters.

But, police sources said, officers had visited the home for a welfare check last week. The family had instructed police they were fine and did not need any assistance. I would have bolted across One neighbour said he raced outside after his elderly father saw the home engulfed in flames. Im assuming it wasnt in the roof because it was just coming out the front window, a neighbour said recalling the blaze.

He didnt realise there were children trapped inside. Fire and police investigators at the brick home on Freeman Street, Lalor Park. Credit: TNV Im just a bit shocked now that I ... I just found out about the kids, you know? he said. I wouldnt have stood around like an idiot; I would have bolted across there. A complete shock Others at the scene recalled the man walking his children to school.

Its a shock, a complete shock, particularly for anyone with kids, one resident said. Both windows of the home looking out over the street, and the front door, were blown open revealing an interior completely gutted and blackened by fire. A silver people-mover van, the type favoured by large families, sat in the driveway behind police tape. Police expect to charge the father once he wakes from his coma. If you or someone you know is affected by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732. Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.
A fire ripped through multiple Brisbane homes on Saturday afternoon, and several people were treated at the scene for burns, as firefighters battled to protect other properties.

Multiple firefighter crews were called to the scene on Evelyn Street in Grange, with the Queensland Fire Department issuing a smoke alert for residents in the area.

Multiple Queensland Fire and Rescue crews are on scene at a fire that is affecting several properties on Evelyn St, Grange. Credit: Queensland Fire Department

The blaze ripped through and destroyed one of the homes about 2pm, before engulfing three more neighbouring properties.

Firefighters had the blaze under control just before 5pm, with three homes destroyed and a fourth with extensive damage.
Enrolment numbers at all-girls state schools continue to decline, leading to a renewed push for a public school in Melbourne to admit boys for the first time in its 68-year history.

Total enrolments at Melbournes five all-girls, non-selective government secondary schools fell 13.6 per cent in the five years from 2018 to 2023, MySchool data shows, as student numbers at other state schools continued to grow.

The Craig family are dismayed by the public school opportunities in their area. Credit: Jason South

Dwindling enrolment numbers were most pronounced at Pascoe Vale Girls College, where numbers fell more than 23 per cent over that period, from 1070 in 2018 to 828 in 2023.

Local community group RISE North has been trying for several years to pressure the state government to investigate converting the school to co-ed as part of an education plan to tackle waning secondary school enrolments in the citys north-west.
A spokesperson said the university would not comment on individual matters, in line with its confidentiality requirements and commitment to procedural fairness under university policy. Loading The universitys use of technology to identify protesters has drawn criticism from legal professionals and human rights activists. In 2016, the university responded to privacy concerns by claiming its new tracking technology  which it said was introduced to improve retention rates  could not be used to identify individual students. At the time, academics raised the concern of function creep, warning the stated purpose for collecting data could change over time. The University says on its website that it is governed by the Victorian Privacy and Data Protection Act. It says its policy for collecting biometric data from staff and students is voluntary and based on your consent.

Lawyer Lizzie OShea of campaign group Digital Rights Watch questioned whether the university was complying with privacy legislation. It had said in 2016 it was compliant because students could not be identified. If I was talking to Melbourne University, Id be asking  is it de-identified, or isnt it? she said. The next question is: was it collected by consent? Students rally outside the universitys Arts West building in May. Credit: Joe Armao OShea said the use of facial recognition technology in recent years by some businesses had sparked a public outcry. I think this is a similar scenario. When you go to university, youre not necessarily expecting that a Wi-Fi login and even facial images from CCTV will be used for something like [this], she said.

OShea said it was important from a human rights approach to consider whether the use of private data had been necessary and justified. Youd have to assess how disruptive these protests were, she said. Second-year science and classical Latin student Zara Chauvin-Cunningham also faces a misconduct hearing this week for joining the sit-in. The UniMelb for Palestine camp on the South Lawn in May. Credit: Penny Stephens Chauvin-Cunningham, who is Jewish, said the protesters had welcomed her participation.

We had Shabbat at the camp. We had Jewish speakers in multiple times. There has been nothing on campus even vaguely resembling what I would consider radical, she said. Chauvin-Cunningham said she had protested knowing there could be consequences, but the misconduct notice still came as a shock. We had peacefully left the buildings and cleaned it and left it in perfect condition and complied with everything the university asked in that agreement, she said. I took that to be we would not be penalised. Students pack up their camp inside the Arts West building after the university agreed to disclose its ties to weapons manufacturers. Credit: Penny Stephens On October 7 last year, Hamas fighters crossed the border into Israel, killed 1200 people and taking more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli officials. Gazan health authorities report more than 37,000 people have died during the subsequent invasion of the territory by Israel.

UniMelb for Palestine established an encampment on the university lawns in April, and in May, protesters marched across the campus. A group of students separate from UniMelb for Palestine staged a sit-in at the Arts West building. About 50 students ignored the universitys request to leave  delivered over megaphone by then acting provost Pip Nicholson. Loading On May 16, students sleeping in the hall woke to a message over the loudspeaker warning them to leave or risk disciplinary action. Classes in the Arts West building were cancelled and notices were posted across the campus advising students that their protest was unauthorised.

At the time, deputy vice-chancellor Michael Wesley called the protesters intimidating and warned via a video statement that the continued occupation of the Arts West building could result in the police being called in. The university issued a statement saying the protest was an unacceptable safety and security risk and that it was deeply concerned about damage to university property. On May 22, student Dana Alshaer led discussions that resulted in the university agreeing to transparency regarding its research funding deals with weapons manufacturers and foreign militaries in exchange for an end to the sit-in. Student protesters in the Arts West building. Credit: Joe Armao Provost Nicola Phillips said freedom of speech is foundational to the University of Melbournes values and policies.

We have consistently stated that we recognise the right of students and staff to participate in peaceful protest, she said. Barrister Julian Burnside is a committee member of Liberty Victoria, which pointed to the privacy implications of the University of Melbournes use of tracking technology in 2018. Burnside said students standing up for the women and children of Gaza was a legitimate reason for protest. If their location has been assessed by watching where the phone is, I think its an outrageous breach of privacy, he said. Zara Chauvin-Cunningham and Dana Alshaer speak to the media during the protest. Credit: Joe Armao
Archaeologists arrive at an archaelogical site at the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China, July 2, 2024.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

Workers walk on the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China, July 2, 2024.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

Workers cover the newly laid bricks with woven bags to shelter from the rain at the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China, July 2, 2024.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

Workers transport an excavated stone at an archaelogical site at the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China, July 2, 2024.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

An aerial drone photo taken on April 30, 2024 shows workers working at an archaelogical site of a watch tower of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 1, 2024 shows the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 1, 2024 shows a watch tower of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

A repairer works at the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China, July 1, 2024.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

Repairers work at the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China, July 2, 2024.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

A repairer works at the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China, July 2, 2024.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)

An aerial drone photo taken on April 30, 2024 shows a worker doing archaelogical work on a watch tower of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing, capital of China.

Forty years ago, a campaign to protect the Great Wall with the help of social funds was launched in Beijing. Today, social forces still play a crucial role in the Great Wall protection and restoration.

An ongoing restoration project of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall adopts a "simultaneous archaeology and restoration" approach, where archaeological work is completed on a section before restoration begins.

The restoration project, with the participation of research institutions, universities and social organizations engaged in non-profit activities, is scheduled to be completed in 2026. (Xinhua/Chen Zhonghao)
First they ignore you, then they call you a culture warrior, and then you win. The argument, that is. The big picture is that Australia will lose if Fatima Paymans brand of identity politics triumphs. Pundits who have warned of the dangers of identity politics may feel vindicated. Vindication is a sorry consolation prize.

In 2018, political scientist Francis Fukuyama predicted that identity politics would shatter liberal democracy. In fact, he argued that it was already doing so. Australia has always liked to show up fashionably late to global trends, but in 2024, Senator Fatima Payman has got us caught up quickly.

Her timing is devastating. She has derailed the Labor Partys key election messages (some tax thingies happened this week and some kind of policy on local manufacturing was announced, FYI). And she chose a week that will inevitably put her politics in the context of a grand political moment in time.

The European parliamentary elections have demonstrated that anxiety over the failure to integrate immigrants is now pushing many voters to the right. In Frances national election (the second round of voting takes place on Sunday), Jordan Bardella, Marine Le Pens hard-right candidate, looks set to become Frances youngest prime minister, reinforcing that the French are scared they are losing their pluralist secular culture to assertive new groups.
Melbournes newly crowned Lord Mayor Nick Reece has promised to insist on green space and community facilities in the citys growth suburbs to avoid repeating the costly mistakes of Docklands and Southbank.

That pledge and a vow to make the city cleaner, safer and greener are part of his campaign  to be announced on Sunday  to retain the top job at the October council elections.

Candidate for Melbournes lord mayor, Nick Reece, wants growth suburbs to be like Barcelona or Copenhagen, not Docklands. Credit: JOE ARMAO

Reece, once a senior advisor to former prime minister Julia Gillard, was sworn in as Melbournes 105th lord mayor on Tuesday, following the resignation of Sally Capp. Until now, hed declined to reveal whether he would run.

Confirming his candidacy to The Sunday Age, Reece said he would insist in discussions with the state government that community services, parks and green space be done right from the start in the growth areas of Fishermans Bend in Port Melbourne and at Arden and Macaulay in North Melbourne and Kensington.
The Grafton Cup carnival kicks off on Sunday with the first of five meetings over 15 days looking like a classy day of racing.

Lead up events to the Grafton Cup, Ramornie Handicap and Grafton Guineas will all be contested, and Clarence River Jockey Club chief executive Michael Beattie is expecting a great day.

Ashley Morgan will combine with trainer Brett Cavanough for four rides at Grafton on Sunday. Credit: Getty

We have a horse like Fender lining up in the Clocktower Hotel John Carlton Cup Quality (1195m) and hes been placed in two Ramornie Handicaps and also been placed in The Kosciuszko, Beattie said. For a horse of his quality to be lining up on day one of our carnival, it just shows how strong the carnival is shaping to be.

The Herb Blanchard Haulage Grafton Cup Quality Prelude has drawn together a solid line up with a number of classy horses, while the Hodder Cleaning Services Grafton Guineas Prelude 3YO Benchmark 66 Handicap (1425m) also has drawn together a good field.
Manila: The Philippine Coast Guard said on Saturday that Chinas largest coastguard vessel has anchored in Manilas exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, and is meant to intimidate its smaller Asian neighbour.

The China coastguards 165-metre monster ship entered Manilas 200-nautical mile EEZ on July 2, spokesperson for the PCG Jay Tarriela told a news forum.

The Chinese Coast Guard monster ship. Credit: PCG

The PCG warned the Chinese vessel it was in the Philippines EEZ and asked about their intentions, he said.

Its an intimidation on the part of the China Coast Guard, Tarriela said.
Viganos dire pronunciations about the current state of the church, amplified on Catholic social media and by ideologically friendly bloggers on both sides of the Atlantic, were an exaggerated version of the chasm between US ultra-conservatives and Francis. And while Vigano enjoyed mainstream support among bishops early in his career, many quietly distanced themselves as his ideas became more extreme. Loading The Italian prelate, who has not been seen publicly since 2018, knew the schism declaration was coming after the Vatican informed him of the penal process launched against him last month. He defiantly called it an honour, and refused to appear in person or defend himself or submit a written defence. On June 20, Vigano issued a lengthy public statement refusing to recognise the authority of the Vaticans doctrinal office that claims to judge me, nor of its prefect, nor of the one who appointed him. He did not directly respond to the schism declaration on Friday on X, his usual forum. Shortly before the Vatican decree was made public, he announced he would be celebrating a Mass on Friday for those who have been supporting him and asked for donations.

Vigano burst onto the public scene in 2012, during the first so-called Vatileaks scandal, when Pope Benedict XVIs butler leaked the pontiffs private papers to an Italian journalist to try to draw attention to corruption in the Holy See. In some of the leaked letters, Vigano, then the number two in the Vatican City State administration, begged the pope not to be transferred after exposing corruption in the awarding of Vatican contracts that cost the Holy See millions of euros. The entreaties did not work. By the time the letters were published, Vigano was appointed the Vaticans ambassador to the US  a prestigious post but one that took him far from Rome and out of the running to one day be a cardinal. Vigano reappeared on the scene during Francis 2015 visit to the US, which as nuncio he helped organise. Everything was going fine until Vigano arranged for Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk at the centre of the US gay marriage debate, to be present at the Vatican residence to greet Francis, along with many other people. After the visit, Davis and her lawyers claimed the encounter with Francis amounted to an affirmation of her cause denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Vatican later turned the tables on Davis claim, saying she had merely been among a group of well-wishers but that the only private audience Francis had in Washington was with a small group of people that included a gay couple.

Loading But Viganos deception in inviting Davis to meet the pope put the prelate and the pontiff on a collision course that exploded in August 2018. At the time, the US church was reeling from a new chapter in its clergy sex abuse scandal: One of the most senior US churchmen, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, was accused of molesting a minor and a Pennsylvania grand jury issued a devastating investigation into decades of abuse and cover-up. As Francis was wrapping up a tense visit to Ireland, Vigano published an 11-page screed accusing him and a long string of US and Vatican officials of covering for McCarrick. Specifically, Vigano accused Francis of rehabilitating McCarrick from sanctions imposed by Pope Benedict, and called on him to resign  accusations that created the greatest crisis of Francis then-young pontificate. Francis quickly authorised an in-house investigation into McCarrick. The report, released in 2020, confirmed that a generation of church officials, including Pope John Paul II, had turned a blind eye to McCarricks misconduct. It largely spared Francis, who eventually defrocked the churchman.

But the report also faulted Vigano for not looking into new claims against McCarrick or enforcing Vatican restrictions on him when specifically ordered to do so by the Vatican. At that point, Viganos claims against Francis became more unhinged, endorsing conspiracy theories about the coronavirus vaccines, appearing at far-right US political rallies via video, backing Russia in its war on Ukraine, and eventually, refusing to recognise Francis as pope. Massimo Faggioli, a theologian at Villanova University, said while a good number of US bishops vouched for Viganos integrity when he first made his claims about McCarrick in 2018, his declarations in the ensuing years led some of them to more prudent positions. In an essay in the French daily La Croix, Faggioli noted that Vigano had also had a seeming unintended effect of mainstreaming another schismatic group, the Society of St Pius X, which also rejects the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that mo the church. However, the society known as SSPX distanced itself from Vigano and his rejection of the legitimacy of Francis pontificate, saying they have not ventured down that perilous road.
Reformist faces ultraconservative as Iran votes for president



Tehran, July 5 (AFP) Jul 05, 2024



Iranians voted Friday in a presidential election runoff between a reformist advocating improved ties with the West and an ultraconservative former nuclear negotiator.

The election, called early after the death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, followed a first round marked by a historically low turnout last week.

The runoff between reformist Masoud Pezeshkian and ultraconservative Saeed Jalili came amid heightened regional tensions over the Gaza war, Iran's nuclear standoff with the West and widespread economic discontent exacerbated by Western sanctions.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters in Iran, cast his ballot when polls opened.

"I heard that the enthusiasm and interest of the people is more than before, praise to God that it will be like this, and if it is like this, it will be gratifying," he said.

Polling stations closed at midnight (2030 GMT) after voting was extended by a total of six hours.

State television earlier showed voters queueing in Saveh in central Iran and Kerman in the south, but AFP correspondents said polling stations appeared less busy in Tehran.

In last week's first round, Pezeshkian, who was the only reformist permitted to stand, won the largest number of votes, around 42 percent, while Jalili came second with 39 percent, according to figures from Iran's elections authority.

Only 40 percent of Iran's 61 million eligible voters took part -- the lowest turnout in any presidential election since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.



- Low turnout -



Khamenei had called for a higher turnout in the runoff, emphasising the importance of the election.

He said the first round turnout was lower than expected, but added that it was not an act "against the system".

The election was originally scheduled for 2025 but was brought forward by Raisi's death in a helicopter crash in May.

Pezeshkian and Jalili took part in two televised debates during which they discussed the low turnout, as well as Iran's economic woes, international relations and internet restrictions.

Pezeshkian vowed to "fully" oppose police patrols enforcing the mandatory headscarf for women, a high-profile issue since the death in police custody in 2022 of Mahsa Amini.

The 22-year-old Iranian Kurd had been detained for an alleged breach of the dress code and her death sparked months of nationwide unrest.

Following the unrest, women increasingly flouted the code but police have again stepped up checks in recent months.

At a Tehran polling station, 48-year-old Fatemeh said she voted for the reformist whose "priorities include women and young people's rights".

The candidacy of Pezeshkian, a relative unknown until recently, has raised the hopes of Iran's reformists after years of dominance by the conservative and ultraconservative camps.

Jalili, noted for his uncompromising anti-Western position, mobilised a substantial base of hardline support and received backing from other ultraconservative candidates.

While campaigning, the 58-year-old criticised moderates for having signed the 2015 deal which promised Iran sanctions relief in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.

Jalili said the accord, which the United States withdrew from in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump, "did not benefit Iran at all".



- 'Fed up' -



"I voted for Jalili because the next president should not repeat the previous mistake and sign a new agreement with the West," said Ali, a 38-year-old university professor, at a polling station in central Tehran.

"They deceived us once and that's enough. Their promises cannot be trusted," said Ali, who gave only his first name.

Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon, has called for "constructive relations" with Western countries to revive the nuclear deal in order to "get Iran out of its isolation".

Pezeshkian voted at a school west of Tehran where he was accompanied by former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who helped clinch the 2015 deal.

A member of parliament representing the northwestern city of Tabriz since 2008, he has earned the support of Iran's reformists, with former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani backing his candidacy.

Casting his ballot on Friday, Khatami urged Iranians to vote "for the future and good of the country".

Pezeshkian said people were "fed up with their living conditions... and dissatisfied with the government's management of affairs".

Jalili has held several senior positions, including in Khamenei's office in the early 2000s.

He is currently one of Khamenei's representatives in the Supreme National Security Council, Iran's highest security body.
Divided West Africa hosts two summits this weekend



Niamey, Niger, July 6 (AFP) Jul 06, 2024



A divided West Africa hosts two presidential summits this weekend -- one in Niger between Sahel region military regime leaders, followed by another in Nigeria on Sunday with leaders of a wider economic bloc.

Saturday's summit in Niger's capital Niamey, will mark the first between the military leaders of a new regional bloc, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger set up the mutual defence pact in September, leaving the wider Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc in January.

Their ECOWAS exit was fuelled in part by their accusation that Paris was manipulating the bloc, and not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts.

The exit came as the trio shifted away from former colonial ruler France, expelling anti-jihadist French troops, and turned towards what they call their "sincere partners" -- Russia, Turkey and Iran.

Given the deadly jihadist violence the three countries face, "the fight against terrorism" and the "consolidation of cooperation" will be on Saturday's agenda, according to the Burkinabe presidency.

Sunday's summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja then offers heads of ECOWAS states the opportunity to discuss relations with the AES.



- Saturday's summit -



After several bilateral meetings, the three Sahelian strongmen are gathering for the first time since coming to power through coups between 2020 and 2023.

In mid-May, the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger agreed in Niamey on a draft text creating the confederation, which the heads of states are expected to adopt at Saturday's summit.

Niger's General Abdourahamane Tiani welcomed his Burkinabe counterpart Ibrahim Traore in the capital on Friday, while Malian Colonel Assimi Goita will arrive on Saturday morning.

"Don't expect many announcements, this is primarily a political event," said Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi.

"The aim is to show that this is a serious project with three committed heads of state showing their solidarity."

In early March, AES announced joint anti-jihadist efforts, though they did not specify details.

Insurgents have carried out attacks for years in the vast "three borders" region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, despite the massive deployment of anti-jihadist forces.

The trio have made sovereignty a guiding principle of their governance and aim to create a common currency.



- 'Path of no return' -



Sunday's summit comes as several West African presidents have called in recent weeks for a solution to resume dialogue between the two camps.

Notably, Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in late May that reconciliation between ECOWAS and the three Sahel countries was possible.

In June, his newly re-elected Mauritanian counterpart, President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, called on West African countries to unite again against the expansion of jihadism.

But successive summits on the same weekend raises fears of a stiffening of positions between AES and ECOWAS.

"I do not see the AES countries seeking to return to ECOWAS. I think it's ECOWAS will have to tone it down (the situation)," Nigerien lawyer Djibril Abarchi told AFP.

While AES is currently an economic and defence cooperation body, its three member countries have repeatedly expressed their desire to go further.

At the end of June, Colonel Goita assured that cooperation within the AES had taken "a path of no return" during a visit to Ouagadougou, Burkina's capital.

The potential creation of a new common currency would also mean leaving behind the CFA franc they currently share with neighbouring countries.

"Leaving a currency zone is not easy," warned Yabi. "Any country can change its currency, but it takes a lot of time and requires a clear political choice as well as a technical and financial preparation process."

Issoufou Kado, a Nigerien financial expert and political analyst, agreed: "They have to be very careful, because the mechanism takes time."
Deadly strikes in Gaza as Israel commits to talks



Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories, July 6 (AFP) Jul 06, 2024



Israel carried out deadly airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday and engaged in combat with Hamas fighters, while to the north it exchanged fire with Hezbollah militants across the Lebanese border.

The fighting raged as diplomatic efforts to halt the war, which will enter its tenth month on Sunday, continued with Israel saying on Friday it would send a delegation next week to continue talks with Qatari mediators.

In a statement announcing the move, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman said "gaps" remained with Hamas on how to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

That came after a delegation led by the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, held a first round of talks with mediators in Doha.

"It was agreed that next week Israeli negotiators will travel to Doha to continue the talks. There are still gaps between the parties," the spokesman said.

There has been no truce since a one-week pause in November during which 80 Israeli hostages were freed in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

The war continued unabated on Saturday, with Israel's military saying it had conducted operations across much of the Gaza Strip, including Shujaiya in the north, Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Rafah in the south.

Shujaiya is among the areas the military had previously declared to be cleared of Hamas, but where fighting is again taking place.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said at least 87 people had been killed in the past 48 hours, and paramedics on Saturday reported 10 deaths in an air strike on a house in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The Hamas press office and paramedics said four journalists working for local media outlets were killed in strikes overnight, and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said two of its employees had been killed.

According to UNRWA, which coordinated much of the aid delivered to Gaza, 194 of its employees have been killed in the war.



- 'Ball in Israel's court' -



The United States, which has mediated talks alongside Qatar and Egypt, has talked up the prospects of a deal saying there is a "pretty significant opening" for both sides.

US President Joe Biden announced a pathway to a truce deal in May that he said had been proposed by Israel.

This included an initial six-week truce, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza population centres and the freeing of hostages by Palestinian militants.

Talks subsequently stalled, but a US official said on Thursday that a new proposal from Hamas "moves the process forward and may provide the basis for closing the deal".

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP that new ideas from the group had been "conveyed by the mediators to the American side, which welcomed them and passed them on to the Israeli side. Now the ball is in the Israeli court."

The war began with Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza including 42 the military says are dead.

In response, Israel has carried out a military offensive that has killed at least 38,098 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

The war has uprooted 90 percent of Gaza's population, destroyed much of its housing and other infrastructure, and left almost 500,000 people enduring "catastrophic" hunger, UN agencies say.

The main stumbling block to a truce deal has been Hamas's demand for a permanent end to the fighting, which Netanyahu and his far-right coalition partners strongly reject.

The veteran hawk demands the release of the hostages but also insists the war will not end until Israel has destroyed Hamas's ability to make war or govern.



- Sirens and air strikes -



Cross-border fire between Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement has occurred almost daily since the Gaza war began, but has escalated notably over the past month.

That has raised fears of a major conflagration between the staunch enemies which could draw in Iran and other powers.

On Saturday morning, sirens blared over northern Israel and the military said it had downed a "suspicious aerial target" and two "hostile aircraft" launched from Lebanon fell in open ground.

The military said earlier it had attacked "a number of Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon" overnight, all near the border.

US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have voiced hope that a ceasefire in Gaza could also lead to an easing of violence on the Israel-Lebanon border.

burs-dcp/srm
"The openness and innovation of the Chinese economy have provided an excellent opportunity for foreign-funded enterprises to introduce goods and services into China," said the CEO of the China branch of a Portuguese household cleaning brand.
Sahel region junta chiefs mark divorce from West African bloc



Niamey, Niger, July 6 (AFP) Jul 06, 2024



The military regimes of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso marked their divorce from the rest of West Africa Saturday, with Niger's ruling general saying the junta-led countries have "turned their backs on" the regional bloc.

The three country's leaders are taking part in the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), set up after pulling out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) earlier this year.

"Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS," Niger's ruling General Abdourahamane Tiani told his fellow Sahel strongmen at the gathering's opening in the Nigerien capital Niamey.

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger set up the mutual defence pact in September, leaving the wider Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc in January.

Their ECOWAS exit was fuelled in part by their accusation that Paris was manipulating the bloc, and not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts.

"The AES is the only effective sub-regional grouping in the fight against terrorism," Tiani declared on Saturday, calling ECOWAS "conspicuous by its lack of involvement in this fight".

The exit came as the trio shifted away from former colonial ruler France, with Tiani calling for the new bloc to become a "community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers".

All three have expelled anti-jihadist French troops and turned instead towards what they call their "sincere partners" -- Russia, Turkey and Iran.

Given the deadly jihadist violence the three countries face, "the fight against terrorism" and the "consolidation of cooperation" will be on Saturday's agenda, according to the Burkinabe presidency.

ECOWAS is due to hold a summit of its heads of state in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Sunday, where the issue of relations with the AES will be on the agenda.

- Saturday's summit -



After several bilateral meetings, the three Sahelian strongmen are gathering for the first time since coming to power through coups between 2020 and 2023.

In mid-May, the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger agreed in Niamey on a draft text creating the confederation, which the heads of states are expected to adopt at Saturday's summit.

Niger's General Abdourahamane Tiani first welcomed his Burkinabe counterpart Ibrahim Traore in the capital on Friday, followed by Malian Colonel Assimi Goita who arrived Saturday.

"Don't expect many announcements, this is primarily a political event," said Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi.

"The aim is to show that this is a serious project with three committed heads of state showing their solidarity."

In early March, AES announced joint anti-jihadist efforts, though they did not specify details.

Insurgents have carried out attacks for years in the vast "three borders" region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, despite the massive deployment of anti-jihadist forces.

The trio have made sovereignty a guiding principle of their governance and aim to create a common currency.



- 'Path of no return' -



Sunday's summit comes as several West African presidents have called in recent weeks for a solution to resume dialogue between the two camps.

Notably, Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in late May that reconciliation between ECOWAS and the three Sahel countries was possible.

In June, his newly re-elected Mauritanian counterpart, President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, called on West African countries to unite again against the expansion of jihadism.

But successive summits on the same weekend raises fears of a stiffening of positions between AES and ECOWAS.

"I do not see the AES countries seeking to return to ECOWAS. I think it's ECOWAS will have to tone it down (the situation)," Nigerien lawyer Djibril Abarchi told AFP.

While AES is currently an economic and defence cooperation body, its three member countries have repeatedly expressed their desire to go further.

At the end of June, Colonel Goita assured that cooperation within the AES had taken "a path of no return" during a visit to Ouagadougou, Burkina's capital.

The potential creation of a new common currency would also mean leaving behind the CFA franc they currently share with neighbouring countries.

"Leaving a currency zone is not easy," warned Yabi. "Any country can change its currency, but it takes a lot of time and requires a clear political choice as well as a technical and financial preparation process."

Issoufou Kado, a Nigerien financial expert and political analyst, agreed: "They have to be very careful, because the mechanism takes time."
German army to abandon Niger airbase



Berlin, July 6 (AFP) Jul 06, 2024



The German army will end operations at its airbase in Niger by August 31 following the breakdown of talks with the Sahel country's ruling junta, Germany's defence ministry said Saturday.

All Bundeswehr soldiers stationed at the base will be withdrawn by August 31 and German military cooperation with Niger will be put to an end, the ministry added.

The breakdown in negotiations marks Niger's latest diplomatic shift away from the West since a coup d'etat in July 2023 ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and brought the current military leadership to power.

Since then, Niger has turned towards Russia and Iran and away from the United States and former colonial ruler France.

A similar shift has taken place in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, which are likewise ruled by military leaders and faced with violence from jihadist groups.

At the end of May, Germany and Niger reached an interim agreement allowing the Bundeswehr to continue operating the air transport base in the capital Niamey until the end of August.

But negotiations to extend that agreement broke down, notably because the base's personnel would no longer benefit from immunity from prosecution.

Only 38 Bundeswehr soldiers were stationed at the base in recent times, along with 33 staff from German and foreign companies.

It was notably used for operations to evacuate German nationals in Africa.
Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger sign 'confederation' treaty



Niamey, Niger, July 6 (AFP) Jul 06, 2024



The military leaders ruling Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger entered a new "confederation" Saturday as they signed a treaty during their first summit in Niamey, after having severed ties with an existing West African bloc.

The heads of the three countries, who took power through coups in recent years, "decided to take a step further towards greater integration between the member states" and "adopted a treaty establishing a confederation", they said in a statement at the end of Saturday's summit.

The "Confederation of Sahel States", which will use the acronym AES, will group some 72 million people.

The three countries in January said they were quitting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), an organisation they accused of being manipulated by France, their former colonial ruler.

The three countries have all broken their military and defence links with France, seeking greater cooperation with Russia.

"Our people have irrevocably turned their back on ECOWAS," said General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of Niger's military government as he opened the summit.

Relations between ECOWAS deteriorated following a July 2023 coup that brought Tiani to power, when ECOWAS imposed sanctions and even threatened to intervene militarily to restore the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum.

The sanctions were lifted in February but relations between the two sides remain frosty.

ECOWAS is holding a leaders' summit Sunday in Abuja where the question of relations with AES will be on the agenda.

The AES countries in March created a joint military force to combat the jihadist groups that regularly attack their territory.

Saturday they also talked about "mutualising" their approach to strategic sectors such as agriculture, water, energy and transport.

They also asked that indigenous languages be given greater prominence in local media.

bh-pid/gv/imm
Deadly strikes in Gaza ahead of more truce talks



Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories, July 6 (AFP) Jul 06, 2024



Israel carried out deadly airstrikes in Gaza Saturday, including one on a UN-run school that killed 16 people according to the Hamas-run authorities, and as violence also gripped its northern border with Lebanon.

The fighting raged as diplomatic efforts to halt the war, which enters its tenth month on Sunday, continued with Israel saying Friday it would send a delegation next week to continue talks with Qatari mediators.

In a statement announcing the move, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman said "gaps" remained with Hamas on how to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

That came after a delegation led by Israel's Mossad intelligence agency chief David Barnea held a first round of talks with mediators in Doha.

"It was agreed that next week Israeli negotiators will travel to Doha to continue the talks. There are still gaps between the parties," the spokesman said.

There has been no truce since a one-week pause in November during which 80 Israeli hostages were freed in return for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

The war continued unabated, with Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry saying 16 people were killed in a strike on a school run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, that was sheltering displaced people in Nuseirat in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said its aircraft had targeted "terrorists" operating around the Al-Jawni school.

The military earlier said it had conducted operations across much of the Gaza Strip, including Shujaiya in the north, Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and Rafah in the south.

Shujaiya is among the areas the military had previously declared to be cleared of Hamas, but where fighting is again taking place.

Paramedics on Saturday reported 10 deaths in a separate air strike on a house in Nuseirat refugee camp.

The Hamas press office and paramedics said four journalists working for local media outlets were killed in strikes overnight, and UNRWA said two of its employees had been killed.

UNRWA, which coordinates much of the aid delivered to Gaza, says 194 of its employees have been killed in the war.



- 'Ball in Israel's court' -



The United States, which has mediated talks alongside Qatar and Egypt, has talked up the prospects of a deal saying there is a "pretty significant opening" for both sides.

US President Joe Biden announced a pathway to a truce deal in May that he said had been proposed by Israel.

This included an initial six-week truce, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza population centres and the freeing of hostages by Palestinian militants.

Talks subsequently stalled, but a US official said Thursday that a new proposal from Hamas "moves the process forward and may provide the basis for closing the deal".

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP that new ideas from the group had been "conveyed by the mediators to the American side, which welcomed them and passed them on to the Israeli side. Now the ball is in the Israeli court."

Pressure has mounted domestically for a hostage release deal, with regular protests and rallies in Israel.

"It's important that we reach a deal so that all the mothers can embrace their children and husbands, just as I hug my mother every morning now," rescued hostage Almog Mair Jan said in a recorded message to a rally in Tel Aviv Saturday.

The war began with Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza including 42 the military says are dead.

In response, Israel has carried out a military offensive that has killed at least 38,098 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

The war has uprooted 90 percent of Gaza's population, destroyed much of its housing and other infrastructure, and left almost 500,000 people enduring "catastrophic" hunger, UN agencies say.

The main stumbling block to a truce deal has been Hamas's demand for a permanent end to the fighting, which Netanyahu and his far-right coalition partners strongly reject.

The veteran hawk demands the release of the hostages and insists the war will not end until Israel has destroyed Hamas's ability to fight or govern.



- Sirens and air strikes -



Israel and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement have exchanged cross-border fire almost daily since the Gaza war began, but attacks have escalated over the past month.

This has raised fears of a major conflagration between the staunch enemies that could draw in others including Iran.

Early Saturday, sirens blared over northern Israel and the military said it had downed a "suspicious aerial target" and two "hostile aircraft" launched from Lebanon hit open ground.

The military said earlier it had attacked "a number of Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon" overnight, all near the border.

A source close to Hezbollah said an Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle in eastern Lebanon Saturday, killing an official from Hezbollah. Israel said he was part of the group's air defence unit.

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We said it to the Tories, and now we will say it to Labour: a government that sells arms to Israel is a government that is complicit in crimes against humanity. A change in government doesnt change the facts that the people of Gaza are still being murdered in their sleep. And it doesnt change the fact that there is only one path to a just and lasting peace: an end to the occupation of Palestine.
"We will be visible and engaging with those involved in the events and if you see anything of concern we would ask you to talk to officers in the area."
Rescuers strengthen a waterproof cover at an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

CHANGSHA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- About 2,000 rescuers are racing against time to strengthen an embankment after a dike breach at China's second-largest freshwater lake in central China's Hunan Province on Friday.

The embankment, which is viewed as the "second line of defense," is located about two kilometers away from the breached dike and is 14.3 kilometers long.

According to Chen Wenping, a local inspector, it is a difficult task because the embankment is not as strong as the dike, and has not been used to block water since 1996.

Xinhua reporters at the scene saw that rescue workers had cleared obstacles at the foot of the embankment, and Chen was instructing them on how to place sandbags.

The dike breach that occurred on Friday afternoon in the Dongting Lake was initially about 10 meters wide but expanded afterwards. The affected area near Tuanbei Village covers approximately 50 square km. This area experienced a dike breach in 1996.

Since noon on Saturday, the breach has resulted in more water inflow, which has posed a risk to the embankment. Experts warned that the embankment is crucial and must be strengthened in strict accordance with technical standards.

Meanwhile, rescuers are also trying to block the breach. As of 2:40 p.m. Saturday, water levels inside and outside the breach are flush and the water flow has slowed down. Zhang Xuanzhuang, with the China Anneng Group First Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd., noted that the work is expected to take four days.

As of 10 p.m. Friday, 5,000 residents in the affected area had been safely relocated. There were no immediate reports of trapped individuals or casualties.

Since June 16, Hunan has seen its heaviest rainfall of the year, breaking historical records in some regions. 

Rescuers clear obstacles at an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

A rescuer checks potential risks via a drone at an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo shows an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

An aerial drone photo shows rescuers clearing obstacles at an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo shows an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo shows volunteers inspecting an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

An aerial drone photo shows rescuers clearing obstacles at an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

Rescuers strengthen a waterproof cover at an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo shows volunteers inspecting an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

An aerial drone photo shows rescuers inspecting an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

Rescuers clear obstacles at an embankment in Huarong County, central China's Hunan Province, July 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)
The people Ive had the opportunity to interact with, from my peers in the program to the coordinators Ben and Gabriella, have helped me tremendously to take myself and my ideas seriously. I have found phenomenal mentors through the program, he said.

Antonio Brazelton always knew he had big ideas for starting his own business. He also knew he didnt have the framework in place to sharpen and shape those ideas in a way that would really explore his passion for plant science and feeding the world. Like many budding entrepreneurs, Cortex One helped make his dream come true.

The Cortex Square One program is a series of programs that helps early-stage entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life through learning and networking opportunities, resources, and mentorship. Last year, Square Ones programs produced 103 graduates, including 23 in its Square One Bootcamp. 65% of the graduates are women, and 70% are people of color.

Brazelton joined in 2022 because he felt he needed a formal setting with clear guidelines to help bring his ideas to life. He also believed he would benefit from being with a network of peers and people who were moving in the same direction.

The Square One Ignite program helped me to take the customer discovery interviews I had done during SLU-ICOR and funnel them into a tangible set of problems I could address, Brazelton said. It also helped me realize that I needed to completely pivot from my original idea to better serve the needs of my potential customers.

Brazelton owns HerbanAg Tech, a software company devoted to providing scalable digital resources to the farm-to-table movement. His company is prototyping an app to connect urban farmers and chefs here in the city.

Urban farmers benefit from the ability to grow niche varieties of produce at scale, he said. This makes them a great partner for chefs, artisans, and local grocers who want to provide premium, hyperlocal ingredients to their customers.

He wants to help empower new urban farmers growing niche products by making it as simple as possible to connect to new markets.

The heart of Square Ones mission is empowering those from underserved communities who may have traditionally been shut out of the entrepreneurial ecosystem so that St. Louisans, regardless of their backgrounds, may contribute to creating a vibrant, inclusive ecosystem.

The program focuses on IT, bio-science, advanced manufacturing, consumer manufacturing, and food. Cortex Square One provides entrepreneurs with the tools they need to successfully launch their businesses, said Ben Molina, Entrepreneur Manager of the program.

We give them idea validation, teaching them target market discovery, and connecting them with the local ecosystem, Molina said when describing Square One Ignite. Square One Ignite is stage one of the program and is a four-week session available twice a year.

Square One Bootcamp is stage two, and its a 10-week program designed for entrepreneurs to learn the fundamentals of running a business, connecting with mentors and other experts. Entrepreneurs are trained in budgeting, building a pitch, and marketing. They also learn details about product design and personal credit. Partnerships with the St. Louis Empowerment Center, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce St. Louis, Afghan Chamber of Commerce St. Louis, and African Chamber of Commerce St. Louis help keep the program connected with the community.

We realize Cortex has a responsibility, we try to make sure we are collaborating across the region with people doing similar work, said Vice President of Entrepreneurship Gabriela Ramirez-Arellano. Piggybacking off of her comment, Molina added,  Our role is to provide them with the support and tools they need to be successful.

Ramirez-Arellano said it was clear that Brazelton, who participated in all three stages of the program, had the drive needed to succeed.

He showed extreme resilience, said Ramirez-Arellano. Brazelton would sometimes bring his young son to class with him.  Its very inspiring to see him show so much commitment to his future, she added. Many of the entrepreneurs have full-time jobs, families, and other responsibilities. Participants are provided with transportation such as Uber and Metro Bus/Link passes. This is to ensure there are no barriers keeping people from coming here, said Ramirez-Arellano.

Molina said Adjo Honsou, owner of FuFu n Sauce food truck, first joined Cortex Square One knowing that she wanted to be in the food business but needed help getting started. The program gave her access to a commercial kitchen and taught her how to develop a resource networking circle.

We meet [entrepreneurs] where they are, said Molina.

Honsou said that she liked how the program moved at a slower pace.  I got more in-depth information from the classes I took and resources, she said. She said this gave her time to think about how to incorporate the material she was learning into her business. For example, she learned how and when to use the mentors she was meeting. Honsou came from a more corporate environment, and said she also needed to learn how to transition into the entrepreneurial arena.

Trinity Griffin joined the program in 2021 after looking for small business resources in the St. Louis area. The program helped her move through the idea validation process and develop a better understanding of market fit. Griffin created a mobile app to help people on their emotional journey.

Tracking My Tears tracks the number of times the user cries. The app tracks relevant data about each cry and connects with other users. Tracking My Tears has a user track only one physical response across a range of emotions. This helps users identify how their body can use one response for many different emotions.

To learn more visit https://squareone.cortexstl.org/

Ashley Winters is a Report for America reporter for the St. Louis American.
BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Public Security has directed the public security authorities in central China's Hunan Province to take swift action to carry out rescue and relief work after a dike breach in Dongting Lake in the province that occurred Friday afternoon, the ministry said on Saturday.

Public security authorities in Hunan were asked to work in collaboration with relevant departments to carry out disaster relief and rescue work, relocate affected residents, manage traffic and maintain order, ensuring the overall stability of society and the safety of people's lives and property.

A batch of flood prevention equipment and supplies was urgently dispatched to the front line, according to the ministry.

The ministry demanded all-out efforts to search for affected residents, ensure their relocation and provide them with adequate living supplies.

After the dike breach, public security authorities in Hunan promptly deployed police to the affected area to engage in disaster relief work and reinforced security patrols in important locations such as settlement sites and storage places for rescue supplies.

The dike breach that occurred in the Dongting Lake was initially about 10 meters wide but expanded afterwards. The affected area near Tuanbei Village covers approximately 50 square km. This area experienced a dike breach in 1996.

Since June 16, Hunan has seen its heaviest rainfall of the year, breaking historical records in some regions. 
Navy Lt. Joel Hunter shows reporters a 3D printer being used in the Rim of the Pacific exercise to manufacture metal parts during a demonstration at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on July 2, 2024. (Wyatt Olson/Stars and Stripes)

MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII  The Navy is experimenting with deployed 3D printing during the Rim of the Pacific exercise in pursuit of eventually shortening the supply line for crucially needed parts to mere hours.

Media were invited Tuesday to Marine Corps Base Hawaii for an up-close look at several 3D printers that manufacture parts made of metal and polymer.

I dont really think theres been something like this done yet with the [Department of Defense], Patrick Tucker told a group of journalists standing near a shipping container holding a 3D metal printer.

Tucker is a contractor working with the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., which is carrying out the 3D experimentation during this summers RIMPAC. The Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, based in San Diego, is overseeing the testing, Tucker said.

RIMPAC, taking place through Aug. 2 around Hawaii, is touted as the worlds largest international series of naval drills. This year, 29 participating nations brought 40 ships, 150 aircraft, three submarines, 14 land-based armed forces and 25,000 personnel.

The 3D experiment takes a cradle-to-grave approach in supplying needed parts during the exercise, Tucker said.

The readiness problem is identified, designs for a part are either found or reengineered from scratch, a prototype is made using the speedier polymer printer and then the final part is made with a metal printer, he said. Machinists complete the part fabrication by milling, drilling or grinding as needed.

A 3D printer, roughly the size of a minifridge, fabricates a part made of polymer at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on July 2, 2024. (Wyatt Olson/Stars and Stripes)

Tyranny of distance

Two types of metal printers are being used during the exercise. One essentially employs liquid metals that are sprayed in layer after layer to create a part. It can fabricate parts in aluminum, nickel, bronze and stainless steel.

Another printer uses solid metal and melts it using a laser in fashioning the part.

The latter printer, along with a few polymer printers, are set to be loaded Monday aboard the USS Somerset, an amphibious transport dock that is participating in RIMPAC.

Widespread use of deployed 3D printing would be a way overcoming the tyranny of distance in the Indo-Pacific in the pursuit of getting needed maritime and aviation parts quickly, Tucker said.

With the traditional manufacturing, the industrial base has gotten to where the responsiveness on some things is not appropriate to the readiness need, he said. So, we can augment that problem or reduce that problem through printing where were located.

The industrial base that supports weapons systems is not thoroughly robust, he said.

In some areas its very healthy, and other areas its very weak, he said. Sometimes where its very weak is actually some of the more important weapons systems that we have, and so [3D printing] basically reduces that negative effect.

Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Mark Cureo displays a polymer camera mount used on a drone that was manufactured using a 3D printer as part of an experimental phase during the Rim of the Pacific exercise at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on July 2, 2024. (Wyatt Olson/Stars and Stripes)

All services involved

All the services are involved in the experimentation to some degree. They are printing parts for the Coast Guard, Navy and Marine Corps.

Machinists with the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks will be aboard the Somerset when the 3D printer is hoisted aboard on Monday, Tucker said.

The Air Force is providing the services of its machine shop on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

The metal 3D printer can produce a part weighing up to roughly 80 pounds. Metal printing a part takes four to 10 hours, although a large part can take some hours longer.

That is a short wait compared to the time it takes for some parts to arrive from manufacturers, Navy Lt. Joel Hunter, a student at the Naval Postgraduate School, said as he showed reporters aluminum-bronze piping that had been printed as part of the experimentation.

There are parts that take up to 200 days to get where theyre needed, he said.

Tucker said that in the future each ship could perhaps maintain its own 3D printer to avoid reach back to the continental U.S. to obtain a needed part.
Israeli forces fire at Hamas militants near the Gaza border in October 2023. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post)

Israel and Hamas resumed indirect negotiations Friday on a cease-fire and hostage-release deal in Gaza, after the Biden administration said Hamas had made a pretty significant adjustment in its position. But new amendments proposed to the framework agreement seemed to temper optimism that a deal was imminent, and the talks in Doha, Qatar, were adjourned until next week.

Among the new sticking points, according to a person familiar with the negotiations, were the transition from the first to the second phase of the proposed framework agreement announced by President Joe Biden on May 31 and vaguely worded guarantees by the United States, Qatar and Egypt  the mediators of the talks  that the two sides would abide by a deal.

Other outstanding issues fall into the category of implementation steps that are considered negotiable once agreement is reached on the three-phase framework. But the framework itself  which a senior Biden administration official told reporters Wednesday is now in place  was again brought into question Friday, according to the person familiar with the talks, who like the administration official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.

Wednesdays optimism was borne of what the White House said after a telephone call between Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the recent response received from Hamas to the U.S.-backed framework proposal, after weeks of silence. What we got back from Hamas was a pretty significant adjustment to what had been their position, and we think that is encouraging, the senior administration official said. We have heard the same from the Israelis.

The three-phase plan includes a six-week initial stage with a cease-fire and a surge in humanitarian aid. Israeli forces would withdraw from all populated areas, and female, elderly and wounded hostages held in Gaza would be exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. All remaining U.S. hostages would also be released.

Assuming no violations occurred, the six-week cease-fire would continue indefinitely as the parties negotiated a second phase. It calls for agreement on a permanent truce, which would include a complete Israeli withdrawal and the release of remaining hostages. A third phase would begin internationally financed Gaza reconstruction, new Palestinian governance for the enclave and the eventual establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

The significant adjustment in Hamass position, as described by the person familiar with the talks, was dropping its insistence that Israel commit, in writing, to an eventual, permanent cease-fire as part of Phase 2 before the beginning of the first phase. Their whole position has been that they wont agree to anything until all is agreed in advance, the person said.

But in Fridays talks, the person said, Israel objected to indefinitely continuing the temporary, Phase 1 cease-fire while Phase 2 was negotiated, saying there should be a deadline for a permanent deal to be reached, lest Hamas use the time to regroup. If it passed without agreement, Israel would be free to resume its military operations in Gaza. While Israel has said it is scaling back its military operations in Gaza, it has said it plans to continue indefinitely with targeted attacks against Hamas leaders and reduced or residual Hamas forces.

While the transition question and the nature of any guarantees remained outstanding, other specific language changes were said to have brought the two sides closer to agreement on the deal.

The White House National Security Council, which has been coordinating the administrations participation in the talks, declined to comment on any new developments in the talks.

Netanyahus office said late Friday that David Barnea, the head of Israels intelligence agency, had returned from Doha after an initial meeting with mediators. Another team will be dispatched next week to continue negotiations, the prime ministers office said. It should be emphasized that there are still gaps between the sides, it added.

Plans for the day after the war have remained elusive, but the Palestinian Authority, which governs in the West Bank, has been put forth as a likely option to govern the Gaza Strip, a proposal that Israel has rejected.

Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud said at a conference in Madrid on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority in Gaza would need to be empowered by some form of an international force that could come in under U.N. mandate.

But Hamas on Friday denounced that idea, saying in a statement that it rejects any statements and positions that support plans for foreign forces to enter the Strip under any name or justification.

It added that the governance of the Gaza Strip is a purely Palestinian affair. The Palestinian people will not allow any guardianship, or the imposition of any external solutions or equations, Hamas said.

The Gaza developments came amid mounting fears that the already simmering front between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon could soon explode.

Hasan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanons Iranian-backed militia and political party Hezbollah, met with Hezbollah leaders to discuss the situation in Gaza and the latest developments on the negotiations and cease-fire proposal, the movements Al-Manar outlet reported Friday.

Hezbollah on Thursday fired some 200 rockets into northern Israel in retaliation for Israels killing of one of the militant groups senior commanders. The barrage was the biggest in a steadily escalating exchange of fire between the two sides since Oct. 7.

The United Nations said Friday it was deeply concerned at the increase in the intensity of exchanges of fire across the border the day prior, saying it heightens the risk of a full-scale war. Escalation can and must be avoided. The U.N. added that the danger of miscalculation leading to a sudden and wider conflagration is real, and that a political and diplomatic solution is the only viable way forward.

Heres what to know:

At least seven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid in the city of Jenin in the West Bank on Friday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Israel Defense Forces said the military was conducting counterterrorism activity after the death of an Israeli soldier during an operation there last week.

In a letter to Netanyahu, Israels attorney general accused National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir of blocking the transfer of Gazans still held at notorious Israeli detention center Sde Teiman. Last month, the IDF said it would turn detainees over to Israels prison authority in response to a High Court hearing of a petition filed by rights groups that said alleged abuse and torture at the southern detention site could constitute war crimes.

Looters ransacked Khan Youniss European Hospital days after Israel issued evacuation orders for the area near the hospital and patients and medical staff fled, according to Saleh al-Hams, head of the hospitals nursing department. Al-Hams said by phone that around 1,000 solar panels from the roof, 400 hospital beds, furniture from the hospitals nursing college and toilets were taken. The looters responsible for the theft are known, but there is no police force available to recover the stolen items, which are now being sold on the market, he said.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that further disruption to health services in Gaza is imminent because of a severe lack of fuel. Only 90,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza on Wednesday, he wrote on X on Thursday, while the health sector alone requires 80,000 liters per day.

At least 38,011 people have been killed and 87,445 injured in Gaza since the war started, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamass Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and it says 323 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operations in Gaza.

Hazem Balousha, Bryan Pietch and Alon Rom contributed to this report.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House on July 3, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/TNS)

LAS VEGAS (Tribune News Service)  Henderson resident Tom Kohnman was a registered Democrat up until a few days ago. After President Joe Bidens terrible debate performance, Kohnman says he switched to nonpartisan.

He hopes other Nevada Democrats will follow suit and signal to the party that it needs to find a new candidate.

I thought by switching over, theyd see that hes in serious trouble, the 62-year-old said. Its definitely time for a generational change. They have to give up the power on both sides.

Post-debate polls show Biden even farther behind than he was before June 27. One New York Times/Siena poll shows former President Donald Trump with a six-point lead. A CNN poll says most voters think Democrats would have a better shot of winning the presidency if someone other than Biden was running, with Vice President Kamala Harris performing better in a hypothetical match-up against Trump than Biden.

While both Biden and the national party have committed to staying the course, the fallout that followed his politically disastrous debate performance begs some questions: Could Biden be replaced from Nevadas ballot in November? Is that a complicated process?

The answers: Yes. And, it depends.

A simple process, but with a cost

Efforts to remove Biden would have to come from the national Democratic Party itself, according to Nicole Kelly, a political and election law attorney who practices in Nevada and Washington D.C.

In Nevada, the legal process to remove Biden would be simple within a certain time period, Kelly said.

The major parties have until Sept. 3 to tell the Nevada Secretary of States office the name of their candidates, according to a regulation added to the Nevada Administrative Code in 2023.

If the national party were to choose a new candidate, all it would have to do is give that name to the secretary of states office, said Kelly, who served as the political director in Nevada for the Republican National Lawyer Association during the 2022 election cycle.

Biden, however, was elected by Democratic voters as their presidential nominee for 2024. Replacing him would be done without input from voters.

Jaime Harrison, chair of the DNC, said in a statement the presidential primary is over, and the will of Democratic voters in every state clearly chose Biden to be the partys presidential nominee.

Delegates are pledged to reflect voters sentiment, and over 99 percent of delegates are already pledged to Joe Biden headed into our convention, he said in a statement.

Before the convention

Nevada Democrats elected Biden as their presidential nominee through the presidential preference primary in February. Following that, the state party picked delegates they will send to the convention in Chicago.

The delegates are expected to cast Nevadas votes for Biden, reflecting the will of the voters, but Kelly said Democratic delegates are not bound to the presidential nominee. Under DNC rules, delegates are allowed to vote within their good conscience and vote for a different candidate.

Nevadas Democratic delegates are in lockstep with Biden, according to the Nevada State Democratic Party.

Nevada voters broke turnout records when they elected President Biden in the First in the West presidential preference primary and will elect him again in November, Chairwoman Daniele Monroe-Moreno said in a statement. He has the unwavering support of Nevada Democrats.

If Biden decides to step aside or is somehow ousted by the party before the Democratic National Convention in August, the party would have to determine his replacement, and that individual would have to go through the same convention process, Kelly said. Biden could step aside, suggest Harris as the nominee and direct his pledged delegates to vote for her, she said.

After the convention

The Democratic Party even has some leeway after the convention to replace Biden. If he is nominated in August but then drops out, DNC rules allow for a nominee other than him to be named, Kelly said.

That is when back-room discussions would be held to select a new candidate. That person would have to be an individual who meets the constitutional requirements of being president, Kelly said. Additionally, the presidential nominee and the vice presidential nominee cannot be from the same state. A Harris-Gavin Newsom ticket, for instance, would not be possible, she said.

If both Biden and Harris are nominated as president and vice president at the convention and he steps aside after, but before Nevadas Sept. 3 deadline, there is no requirement that Harris would then become the presumptive Democratic nominee, Kelly said.

When the second presidential debate is held in September after the deadline  and if there are renewed calls to replace Biden as a candidate  significant ballot access issues could come into play, both due to the states deadline as well as when ballots begin to be printed and mailed out, Kelly said.

What if he drops out after the ballots are printed?

There is a provision within Nevada law that says if Biden isnt removed by the Sept. 3 deadline  and appears on the ballot despite no longer running  it would create a vacancy in that position, Kelly said.

Under Nevada law, there is some indication as to where those votes would go. The votes he would receive would likely go to whomever that vacant position is filled by, but it would likely be sent through litigation, Kelly said.

It becomes messier when you dont put the real nominee on the ballot, she said.

If Biden drops out too late and Harris becomes the nominee, but voters ballots still say Joe Biden, they could be confused, Kelly said. The process could create voter confusion and disinformation could spread, she said.

One of the easiest ways to replace Biden would be to have him nominated at the convention, then almost immediately afterward  but before Nevadas Sept. 3 deadline  have him step aside and replace with him another individual in order to not go through that delegate process at all, but this would be someone that the American people never even got to have a say in, Kelly said.

2024 Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Visit reviewjournal.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A video screen grab shows U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. On Friday, July 5, 2024, Cannon was asked by lawyers representing Donald Trump to partially pause the governments classified documents case against the former president so she can decide how the U.S. Supreme Courts new ruling on presidential immunity might apply to the proceedings. (U.S. Senate Television/CNP/Zuma Press/TNS)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Tribune News Service)  As legal observers predicted, Donald Trumps lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for a partial pause of the governments classified documents case against the former president so she can weigh how it might be impacted by the Supreme Courts fresh ruling on presidential immunity.

Trump has argued that his decision to move documents to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach before he left the White House in January 2021 was effectively an official act he undertook as president and falls under the broadened immunity umbrella against prosecution that the U.S. Supreme Court now says exists for past, present and future presidents.

In a filing with Cannons court in Florida on Friday, the defense requests that the court pause all proceedings in the case except for a motion by Special Counsel Jack Smith to change the conditions of Trumps pretrial release by restricting his public remarks about federal agents and their search for documents at Mar-a-Lago.

The defense wants Cannon to set hearings for the two sides to argue over the application of the high courts 6-3 decision, which was rendered on Monday. They want deadlines for filings that would extend into September, and also asked a halt in months-long arguments over how sensitive papers in the case should be handled under the Classified Information Procedures Act.

The 10-page filing on Friday also seizes on the concurring opinion by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Clarence Thomas, who wrote that lower federal courts should closely examine the validity of the appointments of special counsels such as Smith. It was a timely opinion that squares neatly with Trumps argument that Smiths appointment was illegal because he was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The issue was the subject of two days of hearing before Cannon in late June. She has yet to rule.

Resolution of these threshold questions is necessary to minimize the adverse consequences to the institution of the Presidency arising from this unconstitutional investigation and prosecution, wrote Trump lawyers Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise.

Trump faces 40 counts of improperly handling classified documents and then obstructing government efforts to retrieve them Two of his employees, Waltine Nauta, a personal valet, and Carlos De Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago property manager, are accused of assisting the former president in his efforts. All three have pleaded not guilty.

The former presidents lawyers already have succeeded in leveraging the Supreme Court ruling to delay Trumps sentencing for his conviction in a New York State court for falsifying business records in the so-called hush money case. New York State Justice Juan Merchan has agreed to consider a defense motion to overturn the verdict and rule by Sept. 6. If necessary, sentencing would be rendered Sept. 18.

In their filing, Blanche and Kise told Cannon they conferred in a good faith effort to resolve the issues herein, but were unable to do so with respect to President Trumps stay motion.

They said Smiths office requested that the defense include the following statement in the filing The Government objects to a stay and requests an opportunity to respond to any stay motion within the time the Local Rules provide.

2024 South Florida Sun Sentinel.

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President Joe Biden, right, speaks with This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin. (ABC/Getty Images/TNS)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden dismissed calls to end his reelection bid and denied that his debate performance wrought significant damage to his campaign, a defiant posture that risked further alarming Democrats who fear he has not honestly grappled with his biggest political crisis.

Biden on Friday in an ABC News interview refused to commit to an independent medical exam to reassure the public of his mental fitness, even as he insisted he has the stamina to serve another four years.

He did not accept that he trails Donald Trump in the polls, said he had not directly heard discussions among senior Democrats about asking him to step aside, and declared only the Lord Almighty would prompt him to even consider ending his bid.

And while the president, 81, avoided a significant gaffe like the ones that bedeviled his disjointed debate performance, the 22-minute prime-time interview with anchor George Stephanopoulos was unlikely to assuage concerns among the voters, donors and Democratic officials who have spent the past week in a panic that he not only would fail to defeat his Republican opponent, but would not be able to serve another four years even if he managed reelection.

Ill feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, thats what this is about, Biden said when asked how he will feel in January if Trump wins the election, a nightmare scenario for Democrats.

Bidens posture is perhaps the only strategy available for a candidate who is determined to continue his bid to win a second term. After Biden unveiled a revamped stump speech earlier Friday that acknowledged his age and more forcefully attacked Trump, his campaign indicated he plans to soldier on with more events Sunday in battleground Pennsylvania and beyond.

Multiple polls released following the debate showed Biden losing ground to Trump, with several showing him trailing by 6 percentage points. The share of voters in a New York Times/Siena College poll who believe he is too old to be president grew to 74%.

Dismisses polls

When asked if he believes he is not behind, however, Biden said all the pollsters I talk to tell me its a tossup.

One Democratic donor, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, said they are angry at those in Bidens orbit for not encouraging him to step down, calling the continued campaign delusional and selfish.

He is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have David Axelrod, a former Obama White House adviser who has been critical of Biden, posted on X after the interview.

Before Bidens ABC appearance, Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley joined a group of more than half a dozen House Democrats who have either explicitly called on the president to drop out, or said they believe he would lose to Trump in November.

Biden acknowledged Sen. Mark Warner, a prominent Democrat from Virginia, was looking to rally other lawmakers to pressure him to drop out. The president said he had heard from others that he should remain in the race.

Mark and I have a different perspective, Biden told Stephanopoulos.

If the Lord Almighty came down and said, Joe, get out of the race, Id get out of the race. The Lord Almightys not coming down, the president continued.

Wasnt In control

Biden chalked up his poor debate performance to a bad episode brought on by a severe cold and that there was no indication of any serious condition. Asked when he realized that he was having a bad night, Biden suggested that at one point he had been distracted by Trump shouting.

I realized that I just wasnt in control, he said of that moment.

Asked if he had watched his debate performance, which alarmed Democratic allies, Biden said I dont think I did, no.

The interview came during a trip to Wisconsin in which Biden flatly declared he was not considering dropping out of the race. He said those looking to pressure him were disrespecting the will of Democratic primary voters, and that he still believed he represented the best chance for Democrats of defeating Trump.

The issue will be put to the test over the coming week in the face of growing concern from Democratic lawmakers and donors.

After his trip to Pennsylvania, Biden hosts NATO leaders starting Tuesday at a summit in Washington. The presidents ramped-up schedule is a response to panicked Democrats who have demanded he do more to prove to voters he is capable of serving another four years in the White House.

So far, some Democrats remain wary.

Biden met Wednesday behind closed doors with more than 20 Democratic governors in a bid to stem the crisis engulfing his presidency, telling them he is in it to win it. He received public votes of confidence from several of them, including Californias Gavin Newsom and Michigans Gretchen Whitmer.

But privately, the governors had tough questions for the president and he acknowledged that he needs to get more sleep going forward, according to a person familiar with the discussion.

One of the participants, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, issued a statement Friday that stopped short of calling on Biden to drop out but appeared to push him to at least consider the possibility.

I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump, she said.

Bloomberg staff writers Stephanie Lai and Amanda Gordon contributed to this story.

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A Marine Corps KC-130T aircraft prepares to taxi in Yuma, Ariz., on April 11, 2015. According to reports on Saturday, July 6, 2024, a former engineer at Warner Robins in Georgia has been arrested in connection to a 2017 crash involving a KC-130T that killed 16 service members. (Jodson Graves/U.S. Marine Corps)

(Tribune News Service)  A former employee of an aircraft maintenance company in Warner Robins was recently arrested for obstruction of justice and making false statements during a criminal investigation of a fatal military plane crash in 2017, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

James Michael Fisher, 67, was arrested Tuesday after a federal grand jury in northern Mississippi indicted him. Fisher faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted on the two false statements and two obstruction of justice charges.

The indictment states that Fisher, who was a former lead propulsion engineer at the Warner Robins Logistics Center at the time, engaged in a pattern of conduct intended to avoid scrutiny for his past engineering decisions related to the aerial crash that claimed the lives of 16 service members, prosecutors said in a news release.

Fifteen Marines and one Navy corpsman were killed on July 10, 2017, when a Marine Corps KC-130T transport aircraft known as Yanky 72 crashed in a delta soybean field near Itta Bena, Mississippi.

The indictment alleges that Fisher knowingly concealed key engineering documents from criminal investigators and made false statements to investigators about his past engineering decisions.

Fisher was a resident of Warner Robins but currently resides in Portugal.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Defense Criminal Investigative Service and Naval Criminal Investigative Service are investigating the case, according to the press release.

Assistant U.S. attorneys Scott Leary and Philip Levy are prosecuting the case.

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BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Xin, 38, from Lanzhou in northwest China's Gansu Province, felt frustrated at an initial failure with assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment in her quest for a baby due to fertility challenges.

The procedure, although unsuccessful, cost Zhang over 40,000 yuan (about 5,600 U.S. dollars). "It was a big expense for an ordinary family. It is always hard to succeed in having a test tube baby on the first attempt," Zhang said.

However, she is preparing to give it another shot recently. The encouraging news of ART services being covered under medical insurance to reduce medical costs has reignited her hope.

Starting in July last year, Gansu became one of the first provinces in China to include assisted reproduction services in the national medical insurance payment system.

Deemed by infertile families as their last hope to have a child, ART has played a positive role in supporting reproduction and boosting the birth rate in recent years, with the number of new births resulting from this technology exceeding 300,000 per year, according to the National Health Commission.

A research report revealed that this technology is applicable to approximately one-fifth of the entire infertile population in China. However, many patients hesitate due to the high costs involved.

For instance, the process of having a test tube baby involves egg retrieval, sperm retrieval, artificial insemination, embryo culture and embryo transfer. Each treatment cycle typically ranges from 30,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan, depending on the hospital and specific technologies used. Some patients may need to undergo multiple cycles to achieve success.

With the infertility rate rising to 18.2 percent in 2023, China is speeding up efforts to expand the medical insurance coverage of ART services to aid more infertile couples and boost the birth rate in the country.

At present, 12 provincial-level regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, Gansu and Shandong, have implemented measures to ensure that medical expenses for ART can be reimbursed through medical insurance funds.

Medical experts believe that the policy can also help unleash the potential of childbirth among couples willing to have children, which will surely bring benefits to more families.

In eastern Shandong Province, the second most populous province in China, about 48,000 people receive ART treatment every year. It is estimated that medical insurance reimbursement can save patients nearly 600 million yuan annually.

According to Yang Xiaokui, director of the department of reproductive medicine at Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, outpatient visits to the department in 2023 increased by 19 percent compared to the previous year, with the cost of its ART services cut by around 70 percent after Beijing included 16 ART technologies into medical insurance payment in July 2023.

Medical institutions are experiencing increased demand for such medical services, prompting them to enhance their technological capabilities and service quality, according to Liu Xiaolin, an official of Gansu provincial healthcare security administration.

In the long run, ART technologies will develop further, addressing more fertility issues such as genetic diseases and birth defects, Liu added.

As more regions are expected to include ART treatment in their local medical insurance systems this year, experts have called for additional supporting measures, such as insurance coverage for medications used in treatment and cross-provincial settlement of medical bills.

"We will always strictly adhere to industry standards and diagnostic guidelines, whether this technology is covered by medical insurance or not," Yang said, adding that medical services not meeting relevant standards may be refused reimbursement by the insurance fund. 
U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks during a hearing at the Broward County Governmental Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 2, 2024. (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS)

WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service)  House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Friday night abruptly scheduled an unusual weekend meeting with top Democratic colleagues as party anxiety festers over whether Joe Biden should remain in the presidential race.

Even as the Democratic establishment on Capitol Hill and elsewhere continued to publicly support Bidens campaign, Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois told MSNBC that the president should not run.

Jeffries has not provided the lawmakers, top Democrats on committees, with a specific topic for the Sunday afternoon virtual session, which was confirmed by a House Democratic official whos familiar with the plan.

But the meeting will occur just a day before the House reconvenes in Washington for the first time since Bidens disastrous debate performance with former President Donald Trump on June 27, which sent tremors across the party ecosystem. House Democrats will hold a broader, caucus-wide closed-door meeting on Tuesday.

A number of those Democrats are publicly raising questions about whether Biden can defeat Trump and has the mental and physical stamina for four more years in office.

The planned meeting was reported earlier by NBC News.

Some lawmakers in competitive districts  and others who are not  are expressing worries, largely in private, over the down-ballot effects of the debate fallout and what it means for the chances of Democrats taking back the House majority or holding onto their narrow control of the Senate.

Before Quigleys remarks, a couple of other congressional Democrats have gone so as far as to call for Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.

Your legacy is set, Quigley said. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

Publicly, Jeffries has remained supportive of Biden, but has been fielding calls from rank-and-file members.

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According to gardai, Eoin Wiley (23) smashed windows in a large number of cabs and stole cash and phones from them in a spate of break-ins within a 500-metre radius of his home address.

A father of two broke into multiple taxis in north Dublin, causing thousands of euro worth of damage and pulling a knife on a man who intervened in the crime spree, it is alleged.

According to gardai, Eoin Wiley (23) smashed windows in a large number of cabs and stole cash and phones from them in a spate of break-ins within a 500-metre radius of his home address.

Judge Treasa Kelly granted him bail at Dublin District Court despite garda objections and adjourned the case for DPP directions.

Mr Wiley, a father of two from Dun Saithne Crescent, Balbriggan, is charged with more than 25 offences, including criminal damage, theft and producing a weapon.

Objecting to bail, the prosecuting garda said it was alleged Mr Wiley carried out a spate of break-ins to taxis in Balbriggan in March this year.

Read more Boy (15) convicted of dangerous driving causing death of two teens in Co Galway

He said the modus operandi was the same in the majority of cases  the windows were broken and cash was stolen. Mobile phones were also taken.

The incidents happened within a 500-metre radius of the accuseds home and he was allegedly identified on CCTV in some cases. In one incident, the garda said, an alleged victim heard a car alarm going off in a nearby estate and confronted the accused.

According to the garda, Mr Wiley pulled a knife on the man before they both ran off. It was alleged he was identified from his social media page.

Multiple offences were alleged to have happened during a spree on dates in March, the garda said.

The garda said around 4,000 worth of damage was caused in total and the value of the thefts was more than 1,000. The judge remarked that this did not include the time a taxi driver would be out of work while their car was being repaired.

Applying for bail, defence solicitor Kate McGhee said Mr Wiley had made no admissions when held.

The alleged offences took place some time ago, Ms McGhee said, so for gardai to have not sought him earlier, it could not have been deemed that urgent.

On the accused living near the scenes, Ms McGhee said the crime rate in the area was relatively high and a lot of frequent flyers would live in the area.

She said the majority of the alleged thefts were coins and it was very likely that the charges would be dealt with at district court level.

Judge Kelly said Mr Wiley was presumed innocent.

She set bail at 500, with an independent surety of 500. Under conditions, the accused must sign on three times per week at Balbriggan garda station and keep a curfew between 11pm and 6am.

He is also to provide gardai with a phone number at which he is always contactable.
Wojciech Szpot (38) went to Avivas Dublin offices and refused to leave, demanding 10m and alleging he had been recorded at home using the toilet, a court heard.

Wojciech Szpot held a one-man protest at Avivas HQ in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin. He was charged with trespass

A former worker at an insurance company was arrested for staging a one-man protest at its headquarters, claiming the firm had installed surveillance cameras in his home and was broadcasting footage.

Wojciech Szpot (38) went to Avivas Dublin offices and refused to leave, demanding 10m and alleging he had been recorded at home using the toilet, a court heard.

Judge Michael Ramsay found the facts proven but dismissed the case after hearing Szpot had already spent weeks in custody, having never applied for bail.

Szpot, from Poland and of no fixed address in Ireland, pleaded guilty to trespassing under the Public Order Act.

Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to Aviva Insurance, Cherrywood Business Park, Loughlinstown on April 19 when Szpot entered the premises and refused to leave.

He was aggressive to staff, demanding 10m from Aviva and saying the company had installed cameras in his home. He was arrested and brought to Shankill garda station.

Szpot had no previous convictions.

The accused had subsequently not applied for bail and spent weeks in custody as a form of protest against Aviva, his barrister Gregory Murphy said.

He was of the opinion that Aviva was recording him going to the toilet when he was at home, Mr Murphy said. He formed the opinion that he was required to protest against Aviva for violating his constitutional rights.

The accused had felt he was expressing his right to freedom of expression.

Szpot, who had worked for Aviva, had believed the company was broadcasting what was happening in his home, Mr Murphy said.
Patrick Sherlock, who pleaded guilty to causing serious harm to Patricia McDonnell, handed himself into gardai the following day

Patrick Sherlock admitted "seeing red" in the moments leading to up a violent assault on his sister-in-law that left his victim out cold in the middle of an Athlone housing estate.

Patrick Sherlock (37) was jailed for two years over a "vicious" and "savage" assault on his sister-in-law in Athlone last year.

A father of four who left his sister-in-law unconscious and with two broken jaws in a savage and vicious street assault has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Patrick Sherlock (37), 24 St Pauls Terrace, Athlone, Co Westmeath was handed down the sentence at a sitting of Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court yesterday arising out of an incident at Iona Park, Athlone during the early hours of April 7, 2023.

The accused, who pleaded guilty to causing serious harm to Patricia McDonnell, handed himself into gardai the following day after the mother of 16 was rushed to hospital after being left unresponsive in the middle of a residential housing estate.

Sherlock pleaded guilty to the section 4 assault offence which upon indictment in the circuit court carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The court heard how the mechanic had consumed four to five pints and two to three vodkas before driving to Iona Park with his late wifes niece at around 3:30am.

A row between Sherlocks niece and a sister of his late wife, who passed away tragically in July 2022, ultimately saw Ms McDonnell becoming involved.

During that episode, the court was told of a false claim made by his late wifes niece that she had been stabbed by Ms McDonnell.

It was in the midst of that melee, that erroneous accusations over the death of Sherlocks late wife were made, one of which carried the insinuation of Wheres Paddy? Wheres the murderer?.

During interview following his arrest, Sherlock admitted to seeing red and resulted in what Judge Keenan Johnson described as a savage and violent assault.

Video footage captured by one of Ms McDonnells sisters was played in court, showing Sherlock kicking the helpless mother as she lay prone on the floor.

The images, which Judge Johnson detailed as most distressing also showed Sherlock shout: I told you I would get you, moments before driving off from the scene.

The attack resulted in Ms McDonnell sustaining a fractured eye socket, two broken jaws, a broken cheekbone, seven broken teeth as well as considerable facial bruising.

Patrick Sherlock admitted "seeing red" in the moments leading to up a violent assault on his sister-in-law that left his victim out cold in the middle of an Athlone housing estate.

Ms McDonnell underwent corrective surgery in St James Hospital before being discharged two days later.

In a victim impact statement read into court on her behalf, the court heard how the incident happened just hours after her nineteen-year-old son Martin was knocked down and killed in a road traffic accident.

The serious injuries sustained by Ms McDonnell as a result of the attack forced her to miss her sons funeral just days later.

She said the fallout from the incident had left her having to consume a daily cocktail of anti-depressants and inflicted constant trauma and severe anxiety upon her everyday life.

The results of her injuries has removed any sense of feelings in her chin and lip and forced her to chew food on the right side of her mouth owing to the severe level of pain the assault has caused.

The court was told the incident had led to a financial loss of over 9,200 owing to her inability to collect her weekly social welfare payments.

Ms McDonnell, in taking to the stand, implored the court to exercise its leniency by considering releasing her brother-in-law in order to allow him to return to his family.

I wouldnt like to see Paddy go back to prison, she said.

The two of us have been through an awful lot and the two of us did find my sister that morning.

At the end of the day, Paddy and his kids should be reunited. I will get over my injuries.

Judge Keenan Johnson said Sherlock's actions were "wholly and utterly unacceptable" in any civilised society.

Ms McDonnell said she was acutely aware of what it was like to suffer bereavement, having lost another son in a road traffic accident just over a year earlier.

I am still grieving for my son and its not just one son, my other son died the year before that in a crash and I have lost a sister too within three years. What happened, happened. None of us can turn back time, we just have to move on.

Judge Johnson commended those remarks given the Shakespearean like tragedies both families had endured in recent times.

It was quite extraordinary to witness the level of compassion, magnanimity and forgiveness displayed by Ms McDonnell, said Judge Johnson.

It is clear that having suffered multiple tragedies in recent years that Ms McDonnell has come to the conclusion that life is too short to bear a grudge and too short to look for revenge. Her forgiving nature and magnanimity is truly remarkable in the face of such adverse circumstances.

Sherlock, for his part, also read from a pre-prepared letter of apology in which he attempted to reach out to his sister-in-law for the emotional and physical scars he had inflicted on her.

I know you were going through your own troubles at the time and I cant imagine how much harder I made it for you and your family after I attacked you in a time of need, he said.

I do not expect you to forgive me, but I want you to know I am truly sorry.

Judge Johnson said the efforts made by Sherlock in expressing his genuine remorse and becoming a model prisoner since going into custody were key mitigating factors the court had to take into account when passing sentence.

Equally, he said the fact Sherlocks four children had, in effect, been deprived of both a mother and father for a considerable passage of time were just as pertinent mitigating factors to consider.

That said, Judge Johnson outlined how the viciousness of the assault and the fact Sherlock left his victim prostrate on the floor were significant components to an incident the court could not ignore.

The fact the accused (used) full force at least three times causing serious injury is extremely concerning, he said.

It is fortunate the victim was not killed or suffered a brain injury as a result of the assault.

He consequently sentenced Sherlock to five years in prison, suspending the final three years for a period of five years subject to a number of conditions.

Among them included orders for Sherlock to pay 12,000 in compensation to his victim, 3,000 of which was already handed into court, to secure employment within six months of his release and to enter into a peace bond for a period of five years in the wake of the completion of his sentence.

He ordered that the sentence be backdated to when Sherlock first went into custody on April 8 last year.

In doing so, Judge Johnson said that, while the sentence appeared lenient, it was one which had been made in the context of exceptional circumstances and one that could not be used as a precedent in case law for similar type cases in the future.
"Its long past time to make strict age verification a legal obligation on pain of criminal sanctions

A Bill requiring strict age verification to ensure minors cant access porn sites will be debated in the Seanad next week.

Similar laws in the America have led to porn sites blocking adult content in eight US states over privacy fears.

Senator Ronan Mullen introduced the Protection of Children (Online Age Verification) Bill this week and the Bill will get its Second Reading during a debate next Thursday, July 11.

The Bill is co-sponsored by fellow Independent Senators Michael McDowell, Sharon Keogan and Gerard Craughwell, and three Government Senators: Fianna Fails Erin McGreehan, Diarmuid Wilson and Aidan Davitt.

"Its long past time to make strict age verification a legal obligation on pain of criminal sanctions, Senator Mullan said.

The Bill establishes an obligation on service providers to ensure that people under 18 cannot access porn online.

Senator Ronan Mullen

Website providers putting up porn would require users to go through an age verification process. The Bill provides that the Minister for Media to prescribe a list of documents for that purpose.

Senator Mullens Bill allows that the age verification procedure can be outsourced to relevant third party organisations.

The website controller / app store service providers would remain liable for any failure to apply the measure.

Porn Hub logo

A legal defence for providers to prove "another person facilitated the circumventing of the age verification process is to be included.

The Bill also provides for storage of age verification data for a period of five years.

There is widespread public concern about the proliferation of pornographic material freely available on the internet, and about the damage that this can do to children and their families, Senator Mullen said

Many children have unfettered access to the internet. It is long past time to make strict age verification a legal obligation on pain of criminal sanction, he said.

Senator Mullen noted that age verification laws led to porn suppliers to cease providing services in certain US States.

Access to adult content by adults is not the focus of this Bill, he said. Its 100pc focus is child protection. Everything must give way to that. Outside of that objective, the Bill has no other focus.

Senator Mullen welcomed support from three Government Senators who are co-sponsoring the Bill.

I invite people, especially but not exclusively concerned parents, to contact the Government and other parties and ask them to support this Bill, he added.

A similar law came into effect in Kansas on June 27.

Pornhub, the sixth-most visited website in the world, said it will block access in Kansas over concerns about privacy and free speech.

In a statement, parent company Aylo said it was preventing access to Pornhub in Kansas to protect prospective users' data in direct response to the passage of age verification legislation.

It said: "Aylo has publicly supported age verification of users for years, but we believe that any law to this effect must preserve user safety and privacy, and must effectively protect children from accessing content intended for adults.

"Unfortunately, the way many jurisdictions worldwide have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.

"Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy.

"Moreover, as experience has demonstrated, unless properly enforced, users will simply access non-compliant sites or find other methods of evading these laws."

Eight US states are now blocked by Pornhub.
Mother of four Rachel Drumm was given six months in April 2023 to find alternative accommodation for her family after a repossession order

A sister-in-law of disgraced former Anglo Irish Bank boss David Drumm has been evicted from her 600,000 north Dublin home.

Rachel Drumm, a mother of four who was married to the late Ken Drumm, was given six months in April last year to find alternative accommodation for her family after a judge confirmed the execution of a repossession order.

Dublin Circuit Court was previously told there was a 2m debt on the home in Foxgrove, Skerries, which Ms Drumm had largely attributed to her late husbands reckless loans.

On Thursday morning at about 9am, the Dublin County Sheriff and vehicles connected to the Bailiff Service of Ireland were seen at the house. Ms Drumm was seen removing her belongings before the sheriffs arrival. It is understood two of her children were also at the property. Sources say Ms Drumm was visibly upset leaving the house.

Access to all utilities was cut off and the locks were changed.

Read more Boy (15) convicted of dangerous driving causing death of two teens in Co Galway

The eviction of Ms Drumms family brings to an end a lengthy legal battle in which repossession proceedings were initiated in 2013.

Judge Jacqueline Linnane had granted possession of the property in 2015, with Mars Capital seeking vacant possession last year.

Ms Drumm had opposed the granting of the final execution of Judge Linnanes order because there had been a fundamental change in her circumstances following the death of her former husband in October 2022.

Ms Drumm, who works as a senior account manager, married Ken Drumm in 1998. The pair separated in 2011.

She claimed in court documents that she had contributed 650 every month towards repayments on her loan between 2019 and 2021, but later found out that her ex-husband had not been forwarding the money to the bank. She said she was left to raise their four children by herself, and if the execution order was granted, they would become homeless.

In a legal filing from 2013, she described him as someone who exercised a domineering influence over her, claiming he would not let her deal with the familys financial affairs, or even utility bills.

She claimed he used his brothers position as chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank to recklessly obtain loans or remortgages on our home.

Ms Drumm said one loan for 520,000 had been obtained without her knowledge or consent. These claims were disputed by Mr Drumm before his death.

Throughout his career, Ken Drumm had interests in the building and hospitality sectors.

In an affidavit produced in court, Ms Drumm said David Drumm was also named on the mortgage, which I didnt know at the time, and I now need to understand how his bankruptcy affected this debt and asset.

David Drumm filed for bankruptcy in Boston in 2010, owing his former employer Anglo  the bank that played a significant role in Irelands financial crash in 2008  more than $11m from loans he had been given.

Drumm was jailed in 2018 in connection with a 7.2bn fraud following a trial that lasted more than 80 days.

He was released after serving two years and eight months in prison.
Judge Patricia Smyth imposed a one-year prison sentence suspended for 12 months on Edward McCrarren (19), of Winchester Grove, Carryduff.

A Co Down teenager who smashed a bottle into the face of a reveller in a Belfast nightclub walked free from court today.

Judge Patricia Smyth imposed a one-year prison sentence suspended for 12 months on Edward McCrarren (19), of Winchester Grove, Carryduff.

He had previously pleaded guilty to the single charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The court heard the defendant and his friends were at The Limelight on Ormeau Avenue on July 23, 2023, and in a separate group was the victim and his friends.

Prosecution barrister Mark O'Hara said "some issue had arisen'' between the two groups and McCrarren knew the victim through his girlfriend.

"The defendant and his friends were taunting the other group. The injured party walked towards where McCrarren and his friends were standing and this defendant then struck him once to the face with a bottle,'' said Mr O'Hara.

Read more Gardai alarmed at spike in drug driving as detections up 65 per cent in some counties

"He made the case at police interview that he thought he was going to be assaulted and he acted in self-defence.''

The court heard that at the time of the assault, the defendant was aged 18, had no previous criminal record and there are no matters pending.

A pre-sentence report said McCrarren had grown up with violence in the home and had also witnessed violence in the home.

Judge Smyth told the defendant: "Let me be very clear: nothing that occurred justified your reaction.

"Fortunately, the victim only received superficial injuries and only required first aid at the scene.

"And that is fortunate for you. Injuries from a glass bottle can be catastrophic and can leave life-changing injuries. So you are very, very fortunate.''

The Belfast Recorder said she had received a reference from a woman who said that as a result of problems at home, the defendant ended up with nowhere to live and she took him into her home and "gave you the kind of care your mother should given you''.

The woman said the incident "came as a surprise to her''. It was her view that it was "out of character'' and added that McCrarren was "clearly remorseful for what he did''.

Judge Smyth told McCrarren: "The fact that you were under the influence of drink is a more serious aggravating factor.

"You need to be very careful of alcohol because you can now see what can happen. This should be a salutary lesson to you."

Passing the suspended sentence, Judge Smyth warned the defendant: "If you commit any other offence in the next 12 months you will go to prison for 12 months in addition to any sentence the court imposes.

"This is now on your record and if you come before the court again having committed a further act of violence, the court will see that this was not an isolated incident and as a serious matter you can expect to go to prison.''

Judge Smyth also ordered McCrarren to pay his victim 300 by way of compensation, allowing him 20 weeks to pay.
Thug walks free with probation order despite litany of abuse

A violent domestic abuser who spat at, kicked, punched and attempted to suffocate his ex-partner, as well as holding a knife to her throat, has avoided jail.

Cameron Withers (19) repeatedly abused and assaulted his former girlfriend between January and December 2023, threatening her with a knife on more than one occasion.

Despite carrying out what a judge described as a disturbing litany of abuse, Withers walked out of court on Thursday after being told to pay the victim 50 in compensation and complete a probation order.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to criminal damage, domestic abuse and common assault.

Laganside Magistrates Court in Belfast heard that the victim had been in a relationship with Withers that quickly became abusive.

A prosecutor told the court: He began verbally abusing her at first, calling her names and so on, before the assaults began.

He smashed her phone during an argument about Google Maps on one occasion.

During an argument about wi-fi at her home, he pulled her to the floor, pulled out a large black kitchen knife and held it to his own throat, saying he would kill himself.

He then held it to her neck and told her, You will now get up and stop crying and come to the shop with me.

During a trip to Castlerock, she told him she no longer wanted to be with him, which led to a meltdown.

He cornered her at their accommodation and began shouting and screaming in her face. He dragged her through the property, bashing her head off various items, before sitting on her.

Whilst sat on top of her, the defendant hit her about the body, resulting in various bruises.

The prosecutor explained how after a trip to the cinema Withers dragged the woman down an alleyway after she refused to go home with him. He then frogmarched her along York Street in Belfast, headbutting her and spitting at her.

He said he had a knife in his pocket, and if she walked silently to his home, he wouldnt hurt her, said the prosecutor.

On this occasion, she called the police from her pocket, and officers attended. However, when they arrived, the defendant told them the call had been an accident, with the injured party telling them she was fine.

He spat at, kicked her and slapped her on various occasions. During a further incident, he pushed her against a window and put his hand over her mouth.

She told him she couldnt breathe, (but) he didnt loosen his grip. In fact, he put his other hand over her nose. He told her he wanted her to pass out and wanted her to be quiet.

When interviewed by cops about the allegations, Withers denied any offences but later entered guilty pleas to three charges. He had initially been charged with six other similar offences, but these were left on the books by the Public Prosecution Service.

Withers defence solicitor told the court he was a young man with a promising future and this was his first adult relationship.

They added: He suffered some mistreatment during childhood, which resulted in his admittance into the care system.

He would very much welcome counselling and is prepared to engage with probation to address his issues.

District Judge Peter Magill was left frustrated by the sentencing options available to him.

He said: When I heard (about) this litany of abuse, there was nothing else but immediate custody being considered, but I can only sentence on the three charges in front of me.

He comes before the court with a clean record, but due to the catalogue of domestic abuse, it was only a question of how long he should go to jail at first, and, by rights, that would have been appropriate.

Domestic abuse is a plague in our society and a cancer which must be excised. No one should be subjected to the type of abuse heard in this court today. This was worrying and disturbing.

Judge Magill ordered Withers, of Ballyeaston Road in Ballyclare, Co Antrim, to pay 50 in compensation and handed him an 18-month probation order.

He also issued Withers with a two-year restraining order to protect the victim.
SINGAPORE, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Singaporean police arrested 309 suspects for scam offenses from June 21 to July 4, according to a statement issued by the police Saturday.

The suspects were involved in over 1,300 cases, including love scams, e-commerce scams, friend impersonation scams, investment scams and job scams.

The police said victims lost over 10 million Singapore dollars (7.4 million U.S. dollars).

The suspects were under investigation for cheating, money laundering, or providing payment services without a license. 
Investigation is launched after two homeless men drown in Dublins Grand Canal

Gardai on the Grand Canal where two bodies were discovered early this morning

Gardai are carrying out a trawl for CCTV at Grand Parade in Dublin in the hope it will reveal how two homeless men entered the Grand Canal and drowned.

Sources said gardai and the emergency services were alerted to the presence of a body at Grand Parade near the Charlemont Luas stop shortly after 8am yesterday.

Units from the Dublin Fire Brigade based at Dolphin Barn and Donnybrook were tasked to the scene. They recovered two bodies from the water.

Both men were pronounced deceased at the scene.

Gardai have identified both as Irish men who were living homeless in the area and had been sleeping in tents close to where their bodies were found.

The mens remains were taken to the mortuary in Whitehall.

Sources said the results of the post-mortems and the contents of CCTV recovered in the area will determine the direction of the investigation.

A source said there was no apparent evidence of any kind of foul play on the mens bodies.

The scene was yesterday being preserved and a Garda cordon was put in place while investigations continue.

Its believed the pair were camping opposite a makeshift refugee camp where International Protection Applicants have been sleeping.

Garda divers were preparing to examine the scene yesterday.

A spokesperson for The Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) said they would like to offer its sympathies to the families and friends of the people who tragically passed away at the Grand Canal.

The DRHE has been in contact with An Garda Siochana and is awaiting confirmation of the persons identities before we can confirm if they were known to homeless services.

DRHE added that there is sufficient emergency accommodation in Dublin and that they encourage anyone seeking accommodation to contact their local authority.

We encourage members of the public to download the Rough Sleeper Alert app to assist teams in supporting people most at risk, the Executive said.

Local Fianna Fail TD Jim OCallaghan yesterday sent his condolences to the families of the two men.

Speaking to RTE News, he said: Im extremely sorry to hear about the fact that two men have died. We dont know yet their identity but its a tragic development in the area. The gardai are investigating the matter.

A garda statement said: Gardai at Donnybrook are investigating all of the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the bodies of two individuals at Grand Parade, Dublin.
Prof Jack Lambert of the Mater Hospital in Dublin also said hospitals should bring back mandatory face masks during the current surge.

The Covid-19 variants behind the summer wave could be posing more risk for vulnerable patients, a leading infectious disease consultant has warned.

Prof Jack Lambert of the Mater Hospital in Dublin also said hospitals should bring back mandatory face masks during the current surge.

He said there are some reports the variants driving the rise in cases in recent weeks could pose a greater risk of disease to people who are more susceptible, such as those who are immunocompromised, than previous strains.

From my clinical observation, that might be true. I have had two immunocompromised patients who were infected and admitted to intensive care recently and they would have sailed through after being infected with previous variants, Prof Lambert said.

He said we have dropped the ball when it comes to precautions around Covid-19 and that during the waves, which come around three times a year, all hospital and health staff should wear face masks. I am in a clinic today and I am wearing a mask, he said.

He said there needs to be more public health messaging on how people can protect themselves from the virus in the community, including in crowded settings.

This virus is not going away, it is still killing people, he said.

Experts have warned that existing vaccines may not provide the same level of protection against the new FLiRt variants because they are several mutations away from previous variants.

Prof Kingston Mills, an immunology expert at Trinity College Dublin said earlier this week that the current variants may be evolving away from the strain the vaccines were made to protect against.

There were 1,108 cases of Covid confirmed last week, slightly down on the previous week, and 387 people with the virus in hospitals. One patient with Covid was admitted to intensive care.

A total of 87 outbreaks were notified, including some in nursing homes and hospitals that led to visiting restrictions in some areas.

In a briefing note to the Oireachtas health committee this week, the HSE said a number of hospitals have had to introduce visiting restrictions because of Covid outbreaks, which in some cases have been exacerbated by the vomiting bug.

Visiting restrictions have been put in place in Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, Mullingar Hospital and Sligo Hospital since the start of the current wave.

The number of Covid-19 cases hospitalised is trending upward. Figures from June 25 show an increase of 64 over the past seven days and a rise of 233 in the previous fourteen days, the HSE said. Of the hospitalised Covid-19 cases, 51.7pc, or 241, of patients required hospital care for disease caused by Covid-19, while the remaining 225 were infectious asymptomatic.

Three patients were in intensive care with complications due to Covid.

There was low take-up of the last Covid booster, although it was highest in the over-80s. However, failure to get a booster could leave some at-risk people with waning immunity.
During the next Dail term, which begins in the autumn, there will be an accelerated drive to protect childrens health and prevent them becoming hooked on nicotine products.

An outright ban on the sale of disposable vapes will be included in a series of new laws to be brought forward by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, it has emerged.

During the next Dail term, which begins in the autumn, there will be an accelerated drive to protect childrens health and prevent them becoming hooked on nicotine products.

The minister is understood to have written to the Oireachtas health committee this week signalling he will include the ban on disposable vapes in legislation to be introduced in the autumn, citing public health grounds and concerns about the long-term risks they can pose.

The brightly-covered and relatively cheap vapes have surged in popularity among teenagers and young people and are being heavily marketed on TikTok and Instagram.

Read more Boy (15) convicted of dangerous driving causing death of two teens in Co Galway

Since December, there has been a ban on the sale of vaping products and e-cigarettes to people under the age of 18.

When legislating for this last October, the minister indicated he wanted to go farther and would widen the crackdown.

However, it is believed concerns have been raised at European level about imposing a ban solely on environmental grounds.

The proposed action should involve not just the effect on the environment, but also peoples health.

Including the risks for both will strengthen Irelands case to outlaw their sale.

The minister is believed to have indicated to the Oireachtas health committee that he wants to come down on the vaping industry like a tonne of bricks, claiming they are undermining the smoking ban.

The legislation will also extend to cover other areas, including point-of-sale of vaping products, vaping flavours and packaging and smoking and vaping in outdoor dining areas.

The Department of Health has already run a public consultation on plans to further regulate vapes, aimed at targeting the rise in their use among young people.

Two experts warned last year that disposable vapes posed a potential risk to the not-fully-matured brains of children.

Respiratory physician Des Cox and paediatrician Louise Kyne from the Royal College of Physicians said the potentially negative effects of vapes include chest symptoms such as coughing, wheezing and asthma exacerbations.

They said there was also a significant risk of dependence and neurotoxic effects on the not-fully-matured brain.

They also pose an environmental hazard and even when disposable vapes are recycled properly, the process was labour-intensive and expensive, they said.

However, Vape Business Ireland, the largest vape trade association, has previously called on the Department of Health to protect the sale of flavoured vapes in Ireland and recognise that they have helped thousands of Irish people quit smoking.

It has argued the role of flavours in vaping is crucial for smoking cessation.

The flavours help quitters dissociate nicotine from the taste and smell of tobacco, making it easier to avoid returning to smoking, it said.
Just 20pc of poll respondents now believe Mary Lou McDonald will be next taoiseach, down from 32pc in a June poll

Sinn Fein has fallen to its lowest poll ranking since the beginning of 2020, with the party falling four points to 18pc in the Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks series.

The largest opposition party was at 37pc in the same poll series in October 2022, but its support has nosedived in recent months.

Fine Gael is six points ahead of Sinn Fein and up 2pc on the previous poll as the Harris hop continues to yield positive polling results.

Sinn Fein has now even fallen behind Fianna Fail, which is up 3pc to 20pc.

The disappointing result comes despite Sinn Fein having a good weekend and coming in as the largest party in Northern Ireland in the UK elections.

Taoiseach Simon Harris is also expected, by 44pc of poll respondents, to remain as the leader of the country after the next general election. When the same question was asked a month ago, only 30pc expected Mr Harris to still be Taoiseach after the election.

Expectations that Mary Lou McDonald could become the first female taoiseach after the country goes to the polls have waned considerably. Only 20pc now believe that will happen  a significant fall from 32pc in the June poll and down from a high of 57pc in September 2022.

Some 20pc said they thought Tanaiste Micheal Martin would be the next taoiseach, up from 15pc in the previous poll.

In September 2022, only 6pc of the public polled expected Mr Martin to get a second stint as taoiseach.

Mr Harriss own personal rating has gone up and he is now the countrys most popular leader at 53pc, surpassing Tanaiste Micheal Martin who is at 51pc.

The Sinn Fein decline is also reflected in Ms McDonalds own support as party leader, which has fallen to 34pc, down two points.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns remains in third place and up by two points to 42pc.

A Fine Gael/Fianna Fail/Independent government is now viewed as most likely by poll respondents  with 33pc viewing this as the most likely outcome after the next general election. A Sinn Fein government without either of the two Civil War parties is viewed as the second most likely government.

The current Coalition is the third least likely government after the next election, according to the poll.

At 58pc, housing remains the biggest issue for the public, up four points from last months poll.

Meanwhile immigration has fallen by 12 points, it stays in second place at 29pc.

Housing also should be prioritised by new Finance Minister Jack Chambers, with 24pc saying this is the biggest pre-election Budget issue, followed by tax cuts at 21pc.

The vast majority of the public also agrees with the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appeal the suspended sentence given to soldier Cathal Crotty, according to the poll, with 81pc approving.

Crotty received a suspended sentence last month after pleading guilty to the assault of Natasha OBrien in Limerick.

Ms OBrien has become a household name in recent weeks in speaking out about the assault and campaigning for improvements in the justice system.
Powerco is trialling an innovative approach to managing trees next to its power lines - using a tree-trimming saw suspended below a helicopter.

The energy distribution company this week successfully completed cutting trees in a forestry block, adjacent to SH33 Paengaroa in western Bay of Plenty, that were growing too close to power lines supplying a communications tower.

Trees in lines cause one in four power cuts on Powercos network.

"When overgrown, trees can interfere with power lines, cause outages and make it difficult for crews to restore power, says Powerco General Manager Electricity Karen Frew.



Overgrown trees and vegetation are a major cause of power outages, particularly during storms."

Karen says the overhead power lines network is vast, spanning thousands of kilometres of rural lines supplying power to remote communities.

Falling trees and branches in forestry blocks contribute to a significant number of faults on our network, ultimately cutting power to our rural communities," says Karen.

"Were trialling the heli-saw to see if we can remove risk to remote power lines, while saving time and money for the benefit of our customers.

During 2023, electricity lines companies in New Zealand spent more than $58 million on vegetation management including pruning and felling trees that obstructed lines and infrastructure. This cost is making electricity more expensive for electricity consumers.

In the Paengaroa trial, in just one hour, the heli-saw successfully cut an 800m-stretch of forestry block  that's 160 trees - adjacent to a section running alongside the road, saving days of work and thousands of dollars, say Karen.

We have a number of ways in which we manage trees on our network and the heli-saw is a valuable tool.

"We'll look to use the heli-saw again, mostly to maintain clearance corridors - 20m each side of the lines - in forestry blocks. Falling trees and branches in forestry blocks contribute to a number of faults on the Powerco network.

A tree-trimming saw suspended below a helicopter. Photo: Supplied.

To enable the work to be carried out safely, the power lines along the cut zone on SH33 were disconnected and dropped to the ground while the aerial cutting was undertaken.

Traffic management was also in place, with traffic being stopped at a safe distance in both directions for 10-minute periods while the helicopter worked.

It took two runs for the entire length of pine trees to have their branches cut back to the trunk.

Thank you to those who were stopped for short periods from travelling along the road while the work was being carried out above, says Karen..

Lakeview Helicopters is the only heli-saw operator in New Zealand with CAA approved equipment. It uses a CAA approved stabiliser pole system to connect the saws to its H125 B3E and AS350 B2 helicopters.

That system removes the saws ability to turn and rotate, improving the safety and controllability of the equipment by the pilots. The saw blades, operating at 2000 rpm, can cut branches up to 25 centimetres in diameter.

Other ways Powerco is advancing its vegetation management include:

Employing a dedicated forestry manager to enhance collaboration with forestry owners, particularly with the emergence of carbon forestry.

Exploring the use of up to date satellite imagery to better understand growth rates and high-risk trees.

Identifying out-of-zone vegetation using LiDARinformation that could impact the network during adverse weather.

Powerco is New Zealands second largest electricity and gas distribution utility with over 900,000 customers (across 457,000 connections) connected to its networks.

Powercos electricity networks are in Western Bay of Plenty, Thames, Coromandel, Eastern and Southern Waikato, Taranaki, Whanganui, Rangitikei, Manawatu and the Wairarapa. Its gas pipeline networks are in Taranaki, Hutt Valley, Porirua, Wellington, Horowhenua, Manawatu and Hawkes Bay
Three lucky Lotto players from Auckland, Otorohanga and Dunedin will be jumping for joy after each winning $333,333 with Lotto First Division in Saturday nights live Lotto draw.

The winning tickets were sold at Dawson Superette in Auckland, Paper Plus Otorohanga in Otorohanga and on MyLotto to a player from Dunedin.

Powerball was not struck on Saturday evening and has rolled over to Wednesday night, where the jackpot will be $12 million.

Meanwhile, a lucky Strike player from Christchurch will also be celebrating after winning $500,000 with Strike Four. The winning Strike ticket was sold at New World Ferry Road in Christchurch.

31 Lotto players win Second Division

Thirty-one lucky Lotto players will be celebrating after each winning $9,800 with Lotto Second Division in Saturday nights live Lotto draw.

Two lucky players also won Powerball Second Division, taking their total winnings to $20,024.

The winning Powerball Second Division tickets were sold at Four Square Parakai in Parakai and The Paper Trail in Foxton. The winning Second Division tickets were sold at the following stores:

Store Location Marston Moor Kaitaia New World Regent Whangarei Orewa Lotto Plus Orewa Four Square Parakai (+PB) Parakai MyLotto (x3) Auckland Breaktime Grafton Auckland Hari Superette Auckland Rathgar Road Discount Foodmart Auckland Woolworths Manukau City Mall Auckland MyLotto Hamilton MyLotto (x2) Waikato MyLotto Tauranga MyLotto Hastings The Paper Trail (x10 +PB x1) Foxton Trentham Mini Mart Upper Hutt MyLotto Wellington Pak N Save Richmond Nelson MyLotto Christchurch Woolworths Mosgiel Mosgiel

Anyone who bought their ticket from any of the above stores should check their ticket as soon as possible in-store, on MyLotto, or through the MyLotto App.

Lotto NZ exists to return 100 per cent of its profits to Kiwi communities through lottery grants programmes run by Te Puna Tahua NZ Lottery Grants Board.
Isabel Mendez Malaga Saturday, 6 July 2024, 08:48 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace

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A warning from the Seprona branch of the Guardia Civil's headquarters in Malaga prompted Spain's Ministry of Health to withdraw from sale the following products: Miel d'Afrique, Royal Honey VIP, Jaguar Power and Royal Honey Plus.

According to analyses carried out by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS), these four stimulants contain the active substance sildenafil in sufficient quantity to restore, correct or modify a physiological function by exerting a pharmacological action, which gives them the legal status of being medicinal products. This substance is not mentioned on the labelling, but is presented as a natural product, concealing its true composition from the consumer. Sildenafil is a medicine, or drug, used to restore impaired erectile function by increasing penile blood flow by means of selective inhibition of the enzyme phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE-5).

As explained by AEMPS, PDE-5 inhibitors are a contraindication for patients with any of the most common heart problems such as all types of angina, acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, arrhythmia, anyone with hypotension (blood pressure below 90/50 mmHg) or hypertension, those with a history of strokes, severe hepatic impairment (liver not working) and in people with a history of several, hereditary, retinal disorders.

Zoom Packaging of the four recalled products. AEMPS

Furthermore, these inhibitors should not be taken with quite a few other medications as they could cause adverse reactions of varying severity. Taking cardiovascular as an example, their use has been associated with acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina, ventricular arrhythmia, palpitations, tachycardia, stroke, and even sudden cardiac death. These adverse reactions have occurred to a greater extent in patients with a history of cardiovascular risk factors, so that is why they should have been labelled correctly with contraindications mentioned.

Considering the risks mentioned above, as well as the fact that these products have not been subject to evaluation and authorisation prior to marketing by AEMPS, the agency has taken the precautionary measure of prohibiting their marketing and has requested their withdrawal from sale and all product units to be removed from shelves.
PHNOM PENH, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Health issued a statement on Saturday, reminding people not to eat pufferfish after seven people have been hospitalized in central Kampong Chhnang province this week.

"The seven people, after eating pufferfish, had severe symptoms that required emergency medical treatment, and after receiving intensive care from a team of our doctors, currently, the patients are recovering," the statement said.

"The Ministry of Health would like to remind people to avoid eating pufferfish because it contains a poison that can cause severe illness or death," the statement added.

According to the statement, five species of poisonous pufferfish in the Southeast Asian country are redeye puffer or Carinotetraodon Lorteti, eyespot pufferfish or Tetraodon Biocellatus, spotted green pufferfish or Tetraodon Nigroviridis, green pufferfish or Tetraodon Fluviatilis, and Monotrete Cochinchinensis.

The symptoms that occur 20 minutes to two hours after eating these poisonous pufferfish include numbness, tingling around the mouth and in the limbs, headache, dizziness, salivation, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, the statement said.

The symptoms may progress to paralysis, loss of consciousness, and respiratory failure that can lead to death, it added. 
Happy weekend, everyone!

Weve had a busy couple of weeks covering legislative, regulatory and business stories in New Yorks cannabis industry. Lets take a look at what we wrote about.

Reporter Mel Hyman contributed a story about the first cannabis dispensary set to open in Woodstock stymied by distance requirements. Currently, there are no dispensaries in the town, and the one applicant with a recently approved license is unable to open because of a battle brewing between the town and the state Office of Cannabis Management over distance requirements to a house of worship.

Woodstock Supervisor Bill McKenna made no bones about where he stands on the matter, Hyman wrote. Its horrible. Its terrible, the way OCM has violated its own distance regulations by approving a cannabis store site application within 200 feet of a church, McKenna said.



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We checked in with Paul Lepore, the president of Long Island dispensary Happy Days, to see how business has been going at the shop since it opened its doors on Jan. 2.

In its first few months of business, the store has been attracting a customer base thats older than some Happy Days partners initially expected, Lepore said. The shops customers mostly consist of people over the age of 55.

In a story about how cannabis rescheduling may affect employer drug-testing policies, we spoke with three New York attorneys whose practice areas include cannabis and/or employment  and other labor experts  about their thoughts on the matter.

Among the attorneys, union officials and labor law experts who spoke with NY Cannabis Insider about the issue, some say rescheduling will make it virtually impossible to discipline medical patients for positive THC tests, while others say legal technicalities will maintain the status quo.

Matthew Krupp, the co-founder of Canterra  Western New Yorks first cannabis e-commerce platform and delivery service  contributed a guest column which argues that a lack of guidance and communication by the OCM is threatening cannabis delivery operators.

Ive struggled against numerous obstacles, the most pressing being the impending expiration of our Temporary Delivery Operator (TDO) license, which the state has repeatedly denied extending, Krupp wrote.

We added a new entry to our People to know in NY cannabis series: Nicole Ndiaye, the CEO of hemp cultivation company NAHE LLC and founder of hemp brand Bossiee Budz.

Lastly, we posted a new edition of attorney Jeffrey Hoffmans Ask Me Anything segment, in which Hoffman answers questions about the application review process, the most recent state legislative session and more.

Have a great weekend everyone, well be back with plenty more next week.
Syracuse, N.Y.  Jamieson Ritter went to Syracuse University on an ROTC scholarship, completing more than 300 hours of study and fitness training required in the officer training program.

When he graduated SU in 2019, he became a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army National Guard, later serving in Syria while on leave from his regular job as a Cleveland police officer.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A memorial service for slain Cleveland Police Officer Jamieson Ritter will be held on Monday at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist at 1007 Superior Ave. in Cleveland, the citys Division of Police announced Friday evening.

Details about the procession to the church will be forthcoming. The funeral will be out of state.

Ritter was shot early Thursday morning while trying to serve a warrant on DeLawnte Hardy, 24, who several days earlier had stolen his grandmothers gun and shot her in the face, according to law enforcement officials.

When police went to arrest Hardy at East 80th Place on Thurday at about 3 a.m., he fired five shots at the officers. One of the bullets struck Ritter and killed him, according to police.

Officers apprehended Hardy after he tried to flee on a bike. He has been charged with aggravated murder.

Ritter, 27, joined the force in 2020. He was named Officer of The Month by the Cleveland Police Foundation in June for helping save two peoples lives and consoling a dying homicide suspect. Ritter and his partner also helped solve the case against the person who fatally shot the man.

Ritter is the first Cleveland police officer to be killed while on duty since Det. James Skernivitz was shot while working undercover in 2020. Another officer, Shane Bartek, was off-duty when he was killed on New Years Eve 2021 during an armed robbery in the parking lot of his apartment complex.

This past May, Euclid Police Officer Jacob Derbin was shot and killed responding to a domestic violence call. The shooter, Deshawn Anthony Vaughn, 24, was found dead the next day in Shaker Heights after a standoff with police.
To the Editor:

Thank you for publishing the recent article on Hurricane Beryls unprecedented intensity. While highly informative, the article failed to address the significant role of climate change in fueling major early-season storms. Scientists tell us that CO2 emissions are heating the atmosphere and warming our waters, creating longer, more dangerous hurricane seasons. Without tangible change, our hurricane seasons will continue to extend and produce more devastating storms. Right here in Central New York, we will continue to see rising temperatures just like the ones we had a couple of weeks ago.

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act offers a solution by making big fossil fuel companies pay a fee for their pollution, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating safer waters. I urge Representative Brandon Williams (R-Sennett) to cosponsor this bill in the House of Representatives. It will aid our nations economy and promote clean energy.

As a high school student, I am concerned for my future. Climate solutions like this act are vital to ensure my generation can grow into a livable world.

Thank you for considering this important issue.

Sydney Boyer

Onondaga, NY
Jeroen Distinguished - BHPian

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Re: Indian Airlines has had 8 Boeing 737 Hull Losses! Quote: NiInJa Originally Posted by Can any senior bhpian describe how it would feel flying in the 70s and 80s (in Indian context) ?

Was there an element of fear back then ?

The big differences: No security checks, you could bring almost anything onto a plane. Smoking was still allowed aboard planes!



It was afar more relaxed affair than these days. Airports were much smaller. No jetties. You would always board by climbing stairs.



Cockpit doors were open and many airlines would encourage their passenger to visit the cockpit during long haul flights. Cockpits, certainly planes for long haul would all have a flight engineer too.some older planes might require a fourth cockpit crew member, a navigator.



Planes were a lot noisier in those days as well.



I cant remember if there was any fear. I dont think so. Flying was still for the happy few and in general it was considered to be an exiting new experience for most people.



We lived in Amstelveen, a suburb of Amsterdam. The original Schiphol, Amsterdam Airport was about 5-6 km on the bicycle from us. Out next door neighbour was a KLM pilot. He used to take his son Paul, who was my beste mate and me to visit the KLM hangar. No real security. He would rock up to the KLM fascility have a little chat with the guard and we were allowed in. Climbing all over DC8s!



Schiphol moved to a new location, its current one. That is also when it adopted the name Amsterdam Airport. We used to visit frequently. It was an amazing place. All new and shiny, brightly lit. It had those automatic opening entrance/exit doors. You walk towards them and swoosh it would open it. Unbelievable! We ran around for days playing the opening sequence of Get Smart. Not sure if that series showed in India.Anybody that has seen the series will know what I am on about.



I remember the first 747 Jumbo jet landing at Amsterdam airport. The airport was packed, all the roads were blocked with traffic. It was a huge thing. People travelled from all over the Netherlands to see this first Jumbo! Not sure, but I think it was a Panam plane. It would be some years before KLM brought its own 747 to Amsterdam Airport.



It was also the days that at Amsterdam airport you could watch the planes and the terminal from long wide walkways on top of each and every pier! It even had little shops on it selling souvenirs, toy planes, coffee and so on. So plane watching in those days was a lot more fun. You could get much nearer to just about any plane parked near a terminal building. You could also get much closer to the runways.



A couple of decades later the first Concorde landed at Amsterdam airport. No crowd, just some extra plane spotters. And lots of people complaining about the noise.



Very different times.



Jeroen I cant describe it from an Indian context. I first flew at the age of about 10. For my birthday I got to go on a Martinair Dakota which flew over Amsterdam, the Netherlands. That was late 60s. From the late 70s I have been flying a lot, initially all for the various jobs I had. Taking an aircraft just to go on holiday would take a while longer. As mentioned flying was not for everyone.The big differences: No security checks, you could bring almost anything onto a plane. Smoking was still allowed aboard planes!It was afar more relaxed affair than these days. Airports were much smaller. No jetties. You would always board by climbing stairs.Cockpit doors were open and many airlines would encourage their passenger to visit the cockpit during long haul flights. Cockpits, certainly planes for long haul would all have a flight engineer too.some older planes might require a fourth cockpit crew member, a navigator.Planes were a lot noisier in those days as well.I cant remember if there was any fear. I dont think so. Flying was still for the happy few and in general it was considered to be an exiting new experience for most people.We lived in Amstelveen, a suburb of Amsterdam. The original Schiphol, Amsterdam Airport was about 5-6 km on the bicycle from us. Out next door neighbour was a KLM pilot. He used to take his son Paul, who was my beste mate and me to visit the KLM hangar. No real security. He would rock up to the KLM fascility have a little chat with the guard and we were allowed in. Climbing all over DC8s!Schiphol moved to a new location, its current one. That is also when it adopted the name Amsterdam Airport. We used to visit frequently. It was an amazing place. All new and shiny, brightly lit. It had those automatic opening entrance/exit doors. You walk towards them and swoosh it would open it. Unbelievable! We ran around for days playing the opening sequence of Get Smart. Not sure if that series showed in India.Anybody that has seen the series will know what I am on about.I remember the first 747 Jumbo jet landing at Amsterdam airport. The airport was packed, all the roads were blocked with traffic. It was a huge thing. People travelled from all over the Netherlands to see this first Jumbo! Not sure, but I think it was a Panam plane. It would be some years before KLM brought its own 747 to Amsterdam Airport.It was also the days that at Amsterdam airport you could watch the planes and the terminal from long wide walkways on top of each and every pier! It even had little shops on it selling souvenirs, toy planes, coffee and so on. So plane watching in those days was a lot more fun. You could get much nearer to just about any plane parked near a terminal building. You could also get much closer to the runways.A couple of decades later the first Concorde landed at Amsterdam airport. No crowd, just some extra plane spotters. And lots of people complaining about the noise.Very different times.Jeroen
BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's just-concluded trip to Central Asia is significant for guiding the direction of the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), deepening China's good-neighborly relations with regional countries, and promoting the substantial advancement of building a community with a shared future among neighboring countries, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks during a press briefing on Xi's attendance at the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO in Astana, and state visits to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan this week.

President Xi attended the meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO as well as the SCO+ meeting, and pointed out that the SCO stands on the right side of history, fairness and justice, and is of great significance to the world, Wang said.

The Chinese president called on the SCO, which is faced with new situations and challenges, to ensure security, safeguard development rights, consolidate the strength of unity, and strive to build a shared home featuring solidarity and mutual trust, peace and tranquility, prosperity and development, good-neighborliness and friendship, as well as fairness and justice, Wang said.

While briefing on Xi's visit to Kazakhstan, Wang said the heads of state of China and Kazakhstan reaffirmed their strong political will to promote the building of a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future, and made new plans to usher in a new "golden 30 years" of bilateral relations.

China remains steadfast in its commitment to the China-Kazakhstan friendship, in its resolve to advance cooperation across the board, in its determination to continue mutual support on issues concerning each other's core interests, and in its confidence in both countries realizing their development goals, Wang added.

While briefing on Xi's visit to Tajikistan, Wang noted the Chinese president has met with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon 15 times since the beginning of the new era, saying that during Xi's state visit this time, the two heads of state announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era between China and Tajikistan, and the joint building of a community with a shared future from a higher starting point.

President Rahmon has said repeatedly that China is a great neighbor of Tajikistan, Wang noted, adding that Xi's visit this time is another important milestone in Tajikistan-China relations.

During Xi's state visit to Tajikistan, he not only attended the inauguration of a parliament building and a government building aided by China with President Rahmon, but also awarded the "Friendship Medal," China's highest state honor for foreigners, to Rahmon, Wang said.

During his attendance at the SCO summit in Astana, Xi also held intensive bilateral meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other foreign leaders participating in the summit, Wang noted.

The leaders of various countries have expressed their hope to learn from China's governance experience and accelerate the modernization process of their countries, Wang said.

They have clearly stated that they firmly abide by the one-China principle and oppose any form of "Taiwan independence," Wang said, adding that the leaders also highly commended the proposition of building a community with a shared future for mankind and a series of global initiatives proposed by Xi. 
cefiljoseph BHPian

Join Date: Oct 2021 Location: Thrissur Posts: 174 Thanked: 1,521 Times

Re: BHPian-owned cars for Sale | Pics & details



With a heavy heart, I'm selling our beloved W211. I'm looking for an enthusiast who appreciates these cars to give her a new home



Having has the pleasure of driving it for a year, I can say it is the best car we have owned and probably ever will. It's a great all rounder in terms of comfort, safety and performance. Eats tarmac like nobody's business and finds home in the highways of our country - a great options for those who take interstate travels.



While a 16 year old car, you would be surprised at how well it hides it age. That said, this is not new car out of factory and I don't want to pretend that it is one. While I have sorted any and all mechanical issues and replaced all the wear and tear components, it does have some problems. The exterior has the dents and dings from Mumbai traffic from all these years, has broken AC vents and ash trays and things like that. I have also set the price accordingly.



This is perhaps one of the more mechanically sorted 211s out there and for someone venturing into the world of stars, this is a great option. It is more important to me that it reaches the right hands and for the right person, we can work out a deal



Classifieds Link: https://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy.../E-Class.html/



Make & Model: Mercedes-Benz E-Klasse E280 CDI



Asking Price: 599,000



Year: 2007 Manufactured/ 2008 Registered



Kms: 132000



Location / Regn State: Registered in Maharashtra, car located in Thrissur, Kerala



Reason for sale: Non-Usage, detailed reasoning here -



Mods/Accessories (if any): Bone Stock



Special Mentions (if any): Comes with a meticulous service history with even tyre changes, pollutions certificates and so on.



Ownership review link (if any): https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...den-fruit.html (15-year old Mercedes E280 CDI W211 Review | Buying & Ownership | Curiosity meets the forbidden fruit)



Contact Details: +91 9846055577,



Pictures































Hello all,With a heavy heart, I'm selling our beloved W211. I'm looking for an enthusiast who appreciates these cars to give her a new homeHaving has the pleasure of driving it for a year, I can say it is the best car we have owned and probably ever will. It's a great all rounder in terms of comfort, safety and performance. Eats tarmac like nobody's business and finds home in the highways of our country - a great options for those who take interstate travels.While a 16 year old car, you would be surprised at how well it hides it age. That said, this is not new car out of factory and I don't want to pretend that it is one. While I have sorted any and all mechanical issues and replaced all the wear and tear components, it does have some problems. The exterior has the dents and dings from Mumbai traffic from all these years, has broken AC vents and ash trays and things like that. I have also set the price accordingly.This is perhaps one of the more mechanically sorted 211s out there and for someone venturing into the world of stars, this is a great option. It is more important to me that it reaches the right hands and for the right person, we can work out a dealMercedes-Benz E-Klasse E280 CDI599,0002007 Manufactured/ 2008 Registered132000Registered in Maharashtra, car located in Thrissur, KeralaNon-Usage, detailed reasoning here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-...e-cleanse.html (Simplifying life - Time for a garage cleanse) Bone StockComes with a meticulous service history with even tyre changes, pollutions certificates and so on.+91 9846055577, cefiljoseph@gmail.com and of course feel free to DM here on TeamBHP Last edited by Omkar : 5th August 2024 at 12:08 .
China thinks it's headed in the right direction to become a global tech powerhouse in the decades to come. The rising nation aims to allocate a lot of money to improve its technology in different fields of specialization, such as robotics.

The strategic push aims to solidify Beijing's position as a leader in the high-growth technology sector while simultaneously preserving the grassroots of development.

Jin Zhuanglong, head of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, emphasizes China's unique ability to focus resources on specific technological breakthroughs. This approach is seen as a way to bridge the gap in core technologies created by potential limitations imposed by other nations.

"There are still outstanding shortcomings in key core technologies and basic industrial capabilities," the 60-year-old entrepreneur said.

As The South China Morning Post reports, Jin acknowledges that the nation's industrial development, while impressive, is at a critical juncture.

The focus now shifts towards being "big" in production and becoming "strong" in technological leadership.

Related Article: China Warns of Trade War Over EU Tariffs on Electric Vehicles

Beyond the Horizon: Vanguard Industries Fueling the Future

China's vision extends beyond immediate needs. The country has identified a range of "vanguard industries" as crucial for future dominance. These include brain-computer interfaces, the metaverse, next-generation internet infrastructure, quantum computing, and deep-sea and aerospace technologies.

Jin also highlights establishing national manufacturing innovation centers dedicated to emerging fields like biomanufacturing.

The Powerhouse of Manufacturing

China's manufacturing sector remains a cornerstone of its economy. In 2023, manufacturing contributed 26.2% to China's GDP, representing roughly one-third of the world's total manufacturing output. "Strategic" emerging industries currently account for 13% of GDP, showcasing immense potential for future growth.

Jin says that established industries like iron and steel are not considered "low-end" sectors for elimination. Instead, they are recognized as the foundation of the modern industrial system and require focused transformation and upgrades.

Nurturing Champions: Cultivating Leaders in Emerging Fields

While fostering innovation is crucial, China also recognizes the vital role of established industry leaders.

Jin outlines plans to further enhance technology within advantageous industries like new energy vehicles and photovoltaics. Market expansion and cultivating leading enterprises are also prioritized in sectors like artificial intelligence, the low-altitude economy (drone technology), and new materials. These initiatives aim to fuel comprehensive industrial upgrades.

Foreign Investment and Market Access

What's good with China is that it acknowledges the importance of international collaboration and market access. Earlier this year, the country announced it would remove restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing.

Telecommunications market access is open to foreign companies in strategic locations such as Beijing. This commitment to openness is further evidenced by over 2,000 foreign telecommunications businesses operating in China as of June 2024.

Ambition and Reform Drive Growth

China's economic and technology leadership aspirations are further fueled by the upcoming third plenary session of the Central Committee scheduled for July 15-18, per Nikkei Asia.

This important event is expected to set ambitious goals for the next decade, propelling China's journey towards becoming a global tech leader. This could also mean surpassing the current powerhouse in the tech space, the United States.

A UN report stated that the US lagged behind China in generative AI patent applications.
A colossal feat of engineering has taken place in the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), extending the life of a vital oil field by 40 years.

Interestingly, this feat was made possible by the largest crane vessel, the semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV).

Heerema's Mega Crane Installs Jacket for Field Redevelopment

Dutch marine contractor Heerema Marine Contractors played a starring role in this project. They deployed the world's largest crane vessel, a semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV), to install a massive 90-meter-long jacket on the seabed of the Fenris offshore field located within the Valhall area.

Sanctioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, the Valhall PWP-Fenris project breathes new life into the Valhall oil field, first discovered in 1975. The project targets a reservoir located at a depth of 2,400 meters, unlocking significant untapped potential.

The installed jacket acts as the backbone of the field's extended lifespan. It provides crucial structural support, enabling continued oil extraction for another 40 years. The gigantic SSCV played a vital role in this process, carefully lifting and positioning the jacket onto the seabed.

According to Interesting Engineering, the project officially entered the construction phase in September 2023, when the first steel plate for the Valhall PWP was cut at Aker Solutions' Stord yard.

The plan involves drilling 19 wells, 15 of which will be located at Valhall PWP and the remaining four at Fenris.

Related Article: A Couple of New England Offshore Wind Farms Gets Approval to Operate

Minimizing Emissions with Shore Power

The project prioritizes sustainability. Instead of traditional gas turbines, the Valhall PWP-Fenris development leverages the existing power-from-shore system at Valhall. This smart approach significantly reduces emissions, estimated to be less than 1 kg CO2/boe.

Production from the Fenris field will significantly enhance Valhall's gas processing capacity. This translates to a substantial increase in gas exports from Valhall to Europe via the existing Norpipe pipeline.

The crane vessel will be instrumental in installing additional large offshore structures as part of the project. These include a five-story topside module measuring an impressive 55 meters tall and 54 meters long and weighing approximately 4,800 tonnes.

The jacket itself stands 90 meters tall and is secured by 68-meter piles driven deep into the seabed. Reports indicate that after the grout securing the jacket hardened, an 800-metric-ton PDM (process and utility module) was lifted and welded into place.

The project represents a collaborative effort by industry giants. In January 2024, Worley Rosenberg's facility in Stavanger, Norway, commenced work on the first steel for the utility module destined for the Valhall field center.

"The Valhall PWP will be transported from Worley Rosenberg to Aker Solutions' Stord yard for further hook-up to the production modules before sailing away in summer 2026," Offshore Energy reports.

The massive 16,000-ton Valhall PWP production platform will be constructed at Stord, while the 9,500-ton steel jacket, mirroring the Fenris unmanned platform, will be transported from Verdal.

Aker Solutions: Delivering Subsea Expertise

Aker Solutions plays a key role by providing significant subsea equipment and modifications for the Valhall PWP-Fenris project. ProSep, a renowned provider of produced water solutions and technologies, also contributes to the project.

Jacek Kacperski, ProSep's Sales Manager for Europe, expressed his enthusiasm about supplying the PWT system for the new Valhall platform.

He said the latest contract allows them to implement their leading CTour process onto the new platform's water treatment system. This technology ensures fresh water that passes Norwegian regulations.

The Valhall PWP-Fenris project showcases the power of collaboration and innovation within the oil and gas industry. It's hitting two birds with one stone: it extends the life of a mature field while prioritizing sustainability in the North Sea.
In the fast-changing world of retail, Amazon has always been a trailblazer. However, breaking into the luxury market has been challenging. Now, Amazon aims to revolutionize its approach by investing in Neiman Marcus, combining innovation with tradition to explore new opportunities in high-end retail.

Amazon Taking a New Approach to the Luxury Market

Amazon, known for revolutionizing retail over the past two decades, has struggled to penetrate the luxury goods sector. The online giant is now attempting a fresh strategy by acquiring a small stake in Neiman Marcus.

Amazon will offer data and logistics services to support Neiman Marcus and its new owner, Saks Fifth Avenue. Saks Fifth Avenue and its parent company, HBC, announced the $2.65 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus, which includes Bergdorf Goodman.

The Wall Street Journal reported that this move consolidates the biggest US luxury retailers under one umbrella. Amazon's involvement in the deal, which is still pending regulatory approval, will be minor. The company will be an investor to innovate "on behalf of customers and brands partners," according to HBC's statement released on Thursday.

Saks CEO Marc Metrick emphasized the importance of technology in maintaining the relevance of luxury brands like Saks, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman. Amazon's role will involve collecting and analyzing customer data to provide personalized shopping experiences and enhance logistics to future-proof these iconic brands.

Amazon has long sought entry into the luxury retail, but leading brands have consistently resisted. In 2016, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which owns Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, and other prestigious labels, said that Amazon's business model does not align with its brand values.

As a result, LVMH maintains its presence exclusively through its stores, select retailers like Neiman Marcus, and its website. Amazon's track record in physical retail is mixed.

While its acquisition of Whole Foods has been a success, its cashierless Amazon Go stores have not gained significant traction. Saks' parent company, HBC, has acquired Neiman Marcus, and Amazon is now part of an organization projected to generate $10 billion in annual sales.

The size of Amazon's investment remains undisclosed, but this move seems to be a safer bet compared to its previous, more experimental ventures in physical retail.

Department Stores Face Increasing Challenges

The merger of Saks and Neiman Marcus comes when department stores are under growing pressure from sluggish sales. Lord & Taylor, previously owned by HBC until 2019, filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and has since transitioned to an online-only operation.

Macy's is closing 150 stores while also dealing with activist investors, and the Nordstrom family is trying to take their company private again. At the luxury end of the market, Saks and Neiman Marcus face challenges from powerful suppliers.

These chains introduced European luxury brands to affluent American consumers a century ago. Many luxury brands are now bypassing department stores to sell directly to customers through their stores and websites.

Some of these brands, like those owned by LVMH, have become so influential that their executives rank among the world's wealthiest individuals.
Throughout July and in the past months, Bitcoin has winded up and down the charts, and this time, it saw a massive crash down to as low as $53,000, its lowest since earlier this year. One of the critical reasons that prompted this crash was the long-awaited repayments from Mt. Gox, and once that took place, it led to massive changes in the blockchain.

For a long time, Bitcoin has been struggling to increase its numbers, but this recent crash is one of the most devastating for the year it was supposed to bounce back.

Bitcoin Crash: Will It Go Under $50,000 Amidst Market Struggles?

Bitcoin came crashing down over this entire week. Starting from its highest value last Monday at $62,000, it is now at its lowest, sitting at $56,000, according to Forbes. In its current state, Bitcoin closed the week at $56k, seeing as much as a 6.73 percent decline over the past week when it started its July.

However, Bitcoin's lowest point dipped to around $53,000 throughout its crash but climbed back to a higher valuation when it closed on Friday.

It also affected other coins, like Ethereum, which is now at $2,900, with a larger 11.7 percent decline, Solana, and all the other coins making up as much as $2 trillion market capitalization after recording $3 trillion last March.

Read Also: Binance Offers Rewards for Reporting Suspicious Activity to Boost Platform Safety

Gox's Repayments Prompted BTC, Crypto Crash

According to Forbes, one of the main reasons for Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry's decline was Mt. Gox's repayment, which took place on July 5. Creditors got the coins and Bitcoin cash they were owed. As much as 50,000 BTC worth $2.7 billion was believed to have been spotted on Mt. Gox's account and later distributed to creditors.

Experts claim that further repayments may lead to more Bitcoin crashes.

Gox and Bitcoin

A decade ago, one of the most significant downfalls of a crypto exchange company, with a particular focus on Bitcoin, took place with Mt. Gox, and the company was then and there, dead on water. During that time, the Japanese government denied its request for the equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, preventing it from rebuilding.

It is also known that during this time, Mt. Gox was hacked, and these bad actors also spilled the beans on the company, going as far as to call them a fraud. At one point during their collapse, the company reported missing as much as 200,000 Bitcoins in its holdings, already amounting to a massive fortune back then. Hackers revealed that massive holdings of BTC were still in their books.

The fall of Mt. Gox was a devastating blow to the entire cryptocurrency industry. The company was known for upholding BTC and mainly centering on the coin, but the massive fiasco left customers high and dry. Earlier this year, Mt. Gox started repaying customers, creditors, and investors, but the following months have now taken a toll on Bitcoin again.
DAMASCUS, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian on his election as president of Iran.

In his congratulatory message, Assad highlighted Syria's commitment to strengthening the strategic relationship with Iran and wished the president-elect "success in all endeavors that safeguard Iran's security, stability, and resilience," Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

He said Iran is a "resilient country," and Syria has attached the greatest importance to "maintaining the highest level of relations" with Iran.

The two countries have enjoyed enduring and significant ties rooted in decades of mutual respect, shared understanding, and steadfast principles, Assad noted, expressing his willingness to work with Pezeshkian to bolster the strategic Syrian-Iranian relations and to open promising horizons for bilateral cooperation. 
Beryl heads for Texas after causing damage, no deaths in Mexico



Tulum, Mexico, July 5 (AFP) Jul 05, 2024



Beryl weakened to a tropical storm Friday after hitting Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, with fierce winds causing material damage but no injuries along the tourist-rich Yucatan Peninsula.

Now headed for the Gulf of Mexico, Beryl is expected to intensify as it moves toward northeastern Mexico and the US state of Texas by the end of the week, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).

After tearing through the Caribbean and coastal Venezuela leaving seven people dead, the storm hit southeast Mexico in the early morning hours with winds of up to 175 kilometers (108 miles) per hour.

It flattened trees and lampposts and ripped off roof tiles, according to Mexico's civil protection authority.

Electricity was lost in at least three municipalities in the southeastern Quintana Roo state as Beryl moved deeper inland and weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm.

"On the initial reports, there appears to be no loss of life, and that is what matters most to us," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in his daily press briefing.

Mexico's emergency authorities later told reporters there were no injuries or deaths, nor damage to critical infrastructure such as roads and the water system.

Electricity had been 70 percent restored and would be fully recovered by Sunday, civil protection chief Laura Velazquez said.

About 2,200 people had sought cover at temporary shelters and more than 25,600 security force members and employees of the CFE electricity agency were deployed to help residents and repair damage.

As a precaution, 348 flights were cancelled at Cancun airport, the largest terminal in the Mexican Caribbean.

By Friday afternoon, state governor Mara Lezama said the airport had resumed service.



- Re-intensification -



The NHC said Beryl weakened from a Category 2 hurricane to Category 1 by the time she hit Yucatan -- milder than earlier in the week when it left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean and parts of Venezuela.

It added Beryl would continue to weaken while crossing the peninsula, but "re-intensification is expected once the center moves back over the Gulf of Mexico."

The NHC said the storm is forecast to regain hurricane status on Sunday.

Ahead of Beryl's arrival Friday, hundreds of tourists were evacuated from hotels along the Mexican coast.

The army, which deployed some 8,000 troops to Tulum, said it has food supplies and 34,000 liters of purified water to distribute to the population.

The army also set up a soup kitchen in Tulum for people who cannot return home due to flooding or blocked roads.

Alvaro Rueda, a 51-year-old bricklayer, told AFP his neighborhood had already started clearing up after the storm's passage.

"Most of the stores are already open... we have purchased food, even if it is canned, there is food," he said.

Beryl is the first hurricane since NHC records began to reach the Category 4 level in June, and the earliest to hit the highest Category 5 in July.

It is extremely rare for such a powerful storm to form this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November.

Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms like Beryl, since there is more energy in a warmer ocean for them to feed on.

North Atlantic waters are currently between two and five degrees Fahrenheit (1-3 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
California fires spread in July 4 weekend heat wave



Mariposa, United States, July 6 (AFP) Jul 06, 2024



California firefighters battled multiple blazes in record heat Friday, with a new fire breaking out near the famous Yosemite National Park even as a larger inferno further north came under control.

Temperatures up to 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius) were recorded in the western US state Friday, as the region's latest heat wave nears its peak.

"Dangerous heat is likely to become more widespread in the West today and Saturday... Temperatures will be 15-30 degrees above average for much of the West Coast today," warned the National Weather Service.

"Widespread temperature records are expected to be tied or broken," the NWS said.

The excessive heat comes on the July 4 weekend, when millions of Americans celebrate the anniversary of their nation's independence with displays of fireworks that can spark blazes in hot, dry conditions.

A fast-moving fire erupted just outside Yosemite National Park late Thursday, causing large parts of the former Gold Rush town of Mariposa to be evacuated.

By Friday afternoon, the fire had burnt nearly 1,000 acres (405 hectares) and was 15 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

"Winds have calmed which has helped firefighters make progress overnight," it said.

Some residents had been allowed to return to their homes. The fire's cause was not yet known.

There was also progress in northern California, where earlier this week thousands of people were ordered to evacuate from the Thompson Fire near Oroville.

Despite some of the region's highest temperatures, firefighters reported success in containing the blaze, with some evacuation orders lifted.

Still, fire officials and forecasters warned that the danger is far from over, with high temperatures expected to spread further and to peak Saturday.

"The duration of this heat is also concerning as scorching above average temperatures are forecast to linger into next week," warned the NWS.

Climate scientists say the western US is undergoing a decades-long aridification as weather patterns change, at least in part because of human-caused global warming.
ISLAMABAD, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan has achieved a significant milestone in agricultural sector with agro-exports reaching an unprecedented 8 billion U.S. dollars mark for the first time in previous fiscal year from July 2023 to June 2024, Pakistani Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan said Saturday.

The achievement underscores the collective efforts of traders, farmers, the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan and the commerce ministry, Kamal was quoted as saying in a statement released by the ministry.

The minister emphasized that the remarkable improvement demonstrates the sector's vast potential and reaffirmed the government's commitment to further enhancing it.

Adding to the optimism, the second Agro Show in near future in Pakistan has garnered significant attention, attracting numerous foreign companies interested in the country's agricultural products, said the statement.

This event is poised to open new avenues for international collaborations and investments, further bolstering Pakistan's agro-economy, it added. 
Airports, Wall Street and Olympics in crosshairs of climate activists



Paris, July 6 (AFP) Jul 06, 2024



Climate activists in the United States and Europe are planning protests at airports, banks and the Olympic Games in a summer of stunts they have defended as necessary even if their tactics differ.

From blocking highways to spray painting jets and the megaliths at Stonehenge, and throwing food at artworks, some climate activists have turned to more provocative tactics since the Covid-19 pandemic put an abrupt end to the mass marches spurred by Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future movement.

The last 12 months have been the hottest ever recorded and with swathes of the world blanketed in extreme heat, campaigners have heavy-polluting corporations and business interests in their sights.

A22 Network, an alliance of activist groups committed to non-violent protest, said it was planning to disrupt airports in eight countries over the northern hemisphere summer.

Protests are planned in the UK, Austria, Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, US, Scotland and Norway, UK-based activists from the alliance told AFP.

Global aviation is responsible for around 2.5 percent of global carbon emissions, more than the annual carbon footprint of Brazil and France combined.

"Our resistance will put the spotlight on the heaviest users of fossil fuels and call everyone into action with us," Just Stop Oil, one of the groups that embraced more controversial forms of protests, said in a statement.

UK police said they pre-emptively arrested 27 supporters from Just Stop Oil before the protest had even begun under laws that make it illegal to conspire to disrupt national infrastructure.

But Gabriella Ditton, a spokesperson for the group, said the arrests hadn't deterred them.

"While we face the massive crisis that we are in, we can't stop," she told AFP.

They are demanding governments sign the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, which seeks a halt to the expansion of fossil fuels and the phasing out of coal, oil and gas.



- 'More visible, less disruptive' -



In the US, activists have been targeting Wall Street and barricading the entrances to major banks and firms that finance, insure and invest in fossil fuel companies.

Organisers of "The Summer of Heat" campaign have vowed "joyful, relentless non-violent direct action to end fossil fuel financing" over the coming months.

Notably in Europe, Extinction Rebellion (XR), once notorious for shutting down bridges over the Thames River in London, have shifted their main focus from mass civil disobedience to building an inclusive grassroots movement.

This summer, they are calling on governments in the UK and France to establish citizen assemblies on climate and nature, while picketing the companies insuring the fossil fuel industry.

Gail Bradbrook, XR's co-founder, told AFP their new-look approach to climate activism strived "to reach more mainstream folks" and do "the deeper work of local organising".

They are, however, planning "mass occupations" over the summer -- including one at the start of the Olympic Games opening in Paris on 26 July.

Organisers in France say this could last several days but would be "more visible than disruptive", but have not offered further planning details.



- 'Make people mad' -



Which approach is best at grabbing attention -- and which is better at driving change -- has been the subject of debate, particularly following polarising stunts targeting famous landmarks.

When two Just Stop Oil activists threw orange cornflour on Stonehenge in June "they got a heck more media attention than by spraying paint on airfields," said Dana Fisher, a sociologist at American University in Washington DC.

The goal of these "shock" actions "is to make people mad", Fisher said. The more people talked about the protest, the more they discussed the climate issue, she added.

Several studies in the UK and Germany showed that public concern about climate change stayed the same -- or even increased -- after acts of civil disobedience even if most people were unsupportive of such stunts.

"Historically, there is substantial evidence that shows that the radical flank drives support for the cause and moderate factions," said Fisher.

But between "glueing yourself to something, blocking a bank or throwing soup, which is more effective, we do not know yet," she added.

For Jamie Henn, co-founder of campaign group 350.org and director of Fossil Free Media, "confrontational tactics work best when they're confronting the source of the problem".

"Mainstreaming the idea that we can finally go fossil free needs to be a top priority for the climate movement," he said.

Laura Thomas-Walters, a social scientist at the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, said political change was achieved "by targeting the people of power propping up the status quo, and we need to do it in a sustained way".
Starmer begins UK 'rebuild' after landslide election win



London, July 6 (AFP) Jul 06, 2024



Newly elected UK prime minister Keir Starmer on Saturday began his first full day in charge with a meeting of his cabinet after his Labour party's landslide election win ended 14 years of Conservative rule.

Starmer held his first cabinet meeting at 11:00 am (1000 GMT), with Britain's first woman finance minister Rachel Reeves and new foreign minister David Lammy in attendance.

The Labour leader spent his first hours in Downing Street on Friday appointing his ministerial team, hours after securing his centre-left party's return to power with a whopping 174-seat majority in the UK parliament.

"The work of change begins immediately," Starmer said Friday shortly after being confirmed as prime minister by King Charles III and flag-waving crowds of cheering Labour activists welcomed him to Downing Street.

"But have no doubt, we will rebuild Britain", he added.

Reiterating his five key "missions" for government in his maiden speech, the 61-year-old vowed to get the state-run National Health Service "back on its feet", ensure "secure borders" and safer streets.

But daunting challenges await his government, including a stagnating economy, creaking public services and households suffering from a years-long cost-of-living crisis.

"Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while," Starmer said.



- 'Historic' result -



World leaders lined up to congratulate the new British leader.

Starmer spoke by phone with US President Joe Biden and "discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US and their aligned ambitions for greater economic growth", according to London.

He also spoke to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

However, former -- and potentially future -- US president Donald Trump ignored Starmer, instead hailing the electoral breakthrough of his ally Nigel Farage's far-right Reform UK party.

Its capture of five seats and around 14 percent of the vote, alongside Farage becoming an MP on his eighth attempt, was one of the stories of the election.

But it paled in comparison to Labour's triumphs, after the party neared its record of 418 seats under ex-leader Tony Blair in 1997 by winning 412.

The Conservatives suffered their worst-ever defeat, capturing just 121 constituencies, prompting Rishi Sunak to apologise to the nation and confirm that he will resign as Tory leader once a successor is selected.

Former leader William Hague, a Sunak mentor who represented the same northern English constituency until 2015, conceded it was "a catastrophic result in historic terms".

A record 12 senior ex-government ministers lost their seats, alongside former prime minister Liz Truss, whose economically calamitous short-lived tenure in 2022 wounded the party irreparably ahead of the election.

It is now poised for another period of infighting between a moderate wing eager for a centrist leader and those who may be willing to court Farage as a new leader.



- 'Challenges' -



The election also saw the centrist Liberal Democrats make their biggest gains in around a century, claiming more than 70 seats to become the third largest party in parliament.

But it was a dismal contest for the pro-independence Scottish National Party, which was virtually obliterated in Scotland. It dropped from 48 seats to just nine, with one still to declare early Saturday.

The Green Party had its best general election, quadrupling its MPs count to four.

Meanwhile an unprecedented six independent lawmakers were elected -- four of them defeating Labour candidates in districts with large Muslim populations and campaigns centred around the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Delight within Labour at its seats landslide will be restrained by recognition that it only secured around 34 percent of the vote -- a drop on 2019 and the lowest ever to secure a majority.

Meanwhile turnout, at just below 60 percent, was the lowest since 2001, suggesting widespread apathy.

"While this shouldn't overshadow Labour's victory today, it may point to some challenges Labour may face," Chris Hopkins, political research director at the pollster Savanta, said of those factors.

"Simply put, they likely won't be able to return 400-plus MPs (in the) next election with less than 40 percent of the vote."
NEW DELHI, July 6 (Xinhua) -- At least 19 people were killed and seven others injured due to lightning strike in India's eastern state of Bihar, state-run broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) said Saturday.

Heavy rains and thunderstorms accompanied by lightning strikes lashed the state during the past 24 hours affecting 10 districts.

Reports said most casualties occurred when lightning struck people working in fields and taking shelter under trees during the rain.

India Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for the next 24 hours, predicting heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning in the northern, southeast, and south-central parts of Bihar.

Every year with the onset of monsoon season hundreds die in lightning incidents in India. 
IAN ALLAN DAWES May 24, 1930-June 1, 2024

Ian Dawes, from a family that has produced four generations of journalists, has died at Maldon in central Victoria, at 94.

Son of Allan Dawes, a war correspondent in WWII, the shrewd, gentle Dawes learnt his craft in a startling range of publications  Mountain District Free Press (Dandenong Ranges); Labor Call (where he met his wife, Irene Lovegrove;) Radio Australia in Melbourne and Canberra, The Geelong Advertiser, The Argus Melbourne, The Herald Melbourne, and the Daily Telegraph Sydney.

That hard-won experience prepared him to tell Australias story abroad when in 1959 he joined the Australian News and Information Bureau, later the Australian Information Service (AIS).

For 29 years he served as a public affairs officer in Australian embassies or high commissions in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Stockholm, London and Washington. Respected as a calm professional, he also served as AIS editor, and manager of the Sydney office.
In the border community of Albury-Wodonga, the waiting list for planned surgery is already the worst in regional Victoria.

Now the local health service  like many across the state  is bracing for budget cuts after it was told by the state government to find millions of dollars in savings.

Better Border Health director Michelle Cowan wants the Victorian and NSW governments to reconsider their hospital redevelopment plans. Credit: Jason Robins

And while a half a billion-dollar redevelopment of the areas hospital  funded by the Victorian and NSW governments  is in the works, it too has become the symbol of frustration.

Residents and healthcare professionals say it will fall far short of the regions growing needs.
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 Self-styled weight loss guru Patrick Naegeli allegedly sat at the dining room table of his flashy millionaire friend last September, handed him a manila folder and imparted an ominous message: Its come to this. Inside the folder was the transcript of an intimate conversation between the pair that Naegeli had secretly recorded three months earlier, in which his friend bragged about how much money he had spent partying with sex workers, police say. The friend, who held an extensive portfolio of luxury homes dotted across Melbournes inner-east worth tens of millions of dollars, had a family with no idea of his extramarital activities. Naegeli put this to him at one of those homes: think wide streets, mansions with cut lawns and Teslas zipping by outside. This is incriminating information about you, Naegeli allegedly told his friend, according to a police brief of evidence filed in court and released to this masthead. Im going to tell you what I want for this information to go away. Naegelis alleged plan was simple: he would buy a property from his friend for $2 million instead of the $9 million it was worth. The remaining $7 million would act as insurance for his friend and his familys safety. If his friend refused to comply, Naegeli would send the incriminating folder to the mans wife. The alleged blackmail plot was initiated in the months after a separate failed legal bid undertaken by Naegeli. A weight-loss guru and co-founder of the Human Enhancement Project with his mother, Naegeli had mixed with the affluent in Sydney and Melbourne and sought to insert himself into the upper echelons of societal power. But within days of the alleged blackmail, police raided Naegelis home, where they say they found the manila folder, two covert recorders, several phones, and hundreds of tablets and vials of steroids and testosterone  some designed for horses  stashed alongside a haul of opioid painkillers inside the walk-in robe and a safe in the garage.

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Details of Naegelis alleged failed blackmail attempt were revealed during a recent hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court, where the 39-year-olds lawyers unsuccessfully fought to have his identity suppressed. But those close to Naegeli detected something was off. At the end of the day, this guys alright, but hes got a dark side, a former friend, speaking anonymously to protect their identity, said. Hes got a dual personality. This masthead approached Naegeli and his mother for comment, but did not receive a response. Patricks journey A central part of the weight loss and fitness guru industry is the mythology of transformation: the personal journey which allows an individual to change from one person to another. The before and after narrative to go with the before and after photos. Self-styled weight loss guru Patrick Naegeli in the early 2010s. Naegeli lays out his story on a website for his business, Switch Superfoods, in a now-deleted tell-all personal narrative. Switch sold pouches of an All Natural, Vegan Friendly Superfood that Naegeli called revolutionary.

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Entitled Patricks Journey, in the story on the website, Naegeli says he had struggled with irritable bowel syndrome his entire life, which developed into poor eating habits and caused him to gain so much weight that he couldnt weigh ... on regular scales. This was a wake-up call, he told potential buyers. Naegeli set up his business through Tom Kotsimbos, who also established shell companies for drug kingpin Tony Mokbel, accused money launderers Tom Karas and Irene Meletsis, and members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club. In doing so, this masthead does not suggest that Kotsimbos has done anything illegal. Naegeli sold the shakes, which carry the appearance of green sludge, to people across wealthy pockets in Melbournes inner-eastern suburbs. With about 10,000 followers on Instagram, the business wasnt hugely successful, but paved the way for his next extravagant venture. The Human Enhancement Project In September 2013, a decade before the alleged blackmail, Naegeli and his mother, Dita, set up an unrelated entity called the Human Enhancement Project. Incorporation documents obtained by this masthead show the venture had the prime intent of improving the quality and quantity of life for all humankind through lifestyle, nutrition, exercise, supplementation or implementing scientific breakthroughs.

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He gave himself the title of Development Primary, his mother Communications Primary, and opened a bank account. Since experiencing my own health issues some years back, I developed an interest in regenerative medicine and health  I have been seeking ways to make more of a positive impact in the world, Naegeli deposed in a lawsuit involving the company. Seeking research funding, Naegeli met world-renowned art collector John Schaeffer and partner Charles Blinkworth, and a business they were associated with, CRB Investment Holdings. John Schaeffer at the Bonnington residence he once owned in the Sydney suburb of Bellevue Hill. The pair wooed him with promises of wild returns. Blinkworth dazzled him with a Lamborghini, dropped $500 on lunch paired with a $500 bottle of wine, and promised Naegeli that such luxuries awaited him on the other side of their deal. Schaeffer bragged that a wing at the Art Gallery of NSW was named after me. Naegeli was initially asked to put up $20 million, but eventually they settled on $500,000. The money was lent to CRB on the agreement the company would pay it back at 1200 per cent per annum. How is that even possible, 100 per cent per month, Naegeli said at the time, did I hear right?

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Schaeffer and Blinkworth both died in 2020, within six months of each other, in unrelated circumstances before the sum could be paid back. Naegeli took legal action through the Supreme Court of NSW against their estates, claiming $6.5 million. In a judgment handed down in May last year, Naegeli admitted he might have been duped when he went to Blinkworths funeral in February 2020 and saw photos of the family absent of extravagant displays of wealth. Just the photos were standard family sort of photos ... like there was nothing fancy about it ... it was like I was at somebody elses funeral, he told Justice James Stevenson during the civil trial. The Lamborghini, he figured, may have been rented. Stevenson pondered Naegelis role in the scheme, saying he appeared to be an unsophisticated investor, someone unworldly and commercially naive. Naegeli got his money back, with a much lower rate of interest, but failed to claw back the $6.5 million he sought, the court ruled. CRB went into administration in 2022. In the months after the judges ruling last year, Naegeli was back in Melbourne and put his alleged blackmail plan in motion.

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Robert Harrison, suffering final stage cancer, had a last wish  he wanted to go for a spin in a powerful sports car. He was in rare luck.

Harrison, of Coolaroo in Melbournes northern suburbs, lives in palliative care at the Northern Hospital Epping.

Robert Harrison, a patient at the Northern Health Palliative Care Unit, whose last wish was a drive in a sports car. Oncologist Jaclyn Yoong helped him fulfil his dream. Credit: Eddie Jim

And Jaclyn Yoong, an associate professor in oncology and palliative care at the hospital, happens to be a sports car enthusiast.

She owns two Porsches and a Lotus Elise.
Moscow: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held talks on a potential Ukrainian peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, angering some European Union leaders who warned against appeasing Moscow and said he did not speak for the EU.

Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc on Monday. Five days in and Orban has visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and formed the Patriots for Europe alliance with other right-wing nationalists.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shake hands during a meeting in Moscow, Russia. Credit: AP

Then he went to Moscow on a peace mission, days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine against what the Western defence alliance has called Russias unprovoked war of aggression.

It was the first meeting of an EU leader with Putin in Moscow since April 2022, two months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Orbans first since then, although the two have met elsewhere.
CAIRO, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Egypt will host Israeli and U.S. delegations to discuss the "outstanding points" regarding a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip, Egypt's Al-Qahera News TV channel reported on Saturday, without revealing the specific timing of the meeting.

Egypt has been holding intensive meetings with relevant parties this week to advance efforts to reach a truce agreement in the Gaza Strip, said the report, citing a high-ranking security source.

The anonymous source affirmed that Egypt has also maintained communication with the Hamas movement as part of the efforts to facilitate a ceasefire agreement and the exchange of detainees and prisoners.

Israel launched a massive offensive in the Gaza Strip following a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others taken hostage.

Since the offensive began, Egypt, Qatar, and the United States have been making efforts to reach a truce and a prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas. 
16 Rohingyas held in Tripura for illegally entering India





AGARTALA :

AT LEAST 16 Rohingyas, including seven women, were arrested in Tripura for allegedly entering India from Bangladesh without valid documents, police said. Acting on a tip-off, police apprehended 11 suspected Rohingyas at Dharmangar Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) in North Tripura district on Thursday evening, Dharmanagar police station OC Himadri Sarkar said. During interrogation, it was found that the 11 people had crossed the international border from a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh and were awaiting transportation to Guwahati by bus.

We arrested them and presented them before a local court, Sarkar told PTI over the phone. Seven juveniles were also detained for illegally entering Indian territory, he added. In a separate incident in North Tripuras Churaibari area earlier during the day, police intercepted a Guwahati-bound bus and requested passengers to verify their identities. Five Rohingyas among them failed to produce nationality proof, a senior officer said.

They were detained initially for questioning. During interrogation, the five admitted to coming from a camp in Bangladesh and planning to travel to Hyderabad via Guwahati, said Pritimoy Chakma, second officer-in-charge at Churabari police station. They had crossed the international border through Boxangar in Tripuras Sepahijala district, Chakma added. In response to multiple infiltration cases, Chief Minister Manik Saha had convened a high-level meeting with security agencies on Thursday. I met with the BSF and other agencies to address issues related to human trafficking, smuggling, and other border crimes. Weve instructed them to take stringent measures to halt illegal activities along the India-Bangladesh border. The state government will provide full support for these efforts, Saha stated in a social media post.
GAZA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 Palestinians were killed, most of them children and women, in an Israeli bombing of a school sheltering displaced people in the Nuseirat area in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday afternoon, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

The Al-Jaouni school was bombed for the third time since the onset of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, WAFA said.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the report about the incident, according to Israeli media.

In a statement on Saturday, the Hamas-run Gaza government media office said the attacked school sheltered about 7,000 displaced people, adding that since the outbreak of the conflict, the Israeli army has bombed more than 17 schools and displacement and shelter centers inside the Nuseirat refugee camp.

UN statistics estimated earlier this week that the number of people internally displaced within Gaza has risen to 1.9 million people, or about nine out of ten people in the Strip.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 29 people and wounded 100 others, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Saturday morning. Among those killed were five local journalists, raising the death toll of journalists since Oct. 7 to 158, according to the media office.

The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has reached 38,098, with 87,705 injuries since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out in early October 2023, according to health authorities in Gaza. 
Big revelation by IM terrorist ATS takes him onfive-day remand





BHOPAL :

THE officers of the Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), who arrested Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorist Faizan from Khandwa on Thursday, made a big revelation during the interrogation. According to the information, the police recovered a pistol along with some pamphlets related to ISIS and Indian Mujahideen from Faizan who was caught from Ward-11 of Khandwa. Faizan had stayed in many parts of the country, including Kolkata and Kashmir. The ATS took Faizan on five-day remand, said Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav. It is being told Faizan was running terrorist activities from the city itself, due to which ATS was constantly keeping an eye on him. Not only this, Faizan who was caught was also following people associated with terrorist ideology through social media. This is the reason why he used to spread things related to inflammatory literature on his social media account. During this, Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav has also lauded ATS for this success saying our police is vigilant and alert. While talking to the media, CM Yadav said that many evidences related to ISIS have also been found with him.

He also used to follow such videos, for which many types of evidence have also been found. This terrorist was a threat to India, he said. At the same time, the CM Yadav said that arms and dangerous literature have also been recovered from him, due to which he could have been a threat to Indias security. Along with this, praising the police, he said that ATS has done a good job and Madhya Pradesh Police has averted a major incident from happening.

Notably, Faizan was planningalonewolfattackonthe security forces.We have also come in contact with the security agencies of the GovernmentofIndia.Weare also informing them that through this, information should also be gathered about the big networks of international level,CMsaid. Success in catching a big terrorist:CMYadav said that the MP Police orthe administrationofMadhyaPradesh will not tolerate any kind of incident. This is the reason that we have succeeded in catching a big terrorist and we have also understood all the secrets related to him.At the same time, the CM expressed hope that the police action will break the backbone of their terrorist network. The police is fully capable of fighting any such incident.I wouldlike tocongratulate the police personnel and hope that they will maintain this vigilance. Dr MohanYadav said that when we take action against such people, some call us Hinduterrorists.Theyshould learnalessonfromsuchincidents. It is because of such incidents thatthesecurityof the country is in danger. I hopethatthepolicewillcontinuetotakeactionwithcaution. There are many things inthis incident.Itisnot right to spill allthe beans publicly in view of the sensitivity of the matter, he said.
Defence production at record high of Rs 1.27 lakh cr





NEW DELHI :

INDIAS annual defence production has hit a record high of approximately Rs 1.27 lakh crore in 2023-24, with the Make in India programme crossing new milestones, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday. The value of defence production in FY 2022-23 was Rs 1,08,684 crore. Welcoming the encouraging development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, Compliments to all those who have contributed to this feat. We are fully committed to nurturing a supportive environment to further enhance our capabilities and establish India as a leading global defence manufacturing hub.

This will enhance our security apparatus and make us Aatmanirbhar! he said on X. Singh said the Government is committed to creating a more conducive regime for developing India as a leading global defence manufacturing hub. MoD has achieved the highest-ever growth in indigenous defence production in value terms during financial year (FY) 2023-24, on the back of successful implementation of the policies and initiatives of the Government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, focussing on achieving Aatmanirbharta, the Ministry said in a statement. The annual defence production has hit a record high of approximately Rs 1.27 lakh crore in 2023-24, it said. As per the data received from all Defence Public Sector undertakings (DPSUs), other PSUs manufacturing defence items and private companies, the value of defence production in the country has gone up to a record-high figure, i.E., Rs 1,26,887 crore, reflecting a growth of 16.7 per cent over the defence production of the previous financial year, the statement said.

Singh congratulated the Indian industry, including defence public sector undertakings and other public sector undertakings manufacturing defence items, and the private industry for the feat. The Make in India programme is crossing new milestones, year after year, under the leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi, he said. India has registered the highest ever growth in the value of defence production in 2023-24. The value of production has reached to Rs. 1,26,887 crore in 2023-24 which is 16.8 per cent higher than the value of production of previous financial year, he wrote on X. The Defence Ministry said that of the total value of production (VoP) in 2023-24, about 79.2 per cent has been contributed by DPSUs/other PSUs and 20.8 per cent by the private sector. The data shows that in terms of absolute value, both DPSUs/PSUs and private sector have recorded a steady growth in defence production, the statement said. The feat has been achieved due to the policy reforms and initiatives and ease of doing business brought in by the government in the last 10 years with focus on attaining self-reliance, the Ministry said.

The indigenisation efforts have been pursued aggressively on a sustained basis, that resulted in the highest ever VoP. Moreover, the spiralling defence exports have contributed tremendously to the overall growth in the indigenous defence production, the statement said. Defence exports touched a record-high of Rs 21,083 crore in FY 2023-24, reflecting a growth of 32.5 per cent over the last fiscal when the figure was Rs 15,920 crore, it added. In the last five years (since 2019-20), the value of defence production has been increasing steadily, and grown by over 60 per cent, the statement said and also shared year-wise data in this period.
Govt, industry to discuss ways to promotegrowth of Indian toy sector on July 8

Toy Association of India Senior Vice-President Naresh Kumar Gautam said the Government has already taken a series of steps to boost the growth of the sector

To showcase domestic products, an international fair is being organised from July 6-9 here at Pragati Maidan

GOVERNMENT officials and industry will hold a detailed discussions on ways to further boost domestic manufacturing and exports of toys on July 8, an official said. The meeting is organised by Invest India, an arm of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), in collaboration with the Toy Association of India. The main issues that would figure in the meeting include growingopportunitiesandregulatory developments in the toy sector to chartapath forward; making India a global toy hub; and ways to integrate Indian toy manufacturers in the global supply chain.

Toy Association of India Senior Vice-President Naresh Kumar Gautam said the Government has already takena seriesof steps toboostthe growth of the sector. Toshowcasedomesticproducts, an international fair is being organised from July 6-9 here at Pragati Maidan where over 150 foreign buyers from 35 nations are visiting. Over 400 domestic toy players willexhibittheir innovative products,Gautamsaid,adding that the Prime Minister NarendraModihasmentioned about the sector in one of his Mann ki Baat programmes and that has given an extra thrustforpushinggrowthofthis labour-intensive segment. He also suggested that government extend fiscal support measures to stall holders. He added thatthe July 8 ToyIndustry CEOs Meet will beattended by senior officials of the DPIIT, Invest India anddomestic industry.

Toyexportshavejumped240percentsince2014andimportsdeclined52percentduringtheperiod. He added that huge opportunities are there for womenand as per estimates, about 70per cent of the workforce arewomen. Further, he said construction work has started for thedevelopment of a big toy cluster in Noida. This will be the biggest toyclusterinIndia.About150people have received land for setting up toy units. Soon, manyfactorieswillcomeupandstart production, Gautam, who isalsotheChiefExecutiveOfficer(CEO) of Noida-based LittleGenius Toys Pvt Ltd, said.
Hathrasstampede Rahul Gandhi says, lapses on part of administration





HATHRAS/ALIGARH (UP) :

LEADER of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said, there were lapses on the part of the administration in the Hathras stampede incident that killed over 100 people, but added that he did not want to make it a political issue. Gandhi, after meeting the victims of the stampede in Uttar Pradeshs Hathras on Friday morning, urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to release maximum compensation for the victims without any delay. One of the family members who met Gandhi said he assured them that he will raise the issue in Parliament so that such incidents do not happen in future. Speaking to reporters in Hathras on Friday morning, Gandhi said, It is a matter of grief that so many families have suffered, so many people lost their lives. I dont want to speak from a political prism, but there have been some lapses on part of the administration.

There have been mistakes, which should be identified, the senior Congress leader said. A total of 121 people, mostly women, died in the stampede at self-styled godman Baba Bholes satsang in Hathras on Tuesday. Gandhi said this is a tough time for the victims and they would need the compensation quickly as they are poor. He urged the UP chief minister to provide maximum compensation. They are poor people and they need it (compensation) now. If you give them after six months, after a year or delay it, then it will not benefit anyone. Compensation should be given as soon as possible, Gandhi said. The Government has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for those killed and Rs 50,000 for the injured. Gandhi also said that he had a personal interaction with the family members of the stampede victims. They said that there was a lapse on the part of the administration. They said that the police arrangement that should have been made was not there. But they are grieving and are in shock.

I am trying to understand their situation, he said. Before meeting family members in Hathras, Gandhi made a stop at Aligarh and met the kin of victims from the district. According to police, 17 people from Aligarh and 19 from Hathras were killed in the stampede. Gandhi left from Delhi early morning by road and was accompanied by UP Congress chief Ajay Rai, state Congress in-charge Avinash Pande, party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate and other office bearers of the party during his visit to Aligarh and Hathras. He reached Pilakhna village in Aligarh at 7.15 am and reached Vibhav Nagar colonys Green Park in Hathras at 9 am, staying at both venues for around 30 minutes. He left from Hathras at 9.30 am. Security was beefed up in Hathras since morning for Gandhis arrival. A large number of police personnel were deployed on key city routes while multi-layered security rings.

Hari Mohan, a Hathras resident who lost his aunt in the stampede, said, Rahul Gandhi interacted with us and extended his sympathies. He said he would make an effort to get the compensation amount for victims increased, Mohan told PTI. Mrityunjay Bharti (22), a resident of Aligarh who lost her maternal grandmother in the tragedy, said: He spoke to us and tried to understand our issues. He said he would raise the issue in Parliament so that such incidents do not happen in future. When asked about Gandhis visit, one Monu said, He said that he will try his best to help and will talk to the government as his party is not in power.
Massive hunt for Bhole Baba





By Kishor Dwivedi :

HATHRAS (UP),

UTTAR Pradesh Government agencies have launched intensive searches across the State and in neighbouring Rajasthan and Haryana to trace Hathras stampede key accused Devprakash Madhukar, official sources said Friday. A senior Government official told PTI that the agencies, including the police, are also looking for preacher Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba for questioning in the case. A total of 121 people, mostly women, were killed in the stampede after the preachers satsang in Hathras Fulrai village on July 2 in one of the worst tragedies in recent years. While Madhukar, the mukhya sevadar (chief organiser of the satsang), is the only named accused in the FIR, Surajpal was not mentioned as accused. Besides Madhukar, several unidentified organisers were also booked in the case, lodged at the Sikandra Rao Police Station and six suspects have been arrested so far.

No one has been given a clean chit. The investigation is on and Government agencies are searching for the main accused who is absconding. The agencies are also looking for the preacher to question him, the official told PTI. The teams have visited parts of western Uttar Pradesh and eastern-most districts of the State as part of the search operation. They are also looking in States like Rajasthan and Haryana, the official added. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also been apprised of an SIT report on the stampede. A report has been submitted to the Government by the Additional Director General of Police (Agra Zone) Anupam Kulshrestha who was among the top officers who visited Hathras to oversee rescue and relief measures after the stampede in Hathras on July 2, 2024.

The confidential report contains statements of the Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar, Superintendent of Police Nipun Aggarwal, and senior Health Department officials who tended to the emergency situation arising due to the stampede, according to the official. An FIR in the matter was lodged on July 2 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence). The UP Government has on Wednesday formed a three-member judicial commission headed by a retired High Court judge to probe the Hathras tragedy, and to also look into the possibility that there was a conspiracy behind the stampede.

Hathras stampede: SIT chief says over 90 statements recorded: THE Uttar Pradesh Govts SIT probing the Hathras stampede has recorded 90 statements so far, the panels chief Anupam Kulshrestha said on Friday. Kulshrestha, also the Additional Director General of Police (Agra Zone), is leading the three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) preparing a detailed report on the stampede that claimed 121 lives after a satsang here on July 2. Speaking exclusively to PTI in Hathras, ADG Kulshrestha said, Ninety statements recorded so far. A preliminary report has been submitted while work on the detailed report is underway. On the status of police probe, the officer said the ambit of the investigation has been expanded as more evidence have emerged. Definitely, the gathered evidence suggests culpability on part of the organisers of the event, she said.
Nitin Nabin is BJP State In-charge





Staff Reporter :

RAIPUR

Bharatiya Janata Partys National President Jagat Prakash Nadda has re-appointed Bihars Cabinet Minister Nitin Nabin as the State In-charge of Chhattisgarh BJP after previously appointing him as the Election In-charge. In a similar move, BJP National Vice-President-Chhattisgarh MLA Lata Usendi has been appointed as the Co-In-Charge of Odisha State BJP. BJP State President Kiran Singh Deo congratulated Nitin Naveen and Lata Usendi for their new roles and expressed gratitude to National President Jagat Prakash Nadda.

Deo highlighted the enthusiasm generated among Chhattisgarh BJP workers following Nabins appointment. He noted Nabins attachment to Chhattisgarh and recalled the historic victories the BJP achieved in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections during Nabins tenure as State Co-In-Charge and Election In-Charge. Deo expressed confidence that under Nabins leadership, the BJP Government in Chhattisgarh will set an example for the country by fulfilling the promises made in Modis guarantee and will ensure that every family and individual benefits from the schemes of both the Central and State Government. He assured that under Nabins guidance, BJP leaders, office bearers, and workers will work diligently to ensure that no one is deprived of the benefits of government schemes, thereby translating public trust in the BJP into a stronger public base in Chhattisgarh.

Dev also emphasized the significance of Lata Usendis appointment as Odisha State Co-In-Charge, viewing it as a tribute to the tireless hard work and cooperation of Chhattisgarh BJP leaders, office bearers, and workers that led to the BJPs spectacular victory in Odishas Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Dev believes that Odisha will benefit from Usendis extensive political and organizational experience, and that the BJP government in Odisha will drive the states development to new heights under her leadership
Police will not arrest any accused in Deekshabhoomi violence case: Ambedkar





MUMBAI :

Ambedkar, along with other VBA leaders, called on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde

VANCHIT Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) President Prakash Ambedkar claimed on Friday that the police will not arrest any of the accused booked for the violence and vandalism at the sacred Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur on July 1. Ambedkar, along with other VBA leaders, called on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday and made the demand to spare the persons allegedly involved in the protest and subsequent violence that rocked the Deekshabhoomi surroundings that day.

None of the protesters will be arrested The Chief Minister has spoken to Nagpur Police Commissioner and made this assurance, Ambedkar claimed after the meeting. The Nagpur Police have booked more than 15 persons who were allegedly involved in or instigated the violence to protest against the proposed underground parking facility in the vicinity of Deekshabhoomi, which could pose a risk to the stability of the worlds biggest hollow stupa (dome). Following an uproar, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had ordered a halt to the parking lot work till a consensus was reached among all the stakeholders.
Starmer becomes UK PM





By Aditi Khanna

LONDON,

Labour Party secures landslide victory after 14 years, conquers 412 of 650 seats

Conservative Rishi Sunak wins seat but loses power, party gets only 121 seats

KEIR Starmer became UKs new Prime Minister on Friday and vowed to rebuild Britain, hours after his Labour Party secured a landslide victory in a general election in which the weary voters inflicted a sobering verdict on Rishi Sunak-led Conservatives, who suffered their worst electoral drubbing. Starmer, 61, assumed charge as the 58th Prime Minister after his customary audience with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, following Sunaks meeting with the British monarch. The Labour Party secured 412 seats in the 650-member House of Commons, up 211 from the last election in 2019. Sunaks Conservatives won just 121 seats, down 250 seats from the previous election. While the Labour had a vote share of 33.7 per cent the Conservatives had 23.7 per cent. Our country has voted decisively for change, for national renewal and a return of politics for public service, said Starmer in his inaugural address from a lectern outside 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British Prime Minister. Citing the need for schools and affordable homes, Starmer vowed to rebuild the countrys infrastructure of opportunity, doing so brick by brick. He vowed a government of service and spoke of the need for a national reset.

The incoming Prime Minister also had warm words for his 44-year-old predecessor, Sunak, who he praised for an added accomplishment. His achievement as the first British Asian Prime Minister of our country, the extra effort that will have required should not be underestimated by anyone. We pay tribute to that today and recognise that dedication and hard work he brought to his leadership, he said. While many of his Cabinet colleagues were defeated in the election held on Thursday, Sunak, the countrys first British Indian Prime Minister comfortably held on to his own Richmond and Northallerton seat in northern England with 23,059 votes. The Conservatives were in power for 14 years and the party suffered its worst election defeat in history losing 250 MPs in Thursdays general election.

A sombre-looking Sunak was joined by his wife Akshata Murty as his future as a member of Parliament was decided and chose to use his acceptance speech to also admit his partys defeat in winning another term in Government. With some of the most prominent Ministers and MPs including Sunaks predecessor Liz Truss - whose disastrous mini-budget and short-lived premiership last year is being blamed for much of the Tory debacle. Other key Tory heavyweights to lose their seats on a dismal election night for the Conservatives included Grant Shapps, Penny Mordaunt and Jacob Rees Mogg losing the election, the results being dubbed a bloodbath for the Conservatives. However, among the new Tory MPs included British Indian candidate Shivani Raja who beat Labours candidate, former deputy mayor of London Rajesh Agrawal, in the closely watched Leicester East constituency. Other British Indian Tories who managed to hold on to their seats included former ministers Priti Patel, Suella Braverman and Claire Coutinho. On the Labour side, several Indian-origin MPs were re-elected including Preet Kaur Gill and Tan Dhesi and some newcomers made their mark such as Jas Athwal and Kanishka Narayan, who became the first British Indian to represent Wales in Parliament. Earlier, Starmer won his seat of Holborn and St.

Pancras in London with 18,884 votes. Another major trend that will dominate the discourse in the coming weeks and months will be in Nigel Farage finally being elected as an MP at his eighth attempt and leading his anti-immigration Reform UK to bagging four first-time seats in the Commons. The Reform leader overturned a 25,000 Conservative majority to take Clacton in Essex by more than 8,000 votes, reflective of a wider trend of the party eating into the Tory votes. Farage, a divisive figure in British politics, dubbed his win as the first step of something that is going to stun all of you, describing it as the beginning of the end of the Conservative Party.
ADEN, Yemen, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The latest round of prisoner exchange negotiations between the Yemeni government and the Houthi group concluded Saturday in Muscat, Oman, without reaching a comprehensive agreement, according to officials from both sides.

The seven-day talks were conducted under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), aiming to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis surrounding prisoners in the conflict-ridden nation.

Majid Fadail, the official spokesman for the Yemeni government delegation, told the state-run Saba News Agency that while no final agreement was reached, the talks "achieved some breakthroughs in the issue of abductees and forcibly disappeared persons."

The Houthi delegation, led by Abdul-Qadir Murtada, confirmed that some points of agreement were reached, including resolving the case of Mohamed Qahtan, a Yemeni pro-government politician who has been held by the Houthis for nine years. Murtada also noted that both parties agreed to exchange some prisoner lists.

Both sides have expressed commitment to continuing dialogue, with the next round of talks scheduled to take place after a two-month preparation period. During this time, the parties are expected to focus on completing and approving detainee lists, laying the groundwork for potential breakthroughs in future negotiations.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg on Wednesday announced that negotiations between the Yemeni government and the Houthi group have achieved significant progress regarding the release of conflict-related detainees, including a prominent Yemeni politician.

The current round follows a series of UN-sponsored talks between the Yemeni government and Houthis over the years. The most recent discussions, held in Amman in June 2023, ended without an agreement.

However, a previous round in Switzerland in March 2023 led to a successful prisoner exchange in April 2023, resulting in the release of over 800 prisoners and detainees from both warring Yemeni sides. 
ALGIERS, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Algeria on Saturday signed a framework agreement with the Italian company Bonifiche Ferraresi to develop an integrated project for grain, legume, and pasta production in the Algerian southern province of Timimoun, Algeria's official APS news agency reported.

In his remarks at the signing ceremony, Algerian Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Youcef Chorfa said the project, worth 420 million euros (455 million U.S. dollars), aligns with Algeria's policy to enhance food security as part of the national plan to develop strategic sectors such as grains, legumes, sugar and oil plants, seeds, and milk.

According to Chorfa, this project would be the second major agricultural and industrial venture realized in Algeria recently, following a similar agreement signed in April with Qatar's Baladna company to establish a dairy farm and powdered milk production facility in the southern province of Adrar.

He added that these projects demonstrated the government's growing interest in opening agricultural investment to both public and private Algerian investors, in partnership with foreign partners.

Federico Vecchioni, CEO of Bonifiche Ferraresi, described the project as highly significant and strategic, given its international dimensions.

The project, spanning 36,000 hectares, will focus on producing wheat, lentils, dried beans, soybeans and chickpeas. It will also include facilities for pasta manufacturing, storage silos, and other infrastructure, with the potential to create over 6,700 jobs. 
NEW DELHI, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A leader of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), K. Armstrong, was hacked to death by six bike-borne men in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the police said Saturday.

Armstrong, 52-year-old state head of the BSP, was attacked late Friday near his house in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. Two of his associates also sustained injuries in the attack.

Doctors declared Armstrong dead on arrival after he was sent to the hospital. Eight people have been arrested in connection with the murder, a senior police officer in Chennai told media.

The killing triggered protests from the party supporters, who hit the streets demanding a probe by India's premier investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Tamil Nadu's chief minister has ordered the police to conduct an inquiry and bring the culprits to justice in the murder. 
BERLIN, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A team from China's Nanjing University held a memorial event by John Rabe's tombstone in Berlin on Saturday to remember the German's heroic action of protecting hundreds of thousands of Chinese in Nanjing during World War II.

Christoph Reinhardt, great-grandson of Rabe, joined the event organized by the "Diaries of John Rabe and the City of Peace" scientific investigation team from Nanjing University.

Reinhardt said: "To forget history is to risk its repetition while commemorating allows us to remember the past and build a peaceful future together." He stressed that the China-Japan relationship must be based on honesty, and the diary of Rabe is one of the most authentic records of the Nanjing Massacre.

After the Japanese Imperial Army captured Nanjing in eastern China on Dec. 13, 1937, the Japanese invaders brutally killed approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in over six weeks. Later known as the Nanjing Massacre, this episode of history was one of the most barbaric atrocities during World War II.

Rabe, then working as a representative of Siemens during the Japanese occupation of the city, set up an international safety zone with other foreigners and protected civilians from Japanese invaders. That zone saved the lives of around 250,000 Chinese people between 1937 and 1938, and Rabe was dubbed the "Oskar Schindler of China."

During his time in China, Rabe recorded written entries and photographs in his diary, which has become an indispensable source of historical evidence for studying the Nanjing Massacre.

"By making these records public, the truth of history can be recognized by the world," Reinhardt said, adding that "Memory cannot be altered by voting; history is what truly happened, and we must face and remember it."

During the event, Reinhardt and the Chinese students and teachers laid flowers at Rabe's tombstone, paying tribute to this great humanitarian.

Chang Xuan, a team member and teacher at the School of Foreign Studies in Nanjing University, highlighted the significance of jointly memorizing the history with Rabe's descendants on-site.

"Every generation has the responsibility to pass on history and memory to prevent repeating past mistakes," Chang said, adding that "Rabe's spirit of great love and pursuit of peace is a valuable legacy for every generation to learn from."

"Being able to come to Berlin today to pay respects to Rabe has fulfilled a long-held wish for me and our team. This is not only a tribute to history but also a commitment to peace," said Lei Qianhao, an undergraduate from the School of Journalism and Communication at Nanjing University.

"Rabe's story also echoes the Chinese traditional cultural spirit of mutual support and is a vivid practice of building a community with a shared future. In the face of the current complex international situation, we should revive this belief and contribute the strength of youth to peace," Lei stressed.

The Diaries of John Rabe and the City of Peace scientific investigation team was established in 2021 and has been dedicated to uncovering the historical details of the Nanjing Massacre while actively promoting peace. 
DUBLIN, July 6 (Xinhua) -- A delegation from the Communist Party of China (CPC) visited Ireland from Thursday to Saturday, at the invitation of Dail Eireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament.

The delegation, led by Lu Kang, deputy head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, met with Chair of Dail Eireann Sean O Fearghail, former Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern, and representatives from Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs, major parties and think tanks, respectively.

The delegation briefed the Irish side about Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy as well as foreign policies and propositions of the Chinese government.

Both sides said they stand ready to take the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepen inter-party and other exchanges in various fields, strengthen international cooperation, and push forward China-Ireland and China-Europe relations. 
WASHINGTON, July 5 (Xinhua) -- As the United States was celebrating 248 years of independence, shootings and other forms of violence during the extended Fourth of July weekend left at least 33 people dead across the country, local authorities said.

As of Friday morning, the Fourth of July holiday saw 11 people killed and 55 wounded in shootings in Chicago alone, the Associated Press reported, citing a Chicago Sun-Times report as saying.

The recent violence "has left our city in a state of grief," said Mayor of Chicago Brandon Johnson.

Two people were killed and three others injured in Huntington Beach, California, in an Independence Day attack after a fireworks show ended, local police said.

Three shootings broke out in Boston at approximately 1:30 a.m. local time Friday, resulting in one fatality.

Historically, the Fourth of July period is one of the year's deadliest in the United States. Last year, there was a spate of shootings around the holiday, leaving over a dozen dead and more than 60 injured. 
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, has vowed to reinvigorate the existing collaboration between the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) in order to effectively combat the smuggling of petroleum products outside Nigeria.

In a meeting with the delegates from NNPCL on Friday 5, 2024, at the headquarters of the NCS in Abuja, CGC Adeniyi noted that smuggling constitutes a severe national burden on the Nigerian economy.

He said the current habitual that exists in the prices of fuel between Nigeria and the neighbouring countries creates a very huge incentive for smuggling, and that is why NCS, through Operation Whirlwind is working with other stakeholders to intensify their efforts in ensuring that smuggling of Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) is brought to the barest minimum.

The operations that we have done have thrown up a number of issues, but despite them, I am happy we have made fantastic seizures from different parts of the country, and we saw the ingenious ways in which smugglers take supplies from depot and place in their stations. The stations might look empty from the front. Still, directly behind, they have linked the hoses through some artificial holes created in their walls into waiting jerrycans and vehicles from where they take them across the borders, he said.

He added, It is an act of economic sabotage, and those that we have seen, we have arrested them, confiscated the product that were seen, we sealed up the filling stations, and we have handed them over to the regulatory authorities to handle. Some filing station operators tactically devise means to smuggle fuel in a way that is not noticeable.

CGC Adeniyi disclosed that fighting the heinous crime is a significant operation, creating a considerable burden on NCS resources, but it has been a very rewarding exercise for NCS.

We felt that we could have a very good partnership with NNPC for us to sustain this operation over a period of time, he said.

While expressing his excitement, the CGC said, We are happy we had a secondment from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). But customs need a situation room where we get data that speak on the issue of enhancing our capacity. Also, our personnel will be motivated and taken care of, so they won't be in a situation of compromising.

Also, the Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind Comptroller of Customs, Hussein Ejibunu, stated that the operation started 5 weeks ago and has recorded great victories.

He disclosed, There is no operation that does not have challenges, and we have been able to put them aside with the help of the CGC. We have tackled fuel smuggling not only in Adamawa but across the nation. We recently showcased about 79000 litres of fuel that was about to be smuggled out of Kebbi state. This is an indication that we are desirous to do the job, but we need absolute support of the border communities and other agencies.

On his part, Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive of NNPCL, stated that the Smuggling of PMS is a major National challenge for the country, and he requested the CGC's help to minimise the smuggling of PMS outside Nigeria.

He revealed that the volume of fuel smuggled has reduced drastically due to the establishment and efforts of Operation Whirlwind.

In his words, We are available to provide any necessary support to combat this crime in our borders. We are happy to work with you, and we appreciate you for the enormous impact of your collaboration so far.
Passive often isn't viewed as a positive quality. When used to describe an individual, it implies the person sits back and lets things happen to them -- frequently bad things.

But passive income is a different story altogether. An investor with great sources of passive income sits back and lets good things happen, namely allowing money to flow in regularly.

What are some great sources of passive income? I think exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are a smart place to look. Here are three high-yield dividend ETFs to buy to generate passive income (listed alphabetically).

1. Investco S&P SmallCap High Dividend Low Volatility ETF

The Invesco S&P SmallCap High Dividend Low Volatility ETF (NYSEMKT: XSHD) managed by Invesco pays a sky-high 30-day SEC yield of 7.72%. This yield, by the way, reflects the net investment income per share less expenses over the previous 30 days divided by the current maximum offering price. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) developed it as a way for investors to compare funds.

As the ETF's name hints, it focuses on small-cap stocks with high dividend yields but relatively low volatility over the past 12 months. The Invesco ETF owns 57 stocks. Its top holdings include Highwoods Properties, Organon, Armour Residential REIT, Two Harbors Investment Corp, and Ellington Financial.

Income investors will probably like that the Investco S&P SmallCap High Dividend Low Volatility ETF pays distributions monthly. They might also like the fund's manageable annual expense ratio of 0.3%.

What's not to like? Despite generating great income, the fund hasn't performed very well historically. Since its inception in December 2016, this Investco ETF's average annual return is -1.17%.

2. JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF

The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (NYSEMKT: JEPI) managed by JPMorgan Chase isn't too far behind the Invest ETF in generating passive income. This fund's 30-day SEC yield stood at 7.55% as of May 31, 2024.

This ETF uses a proprietary process to select stocks with less volatility that may or may not pay dividends. It sells out-of-the-money S&P 500 index call options to generate income. Like the Investco ETF, the JPMorgan ETF makes monthly distributions.

The JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF currently owns 133 stocks. Its top holdings include Microsoft), Amazon, Progressive, Meta Platforms, and Trane Technologies.

This ETF has an annual expense ratio of 0.35%. Its performance has been strong with an average annual return of 12.57% since its inception in May 2020. Arguably the main knock against the JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF is that it hasn't been around very long.

Story continues

3. SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF

The SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF (NYSEMKT: SPYD) is managed by State Street. It offers a 30-day SEC yield of 4.68%.

Its name gives away the ETF's focus. The SPDR ETF invests in stocks in the S&P 500 index with high dividend yields. The fund owns 75 stocks with top holdings including Iron Mountain, Public Service Enterprise Group, Williams Companies, International Paper, and Hasbro.

One big plus for this ETF is its low cost. The fund's annual expense ratio is only 0.07%. The SPDR ETF has also performed relatively well historically with an average annual return of nearly 8.6% since its inception in October 2015.

Unlike the Invesco and JPMorgan ETFs, the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF pays distributions quarterly instead of monthly. However, the combination of the fund's juicy yield, low cost, and track record of positive returns could make it a good pick for investors seeking passive income.

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Two members of a family have been charred to death while the third member is battling for life at the hospital at Natungeet Village, under Bolpur police station of Birbhum district at wee hours today.

The police are baffled as to who could pour kerosene oil from the open windows of the ground floor that charred the victims in their sleep.

The elder son of the victim raised the alarm. He was sleeping in a separate room and neighbours rushed in but it was too late.

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The incident is reminiscent of the dreaded Bagtui massacre, a few years ago in Birbhum district.

Rupa Biwi (30) and Ayan Sheikh (4) were charred to death while 40-year-old Sheikh Tuta is battling for his life with 90 per cent burn injuries at Burdwan Medical College Hospital.

Prima facie police suspect that the victims were killed due to a business rivalry. Sheikh Tuta has a business of JCB machines and tractors.

Bolpur Police rushed to the village after getting the information and collected forensic samples from the site.

Birbhum Police super said that an unnatural death case has been registered by Bolpur Police and investigations have started and police are probing all angles.
Biman Bandyopadhyay, Speaker of the state Assembly, on Friday administered the oath to the two newly-elected Trinamul Congress MLAs Sanyantika Banerjee and Reyat Hossain Sarkar.

The Baranagar and Bhagwangola Assembly constituency winners were administered oath 31 days after the results of bypolls were announced on 4 June.

But the controversy in connection with the swearing-in of the two new legislators did not come to an end though they from now would be allowed to take part in different sessions and programmes of the Assembly.

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The reason: Mr Bandyopadhyay administered Ms Banerjee and Mr Hossain Sarkar the oath though the Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday had assigned Dr Asish Banerjee, deputy Speaker to administer the swearing-in of the two MLAs.

But Dr Banerjee was not willing to follow the directive of Mr Bose when the speaker himself was present in the House. He proposed the name of the Speaker and requested him to administer the oath.

I wont administer them the oath when the Speaker is present and it will be an act of disrespect to him, Dr Banerjee said today before the programme started in the Assembly.

Mr Hossain Sarkar was seen taking the oath first at 2.24 pm, followed by Ms Banerjee.

Earlier, the Business affairs (BA) committee held around noon also decided that Dr Banerjee would administer them the oath. But Dr Banerjee requested the Speaker to do it. Besides the Speaker and deputy Speaker, several ministers like Sobhandeb Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Aroop Biswas, Sashi Panja and other Trinamul Congress MLAs were present in the BA committee meeting to solve the stalemate over the swearing-in issue of the two MLAs.

The opposition BJP MLAs walked out of the house in protest against the decision to hold the ceremony amidst the special session of the Assembly.

In an order issued on Thursday evening, Mr Bose had stated: By virtue of the power vested in me by Article 188 of the Constitution of India, I, Dr C V Ananda Bose, Governor of West Bengal, hereby appoint Dr Asish Banerjee, deputy Speaker, West Bengal Legislative Assembly, as the person before whom Shri Reyat Hossain Sarkar, elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 62-Bhagawangola Assembly Constituency and and Smt Sayantika Banerjee, elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from 113-Baranagar Assembly make and subscribe, an oath or affirmation according to the form set for the purpose in the Third Schedule of the Constitution.

The oath-taking could not be held owing to tussle between Raj Bhavan and state legislative Assembly.
For over a fortnight, an elderly couple and their son, thrashed allegedly at the whims of a local leader have fled their Jamalpur place fearing further attacks.

The reason behind the fierce attack on them was their refusal to respond to summons issued by the leader asking them to appear before a kangaroo court at the local party office. Actually they instructed us to agree with an out-of-court settlement of a separation case that our daughter-in-law had filed against our son at the Burdwan District Court, which wed refused to comply with, narrated the panicked elderly couple of remote Kubazpur village in Jamalpur of East Burdwan, today.

The couple, Sahanara Biwi and Burhan Sheikh, both farmers by profession, besides lodging their complaint with the state director general of police, has also forwarded an appeal to the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, today seeking her intervention into their state of affairs and their rescue from the clutches of the local dictators of the TMC.

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The couples only son, Bashir Ali Sheikh was married to Julekha Sheikh from Aludanga village in Burdwan PS area on 21 January, 2018. Julekha however, returned to her parents within a couple of months and stayed back there forever. In 2019, she lodged a complaint of torture against her in-laws with the Jamalpur PS and in 2021 with the Burdwan Women PS.

Bashir and his parents were granted bail by the Chief Judicial Magistrates Court in Burdwan. The issue is still pending with the CJM Court. On 10 June, we however were ordered by the TMCs area president Azad Rahman Sheikh to appear at the local party office on 13 June to make an out-of-court settlement on the issue, which we declined, said Sahanara. Burhan said, As we didnt turn up, Azad, accompanied by two of his aides Badsha Mallik and Raja Mallik, raided our house and attacked my son with a lathi. They thrashed Bashir badly and when we went to his rescue, we also were beaten.

The injured family members left home and after treatment at the Jamalpur Block Hospital, they lodged a complaint with the local PS. Considering Bashirs grave wounds, he was shifted to the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital.

The police said: An investigation on the charges is in progress. The accused leader Azad Sheikh however has refuted the charges. He said, Bashir is well known to me and I know about his divorce case. Once the matter is pending with the C
A single-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Friday, directed the CBI to take the help of any specialised agency to recover the data regarding the optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets used in the written examination for the recruitment of primary teachers in state-run schools in West Bengal.

During a hearing on a case related to massive irregularities and corruption in the recruitment of primary teachers in 2014, the single-judge bench of Justice Rajasekhar Mantha observed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) can consult and take help of experts from anywhere in the world, including private entities with expertise in Information Technology sector to retrieve the related data.

Justice Mantha also directed that the entire cost for bearing the assistance of expert agencies should be borne by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE).

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Justice Mantha also observed that recovering the data on the OMR sheets was extremely important considering the roots of the corruption relating to the primary teachers recruitment were hidden there.

On July 2, Justice Mantha directed CBI to submit the original hard disc where the digitized copies of the OMR sheets used in the written examinations for primary teachers recruitment had been stored.

However, on Friday, the CBI counsel informed the court that their central agency officials were not in a position to submit the same to the court. Thereafter, Justice Mantha directed the agency to take the help of expert agencies.

Earlier on Tuesday, Justice Mantha also said that in case the hard disc had been destroyed that matter should be also brought under the purview of the investigation, while observing that even if the hard disc had been destroyed, then the original data might have remained stored at the server of WBBPE.
The Balagarh river bank erosion is an alarming issue and no permanent steps have been taken to stop the alarming rate of erosion.

More than 2-km stretch of river bank, from Guptipara Surya Mandir onwards is undergoing a massive erosion at an alarming rate.

Making the situation worse are the sand mafia from Nadia district and North 24-Parganas are chopping off large chunks of river bank soil from adjacent agricultural lands.

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The Jirat panchayat pradhan, Tapan Das, said, Previously, the sand mafia, at the dead of night came in their motorboats to carry on illegal sand mining from the Hooghly river banks at Balagarh. Now, they are carrying out illegal sand mining in broad daylight by cutting away soil from the agricultural lands, adjacent to the river.

The Jirat panchayat pradhan said steps are being taken for a joint meeting with the SDO and DM of both Hooghly and Nadia districts over the sand mafia issue.
jmoor17 / Getty Images

More than 39 million people call California home, and with the states sunny climate, warm beaches, diverse landscape and easygoing vibe, the Golden State has long been a favorite destination to live. The West Coast location is also appealing because of its endless outdoor activities, variety of food, state parks and job opportunities. While California is a desirable state, not every city is investment-worthy. When it comes to real estate, not all that glitters is gold  especially in California, Yawar Charlie, a Los Angeles-based senior real estate agent, director of Aaron Kirman Groups estates division, and a cast member of CNBCs Listing Impossible, told us.

Read Next: Housing Market 2024: Home Prices Are Plummeting in 10 Formerly Overpriced Housing Markets

Try This: 7 Reasons You Must Speak to a Financial Advisor Before Spending $50,000 or More

Here are a few cities where you might want to think twice before investing in the next five years, according to Charlie, who prefaced this by stating, these cities might have their charms, but from a real estate investment perspective, they come with significant risks.

He added, Remember, real estate isnt just about finding the cheapest property  its about finding value and growth potential.

Earning passive income doesn't need to be difficult. You can start this week.

Stockton

Despite efforts to revitalize, Stockton still struggles with high crime rates and economic instability, he said.

According to Southbay Moving Systems, the city experiences 81.5% higher crime than the rest of the U.S. and 65% higher than the rest of California. The real estate market here has been notoriously volatile, and while there may be potential for long-term growth, the risk is significant. Think of it as betting on a long shot at the Kentucky Derby, Charlie explained.

Bakersfield

Located north of Los Angeles and near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, Bakersfield is a cheap place to live, and more than 400,000 people have settled. However, low cost isnt the only factor to consider when buying property.

While affordable, Bakersfields economy heavily relies on oil and agriculture, both of which are susceptible to market fluctuations, Charlie explained. The area has also faced environmental challenges and limited cultural amenities, which could impact property values and desirability. Investing here is like riding a rollercoaster  exciting, but you need to hang on tight!

Modesto

Situated in the Central Valley of California, approximately 68 miles from Sacramento, Modesto offers cost-effective housing thats 84% lower than the state average, with goods and services 30% cheaper than the rest of the state.

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But theres also a downside to the city, Charlie explained. Modesto faces high crime rates and limited job opportunities, which makes it less appealing for new residents and investors.

According to Neighborhood Scout, Modesto has one of the highest crime rates in the country, with a chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 30.

However, there are other reasons to proceed with caution when considering buying property in Modesto, per Charlie.

The citys growth has been slow, and without significant economic development, property values may stagnate. You could say its like watching paint dryexcept without the exciting outcome.

Fresno

Known for its wide variety of agriculture and crops, such as grapes, tomatoes, citrus fruits, and almonds, Fresno offers plenty for residents and visitors to do, but according to Charlie, its a city to avoid buying property.

Although its one of the larger cities in California, Fresno struggles with high unemployment rates and a lack of high-paying jobs, he said. The housing market here has been inconsistent, and the citys growth prospects are uncertain. Investing here could feel like swimming against the tide.

San Bernardino

San Bernardino is located in Southern Californias Inland Empire region, and is a budget-friendly Los Angeles suburb, but the city is still reeling from several issues.

San Bernardino has had its fair share of troubles, including a bankruptcy filing a in 2012 due to financial difficulties and cash shortage, Charlie said. The city still struggles with economic recovery, a struggling school system and high crime rates with a one in 23 chance of becoming a victim of a violent crime. Its the kind of investment that might leave you feeling more stressed than blessed, he stated.

Learn More: 10 Dangerous Cities You Shouldnt Buy a Home in No Matter the Price

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Worst California Cities To Buy Property Over the Next 5 Years, per Real Estate Agents
Following the arrest of Debasish Pramanik, Siliguri Metropolitan Police have also arrested Goutam Goswami, a Trinamul Congress leader, for his involvement in a land grabbing case.

Goswami, who held positions in both the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority and the Dabgram Fulbari Block Trinamul Congress Committee, was taken into custody by the police in Delhi today.

It should be noted that chief minister Mamata Banerjee, had ordered the arrest of Pramanik, who previously served as president of the Dabgram Fulbari Block TMC Committee and was a former member of Jalpaiguri zilla parishad.

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Yesterday, Pramanik made an appearance in the court and was once again put into police custody. The TMC leadership in Jalpaiguri district has rusticated Mr Pramanik from the party, following his arrest by the police.

As per reports, Uttam Roy, a BJP leader was also taken into custody by the police in relation to the illegal acquisition and sale of government land in Gajoldoba. Today, Roy was produced before the Jalpaiguri District Court.

The land and land reforms department of Rajganj Block has recently uncovered and taken back 1.33-acre of land in Gajoldoba, Jalpaiguri. This land, which was previously under the control of Trinamul Congress leader Ranjan Sil Sharma, councillor of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, now bears a government sign.

It has been brought to light that many influential politicians have acquired government-owned lands and unutilized plots from departments like PWD, irrigation, housing, forest and even railways in the Siliguri-Jalpaiguri areas.

It is worth noting that Mr Sil Sharma expressed his satisfaction in a recent Press release over the chief ministers decision.

Personally, I am pleased with the return of the land to the government. However, I am curious as to why the land department only took back the land under my control and not other establishments on government-owned land in Gajoldoba, particularly near the tourism project Bhorer Alo, Mr Sil Sharma said, adding, Despite numerous ponds for fish farming on government-owned land, controlled by more influential individuals than myself, no action has been taken. Overall, Gajoldoba is largely made up of government-owned land.

Dr Shankar Ghosh, a member of the BJP and MLA for Siliguri, was recently chosen as the Chief Whip for the Opposition in the State Assembly. He stated that numerous leaders from the TMC are implicated in the state governments land grabbing scandal. One such individual is Debasish Pramanik, but there are also higher-ranking TMC leaders involved in fraudulent land activities in Siliguri.
Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and Minister of Power, Manohar Lal Khattar, held a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu here on Friday.

The discussions between the Union Minister and the Chief Minister covered issues related to electric mobility, metro development, waste management, and the PM KUSUM scheme for setting up renewable energy projects such as solar water pumps for farmers.

Chandrababu Naidu also sought support to establish Andhra Pradesh as a leading state in green hydrogen initiatives. Besides, housing issues and progress under the AMRUT scheme were taken up with the objective to advance these initiatives effectively, according to an official statement issued after the meeting.

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Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) was launched on 25th June 2015 in 500 cities and towns across the country. The mission focuses on the development of basic infrastructure, in the selected cities and towns, in the sectors of water supply; sewerage and septage management; storm water drainage; green spaces and parks; and non-motorised urban transport. A set of Urban Reforms and Capacity Building have been included in the Mission.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has approved State Annual Action Plans (SAAPs) of all the States/Union Territories (UTs) amounting to Rs 77,640 crore for the entire Mission period.
The Ministry of Culture, on the occasion of the 46th Session of the World Heritage Committee Meeting, which is being held in the national capital from July 21-31, has initiated Project PARI (Public Art of India).

The aim of the PARI project is to provide a platform to uplift the aesthetic and cultural outlook of Delhi while adding grandeur to the rich historical legacy of our national capital, the Ministry said on Saturday.

To welcome the delegates to the city of Delhi more than 100 artists across the country representing various folk art and contemporary art traditions are coming together to bring to life their visions across various spots across Delhi under this Project, which has been undertaken by Lalit Kala Academy in collaboration with National Gallery of Modern Art.

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These artists are working on various sites in the national capital for the beautification of the public spaces for the upcoming event.

Traditional art forms as well as sculptures, murals, and installations have been created under this beautification project. Women artists have also participated in this programme in large numbers with great enthusiasm.

Public art spaces of India are a reflection of our Lok Kala and Lok Sanskriti. When we talk about Public Art, it is very dynamic and is an intersection of past, present and future.

Through it, we can see the amalgamation of different ideas in various forms of art like traditional and contemporary. This art form which is freely accessible to the public; not only attracts the onlookers but also focuses curiosity in them regarding its uniqueness and meaning along with the method and material used to create it.

Through various creative interpretations a special connection is built between the art and its viewers.

With rapid urbanisation, Public Art enhances a sense of distinctiveness and adds aesthetic value to the image of a city. It contributes to the visual quality of the public arena encouraging community pride with a sense of belonging.

It uplifts and engages visitors or passers-bys travel experience by leaving an imprint in their minds.

Art is a vital medium to propagate and spread messages through creativity, hence the outreach of Public Art is immense and thought-provoking. It acts as a significant factor in giving visual recognition to a specific place.

The public art augments and induces meaning to a public space making it an integral part of the culture and society.
Another BRS MLA defected to the Congress in Telangana on Saturday, bringing the total number of defectors to seven. The BRS MLA from Gadwal, Bandla Krishna Mohan, Reddy joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister and PCC president A Revanth Reddy and AICC in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi.

The Telangana government has also appointed former BRS MP K Keshava Rao as the adviser to the government (public affairs), with the status of a Cabinet Minister. Rao rejoined the Congress recently after spending a decade in the BRS. His daughter, Gadwal Vijayalakshmi, who is also the Mayor of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), joined the Congress in March this year. On Saturday, she faced the ire of the BRS corporators, who protested against her, demanding her resignation along with that of the Deputy Mayor, who too had quit the BRS to join the Congress. Before the defections, the Congress had only two members and the BRS had formed the board. The protests resulted in the adjournment of the council meeting within 15 minutes as the Mayor left the chamber.

The BRS has accused the Congress of encouraging defections in the state. If the blatant political defections are not stopped due to wilful neglect of the constitutional institutions it is better for the Election Commission of India to stop the elections, hold auctions, and reserve MLA seats for the highest bidder Elected representatives are being blackmailed, intimidated, or bought, making a mockery of the electoral verdict of the people and the entire electoral process, BRS leader Srravan Dasoju said.

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Amit Shahs name deleted from chargesheet

The Moghulpura police have withdrawn a case pertaining to the violation of the model code of conduct against Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy since the allegations against them could not be established. On 2 May, an FIR was lodged against Shah and others, including BJP candidate Madhavi Latha, following a complaint by PCC leader G Niranjan that minor children were used for campaigning at a rally in Shali Banda where the Union Home Minister had delivered a speech. The children had held aloft the BJPs symbol. However, since the police have dropped the names of Shah and Reddy from the chargesheet, the PCC leader was ordered to appear before the court by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate on 10 July. After the names of Shah and Reddy were deleted, the BRS claimed this development was the fallout of a meeting between Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Home Minister. The BRS also said this was another indication of the rising bonhomie between Revanth Reddy and the BJP.
The Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on Saturday decided to form two separate committees with ministers and officials to resolve the pending issues of bifurcation.

The first meeting between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy, which took place at Praja Bhavan in Hyderabad, lasted for more than one and a half hours.

It was decided in the meeting to form two separate committees, one comprising ministers, and the other one with officials headed by Chief Secretaries to resolve the pending issues of the AP Reorganisation Act, particularly regarding division of assets.

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The two Chief Ministers also resolved to meet more often to resolve issues between the states amicably. According to sources, Naidu had proposed that the AP government should retain some properties in Hyderabad but it was apparently turned down.

It was decided that the states would write to the Ministry of Home Affairs to retransfer five villages panchayats of Etapaka, Gundala, Purushothapatnam, Kannaigudem and Picchukalapadu to Bhadrachalam Mandal in Telangana.

Recently, the Gram Sabhas had passed resolutions to that effect. The villages were included in the seven mandals that were transferred to AP in 2014 due to the Polavaram project.

Apart from Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, and Sridhar Babu were present along with the chief secretary and senior officials.

Besides Chandrababu Naidu, Ministers Kandula Durgesh, Sathyaprasad, and BC Janardhan Reddy were present in the meeting apart from Chief Secretary and officials of AP.

Revanth Reddy accorded a grand welcome to the AP Chief Minister and presented him a copy of the book Na Godava authored by Kaloji Narayana Rao.
Altogether 9 people including the prime accused in the Hathras stampede incident of July 2 have been arrested so far.

While six sevadars were arrested on Thursday, three more were taken in custody since last night. Police would take in remand the accused for further investigation.

The Uttar Pradesh Police was investigating political link with the accused and the money they received for holding such big satsangs.

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A total of 121 people were killed in the stampede during the satsang of Bhole Baba in village Phulrai-Mughalgarhi under Sikandrarau police station on Tuesday last.

Superintendent of Police ( SP), Hathras, Nipun Agarwal in a press conference here on Saturday said that the main accused Devprakash Madhukar and two other accused Ram Prakash Shakya and Sanju Yadav have been arrested.

During interrogation, accused Dev Prakash Madhukar revealed that he was playing two roles in this incident, one as the main organizer and the other as a fund raiser.

A case was registered against the main organizer Dev Prakash Madhukar and other persons at Sikandra Rao police station under Section 105/110/126(2)/223/238 of the Indian Justice Code. Six accused have already been arrested in the case. A reward of Rs 1 lakh was announced on the main accused Dev Prakash Madhukar.

The SP said Dev Prakash Madhukar was arrested from Najafgarh, Delhi late in the evening on July 5 while police arrested accused Ram Prakash Shakya from Kailora intersection and accused Sanju Yadav from Gopalpur Kachori, Sikandrarau today.

The SP said that on interrogation, Dev Prakash Madhukar said that he is working on contract as Junior Engineer in MNREGA since 2010 in Etah. He has been associated with this organization for years. Organizes programs and collects funds for the organization.

Sevadars and committee members working under Dev Prakash Madhukar direction had full responsibility for barricading, entry gates, exit gates, seating arrangements, parking and other facilities around the satsang pandal. Accused Dev Prakash and other servants prevented the police administration from any kind of interference inside the venue, he said

There his sevadars were looking after all the arrangements in the form of commandos in different types of costumes. There persons were prevented from doing videography or photography. The arrangements were not made properly and many conditions of the permission letter of the administration were violated and the traffic system was affected  the SP disclosed.

Nipun Agarwal said it also became clear from the interrogation that no effort was made by them to control the crowd and everyone fled from the spot. Six sevadars have been arrested, who were responsible for the chaos which led to this incident and loss of many lives.

During interrogation, it was also revealed that Madhukar and his sevadars had taken out the preachers car from the crowd, despite being aware of the fact that at the time of taking out the vehicle from the crowd, there could have been a terrible accident due to a stampede for Charanraj( foot soil), he added.

The SP said that during the interrogation of accused Devprakash Madhukar, it was also revealed that some political parties had contacted him some time ago.

Regarding fund collection, a thorough investigation is being done to see whether such programs and other resources are funded by any political party. From the inquiries so far, it seems that some political party is associated with them for their political and personal gains. All bank accounts, movable and immovable properties, money trail etc. linked to accused Dev Prakash Madhukar are being investigated, he said.
A three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission has commenced its investigation into the tragic Bhole Baba or Sakar Hari Baba Satsang stampede incident, which resulted in the deaths of 121 on Tuesday. The Commission, led by retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava, alongside former IAS officer Hemant Rao and former IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar Singh, arrived in Hathras on Saturday morning.

Upon arrival, the Commission first held a meeting with the local police and administrative officials. Subsequently, the team visited the incident site in Phulrai Mughalgarhi village and inspected the Sikanderau Trauma Centre.

The Commission members reached the Hathras Police Lines around 12 noon and held a meeting with officials, including the DM, SP, CMO, ADM, SDM, ADG, LIU, and others.

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They later proceeded to thoroughly examine the incident site in Phulrai Mughalgarhi village around 3.40 pm. They inspected the entire incident site and saw the fields across the road in front of the Satsang venue and took note of everything.

After inspecting the incident site for 40 minutes, the team spent 10 minutes at the Sikanderau Trauma Centre before returning to Hathras.

Later speaking to media persons, Commission Chairman Brijesh Kumar Srivastava said that their investigation is underway and that the findings are expected within two months. If required, we will summon individuals, including Bhole Baba, for questioning, he added.

Between 6 pm and 8 pm on Saturday, the Commission plans to meet the Additional Director General of Police (Agra Zone), the Divisional Commissioner of Aligarh, the Inspector General of Police for Aligarh, and other officials to review the records. On Sunday, the team members are scheduled to hold a public meeting from 9 am to 1 pm.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has asked the people not to get misled by the superstition and hypocrisy of many so called Babas and demanded action against Bhole Baba.

Mayawati has also condemned the murder of partys Tamil Nadu president K Armstrong and has announced to go to Chennai tomorrow to meet his family members.

She was reacting on the recent stampede in Hahtras during the satsang of Bhole Baba by posting tweets on X social media on Saturday.

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She advised not to increase suffering and pain by getting misled by the superstition and hypocrisy of many other babas like Bhole Baba.

Mayawati has described the death of 121 people in the stampede as extremely worrying and has also appealed for strict action against Baba Bhole and other culprits.

She wrote In order to get rid of the poverty and other miseries of the poor, dalits and oppressed people etc. in the country, people have to get rid of these Babas 

BSP President further wrote that,  rather they will have to change their destiny by taking power in their own hands by following the path shown by Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and they will have to join their own party BSP, only then these people can avoid incidents like Hathras.

Mayawati wrote that strict action should be taken against Baba Bhole and others who are guilty in the Hathras incident. It is necessary to take action against other such babas also. In this matter, the government should not be complacent in its political interests so that people do not have to lose their lives in the future.

Meanwhile Mayawati also condemned the gruesome murder of partys Tamilnadu president K Armstrong last night.

In separate tweets, Mayawati said ,hardworking and dedicated leader of BSP in Tamil Nadu and President of State Party Unit, K. Armstrong was murdered outside his Chennai residence yesterday evening. This has sent a wave of grief and outrage across the society. The government should immediately take strict/necessary action so that such incidents can be prevented in future.

She further said , Considering the seriousness of this very sad and worrying incident, I plan to go to Chennai tomorrow morning to pay my respect and meet his family and console them. Everyone should maintain peace, this is an appeal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke to UKs new Prime Minister Keir Starmer on assuming office and reaffirmed his commitment to deepening ties between the two nations for the benefit of the two people and global good.

Pleased to speak with @Keir_Starmer. Congratulated him on being elected as the Prime Minister of the UK. We remain committed to deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust India-Great Britain economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our peoples and global good, the PM wrote on X.

Modi was among the top world leaders to congratulate Starmer on his election victory yesterday.

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India is hopeful that relations with the UK will continue to grow despite the change of regime in London. The two countries have been negotiating a trade deal for quite some time now and New Delhi is optimistic that the delayed pact could fructify now that a stable Labour government is in office.

In its manifesto, the Labour Party had pledged to seek a new strategic partnership with India, including a free-trade agreement (FTA) and to deepen cooperation in security, education, technology, and climate change.

Starmer has named David Lammy as his new Foreign Secretary. Lammy just a week ago had said he intended to visit India within the first month of office if his party was elected to power.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has congratulated Lammy on taking charge as the UK Foreign Secretary. Congratulations to @DavidLammy on being appointed Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. Look forward to continuing our engagement and strengthening the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, he wrote on X.
BJP President JP Nadda on Saturday asked the party activists to get ready for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and secure victory for the party.

Nadda was addressing a meeting of the extended executive committee of the BJP here.

He asked the karayakartas to get ready for the elections. His directive has come as the Election Commission has already set in motion the process for holding the elections.

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The meeting was among others attended by Union ministers G Kishan Reddy, Dr. Jitendra Singh, J&K BJP chief Ravinder Raina and general secretary Tarun Chugh. Over 2,000 senior BJP activists attended the meeting which dwelt at length on the election strategy.

On his arrival at the airport, Nadda received a rousing reception as this was his first visit here after the BJP took over the reins of the government for the third consecutive term.

Dr. Jitendra Singh and Ravinder Raina received Nadda who was brought to the venue of the meeting in a cavalcade.

Nadda appreciated the people of J&K for rejecting dynasties in the recent Lok Sabha elections and electing common people.

Taking a dig at the Congress, he said they have failed to cross a double-digit mark in the three successive Lok Sabha elections. Congress did not have a single seat in 13 states and whatever it won was with the crutches of other parties, he added.

Nadda also paid rich tributes to Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who laid his life in Srinagar while struggling for the abolition of the permit system in J&K and opposing the separate Constitution of the erstwhile state.

He said: I have got the privilege of coming here on the birth anniversary of our founding president Dr. Shyama Prasad Mokherjee. I salute him. Mukherjee had a special relationship with J&K.

During his two-day stay here, Nadda will launch a mass contact programme to ensure that the people are made aware of the programmes and policy of the BJP ahead of the polls.

The BJP made a hat-trick by winning the Udhampur and Jammu Lok Sabha seats in the recent elections. This will be the first Assembly election in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

Dr. Jitendra Singh, Ravinder Raina, Chugh, and other leaders also spoke on the occasion.
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Spanning hundreds of miles along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, youll find some of Floridas world-famous beaches that welcome over 140 million tourists yearly and attract residents and retirees alike to plant roots in the southern state.

With its sunny climate, endless activities, and no state tax, Florida is a desirable destination to live, but Yawar Charlie, a senior real estate agent, director of Aaron Kirman Groups estates division and a cast member of CNBCs Listing Impossible warns to think twice before buying property. When it comes to real estate, not every sunny spot in the Sunshine State is a wise investment, he told us.

Check Out: 3 Best Florida Cities To Buy Property in the Next 5 Years, According To Real Estate Agents

Read Next: Heres How to Become a Real Estate Investor For Just $1K Using This Bezos-Backed Startup

Investing in real estate is about more than just sunshine and palm trees. Its crucial to look at economic stability, growth potential, and environmental risks. Charlie explained, Before you get swept up by the allure of Floridas warm weather, make sure youre also considering the financial forecast. Being well-informed and strategic will help you spot the true gems in the market!

Although the luxury real estate agent is located in Los Angeles, his significant crossover client base between California and Florida keeps him well-versed in both markets.

He shared the five cities in Florida to hold off on buying property in the next five years and why.

Earning passive income doesn't need to be difficult. You can start this week.

Miami Beach

Known for its pristine beaches, lively nightlife and world-class dining, Miami Beach might be a great vacation or wild Spring Break hotspot, but according to Charlie, this is one place to avoid buying property.

Learn More: 6 Best Florida Suburbs to Buy Property in the Next 5 Years, According to Real Estate Agents

Yes, Miami Beach is glamorous, but the rising sea levels and increasing frequency of hurricanes pose significant risks, he stated. The cost of insuring properties is soaring, and the potential for long-term value depreciation is real. Its like buying a beautiful beachfront home with a ticking time bomb in the basement.

Daytona Beach

Another popular spot in Florida is Daytona Beach, which has 23 miles of white-sand beaches perfect for surfing, swimming, windsurfing and kayaking. Plus its affordable, but dont let its beauty and low cost of living entice you to invest.

While it may be famous for its speedway, Daytona Beach struggles with economic stagnation and high crime rates, Charlie explained. One in 28 people has a chance of becoming a victim of a violent or propery crime, per Neighborhood Scout.

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In addition, The real estate market has been sluggish, and without major economic development, property values are likely to remain flat, Charlie said. Investing here might leave you feeling stuck in the pit stop.

Fort Myers

Fort Myers is another beautiful spot for enjoying the beach and relaxing, but Charlie advised against investing there.

Despite its appeal to retirees, Fort Myers faces issues with overdevelopment and environmental concerns, particularly regarding water quality, he shared. The housing market has been volatile, and long-term growth prospects are uncertain. Its a bit like buying a flashy car that might just run out of gas.

Pensacola

Pensacolas picture-perfect turquoise and sparkly white sandy beaches are the ultimate escape, but Charlie warned homebuyers to stay away.

This city has faced economic challenges and limited job growth, which impacts the housing market, he said. High crime rates and a lack of new development projects make it less appealing to investors.

According to Neighborhood Scout, crime is 86% higher than in other cities in the state and 1 in 33 people have the chance of becoming a victim of a violent or property crime.

Investing here could feel like trying to catch a wave in a kiddie pool, Charlie stated.

Ocala

Ocala is a pretty, clean and budget-friendly city, but watch your wallet. Ocala has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes  from the smallest towns to the very largest cities, per Neighborhood Scout.

And according to Charlie, there are other reasons to be concerned.

While affordable, Ocalas real estate market is hindered by slow economic growth and limited amenities, he said. The area is heavily reliant on agriculture, which can be volatile. Its a quiet town, but that tranquility might come at the cost of your investments growth. Think of it as putting your money into a time capsule with no guarantee of future rewards.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Worst Florida Cities To Buy Property in the Next 5 Years, According to Real Estate Agents
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu president K Armstrong was brutally murdered by a bike-borne six member armed gang in front of his residence in north Chennai late on Friday evening.

The incident had sent shockwaves across the state and police said the murder was carried out due to personal enmity.

A lawyer with a strong support base in north Chennai, Armstrong was a trusted lieutenant of BSP supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and he had been the state president of the state unit for 17 long years.

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She is expected pay her last respects to the departed leader on Sunday morning, according to party sources.

Police said, the gang had meticulously planned the operation with the assistance of a local auto driver, Thirumalai (45), who passed on information about the movements of the BSP leader.

The assailants and two of their accomplices surrendered before the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Anna Ngar, later in the night on Friday. They included one Punnai Balu, a history sheeter and brother of notorious rowdy Arcot Suresh, who was killed in a gang rivalry near the Marina sea front last year.

On the fateful evening, Armstrong with a few of his associates had visited his new house under construction in Sembiyam near Perambur. There was a biriyani joint nearby and two of the assailants in the guise of food delivery agents started a conversation with an unsuspecting Armstrong.

While Armstrong was attacked with machetes from behind, his associates, Veeramani (65) and Balaji (53) who tried to protect him were also assaulted and sustained injuries. The gang fled the scene immediately.

Armstrong was rushed to the Apollo Hospital on Greams Road in the city but doctors declared him dead on arrival. Ace filmmaker Pa Rajith, who was among those who landed at the hospital, was seen crying in despair. Later, the body was shifted to the Raji Gandhi Government General Hospital, where more than thousand supporters have gathered demanding action against the culprits.

In a statement to the police, Punnai Balu had admitted to carrying out the murder in retaliation for the killing of his brother Arcot Suresh in which the hand of Armstrong was suspected. Balu had further said after the murder of his brother, he was threatened by the associates of Armstrong resulting in his wife deserting him. This, had prompted him to take a revenge, police added.

Earlier in the day, police detained the hundreds of BSP supporters who had blocked the arterial Periyar EVR Road abutting the Central Railway station in protest against the murder.

The BSP state committee had demanded that the murder case of Armstrong be handed over to the CBI so that the real culprits are brought to book.

The murder coming close on the heels of the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy which claimed 65 lives, had given the opposition AIADMK, BJP and PMK a handle to criticize the law and order situation in the state. Even the DMK ally, MDMK of Vaiko, has urged the police not to be complacent in the face of rising mercenary killings.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and other BJP leaders on Saturday paid tribute to the partys founding ideologue Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his 123rd birth anniversary.

Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological parent organisation of the BJP.

The Prime Minister said Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjees devotion to the motherland and sacrifice will continue to inspire the countrymen.

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In a post on X in Hindi, Modi said, Respectful tributes to Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his birth anniversary, who made India proud with his strong nationalist thoughts. His dedication and sacrifice for the motherland will always inspire the citizens of the country.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also paid tribute to Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

In a post on X in Hindi, Shah said, I remember and pay my tribute to the eminent nationalist thinker Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his birth anniversary. Whenever there is talk of fighting for the unity and integrity of the country, Dr. Mookerjee will definitely be remembered.

Whether it is his struggle to keep Bengal a part of the country or making the supreme sacrifice to keep Jammu and Kashmir an integral part of India with the resolution of Ek Nishan, Ek Pradhan, Ek Vidhan, every Indian is indebted to him for his unique efforts for the integrity of the country. Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who provided an ideological alternative to the country by establishing the Jan Sangh, will forever be a guide on the path of nation first, the Union Home Minister further said.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva and other leaders of the party paid floral tribute to the Jana Sangh founder and planted a sapling at the Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Statue Park in the national capital.
An Army soldier of the elite forces was killed on Saturday in an encounter with terrorists in the Kulgam district in south Kashmir.

The gunfight broke out in the Modergam village of Kulgam in the morning when the security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the area following intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists. Atleast two to three terrorists have been trapped in the area.

The soldier was injured when terrorists fired at them. He was shifted to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, reports said.

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Informing about the gunfight, the Kashmir Zone Police said in a post on microblogging site X, Encounter started at Modergam Village of Kulgam District. Police and Security Forces are on job. Further details shall follow.

Reinforcements of the Army, CRPF and SOG of the J&K Police have been rushed to the spot.

The encounter has come amid the annual Amarnath Yatra and heightened security arrangements in J&K. The yatra began from the twin base camps of Pahalgam in Anantnag district and Baltal in Ganderbal in the valley.
Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said he was deeply shocked by the brutal and abhorrent killing of Tamil Nadu BSP chief and expressed confidence that the culprits will be brought to justice expeditiously.

Deeply shocked by the brutal and abhorrent killing of Thiru Armstrong, the Tamil Nadu Chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends and followers. Tamil Nadu Congress leaders are in constant touch with the Government of Tamil Nadu, and I am confident that the Government will ensure that the culprits are brought to justice expeditiously, Gandhi wrote on X.

Earlier on Friday, K Armstrong, the President of the BSPs Tamil Nadu unit was brutally murdered by a mob of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai.

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Following his death, supporters of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)s Tamil Nadu unit president gathered outside the hospital, where Armstrongs body was kept, and demanded the arrest of the culprits.

The protesters have demanded a CBI inquiry into the murder, saying they do not trust the DMK-Congress-led Tamil Nadu Government.

The BSP protesters also demanded Chief Minister MK Stalins resignation.

Meanwhile, BSP supremo Mayawati has condemned the gruesome killing of her partys Tamil Nadu unit chief and demanded guilty must be punished.

In a statement on X, Mayawati said, The gruesome killing of Mr. K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state Govt. must punish the guilty.

The BSP supremo said that she will visit Tamil Nadu on Sunday to pay tributes to Armstrong and meet his family members.

Considering the seriousness of this extremely sad and worrying incident, I am planning to go to Chennai tomorrow morning to pay my tributes to Mr Armstrong and meet his grieving family and console them. I appeal to all to maintain peace and order, she said in another post in Hindi.
UKs new Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi of his commitment to further deepening the strong and respectful relationship between the two countries and welcomed the latters leadership on key global challenges, such as climate change and economic growth.

The two leaders, who spoke on the phone this morning, exchanged congratulations on their respective election wins and reflected on the strength of the relationship between their two nations.

A press release issued by the UK said that discussing the importance of the living bridge between India and the UK, and the 2030 roadmap, the two leaders agreed there was a wide range of areas across defence and security, critical and emerging technology, and climate change, for the two countries to deepen cooperation on.

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Discussing the Free Trade Agreement, Starmer said he stood ready to conclude a deal that worked for both sides. The leaders hoped to meet at the earliest opportunity.

After his phone conversation with the UKs new PM, Modi wrote on X, Pleased to speak with @Keir_Starmer. Congratulated him on being elected as the Prime Minister of the UK. We remain committed to deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust India-Great Britain economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our peoples and global good.

Prime Minister Modi was among the first top world leaders to congratulate Starmer on his election victory yesterday.

India is hopeful that relations with the UK will continue to grow despite the change of regime in London. The two countries have been negotiating the FTA for quite some time and New Delhi is optimistic that the delayed pact could fructify now that a stable Labour government is in office.

In its manifesto, the Labour Party had pledged to seek a new strategic partnership with India, including a free-trade agreement and to deepen cooperation in security, education, technology, and climate change.

Starmer has named David Lammy as his new Foreign Secretary. Lammy just a week ago had said he intended to visit India within the first month of office if his party was elected to power.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has congratulated Lammy on taking charge as the UK Foreign Secretary.

Congratulations to @DavidLammy on being appointed Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom. Look forward to continuing our engagement and strengthening the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, he wrote on X.
Its a widely accepted notion among economists that cultural differences can pose a significant barrier to trade. The larger the cultural gap between two countries  judging by differences in language, customs, values and business norms  the more challenging and costly trade relations become. This is a recurring theme in research. But theres one big exception to the rule: China. As an applied economist with a keen interest in how culture influences trade, Ive conducted several studies of the dynamic.

In one such effort, two colleagues and I meticulously analyzed Chinas trade relationships with nearly 90 countries over 16 years. Our research uncovered a distinctive pattern: Unlike many other nations, cultural differences rarely influence the scale of Chinas trade activities. Countries have various tools to minimize the effects of cultural differences on their trade. Cultural exchange programmes, bilateral trade agreements and international trade shows have shown remarkable success in fostering mutual understanding, easing trade negotiations and overcoming cultural barriers.

However, these options are available to all countries. What makes China unique? I suspect that Chinas national trading strategy, involving statebacked export industries and substantial global infrastructure investment, is a big part of the answer. By aligning itself with the economic development needs of its trading partners, China has been able to minimize the negative effects of cultural differences on its trade. Its a strategy that has proved to be remarkably effective.

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A closer examination of Chinas trade ventures in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America  all regions with significant cultural differences from China  paints a vivid picture of this observation. Despite its cultural differences with nations on the African continent, each with its own unique traditions, languages and customs, China has built a multibillion-dollar trade network in the region that spans industries from mining to telecom. Chinas engagement in Africa is facilitated by a combination of local infrastructure investment, affordable technology provision and favorable loan terms.

These partnerships are more about creating symbiotic relationships and less about efficiency. This facilitates market access and helps China to overcome cultural barriers. In the Middle East, too, China has made significant inroads by aligning itself with the regions development goals, such as those outlined in Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 and the United Arab Emirates Centennial 2071. Chinas Belt and Road Initiative complements these long-term development plans, offering the capital investment and construction expertise needed to bring ambitious infrastructure projects to life.

Chinas presence in Latin America has also grown substantially over the past decade. Despite the geographical and cultural distance, China has become one of the top trade partners for countries such as Brazil, Chile and Peru. This relationship is built on reciprocity: Latin American countries supply raw materials and agricultural products in exchange for Chinese investment in the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors. Again, this is a strategy that hinges on pragmatic economic interactions focused on mutual benefits and development goals.

Some might argue that trading with China is an obvious choice due to its size and influence. The economic incentives include access to Chinas population of over 1.4 billion and its significant role in global value chains, especially in electronics, textiles and machiner y. As Chinas influence in global markets grows, U.S. companies also face competitive pressures to maintain their market positions. However, Chinas trade practices, frequently entangled with governmental intervention, potentially undermine market efficiency  an established economic objective  in numerous ways.

In international trade, market efficiency refers to the extent to which prices in the global market reflect all available information, allowing resources to be allocated optimally across countries. China has been known to require foreign companies to transfer technology to local firms as a condition for market access. This practice may distort market efficiency by forcing companies to share proprietary technology rather than compete on a level playing field.

Intellectual property theft and insufficient protection of intellectual property rights in China have also been major concerns for Western companies. The lack of robust intellectual property enforcement can lead to inefficiencies, as it discourages innovation and investment by foreign firms who fear their inventions and technologies may be copied without adequate legal recourse. Western companies also face various market-access barriers in China, such as joint venture requirements, limits on foreign ownership and regulatory hurdles. These barriers can prevent the efficient allocation of resources and limit competition and innovation, resulting in a less efficient market overall. Despite these concerns, Western firms continue to do business with China.

Chinas adeptness in transcending cultural barriers, combined with Western firms continued engagement, pose a significant challenge for Western economies, notably the United States. The challenge is heightened as the U.S. maintains a focus on traditional efficiency approaches in forging trade relationships across diverse regions such as Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Since traditional market efficiency approaches might not always suffice, Western economies may need to reconsider their strategies.

(The writer is Professor of Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth. This article was published on www.theconversation.com)
The US Supreme Court ruling granting former President Donald Trump immunity for certain official acts related to his 2020 election interference case is a landmark decision that raises significant questions about the boundaries of presidential power and accountability. This decision has profound implications for the rule of law and the integrity of democratic institutions. At the heart of the ruling is the notion that a sitting president has absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts that fall within their exclusive sphere of constitutional authority.

This concept is not entirely new, but the courts application of it to Mr Trumps actions in the aftermath of the 2020 election stretches its implications to unprecedented lengths. By shielding Mr Trump from prosecution for actions that can be argued to be part of his official duties, the court has set a precedent that could embolden future presidents to engage in questionable or even illegal behaviour with impunity. One of the most concerning aspects of this ruling is its potential to delay justice.

The case, now sent back to US District Judge Tanya Chutkan for further analysis, will likely be tied up in legal wrangling for months. This delay benefits Mr Trump, as it pushes the possibility of a trial beyond the November election. If Mr Trump were to win the election, he could appoint an attorney general who might dismiss this case and others, effectively letting him escape accountability. This scenario underscores a critical flaw in the American legal system: the ability of powerful individuals to manipulate legal processes to their advantage.

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Moreover, the ruling calls into question the nature of presidential actions. The courts conservative majority has drawn a line between official and unofficial acts, but the demarcation is far from clear. For instance, Mr Trumps relentless pressure on then Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the electoral results and his public incitement leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot are areas that demand closer scrutiny. These actions, while arguably connected to his role as president, also bear the hallmarks of personal political manoeuvring that should not be immune from legal consequences.

The dissenting opinions from the courts liberal justices highlight the dangerous precedent set by this ruling. Justice Sonia Sotomayors vivid dissent warned that the decision places the president above the law, effectively creating a king who can operate without accountability. This shift in the balance of power is troubling and contrary to the foundational principles of American democracy, where no one, not even the president, is supposed to be above the law. The integrity of the presidency and the trust of the American people are at stake. It is crucial for the judicial system to find a balance that respects the constitutional authority of the president while ensuring accountability for actions that threaten the democratic fabric of the nation.
The address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Rajya Sabha about the ongoing violence in Manipur marks a critical moment in the political and social landscape of the state. The 14-month-long conflict, which began in May 2023, has claimed over 200 lives and displaced more than 60,000 people. The divide between the Kuki and Meitei communities has only deepened, posing significant challenges to peace and stability in the region.

The Prime Ministers remarks in the Rajya Sabha underscored his governments efforts to reduce violence and restore normalcy in Manipur. He pointed out that over 11,000 FIRs have been registered and more than 500 individuals have been arrested. According to Mr Modi, these actions indicate that the situation is improving, with educational institutions and other vital services resuming operations. He emphasised that both the central and state governments are actively engaging with all stakeholders to promote peace. However, Mr Modis call for the opposition to rise above politics and his critique of the Congress for its history of imposing Presidents Rule in Manipur multiple times during the 1990s reveal the deeply political nature of the discourse surrounding the conflict.

While it is essential to acknowledge past governance failures, it is equally important to focus on constructive solutions and collaborative efforts to address the current crisis. The Prime Ministers speech, while comprehensive in detailing government actions, has been perceived by some as lacking a sense of urgency and empathy towards the affected communities. The oppositions demand for Mr Modi to address the situation in the Lok Sabha and give voice to the Manipur MPs reflects a broader concern about the central governments engagement with the states issues. The refusal to allow a Manipur MP to speak in the Lok Sabha during Mr Modis address, despite continuous opposition chants, underscores the frustrations felt by many representatives from the Northeast.

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Furthermore, the historical context provided by Mr Modi, referencing the ethnic conflicts of the early 1990s, serves as a reminder of the deep-seated issues that have plagued Manipur for decades. The conflict, which resulted in numerous deaths and widespread displacement, highlights the complex interplay of ethnic identities and territorial claims that continue to fuel violence in the state. Addressing the root causes of the conflict requires more than just law enforcement and administrative measures. It demands a holistic approach that includes dialogue, reconciliation, and sustainable development.

The governments efforts to engage with all stakeholders are a step in the right direction, but these efforts must be sustained and expanded to include meaningful participation from civil society, community leaders, and affected populations. The call for unity and cooperation to restore peace in Manipur is timely and necessary. It must now be backed by tangible actions and a genuine commitment to addressing the underlying issues. The Prime Ministers appeal to rise above politics should not only be directed at the opposition but also serve as a guiding principle for the governments approach to resolving the conflict
The streets of Kolkata and its sprawling suburbs have recently echoed with the rumble of bulldozers. Civic authorities and police, in their mission to reclaim footpaths from unauthorized stalls, have sown panic among street hawkers. After two tumultuous days of uprooting hawkers from Kolkatas footpaths, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reversed course.

This decision however, leaves us with an enduring question: Are we truly committed to protecting the fragile fabric of street commerce that weaves the citys vibrant tapestry, or are we merely postponing an inevitable clash between progress and survival? The streets, bustling with life, await a definitive answer. Street vending, a time-honoured profession, is more than an informal sector activity; it is the lifeblood of urban economies and communities worldwide.

These small-scale entrepreneurs offer affordable goods and services, bridging the gap for low-income consumers unable to access formal retail. As per the International Labour Organization, street vending employs around 100 million people globally, significantly contributing to the informal economy and local tax revenues. Beyond economics, street vendors foster social cohesion, turning streets into vibrant community hubs where diverse interactions flourish. They provide a crucial safety net for vulnerable populations and engage in charitable endeavours.

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Environmentally, vendors champion sustainability by promoting local, seasonal products and reducing waste. Politically, they fight for their rights, shaping urban policies and advocating for legal recognition and protection. Culturally, they preserve and celebrate heritage through traditional foods and crafts, enhancing urban diversity. Thus, street vendors are indispensable architects of urban vitality, deserving recognition and support. The Kolkata Municipal Corporations latest survey lists 59,085 vendors in Town Vending Committees, yet hawkers unions claim the actual number is three to four times higher.

With the enactment of the Street Vendors Act, 2014, and the subsequent West Bengal Urban Street Vendors Rules, 2018, the Town Vending Committee has delineated 1892 areas as No-Vending Zones and designated areas for hawking. It is informed that vendors can utilize one-third of footpaths wider than five feet, ensuring two-thirds remain unobstructed for pedestrians.

This meticulous allocation underscores the delicate balance between maintaining urban order and preserving the livelihoods of street vendors, reflecting a nuanced approach to urban planning that respects both commerce and public mobility. Bulldozers are still required, though. The reason is corruption. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee exposed the sordid nexus between politicians, police, and hawkers, where protection money perpetuates the illegal occupation of public land.

Prime hawking spots become commodities in a shadowy marketplace, with councillors, police, musclemen, and hawker union leaders all vying for their share of the lucrative pie. This ugly reality highlights the complexity of urban management, where the lofty ideals of regulation are continually undermined by the pervasive greed that corrodes the very foundation of the citys governance. The Chief Minister granted hawkers a month to clear encroachments, forming a panel for a comprehensive survey. Emphasizing that eviction isnt her aim, she seeks a resolution before Durga Puja, the states grandest festival.

This approach reflects a delicate balancing act, blending governance with empathy for the livelihoods intertwined with Kolkatas vibrant streets. This leniency toward hawkers stems not solely from electoral politics but from a recognition of their vital economic role. Both state and central authorities understand that hawkers significantly contribute to Indias economy. Street entrepreneurs, preCovid, fuelled a parallel economy of Rs 80 crore daily, supporting three others through jobs or partnerships.

So this sympathy transcends mere political strategy; it acknowledges the indispensable role hawkers play in sustaining urban livelihoods and fuelling economic activity. And thus, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri extolled the PM SVANidhi scheme, emphasizing its transformative impact on the lives of street vendors. By facilitating over 80.42 lakh loans amounting to Rs 10,678 crore, the scheme has liberated vendors from the clutches of exorbitant informal credit channels. Launched during the pandemic, it aimed to restore the swarozgar, svavlamban, swabhimaan of street vendors, fostering financial inclusion and restoring dignity.

Puri highlighted the schemes role in empowering 60.94 lakh vendors, extending collateral-free working capital loans and reinforcing their vital economic contributions, underscoring a commitment to their respect and resilience. According to the National Hawkers Federation, half of all hawkers sell food items, and rest earned livelihood from clothing, plastic goods, unbranded crockery, cutlery, and household items. Notably, according to the 2020 report on Women in Informal Employment, women constitute 1.2 per cent among 11.8 per cent of Indias hawkers, primarily aged 35-54, with a majority lacking formal education ~ only 2.3 per cent are graduates.

Despite earning significantly less than their male counterparts ~ Rs 29 per hour compared to Rs 40 ~ many women work over 53 hours weekly, fostering self-sufficiency. These resilient women, navigating challenges with zeal, offer an alternative economic model distinct from the glossy allure of air-conditioned malls, embodying grassroots entrepreneurship vital for inclusive development. While the Trinamools gains in the Lok Sabha elections were significant, the urban poll numbers now pose a worrying challenge for Joraphool. So, with an eye on 2026, bulldozer politics have commenced across the state ~ initially aggressive, then softening.

Sidewalks, crucial to city life, bear the brunt of these changes. Citizens, already frustrated by encroachments that clog pathways and impede emergency services, especially during the festive Puja season, may find little solace in this act of administration. From Gariahat to VIP Road, makeshift stalls and advertising gates dominate, while relentless honking exacerbates the chaos. But on the other hand, it is also to be remembered that, in the bustling streets from Maniktala to Hatibagan, Lake Market to Ballygunge, street vendors stand resilient against scorching sun and torrential rain, offering sustenance amidst adversity.

Their humble stalls, laden with Jhal-Churmur, fresh fruits, and cooling sarbats, embody more than commerce ~ they are beacons of hope for families grappling with inequality and poverty. While some enjoy the luxuries of city life, these vendors provide a lifeline, a symbol of freedom, and reassurance to those marginalized by circumstance. As the poet muses,

The naked boy lifts his hand to the sky,

His frail body burns with hungers cry.

Moonlight cradles the pavement below,

The moons soft kiss makes his forehead glow.

In shadows deep, his mother weeps,

Wiping hidden tears, her vigil keeps.

Each tear a testament to sorrow and strife,

In silence, they endure the hardships of life.

(Author-translated from a poem by Birendra Chattopadhyay)

These poignant verses capture the daily struggle and suppleness etched into the fabric of our cities. Amidst debates about regulation and urban planning, let us not forget the humanity and dignity these vendors uphold; their presence is a testament to the spirit of survival and solidarity that defines our urban tapestry. Theirs is a story of perseverance, where every sale echoes a quiet triumph over adversity and every transaction speaks to a deeper narrative of community and pliability

(The writer is on the faculty of the Department of Statistics, Basanti Devi College, Kolkata)
Apiwan Borrikonratchata / Getty Images

If youre looking for ways to save money on driving this summer and your car doesnt get a lot of miles per gallon, it might be time to change out your vehicle.

Discover More: 9 Most Reliable Cars To Buy Used in Summer 2024

Read Next: 5 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work)

The average national gas price is $3.50 a gallon and gets up to more than $5 a gallon in some states, so its important to be driving something that gets good gas mileage. This is especially true if youre relying on your car to be your main way of traveling this summer.

GOBankingRates reached out to auto experts to see which fuel-efficient vehicles you should be driving and why.

Toyota

Toyota Corolla Hybrid

Nigel Tunnacliffe is the CEO and co-founder of Coastline Academy, the largest driving school in the country. He recommended the Toyota Corolla Hybrid because its well-built and incredibly fuel-efficient.

The Toyota Corolla Hybrid is our go-to teaching vehicle at Coastline Academy, and our team has purchased hundreds of these models thanks to their consistently high-quality performance, said Tunnacliffe.

The Corolla also offers 50 mpg, which, when combined with its low up-front cost, offers value that is hard for any other midsize sedan in its class to match.

Aivaras Grigelevicius, an automotive expert at carVertical agreed, saying youll go pretty far without having to think about filling up your gas tank.

According to Grigelevicius, The average distance you can go with a full tank is 500 to 600 miles. And with the help of hypermiling techniques, you can go even further.

The price for this car is really affordable for a hybrid vehicle: Corolla Hybrids start at $23,500 for a 2024 model.

Check Out: 5 Car Brands With the Most Reliable Engines

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Nissan

Nissan Versa

For a non-hybrid sedan, the Nissan Versa offers competitive mileage that makes it stand out among other comparable vehicles, Tunnacliffe said.

The Versa gets a combined 30-35 mpg and starts at just $16,680.

Tunnacliffe added, It also comes with a wide range of tech and driver assist features at a reasonable price, adding up to impressive value for a smaller car.

The newest Versa also offers the option for adaptive cruise control and up to an 8in. touchscreen. Plus, there are great safety features as well. All new Nissan models come with Nissan Safety Shield 360, which offers monitors on all sides of the car to help prevent crashes.

Trending Now: I Have Driven Over 250 Car Models: These Are the 3 Best and Worst for Your Money

Honda

Honda Civic Hybrid

Honda Civic has always been a good all-rounder, but with the introduction of the hybrid powertrain, it has become the best compact car available today, said Grigelevicius.

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Unlike other hybrids, which prioritize only fuel efficiency, Hondas hybrid systems can provide both fun and impressive economy at once. In the real world, its not difficult to achieve 45 MPG, which is truly remarkable.

Car and Driver ranked the 2025 model as their #1 best compact car. The site praised its sleek exterior and roomy interior. Car and Driver also appreciated its low starting price of $25,345.

The average hybrid car costs almost $40,000, so getting a highly-rated hybrid for almost half that price is truly a deal.

Honda

Honda Insight

Fuel economy and style are remarkably combined in the Honda Insight, said Joe Giranda, the director of sales and marketing at CFR Classic.

With ratings of 49 mpg on the highway and 55 mpg in the city, Insight distinguishes itself with its elegant cabin and clever architecture. It has Hondas two-motor hybrid technology, which enhances economy by utilizing smooth acceleration and regenerative braking. Advanced safety technologies like Honda Sensing also equip the Insight, therefore guaranteeing a safe and effective driving experience.

The latest Honda Insight was made in 2022, and starts at $26,855. The smooth acceleration Giranda highlighted is something a lot of customers love about the Insight, saying it results in a very smooth ride.

The Insight is a great choice if you want to comfortably take a long trip without spending too much on gas.

GM Authority

Chevrolet Bolt

Giranda recommended the Bolt for those who are interested in exploring the capabilities of a plug-in hybrid vehicle.

Its perfect for regular commutes and quick vacations without using gasoline since it provides a 53-mile all-electric range, he said.

Once the battery runs empty, the combined fuel economy is 42 mpg. For people who wish to minimize their environmental impact yet still go greater distances, Volts creative twin power system offers flexibility and extended range.

The plug-in hybrid model of the Chevy Bolt last came out in 2019. Prices for it can range from the low $20,000s to around $26,000.

Cant Miss: 6 Hybrid Vehicles To Stay Away From Buying

Hyundai

Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid

The latest Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid was released in 2022, and goes for $24,695 brand new, but since its been a few years since its release, you can likely find this model for much cheaper used.

With an outstanding 57 mpg in the city and 59 mpg on the highway, the Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid is another top contender, Giranda said. Its aerodynamic form and neat design lower drag, therefore improving fuel economy.

Giranda added that the hybrid model of the Ioniq has a large cabin and an array of tech tools, including smart cruise control. He also praised Hyundais wide warranty coverage. Safety features include advanced systems like Blind Spot Collision Warning and Rear Parking Assist so you can parallel park with ease.

Kia

Kia Niro

The Kia Niro is a compact crossover, and starts at $28,315 for a new 2024 model. Moreover, it has an impressive warranty that covers you for 10 years/100,000 miles.

Its also bigger than a lot of other cars on this list and has quite a bit of legroom in comparison to similar sized cars, which all contribute to it being a great choice for larger groups who are planning to travel together this summer.

For families or those requiring more space, the Niro offers a better driving position and lots of cargo space with fuel economy figures of 52 mpg in the city and 49 mpg on the highway, Giranda continued.

Summer adventures will find this practical and fun car with its modern driver assistance technologies, easy-to-use infotainment system and comfy seating.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 7 Best Fuel-Efficient Cars For Travel This Summer
Condemning the brutal murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu president K. Armstrong, party chief and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati urged the TN government to ensure that the guilty are punished.

Hailing Armstrong as "a strong Dalit voice in the state" she said the incident is "highly deplorable and condemnable."

The gruesome killing of Mr. K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state Govt. must punish the guilty.  Mayawati (@Mayawati) July 5, 2024

Armstrong, a former councillor of Chennai Corporation, was hacked by a two-wheeler-borne gang near his house in Perambur in Chennai. Two others also sustained injuries during the attack.

Armstrong died on the way to the hospital as he sustained grievous injuries in the attack.

Workers and supporters of the BSP in Tamil Nadu staged a protest outside Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital where his body has been kept in the mortuary for autopsy, demanding immediate arrest of the accused.

#WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers and supporters protest outside Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital where his body has been kept in mortuary for autopsy. They are demanding immediate arrest of the accused.



Armstrong was hacked to death by an unidentified mob pic.twitter.com/wuGhOVyNkt  ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2024

The motive behind the murder

While the exact reasons behind the murder remain unknown, the police have said it could be a revenge killing related to the murder of a gangster, Arcot Suresh, which happened last year.

"We are conducting an investigation. The murder seems to be linked to an earlier killing," NDTV quoted a senior police officer as saying.

The police said eight people have been arrested in connection with the murder.

According to the police, Armstrong was overseeing the construction work of a building at Venugopal Street in Sembium when the attack took place.
An Indian Army soldier laid down his life while four terrorists were neutralized in two separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district on Saturday. While the soldier made the supreme sacrifice in Modergam village of Kulgam, the terrorists were killed in the Frisal Chinnigam area.

According to the Indian Army, security personnel were conducting a cordon-and-search operation in Modergam village of the south Kashmir district when the terrorists opened fire at them. The martyred soldier suffered bullet injuries in the attack, they said.

The soldiers were rushed to Modergam after the presence of terrorists in the area was confirmed by sources.

Meanwhile, security personnel came face to face with terrorists in the Frisal Chinnigam area of Kulgam, news agency PTI said, confirming that the dead bodies of four extremists have been spotted so far.

As the presence of more gunmen was confirmed, the security personnel couldn't immediately seize them. The operation is still in progress in the area, PTI said. The site of the encounter is not near the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway but in the interior areas of the district, the report added.

The encounter site was visited by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, V K Birdhi. Confirming the operation to spot and take out the remaining terrorists will continue, he said getting to these terrorists is a significant achievement for the forces. The Jammu and Kashmir Police and security forces continue to keep track of the movement of terrorists, he added.

This is a developing story, this copy will be updated soon.
The budget session of parliament will be held from July 22 to August 12. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the union budget on July 23.

"Hon'ble President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business), Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said.

This will be the first full session of the 18th Lok Sabha after the new members took oath during the first session held from June 24 to July 2.

The first budget of the new government will be presented amid high anticipation following President Droupadi Murmu's assertion that Prime Minister Narendra Modis third term would be marked by many historic steps.

Murmu had said major social and economic decisions would be a highlight of the budget.

The first session of the house was a stormy affair with the opposition trying to corner the government over a range of issues including NEET-UG examination row and Agniveer scheme.
Days after 121 people died in a stampede at his 'satsang' in Hathras of Uttar Pradesh, religious preacher Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba said he was deeply saddened by the incident and added that he has faith in the government and administration.

In a video statement, which is his first reaction after the deadly Hathras stampede, Bhole Baba said, I am deeply saddened after the incident. May God give us the strength to bear this pain.

I have faith that anyone who created the chaos would not be spared, the religious preacher said.

"Through my lawyer, AP Singh, I have requested the members of the committee to stand with the bereaved families and the injured and help them throughout their live," Bhole Baba, a former cop-turned-self-styled godman added.

#WATCH | Hathras Stampede Accident | Mainpuri, UP: In a video statement, Surajpal also known as 'Bhole Baba' says, "... I am deeply saddened after the incident of July 2. May God give us the strength to bear this pain. Please keep faith in the government and the administration. I pic.twitter.com/7HSrK2WNEM  ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2024

Bhole Baba has been elusive after the stampede. His lawyer had said they have district-wise lists of the victims, and the godman's trust would take care of the education, health, and wedding expenses of the families of those who died in the stampede.

Surjpal left his job as a policeman in the late 1990s and became a religious preacher and started holding 'satsang'. He gained a large following, especially in western Uttar Pradesh.

The probe so far

The Uttar Pradesh government's Special Investigation Team, probing the incident, has said far recorded the statements of 90 people.

SIT chief Anupam Kulshrestha said the evidence gathered suggests culpability on the part of the event organisers.

With the probe continuing in the case, the senior IPS officer told news agency PTI that the "conspiracy angle" cannot be ruled out.
lcva2 / iStock.com

The gig economy has made it easier for a lot of people to make additional income with more flexibility than ever before.

Find Out: 6 Cheap Hobbies To Start in 2024 That Will Make You Extra Money

Check Out: 6 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work)

When the rideshare company Uber appeared on the scene, it seemed a revolutionary way to make money without all of the hassles of applying for a job. All you need is a reliable car and a smartphone. For people who didnt want to put quite as much wear and tear on their cars, Uber Eats  delivering food to peopl  became another great way to add income.

While Uber Eats can still be a good way to make extra money, one driver suggested there are some things you need to know first if youre hoping to make money driving for them.

Wealthy people know the best money secrets. Learn how to copy them.

Location Matters

Cat Stickler is a single mom in Utah who has been delivering food through Uber Eats since 2021.

She said the success of driving for Uber Eats really depends on your location, availability of customers and the miles per gallon that your vehicle gets.

I live in a small town, so I end up driving much farther than others who live in or near a major city that has late-night restaurants, she said.

Discover More: 8 Ways To Make $200 (or More) a Day Working From Home

Its Not a Living Wage

You can absolutely add income by driving for Uber Eats. But its not a full-time job.

If she drives between eight and 12 hours a day, Stickler said, she can earn a couple hundred dollars. My highest was $225 in 12 hours, but it was only once in 2022, she said.

However, [Its] nowhere near a livable wage, especially after factoring in gas and other expenses. But its decent in emergencies.

More recently, for 10 or slightly fewer hours, she makes closer to between $110 and $130 per shift, even on Friday and Saturday, which are the busiest nights.

Pay and Tips Issues

Whats worse, Stickler said, is that not only has Uber Eats base pay per trip decreased, but the amount people tip on average has decreased, too.

She added, Theres been more tip baiting as well, where customers set a tip up front but remove it after the food was delivered to make sure a driver accepts their order.

Service Line Woes

Uber is not doing a great job at customer service, lately either, Stickler said. [The] customer service line for drivers has plummeted in quality lately, and its clear theyre phasing out live support, which has been an extra challenge  since I drive overnight when there are more orders and fewer drivers  and has negatively impacted my willingness to drive more often.

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Factor In Time

Time is also money for drivers. If youre waiting for a call to come in, thats time you could potentially have spent earning income in a job.

The only upside is that time spent waiting is not a big deal for her, as she can bring a notebook to brainstorm or research for her freelance clients while waiting for orders. So, Im still using time wisely.

However, for drivers who dont have additional streams of income, waiting might equal a loss of money.

Wear and Tear Considerations

Another issue that people should consider before they sign up to drive with Uber Eats (or any rideshare company) is car maintenance costs.

Wear and tear on my car is most important since Im mindful to account for more frequent oil changes, tuneups, alignments and other routine maintenance that decrease overall profit margins over time, Stickler said.

Insurance Concerns

She pointed out that insurance is often more expensive as well when you start driving for a rideshare service, which is fine if youre raking in the cash.

When I first started and until spring 2023, I drove Uber Eats as a significant source of income, and it was well worth it since the pay and tips were on the higher end of the scale.

However, since October 2023, she only drives when she needs fast cash to pay a bill or meet basic living needs, such as when shes running short and doesnt have enough time to get another client.

While I used to drive four to six days a week, Im now down to five to10 times a month, she said.

So while driving for Uber Eats is a good supplement, its not a living wage, even if you put in 12 hours a day (in 2024), she warned.

The costs often far outweigh the benefits. In 2024, the biggest benefit is that it gives people with a car an accessible way to make quick cash to supplement their primary income to pay bills without needing to wait to get paid.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 7 Things You Should Know If You Hope To Make Money Driving for Uber Eats
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday arrested the key accused in the stampede incident in Hathras that killed 121 people, and claimed that he had been recently contacted some political parties.

Devprakash Madhukar, who was arrested from Delhis Najafgarh area by a Special Operations Group of Hathras police, was the key fundraiser for the events of self-styled godman Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba.

Hathras Superintendent of Police Nipun Agarwal said the investigation team is examining the financial transactions of Madhukar and the money trails. Police are also examining his call details.

Madhukar was the mukhya sevadar (chief volunteer) of the satsang where the stampede occurred on July 2. The police will now apply for his remand.

"Madhukar was the main organiser of the satsang programme in Fulrai village on July 2 and the permission for this programme was taken by him. Thus, two roles of Madhukar have come to light -- the main organiser and fundraiser," Agarwal was quoted as saying by PTI.

Police are conducting a detailed investigation regarding the collection of funds to see if Bhole Babas programmes and other resources are being funded by any political party.

From the investigation so far, it appears that some political party is connected with them for its political and personal interests," he said.

"All the bank accounts, movable and immovable properties, money trail, related to the accused Devprakash Madhukar are being investigated, in which assistance will be taken from other agencies as per the need," Agarwal said.

The police officer further informed that the accused and the sevadars/organising committee members working under his direction were "fully responsible" for the barricading, entrance gate, exit gate, seating arrangements, parking and other facilities around the pandal of the satsang.

With PTI inputs
The Uttar Pradesh Police have taken into custody Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the Hathras stampede which claimed 121 lives after he surrendered in Delhi, his lawyer claimed.

Madhukar, the 'mukhya sevadar' of the 'satsang' where the stampede took place, is the only accused named in the FIR lodged in Hathras in connection with the incident.

In a video message, his lawyer A.P. Singh claimed that his client had surrendered in Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment.

"Today, we have surrendered Devprakash Madhukar, who has been called the main organiser in the FIR in the Hathras case, after calling the police, the SIT and the STF in Delhi since he was undergoing treatment here," Singh said.

"We had promised we would not apply for anticipatory bail since we did no wrong. What is our crime? He is an engineer and a heart patient. Doctors said his condition is stable now and so we surrendered today to join the probe," he added.

He requested the police to take into consideration his health condition during questioning or recording his statement and ensure that nothing wrong happens to him.

The lawyer said his client will provide information about the "anti-social elements" at the event.

#WATCH | Hathras stampede incident: Advocate AP Singh says, "Dev Prakash Madhukar who was named in the FIR in the Hathras case, was said to be the main organiser has surrendered in front of SIT, STF and Police. It was my promise that we will not use any anticipatory bail, will pic.twitter.com/wy8pgUSNJe  ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2024

Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to Madhukar's arrest.

On July 3, the Supreme Court lawyer, had claimed that he also represents Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba, the self-styled godman at whose 'satsang' the stampede occurred, and that some "anti-social elements" were behind the tragedy.

Surajpal was ready to cooperate with the state administration and police and had sought an investigation into the entire matter, Singh had said.

With agency inputs
The Kerala State Information Commission has ordered the release of the Justice Hema Commission report appointed to study the problems in the film industry. In an order dated Friday, the Commission also directed that no information should be withheld except what is prohibited under the RTI Act.

Although the report was submitted on December 31, 2019, the Kerala government has not released it yet. Journalists have approached the Right To Information Commission against this. Actor Sharada and former IAS officer KB Vatsala Kumari were members of the commission.

Here are five salient features from the Kerala State Information Commission's report that you may like to know:

1. ...prior notice was issued to the respondents to submit the said Hema Committee Report in a sealed envelope before the Commission. However, although both the parties attended the hearing on 02.05.2024, the requested report was not provided. Instead, a status report detailing the reasons for denying the requested information was submitted. The respondents explained that the report was intended for submission to the Chalachitra Academy for developing a comprehensive film policy for the state, and the Secretary had referred it to the Minister. Without considering these reasons, the Commission rescheduled the case for further hearing on 09.05.2024, directing that the Hema Committee Report be submitted for the Commission's review, to which the respondents agreed. However, by 09.05.2024, the requested report had still not been submitted.

2. The Commission rejected all arguments and proceedings, stating that no further explanation was needed and that the Hema Committee Report must be submitted in a sealed envelope as soon as possible. An additional 10 days was granted to the First Appellate Authority, and notice was issued to the respondents under Sections 18(3) and (4) of the Indian RTI Act.

ALSO READ | Kerala govt reveals why it cannot make public Justice Hema panel report

...submitted the report portion of Justice K. Hema Committee Report, consisting of 295 pages (excluding appendices/exhibits), with the original signature of the chairperson Justice K Hema and members -actress T. Sharada and retired IAS officer Valsalakumari. The Cultural (B) Department informed the Commission that the supporting documents and the pendrive having the data used to prepare the report are securely stored in their office.

3. It is very important to notice that any document registered in a government office is a public record, and the public authority is its custodian. Applications, petitions, study reports, committee recommendations, bills, and receipts submitted to the government are public records. This includes information as defined under the RTI Act. Section 2(f) of the RTI Act says Information means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, emails, opinions, advice, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form, and information relating to any private body that can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force.

4. Regarding the definition of "information," a Supreme Court observation in the case of SLP (C) No. 7526/2009 (Civil Appeal No. 6454/2011), which clarified that the RTI Act provides access to all information that is available and existing. The Act obliges public authorities to provide information if it exists in the form of data or analyzed data, but not if it requires creating new information or drawing inferences. The obligation is to provide existing records only, and any advice or opinion is voluntary and not mandated by the RTI Act.

The RTI Act Provides access to all information that is available and existing. This is clear from a combined reading of section 3 and the definitions of information and right to information under clauses (f) and (j) of section 2 of the Act. If a public authority has any information in the from of data or analysed data, or abstracts, or statistics, an applicant may access such information, subject to the exemptions in section 8 of the Act. But where the information sought is not a part of the record of public authority, and where such information is not required to be maintained under any law or the rules or regulations of the public authority, the Act does not cast an obligation upon the public authority, to collect or collate such non available information and then furnish it to an applicant. A public authority is also no required to furnish information which require drawing of inference and/or making of his own assumptions. The reference to opinion or advice in the definition of information in Section 2 (f) of the Act, refers to such material available in the records of the public authority. The SPIO is not required to offer his own opinion on the materials supplied. But as per Section 2(f) opinion kept in a file will also fall in the category of information.

5. In this case, the reason cited by the SPIO for denying the information does not fall under any clause of Section 8 or 9 of the Right to Information Act. The Act implies that even the matters covered under the ten clauses of Section 8 should be disclosed subject to certain conditions. All the clauses in Section 8 conclude with this provision. Furthermore, Sections 10(1) and 10(2)(a) and (b) of the Right to Information Act further clarify this matter.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asserted that the INDIA bloc will defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat, a stronghold of the ruling party, in the upcoming assembly elections.



Addressing party workers in Ahmedabad, Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be defeated in Gujarat. Together we are going to defeat them in Gujarat. We will defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat just like we defeated them in Ayodhya, ANI reported quoting Gandhi.

The Opposition leader charged people from Ayodhya were not invited to the consecration ceremony at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The farmers of Ayodhya lost their land when the Ayodhya airport was built. The people of Ayodhya were upset that no one from Ayodhya was invited to the inauguration of the Ram Temple. The movement that was started by veteran BJP leader Advani, whose centre was Ayodhya... INDIA bloc has defeated that movement in Ayodhya, he said.

Rahul Gandhi charged while industrialists like Ambanis and Adani were seen during the inauguration of the Ram Temple, the poor were invisible. People of Ayodhya felt angry when they found that not a single local person was invited for the Ram Mandir's inauguration," he said. He also claimed that PM Modi wanted to contest from Ayodhya, but his surveyors advised him against doing so saying he will be defeated and his political career will end.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited newly elected United Kingdom counterpart Keir Starmer to India and the leaders agreed to take measures to further deepen the strategic partnership between India and the UK.



In a release, the Prime Ministers Office said Modi spoke with the newly elected PM of the UK, Keir Starmer, and congratulated him on the poll victory. Prime Minister congratulated him on assuming charge as Prime Minister of UK and a remarkable victory of the Labour Party in the election, it said.

Both leaders recalled the historic relations between the two countries and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen and advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between India and the UK. The two leaders agreed to work towards early conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-UK Free Trade Agreement, it said. Modi extended Starmer an invite to visit India and the leaders also agreed to continue to promote closed people-to-people ties.

Tweeting about the conversation, Modi said, Pleased to speak with @Keir_Starmer. Congratulated him on being elected as the Prime Minister of the UK. We remain committed to deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust India-UK economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our peoples and global good.
Days after declaring in the Lok Sabha in his maiden speech as the Leader of the Opposition that the INDIA alliance will defeat the BJP in Gujarat, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited the state on Saturday. His packed schedule included meeting family members of party workers arrested after a clash with BJP workers that took place recently outside the party office in Ahmedabad as also the kin of those who perished in various tragedies such as the Rajkot gaming zone fire, the Morbi bridge collapse and the boat capsize in Vadodara.

It was an aggressive Rahul who sought to keep up the momentum of his attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP since the inaugural session of the new Lok Sabha.

In his speech in the Lok Sabha, Rahul had declared that the INDIA alliance would defeat the BJP in Gujarat. I can give it to you in writing, he had said looking at the treasury benches.

His visit to Ahmedabad clearly intended to convey that he was taking the fight to Modis backyard, Rahul launched a no holds barred attack on the prime minister and the BJP as he addressed party workers. He declared that the Congress will defeat the BJP in the state in the next Assembly election just as the BJP was defeated in Ayodhya in the Lok Sabha polls.

They have challenged us by threatening us and causing damage to our office. We will together break their government like they damaged our office. Take it in writing that the Congress will contest in Gujarat and defeat Narendra Modi and the BJP in Gujarat like we did in Ayodhya, he said addressing a party workers' convention in Ahmedabad.

Rahuls visit to Gujarat came in the wake of clash between members of the Congress and the BJP outside the partys state headquarters in Ahmedabad on July 2. The clash had taken place when the BJPs youth wing workers gathered outside the Congress office to protest Rahul's remarks made in Parliament which they claimed were anti-Hindu.

According to a senior Congress leader, the visit was primarily intended to convey to the BJP that the Congress will react proactively to any acts by the ruling dispensation which amount to intimidating or suppressing the partys members.

Rahul met the family members of the Congress workers who were arrested after the July 2 clash. Five party workers were arrested. The Congress leader was scheduled to meet the arrested party workers but was unable to as they were sent to judicial custody today.

The Congress leader also met the families of those who died in various tragedies in the state. Amongst them were the kin of those who perished in the Rajkot fire incident, the Morbi bridge collapse and the boat capsize in Vadodara. He promised to raise their issues in the upcoming session of Parliament.

The next Assembly elections in Gujarat are scheduled to be held in 2027, and party leaders say that despite Rahul's bold statements, it will be an uphill task to pose a challenge to the BJP. The party has weakened considerably since 2017, when it came within sniffing distance of a victory in Gujarat, with many leaders deserting it. Incidentally, the 2017 campaign was led by Rahul.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin condoled the murder of Bahujan Samajwadi Party leader K. Armstrong in Chennai on Saturday and said he has directed the police to expedite the probe in the case. The BSP state president was hacked to death by motorcycle-borne gang during the late hours of Friday.



Condoling the death, Stalin tweeted he was deeply saddened and shocked by the murder of BSP leader Armstrong. Police have arrested those involved in the murder overnight. I have directed police to expedite probe in the case, Stalin tweeted.

The 52-year-old Armstrong, state chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was hacked to death by a six-member gang near his house here on Friday. The victim is a former councillor of Chennai Corporation.

Police have secured at least eight suspects in connection with the murder. According to police, 10 special teams have been formed under Asra Garg, Additional Police Commissioner (Chennai North) to probe the case.

"We have secured eight suspects so far. This is preliminary probe. So after some time, a clear and better picture will emerge with more facts and circumstances coming to light," he said. There are some two to three suspicious motives, but the exact one would come to light only after the interrogation of the suspects, he added.

Meanwhile, BSP cadres protested in various parts of Chennai condemning the murder of their state president. Party members staged a road roko in front of Rajiv Gandhi Medical College Hospital and a few other parts of Chennai demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case.

-with inputs from agencies.
For the Congress in the national capital, post the Lok Sabha polls, it has been a quick change of tack and it has swiftly resumed its adversarial stance against the ruling Aam Aadmi Party amidst clear indications emanating from the party that it will not tie up with the AAP in the coming assembly elections in Delhi.

The Congress and the AAP had a seat-sharing arrangement in Delhi for the Lok Sabha polls, with the top leaders of the two parties such as Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal calling upon the workers of the two parties to collaborate. But the bonhomie has fast dissipated post the Lok Sabha elections. At the state level, according to local Congress leaders, there is no scope for an alliance with the AAP.

According to Delhi Congress leaders, the factors that made an alliance with the AAP a necessity in the Lok Sabha polls were different as compared to the scenario in the assembly polls. In the general elections, the priority was to minimise division of votes in contests with the Bharatiya Janata Party, while at the state level, the main focus of the Congress will be on regaining lost ground, as per the party's local unit. Delhi is scheduled to have assembly elections in early 2025.

The Congress has struggled to make a comeback electorally in Delhi since its defeat in the state elections in 2014. Prior to that, it had been in power in the national capital for 15 years in a row. At present, it does not have a single MLA in the state assembly. A major reason for the Congress failing to make a mark in the elections in Delhi is that it has lost its support base to the AAP. The party's assessment is that the AAP has grown in Delhi at the Congress' cost.

The state's political scene is in turmoil, with the many allegations of corruption made against the Kejriwal government. It was the Congress that had first taken up the issue of corruption in the excise policy. Corruption and misgovernance are the two main issues with which we will hit the ground, said a Delhi Congress leader.

The party might find it challenging though to balance its stance with regard to Kejriwal's continued incarceration in the excise policy case at the national level with its opposition to the AAP government at the state level. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, in his inaugural speech in the Lok Sabha, talked about how it bothered him when opposition leaders are targeted, and he mentioned that Kejriwal continues to be in jail.

Meanwhile, in neighbouring Haryana too, where the Congress had contested on nine out of the ten seats, leaving Kurukshetra constituency for the AAP, there appears to be little chance of the two parties entering any understanding for the assembly elections. Haryana goes to polls later this year.

The Congress, which had failed to win a single seat in the previous Lok Sabha polls, won five seats this time round. The party feels that in the assembly elections, the fight will be primarily between the ruling BJP and the Congress.

The AAP, the Congress feels, will add little to the Congress' prospects since it is not a significant player in the state's politics. It is felt that the popularity of the BJP government has reduced drastically, with issues such as farmers' ire and unemployment playing an important role in this. The Congress's state unit feels it can capitalise on these issues in the Assembly elections to a much greater extent than it did in the Lok Sabha polls.
A 22-year-old Cambridge postgraduate student, Sam Carling became the United Kingdom's youngest MP. Labour candidate Carling won the North West Cambridgeshire constituency by defeating veteran Conservative MP Shailesh Vara. He won the seat by a narrow margin of 39 votes.

Carling is likely to be the 'Baby of the House', an unofficial nickname given to the youngest member of the House of Commons.

Its a political earthquake, said Carling after winning the seat.

Since 1997, the North West Cambridgeshire constituency has been a Conservative stronghold.

Im absolutely thrilled, he said after making his winners speech. Im very grateful to all the residents who have put their trust in me, and Im very cognizant of the responsibility that comes with that, he added.

Labour Party swept the Britain elections, with the party securing a majority of over 170 seats in the House of Commons.

Carling has been active in local politics for a while now. He has served as a councillor for West Chesterton Ward. Also, he held various roles within the university and stood for the rights of the students. He was the president of Christ's College's Junior Common Room and co-chair of the Cambridge University Labour Club

Carling said many voters were surprised to discover he was running for office, but that "people on the doorstep were very positive", BBC reported. "They said Thats good, we need more young people.

"There is a lot of abuse aimed at younger people online, but face-to-face, people are generally thrilled to find out."

However, he doesn't want his age to be a focus.

"I want us to get away from this strange mindset towards younger peoples age. As far as Im concerned were just the same as anyone else. I just want to get with the job."

Last time, the Baby of the House was Oxford University graduate and fellow Labour MP Keir Mather. He had won the Selby and Ainsty by-election in 2023.
United Kingdom's newly-elected Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday spoke with PM Narendra Modi and said he stood ready to conclude a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that worked for both sides.

For over two years, India and the UK have been negotiating an FTA with the Conservative Party-led government. However, the talks stalled in the 14th round amid the general elections in both countries.

In a statement, PMOs office confirmed that Modi spoke with Starmer and congratulated him on the poll victory. Stressing the need to further strengthen the India-UK ties, Modi had invited the new PM to India as well.

Also Read | PM Modi invites newly elected UK counterpart Keir Starmer to India; agrees to finalise FTA

Downing Street in an official release said that PM Starmer looked forward to further deepening the strong and respectful relationship between both India and UK. Starmer welcomed PM Modis leadership on key global challenges, such as climate change and economic growth, the spokesperson said.

During the first call between the leaders, the importance of the living bridge between both countries and the 2030 Roadmap were points of discussion. Also, the leaders agreed there was a wide range of topics including defence and security, critical and emerging technology, and climate change, for the two countries to deepen cooperation on.

While discussing the FTA, Starmer said he stood ready to conclude a deal that worked for both sides. Also, the leaders hoped to meet soon to discuss the wide range of issues, the spokesperson said.

Both sides have been working towards clinching a pact to enhance the GBP 38.1 billion bilateral trading partnership since January 2022, when Boris Johnson was the British prime minister. However, the talks did not properly progress due to the political turmoil in the UK.

The new Starmer-led government's new Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, is also on the record saying that he wants to finish the job on the FTA and he plans to visit India within the first month of being elected.

My message to [Finance] Minister Sitharaman and [Trade] Minister Goyal is that Labour is ready to go. Let's finally get our free trade deal done and move on, he said at the India Global Forum in London last week, said Lammy.
Alibaba stock (NYSE:BABA) remains depressed, showing no signs of a meaningful recovery. Despite major indices climbing to new highs over the past year, investors remain largely uninterested in the Chinese e-commerce giants investment case. However, with Alibabas growth showing signs of acceleration, as well as management becoming increasingly focused on returning capital to shareholders, particularly through buybacks, the stock could attract the bulls back. Consequently, I have now turned bullish on BABA stock.

Growth Picks Up, Sets the Stage for Robust FY2025

Alibabas most recent results marked a return to growth and set the stage for a robust FY2025. For its Q4-2024, ending March 31st, Alibaba posted revenues of $30.7 billion, up 7% year-over-year. This pushed the companys full-year revenues to $130.4 billion, up 8% compared to FY2023. Notably, this marked a return to growth, as, in the prior year, revenues had grown by just 2%, coming in essentially flat.

Alibabas growth was driven by robust traction across the board. The core e-commerce platforms, Taobao and Tmall, saw single-digit growth in revenue, increasing by 4% year-over-year. This growth was driven by an increase in the number of buyers and purchase frequency. Evidently, gross merchandise value (GMV) across both platforms achieved double-digit growth, driven by rapid order growth, improvements in user experience, and price competitiveness.

Internationally, Alibaba International Digital Commerce (AIDC) posted an even more remarkable revenue increase of 45%. Management noted solid combined order growth, revenue contributions from AliExpress Choice, and improvements in monetization that strengthened Alibabas position outside of China.

Finally, while Cloud Intelligence revenues grew by a more underwhelming 3% compared to last year, the company still made significant developments that could accelerate this segments growth in the short-to-medium term. Specifically, Alibaba posted double-digit revenue growth in its core public cloud offerings and triple-digit growth in its AI-related revenues.

Although Alibaba did not disclose its AI-related revenues, this suggests the company is poised to become a dominant player in the AI sector within China. While Western corporations are unlikely to engage with Chinese AI technologies, and vice versa, this creates a significant competitive advantage for Alibaba. Few, if any, companies have the same scale in cloud computing to compete with Alibaba domestically, hence my argument.

Profitability, Valuation, and Capital Returns

Alibabas return to growth in FY2024 led to even more impressive improvements in profitability, largely thanks to the companys incredible economies of scale. The company achieved adjusted EBITA growth of 12% to $22.9 billion, with its adjusted EBITA margin expanding from 17% to 18%. Moreover, Alibabas adjusted net income also rose by 11% to $21.8 billion, while on a per-American Depositary Share (ADS) basis, this figure rose by an even more significant 14% to $8.62, aided by a lower ADS count due to Alibabas buybacks.

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Source: Alibabas Q4-2024 and full-year report

Wall Street expects Alibabas ADS to moderate this year, with consensus estimates projecting $8.20 for FY2025, indicating a slight decline of 4.7%. Despite this, Alibabas stock still trades at an exceptionally low forward P/E ratio of 9x. Sure, the risks associated with Alibaba are well-known and should not be ignored. Yet, at this multiple, its hard to keep dismissing the stocks investment case, given its moat in the market.

This is particularly true when considering Alibabas rising capital returns. Management has made it clear that they are aware of the stocks undervaluation and have focused on return capital to reward existing shareholders and attract new ones by bolstering confidence in the stock. The company has repurchased and retired nearly 11% of its shares since early 2022, while this years regular and special dividends ($1.66 per ADS in total) make for an additional yield of 2.2% at the stocks current price levels.

With plenty of room for Alibaba to keep growing its capital returns, the combined yield from repurchases and dividends is poised to become increasingly attractive if the stock price remains at current levels. Given that the stocks total yield is already in the high single digits, I believe this element represents the strongest bullish catalyst. Real, tangible capital returns are a powerful driver thats difficult to overlook.

Is BABA Stock a Buy, According to Analysts?

Most Wall Street analysts remain bullish on Alibaba, which isnt surprising, given its depressed valuation. The stock maintains a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 14 Buys and three Holds. At $103.70, the average BABA stock price target has recently widened from the current stock price, implying substantial upside potential of 39.2%.

The Takeaway

Alibabas stock has consistently underperformed over the years, including during the recent uptrend of the broader market. That said, recent developments suggest a potential U-turn. With a return to growth in FY2024 and promising indicators for FY2025, Alibabas investment case seems increasingly promising. Blended with a recent focus on capital returns, including substantial share buybacks and a growing dividend, Alibaba may be in a position to start attracting the bulls back.

Regardless, at its current valuation, the potential rewards appear to outweigh the risks, even considering the inherent risks associated with a company like Alibaba.

Disclosure
President Joe Biden gave what is perhaps the most important television interview of his career on Friday. It was a rare primetime interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News, lasting 22 minutes. It was taped in the library of a Wisconsin school, and it was a desperate effort to assuage concerns about his mental ability and physical strength and, therefore his candidacy.

Compared with his debate appearance last week, Biden looked tanned, he was more presentable, and he came without a tie and with a couple of shirt buttons undone. Clearly, it was an attempt to present a more vigorous and healthy appearance.

However, after watching the interview, three things were quite clear: one, Biden's debate debacle was evidently not a one-off thing, the health concern is still there and yet he is unwilling to take a cognitive test. Two, he is not going to drop out of the race on his own. And three, after this performance, the Democratic Party is unlikely to be convinced about Biden's ability to stay on in the race and beat Donald Trump in the fall.

On the health front, despite Biden's improved appearance and some sharp answers, concerns remain. It is clear that the president has health concerns. And this interview, all 22 minutes of it was, in fact, all about assessing Biden's health, both mental and physical. It was not really on policies or governance or major political questions. On that account, Biden was unable to score a clean win.

There were a few extended pauses during the answers, the voice turned hoarse and hesitant, at least at times, and Biden appeared to have lost his train of thought a couple of times. There were no seismic bloopers that would have forced Biden to drop out immediately, however, his performance was not so strong to silence his critics and inspire confidence among his supporters. However, he was unable to give a clear explanation about his debate performance, he said he just had a bad night, just like anyone else, and then blamed it on a cold and then jet lag, and then said he was distracted by Trump, and he also blamed the press for amplifying his health concerns.

There was more pressure on Biden on this account Thursday with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr Sanjay Gupta, who is a practising neurosurgeon, asking him to undergo a thorough cognitive and neurological testing and to publicly share his results. He said Biden's confused rambling, his loss of concentration, and the lack of facial animation were concerning. But Biden was evasive when Stephanopoulos asked him whether he would commit to an independent medical evaluation of his neurological and cognitive abilities, after repeated pressing, he just refused. Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Everything I do as president is a cognitive test, he said, wriggling out of the question.

Biden also made it clear that he would not drop out of the race. He said he would drop out only if the Lord Almighty directed him to do so. In a way, he appeared either overconfident or delusional, depending upon your perspective, as he repeatedly denied that he was down in the polls, despite multiple nonpartisan national and battleground surveys giving Trump the edge. When Stephanopoulos repeatedly pressed him about Trump's growing lead and his low approval ratings, Biden said that was not a concern for him, Not when youre running against a pathological liar, he said, referring to Trump. Not when he hasnt been challenged in the way hes about to be challenged.

Almost inexplicably, Biden's interview gave the impression that no further informationabout his health problems or his debate performance or the growing disunity among Democratscould dent his conviction that he alone is the party's best hope to beat Trump.

No wonder the interview did little to assuage mounting concerns from Democrats, especially the Democratic Congress members about his chances and about his mental acuity. A House Democrat said after the interview that it failed to change the mind of anyone. He said that a growing number of senators and Congressmen agree that "it's time" for Biden to step aside. Members of the Congress seem particularly bothered about the unfolding scenario as most of them are on the ballot with Biden in November. They fear that Biden could take them down along with him. That is why four of them have already come out openly against Biden.

Democratic governors, meanwhile, have voiced support for Biden, after nearly 20 of them met with the president earlier this week at the White House. None of them are facing immediate re-elections and they all, especially Whitmer from Michigan, Gavin Newsom from California, Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania and J.B. Pritzker from Illinois, to name a few, seem to be eyeing the 2028 presidential elections. So, in a way, if Biden loses, their route is clear for the next race. But if Biden steps down and Kamala Harris comes up as the replacement, it could potentially keep them out of contention for eight years. That possibly explains why Democratic governors are responding somewhat differently to the ongoing crisis compared with Congress members.

Coming back to the debate, some of Biden's replies have clearly rattled and even irritated the Democrats. Towards the end, Stephanopoulos asked Biden, If you stay in, and Trump is elected, how will you feel in January? And Biden's reply was not so reassuring: I will feel as long as I gave it my all, and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, thats what this is about, he said. That kind of stubbornness could come off as completely shocking to most Democratic voters. Democrats worry that the answer may portray Biden as a selfish politician who is interested only in his future, and his success. And that could spell the doom for the party in November, forcing the Democrats to face a triple whammy, losing not just the White House, but also the Senate and the House of Representatives, ceding complete control to Trump and his brand of politics.
Pointing the way: New PM Keir Starmer

The scale of Labour's win gives Keir Starmer's government the muscle it needs to fulfil its growth mission.

Unlike 1997 when Tony Blair swept to power on a great wave of optimism, the 'sunlight' which Starmer referred to in his victory speech has yet to shine. And I am not referring to dank July weather.

Starmer and Rachel Reeves spoke passionately in the campaign and the manifesto about driving growth through the housing market and net zero by unleashing Great British Energy.

Both are worthy objectives. Even with the best will in the world, turning around Britain's entrenched planning obstacles is never going to be easy. Just think about the things which haven't happened because of formidable hurdles.

The high-speed HS2 link to Manchester, Leeds and beyond became un-investible as a result of environmental costs.

The third runway at Heathrow is in permanent abeyance. Brownfield sites are a no-go for housebuilders because of the expensive clean-up requirements.

No one in rural areas wants the enormous pylons and overhead cables needed for the enhanced electrical grid required for a green revolution.

On a commercial level, it has been made all but impossible for Marks & Spencer to redevelop its flagship store on Oxford Street.

John Lewis has been struggling against residents in Bromley over its proposal for a 24-story residential tower. Nimbyism is an enormous obstacle to growth.

If Labour is really serious about a 'mission'-driven economy, it needs to listen to UCL economist Mariana Mazzucato or, even better, put her at the heart of government, preferably in the Treasury's growth unit or in the Business Department (or whatever replaces it).

Starmer, Reeves, Rayner and the other major figures need to lift their eyes.

The real path to faster output is getting behind Britain's intellectual brilliance. The UK's great research universities are the powerhouse of our pharma, health devices, software, AI and tech industries.

Ailing: Thames, Water is struggling under the weight of debt and will need a more generous price settlement if it is going to thrive and invest

Our creative excellence is nurtured by often maligned media studies, film and video IT and other such degrees.

Defence is the first responsibility of government and raising the proportion of GDP devoted to safety of the realm is critical. Beyond that, however, R&D is the real path to growth.

The US, which leads the world on tech, spends the highest amount proportionately on R&D among the G7 nations at 3.46 per cent of national output.

Israel, the 'start-up' nation, devotes 6 per cent of its GDP to the cause. The UK's mission should be to raise the spend from 2.6 per cent and upwards towards best-in-class levels.

Governments easily become waylaid by inherited problems. When it comes to commerce, the day-to-day issues were barely touched upon in the campaign.

Britain's biggest water utility, Thames, is struggling under the weight of debt and will need a more generous price settlement if it is going to thrive and invest.

Czech sphinx Daniel Kretinsky has been taking advantage of the regulatory lull caused by the election to seize control of Royal Mail, a deal which needs to be blocked in the public interest.

A critical asset is being sold by a feeble board on the cheap. Even worse, the postal service, similarly to Thames Water, Heathrow and other utilities, stands in danger of being overwhelmed by a debt pile and the high servicing costs which go with it.

To allow its sale would be an act of industrial sabotage.

The Government should ignore voices arguing interference would show that Britain is not open to business.

Labour also needs to decide whether they will go along with Tory plans supporting the conversion to electric arc furnaces at Port Talbot in the face of union dissonance.

It must also decide now to get behind the Rolls-Royce-designed small modular reactors by suspending a cumbersome auction process, or risk the UK's leading edge on an advanced technology being lost to US and Japanese competitors.

Time is of the essence if order possibilities from the Continent are not be sacrificed.

Nothing in the election campaign suggested that Keir Starmer and his team are ready to make bold and exciting decisions capable of lifting Britain out of a torpor. The critics must be proved wrong.
Complaint: Investors in X sued Elon Musk in April 2022

Elon Musk has asked a federal judge in New York to dismiss a lawsuit brought by X shareholders.

Investors in the platform formerly known as Twitter sued the billionaire in April 2022 after he revealed he had acquired a 9.2 per cent stake in the company.

Under federal securities laws, Musk should have disclosed his stake in Twitter within ten days of it crossing 5 per cent of the company's stock.

But he filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about three weeks after crossing that threshold in March 2022.

The shareholders allege that Musk and his wealth manager 'schemed to violate Musk's disclosure obligations so they could secretly build a massive position in Twitter at artificially low prices while deceiving investors'.

But Musk's lawyers argued in a new filing this week that the delay was a simple error and that the shareholders' class-action suit should be dismissed.

They argue that Musk and his wealth manager misunderstood the rules. After learning of the mistake, they claim Musk filed by the next trading day.
Avant Homes has entered the battle to control struggling housebuilder Crest Nicholson after proposing a tie-up valuing it at 770million.

Details of the approach from Avant  which is backed by US investment firm Elliott  come three weeks after Crest Nicholson rejected a 650million offer from rival Bellway.

Avant, run by former Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn, is proposing an all-share tie-up which would see it take a 30 per cent stake in the combined company, with 70 per cent held by Crest's owners.

The company would keep the Crest Nicholson name and remain listed on the London stock exchange.

It could mark the return of Fairburn, 58, to the helm of a publicly-listed housebuilder six years after he was ousted as chief executive of Persimmon amid outrage over his 75million pay package.

Sources suggested that the tie-up between Chesterfield-based Avant and Surrey-headquartered Crest Nicholson would provide better job security for Crest employees than a takeover by Bellway.

Bellway has not yet said whether it would cut jobs in the event of any takeover.

Avant is an affordable housebuilder focused on the Midlands, the north of England and Scotland, while Crest Nicholson mainly operates across the south.

The Avant approach comes six days before a 'put up or shut up' deadline for Bellway to make an offer after details of its interest emerged.

Crest confirmed that it had received 'unsolicited, preliminary, indicative proposals from Avant Homes'.

It said it had weighed up the approach with its financial advisers but that it was 'not currently minded to engage in discussions regarding a potential transaction with Avant while in an offer period in relation to a possible all-share offer from Bellway'.

The company last month warned that its annual profits would be much lower than previously expected amid 'volatility' in mortgage rates and uncertainty caused by the General Election.

Crest Nicholson shares yesterday ended 2.2 per cent, or 5.4p, higher at 250p. Avant and Bellway  whose shares gained 1.5 per cent, or 40p, to 2700p  each declined to comment.
YinYang / Getty Images

A bank teller job could be the ideal entry-level opportunity if youd like to help customers and gain banking experience. While the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) listed an average teller salary of $38,850, your teller background could eventually lead to lucrative banking roles. For instance, bank secrecy directors average nearly $150,000 per Salary.com. Heres what youll need to do to become a teller.

Discover More: 6 Cheap Hobbies To Start in 2024 That Will Make You Extra Money

Read Next: 6 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work)

Wealthy people know the best money secrets. Learn how to copy them.

Have the Right Background

While becoming a teller usually doesnt require special credentials, banks will look for basics such as a high school diploma and possibly some customer service or sales experience. When you get hired, the bank will teach you most of the day-to-day work.

However, completing some college education could be worth it to stand out when inexperienced or more easily land higher-paying roles later. You can also consider the American Bankers Associations numerous banking certificates.

Possess the Key Skills

When checking bank teller job posts, youll see important soft and hard skills listed. Handling customers transactions all day will require effectively offering friendly service and communicating clearly. Youll also need solid math, computer and problem-solving skills.

Since banks often expect tellers to recommend or upsell banking products, sales skills will be helpful. Plus, youll need strong organizational skills and attention to detail to avoid mistakes.

Find Your First Teller Role

Once you have the right background and skills, make a resume highlighting any relevant experience and credentials and linking them to your bank teller career objective. Then, check the websites of local banks for teller job listings. Note that tellers may also be referred to as account representatives, personal banking representatives, financial services representatives and similar titles.

Fill out your applications carefully and wait for interview invites. You may want to look up common teller job interview questions online to prepare as well.

Once you pass an interview and land your first teller job, youll complete on-the-job training to get familiar with teller duties, software and your banks specific processes. According to the BLS, this training usually takes up to one month.

Check Out: I Earn Over $30K a Week in Semi-Passive Income on Amazon  Heres How

Advance in Your Banking Career

As you gain teller experience, positions may open up at your bank or competitors for the head teller, relationship banker, bank manager and similar higher-level roles. While the bank may provide additional training, you might also need a college degree, specialized knowledge or a license for some roles.

Story continues

For example, Salary.com listed a bachelors degree, specific legal expertise and at least five years of experience as a manager as requirements for the lucrative bank secrecy director job.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Bank Tellers Can Make Over $100k a Year  Heres How to Become One
Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BI

Bitcoin has declined 8% in the past two days amid selling by Mt. Gox bitcoin recipients and government wallets.

The bankrupt Mt. Gox still holds about 140,000 bitcoin and has started to repay creditors and former customers.

The negative price action in bitcoin since the start of July has broken several technical support levels.

Bitcoin has plunged 8% over the past two days, is down 12% since the start of July, and is trading at its lowest level since February.

The sharp decline has been accompanied by a wave of selling by notable bitcoin holders, including the defunct Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange and the governments of Germany and the US.

Mt. Gox, which at one point was the largest cryptocurrency exchange, went bankrupt in February 2014 after a series of hacks stole nearly one million bitcoin from its customers.

A decade later, Mt. Gox on Friday has started to repay some of the $9 billion it owes to its creditors and customers via bitcoin and bitcoin cash, according to a statement from the company.

Cryptocurrency wallets tied to Mt. Gox show the defunct exchange still holds nearly 140,000 bitcoin that have yet to be repaid, according to data provider Arkham Intelligence.

Meanwhile, recent bitcoin transfers from wallets associated with the German and US governments suggest both are liquidating some of their bitcoin stash.

Arkham Intelligence said the German government sold up to $175 million in seized bitcoin on Thursday. The government still holds about 40,000 bitcoin worth more than $2 billion.

According to Blockworks, both the US and German governments have sent a combined $738 million to bitcoin exchanges over the last two weeks, suggesting that they will imminently be sold.

All of this selling pressure has sent the price of bitcoin below key technical support levels.

Bitcoin is trading below its 200-day moving average of around $59,500, suggesting more downside ahead.

Fairlead Strategies highlighted $60,000 as a key support level that has since been broken. The decisive breakdown puts bitcoin's next support level target at around $51,500.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Kansas City's top ranking politico is WISELY not making any commitments to the current Commander-In-Chief as open rebellion continues to emerge amongst more progressive Democratic party leaders.

What we notice . . .

CONGRESSMAN CLEAVER SEEMS EXCEPTIONALLY NONCOMMITTAL AS PREZ BIDEN STRUGGLES TO GAIN ANY CONFIDENCE!!!

That canned interview with George Stephanopoulos is unlikely to convince anybody.

Here's the word . . .



U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat from Kansas City, appeared concerned about the presidents debate performance. But Cleaver has not yet taken a side on whether Biden should leave the race.



I am worried about the presidents ability to continue the campaign. However, Im looking to be reassured this coming week that this (performance) is a one-off, he had a bad night, Cleaver said.



But, I can honestly take a polygraph test and say I have not come to a final conclusion.



Cleaver also expressed his worries that an open convention, a scenario in which his partys candidate would not yet be decided heading into this years Democratic National Convention in Chicago, would be horrible for their chances of winning against Donald Trump.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
This quote signals a glimpse at the future for the Sunflower State and, likely, the rest of the nation.

Fighting over medical rules was always a bad strategy for conservative politicos who are now losing the abortion debate all over again . . . Check-it:



The pair of 5-1 decisions suggests that other restrictions  even ones decades on the books  might not withstand legal challenges. The court's dissenting justice, widely seen as its most conservative, warned that Kansas is headed toward a legal regime of unrestricted access to abortion.



This is an immense victory for the health, safety, and dignity of people in Kansas and the entire Midwestern region, where millions have been cut off from abortion access, said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented the abortion providers challenging the two laws.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Kansas Supreme Court strikes down anti-abortion laws The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday issued opinions overturning two laws limiting access to abortion, with the court finding again that the state constitution protects the right to personal autonomy...

Planned Parenthood, plaintiffs celebrate Kansas Supreme Court reaffirming abortion rights The Kansas Supreme Court permanently struck down two abortion-related laws Friday in the latest blow to anti-abortion lawmakers in the state.

Kansas Supreme Court strikes down anti-abortion laws The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday issued opinions overturning two laws limiting access to abortion, with the court finding again that the state constitution protects the right to personal autonomy...

Developing . . .
Lots to consider this morning as this post for close readers summarizes some EXCEPTIONAL local crime reporting along, updates on court cases and news of longstanding cold cases.



Check TKC news gathering . . .

Kansas City neighborhood frustrated by celebratory gunfire on Fourth of July Celebratory gunfire hit at least two Kansas City homes on July 4th. One community leader told KCTV5 that the holiday fireworks give people the perfect cover to illegally celebrate with gunshots.

Overland Park police seeking to identify person of interest in "Breach of Privacy" incident The incident happened near Nieman and West 95th Street, Overland Park, KS on March, 25, 2024

Missouri counties say they lose money housing people headed to state prison Missouri prisons can house offenders in county jails after they're convicted for a cost. But counties say they're spending more than what the state pays.

Johnson County jury finds man guilty in 2022 murder at Overland Park gas station A Johnson County jury found a man guilty Wednesday in a July 2022 murder at an Overland Park gas station.

Child alleges sexual assault, abuse at Jackson County after-school program in lawsuit A Jackson County father filed a lawsuit late last week alleging his then 7-year-old son was sexually assaulted by a leader at an unnamed after-school program in 2023.

'This is 1 drop in a bucket': 2 years after his death, mom recounts losing her 16-year-old son from fentanyl In 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 76,226 people died from synthetic opioids. 16-year-old Carson Moppin of Oak Grove, Missouri, was one of the fatal deaths that year.

Johnson County, Missouri firefighters looking for arsonist in 4-year-old cold case The historic Harmony Baptist Church north of the city burned to the ground after somebody set fire to it in July of 2020

Man arrested in arson investigation at Independence duplex Cody Hagemeir, a 30-year-old man from Independence, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree arson and resisting arrest.

Olathe man charged with 1st-degree murder being held on $3 million bond An Olathe man is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 72-year-old Nancy Thode on Sunday, June 30, 2024.

Olathe man pleads guilty to scheme to illegally export airplane parts to Russia An Olathe man has pleaded guilty for his role of illegally exporting aviation-related technology to Russia after the country invaded Ukraine

Motorcyclist ejected onto hood of car during hit-and-run in Kansas City A motorcyclist has serious injuries after they were ejected onto the hood of a car during a hit-and-run in Kansas City on Friday morning.

Lawrence woman set to serve time for boyfriend's fentanyl-related death A Lawrence woman is set to spend time in prison after she pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the fentanyl-related death of her boyfriend.

Residents of small Missouri town angered over hot-car death of police dog Residents of a small western Missouri town are saddened and angered after a police dog died in a hot car.

KC Unsolved: Family continues push to find missing teen Desirea Ferris seven years later Desirea Ferris went missing on May 2, 2017, and her family continues to push for answers in her disappearance.

Developing . . .
It'll be obvious very soon but everyone who is mistakenly defending Prez Biden as a viable candidate will look silly and possibly duplicitous before it's all over.

Again and again it's becoming clear . . .

PREZ BIDEN'S POLITICAL CAREER IS NOW KAPUT AND DEMOCRATIC PARTY LEADERS MUST GET READY TO QUICKLY SWITCH THEIR ALLEGIANCE TO VEEP KAMALA HARRIS!!!

Actually . . .

This is a lucky break for Mayor Q given that he might be able to salvage some of this work for the Administration with the Veep . . . They seem to be on good terms.

Remember that Mayor Q hosted a town hall with the Veep earlier this year on the topic of gun control after one of many local mass shootings.



Other possibilities like Michelle Obama, a last stand for Bernie or the unlikely possibility that anybody but Californians could tolerate Gov. Newsome are mostly fantastical thinking from bored pundits.

Our TKC local perspective . . .

We're sure the switcheroo will be easy for Mayor Q to pull off and only seems cringe-y because HE REFUSED TO ADMIT THE TRUTH . . . Prez Biden is unfit to seek another term in office.

Again . . . In the very near future Prez Biden will admit his health struggles to the American people and we'll all forget that so many politicos like the city hall honcho and KC fans of sketchy "machine politics" tried to convince us otherwise . . . THAT is why we begged Mayor Q not to get so emotionally invested in the old man.

As for Team Kamala . . .

Prez Biden "might" do her the world's biggest favor by making her the first lady President in history and a strong incumbent to beat.

We expect local Dems will quickly fall in line and conservatives might discover they'll be in an uphill battle and even MAGA might not be able to overturn a historic bit of progress even if it was won without much consent from voters.



Here's more deets and info as we look forward to perspectives on the hot mess in the making from our blog community . . .



The document, entitled The case for Kamala, was first reported by CNN and says bluntly, We are currently losing. We need to do something different to win. It adds, Like it or not, theres one realistic path out of this mess: Kamala.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Donald Trump gives Kamala Harris a new nickname Former president Donald Trump called the vice president "Laffin' Kamala Harris" in a Truth Social post on Thursday.

Who Is Behind 'Case for Kamala' Memo Being Sent to Key Dems? The Google doc is a viral hit in top Democratic circles and says Biden must go then outlines two scenarios: "Kamala or chaos."

Behind the Curtain: Kamala Harris' massive edge Some Democratic elders tell us the drama would electrify an exhausted, disconsolate party.

Would Kamala Harris be a stronger candidate than Biden? Kamala Harris's chances of beating Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

House Republicans say they aren't sweating Kamala as possible Biden replacement House Republicans are already sharpening their attacks against Vice President Kamala Harris as a possible replacement to President Biden on the campaign trail.

And now we reach back for this worthwhile musical interlude from the Remix Bros. that might not show up in your worthless social media feed . . .

Developing . . .
A question confronts Missouri conservative politicos . . .

WHO IS MORE MAGA?!?

This is actually a question that we've seen time and time again in Latino culture. We ask it this way:

Quien es Mas Macho?

Hint . . .

The answer is a trap and typically involves fighting for the love of a lady who has been around the block more times than a 1977 Chrysler Cordoba.



Here's how the debate is shaping up in Missouri . . .



Will Scharf, who sat on the formers presidents appellate team fighting charges of subversion brought by the special prosecutor Jack Smith, has burnished his crime-fighting credentials on his campaign literature as he seeks to unseat Missouris sitting attorney general, Andrew Bailey, in a GOP primary next month . . .



Scharf and Bailey have been engaging in a bidding war to show off their pro-Trump bona fides in a bitter campaign leading up to the 6 August primary. Both have supported the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Unlikely . . .

This showdown meeting is a nice touch but might be too little, too late.

Of course we respect the Guv and a great deal of work he has accomplished for KCMO.

However . . .

IN BOTH MISSOURI & JACKSON COUNTY THERE JUST DOESN'T SEEM TO BE MUCH POLITICAL WILL TO SPEND TAX MONEY ON CHIEFS & ROYALS!!!

At least that's the most accurate way to read election results.

Here's a peek at the last ditch effort . . .



Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced that on Monday he will hold meetings in Kansas City with Mayor Quinton Lucas and other community leaders from Clay and Jackson counties.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Missouri governor to visit Kansas City for discussions on retaining Chiefs, Royals Parson will hold meetings in Kansas City with Mayor Quinton Lucas and other community leaders from Clay and Jackson counties.
Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame 2024 inductees announced

Missouri State University has announced four inductees into the Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame for 2024. They include a public servant, a former children's television host, an agriculture advocate, and an entrepreneur and community builder. Inductees were selected for their connections to Missouri and for defining the essence of public affairs, acting consistently for the benefit of others.

The 2024 inductees into the Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame are:

Roy Blunt . A former educator, university president and politician, Blunt has a long and distinguished career in public service. In addition to teaching high school history and leading Southwest Baptist University as president, Blunt has worked in county offices and all the way up to Capitol Hill over four decades. He retired from the U.S. Senate in 2023. Over his career, Blunt's partnerships led to legislative achievements in health care, infrastructure, and national security. He is the current president of the State Historical Society of Missouri and chairman of Husch Blackwell Leadership Strategies Advisory Services.

Dr. Norma Champion . In her 91 years, Dr. Champion has lived many lives, from professor to senator. But she's likely more well-known to longtime Ozarks residents as Aunt Norma from "The Children's Hour," which aired on KY3 for nearly 30 years. Later, Champion began a career in politics as a Springfield City councilwoman. She ran for a seat in the Missouri House, where she served for 10 years, and finally served as a Missouri State Senator from 2003 to 2010. Champion is now retired and lives in Springfield with her husband.

Chris Chinn . Chinn is a fifth generation farmer from Clarence, Missouri, and has led the Missouri Department of Agriculture as director since 2017. She is a passionate agriculture advocate, leveraging social media and public speaking to bridge the gap between farmers and consumers. Chinn created the MORE Strategic Initiative to advance the state's number one industry. Her leadership roles include serving on boards of various national agriculture organizations. She also lends her time to community and state groups, as well as helps manage her family's Shelby County farming operation.

Annie Malone. Born on August 9, 1869, in Metropolis, Illinois, was an entrepreneur, community leader, and philanthropist. She left high school to focus on hairdressing and at age 20, created a shampoo and scalp treatment. By 1902, she developed a non-damaging hair straightener for Black women. She moved her business to St. Louis, expanding her product line and company under the name "Poro." Despite racial barriers, she succeeded, mentoring Madam C.J. Walker and supporting Black women's education. Relocating to Chicago in 1930, Malone left a legacy with Poro beauty colleges in 30 cities. She died on May 10, 1957.

Story continues

SRC stock grows 12%, welcomes three new board members

Shareholders gather at the annual SRC shareholders meeting on June 13, 2024.

SRC Holdings Corp. has announced a significant increase in its stock value, reflecting the company's growth. Alongside the milestone, SRC is welcoming three members to its Board of Directors.

One June 13, 2024, more than 1,000 of SRC's employee-owners gathered for their annual shareholder meeting to learn the new stock value of SRC. Board member Barry Schaffter announced the stock jumped 12% in 2023 despite a challenging economy. The new value marks a record high for the company and the third consecutive year of double-digit growth.

"Culture matters  and it can be measured," said Jack Stack, president and CEO of SRC. "We are on the move and going places. There's nothing but opportunity ahead of you."

During the shareholder meeting, SRC associates approved adding three internal members to its Board of Directors. The roles are to be ratified in October. The new board members are:

Tim Stack , Vice Chairman

Chad Myers , Alternate

Laura Ruzicka, Alternate

Guaranty Bank announces five summer interns

Guaranty Bank has announced the addition of five interns to its team for the summer. The new interns include two marketing interns, two retail interns, and one credit intern. This marks the second year of Guaranty Banks summer internship program.

Our program is designed to foster collaboration and mentorship through departmental and group work, providing exposure to various aspects of banking, networking opportunities, and professional development, said Monte McNew, President and CEO. We are proud to showcase our culture and community while providing on-the-job training for the next generation of professionals.

The Guaranty Bank summer 2024 interns are:

Sarah Cummings

Sarah Cummings. A recent graduate from Evangel University, Cummings earned a bachelors degree in strategic communication. She served as the managing editor of the student newspaper, The Lance.

Rebekah Gunter

Bekah Gunter. Gunter begins her junior year at Missouri State University this fall, majoring in marketing. She is involved in the campus community, participating in the Student Government Association, Homecoming Committee, Traditions Council, and serving as president of the Student Activities Council.

Rachel Moore

Rachel Moore. Currently a student at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, Moore is majoring in accounting and serves as a resident assistant.

Kristen Dennis

Kristen Dennis. A recent graduate of Missouri State University, Dennis will start graduate school this fall. She earned her bachelors degree in finance and is pursuing a masters in business administration.

Lucas Chadwell

Lucas Chadwell. Chadwell is a current student at Missouri State University, entering his junior year this fall with a major in finance. He is also a student-athlete, swimming for the Missouri State swim team.

City Utilities seeks community input on next CEO

The process of hiring the next president and CEO for City Utilities is underway. The Board of Public Utilities is seeking public input from employees, community stakeholders, and customers of City Utilities.

A nationwide search is being conducted with the assistance of executive recruiting firm Korn Ferry. As a part of the search, an online survey is now available with a series of short questions asking for input on what qualifications and experience are the most important for the next leader to possess, as well as what goals the next leader should be expected to meet. Korn Ferry will summarize the information to be provided to the search committee.

In late April, Gary Gibson announced his plan to retire in early 2025 after a 34-year career with City Utilities. The Board of Public Utilities plans to select and announce Gibson's successor in early fall.

Places For People and Preferred Family Healthcare partner to form Brightli, Inc.'s St. Louis region

Last week, Places For People and Preffered Family Healthcare formalized their partnership with the Springfield-based Brightli, Inc. network to expand behavioral healthcare services in the St. Louis Region. Together, Places For People and Preferred Family Healthcare now serve more than 11,200 people, operate 29 clinical and residential locations in six counties, and employ approximately 700 people. Both organizations will remain independent entities and continue to serve their existing areas.

Places For People joins Burrell Behavioral Health, Preferred Family Healthcare, Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health, and several other subsidiaries under the Brightli umbrella. Brightli serves more than 100,000 individuals with total annual revenues of approximately $500 million, making it the nations fourth-largest nonprofit behavioral health organization by total revenue.

Joining forces with an organization with the reputation and legacy of Places for People is an outstanding opportunity for Brightli and the people of St. Louis, said Brightli CEO Dr. C.J. Davis. By adding services in the heart of St. Louis, I truly feel we are creating the most accessible and high-quality network of mental health services in the Midwest, if not the nation.

KPM Wealth Advisors named among 2024 top firms by AUM

KMP Wealth Advisors has announced a new national distinction for the firm.

Leading industry publication Accounting Today has included KPM Wealth Advisors among the top 150 firms by assets under management (AUM), which features firms across the United States.

"As a firm, we continue to grow and provide soltuions to meet the financial planning needs of out clients. I look forward to the firm's future," said KPM shareholder Skylar Smith.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: SRC stock grows; Missouri Public Affairs Hall of Fame inductees named
In a key decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Ontario public school board teachers are protected from unreasonable search and seizure in the workplace under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The landmark ruling on June 21 concludes a lengthy legal battle between the York Region District School Board (YRDSB) and the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO).

The decade-long case centred on two newly-employed Grade 2 teachers, Ms. Shen and Ms. Rai, from Mount Joy Public School in Markham, who recorded their private workplace concerns in a shared, password-protected log stored in the cloud.

The school principal, aware of the log, accessed it through one of the teachers' unattended laptops, took screenshots, and used the content to issue written reprimands in January 2015.

The teachers' union filed a grievance, claiming that the principal's actions violated the teachers' right to privacy at work. During the arbitration process, the reprimands were removed from the teachers' files due to a three-year sunset clause. The grievance was initially dismissed by a labour arbitrator and upheld by the Divisional Court, which concluded that the Charter did not apply in this workplace context.

However, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned these decisions, leading to the Supreme Court's involvement.

Writing for the majority, Justice Malcolm Rowe stated that Ontario public school boards are subject to the Charter, given their inherently governmental nature. As such, the teachers were entitled to protection under section 8 of the Charter, which guards against unreasonable search and seizure.

The Supreme Court found that the labour arbitrator erred by not applying the correct legal framework under section 8 of the Charter. The court emphasized that administrative decision-makers must act consistently with the Charter and its values when resolving constitutional questions linked to matters within their jurisdiction.

Rowe underscored the importance of allowing Canadians to assert their Charter rights in accessible forums, noting that this case highlighted significant issues of privacy and justice in the workplace.

This is, in part, an access to justice issue. There are practical advantages and a constitutional basis for allowing Canadians to assert their Charter rights in the most accessible forum available, Rowe wrote.

The Supreme Court dismissed the school board's appeal, a decision that sets a precedent for similar cases in the future and reinforces the application of Charter rights in educational settings.

The YRDSB has yet to respond to the Supreme Court's ruling. The ETFO hailed the decision as a victory for privacy rights and a crucial step in protecting teachers' freedoms in the workplace.
On the Fourth of July, a neon green leak caught the attention of travelers at Miami International Airport. Early in the morning, a cellphone video captured green fluid pouring from Concourse G's ceiling, prompting passengers' surprise and concern.

Miami International Airport Quickly Fixes Green Leak

Miami International Airport had officials respond right away, who stated that the green substance was really water from a busted pipe that was part of an air conditioning unit.

According to News Miami, the water was dyed green to make it easier to spot leaks. The mess was cleaned up by noon, with the airport thanking passengers for their patience.

Even so, travelers' comments on the Miami International Airport were still on the higher side of positive. One Chris Chengwing commented on how easy it was to get around the airport; Don Erskine said it was busy compared to other places he's been to.

The leak at Miami International Airport reflects larger problems that have developed over the years.

In January, local authorities unveiled a major renovation plan for the airport, and they recognized the need to repair and upgrade Miami's key international gateway, which had suffered decades of neglect.

The ambitious improvement plan breaks the $1.6 billion mark. It includes a new parking facility, adding 2,200 spaces, solar panels on the new roof, improved elevators and escalators, and renovated restrooms.

The improvements will get Miami International Airport ready for what is tabulated to be an increased volume of travelers, reaching 74 million by 2040. Improvements will mean an improved journey for all travelers through this vital hub.

Miami Airport Adds Sleeping Centers

Travelers at Miami International Airport can look forward to catching some comfortable sleep without having to leave the premises. By the end of the year, two new sleep centers will open, offering 70 beds.

These centers, operated by Hotelzo LLC, will feature both private and double rooms equipped with twin beds, allowing passengers to rest alone or with family, the Miami Herald reported.

Duilio Sanguineti, CEO of Hotelzo, said they just signed a contract with Miami-Dade County to build these facilities. It wasn't the first time Hotelzo configured sleep spaces within an airport.

It configured 18 rooms at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota and created a budget brand called Sleep Oasis, offering more compact sleeping accommodations.

Centers within the airport's north and south terminals will offer private bathrooms, showers, TVs with streaming, desks, WiFi, and more. The private room costs around $36 per hour, and a double room costs $60 per hour.

The facilities will be open year-round, 24 hours daily, seven days a week.

This program will offer a new level of comfort to the Miami International Airport passengers and bring about additional employment to the locals. As per the report, at least 25 South Florida residents with great hospitality skills are being looked at to be employed to run these centers.

It will be a very lucrative proposition for the county, as Hotelzo has promised to pay Miami-Dade the aviation authorities at least $5 million for five years or 25% of yearly revenues, whichever is more. If the county wishes, it can enter an agreement for another five years at the end of the initial tenure.
In response to environmental concerns, British Airways is set to raise ticket prices as it shifts to more eco-friendly fuel options. This change comes as the airline industry faces increasing pressure to cut down on carbon emissions and improve sustainability.

British Airways Adopts Pricier Eco-Friendly Fuel

Luis Gallego, CEO of International Airlines Group, the parent company of British Airways, said in an interview with the Financial Times that the era of cheap flights might be coming to an end.

This adjustment is part of a broader effort to reduce the carbon footprint of air travel.

According to Quartz, starting next year, European regulations will require that a small percentage of fuel used at airports be sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with mandates set to increase significantly by 2050.

The transition to SAF is challenging due to its higher cost compared to traditional jet fuel. Despite the rapid drop in prices for these greener fuels, they remain substantially more expensive, influencing overall flight costs.

Last month, German airline Lufthansa announced it would add a fee to tickets to help cover these new expenses, signaling a trend British Airways is also adopting.

Industry experts, including Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association, have noted that the financial burden of this green transition cannot fall solely on the airlines, given their slim profit margins.

Consequently, passengers flying with British Airways can expect higher fares as the airline invests in sustainable technology and cleaner fuel to meet regulatory requirements and environmental goals.

This move underscores British Airways' commitment to a greener future, but it also means travelers must pay more for their flights.

Related Article : British Airways Enhances Loyalty Program with More Flexible Avios Payments

More Flights to South America

British Airways is set to enhance its flight services to South America this winter, aiming to connect more travelers with key destinations like Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Aires.

Starting October 29, 2024, the airline will increase its flights from London Heathrow to Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport from daily to ten times a week. The upgrade boosts the seat availability by 28 percent compared to last winter, making it easier for more passengers to visit Brazil.

As per the Business Traveller, the additional flights to Sao Paulo will be on British Airways' Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, while the current daily services are operated using the A350-1000 aircraft.

Additionally, from October 27, all flights to Sao Paulo will depart from Terminal 5 at Heathrow, moving from their current location at Terminal 3.

In a similar expansion, British Airways will also enhance its service on the Heathrow-Rio de Janeiro-Buenos Aires route. This route will exclusively use the A350-1000 aircraft starting October 27, which will increase the seat capacity by 22 percent over last winter.

The expansion by British Airways comes amid a wider increase in flights to Latin America by several airlines.

TAP Air Portugal, for example, has recently announced new routes to Brazil. At the same time, Iberia reported a 20 percent increase in its capacity to Latin America compared to pre-COVID levels, with notable growth in flights to Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.

British Airways' enhancements reflect a growing interest in South American destinations among European travelers.
An American Airlines flight had to make an unexpected stop in Buffalo, New York, after a passenger caused a disturbance. The flight, operated by Envoy Air under American Airlines, was originally traveling from Chicago to Manchester, New Hampshire.

The incident occurred around 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

American Airlines Handles In-Flight Chaos

The trouble started when 25-year-old Neil McCarthy, from Oregon, reportedly began acting inappropriately after consuming multiple alcoholic drinks known as "Jack and Cokes" before and during the flight.

According to the authorities, McCarthy exposed himself and urinated in the aisle of the plane, leading to the emergency landing.

Passengers on the flight witnessed the incident, and one of them managed to take a photo of McCarthy's actions, which was later shown to the police.

Fox Business News reported that the flight crew quickly alerted the authorities, and as soon as the plane landed, police officers boarded the aircraft, arrested McCarthy, and escorted him off.

American Airlines has apologized to the passengers and commended the crew for handling the situation with professionalism. The airline confirmed that after the incident was resolved, the plane continued to its intended destination in New Hampshire.

McCarthy is now facing charges of indecent exposure and could be penalized with up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine. The event has raised concerns about in-flight safety and the challenges crews face when dealing with disruptive onboard passengers.

Related Article : American Airlines Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Racial Discrimination Incident

Lawsuit Over Drunk Passenger Incident

Gretchen Stelter, an editor from Madison, Wisconsin, is suing American Airlines after a disturbing flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Chicago.

Stelter, who was returning from a vacation in Mexico, encountered an intoxicated passenger who harassed and physically touched her during the flight.

The Chicago Tribune revealed that the incident began as Stelter tried to work on a manuscript in business class. Despite her efforts to avoid conversation by using headphones and focusing on her laptop, the man next to her, seated in 3B, engaged her in conversation after ordering alcoholic drinks.

As he consumed more alcohol, his behavior escalated from chatty to inappropriate, culminating in sexual harassment and physical contact.

American Airlines is criticized for how its flight attendants handled the situation.

According to Stelter, the crew did not intervene effectively even after the man made explicit comments and touched her inappropriately. She felt trapped and unsafe throughout the flight as the man's conduct worsened.

After landing, the situation did not improve. Stelter reported the incident to American Airlines but claimed the unsatisfactory response added to her distress.

The airline's customer relations team initially blamed her for the incident, and it took several days before a senior airline executive apologized for handling her complaint.

American Airlines has declined to comment on the ongoing litigation. Meanwhile, Stelter's experience has significantly impacted her professional and personal life, leading to a reduction in her job responsibilities and affecting her work as a part-time advocate for rape survivors.
A small commercial center in downtown Redding that used to house a used bookstore and other businesses is getting a major overhaul.

Court Street Studios, on the southeast corner of Court and Shasta streets, is a project by K2 Development, which owns and will manage the property. RAD Studio is the architect.

Both K2 and RAD have been reimagining downtown over the last several years, K2 with projects like the Market Center, California Square and the Redding Public Market.

RAD has put its creative mark on buildings like the Bethel Music headquarters on Pine Street, the Adventure Challenge building on Oregon Street, the Sof-Tek-Pourboys Tapyard building on Waldon Street and the Urban East building, which is currently undergoing a face lift.

A rendering of Court Street Studios in downtown Redding. RAD Studio is the architect. K2 Development owns the building at Shasta and Court streets.

Their company is interested in in activating downtown Redding and with the new Shasta County Courthouse and other development in the area, this building was a great candidate to improve downtown on a busy corner and provide high quality space to local businesses that they can be proud of, Jess Whitlow of Cox Real Estate Consultants said of K2's interest in the building.

Cox Real Estate is marketing the building for K2.

And three of the four spaces have been leased out.

Business coming to Court Street Studios are Downtown Eyeworks, Buildwise Supply and Noland Enterprise Inc.

Whitlow said Downtown Eyeworks is a high-end eyeglasses and sunglasses store. Buildwise Supply sells preassembled, semi-custom cabinetry and countertops.

This will be Noland Enterprise Inc.s second location. The company sells durable medical equipment and currently has an office outside the Shasta Orthopedics building, Whitlow said.

"We have one space left that is getting a lot of interest right now. We are actively looking for the perfect fit to complete this stunning newly renovated building," she added.

Work at the new Court Street Studios project in downtown Redding on Monday, July 1, 2024.

Felix Torres and his wife, Mariaelena, are partners in Downtown Eyeworks. Felix has worked in the optical retail industry for nearly 30 years, most recently at Site For Sore Eyes in Redding, which closed last year.

He said opening an optical store has been a dream he's had for a long time.

You known, downtown Redding is getting way, way better than it was five years ago, so it seems like a lot of businesses recently moved to that area and my wife and I consider that option as a very good opportunity. When this project came along, we didnt hesitate, Torres said.

He said the store will sell lenses and frames. Torres did not know when the store will open.

Thats the million-dollar question right now. Because they are still working on that project, its kind of hard to pinpoint, he said.

Story continues

More on Avelo Airlines

Budget carrier Avelo Airlines announced about a week ago that it was pulling out of Redding because the ground service vendor it uses will stop operating in Redding later this summer.

Avelo, which offers flights to Hollywood-Burbank, will cease operations at Redding Regional Airport effective Aug. 26.

Jared Culver, general manager for Trego Dugan Aviation, which handles ground services for Avelo, told the Shasta County Board of Supervisors at its June 25 meeting that his company is pulling out of California.

An Avelo Airlines 737 sits on the tarmac at Redding Municipal Airport on Thursday, May 20, 2021, which was the launch of the direct flights to Burbank.

That prompted Supervisor Chris Kelstrom to ask County Executive Officer David Rickert to contact Avelo to see if the county could do anything to change the airlines mind.

At the supervisors' July 2 meeting, Rickert said he spoke with representatives of both Avelo and Trego Dugan, and that Avelo was firm in their decision to withdraw.

But, after Rickerts report, Kelstrom said he wasnt giving up on keeping Avelo in Redding and he hopes to see the topic on the supervisors July 16 agenda.

So I emailed Avelo Airlines spokeswoman Madison Jones after the meeting and again asked her if Avelo leaving Redding is a done deal? Avelos route between RDD and Los Angeles Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) will end on August 26, was her response.

Stay tuned.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. Hes part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on X, formerly Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: The Buzz: New commercial center coming to downtown Redding
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Rockwell Automation fair value estimate is US$314

Current share price of US$264 suggests Rockwell Automation is potentially trading close to its fair value

Our fair value estimate is 9.4% higher than Rockwell Automation's analyst price target of US$287

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE:ROK) by taking the forecast future cash flows of the company and discounting them back to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Models like these may appear beyond the comprehension of a lay person, but they're fairly easy to follow.

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.

View our latest analysis for Rockwell Automation

Crunching The Numbers

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. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. 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.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$1.41b US$1.56b US$1.94b US$2.04b US$2.11b US$2.18b US$2.24b US$2.31b US$2.37b US$2.43b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x12 Analyst x6 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Est @ 3.67% Est @ 3.28% Est @ 3.01% Est @ 2.82% Est @ 2.69% Est @ 2.60% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 7.7% US$1.3k US$1.3k US$1.6k US$1.5k US$1.5k US$1.4k US$1.3k US$1.3k US$1.2k US$1.2k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$14b

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 (2.4%) 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 7.7%.

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Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2034  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$2.4b (1 + 2.4%)  (7.7% 2.4%) = US$47b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$47b ( 1 + 7.7%)10= US$22b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$36b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$264, the company appears about fair value at a 16% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf

Important Assumptions

Now 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 Rockwell Automation 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 7.7%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.158. 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 Rockwell Automation

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 for the next 3 years.

Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Threat

Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the American market.

Looking Ahead:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Rockwell Automation, we've put together three pertinent items you should assess:

Risks: For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Rockwell Automation that you should be aware of before investing here. Future Earnings: How does ROK'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. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every American 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
Key Insights

The projected fair value for Celcomdigi Berhad is RM6.43 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Celcomdigi Berhad's RM3.55 share price signals that it might be 45% undervalued

Analyst price target for CDB is RM4.58 which is 29% below our fair value estimate

How far off is Celcomdigi Berhad (KLSE:CDB) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will take advantage of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model for this purpose. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. 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 Celcomdigi Berhad

The Model

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. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. 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.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM3.46b RM3.89b RM4.08b RM4.24b RM4.41b RM4.58b RM4.75b RM4.92b RM5.10b RM5.29b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x7 Analyst x6 Analyst x1 Est @ 4.08% Est @ 3.92% Est @ 3.81% Est @ 3.73% Est @ 3.68% Est @ 3.64% Est @ 3.61% Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 8.6% RM3.2k RM3.3k RM3.2k RM3.0k RM2.9k RM2.8k RM2.7k RM2.5k RM2.4k RM2.3k

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM28b

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. 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 3.6%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 8.6%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2034  (1 + g)  (r  g) = RM5.3b (1 + 3.6%)  (8.6% 3.6%) = RM108b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM108b ( 1 + 8.6%)10= RM47b

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 RM75b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of RM3.6, the company appears quite undervalued at a 45% discount to where the stock price trades currently. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

dcf

Important Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the 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 Celcomdigi Berhad 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 8.6%, 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 Celcomdigi Berhad

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

Debt is well covered by earnings and cashflows.

Weakness

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Wireless Telecom market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Malaysian market.

Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Threat

Dividends are not covered by earnings.

Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the Malaysian market.

Looking Ahead:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. Why is the intrinsic value higher than the current share price? For Celcomdigi Berhad, we've put together three relevant factors you should assess:

Risks: To that end, you should be aware of the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Celcomdigi Berhad . Future Earnings: How does CDB'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. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Malaysian 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
Over the past months, a wave of pro-Palestinian protests has swept through college campuses in the United States, shaking up the higher-education landscape in America.

The protests, fueled by student and faculty dissatisfaction with the involvement in and support for Israel's occupation of Palestine coming from the United States, have fanned a tremendous flap and opened very pertinent questions about the American model of human rights. These crackdowns have not only exposed deep problems within American universities but put a glaring spotlight, more broadly, on what is at stake for civil liberties and freedom of speech in the United States.

Pro-Palestinian Protests: Nationwide Movement

The wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations started on Columbia University campus and a few months later swept over 80 campuses nationally. Students were camping in tent cities, holding sit-ins, and rallying to force universities to disclose and divest from investments connected to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The protests react to the rising violence in Gaza, intended to point out massive human rights violations occurring there.

These protests in intensity and breadth feel like the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations of the 1960s and 1970s, in which students worked to hold accountable their institutions for perpetrating an unjust conflict. Hundreds of students have been arrested, suspended, or outright expelled by university administrators and law enforcement, who responded with a firm hand. Pioneering these initiatives have been institutions like Yale University, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Minnesota, all of which elevated the crackdown at their schools into a far-reaching national debate about free speech and academic freedom.

Implications on Free Speech and Academic Freedom

Harsh responses to such pro-Palestinian protests have huge implications for free speech and academic freedom within American higher education. College students have been suspended and expelled. The police called to campus to disperse peaceful protests-- a situation that many fret is increasingly normalized on campuses. Campuses that used to be a beacon of support for free intellectual inquiry and expression are now seen by many as increasingly hostile to dissenting voices, particularly against U.S. foreign policy.

This crackdown further exposes the double standards universities maintain over handling protests. While some forms of protest are condoned, others are brutally repressed. This kind of selective enforcement erodes the credibility of any university as a space for open dialogue and critical inquiry. It further indicates that protection for human rights and civil liberties remains at the whim of those in power.

Larger Implications for the American Model of Human Rights

The stifling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on American campuses is part of a larger problem: the inconsistency and politicization of the American posture on human rights. The United States has ordained itself as the protector of human rights around the world. However, all too often it has limited its promise only to paper. For instance, the use of veto power to block Security Council resolutions criticizing the policy of Israel betrays a willingness to sidetrack human rights protection in favor of political alliances.

This rhetoric-reality chasm at the heart of American foreign policy has deep implications for the international credibility of the United States. By attacking free expression among its very own people, most especially in places of learning, America should logically take a meek tone in advancing human rights elsewhere around the world. These attempts to suppress pro-Palestinian protests serve as a sobering reminder that the struggle for human rights is by no means one limited to faraway lands, but rather for American society itself.

The recent crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests at American universities serves to expose deep flaws within the liberal American model of human rights. Severe reactions to peaceful demonstrations have resulted in questions being asked that go straight to the core of free speech, academic liberty, and higher education. The more deep-seated is the issue of how human rights come to be mainly honored as a matter of political expediency. On that note, there arises an urgent need to refocus attention on safeguarding civil liberties and creating an environment where thoughts of diversity can flow freely as universities struggle together with the country at large to get a grip on these issues.
Over the last few years, how far a university degree is superior to vocational training and apprenticeships has been growing as an area of controversy in Britain.

The ruling Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party have focused attention on alternative routes into the workforce, such as apprenticeships, which had been left under wraps until then. Yet, recent analysis of Reed Recruitment data by Bloomberg indicates that despite these efforts, young people in Britain now require a university degree more than ever to succeed in an unpredictable economy.

The Growing Pay Premium for Graduates

Bloomberg's analysis of Reed Recruitment's job vacancy data highlights a significant trend: businesses are reducing job postings that do not mandate a degree, especially during economic downturns. During the UK's recession last year, there was a notable decline in job postings that did not require a diploma, whereas those requiring a degree remained relatively steady. This shift underscores a growing pay premium for graduates, making a university degree an increasingly valuable asset.

The statistics indicate a 40% increase in job postings that mandate a degree since 2016. This trend persisted despite a slight economic downturn in 2022, with job postings not requiring a degree dropping to nearly half of their 2016 levels by May 2023. Lizzie Crowley, a senior skills policy adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, noted that during economic distress, graduates are somewhat shielded from the downturn due to the demand for knowledge-based employment, which tends to hold up better.

Employers' Shifting Preferences

Due to the economic conditions, most businesses have become very selective in their recruitment and are therefore relying more on degrees as a prerequisite in order to control the influx of a large number of job applicants. This phenomenon is making the university diploma a requirement even in jobs that normally do not require academic qualifications, such as real estate agents and payroll managers.

Barney Ely, managing director at Hays in the South East, pointed out that higher-level jobs, which typically require a degree, are more crucial and less vulnerable during economic downturns. This sentiment is echoed across various sectors, with health, construction, and accountancy more than doubling their vacancies requiring academic qualifications since 2016. The demand for degree-holders is particularly pronounced in fields such as engineering and education, which have seen overall job postings increase, contrasting with sectors that require lower qualifications, where vacancies have shrunk.

The Limited Reach of Apprenticeships

While the government has driven initiatives to get more young people into vocational training-including the prime minister's funding commitment for 100,000 new apprenticeships annually-programs have fallen short of the expected status as a widely embraced alternative to higher education. Relatively disappointing, the take-up of degree apprenticeships being at 5% of all undergraduate degree speaks volumes about business sensitivity to the significant financial commitment entailed in each of the roles.

While major corporations like Cisco Systems Inc. have adopted degree apprenticeships, smaller businesses face difficulties in managing the financial and time constraints involved. Despite government financial assistance, many companies find it hard to keep apprentices on their payroll and provide them with study leave.

In practice, the majority of degree apprentices are aged over 25 and are already working, suggesting that these initiatives are not substantially aiding younger individuals entering the job market. Stephen Isherwood, co-CEO of the Institute of Student Employers, underscores that the economy is shifting towards a high-skilled environment where graduates are becoming increasingly indispensable.

Recent studies by Reed Recruitment and Bloomberg indicate a significant shift in the UK job market, highlighting the increasing necessity of a university degree to secure employment and higher salaries. It challenges the argument that vocational training and apprenticeship routes can successfully work as an alternative to higher education. In an economy where skilled workers are highly sought after ever more, the competitive advantage by way of holding a university degree has become more and more important in job markets.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that a new era of cooperation with China commenced in areas of information technology, communication, minerals and mining; and energy which would boost economic progress, regional connectivity and the bilateral ties

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jul, 2024) Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday said that a new era of cooperation with China commenced in areas of information technology, communication, minerals and mining; and energy which would boost economic progress, regional connectivity and the bilateral ties.

Chairing a meeting to review implementation of agreements and MOUs between the two countries reached during PM's recent visit to China, the prime minister said that he would not tolerate any disruption in the implementation of the same, declaring that he would personally supervise the process.

Referring to time-tested Pak-China friendship, he said that China had always supported Pakistan in difficult and hard times.

China has emerged as the strongest economic power and Pakistan can emulate its development, he added.

The prime minister observed that recently a delegation of Chinese shoes manufacturing companies had visited Pakistan with regard to relocation of their plants in Pakistan, adding that such companies had the capacity to invest about 5 to 8 billion dollars in Pakistan, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

He said that the local shoes manufacturers association was in constant contact with the Chinese companies in this regard.

Moreover, he said about 12 renowned Chinese companies related to agriculture sector would be taking very active part in the Food and Agri Expo being held in Pakistan.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, federal ministers including Jam Kamal Khan, Attaullah Tarar, Abdul Aleem Khan, Sardar Awais Khan Leghari, Dr Musadik Malik, Rana Tanvir Hussain, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of State Shaza Fatima Khawaja, PMs Special Assistant Tariq Fatemi, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Jahanzaib Khan and relevant authorities.

The prime minister also reviewed progress on sending a total of 1,000 Pakistan students on government scholarships to China for seeking the latest training in the agriculture sector.

He also directed for sending of students from the backward areas of Balochistan province on priority basis, besides other students from the four provinces, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir on merit.

The prime minister further directed for sending of students in the upcoming educational semester.

The meeting was apprised that owing to the agreements and MoUs singed during prime ministers recent visit, more that 100 Chinese companies were in contact with the Pakistani counterparts for the business and investment purposes.

The meeting was also informed by the ministry of IT on the progress made for imparting of technical training, one-stop operation for business facilitation, smart governance and smart city by Huawei to a total of 3,00,000 students.

The prime minister directed WAPDA authorities for the establishment of safe center for the foolproof security arrangements of Chinese nationals working on Dasu and Diamer Bhasha dams.

He asked for immediate implementation of all directives.

The prime minister was also apprised of the progress on different projects related to communication infrastructure, power and Gwadar.

He directed for expediting work on steps for the development of Gwadar port, airport and industrial zone for transforming Gwadar into a regional corridor hub.

The prime minister also asked for accelerating negotiation process with the Chinese manufacturing companies for relocation of solar panels and its accessories units into Pakistan.
AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France (Reuters) - China's anti-dumping probe into Europe's cognac industry is a tit-for-tat reaction to European Union tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, the finance chief at Hennessy cognac owner LVMH said on Saturday.

China announced plans on Friday for a hearing on European brandy imports, ramping up tension on the same day the European Commission's provisional tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles took effect.

"You can be a regional player with a very particular role in globalisation, as in our case, and regardless find yourself hostage to a number of conflicts that have nothing to do with your activities," said Jean-Jacques Guiony, chief financial officer of the luxury conglomerate.

"Every time there is a stray bullet in a trade conflict somewhere [] there's a good chance that we end up having to negotiate, having to explain that we are not dumping, that the price of cognac is right," Guiony said.

He was speaking on a panel about trade at an economics conference in the southern French city of Aix-en-Province.

LVMH brands produce leather goods, clothing, liquor and champagne mostly in France and Italy and export around the world.

Hennessy and other European cognac producers will attend a hearing on China's anti-dumping probe of the industry in Beijing on July 18, Reuters reported on Friday. French cognac accounts for most of China's brandy imports.

China launched the investigation into brandy being "dumped", or sold at artificially low prices, in January after a complaint by the China Alcoholic Beverages Association on behalf of the domestic brandy industry.

Guiony said trade wars have negative knock-on effects economically and politically, but added that Europe must stand together, saying China currently sees the region as weaker than the United States.

"We must not be the sick man of globalisation."

(Reporting by Helen Reid; editing by Clelia Oziel)
ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jul, 2024) Deputy Speaker of New York State Assembly Phil Ramos and his delegation on Saturday met with Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi at the Ministry of Interior.

Both sides discussed matters of mutual interests including education, health and increasing cooperation in policing and economic sectors.

Both sides also agreed to send qualified Pakistani nurses to New York for employment after completing the necessary process and the procedure will be finalized soon in this regard.

Deputy Speaker New York Assembly Phil Ramos told Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi that there is a shortage of qualified nurses in America and Pakistan has a lot of potential in this regard.

Expressing his views Minister Mohsin Naqvi said he will take necessary steps to recruit qualified Pakistani nurses in New York.

The meeting also decided that a workable plan will be developed to utilize the opportunities to increase cooperation in the education, health and economic sectors.

The Deputy Speaker of the New York Assembly invited Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to visit New York.

He said that the Pakistani community in America is doing significant services in every field.

The people of both countries will benefit from the promotion of bilateral cooperation, said Deputy Speaker New York Assembly Phil Ramos.

Federal Minister emphasized that historical relations between Pakistan and America are deep and long-standing, spanning several decades.

He said that there are vast opportunities for collaboration in the areas of health, Education and economic development.

During his tenure as Chief Minister, he paid special attention to the nursing department in Punjab and doubled the number of nursing students, Mohsin Naqvi told Phil Ramos adding that a plan has been made to increase the number of nurses in Islamabad as well.

He assured Phil Ramos that immediate steps will be taken to send qualified Pakistani nurses to New York.

Naqvi informed Phil Ramos that during his recent visit to New York, positive discussions were held between the Islamabad Police and the New York Police Department to enhance cooperation and a delegation of Islamabad Police will visit New York soon.

We will take immediate steps by identifying new areas to further enhance mutual cooperation, Mohsin Naqvi assured Phil Ramos and said that he will personally monitor the actions taken at every place and at every level for the participant.

The delegation attended the meeting included New York Assembly member Alec Cransey, American Pakistani Public Affairs Chairman Dr. Ijaz Ahmed, President New York Chapter Tariq Khan, President Imtiaz Rahi, Director Dr. Parvez Iqbal, Former Executive Director Athar Tirmizi and Texas Vice President Dr. Khalid Mehmood.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Cancun, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jul, 2024) Beryl weakened to a tropical storm Friday after hitting Mexico as a category 2 hurricane, with fierce winds causing material damage but no immediate injuries along the touristic Yucatan Peninsula.

Now headed for the Gulf of Mexico, Beryl is expected to intensify as it moves toward northeastern Mexico and southern Texas by the end of the weekend, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).

The storm hit southeast Mexico in the early morning hours with winds of up to 175 kilometers (108 miles) per hour, flattening trees and lampposts and ripping off roof tiles, according to the civil protection authority.

Electricity was lost in at least three municipalities in the southeastern Quintana Roo state, even as wind speeds slowed to about 140 km/h as Beryl moved deeper inland and weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm.

"On the initial reports, there appears to be no loss of life, and that is what matters most to us," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in his daily press briefing.

The governor of Quintana Roo, Mara Lezama, had urged residents in a video overnight to "please stay home," and classes in the region were suspended.

About 2,200 people had sought cover at dozens of temporary shelters and more than 25,600 security force members and employees of the CFE electricity agency deployed to help affected residents and repair damage.

As a precaution, 348 flights were cancelled at Cancun airport, the largest terminal in the Mexican Caribbean.

By late Friday afternoon, Quintana Roo governor said the airport had resumed service.

The NHC said Beryl had weakened from a Category 2 hurricane to Category 1 by the time she hit Yucatan -- milder than earlier in the week when it left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean and the coast of Venezuela, killing at least seven people.

It added Beryl would continue to weaken while crossing the peninsula, but "re-intensification is expected once the center moves back over the Gulf of Mexico."

Agencies and officials in northeast Mexico and the lower and middle Texas coast "should closely monitor the progress of Beryl," the center said.

"Hurricane and Tropical Storm Watches will likely be issued for that region later today."

Ahead of Beryl's arrival Friday, hundreds of tourists were evacuated from hotels along the Mexican coast.

The Mexican army, which deployed some 8,000 troops to Tulum, said it has food supplies and 34,000 liters of purified water to distribute to the population.

The army also set up a soup kitchen in Tulum for people who cannot return home due to flooding or blocked roads.

Alvaro Rueda, a 51-year-old bricklayer, told AFP his neighborhood had already started clearing up after the storm's passage.

"Most of the stores are already open... we have purchased food, even if it is canned, there is food," he said.

Virginia Rebollar, a Mexican tourist who traveled with three family members to Tulum, said their flight out had been cancelled and "we had to pay for two extra nights."

"We have some fear, but we are convinced that people are prepared and know what to do," she added.

In Cancun, a two-hour drive from Tulum, people stocked up on food and other essentials and hotels boarded up their windows.
UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jul, 2024) The island of Carriacou in Grenada has been virtually flattened by the devastating Hurricane Beryl, a senior UN official there reported, as humanitarian teams ramp up their support to communities affected across the Caribbean.

Speaking via video link from Grenada, Simon Springett, UN Resident Coordinator in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, outlined a scene of total devastation in Carriacou  where Beryl first made landfall on 1 July.

The entire island is completely affected  that is literally 100 per cent of the population, he stressed.

Hurricane Beryl is the strongest hurricane in history to form in June in the Atlantic Ocean. Initially a tropical depression, it rapidly intensified into a Category 4 storm and briefly reached Category 5 status, with winds up to 240 km/h (150 mph).

On Friday, it made landfall in Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula, and is reportedly tracking west-northwest, projected to make landfall in southern Texas, United States, on Monday.

Springett highlighted the situation as a very complicated crisis, one that is marked by severe logistical and access challenges.

Four days after the hurricane hit, roads on the island are impassable and communications were only restored last night, he said.

Directly after the hurricane, the seas were exceptionally rough, which made it nearly impossible to get there. The air control towers are out  so there is only fly by visibility. But also, even when things get to the airport, there no roads to access the goods.

Nations near and far are dispatching aid, with a French ship arriving in Carriacou later in the day as well as assistance from Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, Springett said.

We have a large outpouring of international response  it is really an international effort, and the UN is really proud to be to be a part of this, he said.

Also speaking, via video link from Bahamas, Dennis Zulu, the Resident Coordinator for Jamaica and Bahamas, echoed international collaboration.

He highlighted that the UN is working in coordination with Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the regional emergency and disaster response agency to ensure a coherent regional response.

We are poised to mount a coordinated humanitarian response with the international development partner community and are already engaging international partners and organizations in Jamaica, he added.

Detailed assessment of damage in Jamaica and in other island nations supported by his office are ongoing, Zulu said.

The damage is widely apparent and is felt by people from all walks of life, especially in rural Jamaica, including in the southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and Saint Elizabeth, and for those in vulnerable housing, he added.

He also noted that the Government of Jamaica has put in place an effective response plan, supported by UN and partners, including shelters for those who lost their homes.

Alongside, other key requirements include clean drinking water, access to communication and data and livelihood support.

According to the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), over 650,000 people  including 150,000 children  in Barbados, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tobago were in the path of Hurricane Beryl.

Many have lost homes and are being housed in temporary shelters, officials said.

The UN agency for its part had pre-positioned life-saving supplies before the storm and is mobilizing supplies and funds for the response.

[We are] deeply concerned at the plight of those affected by Hurricane Beryl, especially the most vulnerable  children and women  we pledge to be there for children of the affected countries, said Pieter Bult, UNICEF Representative for the Eastern Caribbean Area.

Similarly, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has also deployed teams to the affected islands, supporting authorities with assessments and early response.

In Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the agency has been asked to provide emergency telecommunications and logistics support, while in Barbados it is assisting with emergency food kits that will be shipped and distributed to people in the affected islands.

Earlier in the day in Geneva, Vanessa Huguenin, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that while humanitarians have been preparing for this hurricane season, such a strong storm this early is extremely rare.

It is also a warning for the anticipated very intense hurricane season that is coming, she said at the regular media briefing at the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG).

The Atlantic storm season runs from June through the end of November, with 17 to 25 named storms expected. The average is 14 storms a year.

Of those, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that eight to 13 are forecast to become hurricanes  above the average of seven  including four to seven major hurricanes.

A major hurricane is category three, four or five on the Saffir Simpson scale, with winds of 110 mph winds (177 km/h), or higher.

This new reality of unprecedented hurricanes is becoming an annual and ever-present reality for the Caribbean countries while facing the brunt of climate change, said Rhea Pierre, Disaster Manager at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

The severity of damages in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl are tangible and devastating.

APP/ift
Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, which restored ties with Tehran last year following a years-long rift, on Saturday congratulated Iran's new president-elect, the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian

Riyadh, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jul, 2024) Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, which restored ties with Tehran last year following a years-long rift, on Saturday congratulated Iran's new president-elect, the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian.

King Salman, in a message to Pezeshkian, expressed hope for the "continued development of relations which link our two countries and our two brotherly peoples," according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

He also expressed his wish for further "coordination and dialogue to strengthen regional and international peace and security," SPA said.

After a seven-year rupture, Sunni Muslim-majority Saudi Arabia and Shiite-dominated Iran resumed relations under a surprise China-brokered deal announced in March last year.

The deal's ramifications were felt throughout the region.

Since then the two Middle East powers, which have often supported opposing sides in regional conflicts, have intensified their contacts.

Iran's ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi travelled to Riyadh in November for a summit on the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Raisi's death in a helicopter accident in May led to Iran's early presidential election, in which Pezeshkian defeated his ultraconservative challenger Saeed Jalili in a runoff.

The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, wished success to Pezeshkian and said he looks "forward to working together to further strengthen ties between the UAE and Iran for the benefit of our two nations and peoples".

The emirs of Qatar and Kuwait sent their congratulations to Pezeshkian, official media reported, as did the sultan of Oman.

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad Al-Sabah wished "more prosperity and development" for the Islamic republic, the official KUNA news agency said.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, the only country in the region to not restore relations with Iran, expressed his "commitment to strengthening relations".

The two countries agreed in June to begin talks on restoring diplomatic ties that have been severed since 2016.

bur-saa/ysm/jsa
The Round-Table Exchange Meeting of Belt and Road Cooperation in Education, Science-Technology and Talents was held between the delegation of University of Sargodha and Chinese institutions & enterprises represented by China Association for International Science and Technology Cooperation (CAISTC), Beijing International Economic Research Center (BIERC), Zhongguancun Talent Association (ZTA), Glodon Company Limited in Beijing

BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jul, 2024) The Round-Table Exchange Meeting of Belt and Road Cooperation in Education, Science-Technology and Talents was held between the delegation of University of Sargodha and Chinese institutions & enterprises represented by China Association for International Science and Technology Cooperation (CAISTC), Beijing International Economic Research Center (BIERC), Zhongguancun Talent Association (ZTA), Glodon Company Limited in Beijing.

Prof. Dr. Qaisar Abbas, Vice Chancellor, University of Sargodha made an introduction of his university to the participants and expressed the willingness to have deeper cooperation in education, science, etc. with the Chinese side.

Prof. Dr. Ghulam Yasin, Pro-Vice Chancellor, University of Sargodha, pointed areas of mutual interest and collaboration between China and Pakistan under the Belt and Road Initiative i.e. cultural exchange and social integration, sustainable development and social policy, migration and mobility, and education and workforce development.

He proposed to enhance bilateral science and technology cooperation mainly in renewable energy, healthcare, environmental protection, and IT by establishing joint research centers, exchanging student and faculty, developing curricula, China Economic Net reported.

According to Prof. Dr. Aamir Ali Chaudhry, Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Sargodha, higher education institutions in Pakistan and China can take the lead in fostering collaborative research and joint exchange programs in areas like agriculture biotechnology, food and industrial biotechnology, bioinformatics, renewable energy, nano-materials, informatics, infrastructure development and environmental sustainability. "In recent years, BRI taken by China is a step to bring whole world under one umbrella and to provide equal opportunities for people of all countries to get benefits for their growth and development, " he said.

At the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the University of Sargodha and SupperAccuracy Science & Technology Co., Ltd. Based on the MoU, KylinRay advanced Technology will be introduced to Pakistan, a Cancer Research Center is being planned, and medical education activities will be held. It's learned that more cooperative opportunities in construction science and technology, talent training, etc. among the participants are being discussed after the meeting.

APP/asg
A court in Romania's capital ruled Friday that social media influencer Andrew Tate can leave Romania but must remain within the European Union as he awaits trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

The Bucharest Tribunal's decision to allow Tate, 37, to leave the country was hailed by his spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, as a "significant victory and a major step forward" in the case. It is not clear whether prosecutors can or will appeal the court's decision.

Tate, a former professional kickboxer and dual British U.S. citizen, was initially arrested in December 2022 near Bucharest along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four in June last year and all four have denied the allegations.

After Friday's decision, Tate wrote on the social media platform X: "I AM FREE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS I CAN LEAVE ROMANIA. THE SHAM CASE IS FALLING APART."

"We embrace and applaud the decision of the court today, I consider it a reflection of the exemplary behavior and assistance of my clients," said Eugen Vidineac, one of Tate's lawyers, adding that the Tates are "still determined to clear their name and reputation."

On April 26, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the prosecutors' case file against Tate met the legal criteria and that a trial could start but did not set a date for it to begin. That ruling came after the legal case had been discussed for months in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors' evidence and case file.

After the Tate brothers' arrest, they were held for three months in police detention before being moved to house arrest. They were later restricted to Bucharest municipality and nearby Ilfov county, and then to Romania.

Vidineac said the ability to travel within the 27-nation EU bloc will allow the Tates to "pursue professional opportunities without restriction."

Andrew Tate, who has amassed 9.5 million followers on the social media platform X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He was previously banned from various social media platforms for allegedly expressing misogynistic views and using hate speech.

In a separate case, Andrew Tate was served at his home in Romania with a civil lawsuit lodged by four British women after a claim was issued by the High Court in London, according to a statement released in May by McCue Jury & Partners, the law firm representing the four women.

The four allege Tate sexually and physically assaulted them and they reported him to British authorities in 2014 and 2015. After a four-year investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service decided in 2019 not to prosecute him. The alleged victims then turned to crowdfunding to pursue a civil case against him.

In a separate third case, the Tate brothers also appeared in March at the Bucharest Court of Appeal after British authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a U.K. case dating back to 2012-15.

The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the Tates to the U.K., but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.
A divided West Africa hosts two presidential summits this weekend -- one in Niger between Sahel region military regime leaders, followed by another in Nigeria on Sunday with leaders of a wider economic bloc.

Saturday's summit in Niger's capital, Niamey, will mark the first between the military leaders of a new regional bloc, the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger set up the mutual defense pact in September, leaving the wider Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc in January.

Their ECOWAS exit was fueled in part by their accusation that Paris was manipulating the bloc and not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts.

The exit came as the trio shifted away from former colonial ruler France, expelling anti-jihadist French troops, and turned towards what they call their "sincere partners" -- Russia, Turkey and Iran.

Given the deadly jihadist violence the three countries face, "the fight against terrorism" and the "consolidation of cooperation" will be on Saturday's agenda, according to the Burkinabe presidency.

Sunday's summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja then offers heads of ECOWAS states the opportunity to discuss relations with the AES.

Saturday's summit

After several bilateral meetings, the three Sahelian strongmen are gathering for the first time since coming to power through coups between 2020 and 2023.

In mid-May, the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger agreed in Niamey on a draft text creating the confederation, which the heads of states are expected to adopt at Saturday's summit.

Niger's General Abdourahamane Tiani welcomed his Burkinabe counterpart Ibrahim Traore in the capital Friday, while Malian Colonel Assimi Goita will arrive Saturday morning.

"Don't expect many announcements, this is primarily a political event," said Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi.

"The aim is to show that this is a serious project with three committed heads of state showing their solidarity."

In early March, AES announced joint anti-jihadist efforts, though they did not specify details.

Insurgents have carried out attacks for years in the vast "three borders" region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, despite the massive deployment of anti-jihadist forces.

The trio have made sovereignty a guiding principle of their governance and aim to create a common currency.

'Path of no return'

Sunday's summit comes as several West African presidents have called in recent weeks for a solution to resume dialogue between the two camps.

Notably, Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in late May that reconciliation between ECOWAS and the three Sahel countries was possible.

In June, his newly reelected Mauritanian counterpart, President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, called on West African countries to unite again against the expansion of jihadism.

But successive summits on the same weekend raises fears of a stiffening of positions between AES and ECOWAS.

"I do not see the AES countries seeking to return to ECOWAS. I think it's ECOWAS will have to tone it down (the situation)," Nigerien lawyer Djibril Abarchi told AFP.

While AES is currently an economic and defense cooperation body, its three member countries have repeatedly expressed their desire to go further.

At the end of June, Colonel Goita assured that cooperation within the AES had taken "a path of no return" during a visit to Ouagadougou, Burkina's capital.

The potential creation of a new common currency would also mean leaving behind the CFA franc they currently share with neighboring countries.

"Leaving a currency zone is not easy," warned Yabi. "Any country can change its currency, but it takes a lot of time and requires a clear political choice as well as a technical and financial preparation process."

Issoufou Kado, a Nigerien financial expert and political analyst, agreed: "They have to be very careful, because the mechanism takes time."
Hamas has given its initial approval of a U.S.-backed proposal for a phased cease-fire deal in Gaza, dropping a key demand that Israel commit up front to a complete end to the war, a Hamas official and an Egyptian official said Saturday.

The apparent compromise by the militant group, which controlled Gaza before triggering the war with an October 7 terror attack on Israel, could deliver the first pause in fighting since November and set the stage for further talks on ending a devastating nine months of fighting. But all sides cautioned that a deal is still not guaranteed.

Inside Gaza, the Health Ministry said an Israeli airstrike on a school-turned-shelter killed at least 16 people and wounded at least 50 others in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Children were among the dead and wounded. Israel's military said it was looking into the report.

The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, said Washington's phased deal would start with a "full and complete" six-week cease-fire during which older, sick and female hostages would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. During those 42 days, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza, the officials said.

Over that period, Hamas, Israel and mediators would negotiate the terms of the second phase that could see the release of the remaining male hostages, both civilians and soldiers, the officials said. In return, Israel would free additional Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The third phase would include the return of any remaining hostages, including bodies of the dead, and the start of a yearslong reconstruction project.

Hamas still wants written guarantees from mediators that Israel will continue to negotiate a permanent cease-fire deal once the first phase goes into effect, the officials said.

The Hamas representative told The Associated Press the group's approval came after it received "verbal commitments and guarantees" from the mediators that the war won't be resumed and that negotiations will continue until a permanent cease-fire is reached.

"Now we want these guarantees on paper," the representative said.

Both sides wary

Months of on-again off-again cease-fire talks have stumbled over Hamas' demand that any deal include a complete end to the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to pause the fighting but not end it until Israel reaches its goals of destroying Hamas' military and governing capabilities and returning all hostages held by the militant group.

Hamas has expressed concern that Israel will restart the war after the hostages are released. Israeli officials have said they are worried Hamas will draw out the talks and the initial cease-fire indefinitely without releasing all the hostages.

Netanyahu's office did not respond to requests for comment, and there was no immediate comment from Washington. On Friday, the Israeli prime minister confirmed that the Mossad spy agency's chief had paid a lightning visit to Qatar, a key mediator, but his office said "gaps between the parties" remained.

"For the first time in many months, we feel hopeful," a statement by many families of hostages said. "Netanyahu, we have seen how you repeatedly thwart deals in real time. Don't you dare break our hearts again."

Cease-fire would include aid

Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas' October terror attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people  mostly civilians  and abducted about 250. Israel says Hamas is still holding about 120 hostages  about a third of them now thought to be dead.

Since then, the Israeli air and ground offensive has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

The offensive has caused widespread devastation and a humanitarian crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine, according to international officials.

The cease-fire deal would see around 600 trucks of humanitarian aid entering Gaza daily, with half of them bound for the enclave's hard-hit north, the two officials said. Since Israel's assault on the southernmost city of Rafah, aid supplies entering Gaza have been reduced to a trickle.

"We want to eat, but from where we can eat? The country is exhausted. The country is destitute. It is not suitable for living," said Walid Hegazi, a resident of the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. "We're sorry for the donkeys because we ate their wheat and barley."
In April, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo took the stage in the Belgian city of Leuven with a warning: About 60% of all new legacy chips coming into the market in the next handful of years will be produced by China, she told reporters.

The U.S. and its allies are controlling Chinas access to advanced chips used to power cutting-edge applications like AI. But much of the industry makes so-called mature chips, less sophisticated products that power household appliances, electric vehicles, and other everyday products.

And Chinadespite an increasing array of U.S. policies meant to constrain the countrys chip industrycould be set to dominate that market. Chinese chip production jumped 40% in the first quarter, according to government data. Mainland Chinese firms could be major players in the legacy chip market, behind Taiwan-based firms, and account for 33% of the market by 2027, predicts TrendForce, a market research firm.

Western officials in recent months have delivered a steady drumbeat of concerns over Chinese overcapacity, alleging that China uses state subsidies to help industries like electric vehicles and solar panels undercut their foreign competition.

But unlike EVs or renewable energyindustries that Beijing and private companies recognized as strategic opportunities early onanalysts suggest that Chinas dominance of mature chips is instead a by-product of other policies. And they note U.S. pressure likely (and ironically) played a major role in fostering Chinas potential success in legacy chips.

Chinas goal is to eventually produce the advanced chips that can power AI or 5G mobile technology. Yet Washingtons export restrictions are stopping Chinese chip manufacturers from getting the tools they need. That means Chinese chip manufacturers are turning to the less advanced chips they can still produce.

They have to start somewhere, says Chim Lee, a senior Asia analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. You have to start with the mature nodes  then scale up the market gradually.

Why is China investing in legacy chips?

Legacy chips, also referred to as mature chips or mature nodes, are less advanced semiconductors used in a wide array of electronic devices, ranging from household appliances to electric vehicles. U.S. export controls define legacy chips as those larger than the 16- to 14-nanometer generation. Chips of that size are slightly more than a decade old. By comparison, TSMC, the worlds leading contract chip manufacturer, is set to mass produce two-nanometer chips meant for high-end electronics like Apples smartphones or Nvidias processors next year.

Story continues

Linghao Bao, a senior analyst at consulting firm Trivium China, suggests Chinas increasing legacy chip production is a by-product of Beijings support for sectors that are strategic for China.

Theyre trying to secure their industrial supply chain, he says.

China invested heavily in industries like clean energy and electric vehicles in a bid to become a world leader in those sectors. These industries require semiconductors, but not the most advanced ones used in high-end consumer electronics and AI.

Chinese chip manufacturers are starting operations at 18 projects this year, according to U.S. trade group SEMI.

These incoming projects will almost certainly focus on mature chip production. Export controls from the U.S. and its allies bar companies like ASML from selling their most advanced chipmaking tools to China.

Yet sanctions (for now) dont prevent Chinese companies from buying some older equipment. In fact, Chinese chip companies hoovered up chipmaking machinery last year, owing to fears that the U.S. can tighten the screws even further, explains Marco Mezger, chief operating officer of Neumonda, a European memory component firm.

Those worries may not be unfounded. Bloomberg in January, quoting unnamed sources, reported that ASML canceled some shipments bound for China late last year amid political pressure.

The primary goal is to replace American equipment in the chip supply chain, Bao says.

What is Chinas semiconductor policy?

Still, Beijing has strong opinions on where Chinese companies should get their chips from.

In May, China unveiled a $47.5 billion fund to further bolster the local semiconductor industry. The Big Fund III (as its colloquially called) is almost as large as Beijings previous two chip funds combined.

The Big Fund hopes to wean Chinas chip industry off foreign technology, and Beijing has had mixed success. While these programs led to some chip champions like Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), it also led to some high-profile corporate failures and corruption scandals.

Beijing is also reportedly telling Chinese companies to stop using foreign-made chips in their products, which could close off access to foreign chipmakers. Beijing could leverage its vast EV market as well to promote local chips to the detriment of European and Japanese suppliers, according to a nonpublic European Commission report uncovered by Bloomberg.

What happens next?

Non-Chinese companies may struggle to compete with Chinese legacy chip manufacturers. Chinese companies still lag the best legacy chip manufacturers when it comes to technological prowess, but in terms of price, local competitors are already there, Lee from the EIU notes.

The threat of oversupply has led some companies to worry about price wars, as foundries become desperate for customers. And some in the U.S. want controls to go even further to limit the use of Chinese chips.

But new sanctions on mature chips could be a step too far for U.S. allies, who still sell to Chinas chip industry.

Netherlands-based ASML, in spite of U.S. controls, still shipped one chipmaking machine a day to China last year, according to Mezger. ASMLs sales to China surged last year, and the Chinese market was the second-biggest for the Dutch firm, making up a quarter of its 2023 sales.

Japan, another U.S. ally thats joined on to its chip controls, also exports chipmaking tools to China. Both Tokyo Electron and Canon, which both make less advanced chipmaking tools, expect China to contribute 40% of their sales this year.

In the meantime, governments like that of the U.S. are also enticing chip manufacturers to invest in local manufacturing. Earlier this year, the Biden administration allotted $1.5 billion in CHIPS Act money to GlobalFoundries, in part to expand its production of mature chips.

Mezger isnt convinced these programs will be enough to make onshore legacy chip manufacturing sustainable. Margins are already low in the mature chip spaceand Chinese competition will reduce those margins even further. Without subsidies, other regions wont be as economically competitive as China, he says.

This will end in tears, he notes. No company can just run on subsidies.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
A prominent human rights expert is calling on governments to end the billion-dollar arms trade with Myanmars military, which is helping sustain the juntas brutal campaign of violence against civilians across Myanmar.

In a report to the U.N. human rights council Thursday, Thomas Andrews, special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, accused international finance systems of helping Myanmar procure the weapons that have enabled attacks on civilians and have killed, maimed and displaced thousands of people.

Since the military junta toppled the countrys democratically elected government in February 2021, the U.N. human rights office reports at least 5,280 civilians, including 1,022 women and 667 children, have been killed at the hands of the military.

Additionally, the agency reports at least 3 million people have been displaced  the vast majority still without proper shelter, and more than 20,000 political prisoners remain in detention.

Andrews told the council that in the two years ending March 2024, the Myanmar military has purchased $630 million in weapons, dual-use technologies, manufacturing equipment, and raw materials through the international finance system.

The special rapporteur identified 16 foreign banks that have facilitated transactions related to military procurement by the junta, noting that the junta and its cronies have worked to obscure the specific nature of the transactions including by setting up military front companies.

He referenced a report he issued last year, The Billion Dollar Death Trade, in which he identified Singapore as the juntas third largest source of weapons and related materials.

Because of that report, he told the council that to its credit, the government took immediate action and launched an investigation of my findings. I am very pleased to report that the juntas purchase of military supplies from Singapore dropped by nearly 90 percent since the publication of that report.

Unfortunately, military procurement through Thailand has moved in the opposite direction, he said, underscoring the junta imported nearly $130 million in weapons and military from Thailand-registered suppliers, more than double the total from the previous year.

He observed, however, It is important to note that as was the case with Singapore last year, I found no evidence that the government of Thailand was involved or even aware of these transactions, adding that he was hopeful Thailand based entities, including its banks will no longer be facilitating the transfer of weapons and weapons materials to the military junta.

Andrews called on financial institutions to stop facilitating transactions with banks that are controlled by the military junta and for governments to sanction those junta-controlled banks, including Myanmar Economic Bank.

The special rapporteur garnered support from member states, including the United States, for his appeal.

We applaud Singapore for taking action to cut arms supplies to the military and call on others to follow suit, Michele Taylor, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council, said during the councils interactive dialogue.

We urge the Security Council to use all the tools at its disposal to prevent future atrocities, including by reinforcing this bodys call to cut off the militarys access to jet fuel, and to support efforts to find a peaceful and just resolution to the crisis, she said.

Andrews said the people of Myanmar need and deserve the support of the council and governments. He emphasized they also need international action, not only because of the military juntas relentless attacks on the people of Myanmar, but because there are opportunities available to your governments right now that would make an enormous difference in how and when this crisis comes to an end.

The tide is turning in Myanmar, the junta is on its heels, and the opportunity to take decisive action is now, he said, pointing out that civilian resistance forces are gaining ground.

He said the governments military bases are falling, tens of thousands of troops have been lost to casualties, surrender, or defections, and the economy is being squeezed.

In response, the junta is doubling down on its brutal attacks on civilian populations, he said. Junta leaders appear committed to destroying the country that they cannot control.

He said the world must not allow that to happen.

We now have clear evidence that actions taken by the international community to isolate the junta and degrade its capacity to attack the people of Myanmar are working.

But more must be done and done now to build on this progress including strategic coordination between all governments who support human rights to stop the flow of sophisticated weapons of war that are being used to attack innocent Myanmar civilians, he said.
Journalists reporting on illicit activity connected to the billion-dollar scam center industry in Cambodia say they are facing security risks.

Physical and online harassment, surveillance and legal threats related to media coverage have all been reported by local and foreign journalists.

Reporting on the centers, along with the associated allegations of fraud, human trafficking and other abuses is becoming a "risky endeavor," said American freelancer Danielle Keeton-Olsen.

Details of the scam centers operating throughout the Southeast Asia region, including Cambodia, are outlined in a May report by the United States Institute of Peace, or USIP.

In Cambodia alone, the USIP report found 100,000 scammers generating an estimated $12.8 billion in 2023  close to half the country's formal GDP. Most compounds that house the scammers are operated by Chinese gangs, though some are allegedly linked to local elites, the report found.

Those working in the centers are often lured into phony business ventures, becoming victims themselves. Reports have highlighted evidence of human trafficking.

VOA contacted the Cambodian government by email and phone but didn't receive a reply.

But Chou Bun Eng, deputy chair of the government's police-led National Committee for Counter Trafficking said earlier this year that 80% of cases alleging human trafficking are "false."

Journalists reporting on the centers say they've been harassed and, in one case, detained.

Journalists risk physical harm

Cambodian journalist Mech Dara says police detained him while he was investigating a scam center in the city of Sihanoukville. At the time, Dara worked for the now shuttered Voice of Democracy, or VOD.

Keeton-Olsen also reported on the scam centers for VOD English.

"We would go around in a site in Sihanoukville and try to figure out everything that we could, get some eyewitness testimonies, try to, like, assert who the ownership is and triangulate from there. That was a really risky endeavor," she told VOA.

"There were some close calls, you could get scolded by a security guard or just in general the hair standing up on the back," she said.

While journalists often face difficulties accessing information in Cambodia, they risk the possibility of physical harm reporting on scam centers.

"It's a dangerous industry, and there's evidence that there are gangs involved," she said. "There's evidence of violence happening toward workers or people associated with it. In terms of threats to safety [for journalists], they definitely exist."

With one story, said Keeton-Olsen, a company threatened them with legal action.

"We actually ended up writing about that for VOD because [the company] came in and they were saying 'we might serve you with a legal letter,' so my editor wrote a story about it," she said.

Nathan Paul Southern, a Scottish journalist based in Phnom Penh, said he also received threats.

"We've been told by people who are connected to the government that we do need to watch our backs, that we are in danger," he told VOA. "We have been followed quite a few time ... [and] we've had a few physical altercations in and around the scam centers, where essentially various different gangsters have tried to grab us or stop us from leaving and get close to violent with us."

Thousands 'held against their will'

While reporting on an online gambling site working out of a compound in the city of Bavet, Southern said he learned that "thousands of people were being held against their will."

The company denied the allegations, he said, then served him with a cease-and-desist letter.

"It seemed it was to scare us financially," he said. "Most of it, whether that's from the criminal groups or the government, has been them letting us know that they're watching us."

Risks associated with scam center reporting add to an already tough reporting environment, where government officials have cracked down on independent media.

"Journalism continues to be a dangerous profession in Cambodia," said Aleksandra Bielakowska, advocacy officer at Reporters Without Borders, also known as RSF.

"Reporters can be arrested and sometimes spend months in prison on trumped-up charges of 'terrorism,'" she told VOA. "At the same time, covering corruption cases that directly or indirectly implicate the government has become virtually impossible."

The country ranks 151 out of 180 on the RSF World Press Freedom Index, where 1 signals a good media environment. In the past year, three media outlets were stripped of their licenses, including VOD.
Japan's foreign minister on Saturday announced a joint project with Cambodia to share knowledge and technology on land mine removal with countries around the world, including Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa made her comments during a visit to the Cambodian Mine Action Center, which was formed in the 1990s at the end of the Southeast Asian nation's decades of civil war. It seeks to deal with an estimated 4 million to 6 million land mines and other unexploded munitions left strewn around the countryside.

"Cambodia, which has steadily advanced mine removal within its own country, is now a leader in mine action around the world," she noted, adding that Japan has consistently cooperated in Cambodia's mine removal since the civil war.

Cambodian deminers are among the world's most experienced, and several thousand have been sent in the past decade under U.N. auspices to work in Africa and the Middle East. Cambodia in 2022 began training deminers from Ukraine, which also suffers from a high density of land mines and other unexploded munitions as the two-year Russian invasion drags on.

"As a concrete cooperation under the Japan Cambodia Landmine Initiative, Japan will provide full-scale assistance to humanitarian mine action in Ukraine," she said. "Next week, we will provide Ukraine with a large demining machine, and next month, here in Cambodia, we will train Ukrainian personnel on how to operate the machine."

The NGO Landmine Monitor in its 2022 report listed both Cambodia and Ukraine among nine countries with massive mine contamination, meaning they had more than 100 square kilometers of uncleared fields.

Since the end of the fighting in Cambodia, nearly 20,000 people have been killed and about 45,000 have been injured by leftover war explosives, although the average annual death toll has dropped from several thousand to less than 100.

Despite a very active demining program, many dangerous munitions remain in place, posing a hazard to villagers.

Cambodia's training of Ukrainian deminers, in Poland as well as Cambodia, came after former Prime Minister Hun Sen  in an unusual move for a nation that usually aligns itself with Russia and China  condemned Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, saying "Cambodia is always against any country that invades another country."

Cambodia was one of nearly 100 U.N. member countries that co-sponsored a resolution condemning Russia's invasion.

Several other countries, including the United States and Germany, have already provided Ukraine with demining assistance.

Kamikawa also held talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Hun Sen, his father who stepped down last year after ruling for 38 years.

She and her Cambodian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea, signed agreements for a concessional loan from Tokyo of up to $51.6 million for upgrading the highway between the capital, Phnom Penh, to the border with Thailand, and grant aid up to $2.4 million to support junior administrative officials to study in Japan, a Japanese Embassy statement said.

Kamikawa next goes to the Philippines, where she and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara will hold talks on Monday with their Philippine counterparts. They are set to discuss signing a mutual defense pact that would allow each country to deploy troops on the other's territory.
As the maritime conflict between China and the Philippines escalates, Japan and the Philippines are set to meet Monday for talks to deepen their security cooperation.

The talks in Manila, known as the "two plus two" meeting, will bring together the Japanese and Philippine foreign and defense ministers to potentially finalize a key defense agreement.

Romeo Saturnino Brawner Jr., chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said at a press conference on Thursday that he hopes the Philippines will sign the defense agreement, known as the Reciprocal Access Agreement, or RAA, with Japan, which will allow either side to deploy troops on the other's territory.

The RAA also stipulates how the two countries are to arrange weapons and ammunition when they conduct joint training, and it lays out the procedures in the event of any accidents.

Philippine Senator Francis Tolentino said earlier that the draft agreement also specifies the legal status of the Philippine military and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces when they temporarily stay in each other's country.

Japan and the Philippines are also expected to discuss a Japanese program, launched in April 2023, that provides weapons and equipment free of charge to like-minded countries to increase security cooperation. In November, Japan provided the Philippines with five surveillance radars to strengthen its coastal supervision capabilities.

Nations have grown closer, says expert

Saya Kiba, an associate professor of international relations at Kobe University of Foreign Studies in Japan, says that Tokyo and Manila have had increasingly close relations in recent years.

Kiba told VOA Mandarin in a video interview that in addition to discussing existing cooperation frameworks, the two countries are expected to plan further defense exchanges.

The talks come at a time of escalating tensions over China's actions in the disputed South China Sea.

On June 17, Chinese and Philippine military vessels collided at the Second Thomas Shoal ("Ren'ai Reef" in Chinese), part of the Spratly Island chain where several nations have overlapping claims. A Filipino crew member lost a finger in the crash that Manila described as "intentional-high speed ramming" by the Chinese coast guard.

On July 4, the Philippine military asked China to pay over $1 million (60 million pesos) in financial compensation for the June collision. The Chinese Foreign Ministry called on the Philippines to stop "provocations," saying that China was safeguarding its rights and enforcing the law. It said the Philippines should "bear the consequences of its infringement activities."

Julio Amador III, CEO of Amador Research Services, a consulting firm in the Philippines that provides policy analysis and strategic advice on ASEAN and Southeast Asian issues, said that the Philippines and Japan may be close to completing negotiations on the RAA, and that the "two plus two" meeting would be a good time to announce the agreement.

However, the agreement would not take effect immediately as it must first be signed by the leaders of the two countries.

A signal to Beijing

Kei Koga, a professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, pointed out in a video interview with VOA Mandarin that an RAA signed by Japan and Australia in January 2022 was not ratified until a year later.

Nevertheless, he said that the RAA will send a signal to Beijing that Japan and the Philippines "will conduct more types of military collaboration and cooperation," which can have a deterrent effect on China's hegemonic behavior at sea.

Kei emphasized that Japan's constitution says its Self-Defense Forces can only defend their own country and cannot go abroad to fight. That limits the scale of military force that Japan can deploy in the South China Sea.

Kobe University's Kiba agreed that Japan's military influence in the South China Sea will be limited since the Japanese Self-Defense Forces can only conduct multilateral and joint exercises with allies.

"So, if the Philippines is attacked in the future, the United States may be the only ally that can provide assistance, because this is the form of alliance," Kiba said.
Former health minister Masoud Pezeshkian has won Irans runoff presidential election against the more intractable former nuclear bargainer Saeed Jalili and is asking citizens to support him as he vows to negotiate more closely with the West, loosen the countrys harsh headscarf law, and restore a 2015 nuclear deal.

There reportedly is doubt among many Iranians that the 69-year-old heart surgeon can keep his campaign promises since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has a strong grip on all state matters, is the final authority in the Islamic Republic and is surrounded by hardliners.

Pezeshkian also will have his work cut out to reach even his limited goals amid Israels ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with Hezbollah, and over fears of Tehrans uranium enrichment to near-weapons-grade levels.

Iranian authorities said Pezeshkian won the election with 16.3 million votes to Jalilis 13.5 million votes. Iran's Interior Ministry said overall 30 million people voted in an election that was held Friday without internationally recognized monitors.

Observers inside the country said most of those eligible did not turn out to vote.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson, on condition of not being named as per the State Departments normal practice, told VOAs Persian Service that the elections in Iran were not free or fair and that a significant number of Iranians chose not to participate at all.

We have no expectation these elections will lead to fundamental change in Irans direction or more respect for the human rights of its citizens, the spokesperson said. As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the supreme leader.

The elections will not have a significant impact on our approach to Iran, either. Our concerns about Irans behavior are unchanged. At the same time, we remain committed to diplomacy when it advances American interests, said the spokesperson.

Video sent to VOAs Persian Service showed empty voting stations and numerous eyewitnesses and citizen journalists in Iran reported a low turnout.

The second round of voting to determine the successor to the late President Ebrahim Raisi took place amid reports of internet outages in some cities, including Tehran, Ahvaz and Rasht.

According to the Telegram channel Eteraz Madani Bazar, the internet was cut off in several cities, including Ahvaz and Rasht, and its speed was severely reduced in others, including the capital, Tehran.

Some social media users speculated that the action was taken to prevent the publication of news and pictures related to empty voting stations.

The Interior Ministry said initial reports showed the turnout Friday was about 50%, which is higher than the first round of voting in June.

According to the statistics announced by the Islamic Republic, the participation rate in the first round of voting was about 40%. That marked the lowest turnout in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

"In spite of the low participation numbers, [Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei has been relatively successful in creating the illusion of false competition inside the country for an external audience," Kasra Aarabi of the U.S.-based group United Against Nuclear Iran, told VOA.

The U.S. government says Irans elections are not free or fair because its rulers disqualify candidates who are not sufficiently loyal to Khamenei.

Aarabi said there is "no meaningful difference" between Pezeshkian and Jalili "because all strategic policy is determined by Khamenei."

More than 61 million Iranians 18 or older were eligible to vote in the presidential election. Voting was to end Friday at 6 p.m. but was extended until midnight to boost participation.

Raisi, who died in a May helicopter crash, had been seen as a potential successor to Khamenei.

Michael Lipin contributed to this report. Some information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.
The largest dam removal project in U.S. history was completed Wednesday, marking a major victory for tribes in the region who fought for decades to free hundreds of miles of the Klamath River near the California-Oregon border.

Through protests, testimony and lawsuits, local tribes showcased the environmental devastation due to the four towering hydroelectric dams, especially to salmon, which are culturally and spiritually significant to tribes in the region. The dams cut salmon off from their historic habitat and caused them to die in alarming numbers because of bad water-quality conditions.

Without the tribes' work "to point out the damage that these dams were doing, not only to the environment, but to the social and cultural fabric of these tribal nations, there would be no dam removal," said Mark Bransom, chief executive of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, the nonprofit entity created to oversee the project.

Power company PacifiCorp built the dams to generate electricity between 1918 and 1962. But the structures halted the natural flow of the waterway that was once known as the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast. They disrupted the life cycle of the region's salmon, which spend most of their life in the Pacific Ocean but return to the chilly mountain streams to lay eggs.

At the same time, the dams produced only a small fraction of PacifiCorp's energy at full capacity  enough to power about 70,000 homes. They also didn't provide irrigation, drinking water or flood control, according to Klamath River Renewal Corporation.

Since breaching the dams, salmon regained access to their habitat, water temperature decreased and its quality improved, said Michael Belchik, senior water policy analyst for the Yurok Tribe.

But tribal advocates and activists see their work as far from finished, with some already refocusing their efforts on revegetation and other restoration work on the Klamath River and the surrounding land.

Here's a look at just a few of the many tribal members at the center of this struggle for dam removal:

'I really felt an urgency'

When Karuk tribal member Molli Myers took her first major step into the fight for Klamath dam removal, she was six months pregnant, had a toddler in tow and was in a foreign country for the first time. It was 2004 and she had organized a group of about 25 tribal members to fly to Scotland for the annual general stockholders meeting for Scottish Power, PacifiCorp's parent company at the time.

For hours, they protested outside with signs, sang and played drums. They cooked fish on Calton Hill over a fire of scotch barrels and gave it out to locals as they explained why they were there.

"I really felt an urgency because I was having babies," said Myers, who was born and raised in the middle Klamath in a traditional fishing family. "And so for me I was internalizing the responsibility to take care of their future."

The initial trigger for her to act came two years before that when she saw some of the tens of thousands of salmon die in the river from a bacterial outbreak caused by low water and warm temperatures.

"Looking back on it now I wonder where would we be if that hadn't happened," said Myers, 41. "Looking back on it now I can say, 'Was this our creator's call to action?' "

She spent the next two decades protesting and flooding state and federal meetings with tribal testimony, including waiting with other tribal members at the doors of a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting at 4 a.m. in 2007 to ask Warren Buffett what he was going to do about the dams. PacifiCorp was at that point part of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. conglomerate.

Today, those same children with her in Scotland are 21 and 19, and with the dams gone Myers said she sees the hope they and her other three children have about the future.

"They can do whatever needs to get done because they saw it happen, they lived it, so now there's no impossible for them," she said.

'His vision became reality'

For Yurok elder Jacqueline Winter, her feelings on the newly free-flowing river are more complicated. The 89-year-old's son, Troy Fletcher, was the tribe's point person for dam removal for two decades, testifying in front of the U.S. Congress and presenting to state and federal regulatory committees.

But his true power came through his ability to bring people with radically conflicting viewpoints  from farmers to commercial fishers to tribal members  together. Winter said that came from his belief that everyone living along the river are relatives and deserve to be heard.

"We're all family. None of us can be left hurting and all of us have to give a little," she said was his message.

But at 53, the former executive director for the Yurok Tribe died unexpectedly from a heart attack, nearly a decade before that vision of a free-flowing river would finally be realized. Winter said when she saw the dams breached last month, it felt like his spirit was there through those he touched and she could finally let him go.

"His vision became reality and I think he never doubted it," she said. "He never doubted it. And those who worked closely with him never doubted it."

'Protect those fish'

Former Klamath Tribes Chairman Jeff Mitchell's work since the 1970s for dam removal came out of the belief that the salmon are their relatives.

"They were gifted to us by our creator and given to us to preserve and to protect and also to help give us life," said Mitchell, chair of the tribe's Culture and Heritage Committee. "As such, the creator also instructed us to make sure that we do everything in our power to protect those fish."

The Klamath River's headwaters lie on the tribe's homelands in Oregon, and members once depended on salmon for 25% of their food. But for more than a century their waters have not held any salmon, he said.

Mitchell and other tribal members' fight to bring them back has cycled through several forms. There were the years of protesting, even gathering carcasses of fish after the 2002 fish kill and leaving them on the doorsteps of federal office buildings. There were his days of walking the halls of the state Legislature in Salem, Oregon, meeting with lawmakers about the millions in funding needed to make dam removal happen.

Today, he said he feels like they achieved the impossible, but there's still more work to do.

"I'm happy that the dams are gone and we have passage," he said. "But now I'm thinking about what are those fish coming home to. And that's really the focus now, is how do we get the parties to start taking restoration actions and making that the top priority in all of this?"
New Zealand will drastically ease zoning restrictions in a bid to "flood the market" with land for homes and override the powers of local councils to curb development, the nation's housing minister said in announcing reforms to what he called one of the world's least affordable housing markets.

"It's about allowing maximum choice and opportunity for people to build and develop," said the minister, Chris Bishop, in a speech in Auckland this week. "Let's get away from the idea that planners can plan our cities and let actual individuals and families decide how they live their lives."

The new measures would require local councils  which decide what land in New Zealand is used for  to free up "bucketloads" of additional space for housing development, Bishop said. They must now accommodate the next 30 years of projected growth instead of the next three as is currently required.

Councils will also be barred from imposing urban limits on cities and forced to permit mixed-use development, with an end to rules mandating balconies and minimum sizes for apartments, in a suite of changes widely endorsed by analysts.

"It's very easy for local councils to say no to growth because their residents don't want it, because they don't benefit from it, but the costs of those decisions are falling on central government," said Stuart Donovan, a housing economist with the New Zealand thinktank Motu, who was speaking from Brisbane, Australia.

Bishop's pitch that the market, rather than officials, should decide what and where homes are needed was a fresh attempt from a series of New Zealand housing ministers to resolve a chronic shortage of homes that has frustrated successive governments and marred the political fortunes of some. While two decades of runaway prices have eased since a 2022 peak, they remain far higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic and an average home costs eight times the average income.

The proportion of income spent on rent was higher in New Zealand than in any other country, Bishop said Thursday, citing research by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a grouping of mostly developed Western nations.

But in a country where housing stock is comprised overwhelmingly of single-family, standalone dwellings, efforts by lawmakers to cool prices before have at times been cautious. Favorable tax conditions have made housing the most popular form of investment in New Zealand, with half of all household wealth bound up in land and homes, according to the country's Reserve Bank  and some voters have rejected measures that would lower prices.

Remarks Bishop made to reporters last month that homes were "too expensive" and prices should be reduced were so unusual from a lawmaker for one of the major political parties that they prompted news headlines. But analysts said Thursday that public opinion had changed as a generation of younger New Zealanders found themselves priced out of the housing market.

"At one point in time, it would be, 'I want house prices to be affordable for my children, but I don't want my house price to fall,'" said Shamubeel Eaqub, an independent economist who specializes in housing. "But I think there is a general recognition that things have gotten so far out of kilter that something has to change."

The new measures would not flatten the market, Eaqub said; New Zealand's shortage of homes was so great that it would still take decades to resolve. But he was among many analysts to welcome the shift.

It follows a test case on easing restrictions in New Zealand's largest city, Auckland, where a plan introduced in 2016 that increased housing density prompted a surge in building and reduced rents.

But Auckland's mayor decried the fresh measures.

"I am wary of any policies that will lead to urban sprawl," Wayne Brown posted to LinkedIn. "We also don't want to encourage low quality housing at the detriment of our unique landscapes, waterways, and harbors. Or make traffic congestion worse."

The Parliamentary opposition also rejected the reforms.

"It's all well and good to want to ensure development opportunities, but unless the Government fronts with infrastructure money, councils are limited in what they can offer by ways of expansion," said the Labour party's housing spokesperson, Kieran McAnulty, in an emailed statement.

"Labour is open to any measure that will lead to more housing and will lend support where it is likely to work, but not at the expense of building standards or loss of elite productive soil," he added, referring to the relaxation of urban limits into rural areas. Bishop said building standards would remain unchanged.

"People often complain to me about all these shoebox apartments and I agree that they won't be the right housing solution for everyone," he said. "But do you know what is smaller than a shoebox apartment? A car or an emergency housing motel room."
The military regimes of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso marked their divorce from the rest of West Africa Saturday as they signed a treaty setting up a confederation between them.

The first summit of the three countries, who all pulled out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) this year, also saw calls for greater cooperation across a wide range of sectors.

"Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS," Niger's ruling General Abdourahamane Tiani told his fellow Sahel strongmen at the gathering's opening in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.

The three leaders, who took power through coups in recent years, "decided to take a step further towards greater integration" and "adopted a treaty establishing a confederation," they said in a statement issued at the end of the summit.

The Confederation of Sahel States, which will use the acronym AES and be headed by Mali in its first year, totals about 72 million people.

Shift away from France

Their ECOWAS exits were fueled in part by accusations that Paris was manipulating the bloc and not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts.

"The AES is the only effective sub-regional grouping in the fight against terrorism," Tiani declared on Saturday, calling ECOWAS "conspicuous by its lack of involvement in this fight."

The exit came as the trio shifted away from former colonial ruler France, with Tiani calling for the new bloc to become a "community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers."

All three have expelled anti-jihadi French troops and turned instead toward what they call their "sincere partners"  Russia, Turkey and Iran.

In early March, the AES announced joint anti-jihad efforts, though they did not specify details.

Insurgents linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have carried out attacks for years in the vast three borders region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, despite the massive deployment of anti-jihad forces.

ECOWAS is to hold a summit of its heads of state in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Sunday, where the issue of relations with the AES will be on the agenda.

Relations between ECOWAS deteriorated following a July 2023 coup that brought Tiani to power. The bloc imposed sanctions and even threatened to intervene militarily to restore the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum.

The sanctions were lifted in February but relations between the two sides remain frosty.

United front

After several bilateral meetings, this is the first meeting of all three Sahelian strongmen since coming to power through coups between 2020 and 2023.

Niger's Tiani first welcomed his Burkinabe counterpart Ibrahim Traore in the capital on Friday, followed by Malian Colonel Assimi Goita who arrived Saturday.

"The aim is to show that this is a serious project with three committed heads of state showing their solidarity," said Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi.

The trio have made sovereignty a guiding principle of their governance and aim to create a common currency.

ECOWAS summit

Sunday's summit comes as several West African presidents have called in recent weeks for a solution to resume dialogue between the two camps.

Notably, Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in late May that reconciliation between ECOWAS and the three Sahel countries was possible.

In June, his newly reelected Mauritanian counterpart, President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, called on West African countries to unite again against the expansion of jihadism.

But the successive summits on the same weekend raise fears of a stiffening of positions between the AES and ECOWAS.

Beyond military cooperation, the leaders Saturday also talked about "mutualizing" their approach to strategic sectors such as agriculture, water, energy and transport.

They also asked that indigenous languages be given greater prominence in local media.

The question of creating a common currency to replace the CFA franc was not mentioned in the final communique.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico appeared in public on Friday for the first time since a May assassination attempt, railing in a speech against progressive ideologies and backing Hungarian leader Viktor Orban's visit to Moscow.

Fico, who is recovering after being shot four times at close range in mid-May, made his appearance at an evening ceremony marking Saints Cyril and Methodius Day, a public holiday in Slovakia. He spoke standing at a podium at a castle ruins dating back over 11 centuries.

Fico, a four-time leftist prime minister who returned to power after winning an election last September, was shot when he greeted supporters at a government meeting in the central Slovak town of Handlova, leaving him needing hours of surgery. He has been recovering at home since the end of May.

The attack has deepened the polarization in the central European country of 5.4 million.

Fico's leftist-nationalist government has quickly shifted policy since taking power last year, including changing some criminal laws and cancelling a special prosecutor's office, transforming the public broadcaster, and halting state military aid to Ukraine.

Opposition parties have battled Fico's government over the changes while the European Union has watched for any damage to the rule of law or media freedoms.

Fico on Friday hit back against progressive and liberal ideologies, which he said were "spreading like cancer" and hurting the country.

"I don't want Slovakia to be among the countries that make a caricature of Western civilization," he said.

In a video message posted on Facebook in early June, Fico had called his attacker an opposition activist, but said he felt no hatred toward him and would not seek damages.

His attacker, a man identified by prosecutors as 71-year old Juraj C., was detained and charged with attempted premeditated murder. Prosecutors this week upgraded the case to a terrorist attack.

The detained man has, according to court documents, said he had wanted to hurt the prime minister, but not kill him, because he disagreed with the government's policies.

Fico has faced criticism for views leaning toward Russia while his foreign minister has met his Russian counterpart despite EU officials avoiding high-level meetings with Moscow.

Fico, in his first live speech since the attack, reiterated a call for peace talks in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and said he would have joined Orban on his visit to Moscow if health allowed.

Orban faced an outcry from some EU leaders for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"There are not enough, I repeat, not enough peace talks, peace initiatives," Fico said.
Tropical Storm Beryl was blowing out to the Gulf of Mexico on Friday afternoon and appeared likely to reach Texas by late Sunday, after its strong winds and heavy rain largely spared Mexico's top beach destinations.

The core of the storm, downgraded from a hurricane, crossed the Yucatan Peninsula by Friday afternoon, with its maximum wind speeds slowing to around 105 kph after striking near the coastal beach resort of Tulum in the morning.

The storm, which at one point intensified to a massive Category 5 hurricane, left a deadly trail of destruction across the Caribbean earlier this week. However, there were no casualties in Mexico, the head of the country's civil protection agency, Laura Velazquez, said in a press conference on Friday afternoon.

While Beryl's passage over Mexico's Quintana Roo and Yucatan states resulted in slower winds, the U.S. National Hurricane Center still forecast dangerous storm surges in the surrounding area.

For those who hunkered down as Beryl churned overhead, a sense of relief prevailed.

"Holy cow! It was an experience!" said Mexican tourist Juan Ochoa, who was staying in Tulum.

"Really only some plants flew up in the air," he said. "Thank God we're all OK."

Tourist infrastructure was without major damage in Quintana Roo, the state government said in a statement.

Still, many in the area lost electricity, including 40% of Tulum, said Guillermo Nevarez, an official with Mexico's national electricity company CFE, speaking to local broadcaster Milenio.

Civil protection chief Velazquez said she expected service to be restored in full by Sunday.

Among Mexico's top tourist getaways, the Yucatan Peninsula is known for its white sand beaches, lush landscapes and Mayan ruins.

Stranded tourists camped out in Cancun's international airport on Friday, unsure of when they would make it home.

Nora Vento said her flight home to Chile was postponed multiple times, and that her airline's counter was unstaffed.

"So, I don't know when I will get to Chile," she said.

Beryl, currently located over the port of Progreso in Mexico's Yucatan state, was expected to pick up intensity as it enters the Gulf of Mexico and forecast to regain hurricane status and approach the western Gulf coast on Sunday.

A hurricane watch was in effect for the Texas coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande northward to Sargent, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Mexico's meteorological service issued a hurricane watch for the northeastern coast of Mexico from Barra el Mezquital to the mouth of the Rio Grande.

"There is an increasing risk of damaging hurricane-force winds and life-threatening storm surge in portions of northeastern Mexico and the lower and middle Texas Coast late Sunday and Monday where hurricane and storm surge watches have been issued," the NHC said.

It warned that flash and urban flooding were possible across portions of the Texas Gulf Coast and eastern Texas from Sunday through the middle of next week.

Rainfall of 13 to 25 centimeters, with localized amounts of 38 centimeters, is projected across portions of the Texas Gulf Coast and eastern Texas beginning late on Sunday through the middle of next week.

Mexico's national water commission, CONAGUA, flagged a risk of flooding around the tourist hubs, as well as in neighboring Campeche state.

Quintana Roo schools were closed, as were local beaches, and officials lifted a temporary ban on alcohol sales.

Beryl was the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, and this week became the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, with scientists pointing to its rapid strengthening as almost certainly fueled by human-caused climate change.

Before reaching Mexico, Beryl wreaked havoc across several Caribbean islands. It swept through Jamaica, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, in addition to unleashing heavy rainfall on northern Venezuela. It has claimed at least 11 lives, tearing apart buildings while felling power lines and trees.

Destruction in the islands of Grenada was especially pronounced.

Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell pointed to major damage to homes in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique during a video briefing Thursday night. Parts of the latter two islands suffered "almost complete devastation," he said.

"Many of our citizens have lost everything."

Mexico's major oil platforms, primarily located in the southern rim of the Gulf of Mexico, are not expected to be affected or shut down.

Beryl is also expected to have little impact on U.S. offshore oil and gas production, energy companies said on Friday while evacuating personnel from some facilities out of caution.

Research by the ClimaMeter consortium determined that climate change significantly intensified Beryl. According to the study, the storm's severity, along with its associated rainfall and wind speed, saw an increase of 10%-30% as a direct result of climate change.
The enforcement of the EUs Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) is likely to begin at the end of this year as planned despite calls for a delay, according to an industry analyst.

Concerns about the impact of the regulation on some sectors globally have raised the prospect of a delay to the imposition of the new rules.

Most notably, a US Department of Agriculture spokesperson told Just Food the countrys government was concerned about how the regulation will be implemented and the impact it may have on US producers that engage in sustainable production practices.

Europes centre-right European People's Party has called for a delay as a result of such international pressure, while bodies in the likes of the timber and coffee industries have also voiced support for pushing back enforcement of the regulation.

However, Caroline Midgley, director of biofuels and oleochemicals research at GlobalData, has told Just Food: I think it is very unlikely that the EU will delay enforcement of the EUDR. However, within the regulations, the EU has a lot of scope to vary how enforcement is achieved. Through the EU statutes, they could delay sanctions, especially if non-compliance is due to their systems not being ready.

The EUDR came into force on 29 June 2023, repealing the EU Timber Regulation. Operators and traders were given 18 months from that date  the end of this year  to comply with the new regulation, which is aimed at helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit biodiversity loss by requiring companies dealing in certain commodities within the EU to prove that their product and its value chain are deforestation-free.

The requirements of compliance within supply chains are likely to result in product price increases for consumers, according to a report by GlobalData, Just Foods parent.

The study, EU Sustainability Regulations: How the EUDR and other Sustainability Regulations will impact consumer markets, suggests the cost of compliance for companies operating in the supply chains for oil palm products and their derivatives and rubber alone could hit the $1.5bn figure, with "a good proportion of these compliance premiums" are likely to be passed onto EU consumers in the form of price increases.

The industries expected to be most affected are food, drink and personal care, with products like coffee, chocolate, soy-based meat alternatives and shampoo making use of affected ingredients. The automotive industry is another that is likely to be hit through tyres and other components, the packaging industry through paper and cardboard and the fashion industry through fabrics and materials.

Story continues

It is part of a wider slate of initiatives being introduced by the EU aimed at affecting sustainability practices more broadly as it pursues climate neutrality by 2050. These also include the European Green Deal, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 the Farm to Fork Strategy, the Directive for Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition and European Circular Economy Action Plan.

Of the EUs efforts, Fred Diamond, senior food and beverages consultant and analyst at GlobalData, said: The aims of the EUDR are understandable and cutting greenhouse gas emissions and protecting biodiversity is essential. However, there could be some disruption ahead.

The extra demands of the EUDR could lead some commodity suppliers in what the EU terms third countries to move away from the EU and increase trade with countries that impose fewer regulatory requirements such as China. Some food categories, such as plant-based meat, may have to reformulate and switch to other protein sources, such as pea protein, if the result of the EUDR is an increase in the price of soya for food production.

"Consumers unlikely to benefit from delay to EU deforestation rules and potential price hikes" was originally created and published by Retail Insight Network, a GlobalData owned brand.







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Taiwan prosecutors said on Saturday they were investigating a senior official and member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party who deals with China on suspicion of bribery. He said he had done nothing wrong.

Cheng Wen-tsan is head of the Straits Exchange Foundation under the China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council that deals with day-to-day issues like accidents involving Taiwanese in China. The foundation is technically private because the governments in Beijing and Taipei do not recognize each other or have any official relations.

Prosecutors in the northern Taiwanese city of Taoyuan, where Cheng was mayor from 2014-2022, said he had been summoned for questioning on Friday on bribery suspicions and that they had applied to a court to detain him.

It did not give details of the allegations against him.

Cheng, in a statement issued via his lawyer and released by the foundation, denied wrongdoing.

"I have not committed any illegal acts, and I will cooperate with the judicial investigation. I hope to clarify the truth and prove my innocence as soon as possible," he said.

Taiwan's presidential office said it respects the judiciary and hopes investigators will clarify the matter as soon as possible.
In a monastery beneath snow-capped mountains in northern India, the Buddhist monk entrusted with protecting the Dalai Lama and foretelling his people's future is concerned.

The Dalai Lama turns 89 on Saturday and China insists it will choose his successor as Tibet's chief spiritual leader.

That has the Medium of Tibet's Chief State Oracle contemplating what might come next.

"His Holiness is the fourteenth Dalai Lama, then there will be a fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth," the medium, known as the Nechung, said. "In countries, leaders change, and then that story is over. But in Tibet it works differently."

Tibetan Buddhists believe that learned monastics are reincarnated after death as newborns. The Dalai Lama, who is currently recuperating in the United States from a medical procedure, has said he will clarify questions about succession - including if and where he will be reincarnated - around his ninetieth birthday. As part of a reincarnation identification process, the medium will enter a trance to consult the oracle.

The incumbent Dalai Lama is a charismatic figure who popularized Buddhism internationally and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for keeping alive the Tibetan cause in exile. Beijing sees him as a dangerous separatist, though he has embraced what he calls a "Middle Way" of peacefully seeking genuine autonomy and religious freedom within China.

Any successor will be inexperienced and unknown on the global stage. That has sparked concerns about whether the movement will lose momentum or grow more radical amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington, long a source of bipartisan support for the Central Tibetan Administration, or CTA, Tibet's government-in-exile.

The CTA and its partners in the West, as well as India, which has hosted the Dalai Lama in the Himalayan foothills for more than six decades, are preparing for a future without his influential presence.

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to soon sign a bill that requires the State Department to counter what it calls Chinese "disinformation" that Tibet, which was annexed by the People's Republic of China in 1951, has been part of China since ancient times.

"China wants recognition that Tibet has been part of China ... throughout history, and this bill is suggesting that it would be relatively easy for Tibet supporters to get a western government to refuse to give recognition for such an extensive claim," said Tibet specialist Robert Barnett of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.

U.S. lawmakers, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, visited the Dalai Lama in June to celebrate Congress passing the legislation, which Sikyong Penpa Tsering, who heads the CTA, called a "breakthrough."

The bill is part of a strategic shift away from emphasizing Chinese rights violations such as forced assimilation, the Sikyong, or political leader, told Reuters. Since 2021, CTA has lobbied two dozen countries including the U.S., to publicly undermine Beijing's narrative that Tibet has always been part of China, he said.

With U.S. weight behind this strategy, the exiles hope to push China to the negotiating table, he said. "If every country keeps saying that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China, then where is the reason for China to come and talk to us?"

The Chinese foreign ministry said in response to Reuters' questions that it would be open to discussions with the Dalai Lama about his "personal future" if he "truly gives up his position of splitting the motherland" and recognized Tibet as an unalienable part of China.

Beijing, which has not held official talks with the Dalai Lama's representatives since 2010, has also urged Biden not to sign the bill.

The office of the Dalai Lama, who has in recent years apologized for remarks he made about women and to a young child, referred an interview request to the Sikyong.

Succession questions

Most historians say Tibet was assimilated into the Mongol empire during the 13th-14th century Yuan dynasty, which also covered large parts of present day China. Beijing says that established its sovereign claim, though scholars believe the relationship varied greatly over the centuries and remote Tibet largely governed itself for much of the time.

The People's Liberation Army marched into Tibet in 1950 and announced its "peaceful liberation." After a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, a young Dalai Lama fled into exile in India.

In 1995, atheist China and the Dalai Lama separately identified two boys as the Panchen Lama, the second-most-important Tibetan Buddhist leader. The Dalai Lama's pick was taken away by Chinese authorities and has not been seen since.

Many Buddhists consider Beijing's choice illegitimate, though most expect a similar parallel selection for the next Dalai Lama, given the Chinese government's stance that he must reincarnate, and it must approve the successor.

Chinese authorities have "tried to insert themselves into the succession of the Dalai Lama but we will not let that happen," said Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee during his Dharamsala visit.
Donald Trump distanced himself Friday from Project 2025, a massive, proposed overhaul of the federal government drafted by longtime allies and former officials in his administration  days after the head of the think tank responsible for the program suggested there would be a second American Revolution.

"I know nothing about Project 2025," Trump posted on his social media website. "I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they're saying and some of the things they're saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them."

Plan expands presidential power

The 922-page plan outlines a dramatic expansion of presidential power and a plan to fire as many as 50,000 government workers to replace them with Trump loyalists.

President Joe Biden's reelection campaign has worked to draw more attention to the agenda, particularly as Biden tries to keep fellow Democrats on board after his disastrous debate.

Trump has outlined his own plans to remake the government if he wins a second term, including staging the largest deportation operation in U.S. history and imposing tariffs on potentially all imports. His campaign has previously warned outside allies not to presume to speak for the former president and suggested their transition-in-waiting efforts were unhelpful.

'The second American Revolution'

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast Tuesday that Republicans are "in the process of taking this country back." Former U.S. Representative Dave Brat of Virginia hosted the show for Bannon, who is serving a four-month prison term.

"We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be," Roberts said.

Those comments were widely circulated online and blasted by the Biden campaign, which issued a statement saying Trump and his allies were "dreaming of a violent revolution to destroy the very idea of America."

Some of the people involved in Project 2025 are former senior administration officials. The project's director is Paul Dans, who served as chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Trump. Trump's campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt was featured in one of Project 2025's videos.

John McEntee, a former director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office in the Trump administration, is a senior adviser. McEntee told the conservative news site The Daily Wire this year that Project 2025's team would integrate a lot of its work with the campaign after the summer when Trump would announce his transition team.

Trump's comments on Project 2025 come ahead of the Republican Party's meetings next week to begin to draft its party platform.

Project 2025 has been preparing its own 180-day agenda for the next administration that it plans to share privately, rather than as part of its public-facing book of priorities for a Republican president. A key Trump ally, Russ Vought, who contributed to Project 2025 and is drafting this final pillar, is also on the Republican National Committee's platform writing committee.

A spokesperson for the plan said Project 2025 is not tied to a specific candidate or campaign.

"We are a coalition of more than 110 conservative groups advocating policy and personnel recommendations for the next conservative president," a statement said. "But it is ultimately up to that president, who we believe will be President Trump, to decide which recommendations to implement."

Plan 'should scare' Americans, say Democrats

The Democratic National Committee said the plan and the Trump campaign are part of the same "MAGA operation." A Biden campaign spokesperson said that Project 2025 staff members are also leading the Republican policy platform.

"Project 2025 is the extreme policy and personnel playbook for Trump's second term that should scare the hell out of the American people," said Ammar Moussa.

On Thursday, as the country celebrated Independence Day and Biden prepared for his television interview after his halting debate performance, the president's campaign posted on X a shot from the dystopian TV drama "The Handmaid's Tale" showing a group of women in the show's red dresses and white hats standing in formation by a reflecting pool with a cross at the far end where the Washington Monument should be. The story revolves around women who are stripped of their identities and forced to give birth to children for other couples in a totalitarian regime.

"Fourth of July under Trump's Project 2025," the post said.
The Vatican has excommunicated controversial Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, its former ambassador to the U.S. from 2011 to 2016.

Vigano, an ultra-conservative and a strident critic of Pope Francis, was found guilty of schism and was excommunicated, the Vaticans doctrinal office said in a statement Friday. The Catholic Church considers schisms in the church as a dangerous matter because they can threaten the unity of the church.

Vigano has declared several times in recent years that he does not recognize the legitimacy of Pope Francis or the Second Vatican Council, a series of meetings in the 1960s that modernized the church.

Vigano has also taken exception to what he perceives as the popes liberal stance on issues and in a statement on the X social media platform last month, Vigano accused Francis of representing an inclusive, immigrationist, eco-sustainable and gay-friendly" church, that has strayed far from the tenets of the Catholic Church.

An article on the website vaticannews.va about the churchs move against Vigano says that "excommunication is considered a 'medicinal' penalty that aims at inviting the offender to repentance ... there is always the hope that the subject of excommunication will return to communion."

Vigano had the opportunity to defend himself in the proceedings against him at the Vatican but did not. However, a public defender was appointed for the absent cleric "who undertook Viganos defense, according to the norms of law," vaticannews.va reported.

Vigano has not been seen in public since 2018, after he accused Pope Francis of knowing about and ignoring the sexual misconduct of U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. His accusation came when the Church was in the middle of a sexual abuse scandal with allegations that both children and adults had been abused by priests for decades without any repercussions for the offending clerics or the clerics who knew about the offensives but did nothing.

The Vatican has rejected all of Viganos cover-up accusations about Pope Francis.

While Vigano has not made any public appearances, he continues to post communications on X.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.
Voters in five states will decide referendums on abortion rights this year, with potentially more to come.

Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota will hold referendums on enshrining protection for abortion rights. The U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion with a 2022 ruling, which sparked a national push to have voters decide. Voters have sided with abortion rights supporters every time the issue has been directly on the ballot since the Supreme Court ruling.



Organizers in Arizona and Nebraska turned in more than enough signatures Wednesday to put abortion-related ballot questions before voters in November's election if a sufficient number of them are deemed valid.

They now bring to five the number of states where election officials are validating signatures on abortion measures.

They're already on the ballot in another five, plus a sixth state where an amendment would bar discrimination based on "pregnancy outcomes."

A campaign in one more state is trying to get enough signatures by Friday to add it to the ballot there, too.

The U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion with a 2022 ruling, which sparked a national push to have voters decide.

Since the ruling, most Republican-controlled states have new abortion restrictions in effect, including 14 that ban it at every stage of pregnancy. Most Democratic-led states have laws or executive orders to protect access.

Voters in all seven states that have had abortion questions before voters since 2022  California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Ohio and Vermont  have sided with abortion rights supporters.

What is on 2024 ballots?

Colorado

Colorado's top election official confirmed in May that a measure to enshrine abortion protections into the state constitution, including requirements that Medicaid and private health insurers cover it, made the ballot for the fall election.

Supporters said they gathered over 225,000 signatures, nearly double the requirement of over 124,000 signatures.

Amending the state constitution requires the support of 55% of voters.

Those backing a dueling measure  a law to ban abortion  did not turn in signatures, and the measure will not go before voters.

Abortion is legal at all stages of pregnancy in Colorado.

Florida

The state Supreme Court ruled in April that a ballot measure to legalize abortion until viability could go on the ballot despite a legal challenge from state Attorney General Ashley Moody, who argued that there are differing views on the meaning of "viability" and that some key terms in the proposed measure are not properly defined.

Advocates collected nearly a million signatures to put a state constitutional amendment to legalize abortion until viability on the ballot, surpassing the nearly 892,000 required.

Sixty percent of voters would have to agree for it to take effect.

Abortion is currently illegal in Florida after the first six weeks of pregnancy under a law that took effect May 1.

Maryland

Maryland voters also will be asked this year to enshrine the right to abortion in the state's constitution. The state already protects the right to abortion under state law and Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1. Abortion is allowed in Maryland until viability.

Nevada

The Nevada Secretary of State' s office announced in June that a ballot question to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution has met all of the requirements to appear in front of voters in November.

Under the amendment, abortion access for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy  or later to protect the health of the pregnant person  would be enshrined. Such access is already ensured under a 1990 law.

To change the constitution, voters would need to approve it in both 2024 and 2026.

South Dakota

South Dakota voters will decide this fall on a measure that would ban any restrictions on abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy. It would allow the state in the second trimester to "regulate the pregnant woman's abortion decision and its effectuation only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman." An abortion ban would be allowed in the third trimester, as long as it included exceptions for the life and health of the woman.

The state's top election official announced May 16 that about 85% of the more than 55,000 signatures submitted in support of the ballot initiative are valid, exceeding the required 35,017 signatures.

Opponents have sued to try to take the initiative off the ballot.

What's on the ballot in New York?

While not explicitly preserving a right to abortion, a reproductive rights question is on the ballot in New York. The measure would bar discrimination based on "pregnancy outcomes" and "reproductive healthcare," along with sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin and disability. Abortion is currently allowed in New York until fetal viability.

The question was on the ballot, then removed in May by a judge who found lawmakers missed a procedural step when they put it there. An appeals court reinstated it in June.

Where else could abortion be on the ballot in 2024?

Arizona

Abortion rights supporters submitted more than 823,000 signatures on Wednesday to put an abortion access measure before voters in November. That's more than twice as many as required.

Election officials still need to verify signatures, though.

Under the measure, the state would not be able to ban abortion until the fetus is viable, with later abortions allowed to protect a woman's physical or mental health.

Abortion is currently legal for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy in Arizona. An Arizona Supreme Court ruling in April said enforcement could begin soon for a near-total ban that was already on the books. The governor has since signed a bill repealing that law. It is still expected to be in effect for a time, however.

Arkansas

Proponents of an amendment to allow abortion in many cases must gather nearly 91,000 signatures by Friday for it to get on the Nov. 5 ballot.

They said on Wednesday that they were about 5,800 short of the requirement with two days left to circulate petitions.

The measure would bar laws banning abortion in the first 20 weeks of gestation and allow abortion later in pregnancy in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman's health or life, or if the fetus would be unlikely to survive birth. Because it allows abortion to be banned 20 weeks into pregnancy, the proposal does not have the support of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which includes Arkansas. The state currently bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with narrow exceptions.

Missouri

Missouri abortion rights advocates turned in more than 380,000 signatures  more than twice the required 171,000  for a measure asking voters to approve a constitutional amendment to guarantee abortion until viability. Local election officials have until July 30 to verify the signatures, then it's up to the secretary of state to declare whether there were enough.

A group of moderate Republicans have for this year abandoned efforts for an alternate amendment that would have allowed abortion up to 12 weeks, with limited exceptions after that.

Abortion is currently banned in Missouri at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions.

Montana

Abortion rights proponents in Montana have proposed a constitutional amendment that would bar the government from denying the right to abortion before viability or when it's necessary to protect the life or health of the pregnant person.

After a legal battle over the ballot language, the Montana Supreme Court in April wrote its version of the language that would appear on the ballot if enough valid signatures are certified. Sponsors were required to submit about 60,000 by June 21. They turned in nearly twice that many  about 117,000. Counties have until July 19 to verify them, and the secretary of state would have until Aug. 22 to determine whether it goes on the ballot.

Abortion is legal until viability in Montana under a 1999 Montana Supreme Court opinion.

Nebraska

Competing abortion measures could be before voters in November after supporters of each said Wednesday they turned in far more signatures than the 123,000 required for ballot access.

One, like those on other states' ballots, would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution until viability. Supporters of that said they submitted more than 207,000 signatures.

The other would write into the constitution the current law, which bars abortions after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Its backers said they submitted more than 205,000 signatures.

Organizers for a third effort did not submit petitions: It would have defined embryos as people, thus barring abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

Where did ballot efforts fail to gain traction?

Some efforts that sought to restrict or ban abortion have also failed to reach ballots. In Wisconsin, the House approved a measure asking voters to ban abortion after 14 weeks, but the legislative session ended without a vote from the state Senate.

Likewise, Iowa lawmakers ended their session without approving a measure asking voters to find that there's no constitutional right to abortion. Pennsylvania lawmakers previously pursued a similar amendment, but it's not expected to be added to the ballot this year.

A Louisiana measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution died in committee, one in Maine effectively died when it fell short of receiving the approval of two-thirds of the House and a Minnesota measure was not passed by lawmakers, either.
U.S. President Joe Biden, with his five-decade political career and 2024 reelection campaign on the brink, insisted in a nationally televised interview Friday that he has both the mental acuity and physical stamina to win the election against former President Donald Trump and to run the country for another four years.

"I'm the most qualified person and I know how to get things done," Biden told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in a 22-minute interview. Earlier Friday he assured a rally of about 300 supporters in the Midwestern political battleground state of Wisconsin, "I am staying in the race."

Some Democratic lawmakers in Washington privately  and increasingly publicly  have voiced concerns that Biden, at 81, no longer has the mental and physical capacity to take on Trump over the four months leading to the November 5 election, let alone govern the country over the next four years.

But Biden told Stephanopoulos, "If the Lord Almighty came down and said, 'Joe, get out of the race,' Id get out of the race. But the Lord Almighty is not coming down."

The Democrats' fear that Biden's time in power is nearing the end have mounted since Biden appeared confused and halting during his debate with Trump a week ago, at times losing his train of thought and unable to mount a sustained attack on Trump or consistently defend his 3-year tenure in office.

"I was exhausted," he said of the debate night. "I was feeling terrible  a bad cold." He said his poor performance was "nobody's fault but mine. It was a bad episode."

But Biden was alert on Friday and answered Stephanopoulos' questions with little hesitation. He was eager to attack Trump.

"Trump is a pathological liar," Biden contended, adding for emphasis, "The man is a congenital liar." Biden cited news accounts that said Trump had told 28 lies during the 90-minute debate.

Stephanopoulos said Trump turned down a chance to also sit for an interview with ABC.

The news anchor, one of the most prominent journalists in the United States, asked Biden whether he had ever had a neurological test, and Biden responded by saying, "I get a full neurological test every day," dealing with world and domestic issues.

Asked whether he had ever had a cognitive test, the president responded, "No one has said I need to."

With Biden's poor debate performance, numerous polls have shown Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, pulling ahead in the contest. After Biden won in 2020, it will be the first time the same two major party candidates have opposed each other in consecutive U.S. presidential elections since 1956.

But Biden took issue with Stephanopoulos' contention that he was falling behind.

"All the pollsters I talk to say it's a toss-up," Biden said.

Biden assured his supporters at the rally in Madison, Wisconsin, "I am running, and I'm going to win again."

"I beat Donald Trump," a forceful Biden said, as the crowd cheered and waved campaign signs. "I will beat him again."

Three major U.S. newspapers, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, have reported in recent days that Biden's mental lapses have become more frequent in recent months, with some Western officials saying they noted his apparent decline at the recent G-7 summit in Italy.

Biden's delivery and sharpness in answering Stephanopoulos' questions were sure to be parsed, not only by Trump and his aides, but by Democrats wondering whether their candidate is up to taking on Trump, who is 78, and himself has sometimes misspoken.

At the rally, Biden played off his own missteps, quoting one of Trump's campaign comments, when Trump said, "George Washington's army won the revolution by taking control of the airports from the British."

As the crowd laughed, Biden continued, "Talk about me misspeaking."

The White House realized the high stakes of the interview with the ABC anchor. Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that "millions of Americans" were expected to watch.

Most Democrats have held fast in their support for Biden and his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, but some have been suggesting the party would be better off with Biden dropping out and Harris taking his place as the presidential standard bearer.

The national Democratic Party is holding its quadrennial nominating convention in August, leaving the party little time to settle on its presidential nominee.

At least three Democrats in the House of Representatives have called for Biden to step down as the nominee, with Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts expressing his concerns in a Thursday radio interview and joining Representatives Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Raul Grijalva of Arizona in seeking an alternative.

"President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding fathers', George Washington's, footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump," Moulton told radio station WBUR.

While not going that far, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said in a carefully worded statement Friday that Biden now has a decision to make on "the best way forward."

"Over the coming days, I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump," Healey said. "Whatever President Biden decides, I am committed to doing everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump."
If Costco's proposal for a mixed-use retail and housing development in California is successful, you won't have to go far to pick up a rotisserie chicken or a package of 30 rolls of toilet paper.

The company, in partnership with developer Thrive Living, announced plans in June to open a new South Los Angeles store with an 800-unit apartment complex attached. In a press release, Costco also announced that the combo retail-housing project will include 184 affordable units.

A Thrive Living representative told the New York Post that the project is still awaiting permits, and it is unknown when construction will begin.

In addition to being able to shop for super-sized bottles of spirits or vats of heavy whipping cream at the bulk retailer, Thrive Living plans the following for the apartment complex:

Five courtyards and a landscaped walking path.

A rooftop pool, a full basketball court, and various climbing and play structures.

Indoor/outdoor fitness area.

Outdoor area for community movie nights.

Community gardens where residents can grow their own food.

Classrooms for community gatherings, tutoring, and mentorship.

The site would feature a state-of-the-art store, featuring fresh produce [and] healthy food options for residents, Thrive Living told the Los Angeles Times. The store would also include an optical service counter for eyeglasses, a pharmacy, and a delivery service.

The mixed-use complex would replace a vacant five-acre lot that a hospital once occupied.

Apartment units would sit above a Costco warehouse store on Coliseum Street and La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles' Baldwin Village.

Why would Costco get into the apartment building business?

Costco didn't return messages on why the retail company would venture into a business so different from selling bulk goods, but Southern California housing activist Joe Cohen has a theory.

"The problem is, new massive big-box stores are hard to get approved in LA.," Cohen wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "So Costco did what any good Scooby-Doo villain would do. They put on a mask that says 'I'm an apartment building, not a big-box store.' "

Why does the "Costco Prison" exist, and why is it designed the way it is?



As often is the case, the answer is regulatory arbitrage!



Costco wanted to build a store in Central/South LA.



The problem is, new massive big-box stores are hard to get approved in LA. They're subject pic.twitter.com/Imwb9tO6ql  Joe Cohen (@CohenSite) June 12, 2024

Gabe Kadosh, a vice president of Colliers in Los Angeles, told real estate publication CoStar that Costco may test the concept in California before developing other mixed-used developments across the state and the nation.

Story continues

"It's certainly fascinating and something that people are going to be watching," Kadosh told CoStar. "Developers are going to be paying attention."

What to know about Costco

In 1976, Costco opened in San Diego under the Price Club name. In 1983, the company opened a Seattle location. In 1993, Price Club officially changed its name to Costco. With 206 locations generating $16 billion in annual sales, the superstore chain currently operates 847 warehouses globally, with an average size of 146,000 square feet, according to its website.

Today, Costco employs 300,000 people worldwide, has 129.5 million members, and has $248 billion in annual sales.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Costco has a plan to help California's housing crisis
Dining chat: A waiter gave our anniversary bubbly to the table next to us. What should we have done?
By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

Britain's new Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn has said his priority is to establish a new relationship between the UK government and Stormonts powersharing Executive.

Mr Benn was speaking after hosting a meeting with Northern Irelands First and deputy First Ministers Michelle ONeill and Emma Little-Pengelly at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down on Saturday evening.

The new secretary of state also met representatives of the Stormont parties during his first visit to the region since taking up the role.

He said: I wanted to get to work as quickly as possible and was therefore pleased to be able to hold these initial discussions with the First and deputy First Ministers and representatives from the other parties.

My immediate priorities are to establish a new relationship between the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive as we work together to foster economic growth and prosperity, and to improve public services.

I want to ensure that we have a system in place for addressing the legacy of the past in a way that wins support from victims families and that all communities can have confidence in, and which is compliant with human rights.

Mr Benn had been serving as the shadow NI secretary since 2023 and was chairman of the Brexit Select Committee for years.

Hilary Benn said his government was committed to the Good Friday Agreement (Liam McBurney)

The Leeds MP was among new UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmers Cabinet appointees.

Mr Starmer and Mr Benn have previously said a Labour government would repeal the controversial Legacy Act, introduced by the Tories to address Troubles legacy issues and widely opposed by all the main political parties in Northern Ireland.

Mr Benn was also vocal in urging the powersharing institutions to be revived during the three-year hiatus.

He takes over from the Conservatives Chris Heaton-Harris, who has been in the role for almost two years and did not contest the UK general election.

Mr Benn said that the new UK government was firmly committed to the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

He said: We will work hard to deliver its vision for reconciliation, equality, respect for rights and parity of esteem.

The Northern Ireland Secretary said his meeting with Ms ONeill and Ms Little-Pengelly was very constructive.

I look forward to building on our relationship in the months ahead, he said.

New prime minister Sir Keir has already said he will visit Northern Ireland during his first days in office.

Mr Benn said had also had a telephone conversation with Tanaiste Micheal Martin on Friday.

He added: As our nearest neighbour and co-guarantor of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, our relationship with Ireland is of great importance.

The new UK Government will work closely with the Irish Government to reset and strengthen the relationship between our two countries.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has given his home council $2.6 million to redo housing plans already drawn up by the state Labor government which the Inner West Council did not like.

The grant was part of $50 million in cash splashed to councils and state government departments around the country  $27 million of which went to NSW  as part of the first stream of the federal governments $500 million Housing Support Program.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on home turf with West Tigers fans Amelie and Isabel Fergusson at Leichhardt Oval. Credit: Kate Geraghty

Inner West Council received $2.62 million towards a $4.72 million project of preparing precinct master plans for five housing investigation areas: Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Ashfield, Croydon and the Parramatta Road Corridor.

However, four of those areas were already subjects of the state governments Transport-Oriented Development Program, announced in December, which rezones land within 400 metres of train stations to allow six- or seven-storey apartment blocks to boost housing density.
When a single insider purchases stock, it is typically not a major deal. However, when multiple insiders purchase stock, like in Airgain, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:AIRG) instance, it's good news for shareholders.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for Airgain

Airgain Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Independent Chairman of the Board James Sims for US$84k worth of shares, at about US$4.26 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$6.19. Because it occurred at a lower valuation, it doesn't tell us much about whether insiders might find today's price attractive.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 45.98k shares for US$176k. But they sold 28.54k shares for US$134k. In total, Airgain insiders bought more than they sold over the last year. Their average price was about US$3.83. To my mind it is good that insiders have invested their own money in the company. However, we do note that they were buying at significantly lower prices than today's share price. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

Airgain is not the only stock insiders are buying. So take a peek at this free list of under-the-radar companies with insider buying.

Insider Ownership

I like to look at how many shares insiders own in a company, to help inform my view of how aligned they are with insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Our data indicates that Airgain insiders own about US$6.1m worth of shares (which is 9.6% of the company). We do generally prefer see higher levels of insider ownership.

So What Do The Airgain Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. We'd like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we don't see anything to make us think Airgain insiders are doubting the company. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. You'd be interested to know, that we found 3 warning signs for Airgain and we suggest you have a look.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
Hiring Steve Ballmer Was One Of Bill Gates' Early Moves At Microsoft. Now, AI Has Helped Ballmer Surpass Gates On The Billionaire's Index

Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, was one of Bill Gates early hires, joining the company in 1980 as its 30th employee. After dropping out of Stanford Business School, he joined as an assistant to the president, serving more as a business manager than a PA to the owner and CEO, Bill Gates.

Don't Miss:

In Microsofts early days, Ballmer led the sales and operations teams, and his share of the profits quickly grew as the company took off because he worked out a deal where he would earn a $50,000 base salary plus 10% of any profit growth he generated.

The profit-sharing deal quickly became too much for Microsoft, so Ballmer traded it for company shares. He negotiated an 8% stake for himself, while Bill Gates and Paul Allen kept 84%, and another 8% was set aside for other employees. Fortune reports that although Allen didnt want to give Ballmer such a large share, Gates stepped in and agreed to reduce his own holdings to accommodate Ballmers 8%. When he became CEO in 2000, his Microsoft shares were worth nearly $2 billion.

Although he arguably wasnt the one who was the most responsible for spearheading Microsoft into the powerhouse it is today, Ballmers energetic and sometimes unconventional leadership style left a lasting imprint on the company, contributing to its dynamic corporate culture and innovative drive.





This is how Steve Ballmer used to do Microsoft presentations when he was the CEO

Steve Ballmer's boisterous presentation style is characterized by his energetic and enthusiastic demeanor, often involving loud, bombastic speeches and physical antics on stage. This style was... pic.twitter.com/zHiDheybqh  CreativeCorner (@Creativefun2024) July 3, 2024

Trending: Will the surge continue or decline on real estate prices? People are finding out about risk-free real estate investing with just $100

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth has recently jumped to $158 billion, surpassing Bill Gates, who has $157 billion, and making Ballmer the sixth-richest person globally, surpassing industry titans like Larry Ellison, Michael Dell, and Sergey Brin.

Story continues

Most of Ballmer's wealth  over 90%  comes from his many Microsoft shares. When he left the company in 2014, he owned nearly 333 million shares, about 4% of the company. According to reports, he received $1 billion in dividends from Microsoft in 2024 alone. He also bought the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion.

Steve Ballmers wealth has increased significantly recently because of big advances in artificial intelligence that have boosted Microsofts stock price. Microsoft has been investing heavily in AI, especially with companies like OpenAI, and this has caused its stock to go up by about 36% since July 2023. In 2023 alone, Ballmers net worth increased by $30 billion because of these AI advancements.

Bill Gates, on the other hand, has diversified his investments. Now worth $157 billion, Gates has invested significantly in Cascade Investment, which he created using profits from selling Microsoft stock and dividends. Gates also has a $21 billion stake in Republic Services Inc., a waste-management company, through Cascade.

Steve Ballmer is one of the 26 billionaires in the U.S. who made their fortunes by climbing the corporate ladder. His journey shows how working up in big companies can yield huge financial rewards and how investing in company stocks and taking leadership roles can significantly boost ones wealth.

Read Next:

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This article Hiring Steve Ballmer Was One Of Bill Gates' Early Moves At Microsoft. Now, AI Has Helped Ballmer Surpass Gates On The Billionaire's Index originally appeared on Benzinga.com

 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
The West of Ireland has many remarkable views and sights and one Mayo native is determined to show and tell you all about its natural beauty.

Boholas Niall ONeill, who has resided in Austria for the last 14 years and works as a teacher, set up a blog in 2022 called Sweet Isle of Mine, the name a play on words of Sweet Child OMine by Guns n Roses, his favourite band. He has done beach guides, what Ireland is like at a particular month, the must-do things in Westport and across Mayo, and the locations for films like award-winning film The Banshees of Inisherin and Netflix romantic comedy Irish Wish.

The blog is in his own words, a labour of love. We came back two years ago on holidays. We were blessed with the weather at the time. We went around Mulranny and Achill and it was class. When you live abroad for so long, you dont really appreciate it, said Niall. When youre stuck in the Alps, its so different. Coming back to Ireland, you see it with fresh eyes.

He has run his own bus tours to Ireland over the years and has shown the country to hundreds of Austrians and Germans, who fell in love with the place. It has given Niall a great insight into exactly what attracts tourists to Ireland.

Niall felt some places had not been really talked about properly and he wanted to do something about it. He began writing a few posts and very much enjoyed it. A proud Mayo man, it was also a chance to write about the wonderous views of his own county.

All the places the tourists visited on his tours, the western end of Achill seemed to stand out the most, especially the Cliffs of Croaghaun and Keem Beach. Although the cliffs is a challenging hike and should only be carried out in perfect conditions, many remarked it was the most spectacular coastline they had seen.

Another thing that sparked the blog was that I was bringing locals over to Mayo and Galway. Theyd be very interested in seeing the more hidden gems of Ireland. I brought them down to Achill and Keel. Word got out and they were interested in reading the blog and getting some tips.

He plans to be pack for three weeks in August and hell be doing a lot of touring, particularly the hidden areas of Mayo. Niall is a big believer in clean and sustainable tourism, like what the Wild Atlantic Way brings, and he hopes the blog gives tourists a chance to see the authentic Ireland, as well as giving insider tips and information.

Very seldom youll see a hidden gem like Mulranny mentioned or hear the western end of Achill Island mentioned as one of the greatest hiking destinations not just in Ireland, but Western Europe. These places are real hidden gems.

You can read his blog here.
Weather Alert

Bulletin: ...FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 9 AM EDT FRIDAY... * WHAT...Temperatures as low as 33 degrees will result in frost formation. * WHERE...A portion of central Pennsylvania. * WHEN...From 2 AM to 9 AM EDT Friday. * IMPACTS...Frost could harm sensitive outdoor vegetation. Sensitive outdoor plants may be killed if left uncovered. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Take steps now to protect tender plants and vegetation from the cold. Potted plants should be brought inside. The frost will occur mainly in valley locations. &&

Info:

Type: Frost Advisory

start_time_local: 2024-10-11T02:00:00-04:00

end_time_local: 2024-10-11T09:00:00-04:00

county_name:

state: PA

headline: Frost Advisory from FRI 2:00 AM EDT until FRI 9:00 AM EDT

county_fips:

category: Met

url:

urgency: Expected

severity: Minor

certainty: Likely

geographicname: Schuylkill County

state_name: Pennsylvania
Key Insights

Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Boku's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions

A total of 8 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership

Using data from analyst forecasts alongside ownership research, one can better assess the future performance of a company

To get a sense of who is truly in control of Boku, Inc. (LON:BOKU), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 41% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot 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 delve deeper into each type of owner of Boku, beginning with the chart below.

View our latest analysis for Boku

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Boku?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

Boku already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Boku's earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Boku. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Octopus Investments Limited with 13% of shares outstanding. Vitruvian Partners LLP is the second largest shareholder owning 8.8% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 7.2% of the company stock.

We did some more digging and found that 8 of the top shareholders account for roughly 52% of the register, implying that along with larger shareholders, there are a few smaller shareholders, thereby balancing out each others interests somewhat.

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. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Story continues

Insider Ownership Of Boku

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

We can see that insiders own shares in Boku, Inc.. In their own names, insiders own UK35m worth of stock in the UK544m company. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 28% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Boku. 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 Equity Ownership

With a stake of 22%, private equity firms could influence the Boku board. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Public Company Ownership

We can see that public companies hold 3.3% of the Boku shares on issue. We can't be certain but it is quite possible this is a strategic stake. The businesses may be similar, or work together.

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.

I always like to check for a history of revenue growth. You can too, by accessing this free chart of historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
Spend enough time on social media, and youll see some variant of the meme: a video of older people line dancing or partying to a rap song, with a caption like, Boomers after finding out the home they bought in 1973 for two pennies and a handshake is valued at $3 million or Boomers selling their homes for $2 million after buying them in 1969 for 7 raspberries.

There is a clear sense that, as with issues like the climate or our aging Washington political class, boomers mucked everything up and left millennials with a uniquely grim reality.

However, according to a recent analysis of historic economic data from Realtor.com, thats not quite the case when it comes to buying a house. The boomers had it even worse.

During the years when boomers first entered the housing market, from about 1975 to 1994, the share of a median household income needed to make a typical mortgage payment was about 33 per cent, the highest of any living generation, whereas millennials typically faced a mortgage burden about 10 per cent less.

Things were even worse during peak years of economic turmoil.

Amid the 1981 recession, typical mortgage payments as a share of median household income neared 54 per cent, about 20 per cent higher than the next-biggest spike, in 2023.

And boomers also faced the greatest unemployment rate in recent history, 10.8 per cent in 1982, if you exclude the Covid pandemic.

Still, just because one generation had it worse in some respects, it doesnt mean millennials have it easy, according to Realtor.com senior economic analyst Hannah Jones.

It is definitely the hardest time to buy in the last 40 years, but it is not the hardest time to buy ever, she told The Independent.

Other signs point to unique difficulties for millennials.

Boomers selling their homes for $2 million after buying them in 1969 for 7 raspberries  pic.twitter.com/WAmEHlPpmC  FourPlex Guy Carlos Gonzalez (@dig_deeper1) November 7, 2023

The median age for a first-time home-buyer has risen from 29 in 1981 to 35 in 2023, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The delay in buying a first home was certainly influenced by the Great Recession, as home prices fell annually between 2007 and 2012, according to the Case-Schiller Home Price Index. If prices are falling, theres not a great incentive to plow your equity into a home.

After the recession and its wave of defaults, developers still arent building enough homes to match the speed of new household formations, Jones added.

Story continues

Combine that with low vacancy rates during the pandemic, and millennials face a uniquely tight housing squeeze.

There are just less homes available, she said, adding: The last time it was even close to his challenging was before most [millennials] were born.

Beyond the housing supply, millennials are also confronting unique economic challenges that make it harder to buy new homes.

On average, millennial homebuyers have more debt and a lower net worth than their parents had at the same stage. When it comes to education, older millennials hold about 40 per cent of the total outstanding student loan debt in the country.

As a result, the median home can remain painfully out of reach.

As of mid-2023, median homes sold for about $400,000. At that time, boomers had an average net worth of $1.8m, compared to an average millennial household net worth of around $200,000, according to a Bank of America analysis of Federal Reserve data.

Millennials face the worst housing market in 40 years, but Boomers faced even worse challenges in the early 1980s (Getty Images)

The pandemic further amplified these dynamics, as home prices increased by nearly 50 per cent between March 2020 and March 2024, and mortgage rates have risen to multi-decade highs.

We face a very significant housing supply shortfall that has been building for a long time, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a speech in June. This supply crunch has led to an affordability crunch.

Home prices are so high, in fact, that, somewhat counterintuitively, many boomers are now in a situation where they have no economic incentive to sell.

A majority of boomers own their homes outright, and those who dont have lower locked-in mortgage rates. Selling now would mean facing a market of high prices and high mortgage rates, neither of which are that attractive.

"You dont want to be economically stupid. If my house is worth even $650,000, I dont want to spend $1.1 million to downsize substantially, knowing that on top of that, Im probably going to have to pay some [homeowner association] fees," Sherry Murray, 73, whos considering downsizing from a four-bedroom Pittsburgh home, recently told NPR.

And even if they did sell, millennials would have a tough time snapping up these larger family-sized dwellings.

Boomers love their homes. Even if they did want to sell, it is now prohibitively expensive for many millennials, Sheharyar Bokhari, senior economist at Redfin, recently told CNN.

The bottom line, then, is that despite all of their generational conflict, millennials and boomers might be able to agree on one thing: it can be awfully difficult to buy your first home in America.

And they can both agree that theyre better off than renters in this country. Theres not a single state or county in America where a renter working full-time at minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom apartment, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The surging real estate market for luxury beach homes on the North Carolina coast just went to the next level.

An investment banker has paid close to $14 million for a home on the coveted Figure Eight Island in the Wilmington area. Its being called one of the most expensive home sales ever in the state.

ALSO READ: Margaritaville plans to build resort in Myrtle Beach

The sale adds to the hot home market along the coast, particularly in the Wilmington area, where oceanfront properties listing and selling for $10 million or more is becoming more common.

The home at 102 Beach Road South is more than 6,700 square feet, featuring five bedrooms and eight bathrooms. The sale closed July 3.

Read more here.

VIDEO: Margaritaville plans to build resort in Myrtle Beach








Credit: Nvidia

Although the U.S. government has set rather tight restrictions on the performance of AI GPUs that can be shipped to Chinese entities without an export license by the Department of Commerce's Industry and Security Bureau, Nvidia's latest offerings tailored for the country are still good enough to compete against China's domestic GPUs. As a result, the company will earn some $12 billion selling them to its Chinese customers, analysts believe, reports Financial Times.

Nvidia's HGX H20 GPUs are seeing strong demand in China. The company expects to ship over one million HGX H20 GPUs to China, significantly more than Huawei's anticipated Ascend 910B AI processor sales. According to FT, Huawei is projected to sell about 550,000 of its Ascend 910B in 2024, based on data from SemiAnalysis. Nvidia's HGX H20 GPUs are priced between $12,000 and $13,000 each, potentially generating over $12 billion in revenue, surpassing Nvidia's total China earnings from the previous year, which included sales to PC gamers and other products, based on data from analysts cited by the business daily.

Nvidia's new HGX H20 GPUs for AI are designed to comply with U.S. export rules while still providing rather formidable performance for AI applications. In particular, these GPUs offer up to 296 INT8 TOPS/FP8 TFLOPS, 96 GB of HBM3 memory onboard, and up to 4.0 TB/s of memory bandwidth. Such performance, memory bandwidth, and capacity make it a tough competitor for all entry-level AI processors. Although less potent on paper, HGX H20 outperforms Huawei's AI processors in practical applications due to superior memory performance, according to Dylan Patel from SemiAnalysis.

Most Chinese AI companies have built their application ecosystem using Nvidia's CUDA platform, making a switch to Huawei costly and time-consuming. Considering that the HGX H20 GPU fully supports Nvidia's CUDA platform, this will be a default choice for many companies and applications, even though it is dramatically slower than the full-blown H100.

U.S. restrictions aim to limit China's access to powerful AI processors due to concerns about national security and economic competition. It has made it harder for Chinese tech giants like Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent to compete with their U.S. counterparts, such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, and Google. However, the export restrictions have significantly impacted Nvidia's business in China, reducing its revenue share from the region. China now represents only 9% of Nvidia's total revenue compared to 22% a year earlier. Despite reduced sequential sales ahead of the HGX H20 rollout, Nvidia's overall revenues from China grew by over 50% year-on-year to $2.5 billion in the most recent quarter, according to FT.

Nvidia's strategic adaptation to U.S. export controls by introducing the H20 processor reflects its effort to maintain a presence in the Chinese market. Based on estimates from analysts, Chinese companies will welcome the HGX H20 wholeheartedly.
Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. [Xinhua/Yan Yan]

DUSHANBE, July 5 (Xinhua)  China stands ready to develop the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era with Tajikistan, said Chinese President Xi Jinping here on Friday.

Xi made the remarks during his talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, expressing his delight to once again meet his old friend President Rahmon.

Five years after the last visit, Xi said he saw an even more prosperous Tajikistan this time.

As a friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner, China is truly pleased about this, said Xi, expressing his confidence that under Rahmon's leadership, Tajikistan will surely meet the various national development goals it has set forth.

Building a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, solidarity and mutual benefit is a political decision made together by the two presidents. It conforms with the trend of the times, and with the common interests of the two countries and peoples, said Xi.

Under the new circumstances, China is ready to work with Tajikistan to develop a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era, and to build the China-Tajikistan community with a shared future from a higher starting point, he said.

Noting that China will remain steadfast in promoting friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with Tajikistan, Xi said China will firmly support Tajikistan in following a development path that suits its national conditions, firmly support the efforts of Tajikistan to safeguard its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and firmly support the various political arrangements and development measures in Tajikistan put forth by President Rahmon.

China firmly opposes interference in Tajikistan's internal affairs under any excuse by any external force. No matter how the international landscape changes, China will always be a trustworthy friend, a reliable partner and a close brother of Tajikistan, he said.

In the talks, Rahmon hailed China and Tajikistan are friendly neighbors and loyal friends.

Rahmon said that under the strategic guidance of the two leaders, bilateral relations have maintained sound development in recent years, achieving positive outcomes in various fields of cooperation and maintaining high-level communication and collaboration in multilateral institutions.

Rahmon pointed out that the Tajikistan-China relationship is an exemplary model of international relations between nations.

Since the beginning of the new era, under the visionary and wise leadership of President Xi, China has made great developmental achievements, which have not only benefited the Chinese people, but also made important contributions to regional and world peace and development, he said.

To strengthen the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China in the new era is a priority policy direction of Tajikistan, Rahmon said, adding that the Tajik side firmly abides by the one-China principle, opposes any form of "Taiwan independence," and firmly supports all efforts made by China in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity and realizing national reunification.

Following the talks, the two leaders also jointly met the press.

Xi said the two sides have agreed to focus on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, comprehensively promote the synergy of development strategies of the two countries, and help each other's modernization drive.

China is ready to import more quality products from Tajikistan and continuously upgrade the quality and scale of China-Tajikistan economic and trade cooperation, he said.

He also said the two countries have agreed to continue to deepen connectivity cooperation and support Tajikistan in tapping more potential in boosting transit transport.

For his part, Rahmon said Xi's state visit to Tajikistan is an important milestone in the history of bilateral relations, which will inject strong new impetus into the development of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Tajikistan and China in the new era.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a grand welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday.[Xinhua/Liu Bin]

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a grand welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon inspect the guard of honor in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. Rahmon hosted a grand welcome ceremony for Xi. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon inspect the guard of honor in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. Rahmon hosted a grand welcome ceremony for Xi. [Xinhua/Ju Peng]

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon hold small-group talks in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. [Xinhua/Shen Hong]

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon hold big-group talks in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. [Xinhua/Yan Yan]

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon sign a joint statement between the two countries on developing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era after their talks in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon jointly meet the press after their talks at the presidential palace in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. [Xinhua/Shen Hong]

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. [Xinhua/Liu Bin]

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

(Source: Xinhua)

Editor: Wei Xuanyi
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attend the inauguration of a parliament building and a government building aided by China in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. [Xinhua/Yao Dawei]

DUSHANBE, July 5 (Xinhua)  In Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, two newly constructed building compounds on Rudaki Avenue stand less than a kilometer apart. These architectural marvels shine brilliantly under the sunlight.

On Friday, visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attended the inauguration of the parliament and government buildings aided by China in Dushanbe.

Xi noted that the two buildings have become new landmarks symbolizing the friendly cooperation between China and Tajikistan.

China is ready to work with Tajikistan to continue to uphold the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, carry out more cooperation projects in Tajikistan and make greater contribution to the economic and social development of Tajikistan, Xi said.

Rahmon noted the buildings are the most precious gift given to the Tajik people by President Xi on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his first state visit to Tajikistan, and another testimony to the profound friendship between the two countries. They will surely be recorded in the annals of Tajikistan-China relations and be celebrated by the Tajik people for generations to come, he said.

In August 2020, construction commenced on the Tajikistan parliament and government building projects, which were undertaken by China. These two iconic structures represent the collaborative efforts between the two countries along the Belt and Road, marking the first time that China has adopted a mode featuring collaborative design in its foreign aid projects.

"This building integrates local cultural elements, adopting a classical European colonnade structure combined with Persian and Islamic decorative styles. The color schemes and decorations of different meeting rooms and halls also vary," said Zhang Zhigang, General Manager of Yan Jian Group's Tajikistan branch, as he guided the reporters through the building and introduced its features.

The Tajikistan parliament building is a captivating sight to behold. With two 250-seat meeting halls for the Upper and Lower House, a spacious two-tier joint conference hall that can accommodate 1,500 people, and over a hundred diverse offices, exploring the building feels like navigating an exotic maze.

The interior of the building is adorned with exquisite marble walls, magnificent wooden decorative columns, and sparkling crystal chandeliers. These stunning elements create a dazzling visual spectacle.

In an office within the parliament building, Mustafo Rasulov meticulously inspects every inch of the room. As the overseer of the building's quality, he admires the exceptional craftsmanship displayed by the Chinese workers.

"Chinese colleagues always prioritize quality and pay meticulous attention to every detail. I have great confidence in the buildings they construct," he said. Rasulov firmly believes that this building, with its historical significance, will stand as a timeless architectural masterpiece.

Just a short distance away from the parliament building is the Tajikistan government building. "The magnificent 13-story building seamlessly integrates with the surrounding landscape, blending architecture with the beauty of nature ..." said Sha Wenhai, the General Manager of Jiangsu Jiangdu Construction Group's overseas company, eagerly pointing out the exquisite exterior features of this remarkable structure.

Similar to the parliament building, the government building is a collaborative design effort between China and Tajikistan, seamlessly blending the design norms and technical standards of both countries. The building successfully preserves the traditional decorative style of the Tajik people while also showcasing the exceptional craftsmanship of Chinese architecture. This fusion of cultural elements from both countries creates a harmonious and visually captivating architectural masterpiece.

"This building exemplifies the perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality," said Sha, pointing to an air outlet in the government building.

"To highlight the Tajik national style in the wall carvings, we adopted a curved design and recessed the decorative stone wall by 20 centimeters at the air outlet. The angle of the air supply can be adjusted as needed, and the external decorations are removable for easy maintenance," said Sha.

Shahin Negmatov, a construction worker with 30 years of experience, considered the Tajikistan government building project to be the pinnacle of his career. "I admire the exquisite craftsmanship of my Chinese colleagues. It's a great honor to build my homeland together with them," he said.

Chinese constructors have worked on other landmark buildings in Dushanbe. One notable structure is the Tajikistan Independence and Freedom Tower, standing tall at 121 meters in the center of a city park. Constructed by a Chinese company, it has become a renowned landmark. Visitors flock to the observation deck to capture breathtaking panoramic views of the city and its surroundings.

Another remarkable building is the Tajikistan National Library, located on one side of the Friendship Square in the city center. Also constructed by a Chinese company, it resembles an open book, symbolizing the invitation to immerse oneself in the vast sea of knowledge. This library holds such significance that it is even featured on the country's 200 somoni banknote, serving as a lasting commemoration for generations to come.

Yusuf Akhmatbekzoda, deputy director of the Government Project Management Bureau of the Presidential Office of Tajikistan, said these "Made by China" buildings are unique, enhancing Dushanbe's architectural landscape and improving the city's appearance. "They will stand as symbols of Tajik-Chinese friendship, benefiting our descendants," he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during the inauguration of a parliament building and a government building aided by China in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on Friday attended the inauguration in Dushanbe. [Xinhua/Yan Yan]

(Source: Xinhua)

Editor: Wei Xuanyi
400,000 voters could be added to electoral register under automatic registration plans

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Jul 6th, 2024

Plans to automatically register voters cleared the penultimate hurdle in the Senedds legislative process  with 400,000 people potentially set to be added to the register.

Mick Antoniw, who is counsel general, the Welsh Governments chief legal adviser, described the elections and elected bodies bill as groundbreaking.

He told the Senedd an incoming Labour UK Government would be committed to following Wales lead on automatic registration, with a similar model likely to be rolled out.

He said: For Wales, It will mean potentially some 400,000 people being added to that register. If it is extended to the rest of the UK for non-devolved elections  you are talking about seven or eight million people who are not on the register.

Now, it says something about our democracy when you have so many people who are not on the register  not even in a position to vote.

Fundamental right

Peter Fox, the Conservatives shadow local government secretary, pointed out that vulnerable people  such as those fleeing domestic abuse  may wish to opt out.

Mr Fox said: We need to be careful with peoples information, as people are often wishing to remain anonymous for a good reason.

Members agreed to his amendment which would increase the notice period for somebody to be registered to vote without application to 60 days.

But another of Mr Foxs amendments  aimed at empowering disabled people to vote in person, something thats a fundamental right in our society  was narrowly defeated.

Speaking after the debate on July 2, the former Monmouthshire council leader accused Labour of prioritising electoral change over tackling long NHS waiting lists.

Dehumanised

Rhys ab Owen, who represents South Wales Central and sits as an independent in the Senedd, focused on disabled peoples participation in politics.

Calling for clearer information about accessibility, he told the chamber: Imagine, if you may, that you are a disabled voter in Wales.

Lets say you have to use a wheelchair. Youre going to the polling station to cast your vote, as is your human right, and then you find you cant get up the steps.

Mr ab Owen warned: It can make you feel helpless, dehumanised, to know that this is permitted to happen in a democratic society. And this isnt just a hypothetical situation  this is the reality for thousands of people or voters across Wales.

The former barrister pointed to a poll by the charity Sense which showed nearly half of disabled people believe they are not important to political parties.

Under the bill, Welsh ministers will be under a duty to improve diversity in Senedd and council structures  with tailored support for characteristics protected by equality law.

Golden handshakes

The bill, which has been overshadowed by contentious amendments about deception, would also lay the groundwork for councillors to be given cash when they are voted out.

Councillors who unsuccessfully stand for re-election could receive resettlement payments, dubbed in some quarters as golden handshakes, but those who stand down would not.

The policy aims to remove barriers, such as for people with caring responsibilities, and ease the transition for those who are giving up their careers to stand for election.

Wales 22 local authorities have about 1,250 councillors. Similar transitional arrangements are already in place for unseated Senedd members and MPs.

After the 2021 election, 20 ex-Senedd members were awarded payments from 14,000 to 50,000, costing the public purse 632,000, according to a freedom of information request.

Disqualification

If the bill is passed, community councillors would be barred from being Senedd members.

South Wales Central MS Joel James serves on Llantwit Fardre community council and a Conservative amendment seeking to remove the disqualification was defeated.

But the South Wales Central MS gained agreement on a related amendment which would ensure clerks cannot be a member of community councils.

He told the Senedd: Ive always been concerned by that. I think, as a clerk, you need to be politically neutral and it should be a restricted role.

As, maybe, an opposition politician, or maybe an independent, what confidence would I have that the conversations I have with that clerk, or the advice I was given, would be fair?

Frightening

Adam Price tabled ultimately unsuccessful amendments, calling for voters to be given a right to know whether artificial intelligence has been used in electoral literature.

The former Plaid Cymru leader raised a frightening recent Dispatches documentary on the potential for technology to have a detrimental impact on democracy.

He said: It is something that could have very dangerous implications for the integrity of our political discourse over coming years, and we cant afford to remain static.

The bill now moves to the fourth and final legislative stage  a vote of the whole Senedd on the proposals as amended  which has been pencilled in for July 9 at about 4pm.

With Labour and Plaid Cymrus support, and no legal challenge expected, the bill is likely to be passed next week  with royal assent to follow.

By Chris Haines, ICNN Senedd reporter
Call for urgent intervention to address low Care Home Fees for Providers in North Wales

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Jul 6th, 2024

A North Wales Member of the Senedd has called for an urgent Welsh Government intervention to ensure both a sustainable settlement for care home providers and a national approach to fee setting to provide a baseline figure.

Mr Isherwood raised the matter in the Welsh Parliament after meeting Care Forum Wales last week to discuss their concerns over Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Boards care home fee uplift of just 3.71 per cent in North Wales for 2024-25.

Speaking in the Business Statement, Mr Isherwood called for an urgent Statement on the matter.

He said: I ask for an urgent Statement from the Health and Social Care Secretary on care home fees.

On 6 June, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board wrote to care providers in North Wales, setting out a care home fee uplift of just 3.71 per cent for 2024-25, failing to match local authority increases and lower even than Flintshires average fee increase of 5.33 per cent, which was the lowest in Wales until then.

It means that providers would receive less for providing Continuing Health Care than Funded Nursing Care, despite Continuing Health Care cases being higher in complexity and having additional nursing requirements.

Last Friday, Gareth Davies MS and I met Care Forum Wales to discuss their concerns about this.

We heard that North Wales now has the lowest Care Home Fees in Wales, putting pressure on providers to stop accepting new Continuing Health Care patients and to give notice to their current Continuing Health Care-funded residents, a distressing outcome that nobody wants to see, at the very time when need has never been greater and Health Boards so desperately need these care home beds.

Urgent intervention is therefore required, to ensure both a sustainable settlement, and a national approach to fee setting to provide a baseline figure. I call for an urgent Statement accordingly.

Responding for the Welsh Government, the Trefnydd said: Thank you very much, Mark Isherwood, for that very important question, and I know thats something that the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care is actively addressing, but its also not a question just for the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, obviously its a question for the Minister for Social Care and it is a question for the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning.

All of these cross-Government responsibilities, Cabinet responsibilities, are key to addressing this issue.
Viewing insider transactions for Dr. Martens plc's (LON:DOCS ) over the last year, we see that insiders were net buyers. This means that a larger number of shares were purchased by insiders in relation to shares sold.

While insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

See our latest analysis for Dr. Martens

Dr. Martens Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The CEO & Director Kenneth Wilson made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK400k worth of shares at a price of UK1.29 each. That means that even when the share price was higher than UK0.75 (the recent price), an insider wanted to purchase shares. Their view may have changed since then, but at least it shows they felt optimistic at the time. We always take careful note of the price insiders pay when purchasing shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when an insider has purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price. Kenneth Wilson was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. If investing in lesser known companies is your style, you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Insider Ownership

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Dr. Martens insiders own 2.0% of the company, worth about UK15m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Dr. Martens Tell Us?

It doesn't really mean much that no insider has traded Dr. Martens shares in the last quarter. However, our analysis of transactions over the last year is heartening. Insiders do have a stake in Dr. Martens and their transactions don't cause us concern. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Dr. Martens has 4 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
College encouraging STEM in schools with state-of-the-art tech donations

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Jul 6th, 2024

Coleg Cambria is encouraging the development of advanced engineering among young people in North Wales by donating state-of-the-art 3D printing equipment to secondary schools.

Dan Jones, Curriculum Director for Advanced Engineering at the colleges Deeside site, presented a Tiertime UPBOX 3D printer and supporting technology.

Among those to receive the machinery was Prestatyn High School, whose subject leader for Product Design Carley Williams thanked Cambria for its support.

The school is very grateful to Coleg Cambria for the donation of the 3D printer, which arrived at a time when ours had broken, she said.

This will have a huge impact for our Product Design students, especially those involved in the F1 for Schools STEM Challenge.

Dan added: Capturing the imagination of Waless young future engineers is critical if we are to develop the skilled engineers of the future.

It is hoped that providing this equipment will spark interest in STEM and the exciting challenges a career in engineering can provide.

The news comes after the college introduced a state-of-the-art industrial sorting plant and autonomous Universal Robot platform with ER Flex interface to its Deeside site.

The equipment was funded by Medru, a collaborative project between Cambria, Bangor University, and The Open University in Wales, supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW).

Dan said the machinery will be of value to students and those already working in industry, apprentices or time-served workers looking to upskill.

The technology is incredible, and the sorting plant in particular will be pivotal in helping to educate groups of learners, he said.
Last month the major Democratic Party-aligned think tank in Washington, the Center for American Progress (CAP), announced that former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will launch a new leadership program as part of the Centers Global Progress Action initiative.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, left, greets New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at NATO summit in Madrid, Spain on Wednesday, June 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue) [AP Photo]

In a June 17 Instagram post, Ardern wrote that the 12-month program, called the Field Fellowship, supports and connects global political leaders who embody political leadership that draws on the strength of kindness and empathy. [It] will create a network of like-minded political leaders who use pragmatic idealism, speak to people with hope and optimism rather than fear or blame, and want to unite, rather than divide as we look to solve the challenges ahead.

She declared that it was part of her mission to help rehumanise leadership, and just be useful!

CAPs chief executive Patrick Gaspard stated that the inaugural fellowship, beginning this summer, is expected to include women in leadership roles from different European countries. He said the program would counter the rise of authoritarianism and the growing influence of the far right in Europe by helping to shape the ideas that will steer Europe toward a more hopeful, unifying, and optimistic future.

Beyond these statements, no details have been released about precisely what the Field Fellowship will do and who will participate. One can say with certainty, however, that its stated aim of opposing the far-right is a sham. The program will train political leaders in how to emulate Arderns use of gender identity politics and empty rhetoric about kindness and empathy to mask the reactionary and authoritarian agenda of the ruling classes.

The portrayal of Ardern in the corporate media as a progressive figure is a fraud. Her 20172023 Labour Party-led government was, by any objective measure, one of the most right wing in New Zealands history: it strengthened New Zealands alliance with US imperialism, while overseeing a massive transfer of wealth to the rich during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In every country in Europe and the US, governments of every colouration are carrying out deep attacks on workers living standards and democratic rights, while building up their militaries, supporting genocide in Gaza, the escalating the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, and the build-up to a US-led war against China. Arderns Field Fellowship is part of the increasingly desperate attempts to put a human face on a system that is careening towards dictatorship and world war.

A center for war propaganda

Ardern is joining an organisation described by Politico in 2021 as the most influential think tank of the Biden era. The CAP is basically an adjunct of the Democratic Party, the party of Wall Street and the military. Its CEO Gaspard served as executive director of the Democratic National Committee from 201113, overseeing the efforts to re-elect President Barack Obama.

The CAP has received tens of millions of dollars from corporations and the super-rich, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, Amazon, billionaire Michael Bloomberg and Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg, along with many others.

Johan Hassel, the director of the CAPs Global Progress initiativeof which Arderns fellowship is partwas the international secretary of the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 20182022 and is described on the CAP website as a senior figure in Swedish and European politics. Significantly, his profile also boasts that he served in the Swedish Armed Forces and the Kosovo Forcethe NATO-led forces stationed in the imperialist puppet state of Kosovo, which was created through NATOs bombing of Serbia in 1999.

Throughout its 20-year history the CAP has specialized in the production of humanitarian propaganda for war. It criticized the Bush administrations invasion of Iraq in 2003 on the grounds that it was a diversion from the equally criminal war against Afghanistan, which the CAP endorsed. It likewise supported NATOs regime change war in Libya in 2011 and the Obama administrations arming of Islamist rebels in the Syrian civil war. All these wars, justified on the pretext of fighting against terrorism and for democracy, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and devastated entire societies.

In response to Arderns post announcing the Field Fellowship, several commenters pointed out the blatant hypocrisy of talking about empathy and kindness while refusing to condemn the Israel-US genocide in Gaza. The political leaders who take part in her program will be from countries that are actively supporting and providing political cover for the genocide.

The CAP supports the arming of Israel as Washingtons attack dog in the Middle East, and has a record of whitewashing the oppression of the Palestinian people. In November 2015, the CAP hosted a discussion with Israels fascist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which CAP president Neera Tanden presented him as the leader of a democracy [that] shares values with democracies around the world. She also hailed Israels military for being very inclusive of women and gay people. This was one year after Operation Protective Edge, Israels brutal bombing of the Gaza Strip, which slaughtered more than 2,300 people.

On October 14, 2023, chief executive Gaspard released a statement endorsing Israels genocidal attack on Gaza. He said President Biden was right to affirm support for Israel as it responds to monstrous acts of terror, while cynically adding that US leaders must insist on compliance with international law. Subsequent CAP statements have echoed the Biden administrations meaningless calls for a ceasefire, while advocating the ongoing provision of weapons to Israel. Washington has enabled Israel to kill more than 40,000 people and bomb cities into rubble, along with almost all hospitals and schools, and to block the delivery of aid, inflicting mass starvation on hundreds of thousands of people.

When the CAP says it wants to stop the rise of authoritarianism, what this actually means is defeating the main rivals of US imperialism, especially Russia and Americas principal economic adversary, China.

In April, the CAP published a report on managing tensions with China, which urged the Biden administration to invest in practical battlefield technology and revamp our advanced manufacturing sector to build a defense ecosystem. It called for sending more weapons to Taiwan, which is a key part of Washingtons efforts to provoke China into starting an all-out war.

The CAP calls for escalating the war in Ukraine, which has already killed and maimed an estimated 500,000 people. It has demanded more funding for the Zelensky regime and insisted that Russia must suffer a decisive military defeat before there can be talk of peace. By pouring tens of billions of dollars in military aid into Ukraine, the US and NATO are not defending democracy, but an extreme right-wing dictatorship that works closely with fascist forces, and is persecuting anti-war activists, including the socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk who has been thrown in prison for his writings on the World Socialist Web Site.

The war is spiraling out of control, as the NATO powers discuss plans to place their economies on a war footing and to send troops to Ukraine, while missile strikes inside Russian territory are raising the threat of a nuclear exchange.

Far from combating the extreme right, the parties promoted by the CAPthe Democrats in the US and the social democratic and Labour parties internationallyhave paved the way for these forces. Donald Trump in the US, Marine Le Pen in France and Italys Giorgia Meloni have all been able to pose as anti-establishment by exploiting widespread anger and disillusionment with the brutal policies of austerity and militarism imposed by supposedly progressive or liberal capitalist governments.

On every major issueincluding war, attacks on immigrants, cuts to welfare and healthcare, the erosion of democratic rights, and the policy of mass COVID-19 infectionBidens administration has sought to appease and collaborate with the Republican right. The same basic tendency can be seen in New Zealand under the last Labour government led by Ardern.

Arderns record

Ardern is joining the CAP at a time of mass popular opposition to the Gaza genocide and to anti-democratic forms of rule internationally. Her job will be to train politicians to bring this movement under control and to subordinate workers and youth to political forces that uphold NATOs militarist agenda. This is the role that Ardern has played throughout her political career.

Arderns supposedly empathetic leadership has been glorified in the international media for years, especially following her response to the Christchurch terrorist attack on March 15, 2019, in which the fascist Brenton Tarrant murdered 51 people at two mosques. According to the media narrative, Arderns kindness brought the nation together and inspired the world. She was hailed as the antithesis of right-wing leaders such as Trump, who was one of Tarrants heroes.

Fawning articles in the New York Times and elsewhere omitted any mention of the fact that Arderns Labour Party and its ally the Greens were only able to form a government in 20172020 in a coalition with the right-wing, racist New Zealand First Party. NZ First leader Winston Peters, notorious for his anti-Muslim and anti-China rants, was made deputy prime minister and foreign minister by Ardern.

The 2017 coalition deal was supported by US ambassador Scott Brown, who made clear that Washington saw Labour-NZ First as a more reliable government to integrate New Zealand into US war plans against China.

The Labour-NZ First government declared that China and Russia represented the main threats to the world order; boosted New Zealands participation in US-led military exercises in the Indo-Pacific region; and sent troops to Britain to assist in training Ukrainian conscripts to fight against Russia. Last August, Labours Defence Minister Andrew Little declared that the military had to be equipped and prepared to join a possible war in the South China Sea, i.e., against China.

The state has suppressed any discussion of the political environment that led to the March 2019 attackincluding the racism and anti-Muslim sentiments encouraged by successive Labour and National Party governments to justify their participation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many questions remain about why the state did not stop Tarrant and whether he had accomplices.

The Ardern government exploited the attack as the pretext to expand the intelligence agencies and to promote censorship. In May 2019, Ardern partnered with French President Emmanuel Macron to launch a global initiative, the Christchurch Call to Action, which brought together governments and tech giantsincluding Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Google and YouTubeostensibly to stop the spread of violent extremist content online.

The Christchurch Call indicates the sort of initiatives that the Field Fellowship will advocate for Europe. It has nothing to do with combating the far-right or preventing terrorist attacks. Its aim is to establish a framework for censorship, on an international scale, of any online content that governments decide to label extremist.

In a speech to the UN in 2022, Ardern linked the Christchurch Call directly to the war against Russia, saying it was necessary to stop online platforms from being used as weapons of war to spread disinformation, cause chaos and reduce the ability of others to defend themselves. The speech was an argument for censoring any opposition to the US-NATO war effort.

Arderns partnership with Macron is particularly revealing. His government has used police state measures to crush a mass movement of the working class against pension cuts and other attacks. With his party facing defeat in the current French parliamentary elections, Macron is threatening to assume dictatorial emergency powers to enforce deeply unpopular austerity measures and to send French troops into Ukraine.

Ardern stepped down as prime minister in early 2023 and left parliament in April that year. She then began two fellowships at Harvard University, focused on political leadership and countering online extremism, which appear to have been preparation for her role at the Center for American Progress.

The reasons behind Arderns departure and her replacement by Chris Hipkins have never been fully explained; at the time Ardern lamely declared that she did not have enough energy to continue as prime minister.

Her resignation, however, came as the working class was turning against Labour. Arderns 2017 rhetoric about addressing the housing crisis was revealed to be a fraud, with homelessness becoming more entrenched; and the soaring cost of living was forcing hundreds of thousands of people to rely on food banks to survive. Despite Ardern making herself the minister for child poverty reduction, child poverty actually increased during her government.

Labours support began to decline sharply after Ardern scrapped the countrys popular elimination strategy for COVID-19 at the end of 2021, and adopted the policy of mass infection demanded by big business, which had already caused millions of deaths worldwide. Thousands of people died in the following year and the New Zealand healthcare system was overwhelmed with COVID cases.

Labour lost the October 2023 election, with just over half the votes it received in 2020, opening the door for a coalition of the conservative National Party government and the far-right ACT and New Zealand First parties. This deeply unpopular coalition is picking up where Labour left off: it is further strengthening military ties with the US, Britain, Australia and Japan against Russia and China; supporting the genocide in Gaza; and imposing savage austerity measures in healthcare, education and social welfare.

Arderns entire career, culminating in her recruitment by one of the main think tanks for US imperialism, vindicates the warnings made by the Socialist Equality Group (SEG) and the WSWS since 2017. In opposition to all the middle class, pseudo-left organisations which promoted Ardern and Labourincluding the International Socialist Organisation and Socialist Aotearoathe SEG explained that her pledges to address poverty were worthless, and that Labour was an imperialist party that would deepen the drive towards war.

Workers and young people who are moving to the left must draw decisive political lessons from the experience of the Ardern years. Above all: the fight against genocide, war and the assault on living standards, must be built in opposition to Labour and all its allies, including the Greens and pseudo-lefts. It must be based on a socialist program, aimed at mobilising the working class throughout the world against the capitalist system that is the root cause of war, fascism and inequality.
The state Labor government of Victoria has unleashed a brutal attack on the states public health system, ordering hospital administrations to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from their annual operating budgets.

Monash Health in Melbourne, Victoria's largest health network with 25,500 employees [Photo: https://monashhealth.org/]

Media reports over the past fortnight reveal that the government has told public hospitals to slash spending by at least 10 percent. Hospitals were due to formally submit their cost savings on June 28.

Everything is on the table to achieve Labors demands, including job cuts, bed and ward closures, and the dismantling of a range of essential preventative health services. In addition, special grants that allow hospitals to meet over-budget expenses will no longer be available. Without these grants, hospitals could be left without day-to-day operating finance.

One hospital administrator was reported by the Melbourne Age as saying, The whole system is going to tank.

While the government has not released an overall dollar figure for its cost-cutting demands, information leaked to the press by anonymous sources indicate the devastating impact the cuts will have on public hospital services and patients, as well as health workers jobs and conditions.

The states largest health network, Monash Health, which covers south-eastern metropolitan Melbourne, will have to reduce spending by $350 million. The Alfred Hospital group has been told to cut $180 million, the Royal Melbourne Hospital $230 million and Bendigo Health and Grampians Health, in regional areas, $120 million and $50 million respectively. Collectively, these hospitals employ more than 50,000 staff.

An audio recording of a meeting of hospital executives leaked to the Melbourne Age on June 28 revealed the devastating consequences of the choices that hospital managers will have to make. This includes the cutting of one-in-ten allied health staff in areas such as pathology and pharmacy and the scrapping of COVID-19 testing for all patients on admission. Data from 2022 and 2023 show that one in ten patients who acquired a COVID infection in hospital in Victoria died.

There could be a freeze on new intensive care beds as well as cuts to epilepsy monitoring beds and concussion clinics ended. One hospital official reported that a satellite dialysis unit was being taken out of service at their hospital, despite demand for the service outstretching supply.

Cancer patients may have to pay for their own life-saving drugs while in hospital, while areas such as psychology, physiotherapy and disability liaison could become unavailable and preventative diagnostic services, such as BreastScreen, could be eliminated.

Even the internationally acclaimed Royal Childrens Hospital, which is relatively better off than most state hospitals because of annual community fundraising over decades, has started cutting jobs and vital programs. According to Wednesdays Age newspaper, 15 staff will be made redundant in the hospitals mental health area and six vital programs eliminated. This includes the axing of a team involved in early intervention for children and adolescents with behavioural problems.

It has happened very quickly, one Royal Childrens Hospital worker told the World Socialist Web Site this week. We got an email saying theres a freeze for employment, and theyve come up with a committee to review any positions that are being recruited for, including maternity leave replacement, she said.

Even though the job may have been there, now its all got to go through this committee to approve whether they can rehire. It feels like a fait accompli, with the government saying, If you guys cant come up with suitable cuts, were going to send out administrators.

Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne [Photo: BG&E]

Our brand [the Royal Childrens Hospital] is fiercely protected, and weve been told not to discuss this with anybody, which is why it has been so secret. I know for a fact the emails went out on Friday booking appointments for people and theyre given two weeks to either accept a redundancy package or transfer to where they can be redeployed.

The cuts are going to have a real impact in critical medicine, [and] it does mean people are going to die. I think the government has an acceptable amount of death that they absorb in these kinds of situationlike they did with COVIDand this is another one, she said.

Labors demand that hospitals drastically slash their operating costs follow its announcements last month that 20 small health services in areas across the state will have their funding reduced by up to 30 percent. Labor plans to cut the overall number of public health networks across the state from 76 down to 12, via amalgamations.

Premier Jacinta Allan and Health Minister Thomas have attempted to brush aside rising popular anger over the cuts. They deny that anything has been decided and claim that news of the cuts to major hospitals is only speculation and fear mongering.

Thomas attempted to divert attention from the catastrophic consequences of the government assault on public health, asserting that all that was involved was the curbing of overstaffing among executives and hospital spending on overseas travel.

The Age also reported on June 28 that an anonymous Victorian government minister said, The squeeze on hospital budgets was not a major cause of concern around the cabinet table Hospitals should be financially responsible not just spend more money than they are allocated.

This arrogant response is based on Labors certainty that the health unionsled by the largest, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF)will impose these savage cuts on public health, blocking any attempt by their members to mobilise against them.

This was demonstrated in the ANMFs determination to shut down limited industrial action over the nurses ongoing enterprise agreement dispute and attempt to persuade its members to vote for a sell-out wage deal with the Labor government.

ANMF Victorian secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick (left) with Victorian Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas [Photo: Instagram/maryannethomasmp]

The union fears that a majority no vote and calls from workers for genuine state-wide industrial action would raise the possibility of unified action against hospital cuts, closures and amalgamations.

As ANMF state secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick told nurses at the unions June 26 mass meeting, I can prove to you that this [wage agreement] is not coming from the budgets that will employ people and the hospital budget. We are not bankrupting the hospital system.

In other words, the health unions, just as they have done in the past, will do all they can to impose the government attacks on the public hospitals and the destruction of jobs, working conditions and vital services.

Victorian public hospitals took a battering in the 1990s, starting with the Kirner Labor government and completed by the Kennett Liberal Party administration. These attacks saw the closure of 17 public hospitals, the axing of 10,000 health jobs, including 3,500 nurses, and the elimination of 1,400 hospital beds.

The evisceration of public health, including through privatisation and outsourcing, has continued under all state governments that have followed. None of this would have been possible without the complete collaboration of the unions, which have repeatedly shut down strikes and prevented health workers from fighting the assault on their jobs, wages and conditions.

Although the Victorian government is the most indebted of all Australian states and has the lowest credit rating, the attack on public health is in line with a generalised assault on vital social services by state and federal Labor governments. Public hospitals are being systematically starved of funds, threatened with cuts to desperately needed services and outright closures, while billions of dollars are made available federally for nuclear submarines and other military weapons and massive tax cuts for the rich.

As the historical record demonstrates, the defence of public health and the provision of high-quality, properly equipped and staffed hospitals poses the necessity for unified action by the working class against state and federal governments, Labor and Liberal-National Coalition alike, and the unions that prop them up.

This requires health workers forming independent rank-and-file committees and, in alliance with communities, fighting the closure of hospitals and other vital health services based on a socialist program in which human need takes priority over private profit. This is only way to fight the escalating assault on all aspects of public health and other vital social services now underway.
An unusual musical program was presented in New York City recently, a rare opportunity to hear some of the songs of German composer Hanns Eisler (1898-1962).

The program, entitled Will There Still Be Singing? A Hanns Eisler Cabaret, was part of a series of programs organized by Carnegie Hall, entitled Fall of the Weimar Republic: Dancing on the Precipice. Concerts, films, literature, theater, visual art and other programs dealing with Germany in the period that ended with the coming to power of Adolf Hitler in 1933 took place at Carnegie but also at other venues.

Hanns Eisler, 1940 (C. M. Stieglitz)

The Eisler Cabaretwith the soprano Karyn Levitt and the Hanns Eisler Trio (pianist Eric Ostling, William Schimmel on accordion and guitarist Ira Seigel)was held in the modest-sized auditorium of the Center for Jewish History. One of the more interesting segments of the series, it was a chance to hear some of the powerful and moving songs of this politically committed composer, whose work does not receive the attention it deserves.

All but one of the songs in the program were the product of the decades-long collaboration between Eisler and the famous German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), as rendered into English by well-known Brecht translator Eric Bentley. The title of the program comes from one of these songs (A Saying for 1939), with its clear reference to the period of Nazi rule: In the dark times, will there still be singing? Yes, there will be singing, yes, about the dark times

Among the songs in the program was perhaps the most famous of the Kampflieder (battle songs), Solidarity Song, written with Brecht between 1929 and 1931, in response to the Great Depression and the growing threat of fascism. Like all of the Brecht/Eisler songs, its context was the hope aroused by the October 1917 Revolution in Russia. Solidarity Song was written for the 1932 film Kuhle Wampe (translated into English as Who Owns the World?), conceived and written by Brecht, with a score by Eisler.

Other highlights of the cabaret included Theres Nothing Quite Like Money, a satire somewhat along the lines of How to Survive from Threepenny Opera, The Poplar Tree on Karlsplatz, a somber and moving song about Berlin in 1946, a year after the fall of the Nazi regime, Song of a German Mother, about the regrets of a mother who has sent her son off to war, and To the Little Radio, composed in exile in 1942 as part of Eislers Hollywood Songbook, consisting of words spoken by an exile, addressed to his radio, about receiving news from Nazi Germany.

The man who composed the music to these songs, simple and at the same time so powerful alongside the words of Brecht, was born in Germany in 1898, but grew up in Vienna. Part of the generation that came of age during the imperialist slaughter of the First World War, he served in the Austro-Hungarian army. Eisler was only 20 when revolution and counterrevolution took place in Germanythe November Revolution, triggered by the defeat of Imperial Germany in the war, which was followed by the failed Spartacist uprising and the assassinations of revolutionary Marxist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht in January 1919.

Arnold Schoenberg, 1947 (Florence Homolka)

Eisler, already in the process of being radicalized by the struggles of the day, was also a precocious and brilliant student of music. He returned to Vienna after the end of the war and studied with avant-garde composer Arnold Schoenberg from 1919 to 1923.

The enormous contradictions of Eislers life are difficult to sum up in one or two sentences. He was one of the star pupils of Schoenbergthe man who developed the notoriously difficult and almost inaccessible twelve-tone method of compositionand at the same time Eisler became a composer who devoted the bulk of his life, from 1925 onwards, to what he saw as the cause of the working class and the struggle for socialism.

He was an artist who was forced to flee Nazi Germany in 1933, was later expelled from the United States in 1948 as a subversive (the Karl Marx of Communism in the musical field, in the words of the House Un-American Activities Committee), and ended his life in Stalinist East Germany, where he also fell under a cloud because he was considered an unreliable defender of the dogma of socialist realism.

He was a composer whose work includes many politically committed songs and other compositions designed above all for simplicity, but at the same time he never fully disowned the twelve-tone idiom, and used it more frequently in his final years, including in some of his intensely political songs.

Eislers life comprises essentially the first half of the 20th century, the decades of the first and second world wars, of the Russian Revolution, and of the Stalinist and Fascist counterrevolution. This period of unprecedented class struggle and crisis was very different from the organic growth of capitalism in the second half of the 19th century, as well as the period of comparative political quiescence in the quarter-century of relative prosperity and stabilization following World War Two.

Eisler allied himself politically with the German Communist Party (KPD) in the mid-1920s (as did Brecht), only a few years after the failure of the German Revolution of 1923, and just as Stalinism was beginning to fasten its grip on that party and the entire Communist International. This reflected the growth of the nationalist bureaucracy in the first workers state, a bureaucracy whose interests were summed up in the slogan of socialism in one country. The program of national socialism meant the repudiation of the fight for socialism internationally. It aided in the isolation of the Soviet Union. The interests of the Stalinist bureaucracy led it to search for allies within the imperialist camp and bourgeois liberalism, and the Soviet and international working class was repeatedly betrayed.

Not yet 30 years old, Eisler was miseducated and disoriented by Stalinism. As a composer, he embraced the anti-Marxist conception of proletarian culture, the idea that the material and spiritual culture developed in the past could and should be ignored in favor of a supposedly socialist and revolutionary culture of the still oppressed working class, created arbitrarily and by laboratory methods, as it were, in Leon Trotskys phrase. In practice, proletarian cultureand its successor policy, socialist realismbecame a means of justifying and even glorifying the Soviet ruling caste. The conception was embraced by the growing Stalinist bureaucracy precisely because it shared a common method with socialism in one country, and helped, through its left pretensions, to disguise the retreat from an international revolutionary perspective.

The proletarian culture dogma that guided Eisler was reinforced during the Third Period, that crucial phase in the degeneration of the Communist International inaugurated after the Sixth Congress of the Comintern in 1928. It was a suicidal policy that paved the way for Hitler. The Moscow bureaucracy and its German supporters claimed that the German Social-Democratic Party (SPD) was social fascist, and no different from the Nazi menace. The KPD rejected Trotskys urgent call for the united front, a tactic advanced in order to unify and mobilize the many millions of German workers against the Nazis.

Bertolt Brecht [Photo by Jorg Kolbe, Bundesarchiv / CC BY 3.0

Eislers writings and his practical activity during these years were shaped by the fraudulent leftism of the Third Period. He had earlier become increasingly hostile to the often-stultifying conventions of classical music in bourgeois society, and correctly insisted that composers and other musicians forsake any ivory-tower conception of music for musics sake. But he took this much further, turning the one-sidedness of Schoenbergs system into its undialectical opposite, and advancing mechanical arguments in favor of what he called the workers music movement. Eisler did not go so far as to reject the classics of Beethoven and Brahms, but he insisted there must be a break between this music of the past and current musical expression, and that music would come directly out of the class struggle.

He went so far as to denounce the radio and record player. In 1931, he wrote that, experience induced us to reject the concert form. Instrumental or symphonic music, he maintained, is not right for a proletarian audienceSo-called symphonic music is the typical bourgeois form of music-making and became fully developed under capitalism.

Eisler also denounced jazz as the most facile musical pleasure. He insisted that the crisis of music in bourgeois society required the struggle of the workers for a new music culture corresponding to their class situation which, today, is already beginning to take on a clear shape.

Both Lenin and Trotsky were intransigent opponents of the theory of proletarian culture. Trotsky, in such works as Culture and Socialism and Literature and Revolution, clearly demonstrated the fallacy of proceeding from a formal analogy between the role of the capitalist class, which developed its culture over a period of centuries, and the proletariat, a propertyless class that had not yet mastered the culture of the past, and whose fundamental historical task posed, not a lengthy period as a ruling class, but rather the dissolution of class society itself.

Revolutionary Marxists have always insisted that the struggle to build a mass socialist movement and to build a socialist society after the overthrow of capitalism requires the fight to assimilate all that bourgeois culture has achieved. (Even more, Lenin insisted that Marxism had assimilated and refashioned everything of value in the more than two thousand years of the development of human thought and culture.)

As Trotsky explained in Culture and Socialism, culture, along with the technology that has accompanied the development of the productive forces, has a contradictory character. It is an instrument of class oppression, but it is not only that. The revolutionary proletariat can no more simply discard bourgeois culture than it can discard machinery and technique, which must be turned into the means of overcoming the anarchy of capitalist production.

Kuhle Wampe (1932)

Eisler, and all other advocates of proletarian culture, stumbled over this contradiction, as Trotsky wrote, approaching class society superficially, semi-idealistically. Capitalism is bad, in other words, and the working class must rid itself of the system and everything about itincluding, if one were to follow the reasoning consistently, the organization of production!

Despite these mistakes, serious and even fatal under the circumstances in Germany at the time, Eisler was himself a contradictory product of the struggles of the working class and the left-wing intelligentsia. His songs reflected the impact and influence of the Russian Revolution, the immense prestige of the Soviet Union. The Eisler-Brecht songs are the voice of militant class struggle, even as Stalinism used them for counterrevolutionary purposes.

When Hitler took power, Eisler was in Vienna. Brecht sent word warning him not to return, and for the next five years Eisler traveled almost continuously. He went to Paris, Prague, London, Vienna and also Moscow. He made two trips to the United States before immigrating in 1938, after he obtained a permanent visa. He taught and composed in New York City for about four years, and then moved to Los Angeles, where he joined Brecht, along with many other European artists and intellectuals who had fled the Nazis.

The time in Hollywood could be described as the third stage of Eislers musical careerafter his studies with Schoenberg and his early compositions, followed by the period of Kampfmusik and other works reflecting his political commitment. In California Eisler wrote the scores for eight films, including Hangmen Also Die! with director Fritz Lang, and None but the Lonely Heart, directed by Clifford Odets. The composer had a low opinion of his work for film, which he said was undertaken primarily because he needed the money. Both of the above films, however, from 1944 and 1945, reflected his classical training, and both were nominated for Oscars.

Although he pronounced himself thoroughly repelled by the conspicuous consumption and commercialism of Hollywood, Eisler also enjoyed the company of a circle of artist friends. He resumed a friendship with his teacher Schoenberg, who was also an exile in Los Angeles, although the two obviously shared little in common politically.

Eislers work in Hollywood came to an abrupt halt with the onset of the Cold War against the Soviet Union. He was one of the first artists called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. The witch-hunters made use of the testimony of his sister, Ruth Fischer, who had much earlier been the general secretary of the KPD for a brief period, but who by this time had become a virulent anticommunist. Eislers older brother Gerhart was accused of being a Soviet spy. Eisler was blacklisted, and despite the active support of such figures as Charlie Chaplin, Aaron Copland and others, he left the US in March 1948 under threat of deportation.

Walter Ulbricht, 1960

Eisler went first to Vienna and then to the Soviet occupied zone of Berlin. At first he may have had misplaced hopes in the newly formed German Democratic Republic, for which he wrote a National Anthem in 1949, with words by Johannes Becher.

Soon, however, Eisler ran into difficulties. When he wrote the opera Johannes Faustus, for which he also wrote the libretto, he came under bitter attack. In the words of East German Stalinist leader Walter Ulbricht, he was accused of having formalistically deformed one of the greatest works of our German poet Goethe. The attack was published in the Stalinist organ Neues Deutschland, recalling a similar attack in Moscows Pravda in 1936, directed against Dmitri Shostakovich for his opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. The accusation of formalism was then the kiss of death for any creative artist.

The Neues Deutschland attack was soon overtaken by a greater threat to the bureaucratic dictatorship, the East German workers uprising of June 1953, brutally put down by the regime. Eisler was plunged into depression by these events, as well as by the death of his longtime collaborator Brecht in 1956. For the rest of his life, he was for the most part left alone by the regime. He continued composing, but his work was largely ignored. Even when he received recognition, this was not followed by public performances. Eisler died after a heart attack in September 1962, at the age of 64.

Much earlier, at the time of the infamous Moscow Trials from 1936-38, in which virtually the entire leadership of the 1917 revolution was framed up and executed by Stalin, both Brecht and Eisler privately expressed misgivings. In 1939, at the time of the Stalin-Hitler Pact, Eisler once again found himself in disagreement. When Nikita Khrushchev gave his famous speech exposing some of Stalins crimes at the 20th Soviet Party Congress in 1956, Eisler was undoubtedly not nearly as shocked as many true believers in the Stalin cult. It is worth noting that neither Brecht nor Eisler emigrated to the USSR under Stalin.

However, Eisler never could explain the reasons for the crimes of Stalinthe interests of the parasitic ruling caste in the Soviet Union, the bureaucracy which steadily undermined and then, with the restoration of capitalism long after Eislers death, completely destroyed the remaining gains of 1917, thus confirming Trotskys analysis of Stalin as the gravedigger of the revolution.

Hangmen Also Die! (1943)

In this regard, there is some connection between the role of Eisler and that of the Frankfurt School. Founded as the Institute for Social Research in 1923 and relocating to the US after the Nazis took power ten years later, the Frankfurt School pioneered critical theory, with its virulent attacks on classical Marxism. Eisler did not take the same path politically, but he shared some of the pessimism of the Frankfurt School, rooted in the class position of the intelligentsia. It is of some significance that Eisler was the co-author, with Theodor Adorno, a leading figure in the Frankfurt School, of Composing for the Films, published in 1947.

In this context, it is perhaps worth taking another look at Brechts lyrics for Song of a German Mother:

My son, I gave you the jackboots,

And the brown shirt came from me,

But had I known what I now know,

Id have hanged myself, Id have hanged myself from a tree. And then I saw you march off, son, following Hitlers train,

And I did not know all those marchers would never come back again,

I saw you wear your brown shirt and did not complain or entreat,

For I did not know what I now know: It was your winding sheet. And when I saw your arm, son,

Raised high in the Hitler salute,

I did not know all those arms, son,

Would wither, would wither, would wither at the root.

The words are indeed powerful. They make no mention, however, of the leadership of the German working class during this period, and of its political responsibilities. The fault for the victory of Hitler is transferred from the leadership, the German Communist Party above all, to the individual mother who did not know what would happen (much as in Brechts Mother Courage and other works). Furthermore, the language implies that the working class supported Hitler, ignoring the fact that the KPD and SPD together enrolled millions of members, and outpolled the Nazis by a significant margin in the last parliamentary election before President Paul von Hindenburg called on Hitler to take on the chancellorship in January 1933.

From time to time there has been renewed interest in Eislers work in the more than six decades since his death. About 30 years ago, Decca Records released the Entartete Musik (Degenerate Music) series of recordings, under the executive production of Michael Haas, and Eisler was well represented in this series. There have also been other recordings, including historic versions of Eisler songs from the late 1920s and early 1930s, rarely performed works such as the Lenin Requiem, dating from 1935, and Ernste Gesange (Serious Songs), Eislers last composition before his death.

Decca Records Entartete Musik

Of particular significance are two large scale works of Eisler: the Hollywood Songbook, composed during the Second World War and recorded about 20 years ago by the noted German baritone Matthias Goerne; and Deutsche Sinfonie (German Symphony), on the theme of the rise of German Nazism. More than an hour in length, this eleven-movement work for soloists, chorus and orchestra was composed over more than two decades, ending in 1958. These and other works show that Eisler was not completely consistent in his earlier rejection of symphonic music. He combines certain elements of the twelve-tone method that he learned from Schoenberg, and had often returned to in the course of his compositional career, with what has been described as cabaret-style songs and some elements reminiscent of Schubert and early romanticism.

There is a partial echo of Eislers attachment to proletarian music in the claims today that the crisis of classical composition and declining audiences can be remedied by programming that largely turns its back on the cultural achievements of the 19th and 20th centuries in favor of a misplaced multiculturalism.

To put it mildly, this is not the answer to the problems faced by classical music today. Social and political struggles will undoubtedly give birth to composers who have something new to offer, something that is both new and also connected to the best of the musical past. But rather than fighting for music education and subsidized ticket prices to attract new audiences, the classical music establishment often dilutes what it offers to the public. A recent example was the decision to cut back and rename the summer Mostly Mozart Festival at New Yorks Lincoln Center, which drew a public criticism from departing conductor Louis Langree.

The odyssey of Hanns Eisler has a broader historical significance. It calls attention to the fundamental lessons of the 20th century, above all the counterrevolutionary role of Stalinism, just as the issues that were posed more than 90 years agothe massive polarization of society amid economic misery and suffering for the majority, the approach of imperialist world war, the growing attacks on democratic rights and the danger of fascismare again raised, now more acutely than ever before. The 20th century remains unfinished. The tasks posed during those decades have reemerged, after a relatively lengthy delay, and the choice remains: socialism, or the barbarism of a third world war that threatens the destruction of human civilization.
Following the June 27 debate between President Joe Biden and ex-President Donald Trump, nominally independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has been campaigning in defense of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.

President Joe Biden, right, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., walk from Marine One upon arrival on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, April 22, 2024, in Washington. [AP Photo/Alex Brandon]

On Friday, Biden tried his best to stanch growing calls from donors and fellow Democrats to step aside. In Madison, Wisconsin he held his second public rally since the debate. It was followed by a pre-taped interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos.

In contrast to the vast majority of the population, who despise the presumptive nominees of both big business parties, Sanders has not only refused to call on the war criminal Biden to withdraw, the phony socialist and hero of the Democratic Socialists of America has instead emerged as one of Bidens most ardent defenders.

In multiple interviews and campaign stops following the debate, Sanders has adopted the Biden campaign line regarding the presidents senile performance: One bad night should not erase a very strong record.



He was not focused, Sanders told Semafor in an interview while campaigning for Biden in central Wisconsin last week. He did not defend a very strong record.

What is this very strong record? Was Sanders referring to Biden and the Democrats joining with the Republicans to block railroad workers from striking in November of 2022? Perhaps he was referring to Biden adopting Trumps anti-immigrant policies, including scrapping asylum laws, separating families and resuming construction of Trumps border wall?

Or was he referring to the fact that under Biden, billionaire wealth has nearly doubled in the last four years, even as over 1 million people died from COVID-19the majority under the Biden administration.

At the heart of the very strong record touted by Sanders is Bidens provision of political and military support for the Israeli regimes genocidal war against the people of Gaza, and his campaign of police attacks and mass arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters, accompanied by slanderous charges of antisemitism against them.

That genocidal policy is itself part of the Biden administrations program of global imperialist war, centered on the US/NATO war against Russia over Ukraine. That conflict has already taken more than 500,000 Ukrainian lives and tens of thousands of Russian lives, and is about to be massively expanded at the NATO summit next week in Washington D.C. It is bringing mankind to the brink of a nuclear holocaust.

Biden should have been loud and clear in telling the American people that he was the first president in American history ever to walk on a picket line, Sanders declared. This was a reference to Bidens carefully crafted and short visit with United Auto Workers officials and Democratic politicians last September in Michigan during the UAWs backstabbing standup strike.

That so-called strike was designed by the UAW bureaucracy, in league with Biden, to keep the vast majority of plants running and minimize the impact of scattered walkouts on the profits of the Big Three auto bosses.



While Sanders promotes Bidens visit to Michigan last year, including in a recent podcast with UAW President Shawn Fain, as proof of Bidens affinity for the working class, in reality it is an expression of the complete integration of the union apparatus with the White House and the corporations against the working class. In the aftermath of the standup strike, the Big Three auto companies have carried out thousands of job cuts and Fain has emerged as one of Bidens top campaign surrogates, alongside fake-left blowhards Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.



In the same Semafor interview, Sanders declared, Biden is the candidate, adding, Ill do my best to get him elected.

As calls for Biden to withdraw grew over the weekend, Biden and Sanders published a joint opinion column in USA Today on July 2. In the column the pair claimed to have made substantial progress in lowering drug prices and standing up to Big Pharma.



This assertion was undercut further on in the article when the pair admitted the pharmaceutical industry makes huge profits. They continued: In fact, 10 top pharmaceutical companies made over $110 billion in profits last year.



Sanders followed up his joint column with Biden with an interview with the AP that was published on July 3. In the interview Sanders again declared, Im going to do everything I can to see that Biden gets reelected.



While Sanders admitted he wasnt confident Biden could win before the debate, after the 81-year-old president incoherently rambled and stood with his mouth agape for roughly 90 minutes, Sanders told the AP:

What we need on the part of the American people is a maturity right nowand that is to understand that what is important are the issues. And the difference between Trump and Biden: day and night.

In fact, it is becoming increasingly difficult to parse the differences between the two right-wing capitalist politicians. During the debate itself, both candidates boasted of their support for the Zionist government of Israel and for even more draconian anti-immigrant policies.



Both have spent the better part of the first half of the year crisscrossing the country, cap in hand, to appeal for donations from billionaires and multi-millionaires on the basis that their unearned wealth will not be infringed upon if they are elected.

This is the third presidential election in a row in which Sanders has encouraged his dwindling pool of supporters to back the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. At the height of his popularity during the 2016 presidential primary, Sanders ended his phony political revolution and told his followers to vote for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In 2020, and now again in 2024, Sanders is all in for Genocide Joe.

Under conditions where workers and young people are outraged over the role of Biden and the Democrats in the genocide in Gaza, the fact that Sanders is adamantly demanding workers and young people exercise maturity and support Biden completely exposes him and the dead-end politics of reforming the Democratic Party.



Sanders repeated efforts to betray workers and trap them in the Democratic Party have produced catastrophic results for the working class. The Democrats have worked with the fascistic Republicans to pass trillion-dollar war budgets while slashing funding for education, Medicaid, housing and other vital social needs.



Workers and youth must draw lessons from the Sanders experience. There is no reforming the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party, including its left-face, the Democratic Socialists of America, and allied sections of the trade union bureaucracy epitomized by Fain and the UAW are tools of the American corporate oligarchy and enemies of the working class.




The cases of two men with scheduled execution dates in the United States have focused attention on the reality that some death row inmates are being sentenced to die and executed despite acknowledgement by prosecutors, courts and politicians that scientific evidence proves they could not have committed the crimes for which they stand accused.

Missouri has set a September 24 execution date for Marcellus Williams despite DNA evidence from the crime scene that convincingly demonstrates that he did not commit the murder. In Texas, Robert Roberson is scheduled to be executed October 17 based largely on the testimony of an expert witness who cited a scientific theory on the victims death that has subsequently been debunked.

St. Louis County Circuit Court schedules August 21 hearing for Marcellus Williams

The WSWS has written on the case of Marcellus Khaliifah Williams, 55, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the August 1998 murder of Felicia Ann Gayle, a former St. Louis reporter who was found stabbed to death in her home in 1998. Williams has consistently maintained his innocence. He has spent more than two decades on death row.

Marcellus Williams [Photo: Missouri Department of Corrections]

In January, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion to vacate Williams conviction because newly presented DNA evidence when paired with the relative paucity of other, credible evidence supporting guilt  casts inexorable doubt on Mr. Williams conviction and sentence. None of the forensic evidence at the crime scene, including fingerprints, footprints, hair and trace DNA on the murder weapon, has been tied to Williams.

Williams came within hours of execution on August 22, 2017, when then-governor Eric Greitens stayed the execution and convened a board of inquiry to investigate the case based on this new evidence. But the current governor, Mike Parson, dissolved this board before it had even issued a report or recommendation. The Missouri Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit by Williams against the governor and scheduled a new, September 24 execution date.

In a new development on July 2, a judge in the Circuit Court of St. Louis County scheduled an August 21 hearingjust little more than a month before Williams impending executedto assess the clear and convincing evidence that led the prosecuting attorney to move to vacate Williams wrongful conviction and death sentence. The case has been taken up by the Midwest Innocence Project and has provoked outrage among death penalty opponents and others concerned with justice. A petition demanding the execution be stopped had garnered 484,487 signatures as of this writing.

Texas sets October 17 execution date for Robert Roberson III

On July 1, the Third Judicial District Court in Anderson County, Texas set an October 17 execution date for Robert Roberson III. If executed, Roberson would be the first person in the US executed based on now discredited scientific criteria for determining shaken baby syndrome (SBS). The court scheduled the execution without granting Robersons previously filed request for a hearing.

Robert Roberson III [AP Photo/Texas Department of Criminal Justice ]

The case concerns the January 2002 death of 2-year-old Nikki Curtis. Everything about the conviction of Nikkis father, Roberson, for his daughters tragic death exposes how the death penalty is meted out against societys most vulnerable. It demonstrates as well the willingness of authorities to dispense with science and railroad innocent individuals to execution, even when new evidence emerges and expert witnesses and some of those involved in a defendants arrest and prosecution demand it be halted.

Nikki was born to a mother suffering from addiction and homelessness. Nikkis maternal grandparents voluntarily transferred the childs custody to Roberson in November 2001. Roberson says that when he gained custody, he was not fully aware of his daughters medical history, including frequent ear infections and breathing apnea, which would lead her to stop breathing and collapse.

Roberson did not receive the support he needed to care for his sick child. Roberson had been a special education student who dropped out of school in the ninth grade. At the time of Nikkis death, he was suffering from undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder. He worked multiple paper routes in his hometown of Palestine, Texas, to try to support his family.

Despite these difficult conditions, he demonstrated concern for his daughters well-being in the days leading up to her collapse on January 31, 2002. He took her to her pediatrician on January 29, 2002, where her temperature measured 104.5 degrees. She was diagnosed with respiratory illness, possibly viral, but was sent home with a second prescription for Phenergan/promethazine, which included the narcotic codeine. She had been prescribed a different form of the same medication the day before at the ER. Phenergan is no longer prescribed for children of Nikkis age or condition because it suppresses breathing and does not treat a respiratory illness.

On the night Nikki collapsed, Roberson heard a strange cry and awoke to Nikki lying on the floor at the foot of the bed. He did not find anything wrong except a small speck of blood on her mouth. They both went back to sleep, but when he woke up several hours later he found her unconscious with blue lips and rushed her to the ER.

Doctors and nurses at the hospital treated Roberson with suspicion. They doubted his explanation that his daughters injuries had resulted from a fall out of bed and, not knowing he had autism, were concerned over his lack of emotion.

A head CT scan performed on Nikki found a small subdural bleed and brain swelling, but no skull fractures, broken bones or signs of battery. Nikki never regained consciousness and was transferred to Childrens Medical Center of Dallas, where she was later pronounced dead.

Before an autopsy was even performed, Dr. Janet Squiresthe in-house child abuse pediatriciansubmitted an affidavit with her diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome to the Palestine police. An autopsy would find that she had Phenergan in her system. Medical Examiner Jill Urban claimed that Nikkis death was caused by blunt force head injuries.

Dr. Urban relied on the presenting triad of subdural bleeding, brain swelling and retinal hemorrhages, which were consistent with shaken baby syndrome, according to medical consensus at the time. She ruled the death a homicide. Roberson was arrested and was not even allowed to travel to Dallas to see his daughter. At trial, Roberson was convicted based largely on the testimony of doctors who said his daughter had died from SBS by his hand.

In 2016, the Court of Criminal Appeals stopped his execution and sent the case back to the trial court after the medical community began to question the legitimacy of SBS diagnoses based on a triad of symptoms, without considering other causes and a babys medical history.

Robersons attorneys cited overwhelming new evidence that Nikki died of natural and accidental causes, and not head trauma. They argued that the child had severe, undiagnosed pneumonia, and that the medication prescribed had further suppressed her breathing.

The lead detective in Robersons case, Brian Wharton, now opposes the execution. The Innocence Project quotes him:

I testified for the prosecution and helped send Mr. Roberson to death row in 2003. For over 20 years, I have thought that something went very wrong in Mr. Robersons case and feared that justice was not served. I have come to believe that Nikki died of accidental and natural causes and that there was no crime. I am convinced that Mr. Roberson is innocent.

In January 2023, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied Roberson a new trial. Prosecutors argued that the evidence still supported a conviction and that the science around SBS had not changed as much as the defense attorneys claimed.

Those opposing Robert Robersons execution include Stanford University Professor Emeritus Patrick Barnes, who, together with 15 other leading physicians and scientists, signed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the US Supreme Court to review or vacate Robersons conviction and death sentence. In October 2023, the high court declined to consider an appeal in Robersons case.

In a September 21, 2023 column in Bloomberg Law, Barnes wrote:

Over the past two decades, there has been a revolution in the understanding of internal pediatric head conditions, which has shown that numerous naturally occurring illnesses can affect a child in the manner previously attributed to SBS. My own extensive research was key to the evolution of the science and to discrediting SBS. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, at least 30 people served years or decades in prison after convictions involving the SBS theory before being exonerated. But the law, in many cases, has not kept up with the science. Many experts who originally supported the SBS hypothesis, including me, believe we have a duty to help vacate convictions that are based on old and false assumptions. In one case, Robert Roberson, an innocent father, is facing execution in Texas for a crime that never occurred.

To date, an Innocence Project petition to stop Robert Robersons execution has 14,397 signatures.
Sir Keir Starmer takes his place at the head of a Labour government on a collision course with the British working class. He owes his landslide victory entirely to the hatred with which the Conservative government of the last 14 years was viewed, the thoroughly undemocratic first-past-the-post system, and the fact that widespread left-wing sentiment has found no organised socialist expression.

These factors have placed a new reactionary monster in power, far to the right of any previous Labour leader, with little more than a third of the popular vote on a near record-low turnout. Tony Blair took several years to earn his reputation as a criminal for his participation in the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, and as a Thatcherite social arsonist for his encouragement of inequality and privatisation.

Britain's Labour Party Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer makes speech 10 Downing Street in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Labour leader Starmer won the general election on July 4, and was appointed prime minister by King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. [AP Photo/Kin Cheung]

Starmer begins his premiership with blood on his hands from his endorsement of the Gaza genocide and the Ukraine war, already voicing fierce opposition to the social demands of the working class, and committed to police repression of anti-genocide protesters. He speaks, in the language of the political right, of uniting the country and placing country before party. But the country is rent in two, and former chief prosecutor Starmer and his government stand on the side of the banks, the corporations and the military-security apparatus.

The question many workers and young people around the country will be asking themselves, just a couple of days after handing Rishi Sunaks Tories an unprecedented electoral defeat, is: How do we get rid of their replacements? Starmers own personal majority in his local seat, and those of many of his ministers, were slashed by half or more even on election night.

Significant votes for independents, and to some extent the Green Party, show the desire for a political alternative. But the candidates receiving these ballots are representatives of the totally bankrupt protest, pacifist, pseudo-reformist politics which has defined opposition to the political establishment for decades and created the present sense of impasse and frustration.

As in Europe and the United States, there is a danger that this drives workers to the far-right in their search for a way out. Although the Reform Party largely gained its support by hiving off the extreme right of the Tory base, its 14 percent vote total is a warning that the rise of Trump and Le Pen is rooted in a global process of betrayals of working class interests.

The only way forward is through a struggle against pseudo-left politics. Workers who are serious about a fight for socialism in the UK must above all draw the lessons of the Corbyn experience.

Winning two commanding victories in the Labour leadership elections of 2015 and 2016, Corbyn had an overwhelming mandate to destroy the Tory Party mark two run by the Blairites. Instead, he gave every Labour MP protection inside his broad church party, where they plotted to slander and expel his supporters, sabotage his chances of election and remove him from politics. Starmer began his march to power from Corbyns own shadow cabinet.

Had Corbyn taken up a fight against his sworn opponents, the whole constellation of British politics would have been transformed. The former Labour leader won close to 13 million votes in the 2017 election, versus Starmers slightly more than 9 million. But he has maintained his prostration before the Labour Party to this day, even after being expelled from its ranks for standing as an independenta step he had to be forced into taking, and only at the eleventh hour.

Interviewed by the Evening Standard ahead of the election, Corbyn explained that he would of course be glad to see Labour win and that he would back the party in parliament on the good stuff it does. His campaign in Islington North was carefully limited so as not to conflict directly with Starmer.

Once again, Corbyn sat on the potential for a mass movement against the Labour Party. Trouncing Labours Praful Nargund, winning 50 percent more votes, he could have spearheaded a national movement against its candidates among workers and young people who instead voted anti-Tory and reluctantly for Starmer, looked to a disparate array of independents and Greens, or refused to vote.

It was, is and always will be, Corbyns choice not to do so because the alpha and omega of his politics is to prevent any clash between the working class and his beloved Labour Partyan organisation with more than a centurys history of betrayal of workers struggles and aspirations. He maintains a personal following for this position by relying on the pragmatism of electoral politics and cynicism towards the possibility of overthrowing capitalism.

Such debilitating conceptions must be broken with. They play far more of a role in keeping the Starmers of the world in power than any of their own non-existent strengths.

As if to prove the point, in just a few days time, Starmer will be flying to Washington D.C. to take part in a NATO summit of the political walking dead. He will join French President Emmanuel Macron, whose Ensemble party will likely have been barely kept in government by the grace of the New Popular Front. The senile US President Joe Biden, teetering on the edge of forced removal as the Democratic candidate, and the discredited German Chancellor Olaf Scholz complete the house of cards at the heart of the imperialist alliance.

But these invalids are nonetheless planning for a war and wartime austerity of staggering dimensions. The topic of discussion will be how to fight the next stage of the war between the imperialist powers and Russia in Ukraine and how to fund it through the ramped-up exploitation of the working class and the destruction of public services. Plans for conscription and state repression will also be high on the agenda.

For its part, Labour has already committed to an increase in defence spending costing tens of billions and a modernisation of its nuclear weapons, including building four nuclear submarines, costing many billions more.

This is the fundamental contradiction at the heart of todays world political situation, which comes down to the crisis of leadership in the working class. The ruling elite is taking enormous risks out of the desperation of its weak and crisis-ridden social position, but if a revolutionary movement does not wrench power from them, they will plunge society deeper and deeper into barbarism.

Workers and young people are tasked with building that revolutionary movement. In Britain, broad opposition to the Gaza genocide must be made the starting point for a struggle against the Labour government and its programme of imperialist war.

The Socialist Equality Party will be taking up that challenge. Our election campaign was aimed at breaking the conspiracy of silence maintained by the capitalist media, the major parties, the trade unions and what passes for the left over the acute dangers facing the working class, and at building a socialist alternative to Starmers party of genocide and war. It was based on our rejection of Corbynism and our nine-year record of struggle against it.

That perspective has been totally vindicated. It must now be taken up by all socialist workers and young people throughout the UK.
UCLA academic workers on strike in Los Angeles, California, May 28, 2024.

The strike by tens of thousands of academic workers at the University of California (UC) against the police crackdown on protests against the Gaza genocide came to a formal end on June 30th with the expiration of the strike authorization mandate.

At the height of a powerful three-week struggle, the UC Regentscomprised of the top state officials including Governor Gavin Newsomobtained a court injunction in their favor which placed a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the strike and promoted the UC administrations argument that the strike was illegal.

The injunction was dutifully obeyed by the United Auto Workers (UAW) bureaucracy, which did not want the strike and was struggling for a way to end it. The bureaucracy, modeling the actions after the bogus stand-up strike which paved the way for mass layoffs in the auto industry, at first restricted walkouts to only a single campus.

It was only after a rank-and-file rebellion threatened to escape their control that the union was eventually forced to call out 6 out of 10 campuses and around 30,000 out of 48,000 members in Local 4811.

The UAW also limited the strike in advance to end on June 30 in the strike authorization vote it conducted in early May. Academic workers learned of this arbitrary time limit only upon opening their strike authorization ballots.

Not only did the UAW bow to the injunction, but voluntarily allowed it to be extended. Last week the UC Presidents office released a statement that read: Both parties agreed to extend a temporary restraining order (TRO) through June 30. Since UAW had only authorized the strike through June 30, this extension signifies a formal end to the strike.

This has allowed the UC administration to go on the offensive. It is working to enforce a more expansive interpretation of the no strike clause contained in the UAW contract, itself a sellout which the bureaucracy imposed on workers after selling out an earlier strike in 2022.

Missy Matella, associate vice president of UC Systemwide Employee and Labor Relations added to the statement that While we are relieved this strike is over, we continue to seek clarity that our no-strike clauses are enforceable and that we can rely on our contracts to provide labor peace through the term of our agreements, supporting UCs ability to provide critical academic and research services to our community.

Even though the contract contains blanket bans on strikes, the argument that this includes strikes against unfair labor practice issues such as the UCs retaliation against academic workers for political speech is completely false. Nevertheless, the UCs argument is currently being considered by the states Public Employment Relations Board. If the Board sides with the UC, it would be a major attack on the basic right to strike in California as well as the United States.

The decision to extend the restraining order exposes the bureaucracy as tools of not just the UC administration, but of the courts and the pro-war political establishment.

UAW president Shawn Fain is a surrogate of Genocide Joe Biden, installed in a sham election with only 9 percent turnout two years ago. He is one of the most visible campaigners for this senile warmonger, whose campaign for re-election is on the verge of collapse. The UAW bureaucracy has routinely shielded Biden from pro-Palestine protests, such as when it threw out protesters during Bidens speech accepting the UAW endorsement and later when it worked with riot cops to shield Biden from protests at a trip to Detroit.

Meanwhile, the union bureaucracy in the UAW, as well as the Teamsters and other major unions, are imposing the governments policy of mass layoffs by enforcing sellout contracts and blocking strikes. The White House also sees the unions as key to enforcing labor peace at home while it prepares to launch even more criminal wars abroad.

However, there are significant cracks opening up in this corporatist policy. This is first of all expressed in the deep crisis of the Biden administration itself, and the real possibility that Biden may be forced to step aside as the Democratic candidate due to concerns over his physical and mental fitness for the job.

A parallel crisis has opened up in the UAW. Shawn Fain is being investigated on corruption allegations by a federal monitor. A judge also recently sided with Will Lehman, a socialist autoworker who ran against Fain for president, in his lawsuit over the massive suppression of voter turnout in the union election.

On Friday, the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees issued a call for new elections in the UAW, overseen by the rank-and-file. The exposure of election fraud, combined with the continued sellout of workers interests and corruption, makes an indisputable case for the holding of a new UAW election, the statement declared. But workers cannot rely on the Labor Department, the UAW monitor or the courts to defend their rights. If a genuinely democratic election is to be held, rank-and-file workers must fight for it and oversee it.

In spite of the ruthlessness of the government and the sellouts of the bureaucracy, the fight against war will only continue to grow in strength. Workers must draw the lessons from this strategic experience.

As the WSWS wrote at the end of the UC strike, The chief lesson of the University of California strike is that the working class must become the basic force against war. This cannot be done without first settling accounts with the pro-capitalist, pro-war political system and the trade union bureaucracy which defends it.




Image source: Getty Images

The shelves and aisles at every Costco store are full of thousands of items, but did you know that just one item helps Costco make billions of dollars per year? Costco still wants to sell you hot dogs, groceries, toilet paper, furniture, appliances, and other big-ticket items, but the store makes a major amount of revenue just by selling one thing: memberships.

That's right: if you buy a Costco membership ($60 for the lower-cost Gold Star membership, or $120 for the Executive membership), you are helping Costco make reliable recurring revenue. This, in turn, keeps costs low. Since Costco makes so much money from memberships, it can afford to make smaller margins on everything else.

Let's look closer at what the Costco membership means for Costco's business -- and for your personal finances.

How much does Costco make from membership fees?

According to Costco's latest annual report (December 2023), last year the company generated $4.6 billion from membership fees alone. That's a small percentage of Costco's total sales ($237.7 billion) but a large percentage of Costco's profit ("net income") of $6.3 billion. Another way of thinking about it is that Costco's membership fees were equal to about 73% of Costco's profits.

Does it feel unfair to pay money for permission to shop at a store? Costco members don't think so; they tend to be extremely loyal and keep coming back. Costco now has 128 million members and a 90% membership renewal rate. Clearly, millions of members are getting enough value from that annual fee.

Why Costco membership matters for Costco shoppers

According to CNBC, Costco CEO Ron Vachris said the Costco membership is, "The most important item we sell." He added, "Everything we do supports that transaction." Essentially, ensuring members keep coming back and renewing their Costco memberships is at the core of the business.

As a Costco member, you get special deals and discounts on a surprisingly wide range of items and services, including:

Gasoline: Costco gas is often lower-priced than nearby gas stations.

Food: As well as Costco's big discounts on bulk grocery items, the famous Costco $1.50 hot dog combo meal is in such high demand that Costco has had to crack down on non-members trying to eat at the food courts.

Tires: Costco tire prices are often competitive with (or better than) nearby discount tire warehouses.

TVs and appliances: You can get new appliances and big-screen TVs delivered to your house by Costco staff. The service includes customer-friendly warranties and concierge support.

Healthcare: Need an eye appointment or a lower cost on prescription drugs? Costco can help. It even offers a special deal for members to use the Sesame telehealth service.

Treasure hunts: One fun aspect of being a Costco member is wandering the aisles to find surprisingly great deals on items you didn't even know you needed, like patio dining sets, sectional sofas, seasonal deals, laptops, and tech gadgets.

Story continues

Check out our guide on maximizing your Costco rewards for more ways to get the most value out of your membership.

Bottom line

Costco earns about 73% of its profits from membership fees. That's a good sign for Costco shoppers' bank accounts, because it means the store really is trying to offer the best possible deals at the lowest prices. Since Costco has a membership loyalty rate of 90%, this is a good sign that most Costco members feel like the value of a Costco membership is well worth the cost.

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If youre shopping with a debit card, you could be missing out on hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year. These versatile credit cards offer huge rewards everywhere, including Costco, and are rated the best cards of 2024 by our experts because they offer hefty sign-up bonuses and outstanding cash rewards. Plus, youll save on credit card interest because all of these recommendations include a competitive 0% interest period.

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We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

This One Item Helps Costco Earn Billions of Dollars per Year -- It's Not Rotisserie Chicken was originally published by The Motley Fool
Take up the fight against job cuts and the sellout Teamsters bureaucrats! Join the UPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee by filling out the form below.

A United Parcel Service driver sorts his deliveries, on New York's Upper West Side. [AP Photo/Richard Drew]

UPS is set to temporarily close two more of its hubs for retooling into automated facilities, employing a fraction of the labor. The two facilities are its warehouses in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Swan Island facility in Portland, Oregon.

The Baltimore hub closure has already been widely reported and will affect approximately 540 workers when the facility closes at the end of this August. But the closure of Swan Island is being reported for the first time by the WSWS on the basis of knowledgeable sources inside the building. Swan Island employs well over 1,000 people.

According to the source, Swan Island is expected to become fully automated as of next year.

The closures are part of an escalating assault on jobs as part of the companys Network of the Future. In a meeting earlier this year with top investors, UPS executives explained this restructuring program would aim to close 200 facilities and automate everything. This is on top of 12,000 mostly white collar job cuts already announced this year.

The automation-driven cuts at UPS are part of a global jobs bloodbath by major corporations. US-based companies alone have already announced around 1 million layoffs since the start of last year, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. A separate study found that 4 in 10 business leaders expect artificial intelligence to be a major factor in layoffs in their industries this year. Instead of using advances in labor-saving technologies to ease the burden of work and improve living conditions for the vast majority, under capitalism they are being used to squeeze out every last ounce of profits from the working class.

The jobs of as much as 80 percent of UPSs inside workforce are threatened by the automation drive. According to one HR insider:

About 90 percent of the existing UPS facilities are conventional, meaning a single package might be touched by 10 people as it goes from truck to truck. The unloading, sorting, bagging, sorting for re-load, and physically loading a truck again are all done by union employees in a conventional building, so it is much slower and far more prone to error. In an automated facility, the unloading is done by hand. Everything in between, the sorting, scanning, routing, et cetera, is all done by computers, and finally it is re-loaded by hand. Thats 2 people touching a package; not 10.

New automated hubs employ only a fraction the traditional workforce. The companys new Velocity hub in Louisville, Kentucky, requires only 200 people to move 350,000 packages per day.

Based on this, it is reasonable to assume that the Baltimore hub will reopen with a workforce of a little more than 100 people, while Swan Island will reopen with a little more than 200.

According to UPS itself, these layoffs are made possible by labor certainty provided by the new Teamsters contract, which the bureaucracy rammed through its 340,000 members at UPS employing massive fraud, falsely claiming it represented a historic victory.

Soon after the contract was ratified, UPS began laying off entire sort shifts at hubs around the country, including at Swan Island and Baltimore.

The Teamsters still have not even acknowledged the job cuts or the Network of the Future. Earlier this year, General President Sean OBrien held a so-called webinar, lasting only a few minutes, referring vaguely to a contract enforcement campaign. In fact, the contract contains no provisions against facility closures or the use of technology to eliminate jobs. The company is required only to give 45 days notice before such cuts are carried out.

When confronted at a local meeting in Portland earlier this year by a group of workers, a member of the national bargaining team blurted out that UPS had a right to lay off workers.

A source in Swan Island told the WSWS that local bureaucrats were well aware of the automation plans but have not said anything to avoid a panicin other words, that workers might mobilize independent of the sellout union officials to stop the layoffs.

Meanwhile, the new Teamsters administration, hailed by pseudo-left quarters as the leaders of a resurgent reform movement in the US trade unions, are openly courting the extreme right. OBrien has met numerous times with Donald Trump and is slated to speak at the Republican National Convention this month, which will have the character of a fascist rally.

Neither the Democratic Socialists of America nor its house organ Jacobin magazine has given any accounting for how a figure whom they hailed as a key ally in the fight for union democracy has turned out to be a fascist sympathizer.

Meanwhile, opposition is building among the rank and file at UPS. The UPS Workers Rank-and-File Committee, formed last year to oppose the sellout contract, has issued statements demanding answers on the layoffs and calling on workers to organize themselves against the layoffs in rebellion against the union bureaucracy. In an open letter to Sean OBrien in April, the committee declared Teamsters officials were deliberately concealing information on the layoffs and demanded the full release of all information the bureaucracy has on where, how and when the cuts will take place.

The reason that we are demanding this information is so that the rank and file has access to the critical information it needs to organize a fight against layoffs from below, the statement declared. We have no illusions that you and the rest of the bureaucracy will suddenly see the light and come to our side. Youve already given your answer with your stony silence.

The statement concluded: We workers have every right to take all action deemed necessary to protect our jobs, regardless or whether you choose to sanction them or not. If you will not fight the layoffs, then get out of the way so that UPS workers can do it ourselves.
The US-led NATO military alliance will establish a separate command dedicated to the war against Russia in Ukraine at next weeks summit in Washington, D.C., NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday.

Stoltenberg announced that NATO will take over the coordination and provision of most international security assistance to Ukraine under a command led by a three-star general, and around 700 personnel working at a NATO headquarters in Germany.

Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg meets NATO troops at an airbase in Tallinn, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP) [AP Photo/Leon Neal]

In addition to the measures announced by Stoltenberg Friday, US press reports have indicated that NATO will station a high-ranking civilian official inside Ukraine itself and may officially launch what is being called internally NATO Mission Ukraine.

The movesboth announced and as yet unannouncedwill mark the end of the fiction promoted by the Biden administration and other NATO governments that NATO is not a party to the war in Ukraine.

In 2022 and 2023, as the Biden administration worked to flood Ukraine with weapons and escalate the conflict with Russia, the US asserted that the arming of Ukraine was not being carried out by NATO, but by individual countries on an individual basis.

This is a war between Russia and Ukraine. NATO is not involved, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said in January 2023.

But this fiction is to be officially abandoned at the Washington Summit. The Wall Street Journal quoted a US official as saying, Since NATO allies have provided over 90% of total security assistance to Ukraine, NATO is the natural place to coordinate assistance to ensure Ukraine is more capable of defending itself now and in the future.

To date, the arming of Ukraine and the NATO powers coordination of the war have been conducted through the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an informal group of 50 countries led by the US.

With the Washington summit, that group will be supplanted through the direct coordination by NATO of the war.

Reuters reported, meanwhile, that an official NATO mission in Ukraine is being actively discussed for announcement at the meeting:

Some officials initially used the word mission to describe the new effort, which is expected to be under the command of a three-star NATO general based in Germany. They referred to it by the acronym NMU - for NATO Mission Ukraine.

The creation of the NATO command, Stoltenberg said, will constitute a bridge to NATO membership for Ukraine.

At last years NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, NATO declared in its communique that Ukraines future is in NATO. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that this years communique will expand this language, and is likely to describe Ukraines bid to join NATO as irreversible.

In framing the European military rearmament targeting Russia, Stoltenberg declared that Russias aggression against Ukraine began in 2014, not with the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Since 2014, Stoltenberg said,

NATO has fundamentally transformed. Today, we have 500,000 troops on high readiness; combat-ready battlegroups in the eastern part of the Alliance for the first time; more high-end capabilities, including fifth-generation aircraft; and two highly committed new members with Finland and Sweden.

Stoltenberg declared that allies are set to endorse a pledge that will strengthen transatlantic defense industrial cooperation, to boost production. We will also further enhance our ballistic missile defenses, with a new Aegis Ashore base in Poland.

Pointing to the massive rearmament taking place throughout the NATO alliance, Stoltenberg boasted that defense spending across European allies and Canada is up 18% this year alone, the biggest increase in decades.

The summit takes place against the backdrop of a massive expansion of NATO. In an article published in Foreign Affairs ahead of the summit, Stoltenberg said:

There are half a million troops at high readiness across all domains, land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace, prepared to defend every NATO ally at any time. They train to work seamlessly together through large and demanding exercises, such as this years Steadfast Defender exercise, which saw North American troops cross the Atlantic, move across Europe, and exercise with European forces involving some 90,000 troops in total.

Ahead of the summit, US officials demanded the end of any restrictions on direct US involvement in the conflict. Stop having Ukraine fight with one arm tied behind their back. They are artificially restraining Ukraine from defending itself, Republican House Intelligence Chairman Michael R. Turner told the Washington Post in an interview.

Turner called for explicit approval by the United States of strikes deeper inside Russia using NATO weapons, declaring, Ukraine needs intelligence about valid military targets inside Russia and approval to do so.

Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen added, We must continue to signal on a bipartisan basis that Russia does not have a veto over Ukraines NATO membership aspirations.

This week, US bases throughout Europe went on their highest alert status outside of wartime, which the New York Times wrote was in response to threats from the Kremlin over Ukraines use of long-range weapons on Russian territory.

In April, the Biden administration began supplying Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missiles. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan subsequently asserted that the US is allowing Ukraine to use US-provided weapons to strike anywhere inside Russian territory.

Last month, CNN reported that the Biden administration is moving to lift a ban on military contractors working directly inside Ukraine, further expanding direct US military involvement in the war.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies titled its preview of the NATO summit, Is NATO Ready for War?

It declared:

While NATO might be ready for war, the question remains whether it is ready to fight and thereby deter a protracted war. To meet this goal, allies still need to spend more [and] boost industrial capacity.

The Washington summit takes place against the backdrop of a deepening political crisis in the United States, amid calls within the Democratic Party for Biden to withdraw as the Democratic nominee.

In defending his record, Biden pointed to the escalation of the US-NATO conflict with Russia, declaring, Im the guy that shot Putin down, and I was also the guy that expanded NATO.
Petronas, the Malaysian national oil company, has awarded a contract to ABL for rig inspection services across its offshore assets in Indonesia.

The one-year contract, which includes an optional one-year extension, will see ABL provide a range of services including rig assurance, technical risk assessments, equipment-focused inspections, drilling readiness peer reviews and client representation.

ABL, part of the ABL Group listed in Norway, is an independent consultancy group that offers various solutions to the energy sector.

Its Indonesian team based in Jakarta will oversee the project, supported by their new office in Batam.

ABL Indonesia country manager Deddy Setiyatno said: Our rig inspection experts have extensive industry experience and in-depth knowledge across all types of rigs.

We have a well-developed set-up that is tailored to make the rig inspection process as efficient, consistent and transparent as possible while also de-risking the impact of rig operations on the local marine environments. We look forward to supporting Petronas offshore Indonesia.

The contract follows Petronas' recent agreement with Vestigo Petroleum, through Malaysia Petroleum Management, for a production sharing contract in the NBE Cluster off the coast of Sabah.

This predominantly gas discovery cluster is comparable with the mature Samarang field, known for its production capabilities.

In May this year, Petronas Suriname E&P, a subsidiary of the company, made a hydrocarbon discovery at the Fusaea-1 well within Suriname's offshore block 52.

Block 52, covering an area of 4,749km, is part of the Suriname-Guyana basin and is jointly operated by Petronas and ExxonMobil, each holding a 50% interest.

"Petronas awards ABL contract for rig inspection services in Indonesia " was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Its official. Rishi Sunak is no longer the U.K. Prime Minister. His long and winding road to the Number 10 exit door has felt inevitable since he took over from the economically disastrous, short-lived Liz Truss government in the autumn of 2022.

But 44-year-old Sunakreportedly found riding off into the Californian sunset on his Peloton before results landedis more likely to be licking his lips at the future that awaits him than stewing over what could have been with another five years in office.

Thats because Sunak, a man who is technically richer than the King of England and has a past as a high-flying London banker, can prepare for a few more lucrative perks as he steps away from a life of service.

Sunaks millions

As prime minister, Sunak was entitled to a salary of 80,000, in addition to his 91,346 salary as a member of parliament for his Richmond and Northallerton constituency. Tax records show that last year, he took home 139,000 ($177,000) from those roles.

His pay packet for leading the U.K. is a meager sum compared to what he got used to before entering politics and even his other forms of income while he held the job. Sunak made nearly 1.8 million in capital gains last year and paid a total of 500,000 in tax.

Sunak worked as a successful banker for years, starting at Goldman Sachs before achieving an MBA and returning to the lucrative hedge fund space.

According to an analysis by efinancialcareers, Sunak probably only earned less than 100,000 in his first three years out of university.

While working at the hedge fund TCI between 2006 and 2009 in his mid-20s, Sunak became a multimillionaire after he and his colleagues shared a 100 million pot after a lucrative bet in the buildup to the global financial crisis.

The hedge fund took an activist position in the Dutch bank ABN Amro in 2007, forcing its sale to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which resulted in a 555.9 million profit. However, that acquisition saddled the Scottish bank with debt, leading to a 45.5 billion government bailout.

While Sunak's biggest riches will probably come after he eventually resigns as an MP, there are several new income avenues he can eventually look forward to.

Evidence suggests that if Sunak returns to the finance world after he leaves politics, he will be in high demand.

Sunaks fellow former chancellor George Osbourne has minted fresh millions through city advisory roles with groups including Blackrock and Robey Warshaw, in addition to his time editing Londons Evening Standard newspaper.

Or, he could take a cautious lesson from David Cameron. The man who served as PM between 2010 and 2016 landed himself in hot water over his role in the collapsed finance group Greensill Capital.

Story continues

Cameron reportedly got $10 million from Greensill to lobby the government on behalf of the company, but his spokesperson disputed that figure.

Speaking engagements

The easiest mileage for Sunaks bank account after leaving office will likely see him harness his years of training as a public speaker.

Tony Blair, the ninth-longest running PM of all time, set a marker after he retired, reportedly commanding 1 million in a month in 2012 from his engagements. His Tory successors have been keen to follow that trend.

In the year between stepping down as prime minister and resigning as an MP, the mercurial Boris Johnson bagged millions of dollars from extracurricular activities as he settled into post-leadership life.

Documents from May 2023 show Johnson was paid around 3.5 million for speaking engagements after stepping down as PM. He also received a 510,000 advance on a book deal. Theresa May, Johnsons predecessor, has also enjoyed the speaking circuit since quitting as PM in 2019.

Family wealth

What is unique for Sunak among his contemporaries, however, is that the PM never needs to work again.

Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, are worth a combined 651 million ($830 million), according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List, making him richer than King Charles.

The vast majority of that wealth comes from Murtys holdings in the Indian IT company Infosys, which her billionaire father co-founded.

Murtys wealth was a hot point of contention during Sunaks premiership owing to her non-dom status, which meant she didnt pay tax on income from shares in the foreign-owned Infosys. Murty vowed to pay U.K. tax on this after a media storm.

Sunak will remain an MP until he decides otherwise, like Boris Johnson or David Cameron before him.

But when he does go, the man who led the Tories to their worst defeat in more than a century will quickly be absorbed into a multimillion-dollar corporate cushion shared by most of his former allies.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
The OTT platform DisneyPlus Hotstar offers a plethora of content to entertain viewers. From romance and comedy to crime thrillers, the streaming service has everything. Even in the first half of 2024, the platform saw various web series releases.

While Bad Cop introduces another criminal drama, the animated series Baahubali: Crown Of Blood extended the franchise made by SS Rajamouli. The list of the best Hindi web series of 2024 is below.

Bad Cop

Bad Cop is DisneyPlus Hotstars latest crime drama. The web series follows the story of twin brothers Karan and Arjun. While Karan grows up to be a cop, Arjun becomes a thief. When Karan is missing after a shootout, Arjun takes his place to bring down the functions of a gangster named Kazbe. Its synopsis reads, Twin brothers on the opposite sides of the law get caught in a complex web of deceit, loyalty, and betrayal.

The web series has several talented actors, including Gulshan Devaiah, Anurag Kashyap, Saurabh Sachdeva, Harleen Sethi, Aishwarya Sushmita, and others.

The Legend Of Hanuman Season 4

The fourth season of the popular animated web series The Legends Of Hanuman also came out in 2024. It focuses on Lord Hanumans fight with Ravan. The Legends Of Hanuman Season 4s official synopsis reads, As the war intensifies in Ravans majestic Lanka, Hanuman faces mightier foes for his Lord Ram and his vaanar sena.

The web series is available to watch in seven languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, and Kannada.

Karmma Calling

Karmma Calling saw Raveena Tandon get back to the OTT world. The web series follows the story of her character, Indrani Kothari, who is worried about her popularity when the gorgeous Karma Talwar joins the society. However, it is soon revealed that Karma has a dark past that she can never leave behind. Besides Tandon, the DisneyPlus Hotstar web series also cast Namrata Sheth, Varun Sood, Viraf Patel, and others.

Baahubali: Crown Of Blood

Baahubali: Crown Of Blood is another addition to the Baahubali franchise created by celebrated filmmaker SS Rajamouli. However, the show is based on years before the events of the Baahubali film franchise. The animated web series has pleased the audience with its intense script. It features how Amrendra Baahubali and Bhallaldev once got together to get rid of one of the most powerful villains that Mahishmati has ever faced.

What made the animated series special was it brought the original cast back together to dub their respective characters.

Lootere

Lootere is another Hotstar original created by Hansal Mehta and Shailesh R Singh. The web series is based on the story of a hijacked ship off the coast of Somalia. It stars Vivek Gomber, Preetika Chawla, Amruta Khanvilkar, Rajat Kapoor, Chandan Roy Sanyal, and Gaurav Paswala. Its official synopsis reads, When pirates hijack a ship off the coast of Somalia, a high-stakes game is played with innocent lives and a precious piece of cargo aboard.

Showtime

Emraan Hashmi starred in the 2024 web series Showtime. The star-studded show also has Naseeruddin Shah, Mouni Roy, Mahima Makwana, and Rajeev Khandelwal. Mihir Kumar and Archit Desai created the show, whose synopsis reads, An epic saga of legacy and ambition, get a glimpse behind the multimillion-dollar industry of Bollywood, nepotism, and power struggles at the top. It throws light on Bollywood and its darker side.

In conclusion, the first two quarters of 2024 saw a variety of web series arriving on Disney Plus Hotstar. Viewers can select a web series based on their mood and enjoy different stories. All web series are distinct in their nature and genres.

The post Best & New Hindi Web Series of 2024 to Watch on Disney+ Hotstar appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Fact Check: Rumor Has It Miss Thailand Wore Dress Made of Soda Can Tabs to Honor Her Garbage-Collector Parents

Claim:

Miss Thailand wore a dress made of soda can tabs as a tribute to her parents, who worked as garbage collectors.

Rating:

Rating: Mostly True

Context:

Anna Sueangam-iam did not explicitly state that the dress was "a tribute to her parents who worked as garbage collectors." However, in an Instagram post she wrote that it was inspired by the familiar surroundings of her childhood and later added that she grew up with garbage-collector parents.

In June 2024, posts went viral on Facebook, claiming that Miss Thailand wore a dress made of soda can tabs as a tribute to her parents, who worked as garbage collectors. "Her parents have obviously done a great job of raising her," one Facebook user commented.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122113737782335776&set=gm.1864940554002289&idorvanity=319043595258667

The story was also shared on other social media platforms, such as Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

It's true that Miss Thailand wore a dress made of soda can tabs at the Miss Universe preliminary competition in January 2023. Though Anna Sueangam-iam did not explicitly state that the dress was "a tribute to her parents who worked as garbage collectors," she wrote in an Instagram post that it was inspired by the familiar surroundings of her childhood and later added that she grew up with garbage-collector parents. Because of that, we have rated this claim as "Mostly True."

We have reached out to Sueangam-iam and we will update this article if and when we receive a response.

Sueangam-iam shared photographs of her unique dress on her Instagram account @annasnga_1o, on Jan. 12, 2023.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnU2u_rvIAN/

The post's caption informed that growing up with garbage-collector parents, Sueangam-iam's lived among piles of garbage and recyclables as a child:

 My Gown - My Personal Statement to the #Universe  This gown was inspired by the familiar surroundings of my childhood. Growing up with garbage collector parents, my life as a child was among piles of garbage and recyclables. This unique gown was purposefully tailored-made with discarded and recycled materials, namely the 'Can Tab' to present to the UNIVERSE that what's considered worthless by many actually possesses its own value and beauty. Thank you all for seeing it, hearing it, and hopefully being that message of self-worth. 

An official Instagram account of Miss Universe Thailand, @missuniverse.in.th, also shared photographs of Sueangam-iam's dress.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnTGzhQLBwb/

The post said she was brought up by a "father who is a garbage collector, street-sweeper mother, and a virtuous nun who was Anna's great-grandmother":

"You must not get stuck with murky surroundings you were born into, but do believe you have the power to change your own life for the better," the inspirational quote by "Anna Sueangam-iam", Miss Universe Thailand 2022, precisely reflects and self-defines her own significant characteristic. Persistence, tenaciousness and optimism within her have led her to a great success in life. It is the result of being brought up by a father who is a garbage collector, street-sweeper mother, and a virtuous nun who was Anna's great-grandmother. Although she was called by some as "The garbage beauty queen," that never stops her from shining bright as a precious gem. From her empowering life story, the message is conveyed through this "Hidden Precious Diamond Dress". Meticulously created from used aluminium pull-tabs of drink cans and Swarovki combined, this unique upcycled dress designed by "MANIRAT" is at its most promptness to be found on the universal stage.

Sueangam-iam's bio, shared on the website of the Miss Universe Organization, said she grew up in a Bangkok slum and was later sent to a temple for safety, where she survived on leftover food from monks while living among Buddhist nuns:

At an early age, poverty differentiated her life at school from other children, especially the cost of tuition. In order to cover her tuition fees, she had to collect merit points, donate blood every semester, collect plastic waste bottles, and clean public restrooms. This experience made her question the accessibility Thai children had to education. Having overcome this challenge, Sueangam-iam would like to represent all the children from less privileged backgrounds and amplify their voices. She uses her bigger voice to collaborate with many nonprofit organizations in order to provide children with access to educational systems. She has conducted the "Do it, Earn it" campaign, supports the project No Mixed Waste, participates in a Saturday school project, and works with Smile Train Thailand.

This wasn't the first time we investigated a Thailand-related story. For instance, in April 2024, we looked at a post claiming that the quick thinking of a 10-year-old English girl, Tilly Smith, helped save some 100 lives just before the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 struck the island of Phuket. We also unpacked a rumor claiming that rocker Billy Idol once had to be subdued by Thai police with a tranquilizer dart after he partied for three weeks in a Bangkok hotel suite.

Sources:

"ANNA SUEANGAM-IAM." Miss Universe, https://www.missuniverse.com/delegates/anna-sueangam-iam. Accessed 27 June 2024.

Dobrin, Nikki. "Billy Idol Once Shot With Tranquilizer Dart by Thai Police After 3-Week Bangkok Bender?" Snopes, 22 Apr. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/billy-idol-tranquilizer-thailand/.

Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fp%2FCnU2u_rvIAN%2F&is_from_rle. Accessed 27 June 2024.

Liles, Jordan. "10-Year-Old Girl's Warning Ahead of Tsunami Saved Hundreds of People on Thai Beach in 2004?" Snopes, 11 Apr. 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/10-year-old-tsunami-warning-thailand/.
The time for 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 6 is finally here, and we couldnt be more thrilled! The Other Way is one of the most enticing 90 Day Fiance spin-offs, as it stands out from the others. On The Other Way, Americans move abroad to live in a foreign country with their partner. This differs from the traditional 90 Day Fiance concept, where the foreign spouse typically moves to the US.

Season 6 looks even crazier than past seasons of The Other Way. As a result, it will be interesting to see what this season will bring. The Other Way Season 6 has the potential to be the spin-offs best season yet, hopefully it doesnt disappoint!

90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 6 will feature new countries

Photo Credit: TLC via YouTube

One of the most interesting aspects of The Other Way is seeing the foreign countries the Americans end up moving to. Season 6 will be particularly exciting, as it will feature several countries never seen before on the spin-off.

The first new country viewers will get to see is Iceland. Corona will move to Iceland to reunite with her beau Ingi, despite concerns from her family. This should be intriguing to watch, as Iceland is one of the most remote countries in the world. Another new country that will be featured is Ireland, where Joanne is headed to live with her husband Sean. Ireland has never been represented on any 90 Day Fiance show, so this has been a long time coming.

Moving on to Asia, Josh will take the trek from the US to China to reunite with his wife Lily. China is another country that has hardly been shown on 90 Day Fiance, so it will be nice to see more of it. Finally, James and Meitalia will return to the latters home country of Indonesia, which is also new. Despite other 90 Day Fiance cast members originating from Indonesia, viewers havent gotten to see any segments filmed there yet.

TOW Season 6 will introduce interesting new couples

Photo Credit: TLC via YouTube

The Other Way Season 6 will introduce viewers to four new couples, each with a unique backstory. Josh and Lily originally met on a language learning app, where they had an instant connection. However, Josh is worried about not being able to work in China, and having to depend on Lily for everything. Similarly, Corona feels uneasy about giving up the opportunity to be a midwife, to move to Iceland to be with Ingi.

James and Meitalia are also in an interesting situation. Meitalia moved to the US from Indonesia for James, but she hasnt enjoyed it. James has now decided to move to Indonesia with Meitalia, but he has some concerns. On the other hand, Joanne secretly married Sean without telling her family, which could become a big problem.

In addition to the four new couples, Season 6 will also include two returning couples. Statler Riley and Dempsey Wilkinson from 90 Day Fiance: Before The 90 Days Season 6 will be back. The women will explore van life this season, which may not go as smoothly as they hope. Shekinah Garner and Sarper Guven from The Other Way Season 5 will also return. Shekinah will continue learning to adjust to her new life in Turkey, where she faces some challenges.

90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 6 will bring the drama

Photo Credit: TLC via YouTube

From what can be seen in the trailer, it looks like Season 6 will bring the drama fans crave. Statler and Dempseys relationship appears to be on thin ice, with Dempsey even suggesting a break-up. On the other hand, Shekinah is willing to undergo an entire transformation for Sarper. Despite being a little problematic, theres no doubt Sarper is entertaining!

The end of the trailer teases a tense moment for James and Meitalia, whose marriage will be tested. Meitalia breaks down and asks her parents for forgiveness, and even gets on the floor to kiss her mothers feet. Up in China, Lilys daughter seems to be causing problems for her mother and Josh. Lilys daughter suggests that Josh was with another woman, prompting Lily to tell him their marriage is done.

Back in America, Coronas entire family is concerned about her move to Iceland. Coronas grandmother in particular isnt thrilled with the lack of diversity. Finally, Joannes family is shocked to hear that she plans to move to Ireland. This is surely just the beginning, as they still have to learn that Joanne secretly got married. All in all, The Other Way Season 6 looks like a wild ride and we are ready!

TELL US  ARE YOU READY TO WATCH THE OTHER WAY SEASON 6? WHICH COUPLE ARE YOU THE MOST EXCITED TO SEE?

The post Why 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way Season 6 Could Be the Best Season Yet appeared first on Reality Tea.
(NEXSTAR)  There are some ice cream flavors that are so recognizable, you hardly have to think about what the flavor actually is  vanilla is vanilla, chocolate is chocolate, mint chocolate chip is minty with a hint of chocolate.

There are others, though, that arent as easy to describe. Take, for example, blue moon ice cream. While identifiable, thanks in part to its bright blue coloring, its hard to pin down exactly what it tastes like.

Many have turned to Reddit in the past with such a question, with some suggesting the flavor is cherry, pistachio, amaretto, citrus, marshmallow, almond, bubblegum, nutmeg, the milk after a bowl of Froot Loops cereal, or just plain vanilla.

Bubblegum is made from a mix of flavors. Can you guess what they are?

Before we get into what the actual flavor of the ice cream is, we should address the potential elephant in the room: what in the world is blue moon ice cream?

If you arent from the Midwest, you may not have heard of such a custard. Or maybe its better known as Smurf ice cream, a nod to its distinctive coloring. Despite its connections to Wisconsin, we should note that blue moon ice cream has nothing to do with Blue Moon beer.

What is blue moon ice creams connection to Wisconsin, you ask?

One theory behind the blue moons origin puts it in Milwaukee where Bill Sidon, the chief flavor chemist at Petran Products during the 1950s, is said to have invented it. However, as the Chicago Tribune previously reported, in filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Petran said the flavoring was first used in the 1930s. Thats more than a decade before Sidon is said to have joined the company. Another theory ties blue moon to South Haven, Michigan, though the company told the Tribune they order their flavoring from elsewhere.

The Tribune also found newspaper archives that reported on the debut of blue moon ice cream. In 1936, The Charleston Gazette of West Virginia covered the ice creams arrival, describing it as a fruit mixture with a delightful flavor and color, while an ad that ran in Massachusetts in 1949 called blue moon a flavor of its own.

So what is the flavor really? It depends on where you get it.

Why some ice creams are sold by the squround and some arent

When Cedar Crest Ice Cream, based in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, first made its own blue moon offering in the 1970s, there was no ingredient statement. That left customers to determine its flavor on their own, a spokesperson tells Nexstar. They largely agreed it tasted like Froot Loops.

Today, if you pick up a squround of blue moon ice cream from Cedar Crest Ice Cream, youll find it has an almond flavor. That isnt exactly the case across other ice cream brands.

Babcock Dairy Store in Madison says their blue moon is berry-flavored while Chocolate Shoppe, also in Madison, describes their blue moon ice cream as having a sweet taste like the milk in the boom of a Froot Loops bowl. Blue moon ice cream from Guernsey and Ashbys will be fruity (Ashbys is also nutty).

Perrys Ice Cream, based in Akron, New York, says their cosmic blue offering is mystery flavor with hints of fruit, spice, and vanilla. Hudsonville doesnt divulge much about its blue moon ice cream, either, labeling it as the indescribable flavor of a clear, blue sky. The company goes on to call it a creamy and smooth, mysterious flavor. Kopps, located in Milwaukee, also doesnt elaborate on the flavor of their blue moon, saying it remains a secret to all (including us).

You may also find blue moon ice cream looped in with Superman, super hero or other similarly-super ice creams. For example, Hersheys Ice Cream (no, this isnt part of the candy Hersheys Company) includes blue moon in its tri-flavored Superman ice cream, and describes its blue offering simply as fruity and fun.

Want to make your own blue moon ice cream? This recipe seems to rely on vanilla pudding mix, raspberry flavoring, lemon oil, and vanilla extract to create the iconic but elusive blue moon flavor.

Like bubblegum, it seems blue moons flavor is really just blue moon  whatever that means to you.

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Brenda Biya, daughter of President Paul Biya of Cameroon, shares a photo of her kissing her girlfriend Brazilian model Layyons Valenca on Instagram (Instagram)

The president of Cameroons daughter, Brenda Biya, revealed that she is in a same-sex relationship with a Brazilian model.

In a post shared on Instagram, the 26-year-old showed a picture of her kissing her girlfriend Layyons Valenca on the last day of Pride Month, despite same-sex sexual activity being illegal in her home country. The caption read: PS: Im crazy about you & I want the world to know.

Although Biya has turned off the posts comment section since posting, the Cameroon News Agency noted that she responded to a comment pointing out that her father is President Paul Biya, the staunchly, anti-LGBT+ leader of Cameroon.

After pointing out that her father has continued to criminalize homosexuality and same-sex sexual activities for the over four decades hes remained in power, the presidents daughter shared some hopeful words, sharing that she believes the tide will eventually change in Cameroon.

Nobody will have anything to say because only love shall win, she responded, adding: I dont condone hate, I think the mentality should change, but it will change once the people are ready.

According to the global human rights group Human Dignity Trust, homosexuality has been illegal in Cameroon since 1972. The law criminalizing homosexuality also attacks any same-sex sexual activity of any kind, with many arrests leading to as little as hefty fines to up to five years in prison. As decades have gone by, Human Rights Watch has found that anti-LGBT+ violence and abuse have only escalated in the country, finding an 88 percent increase in incidences from 2021 to 2022.

Brendas Pride Month post has garnered the support of several activists, including trans activist Shakiro, who told BBC News that Brendas coming out was a turning point for the LGBTQ+ community in Cameroon.

After having been jailed in Cameroon for five years for attempted homosexuality, Shakiro has since lived in Belgium, but Brendas post gives her hope that Cameroon will finally. face a reckoning. She believes that the presidents daughter has solidified herself as a progressive, powerful voice capable of enacting social change in a country where taboos are deeply rooted.

I love this for Cameroons first daughter, Brenda Biya! another LGBT+ activist Bandy Kiki wrote in a Facebook post. However, she noted that Brenda benefits from her position of power. She wrote that her freedom to post about her girlfriend with minimal repercussions highlights a harsh reality: Anti-LGBT laws in Cameroon disproportionately target the poor.

She added, Wealth and connections create a shield for some, while others face severe consequences.

But others have noted that Brenda's provocative online presence could be a Trojan horse. According to the Cameroon Concord, has been accused of undermining critics of her fathers reportedly authoritarian and corrupt administration. Under President Biyas rule, Transparency International deemed Cameroon The World Corruption Champion two years in a row from 1998 to 1999.
The deadline for submitting items for church briefs to be published in our print edition is 2 p.m. Wednesday. To have an item listed, email Trish Choate at tchoate@gannett.com. Please limit announcements to special events, meetings or special guests. Church brief items cannot be taken over the phone.

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Christ Church Anglican, West Campus Annex, 3801 Louis J Rodriguez Drive, Burns Chapel at MSU Texas: Christ Church is a new, warm, welcoming and dynamic evangelical church in the Anglican tradition. It is a place where there is Rest for the Weary, Love for the Unloved and Christ at the Center.

All are welcome here to find rest, love and a wonderful, merciful Savior in Jesus  no exceptions! Sleep this Sunday morning and join us for evening worship at 6 p.m. in Burns Chapel at MSU, followed by dinner at a local restaurant. Visit our website here to learn more about us. If you need or want prayer, call us at 940-263-0824.

Faith Episcopal Church, 1437 Southwest Parkway: The Faith Episcopal Church, formerly the Episcopal Church in Wichita Falls, shares the building with Faith Lutheran Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, at 1437 Southwest Parkway.

With the ELCA in full communion with the Episcopal Church, Pastor Ernie Barr celebrates the Episcopal Eucharist at 8:45 a.m. and presides at the Lutheran Holy Communion at 10:45 a.m. every Sunday.

All Fifth Sundays are a joint service of the two churches with communion rotating between the Episcopal tradition and the Lutheran tradition, followed by a joint potluck. As the only remaining Episcopal Church in Wichita Falls recognized as a member of the larger Worldwide Anglican Communion, ALL are welcome. Come join us!

Contact information: email: ecwftx@gmail.com; Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpisChWF/; and website: www.faithluthapalian.com/.

First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls: The church now offers six service times and locations between our three campuses each Sunday morning.

Our downtown campus, 1200 Ninth St., invites you to either our Blended Service with Choir and Orchestra at 9:30 a.m. in our Worship Center or one of two Contemporary Services at 11 a.m.  full band in our Worship Center and Acoustic Worship in our 11 East Service in our East Sanctuary.

Our West Campus location, 4317 Barnett Road, offers two Contemporary Services at either 9:45 a.m. or 11 a.m. Our Church at Sheppard campus, 2101 Puckett Road, hosts a Contemporary Service at 11 a.m. Sunday mornings.

Family nights have returned! Join us at the downtown campus, meal at 5 p.m. and classes at 6:30 p.m.; church @Sheppard meal at 5:15 p.m. and classes at 6 p.m.; and West Campus meal at 5:15 p.m. and classes at 6 p.m.

LIFE Groups are available for every age group. Special activities are held throughout the year. More information is available by going to www.fbcwf.org or by calling (940) 723-2764.

Sunday morning services are broadcast live over CFNT, cable channel 10 or over the air on 20.1 or 24.1 each Sunday at 8:15 a.m. and 11 a.m. services are also streamed over our website as well as our Facebook page.

First Christian Church, 3701 Taft Boulevard, across the street from MSU Texas campus: We offer two services every Sunday morning: the 8:40 a.m. service meets in our chapel and is accessible by the Church Street entrance, and the 10:45 a.m. service meets in the sanctuary, which is accessible via the Kirk Street entrance.

Additionally, there are several Sunday school classes to choose from that begin at 9:30 am. Children's church is conducted in coordination with the 10:45 a.m. service.

First Presbyterian Church, 3601 Taft Blvd.: At worship this Sunday, the Rev. Michael Hansen, senior pastor of the church, will continue the summer sermon series titled "Praying the Psalms."

These sermons will emphasize select Psalms as guides for prayers about the various circumstances we face in life. Sunday's sermon is titled "Pray Our Salvation" and is based on Psalm 103.

The Student Ministry Bible Study continues for sixth-12th grade students from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. every Wednesday through July 31 in the Undercroft. Indoor Wiffle ball will be played in the fellowship hall on July 19 6 p.m.-8 p.m. RSVP to the Rev. Michael Morris.

Christian education for youth and children will resume in August. Christian education for all other classes will be held between 9:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. on Sundays. All those in need of prayer or pastoral care are invited to contact the Church office.

First United Methodist Church of Wichita Falls, 909 10th Street: Worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. at 909 10th Street or live on TV-KJBO and online at www.FUMCWF.org/LIVE.

Gilbert Memorial C.M.E Church, 713 Redwood Avenue, phone: 940-500-4548: Come worship with us. Sunday School starts at 10 a.m. and Morning Worship at 11 a.m. Social distancing and safety precautions are observed. If you are unable to attend in person, services are available by phone: 346-248-7799. Meeting ID: 863-2539-6006# Zoom: 863-2539-6006. Bible Study first and third Wednesday at 7 p.m. via phone and Zoom (use listed numbers).

Mount Pleasant Baptist Church: All members are asked to use the Harding Street entrance, face masks are optional. If you can't make the service, the deacons will be available on the Bailey Street side of the church 30 minutes after service if you would like to contribute to the tithes, offering and receive the Lord's Supper. Sunday afternoon on Facebook, Pastor Castle will have Pulpit Echoes and a prayer. You may also use the Givelify app. If you have any questions, you may email mountpleasantbcwf@gmail.com.

New Jerusalem Baptist Church, 1420 Borton Lane: New Jerusalem offers meals for shut-ins, food distribution through the Wichita Falls Area Food Bank Mobile Pantry, clothing and health checks on the fourth Saturday of every month from 9 a.m. to noon. Please contact the Rev. Angus Thompson, church pastor, at 940-766-4022 with questions. For more information about immunizations, contact Mary Ann Merriex at 940-322-5728.

St. Benedict Orthodox Church: Latin Mass  the Extraordinary Mass in Gregorian Chant. Every Saturday at noon. Give us a call if you have questions (940-692-3392). www.SaintBenedictOrthodox.com

Trinity United Methodist Church: 5800 Southwest Parkway, (across from Memorial Stadium): All are welcome! Worship with us Sunday morning: Sunday School for all ages begins at 9 a.m. Morning Worship in person at 10 a.m. or live on FB facebook.com/trinitywf/ Trinity UMC Food Pantry is available on the third Monday of each month from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Please bring a photo ID and proof of residence. Call 940-692-9995 for more information.

Wichita Falls Metropolitan Community Church, 1401 Travis (at 14th Street): As always, all are welcome. Visit us Sundays: 10:15 a.m. for study, 11 a.m. for adoration services . . . just late enough to get to sleep in! Casual comfort to finer dress embraced; no-negative-judgment zone. We mask up, check temperatures, sanitize in and out, social distance and care for our neighbors' health. Ours is a safe and affirming environment. We are also LGBTQ+ affirming. Children and youth welcome and included in service. Nursery available. Networking and lunch connections following (Dutch treat). 1401 Travis Street. 940-322-4100, wfmccav@gmail.com. Join online at https://bit.ly/WFMCCWorship.

Trish Choate is serving as the interim editor for the Wichita Falls Times Record News, San Angelo Standard-Times and Abilene Reporter-News. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her X handle is @Trishapedia.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Church information for July 6
Many investors define successful investing as beating the market average over the long term. But in any portfolio, there are likely to be some stocks that fall short of that benchmark. Unfortunately, that's been the case for longer term Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) shareholders, since the share price is down 14% in the last three years, falling well short of the market return of around 20%.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

See our latest analysis for Knowles

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.

Knowles became profitable within the last five years. We would usually expect to see the share price rise as a result. So it's worth looking at other metrics to try to understand the share price move.

Arguably the revenue decline of 7.4% per year has people thinking Knowles is shrinking. And that's not surprising, since it seems unlikely that EPS growth can continue for long in the absence of revenue growth.

The graphic below depicts how earnings and revenue have changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

We know that Knowles has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? This free interactive report on Knowles' balance sheet strength is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Investors in Knowles had a tough year, with a total loss of 3.9%, against a market gain of about 26%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 1.2% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. Before spending more time on Knowles it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.

We will like Knowles better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of undervalued stocks (mostly small caps) with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Story continues

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
Summer means plenty of beach fun for everyone, and for a lot of families, that includes a beloved pet dog.

Whether your tiny terrier likes to tan with his humans or stay shaded in the beach tent, its important to note that not all Delaware beaches and related areas allow dogs, and for those that do, there are restrictions.

If you plan to bring your pet to the beach in Delaware this summer, heres what you need to know to make sure you and Fido arent breaking the rules.

Delaware state parks' dog rules

The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park.

Delaware state parks, including ocean parks, are pet-friendly as long as pet owners remain responsible and courteous to others who may be enjoying the parks.

All park signs about the entry of pets into specific areas must be honored, pets must be cleaned up after and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles, especially during warm weather. Guide dogs are permitted in all pedestrian areas.

Some general guidelines Delaware State Parks asks pet owners to adhere to include:

Licensing pets and providing proof of a rabies vaccination. Delaware residents must license their dogs.

Pets must remain on leashes no longer than 6 feet and must be under your control, except while in designated off-leash areas, hunting with the appropriate permit and actively training for hunting in designated dog-training areas.

Surfers compete for waves near the Indian River Inlet at the Delaware Seashore State Park in the early evening, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023 during the unofficial end to summer, Labor Day weekend.

Pets are allowed in Delawares seashore parks. Delaware law prohibits pets from all swimming and sunbathing beaches from May 1 to Sept. 30, and park rules and regulations restrict pets from surfboarding and sailboarding beaches and shorebird nesting areas. Pets are prohibited year-round at Beach Plum Island.

Pets are not allowed on bathhouse boardwalks. To access beaches open to pets, pedestrian crossings located at designated parking areas must be used. Signage at pet-friendly beach locations will instruct you where to go and tell you which areas are OK to explore with your pet.

For more information about pet-friendly areas on your next visit to a state park, contact the park youll be visiting before heading out.

ICYMI: Delaware State Parks guide: Amenities, parking, passes and all the fun you can get into

Dewey Beach dog rules

Teresa Glover and Linda Cors, from Philadelphia, walk their dogs. Greyhounds came to Dewey Beach to enjoy a great day of weather and renew friendship on Columbus Day weekend in 2014. Greyhounds have come every year for the past 19 years.

From the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend through the Sunday following Labor Day, dogs are allowed on the beach in Dewey before 9:30 a.m. and after 5:30 p.m. Outside of these dates, which are May 25 to Sept. 8 this year, dogs may enjoy the beach anytime.

Deweys dog rules include preventing them from running at large and cleaning up after pets. Bags are available for free at each dune entrance. Dogs may be unleashed, but they must be kept under the control of their owners.

Dogs in Dewey must have a town license, which can be purchased online, in person at Town Hall or from the automated kiosk outside of the Town Hall building. The various Dewey dog licenses available to Dewey residents and visitors include:

A three-day or eight-day temporary license, which is ideal for a one-time visit to Dewey. The email confirmation received upon filling out the license form will serve as your dog license on your trip. Print a copy of the confirmation or take a screenshot of it in case cellular service is unavailable.

A lifetime dog license, which is a one-time purchase in the form of a metal tag that can be added to your dogs collar. This is a cheaper option for those who live in or frequently visit Dewey.

A souvenir lifetime dog license, which is like the lifetime dog license, but is a full color tag with a design instead of a plain metal tag.

Notice anything different?: Parking fees, wider beaches and more: Changes to expect at the Delaware beaches this year

Rehoboth Beach dog rules

Chelsea Cole, an 11-year-old Labrador from Rehoboth Beach, enjoys a bowl of ice cream at Salty Paws in Rehoboth in 2018.

Rehoboth Beach does not allow dogs or other animals on the citys boardwalk or beach from May 1 to Sept. 30. Leashed dogs are permitted from Oct. 1 or April 30. Dogs and other animals exempt from this law include those performing an act or function on behalf of branches of the armed forces or law enforcement agencies and guide dogs handled by those with disabilities.

A complete list of Rehoboth Beachs animal codes can be found in chapter 88 of the City Code.

Lewes Beach dog rules

Dogs - some dressed for the icy weather - test out the water in Rehoboth Beach during the Pooch Parade and Plunge, part of the Lewes Polar Bear Plunge, in 2015.

Dogs on leashes are permitted on beaches in Lewes before 8 a.m. and after 6:30 p.m.

Bethany Beach dog rules

Bethany Beach prohibits dogs on the beach and boardwalk from May 15 to Sept. 30.

When dogs are allowed on the beach, they must be leashed and curbed at all times and cleaned up after. Licenses are required and tags must be worn at all times.

Any dogs found running at large or contrary to Bethany Beach regulations may be delivered to the Delaware SPCA.

Fenwick Island dog rules

Doodle Dogs of all sizes played on Dewey Beach on Saturday, April 30, 2016, as several hundred dogs and owners came to the beach to have fun and let the dogs run their energy out

The town of Fenwick Island does not allow pets or other animals on the beach from May 1 to Sept. 30.

Got a tip or a story idea? Contact Krys'tal Griffin at kgriffin@delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Do Delaware beaches allow dogs? What to know about rules, restrictions
There's this one particular image of Mount Fuji that has come to dominate social media feeds in recent months. You've probably seen it. Japan's hulking, slightly snow-capped volcano rises from behind the red, white and blue signage of a Lawson convenience store. Two Japanese icons, juxtaposed in the one image.

As striking as the scene is, it may come as a surprise that acquiring this specific image has become something of a bucket list item for many tourists. In a scramble that rivals the famous Shibuya crossing, amateur photographers and trained Instagram boyfriends have crowded the street and sidewalk in front of the Lawson store day after day, hoping to get the perfect shot.

A post shared by Peter Yan (@yantastic) A photo posted by on

The crowds have become so bad in the shadow of Fuji that the town decided to install a mesh black screen in front of the unassuming Lawson. Of course, within days, people had poked holes in it to slip their cameras through. The overcrowding of famous landmarks, like Kyoto's famous Gion district, and a less-than-subtle disrespect for the countrys culture has been feeding the slightest hint of bitterness towards unruly tourists. And there are so many tourists. Including me.

Related: 'Absolutely gutted': How a jammed door is locking astronomers out of the X-ray universe

When I visited, just after the cherry blossoms peaked, we were everywhere: One American couple in a famous ramen spot caused a stir because they couldnt figure out how to use the ordering machine. They claimed they paid (they did not pay), then loudly demanded a refund. The nasally Australia "naur thanks, mate" was a common refrain I heard at the 7/11 counter and, at Sensoji temple, you rubbed shoulders  quite literally  with the heaving crowds. I can tell you where there were very few crowds though: The 10:56 a.m. train from Machida Station to Fuchinobe station on a dreary May morning.

I can tell you this because, though I was clearly contributing to the overtourism conundrum, my mission in Japan wasn't to get the Instagram-worthy Fuji shot, traipse around the Imperial Palace or sample the retro video games on offer in Akihabara. Nope, I scooted myself halfway across the world to visit what Tripadvisor suggests is the 12th best thing to do in the quiet suburban town of Sagamihara : Go to space . Sort of.

Welcome to JAXA

As soon as I exit Fuchinobe Station, I'm confronted with a giant billboard featuring images of a spacecraft departing Earth . This was a clue: Just 15 minutes from the station lies the main campus of Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), an arm of the Japan Space Exploration Agency (JAXA). It's not space, but it's about as close as you'll get in suburban Tokyo.

As I got closer to JAXA's front gate, I began to experience a peculiar sensation. I'd never been here before, but it felt like I was about to visit an old friend.

I've been writing about JAXA's considerable exploits for more than five years. During the Hayabusa2 sample return mission, which delivered samples from the asteroid Ryugu back to Earth in late 2020, I interviewed many of the scientists stationed in the Australian outback town of Woomera and, earlier this year, I tapped them again as they prepared to land the SLIM spacecraft on the Moon  a feat they achieved in February, though the probe landed upside down .

On this trip, I was focused on two things: the XRISM space telescope, which promises to unveil riveting corners of the universe to us via X-ray astronomy , and the ISAS curation facility, where asteroid bits and bobs are plucked and prodded until a breathtaking result reveals itself. I was looking for Hiroya Yamaguchi, an associate professor at Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science working on XRISM , and Tomohiro Usui, who manages that very curation facility. Elizabeth Tasker, an associate professor at JAXA and member of the outreach team, was my chaperone.

I didn't quite know what to expect. I've mostly experienced the idea of a "space agency" through pop culture, film and TV, alongside the live feeds of Mission Control during daring missions to the moon , Mars and beyond.

My first destination was the main building  it wasn't anything like my imagination. A brutalist, utilitarian frontage outside. A series of offices line long hallways with beige linoleum floors and planetary science posters dotting the walls inside. This is where the magic happens, so to speak  in rooms where the vibe is utilitarian, dimly lit and a little sterile.

Just around the corner from the main building is where the action is: The curation facility.

This facility was purpose-built for JAXA's asteroid sample return missions. The first of these missions, Hayabusa , suffered a number of setbacks during its journey, but JAXA was able to return the designated spacecraft to Earth with a miniscule amount of material from the bean-shaped asteroid Itokawa in 2010. Hayabusa2, its successor, was far more successful, delivering five grams of sample from the asteroid Ryugu a decade later.

A close look at a metallic yellow instrument with solar panels.

A display piece in a museum-like environment showing the XRISM spacecraft as a model.

On the day of my visit, Usui regales me with the story of lifting the lid on the latter sample return capsule for the first time, and reminisces about each checkpoint the grains of asteroid met throughout the facility. In front of us, beyond a window, I can see JAXA scientists moving around the clean rooms, clad in all white coats, double-gloved, and with only a slither of their faces showing. Every metal surface is pristine, with not a hint of dust.

This extreme cleanliness is a prerequisite. Of course, that means I can't just duck through an open door and sneak in for a closer look. Usui explains the clean rooms have to be kept at a constant 22 degrees Celsius (71.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and that each cubic foot of space must have less than 1,000 particles of dust. He also notes that samples from Bennu, the asteroid visited by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, will be studied here by JAXA scientists in a new clean room, specifically designed for those samples.

A posterboard in front of several windows with lots of posters and papers that have space images and mission promotional art on them.

"We learnt a lot from curation of Ryugu," Usui tells me. The new clean room has the same bells and whistles that JAXA had for cracking open the Hayabusa2 capsule  except this time, the samples aren't coming directly from an asteroid to Earth. NASA has already cracked open their sample capsule and plucked out pieces of Bennu to hand over, storing them in nitrogen-filled capsules for future analysis. They'll arrive at the facility sometime this summer.

The lessons learned here will then be applied to JAXA's next sample return attempt, the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. It aims to land a probe on the surface of the potato-shaped Phobos, one of Mars' two moons. Launch was expected in 2024, but the mission has been delayed to 2026 due to problems with the launch vehicle.

In typical Japanese fashion, I also get my own Curation Facility collectible through a lucky dip: A card from JAXA's in-house asteroid grain trading card game, RA-QD02-0136-01. It contains a photo of an extremely small grain nabbed from Itokawa and, Usui assures me, it is "an extremely rare card." I take his word for it.

To be frank, I'm still kind of blown away by just standing in the facility. The fact that tiny pieces of rock from an asteroid 4.6 billion years old were first analyzed in these very rooms is difficult to comprehend. Human brains are not built to understand time on that kind of scale. My brain is operating on the length of a day and, as we exit, it's telling me that it's lunch time.

Space cafe

The cafeteria, I find, is selling a Space Curry.

The marketing for the dish features an image of the typical Japanese curry over rice  theres no sprinkling of asteroid dust or anything, to my dismay. It seems to be a regular curry, except for the fact the curry's image on the poster is backed by a starry sky. I opt for the noodles and buy a cold milk from the vending machine nearby. To this day, I regret not trying the Space Curry.

Just across the yard is the Communication Hall of Space Science and Exploration, where most tourists will spend their time. The building, which is essentially a visitor center crossed with a museum, was nearly empty when I got there, save for an older Japanese couple and a tour guide. Out front, two full-scale model M-class rockets, once used to lift Hayabusa and other spacecraft to orbit and beyond, rest on their sides.

Indoors is where the stargazers really get to nerd out, though, with scale replicas of many different JAXA spacecraft  Hayabusa2 and its hopping robots, as well as SLIM, the agency's moon lander that touched down (on its nose) on Jan. 26. At the back of the Hall, I come to the final stop on the whirlwind tour. This is where the piece de resistance, the center's Mona Lisa, resides: grains obtained from Ryugu. This is my Mount Fuji moment. But, Tasker warns, there are no photos allowed in here.

The overtourism issue is becoming a real conundrum for Japan, especially as winter gives way to spring and the cherry blossoms bloom. It's expected the country will easily surpass its record annual tourist numbers this year. As TikTok and Instagram send people searching for unnaturally filtered views of empty, peaceful and exotic locales they've scrolled past on their phones, it's getting harder to recreate those already unattainable views.

This isn't the case out in Sagamihara. There's a tranquility that touches on an underlying Instagram-can't-capture-it experience (even if, like me, you find yourself visiting as a thunderstorm rolls through). JAXA isn't particularly adept at showmanship and bravado, and it often wears humility like armor, but it's exactly for these reasons that its little corner of Tokyo remains peaceful. Mount Fuji, a photogenic and remarkable natural wonder, is awash with travelers. But 4.6 billion-year-old pieces of an asteroid, though perhaps less photogenic, are tucked away at the back of a hall. This sticks with me.

Related Stories:

 Japan loses contact with Akatsuki, humanity's only active Venus probe

 New Japanese spacecraft aims to explore the mysterious moons of Mars

 JAXA, NASA reveal 1st images from XRISM X-ray space telescope

Later that evening, I find myself wandering the streets of Shinjuku  awash in the neon lights and listening to the radio of familiar accents. I stop down one famous street to snap a photo of Godzilla's head emerging from behind a building, the monster's face illuminated in cobalt. I was transfixed for a moment, reminiscing about Godzilla Minus One and looking at the cloudy skies behind. I wish I could tell you I had some sort of revelation, some sort of epiphany about our desires to explore the universe .

A young man taps me on the shoulder.

"Sorry, just trying to take a picture,'' he says in perfect English, gesturing at his smartphone and his girlfriend standing just behind me. It was one of the trained boyfriends.

"Ah, sure, sorry," I say, and move out of the way.

A yellow character card shows a rock with japanese words underneath.
My mother wanted to spend her twilight years travelling but left it too late  I wont do the same

Theres a 108-year-old shaman living in a tiny village in the deep dark Amazonian forests of Peru. Hes tired. He feels his journey here on planet Earth is coming to an end. He wants to die.

When my mum was 68, she left this earthly plane. Shed wanted to spend her twilight years travelling but left it too late. She wasnt old, she wasnt tired and, unlike the jaded shaman, she didnt want to die.

I remember being with her on her first ever flight. We were heading to Malta. I was 17. She was 39. She was so excited, wide-eyed with exhilaration as we took off.

Her work  as a nurse at an NHS mental hospital  and having children at home meant she didnt take her second flight out of the country until two decades later.

She often told me how she planned to travel the world when she retired and, harking back to our first fun trip to Malta together, she hoped we could go on more foreign adventures when that time came.

Retirement time came but, just as she began to think about going abroad, cancer struck and within months, she was gone.

Halfway through my sixth decade, when the youngest of my four children had reached adulthood, I became acutely aware of how speedily life passes.

Entering my 60s, I started to wonder whether my fate was destined to be the same as my mums and whether I too would die before I hit 70.

'I chatted to my mum in my head every day': Jacqui Deevoy in Peru

Its natural to become more aware of your own mortality as time goes by, more so I believe when you see your children go from babies to adults in what feels like a blink of an eye.

Last year, I had an accident. It could have been fatal. I was in a wheelchair for four months but I recovered. The experience gave me the kick I needed.

No more waiting for opportunities to come knocking on my door. No more procrastinating. It was time to take action and turn my mums dreams into my reality. I was going travelling.

As a very spiritual person, my mum would have loved Machu Picchu, so I decided to make Peru my first stop. My eldest daughter, Ruby, was keen to accompany me: together wed do a journey that my mum and I were never able to do.

Ruby attached a locket my mum had left her to her mantra-bead necklace. That way, Granny Marie can come with us, she said. (The locket is very special: when its opened, we can sometimes smell my mums perfume  but thats another story.)

The trip included a five-day cruise down the Amazon river - Richard Mark Dobson

The trip  which incorporated a two-night stay in Perus bustling capital Lima, a five-day cruise down the glorious Amazon river, two nights in Urubamba (the largest town in Perus Sacred Valley), a steep climb up Machu Picchu to see the citadel known as the lost city of the Incas (built circa 1450 AD and abandoned for reasons unknown around 120 years later) and 48 hours in Cusco  was thrilling, breathtaking (literally, in high altitude Machu Picchu and Cusco) and unforgettable.

I chatted to my mum in my head every day, especially when seeing or experiencing something I knew shed appreciate: sightings of crocodiles, pink dolphins, monkeys, snakes and eagles; whizzing down the Amazon river through jungle in tiny skiffs; stunning sunsets and sunrises; the vivid colours of flowers I didnt know existed; and spending a morning with the friendly inhabitants of a tiny Amazonian village.

We took eight flights, two train journeys and several long car journeys over a 12-day period, so the trip was arduous  but I know it wouldnt have deterred my mum. Before she became ill, she had boundless energy and would have seen the journeying as part of the experience.

Shes travelling now, of course, but not in the way she might have hoped. In her physical absence, I feel now that Im travelling for her, on her behalf, in the way shed have liked to, as often as I can.

The story of the 108-year-old shaman  told to my daughter and I by a guide called Alex, the grandson of another Amazonian shaman, on our way to the cruise boat in Iquitos  was one that will stick in my mind forever.

Jacqui spied wildlife including pink river dolphins - Mark Carwardine/Getty

To get to that age and feel your life is complete is a privilege. To have your life cut short without getting to do what you intended to do is a tragedy. To be able to live out someone elses dreams is an honour. I hope my mum, wherever her soul may be, is happy Im doing what Im doing. And I hope that one day, my children will live out the dreams I fail to fulfil.

As long as Im alive, Ill attempt to visit places my mum would have loved  with the joie de vivre Ive inherited from her, and with her spirit by my side.

Essentials

Original Travel (020 3582 4990; originaltravel.co.uk) has trips to Peru from 8,000 (based on two sharing), including return international and domestic flights, private transfers, private tours throughout and 11 nights accommodation (six nights B&B, one night half-board and four nights full-board onboard the Aria Amazon).

Jacqui Devoys trip was facilitated by Berghaus (berghaus.com); Cotswold Outdoor Clothing (cotswoldoutdoor.com); Marriott Hotel Heathrow (marriott.com); and Aqua Expeditions (aquaexpeditions.com).

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Against all odds, the two sons of a GB News correspondent were rescued alive and well after going missing for 40 hours while climbing a volcano in Bali.

GB News reporter Katharine Forster said her eldest sons Matthew and Andrew, aged 22 and 18, had been due to arrive home from a nine-week trip across Southeast Asia on the day of the UK general election result.

But instead Ms Forster received a phone call from their friend early on Thursday morning to inform her that her sons had not been heard from in more than 30 hours, after hiking up the 3,000m Mount Agung  the tallest volcano in Bali  to watch the sunrise.

Yesterday morning I should have been outside No 10 reporting. More importantly, my 2 eldest sons should have arrived home after a 9 week adventure across Southeast Asia. But they didnt..(thread) pic.twitter.com/tpbYyzuvFy  Katherine Forster (@forster_k) July 6, 2024

After 40 hours lost on the mountain, they were found limp and exhausted by someone who heard them screaming for help, with authorities saying they were lucky to have survived.

Their mother, who shared the extraordinary tale on social media, said the first rescuer that reached them thought theyd be dead.

The pair became stranded on the active volcano after their phones died and they got lost during their descent through the jungle, finding themselves unable to locate the route back to their rental scooters.

A concerned friend who they had met in Vietnam, and who knew they were making the climb, rang the British Embassy on Thursday morning, sparking a search involving more than three dozen emergency responders from local search and rescue teams and the police and fire services.

Footage showed Matthew and Andrew Forster being rescued by officials after a vast search effort on Mt Agung (screengrab)

Thursday was the worst day of my life, Ms Forster wrote on X. But friends dropped work [and] came round. Made phone calls. Our tech savvy young friends [and] friends of friends spread the boys pics and last known location across social media. The Foreign Office were amazing. Local rescuers scoured the volcano.

Forty hours after they set off up the volcano, Matthew and Andrew were found, after locals heard the sound of someone screaming for help, according to Nyoman Sidakarya, of the local Karangasem search and rescue team.

The brothers were in a limp state due to exhaustion when the rescuers found them, according to the rescue agency, with Mr Sidakarya saying: They are lucky to have survived. The conditions on the volcano are very dangerous.

Theyre flying home. Theyd used their scout training & extensive viewing of @BearGrylls videos to gather rainwater, build a shelter etc. But they werent properly prepared & should have been with a guide. Words have been exchanged. Thank god thats possible. They are so sorry. pic.twitter.com/DTEOofCYyl  Katherine Forster (@forster_k) July 6, 2024

Describing her sons as beyond lucky to live to tell the tale, Ms Forster said they had used their scout training and extensive viewing of Bear Grylls videos to gather rainwater and build a shelter.

But they werent properly prepared [and] should have been with a guide. Words have been exchanged. Thank god thats possible. They are so sorry, she said, adding: So, when your mother (or anyone) tells you to explore with a group, people get lost and die, batteries run out etc, dont say Mum, were not stupid. Listen. Boys!!

Ms Forster shared a picture of her sons on their flight home, and thanked her colleagues for their support and for being on Downing Street yesterday morning and today when I couldnt.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  About six weeks ago, I got a knife that I knew was a game changer, but I havent been carrying it much, at least not yet.

Ive been afraid of scratching up or losing my new Kershaw Gadsden, a traditional mini-trapper folder made by an American company known for its modern, assisted-opening knives.

Regular readers of this space know Im a big fan of the leatherwork done by John over at J.O. Ventures Outdoors, a YouTuber who showcases traditional pocket knives.

New slips by J.O. Ventures Outdoors

Kershaw Gadsden

Rough Rider Canoe

Kershaw Hotwire Photos by Dave Burge/KTSM

Well, I reached out to John and he created a beautiful red slip for my Gadsden to match its red bone covers. He used black thread to stitch it up and added a lanyard and bead as a simple accent. It now looks as sharp as the knife it carries.

Anyway, I did a full review and first impression column on the knife when I got it back in mid-May, so I wont go into too much detail about the knife.

Rough Edge EDC: Going traditional with a modern company

But its a cool little mini-trapper with a super sharp clip point as its main blade and spey blade that comes to a more aggressive tip than the usual blade of this type.

Its fit and finish are phenomenal for a $20 knife and both blades have great snap.

Anyway, I absolutely love this knife.

Now that I got a new slip for it, Im going to carry it every day and see what it can do.

As usual, the slip represents more fantastic work from my friend from the Midwest.

Ive detailed at least three other EDC adventures with J.O. Ventures, including last weeks column showcasing three new slips  for my Case Sodbuster Jr., my Rough Rider Desert Fox Barlow and my Buck Trio.

Rough Edge EDC: Leather slips, stickers and friendship

This time, besides getting a new slip for my Kershaw Gadsden, I got one other slip  for my Rough Rider Canoe in black and red G10.

This second slip is the reverse of the one John made for my Gadsden  black leather with red stitching.

Both slips give me the ability to carry these very capable knives without getting them scratched up by keys or other gear.

I did a column on the Canoe when I first got it and you can read those musings by clicking here.

Heres a little twist. Instead of the usual fee of $25 per slip, John suggested a trade. He wanted his own Kershaw Gadsden in red bone.

This knife is listed as discontinued by Kershaw, but I was able to get mine for about $20 from Chicago Knife Works.

CKW still had it available on its website, but its website wouldnt allow me to send it to an address that was different from the one attached to my debit card.

So I did a little searching around  and found the knife on Atlantic Knife. They were able to accommodate sending it directly to John as a gift purchase.

One other thing I should mention: John sent me a little gift with the two new slips  a Kershaw Hotwire. This is probably Kershaws most inexpensive knife but still very capable. Ive seen it listed anywhere from $9 to $14.

Anyway, it has great snap and looks like a great addition to my growing pocket knife collection. And at that price point, it is the type of knife you dont have to be afraid to carry around and actually use for some light tasks.

One other thing: If you are a regular reader of this space, you might notice a beautiful decorative block of wood that I am showing off my EDC gear on.

It was a gift from my friend and work buddy, Andrew Miller, our very capable primetime editor.

Andrew tells me he got it from El Paso Morning Wood. You can find out more about them by going to Instagram.

Here is a link to J.O. Ventures Outdoors.

Here is another link to Atlantic Knife, a Virginia-based knife retailer that I have had several positive experiences with.

Here are some other YouTube channels dealing with knives and EDC that I find entertaining and informative.

Big Red EDC

Zachs Stuff

Baxters Blades

Factors of Jack

Knife Delights

HTs EDC

Jesse McJames (Alien Outlaw)

Bryans Knives

Last Chance Knives

Uncommon EDC

RadioGeek Blades

Randys WSG

Surviving the Daily

Pens and Pen Blades

Uncommon EDC

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
(COLORADO SPRINGS)  On Thursday, July 18, the biggest foodie event of the year returns to Downtown with the 27th Taste of Pikes Peak. From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., more than 50 of the best restaurants, breweries, and distilleries in Colorado Springs offer unlimited tastes of their most popular bites and brews.

Taste of Pikes Peak offers an opportunity for restaurants, beverage suppliers, and food enthusiasts to come together and showcase the dynamic food scene of the Pikes Peak region. Local favorites such as Rasta Pasta, Phantom Canyon, Bristol Brewing Company, and Third Space Coffee will join dozens of other vendors to hand out samples of their best offerings.

The event is the primary fundraiser for the Pikes Peak Chapter of the Colorado Restaurant Association, supporting essential programs like the Colorado Restaurant Foundation and the ProStart programs in regional high schools.

Taste of Pikes Peak takes place at the intersection of West Vermijo Avenue and South Sierra Madre Street, directly in front of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Downtown Colorado Springs.

VIP access, which includes an additional hour of private tastes and access to the VIP lounge, begins at 5 p.m., and General Admission starts at 6 p.m. Music will be provided by the popular music duo, the Reminders, who will be playing on the main stage beginning at 7 p.m.

General Admission is $65 per person and includes unlimited tastes and the Reminders concert. VIP is $85, and children ages five to 12 cost $20. Tickets can be purchased at the event website linked above.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
A very American mission: Virginia couple looks to visit, eat at every Texas Roadhouse in US

A retired Virginia couple is making rounds online as they set out to visit every Texas Roadhouse restaurant in the U.S.

Although they have recently achieved viral fame, Mike McNamara and his wife, Judy, started the challenge back in 2003.

The couple is from Franklin, Virginia, about 44 miles southwest of Norfolk. They first went to Texas Roadhouse in 2003 when Judys brother took them to one in Knoxville.

After going to about 37 restaurants, Mike looked at the couples credit card statements and started a spreadsheet to keep track.

Since we were both retired at that time, I was like OK. Let's see how many we can go to, Mike told USA TODAY.

The couple went to nearly 100 restaurants total in 2018 and 2019. At last check, they've hit 434 restaurants.

I thought we were going to slow down but we're apparently not doing that, said Mike. Theres supposed to be between 650 and 700 in the United States alone, so we've knocked down a few of them."

Virginia couple just loves good food, they say

Mike said the couple likes Texas Roadhouse because their dishes have the home-cooked feel he loves.

Its good food, he said. We dont like fancy food. We dont like what they call fine dining. Its just too rich and its not worth the price to start with, to us.

He really enjoys Texas Roadhouses six-ounce sirloin with salad and baked sweet potatoes. He visits the restaurant so frequently, but he likes to switch things up though. Now, he typically orders the sirloin, the pork chops, the pulled pork and the chicken tenders.

Judy, his wife, typically orders shrimp and chicken dishes, and sometimes ribs.

The McNamaras have been greeted enthusiastically at multiple Texas Roadhouse locations, including a restaurant in Montana last summer.

Last week we had the pleasure of meeting Mike & Judy McNamara, posted management from a Billings, Montana location on June 14 last year.

Mike and Judy McNamara with Texas Roadhouse CEO Jerry Morgan at one of the chain's restaurants.

They are currently on a road trip visiting every Texas Roadhouse in the U.S. and Billings was their 337th location!

The couple works with someone from Texas Roadhouse to let different restaurants know when theyre visiting. Sometimes the workers know theyre coming and other times, theyre in for a nice surprise.

Yesterday was a big celebration, Mike said. Our milestones, the 200th, 300th, 400th visit have been very exciting as far as the participation of the people that are there, he said.

He said reaching these milestones and visiting hundreds of restaurants is like a dream.

Couple travels hundreds of miles per day

The McNamaras, now 71, have known each other since they were in third grade. They started dating in 10th grade and got married in 1971, Mike said.

Now that theyre retired, they have more time to dine at Texas Roadhouse restaurants all over the country. They drive a pickup truck and pull their camper, sometimes traveling 350 to 450 miles between campsites.

Virginia couple Judy and Mike McNamara. The pair have been trying to dine at each Texas Roadhouse location in the U.S. since 2003.

They estimate they travel 25,000 miles a year traveling to and from home, checking out Texas Roadhouses treats.

We've wiped out a lot of them within 400 or 500 miles of home, Mike said. It's getting harder to (do) as they're building some more, which of course, sort of defeats the purpose of getting them all because now you've got more to go to.

They have plans to visit Texas Roadhouse locations in Alaska too, Mike said. They went to Alaska in 2010 but the restaurants hadnt been completed yet. Now that theyre done, they plan to fly to Alaska at some point.

As long as our health is good and I still can drive 300 to 400 miles a day, were going to keep doing this, Mike said.

The couple was in Indiana Friday with plans to go to Ohio later on.

The attention theyve received has been a bit puzzling, Mike said.

It's not like we don't want it, he said. I don't think we deserve it to a certain degree. Yes, we're doing something that nobody else is doing but to us, it's not that special other than enjoying the food and enjoying the Roadhouse family.

Keep up with the McNamaras and their Texas Roadhouse journey on Facebook.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia  the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Couple travels across US to visit every Texas Roadhouse restaurant
Utah first lady Abby Cox, director of first lady initiatives Kirsten Rappleye and deputy director of the Show Up initiative Sarah Allred look over the main entrance sign as they work to get ready for the "Show Up for Teachers" event at the Mountain America Exhibition Center in Sandy on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. The upcoming Show Up for Teachers conference endeavors to give Utah teachers tools and resources they need to be successful in their own mental health and wellness, equipping them to bring their best selves to their students and classrooms. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Ask Utahs first lady Abby Cox why she has invested considerable time and energy into a teacher wellness initiative, and shell talk about the more immediate benefit: a teacher who is able to bring their best self to the classroom.

But she also takes a long view. For me, its just a passion to take care of our teachers, to make sure that they are treated like the professionals that are and that they have the resources and tools to stay in their jobs and do them well, said Cox in an interview in advance of the third annual Show Up for Teachers conference on July 9.

Some 2,000 Utah educators are expected to attend the educator wellness conference at the Mountain American Expo Center in Sandy. The conference, themed Thriving Through Connection, is sponsored by the Clark and Christine Ivory Foundation.

Teachers are surrounded by students from the morning bell sounds until the school day ends, leaving little time or opportunity to connect with their teaching peers and administrators. Even when they are fully engaged with students and their days are full, they can experience isolation, Cox said.

We want to make sure that the teachers are getting those opportunities to connect with each other as colleagues, connect to the administration, and so that theyre creating an environment within the school that really is about collaboration and connection and lifting each other up, she said.

After hearing about teachers need for connection, it became the impetus for this years conference theme, Cox said.

Marisa G. Franco, considered a leading expert in human connection, will deliver the morning keynote address.

Franco, a University of Maryland professor, TED speaker and author of the best-selling book Platonic: How The Science of Attachment Can Help You Make  and Keep  Friends, has been a featured connection expert for The New York Times, The Telegraph and Vice.

Cox said she and her husband, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, have a core group of really good friends that we count on, that we laugh with. Its not transactional, she said.

They are their friends who look out for them and we look out for them. We celebrate, we mourn with them, you know, all the things that we do with friendships and how critically important that is. I think weve forgotten that, and weve gotten away from that (as a society) to the detriment of our mental health, she said.

Cox said the conference will also provide opportunities for pampering, such as seated massage, but more importantly, it will offer instruction on how to manage a difficult classroom, which will help teachers concentrate on their teaching and curb their stress.

If a teacher has learned techniques that help students learn and connect with one another, the educators mental health is going to be so much better as opposed to going in there and its out of control, and I dont feel like Im getting anywhere. I dont feel like Im being successful with these students. I cant teach them academically because I cant get in a place of learning, mental health wise, she said.

Gala honoring educators

On Monday evening, a separate event to recognize exemplary educators who have made positive impacts on the lives of students and the communities they serve will be held at The Grand America. The second-annual Honors in Education Gala is presented by the Deseret News.

Deseret News Publisher Burke Olsen said Utahs oldest media organization has a long history of celebrating the academic prowess of the Wasatch Fronts top high school seniors as well as Utahs top-performing high school athletes with its All-Sports Awards and All-State team selections.

For a long time, weve been great at recognizing young people, whether its our Sterling Scholar Program or recognizing athletes. Were thrilled to be recognizing the teachers who make a difference in the lives of Sterling Scholars and athletes. So in some ways for us, this is overdue, Olsen said.

Some 25 educators from across the state will be honored, he said. The event is sponsored by the Robert H. and Katharine B. Garff Foundation.

The inaugural gala was well received by the educators who were recognized but also by those in their sphere of influence, Olsen said.

For Olsen, the best part was the look on the faces of the teachers as they were recognized at the gala and also the Show Up for Teachers conference.

In both places, teachers were just thrilled that somebody was paying attention to them and looking for ways to recognize and enrich their lives, he said.

Olsen said he was so moved by the educators enthusiasm and gratitude that he wrote to a teacher who had made a difference in his life.

He was aware of me being the publisher of the Deseret News and had followed my career. It was so gratifying to know that not only did he remember my name, but he was interested in me today, like he was when I was in high school, Olsen said.
14 killed, 1 injured in road accident in Rivne Oblast, Interior Minister says

A bus collided with a truck in Rivne Oblast, killing 14 people, including a 6-year-old child, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported on July 6.

One more woman was injured as a result of the road accident, according to Klymenko.

Emergency services are working on the site and the police are investigating the cause of the accident, Klymenko said on Telegram.

Ukraines State Emergency Service reported at 10 p.m. local time that its rescuers unblocked seven bodies from under the bas and the body of the trucks driver.

Rivne Oblast is located in the west of Ukraine and borders Belarus.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
SPRINGDALE, Utah (ABC4)  A 19-year-old was killed in a motorcycle crash in the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel on Independence Day evening, according to a Zion National Park news release.

On Thursday evening, July 4, authorities responded to a single-vehicle collision in the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel and began CPR on the 19-year-old driver. The life-saving efforts however were unsuccessful and a medical professional pronounced the man dead at the scene.

The tunnel was temporarily closed as National Park Service staff, Utah Highway Patrol authorities, and Hurricane Valley Fire District emergency personnel responded to the incident. The tunnel has since been reopened.

The identity of the 19-year-old male has not been released.

All of us at Zion National Park extend our sympathy to the deceaseds family for their tragic loss, acting Superintendent Bry Carter said.

WATCH: Fireworks launch into crowd at Stadium of Fire, 6 taken to the hospital

The Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel is just over a mile long and allows for direct travel between Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park, according to the National Park Service. NPS says it is one of the busiest areas in the park and has seen many crashes throughout the years.

The NPS website reminds drivers to slow down and obey all traffic directions in order to prevent crashes. It says never to stop outside or within the tunnel and to wait until passing the tunnel kiosk to turn around.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation. There is no further information available at this time.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Larissa Thurston was recently named chief executive officer at Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union in Lowell.

She brings more than 24 years of financial services experience, including her most recent stint as president and CEO at St. Marys Credit Union in Marlborough. Thurston has held other executive-level positions at both St. Marys and the Bank of New England, where she served as vice president and controller.

Thurston

At Jeanne D'Arc, Thurston succeeds Mark Cochran, who will retire at the end of the summer after 17 years as CEO.

Thurston holds an MBA and bachelor of science degrees in accounting and finance, while minoring in information technology/computer information systems at Southern New Hampshire University. She has also earned an executive leadership certificate through Wharton Executive Education, graduating from the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking and completing the ABAs Financial Managers School.

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Addie Gibson, director of hospitality at MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham, was recently honored by the hospital's corporate parent, Tenet Healthcare, as part of its annual recognition program.

Gibson was named a Tenet Hero for her outstanding contributions in 2023. Hosptal officials say she has consistently focused on initiatives and services to provide positive patient experiences at MWMC.

John Whitlock, left, CEO at MetroWest Medical Center, presents Director of Hospitality Addie Gibson with a Tenet Hero award.

As an example, with oversight of food and nutrition services, Gibson includes a celebration of events and cultural diversity in patient menus and employee offerings. And in the absence of a chaplain, she maintains both chapels to ensure patients, visitors and staff can have meaningful and peaceful experiences.

Gibson has worked at MetroWest Medical Center for 21 years. She was previously a contracted food service employee at the hospital.

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Vicker V. DiGravio III was recently appointed president and chief executive officer at Riverside Community Care, a nonprofit leader in behavioral healthcare and human services.

He was instrumental in developing and launching Riversides community behavioral health centers in Milford and Norwood, which provide a wide range of mental health and substance use services and treatment.

DiGravio

Before coming to Riverside as president in 2021, DiGravio served for 12 years as president and CEO of the Association for Behavioral Healthcare of Massachusetts and then as vice president for strategy at eHana, a health information technology company.

Earlier, he was chief of staff to Massachusetts Senate Majority Leader Fred Berry.

DiGravio holds a masters degree in public administration from Harvard Universitys Kennedy School. He also holds a bachelor's degree from Connecticut College.

Story continues

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Michael Sanderson was recently named administrative director of critical care and emergency services at MetroWest Medical Center.

His responsibilities include working with intensive care unit, cardiovascular unit and emergency room leaders for overall metrics and operations to meet community demand.

Sanderson

Before coming to MetroWest, Sanderson worked at Mass General Brigham Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain. He has been a nurse for 10 years and was a medic prior to going to nursing school.

Sanderson served in the U.S. Army Reserves.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Thurston named chief executive officer at Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union
Police said that one of the suspects, 18-year-old Dezarrious Johnson, "has a bad limp" after injuring his right leg during the escape

Claiborne County Sheriff Department/Facebook Dezarrious Johnson, Tyrekennel Collins

Police in Mississippi are searching for two murder suspects who escaped from a local jail early Friday morning, July 5.

In a news alert shared on Facebook, the Claiborne County Sheriff's Department announced that Tyrekennel Collins, 24, and Dezarrious Johnson, 18, escaped from Claiborne County Detention Center around 2:20 a.m. local time.

Collins is described as a Black male, "who was being held for Copiah County." Johnson, a Black male from Natchez, "was being held for Jefferson County."

The sheriff's department later noted that Johnson "has a bad limp" after his right leg was injured "during the escape."

Related: Police Searching for Suspects After 2 Women, 8-Year-Old Boy Were Killed in 4th of July Shooting in Chicago

"These suspects are considered to be dangerous. Authorities urge all citizens to take necessary precautions," police said. "The safety of the public is our highest priority, and we appreciate the community's cooperation in this matter."

Cameras caught Johnson and Collins, who were both previously charged with murder, climbing through the ceiling and escaping behind an outside wall, Sheriff Edward Goods said, per WAPT.



Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Chief Deputy Christy Sykes said the suspects also used bedsheets to reach the ground, NBC News reports.

One suspect was seen earlier Friday on China Grove Road amid authorities' search, Goods added, according to WAPT.

"When you have someone in jail and they are charged with murder, you get them apprehended as quick as possible because we don't want them to go out and hurt any more individuals, Jefferson County Sheriff James Bailey stated.

Related: Calif. Man Convicted in 2018 Hate-Motivated Murder of Gay Ex-Classmate Blaze Bernstein

Sykes told NBC News that inmates escaping from the jail is an ongoing problem.

"It's been an issue," said Sykes. "We're working closely with the board of supervisors to get this taken care of as soon as possible."

Collins was first arrested in October 2023 for allegedly murdering his 46-year-old cousin, WJTV reported at the time. Johnson is charged with murder and aggravated assault. He was indicted in October 2022 for allegedly killing one individual and harming two others. His trial is scheduled for Oct. 15, per the Associated Press.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol, U.S. Marshals, and police from Claiborne and neighboring counties Warren, Jefferson and Adams are also searching for the suspects, according to WAPT.



Those who have information on either of the inmates' whereabouts are asked to contact authorities immediately. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation urges those who see the suspects to avoid approaching them. Instead, they should call 911 or Claiborne County Sheriffs Office at (601) 437-5161.

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Read the original article on People.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  The day after the Fourth of July proved to be a busy night for firefighters across the Las Vegas valley as two homes were damaged by fire.

Two firefighters were injured while battling flames at a townhome in the east Las Vegas valley. A total of 13 people were displaced following the two separate fires on Friday night.

The first fire took place at 5:11 p.m. in the 400 block of Greenbriar Townhouse Way near Sandhill and East Desert Inn roads, according to the Clark County Fire Department. Smoke and flames could be seen from the first-floor patio and spread to a second-floor balcony and attic. Two CCFD firefighters had minor injuries and were treated at the scene of the fire. Nine people were displaced. The cause of the fire was still under investigation Friday night.

The first fire took place at 5:11 p.m. in the 400 block of Greenbriar Townhouse Way near Sandhill Road and East Desert Inn, according to Clark County Fire Department. (CCFD)

The first fire took place at 5:11 p.m. in the 400 block of Greenbriar Townhouse Way near Sandhill Road and East Desert Inn, according to Clark County Fire Department. (CCFD)

At 5:19 p.m. on July 5, the Clark County Fire Department responded to a report of a structure fire at 6720 Oak Valley Drive. (CCFD)

At 5:19 p.m. on July 5, the Clark County Fire Department responded to a report of a structure fire at 6720 Oak Valley Drive. (CCFD)

The second fire was reported shortly before 5:20 p.m. in the 6700 block of Oak Valley Drive near Rainbow Boulevard and Flamingo Road. Smoke and flames were reported along the front and side of a townhome and spread to the attic as well as the attic over another home unit. No injuries were reported however, four people were displaced. The fire started in the garage and the cause remained under investigation.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
July 6 (UPI) -- Two inmates held on murder charges are back behind bars Saturday after they escaped from a Mississippi jail.

Claiborne County Sheriff Edward Good said deputies found 24-year-old Tyrekennel Collins and 18-year-old Dezarrious Johnson at an abandoned home Saturday morning after the two had escaped the Claiborne County Detention Center at around 2:20 a.m. Friday. Clairborne County is 60 miles south of Jackson, Miss.

They will be transported to Jefferson County and Copiah County, respectively, where they were originally arrested for murder. Their escape will land them additional charges, which carry up to five years in prison, Good said.

Chief Deputy Christy Sykes told NBC News the inmates escaped by climbing through a ceiling panel in the common area of the jail. From there, they made their way to a window and used bed sheets to rappel to the ground.

Other inmates immediately alerted jail staff that the two had escaped.

Johnson injured his leg during the escape and had a bad limp, according to authorities.

The sheriff's department warned residents to "take necessary precautions." The two were not believed to be armed during their escape but were still considered dangerous.

Collins was arrested in 2023 in connection with the murder of his 46-year-old cousin.

Johnson is charged with murder and aggravated assault in the killing of one person and injury of two others in 2022.

Sykes said this isn't the first time Claiborne County inmates have been able to escape through a panel in the ceiling.

"It's been an issue," she said. "We're working closely with the board of supervisors to get this taken care of as soon as possible."
2 teenagers die while swimming at New York's Coney Island Beach, police say

FILE- Children play in the sand while others jog as a New York City Parks officer, center, walks the beach making sure no one goes in the water, at Coney Island Beach during the current coronavirus outbreak, on May 24, 2020, in New York. Police in New York said two teenagers died while swimming at Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn, a news report said. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Two teenagers died while swimming at New York's Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn, police said.

Police received an emergency call for a water rescue in the area of Stillwell Avenue and Boardwalk West at 8:10 p.m. Friday, the New York Police Department said in a statement.

Arriving officers were informed two females, aged 17 and 18, had gone into the water and disappared from view, police said.

Police from the department's aviation, harbor, scuba units conducted a search. Divers eventually removed both the young women from the water, police said.

The swimmers were transported to NYC Health and Hospitals/Coney Island where they were pronounced dead, according to police, who said the investigation continues.

Witnesses told WABC-TV that a rain storm began and most people at the beach took shelter, but the two young women went into the rough ocean water.
250-year mystery unraveled: SC museum owns piano believed to be the first made in America

A piano considered to be the first made in America almost 250 years ago traveled a circuitous route to end up at the Sigal Music Museum in Greenville.

Curator Tom Strange considers it an extraordinary find.

The builder, John Berent, was originally Dutch or Saxony, but studied piano building in London and then Portugal before moving to what is now America in 1770. He introduced his first piano in 1775, crafted of Southern Yellow Pine and Tulip Poplar with a mahogany case.

He called it Piano Forte.

This piano is believed to be the first American made piano.

It is likely the only piano he made because Berent joined the Continental Army to fight the British in 1776 and then died of yellow fever in 1780.

Piano historians have been aware of a 1776 advertisement Berent placed in the Pennsylvania Packet offering his new and first American piano for sale. But none knew where the instrument was.

It was surely lost, a minuscule chance of finding it, Strange said.

A chance visitor in 2020 to the Sigal Museum began unraveling the mystery.

Pat Giordano, wife of Nicholas Giordano, then the dean of the Auburn University College of Sciences and Mathematics, was impressed with the museum and suggested that some of the pianos her husband had collected over the years be donated.

They were moving and could not take them all.

Strange said the museum took eight, among them this piano thought to be the Berent.

We were skeptical, he said.

But when they started investigating it became clear this was the actual piano Berent had fashioned. It contained tulip poplar and Southern white pine, which were found only in America and too inferior to be shipped to Europe.

They found that one family had the piano from the mid-1800s until Giordano bought it in 1966. They had bought it for their daughters to take lessons but the girls didnt like it and the piano was relegated to the attic for decades.

Diordano brought in a renowned restoration specialist to work on the piano in the 1970s and Strange finished as much as he thought should be done.

He said he thinks the sound is as close as possible to what it was like when it was built.

The Sigal Museum is named for Marlowe A. Sigal, a Newton, Massachusetts, chemical manufacturer whose family left his 700-instrument collection of period keyboards, flutes and whistles, woodwinds, strings, percussion, and world instruments spanning over 400 years to the museum after he died in 2018.

A keyboard collector himself, Strange along with Deborah Strange, Steven Bichel and Beth Marr Lee founded the museum in 2017 in a former bottling plant of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, built in 1930.

It is in the Heritage Corridor, also home to the Upcountry History Museum, Greenville Museum of Art and Childrens Museum of the Upstate.
2nd local radio host says they were given questions ahead of Biden interview

A second local radio host on Saturday told ABC News that he was provided a list of questions in advance of his interview with President Joe Biden this week.

"Yes, I was given some questions for Biden," Earl Ingram of CivicMedia told ABC News. Ingram, a prominent host of a Wisconsin radio station, interviewed Biden this week in the wake of his debate performance.

Ingram said he was given five questions and ended up asking four of them.

"I didn't get a chance to ask him all the things I wanted to ask," he said.

Ingram is the second interviewer who now says they were provided questions by Biden aides to ask the president this week. Earlier today, another local radio host who interviewed Biden this week told CNN she was given questions to ask Biden before the interview.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School, on July 5, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Ingram told ABC he didn't see anything necessarily wrong with the practice. "To think that I was gonna get an opportunity to ask any question to the President of the United States, I think, is a bit more than anybody should expect," he said.

He continued that he was grateful for the opportunity to interview Biden at all.

"Certainly the fact that they gave me this opportunity ... meant a lot to me," Ingram said.

MORE: Wealthy Democratic donors sound alarm over Biden staying in race

On CNN earlier Saturday, Andrea Lawful-Sanders, the host of WURD's "The Source," said Biden officials provided her with a list of eight questions ahead of their interview with Biden.

"The questions were sent to me for approval; I approved of them," she said.

"I got several questions  eight of them," she continued. "And the four that were chosen were the ones that I approved."

Responding to Lawful-Sanders, Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said in a statement that it's not "uncommon" for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. She noted that Lawful-Sanders was "free" to ask any questions she saw fit. She also noted that it was the campaign that sent over the questions and not the White House as other reports claim.

"It's not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer. These questions were relevant to news of the day - the president was asked about this debate performance as well as what he'd delivered for black Americans," the statement said.

"We do not condition interviews on acceptance of these questions, and hosts are always free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. In addition to these interviews, the President also participated in a press gaggle yesterday as well as an interview with ABC. Americans have had several opportunities to see him unscripted since the debate."

A source familiar with the Biden booking operation told ABC News that moving forward they will "refrain" from offering suggested questions to interviewers.

"While interview hosts have always been free to ask whatever questions they please, moving forward we will refrain from offering suggested questions."

Another local radio host, Sherwin Hughes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, said that when he interviewed Biden last month, the White House did not send him questions to ask, and he said there were no preconditions on the interviews  "none of that at all," he told ABC News.

He said beforehand, he and the White House did discuss general topics he wanted to cover during the interview, including the Affordable Care Act, and the White House relayed what he described as "the message points that they wanted to communicate," including how Biden differed from Trump.

Darian Morgan, who goes by the name "Big Tigger" on Atlanta's V-103, interviewed Biden in May and told ABC News that he was sent "sample questions" but it was "never a directive" to stick to them.

"They did send me some sample questions, but by no means was there an absolute directive to stick to those questions," Morgan told ABC News.

Morgan said the process was not unlike other interviews he has done, saying it's "not an uncommon practice."

"In my history of interviewing elected officials, a lot of people like to do that," he said.

2nd local radio host says they were given questions ahead of Biden interview originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
PERRY, Ohio (WJW)  Crews on Saturday evening suspended the search for a man who went missing after a boat capsized on Lake Erie that morning.

Three people were pulled from the water, one of whom was later pronounced dead.

A fourth person who was reportedly on the boat is still missing, according to a Saturday evening update from the U.S. Coast Guard. Rescue crews searched by air and sea for 10 hours in the water near Perry, covering 64 square miles, an area nearly the size of Cleveland, according to a later update.

4 killed in shooting during party at a Kentucky home

Suspending a search and rescue case is one of the most difficult decisions for us to make, Capt. Mark Kuperman, commander of Coast Guard Sector Eastern Great Lakes, is quoted in the release. Our crews  in conjunction with our Ohio state and local partners  conducted an exhaustive search for the missing individual and we are greatly appreciative of the immense effort by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Northeast Ohio community of first responders to attempt to return the individual safely to their family. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of those involved in this tragic incident.

A Coast Guard station in Buffalo, New York, received the mayday call just after 10:30 a.m., according to information provided by the Coast Guard.

A helicopter crew from the Detroit Coast Guard and a boat crew from Cleveland Harbor Coast Guard began to search, according to the release. The helicopter crew diverted to a different water rescue in Ashtabula  but later returned  while the Cleveland crew continued to search.

Just before 2 p.m., a local fire departments rescue boat crew reportedly found coolers and other debris floating in the water about 1 to 2 nautical miles away from the Perry Nuclear Power Plant, which is near the lakeshore in Perry, Lake County.

The 23-foot boat was found capsized and partially submerged, according to the release. Divers with the Lake County Sheriffs Office then searched the vessel. Its currently unknown what caused the boat to overturn.

Cleveland Harbor rescuers found a man who was unresponsive. That man was later declared dead at a hospital, according to the update.

The helicopter crew, having returned from its rescue and refueling, located one person in the water wearing a life jacket, who was responsive. Another responsive person wearing a life jacket was rescued by the fire departments boat crew. Those two people, a man and a woman, were still responsive on Saturday evening, officials said.

Responders were told there was a fourth person in the water who has not yet been found. Its also unknown if the person is wearing a life jacket.

A Fairport Harbor Coast Guard crew was called in to assist the Detroit air crew and local fire department, according to the initial release. The Cleveland Harbor crew was released due to fatigue. The first Detroit air crew was later relieved by another air crew from the same station, according to the update.

Several other agencies were actively searching for the missing man on Saturday evening, including sheriffs deputies and firefighters from Lake County and responders with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Let them know: Clevelands police chief shares message after officers death

The incident was one of multiple water rescues on Lake Erie on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, two other people were rescued after their boat overturned about a half-mile off the coast in Sheffield Lake.

The Coast Guard helicopter crew diverted from the search for the missing boater to rescue five people from the water on Lake Erie near Ashtabula after their 22-foot boat was swamped by a wave.

Stay with FOX8.com for updates on this developing story.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
4th of July fireworks: Nationwide there were fatalities. How were injuries here?

Greater Cincinnati hospitals didn't see much of a spike in patients suffering from firework-related injuries on Fourth of July night.

The Enquirer checked with several Greater Cincinnati hospitals to see if the firework-filled holiday spurred an increase in injuries.

Cincinnati Childrens Hospital said the holiday didnt bring forth anything out of the ordinary, a hospital spokesperson said.

Mercy Health saw two emergency department admissions related to injuries caused by fireworks, a spokesperson confirmed. Those were at the hospital networks Fairfield Hospital and West Hospital, they said.

Overall emergency department traffic was down over the holiday for TriHealth hospitals, a spokesperson for the healthcare network said. They noted that while TriHealth emergency departments don't track firework-related intakes, supervisors in those divisions are not aware of any injuries caused by fireworks on Thursday and Friday.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, nearly 10,000 people were hurt by fireworks in 2023.

Firework accidents nationwide

Firework-related deaths and injuries impacted communities across the country this Fourth of July, USA TODAY reported.

In Illinois, a 34-year-old man died in the Northwest side of Chicago after suffering trauma to the body, Chicago police told USA Today.

Another Illinois man, 25, died early Friday morning in a firework mishap in Peoria, the Peoria Journal Star reported. The LaSalle County Sheriff's Office said the incident involved illegal fireworks and the man was taken to a hospital where he later died.

A 20-year-old man from Harvest, Alabama who suffered trauma to the upper torso in a firework accident was pronounced dead Friday morning after being taken to the hospital, USA Today reported.

Other accidents that caused nonfatal firework-related injuries were reported in Alabama, Utah and Oklahoma, according to USA TODAY.

Nearly 10,000 people were treated for firework-related injuries in 2023, with 66% of those injuries occurring in the weeks before and after the Fourth of July, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported.

Teenagers 15-19 years old endured the highest rate of injury, with children ages 5 to 9 trailing just behind, the commission reported.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati hospitals talk about 4th of July firework-related accidents
President Joe Biden has been steadfast that he is not dropping out.

In the meantime, some donors and elected officials are pushing him to step aside.

If Biden were to change his mind, the final push is likely to come from his own small orbit.

President Joe Biden is clear that he is not leaving the 2024 race.

On Friday, Biden rallied with supporters in Wisconsin as he continued his effort to hold onto power amid a growing number of megadonors and Democratic officials questioning whether he is still the best candidate to beat former President Donald Trump.

"You voted for me to be your nominee, no one else," Biden said at the rally. "You, the voters did that. And despite that some folks don't seem to care who you voted for, well guess what, they're trying to push me out of the race. Well, let me say this as clearly as I can: I'm staying in the race."

Biden's disastrous debate performance has sharply highlighted voters' biggest concern about reelecting the 81-year-old, who would be 86 if he left office in January 2029.

So far, influential voices like former President Barack Obama remain behind him. There's still time for Biden to change course. Still, it's unlikely that another current party leader would nudge him out of the race in a meeting like the famous 1974 meeting Sen. Barry Goldwater and top Republicans held with President Richard Nixon, letting him know that he would not survive the Watergate scandal.

Instead, Biden may only be swayed by someone within his insular orbit  many who have served at his side for decades. In the end, it may only be a fellow Biden who could change his mind.

Jill Biden

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden following the CNN Presidential Debate in Atlanta on June 27. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The president is "Jill Biden's husband" in every sense of the phrase. Like many modern first ladies, Jill Biden is described as one of the most powerful voices in the White House.

"There is little doubt among those who know her that Jill Biden's highest priority is shielding her husband and family from danger," journalist Katie Rogers wrote in her book about modern first ladies.

Since the debate debacle, the first lady has also been clear that she remains dedicated to Biden staying in the race.

Over the years, Biden has been described as the hard edge to the man who has spent decades glad-handing people around Washington. She has often been referred to as the keeper of family grudges, including when she needed to be convinced that Vice President Kamala Harris didn't cross a line when she called out Biden's past statements on race during a heated Democratic presidential primary debate.

After Dr. Biden helped fend off protestors in 2020, the then-former vice president joked that his wife "is my Secret Service."

"Whoa, you don't screw around with a Philly girl, I'll tell you what," Biden said at the time.

Valerie Biden Owens

Valerie Biden Owens, Biden's sister, served as a key surrogate and supporter during his political career. Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

President Biden has often cited his father's admonition, "Family is the beginning, the middle, and the end." His younger sister, Valerie Biden Owens, knows that better than most.

She has been involved in Biden's political career from the beginning. Owens managed Biden's upset 1972 US Senate campaign and his first presidential run less than two decades later.

"Val is kind of the connective tissue throughout the course of the campaigns from '72 to today," Kate Bedingfield, then-Biden's deputy campaign manager, told BuzzFeed News in 2019.

Biden Owens joked at the time about how hard it was not leading her brother's ultimately successful run, given that she had run his campaigns dating back to high school.

"This is the first time I haven't managed the campaign, and I want to tell you, it's damn frustrating!" she said, per BuzzFeed.

An unnamed Democratic official told Axios that if there were a quiet campaign to nudge Biden aside then one of the few people to make the case should be the president's sister.

Ted Kaufman

Former Sen. Ted Kaufman (seen here in 2009) has been part of President Joe Biden's orbit for decades. Rob Carr/AP

Former Sen. Ted Kaufman of Delaware might be one of Biden's few actual contemporaries.

Biden has been in office so long that few if any, current Democratic leaders can match his longevity, especially given his complicated relationships with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as The New York Times points out.

Kaufman has been at Biden's side for decades, starting during the 1972 campaign. Just a few years after Biden's election, Kaufman became his chief of staff. When Biden left the Senate after being elected vice president in 2009, Kaufman replaced him.

He's been described as Biden's best friend and his alter ego. Kaufman has also told Biden the harsh truth before. In 1987, it was Kaufman who urged the then-senator to drop out of the presidential race amid a plagiarism scandal.

"There's only one way to stop the sharks and that's pull out," Kaufman told Biden, according to The New York Times.

Biden often returns to Delaware on the weekends. According to The Times, when the president goes home he seeks out Kaufman.

Ron Klain

Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain is so close to President Joe Biden that he has been viewed as a quasi-son. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain is at the center of Biden's debate debacle.

Klain has prepped Democrats for presidential debates for decades. He took time away from his new job with AirBnb to help prepare his old boss.

The Indiana native has worked for Biden almost nonstop since graduating from Harvard Law School in 1987. Under Biden's leadership, he was chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. After serving as Vice President Al Gore's chief of staff, Klain returned to the role during the Obama administration.

Klain's decision to back former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 Democratic primary over Biden, who was still musing about his run, was considered a deep act of betrayal.

But Klain returned to the Biden orbit and realized his long-held ambition of being the top aide to a president. It's their closeness that might make it hard for Biden's former chief to pressure his long-time boss to step aside.

"He's like a father to Ron Klain. What do you say to your father? This is tough, very tough," Elaine Kamarck, a longtime member of the Democratic National Committee, told The Times.

According to The Times, Biden still talks to him once a week to figure out the best ways to attack Trump.

Mike Donilon

Mike Donilon, a longtime aide to President Joe Biden, left the White House to help with Biden's reelection. Chip Somodevilla/Getty

Like others in Biden's small orbit, Mike Donilon has been at the president's side for decades.

According to The Times, Biden calls Donilon almost daily to get his take on the news. Donilon, who was a senior White House advisor, left the administration to join Biden's reelection campaign.

He played a major role in shaping the message for Biden's successful 2020 run.

Read the original article on Business Insider
5 takeaways from Biden's first interview following his disastrous debate performance

5 takeaways from Biden's first interview following his disastrous debate performance

President Joe Biden appeared Friday in his first interview since last week's debate with Donald Trump.

Donors and supporters saw the interview as key to addressing criticisms of Biden's poor debate.

Here's four things you need to know about it went.

All eyes were on ABC News on Friday when President Joe Biden appeared in his first interview since his catastrophic debate appearance last week.

Democratic donors and supporters of Biden saw the interview as key to addressing criticisms of his poor debate showing  in which Biden repeatedly fumbled his words and appeared to lose his train of thought.

Here's what you need to know about how Biden's post-debate interview went:

1. He's staying in the race

In response to the debate debacle, some major Democratic donors, including Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings and Disney heiress Abigail Disney, have pledged to withhold funding from the party until Biden drops out of the race.

Other once-loyal supporters, including four sitting House Democrats, have joined their calls for him to step aside.

While some reports indicate Biden has privately acknowledged that he might be unable to save his reelection bid, in his ABC News interview, he publicly reiterated his current plan to stay in the race.

"Are you sure you're being honest with yourself when you say you have the mental and physical capacity to serve another four years?" ABC's George Stephanopoulos pushed Biden.

"Yes, I am," the president responded. "Because George, last thing I want to do is not be able to meet that."

2. Biden called debate night a 'bad episode'

Biden called his poor showing on debate night a "bad episode," but he stressed his fumbled words and mangled answers were "no indication of any serious condition."

"I was exhausted," Biden told ABC News. "I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and  and a bad night."

Biden, currently 81-years-old, has long faced criticism over his age and fitness for office, which grew louder following the debate. His campaign has offered conflicting excuses for the sitting president's lackluster showing, including that he was sick, jetlagged, and poorly prepared for the event.

When Stephanopoulos pressed Biden, asking why spending nearly a week at Camp David wasn't enough recovery time from his travels to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Biden said he was sick.

"I was feeling terrible," Biden said. "Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they're trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold."

3. The president seems to be considering his legacy

While he maintained that he plans to stay in the race for reelection  joking that he'd consider stepping down if "the Lord Almighty" asked him to  Biden, in several responses, appeared reflective about his debate performance and his presidential legacy more broadly.

"If I stopped now, I would go down in history as a pretty successful president," Biden said.

And if Trump wins?

Biden said that "as long as I gave it my all," he will be OK.

"That's what this is about," Biden said.

Notably, Biden dodged questions about what he would do if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies asked him to step down.

4. Biden seems in denial over his dipping poll numbers

When pressed about his persistent slump in the polls, Biden was defiant, saying the data wasn't accurate.

"I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020  I can't win. The polls show I can win," Biden said. "Before the vote, I said that's not going to happen: We're going to win."

When he won in 2020, Biden became the first US presidential candidate to secure more than 80 million votes. Biden referenced his historic victory in the interview, reiterating his intention to win again.

Stephanopoulos asked if Biden had seen recent reports of discontent in the Democratic party, which Biden similarly brushed off.

"I've seen it from the press," Biden said.

5. Viewers don't so far appear to be convinced

On social media, clips of the 22-minute interview drew immediate skepticism, if not outright condemnation, from many viewers.

Some lambasted ABC News for airing a pre-recorded version instead of a livestream, while others criticized Biden's responses and appearance during the interview.

"I feel no better," one Instagram user wrote in a comment. "I think this interview made the situation worse."

The initial response wasn't all negative, with some reiterating their support for Biden.

"I can appreciate that he's accepted responsibility," another Instagram user wrote. "He still has my vote. There's no room for any more errors IMO."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Xi says China ready to develop comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in new era with Tajikistan

Xinhua) 09:12, July 06, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

DUSHANBE, July 5 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to develop the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era with Tajikistan, said Chinese President Xi Jinping here on Friday.

Xi made the remarks during his talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, expressing his delight to once again meet his old friend President Rahmon.

Five years after the last visit, Xi said he saw an even more prosperous Tajikistan this time.

As a friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner, China is truly pleased about this, said Xi, expressing his confidence that under Rahmon's leadership, Tajikistan will surely meet the various national development goals it has set forth.

Building a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, solidarity and mutual benefit is a political decision made together by the two presidents. It conforms with the trend of the times, and with the common interests of the two countries and peoples, said Xi.

Under the new circumstances, China is ready to work with Tajikistan to develop a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era, and to build the China-Tajikistan community with a shared future from a higher starting point, he said.

Noting that China will remain steadfast in promoting friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with Tajikistan, Xi said China will firmly support Tajikistan in following a development path that suits its national conditions, firmly support the efforts of Tajikistan to safeguard its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and firmly support the various political arrangements and development measures in Tajikistan put forth by President Rahmon.

China firmly opposes interference in Tajikistan's internal affairs under any excuse by any external force. No matter how the international landscape changes, China will always be a trustworthy friend, a reliable partner and a close brother of Tajikistan, he said.

In the talks, Rahmon hailed China and Tajikistan are friendly neighbors and loyal friends.

Rahmon said that under the strategic guidance of the two leaders, bilateral relations have maintained sound development in recent years, achieving positive outcomes in various fields of cooperation and maintaining high-level communication and collaboration in multilateral institutions.

Rahmon pointed out that the Tajikistan-China relationship is an exemplary model of international relations between nations.

Since the beginning of the new era, under the visionary and wise leadership of President Xi, China has made great developmental achievements, which have not only benefited the Chinese people, but also made important contributions to regional and world peace and development, he said.

To strengthen the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China in the new era is a priority policy direction of Tajikistan, Rahmon said, adding that the Tajik side firmly abides by the one-China principle, opposes any form of "Taiwan independence," and firmly supports all efforts made by China in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity and realizing national reunification.

Following the talks, the two leaders also jointly met the press.

Xi said the two sides have agreed to focus on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, comprehensively promote the synergy of development strategies of the two countries, and help each other's modernization drive.

China is ready to import more quality products from Tajikistan and continuously upgrade the quality and scale of China-Tajikistan economic and trade cooperation, he said.

He also said the two countries have agreed to continue to deepen connectivity cooperation and support Tajikistan in tapping more potential in boosting transit transport.

For his part, Rahmon said Xi's state visit to Tajikistan is an important milestone in the history of bilateral relations, which will inject strong new impetus into the development of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between Tajikistan and China in the new era.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a grand welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a grand welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon inspect the guard of honor in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. Rahmon hosted a grand welcome ceremony for Xi. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon inspect the guard of honor in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. Rahmon hosted a grand welcome ceremony for Xi. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon hold small-group talks in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon hold big-group talks in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon sign a joint statement between the two countries on developing the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era after their talks in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi held talks with Rahmon at the presidential palace in Dushanbe on Friday. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon jointly meet the press after their talks at the presidential palace in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony hosted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

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Key Insights

Standex International's estimated fair value is US$117 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity

Standex International is estimated to be 33% overvalued based on current share price of US$155

Our fair value estimate is 38% lower than Standex International's analyst price target of US$189

How far off is Standex International Corporation (NYSE:SXI) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. 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 Standex International

The Model

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.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, 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

2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$76.6m US$74.5m US$73.5m US$73.4m US$73.9m US$74.7m US$75.9m US$77.2m US$78.7m US$80.3m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x1 Est @ -2.78% Est @ -1.24% Est @ -0.15% Est @ 0.61% Est @ 1.14% Est @ 1.51% Est @ 1.77% Est @ 1.95% Est @ 2.08% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 7.2% US$71.5 US$64.8 US$59.7 US$55.7 US$52.2 US$49.3 US$46.7 US$44.3 US$42.2 US$40.2

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$527m

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 (2.4%) 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 7.2%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2034  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$80m (1 + 2.4%)  (7.2% 2.4%) = US$1.7b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$1.7b ( 1 + 7.2%)10= US$858m

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 US$1.4b. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of US$155, the company appears reasonably expensive 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.

dcf

The Assumptions

Now 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 Standex International 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 7.2%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.042. 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 Standex International

Strength

Debt is not viewed as a risk.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Machinery market.

Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the American market.

Threat

Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the American market.

Next Steps:

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. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Can we work out why the company is trading at a premium to intrinsic value? For Standex International, we've put together three relevant items you should further examine:

Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Standex International you should know about. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for SXI'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 American 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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
The Biden administration earlier this week proposed the countrys first-ever federal standards to protect workers from heat as climate change drives temperatures to record-breaking levels.

The rule is not yet final; it is still subject to public comments and consideration of that public input. But it could potentially help tens of millions of workers across the U.S.

Here are five things to know about the proposed rule  and the dangers it could help mitigate.

Heat takes a deadly toll on workers

Extreme heat kills 1,220 people in the U.S. annually. Workers are among that number: 986 died from heat exposure between 1992 and 2022  an average of 34 deaths each year.

During that period, the fewest worker deaths were reported in 1992, when 11 workers died from heat, while the most were in 2011, when 61 people were killed on the job.

Many of those who have died were construction workers, with 334 dying during that same period.

An even greater number of people suffer heat-related illnesses each year. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that last year nearly 120,000 people were hospitalized due to extreme heat.

Between 2011 and 2020, there were around 34,000 work-related heat injuries that resulted in people missing work.

Exposure to extreme heat can result in a range of health issues including heat stroke, which causes seizures, loss of consciousness and possibly death, and heat exhaustion, which can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea. Heat exposure can also cause cramps, rashes and fainting.

Workers all over the country are passing out, suffering heat stroke and dying from heat exposure from just doing their jobs, and something must be done to protect them, said Douglas Parker, who leads the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The rules protections could apply to 36 million workers

The Biden administration has estimated that its rule could apply to 36 million workers. It would extend protections to those who have to exert themselves in high-heat settings.

That includes people who make deliveries, carry mail, work in construction, pick vegetables, fix power lines and landscape.

It would apply to both indoor and outdoor workers who are doing their jobs in temperatures north of 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

The rule would require employers to assess threats and take protective measures

Under the rule, companies with employees vulnerable to extreme heat would have to take initial steps including creating a plan to keep workers safe and hiring a heat safety coordinator.

They would also have to monitor workplaces for high-heat conditions.

In times of high heat, employers would need to provide workers with access to water, a break area, time to take breaks and plans to help new employees acclimate to heat. They would also need to communicate regularly with employees.

Break areas for outdoor workers would be either areas with shade or air-conditioned spaces. For indoor workers, they would be cooler areas, with access to fans, ventilation or air conditioning.

The acclimation plans would comprise allowing new employees either to start off with a lighter workload or to take frequent and monitored breaks.

The rules completion likely depends on who wins the election in November

While the Biden administration has proposed the rule, its not clear if it will ever actually be completed.

The federal regulatory process can be time consuming, and with only about seven months left in President Bidens first term, it would be difficult to finalize in that time.

The issue of worker heat standards has been relatively partisan, and its not clear whether a Trump administration would pick it up.

Republican leaders of at least two states, Florida and Texas, have passed laws preventing municipalities from establishing their own worker heat standards.

Critics of such measures have said they are burdensome for industry. OSHA estimates that complying with the rule as proposed would cost employers an average of $7.8 billion annually  or $3,085.47 per establishment  over a 10-year period.

Extreme heat is expected to worsen with climate change

As the changing climate heats up the planet, extreme heat is expected to worsen.

Scientists have warned that more global warming will result in more frequent and more intense heat waves. Without actions to mitigate climate change, heat-related deaths around the world could increase by 370 percent, according to a study that was published last year.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
In a Friday interview with ABC News that was intended to steady his reelection campaign following his much lamented debate performance against former President Donald Trump, President Biden acknowledged his lapse, blaming it on a cold, and reiterated that he has no plans to drop out of the race.

The interview with George Stephanopoulos was taped hours before ABC News aired it in its entirety and had taken on a make-or-break aura. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared earlier in the week that it was essential for Biden to sit for interviews with serious journalists in order to reassure Americans that he was up for the challenges of a second term.

Earlier in the day, Biden held a campaign event in Madison, Wis., where he again vowed to remain in the race and to defeat former President Donald Trump. Despite those assurances, media outlets reported on efforts by Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia to persuade senators to pressure Biden to withdraw from the campaign. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has reportedly scheduled a meeting with top Democrats in the chamber to discuss Bidens continued viability as a candidate.

Here are the key takeaways from Bidens Friday nights interview:

Biden writes off debate performance as bad episode caused by being sick

During Bidens interview on Friday with ABC News, Stephanopoulos, a former Clinton aide turned journalist, asked the president whether the halting performance the nation witnessed during last weeks debate was a bad episode or a sign of a more serious condition?

It was a bad episode, Biden said. No indication of a more serious condition. I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparation. It was a bad night.

You came home from Europe about 11 or 12 days before the debate, Stephanopoulos continued. You spent six days in Camp David. Why wasnt that enough rest time, enough recovery time?

Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible, Biden responded. Matter of fact, the docs with me, I asked if they did a COVID test because they were trying to figure out whats wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold."

Biden continues to resist calls from Democrats to step aside

Despite a growing number of Democratic donors and elected officials going public with their concerns about his candidacy, Biden was resolute that he would not be forced to exit the race.

"But if you are told reliably from your allies, and your friends and supporters in the Democratic Party, in the House, in the Senate, that theyre concerned youre going to lose the House and the Senate if you stay in, what will you do? Stephanopoulos asked.

"It's not going to happen," Biden replied.

Im still in good shape

Earlier this week, the New York Times cited White House sources who said Biden has suffered an increase in mental lapses in recent months. Stephanopoulos questioned the president on his perception of whether he had experienced any noticeable declines.

Are you the same man today that you were when you took office three and a half years ago? Stephanopoulos asked.

In terms of successes, yes, Biden responded. I also was the guy who put together a plan for the Middle East that may be coming to fruition. I was also the guy who expanded NATO. I was also the guy who grew the economy. All the individual ideas that were done were things that I had or I fulfilled, I moved on.

Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the past several months? the host asked.

Can I run the 110 flat? Biden quipped in an apparent reference to the 110-meter hurdle race in track and field. No, but Im still in good shape.

Are you more frail? Stephanopoulos continued.

No, Biden replied, adding, Come keep my schedule.

Biden didnt commit to taking cognitive test

Asked if he had undergone a full neurological and cognitive evaluation, Biden joked, I get a full neurological test every day. And Ive had a full physical. I had  you know, Ive been in Walter Reed for my physicals. I mean, yes, in answer to your 

Stephanopoulos followed up: I know your doctor said he consulted with a neurologist. I guess what Im asking is a slightly different question. Have you had the specific cognitive tests and have you had a neurologist, a specialist, do an examination?

No, no one said I had to, Biden answered.

Stephanopoulos pressed further, asking if he would be willing to undergo such tests and to release the results publicly.

Look, Biden said, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do.

Did Biden go back and watch the debate?

Asked if he had re-watched the debate, Biden offered an oddly phrased answer.

I dont think I did, no, he replied.

When Stephanopoulos pressed Biden on whether he realized the debate was going badly as the event unfolded, the president gave a lengthy answer.

The whole way I prepared, nobodys fault, mine, nobodys fault but mine, I, uh, I prepared what I usually would do, sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or the National Security Council for explicit detail and I realized part-way through that, you know, all the  I get quoted  the New York Times had me down 10 points before the debate, nine now or whatever the hell it is, Biden said. The fact of the matter is that what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldnt, I mean the way that the debate ran, not  my fault, no one elses fault

Stephanopoulos then interrupted Biden. But it seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in, even before he spoke, he said.

Well, I just had a bad night, Biden replied.

Biden still confident he can beat Trump

Stephanopoulos, who maintained an even tone throughout the interview, asked Biden multiple questions about whether his health would negatively affect his ability to run a successful campaign and to serve a second term.

Are you sure you're being honest with yourself when you say you have the mental and physical capacity to serve another four years? he asked.

Yes I am, Biden replied.

Stephanopoulos then asked: Are you being honest with yourself as well about your ability to defeat Donald Trump?

Yes. Yes, yes, yes, Biden said.
PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now)  Fire officials in Prince William County said seven adults and three children were displaced after a fire broke out at townhomes in Woodbridge Friday afternoon.

In an email to DC News Now, Matt Smolsky, the Assistant Fire Chief with the Prince William County Fire Department (PWCFD) said firefighters were notified of a townhouse fire in the 14400 block of Brentwood Ct.

Temple Hills community shaken after triple shooting leaves boy critically injured

Once at the scene, crews found fire erupting from the front of one townhome, with flames spreading to other units.

Townhome damaged after fire broke out on Brentwood Court in Woodbridge on July 5. (Photo Courtesy: Prince William County Fire Department)

Fire officials said residents safely escaped before crews arrived and no one was hurt. Firefighters quickly put the fire out, but it damaged three townhomes.

The American Red Cross was called to assist seven adults and three children.

Discarded Fourth of July fireworks cause house fire in Silver Spring

Smolsky said the Fire Marshal determined the fire was caused by improperly discarded fireworks that were found in a combustible trash can inside a storage shed.

The Fire Marshals Office said fireworks should never be discarded in a combustible container without ensuring they are completely out. Officials said used fireworks should be sprayed with water or submerged in a bucket of water. If possible, allow them to sit for 24 hours before placing them in a non-combustible container.

Never place spent fireworks in a trash container inside or next to your home or other structure, said the Fire Marshals Office.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Yitzian Torres-Garcia was going to Disney World.

It would be the end of his summer vacation, which hed spent visiting his grandparents in Tampa. Torres-Garcia and his mother had recently moved to New Jersey, so he only got to see his grandparents a few times a year. They loved to spoil him, his grandmother said, and so they planned to take him to the theme park on Aug. 4, 2023, to celebrate his eighth birthday.

Instead, Torres-Garcia was buried in Puerto Rico before that day came. A month before his birthday, while waiting to see the Fourth of July fireworks with his grandfather, he was shot in the head by a stray bullet.

He just wanted to go see the fireworks like a normal little kid, said Marisol Ayala Hernandez, his grandmother.

On the beach off the Courtney Campbell Causeway, Torres-Garcia was playing in the water with other children around 8:30 p.m. when a personal watercraft sped past them.

Two groups of men  unrelated to him and his grandfather  began arguing over the reckless use of the watercraft, with some upset the children were endangered.

The argument soon escalated, and members of the two groups exchanged gunfire.

Juan Carlos Hernandez, the boys grandfather, grabbed him and rushed him to his truck, taking cover from the shootout. But a bullet went through the truck, striking Hernandez in the hand and killing Torres-Garcia.

The 7-year-old didnt get to see the fireworks that night. The ones they brought were never set off.

A year later, the family is no closer to an answer, despite the large Fourth of July crowd on the beach that night. Police believe photos and videos of the nights events are still out there.

Ayala Hernandez said her grandson wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up. He enjoyed playing video games like Fortnite and Roblox.

Stephanie Arroyo Garcia, his aunt, said Torres-Garcias grandfather nicknamed him Bootie because when he was born, he was a little bit chunky.

We want to get justice for him, Arroyo Garcia said. He was a child. Now, hes an angel.

On Wednesday, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives each added $5,000 to the reward for information leading to an arrest  for a total of $25,000 in potential reward money.

Florida Crime Stoppers are already calling it a cold case. The organization included Torres-Garcias name and face in a deck of playing cards intended to produce leads in unsolved death investigations. His case is the most recent in the set.

Tampa police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a news conference Wednesday that going to watch the Fourth of July fireworks should not be the end of a life of a 7-year-old. He urged anyone with information to call Tampa police at 813-231-6130 or Crime Stoppers at 800-873-8477.

Even if you have information that youre not sure how valuable it is, please share it with us, Bercaw said. Of course, it can be anonymous.

Ayala Hernandez, speaking through tears, asked those involved in the argument on the beach that night to turn themselves in.

You try to defend babies in an argument, and you killed an innocent baby, Ayala Hernandez said. My grandson had nothing to do with this.

About 10 family members gathered Thursday at the site of a roadside memorial for Torres-Garcia to honor the anniversary of his death.

At first glance, the gathering resembled many of the other Fourth of July celebrations on the beach  with American flags, red-and-blue balloons and an assortment of hot dogs and burgers sizzling on the grill.

But beyond the family was a long row of about 40 signs with photos of Torres-Garcia, each calling for No Stray Bullets and Justice in both English and Spanish. A small gravestone sat at their center, surrounded by toys: Mickey Mouse, monster trucks and a Rubiks Cube.

That evening, the family set off Torres-Garcias fireworks, a year after he and his grandfather first brought them to the beach.
El Paso, TX (KTSM) Good evening, El Paso.

Beryl, previously known as a hurricane, has weakened to a tropical storm.

As of Friday, July 5 at 8:30 p.m., Tropical Storm Beryl is currently located north of the Yucatan Peninsula with sustained winds of 65 miles per hour. The storm has weakened from its previous hurricane status and is expected to re-intensify once it moves back into the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm is forecasted to pose significant risks including damaging hurricane-like winds and life-threatening storm surge.

Beryl is expected to impact South Texas cities such as Brownsville, Corpus Christi, McAllen, South Padre Island and Harlingen. El Paso is unlikely to experience any significant impact. Rain and storms will come from another system.

In the meantime, lets bring our focus back to our 9-Day Forecast.

Saturday, we are forecasting a similar day as Friday, with an forecast high of 99 degrees paired with isolated thunderstorms. Our overnight low is expected to cool off to 78 degrees.

Sunday is when it gets interesting. We are predicting our weather conditions to be sunny and dry. Our high is expected to warm up to 106 degrees. Stay hydrated on this day and humidity will also be a key factor for this day.

Moisture will make its way back into the Borderland beginning on Monday up to Thursday. Our high is expected to fluctuate between the triple digits and upper 90s.

Humid and warm Friday is in for us with a forecasted high of 100 degrees with an overnight low of 77 degrees.

As we make way into next weekend, we may see some clear skies with some cloud coverage in the upper 90s and triple digits.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Protesters gather outside a Missouri clinic in 2019. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

Abortion surveillance is something former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has said is up to states. But for abortion providers and advocates, surveillance and monitoring by anti-abortion activists has long been the reality. And post-Dobbs many states are actively trying to expand government surveillance.

There is a lot of confusion in our patient population  because most of them are coming from states that have banned abortion  about the legality of coming to another state, said Michele Landeau, chief operating officer of Hope Clinic in Granite City, Illinois.

Just across the border from St. Louis, Missouri, Hope Clinic serves as one of the closest abortion clinics to several banned states in the Midwest and the South. After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, the clinic increased its staff and capacity to accommodate an influx of patients, more than 80% of whom are coming from outside of Illinois, Landeau told States Newsroom. She said the clinic has also seen an influx of protesters, especially on Saturdays, who can sometimes be heard shouting patients out-of-state license plates.

That can cause a lot of anxiety and fear, Landeau said. I believe the protesters know that, and thats why they do it.

Since Dobbs, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that specializes in digital civil liberties, has seen a spike in doxing of abortion providers and assistance groups, said staff attorney Lisa Femia. Another increased privacy threat since Dobbs, she said, is police sharing automated license plate reader data with police in states where abortion is not legal.

Illinois is among several states that have adopted abortion rights in the lead-up to and since Dobbs, most recently travel data privacy protections. A law that went into effect earlier this year prohibits the sharing of data from automated license plate readers with law enforcement for the purpose of investigating or enforcing a law that denies or interferes with a persons right to choose or obtain reproductive health care services.

But even in this abortion-haven state, Mark Lee Dicksons Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn initiative helped pass an ordinance banning the mailing or shipping of abortion pills in Danville, a town along Illinoiss eastern border with Indiana, where abortion is not legal. The ordinance (which the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois says is unlawful and unenforceable because it violates state law) was passed the same month an anti-abortion extremist drove a car loaded with gasoline-filled containers into the building of a planned abortion clinic in Danville.

Femia said increased legal challenges have so far not upheld laws that attempt to restrict interstate abortion-related travel or information. But its still early, she said.

I think we also have to remember that in sort of the scheme of the legal system, it hasnt really been very long since Dobbs and since states have actually started implementing extremely abortion restrictive laws, Femia told States Newsroom. So, were still in sort of the nascent stages of abortion prosecutions.

To fight for reproductive health privacy, Femia said the Electronic Frontier Foundation has tried to put pressure on government to enforce privacy protections on the books as well as educate the public.

This week, the nonprofit MSI Reproductive Choices launched a digital guide for safely searching abortion-related information online in partnership with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, called the Vagina Privacy Network, and as part of the launch handed out free burner phones at three different reproductive rights marches in Indiana, Tennessee, and Georgia.
The suspected drunken driver in the deadly July Fourth party horror on the Lower East Side has a long criminal record  including an unhinged attack on an addiction counseling trainee and an operating while intoxicated bust near a Wisconsin city where a madman plowed an SUV through a Christmas parade.

Violence and booze-fueled mayhem swirled around Daniel Christopher Hyden, 44, long before police said he rammed a pickup truck into a crowded park Thursday night, killing three and leaving eight injured, according to court records, law enforcement sources and his own writing.

Atiba Boyce, 41, told The Post that Hyden  his instructor at an East Harlem substance abuse counseling school  blew up and threw a chair at him during a class in February.

I never really smelled alcohol on his breath when he was teaching, but something was off, I dont know what it was, Boyce said Friday, noting he didnt find it far-fetched that Hyden was the suspect in the fatal crash.

He was very aggressive.

Cops charged Hyden with assault and harassment for the Feb. 29 incident, law-enforcement sources said.

The NYPD also had two other past run-ins with Hyden, both assault cases from January 2020 and October 2022 that have since been sealed, according to the sources.

Hyden, a substance abuse counselor and self-described ex-professional addict, publicly didnt shy away from his struggles with addiction.

He worked several positions where he mentored other addicts across the city, from Montefiore to Lincoln Hospital to a non-profit called Services for UnderServed, in addition to penning a book titled The Sober Addict in which he alluded to numerous brushes with the law.

I have taken many mugshots over the years and can honestly say I have a fascinating gallery of embarrassing pictures that show addictions debilitating effects, he wrote.

Violence and booze-fueled mayhem swirled around Daniel Christopher Hyden, 44, long before police said he plowed a pickup truck into a crowded holiday party on the Lower East Side. NYPost

Like many with my disease, my encounters with law enforcement and incarceration have been attributed to my use and abuse.

One such legal dustup unfolded in Wisconsin during 2015, when a local police officer noticed Hyden driving without his lights on, according to court records obtained by The Post.

Hyden told the cop he had been driving from an Octoberfest celebration in Milwaukee, where he just had one stein of beer, the records state.

The cop, however, noted Hyden spoke with slurred speech and reeked of beer, according to the records. His blood-alcohol content tested at 0.13%, over the legal limit of 0.08% in Wisconsin, the records state.

A glass stein with 3 inches of beer was found in Hydens car, records state.

Atiba Boyce, 41, told The Post that Hyden  his instructor at an East Harlem substance abuse counseling school  blew up and threw a chair at him during a class in February. Robert Miller

The arrest unfolded near Waukeska, where a crazed man named Darrell Brooks in 2021 plowed an SUV through a Christmas parade, leaving six people dead and more than 60 injured  a holiday horror with an eerie, though inexact, parallel to the Independence Day carnage linked to Hyden.

The Wisconsin court records state Hyden had two drunken driving convictions in New Jersey during 2006 and 2011.

Hyden eventually pleaded guilty to a third-offense drunken driving charge in Wisconsin, for which he received 130-day sentence, records state.

Susan Opper, district attorney for Waukesha County, said she was sorry to hear about the deadly Lower East Side incident.

Here in Waukesha, we can certainly appreciate the pain and suffering of all impacted when a motor vehicle is used as a weapon against innocent persons trying to enjoy a holiday gathering, she said in a statement.

I never really smelled alcohol on his breath when he was teaching, but something was off, I dont know what it was, Boyce said Friday, noting he didnt find it far-fetched that Hyden was the suspect in the fatal crash. Stephen Yang

If the allegation is true that the driver was impaired at the time of the events, we are outraged and hope he will be held fully accountable.

Hydens most recent run-in with the law, before the crash, was the February fight with Boyce at the East Harlem vocational school, police said.

Boyce said the dust-up unfolded after he complained to a supervisor at Recoveries R Us about Hydens condescending and antagonistic behavior.

He said Hyden threatened him, squared up for a fight and attacked him.

We tussled for a little bit, Boyce said.

A representative for Recoveries R Us, where the incident unfolded, told The Post they couldnt comment on Hyden or the crash, citing an open investigation into the February assault case.

Hyden had punched Boyce in the eye and faced an assault charge, sources said.

The Manhattan District Attorneys Office didnt return a request for information Friday about the status of the case.

Boyce told The Post he wanted prosecutors to pursue anger management treatment or community service against Hyden.

I wanted him to deal with his emotions because what I said shouldnt have triggered him to respond the way he did, he said.

It just seems like there was something underneath that.

Additional reporting by Megan Palin
The far-right Alternative for Germany's parliamentary group has welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's controversial trip to Moscow as a "peace initiative."

"Hungary is leading the way and speaking with both direct parties to the conflict on the first day of its EU Council Presidency. This has been a core demand of the AfD parliamentary group since the beginning of the war," said Matthias Moosdorf, the Bundestag faction's foreign policy spokesman.

Orban is the only European leader who still has open channels of dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said.

"The AfD parliamentary group welcomes the fact that the possibility of an early ceasefire with the aim of peace talks is now being prioritized at the highest European level. In doing so, Orban is above all exposing the EU and its personnel as warmongers who are not acting in the European interest," said Moosdorf.

Orban's uncoordinated meeting with Putin in Moscow on Friday caused outrage within the EU, as well as in Kiev and Washington.

Several EU officials stressed that Orban had no official EU mandate for negotiations with Russia, and that it had nothing to do with Hungary assuming the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union.

The right-wing populist leader, often a thorn in the side of Brussels over a range of issues, is seen as closest to Moscow among European Union leaders.

During a joint appearance with Putin after the talks, Orban called for efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine war.
RomanBabakin / Getty Images/iStockphoto

An AARP survey laid out some hard truths about Americans approaching retirement age.

One-fifth of adults 50 and older have no retirement savings, and more than half (61%) are worried they wont have enough money to pay the bills in retirement  at least in the United States, which has the 12th-highest cost of living among 146 countries analyzed by Numbeo. To work around the problem, many seniors want to retire overseas, including in Italy.

Find Out: The Cheapest Places to Retire Across the US That Look Expensive

Try This: The Surprising Way You Can Get Guaranteed Retirement Income for Life

The cost of living in Italy offers significant savings for American retirees, according to a blog from Green.org. It cited data showing that the cost of living in Italy is about 45% less than in the U.S. and that rent prices in the U.S. are 151% higher than in Italy.

For seniors on a tight budget, expenses across many spending categories are much more manageable in Italy than in the U.S.

Certain Italian cities offer a unique blend of lifestyle, culture and amenities, said James Kinsella, a travel expert from TurtleTrip. With relatively affordable living costs, your retirement can be as active or as laid-back as you wish.

Heres why some Americans are choosing to retire in Italy:

Wealthy people know the best money secrets. Learn how to copy them.

How Long Will Your Nest Egg Last?

No matter where you live in Italy, retirement savings should last much longer there than in other popular overseas destinations. For example, a nest egg of $1 million will likely last more than 56 years in Italy, compared with less than 30 years in pricey destinations like Bermuda, Hong Kong and Switzerland.

Italy also ranks among the top 20 countries with the most generous retirement systems, Business Insider reported. And as Green.org noted, healthcare is notably less expensive in Italy, with private healthcare for an elderly couple ranging from 1,500 to 2,800 euros a year, or about $1,620 to $3,020.

Read Next: Heres How Much You Need Saved To Retire Rich in Americas Largest Cities

Other Reasons To Retire in Italy

Affordability isnt the only reason Italy has become a popular retirement destination. The country also has a rich history and culture, vibrant cities, endless natural beauty, and a cuisine that many foodies consider the best in the world.

Here are some other advantages of living in Italy, according to The Local.

Life expectancy: Italy is known for its healthy lifestyle and ranks as having the sixth-longest life expectancy among European Union countries.

Tax benefits: Expats retiring in Italy might benefit from a 7% flat tax rate for pensioners. This incentive is geared to seniors who transfer their residency to Italy and whose retirement income is from a foreign source. To get it, youll need to transfer your residency to a town in Sicily, Calabria, Sardinia, Campania, Basilicata, Abruzzo, Molise or Apulia with fewer than 20,000 residents. The benefit is available as long as you havent lived in Italy within the five previous years and you moved from a country that has a tax agreement with Italy. The incentive lasts for 10 years for retirees.

Quality of life: Many expats say they enjoy a higher standard of living in Italy than in their home countries. Thats not only because of lower costs but also because of a milder climate, friendly communities, and access to so many cultural and historical landmarks.

Story continues

Establishing Residency in Italy

Theres a lot you need to know about moving to Italy and setting up residency there. The quick version is that you need to apply for an Italian Elective residence visa if you can rely on passive income to support your living expenses in Italy. This visa requires proof of sufficient income or assets, proof of accommodations in Italy, and health insurance thats valid across the European Union, Green.org reported.

After meeting certain time requirements and other requisites, you can apply for Italian citizenship. This typically takes between six and 18 months. To learn more about the various options and rules, visit this blog from Arletti & Partners.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Cant Retire in the US? Why Many Americans Are Choosing This Country Instead
This article was originally published in Alabama Reflector.

With one legislative session finished and the next about eight months away, Alabama legislators will spend the time in-between deciding whether to develop an entirely new school funding formula.

The House and Senate committees that oversee the Education Trust Fund (ETF), the states education budget, held a joint meeting Tuesday to begin discussions about potential changes to the current public K-12 education funding formula.

It has been 30 years since we changed our funding formula for education, and a lot has changed in the past 30 years, said Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, the chair of the House Ways and Means Education Committee, in an interview after the meeting. We are one of six states out of 50 that continues to fund the way we are funding, on a resource-model basis, so we are looking at what other options we have that would be better suited to that.

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It is the first in a series of meetings aimed at providing members an education on the workings of Alabamas Foundation Program, the $4.6 billion program in the ETF which provides funding for schools around the state.

Many states fund their schools using a student-based model, one that takes into greater account not only the number of students within a given school system, but also the students composition, such as whether they are English Language learners or someone with special needs.

Under Alabamas current formula, in place since 1995, the number of students creates a certain number of teacher units. That number of teacher units then becomes the basis of much of the funding.

At a recent State Board of Education work session, State Superintendent Eric Mackey had defined the school as a hybrid program rather than a true foundation program because those units are the basis of funding.

You get what you get based on the number of units, he said.

According to Allovue, Connecticut, Kansas, California, Tennessee, Maryland and Texas have all moved to a weighted student funding formula in the last decade.

Members discussed not only the funding formula, but also underfunding of schools in lower-income communities with significant minority populations; the role of economic development incentives and their effect on school funding, and the lack of funding for special needs students.

Kirk Fulford, deputy director of the Legislative Services Agency, provided lawmakers with an overview of the Foundation Program.

The amount that schools receive is based on a unit count. The state takes the average number of students enrolled in the school or school system for the 20 days following Labor Day. The number is then divided by the divisor, set by the Legislature for the number of students within a set of grade levels.

If a school has 100 students, and the divisor for K-3 grades is 14.25, the school or school district has a unit count for K-3 grade teachers of 7.01. That is then converted to dollars based on the salary schedule that is set.

The number of principals, assistant principals and counselors for a school is also calculated based on units, and the amount of Foundation Program funding for the school is converted by multiplying that unit count by the money per unit decided by legislators.

Other types of funding are added to the Foundation Program allocation for schools, from transportation expenses to additional money specifically for math and science teachers along with special education.

Money to fund the cost determined for each district is shared between municipalities and the state. The formula is designed so that more affluent locations pay a greater share of the cost than those whose residents are lower income.

Local governments must set property taxes at a minimum of 10 mills in order to receive money from the Foundation Program.

For the coming year, the state portion of the ETF for K-12 schools, including the Foundation Program; transportation, and programs run through the Alabama State Department of Education, is about $5.5 billion. The local fund portion is about $831.5 million.

The amount in local property taxes collected for the school system will vary by the assessed value of the properties within the school systems boundaries. Poorer areas will generate less tax revenues than more prosperous ones.

Lowndes County, for example, an area with a significantly lower-income population, paid roughly $1.3 million into the Foundation program. Mountain Brook, a wealthy suburb of Birmingham, paid about $7.3 million to the Foundation Program.

School districts with wealthier populations tend to record higher scores on standardized tests, according to an analysis based on FY21-22 spending and School Year 2022-23 scores from the Edunomics Lab based at Georgetown.

The local allocation has irritated some lawmakers who work to increase their economic development to increase school funding, only to have their state allocation reduced, leaving them net neutral.

We always were under the impression that, Wow, we bring in industry, and they pay $200,000 of property taxes to our schools, said Rep. Troy Stubbs, R-Wetumpka, who used to be on the Elmore County Commission. We felt like we were improving our local schools because we were bringing in more money. However, Elmore County is only a participant in our Foundation Program with our 10 mills. We do not have any local funding. Because of that, all we were really doing was lowering the amount that the state contributed to Elmore County.

In Tennessee, which moved to a weighted student funding formula in recent years, school districts were required to keep funding at previous levels, according to the Commercial Appeal. The state provided overall more funding to the education budget so that districts received more money by numbers, even if the share they received from the state lowered.

Garrett previously told the Reflector that the Educational Opportunities Reserve Fund, created in the 2022 regular legislative session, could be used in shifting the funding formula.

Schools receive additional funding for specific students, such as those with special needs, from the Foundation Program. The formula automatically factors in the number of students who have special needs at 5%. The unit count is then weighted up to 2.5 for those students to give schools additional dollars for more resources.

Currently, the sole adaptation in the formula is headcount, and doesnt incorporate the specific needs of some in schools, one that is based on each student, might.

We know the cost to educate a special needs child is, far and away, more than the average child, said Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, the chair of the Senates education budget committee. The cost to educate an English Language Learner is much more than an average Alabama child. Following the trend, or at least looking at the other states who have gone down this road, seeing if we want to consider changing our funding model, how we fund based on a type of student instead of just a student.

The committees plan to resume the discussions at an August meeting.

Reporter Jemma Stephenson contributed to this story.

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and X.
CULLMAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT)  Authorities say a Scottsboro man was killed in a crash in Cullman County on Friday morning.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says Troopers responded to the crash on Alabama 69 near Cullman County 216, in the Dodge City limits around 8: 40 a.m.

According to ALEA, 30-year-old Justin R. Bradford was killed when the motorcycle he was driving hit another vehicle. After impact, officials say both vehicles left the roadway.

Bradford was taken to the Cullman Regional Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries.

Troopers are continuing to investigate the crash.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
The alleged drunk driver accused of mowing down 11 people at a Fourth of July celebration on the Lower East Side was ordered held without bail Saturday, as authorities revealed he was driving with a suspended license and tried to evade sobriety tests after the crash by closing his eyes.

Daniel Christopher Hyden faces 25 years or more behind bars on three counts of vehicular homicide for the gruesome incident which left three people dead and eight others, including an 11-year-old boy, hurt.

Hyden, 44, a substance abuse counselor who wrote a book called The Sober Addict, knew his license was suspended when he got behind the wheel Thursday night, prosecutors said during the Saturday morning arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Daniel Christopher Hyden faces 25 years or more behind bars on three counts of vehicular homicide for the gruesome crash which left three people dead. Robert Miller

Records showed his license had been suspended four times and had not been reinstated since Hyden had failed to acknowledge summonses that hed received, authorities said in a criminal complaint. Its unclear what tickets Hyden had ignored.

He appeared in court shackled, in the same white T-shirt hed worn 24 hours earlier as police walked him out of the First Precinct, his face still visibly swollen from the apparent beating he received from what Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Matt Bogdanos described as the irate crowd at the crash scene.

Hyden told police at Bellevue Hospital afterward that he had a few alcoholic drinks, according to the criminal complaint.

Lab results are still pending on Hydens blood alcohol content, authorities said, noting he refused breathalyzer tests after the crash and allegedly kept his eyes closed  so no one could see his bloodshot eyes.

Hayden was arraigned in a Manhattan Criminal Court this morning. Robert Miller

Police believe Hyden got into a fight with a bouncer at a downtown bar Thursday night after he was refused entry for already being too drunk. Stephen Yang

He even went so far as to close his eyes so that they could not test that, Bogdanos told Judge Robert Mandelbaum. And your honor, in a moment youre going to see how it is the defendant knew so much about sobriety tests.

Soon enough well know exactly how drunk he was, Bogdanos added while recounting Hydens lengthy rap sheet, which includes multiple convictions in Georgia, Wisconsin and New Jersey on charges ranging from driving with a suspended license to DWI to assault and criminal mischief.

As for the defendants record and how he knows what to avoid in terms of field sobriety tests: If hes lived in that state, he has a conviction for a suspended license, Bogdanos contended.

The NYPD towed the Ford F150 that was driven into the crowd. William Farrington

Bogdanos then showed photos of the carnage at the intersection of Water Street and Jackson Street intersection, where Hyden is accused of driving his gray Ford F-150 over the sidewalk and into the crowd celebrating the holiday in the park just before fireworks began, police said.

That damage is from striking 11 human beings, Bogdanos said, adding, So far, theres three dead, Judge. One is still in critical condition and seven others were treated at the hospital  at four different hospitals. He struck so many people that it required four hospitals to treat all of them.

Hydens lawyer declined comment after the Saturday morning arraignment.

Hyden was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and other raps after he allegedly drove a gray Ford F-150 through the Water Street and Jackson Street intersection, according to police. William Farrington

In his book, Hyden painted himself as a well-meaning substance abuse counselor and positive example for others struggling with addiction.

Police believe Hyden got into a fight with a bouncer at a downtown bar Thursday night after he was refused entry for already being too drunk, law-enforcement sources said.

The bouncer agreed to refund him for the ticket to the Fourth of July party and sent him on his way about an hour before the deadly crash at nearby Corlears Hook Park, the sources said.

Surveillance footage showed the truck barreling down the street with no signs of slowing down at the intersection just before the crash.

The wreck claimed the lives of Lucille Pinkney, 59, and her son Herman Pinkney, 38  who lived together near the crash scene  and Ana Morel, 43.

The other eight injured included Hermans longtime girlfriend Jessica Pellot and her 11-year-old son, Jakob Velazquez, who relatives told The Post was traumatized by the loss of his father figure.

Thomas Curto, who was in court for the arraignment, noted his nephew is friends with Jakob and the boy was released from the hospital on Friday and was holding up, despite the loss of his stepfather and his mother.

It angered Curto that Hyden refused to lift his head during the proceeding. He should have never been on the streets, Curto fumed.

Hyden, a former New Jersey resident, currently lives in The Bronx, according to neighbors.
Allston man among two found dead in Rhode Island pond after 4th of July kayaking trip

An Allston resident was one of two men found dead after they didnt return from a kayaking trip in Rhode Island on the 4th of July, officials announced Saturday.

Investigators were told that Gregory Boerman, 37, and Joseph Fritz, 52, of East Providence, Rhode Island had not returned home from their kayaking trip on Omega Pond Thursday, East Providence police shared.

On Friday, Officers and firefighters searched the shoreline and used a drone to locate a body just below the surface near two empty kayaks.

Investigators soon discovered a second body.

While the incident is still under investigation, the deaths do not appear suspicious, police say.

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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Nearly 2 million people have been displaced in Gaza  almost the entire population  after the Israeli military last week ordered a further 80,000 people to evacuate parts of Gaza City amid a renewed ground operation, latest UN figures show.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has stepped up assaults in several parts of the Strip, including the Shujaya neighborhood in the north, where it previously said it had dismantled Hamas.

UNRWA, the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees, estimates that up to 1.9 million people in Gaza have been internally displaced  about 90% of the population of the Strip, estimated by the UN to be around 2.1 million people. The number of displaced people rose from 1.7 million since Israel launched its offensive on the southern city of Rafah in May.

The fresh flurry of offensives raises questions about how and when Israel will wind down its war, which has been fought for nearly nine months with the aims of destroying Hamas military and governing capacities and rescuing Israeli hostages.

Israeli officials had said its incursion into Rafah  the southernmost point of Gaza to which Hamas was thought to have regrouped after Israels destruction of the north  would be the final stage of its war, but the uptick in fighting in the north suggests Hamas retains an ongoing presence.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Saturday that 80,000 people have been displaced this week after the IDF issued evacuation orders in eastern areas of Gaza City.

Smoke rises after Israeli bombardment of Gaza City, July 4, 2024. - Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP/Getty Images

Renewed offensives

In Shujaya, the IDF said Saturday that its combat teams had fought armed squads of Hamas militants over the past 24 hours, destroying weapons and terrorist infrastructures above and below the ground.

It said its soldiers ambushed a group of Hamas fighters and eliminated all the terrorists without any casualties to our forces, and that an air strike had wiped out a terrorist squad with rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers.

Gazas Civil Defense told CNN on Saturday that Israeli bombing in the area has continued without stopping.

The situation in Shujaya has been the same for 10 days and our crews cannot enter to save lives there, it said.

Meanwhile, operations have also continued in southern Rafah, where the bulk of Palestinian civilians had initially been displaced. The IDF said it had eliminated a number of terrorist cells and underground structures.

The IDF did not provide a figure for the number of airstrikes in Gaza over the past 24 hours.

The fighting is continuing to take a huge toll on civilians, many of whom have been displaced nine or 10 times already. One man displaced in Khan Younis told CNN about the hours needed to get hold of small amounts of clean water.

Life in tents is very difficult. We live on sand. Clothes get dirty. Hands get dirty. The body needs to be cleaned. Dining utensils need to be cleaned, Zakaria Bakr, from the Al-Shati camp, told CNN Saturday.

He said his children often have to fetch water for the family. The children live a life that is not their own and they have never known this suffering before, he said.

On Friday, UNRWA posted a video of people in makeshift tents on a beach in the central city of Nuseirat, saying they were building sand walls to protect themselves from the incoming tide.

There are few safe spaces left for families to move to, it said. Many families rely on seawater for washing, cleaning and even drinking.

Elsewhere in Nuseirat, three journalists were killed Saturday in a strike on an apartment building, the Hamas-run government media office told CNN. Since Friday, two other journalists have also been killed in other parts of the Strip, it said.

CNN is asking the IDF for comment on the Nuseirat strike.

Across the Strip, fuel shortages are threatening work at hospitals, and in distributing the trickle of aid passing into Gaza. COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for administering the delivery of aid to Gaza, said Friday that the content of 1,150 aid trucks is waiting to be collected on the Gazan side of the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Gazas Minister of Health warned Saturday of the continuing fuel crisis necessary to operate hospital generators, oxygen stations, and refrigerators for storing medicines in all health facilities.

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DIEU-NIALO CHERY/EPA-EFE / Shutterstock / DIEU-NIALO CHERY/EPA-EFE / Shutterstock

Former president Donald Trump has long favored strict tariffs on imported goods, which could lead to much higher prices on cheap, overseas-sourced items. To help soften the blow to American consumers, Trump recently floated the idea of eliminating federal income taxes and using tariffs to help pay for government services. The idea might be a long shot, but if it does happen, it could have a major impact on both working Americans and retired ones.

Trending Now: What a Trump Presidency Could Mean for Social Security in 2025

Consider This: 9 Easy Ways to Build Wealth That Will Last Through Retirement

Trump recently discussed the idea of an all-tariff policy in a private meeting with Republican lawmakers, Forbes reported. A formal policy proposal has not been released by Trump or his campaign, but the idea is that if tariffs are high enough, it would offset the need for federal income taxes.

Whether such a move is feasible is uncertain. But theres little doubt it would benefit most retirees, who are taxed in multiple ways on their income and investments. Here are some of the ways retirees currently pay income taxes and how they would be impacted by no taxes.

Earning passive income doesn't need to be difficult. You can start this week.

Social Security Benefits

Although the IRS considers Social Security benefits unearned income, you might still owe income taxes on some of the money you get from the program. Roughly 40% of Social Security beneficiaries must pay federal income taxes on their benefits.

If Social Security is your only source of retirement income, you likely wont face a tax bill. But if you have other income, theres a good chance youll have to pay federal income taxes. Depending on your income, either 50% or 85% of your benefits are taxable.

If Trump wins a second term this year and eliminates income taxes, youll no longer have to pay any federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits. However, you might still face state income taxes on benefits depending on where you live.

Read Next: Im an Economist: Heres My Prediction for Social Security If Trump Wins the 2024 Election

Pension Income

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), you pay income tax on your pension and withdrawals from any tax-deferred investments  including IRAs, 401(k)s and tax-deferred annuities  in the year you take the money.

For pension annuities and periodic pension payments, you might owe federal income tax at your regular tax rate. But if you take a direct lump-sum payout from your pension instead, you must pay the total tax due when you file your return for the year you receive the money. If you transfer a lump sum directly to an IRA, taxes will be deferred until you start withdrawing funds.

Story continues

Should Trump succeed in eliminating federal income taxes, you wont have to pay these taxes in retirement. However, because many of the taxes were withheld from your paychecks when you were working, you still will have put a lot of money into income taxes already. Its uncertain whether eliminating federal income taxes could lead to a refund of some of the money you already paid.

Taxes on IRAs and 401(k)s

As FINRA noted, once you start taking out income from a traditional IRA, you owe tax on the earnings portion of withdrawals at your regular income tax rate. If you deduct any portion of your contributions, youll owe tax at the same rate on the full amount of each withdrawal. This isnt the case with a Roth IRA because you already paid taxes on your contributions, which means you wont need to pay taxes when you withdraw the funds if you meet certain requirements.

When you receive income from a traditional 401(k), 403(b) or 457 salary reduction plan, youll owe income tax on those amounts, according to FINRA. This income is taxed at your ordinary rate. Withdrawals of contributions and earnings from Roth 401(k) accounts are not taxed as long as the withdrawal meets IRS requirements.

Again, under Trumps proposal, the federal taxes you currently pay on retirement withdrawals will no longer apply  although you might still face state income taxes.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Trump Wants To Eliminate Income Taxes: How Would That Impact You If You Are Retired?
Remember 2016? It surprised the world with the back-to-back racist retrenchments of Brexit and MAGA. Now in 2024coincidentally another shared election year with Americas most familiar foreignersthe twinning is over. In the U.S., convicted felon Donald Trump is leading the polls while preparing Project 2025. That would essentially install a draconian, theocratic dictator in place of a rapidly deteriorating (and stubborn) guardian of democracy in Joe Biden.

By contrast, steeped in Brexit regret, Brits this week elected Keir Starmer, a human rights lawyer and literal white knight, in a landslide victory for the liberal Labour Party that marked the worst defeat for the conservative Tories in their 190-year history, losing some seats held since the 1800s. The election restored trust in Labour and ended the Tories 14-year reignof five prime ministers, one who resigned just 45 days in. The last of them was Rishi Sunak, the first nonwhite person in the job, now packing his bags. As of Friday morning, Labour has captured 412 seats in Parliament to the Tories 121, with the remaining 115 members of Parliament divided among smaller parties and two results outstanding.

Labour is regaining power with an unprecedented mandate to reshape the U.K. in its vision; the headline of Starmers victory speech was change begins now. Will it?

Sweeping change is coming to London this summer, but the new resident of No. 10 Downing St. deserves less credit than what he is inheriting: a populace adopting an American-style ethosmore mythos in the States these daysthat democracy is an ever-radical experiment in equality. That experiment is undergoing a British breakthrough: Starmers victory coincides with Londonfor centuries the hub of historys largest empire with its requisite colonial villainyjoining the very short list of majority-minority global capitalsEuropes first!thanks to the might of Asian Brits. His reign may well be defined by Labours relationship with them.

In Britains 2021 Census, 46.2 percent of Londoners identified as Asian, Black, mixed, or other, and extrapolating demographic trends, they will cross the majority threshold this summer. (With Dubais majority comprised of migrants trapped in what is essentially slave labor and Washington D.C.s disenfranchised, Londons only true counterpart is Brasilia, where 48.7 percent of residents are mixed race alone.)

Exit polls are still rolling in, but on the eve of the election, 53 percent of nonwhite Brits told YouGov they intended to vote for Labour. The party has been riven by racial tensions, particularly over the Gaza war, but another preelection poll showed that more than twice as many Asian voters (40 percent) thought Labour would improve life as those who thought Labour would make things worse (19 percent).

The historic demographic shift transforming London may not be a political watershed yet. But Londoners are living in the globalized 21st century heretofore known only to pockets of Los Angeles, New York City, Singapore, Sydney, and Toronto. Otherness is Britains newest tradition. Starmer can lean into that truth or be knocked over by it. Canada is projected to become majority-minority by 2036. America is forecast for 2044. There will be plenty of other chances if the U.K. doesnt get it right.

And there are plenty of reasons to doubt that it will.

Sunaka devout Hindu who moved into 10 Downing on Diwaliis an anti-immigrant child of immigrants. One of his partys most controversial plans was to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. And Starmer is not much more inviting. Are you two really the best we have got? an audience member asked them at a town hall debate. Like Sunak, Starmer does not want to rejoin the E.U. When Starmer criticized the Rwanda plan at the debate, Sunak repeatedly asked, What would you do with them? Starmers uninspiring answer was that he wants to debut a vague Border Security Command focused on enforcement. Its a bit of the bland leading the bland.

Not much has changed in the government since 2021, when thenPrime Minister Boris Johnson rewrote a supposedly independent report on ethnic and racial disparities to deny institutional racism so flatly that 10 Downings highest-ranking Black adviser resigned in disgust. No politicianLabour or Toryseems to have read a 2019 paper finding that British prosperity was not ruined by immigrants but rather by the governments welfare austerity plan.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Europe, life is even harsher. Denmark, Italy, and Spain are cracking down on immigration and minority populations. France and Germany prohibit gathering data on race and ethnicity. But a major German survey last year revealed discrimination and racism so endemic that the director of the reporting institute said it can weaken and threaten democracy. And a report last year by Frances human rights commission found that 51 percent of the country doesnt feel at home in France anymorerising to 91 percent among supporters of the far-right National Rally party, which in June elections tilted France the farthest right its been since collaborating with Nazi occupiers in World War II. Forty-three percent of the French public blames immigration for that insecurity, rising to 83 percent among National Rally supporters.

But there are signs of change in Britain outside the Labour triumph. Consider the London borough of Newham, where no ethnicity comprises more than 16 percent of the population. Despite being impoverished, Newham is sending schoolchildren to Oxford and the Ivy League and participating in a massive, 10-year study on the mechanics of prosperity. Its just one example of how London is leading the world in how to be the kind of plurality about which even America only dreams.

The fastest population growth in the U.K.as it is in the U.S.is among Asians. Between 2011 and 2021, Asian Brits grew from 4.2 to 5.5 million, accounting in 2021 for 9.3 percent of the national population. For context, Britains Black population is 4 percentbarely more than the 3 percent of Brits who are Indian alone. (For comparison, in the States, Asian Americans make up roughly 6 percent of the population.) If British census trends hold, this summer the U.K. becomes 10 percent Asian. In mixed-race data, the 2021 Census also saw 0.8 percent of the country identify as an Asian-White blend, so by some measures, this double-digit threshold was crossed years ago.

The U.K. is crossing a social Rubicon. In its favor, Asian Britain has a superpower beyond demographics or elections: everyday culture. Brits are now a generation beyond the well-worn truth that their nations most popular dinner is chicken tikka masala. The Asian reality of British culture is now far more entrenched: London is now the Asian capital of Europe.

Asian Brits win The Great British Baking Show, captain the Tottenham futbol team, bring home Olympic gold as young as 13, sweep the Booker Prizes, and win BAFTAs at the awards ceremony they co-host. Londons West End is wowing audiences with sold-out stage productions of anime classics like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, as well as with brash upheavals of orientalist tropes such as Untitled Fuck Miss Saigon Play (which came out of a surge of Asian plays at Edinburgh Fringe Festival). New Asian arts festivals are flourishing, too, from the ESEA Lit Fest of domestic East Asian and Southeast Asian writers to the Muslim International Film Festival.

Taken in all, British pop culture is now anchored in Asianness as much as American pop culture is in Blackness. In both countries, the only thing more persistent than bigotry against minorities is defiance by the marginalized themselvesand a grudging, unacknowledged acceptance by those very bigots of their victims vitality.

Starmer must decide whether his government works for or against this new Britain. But even if he adopts the reactionary postures of his predecessor and Britains neighbors, he may have no choice but to adaptor risk political punishment.

Labours tenure is likely to rely on how many voters Starmer can retainas Black voting was long a pillar of Democrats successes and now, feeling underserved, threatens to defect. Or consider how Muslim Democrats may tip the U.S. election with voter absenteeism in solidarity with Palestinians. As with the many unspoken similarities between Starmer and Sunak, Americas least popular bipartisanship is that Biden and Trump are near-kindred spirits on immigration, policing, Chinese trade feuds, and IsraelPalestine. Voters have noticed.

I am a Palestinian Brit who lives in America with a green card. I have watchedwithout the ability to vote anywhereall three of those countries descend into tribal spirals of anger, hatred, and spite. When youre a Palestinian immigrant who gets treated as foreign in Brooklyn, London, and the West Bank, you learn to develop a radar to listen for the people who welcome you as you are.

That radar perked up during London mayor Sadiq Khans radical embrace of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. And in 2022 when I queued to pay homage to the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II and was greeted by SWAT officersnot a militarized police force but the Sikh Welfare and Awareness Team. They offered weary, waiting mourners free hot chocolate, coffee, tea, soup, sandwiches, and sweets. And this year, at the Ramadan lights twinkling around Piccadilly Circus alongside the 3,000 meals of a Trafalgar Square iftar.

There is also increased acknowledgment by the broader British public that Asian Brits have long been part of British success, from the Chinese Labour Corps in World War I to the pivotal miners strikes in the 1980s. And there is lingering goodwill from 2015, when a knife assailant on Londons subway system had his This is for Syria battle cry rebuffed by an onlooker who replied You aint no Muslim, bruv to global acclaim.

Asian Brits are leading their nationnot by making it more Asian or less British, but by proving that the clash and community of cultural crossroads can be about more than zero-sum antics of pettiness and counterpettiness that tend to dominate identity politics. A melting pot can privilege cooperation and validation over domination and submission. Londons future is about how it embraces the zhongyi of it all. The mashallah of it all. The jugaad of it all. The thuong of it all. (If you dont know those words, wait a few years; you will.)

London is certainly no paradise. A massive report last year on Londons police force found it to be systemically bullying, homophobic, racist, sexist, and all-around bigotedagainst the public it serves and within its ranks. (A Muslim officer got bacon stuffed in his boots, for example.) There is also recurring Asian-on-Asian violence, chiefly in Londons ChinatownEuropes largestbetween Hong Kongers and Beijing loyalists. In March, a major donor to Sunaks party said that Diane Abbott, who in 1987 became the first Black woman elected to Parliament, made him want to hate all Black women and that she should be shot. Although Sunak himself condemned the remarks, his party kept the donors 10 million. And in April, a white Londoner went viral for a racist tirade on the subway in which he said Listen, this is England, not no fucking foreign cunts like you lot.

Moreover, diversity in politics is a dangerous idol. Black political power can manifest as Clarence Thomas or Ketanji Brown Jackson. Women can elect a serial womanizer to the highest office in the land. And its a dice roll whether clumsy constructs like the Latino vote can mean a future of immigrant amnesty or legislation to protect fetal heartbeats. Similarly, Britains 14-year Tory reign saw two female prime ministers as well as Sunak. Heterogeneity is not always a winning prospect for progress.

Take New York, please.

In New York City, Americas bastion of multiculturalism, locals squabble about the overrepresentation of Asian students in the citys elite public high schools (and the consequential underrepresentation of Black and Latino students). They squirm at living next to hotels converted to shelter majority-minority refugee migrants or homeless people. A poll last year of New York City residents found 62 percent agreed with Eric Adams, the citys second Black mayor, that a migrant influx will destroy the city. Thats the current state of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

By contrast, London has unquestionably beaten America at its own multicultural game. Consider this moment a cultural or social Sputnik. Americans have some serious catching up to do.

Asians are not part of Labours rise to power; Labour is part of Asians. The question Britain now faces is one the U.S. has been failing since its inception: Can it be a democracy that actually represents all the people in it, and doesnt only or best serve white people? Starmer, for all his faults, has said growth relies on migration. He can pivot from toxic ideology toward government enabled by and centered upon shared domestic otherness. If he doesnt, Britains ever-growing nonwhite population will have little reason to think much of the Labour Party. For their part, Asian Brits are confident their ascendant power persists with or without the new governments backing, trusting that the future is the one home where all arrive as migrants.
Argentina once led on LGBTQ rights. After 4 lesbians are set on fire, critics blame rising intolerance on Mileis government

It was an attack that sent shockwaves through a country long considered a pioneer in LGBTQ rights. In the early hours of May 6, four lesbian women were set on fire in Argentina. Only one of them survived.

It happened at a boarding house in the Barracas neighborhood of Buenos Aires, where Pamela Fabiana Cobas, Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, Andrea Amarante and Sofia Castro Riglo were sharing a room. Witnesses say a man broke in and threw an incendiary device that set the women on fire.

Pamela died soon after. Her partner Roxana died days later of organ failure. Andrea died on May 12 in a hospital.

Andreas partner Sofia was the sole survivor. She spent weeks recovering in hospital and is alive today only because Andrea threw herself on top of her to shield her from the flames, Sofias attorney Gabriela Conder told CNN. Her partner saved her, Conder said.

Local LGBTQ rights advocates condemned the attack as a hate crime and lesbicide, saying the women were targeted because of their sexual identity. Police have arrested a 62-year-old man who lived in the building but, according to Conder, arent currently treating the incident as a hate crime as they say the motive is still unclear.

For Argentinas LGBTQ groups  many of whom are planning to commemorate the four women with a rally this weekend  the attack represents an extreme manifestation of what they consider a growing wave of hostility against them. Those they blame most for this rising intolerance are the people in power. Chief among them, they say, is the countrys new far-right leader Javier Milei.

Things changed with the new government of Javier Milei, said Maria Rachid, head of the Institute Against Discrimination of the Ombudsmans Office in Buenos Aires, and a board member and founder of the Argentine LGBT Federation (FALGBT).

Since the beginning of the new government, there are national government officials expressing themselves in a discriminatory manner and those hate speeches before our communities from places with so much power, of course, what they do is generate  actually legitimize  and endorse these discriminatory positions that are then expressed with violence and discrimination in everyday life, Rachid said.

Women light candles during a vigil in front of the boarding house where two lesbians were killed in Buenos Aires on May 8, 2024. - Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images

Milei under fire

When Milei ran for president in 2023, he and his party were accused of making offensive remarks against LGBTQ communities which were deemed hate speech by multiple groups, including Argentinas National Observatory of LGBTQ Hate Crimes.

In a YouTube interview ahead of the November election, Milei insisted that he does not oppose same-sex marriage, but in that same interview, he went on to compare homosexuality to having sex with animals.

What do I care what your sexual preference is? If you want to be with an elephant, and you have the consent of that elephant, thats a problem between you and the elephant, he said, angering LGBTQ communities, who called the comments dehumanizing.

In late October, then-congresswoman-elect Diana Mondino, who would later become Mileis foreign minister, told an interviewer that she supports marriage equality in theory, but at the same time, compared it to having lice.

As a liberal, Im in favor of each persons life project. It is much broader than marriage equality. Let me exaggerate: If you prefer not to bathe and be full of lice and it is your choice, thats it. Dont complain later if there is someone who doesnt like that you have lice, she said.

After taking office in December, Milei took steps that critics say weakened protections for LGBTQ groups. He banned the use of gender-inclusive language in government; replaced the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity with a less powerful undersecretariat within the Ministry of Human Capital; and effectively closed the national anti-discrimination agency, saying the Ministry of Justice would absorb its functions.

People take part in the LGBTQ Pride Parade in front of the Congress building in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on November 4, 2023. - Martin Cossarini/Reuters

Mileis administration argued that some of those moves were part of his plan to cut public spending in response to the countrys economic hardships. But critics say his actions have normalized a culture of discrimination toward LGBTQ groups, and in the most extreme cases, have led to violent attacks such as the deadly May 6 arson.

When hate speech is enabled by those in power, these sectors start to feel legitimized to attack, Esteban Paulon, a former FALGBT president who was elected to Congress last year, told CNN in a phone interview. And obviously, behind the verbal attacks come physical attacks.

(Attacks) always happened. Thats the reality. But they increased more in this current government due to the hate speeches constantly maintained on television, including hate speeches that our president Javier Milei exerts, said Jesi Hernandez, a lesbian and communication member of Lesbianxs Autoconvocadxs por la masacre de Barracas (Self-convened Lesbians for the Barracas massacre).

Today it was Pamela, Roxana, Andrea and Sofia. And tomorrow it can be me.

CNN has repeatedly reached out to the presidency for comment on these allegations but has not received a response.

Rise in hate crimes

In 2023, an annual report by the National Observatory of LGBTQ Hate Crimes recorded 133 crimes in which the victims sexual orientation, identity and/or gender expression were used as a pretext for the attacks. Those numbers rose from 2022 and 2021, when 129 and 120 crimes were recorded, respectively.

Rachid points out that the observatorys numbers only represent attacks that have been officially recorded, and that the real figures are likely much higher.

Hernandez, meanwhile, notes that daily life for many people has been impacted in ways not shown by statistics alone. Some now fear they could be targeted next.

The truth is that now, sleeping peacefully in your bed is a privilege, Hernandez said, referencing the May 6 attack, because you dont know if you have a neighbor who will throw something at you or come in. Sleeping is now a privilege for us.

Despite calls from LGBTQ activists, the arson is currently being investigated as an aggravated homicide rather than a hate crime, according to Conder, Sofias attorney. Sofia is set to testify at the end of the month, Conder said. CNN has reached out to the criminal court investigating the case but has not received a response.

Shortly after the May 6 killings, the presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni condemned the attack but dismissed the notion that it was motivated by hatred toward the sexual orientation of the victims.

I dont like to define it as an attack on a certain group, Adorni said at a press conference. There are many women and men who are suffering violence and these are things that cannot continue to happen.

Progressives condemned his remarks, insisting that the government should regard lesbicide as a hate crime.

Adorni responded on social media with a picture of a Spanish dictionary that said lesbicide is not a registered word.

Progress in Argentina

Argentina was once a progressive pioneer in Latin America.

In 2010, it became the first country in the region to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2021, it also became the first to allow nonbinary people to mark their gender as X on national identity documents.

LGBTQ activists fear these historic gains are now being undermined  and potentially threatened  by the current government. But they also take comfort in surveys that suggest anti-LGBTQ views are the minority in Argentina.

According to a public opinion survey conducted in May by the University of San Andres, some 72% of respondents said they are in favor of marriage equality, 70% said they support policies that protect transgender people from discrimination, 75% said they do not consider that transsexuality is a disease that should be treated medically, and 79% said that comprehensive sexuality education in schools is a positive thing.

The recent attacks have galvanized activists to fight for new policies and actions that would further protect LGBTQ rights.

Congressman Paulon told CNN that lawmakers are working with rights groups on various laws that would, among other things, punish discriminatory acts, prevent harassment in schools, and ban efforts to try to correct peoples sexual orientation, identity and gender.

He also said that to reduce attacks on LGBTQ communities, their voices and demands should be amplified in more societal sectors.

To that end, Hernandez encouraged LGBTQ groups to push back against hate speech, telling those communities: They are not insane, they are not sick, they are not people with lice. Quite the opposite. I would tell them that they are a disruptive person, that they are breaking out of the molds of normality. And that they are very brave  and that they are whatever they want to be, despite all this.

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Tents are lined up in rows in 12-by-12 squares painted on the cracking asphalt ground on July 1, 2020. The lots are located roughly between Eighth and Ninth avenues from Madison to Jefferson streets. Photo by Madeline Ackley | Arizona Mirror

WASHINGTON  Advocates for homeless people in Arizona fear the Supreme Court has raised the risk of violence at the hands of police by upholding ordinances that criminalize sleeping in public places.

Phoenix made national headlines for months last year after a judge in Maricopa County ordered the citys largest homeless encampment, The Zone, to be cleared. Downtown businesses had complained it posed a safety hazard.

Advocacy groups denounced the order. By November, the encampment was cleared, displacing hundreds of people.

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In June, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a scathing report on the Phoenix Police Department after an investigation that lasted almost three years. The report found that Phoenix police routinely violated the rights of homeless people by unlawfully detaining, citing and arresting them and unlawfully disposing of their belongings.

The Supreme Courts 6-3 ruling upheld a law from Oregon, effectively ratifying similar ordinances in Phoenix and other cities that ban sleeping outdoors or in encampments in public spaces.

Arizona advocates worry the ruling will have disastrous implications.

Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority.

Jared Keenan, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, expressed concern about the effect of the ruling on homeless people across the state.

Its harder to imagine a starker example of excessive punishment than fining, arresting and jailing people for sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go. And that is the situation here in Phoenix, where we do not have enough shelter space, affordable housing, long-term housing, Keenan said. The Supreme Court has given the green light to cities to criminalize existence when youre unhoused.

Arizona has long been under fire for its treatment of homeless populations. In Nov. 2022, the ACLU of Arizona filed a lawsuit accusing Phoenix of punishing homeless people for sleeping outdoors and destroying their personal property without notice.

Rather than using criminalization as one tool in their toolbox, as the city officials claim they needed to do, theyre using it as a primary tool, Keenan said.

Criminalization of homelessness is not only cruel but its also counterproductive, he said. Like other advocates, he pointed to expansion of affordable housing and social services as ways to address the root causes of homelessness

Criminalization doesnt end anybodys homelessness. The way to resolve homelessness for people is to provide housing and the supportive services that people want and need, said Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

We need investments at the federal level to address the affordable housing crisis and shortage that is impacting not just Arizona but communities across the country, she said. Its not going to get resolved without some significant investments.

The number of people without permanent shelter spiked 29% in Arizona from 2020 and 2023, according to the states Department of Economic Security. In the last five years, unsheltered homelessness has increased by almost 73%, according to DES.

More than a third of all arrests in Phoenix from 2016 to 2022 were of people experiencing homelessness, according to the DOJ report. Many of these stops, citations, and arrests were considered unconstitutional by the Justice Department.

The day of the Supreme Court ruling, the city of Phoenix issued a statement saying it has sought to address encampments in a dignified and compassionate manner, with a goal of ending homelessness while preserving the quality of life in our neighborhoods for all residents.

Additionally, the city will continue to lead with services and will not criminalize homelessness, said the statement, provided by the citys Office of Homeless Solutions.

In December 2022, a federal judge in Arizona ordered Phoenix to halt the enforcement of camping bans, seizing property without notice and destroying property without an opportunity to collect it.

Last October, the court modified the order to align with a ruling from the liberal 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals  which also handles cases from Arizona  involving an ordinance in Grants Pass, Oregon.

The 9th Circuit held that it was unconstitutional for cities to target homeless people. Grants Pass had made it unlawful to use cardboard boxes, pillows or blankets while sleeping in public. It was that ruling the Supreme Court overturned on June 28, in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson.

According to the Justice Department report, Phoenix police repeatedly violated or ignored the 2022 and 2023 court order, and had not properly trained officers on how to follow the law, nor supervise them to ensure they did.

While the seizure of personal property improved in highly visible areas, sweeps in other areas failed to meet constitutional standards, the report said.

In one example, officers arrested seven people who were sitting and sleeping on a public sidewalk, and accused them of trespassing. The DOJ called the arrests illegal.

Officers left their belongings on the sidewalk despite their pleas.

Please. All my stuff is here. Everything. Please, one woman said, according to the DOJ, to which the officer replied, This is all junk. Theres nothing.

The DOJ documented numerous cases of police discarding personal belongings as they rousted homeless people. One man lost the urn containing ashes of a relative. Countless others reported the loss of items the DOJ said they needed for survival, such as clothing, tents, medicine and personal identification, including Social Security cards.

A homeless woman lost her birth certificate when the city threw away her tent, which made it impossible to get housing, according to the report.

In one instance, officers said, You guys are trash, and this is trash, while discarding the personal property of a homeless man.

Arizona is one of the fastest growing states. A shortage of affordable housing has exacerbated its homeless crisis, overwhelming sheltering capacity in Phoenix despite the city investing $140 million in shelters and other homeless services, according to the DOJ.

The city tends to see unhoused communities as a problem rather than as humans. Its much easier to try to disappear people through incarceration than it is to address the homelessness crisis, said Ben Laughlin, policy and research coordinator at Poder in Action, a civil rights advocacy organization.

While the Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of encampment bans, advocates are hoping for policies that take a longer-term approach than policing.

But, said Keenan, We fear that the citys going to double down on efforts at criminalizing people who are unhoused.

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Armenia to hold military drills with US amid worsening relations with Russia

Armenia will host joint military exercises with the U.S. on July 15-25, the Armenian Defense Ministry announced on July 6.

The announcement comes amid deteriorating relations between Armenia and Russia.

The drills  called Eagle Partner 2024  will focus on peacekeeping operations.

"Servicemembers from the peacekeeping brigade of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, the U.S. Army Europe and Africa, and the Kansas National Guard participate in the exercise," the ministry said in a statement.

"The purpose of the exercise is to enhance the interoperability of units participating in international peacekeeping missions, exchange best practices in control and tactical communication, and improve the readiness of the Armenian unit. Units preparing for international peacekeeping operations regularly engage in similar joint military exercises and training with partner countries."

Armenia has long been close with Russia, but is now seeking to distance itself, repeatedly accusing Moscow of being an unreliable partner.

Relations between the two countries have continued to sour after Russian peacekeepers declined to act during conflicts between Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-backed entity on internationally recognized Azeri territory, and Azerbaijan, from 2020 to 2023. During these conflicts, there have also been direct clashes between Armenian and Azeri troops.

Nagorno-Karabakh was re-integrated into Azerbaijan after Baku's final victory in 2023.

Following this, Yerevan repeatedly threatened to leave the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led military alliance.

In March, Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan revealed that the country is considering applying for membership in the European Union, aiming to strengthen ties with the West.

Armenia has largely refrained from getting involved in Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. The country delivered its first batch of humanitarian aid to Ukraine in September 2023.

Read also: US wants to invite Armenia, Azerbaijan to upcoming NATO summit, sources tell Azerbaijani media

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Asda has shelved plans for a four-day week after staff claimed it left them feeling exhausted.

The supermarket had introduced flexible working arrangements in a bid to stamp out a revolt among disgruntled store managers, but a four-day week pilot has now been scrapped after staff said they were unhappy with the changes.

Those involved in the pilot, which took place in 20 Asda stores, worked a 44-hour week over four days instead of five for the same pay.

The condensed hours led to complaints from staff that the longer shifts were physically demanding and left them exhausted on their day off.

Others argued that it was hard to meet the earlier start and later finish times of the four-day week shift while parents said it created difficulties with childcare and school drop offs and pick-ups.

An Asda spokesman said that a pilot which involves doing 39 hours in five days has proved more popular and will run until the end of the year. Employees will not receive any reduction in pay despite the shorter hours.

The move comes as Domestic & General (D&G), a household appliance specialist employing 3,000 people, received similar feedback from staff after it tested out a four-day week.

Matthew Crummack, chief executive of D&G, told The Telegraph that the pilot left employees feeling exhausted and psychologically drained.

Half the team absolutely loved it, half of the team didnt like it at all  it makes for a longer day, its a bit more intense, he said. For them, spreading the work across five was easier to manage psychologically.

Despite concerns about burnout among some of those involved in the pilot, a spokesman said the shift did lead to an increase in sales per hour and fewer sick days. We may run it again with adjustments, he said.

The private-equity backed company is instead piloting school run hours so that parents can work in between school drop-off times, from 9.30am until 2.30pm. In September, 30 staff at the company will take part in a trial where they work term-time hours only.

In the run-up to the election there was a growing demand from unions to make a four-day working week an official policy, although Labour is expected to resist those demands.

Party insiders insisted last week that there were no plans to go down that route.

A senior adviser said: Its a decision for individual businesses.

Its not in any conversation that I have had, or in any manifesto-level conversations.

Cutting working hours was a flagship policy when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader. He vowed to move to a 32-hour week within a decade as part of his manifesto for 2019s election.

In his speech at the Labour Partys conference in Brighton that year, John McDonnell, the then shadow chancellor, promised that a Labour government would reduce the average full-time working week as Britons work some of the longest hours in Europe.

A decision from Sir Keir Starmer not to make a four-day week official policy will likely disappoint one of Labours biggest backers, Unison, after its members led last months calls for the right to a four-day working week with no hit to pay.

Labour has yet to publicly spell out its stance, with one four-day-week activist saying that the official position is watching brief.

Although the party is not expected to back any formal policy on the four-day week, deputy leader Angela Rayner last year urged hundreds of bosses to consider the results of a major trial into the idea.

More than 3,000 people working for 61 businesses tested out a shorter week with no loss of pay in 2022 as part of a nationwide pilot aimed at transforming working life in Britain.

Researchers concluded that sick days dropped 65pc while revenue increased.

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Selina Martinez is on a mission to tell the story of the Yaqui, a group of Indigenous peoples originally from Sonora, Mexico, who now inhabit regions on both sides of the United StatesMexico border.

An alum of The Design School at Arizona State University and a member of the Yaqui (or Yoeme) community herself, Martinez was recently awarded the Radical Imagination Artist Grant from the NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power, for her work related to spreading awareness and educating others about the Yaqui.

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Martinezs journey started with an independent project during her architecture master's degree program at The Design School. Her research focused on cultural keystone species, specifically related to the Yaqui, and an architecture project done in the town of Guadalupe, Mexico.

With the $50,000 in funding she received from NDN Collective to continue her work, Martinez has created Juebenaria, a digital platform that uses videos, maps, historical timelines, 3D models and written resources to more accurately tell the story of the past, present and future of the Yaqui.

The success of Juebenaria has now led to a collaboration with the Santo Domingo Centre of Excellence for Latin American Research at the British Museum. Impressed by Martinez's 3D scans, the museum partnered with her to develop the Species of the River project. Species of the River uses 3D models of collections and spaces, historical and contemporary audio recordings, photography and illustrations to walk viewers through Yaqui territory. Since many of the Yaqui have migrated away from their original territory, they may have never had the opportunity to visit their homeland.

Because of that disconnection from our homelands, Martinez said, (Yaqui) have to face potential losses as we evolve in the American context.

By creating a digital platform that houses all the traditions of the Yaqui land, Martinez aims to provide easier access for Yaqui people to learn about their traditions and avoid more losses of information.

Now that Species of the River has been fully developed, Martinez is focusing on promoting the project and the possibility of having more variations.

This could lead to more 3D environments with additional educational information, she said. Ideally, that would be built with the community more deeply for educational purposes. I could also see other tribes using this as an example and to preserve their culture through the same means and methods to appeal to the next generation.

For now, she invites people to explore the rich history of the Yaqui through their smartphones or computers, making cultural preservation more accessible than ever before.

About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
APD: Body found near Rainey Street trail not being investigated as homicide

AUSTIN (KXAN)  The Austin Police Department is investigating after a person was found dead on a Rainey Street trail Friday evening, APD said.

Police responded to a check welfare call at the trail around 5:30 p.m. after receiving reports of a body near Rainey and Cummings Street. Officers found a man with life-threatening injuries. He was pronounced dead at 5:45 p.m., APD said.

The mans death is not being investigated as a homicide, APD Officer Austin Zarling said during a media briefing Friday night. Police said the investigation by homicide detectives is ongoing.

KXAN reached out to APDs homicide unit, which corrected that the injury was not blunt-force-trauma related and appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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Police, Austin-Travis County EMS and the Austin Fire Department responded to the call. Police believe this is an isolated incident and there is no known threat to the public.

The investigation into the mans death is ongoing, according to police.

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SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  A man was fatally shot by a police officer in La Jolla Saturday morning after he walked toward police with a knife, according to the San Diego County Sheriffs Department.

Sheriffs officials say several calls came in around 7 a.m. reporting a man with a knife in the 5400 block of La Jolla Boulevard. He was reportedly causing a disturbance in the street.

Responding San Diego police officers approached the man, described as in his 20s, after he was seen next to a vehicle in the roadway. Authorities said the man walked toward law enforcement with a knife.

Hear ye! Hear ye! This Roaring 20s-era castle is on the market in National City

At that point, the officers drew their weapons and asked the man to drop the knife. As explained by the sheriffs department, a police officer then shot the man.

Officers provided medical aid to the man until paramedics arrived. The man was transported to a local hospital, where he later died. His identity has not yet been released.

No officers were injured during the incident.

The officer involved in the shooting has been employed by the San Diego Police Department for three years and is currently assigned to the Northern Division.

Per protocol with shootings involving police officers, the sheriffs Homicide Unit was called in to investigate. At this stage, the motivation and circumstances of the shooting are still under review.

The intersection at La Jolla Boulevard and Midway Street was closed in all directions for several hours due to the investigation.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the sheriffs Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330/after hours at (858) 565-5200, or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

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Democratic strategist David Axelrod warned that President Biden is dangerously out of touch with voters on the issue of his age and health following Bidens highly anticipated sit-down interview on ABC News.

The president is rightfully proud of his record. But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race, Axelrod wrote in a post on the social platform X. Years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump. Today, he is six points behind.

Axelrods comments came shortly after Bidens full interview with ABC Newss George Stephanopoulos aired Friday evening. The interview was the first since Bidens widely panned debate performance against former President Trump last week.

Throughout the interview, Biden described that debate performance as a bad night.

I was having a bad night when I realized that even when I was answering a question, when they turned his mic off, he was still shouting, and I let it distract me, Biden said, referring to Trump.

I realized that I just wasnt in control, he added.

Biden also insisted he was not behind in the presidential race, despite polling showing otherwise.

Prior to the airing of the ABC News interview Friday, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) became the fourth House Democrat to call on Biden to drop out of the presidential race. Additionally, The Washington Post reported that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) was working to gather a group of Democratic senators to call on Biden to exit the race.

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The UKs electorate has spoken and there is to be a change of government in London. Among the many questions on our minds concerning next steps are sector-specific ones. New ministers now have to develop policies and plans for the management of the UKs economy and major sectors of the economy. The automotive industry is well and truly in the mix when it comes to the new governments industrial strategy. To make things even more interesting  or complex  its a sector that is in the throes of major transformative change led by advanced technologies. There is the immense challenge of net-zero and the energy transition away from combustion engines to electric powertrains. On top of that, there is the small matter of promoting sustainability all along complex value chains that span the supply of raw materials such as steel, through all the tiers of parts manufacturing, to retail and aftermarkets  not forgetting the jobs that lay in vehicle manufacturing/assembly. The industrys UK automotive trade association, the SMMT, has some compelling stats on how important the sector still is to UK plc. Automotive-related manufacturing contributes 93 billion turnover and 22 billion value added to the UK economy, and typically invests around 4 billion each year in R&D. Many of these automotive manufacturing jobs are outside London and the South-East, with wages that are around 13% higher than the UK average. The sector accounts for 12% of total UK exports of goods with more than 140 countries importing UK produced vehicles, generating 115 billion of trade in total automotive imports and exports. More than 25 manufacturers build in excess of 70 models of vehicle in the UK supported by 2,500 component providers and some of the worlds most skilled engineers.

US sales

GlobalData's forecast for US LV sales in 2024 is now pushing closer to 16.2 million. According to preliminary estimates, Light Vehicle (LV) sales fell by 3.8% year-on-year (YoY) in June, to 1.33 million units. The CDK cyberattack has caused significant disruption across the industry, and therefore some brands could potentially see larger revisions than would normally be the case. Still, sales in June are unlikely to change for many of the largest OEMs, while there is a possibility that volumes in July will see a boost instead. The annualized selling rate was 15.3 million units/year in June, down from 16.0 million units/year in May. The daily selling rate was estimated at 51k units/day in June, compared to 55.4k units/day in May. Given the obvious challenges that the industry faced in June, we should not read too much into either the annualised or daily selling rates this month.

China rising

In May, the Chinese Light Vehicle (LV) market exhibited a steady uptick and continuous structural optimisation, reflecting a positive recovery trend. Domestic LV sales, excluding exports, reached 1.9 mn units, marking a 3.2% year on year (YoY) decrease but a commendable 5% month on month (MoM) increase. Within the segment, Passenger Vehicle (PV) sales, influenced by the high base of the same period last year, declined by 3.5% YoY, yet still accounted for 1.7 mn units. Meanwhile, Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) sales totalled 222k units, with a minor YoY decline of 0.6%. Cumulatively for the first five months of this year, LV sales amounted to 9.1 mn units, a 3.0% YoY increase. Within this, PV sales contributed significantly to the growth, reaching a total volume of 8.0 mn units, a 3.4% YoY increase. In contrast, LCV sales remain a substantial part of the market, though slightly down by 0.1% YoY at 1.1 mn units. The implementation of the old for new policys cash subsidy details, the Beijing Auto Shows stimulation of consumer enthusiasm, and the temporary cooling of the new product price war in the auto market have slightly eased the markets wait-and-see sentiment. Consequently, MoM, PV sales rose by 6.5% compared to the previous month. However, the LCV sectors recovery appears to require more time, as it still experienced a 4.8% MoM decrease in May.

EU tariffs

Can Chinese car manufacturers still flourish, despite the upcoming tariffs? GlobalDatas forecast suggests yes, even though the tariffs may delay the advance of BYD, MG and others. The European Union (EU) announced it will impose provisional tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicle imports from 4 July through to 2 November 2024. After this, the tariffs will apply definitively unless a qualified majority of EU member states vote against them, or negotiations with China reduce the penalties. It is also important to note that the tariffs are levied upon CIF (Cost of Goods, Insurance & Freight) border prices so that the impact of the penalty on the end user retail vehicle cost is diluted.

Tariffs happen

The European Union will impose tariffs of up to 37.6% from Friday on imports of electric vehicles made in China, EU officials told Reuters, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing in Brussels largest trade case yet. There was, however, a four month window during which the tariffs are provisional and intensive talks were expected to continue between the two sides as Beijing threatens wide ranging retaliation. Reuters noted the European Commissions provisional duties of between 17.4% and 37.6% without backdating were designed to prevent what its president Ursula von der Leyen had said was a threatened flood of cheap EVs built with state subsidies. The rates, laid out in a 208-page document published on Thursday, were almost the same as those announced by the commission on 12 June. The executive made adjustments after companies identified minor calculation errors in the initial disclosure.

Women under represented

30 June, 2024, marked National Girls in Automotive Day; a day to promote the automotive industry and career opportunities within it. As we currently stand, women are very under represented in the industry, making up less than 20% of the UKs automotive sector workforce. This low statistic is surprising considering the industry is suffering from an ongoing shortage of skilled professionals, predicted to amount to over 160,000 vacancies by 2031. Frankie Youd spoke with Irene Castelanotti, Digital Business Director at Autodata, to learn more about the day and to discuss if the tide for female mechanics is shifting.

H2 goes racing

Radical off-road racing series Extreme E showcases motor racing in some of the most remote corners of the planet that are impacted by climate change. The underlying objective is to highlight global challenges and inspire the next generation. On Thursday 27 June, onboard the series St Helena vessel, it was revealed that a new racing series is about to be born: Extreme H. It is a first-of-its-kind hydrogen racing series that showcases hydrogen technology in a competitive racing environment. The organisers claim it represents a step forward in the transition to clean energy. A newly launched vehicle  the Pioneer 25 racing car  has been designed to demonstrate the performance capabilities of hydrogen fuel cells. The Pioneer 25 itself has been designed and manufactured by Spark Racing Technology, and is equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell from Symbio.

BYD Thai EV build

BYD Auto inaugurated its newly built vehicle assembly plant in Thailand as the company stepped up expansion into south east Asia and other emerging electric vehicle (EV) markets around the world. The opening of the plant in Rayong province took place just a day before the European Union was scheduled to hike duties on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) imported from China. Speaking at the opening ceremony, BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu said the Rayong facility has an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, including four major processes of vehicle and parts production. It will create about 10,000 jobs. Wang said the factory initially would produce battery electric vehicles (BEVs) such as the Atto 3 (Y Plus), Dolphin and Seagull, before adding plug-in hybrids such as the Sea Lion 6 (Song Plus) later on. The plant would supply other markets in the region as well as Thailand.

More collaboration

Nissan and Honda are close to reaching an agreement to co-develop automotive software for future vehicles and to collaborate in establishing electric vehicle (EV) charging networks, according to local reports. The two automakers want to share costs and speed up development of new technology and infrastructure with the aim of making up ground on their global competitors in the transition to zero emission and software defined vehicles. The two automakers are currently understood to be thrashing out the finer details of agreements covering the joint development of a shared operating system and other software.

UK sales up

The UK new car market has hit the half year million motors mark for the first time in five years, after new car registrations rose in June by a modest 1.1% to reach 179,263 units, according to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). So far in 2024, 1,006,763 new cars have been registered in the UK, up 6.0% on the previous year but still down 20.7% on 2019. Once again, Junes market growth was driven primarily by the fleet sector, where uptake rose by 14.2%, while private retail demand fell for the ninth consecutive month, down 15.3%. Retail buyers accounted for fewer than four in 10 new cars registered (37.7%). Electrified vehicle uptake continued to grow in the month of June, with plug-in hybrid (PHEV) volumes up 30.0% to reach a 9.3% market share, while hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) rose 27.2% to achieve 14.9% of the market.

They keep coming

Jaecoo, which makes premium SUVs, will make its European public debut at this years Goodwood Festival of Speed on 11-14 July. Jaecoo is part of Chery and, like Omodo, an export only brand. The 7 is a rebadged Chery Tansuo 06. Offered with 2WD and 4WD, the 7 is powered by a 1.6 litre turbocharged four cylinder petrol engine with Getrag seven speed dual clutch transmission. Plug in hybrid and all electric variants will follow.

Parts, too

Chinas Ningbo Zhenyu Technology plans to invest EUR50m (US$53.7m) to open a car parts factory in the Serbian city of Apatin, the municipal administration told Seenews.com. Apatin mayor Dubravka Kopac and representatives of the Chinese company signed a memorandum of understanding on the project which defines the obligations of the two sides related to the construction of the planned factory, the municipal administration said. The planned factory will produce car parts such as rotors, stators and other items using stamping, welding, assembling, pressure casting and digital control technology.

UK struggling

UK car output remains way under pre-pandemic levels and is struggling to recover volume as it faces challenges in electrification and developing more export business to replace recently lost manufacturing capacity, according to a GlobalData analyst. Justin Cox points out that UK car production is running way under where it was pre-pandemic. The UK auto industry is struggling in overall volume terms this year, he says. This year there is certainly some negative impact from significant model changes and thats to be expected, but we are also seeing a slower than expected ramp-up of new Mini production at Oxford. Our forecast for this year sees UK car output at a little over 0.8 million units. It was much higher before the pandemic, but we see it settling in the medium-term at around a million units a year. 2019 UK car output was 1.3 million units.

Have a nice weekend.

Graeme Roberts, Deputy Editor, Just Auto

"UK election questions, US sales, China rising  the week" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.







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Baby Pygmy Blue Whale Spotted Might Be Youngest Ever Seen in Australia

Scientists have sighted what could be the youngest pygmy blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) ever seen in Australian waters.

The calf was photographed by spotter pilot Tiffany Klein who was flying over the tropical waters offshore Ningaloo, in Australia's northwest, to satellite tag the pygmy blue whales for a joint research project between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the Centre for Whale Research.

The researchers hope to find out more about the migratory routes, feeding areas, and reproduction of this potentially endangered subspecies of blue whale about which little is known.

These whales pass through the warm waters of Ningaloo on their northward migration from the Perth canyon in south-west Western Australia, through the tropics at Australia's northwest tip, eventually reaching the Banda Sea near eastern Indonesia via the waters of Timor-Leste.

The pygmy blue whale mother and her calf, perhaps only weeks old, at Ningaloo. ( Ningaloo Aviation/Tiffany Klein)

Ever since monitoring began in 1999, cows and young calves have been sighted at the southernmost end of the route, but we've never seen any as tiny as the 67-meter (around 2023-foot) baby that Klein spotted off Ningaloo.

"Previously, I've seen them later in the year, around September or October, and traveling south," Klein says.

"These calves were about half the size of their mother, whereas this one was only about a third of the size."

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/unhcVep7J-k?feature=oembed

The current joint research project, which began in 2019, involves attaching tags to the whales that can be read by satellite, and dive loggers that provide readings on the whale's movements underwater.

It's believed these pygmy blue whales separated from their Antarctic blue whale kin (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia) around 20,000 years ago, when they were pushed northward by expanding sea ice during the last glacial maximum.

Even when the ice receded, this small group remained in their new antipodean home, which is the main reason for their distinct lineage and low genetic diversity.

"No one really knows where pygmy blue whales calve, but here in the Indian Ocean, they are thought to breed and calve at the end of their northward migration off Western Australia's coast and in Indonesian waters," says ecologist Michele Thums from AIMS, who led the project.

And yet, the size of the calf spotted in Australian waters and its proximity to Ningaloo suggest it was born closer to key feeding grounds in the Perth Canyon, which is the southern end of their migratory route.

"Some experts think they may give birth, or calve, soon after leaving their foraging grounds, which for this population is the Perth canyon," Thums says, adding, "having consulted with other experts in [the northern migration] region, a calf of this size is not something that's been observed before by any of them."

Recent sightings at the northern end of these elusive whales' migratory route, in Timor Leste, have also shed light on the secret lives of these gentle giants.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/WyL0n_L2J-s?feature=oembed

Footage captured as part of a decade-long project led by Australian National University marine ecologist Karen Edyvane reveals a mother nursing her young and a pair of adults mating.

"Our decade-long project has documented some of the lesser-known intimate reproductive behaviors of blue whales, some for the very first time. It's very exciting," Edyvane says.

This evidence, the researchers say, suggests the top end of the whales' migration is also a critical site for reproduction.
DINUBA, Calif. (KGPE)  While most people get time off to enjoy the holiday weekend, farmworkers across California are still working hard during an extensive heat wave.

Its incredibly hot out here in the Central Valley, and we just wanted to let farmworkers know that were thinking of them during this heat and that, theres a community out there that cares for them, Flor Martinez Zaragoza, the President and Founder of Celebration Nation said.

President and Founder of Celebration Nation, Flor Martinez Zaragoza

Celebration Nation is a non-profit that serves the Indigenous Latino community, bringing awareness to farm workers and their working conditions.

This week Celebration Nation spent time in Dinuba handing out sombreros, towels dipped in ice-cold water for under their hats, snacks, and Gatorades.

Its efforts like this, she hopes will help shine a light on what farmworkers deal with daily.

Our efforts bring awareness to the injustices farmworkers face, and they definitely need that visibility, said Zaragoza. Were so used to just going to our air-conditioned grocery stores and just grabbing some fruit from the shelf. But we need to recognize that its somebody out there literally working to make that product accessible to you and its not always easy.

As Zaragoza spends time in the fields shes reminded of her own childhood, when she worked in the heat at just 14 years old as a child laborer picking wine grapes.

Now, she continues to advocate for farmworkers in California who make up almost half of all farmworkers in America and produce two-thirds of the nations fruits and nuts.

Every single day farmworkers play an important role in the U.S. food system, contributing countless fruits, vegetables, and grains that line our grocery store aisles. But with record heat, this essential group is at risk, and Zaragoza says everyone can help keep them safe by donating supplies, or their time.

I think we all can do something, to give back to our farmworkers, especially since they show up on days like this for us, said Zaragoza. We are collecting sombreros and the cooler towels so we can reach our goal of 4,000 farm workers. We also have our back-to-school drive for the farmworker families. We have our Food Bank for Farmworkers program, where we provide fresh produce to farmworker families every month.

If you would like to help farmworkers in the valley you can visit the Celebration Nation website here. Their next event will be a food bank in McFarland on Saturday, July 12.

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Need a background check in California? Changes at the courts are causing long waits

A courtroom at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles. The court announced changes in February that limit the criteria that can be used for public searches of records. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Significant delays in the processing of background checks are causing headaches across California, leaving applications for jobs and housing stuck in limbo while making it harder for employers and landlords to screen for criminal records.

The situation stems from a state appellate court ruling more than three years ago, which industry experts say has blocked background screeners and any court researcher from using date of birth or drivers license information to narrow down search results as they investigate an individuals criminal history.

The 2021 decision in All of Us or None of Us vs. Hamrick arose from a case brought by criminal justice reform advocates who have long argued that background checks lead to discrimination against formerly incarcerated people.

A panel at the 4th District Court of Appeals determined that Riverside County's Superior Court website, which allowed users to input dates of birth and driver's license numbers while searching for criminal records, was in violation of a state court rule that says such information should be excluded from court "indexes" accessible to the public through "electronic means."

"After considering the text, history, and purpose" of the rule, the judges found that state courts should limit search criteria for the public, effectively eliminating the use of birth dates and license numbers.

Read more: California's homicide rate fell nearly 16% last year, state report shows

Those personal identifiers had long been used to match individuals to their records, and without them it has proved nearly impossible to conduct searches that involve common names, industry experts say.

This was an interpretation that no one had ever seen before or seen coming, said Melissa Sorenson, executive director of the Professional Background Screening Assn. Each of the courts is trying to figure out how to comply.

Delays are particularly bad in Los Angeles County, where background check firms receive about 100,000 screening requests each month.

Right now, L.A. County is an example of something thats not sustainable, Sorenson said.

Residents with common names or those with a long history in the area may have to wait for months or even years for their background check to be completed, Sorensen said, if its possible for it to be completed at all.

It has taken time for courts to adjust since the 2021 appellate ruling was handed down. The Superior Court of Los Angeles announced its change s in February.

All the background screener can do is plug in Jose Rodriguez, for example, and because it's a relatively common name in L.A., you could get back hundreds to thousands of results, Sorenson said. We have no way to filter based on any other identifier.

Read more: California voters want term limits for D.A.s and sheriffs, Berkeley poll finds

Dates of birth are contained within physical court files, the Superior Court of Los Angeles said.

"These restrictions require background checkers seeking information on commonly named individuals to visit the courthouse where the physical court file is located to determine if the information they obtained in an electronic criminal record search applies to the person about whom they are inquiring," the court said in an email.

The court limits the number of case files it will retrieve for a requester to five per day at any courthouse. For names with thousands of results, it's not practical to check each physical file.

At the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, the county's busiest criminal clerk's office, additional court service assistants have been assigned to assist with file viewing requests. The current wait time to pull multiple files at a time is three to five days, the court said.

In a message reviewed by The Times, the background screening firm Sterling sent out a notice to clients explaining the situation earlier this year.

With this change, the L.A. County court has made it significantly more challenging to accurately identify individuals during background checks, the firm said. Delays for criminal checks in L.A. County are expected to increase.  Some searches were closed as unperformable.

Sterling did not respond to a request for comment. On the online forum Reddit, Los Angeles residents shared concerns that their background checks were not getting completed in time.

Sterling is not able to get it done! one user wrote. Seriously anxious and have been unemployed for a month now, said another.

Read more: Activist groups sue L.A. schools seeking data on app used to report suspicious behavior

In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 1262 , which would have allowed court researchers to use date of birth to search for an individual without making the date publicly available.

This bill would override a 2021 appellate court decision and current court rules that strike a fair balance between public access to court records, public safety, and an individual's constitutional right to privacy, Newsom wrote after shutting down the bill.

The nonprofit Legal Services for Prisoners with Children pushed for the veto, arguing the bill "was sponsored by commercial background check companies ... with no regard for the interests of formerly incarcerated or convicted people."

Eric Sapp, a staff attorney at the Oakland-based organization, pointed out that when background checks are authorized and required by law, local authorities are obligated to provide the relevant information and assure compliance.

"There's no need for a background check company to intervene in those circumstances," he said.

"We definitely believe that background checks are overused and are often useless for the purposes for which they're used," he said. "The criminal background check as it currently exists today might not be a viable model in the near future."

Joshua Kim, lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the Hamrick case, said he wasn't aware of holdups with housing and job applications  but said any such issues would be the fault of the background check industry, not the courts complying with the law.

"If there is in fact a delay that affects people's opportunity for housing and employment because of the background check company's inability to do their job, then that could potentially create another legal liability for them," he said.

Thirty-seven states have adopted what is known as a "ban the box" policy that prohibits investigation into a job candidate's conviction history before making an offer of employment, but many employers still seek to vet candidates, especially for jobs that require working with vulnerable populations or involve access to sensitive data.

"The fundamental question that we've been asking in the reentry law community is whether background checks are effective in screening out dangerous employees," Kim said.

But some Angelenos have been frustrated by the current state of affairs.

South Pasadena mother Erin Chang had been stuck waiting months for her disabled son's summer camp aide to get approved for work. The background check had to clear in order for the state to cover the cost of the aide, Chang said.

Although the check cleared just before camp began, Chang had to pay out of pocket for the aide and said she will seek reimbursement.

Camp is over next week, and were still not sorted out," Chang said. "They offered the explanation that she had a common name and that there is a backlog.

Read more: Will these drones 'revolutionize' 911 response? L.A. suburb will be first to test

Outside Los Angeles, other counties are making similar changes to comply with the court rules. San Luis Obispo County announced last month that it is redacting access to date of birth and drivers license information in court search engines, and Orange County is rumored to be making the same move soon, said Sorenson of the background check trade group.

It is more than just an L.A. County issue, she said. If an employer has a candidate with California history, they may have to move on to a different candidate.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Bad News for Fani Willis, AOC Wants Supreme Court Justices Impeached? Poll: These Politicians Should Replace Biden and More

Photo: Andrew Harnik (Getty Images)

On Tuesday night, President Joe Biden once again talked about his debate performance last week and how it wasnt very smart for him to travel heavily before the event. At a campaign fundraiser in McLean, Virginia, Biden attempted to explain his lackluster presence on the debate stage in Atlanta. - Candace McDuffie Read More

Photo: ABC News

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump might be entitled to immunity from his behavior during the final days of his presidency and as it pertained to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. That decision may have damning effects on the Georgia racketeering case against him. - Candace McDuffie Read More

Photo: Steven Ferdman/GC Images (Getty Images)

Some Democrats  most notably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  are willing to take things into their own hands after the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that former President Donald Trump can claim immunity from criminal prosecution for some of the things he did as president. - Noah A. McGee Read More

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris introduces U.S. President Joe Biden during a campaign rally at Girard College on May 29, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Image: ROBERTO SCHMIDT (Getty Images)

President Joe Biden said he has no plans to drop out of the presidential race, but that doesnt mean the American people arent thinking of alternative candidates. - Phenix S Halley Read More

U.S. President Joe Biden participates in the CNN Presidential Debate at the CNN Studios on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. - Image: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)

All President Joe Biden needed to do during the first presidential debate June 27 was ensure the American people he could stand up to former President Donald Trump as a strong and competent leader. Considering Trumps well-documented, tenuous relationship with the truth, this shouldnt have been too difficult. - Phenix S Halley Read More

Photo: Allison Bailey (Getty Images)

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling Monday that removes yet another roadblock for former President Donald Trump to glide back into the White House if elected in November. - Candace McDuffie Read More

Image: Christopher Furlong (Getty Images)

In the newest attempt to win back support heading into November, President Joe Biden met with more than twenty Democratic governors at the White House this week. There, he said he needs to get more sleep and work fewer hours. During his statement, which was originally reported by the New York Times, Biden also said he would stop holding events after 8pm, which many are calling a problematic solution. - Phenix S Halley Read More

Image: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)

The Supreme Court has been on a roll with major back-to-back rulings on homelessness, abortion, the environment, and much more. On Monday, the court ruled that American presidents have partial immunity for official acts committed while in office  if its determined that former President Donald Trump incited the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, he may not be held responsible at all. - Phenix S Halley Read More

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) 36th President of the United States in talks with Civil Rights leaders in the White House, including Martin Luther King, Jr (1929-1968), left - Image: Universal History Archive (Getty Images)

On July 2, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other Civil Rights leaders stood inside the White House to witness President Lyndon B. Johnson sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. With this, all Jim Crow laws and other forms of racial discrimination became illegal nationwide. - Phenix S Halley Read More

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Bayer aims to change law that could impact its top-selling product: 'They've been losing'

Biotech giant Bayer has been lobbying Congress to pass new legislation that could protect the company from spending billions on lawsuits that alleged its Roundup weed killer causes cancer, according to The Washington Post.

What's happening?

Bayer is facing about 170,000 claims alleging that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, can cause cancer in people frequently exposed to it.

While Bayer maintains Roundup is safe and agreed to pay $10 billion to settle thousands of cases in 2020, roughly 60,000 claims remain unresolved.

Bayer helped craft federal legislation that could make it harder for plaintiffs to argue they weren't properly warned about Roundup's risks. The company has lobbied for the bill's inclusion in must-pass packages such as the farm bill. Similar Bayer-backed measures have advanced in several states.

Why is Bayer's lobbying concerning?

Critics say the legislation would undo important pesticide protections. It aims to prevent local rules on pesticide warnings that differ from federal guidelines. The Environmental Protection Agency doesn't consider glyphosate a carcinogen, contradicting health authorities such as the World Health Organization.

If successful, the bill could block access to justice for workers harmed by glyphosate. Plaintiffs have been awarded huge sums, including a $2 billion verdict to a warehouse worker with cancer linked to Roundup.

Bayer calls the lawsuits an "existential" financial threat, according to Bloomberg.

"They've been losing, so they're coming to Congress with hat in hand trying to change the law," Daniel Savery, a senior legislative representative for Earthjustice, told the Post.

What's being done about glyphosate?

Opposition is mounting from lawmakers, mayors, health experts, and environmental advocates. More than 100 local leaders warned Congress that the bill would hurt constituents seeking justice from irresponsible companies.

Efforts to slip the measure into major bills have so far failed, the Post says. As Bayer ramps up its nationwide lobbying push, critics vow to keep fighting what they see as an attempt to change the law after facing losses in court.

The EPA is slated to reevaluate glyphosate's risks in 2026. In the meantime, you can reduce exposure by using natural weed control methods instead of chemical herbicides. Opt for hand-pulling, mulching, or eco-friendly alternatives such as vinegar solutions. Every personal action helps protect our health and environment.

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A Beaver Falls woman is facing felony charges after failing to return her children to their legal guardian, according to the Allegheny County Sheriffs Office.

The sheriffs office says Aliah Jones, 33, failed to return her four biological children between the ages of five and 11 to their legal guardian after a visit with them on June 15.

The guardian, who has had complete authority over the custody, health and welfare of the children for more than a year, reported the situation to Pittsburgh police hours after the children were supposed to return.

By June 25, a judge issued an emergency court order for the children to be immediately returned to the guardian, and on July 3, Pittsburgh police filed four felony counts of interference in the custody of children against Jones.

Only Friday, Allegheny County Sheriffs Office detectives began assisting in the search for Jones and quickly learned she was in Warren, Ohio. Police found her and the four children at a Warren gas station around 6:30 p.m.

Jones was arrested without incident and is being held in an Ohio jail while awaiting extradition to Allegheny County. Detectives assumed protective custody of the children after Jones arrest, and theyve since been returned to their legal guardian.

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The 165m-long ship has yet to respond to radio challenges regarding its intentions

China has anchored the worlds largest coastguard ship in the Philippines exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea in a move that appears aimed at intimidating its neighbour.

The monster ship, which is 165m long, arrived in the area on July 3 and has not responded regarding its intentions, despite repeated radio challenges from the Philippine coastguard.

However, the Chinese have insisted they hold sovereignty over the waters and are doing a maritime law enforcement operation, said Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine coastguard.

The giant Chinese ship has also deployed a smaller boat, anchored just half a mile away from a Philippine coastguard vessel.

The Philippine coastguard deployed a ship to the Sabina shoal in the South China Sea in May in an effort to deter small-scale reclamation by China.

China defies Hague tribunal ruling

For more than a decade, Beijing has been carrying out extensive land reclamation on islands in the South China Sea, building airstrips and other military facilities.

China has largely denied that it is doing so. It maintains that the international waters are all Chinese territory, defying a 2016 ruling by a tribunal in The Hague that found its maritime claims had no legal basis under international law.

Tensions have been building between China and the Philippines because of Beijings claims in the disputed waterways.

The South China Sea is a strategic waterway through which millions of dollars of global trade passes each year.

Coastguard and fishing vessels from other Southeast Asian nations, such as Vietnam, have also been harassed by the Chinese coastguard and navy.

Governments in the region and experts have worried for years that Chinas maritime territorial claims could spark war.

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Beryl is expected to regain strength and slam into Texas as a hurricane, marking the first US landfall of the Atlantic season

Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to strengthen into a hurricane again before it reaches the South Texas coast on Monday, bringing damaging winds, life-threatening storm surge and dangerous flooding beginning late Sunday. Its expected to mark the first US landfall storm of the 2024 Atlantic season. Heres the latest:

 Beryl to hit Texas as a hurricane: Beryl is forecast to make landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas, as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center. Currently a tropical storm, Beryl is in the Gulf of Mexico about 245 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, fanning maximum winds of 60 mph as of 5 a.m. ET Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said. The state is likely to start seeing the effects of Beryl starting Sunday and several counties have already announced evacuation orders.

 Hurricane and storm surge alerts: Hurricane warnings are in effect for the Texas coast from Baffin Bay to Sargent, while the stretches south of Baffin Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande River, and north of Sargent to San Luis Pass, are under hurricane watches. A tropical storm warning is also in place for the area north of Sargent to High Island, and the Mexican coast from Barra el Mezquital to the Rio Grande. Storm surge warnings are in effect from the north entrance of the Padre Island National Seashore to High Island, including Corpus Christi Bay, Matagorda Bay and Galveston Bay. The Texas coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande River northward to North Entrance of the Padre Island National Seashore, as well as San Luis Pass to Sabine Pass are under storm surge watch.

 Dangerous storm surge along US Gulf Coast: Tropical storm conditions will begin to be felt along the western Gulf Coast on Sunday, with hurricane conditions expected later in the day. Storm surge up to 6 feet is forecast for parts of the Texas coast late Sunday night into Monday as rising waters push inland from the shoreline. Rip currents will also cause life-threatening beach conditions through Monday across much of the Gulf Coast.

 Flooding and damaging winds expected: Heavy rainfall of 5 to 10 inches, with localized amounts of 15 inches, is forecast across the Texas Gulf Coast and East Texas late Sunday through the middle of next week, the National Hurricane Center said. Its expected to produce flash and urban flooding. Hurricane-force winds will hit the lower and middle Texas coast Sunday night and Monday. A few tornadoes could also occur along the Texas Coast Sunday afternoon and evening. Preparations should be rushed to completion before tropical storm conditions begin late today, the hurricane center said Sunday morning.

A worker boards up windows at the Port Aransas Nature Preserve office ahead of Beryl's landfall in Port Aransas, Texas, July 6, 2024. - Eddie Seal/Bloomberg/Getty Images

 At least nine dead due to Beryl: Beryl became the earliest Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic on record earlier this week. The storm killed at least nine people in the Caribbean, including two in Jamaica, three in Venezuela, three in Grenada and one person in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. After hammering several Caribbean islands, the storm unloaded strong winds, torrential rainfall and dangerous storm surge over much of Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula.

 Beryl worsened by climate change: The abnormally warm ocean waters fueling Beryls intensification show this hurricane season will be far from normal. Beryls blow to Jamaica was worsened by climate change, a new rapid attribution analysis from ClimaMeter found. Modern storms like Beryl tracking close to Jamaica are capable of unloading 30% more rain and 10% stronger winds compared to the similar storms from 1979 to 2001 because of human-caused climate change, the study found.

 How to help those affected: Jamaican residents are assessing the damage after Beryl pounded the Caribbean island with destructive winds and storm surge. The storm killed two people in the country and left hundreds of thousands of homes without power. Beryl was the strongest storm to impact the country in more than 15 years. Beryl also caused major damage across the region, including in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and Grenada. Several charities are actively distributing aid throughout the region. Contribute to relief efforts here.

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Texas officials ask coastal residents to be prepared to leave

Texas officials are urging residents to prepare before Beryls expected hit to coastal areas later this weekend.

Everyone along the coast should be paying attention to this storm, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said during a briefing on Friday.

We pray and we hope for nothing more than a rain event, but even a rain event may be very heavy, Patrick said. We prepare at the state for the worst-case scenario.

Already, several counties have asked residents to evacuate due to the potentially dangerous conditions Beryl could bring. Gov. Greg Abbott has also issued severe weather disaster declarations for 40 counties, as the state contends with heavy rainfall, flooding conditions, and strong tropical wind.

Matagorda County issued a voluntary evacuation order ahead of Beryls arrival, the countys Emergency Operation Center said on social media. The order calls for people to voluntarily evacuate coastal areas in the county, including Sargent, Matagorda and Palacios.

Aransas County issued an evacuation order for residents of low-lying areas and flood-prone areas and persons with special needs requirements at 6 p.m. local time. There are no emergency shelter facilities in the county, according to the countys Facebook announcement, and medical and emergency services will likely be affected by the effects of the predicted landfall of Hurricane Beryl.

A mandatory evacuation was ordered Saturday afternoon for all residents of Refugio County, County Judge Jhiela Poynter announced in a Facebook post. The county has a population of more than 6,600 people.

Poynter said that they know how quickly things can escalate, given that they are still rebuilding infrastructure from when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in 2017.

I would rather be cautious and let Tropical Storm Beryl come crawling in with a little bit of rain and a little bit of wind to an empty Refugio County than the alternative if it were to strengthen more than the predictions, which we know has happened with several storms in the past, Poynter said.

During the storm, the countys local hospital will be rerouting emergency patients, city water will eventually be turned off and city ambulances and fire trucks will no longer be able to mobilize, Poynter said. City officials will provide bus transportation to an out-of-town emergency shelter for residents who are unable to evacuate on their own, Poynter said.

The City of Port Aransas, on Mustang Island, issued a mandatory visitor evacuation by noon Sunday, which does not include residents and property owners, according to the city.

In Kleberg County, Judge Rudy Madrid issued a Voluntary Evacuation for Baffin Bay, Loyola Beach and all low lying areas, according to a social media post from the city of Kingsville.

Nueces County Judge Connie Scott asked citizens on the coast in low-lying areas or who need assistance to evacuate due to the possibility of the storm making landfall in the area as a hurricane, the county posted on social media.

The National Weather Service in Corpus Christi is warning residents, now would be the time to prepare for Beryl as its track forecast is trending farther north along the Texas coast.

Residents should really be aware that the earliest  arrival of the tropical storm force winds is predicted for Sunday afternoon, Mayor Paulette Guajardo said on Friday.

The mayor declared a local state of disaster Saturday afternoon, taking effect immediately.

Guajardo asked those visiting the city for the Fourth of July weekend to please consider returning at an earlier time if its what you feel you need to do.

In Houston, the weather service is likewise asking people to stay vigilant.

At this time, the main impacts for SE TX will remain increased rainfall (Mon/Tues) and the potential for tropical storm force winds (34kts) as early as Sun morning. Stay tuned and stay informed, the weather service posted on X.

The city of Rockport issued voluntary evacuation orders for residents in low-lying areas and local officials are in touch with the state to place their residents on the registry for evacuations if necessary, police spokesperson Lee Brown told CNN on Saturday.

While no local hurricane shelter had been established in the area, charter buses will be ready to evacuate residents at the Aransas County Airport on Saturday evening, Brown said. Rockport, 30 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, suffered major damage from Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

Voluntary evacuations have been announced for some low-lying areas in Port Lavaca, northeast of Rockport. City spokesperson Tania French said about 1,000 people, mostly in beach areas, may be affected.

Editors Note: Affected by the storm? Use CNNs lite site for low bandwidth.

CNNs Gene Norman, Dave Alsup, Raja Razek, Monica Garrett, Michael Yoshida, Elise Hammond, Mary Gilbert, Eric Zerkel, Leigh Waldman, Rebekah Riess, Zoe Sottile, Sarah Dewberry and Ashley R. Williams contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
With its unprecedented tear through the ultrawarm waters of the southeast Caribbean, Beryl turned meteorologists worst fears of a souped-up hurricane season into grim reality. Now its Texas turn.

Beryl hit Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula as a Category 2 hurricane on Friday, then weakened to a tropical storm. Its expected to reach southern Texas by Sunday night or Monday morning, regaining hurricane status as it crosses over the toasty Gulf of Mexico.

National Hurricane Center senior specialist Jack Beven said Beryl is likely to make landfall somewhere between Brownsville and a bit north of Corpus Christi Monday. The hurricane center forecasts it will hit as a strong Category 1 storm, but wrote this could be conservative if Beryl stays over water longer than expected.

The waters in the Gulf of Mexico are warm enough for the early-season storm to rapidly intensify, as it has several times before.

We should not be surprised if this is rapidly intensifying before landfall and it could become a major hurricane, said Weather Underground co-founder Jeff Masters, a former government hurricane meteorologist who flew into storms. Category 2 may be more likely but we should not dismiss a Category 3 possibility.

Beven said the official forecast has Beryl gaining 17 to 23 mph in wind speed in 24 hours, but noted the storm intensified more rapidly than forecasters expected earlier in the Caribbean.

People in southern Texas now need to really keep an eye on the progress of Beryl, Beven said.

Masters and University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy said hurricane center forecasters have been very accurate in predicting Beryls track so far.

Already three times in its one-week life, Beryl has gained 35 mph in wind speed in 24 hours or less, the official weather service definition of rapid intensification.

The storm zipped from 35 mph to 75 mph on June 28. It went went from 80 mph to 115 mph in the overnight hours of June 29 into June 30 and on July 1 it went from 120 mph to 155 mph in just 15 hours, according to hurricane center records.

Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach, using a different tracking system, said he counted eight different periods when Beryl rapidly intensified  something that has only happened in the Atlantic in July two other times.

MIT meteorology professor Kerry Emanuel doesnt give Beryl much of a chance for another 35 mph wind speed jump in the Gulf of Mexico, but said its a tricky thing to forecast.

Beryls explosive growth into an unprecedented early whopper of a storm shows the literal hot water the Atlantic and Caribbean are in right now and the figurative hot water the Atlantic hurricane belt can expect for the rest of the storm season, experts said.

The storm smashed various records even before its major hurricane-level winds approached the island of Carriacou in Grenada on Monday.

Beryl set the record for the earliest Category 4 with winds of at least 130 mph (209 kilometers per hour)  the first-ever category 4 in June. It also was the earliest storm to rapidly intensify with wind speeds jumping 63 mph (102 kph) in 24 hours, going from an unnamed depression to a Category 4 in 48 hours.

Colorado State Universitys Klotzbach called Beryl a harbinger.

Forecasters predicted months ago it was going to be a nasty year and now they are comparing it to record busy 1933 and deadly 2005  the year of Katrina, Rita, Wilma and Dennis.

This is the type of storm that we expect this year, these outlier things that happen when and where they shouldnt, University of Miamis McNoldy said. Not only for things to form and intensify and reach higher intensities, but increase the likelihood of rapid intensification.

Warm water acts as fuel for the thunderstorms and clouds that form hurricanes. The warmer the water and thus the air at the bottom of the storm, the better the chance it will rise higher in the atmosphere and create deeper thunderstorms, said the University at Albanys Kristen Corbosiero.

So when you get all that heat energy you can expect some fireworks, Masters said.

Atlantic waters have been record warm since April 2023. Klotzbach said a high pressure system that normally sets up cooling trade winds collapsed then and hasnt returned.

People stand on a rocky outcrop in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl in Tulum, Mexico, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Corbosiero said scientists are debating what exactly climate change does to hurricanes, but have come to an agreement that it makes them more prone to rapidly intensifying, as Beryl did, and increase the strongest storms, like Beryl.

Emanuel said the slowdown of Atlantic ocean currents, likely caused by climate change, may also be a factor in the warm water.

A brewing La Nina, which is a slight cooling of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide, also may be a factor. Experts say La Nina tends to depress high altitude crosswinds that decapitate hurricanes.

___

Isabella OMalley contributed from Philadelphia.

___

Seth Borenstein has been covering hurricanes for nearly 35 years.

___

Read more of APs climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Warren Buffett recently changed his will. The chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and the Oracle of Omaha himself, who has amassed a fortune that places him among the richest people in the world, now may be switching up how his money is divvied after he dies. It wont surprise you learn that much like Buffetts approach to wealth throughout his life, his unique philosophy and commitment to philanthropy are reflected in his estate planning.

Read Next: I Followed Mark Cubans Genius Advice and Am on Track To Become a Millionaire

Learn More: 7 Reasons You Should Consider a Financial Advisor  Even If Youre Not Wealthy

Wealthy people know the best money secrets. Learn how to copy them.

A New Peek Inside Warren Buffetts Will

Buffett has long been a proponent of giving back to society. In 2006, he made headlines by pledging to give away the majority of his fortune to philanthropic causes. However, in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Buffett explained that though he is still planning to leave billions of dollars to charitable causes, he no longer lists the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as one of the recipients.

Before Buffetts will was edited, the largest portion of his fortune was designated for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but now, nearly all the funds from his enormous wealth will go to a new charitable trust overseen by his children.

Buffetts relationship with the Gates family is well-documented and has made substantial contributions for 18 years, but he is quoted as saying, The Gates Foundation has no money coming after my death. Buffett is a billionaire many times over, and though hes given away more than half of his shares, he still has nearly $130 billion of Berkshire stock left. The reason for the change in charitable donations is unclear.

Now, his daughter and two sons will helm the new charitable trust and will have to decide unanimously which philanthropic endeavor to undertake. However, if they are anything like their father, hopefully the gift of giving will remain strong. Or, as Buffett has said about his wealth, It should be used to help the people that havent been as lucky as we have been. There are eight billion people in the world, and me and my kids, weve been in the luckiest 100th of 1% or something. There are lots of ways to help people.

Explore More: Im a Self-Made Millionaire: Heres the Lightbulb Moment that Helped Me Make My First Million

Charitable Contenders for Warren Buffetts Wealth

Though Buffetts children will be in charge of where his wealth is donated after he dies, its potentially an interesting dynamic as, in stark contrast to many wealthy individuals, Buffett has repeatedly emphasized that his children will not inherit the bulk of his wealth. Instead, he believes in providing them with enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing.

Story continues

Here are some family foundations and potential beneficiaries of Buffetts will. He has expressed nothing but confidence in his children and has said, I feel very, very good about the values of my three children, and I have 100% trust in how they will carry things out.

Sherwood Foundation: Chaired by Susie Buffett, this foundation focuses on early childhood education and promotes social justice.

Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation: Susie Buffett also chairs this foundation that is named for her mother and helps fund college scholarships and reproductive rights.

Howard G. Buffett Foundation: This foundation is run by Howie Buffett and works with food security, conflict mitigation and combats human trafficking.

NoVo Foundation: This foundation is run by Peter Buffett and his wife, Jennifer Buffett, and has a primary focus on projects that promote working with indigenous communities.

Final Take To GO

The bottom line is that though Warren Buffetts will and the subsequent distribution of his fortune have been slightly edited, what he will leave is a lasting legacy that extends far beyond his lifetime. By dedicating the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes, he not only honors his values but also inspires others to consider the broader impact of their financial resources.

When it comes to the future execution of his will, one thing is clear, Warren Buffetts influence will be felt for generations to come, not just through his investment acumen but through his profound commitment to making the world a better place. Warren Buffetts approach to his wealth serves as an influential model for other billionaires and affluent individuals. His commitment to philanthropy challenges the traditional notions of wealth accumulation and inheritance, promoting a culture of giving that prioritizes societal benefit over personal enrichment.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: What Warren Buffetts Will Looks Like and Where His Money Will Go When He Dies
Beryl was downgraded to a tropical storm but is expected to become a hurricane again this weekend.

After moving through the Caribbean last week, Beryl  currently a tropical storm  is expected to reach Texas this weekend and once again become a hurricane.

As of 7 a.m. CT on Sunday morning, Beryl was about 220 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, with maximum sustained winds around 60 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm is expected to intensify between Sunday and Monday, with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick adding 121 counties to the state's Hurricane Beryl disaster declaration.

Meteorologists warned that there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge for the Texas Coast. The storm has been blamed for at least 11 deaths so far.

Tracking Hurricane Beryls current path

There is an increasing risk of damaging hurricane-force winds, storm surge, flash and urban flooding and life-threatening rip currents with #Beryl over the next few days. Stay up to date with the latest forecast at https://t.co/meemB5uHAR https://t.co/YAY1pCrCJS pic.twitter.com/bj8SK1By3T  National Weather Service (@NWS) July 6, 2024

Tropical Storm Beryl is currently moving through the Gulf of Mexico and is anticipated to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane as it approaches the Texas coast. Hurricane warnings have been issued for parts of the coast  from the mouth of the Rio Grande northward to San Luis Pass  while a storm surge watch is in place from the mouth of the Rio Grande northward to High Island.

A tropical storm warning was also in effect for the Texas coast south of Baffin Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande, as well as for the northeastern coast of mainland Mexico from Barra el Mezquital to the mouth of the Rio Grande.

Beryls damage and impact

Beryl hit Jamaica on Wednesday as a Category 3 storm, causing widespread outages and damage before passing over the Cayman Islands and heading toward Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula. On July 3, the Jamaica Public Service Company reported that more than 400,000 customers were without power across the country.

Beryl did the most severe damage when it made landfall earlier this week on the Grenadines, a small belt of islands in the eastern Caribbean. About 90% of buildings and homes on three small islands were destroyed or damaged when Beryl made landfall earlier this week, officials said at a news conference held by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.

Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared the country a disaster area until July 10.

Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell described the "total destruction" to the islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique in Grenada at a news conference Wednesday.

"Having seen it myself, there is really nothing that can prepare you to see this level of destruction," Mitchell said. "It is almost Armageddon-like, almost total damage and destruction of all buildings, whether they be public buildings, homes or private facilities."

Mitchell also described the "complete devastation and destruction" of agriculture and the natural environment, and severe damage to boats, marinas and the electrical grid on Carriacou.

Experts shocked by Beryls rapid intensification

Fishing vessels damaged by Hurricane Beryl seen in Barbados on Monday. (Ricardo Mazalan/AP)

Michael Lowry, a hurricane and storm surge expert, told the Associated Press that the rapid development of Beryl marked a "very serious threat."

"Beryl is an extremely dangerous and rare hurricane for this time of year in this area," he said in a phone interview with the AP. "Unusual is an understatement. Beryl is already a historic hurricane."

On July 2, Beryl became the earliest Atlantic hurricane to reach the Category 5 level. (It is both the earliest Category 4 and Category 5 storm on record in the Atlantic.)

The last strong hurricane to affect the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Ivan battered Grenada as a Category 3 and killed 39 people.

The start of a busy Atlantic hurricane season

An image of Hurricane Beryl taken from the International Space Station on Sunday. (NASA via AP)

Beryl's emergence also marks an ominous start to the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, which typically doesn't ramp up until late July or August.

Experts agree that this could be one of the busiest hurricane seasons on record. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in May that it expected eight to 13 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with four to seven of them classified as major hurricanes, meaning at least 111 mph winds.
From the Dispatch Weekly on The Dispatch

Hello and happy Saturday. I hope you enjoyed the Fourth of July! The weather in the Ohio bureau wasnt very conducive to celebrating, but that left plenty of time to watch that quintessential cinematic classic, Independence Day. Has anyone asked Bill Pullman if hed like to run for president? The man can deliver a speech.

I wrote last week that it felt like we were watching history in the wake of President Joe Bidens disastrous debate performance. We have an adage in this business that journalism is the first rough draft of history, and the past 10 days have generated enough rough drafts to keep a generation of historians busy honing and refining until they can explain it.

Biden sat for an interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos yesterday that aired at 8 p.m. ET. The president needed to make such an effort, but his performance was not reassuring, Chris Stirewalt writes in his newsletter this morning ():

Biden cant become a different person or de-age 20 years, and he especially cant do it with the whole world coming down on him. Indeed, the Democrats who have been calling on him to get out there and dispel the doubts about his candidacy are asking the man who, until nine days ago was their presumptive nominee, to walk into a buzz saw.

The debate, the fallout, and now the middling interview performance laid bare the Democrats colossal mistake in not reckoning earlier with the signs that Biden might not be up to the job. Four months from the election, the party faces an enormous challengeand has few ways to deal with it, none of them good.

In his Tuesday column, Stirewalt compared the 2024 election to the 1944 election, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for a fourth term despite facing overwhelming health challenges and doctors warning he was unlikely to complete another term. Its an interesting parallel, but Stirewalt warned against reading too much into it. Aside from the many differences between the two men, the state of the world, the media, and the nature of politics, there is this, he wrote. Roosevelt may have been almost sure to die in his next term, but he was also almost sure to win it.

Before the debate, Biden had been narrowly, but consistently, behind Trump in the polls. He now trails his challenger by 3.3 points nationally in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, and that deficit could soon be larger. In polls conducted after the debate, both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal show Trump leading Biden by 6 points.

In Wednesdays Boiling Frogs (), Nick wondered just who thought hiding Bidens decline from the public was a good ideaand why they thought they could get away with it. The wider Democratic Party and its media enablers would not have bet the presidency on someone whom they had reason to believe might plausibly implode onstage four months out from Election Day, he wrote. Although I suppose members of Joe Bidens inner circlethe villains of historywould do that, because they did.

Calls for the president to step aside have been met with the criticism that its unfair to ask Biden to do so, because he deserves better. In response, Jonah channeled Clint Eastwoods character in The Unforgiven: Deserves got nothing to do with it. In Wednesdays G-File (), he wrote: When politicians indulge their self-interest to the point where continuing to do so harms the party and they fail the cost-benefit test, theyre supposed to get out of the way for the good of the party. If they refuse to do so, the party is supposed to throw them overboard.

Which brings me to the editorial we published on Tuesday, calling for the Democratic Party to do exactly that. Democrats are correct to raise the alarm about the distinct threat Trump poses to the country and the constitutional order, so its time for them to heed their own warnings:

The Biden campaign has repeatedly insisted that 90 minutes does not negate three-and-a-half years of results. Setting aside that fewer than 4 in 10 voters approve of those results and only 1 in 4 believe the country is on the right track, a second term in office is not a reward for a job well done. No, presidential elections are forward-looking, and this coming Novembers contest will be a referendum on whether the incumbent can effectively do the job for another four years. He cannot.

And there is no knight in shining armor riding to the rescue. The political group No Labels, which tried to find an independent candidate to lead a unity ticket challenging Biden and Trump, is shrugging its shoulders, saying told ya so, and that its too late now. All the work that we put in over the last couple of years was for exactly this moment, Ryan Clancy, the groups chief strategist, told Dispatch Politics. It was an insurance policy. You hope not to use it, but you do if something happens, right?

No Labels had secured ballot access in 25 states, but abandoned its effort in April after being unable to find a candidate. Now they have people reaching out to see what can be done.

We checked into this, Clancy said. We thought we owed it to ourselves and our community. We talked to our lawyers, and we talked to our ballot teams. We were like, Guys, you know, is there anything that could be done here? And unfortunately, there really isnt.

If not Biden, then who for the Democrats? Thats a thornier question than it should be. The most obvious choice would be the vice president, but Kamala Harris is not really any more popular than Bidenand she doesnt have much of a record of success to lean on.

Kevin, however, has a suggestion for how this could all play outnot that anyone will take it. On Friday, he proposed that Harris make a graceful exit speech declining the nomination and, in return, she gets  whatever she wants. Theres a gubernatorial election in California in 2026, and Gavin Newsom could do a great deal to clear the way for Harris if she wanted to be the Democratic nominee, which would all but ensure her election, Kevin noted. Maybe shed like a prestigious professorship or the presidency of a university and a couple of Silicon Valley board sinecures; I suspect that the necessary vacancies could be arranged. But if she doesnt? Kamala Harris can go down in ignominy by losing as vice president or, maybe, go down in ignominy by losing as president after serving in the office for 11 minutes, the Lady Jane Grey of American politics.

So here we are, still watching history. And in fact, there was another potentially historic happening this week that I havent even mentioned yet. The Supreme Court ruled that presidents do not enjoy absolute immunity while in office, but they left plenty of wiggle room. Specifically, as Michael Warren and Sarah noted in The Collision, the majority opinion held that immunity extends to official discussions between the President and his Attorney General and sent the case back to the lower courts to determine in the first instance whether and to what extent Trumps remaining alleged conduct is entitled to immunity.

The practical consequence: Donald Trumps federal trial for election interference likely wont begin before the November election. To get a sense of how the court handled the various degrees of presidential immunity, be sure to read the rest of The Collision and Tuesdays Morning Dispatch (). Plus, dont miss Sarah and David Frenchs analysis on Advisory Opinions and Jonahs explanation of why he isnt a fan of the ruling in Fridays G-File. (Yes, the latter takes a while to get to the point but youll enjoy his ruminations on Farrah Fawcett along the way.)

Ive departed from my normal format this week because of the gravity of the news, and Im going to close with a plea I try not to make too often. The next few months are going to be more than a little crazy, and were prepared to do the reporting and analysis necessary to help you make sense of it all. We thank those of you who are already paid members for supporting our work. And we appreciate those of you who have signed up for our free newsletters and articles. As it happens, were doing a little sale this weekend, so theres never been a better time to join. Here are the details. Thanks as always for reading.

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President Joe Bidens struggle to prove hes got the strength and cognitive capacity for a second term is becoming an excruciating personal and national ordeal.

Watching a visibly aged Biden answer frank questions Friday about his health on primetime television  which would normally remain between a patient and their doctor  felt like an affront to presidential dignity. It was sad to see a person whos respected and beloved by many Americans suffer such a plight. And it would be a hard heart that did not empathize with Biden as he confronts the painful human realities of aging in the most public manner imaginable.

Yet Bidens position, his shocking presidential debate performance and his defiant refusal to contemplate its implications for his reelection campaign, mean hes forcing the country to have the conversation.

The political tide may be turning against Biden, but the interview underscored his deep pride in a presidency that it took him nearly half a century to achieve. And hes not close to giving up his lifelong mantra to stand up and fight when hes knocked down  a factor that will exacerbate the Democratic Partys dilemma.

While his interview performance was far stronger than the presidents often incoherent showing at the CNN debate in Atlanta, thats not saying much. It did not contain any new disasters that would push him immediately out of the race. But it equally did little to quell the storm assailing his campaign and raised fresh intrigue about his health amid increasing signs his Democratic power base is beginning to crack.

Its becoming clear that the president, his party and the country are slipping inexorably into a political crisis that raises the extraordinary possibility that a presumptive nominee could be pushed aside weeks before his partys national convention and four months before one of the most critical elections in history.

The threats to Bidens prospects are quickly mounting. Two more Democratic congressman Friday called on the president to cede the nomination to a younger candidate. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner moved forward with an effort to get Senate Democrats on the same page about Bidens future and is reaching a place where he thinks its time for Biden to suspend his campaign, a source familiar with his efforts told CNN. And House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries scheduled a virtual meeting with ranking party committee members as he faces increasing pressure from his conference over Bidens position, a Democratic lawmaker said.

A test set by the campaign

Bidens campaign had scheduled the interview with ABC News to try to prove that the presidents stumbling debate performance last week was an aberration and to shut down growing doubts about his position as his partys 2024 nominee.

He appeared more composed and fluent than at the CNN debate. He made a far more robust argument for his own successes in office and more effectively prosecuted a case against Trump than he did in the debate. And he dug in deeper despite calls by a handful of a Democratic lawmakers for him to fold his reelection bid and the growing panic among many others yet to break cover.

He also dismissed concerns about his health, insisting that he was not frailer than before. Can I run the 100 (in) 10 flat? No, but Im still in good shape, Biden said.

I dont think anybodys more qualified to be president or win this race than me, Biden said in the interview conducted in swing state Wisconsin.

If the Lord Almighty came down and said, Joe, get out of the race, Id get out of the race, Biden said, but added: The Lord Almightys not coming down.

But Bidens admission that he felt terrible in the days before his clash with the Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump only posed new questions about his health. Those questions come at a time of growing anxiety that hes well enough at 81 to shoulder the exhausting demands of the presidency and the strain of a reelection bid.

Biden compounded those doubts by seeming unsure about whether hed watched a playback of the debate  I dont think so, no, he said when asked if hed watched the event  and other moments in which he trailed off in some sentences. And he added yet another explanation for his poor debate performance to add to his allies claims he was overloaded with facts by staff, jet-lagged and suffering from a cold. The president said Trumps insistence on speaking even though his microphone was muted had put him off.

Asked whether he was the same man who took office three years ago, Biden deflected by offering a litany of his achievements. In terms of successes, yes, he said. I also was the guy who put together a peace plan for the Middle East that may be coming to fruition. I was also the guy that expanded NATO. I was also the guy that grew the economy. All the individual things that were done were ideas I had or I fulfilled. I moved on.

The president was adamant that the debate was a only a bad night for which he took responsibility. But more than a week after the event, and amid rising fear among Democrats about his prospects in November and the possibility of what it will mean for democracy if Trump wins a second term, one thing is becoming increasingly clear. One bad night on such a high-profile stage before millions of viewers may be all it takes to irretrievably damage the campaign of president who will be 82 two weeks after Election Day, who large majorities of Americans worry is unfit to serve and who is asking the country to keep him in office until January 2029.

Americans are worried about the next four years, not the last three

Biden and his supporters warn that his painful 90 minutes on stage in Atlanta should not overshadow the achievements of his time in office. And they say that the threat posed by Trump and his autocratic instincts and vow to dedicate a second presidency to retribution far outweigh concerns over Bidens capacity.

But the question that millions of Americans are asking has less to do with a review of Bidens first-term legacy and is more about whether he can function for four more grueling White House years.

The interview also begged the question of whether the president is fully aware of the corrosive impact of the debate on confidence among Democrats over his chances of beating Trump. He quarreled with ABC News George Stephanopoulos over polling that showed him slipping further behind the former president nationally and in swing states.

The interview was one of a series of events, including the Friday rally and a planned news conference at the NATO summit next week in Washington, that the campaign has held up as moments to prove Bidens fitness.

But Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman of California told CNN that the president needed to do a prolonged and live television interview unlike the recorded one on ABC. Other members are demanding the president get out far more to prove his stamina, even though the campaign on Friday promised an aggressive program of events in July.

But that pledge did not stop the growing demands for Biden to step aside.

President Biden has done enormous service to our country, but now is the time for him to follow in one of our founding father, George Washingtons, footsteps and step aside to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump, Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton told Boston radio station WBUR in an interview that went out before the ABC interview aired. And Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley said Bidens continued presence in the race has almost no hope of succeeding.

I would say Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing you can do now to cement that for all-time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this, Quigley told MSNBC. He later added on CNN: What we need right now  and what I think takes a spine  is to step aside and recognize the president of the United States doesnt have the vigor necessary to overcome the deficit here and its going to affect us all.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey did not go quite so far but said in a statement to CNN that Biden needed to carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Trump. Whatever President Biden decides, I am committed to doing everything in my power to defeat Donald Trump.

The agonizing over Bidens fate is especially painful for Democrats because many of them believe that the president has done a good job in reviving the post-Covid-19 economy, powering job growth, harnessing US allies overseas and passing big-ticket infrastructure and climate change plans. But increasingly, it seems as though the fear of a Trump term may be overwhelming satisfaction with Bidens achievements.

To temper such worries, Biden used the rally to pivot from questions about his age to try to refocus attention on what hed actually done in office.

I keep seeing all those stories about Im being too old, he said. Let me say something. I wasnt too old to create over 15 million new jobs. To make sure 21 million Americans are insured under the Affordable Care Act. Was I too old to release student debt for nearly 5 million Americans? Too old to put the first Black woman on the Supreme Court in the United States of America?

After the debate, Bidens every word is under intense scrutiny and risks bolstering a critical narrative about his age and mental acuity after he seared an image of a struggling, president diminished by age in the mind of viewers.

So, one fatalistic statement in the ABC interview about how hed feel next January if Trump won is likely to inflame concerns of many Democrats about his mindset, his understanding of his situation and what will happen in November.

Ill feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, thats what this is about, Biden said.

The Biden campaign later contacted CNN to argue that the president had not said goodest and ABC News changed its transcript of the interview to read I did the good as job as I know I can do. An editors note said the transcript was updated for clarity. The audio of the sentence is not conclusive on the question. But the situation underscored the extent to which every word the president utters following the debate is under the highest scrutiny.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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President Joe Biden still has an easy and telegenic smile. And, for a flickering moment in his interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos  aired as a 30-minute special Friday night after having been taped earlier that day  that covered for a lot.

The commander-in-chief is in the midst of an unremittingly brutal press cycle following his performance in the June 27 CNN debate against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. That TV appearance was an opportunity he never should have taken. The format did him no favors in the first place, and Bidens mien made clear that even the moderators fact-checking in real time (as CNNs Jake Tapper and Dana Bash did not do) would not have saved him. This second press appearance, a 22-minute interview that ABC aired without edits or interruption, was less an opportunity to clear the air than a necessary appointment  and a deferred one, at that, coming eight days after his soft-spoken, diffident, and confusing responses to an eminently fact-checkable Trump, dissembling and outright lying without a proper response, plunged his campaign into chaos.

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So as Stephanopoulos opened by bringing up the debate  as of course he would  Biden broke into that classic, practiced politicians smile, a warm sign that he understood there were issues to unpack. Then, as Stephanopoulos quoted Nancy Pelosi as saying Biden had a bad night, Biden spoke, saying Sure did in a voice nearly as raspy and hard to make out as the one from the debate  again, eight nights prior.

Within 30 seconds, Stephanopoulos was asking a follow-up question: Biden said he was exhausted, and while Stephanopoulos allowed that the President had undergone a month of busy travel, hed been back on east coast time for several days before the debate. Listening to this set of facts, Biden allowed his face to go into an expression familiar from the debate he was trying to erase from public memory. His eyes, on camera, looked into a distance unfamiliar; his mouth hung slackly open.

Anyone who has been lucky enough to have relatives live into old age recognizes this expression, and recalls it with no small amount of pain, too.

Biden snapped back in to respond to Stephanopoulos that he had undergone medical tests for some infection  a virus after his debate, but that he had just suffered a really bad cold. Asked if he watched the debate back, Biden said I dont think I did, no. The qualifier said it all: He didnt, in saying that he hadnt watched it since experiencing it, seem certain.

And the President seemed in moments combative, telling Stephanopoulos that youve had some bad interviews matching Bidens own bad night. If this was intended as a joke, it didnt land. And he, given a quiet space (an interview in what appeared to be a school library in Madison, Wisc., where Biden had been campaigning, as opposed to a debate stage on which he was being bayed at by Trump), was able to list off some of his accomplishments and some goals for his second term. Unfortunately, this was within the context of damage control. And it was carried across with the same unsteady tone that is newly familiar to viewers. When, describing the stresses he is under, Biden said, Not only am I campaigning, but Im running the world, viewers hearts may have stopped for a moment; Biden went on to clarify his statement, but a certain facility with words is simply gone.

Elsewhere, Biden seemed to live in a bubble. And it was within this bubble that he spoke most plainly, most clearly. He simply refused to acknowledge his position in the polls, saying that his internal polls showed different results. He refused to consider the idea that other party leaders would ask him to leave the ticket. And he said that, if he lost the election, he would feel sanguine: As long as I gave it my all, and did the best job I know I can do  thats what this is about. For the donors who are refusing to give to the party until Biden leaves the ticket, this race is about more than whether Biden meets a personal benchmark.

Biden took eight days of preparation to give ABC News 22 minutes of screen time. It wasnt enough. How much more preparation would have been? Or how much shorter should they have whittled down the interview? Part of the job of a partys nominee, and of a President, is to put forward the case in all kinds of settings, to reach all kinds of people, both voters and stakeholders from lawmakers to other world leaders. Bidens debate performance has certainly traveled widely, and he deserved the chance to clear the air. But, in giving him 22 minutes in which he spoke in an occluded and often resentful and sarcastic manner, it seemed apparent that Biden is unwilling, and  crucially  unable to make a case for himself.

Seen through the prism of television, Biden is unfortunately not merely losing the war against his opponent, but in a seemingly unwinnable position. He waited eight days to give a scant amount of time to a relatively sympathetic interviewer  and this was the result. It would not be an unreasonable expectation that the campaign-saving interview might have run, say, an hour. But if this was what resulted from a half-hour, what else might have been unearthed had the clock been allowed to run on? Or if the interview had happened closer to the debate?

Elections have been won and lost on television since the Nixon-Kennedy debate in 1960. And it may not be a fair expectation that a President be able to make the case on TV  but it is the expectation. And it is one that Biden seems not to realize that, no matter how much rest he gets or how rigidly his campaign controls the timeline, he cannot meet.

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Joe Biden has insisted that only the Lord almighty could persuade him to exit the US presidential race in a potential make-or-break TV interview aimed at quelling a burgeoning rebellion in the Democratic party.

In an exchange free from major gaffes but unlikely to appease his critics, Biden was asked by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News how he would feel if he were to remain the nominee and lose to Donald Trump. Ill feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the good as job as I know I can do, thats what this is about, the president replied.

In other responses his opponents may see as arrogant or out of touch, the 81-year-old claimed that he is running the world and no one is more qualified to be president.

Related: Top Democrats plan crisis meeting despite Bidens vow to fight on

The interview on Friday came at a critical stretch as the 81-year-old strives to salvage his imperiled re-election campaign after last months disastrous debate performance. Four members of Congress have called on Biden to step aside, and it was reported that Mark Warner, who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, is looking to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask the president to drop his re-election bid.

But on Friday, speaking to Stephanopoulos in Madison, Wisconsin, after a fiery campaign rally, the embattled president continued to strike a defiant tone. Look. I mean, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, Joe, get outta the race, Id get outta the race, he said, his voice sounding strained after the rally. The Lord Almightys not comin down.

Biden insisted that after meeting with Democratic leaders such as Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi and state governors, they continue to back him.

Stephanopoulos, a former senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, pressed Biden on what he would do if told that his friends and supporters were concerned that his candidacy would cost Democrats the House of Representatives and Senate.

The president replied: Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen.

Stephanopoulos had begun the primetime interview by citing Pelosi, who this week questioned whether Bidens feeble performance represented an episode or a condition.

It was a bad episode, Biden insisted. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and  I had a bad night.

Stephanopoulos noted that Biden had returned from Europe 12 days before the debate and that he had spent six days at the presidential retreat Camp David. Why wasnt that enough rest time, enough recovery time? he asked.

The president replied: Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible. Matter of fact, the docs with me. I asked if they did a Covid test because theyre trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didnt. I just had a really bad cold.

Stephanopoulos asked whether Biden had watched the debate afterwards. Instead of giving a firm yes or no, he hedged: I dont think I did, no.

The interviewer went on to ask what Biden had been experiencing during the debate and whether he had known how badly it was going. Just as he did on that night, the president zigzagged in his answer from one point to another. He said: Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobodys fault, mine. Nobodys fault but mine.

I  I prepared what I usually would do sittin down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realised  partway through that, you know, all - I get quoted the New York Times had me down, 10 points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is.

The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldnt  I mean, the way the debate ran, not  my fault, nobody elses fault, no one elses fault.

Stephanopoulos challenged Biden that concerns about his fitness for office followed a pattern, citing a recent New York Times article that reported his lapses were becoming more frequent, pronounced and worrisome.

Biden said: Can I run a 110 flat? No. But Im still in good shape.

Asked whether he would be willing to have an independent cognitive evaluation and release the results to the American people, Biden said: Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day Ive had tests. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world. And that sounds like hyperbole but we are the essential nation in the world.

The interviewer asked: Are you sure youre being honest with yourself when youre saying you have the mental and physical capacity to serve another four years?

Biden shot back: Yes, I am because, George, the last thing I want to do is not be able to meet that. I think as some of the senior economist and senior foreign policy specialists say, if I stopped now Id go down in history as a pretty successful president. No one thought I could get done what we got done.

The 22-minute interview was shown to a national audience on ABC. It was part of a major campaign offensive over the weekend to assuage doubts over Bidens fitness for office and ability to beat Trump.

The Biden campaigns response to the crisis over the past few days has frustrated many Democrats. Some financial backers are holding off or canceling upcoming fundraisers.

And at least four House Democrats have called for him to step down as the nominee: Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Mike Quigley of Illinois are pushing for an alternative. Massachusetts governor Maura Healey said in a carefully worded statement on Friday that Biden now has a decision to make on the best way forward.

In the interview, Biden dismissed those calls, as well as opinion polls that show he has a low approval rating and claimed that he remains better placed than other candidates to beat Trump. I dont think anybody is more qualified to be president or win this race than me, he said, bristling.

Stephanopoulos followed up: The heart of your case against Donald Trump is that hes only out for himself, putting his personal interests ahead of the national interest. How do you respond to critics who say that by staying in the race youre doing the same thing?

Biden responded impatiently: Oh, come on. I dont think those critics know what youre talking about. Its wrong. Look, Trump is a pathological liar. You ever seen anything Trump did that benefited somebody else and not him?

The president may have just days to make a persuasive case that he is capable of beating Trump. Early reactions to his rallies and interviews have been mixed.

John Fetterman, the Democratic senator for Pennsylvania, wrote on X: Democrats need to get a spine or grow a set  one or the other. Joe Biden is our guy.

But David Axelrod, a former strategist for Barack Obama, posted: The president is rightfully proud of his record. But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race. Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump. Today, he is six points behind.
The big question on everyones mind for the last few days is this: Will President Joe Biden successfully jump the hurdle that is his interview tonight with ABCs George Stephanopolous, and make all Democrats stop panicking?

The answer is no  but thats subjective. People see what they want, including Biden. Except, when Stephanopolous asked him if hed seen the debate, it sounded like Biden didnt remember, Dont think I did, no, he wavered. You either remember or you dont.

Biden also sounded hoarse, and halting at times. He seemed forced and messaged up to the hilt. He didnt answer the questions directly, mostly he responded to questions by listing his accomplishments  which are impressive. He definitely understands whats right for this country. But there were moments of awkward hesitation. And he just seemed so tired. Very tired.

But it gets worse. Our president is in deep denial. Theres one thing about having fortitude, but rejecting the polls, the approval rating, and the state of the race was worrisome. He seems far away from reality. And if thats the case, how can he speak honestly about his competency?

When Stephanopolous asked him about how hed feel in January if he lost to Trump, the answer was oddly about him, not about the danger to the country  that was startling.

Biden also made sure he came with a tan. If you have followed Biden over the years, you know he likes the sun. He certainly thinks it makes him appear more youthful. But not tonight. I dont think he did anything in 22 minutes to stop the bleeding of those Democrats who want to move forward without him.

So what does this all mean? After tonight, how many more media appearances will it take to assure us that hes not declining? And in doing so, will we make each of these hurdles the news of the day or week, blocking discussions about the economy, and more urgently the dangers of former President Donald Trump?

Will every forthcoming interview or speech or news conference or press gaggle be put under a microscope, analyzed by pundits and geriatricians, watching for any signs that Biden is deteriorating? Or detached from reality?

It used to be a sport to watch Bidens infamous gaffes as he spared, cajoled, or bored the media. In fact, many in Congress complained about how Biden was always talking. He was lamented because he talked to the media so much  in his own gaffe-prone language, off the cuff, and without guardrails. During those days, you can be sure that Biden never loved a teleprompter.

At some point, those gaffes turned into alarm bells about his age, and I think that happened about a year after he was elected president. Those miscues werent funny anymore. As a result, guardrails were put up all around him. The media became a no-no.

Peter Baker in the New York Times today pointed out that Bidens interview with Stephanopoulos was an unusual instance of Biden, since hes been president, subjecting himself to extended questions from the traditional news media.

Baker cited statistics compiled by Martha Joynt Kumar, an emeritus professor from Towson State University who has studied White House communications for many years that showed Biden had given 128 interviews, fewer than half as many as his two immediate predecessors,

Further, Baker said that Biden had not given a single interview with the six largest national daily newspapers in the U.S. Finally, Baker pointed out that Biden had done only 36 news conferences thus far, fewer than any president besides Ronald Reagan at similar points in their presidencies.

This matters because as the campaign wears on, its going to be imperative that Biden make himself more available, not only to communicate what he wants to accomplish in his second term, but  and here we go again  to prove that hes competent. And theres a worry that instead of reporting on what Biden has to say, the media will be obsessing about the way Biden said what he said. Was he coherent enough? Was he in denial?

At the same time, theres also been a lot of complaints about how the media has treated Biden since the debate, and that journalists were more focused on talking about Bidens performance, than they were in calling out the plethora of Trump lies. For once, Trump didnt hog the spotlight or media coverage, much to the detriment of Biden.

To the media, Trump being a liar, a criminal, a cheat  and again, a liar  is baked in. Over the last nine years, hes hogged millions of miles of airtime and column space. Everyone in the world knows who Donald Trump is. Its Trump 24/7, 365, over and over and over again.

Biden falling apart before our eyes  if he is or isnt is beside the point  is another way for the media to get ratings and clicks, and move a salacious story away from Trump. Complain all you want, but when you see a story about Biden tripping or falling for example, whats the first thing you do?

This brings up another complaint: The media has been complicit in hiding Bidens decline. They're damned if they do and damned if they dont. If they do focus on Bidens age  as they are now, do they risk making Trump look like a better option because he appears to be the candidate with more stamina? As a public relations veteran, its all about perception.

I recently spoke with Ramin Setoodeh , the author of Apprentice in Wonderland, which chronicles Donald Trumps years as a reality TV star on The Apprentice. He told me something very consequential. Donald Trump and his convulsion with perception. He is using the media as a reality star. He is looking at the tropes of reality TV. He knows how to engage people. He knows how to hold their attention, and it is a force that the Democrats will need to be aware of as we're heading into the election, because he is not a traditional politician.

Setoodeh is right, and against this backdrop is Biden, who more than any other candidate before him perhaps, must find a way to engage the media in a way that lessens the potency of Trump.

Look at the debate. Trumps performance  and it was performative  made Bidens frailty all the more obvious. In the next debate  if there is one between Biden and Trump  the president not only needs to have command of his facts and messages, he also needs to exude a commanding presence.

Weve wasted one week talking about Bidens debate performance, and as we head into this long weekend, the media will start to slice and dice every aspect of Bidens interview with Stephanopoulos. And because its a holiday weekend, on Monday, when regular programming and campaign press coverage resumes, well be listening to more fallout about Bidens latest hurdle. Did he pass? Did he fail? Should he stay in the race? Should he leave?

And finally, the one question that takes us into the next media cycle is, What is Bidens next test?

Here we go again.

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President Biden defended his health and insisted he can beat former President Trump in November in a high-stakes interview Friday that came after his dismal debate performance in Atlanta last week.

I dont think theres anybody more qualified to be president or win this race than me, Biden told ABCs George Stephanopoulos.

I convinced myself of two things: Im the most qualified person to beat him, and I know how to get things done, Biden said, referring to Trump.

Stephanopoulos noted that Biden is behind in polls against Trump, especially in battleground states and even after the former president was convicted on 34 charges in a New York hush money case.

When asked if the polling should lead to him to not run again, Biden replied, Not when youre running against a pathological liar.

A New York Times/ Siena College poll released Wednesday showed Trump had expanded his lead to 6 points since the debate.

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden over whether the president thinks hes not behind in the polls, to which Biden replied that the pollsters he talked to tell him its a toss-up and said The New York Times poll is an outlier.

Biden responded, I dont buy that when Stephanopoulos noted that hes behind in the popular vote ahead of November.

On if he could be convinced to drop out, Biden said, if the Lord Almighty came down and said, Joe, get out of the race, Id get out of the race. The Lord Almightys not comin down.

Meanwhile, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is working to gather support among Democratic senators to ask Biden drop his reelection bid, two sources familiar with the effort told The Hill.

Well, Mark is a good man, Biden said. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

The president leaned on the current support he has from Democratic congressional leadership. He spoke with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday to reassure them. But he wouldnt answer when asked what he would do if they changed their minds and called for him to drop out.

Im not going to answer that question, its not going to happen, he said.

Stephanopoulos posed a number of questions about the presidents health in light of the debate, during which Biden spoke in a soft and raspy voice and often struggled to complete sentences. Biden asserted hes still in good shape.

The White House during the debate said Biden had a cold, and he has blamed recent foreign travel for his poor showing, although he had returned from Europe 12 days before the debate.

It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted, Biden said. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and  and a bad night.

He also pushed back on questions about if he would be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation, including neurological and cognitive tests, and release the results.

Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test; everything I do, Biden said, adding that he spoke to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier in the day.

Stephanopoulos pressed again, asking if he had the mental and physical capacity to do the job for another four years.

I believe so. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did, Biden added. Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level. Were on our way. Were on our way.

A source familiar with the Biden campaigns thinking argued after the interview aired that Biden demonstrates again and again he knows how to do this job and that the campaign is ready to look onward past the debate.

Ahead of the interview, Biden held an energetic rally in Wisconsin and declared hes not dropping out of the race, pushing back on critics. And Biden told reporters while leaving Wisconsin that he was completely ruling that out, referring to dropping out of the race, and he committed to debating Trump again.

But, Democrats initial reaction stopped short of saying that Biden had successfully conducted damage control with the interview.

He can be a little bit mumbly and stumbly, but he was clear, CNN political commentator Van Jones said. I think that it will stop some of the bleeding. I dont think it reverses, though, the damage.

Former senior adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod, called Biden dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his standing in this race.

And, one Democratic operative told The Hill, I dont think anyone running under him on the ballot feels better watching this.

Julia Manchester contributed.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Biden is in denial about the scale of this crisis

Joe Bidens interview on Friday evening was designed to set aside concerns about his age that have plagued him since the first presidential debate last week.

Those close to him said that if he was challenged on national television, he would come across as clear and coherent, and his campaigns fightback could begin. Voters would forget about the stuttering, confused man they saw on stage with Donald Trump.

In a 20-minute interview with ABC Newss George Stephanopoulos, the 81-year-old president did not commit any more major gaffes, although he did speak in rambling sentences that did not always address the questions he had been asked.

What will be more concerning to Democrats on Capitol Hill is that he is clearly in denial about the scale of the crisis he is facing.

Those on the brink of calling for Mr Biden to abandon his re-election campaign have said he needs to acknowledge their concerns, and demonstrate a clear strategy to reassure the public.

.@GStephanopoulos "If you are told reliably from your allies, from your friends and supporters  that they're concerned you're gonna lose the House and the Senate if you stay in, what will you do?"



Pres. Biden: "I'm not gonna answer that question. It's not gonna happen." pic.twitter.com/1k9UvU4Iyh  ABC News (@ABC) July 6, 2024

But Mr Bidens answers on Friday suggest he thinks the narrative about his mental decline has been cooked up by the media and unreliable pollsters. In short, he said there is nothing to see here.

Asked whether he would consider taking a mental agility test to dispel claims he may have Alzheimers, Mr Biden responded that he had one every day in everything I do.

He blamed his performance at the debate on contracting a cold, on Trump talking over him, and on a busy travel schedule.

Asked about polls that show he is slipping against Trump, he said his own data showed it was a toss up and that public opinion analysis is not as reliable as it used to be.

Then when questioned on what he would do if his allies turn on him, as they have privately threatened, the president said: Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen.

If anyone could push him out of the race, it would be the Lord Almighty, he said, adding: The Lord Almightys not coming down.

That last phrase may stick with Mr Biden. Throughout this crisis, he has been repeatedly accused of having a messiah complex, believing he is the only candidate who can beat Trump.

Donald Trump is a congenital liar.



He wants to undo every single thing we've accomplished. pic.twitter.com/KmCS0RQYxw  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 6, 2024

Fridays interview showed a testy president who is frustrated that the public cannot see he is doing a good job, cannot see the real story of Trumps lies and the threat they pose. To him, the threat posed by a president losing his mind in office is imagined by his critics.

Unfortunately, that view is not shared among Mr Bidens colleagues in the Democratic Party. Tweeting after the interview, the Obama strategist David Axelrod said the president was dangerously out of touch with the public and pointed to polling that showed him six points behind Trump.

Far from feeling reassured, Democrats are tonight feeling that Mr Biden is not concerned enough about this crisis to engage with it seriously.

That impression is a dangerous one for the president. If senior party figures feel that public statements condemning him are the only way to get their point across, that is what they will do.

By getting through the interview without a serious incident, Mr Biden cleared a very low bar. There were no gaffes. But in the mind of a president looking increasingly on the brink, it seems there never are.

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FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden receives a briefing from federal officials on extreme weather at the D.C. Emergency Operations Center in Washington

By Andrea Shalal and Nandita Bose

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) -Amid increasing calls from fellow Democrats to end his campaign for re-election, U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday gave no hint that he was considering stepping aside after a pair of defiant public appearances a day earlier.

Biden, 81, is facing a slow-boil uprising from congressional Democrats and some influential donors who have grown concerned he lacks the capacity to defeat Republican Donald Trump, 78, in the Nov. 5 election. A much-anticipated interview the president gave to ABC News that aired Friday evening seemed to do little to temper those worries.

In that interview, Biden said only the "Lord Almighty" could persuade him to abandon his campaign, dismissing the possibility that Democratic leaders could band together to try and talk him into standing down. He held a business-as-usual call with the national co-chairs of his campaign on Saturday, the White House said.

Pressure from Congress seems only likely to ramp up in the coming days as lawmakers return to Washington from a holiday recess, with Biden perhaps facing one of the most consequential weeks of his presidency.

Even as his future will be debated on Capitol Hill, Biden will host dozens of world leaders at a high-stakes NATO summit in Washington and is scheduled to hold what is sure to be a closely watched press conference.

On Saturday, U.S. Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota became the first Democratic member of the House of Representatives in a battleground district to call for Biden to relent.

Given what I saw and heard from the President during last weeks debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump, Craig, a top 2024 target of House Republican efforts, posted on X.

Some Democratic House lawmakers are circulating two separate letters calling for Biden to step aside, House Democratic sources have said. Many of those lawmakers had been waiting to see the ABC News interview before moving forward.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries scheduled a virtual meeting on Sunday with senior House Democrats to discuss Bidens candidacy and the path forward.

U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas, who had previously called on Biden to step aside, told CNN after the ABC interview, "Every day (Biden) delays makes it more difficult for a new person to come on board to defeat Donald Trump."

Meanwhile on the Senate side, U.S. Senator Mark Warner was contacting some fellow Democratic senators to invite them to a possible meeting on Monday to discuss Biden's campaign.

Biden spent Saturday at his home in Delaware, with no public events on his schedule, although he attended an evening church service. Sunday will be a busy day for him, with two Pennsylvania campaign events in Philadelphia and Harrisburg.

At a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday, Biden vowed to stay in the race.

"I am running and gonna win again," Biden told supporters.

Some polls show Trump's lead over Biden widening, and Democrats worry concerns about the president could weigh on down-ballot races.

But Biden registered his best showing yet in a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult tracking poll of battleground states, with Trump leading Biden by only 2 percentage points, 47% to 45%, in the critical states needed to win the November election.

One bright spot for Biden came early Saturday, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas accepted a U.S. proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, a move that could pave the way for a ceasefire to end the nine-month-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the top choice to replace Biden if he were to step aside as the Democratic Party's standard-bearer, spoke in New Orleans at the Essence Festival of Culture, an annual culture and music festival sponsored by Essence magazine, whose target audience is Black women.

Harris attacked former President Donald Trump and the US Supreme Court for taking away abortion rights. The appearance was part of an effort by the Biden campaign to shore up support among Black voters.

Harris on Friday posted a supportive note on X after Biden's rally in Madison, saying the president had devoted his life to fighting for Americans. "In this moment, I know all of us are ready to fight for him," she said.

Margaret Washa, 75, a retired physical therapist from Middleton, Wisconsin, saw Biden at the Madison rally and thought he looked more vigorous, but grew dismayed after watching the interview.

"It's starting to be about him and whether he can do it, and rather than about what's best for our nation, and about turning over leadership to the next generation," she said. "It's time to pass the baton. There are so many good, strong, younger, intelligent, more charismatic Democrats out there."

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Nandita Bose. Additional reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Heather Timmons, Alistair Bell, and Diane Craft)
President Joe Biden said in a highly anticipated Friday interview that he doesnt believe he has fallen behind in the 2024 campaign, calling the race a toss-up despite a series of recent polls that have shown him trailing Donald Trump by 2 to 6 percentage points nationally.

Bidens statements, during a 22-minute ABC News interview, came a little more than a week after his halting, confused performance in a debate with Trump prompted new questions about his abilities to campaign and to serve a second term as president.

Democratic officials and operatives  and, presumably, millions of other Americans  were watching the interview to see whether the debate performance was just a bad night, as Biden and his supporters maintain.

But especially for the political professionals, the interview wasnt just a way to measure Bidens abilities. It was also a chance to hear how he sees the state of the campaign and his ability to win it.

It seems clear Biden has a lot more confidence than his doubters  and a lot less faith in the public opinion surveys.

When ABCs George Stephanopoulos rattled off some of the recent poll numbers and said Biden has fallen further behind by any measure, Biden disagreed.

You guys keep saying that, Biden said. George, you know polling better than anybody. Do you think polling data is as accurate as it used to be?

Stephanpoulos then noted that in many instances, polls found Biden running behind Democrats campaigning for the U.S. Senate or other statewide offices. Biden dismissed the significance of those findings, saying, Thats not unusual, in some states. I carried an awful lot of Democrats last time I ran, in 2020.

In this photo provided by ABC, President Joe Biden speaks Friday with "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos in Madison, Wisconsin. The president sat down with Stephanopoulos while on the campaign trail in Wisconsin, a few days after a debate with former President Donald Trump. ABC News handout via Getty Images

Biden went on to cite several recent examples of Democrats prevailing in races that polls had predicted theyd lose.

Look, I remember them telling me the same thing in 2020  I cant win, the polls showed I cant win, Biden said. Remember, 2024, 2020  the red wave was coming. Before the vote, I said thats not going to happen. Were going to win. We did better in an off-year than almost any president has done. They said in 2023, all the tough races were not going to win. I went into all those areas, all those districts, and we won.

[The reference to 2020 sounded like he was about to say 2022, which was the year Democrats defied predictions of a Republican sweep, just as Biden noted.]

Polling came up one more time, following a brief back-and-forth about Bidens ability to challenge former President Trump, when Stephanopoulos asked, Do you really believe youre not behind now?

All the pollsters I talk to think its a toss-up, Biden said. Its a toss-up.

Then, after some crosstalk about which surveys showed which results, Stephanopoulos said again that polling shows Biden is running behind.

I dont buy that, Biden said.

Bidens take on the public opinion data echoes what his campaign pollster, Molly Murphy, said after the release of a New York Times/Siena poll on Wednesday. That survey found Biden trailing by 6 points among likely voters, although the Times own pollster noted it didnt demonstrate a fundamental change in the dynamics.

Both internal and outside polling confirm that the race remains incredibly tight, Murphy said.

The Times poll did find Bidens standing with independent voters improving. And even the most disappointing polls for Biden have not found Trump winning significant numbers of new supporters.

But the widely cited FiveThirtyEight.com polling average shows that Trump now has a 2.5 point lead. At the time of the debate, he and Biden were tied. Trumps lead in the RealClearPolitics average has increased by a similar increment.

Just how much this all matters remains arguable.

Public opinion analysts agree that polling has become less accurate for a variety of reasons, including differences in response rates from different groups and, more generally, the difficulty of reaching people with cellphones.

And even Biden skeptics within the Democratic Party concede the race remains relatively close.

Their worry is that Bidens abilities, or at least the perceptions of them, will make it difficult to eliminate whatever popularity gap exists.

Related...
Investopedia / Julie Bang







Key Takeaways

Crypto bulls say bitcoin may have room to run as demand for spot bitcoin ETFs and the effects of the halving may not have played out yet.

Some industry watchers say that while there is bound to be demand for a spot ether ETF at launch, it's unlikely to see the same level of success as the bitcoin versions. .

Regulatory clarity remains a key hurdle, with investors watching the presidential candidates' statements and recent developments for clues.







Bitcoin has climbed this year, rising more than 30%, with demand for ETFs that hold the leading cryptocurrency helping its price upward. But bitcoin prices have recently cooled, pulling back from record highs set earlier this year.

That trend continued Friday, with bitcoin slipping below $57,000 in late-afternoon trading after rising above $73,000 in March. So whats the outlook for the rest of 2024? Bullish investors say further demand for crypto-focused exchange-traded funds could push prices higher. But other issues loom on the horizon.

Demand for Bitcoin, Ether ETFs Could Lift Crypto

Demand related to the spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds that began trading in January has supported the cryptocurrency this year. Bulls say that effect hasnt played out yet.

The new ETFs have recorded net inflows of more than $14.4 billion, according to Farside Investors. Most flows into bitcoin ETFs, which hold the currency, currently come from self-directed investors, and market watchers believe further demand could arrive as financial advisors become less wary of recommending crypto products to clients, boosting bitcoin itself.

"We also don't see many institutions like pensions or endowments involved with the ETFs yet, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart. To me that means there are definitely areas of potential growth in demand."

Investors broadly expect ETFs based on ether (ETH) to come to market this year: The Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to approve individual ETF applications by the end of the summer. That could boost demand for cryptocurrencies.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan estimates inflows of $15 billion into ether ETFs within their first 18 months. Seyffart, meanwhile, expects them to capture 20% to 25% of what the bitcoin funds attracted during their first months.

"We do not believe Ethereum ETFs will create as big of a splash as the bitcoin ETFs, which broke many different records with regard to their flows, assets, and trading volumes," Seyffart told Investopedia.

Growing demand for the ETFs and the underlying bitcoin could mean higher prices, especially as the supply for the cryptocurrency approaches its cap of 21 million.



Story continues

The Election  and Other Issues to Watch

Other topics to watch in crypto this year include:

The presidential election. Donald Trump has come out as more supportive of cryptocurrency than he was during his presidential administration. President Joe Bidens administration has been seen as supporting stricter regulation, though some industry watchers interpreted a recent decision to not file charges related to Ethereum 2.0 as a sign of an evolving outlook.

"I would put the odds of clarity before the election at 0%, and I think if there is a legislative framework, it would come next year at the earliest," said Delphi Ventures General Counsel Sarah Brennan.

The after-effects of the bitcoin halving: Bitcoin halvingsin which the amount of new bitcoin generated roughly every 10 minutes is cut in halfhave historically had a positive impact on its price, according to analytics firm CCData, for periods running from about 370 days to almost 550.

The last halving took place about six months ago, but it differed from prior instances because bitcoin had rallied so much ahead of it. Analysts at Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan said that much of the expected price increase was already baked in ahead of the latest halving.

While recent volatility may support that theory, bitcoin bulls think that the downtrend is temporary.

"Its normal for a price dip like this to happen after a halvinghalvings are incredibly bullish, but bull markets dont start until typically several months laterfor fundamental reasons," Caitlin Long, Founder and CEO of CustodiaBank, said in an X post late June.

Mt. Gox distributions: Failed bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox this week began distributing billions of dollars in bitcoin to former customers this month. The ultimate effect of that increased supply, which began to hit markets on Friday, is uncertain, with some seeing it as bearish and others saying the issue is overblown.



Read the original article on Investopedia.
Joe Bidens doctor met with a leading Washington neurologist at the White House this year, it was reported on Saturday.

The report came after Biden on Friday ruled out taking an independent cognitive test and releasing its findings publicly, in an interview with ABC News arranged following his disastrous performance in last weeks presidential TV debate with Donald Trump.

According to White House visitor logs reviewed by the New York Post, Dr Kevin Cannard, a Parkinsons disease expert at Walter Reed medical center, met with Dr Kevin OConnor, a doctor of osteopathic medicine who has treated the president for years.

The visit took place at the White House residence clinic on 17 January. Cannard has visited the White House house eight times since August 2023. On seven of those visits, most recently in late March, he met with Megan Nasworthy, a liaison between Walter Reed and the White House.

Biden has consistently rejected taking any cognitive test, including in August 2020 when he dismissed a reporters question with: Why the hell would I take a test? He has continued to dismiss the need for one and, according to aides, has not received one during his three annual physical exams during his term in the White House.

The Washington Post on Saturday reported a White House aide saying that OConnor, who has been Bidens doctor since 2009, has never recommended that Biden take a cognitive test.

Related: Assured Kamala Harris cuts a transformed figure in New Orleans  and carefully avoids any mention of Bidens fitness for office

OConnor has said that his most important job is to offer Biden an affirmative Good morning, Mr President  to get Biden off the on the right track each day.

During Bidens ABC News interview on Friday, the anchor George Stephanopoulos, who was communications director in the Clinton White House, asked Biden if had taken specific tests for cognitive capability. No one said I had to  they said Im good, Biden replied.

Later in the broadcast, Biden was asked if he would do an independent neurological and cognitive exam and release the results. I get a cognitive test every day, Biden said. Everything I do  you know, not only am I campaigning, but Im running the world.

Pressed on the issue, he said: Ive already done it.

Questions about Bidens mental state continued on Saturday when the two radio hosts who interviewed him briefly on Thursday said that the Biden campaign had given them a list of approved questions. Wisconsin radio host Earl Ingram said that Biden aides had sent him a list of four questions in advance, about which there was no negotiation.

They gave me the exact questions to ask, Ingram told the Associated Press. There was no back and forth.

Philadelphia civic radio host Andrea Lawful-Sanders told CNN she had received a list of eight questions, from which she approved four. Both interviews had been scheduled to restore Bidens credibility following his meandering debate performance with Donald Trump a week earlier.

Biden campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt said it is not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees and that acceptance of the questions was not a prerequisite for an interview to go ahead. However, both interviews had been structured for Biden to tout his achievements for Black voters.

On Saturday, Trump sarcastically called on Biden to ignore his many critics and move forward, with alacrity and strength, with his powerful and far reaching campaign. Last week, Trumps campaign pre-emptively launched attack ads against vice-president Kamala Harris, who is polling better in a Trump match-up than the president.

Earlier this year, the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, defended OConnors decision not to administer a cognitive test when the issue came up following a report by the special counsel Robert Hur into classified documents found at Bidens Delaware home that concluded Biden was a well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.

At that time, as now, the White House pushed back, accusing Hur of being part of a partisan smear campaign. Im well-meaning, and Im elderly, and I know what Im doing, Biden said at a news conference. My memory is fine.

But the eight visits Kevin Cannard has made to the White House over the past 11 months are certain to raise further questions about the 81-year-old presidents mental abilities in the wake of his debate with Donald Trump and subsequent verbal mistakes, including during a radio interview on Thursday when he said he was proud to be the first Black woman to serve with a Black president.

Cannard has served as the neurology specialist supporting the White House medical unit since 2012 and published academic papers including one last year in the Parkinsonism & Related Disorders journal that focused on the early stage of the brain degenerative disorder.

Ronny Jackson, a Republican congressman in Texas who was White House doctor for Barack Obama and Trump, has previously called for Biden to undergo a cognitive exam and accused OConnor and Bidens family of trying to cover up problems with Bidens mental abilities.

Jackson told the New York Post he believed that OConnor and Biden have led the cover up.

Kevin OConnor is like a son to Jill Biden  she loves him, Jackson continued, adding that they knew they could trust Kevin to say and do anything that needed to be said or done.

Last week, the White House initially denied but later confirmed that Biden had seen a doctor since the debate. It has said that the presidents performance was affected, variously, by a cold, over-preparation and jet-lag. Biden has said simply: I screwed up.
Biden faced a low bar in his first post-debate interview. It's not certain he cleared it

President Joe Biden responds to questions from the traveling press as he arrives at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Del., Friday, July 5, 2024, from a campaign rally in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NEW YORK (AP)  With the survival of his candidacy in question, Joe Biden sat down with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Friday for one of the most important interviews of the Democratic president's decades-long political career.

The 22-minute sit-down came a full eight days after Biden's disastrous debate performance, in which more than 50 million people watched the 81-year-old struggle to complete sentences or respond to basic questions about his campaign. Far fewer people watched the ABC interview, of course, but the audience included many of the elected officials, donors and political strategists who are actively deciding whether to help rescue  or end  Biden's candidacy in the coming days. Top Biden aides have been pressing elected Democrats not to go public with their concerns.

The president and his team were hopeful that this first interview would help rally his party and generate momentum for the long road ahead. It's unclear if he was successful.

Here are some key takeaways:

Biden faced a low bar after his debate

At this point, every Biden answer, interview and speech will serve as a Rorschach test of sorts to voters, who consistently tell pollsters that theyre worried about his age. And if people were looking for further signs of trouble, they were easy to find.

Biden performed better than he did on the debate stage. There were also flashes of strength as the president talked up his record, vowed not to leave the race and took shots at Donald Trump, whom he repeatedly described as a pathological liar. Biden also referred to Trump at one point as a congenital liar.

But he needed to do much more than clear the incredibly low bar he set on national television last week. And the ABC interview had several examples of awkward pauses, garbled words and moments where he meandered.

In one of the opening answers of the interview, Biden struggled to explain clearly whether he was aware of how bad his debate performance was as it was happening in real time. He jumped from his preparation to polling to Trumps lies during the debate to not blaming anyone.

Trump allies seized on another Biden response suggesting he wasnt sure if he rewatched his debate performance. I dont think so, Biden said.

He said only the Almighty could talk him out of running

Pressed over and over on whether he would step aside, Biden didnt offer the slightest hint that he might bow to pressure within his party and leave the presidential race.

He refused even to entertain the possibility. Actually, he offered only one exception: If the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that.

Thats even as Stephanopoulos presented him with various data points and shared the prevailing sentiment from his conversations with party officials. They are worried about you and the country. And they dont think you can win. They want you to go with grace, the journalist said.

Biden pushed back.

The vast majority are not where those folks are, he said. Have you ever seen a time when elected officials running for office arent a little worried?

He took the blame  and dismissed questions about his health

The bottom line is that Biden does not have a good explanation for his dismal debate performance.

In the interview, he called it a bad episode, but said there was no indication of a more serious condition. Instead, he said he simply had a really bad cold. When pressed again, he said, I just had a bad night.

He also didnt blame anyone but himself, even as whispers have surfaced in recent days about his staff and those who coordinated his preparations.

Such an answer, of course, may do little to win over those who are deeply concerned about his physical and mental competence. He also refused to agree to undergo any medical testing that might further assuage such concerns.

Specifically, Stephanopoulos asked whether Biden would agree to an independent medical evaluation that included neurological and cognitive tests. He asked more than once when Biden didnt answer directly.

Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, Biden said. Everything I do. Not only am I campaigning, but Im running the world.

It was not an easy interview

If Bidens aides picked Stephanopoulos for the presidents first major post-debate interview hoping he might go easy on him, they were wrong.

Stephanopoulos, who worked as an aide to former President Bill Clinton decades ago, peppered the Democratic president with tough questions and blunt truths, albeit with a soft tone.

When Biden suggested he had recently drawn big crowds, Stephanopoulos retorted: I dont think you want to play the crowd game. Donald Trump can draw big crowds.

Biden appeared flustered at times.

The president paused for an extra beat when Stephanopoulos asked whether he knew how badly it was going during the debate. Later, he paused again when Stephanopoulos asked whether he was acting like Trump by putting his personal interests ahead of the national interest by staying in the race.

In another exchange, Biden asked Stephanopoulos whether polling is accurate as it used to be.

It was meant to be a rhetorical question. But the interviewer quickly answered.

I dont think so, but I think when you look at all the polling data right now, it shows that hes certainly ahead in the popular vote, probably even more ahead in the battleground states, Stephanopoulos said of Trump. And one of the other key factors there is, it shows that in many of the battleground states, the Democrats who are running for Senate and the House are doing better than you are.

Biden didnt ask many other rhetorical questions.

One interview won't fix the damage

Even before the interview was over, it was clear it would take much more to win over a party that is suddenly open to Biden alternatives just four months before Election Day.

At roughly the same time ABC released the first interview clip, Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., became the fourth Democratic member of Congress to call on Biden to leave the race.

To prevent utter catastrophe, Quigley said on MSNBC, step down and let someone else do this.

Democrats are being encouraged by the White House and the presidents campaign not to go public with their concerns about Bidens viability or electability, according to a Democrat granted anonymity to discuss the matter.

Another Democrat who watched said they found Biden to be shaky and predicted more will call on him to leave the race.

Biden, for his part, refused to entertain the possibility that congressional leaders might confront him in the coming days and ask him to step aside. But as Stephanopoulos said repeatedly, that is indeed a very real possibility. Earlier this week, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia reached out to fellow senators to discuss whether to ask Biden to exit the race.

Biden said Warner is a good man but brought up the Virginian's own previous considerations for a presidential run.

Asked how he would feel come next January if he ultimately lost the race, Bidens answer may not inspire confidence.

As long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, thats what this is about, he said.

___

Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.
President Joe Biden appeared Friday in his first interview since last week's debate with Donald Trump.

Biden has been widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for his poor debate performance.

In a preview of the interview, Biden said his gaffes were "no indication of any serious condition."

President Joe Biden said debate night was a "bad episode" on Friday, in a preview of his first interview since his catastrophic appearance last week.

Speaking with ABC News's George Stephanopoulos, 81-year-old Biden said his performance, while lackluster, was "no indication of any serious condition."

"I was exhausted," Biden said. "I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and  and a bad night."

Biden, who has long faced criticism over his age and fitness for office, is the subject of growing ire from Republicans and Democrats alike for his poor debate performance  in which he repeatedly fumbled his words and appeared to lose his train of thought.

The Biden campaign has offered conflicting excuses for the sitting president's lackluster showing, including that he was sick, jetlagged, and poorly prepared for the event.

In response to the tumult, some major Democratic donors, including Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings and Disney heiress Abigail Disney, have pledged to withhold funding from the party until Biden drops out of the race.

While some reports indicate Biden has privately acknowledged that he might be unable to save his reelection bid, he has publicly braved the criticism and declared his plan to stay in the race.

"I'm not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work," Biden posted on X shortly before the ABC News interview aired. "I'm staying in the race, and I will beat Donald Trump."

Read the original article on Business Insider
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024

President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Kansas Reflector.
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

The president refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Wisconsin Examiner.
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Kentucky Lantern.
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Courtesy of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
It might be of some concern to shareholders to see the WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC) share price down 13% in the last month. But that scarcely detracts from the really solid long term returns generated by the company over five years. In fact, the share price is 208% higher today. So while it's never fun to see a share price fall, it's important to look at a longer time horizon. The more important question is whether the stock is too cheap or too expensive today.

Now it's worth having a look at the company's fundamentals too, because that will help us determine if the long term shareholder return has matched the performance of the underlying business.

See our latest analysis for WESCO International

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

Over half a decade, WESCO International managed to grow its earnings per share at 20% a year. So the EPS growth rate is rather close to the annualized share price gain of 25% per year. This indicates that investor sentiment towards the company has not changed a great deal. Indeed, it would appear the share price is reacting to the EPS.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

It is of course excellent to see how WESCO International has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. If you are thinking of buying or selling WESCO International stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. As it happens, WESCO International's TSR for the last 5 years was 212%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Investors in WESCO International had a tough year, with a total loss of 13% (including dividends), against a market gain of about 26%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 26% per year over half a decade. It could be that the recent sell-off is an opportunity, so it may be worth checking the fundamental data for signs of a long term growth trend. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand WESCO International better, we need to consider many other factors. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with WESCO International , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

Story continues

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies we expect will grow earnings.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

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.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on New Jersey Monitor.
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5 (Photo used with permission of ABC News).

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Missouri Independent.
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Rhode Island Current.
President Joe Biden sits for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024.

President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

The post Biden in first TV interview since debate denies medical condition: It was a bad episode appeared first on Michigan Advance.
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

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President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty, and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies, and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out 3 years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.
Biden Insists Beyond All Reason That He's the Most Qualified Person To Be President

President Joe Biden defiantly insisted in an interview tonight with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that he was the best and most-qualified qualified to run the country and beat Donald Trump.

"I just had a bad night," Biden repeatedly insisted as Stephanopoulos pressed him on voters' concerns about his mental and physical state following his disastrous debate performance against his Republican rival, former president Donald Trump.

Biden also refused to give a straight answer when Stephanopoulos asked him if he'd commit to taking an independent medical evaluation and releasing the results to the public.

"Look, I have a cognitive test every single day," Biden responded. "Everything I do. Not only am I campaigning but I'm running the world."

The interview was the Biden reelection campaign's attempt to blunt the damage from the debate debacle, which has led to rising panic inside the Democratic Party about Biden's viability as a candidate. The New York Times reported this evening, shortly before the interview, that Sen. Mark Warner (DVa.) is meeting with other Senate Democrats next week to discuss concerns about Biden.

In the immediate aftermath of the debate, Biden's team offered a litany of excuses for his performance: jet lag, a packed schedule, a cold. Biden, too, cited his travel schedule and a nasty cold.

"[The doctor] just looked at me and said, 'You're exhausted,'" Biden told Stephanopoulos.

But Biden's debate performance was so bad that it shook even the president's staunchest defenders in the media, who had thus far dutifully ignored Biden's advancing age. And it pierced "operation bubblewrap," the name White House insiders reportedly gave to their efforts to carefully manage Biden's public appearances to avoid senior moments.

Biden offered himself to voters in 2020 as a "transition candidate" and "a bridge" for younger Democratic leaders, but when it came time to gracefully bow out, he instead insisted on remaining in power, much like the rest of the entrenched gerontocracy in both major parties.

However, if Biden's interview with Stephanopoulos was supposed to calm voters and show them the feisty Scranton Joe of yore, the problem was it was asking viewers to believe something their own eyes and a bare amount of reason would reveal as false: that 81-year-old Joe Biden is really the most-qualified person in the country right now to be president.

"Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the last several months?" Stephanopoulos asked.

"Can I run the 100 in 10 flat? No. But I'm still in good shape," Biden said.

"Are you more frail?" Stephanopoulos followed up.

"No," Biden said.

As Reason's Matt Welch wrote this March, before Biden's debate flop, "For many of us who have watched old-age decline up close, the White House and media insistence that there's nothing to see here amounts to brazen gaslighting, deepening a distrust for all things establishment."

But by all indications, the gaslighting will continue. When Biden was asked what it would take to convince him that he couldn't beat Trump, he said that it would take no less than a personal message from God, the alpha and the omega, the prime mover of the universe.

"It depends on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that," Biden said.

The post Biden Insists Beyond All Reason That He's the Most Qualified Person To Be President appeared first on Reason.com.
Chase executive Marianne Lake said if federal regulations pass, lost revenue will be handed off to consumers. JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock

Chase Bank's boss warned that new federal fee caps could make everyday banking more expensive.

Marianne Lake said the bank is planning to pass the pain of their lost profits on to customers.

Some new costs may be placed on now-free services like checking accounts and financial tools.

Everyday banking might be about to get more expensive for consumers.

Marianne Lake, the CEO of consumer and community banking at Chase Bank, said federal regulations to cap overdraft and late fees would take a bite out of the company's bottom line.

And she warned that making up that loss would be passed on to consumers, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Lake said the changes would be "broad, sweeping, and significant," the report said.

Some of those costs would be tacked onto services that have been free so far, like checking accounts and financial planning tools, the report said.

Business Insider reviewed a Chase presentation that covered the expected impact of proposed regulations. The presentation estimated that two out of three consumers would have to pay a fee for checking accounts if the cap went through.

Lake also said those impacted will be the ones "who can least afford to be" and credit access will also be more challenging.

Some of the regulations include a proposed $8 cap on late credit card payment fees and a $3 cap for overdrafting bank accounts. The limit is part of President Joe Biden's crackdown on hidden fees.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimated that about 45 million people are charged credit card late fees annually, and the change could save those people up to $220 a year.

Other changes include limiting debit-card fees and how much banks can charge apps like Venmo and CashApp for accessing customer data, the report said.

New regulations would also make it more difficult for banks to lend money by requiring banks to set aside more money as reserves. That could make it more complicated for borrowers to qualify for loans in the future.

Chase is the biggest bank in the US and it's also one of the largest issuers of credit cards in the country. But other banks are expected to follow the same path  and several have already issues warnings.

According to the Merchants Payments Coalition, Mastercard announced in April it was planning to increase certain credit-card fees.

Citi's chief financial officer, Mark Mason, said in a January earnings call that the bank planned to make up lost revenue with "offsets and mitigants" that he didn't specify.

Capital One CEO Rich Fairbank also said in January that the new regulation would impact its profits and it would implement "mitigating actions" to counteract it.

Story continues

Analysts at UBS wrote in a note to investors in April that capping credit-card late fees and swipe fees in addition to lowering debit-card swipe fees, would push companies like JPMorgan Chase and American Express looking to make up the revenue elsewhere.

It's not the first time banks have threatened to take out the cost of new regulations on consumers.

After the financial crisis in 2008, banks threatened to put caps on card charges if Congress approved rules limiting swipe fees. However, the threats were a bluff; few institutions followed through after customers themselves said they'd just switch banks.

But now, with Biden's crackdown on credit card companies, banks may keep to their word  especially if the banks all decide to add new costs for consumers, giving them no place to turn.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Biden needs to take his dad's advice after awful debate. The 'I had a cold' excuse blows.

President Joe Biden gestures as he speaks during a Fourth of July celebration for military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 4, 2024.

Biden needs to man up

President Joe Biden loves to reminisce about his pop's dinner table wisdom that was passed on to him.

I wonder what Pops would tell Joe about making excuses for his debate performance. Joe claims he had the sniffles. He was so tired he nearly went to sleep at the debate.

I'm sure Pops would tell him to man up and quit the blame games.

Big time players make big time plays.

Gregg Kishman, Marion

The Golden Rule will get my vote

John Avlon's "Lincoln and the Fight for Peace" is an in-depth biography of Abraham Lincoln's last two months as president. It describes Lincoln's attempts to use the "Golden Rule" to create a lasting post-Civil War peace, only to have that plan ruined by an assassin's bullet.

Abe visited Petersburg, Va., days after it was taken over by the Union Army. He walked unguarded through the city showing equal empathy to Confederate citizens and freed slaves. His actions followed that Ethic of Reciprocity concept wherever he went.

Lincoln orders were to soundly defeat the Confederate armies, and to return southern soldiers and freed Blacks and whites back to peacetime occupations. Soldiers could take their horses to work their fields and their guns to hunt turkeys. All they needed to do was to re-pledge their allegiance to the U. S. Constitution and obey the Union's laws.

Post-WW2 programs using Lincoln's policies readmitted Germany and Japan as friendly nations into international economic and political arenas.

Failures to do so cost the U. S. defeats in Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Palestine and other world nations.

I will be voting for those candidates whose past actions and words reflect Abe's use of that Golden Rule.

Stanley Krider, Delaware

Letters to the Editor

More: How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch

Corporate Transparency Act is overkill

As a homeowners association board member in Columbus, I am concerned about the impact of the Corporate Transparency Act on our community. This federal legislation aims to enhance transparency to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

While its intent is commendable, the act threatens to burden homeowner volunteers with excessive administrative tasks, unnecessary disclosure of private information, and potential legal repercussions.

The act requires board members of community associations to disclose personal information to the government, duplicating existing state disclosure laws and creating redundant bureaucracy. This will deter individuals like us from volunteering.

HOA Q&A: Does the Corporate Transparency Act apply to residential associations?

I already dedicate significant time and energy to our communities and should not face the prospect of hefty fines or imprisonment for noncompliance with these new federal requirements.

The impact of this legislation could be profound, affecting 8,750 homeowners associations in Ohio and the more than 1.4 million residents in the state.

To preserve volunteerism and ensure the continued effectiveness of community governance, I urge legislators to exempt community associations from the Corporate Transparency Act. It is crucial we recognize the invaluable contributions of homeowners association volunteers and prevent them from being unfairly penalized for their dedication to our communities.

Jeni Hile, Columbus

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Biden's 'cold' excuse for terrible debate performance blows
Biden Says Hes Been Examined by Doctors, but Hasnt Taken a Neurological Test: No One Said I Had To

President Biden told George Stephanopoulos on Friday that he has not had a full neurological exam, because no one said I had to.

In an ABC News special, Stephanopoulos grilled the president in first interview since the June 27 debate with Donald Trump raised questions about Bidens health and his fitness to continue his 2024 campaign.

Have you had a full neurological and cognitive evaluation? Stephanopoulos asked, a question he would return to several times during the conversation.

Bidens answer was to quip, I get a full neurological test everyday. And Ive had a full physical. Ive been at Walter Reed for my physicals.

When Stephanopoulos pressed the president about whether hed had specific cognitive tests or ben examined by neurologist or specialist, Biden said, No. No one said I had to. No one said. They said Im good.

Biden, who mentioned at one point that he travels with a full phalanx of doctors, insisted there was no need to be assessed by an independent medical team.

Look. I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, the president said, citing everything I do in his capacity as president counts as a cognitive test.



You know, not only am I campaigning, but Im running the world. That sounds like hyperbole, but we are the essential nation of the world, he said.

When Stephanopoulos asked more pointedly if Biden was fit for four more years as president, Biden told him, I guess a good way to judge me, is youre gonna have now the NATO conference here in the United States next week. Come listen. See what they say.

Biden had earlier touted himself as far more able to deal with NATO than his rival. I was also the guy that expanded NATO. I was also the guy that grew the economy. All the individual things that were done were ideas I had or I fulfilled, he said.

The president insisted that Democrat leaders would not ask him to step down and that he would do so only if the Lord Almighty so instructed him.

Earlier in the day, CNNs Sanjay Gupta called for Biden to undergo a thorough neurological exam.

Gupta wrote, For me as a brain specialist, it was concerning to watch President Joe Biden, and it quickly became clear that I was not alone in my reaction. Over the past week, I received more than a dozen calls, texts and emails from medical colleagues who, like me, specialize in the brain. It wasnt that what we noticed was necessarily new but that it was particularly pronounced, and right from the start of the debate.

The CNN commentator noted that Bidens last physical was in February, in which he was pronounced fit for duty.

The post Biden Says Hes Been Examined by Doctors, but Hasnt Taken a Neurological Test: No One Said I Had To appeared first on TheWrap.
Joe Biden sat down with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News on Friday as part of an increasingly desperate effort to convince Americans that he is both cognitively and physically capable of running the United States.

Biden was defiant throughout the interview, describing his debate performance against Donald Trump last week as an isolated incident attributable to an ailment and exhaustion. I just had a bad night, he said. He also reiterated what he has said since the debate, which is that he is not leaving the race. When Stephanopoulos asked Biden if he would drop out if he were to be convinced that he couldnt defeat Trump, the president responded that no one could convince him of that other than God.

If the Lord Almighty came down and said, Joe, get out of the race, Id get out of the race, he said. The Lord Almightys not coming down.

George Stephanopoulos: If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you stand down?



President Biden: It depends. If the Lord Almighty himself comes down and tells me that, I might do that. pic.twitter.com/LWLkSRx8ML  The Recount (@therecount) July 6, 2024

At one point, Stephanopoulos read quotes from a New York Times report to Biden about how hes experienced more lapses in recent months. Biden replied, Im still in good shape. Asked if he is more frail now than when he took office, he said, no.

Asked if hes had a full neurological and cognitive evaluation, Biden responded, I get a full neurological test every day, adding that hes had a full physical. When Stephanopoulos pressed him again, asking if hes specifically had a specialist do neurological and cognitive tests, Biden responded, No, no ones said I had to.

Later in the interview, Stephanopoulos asked what Biden would do if his friends, allies, and supporters in the Democratic Party were to tell him they are concerned Democrats will lose the House and Senate if he stays in the race.

Im not going to answer that question, Biden said. Its not going to happen.

When asked how hell feel if he stays in the race, Trump is elected, and everything hes been warning America that Trump will do comes to pass, Biden said he just needs to give it his all and that thats what this is about.

The Americans who will be affected by Trumps plans for a second term may feel differently about the election being primarily about Biden giving his all. A CBS News poll conducted after the debate found that 72 percent of registered voters believe that Biden should not be running for president.

Stephanopoulos: If you stay in, and Trump is elected and everything you're warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?



Biden: I'll feel, as long as I gave it my all, and I did as good a job as I know I can do, that's what this is about. pic.twitter.com/79HSyGcOI2  nikki mccann ramirez (@NikkiMcR) July 6, 2024

The interview comes just over a week after a disastrous debate performance against Trump threw Bidens campaign into a state of crisis. The 81-year-old president repeatedly stumbled over his words and generally struggled to prosecute the case against Trump or project any coherent vision for his own second term in office. The performance led to a frenzied week of Democratic lawmakers, donors, and voices in the media pushing for Biden to drop out of the race  as well as multiple new reports tracing how he has been declining physically and mentally for months.

News outlets have reported that Biden has spoken with allies about whether to continue or cede the nomination to a younger, more capable Democrat, but publicly the president and his team have insisted they are in it to win it, and have no intention of stepping aside. The White House has emphatically denied he is considering dropping out of the race, and Biden reportedly told staffers last week that he is running and no ones pushing me out. He reportedly told a supporter on Thursday that he is not going anywhere.

The White House insisted this week that Biden is as sharp as ever, but his teams assurances have done little to quell concern over his ability to execute the duties of the office. He misspoke on multiple occasions during radio interviews that aired Thursday, while telling Democratic governors that night that he needs to sleep more and is going to stop scheduling events after 8 p.m. He also joked about his health: Its just my brain.

The following day, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D), one of Bidens top allies, said in a statement that he needs to carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump. The Washington Post reported a few hours later that Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is working to assemble a group of senators to ask Biden to exit the race.

Biden recorded his interview with Stephanopoulos on Friday before heading to Wisconsin for a campaign rally. He insisted again that he has no intention of dropping out of the race. I am running and going to win again, he said. Theyre trying to push me out of the race, he added. Let me say this as clearly as I can: Im staying in the race.

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President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 5, 2024. "Im staying in this race," a defiant President Joe Biden declared in Wisconsin as he works to repair image. | Manuel Balce Ceneta

MADISON, Wis.  President Joe Biden wasted little time before addressing the near-existential threat facing his campaign. Within two minutes of beginning his speech at a Friday rally, he cracked a joke about his age. (Im 40, he quipped.) Two minutes later, he took a shot at former President Donald Trump, sarcastically labeling him a stable genius for his infamous Washington-took-the-airports gaffe. And two minutes beyond that, he did his best to shutter any doubts about whether hed be ending his campaign.

Let me say this as clear as I can: Im staying in this race, he said, to raucous applause from a friendly audience.

Biden acknowledged the calls for his exit. He noted that last weeks debate, where he often appeared lost or incognizant, was not my best performance. But throughout his speech, which he delivered with the help of teleprompters, he was emphatic that he would not relinquish his place atop the Democratic ticket. Im not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out 3 years of work, he said.

The Wisconsin voters in attendance cheered along. The venue was small  a middle school gym  and the crowd was no larger than 400 people, dotted with campaign volunteers, local officeholders, union members and Biden loyalists. Even as a majority of U.S. voters  and a plurality of Democrats  want to see Biden replaced on the Democrat ticket, many of the voters Friday were adamant they want to see Biden stay in.

I liked what I saw, said Jeff Martinson, who attended with his wife, Susan. I stood 70 feet away from him. Hes strong. Hes lively and spirited.

Martinson acknowledged that he had some reservations about (Bidens) capabilities after the debate. But after todays speech, Martinson said he is back in (Bidens) corner.

He stood up. He won me back, Martinson said. He convinced me that he can be a winner.

The sentiment was repeated by a dozen other attendees at Bidens speech. Some of them said they were seriously concerned by Bidens debate performance. Others said they were confident in the presidents capacities all along. All agreed, however, on one thing: they are more confident in Bidens ability to win the election now than they were a week ago.

Susan Wilhelm, a local labor union leader, pointed to the crowds reactions to Bidens speech as evidence of how it was received. I loved it, she said. He really fired the people up.

Ben Wikler, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, agreed. President Biden was unequivocal that hes going to win this, he said. You could tell that from the explosive response.

President Joe Biden takes a photo with supporters after speaking at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 5, 2024. "Im staying in this race," a defiant President Joe Biden declared in Wisconsin as he works to repair image. | Morry Gash

Is Biden up to the task?

Warning signs of Bidens stamina and age were still present. When Biden took the stage, a man behind the lectern  among several dozen attendees who stood on risers and held signs  lifted a handwritten poster that said, Pass the torch, Joe.

Bidens speech was not error-free; at one point, when he attempted to deliver an emphatic line about defeating Trump again in 2024, he accidentally said 2020, before correcting himself. At times, his voice was slurred and rushed.

You can tell he gets excited, because he gets into run-on sentences, and words start to slur together, said Daniel Guerra, a lifelong resident of Madison. I dont hold that against him. I just see a lot of excitement there.

The Wisconsin rally, along with a Friday interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos and a Sunday visit to Philadelphia, are viewed as a critical juncture in Bidens campaign, in which he can try to put to rest voters concerns about his competency. But a single fiery speech, aided by teleprompters, will likely fall short of fully quelling some Democrats concerns that Biden is not fit for governing and incapable of defeating Trump in November. And the ABC interview  which will be prerecorded and edited before being broadcast  has raised concerns, even among Biden allies.

Its important that the President also have an extended LIVE interview as soon as possible, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., said on social media. Democratic Primary voters have one overarching sentiment: We need a candidate who will beat Donald Trump.

A persistent, and perhaps growing, portion of Democrats are convinced that Biden is not that candidate. Midway through Bidens speech, The Washington Post reported that Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is attempting to rally his fellow Senate Democrats to ask Biden to exit the race.

Inside the gymnasium Friday, the crowd seemed completely insulated from any of those concerns. Biden was impassioned and defiant; the audience, which cheered along, seemed to view any concern of his fitness as folly. Samba Balde, a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, was among them  and he says the key to convincing the critics is getting Biden in front of more crowds.

You have to continue doing what he just did today, and what he did the day after the debate, Balde said. Go to the American people and talk to them about what his vision is for the United States.

But several million more Americans saw a hobbled Biden on the debate stage than saw him on a Wisconsin stage Friday. Teleprompter-aided speeches to friendly audiences may be enough to boost the morale of his loyalists. Whether it will win back enough of the skeptics  including those who lost faith over the past week  remains to be seen.

President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 5, 2024. "Im staying in this race," a defiant President Joe Biden declared in Wisconsin as he works to repair image. | Morry Gash
The dismal debate performance by President Biden and subsequent misfires in his respons e has led to much speculation by an anxious public over the best path forward for the Democratic Partys presidential nominee. Strategies have ranged from advisors encouraging Biden to weather the storm while others in the party are calling for the president to immediately step aside and appoint a stronger candidate to take his place. Vice President Kamala Harris is a name that some have begun to promote as the presumptive replacement nominee.

Some influential Democrats have even gone so far as stating that it would be disrespectful to pass over Harris for the presidential nomination should Biden withdraw from the general election. The argument implies that Harris has earned a spot on top of the next ticket and is the most qualified candidate-in-waiting because of her role in what is often described as a thankless job. Hubert Humphrey complained that the job implied a political marriage with the president which requires strict loyalty Harris has shown that loyalty in addition to having served as a successful US senator as well as a strong Attorney General and District Attorney for California.

The history of this office shows there is no job promotion certainty. Voters do not select candidates solely based on their political titles. Reviewing the performance of vice presidents in prior presidential elections may cause some to rethink assumptions that one individual deserves to skip ahead in the line.

Despite prior political party support and the advantage of already having been sworn into national office, the VP credential is not a contracted career path unless the president resigns or dies in office. Of the fifty-one vice presidents in our nations history, nineteen have made a bid for the top job. Thirteen have been nominated to represent their party. Only six vice presidents, including Joe Biden, have obtained enough votes from the electoral college to be named president.

Prior to the Twelfth Amendment of 1804, each member of the Electoral College cast two votes with no distinction between president and vice president. The candidate with the most votes won the presidency. The candidate with the second most was given the vice presidency. Aaron Burr came in second to Thomas Jefferson and became vice president.

While Vice President Harris could very well be the next best option in place of President Biden, the American people, and the delegates who will represent them in the Democratic National Convention, deserve to hear the platform of a Harris for President campaign as well as other qualified would-be candidates such as:

Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan,

Governor Jay Pritzker of Illinois

Governor Gavin Newsom of California,

Governor Wes Moore of Maryland,

Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania,

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

Governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky.

Polling has cast some doubt on the strength of Harriss own presidential campaign. A poll by CNN found Trump leading Harris by 2 percentage points  47 percent to 45. RealClear Polling data shows Trump leading Harris in negative net favorability ratings  Trump at -11.4 versus Harris at -16.3.

An open convention or rapid primary will surely prove to be disruptive to the Democratic Party during a critical moment in our nations history. However, Democratic leadership anointing a candidate would likely do the same. It would be monumental in its own right  as the first modern presidential election where voters of a major party were not provided an opportunity to nominate their preferred candidate.

The Democratic Convention has always been a raucous caucus. As social commentator Will Rogers intoned a century ago: I dont belong to an organized political party  I am a Democrat. Michael Smerconish captures this sentiment in a fresh online poll where 72 percent of survey participants agreed that Harris would be a stronger presidential nominee if she were to go through a competitive process.

As President Biden has run down the clock in his flailing effort to prove his fitness for office, he erodes the Democratic Partys needed time to showcase its portfolio of vibrant leaders as skilled contenders for defeating Donald Trump. IBMs visionary Tom Watson Jr. once told me, I get as much pride in the success of my successors as I do from the triumphant transformation of IBM under my own watch. Biden could enjoy this same parallel pride if he opens the pathway for succession.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Biden, still very much running, jokes "whether Trump has it all together"

President Joe Biden delivered an impassioned speech at a Friday rally in Wisconsin, vowing to stay in the race, as an increasing number of Democratic lawmakers, donors, and advisors see him as a liability in defeating Donald Trump.

Biden, who acknowledged that the first presidential debate wasnt his best performance, took to the stage to squash conversations about replacing him months ahead of the election.

I'm gonna run and I'm gonna win again, he said on the mounting speculation.

Biden on the debate: "Can't say it was my best performance. Ever since then, there's been a lot of speculation ... well here's my answer: I'm gonna run and I'm gonna win again." pic.twitter.com/bCBpxmQGCo  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 5, 2024

In the charismatic performance  more reminiscent of his 2020 image than the debate in June  Biden threw punches at Trump, who seemed to incorrectly believe Biden had dropped out, according to a leaked video.

By the way, if you wondered whether Trump has it all together, did you ever hear how he explained the 4th of July? the president asked a crowd in Madison. Im not making this up . . . He said, 'George Washington's army won the revolution by taking control of the airports from the British! But talk about me misspeaking.

Biden, who then jabbed that his opponent was a stable genius after all, had substantive attacks on Trump, too, claiming that you can't be pro-insurrectionists and pro-America at the same time.

After the resoundingly negative reaction within the party to his debate performance, sources close to Biden say he acknowledges that he has a short window to flip public sentiment in terms of his ability to lead the nation.

The Friday rally in Madison came after public appearances in New York City and North Carolina, in which he seemed much more invigorated than some media narratives suggest.

Bidens more energetic, coherent performances come as many Democratic donors and pundits claim hes too old to effectively serve another term, which the presidents campaign dismissed as attempts to push him out.

I'm not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out 3.5 years of work, the president said, addressing the party insiders who want to remove him from the ticket.
I'm asking you is about your personal situation. Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the last several months? Can I run the 110 flat? No, but I'm still in good shape. Are you more frail? No. I know you spoke with my schedule. I know you spoke with your doctor after the debate. What did he say? He said he just looked at me. He said, you're exhausted. I said, look, I have medical doctors traveling everywhere every president goes, as you know. Medical doctors from the best in the world travel me everywhere I go. I have an ongoing assessment of what I'm doing. They don't hesitate to tell me if they think there's something wrong. I know you said you have an ongoing assessment. Have you had a full neurological and cognitive evaluation? I get a full neurological test every day with me. And I've had a full physical. I had, you know, I mean, I've been at Walter Reed for my physicals. I mean, yes, the answer is yes. I know your doctor said he consulted with a neurologist. I guess I'm asking a slightly different question. Have you had the specific cognitive tests? And have you had a neurologist, a specialist, do an examination? No, no one said I had to. No one said they said I'm good. Would you be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation that included neurological and cognitive tests and release the results to the American people? Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world. And that's not how it sounds like hyperbole. But we are the central nation in the world. Madeleine Albright was right. And every single day, for example, today, before I come out here, I'm on the phone with the Prime Minister of Russia. I shouldn't get into detail. But with Netanyahu, I'm on the phone with the new prime minister of England. I'm working on what we're doing with regard to in Europe with regard to expansion of NATO and whether it's going to stick. I'm taking on Putin. I mean, every day, there's no day I go through that not those decisions I have to make every single day. And you have been doing that. And the American people have been watching. Yet their concerns about your age and your health are growing. So that's why I'm asking. To reassure them, would you be willing to have the independent medical evaluation? Watch me. There's a lot of time left in this campaign. It's over 125 days. So the answer right now is no. You don't want to do that. I've already done it.

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President Joe Biden would not commit to taking independent cognitive and neurological tests during his first television interview since last week's presidential debate.

Biden, 81, sat down with ABC "Good Morning America" and "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday, as the president's poor performance in the debate has garnered calls from some Democrats for him to drop out of the race and renewed concerns about his age and cognitive abilities.

During the interview, Biden attributed his "bad night" to a cold and exhaustion and said he has regular medical assessments.

MORE: Defiant Biden insists he's 'staying in the race' ahead of ABC News interview

Stephanopoulos referenced a New York Times report from Tuesday headlined, "Biden's Lapses Are Said to Be Increasingly Common and Worrisome," which reported that people who have spent time with the president over the last several months "said the lapses appear to have grown more frequent, more pronounced and, after Thursday's debate, more worrisome."

Asked whether he has had specific cognitive tests or an examination by a neurologist, Biden responded, "No. No one said I had to. No one said. They said I'm good."

Then asked if he would be willing to undergo an independent medical evaluation that included neurological and cognitive tests -- and release those results to the American people, Biden said, "Look. I have a cognitive test every single day."

"Every day I have that test. Everything I do," he continued. "You know, not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world. Not  and that's not hi -- sounds like hyperbole, but we are the essential nation of the world."

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks with George Stephanopoulos on July 5, 2024, in an ABC News exclusive. (ABC News)

Biden went on to detail how on a given day he is talking to other world leaders and dealing with global matters such as the expansion of NATO.

"I mean, every day there's no day I go through there not those decisions I have to make every single day," Biden said.

Again asked whether he would be willing to have an independent medical evaluation to reassure Americans, Biden said, "Watch me between -- there's a lotta time left in this campaign. There's over 125 days."

Asked if the answer right now is no, that he doesn't want to do that right now, Biden said, "Well, I've already done it."

Biden later said he wouldn't be running for reelection if he didn't think he had the mental and physical capacity for another four years in office.

The interview followed a fiery rally with Democratic supporters in Madison, during which Biden insisted he is remaining in the race.

ABC News had reached out to Biden's Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump, to offer him an equivalent platform but his team declined.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden delivers remarks during the CNN Presidential Debate, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Biden is the oldest commander in chief in U.S. history. Both his and Trump's advanced ages have been raised throughout the 2024 campaign, though recent polling suggests that Trump's is less of a concern among voters. In a poll from The New York Times and Siena College from June 28 to July 2, 20% of registered voters said that Trump's age -- 78 -- "is such a problem that he is not capable of handling the job of president," while 48% said the same about Biden, including 16% of Democrats.

Following the debate, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in an interview on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" that it's a "legitimate question" to ask whether Biden's poor debate performance was an "episode" or "a condition."

Pelosi said her personal experience with Biden showcased a president who "has a vision, he has knowledge." and that he had a "bad night."

"I think it's a legitimate question to say is this an episode or is this a condition? And so when people ask this question, it's completely legitimate -- of both candidates," she said Tuesday.

MORE: Biden's biggest weakness -- his age -- on full display at debate: ANALYSIS

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Friday expressed concern over Biden's cognitive abilities following his debate performance, citing confused rambling, loss of concentration, and a lack of facial animation. Gupta stressed that with these observations he is not making a diagnosis but recommended that Biden undergo detailed cognitive and movement disorder testing, with the results made public. Gupta noted that Trump has displayed some similar signs as Biden, such as nonsensical rants and confusion over names and current events.

This week, Trump's senior campaign advisors have accused Democrats of hiding Biden's cognitive ability and said in a statement that he is "not fit for the White House."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked repeatedly during a press briefing on Tuesday about whether Biden will release results from mental acuity tests in the wake of the debate. She said his medical team has decided it's "not warranted in this case."

"We have put forward a thorough, transparent, annual report on his health. So, they have said that is not warranted. It is not necessary," she said. "Again, we understand, we understand. We're not taking away from what you all saw, what the American people saw. We understand, it was a bad night."

Following the president's most recent physical, in February, Biden's physician, Dr. Kevin O'Connor, said the test "identified no new concerns" and that Biden is "fit" to serve.

A detailed neurological exam found no issues, though there was no mention of cognitive testing.

Biden won't commit to independent cognitive test when asked in ABC News interview originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
President Biden boards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., for a flight to Wisconsin on Friday. At a rally in Madison later that day, he shouted: "I will beat Donald Trump!" (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)

It took Joe Biden three campaigns and more than 30 years to win the presidency. It should come as no surprise that hes resisting suggestions that he give it up now, just over a week after a disastrous debate performance sharpened doubts that he can win a second term.

Hes been in this position before. Same thing happened in 2020, he told ABCs George Stephanopoulos on Friday.

A recurring pattern of setbacks, defiance and recovery has been the central narrative of Bidens career. Its a story he frequently tells  to himself, his family and his party.

Ive been knocked down before and counted out my whole life, he told campaign workers Wednesday. I learned long ago that when you get knocked down, you get back up.

In earlier chapters, his gritty refusal to be counted out was a virtue. It fueled his 2020 comeback from failures in the early primaries, when doubters said he was waging a zombie campaign, to victory over then-President Trump.

But Bidens signature defiance appears to be hardening into denial.

In his 22-minute interview with Stephanopoulos, he batted away questions about whether his moments of incoherence at the June 27 debate signaled a deeper problem.

Read more: Column: A tongue-tied octogenarian debates a pathological liar. Nobody won, but Biden clearly lost

I just had a bad night, the president said  five times.

He dismissed the many polls that show him likely to lose to Trump, who has been convicted of 34 felonies in New York.

All the pollsters I talk to tell me its a toss-up, Biden insisted.

When Stephanopoulos noted that surveys show only 36% of voters have a favorable view of Biden, the president replied: I dont believe thats my approval.

Read more: Column: Biden is old. Trump is too. But only one of them would trash the Constitution

And he wasnt sure whether he had rewatched the debate to analyze his performance. I dont think I did, he said.

It sounds like the famous chip on Bidens shoulder has grown so big that its interfering with his ability to understand why so many Democrats are worried.

Read more: Column: Trump is officially a convicted felon, but that may not stand in his way

The president is rightfully proud of his record, David Axelrod, who helped Barack Obama win two presidential elections, said in a post on social media. But he is dangerously out of touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race.

A handful of Democrats in Congress  five House members, according to a tally by the Washington Post  have publicly urged Biden to withdraw from the race. More than a dozen others have expressed concern over whether hes able to wage an effective campaign, without explicitly asking him to get out.

Behind them is a much larger number who refuse to be quoted but worry that Bidens debate performance was more than just one bad night, and that the campaign will devolve into a white-knuckled watch over his faltering performance.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) voiced their bottom-line question bluntly in a recent television interview.

Is this an episode, or is this a condition? she asked, referring to Bidens lapses during the debate. When people ask that question, its completely legitimate.

Read more: Column: Trump has big plans for California if he wins a second term. Fasten your seatbelts

If the answer is a one-time episode, Biden stands a chance of convincing voters that he can be an effective president for four more years. If the answer is that he is suffering from a worsening condition, he needs to retire with grace and honor.

When Stephanopoulos relayed Pelosis question to the president, he batted it away. It was a bad episode, he said. No indication of any serious condition.

But Biden acknowledged that he has not undergone a full neurological or cognitive evaluation. No one said I had to, he said.

I have a cognitive test every day, he added, referring to the many meetings he attends as president.

Pelosi, who has not urged Biden to withdraw, said that both major-party presidential candidates should undergo more-rigorous medical examinations.

Read more: Trump lionizes Jan. 6 rioters as 'warriors.' Could the dog whistle be any louder?

Both candidates owe whatever test you want to put them to, in terms of their mental acuity and their health  both of them, she said.

Trump, who at 78 is three years younger than Biden and has never released detailed health records, is unlikely to embrace that idea. So Pelosis argument amounted to a plea to the 81-year-old Biden to undergo more tests for the sake of his party, whether his Republican rival follows suit or not.

Democrats expect more shoes to drop this week.

The first week of polls after the debate showed Biden had lost about 2 percentage points, leaving Trump with a projected average lead of 3.5% of the nationwide popular vote if the election were held last week.

A drop of 2 points may not seem large, but Democratic strategists arent convinced that Biden has bottomed out. It usually takes about two weeks for an events effects to percolate, one said. So Democratic leaders are anxiously awaiting more polls.

Because of the way electoral votes are apportioned, Biden would need a popular vote lead of at least 2.5% to call the race a toss-up. Trumps current polling lead  which may not hold up, of course  puts the president far behind.

Thats one reason why Democrats in Congress are increasingly edgy. Another is that a GOP landslide could doom their chances of holding their majority in the Senate and winning a majority in the House of Representatives.

That outcome would not only cost many Democrats their jobs; it would deprive them of the power to impede Trumps plans to transform the federal government into an instrument of his whims.

Senate and House members will return to the Capitol on Monday after their Fourth of July recess. Once Democrats hold their caucus meetings, the trickle of those urging Biden to withdraw could turn into a flood.

The decision, many say, is up to Biden.

If the president bows out, party insiders are already discussing how they could organize a mini-campaign in the six weeks before Aug. 19, when the Democratic National Convention begins in Chicago.

Read more: Donald Trump puts America on notice again: If he loses, he won't go quietly

But if the president stays in, party leaders will try to avoid a chaotic fight over his nomination on the convention floor. The last time a presidents renomination was challenged at a convention, when Sen. Edward M. Kennedy tried to oust then-President Carter in 1980, the outcome was a disaster for the party.

Biden says hes sticking to his guns. I am staying in the race! he shouted at a rally in Wisconsin on Friday. I will beat Donald Trump!

When Stephanopoulos asked whether he would withdraw if he were convinced that he couldnt win, Biden replied: If the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might.

Our political parties usually take a year or more to choose a presidential candidate. Its clearly going to take longer than 10 days to decide whether to unchoose one.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Billion-dollar 'Cowboy Solar' project takes major step forward  here's how it will power hundreds of thousands of US homes

Wyoming is getting ready to build its largest solar farm, which will also have battery storage.

According to Electrek, the Industrial Siting Council has given permits to construct and operate the solar farm in Laramie County, which are private land leases. The next step in this $1.2 billion project will be to receive environmental, municipal, and county permits.

The solar farm will consist of two sites, Cowboy Solar I & II. The first will include "400 [megawatts] of solar power and 136 MW of battery storage," and the second "371 MW of solar power and 133 MW of battery storage," per Electrek.

Enbridge, a Canadian energy company, is conducting the project. The company plans to begin construction in March 2025. The project will provide jobs for the local community, as it's expected to have a peak workforce of about 375 workers in April 2025.

The goal is to have Cowboy Solar I ready by January 2027 and Cowboy Solar II done by August 2027.

This utility-scale solar project will be Wyoming's third. The state is ranked 46th in the U.S. for solar by the Solar Energy Industries Association. Since 1986, Wyoming has produced more coal than any other state, so the new solar farm is a step in the right direction.

The great benefit for communities switching to solar power is that it can save them money. EnergySage estimates you could save between $25,000 and $110,000 over its lifetime.

Solar cooperatives in neighborhoods are also saving residents money. It's estimated to be as much as 30%.

Researchers have also found another unexpected benefit of solar panels. The solar panel installation in southern Minnesota involved seeding 66 different species of flowers and native plants underneath the panels. The goal was to see how many insects returned, and they found that in five years, the native bee population had risen 20 times their previous low levels.

Switching to solar energy is just one way to change how you use electricity. You can also weatherproof your home to make your energy more efficient and switch to LED bulbs.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
Credit: Photo illustration by Matthew Cooley. Images in illustration by Adobe Stock, 5.

On the evening of March 25, 2021, Karen Levy relaxed with some friends on her front porch in Seattle. They were having dinner, enjoying the cool evening weather and cloudless skies, when they noticed something odd. A bright squadron of fiery objects had invaded the night sky and was careening across it.

Holy smokes, what is that? thought Levy, a University of Washington epidemiologist.

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She wondered if they could be UFOs. Her kids ran outside to see what the commotion was about, and all they could do was gawk, as the unusual aircraft or spacecraft or whatever they were continued on their mostly horizontal path.

Ive never seen anything like that in my life, Levy tells me.

Before the objects and their smoky trails flew out of sight, Levy pulled out her phone and snapped a photo, which she posted on X. Within a minute, it was all over. The mysterious objects vanished. And then the sky seemed empty once again, as if nothing had happened.

Just a few miles away in Seattle, astronomer James Davenport was putting his kids to bed when his phone exploded with messages from a flood of people asking him about the strange flash in the sky. He went out to see it. It was both beautiful and apocalyptic, Davenport says. He remembers hoping the flaming fragments werent the remnants of a plunging plane.

Before that night ended, experts had figured out that what Davenport, Levy, and many others in the Pacific Northwest had seen were fragments of the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After deploying Starlink satellites into orbit as planned, the four-ton, 45-foot rocket body  which is larger than a school bus  began plummeting out of control back toward Earth.

The massive rocket husk quickly heated up to some 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and then broke up in the atmosphere into large and dangerous chunks, still on their earthbound trajectory, eventually strewing shrapnel across central Washington state, including on a Grant County farm. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Like with all objects orbiting or falling back to Earth, the U.S. Space Force, which emerged from under the wing of the Air Force five years ago, tracked the rockets descent with a network of ground antennas, publishing the data in its database. Aerospace Corp., a federally funded research and development center in El Segundo, California, also followed the reentry.

Turns out humans leave trash everywhere we go  and just like when we throw garbage out a car window, there are long-term impacts of leaving behind rubbish in the high-traffic lanes of the atmosphere. The sky always seems so static and far away, Davenport says. This changes your perspective and makes you think, Its actually an environment where theres pollution and we have to protect it.

Back in NASAs heyday, rocket launches used to draw huge crowds. But today, its cheaper to launch them, so hundreds blast off annually without much fanfare, carrying their payloads into orbit. Whether were aware of it or not, were all increasingly dependent on satellites for our phones and apps and for myriad other needs, like GPS, streaming TV, weather forecasts, and even banking. Around 10,000 satellites silently circle the Earth, hundreds of miles above, with many of them coming from the U.S., and Starlink now accounts for the majority of those. Well need to keep deploying at least some new satellites and spacecraft every year, but business as usual doesnt seem particularly safe or environmentally friendly. Big chunks of space trash now crash on Earth multiple times a week. Some 450 large intact objects reentered the atmosphere, out of control, between 2008 and 2017  a stunning 900 metric tons of material, according to a recent study. Theres a one-in-four chance someone on the ground will be killed in the next decade by falling rocket debris, according to other new research.

Just one errant rockets tragic crash in a populated area would derail the space industry for years. Or a rocket body colliding with other orbiting objects, creating gazillions more pieces of hazardous space junk, could disable many other satellites, and suddenly many of our smartphone apps would be rendered useless. Its an open question whether national and international organizations can address the situation before space has its Exxon Valdez moment.

SOMETIMES FALLING SPACE GARBAGE makes the news, when chunks of spacecraft crash near heavily populated areas or when the plummeting spacecraft are really large. SpaceX launches many rockets these days, and its March 2021 rocket drew attention when it broke up and descended near Seattle and Portland. And in July and November 2022, the Chinese space agency rockets that boosted Chinas Tiangong space-station modules rained down debris near the Philippines in the South China Sea. Previous Chinese rockets left space junk to fall near the Maldives in May 2021, and a year earlier, debris passed above Los Angeles and New York City before splashing into the Atlantic. A big piece of a SpaceX spacecraft landed on an Australian sheep farm in July 2022, but no sheep were harmed. With such uncontrolled reentries, as these are called, fragments that make it through the atmosphere can land almost anywhere, not necessarily in remote, unpopulated regions.

Federal agencies are finally paying attention, taking steps to limit how much dangerous space trash companies generate. The Federal Aviation Administration is charged with regulating launches and reentries by U.S.-based organizations, and has noted the rapid growth of junk in low Earth orbit and increasing risks of space collisions that would beget more dangerous pollution  like the space crashes dramatized in the movie Gravity. To mitigate the situation, last September, the FAA proposed a new rule: U.S. space companies have to properly dispose of their upper-stage rockets, either by bringing them down safely or boosting them up into a so-called graveyard orbit, where theres more space and not much stuff to crash into. Once the FAA makes it official, letting rockets fall or leaving them in congested orbits can no longer be the norm. As if to underscore the problem, the day after the agency proposed the rule, a SpaceX Falcon 9 made an uncontrolled reentry, leaving trash in the South Pacific Ocean.

No one has been injured or killed by falling rocket debris  yet. The number of rocket launches is increasing, and the population is increasing, so the casualty risk in aggregate of somebody getting killed is pretty high. Its just a matter of time, if practices are not changed, says Aaron Boley, a planetary scientist at the University of British Columbia. We have to be more mindful of what we launch.

Boley is also a co-founder of the Outer Space Institute, a network of researchers who advocate for the sustainable development of space. Hes out to refute the common misconception that space is so big that we can do whatever we want with it, leaving trash willy-nilly, with no consequences.

Last year, Boley and his institute colleagues published an open letter calling for international space powers to come to an agreement on reentries, to ensure that falling objects wont cause damage or casualties. Its many signatories included a Nobel laureate, retired astronauts, and former NASA officials, but not sitting officials at NASA, other space agencies, the United Nations, or space companies. Boley and his colleagues also co-authored a paper then, finding that people in latitudes of the Global South have a higher risk of getting hit by rocket chunks than those in the regions launching them, like the U.S., China, and Europe. In short, people with little involvement in the causes of the problem are bearing the brunt of the junk, not unlike other environmental-justice issues.

The new FAA rule applies only to U.S.-based companies like SpaceX, aerospace heavyweight Northrop Grumman, and a joint Boeing-Lockheed venture called the United Launch Alliance, but theyre not the only ones producing the outer-space litter. Chinese rockets, especially the 20-ton Long March 5B, have drawn attention because of their size and mass. In general, the bigger the rocket, the bigger the pieces that come hurtling back down to the ground. Neither SpaceX nor the Chinese National Space Administration responded to Rolling Stones requests for comment, and the FAA declined to make a statement about the rules specifics. Last October, the FAA issued a report to Congress, specifically singling out the debris risks from not just SpaceXs rockets but also the companys 5,000-plus Starlink satellites, humanitys largest artificial constellation by far, since those broadband internet satellites will one day become defunct and fall from the sky. SpaceX disputed that assessment in a letter, claiming that its satellites completely burn up during reentry. (Anything low enough in the atmosphere will feel aerodynamic drag, or air resistance, slowing it down so that it falls and burns up.)

Researchers such as Boley and veteran aerospace engineer Luciano Anselmo, whos also analyzing the problem, at the Space Flight Dynamics Laboratory in Pisa, Italy, see the risks as worrisome, and say theyre likely to ramp up quickly over the next couple of decades. The potential risk from a single object is very, very low, says Anselmo, a Space Flight Dynamics Laboratory in Pisa, Italy. The problem must be considered at the global level, as an integral of all the reentries occurring day after day, accumulating risk over time.

During his recent study, Anselmo and his colleagues counted about 65 uncontrolled reentries of large intact objects during 2018, with three of them having a mass exceeding five metric tons. They calculated that theres a three percent chance every year that a person could be injured or killed by reentering fragments of orbiting objects. Two-thirds of that risk comes from rocket bodies, with most of the rest from satellites. Those are current risks; they could rise to 20 percent annually if things dont change, Anselmo says. A single airplane hit by falling space shrapnel could result in hundreds of deaths, too, and close calls would result in closing airspace and airline disruptions  which are all likely reasons for the FAAs concern about these threats. Spain already had to close parts of its airspace in November 2022, when descending fragments of a huge Chinese rocket flew overhead.

NOT ALL ROCKETS ARE ALIKE. Nevertheless, most have two or even three stages. SpaceX revolutionized the commercial space industry by developing reusable first-stage boosters, the bottom part of a rocket, which can be designed to land safely and fly again. The innovation is making launches much cheaper, and doesnt create space trash with those stages, since theyre designed to touch down on an offshore landing platform, to be collected and refurbished. Now, other companies are following its lead, including Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, and Relativity Space.

But upper-stage rockets, which deploy payloads into orbit, are the issue here. Once that rocket stage releases its spacecraft, which goes off on its own merry way, it is designed, in many cases, to either fall back to Earth or remain circling in the atmosphere. Both can pose problems: The pieces of an uncontrolled falling rocket could crash anywhere, but letting the rocket body drift in a crowded part of space is like releasing a leaking oil tanker in an already polluted river, since the pollution will eventually become much, much worse.

Many companies already have tools they can use to abide by the FAAs rule. The key is to design the rocket so that the engines can be reignited, pushing it down to reenter the atmosphere safely. But that comes with a cost in an already costly industry: It takes extra fuel, for one, and it can mean slightly smaller payload capacities. Some smaller rockets also could be made to break up and burn up completely, a strategy called design for demise.

Furthermore, the FAA includes another, future-looking option in its rule: active debris removal. That means designing spacecraft that can snag pieces of orbiting junk and move them lower into the atmosphere, so that they burn up. Space agencies and their commercial partners have already begun testing such technologies. First, theres the Astroscale-Japan mission, also called ADRAS-J, which launched in February atop an Electron rocket. Since April, it has been attempting to safely approach (without hitting) a large piece of debris, a spent Japanese rocket thats been in low Earth orbit since 2009, and it will inspect and image the rocket, as a precursor to a future mission that could pull it down out of orbit. Then in 2026, the European Space Agency and the company Clearspace have their own first mission planned, which will use multiple arms  like a huge space octopus  to grab a derelict rocket and remove it from orbit. They recently changed this missions target after an unfortunate irony, when it was itself hit by another chunk of debris.

ROCKETS ARE JUST THE MOST VISIBLE part of a much bigger space-garbage problem. Millions of pieces of smaller junk now streak through low Earth orbit at 17,000 mph. A single strike, even by something small like an old bolt, crashing into a satellite and hitting it in just the wrong spot, could render it inoperable  and create new space trash in the process. The FAAs rule takes aim at this issue, too. If everyone were to stop polluting these orbits, then at least new launches wouldnt exacerbate the problem.

Even if most rockets could be made to break into bits that incinerate before they hit the ground, that might be the end of the story. What if all these things burning up upon reentry constitute an environmental problem themselves?

Falling spacecraft gradually ablate  the technical term for burning up  about 40 miles above the ground, in the mesosphere, which sits above the stratosphere. The air up there is super thin. If it were as dense as ordinary air, it would fit in one square mile. That means that it doesnt take much to disturb its chemistry, says Jonathan McDowell, a space guru and satellite expert at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who has long been tracking objects entering and reentering the atmosphere. A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study last October detected aerosol particles containing aluminum, lithium, copper, and lead in the mesosphere, and it traced them to metals that vaporized during spacecraft reentry. This could pose a problem, such as if the conductive metal particulates accumulate and disrupt the Earths magnetosphere, a cocoon that shields us from space weather. All these spacecraft burning up could also delay the recovery of the ozone layer for decades, thanks to the buildup of aluminum oxide particles, or affect how that part of the atmosphere moderates climate change.

Researchers like Boley and Anselmo would like to see governments around the world work together to address these problems, like they did with the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which phased out chlorofluorocarbons to protect the depleted ozone layer. That kind of international agreement would make sure that low Earth orbit is usable for everyone, Boley argues. He also points to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which befouled the Alaskan coastline and led to the adoption of double-hulled ships.

The FAA rule didnt come from nowhere. It codifies international standards developed by space agencies from around the world through the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. Theres now a coordinated effort across the U.S. government, too. This is part of an all-hands-on-deck approach, with the [Biden] administration trying to respond to the orders-of-magnitude increase of launch activity that weve seen in the past few years, primarily because of the reusability of SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket, says Michael Runnels, a business-law expert at California State University in Los Angeles who has written about the ways fees like taxes could help the cause.

We need to have a tough conversation, a conversation people dont want to have. How many satellites can we put up and sustain? Boley asks. There has to be some limits, but where those limits come in is the hard question.

An answer cant come soon enough. Just in March, a two-pound piece of space trash smashed into a home in southwest Florida, plowing through the roof and two floors. The homeowner was away, but the hunk of metal nearly hit his son.

NASA experts already know where that space junk came from, dating it back to the agencys own littering three years earlier, and the Florida family is now suing NASA for damages. In March 2021, around the same time SpaceXs rocket bits tumbled above Seattle, NASA used the space stations robotic arm to discard a 5,800-pound pallet of old nickel-hydrogen batteries, saying that theyd simply orbit for a couple years before burning up harmlessly in the atmosphere.

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Boise police arrested two women Thursday night on suspicion of felony malicious harassment after a confrontation between them and a Jewish man sitting at a restaurant with his wife.

Boise to Palestine, a local pro-Palestinian movement, said on Instagram that the two were wrongfully arrested and were just exercising their right to free speech in a public space  not being anti-Semitic or threatening. A representative for one of the two women said in court Friday that the case was a First Amendment matter that will be fought vigorously.

However, Boise Police Chief Ron Winegar said in a department news release announcing the arrests that the hateful behavior was unacceptable.

Freedom of speech does not give anyone the right to break laws or target individuals based on their religion, race, or identity, Winegar said. We take incidents involving hate bias very seriously and want to ensure everyone continues to feel safe and welcome in our community. We appreciate the actions taken by our officers to address the immediate issue and investigate this incident further.

The two women approached the couple in front of a business near the corner of 8th and Idaho streets. The man was wearing a Kippah or Yamaka, a traditional head covering for Jewish men, Boise police said in the release.

The two women made comments about the ongoing conflict in the Mideast, according to the release, leading to an argument. The women walked away but returned, leading to a second interaction in which one of the women put a phone into the mans face, hitting him in the nose, police said.

Tensions have been high nationwide over violence in the Mideast since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel responded with a massive amount of military force. Theres been a pro-Palestine protest near the Idaho Capitol along Jefferson Street since May.
Boy, 7, Dies After Being Hit by Piece of Farming Machinery While Helping in Field

Authorities in Pennsylvania said there were no signs of foul play and the boys death was ruled accidental

Getty A stock image of police tape

A 7-year-old boy is dead after an accident involving farming machinery.

Pennsylvania State Police said that first responders were dispatched to the Montgomery Township area, which is about 50 miles north of Philadelphia, at around 10:15 a.m. on July 2, according to WHP-TV, Penn Live and WGAL.

When first responders arrived on the scene they found that the child, who was not identified, had been "struck by a piece of machinery," though they did not detail what kind of machinery or how it happened, per the outlets.

Authorities said that the boy had been helping out in the field when the incident happened, according to WGAL.

Related: 12-Year-Old Boy Who Died in Plane Crash with His Family Hit Grand Slam in Last Game, Coach Says

Police told the outlets that their investigation determined there were no signs of foul play and the boys death was ruled accidental.

The MMP&W Volunteer Fire Department in Mercersburg, which helped respond to the incident, according to the Chambersburg Public Opinion, shared on social media that they had responded to the incident alongside the Hagerstown Fire Department.

A second tragedy occurred in our area later this morning with the loss of a young life, they wrote in the post. We want to ask that you keep the family and the crew on the call in your thoughts and prayers.

Related: Mich. Teen Went Missing in May. He Was Just Found Safe in Florida After Turning Up in Livestream

They noted that Hagerstown Fire Department's Battalion Chief Brian Henry and Lieutenant Dave Effinger met with the volunteer fire departments EMS crews at the hospital and talked with them to begin the healing process.

People some times don't understand the physical and mental toll that being a firefighter/EMT/Paramedic can have on someone, the volunteer fire department said. We do this because we love helping our community and we love saving/protecting life and property.

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 celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

However, sometimes it does come with a price! We may be tough...but our hearts do break!, they added.

According to a study from Penn State University's College of Agricultural Sciences, 33 people died of injuries suffered in farm-related incidents in Pennsylvania last year. The study found that fatal incidents disproportionately affected young children and older adults, as six victims had been under 10 years old, while 13 victims had been over the age of 65.

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(This June 5 story has been corrected to rectify the agreement that refers to ministerial meetings only, not the summit, and adds paragraph 2 outlining the agreement's purpose)

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - G20 diplomats have agreed to avoid prickly geopolitical issues during their ministerial meetings preparing for the summit of the world's largest economies in November, host Brazil's sherpa said on Friday.

Meetings through October will avoid geopolitical discussions so that agreements can be advanced on issues such as climate change, reducing hunger in the world, trade and investment, according to Mauricio Lyrio, Brazil's G20 sherpa.

In February, finance leaders from G20 failed to agree on a joint statement in a meeting in Brazil, with divisions over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

Lyrio told journalists that an agreement was reached with his counterparts in the group, following "really tough talks" during a preparatory meeting in Rio de Janeiro this week.

"What we got in this meeting was a deal to how to proceed from now on, so the ministers can focus on their specific themes," he told journalists. "Look for agreements in your areas. You do not need to deal with geopolitics anymore".

Later this month, economic leaders and central bank chiefs from the group will meet in Rio de Janeiro, where the annual summit of G20 leaders is scheduled for November 18-19.

Last year, the G20 summit in New Delhi ended with a leaders' declaration that avoided condemning Russia for the war, although it highlighted the human suffering the conflict had caused and called on all states not to use force to grab territory.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro; writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
A brief history of Esperanto, the 135-year-old language of peace hated by Hitler and Stalin alike

In the late 1800s, the city of Biaystok  which was once Polish, then Prussian, then Russian, and is today again part of Poland  was a hub of diversity, with large numbers of Poles, Germans, Russians and Yiddish-speaking Ashkanazi Jews. Each group spoke a different language and viewed members of the other communities with suspicion.

For years, L.L. Zamenhof  a Jewish man from Biaystok who had trained as a doctor in Moscow  had dreamed of a way for diverse groups of people to communicate easily and peacefully.

On July 26, 1887, he published what is now referred to as Unua Libro, or First Book, which introduced and described Esperanto, a language he had spent years designing in hopes of promoting peace among the people of the world.

Esperantos vocabulary is mostly drawn from English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Latin, Polish, Russian and Yiddish, as these were the languages that Zamenhof was most familiar with. Grammatically, Esperanto was primarily influenced by European languages, but interestingly, some of Esperantos innovations bear a striking resemblance to features found in some Asian languages, such as Chinese.

Now, 135 years later, Europe is again riven by violence and tension, most notably by the war between Russia and Ukraine, which is at least partially driven by a political debate about language differences. Unfortunately, conflicts over language are common around the world.

The promise of peace through a shared language has not yet caught on widely, but there are perhaps as many as 2 million Esperanto speakers worldwide. And its still spreading, if slowly.

A language for all

Having grown up in the multicultural but distrusting environment of Biaystok, Zamenhof dedicated his life to constructing a language that he hoped could help foster harmony between groups. The goal wasnt to replace anyones first language. Rather, Esperanto would serve as a universal second language that would help promote international understanding  and hopefully peace.

Esperanto is easy to learn. Nouns do not have grammatical gender, so you never have to wonder whether a table is masculine or feminine. There are no irregular verbs, so you dont have to memorize complex conjugation tables. Also, the spelling is entirely phonetic, so youll never be confused by silent letters or letters that make different sounds in different contexts.

In Unua Libro, Zamenhof outlined Esperantos 16 basic rules and provided a dictionary. This book was translated into more than a dozen languages, and at the beginning of each edition, Zamenhof permanently renounced all personal rights to his creation and declared Esperanto to be the property of society.

Soon, Esperanto spread to Asia, North and South America, the Middle East and Africa. Starting in 1905, Esperanto speakers from around the world began gathering once a year to participate in the World Esperanto Congress to celebrate  and use  the language.

Between 1907 and his death in 1917, Zamenhof received 14 nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, though he never won the award.

Continuing Zamenhofs work, the Universal Esperanto Association, an organization that seeks to encourage relations among people through the use of Esperanto, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize more than 100 times in recognition of its contribution to world peace by permitting people in different countries to enter direct relations without linguistic barriers. So far, it has never won the award.

Struggles and successes

After World War I, the League of Nations  the predecessor to the United Nations  was founded in hopes of preventing future conflict. Shortly thereafter, the Iranian delegate to the League of Nations proposed that Esperanto be adopted as the language of international relations.

However, this proposal was vetoed by the French delegate, who feared that the French language would lose its position of prestige in diplomacy. In 1922, the French government went a step further and banned the teaching of Esperanto at all French universities for supposedly being a tool to spread communistic propaganda.

Ironically, life behind the Iron Curtain wasnt much easier for Esperanto speakers. In the Soviet Union, Esperantists were alleged to be part of an international espionage organization. Many were persecuted and later perished during Stalins Great Purge.

According to Hitler, Esperanto was evidence of a Jewish plot to take over the world. During the Third Reich, the Gestapo received specific orders to search for the descendants of Zamenhof. All three of his children died in the Holocaust  as did many Esperanto speakers.

Despite such events, in 1954 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, better known as UNESCO, passed a resolution recognizing  and entering into a relationship with  the Universal Esperanto Association, which opened the door for the Esperanto movement to be represented at UNESCO events pertaining to language.

In 1985, UNESCO passed a resolution encouraging countries to add Esperanto to their school curricula. For years, China has offered Esperanto as a foreign language option at several of its universities, one of which houses an Esperanto museum. There is now a program in interlinguistics offered at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland thats taught in Esperanto.

More recently, UNESCO declared 2017 as the year of Zamenhof, and since that time, its flagship journal  The UNESCO Courier  has had an Esperanto-language edition published quarterly.

Give peace a chance

Today, Esperanto is spoken by pockets of enthusiasts all around the world  including on Antarctica. There is now a wide array of free Esperanto resources online, including Duolingo, lernu!, the Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto, the Complete Manual of Esperanto Grammar and Google Translate.

Esperanto also has its own edition of Wikipedia, and at present, there are more Wikipedia entries written in Esperanto than articles in Danish, Greek or Welsh.

In Esperanto, the word Esperanto means one who hopes. Some may argue that it is idealistic to believe that Esperanto could unite humanity, especially in the midst of another major war.

But even the most violent wars dont end without peace talks  which often require translators to interpret the languages of the opposing parties. Zamenhof wondered  and I do too  whether violence itself might be less common if a neutral language could help people bridge their divides.

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. It was written by: Joshua Holzer, Westminster College

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Joshua Holzer 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.
Britains Keir Starmer has done the hard part. Now comes the really hard part

New Prime Minister Keir Starmer needs to make the UK appear more welcoming, says VisitBritain's Yates. - Phil Noble/Reuters

Keir Starmers historic victory in Britains general election Thursday hands him a level of power that was unthinkable for a Labour leader just five years ago.

To win a working parliamentary majority of over 170 seats just four-and-a-half years after his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, led the party to its worst loss in a generation is nothing short of remarkable.

Starmer was arguably elected on a mandate of change rather than on a personal endorsement. It is no secret that a large number of voters were not voting exactly for Starmer himself, but to get rid of a Conservative Party that had been in power for 14 years and led the country through some of its most chaotic days in peacetime.

The change the country has voted for could be interpreted in many ways, as there is a lot wrong with the UK right now. Waiting lists for doctors appointments are in the millions. The cost-of-living crisis that has plagued Europe left many in Britain having to make unthinkable decisions between heating their homes or eating. Immigration, particularly irregular migration, has become a major issue for voters on the right.

There are many more examples but, bluntly, there has been a sense for some time that the UK simply doesnt function well as a country. If the Brexit vote of 2016 told the British political establishment anything, its that large parts of the nation were fed up with the status quo.

If nothing else, Starmer has to make the people of Britain feel that they are living better lives with his time in office. But he must do so with some challenges, despite the size of his majority.

It is no secret that he doesnt have a huge amount of public money to spend. He has loosely pledged not to raise taxes. Convincing the public that the Labour Party could be trusted with public finances was a big part of his electoral campaign.

This combination of limited public money and a promise to balance the books runs into another of the key challenges facing Starmer: those in his own party who believe he should be radical.

Of course, Labour members and activists are pleased to see the back of the Conservative Party after 14 long years in power. But some, especially on the left of the party, dont want to see a thumping majority squandered on moderate policy that returns right-wingers to power in five years.

Their concerns may not be completely unfounded. While the story of this election is Starmers landslide, the anti-Conservative vote split in a few different directions. Most notably, the hard-right Reform UK, led by friend of Donald Trump Nigel Farage, secured 14% of the national vote.

Reform took a lot of votes from the Conservatives through vicious attacks on its record in government. Its extremely likely that with Starmer now in power, Farage and his acolytes will turn their attention to tearing chunks out of the Labour Party. If Starmer decides to stick to his moderate guns, it isnt hard to see how Reform starts labeling this Labour government as virtually the same as the Conservatives, using populist rhetoric that clearly appeals to many in Britain.

On the other hand, Starmer cannot afford to spook the center-ground majority that just put him in Downing Street, having believed and trusted his message that he would be stable and responsible.

Delivering meaningful change while trying to stand still is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. It is likely that Starmer will soon have to make some difficult decisions that will deviate in some way from his pledges made while running for office. This is normal, and most governments have to make some compromises while in power. But it will upset some of his own base.

Fortunately for Starmer, he has quite a lot of political capital to spend. What he must now decide is who he spends it on.

Correction: This story has been updated to accurately reflect Labours parliamentary majority

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On October 8, as the world was beginning to comprehend what had just happened in southern Israel, most decent people  including many who would go on to decry Israels retaliatory campaign  expressed genuine horror at what Gazas Islamist barbarians had done. But a substantial minority was openly cheering. Not just in Turkey and Iran, but in Toronto and London.

In these cities, Muslims and non-Muslims alike lost no time in congregating and marching to chants of from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free and other slogans known to glorify the disappearance of Israel. Some of those making merry sported the image of the paragliders used by Hamas to land in Israel just a day or two before. I cannot imagine the pain and disgust that friends and relatives of the victims must have felt on seeing those displays.

Nevertheless, as the body counts mounted, as the shredded and charred remains began to be identified in Kibbutz Beeri and Nir Oz and among those who tried and failed to escape the Nova music festival only to be taken down by torrential gunfire and an armys worth of rocket propelled grenades, the Wests emboldened pro-Palestine brigade got out their green, red and black flags and marched in support of Palestine.

It was grotesque enough then. But as time has worn on, along with Israels campaign, the grotesquerie has swelled. If it began with a celebration of butchery and terror that was generally seen as extreme, the pro-Gaza movement has dug in and grown. Its anti-Israelism is openly celebrated.

It is so respectable now that no fewer than four MPs have been elected on just that ticket, appealing to the pro-Palestine vote, of course. Its hard not to feel a pulse of fear and loathing when one sees how our once-great liberal democracy has been hijacked to serve the agendas of people who appear to show solidarity with a regime heading an army of caliphatic Islamist butchers. Resistance by any means runs a popular chant in the pro-Palestine community; its not hard to imagine what by any means might mean.

Palestine obsessive Jeremy Corbyn, running as an independent, won Islington North with 24,120 votes compared with Labours 16,873, then declared on social media with his usual chilling focus on the topic that Palestine is on the ballot paper. Shockat Adam beat shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South, declaring this is for Gaza. About Israels careful campaign to prevent the second Holocaust that Hamas keeps promising, Adam says: Gazans are a people with no army, no air force or a navy, facing one of the most sophisticated military machinery the world has ever seen  we must ensure that those who turned their back on one of the greatest injustices in modern times are told loud and clear we have turned our backs on them.

In Blackburn, where at least a third of residents are Muslim, Adnan Hussain, another Independent pro-Gaza zealot was victorious over the Labour candidate. In Dewsbury and Batley, Iqbal Mohammed beat Labour candidate Heather Iqbal by promising to focus on demonising Israels campaign in Gaza.

The close calls were almost as chilling  Wes Streeting, shadow health secretary and a decent, hardworking chap, only won by 528 votes over the British Palestinian activist Leanne Mohamad, who wears a hijab and keffiyeh, and was hailed by Muslims as putting Gaza back on the ballot. Youve created history and given us incredible hope for the future. Bethnal Green also nearly went to a pro-Palestine radical, while Jess Phillips only just held Birmingham Yardley (by almost 700 votes) against ghoulish George Galloways Workers Party of Britain candidate Jody McIntyre. Phillipss acceptance speech was spoilt by jeers and boos from the McIntyre voters, who chanted: free Palestine and shame on you.

In Chingford  retained against expectations by Tory Iain Duncan Smith  Faiza Shaheen came fewer than 100 votes behind the Labour candidate. Shaheen regularly accuses Israel of genocide and posts such material as apparently celebratory pictures of resistance, like the anti-Israel sit-in at Liverpool Street station in November, when the blood in the kibbutzim had barely dried.

But we have been looking elsewhere. The focus this election has been on Labour dominance, seats won by Reform, the gains made by the Lib Dems and the size of the Tory wipeout.

At the start of Starmers leadership of Labour, the focus was on what hed do about the anti-Semitism that was given such rein under Corbyn.

The truth is that the problem has not been Labours for a while now. It lies rather in the respectability of rabid anti-Israelism. Its terrifying to see how running on a ticket of demonisation of Israel has ceased to be mere tree-hugging fringe: thanks to Palestines progressive fanboys and girls, its now been all neatly parcelled up with parliamentary credence and heft.

As Britain succumbs to sectarianism, the implications are grave not just for Jews but for society in general. After all, this society is liberal, secular, and meant to be firmly against the sort of things that Hamas and those who run Palestine stand for. A once-great democracy with a fine tradition of broad two-party voting is being eaten away at by people whose politics are those of anti-Western troublemaking, with the tiny Jewish state, thousands of miles away, as a focal point.

As a Jew, this election was always to be feared; its just that the enemy is not Labour anymore, but the independent, Palestine solidarity candidates.

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Why did it take 78 years to identify a Marine killed in World War II?

After Barbara Dyer of Chisago City, Minn., died at age 86 in 2019, her family buried her at the Fairview Cemetery in Lindstrom.

Four years later, her family gathered again as Dyers brother, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Arthur Ervin Jr., was laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii  even though he died 75 years before his sister at age 22 during World War II on July 5, 1944.

It was a long-awaited service  with full military honors  and Dyers family wished she could have lived long enough to witness this patriotic sense of closure.

Instead, Dyer had spent her life wondering if her brothers remains would ever be found, identified and returned. She died with those questions still unanswered.

It broke my heart that  said Dyers daughter, Nita Kay Gay (who also goes by Nita Kay), pausing for composure.

 It was emotional  the question was always lingering in her head  but, the job was done in both Barbara and Arthurs honor.

Not forgotten

Until his body was finally identified, Ervin was one of the thousands of military personnel still missing from World War II. Currently, the lost or unidentified totals more than 74,000, according to the the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA).

To put that number in perspective, its roughly equivalent to the population of Lakeville.

Its a scale of loss much larger than those missing from other conflicts, including more than 5,000 from the Korean War and more than 1,500 from the Vietnam War.

While some of the lost will likely never get to come home  such as those who died at sea  there are many whose remains have been identified in recent times, especially thanks to technological advances.

In Ervins case, the doggedness of volunteer researchers and the persistence of family members were also key in moving the process along to finally bring this Marine home.

With these combined efforts, Ervin became one of the 166 service members identified during the fiscal year of 2022. In 2023, 158 were accounted for; during this fiscal year, which ends in September, 109 more people have had their missing cases resolved, according to the DPAA, which is tasked with accounting for the lost.

There are so many missing from wars and conflicts, our job is unfortunately never going to be done, said Sean Everette, a spokesperson for the DPAA. But we will never give up trying to find them and bring them back home to their families.

A researchers personal connection

It was Ervins case that led Geoffrey Roecker of Glen Falls, N.Y., to found Missing Marines, an award-winning and incredibly detailed initiative and website (missingmarines.com) dedicated to preserving the stories of missing service members.

Ive been at it since 2011, Roecker said.

His initiative also provides research support to multiple MIA recovery organizations and to families hoping to learn about their military ancestors.

This includes the family of Ervin, who shared a connection with one of Roeckers ancestors: Ervins platoon leader, 1st Lt. Philip Emerson Wood Jr., is Roeckers first cousin, twice removed.

Geoff deserves a lot of credit, said Kay. This never would have been resolved without his help.

She downplays her role, but she did a ton of work, Roecker replied of Kay.

Kays uncle and Roeckers cousin were friends as well as comrades; friends and comrades who died together.

In July of 1944, Ervin and Wood were members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which the DPAA describes as part of the invasion force of the island of Saipan in a larger effort to capture the Mariana Islands from Japan.

From his research, Roecker learned that the Marines were trying to rescue displaced civilians on July 5, 1944. But then, Lt. Wood was hit by a sniper.

As Wood, mortally wounded, cried out, Ervin rushed forward to help him  and, while doing so, was fatally shot by enemy fire.

He was likely dead before he hit the ground, Roecker wrote on Missing Marines.

But what happened to Ervins body?

Thats been the question that Roecker spent 11 years trying to answer.

X-64

Sgt. Ervins case is a particularly weird one, Roecker said recently.

He mused about the mystery in a blog post on Memorial Day 2018.

Arthur Ervin was buried without any means of identification, he wrote. Through a clerical error or simple incompetence, he was listed as missing, his remains declared unknown, and buried under an anonymous stone in Manila.

Roecker credits a fellow researcher, Ted Darcy, who helped him locate the site in 2011. It seemed like a relatively simple case to crack, given all that was already known about the battle, the dead and the buried.

He said, I think we can solve this one right away,' Roecker recalled.

Not quite.

But, Roecker says, after an investigation including dental records, diagrams, data and DNA, it was believed that an unidentified service member known as X-64 was Ervin.

DNA

He wasnt X-64 to Dyer; to her, he was Big Brother.

Technically, they were half-siblings: Their mother, a widow, was raising her three sons  including Arthur  on her own before remarrying and having two more children, including Barbara Dyer.

Dyer was just 7 years old when Big Brother enlisted in the military from their then-home state of Texas in June 1940, according to Missing Marines; by October, he had joined the Marine detachment of the Naval Air Station, Pearl Harbor.

Dyer was 11 when her family learned her brother had been killed in action. She didnt talk about the loss much, but in her later years, she renewed the search to bring Big Brother home.

She was not so good with the internet, but she found out how to contact someone and they did send her a DNA kit, Kay recalled.

Eventually, the family learned that a DNA sample from a male relative was needed; it took time to reach out  and convince  a male cousin in California to get involved, Kay says.

During their search for a conclusion, the family learned more about Ervins life as well as his death.

When I began helping my mother, a friend had found out about the Missing Marines site, Kay said. From it, I learned more about my mothers family than she had ever told me.

In fact, Ervins life story on the site  helped along with interviews, military records, family photographs, newspaper clippings and more  is as detailed as a novella, stretching back to describe the history of Ervins parents as well as his own backstory.

The story begins:

Arthur B. Ervin, Junior was six months old when his father died in the mines 

The effort inspired Kay.

It was just amazing, all the information he had, she said. It motivated me to move forward.

Through Missing Marines, the family learned how their Marine survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941  and how he matured during this time and was given a second chance after allegedly running afoul of the law.

The day Pearl Harbor was attacked, Kay wrote in an email to the Pioneer Press, Arthur was in the (brig) and in the process of being dishonorably discharged. After volunteering to dig up bombs that had been dropped but didnt yet explode, he had a follow-up court date. To his surprise, he was offered to join the Marines again based on his volunteerism and work ethics.

He went on to earn two Purple Hearts and the Navy Gold Cross. Even a Good Behavior ribbon.

During this long process of searching and researching, though, Kays mother died. Soon after, COVID-19 hit.

The government pretty much shut down, Kay said.

Finally

The phone call that the family had been waiting for since 1944  78 years  finally came in 2022.

They called and said, We have a match,' Kay recalled of the phone call from the military. They said, Weve identified him.'

Her reaction?

I cried, she said.

One of the first people she alerted was Roecker. He was also invited by the family to the funeral in Hawaii, which was held in October 2023.

Later, he wrote about it in a poem-like post on the Missing Marines page on Facebook:

Twenty-one shots rang out. Ospreys thundered overhead. Taps sounded.

(You cant not tear up if the bugler knows what theyre doing,

and by god this one did.)

For about five minutes,

I told what I knew about Arthur.

It wasnt everything. It will never be everything. But 

It was an ending.

Of a life story, and a life quest.

Arthurs where he needs to be 

shouting distance, at least, from three who died with him;

Wood, Knight, and Hester.

And we who live,

who never thought this day would come,

enjoyed a day in the Hawaiian sun

with him.

A memory on a mantel

On Friday  the 80th anniversary of Ervins death  his 13-year-old great-niece, Lilly, reflected on her familys journey from Saipan to Chisago City to Honolulu:

I felt honored to be part of Arthurs funeral, she said in a text message. It was an amazing experience.

I was also so happy to see Mom accomplish this. She worked for years trying to find Arthur for Grandma and often cried hitting roadblocks.

I didnt realize just how big this was until the actual funeral  to see someone buried as a hero and receive the honors he did was amazing.

Now some of those honors are framed in a shadow box, including a folded U.S. flag and Ervins military medals. The box is displayed on the fireplace mantel of the lake home where Kay lives with her husband and two of their children in Chisago City.

This home was also the homestead of Dyer and her late husband, who moved here after they retired, so it feels right to keep Ervins keepsakes in a prominent spot.

She used to say, I wonder if well ever find out, I still wonder what happened to my brother,' Kay said. Im glad we have closure, but I certainly wish it had happened before she passed.

But I know they were reunited in Heaven.

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Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) has a message for his fellow Democrats about the panic around President Bidens candidacy: slow down and take a deep breath.

Garamendi joined Fox News Saturday to discuss the ongoing debate over Bidens ability to take on former President Trump and serve another four years as debate fallout continues.

I would say hold on here. Lets not get into a panic. Lets understand the enormous importance and the important work that Biden has done and what he can do in the days ahead, he said as a message to House Democrats.

Slow this down, this feeding frenzy thats going on by the press and by many of my colleagues, Garamendi continued. Slow down, take a deep breath. Lets take a look at what this president has done and also what hes managed to do since that debate.

Garamendis comments come as a growing number of House Democrats have called on Biden to step aside and allow someone else to have the opportunity to run.

Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) all have publicly called on Biden to step aside.

Doggett, the first to make that call, said he hoped the debate would help the presidents campaign, but that he was left disappointed.

Grijalva said he will still support Biden but thinks its time the party chooses someone new. Quigley asked Biden to help the country by preventing utter catastrophe by letting someone else run.

Moulton said Thursday that Biden should follow in former President George Washingtons footsteps and step aside for new leaders to take on Trump. Craig said she doesnt believe Biden can beat Trump and there is too much at stake.

Since the debate, Biden and his campaign have been in clean-up mode. Theyve tried to appeal to displeased voters through energetic rallies and an on-camera interview Friday, neither of which have stifled the calls for him to resign.

In the recent interview, Biden admits that the debate was one bad night. Garamendi said, Each and every one of us has a bad day or bad night.

Hes carrying on the task of being president, which is a 24/7 task. He also is doing the campaign, the California lawmaker said. Not easy to both of these, but he has. And he has shown since the debate that he is strong on the stage.

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California's workplace violence prevention law is now in effect. Here's how it changes things

The 2021 shooting that left nine employees dead at this light-rail yard in San Jose was catalyst for SB 553, written by state Sen. Dave Cortese, a Democrat. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Beginning this month, California businesses will be required to have plans in place to prevent violence in the workplace.

Senate Bill 553, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last fall, requires that employers develop plans to protect workplaces from foreseeable threats of violence, which can range from bullying and harassment to active shooter and hostage situations. Under the law, employers were to have these comprehensive plans in place by July 1.

Heres what you should know about the new law:

Who pushed for the workplace violence prevention law, and why?

State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), who wrote the legislation, said he began looking into regulating workplace violence after a major shooting in 2021 at a light-rail yard roiled his district. In the incident, an employee killed nine colleagues at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority before taking his own life.

Surveying the scene soon after the shooting, Cortese said he felt there could have been a clear plan for how workers might respond in such a situation. It would have saved lives, he said.

Cortese said the requirements outlined by the law took cues from a regulation the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health had been in the process of developing. Their safety standard, however, given their lengthy rule-making process and bureaucratic delays, probably would have taken several more years to get final approval.

More than half of such shootings in 2021 occurred in places of commerce, including grocery stores and manufacturing sites, according to the FBI.

SB 553 was backed by several unions, among them the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council. The union sought a law that would help address what it described as a rash of violent attacks at grocery stores and pharmacies, as workers were being pressured by their employers to crack down on shoplifting.

Grocery and other retail workers who interact with the public have long worried about violence in the workplace. Notably, they faced harassment and at times assault from customers who refused to comply with mask mandates in the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fast-food workers also have complained of violent and dangerous customers.

Did anyone oppose the legislation? If so, why?

Industry groups such as the National Retail Assn. had vehemently opposed SB 553, arguing the paperwork would be overly burdensome for businesses.

They also took issue with a provision the bill had in its early stages that prohibited businesses from requiring nonsecurity employees to confront shoplifters and active shooters. That language was later removed. Eventually, the trade groups dropped their opposition.

What exactly is required under the law?

Legal experts said many companies had already started loosely addressing workplace violence concerns as mass shootings and other violent incidents dominated headlines over the years. The law helps to clarify employers obligations in this arena, experts said.

The law defines four types of workplace violence employers should try to prevent: violent action by a third-party person with no real reason to be at the worksite  essentially, a stranger showing up and harming an employee; violence by parties that are entitled to be there, such as customers, clients, patients or other authorized visitors; violence committed against employees by another employee; and violence by a third party who has a romantic or other personal relationship with an employee.

Under the law, most California businesses with at least 10 employees are required to have a policy document identifying potential violence and plans to deal with it  either as a standalone document, or as part of an existing injury and illness prevention policy.

They must also make workers aware of the violence prevention plan through annual training, and maintain a log of incidents of violence over a minimum of five years.

What else should I know about the law?

The law makes it easier for employees  or the unions that represent them  to get temporary restraining orders if they are threatened by a coworker or someone else in the workplace.

Thats a big thing  most employees dont get to choose who they work with or what happens at work, said Ian A. Wright, a labor and employment attorney at Alston & Bird. It gives employees an additional form of protection that they can go and seek themselves.

Noncompliance could be met with civil penalties, and businesses that havent yet implemented the law are already several days past the deadline.

My advice would be to get it done as soon as possible, Wright said.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The federal judge overseeing former President Trumps classified documents case granted his request to delay a few deadlines further so prosecutors can evaluate the Supreme Courts immunity ruling.

Trumps lawyers on Friday asked Judge Aileen Cannon for permission to file more documents to argue that the former president should be immune from prosecution in the case.

In their motion this week, Trumps team proposed a schedule that extends through early September, meaning a ruling wouldnt come until at least the fall.

On Saturday, Cannon, a Trump appointee, said prosecutors and special counsel Jack Smith had until July 18 to respond to the Trump argument requesting for a delay.

Cannon also postponed two deadlines in the case, which is only expected to cause a minor delay.

The former president has pleaded not guilty in the case.

Trumps lawyers say the recent Supreme Court decision that grants presidents protections for official acts should apply to the case, in which he is accused of mishandling classified records and attempting to obstruct the government from retrieving them after he was out of office.

The former presidents team asked Cannon to halt the case except for the pending request for a gag order. His lawyers also noted Justice Clarence Thomass concurring opinion in the Supreme Court decision, where he questioned special counsel Jack Smiths motivations and authority.

Smith argued that fallout from the Supreme Court decision doesnt apply to the documents case because he has not charged Trump over any official acts. The prosecution said the documents were taken and he tried to obstruct the FBI from obtaining them at his Mar-a-Lago residence after he was already out of power.

The 6-3 ruling along ideological lines dismantles some of Smiths indictment of Trump but prosecutors largely have dismissed the idea that the case should be thrown out entirely.

There is no trial date set in the case. Cannon was criticized after she suspended the start date of the trial indefinitely after saying she needed more time to examine pretrial motions filed by Trumps team asking her to toss the case.

Updated at 6:53 p.m. EST.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A large law enforcement presence was in northwest Columbus at the Scioto River after a car was found underwater Saturday morning.

A spokesperson for the Columbus Department of Fire said multiple crews were sent to the intersection of Riverside Drive and Lane Road at around 10:30 a.m. for a water rescue.

Gahanna roundabout project presents struggle for local business

A fisherman on the water found a vehicle underwater using sonar and called 911. Columbus fire divers went into the Scioto River and found a vehicle on its roof. A Columbus fire spokesperson said sediment was on top of the car, leading investigators to believe the car has been underwater for a prolonged period of time.

NBC4 Photo/Steve Wainfor

NBC4 Photo/Steve Wainfor

NBC4 Photo/Steve Wainfor

No one has been found in the water as a result of this incident, per a Columbus Fire spokesperson.

At 11:30 a.m., Columbus fire confirmed they are handing over the investigation to Columbus polices dive recovery team.

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Several key participants in the Carlie Brucia murder case recently reunited for a panel discussion at the 2024 Florida Court Reporters Association Conference at The Westin Sarasota. From left, Richard Scire, Ray Collins, Debra Johnes Riva, Toby Davis, Dr. Russell Vega, and Michael Scire.

Carlie Brucia murder case subject of panel discussion

The 2024 Florida Court Reporters Association recently hosted a panel to discuss the Carlie Brucia murder case during their annual conference at The Westin Sarasota.

Former Fox 13 News anchor Ray Collins, who covered the trial, moderated the talk involving several of the trial's principal participants: Sarasota County lead prosecutor Debra Johnes Riva, co-lead Detective Toby Davis of the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, and District 12 Medical Examiner Dr. Russell Vega. The panel was assembled by Richard Scire and Michael Scire, both stenographers for the trial.

Former Fox 13 News anchor Ray Collins moderates a panel discussion on the 2004 Carlie Brucia murder case. During the question and answer portion of the event, Debra Johnes Riva, lead prosecutor at the time, said no connection between the killer and the victim's family was found despite speculation to the contrary.

The 11-year-old girl was kidnapped and killed in February 2004 by Joseph Smith in a crime that became international news. The abduction was caught on a surveillance camera behind a car wash on Bee Ridge Road. During the question and answer portion of the event, Johnes Riva said, despite speculation to the contrary, no connection between the killer and the victim's family was found.

Smith, who was convicted in November 2005 of kidnapping, rape, and murder, was found dead in prison in July 2021 while awaiting execution. The cause was liver cancer.

New event for LGBTQ+ seniors at Senior Friendship Centers

Senior Friendship Centers is offering a new social program for LGBTQ+ seniors, "Rainbow Connections," on the second Thursday of each month from 4:30-6 p.m. at the Sarasota Campus, 1888 Brother Geenen Way.

The social program is dedicated to fostering community, support, and celebration among LGBTQ+ older adults who, statistics show, are twice as likely to live alone and often face shrinking social and support networks.

"Most LGBTQ+ older adults grew up in a generation where they werent supported," said Erin McLeod, president of Senior Friendship Centers. "Senior Friendship Centers has always been an advocate for overlooked seniors. Introducing Rainbow Connections exemplifies our commitment to ensuring that all seniors, regardless of their identity, never need to 'go it alone.'"

The recurring monthly mixer will feature a member of the arts community who will speak and perform, followed by a Q&A session with complimentary food and beer/wine. The July 11 event features award-winning actor, playwright, director, and teacher Blake Walton. For registration and information, visit eventbrite.com (tinyurl.com/58vrm549).

Membership opportunity nears for Women Contemporary Artists

Women Contemporary Artists, a regional organization with more than 150 actively engaged visual artists, will soon be accepting applications for new members.

The organization's mission is to provide visibility, support, and inspiration to women artists in the community with all levels of experience. No jurying is required to be accepted into the group, ensuring an inclusive and welcoming environment. The application period is Sept. 1-Oct. 31.

"I thought Id never have a group of artist friends to share my artistic life with after relocating to Florida. Was I ever wrong," member Judy Lyons Schneider said. "My dearest and closest friends are ones Ive met through WCA. Theyve nurtured my growth as an artist and helped me grow.

Visit womencontemporaryartists.com or email membershipwcartists@gmail.com for more information.

Around and about

The Venice Area Board of Realtors recently presented $1,000 scholarships to 21 Venice High School graduates with proceeds from the groups Chili Cook-Off and golf tournament. Since the scholarship program began in 1992, more than $475,000 has been raised for scholarships. Front row: Audrey Van Osdol, Payton McDowell, Savannah Darby, Shipton MacDonald, Lucy Thomas, Aryana Lovely, Alexandra Council, Nicole Beatty, and Hannah Reynolds; back row: Bailey Barnes, Jack Bertram, Brandon Nuttall, Carson Foster, Jack George, Riley Vance, Allison Schapley, and Madison Egan. (Not pictured: Allison Keita, Sophia Teijelo, Addyson Domain and Leila Bartlett.)

 The Venice Area Historical Society presented their 2024 Dr. William Jervey Scholarship to Venice High School's Jack Bertram, who will be attending the University of Florida. Bertram served as senior class president, president of the Future Business Leaders of America, and was an American Legion Boys State delegate. Bertram plans to major in economics and minor in political science with aspirations for law school.

 Registration is underway for the 13th annual Tour de North Port on Oct. 20 sponsored by People for Trees. The on-road bicycle fun ride with routes of 15, 35, or 65 miles passes through North Ports natural settings, including pine flatwoods and parks that border the Myakkahatchee Creek. SWAG bags and T-shirts for the first 400 to register; group discounts available. Visit peoplefortrees.com or email Alice White (treelady12001@yahoo.com) for registration/information.

 Wellen Park in North Port is hosting a new monthly market on the second Thursday of each month. The Downtown Wellen Night Market (19745 Wellen Park Blvd.) debuts on July 11 from 6-9 p.m. The Night Market will offer home decor, fashion, art, design, and specialty food items from a rotating lineup of vendors each month. For a list of vendors in the inaugural Night Market, visit wellenpark.com/events/night-market.

 Bee Ridge Presbyterian Little White Historic Church, 4826 S. McIntosh Road, Sarasota will host Piano Friends on July 20 at 1:30 p.m. Over a dozen pianists with a range of talent and music will play. axhandle@comcast.net.

Submissions by Ray Collins, Jodel Velarde, Nancy Hielscher, Marlene Merkle, Bill Haberthur, Alice White, Emily Ford, and Debye Bernard.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Carlie Brucia murder case is focus of panel discussion in Sarasota
Sheilah Nicholas, a professor in the College of Education and faculty member in the university's American Indian Language Development Institute, leads a workshop for the Gila River Indian Community in 2019. The institute is now home to a new West Region Native American Language Resource Center, which will help empower tribal communities to revitalize and maintain their languages. (Photo/Courtesy of AILDI)

A new center at the University of Arizona is one of only four designated by the U.S. Department of Education to lead a collective effort to empower tribal communities across the country to revitalize and maintain their languages.

A five-year grant for $1.7 million from the Department of Education began funding the new West Region Native American Language Resource Center in the fall.

The new center, administratively housed in the university's American Indian Language Development Institute, is one of four inaugural centers doing similar work at other institutions. The others are a national center at the University of Hawai'i and three regional centers at the University of Oregon and Little Priest Tribal College in Winnebago, Nebraska. The U of A center will primarily serve Indigenous communities in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.

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All four centers are already working collaboratively to promote a collective approach to service and assistance to existing language programs and those in development.

A track record of tribal language revitalization

The new center will be largely an extension of what the university's American Indian Language Development Institute, or AILDI, has been doing for decades. Established in 1978, AILDI's core programming involves bringing tribal members to campus for workshops to promote the use of tribal languages as a key aspect of revitalization efforts.

Ofelia Zepeda, a Regents Professor of linguistics in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and director of AILDI, serves as co-principal investigator for the new center. Sheilah E. Nicholas, a professor in the College of Education and AILDI faculty member, will serve as center director. Zepeda and Nicholas have a decades-long track record of helping tribal communities revitalize and promote the use of their languages, making AILDI the perfect home for the new center.

"When we looked at the call for proposals for the grant, the things it listed were the things we were doing for years," said Zepeda, a renowned Tohono O'odham linguist who wrote the first grammar book in the Tohono O'odham language. The grant will also pay for much of the training for tribal communities.

The new center will more formally establish the network of partnerships across tribal communities and other institutions that have applied the AILDI model in service to local tribal community language revitalization efforts: the University of Oregon's Northwest Indigenous Language Institute, and the Hopilavayi Summer Institute from 2004 to 2010 in the Hopi community in northeastern Arizona, Nicholas said.

Partnerships with tribes that tailor Indigenous language education to each community will be the core of the center's work, Zepeda and Nicholas said, adding that each community has unique linguistic needs that are deeply linked to geographic location. The western United States is the most linguistically diverse region in the U.S., with California alone being home to more than 100 Indigenous languages, Nicholas said.

"Enumeration has always been a curiosity from the outside," she said, driven by many linguists' narrow view of how language is used. "If we can shift and show the vitality, it broadens the definition of language  it's not just a form that people use to communicate on a daily basis. That's often the measure, but there's many different kinds of forms, such as prayers and songs, that still use the language."

Much of the center's programming will involve an instructional technique known as Indigenous language immersion, which Nicholas has taught to tribal educators since the 1990s. Indigenous language immersion involves developing teaching methods that use the language as the medium of instruction 50 to 100% of the time.These techniques, influenced by French immersion in Canada, were first applied by the Mohawk Indigenous community in North America, and later became an Indigenous language immersion school movement for the Hawai'ian language and Maori, the language of the Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. The new center has the potential to support this growing movement, Zepeda and Nicholas said.

AILDI has helped implement Indigenous language immersion instruction in communities across the U.S., and the new center will allow the institute to expand support of community language revitalization efforts into the education systems serving Indigenous communities, Zepeda and Nicholas said.

One challenge for Indigenous language teachers, who are often so busy working in the classroom, is finding enough time and resources to evaluate their curriculums and show how effective they are.

"One question we always get from educators is, 'I see why we should do this, but where is the buy-in among decision-makers?'" Nicholas said.

Emerging research, she added, confirms that Indigenous language immersion education is not subtractive but additive  students are not only academically excelling but also learning their community's ancestral language and developing a strong cultural identity and a desire to give back.

A network of experts for tribal linguists

Growing up on the Tohono O'odham Nation, Ronald Geronimo learned O'odham as his first language and uses it every day.

Many O'odham children today do not speak the language fluently and only know a few vocabulary words, Geronimo said.

"Now, children look at the language as something only adults know or use," Geronimo said. "Some of them think that you don't learn the language until you get older because they only see older people speaking it."

As co-director of Tohono O'odham Community College's O'odham Ni'oki Ki:, or O'odham Language Center, Geronimo helps lead a mission to "reclaim" the O'odham language  returning its usage to everyday life.

To do that, Geronimo and his colleagues at the center have developed programs to teach O'odham to children in schools and immerse students in the language.

Geronimo has partnered for years with AILDI to develop the center's programs. They include partnering O'odham language experts with elementary educators to help them teach courses in the language, as well as teaching parents who may also not be fluent how to use the language more often around their children at home.

"We're trying to have a comprehensive approach, not just to doing immersion in the school but also with the parents and in the communities with the overall goal of having the child grow up seeing the language," he said.

The federal grant that established the new center, Geronimo said, will provide a valuable network where he and other tribal linguists can connect and share resources toward a shared goal to support Indigenous language revitalization.

"We'll have a lot more resources to do what we want to do, and maybe we don't have the funding to do it, but maybe they can assist in that way," Geronimo said. "It's a good thing to have that expertise available."

Ultimately, Zepeda said, how the center works will be largely up to the tribal communities that come to use its resources.

"We'll have our own ideas to meet the obligations of the grant," Zepeda said. "But we'll also be listening to the communities about what they want and what they need."

About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  The founder and superintendent of two Columbus charter schools and former Homeland Security advisor has pleaded guilty to a bank fraud charge, using the money to help buy his New Albany home.

Abdirizak Y. Farah, 59, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bank fraud Monday and faces up to 30 years in prison.

Farah founded Focus Learning Academy of Northern Columbus (FLANC) in 2007 and Focus Learning Academy of Central Columbus (FLACC) in 2020, according to the office of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth L. Parker. From August 2010 through September 2022, Farah also served as a senior policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

According to the U.S. attorneys office, Farah bought a $900,000 home on Lambton Park Road in New Albany in August 2020. With his plea, Farah admitted to requesting a $265,000 payment two days before the closing be made from a Focus Learning bank account to another person for learning materials. That same day, Farah notified the bank that was handling the home closing that he had been gifted $260,000 that was unrelated to his buying the home.

The following day, the person who received the $265,000 then wired that money to the title company handling the closing, the U.S. attorneys office said. FLANC vendors then paid that unnamed person approximately $265,000 over the next few days, with that money being returned to Focus Learning accounts.

As part of the plea agreement, Farah will pay back $265,000.

Farahs sentencing has not been scheduled.

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CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY)  A fire broke out at a home in the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake on Saturday afternoon.

Crews responded to the 1200 block of Masters Row at the Greenbrier Country Club around 1:48 p.m. and found smoke coming from the front door. Firefighters found the source of the fire was the crawl space, in a tough area to access.

Firefighters with Rescue Company 15 ended up having to open up the floor so the fire could be extinguished. It was eventually called under control at 2:20 p.m.

Only one person was home at the time, and no injuries were reported. The resident was able to evacuate quickly due to working smoke detectors.

Investigators ruled the fire as accidental and due to an equipment failure in the crawl space. The occupants have been displaced but are making their own lodging arrangements, firefighters say.

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A supreme court decision that overturned the Chevron doctrine could upend regulations on everything from tobacco to pharmaceuticals to surprise medical bills, experts told the Guardian.

The 40-year-old legal framework, the Chevron doctrine, once directed courts to defer to the expertise of federal agencies, such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In a far-reaching decision, the courts conservative supermajority held last week in Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo and Relentless Inc v Department of Commerce that the reverse should apply, with courts having the final say over even highly technical regulations.

Related: The US supreme court utterly distorted the true threat to American democracy | Lawrence Douglas

This was a gut punch for health, safety and the environment in the US, said Prof Lawrence O Gostin, an expert in health law and a professor at Georgetown Laws ONeill Institute. Therell be no area where agencies act to protect the publics health or safety or the environment that wont be adversely affected by this ruling.

Liberal Justice Elena Kagan predicted the decision would jolt the legal system by dispensing with a framework that had become part of the warp and woof of modern government.

Combined with a second, less high-profile ruling that expanded the time for people to sue agencies, experts said the end of the Chevron doctrine is certain to be felt in the everyday lives of Americans.

For instance, the tobacco industry may have an easier time challenging controversial regulations on vaping products; drug makers could face new uncertainties as they invest millions in new research and development; and it may be easier for doctors to argue against rules that prohibit sending patients surprise medical bills. In turn, agencies may divert funding from staff experts, such as scientists, to attorneys, who can defend their decisions.

At the same time, the courts opinion was cheered by big business and Republican allies. Senator Mitch McConnell said the decision leaves no room for an unelected bureaucracy to co-opt this authority for itself, CNBC reported.

The Chevron doctrine is named for the 1983 supreme court case Chevron v Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In the heart of the Reagan administrations de-regulatory efforts, the court sided with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which at the time issued a regulation environmental advocates viewed as friendly to industry.

Chevron quickly became a landmark opinion. By the late 1980s, the Chevron framework appeared in up to 40% of supreme court opinions, growing to 60% by the 1990s. One of the doctrines greatest proponents was conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, according to an article by Columbia Law School professor Thomas Merrill, a Federalist Society contributor and an expert on the doctrine. As of 2014, Chevron was accumulating roughly 1,000 new legal citations per year by lower courts.

It is not overstating the matter to say that Chevron has become one of a handful of decisions  along with Marbury v Madison, Brown v Board of Education, and Roe v Wade  that are the material for a continuing collective meditation about the role of the courts and indeed of the law itself in the governance of our society, Merrill wrote.

What changed philosophically for conservatives is a matter of debate. The supreme court had not cited Chevron in its last eight years of decisions, ScotusBlog reported.

What is not in question is how the political landscape has changed since the 1980s, when courts deferred to Reagans de-regulatory agencies. The nations courts are now much more conservative, because the Trump administration successfully appointed nearly one-third of the federal judiciary.

In a dissent by liberal justice Elena Kagan, and joined by liberal colleagues Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonya Sotomayor, the justice wrote that the court had, in one fell swoop, given itself exclusive power over every open issue  no matter how expertise-driven or policy-laden  involving the meaning of regulatory law.

The decision could have particularly resounding consequences for agencies with highly technical work, such as the FDA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), experts said.

The case has profound implications on the FDA in particular, because over time weve had so many new innovations come before the agency, said Dr Reshma Ramachandran, an assistant professor of family medicine at Yale School of Medicine and a health policy expert.

Without the Chevron doctrine directing courts to defer to agencies expertise, judges may be the final arbiters of questions about how to regulate a new cell or gene therapy, that doesnt really fall under the statutory definitions, from the 1960s, she said.

This goes back to one of the questions [justices] asked the attorneys who challenged Chevron deference, Ramachandran said. Do you think the courts have sufficient expertise for judges to determine the difference between a drug and a nutritional supplement?

Or, to name a few more technical questions of law  what is a medical device for regulatory purposes? Is a diagnostic test a medical device? Or, to take an example used by Kagan, how should Medicare measure a geographic area for the purpose of determining payments to physicians?

Overturning Chevron is not likely to upend administrative agencies overnight  agencies will still be able to put forth regulations, collect data and issue regulations and guidance.

Its still a little bit early to figure out how Congress is going to change writing and bills, said Jeffrey Davis, a health policy consultant at McDermott Consulting, a lobbying and policy firm in Washington.

However, Davis said the ruling will put more pressure on Congress to be more explicit in its intent. And more pressure on Congress may mean more influence from special interest groups during bill drafting.

Healthcare is already Washingtons most monied industry group. In 2023, pharmaceutical and health products companies spent $382m lobbying federal lawmakers, according to OpenSecrets, a research group that tracks spending.

The ruling could also supercharge court shopping, when attorneys seek friendly venues. In just one recent example of court shopping, attorneys seeking to undermine FDA approval for the medication abortion drug mifepristone brought the case in a highly conservative district court in Texas, where the judge was known to hold anti-abortion views, and ultimately ruled in their favor.

Theres certain courts across the country that are going to be very, very busy, said Davis.
CHICAGO  A Chicago man accused of carjacking an elderly woman at gunpoint on the citys Far South Side is now facing a felony charge.

Chicago police say 19-year-old Trevon Robinson, a Back of the Yards resident, has been charged with one felony count of aggravated vehicular hijacking with a firearm.

Investigation underway after inmate dies at Porter County Jail

Authorities say the charge stems from an incident that allegedly unfolded just after 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, in the 1900 block of East 95th Street in South Deering.

Officers say Robinson allegedly held an 83-year-old woman at gunpoint and stole her vehicle.

According to Ald. Matthew OShea (19th Ward), the woman was not harmed in the incident.

Authorities eventually caught up with Robinson on Tuesday and he was taken into custody by members of the Chicago Police Vehicular Hijacking Task Force.

LATEST CASES: Missing people in Chicagoland

I would like to thank the Chicago Police Department and Cook County States Attorneys Office for their work in getting this habitual gun offender off the street, OShea said in a statement on Friday.

Robinson appeared in court on Thursday for a detention hearing.

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It wasn't long before Jennifer Williams noticed there was something unusual about the two young girls she was fostering. Three-year-old Arya Hernandez was bright, outgoing, and without any of the behavioral issues Williams had become accustomed to over more than a decade as a foster parent in Georgia. But 4-month-old Emma seemed sickly. The baby's soft spot was too big for her age and in the wrong part of her head, and the whites of her eyes were discolored. She was also bowlegged and held her limbs in an unusual, awkward way.

Williams was only taking care of the girls for the weekend while their usual foster parent was out of town. She decided to call the girls' foster mom to ask why she wasn't told about Emma's medical problems.

"She texted me back pretty quickly and says, 'Well, did no one tell you Emma and Arya are in foster care because of abuse?'" Williams says. "'Emma was abused physically by her parents.'"

The response surprised Williams. If baby Emma was abused by her parentsresulting in fractures, as the foster parent told herwhy did no one warn her?

When the girls left to go back to their usual foster home, Williams contacted the girls' caseworker about her concerns. The caseworker thanked her for her insight and told her that the child protection agency was looking into medical evaluations for Emma. Still unsettled, Williams decided to search for the girls' family on social media. What she found left her even more perturbed.

"My family is facing an emergency and are in dire need of your help," a July 10 Facebook post from Wilairat "Tuckey" Hernandez, the girls' mother, began. "On June 6, 2023, my husband and I had our two daughters Arya and Emma taken from us at the Children's Hospital by the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS). We took Emma to The Hospital after noticing she had unexplained swelling on one of her legs.Images were taken of Emma's leg and rib cage and it was determined she had a fractured leg and cracked left ribs."

Tuckey's post went on to describe how DFCS had accused her of abuse within hours of arriving at the hospital, despite no other signs of abuse or dysfunction in the family. While Tuckey suspected an underlying medical condition could have caused her daughter's fractures, getting her tested would be difficult with the girls in DFCS custody, and possibly financially prohibitive. Making matters even worse, Tuckeya Thai immigrant who had worked as an au pair when she first came to the United Stateshad now been charged with child abuse.

"This situation is tearing me and Matthew apart, and causing extreme stress for both of our children," she wrote. "Especially my baby Emma who was 100% breastfeeding prior to all this."

As she read Tuckey's post, Williams began to sense that something terribly wrong had happened to the Hernandez family.

"There was nothing in their post except asking for help, for concern, for their baby," she says. "That's what really got to me."

As Williams looked more into the family's situation, a terrible story emerged. The Hernandezes were trapped in a system from which escape is almost impossible. It wasn't unreasonable for DFCS to look into whether Emma's injuries could have been caused by abuse. Hundreds of children die from abuse or neglect each year, many of them infants like Emma. But once alternative explanations for Emma's injuries emerged, it became hard to interpret the state's insistence that she was abused as anything but self-protective, bureaucraticand cruel.

The Hernandez family's story is one of an overly aggressive child welfare system and that system's reliance on a group of controversial physicians. But most of all, it's the story of a vicious cycle, one that makes it incredibly difficult for parents to prove their innocence after an accusation of abuse has been lodged.Unfortunately, the Hernandezes are far from alone.

"Our girls are our lives and we love them more than anything," Tuckey wrote. "I miss my daughters so much and pray every night for God to protect them, keep them safe and bring them back home to us soon."

'The State Never Let Up'

When Matt and Tuckey Hernandez took their baby to the doctor, they had no idea their lives were about to be upended.

In June 2023, the Hernandezes lived in Forsyth County, Georgia, with their two daughters. Matt worked at a nearby instrument store, and Tuckey was taking a break from her usual work in Thai restaurants after giving birth to Emma in March.

When Emma was born, it was immediately clear she was different from her older sister.In a transcript of a family court hearing obtained by Reason, Tuckey relayed how Emma had frequent colds and seemed to bruise easily, especially from where she had been buckled into her car seat. Emma's soft spot was also much larger than Arya's had been.

In late May, the Hernandezes saw an unusual bruise behind Emma's ear. Even though she didn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort, Matt took a photo of it.

(Courtesy of the Hernandez family)

On June 5, about two weeks later, Tuckey texted Matt a picture of some swelling on Emma's leg. Again, she didn't seem to be in any pain, but the swelling still concerned them both. Arya had a regular pediatrician appointment scheduled for the next day, so Matt and Tuckey decided to take Emma along to express their concerns about her unusual symptoms.

At the appointment, the family's pediatrician told the couple that Emma needed to be immediately taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), a nearby children's hospital. Unbeknownst to Matt and Tuckey as they rushed their infant to the hospital, their pediatrician was calling ahead and telling CHOA doctors that she suspected abuse.

Once they got to CHOA, Matt wasn't allowed inside the hospital. Emma and Tuckey went in alone.

"I was kind of stuck outside with Arya because they were only letting one parent in," he says. For more than an hour, he stood outside with his daughter, unaware of what was going on inside.

According to legal documents obtained by Reason, hospital employees took X-rays of Emma's entire body, as well as a C.T. scan of her skull. Radiologists found healing fractures on multiple ribs and fractures on her right leg. Later, Arya was also subjected to X-rays, but no injuries were found. Stephen Messner, a child abuse pediatrician, performed a physical exam on Emma and reviewed her many scans. In a family court hearing transcript, another doctor testified that Messner then concluded that the baby's injuries could not have been accidental.

Immediately after Messner's diagnosis, everything started to move at lightning speed.

"We were just very bluntly told by a nurse that [abuse] is what they thought was happening and that they had already contacted DFCS and law enforcement," Matt says. He stayed in the hospital with Tuckey for hours, unsure of what was going to happen. Eventually, he fell asleep. When he woke up around 11:00 p.m., his wife was gone.

"She was, I later found out, being interrogated by a DFCS investigator and two police officers," Matt says. "And then it was very quickly after that that a [DFCS worker] came into the room and told us that both the kids were being placed in state custody."

"We didn't really understand how they decided to do that, considering neither of us have any criminal history and we brought our child to them on our own." he adds. "From the very get-go, I thought that this was a little harsh and aggressive, but the state never let up."

(Photo: Courtesy of Tony Schulz)

A Family Separated

The girls were initially placed with their aunt and uncle, Tony and Tuk Schulz. It seemed like a natural and humane choice. The Schulzes were already very close with their young nieces; the two families spent a lot of time together, and Arya was already regularly sleeping over at her aunt and uncle's house.

But it wasn't long before the Schulzes also faced accusations of abuse. Just a few weeks after getting custody of the girls, Tony and Tuk took Emma to the doctor after they noticed an unusual, rashlike bruise on her leg and feet. The Schulzes then called DFCS, which told them to take Emma back to CHOA.

At CHOA, Emma was subjected to more X-rays, but no additional fractures were uncovered. Nonetheless, DFCS moved to remove the girls from their aunt and uncle. In a later hearing, DFCS administrator Ashley Smith theorized that the bruise must have appeared after Tony and Tuk either abused Emma themselves or had allowed Tuckey to do so.

Emma remained hospitalized for six days, separated from her alleged abusers, yet her condition rapidly worsened. She was placed on a feeding tube.

Making the situation worse, Tuckey had already been arrested on child abuserelated charges and jailed. While in jail, she pumped breast milk in the hope that it would be given to baby Emma.

As a condition of her bond, Tuckey was barred from visiting the girls, even while supervised. She was also banned from seeing or talking to her husband, her sister, and her brother-in-lawher entire family in the United States.

Still, Tuckey continued pumping breast milk for her daughter and delivering it to the DFCS building. It's unclear if any of it made it to Emma. When Williams had the girls for the weekend, she says she was only given formula.

Within the span of a few weeks, Matt's entire family had been taken from him. His once-full house sat quiet. He was allowed supervised visits with his daughters, but it wasn't the same.

"We've missed so much, it's hard to even keep track." he told Reason in February, listing a litany of events and holidaysThanksgiving, Christmas, his wedding anniversary, Arya's birthdaythat he was forced to spend alone. "We've missed so many milestones. Emma is now basically walking."

"They've taken so much away from us," he added. "And my poor wife just has to stay at a friend's house. I can't even imagine."

A Shaky Diagnosis

In 2022, child protective services (CPS) agencies received more than 4 million allegations of child abuse and neglect in the United States. Of these cases, more than 500,000 children were determined to have been victims of abuse or neglect. Of those, 19.6 percent ended up in foster care.

The lifetime risk of being investigated by CPS is surprisingly large. A 2021 study of the largest American counties estimated that as many as one in three U.S. children will be the subject of a child welfare investigation by the time they turn 18.

While millions of families interact with CPS each year, the Hernandez family's case is relatively unusual. Of the kids determined to be victims in 2022, only 17 percent were victims of physical abuse and just 17.5 percent of these cases were reported by a medical professional.

The Hernandezes had the misfortune to encounter a very specific kind of medical professional. The allegations against them weren't lodged by just any nurse or doctor: They came from a child abuse pediatriciana member of a young, increasingly powerful medical subspecialty that has already become mired in several major controversies.

(Courtesy of the Hernandez family)

Interest in child abuse as a medical diagnosis began in the early 1960s, most notably with the publication of a 1962 article in The Journal of the American Medical Association titled "The Battered-Child Syndrome."The paper argued that child abuse should be suspected for a wide range of injuries including bruising or bone fractures. The paper was incredibly influential, and it helped inspire Congress to pass the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Actthe law that helped create the modern system of government-funded CPS agencies.

In 2009, the American Board of Pediatrics officially recognized child abuse pediatrics. By then, the field's greatest contributionthe "discovery" of shaken baby syndrome (SBS)had come under fire.

SBS first appeared in the medical literature in 1971, in a paper that theorized that in cases where a child presents with subdural hematomaa buildup of blood on the surface of the brainyet does not have external head injuries, the baby could have been shaken violently by their caregiver.

The diagnosis took off, with many child abusefocused pediatricians scrambling to label any child presenting with a "triad" of subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhage, and brain swelling as having been shaken. As a result, scores of parents and caregivers faced aggravated battery, abuse, and even murder chargesand child abusefocused doctors lined up to testify against them in court.

One such doctor was Messner, the child abuse pediatrician who first diagnosed Emma's fractures as having come from abuse. In 2014, he testified against Jamal Rashad Thomas, a young father who was charged with fatally shaking his 9-week-old son. Messner insisted that the baby's death was due to shakingeven though the premature infant didn't have a neck injury or retinal hemorrhaging, one of the "triad" symptoms of SBS. The charges against Thomas were dropped after prosecutors determined a jury would be unlikely to convict him.

As it turns out, the scientific basis behind many shaken baby diagnoses is incredibly weak. Experiments using test dummies have found no evidence that vigorous shaking causes the kind of brain damage observed in alleged SBS cases. There are also documented cases where children exhibited SBS symptoms after short falls from furniture. While many child abuse pediatricians still strenuously defend the diagnosis, in 2022 a New Jersey appeals court labeled the syndrome as "akin to junk science."

While the Hernandezes were not accused of violently shaking Emma, there is a common thread between her case and the discredited SBS cases of previous years. In case after case of alleged abuse, many child abuse pediatricians insist that violence was the only possible source of a child's injuries, even when there are medically plausible alternative explanations and the parents have every outward appearance of being loving caregivers. It doesn't help that many child abuse pediatricians are paid directly by child welfare agencies, creating incentives for them to make findings that support the government's case.

And when doctors make an accusation, it's difficult to dispute their findings. After all, they're experts.

"They're latching on to these parents who are coming in because we're cooperative," says Holly Simonton, board member* at Fractured Families, a group advocating for parents who say they were falsely accused of child abuse. "Innocent parents are going to say, 'Well, I don't know how this happened,' because they really don't.But they don't like it when you don't know the answer."

A Medical Explanation

After months in limbo, the Hernandezes' dependency hearing started on October 4. It would be a crucial opportunity for Matt to argue that his daughters should be returned to his custody. The hearingof which Reason obtained a transcriptwould also allow him to counter the narrative, pushed by DFCS, that Emma's injuries were a straightforward case of child abuse.

"To anybody with any common sense or any heart it went very strongly in our favor," Matt argues, adding that in addition to a bevy of character witnesses, he had two doctorsone the former chief medical examiner of Georgiatestifying on his behalf.

The state's theoryarticulated by Emmanuel Pena, a CHOA child abuse pediatrician who performed Emma's follow-up examinationwas that only physical abuse could have caused the injuries.

CHOA identified three fractures on Emma's ribs, three on her right leg, and suspicion of a fracture on her right foot. She also had swelling in her right leg, the symptom that originally prompted her parents to seek medical care. The Hernandezes also told investigators that Emma had a history of bruising, a symptom that would persist even after she was separated from her parents.

Ironically, when Emma's day care center later reported marks on her arm similar to those reported by her parents and aunt, Smith argued in a hearing that these weren't bruises, calling them blue "discoloration."

"So the chest injuries combined with the bruising immediately sets us on high alert for some mishandling of the child. But then when we get to the lower extremitiesnow we have a total of four highly specific injuries for abuse of handling," Pena testified, adding that Emma's rib fractures "would have to be generated by a very forceful, rapid, and compressive force to the chest," similar to CPR compressions.

Pena also noted that CHOA ran several medical tests to rule out several common medical conditions that could cause Emma's injuries, which came back negative. When asked by DFCS attorney Danielle Benefield whether the discovery of any other medical conditions in Emma could change his mind, he answered with a firm "no."

Two doctors testifying for the Hernandez family disagreed.

Kris Sperry, a forensic pathologist, argued that Pena's certainty about the source of Emma's injuries wasn't backed by evidence. Sperry said that there's no scientific proof that abusive handling is required for the kind of fractures that CHOA claimed Emma had.

Instead, Sperry theorized that Emma's fractures could have been caused by bone weakness resulting from low vitamin D. After arriving at CHOA, a blood test found that Emma had vitamin D levels of just 15.6. According to Pena himself, normal vitamin D is anything above 30, with deficiency starting below 15 or 20.

It isn't surprising that Emma had low vitamin D. At the hearing, Tuckey testified that she never gave Emma a vitamin D supplement, though supplementation is typically recommended for newborns. Further, since Emma was exclusively breastfed, that put her at greater risk for vitamin D deficiency.

Another expert witness, Anthony Perszyk, a geneticist with extensive experience reading X-rays, testified that Emma had neonatal ricketsagain, a result of low vitamin D.

Pena dismissed this theory, arguing that Emma was too old to be diagnosed with neonatal rickets, which typically, though not exclusively, presents in premature infants.

Matt was frustrated by the way Pena seemed to be taken more seriously than the other two doctors.

Perszyk "showed all the X-rays circled and pointed out that clearly Emma has neonatal rickets. He pointed out the cupping in the ribs and the bones. He showed how her skull had continued to open up after she was taken out of our custody," Matt says, adding that Pena "got up there with no visual aid. He just gave a speech."

'I've Never Seen Them Behave This Way'

Sperry and Persyck weren't the only ones skeptical of DFCS' theories. At the dependency hearing, a series of witnesses volunteered on the Hernandezes' behalf, including Williams, a forensic interview specialist, Matt's visitation supervisor, and multiple friends and family members. Each either reported that the Hernandezes were loving and concerned parents or expressed surprise at how DFCS was treating them.

What's more, later that month, two more major figures would come out in support of reunification. According to legal documents obtained by Reason, both the court-appointed special advocate and the guardian ad litema court-appointed community member and a lawyer, respectively, each designated to advocate for the Hernandez children's best interestswould support reunifying the family rather than separation and adoption.

Matt "is a very, very gentle parent, very nurturing parent," Erin Wallace, the visitation supervisor, testified during the hearing. "Very docile man."

Another witness testified that DFCS had made a particularly galling attempt to create supporting evidence of mistreatment. The agency had ordered a forensic interview for 3-year-old Arya, which involved a specialist interviewing Arya about her sister's possible abuse. Experts typically stress the need for caution when conducting forensic interviews on very young children.

The report produced by DFCS made a dramatic revelation, claiming that Arya told the interviewers that "Mama hurt Emma." But Danielle Levy, a clinical psychologist with extensive experience conducting forensic interviews in Georgia, argued that DFCS was extremely misleading.

"When I saw the interview, I was shocked, because that wasn't what happened," she testified, describing how Arya simply didn't provide any useful informationhaving been distracted and extremely difficult to understand throughout. "This summary made it look like Arya walked in and made a really clear disclosure."

Both Matt and Tuckey testified at the hearing too, each insisting that Emma was not abused.

It soon became clear that DFCS perceived Matt's refusal to blame Tuckey as a sign he was unfit to care for his daughters.

"The father has taken the mother's defense and does not believe that the mother could have caused these [injuries]," DFCS administrator Smith testified, "which causes concern for his parental capacity to be protective."

"In my 13 years of being a foster parent, I've never seen [DFCS] behave this way," says Williams. During a break in court, Williams says she overheard Smith tell an intern that the case "is basically a done deal" and that the agency had "already started to draw up" paperwork to terminate the Hernandezes' parental rights.

Why was DFCS so intent on separating this family? Mark Freeman, a lawyer specializing in defending parents accused of abuse, argues that the agency is simply not structured to handle parents like the Hernandezes who maintain their innocence. If parents admit guilt, agencies will sometimes still facilitate reunification. But when a family claims it was wrongly accused, he theorized, the state tends to assume the parents are not just guilty but unrepentant.

That means "one of these parents is a perpetrator by commission, but the other one is a perpetrator by omission because they must have known about it and failed to protect the child," Freeman says. "We can't assure the safety of this child by sending it back to the parents."

Smith's testimony reflects this perspective. "We have no admission that anything wrong happened, which means we can't prevent something from happening again," she said, explaining why DFCS didn't want to return the children. "If there's no understanding of what went wrong, there's no way to correct that behavior going forward."

Judge Heather Dunn ultimately ruled that Matt should not get custody of his daughters. Despite a plausible medical explanation for her injuries and a battery of adults willing to testify to the Hernandezes' good parentingand to DFCS meddlingit seemed like nothing could dislodge the idea that it was near-certain that Tuckey and Matt had abused their daughter. Matt felt trapped. It seemed like no matter what he did, he couldn't convince the state to give him back his children.

As the months wore on, Arya grew depressed and detached. Emma seemed as sick as ever, with no medical explanation in sight.

"Everybody there thought this is very clear, this baby was born with a medical condition, send them home with the parents and end this nightmare," Matt says. "You're just here to torture my family."

'I Just Don't Understand How That's The System'

Over the next few months, every victory seemed to be coupled with a setback.

In December, the terms of Tuckey's bond were adjusted, allowing her to visit her daughters for the first time in more than six months. Video from that first visit shows an emotional reunion, as a clearly ecstatic Arya embraces her mother, jumping up and down in excitement.

But then, just a few days later, Matt was indicted on child abuse charges. The family struggled to make sense of these new accusations. The state had always insisted that it was TuckeyEmma's primary caregiverwho abused Emma, but now they were shifting to Matt.

Despite Matt's charges, a judge ruled in January that DFCS had to create a reunification plan for the Hernandez family, meaning that DFCS had to set the goal of eventually returning the girls to their parents rather than having them adopted.

"In the judge's ruling, comments were made showing that Emma's continued medical needs were not being handled nor being addressed," reads a January 19 post from You Are The Power, a nonprofit founded by libertarian entrepreneur Spike Cohen. "Now Emma can get the testing and treatment she needs to be happy and healthy again."

The ramifications of this ruling were swift. Emma and Arya were removed from their foster-to-adopt home and placed in the care of a family friend.

More importantly, this meant the family would also be able to get Emma more thorough genetic testing in order to try to confirm their suspicions about the real cause of Emma's bruising and fracturesat least in theory.

Unsure if DFCS would ever approve formal testing, the family took its own cheek swab from Emma earlier that month and sent it off to a private full-genome company for testing.

When the results came back, it showed multiple defects on one of her collagen genes, possibly causing Bethlem myopathy or Ullrich muscular dystrophy 2. These conditions often lead to joint issues or muscle weakness, though it's unclear whether they have a distinct connection to increased fracture risk. One 2023 review of studies looking at 244 patients (most of them infants) with a range of myopathies found that 37 percent had decreased bone quality and 26 percent had congenital fractures in the long bones of their legs or arms.

But DFCS won't accept the results. According to Tony, it wants a new, official test done so it can confirm that the swab was accurate.

It's been a difficult road. Matt suspects that DFCS is dragging its feet on reunification. While Matt hoped the girls could return to their aunt and uncle, DFCS has successfully blocked these effortseven though a March report from the guardian ad litem strongly called for sending the girls back to Tony and Tuk. The report flatly dismissed the agency's insistence that Emma's unusual bruises were a sign of abuse, noting that they continued popping up with every new placement. The report also castigated DFCS for failing to look into Emma's medical issues thoroughly.

"Emma appears to have some medical issues that remain unanswered," the report stressed. "She has things going on with her that not even CHOA can answer. She has required hospitalization requiring a feeding tube. She has a history of constant regurgitation as well as constipation and chronic congestion. She continues to have these bouts of discoloration in her extremities that have persisted through each and every foster placement."

But even this hasn't been enough to get the girls placed with their aunt and unclemuch less their own parents.

"We've given them so much evidence to prove this little girl was born with so many problems," Matt says. "I just don't understand how that's the system."

An Unending Nightmare

Even if Matt and Tuckey get their daughters back, the damage to their family may be irreparable.

In child welfare, the stakes are incredibly high. No social worker or judge or doctor wants to be the person who sent a child back to parents who ended up horrifically abusing them. Neither does anyone want to shatter an innocent family. It's an equilibrium that's nearly impossible to maintain. But bad practicesand a lack of common sensemake it even harder to get right.

When a baby comes to the hospital with bruises and fractures, it's natural to ask questions. What isn't natural is to ignore a mountain of evidence indicating that the baby was sick, not abused.

It's been more than a year since Arya and Emma were taken from their parents. In most of that time, they have been deprived of even supervised visits with their mother. That's a huge portion of their young lives.

"I pray that Arya comes out of it just as happy as she was before, because she was such a little ray of sunshine," Matt said in February. "But for me, how do I go back to feeling comfortable living in the state of Georgia? How do I go back to trusting any government agency?"

"I'm sure my wife is definitely stronger than me, but I don't know," he added, his voice breaking. "I haven't talked to her in so long."

UPDATE: After this story went to press, DFCS dropped its case against the Hernandezes. Emma and Arya are now living with relatives while their parents' criminal case continues.

*CORRECTION: The original version of this story misstated Holly Simonton's role at Fractured Families.

The post Child Welfare Systems Are Trapping Innocent Families appeared first on Reason.com.
Ukrainian Plast, the country's largest scouting organization, is becoming another center of gravity for Ukrainian families who fled the Russian war against their homeland.

Maria, 9, and her family were forced to relocate to Canada from Ukraine in 2022, several weeks after Russian armed forces invaded the country.

Although they lived in a western city of Lviv, relatively far from the Russian border, her parents considered the situation to be too dangerous to let it threaten their children's lives and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Maria's mother almost immediately found the local Plast branch to join it.

"This year Spring Festival was about power, and under power I understand not only physical strength, but also mental strength -- the ability to stand your ground firmly and survive," Maria said.

PHOTO: Maria, 9, center, who relocated from Ukraine to Canada in 2022, attends an event for the Ukrainian Scouting Organization Plast in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. (Yuriy Zaliznyak/ABC News)

Since their arrival, Maria has already got four camps in her aggregate and is very proud of the new badges she earned.

"As you can see, I have over ten skills for now  much more in comparison to the number I had back in Ukraine," she said.

But Plast is not only about gaining badges -- it is more about communication, learning and uniting young people before they enter the bigger world with its challenges.

That is why, this year the Spring Festival in Squamish, a town north of Vancouver, gathered dozens of participants not only from British Columbia but also from the US.

"My father was a Plast member, so I joined the organization when I was a little child and my first camp was at 4 and I have been doing camps since then," said Kalyna Durbak, 37, Seattle Plast branch leader.

Her grandparents were from Ukraine, but her father was born in Argentina and her mother in the U.S. Her parents met in Chicago.

PHOTO: Kalyna Durbak, left, of the Ukrainian Scouting Organization Plast, salutes a Ukrainian flag in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. (Yuriy Zaliznyak/ABC News)

Although Kalyna was not born in Ukraine, she knows the language very well because of Ukrainian school in Chicago, which she attended every Saturday for ten years, up until she was 15.

"It was like I lived two lives at a time: from Monday till Friday, I was American but at home and at the weekends, I was Ukrainian," she said.

Now, the school experience, in particular the knowledge of Ukrainian language, geography and history partially helps in her work with young Plast members.

Kalyna agrees, that more and more new members have joined Plast in the U.S. and Canada for the last two years.

On the one hand, she is glad that the organization is growing. But, on the other, she said she feels sad that the reason for that is the war: "These feelings are bitter-sweet as I am grateful for being able to help and support our sisters and brothers in Ukraine," Kalyna said.

Due of the growing number of Plast members in Canada, Seattle branch refused to organize the Spring Festivals by themselves and join the neighbors so close to celebrate the start of the camping year all together.

"Of course, we could do it in Seattle, but it would be joylessly  I love to see Plast members from Vancouver and they love to see us," Kalyna said.

That is why she describes Plast as some kind of brotherhood  one great family without any borders: "Plast has no borders, I like it very much as I have friends all over the world  I know scouts from Austria, Australia, Ukraine, Poland, Argentina, obviously from Canada."

PHOTO: New members of the Ukrainian Scouting Organization Plast are admitted to the group in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. (Yuriy Zaliznyak/ABC News)

Anastasia, 39 and her children had no experience in scouting in their native city of Odesa in southern Ukrainian. Five months ago, the family moved to Canada to find peace. So, 9-year-old Sofia and her five-year-old brother Lev joined Plast in British Columbia.

"We want our children to remain in Ukrainian community, study Ukrainian culture and support it at the proper level, communicate with other Ukrainian children," said Anastasia.

According to her, children are still trying to adapt in Canada, as it is completely new country for them, a new world, a new language: "They used to live in their own world but now they live in a new one, they used to have their own surrounding, friends and activities, and now they have to start everything from the scratch."

Anastasia's and her husband's parents are staying in Odesa, a city that is a near constant target for the Russian missiles and drones, and they are sorry for not being able to see their grandchildren.

"But the security is above all -- the most important for them is to ensure that our children are safe and Plast is important for us as it is connecting us with our Motherland, said Anastasia.

"When we moved to Canada from Ukraine many years ago, there was no any hesitation regarding the continuation of the scouting traditions on the new ground, said Lida Slobodian, this years camp commandant, recollecting the great experience from her youth when she was just a common member of Plast.

She has been the Plast member for over than 30 years and her elder children were attending Plast meetings back in Ukraine.

"Therefore, I wanted my youngest child, born in here, to be able to join the organization and that is how we have created a branch in Vancouver," she said.

PHOTO: A young member of Ukrainian Scouting Organization Plast displays her badges in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. (Yuriy Zaliznyak/ABC News)

According to Lida's analysis, approximately half of the branchs current members were scouting back in Ukraine or are local Plast members in Canada. The other half knew nothing about the organization in Ukraine and joined it already in Canada to preserve and evolve their connection to Ukraine and to the local Ukrainian community.

Normally, Plast serves as an opportunity to preserve Ukrainian identity, Ukrainian culture and Ukrainian spirit, but Lida also considers it to be a great school of life, developing leadership and other soft skills.

For children it is an opportunity to become a member of Ukrainian circle, to find new friends and to establish new connections, she said. In her opinion, the opportunities provided by Plast are very important in the Canadian multicultural society where Ukrainian children can rarely meet other kids from Ukraine in their classes at school, practice Ukrainian language in order not to forget it in new surroundings.

In particular, such camps as this Spring Festival one serves as a good chance for children to play some games, to sing songs together, to present some skit performance, learn something new  and everything in Ukrainian language.

PHOTO: Kalyna Durbak, right, of the Ukrainian Scouting Organization Plast, instructing young scouts in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada. (Yuriy Zaliznyak/ABC News)

"Besides, children learn a lot about nature, wildlife, how to act when you meet a bear, for example, surviving in the forest and in the mountains," added Lida.

In her opinion, this camp was mostly oriented on teaching children such skills as time management and leadership, as some tasks are oriented on the proper estimation of the problem and children's ability to take responsibility for decisions and proposing some ideas or solutions in tight schedule. There were also some games that teach developing strategic thinking and teamwork.

Kalyna shares the opinion, that Plast gives young people an opportunity to become a leader and sometimes it is the first time for them to try themselves as leaders, to bear responsibility.

"It gives them a lot of leadership skills and self-discipline  they learn how to present themselves in the world, how to become a better teacher for others and a better person," she said.

Children who fled Russian invasion find community in Ukrainian scouting organization in Canada originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
FILE PHOTO: Aerial view of the contested Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Saturday that China's largest coastguard vessel has anchored in Manila's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, and is meant to intimidate its smaller Asian neighbour.

The China coastguard's 165-meter 'monster ship' entered Manila's 200-nautical mile EEZ on July 2, spokesperson for the PCG Jay Tarriela told a news forum.

The PCG warned the Chinese vessel it was in the Philippine's EEZ and asked about their intentions, he said.

"It's an intimidation on the part of the China Coast Guard," Tarriela said. "We're not going to pull out and we're not going to be intimidated."

China's embassy in Manila and the Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China's coast guard has no publicly available contact information.

The Chinese ship, which has also deployed a small boat, was anchored 800 yards away from the PCG's vessel, Tarriela said.

In May, the PCG deployed a ship to the Sabina shoal to deter small-scale reclamation by China, which denied the claim. China has carried out extensive land reclamation on some islands in the South China Sea, building air force and other military facilities, causing concern in Washington and around the region.

China claims most of the South China Sea, a key conduit for $3 trillion of annual ship-borne trade, as its own territory. Beijing rejects the 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration which said its expansive maritime claims had no legal basis.

Following a high-level dialogue, the Philippines and China agreed on Tuesday for the need to "restore trust" and "rebuild confidence" to better manage maritime disputes.

The Philippines has turned down offers from the United States, its treaty ally, to assist operations in the South China Sea, despite a flare-up with China over routing resupply missions to Filipino troops on a contested shoal.

(This story has been refiled to correct quotation mark in the headline)

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Additional reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
A group of Chinese army personnel arrived in Belarus on July 6 to participate in a joint "anti-terrorist training," the Belarusian Defense Ministry reported.

The news comes days after Belarus, Moscow's key ally, joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization led by China and Russia. It focuses on Eurasian political, economic, security, and defense issues.

The exercises aim to "exchange experience, coordinate Belarusian and Chinese units, and create a foundation for the further development of Belarusian-Chinese relations in the field of joint training of troops," according to the ministry.

They will take place in Belarus on July 8-19.

Belarus has supported Russian aggression against Ukraine but has not committed its own troops to fight directly in Russia's war. Russian forces launched the all-out invasion of Ukraine from Belarus in early 2022 but suffered a defeat near Kyiv and were forced to pull back.

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping on July 3 indicated his support for Russia on the subject of its full-scale war on Ukraine, saying on the sidelines of the summit that China "has always stood on the right side of history."

In what was the second meeting of Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the last two months, the leaders concurred that the bilateral relations were at a historical highpoint and jointly protect "regional tranquility and stability.

Although China officially maintains a neutral stance on Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine and denies providing lethal aid, Beijing and Moscow continue to strengthen their ties.

Various countries, including the U.S., have accused China of continuously aiding Russia's war machine in Ukraine by providing machine tools, weapons technology, satellite imagery, semiconductors, and other dual-use technologies.

Read also: Opinion: The Putin-Kim pact is an opportunity for the West

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Chinese troops arrive in Belarus to lay foundation for joint training of forces  photos

Chinese military personnel have arrived in Belarus to engage in joint counter-terrorism drills.

Source: Belarusian Defence Ministry; Belaruski Hajun, an independent Belarusian military monitoring media outlet

    , :

Chinese troops in Belarus. Photo: Belarusian Military News Agency

Photo: Belarusian Military News Agency

Details: The Belarusian Defence Ministry reported on Saturday (6 July) that Chinese military personnel had arrived in Belarus.

Quote: "The military personnel will engage in a joint anti-terrorist training exercise (drill), which will take place from 8 to 19 July.

The joint training aims to facilitate the exchange of experience, coordinate Belarusian and Chinese units, and lay the foundation for further development of Belarusian-Chinese relations in the field of joint military training."

   , :

Chinese troops in Belarus

Photo: Belarusian Military News Agency

More details: Belaruski Hajun noted that a Chinese aircraft landed at the Baranavichy military airfield for the first time.

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The standoff between Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams and some of the Republicans seeking his removal from office took an unexpected turn on Monday night when members of the El Paso County GOP's governing body convened on lawn chairs in a church parking lot in Colorado Springs to demand that Williams resign.
(FOX40.COM)  The California Highway Patrol has released the exact location of the DUI checkpoint that will be held in Sacramento on Friday night.

CHPs DUI checkpoint will be one of two held in Sacramento on Friday night, with the other one being operated by the Sacramento Police Department in Midtown from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Beginning at 9 p.m., CHP will be set up on westbound Florin Road, just west of the Florin Road Mall as it conducts proactive enforcement along the roadway.

Sacramento Police holding DUI checkpoint during Fourth of July weekend

CHP officers will be checking sobriety levels and drivers licenses at the checkpoint while warning drivers of the dangers of drinking and driving.

The DUI checkpoint in Sacramento is in addition to the Maximum Enforcement Period the agency is conducting throughout California during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

During the MEP in 2023, CHP reported nearly 70 people were killed in a crash on Californias roadways during the Fourth of July weekend. The agency also issued over 9,000 citations and made over 1,200 arrests for driving under the influence.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
City funding to fight antisemitism, hate at CUNY wont even scratch the surface, critics say

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has steered at least $600,000 in political pork to the City University of New York  just a $50,000 bump for anti-hate initiatives even though the system erupted into a snake pit of antisemitism this year, according to an analysis by The Post.

Five-hundred thousand dollars of this years allocations will go toward Confronting Religious and Ethnic Discrimination, and aims to help CUNY continue and expand its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, according to the Councils expense budget.

An additional $50,000 will go to Hunter College and another $50,000 to Queensborough Community College, both under the Hate Crime Prevention Initiative.

CUNY is getting barely any more funding in the upcoming fiscal year to fight hate like antisemitism despite widespread anti-Israel protests and controversies. Anadolu via Getty Images

The funding, a less than 10% increase, is not nearly enough to combat the hate seen on campuses in the months since Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, as encampments, protests and anti-Israel speakers have flooded schools, critics said.

I dont hold much hope, said Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a former member of CUNYs Board of Trustees, who told The Post the funding, which covers all hate, wont scratch the surface because the problem is systemic.

Theyve allowed this to go on with such intensity for so long at CUNY that it would take an enormous sum of money to make a dent, he said. The disease is so metastatic at CUNY.

Jeffrey Lax, a Kingsborough Community College professor who runs SAFE Campus, which advocates for Zionist Jews on campuses, said at CUNY, the fish stinks from the head.

An anti-Israel encampment on the campus of City College on April 25, 2024. Christopher Sadowski

Demonstrators protested outside the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City on May 14, 2024. Ronald Segers Jr / SplashNews.com

You dont have the right people in charge, Lax said. What did they accomplish last year  the worst year of hate in the history of the university, possibly at any university?

Lax pointed to CUNYs chief diversity officer, Saly Abd Alla, who once worked as a director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Minnesota.

The last time CUNY got [nearly] $600,000, it was for a DEI initiative that made things far worse for Jews, he said.

Police clashed with protesters including students and Columbia and CCNY amid widespread campus encampments supporting Palestine in the spring. Getty Images

And Lax bashed the City Council for signing blank checks without demanding conditions to protect Jews on campuses.

Councilman Eric Dinowitz (D-Bronx), who chairs the Committee on Higher Education, said the funding is one important step we are taking to confront hate here in our own citys system of higher learning.

But his colleague, Councilman Bob Holden (D-Queens), a CUNY alum and former professor, suggested CUNY look inward to solve its problem.

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has steered $600,000 in funding to CUNY  just a $50,000 bump for anti-hate initiatives despite the system becoming a hotbed of antisemitic hate this year. Robert Miller

City Councilman Eric Dinowitz is chair of the councils Committee on Higher Education, which has jurisdiction over CUNY. Robert Miller

City Councilman Bob Holden is a CUNY alum and former professor. KEVIN C DOWNS

They should look no further than their biased curriculum, departments, and unqualified radical faculty, he said.

A CUNY spokesman called the City Council a steadfast parter in its efforts to combat all forms of discrimination.

New funding from the city will advance CUNYs commitment to building campuses defined by tolerance and respect, the spokesman said.
CMPD: No major incidents during Uptown July 4th celebrations; large amount of Marijuana, illegal fireworks seized

CMPD: No major incidents during Uptown July 4th celebrations; large amount of Marijuana, illegal fireworks seized

CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A year after Uptown 4th of July celebrations turned into a brawl with over 30 arrests, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department says this years gathering went without any major incidents.

Before this years celebration and fireworks show, CMPD announced that officers would take several safety measures, including visiting juvenile offenders homes ahead of the holiday.

Queen City News

Continued Coverage

Of the 32 homes visited, only one teen reoffended during the gathering.

In total, CMPD says they arrested 2 adults and 10 teenagers from the Uptown event. Officers seized a gun, a magazine of ammunition, over 12 pounds of marijuana and 3 boxes of illegal fireworks.

The adult suspects are identified as 18-year-old Kendric Patton, who is charged with Resist/Delay/Obstruct and Simple Drug Possession, and 27-year-old Maurice Brown, who was already wanted for Identity Theft.

From his Uptown arrest, Brown was also charged with Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana, Resist/Delay/Obstruct and Possession of Pyrotechnics.

Maurice Brown is charged with having a trafficking amount of marijuana and a large amount of illegal fireworks while at the Uptown celebration. (Images courtesy of MCSO and CMPD)

Theres having 4th of July fun, and then theres this guy, CMPD said on X. Dont be like this guy.

The 10 teens arrested were between 13 and 17 years old. CMPD says the charges against the juveniles include the following:

Carrying a Concealed Weapon

Affray

Possession of Pyrotechnics

Possession of Marijuana

Resist/Delay/Obstruct.

A command center ran from 6 p.m. to midnight during the holiday festivities. CMPD relied on partnerships with Charlotte Fire, MEDIC, CATS, CDOT and Mecklenburg County Emergency Management.

CMPD would like to thank its public safety partners for collaborating in this years successful operation.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Bobs Java Jive is a living piece of Tacoma history. Look inside this coffeepot-shaped bar

The patron called Snake gestures toward the blue-felt pool table in the coffeepot-shaped bar in Tacoma.

I call it the pool ghost. Not everyone has seen it, Snake told The News Tribune on a Monday night in early July. You get like a really, really unlucky shot out of the blue, and youll see more dust in the air than normal.

Bobs Java Jive, 2102 South Tacoma Way, is a T-Town institution steeped in such legends.

Theres the tale about the time the bars namesake owner supposedly shut down a set by a pre-world-famous Nirvana  or maybe it was Kurt Cobains former band. Keanu Reeves, who starred in a movie shot partly at Bobs, reportedly offered to buy the building for $1 million. Tacoma-born Bing Crosby used to hang out there back in the day. Its where Girl Troubles singer and guitarist met.

Bobs backroom was once home to a pair of macaque monkeys named Java and Jive  smoking primates, according to one rumor  and go-go dancers shimmied on a stage.

Benito Catibog (left) and Jomi Rios play a game of pool on the table that made an appearance in the movie, I Love You to Death, at the historic Bobs Java Jive tavern in Tacoma, Washington, shown on Monday, July 1, 2024.

Despite its exterior, Bobs doesnt have coffee on the menu. Rather, it specializes in cocktails, wine, local brews and bar food.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of dollar bills line the Jives ceiling. Tropical-looking foliage and fake animal-head mounts adorn the walls. Kaleidoscopic lights flicker in the back, where Snake and other karaoke superstars can belt away their worries.

Its like Alice in Wonderland scored by the surf-rock tunes of Dick Dale. Its like Disney World gone tiki. At times its fought to stay afloat.

Bobs owner, Richard Walden, explained that the place comes with certain challenges. Hes had to cover repairs with his personal savings.

Ive been doing this all out of my own pocket: paying city fines and trying to stay functioning so this place can exist, Walden said. Thats been the struggle.

The city shuttered Bobs in 2007 because of fire-code violations. After the community chipped in to save it, the club was resurrected.

COVID-19 threatened Bobs existence before a fundraising effort exceeded the $10,000 goal within 24 hours.

Still the Jive marches on.

Built in 1927, the historic Bobs Java Jive tavern in Tacoma, Washington, is still standing and welcoming guests. It is shown on Monday, July 1, 2024.

When The News Tribune sat down with Walden, the bar was days away from its You Are Here 2024 event on Saturday, July 6. Tacoma Weekly recently described it as Bobs second annual rooftop show and parking lot party.

Bobs is a Tacoma landmark that was listed in 2014 on the National Register of Historic Places, but its more than just a local haunt overflowing with decades-old lore. For many regulars like Snake, Bobs is a crucial fixture in their lives.

Another bar regular told The News Tribune that he usually comes every Sunday: I like to say that this place is my church.

A genuine Tacoma tourist attraction

Bobs rings in its 97th birthday this year.

A local veterinarian, Otis G. Button, erected the prefabricated building in 1927. Called the Coffee Pot restaurant at the time, it was put together on the Tideflats before getting fastened in place on South Tacoma Way, The News Tribune previously reported.

According to South Sound Magazine, Tacoma artist Bert Smyser designed Bobs. It has served as a breakfast joint, diner drive-in, speakeasy and Polynesian-themed dance club.

Businessman Bob Radonich purchased the place in 1955, rebranding it as the Java Jive in honor of a song by the Ink Spots, per The News Tribune.

I love coffee; I love tea, the song goes. I love the java jive, and it loves me.

With a white exterior, blue window awnings and red handle and spout, Bobs facade is an eye-grabber. Travelers from all over the world come to visit.

Walden sips from a beer can during the interview. His drink of choice? Bobs Light Lager, a collaboration with Tacomas Sig Brewing that features the coffeepot building on the logo.

Owner Richard Walden with Java Jives signature Bobs Light Lager at the historic Bobs Java Jive tavern in Tacoma, Washington, shown on Monday, July 1, 2024.

Famous bands have hosted post-concert after-parties at Bobs  including, Walden said, Weezer. He counts Bobs as one of Tacomas only genuine tourist attractions.

We probably get more foreigners  he has an accent, for example, Walden said, referencing a British-sounding patron in a Hawaiian shirt sitting at the bar. We get legit people from different countries who come here to see the coffeepot.

The strange-shaped structure also acts to keep rude, judgmental folks out, he said: You have to strip your ego to walk in the front door.

Its a sentiment that has been echoed by the joints late previous owner, Danette Staatz.

The Jive is a funny place, she told The News Tribune in 2014. Youre either a snoot and youre going to walk in and hate it, but its so different that most people love it. Its like its own entity. It wraps [its] arms around you when you walk in, and it loves you.

Bobs singular shape has also proved to be limiting in some ways. Walden said the circular building isnt approved to wash produce, such as limes and lemons or tomatoes for burgers, because none of its sinks fit within the health departments specifications.

Theres no exception for small businesses, he said.

Its one of the struggles for us mom-and-pop places is were not going to be around anymore in 10 years, he said. Its all going to be Arbys, and its all going to be commercial food places.

Mars Ferling (left center) talks with bartender Shiloh Robison and cook Beck Brewer at the historic Bobs Java Jive tavern in Tacoma, Washington, on Monday, July 1, 2024.

Bobs Wild West history

A hot-pink neon sign glows behind the darkened stage in Bobs backroom as Snake nails the final chorus of Exs & Ohs by Elle King. The 24-year-old, who uses they/them pronouns, lights up while telling The News Tribune about their love for Bobs.

Creativity thrives in the bar, Snake explained. There are doodles on tables, photos of random people hanging up, funny messages scrawled in the bathrooms. If a swastika ever crops up, itll quickly get covered up by a sticker.

The regulars make sure that Bobs stays welcoming and accepting, they said.

This crowd, I feel good with  I feel safe with, Snake said. They literally treat me like family. Im friends with the security, Im friends with the bartenders. If something happens, theyre like, Hey, what happened? Whats your side? What can we do to fix it?

Karaoke perfomer Snake sings during the nightly karaoke at the historic Bobs Java Jive tavern in Tacoma, Washington, shown on Monday, July 1, 2024.

That sense of feeling at home, plus the consistent karaoke, kept Walden coming back for 11-ish years, and he bought Bobs in February 2022.

Waldens brother, Derek Walden, is the bar manager. Derek told The News Tribune that he remembers seeing the odd-looking building whiz by during car rides as a kid. Years later, he checked it out with a friend.

Derek had no clue at the time that Bobs is a bar. Stepping inside, he was greeted by a dark, dungeon-y vibe.

It seemed lawless  like the Wild West, almost, he said. So its always been a gem in my eyes.

Trying to operate in a nearly 100-year-old building has sometimes felt like solving a mystery, he said. The space can be tough to work in; hes had to retrace past owners footsteps to figure out a certain fix. Derek called keeping the place going a personal test, and many times hes wanted to quit.

Then hell be reminded of why he needs to keep going.

Its almost like every Saturday night, Ill be coming in, and I just hear people talking and laughing and see them all have a great time, and realize that Im helping facilitate [that], Derek said. So its like music to my ears to hear and see people out there dancing and singing, you know? Thats the reward.

The historic Bobs Java Jive tavern in Tacoma, Washington, shown on Monday, July 1, 2024.

Looking ahead, Richard said he wants Bobs to become an event space that will host local festivals and open-air markets. He hopes that the Jive will become a jazz hub. The business hosts a monthly hip-hop show and has opened its doors to rock and country acts.

Just as anyone is welcome to walk through Bobs doors, the Jive doesnt discriminate when it comes to genres.

Long-time bartender Dave Wood explained that while Olympia is hippie and Seattle is yuppie, Grit City is a specific brand of nonjudgmental blue-collar. Wood succinctly summed up what Bobs represents to so many.

This is Tacoma. This is the heart of Tacoma, he said. Seattle can have their Space Needle. We have the Java Jive.
What is a cognitive test and can it really tell us if Biden, Trump are mentally fit?

Joe Biden and Donald Trump are, respectively, the oldest and second oldest presidents in American history. As both attack each other over their mental acuity in the 2024 election, they have also fielded calls for cognitive tests because of their age.

After a stumbling debate performance by Biden in which he seemed hard to follow and would lose his train of thought, concerns about his age and mental fitness have ratcheted up.

In a Friday night interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos, Biden, 81, refused to commit to taking a cognitive test. I have a cognitive test every day, said Biden, who would be 86 when he leaves office if re-elected in November.

Trump, 78, also faced questions about his cognition when he was in office. In 2018, his White House doctor, Ronny Jackson, now a Republican congressman, said Trump took the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or MoCA, a common and quick test used by health professionals to help identify dementia or cognitive loss. Trump had a normal score of 30/30, Jackson said. Trump said he aced it.

In January, Trump, who would be 82 by the time he leaves office, boasted that he had again aced the MoCA test, adding he had to point out a whale among animals with questions getting progressively harder. However, the test doesnt include a whale, MoCAs developer, Dr. Ziad Nasreddine, told the Washington Post.

The MoCA test only looks for minimum cognitive faculties, not someones rigor. In other words, MoCA is supposed to be easy for someone who has no cognitive impairment, Nasreddine previously told MarketWatch.

ABC Interview: Joe Biden bargains with America, insists he's in good shape. That might not be enough.

President Biden says he faces cognitive tests every day as America's leader, in an exclusive interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos.

What do cognitive tests do?

Cognitive tests can assess mental awareness, reasoning and memory. Cognitive tests are not for gaffes, as Biden and Trump have been prone to make. Biden has had a stutter his entire life, which impacts his public speaking, but not his cognitive ability.

The tests are usually conducted if people show signs of mental decline or impairment of oneself, family or friends, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The tests dont require preparation or study. They are meant to be quick and basic.

Early detection of cognitive decline can help identify treatments or lifestyle changes that can slow decline, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

Former President Donald Trump debates President Joe Biden on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta.

What kinds of tests are there?

MoCA, the 15-minute test Trump said he aced, involves memorizing a short lists of words, naming objects in pictures and copying shapes in pictures. In addition to MoCA, other tests include the 10-minute Mini-Mental State Exam, which requires the test-taker to count backward, identify objects in the room, stating the date and other common, well-known facts, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The Mini-Cog is the shortest and easiest to complete at three minutes. It includes memorizing and recalling a three-word list of unrelated words and drawing a circle clock with time points and then showing the hands for a specific time.

Age in 2024: Campaign trail gaffes by Trump and Biden put a spotlight on their ages. Should voters worry?

What can't they tell us?

It should be noted older peoples brains perform differently than younger people's, Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, previously told USA TODAY. So while there is heightened risk of brain disease with age, he said, there are strengths and weaknesses at every age. Young people can learn new facts more quickly, for example, but elderly people can put those facts into the big picture, what's typically called "wisdom," he said.

Additionally, people shouldnt rely on a single snapshot that might miss a high-functioning persons decline.

A cognitive test, such as MoCA, has results online, so someone could study ahead of time. Thats why its important for brain health screening exams to be given routinely starting in middle age, several experts told USA TODAY, to show changes that may signal decline even in someone who can "ace" the tests.

However, the publicly available summaries of both the president's and former presidents annual physicals did not include cognitive testing.

This is reflective of the public more broadly: Most doctors do not perform cognitive testing on their older patients, even though most people say they'd like to get screened to better detect brain disease early, Pascual-Leone said.

There is a huge gap between the expressed desire and need, the awareness by clinicians and the reality of what is being done," he said.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to a rally at Greenbrier Farms on June 28, 2024, in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Are cognitive tests a good test for presidential fitness?

Readily available cognitive tests are not a great gauge of fitness for the rigors of the presidency, experts told USA TODAY.

There isnt a perfect way to judge someones mental fitness for office, Jamie Reilly, a professor of speech-language pathology and neuroscience in the College of Public Health at Temple University in Philadelphia, previously told USA TODAY.

Biden noted during his ABC interview that he proves his fitness for the job of president every day.

Accusing either candidate of having dementia or lacking mental competence may score political points with some voters but could worsen existing stigma against older people and prevent those with legitimate concerns about their memory and language from seeking help, he said.

Karen Weintraub and Jeanine Santucci of USA TODAY contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Can a cognitive test tell us if Biden, Trump are mentally fit?
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  Colby Jenkins, who is challenging Rep. Celeste Maloy in the nail-biter Republican primary for Utahs 2nd Congressional District, says his campaign is suing the Washington County clerk over allegedly failing to release voter information that could potentially have significant impacts on the race.

In a statement Friday, Jenkins said that hes filing an action to force Washington County Clerk Ryan Sullivan to release information about the hundreds of voters in the county whose ballots were not counted in the June 25 election on the belief the signatures didnt match, or were not cured.

WATCH: Fireworks launch into crowd at Stadium of Fire, 6 taken to the hospital

Jenkins campaign says it wants this information to help these voters cure, or fix, their ballots ahead of Mondays canvas deadline, as the race is currently only a couple dozen votes away from the recount threshold. The campaign alleges that Sullivan is refusing to release information about these voters, even though he is legally required to do so.

As the Washington County Clerk charged with conducting free and fair elections and ensuring each voter has their voice heard, we consider his actions not only illegal, but also a gross dereliction of duty, Jenkins campaign said.

In a responding statement, the Washington County Clerk-Auditors Office said that Jenkins is omitting key facts in the case, including that Washington County has never released a cure list and that the county has already reached out to every individual whose ballot needs curing.

Voters should know that our clerk-auditors office has gone above and beyond to contact those that need their signature cured, Sullivan said. Any insinuation that we are trying to rig the election is false.

Sullivan added that, for him, its an issue of voter privacy, as he doesnt want campaign volunteers showing up at voters doorsteps and potentially harassing them.

Voters anonymity is a bedrock principle of our constitutional system, and releasing cure lists, especially in smaller counties and close races, could result in peoples votes not being private, he said.

Eric Clarke, the Washington County attorney, said that his office is aggressively defending against Jenkins legal claim, saying that Utahs laws on the matter give counties discretion on whether to release cure lists.

Any claim otherwise ignores both the statutory language and legislative intent, Clarke said in a statement.

State of the race

Washington County was where Jenkins found his strongest support, winning nearly 60% of the vote in the southwestern Utah county. However, Maloy won most other counties in the district and had strong support along the Wasatch Front.

Still, the race has only narrowed since election night. According to unofficial Utah results, Maloy currently leads Jenkins by 295 votes, down from a roughly 2,000-vote gap a week ago.

In the days since the election, Jenkins path to victory in the primary has hinged on getting a recount. However, under Utah law, a candidate can only request a recount if the gap between candidates is equal to or less than 0.25% of the total votes cast.

In this race of more than 106,000 votes, the recount threshold falls around 267 votes. Jenkins campaign believes there are more than enough uncured votes in Washington County to trigger a recount and cut Maloys lead even further.

Utahs canvas deadline is set for July 9. The final results are slated to be certified by July 22. The winner of the 2nd District Republican primary will face Democratic candidate Nathaniel Woodward in the November general election.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Columbus City Councils Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee will hold a public hearing next week to address reckless driving in Columbus.

Hosted by councilmembers Emmanuel Remy and Shayla Favor, the hearing will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and will seek public opinion on proposed changes to the street racing provision of the city code. The changes would be intended to address the increase in stunt driving, reckless operation and street takeovers that have become more frequent in Columbus and across Ohio.

Last year, a hostile street takeover on Indianola Ave. drew hundreds of participants and ended in a shootout with police. One month prior, another man died after a street racing accident.

Drivers urged to take caution as busy travel period expected to continue thru weekend

The hearing is one of several attempts to combat reckless driving in Ohio. Ohio House Bill 56 is headed to the governors desk and would increase penalties for fleeing from police and participating in stunt driving, including donuts, wheelies and allowing a passenger to ride while not fully in the vehicle. The bill would increase penalties and classify stunt driving as a first-degree misdemeanor, with those found guilty risking a license suspension anywhere from 30 days to three years.

The hearing will take place in the Columbus City Council chambers at 90 W. Broad St. People can also tune in via livestream on the councils YouTube or Facebook. Anyone interested in providing written or public testimony can do so by emailing remyscheduling@columbus.gov by 3 p.m. on July 11.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  The family of a Buffalo woman who was killed in a car crash in Philadelphia held a vigil on the citys east side Friday.

On June 8, 22-year-old Mariah Clemons was visiting a friend in Philadelphia. According to her family, she was involved in a minor crash with a U-Haul on I-76 Westbound. While exchanging information in the right lane of the interstate, a dump truck hit the back of the U-Haul sending it forward.

The U-Haul struck 3 occupants, a male who is believed to have been operating the U-Haul and a woman who was in the SUV with Clemons. According to Clemons family, Clemons was stuck underneath the U-Haul and a forklift was needed to remove it.

They were left there for 40 minutes before help got there, explained Clemons friend Ariel Wills who spoke with the man involved in the accident. She was airlifted to the hospital, but her friend passed away at the hospital.

Clemons suffered injuries to her pelvis, bladder, intestines and femur. She underwent several surgeries but succumbed to her injuries on July 1. Her family traveled over 300 miles and were at Clemons bedside at the time she passed.

It was pretty upsetting, said Ashley Clemons, sister of Mariah Clemons. Buffalo Police had to contact us instead of Philadelphia Police. So, we were kind of just lost as to what was going on.

At the vigil on Friday, family members described Clemons as the light in the room, saying she always had the biggest smile on her face. She was the youngest of 18 siblings with aspirations of becoming a model. Hundreds of balloons were released in honor of Clemons in yellow, her favorite color.

We call her Miss. Hollywood. She was our superstar, said Ashley Clemons. She was the youngest one of us all. She was everything.

Family members say the pain will always linger but they plan on keeping Clemons memory alive wherever they go. They say she will forever be 22.

She loved life, Mariah loved life. Thats what I want everybody to remember about her, said Willis.

Clemons funeral will be held at at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 12. The family is collecting donations to go towards funeral expenses. If you would like to donate, you can do so here.

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Trina Catterson joined the News 4 team in 2024. She previously worked at WETM-TV in Elmira, a sister station of WIVB. See more of her work here.

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Colorado's second-highest court on Wednesday once again reminded prosecutors and trial judges to pay attention to the deadlines for crime victim restitution in state law, the latest in a series of decisions cracking down on deviations from the restitution process.
After days of panic and concern, Democrats across the country were on edge watching George Stephanopoulos' interview with President Joe Biden Friday night.

And a fifth congressional Democrat joined in the call for Biden to step aside from the ticket.

In Biden's first sit-down interview since last week's debate against former President Donald Trump, the president acknowledged the debate was a "bad episode," but pushed back strongly against broader questions about his age and mental fitness.

While the president vowed to keep running, several Democrats on Capitol Hill expressed concern.

"One interview is not going to change the perception -- we need more than 22 minutes -- people have got to know he has the stamina to do the job and right now there are still concerns," one Democratic representative expressed to ABC News. Adding, the "aftermath" of the debate has been just as bad as the debate night itself, with the president waiting too long to do an interview and call leaders.

Speaking on "ABC News Live" just moments after the interview aired, Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois expressed what signaled his openness to replace Biden as the nominee.

"Look, I think there's growing concern," Quigley said, "I think this is going to be an intense week in D.C., never mind all the critical issues that are taking place on the floor and in the country and the world  The political realm is going to go into hyperdrive this week."

MORE: Biden disputes diminishing poll numbers, low approval rating after debate

Quigley became the fourth House Democrat to openly call for Biden to step aside, which he said was a "painful" decision. Quigley joined Reps. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, and Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks with George Stephanopoulos on July 5, 2024, in an ABC News exclusive. (ABC News)

Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., released a statement Saturday morning calling on the president to step aside and not run for re-election.

"Given what I saw and heard from the President during last weeks debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump," she said.

Craig praised Biden for his accomplishments as president but ultimately said there was too much at stake.

"If we truly believe that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win. This future of our country is bigger than any one of us. Its up to the President from here," she said.

Another Democrat on Capitol Hill told ABC News that Biden's interview with Stephanopoulos was "Better, but not sure it's enough."

Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, Biden's home state, quickly came to the president's defense after the interview, saying on X, "I can't wait to help him continue to take the fight to Trump and win in November."

MORE: 'Exhausted,' 'bad epsiode': Biden doubles down on debate explanations in ABC News exclusive

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is set to hold a virtual meeting with House Democratic ranking committee members on Sunday afternoon, multiple sources told ABC News on Friday.

The president is expected to be the focus of the meeting, which would come a day before members return to Washington on Monday night as a handful of members have already called for him to step aside.

One senior Dem aide told ABC News Biden should "buckle up for a wild week" ahead.

The White House quickly reacted to Biden's determination to stay in the race. One senior official told ABC News, "It's clear that the voters on the ground are encouraging Biden to stay in and that he's the best to take on Donald Trump."

A Biden campaign adviser told ABC News the interview was "solid."

The president has a busy few days coming up with a few campaign events in Philadelphia on Sunday and hosting the NATO summit next week.

The calls to step aside did not appear to deter Biden's campaign goal of moving forward.

In a fundraising text to his supporters on Saturday, the president said calls for him to drop out are nonsense.

"I understand you can't turn on the television or get on the internet without seeing some pundit talking about how I need to drop out of the race," the text read. "They were wrong about 2020. They were wrong about 2022. They were wrong when they said we couldn't take on the NRA, or Big Pharma, or Big Oil. Forget the pundits."

ABC News' Selina Wang, Will Steakin, John Parkinson, Ben Siegel, Fritz Farrow, Will McDuffie and Gabriella Abdul-Hakim contributed to this report.

Congressional Democrats respond to Biden's interview with ABC News originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Black Democrats are watching with alarm and frustration as the party devolves into infighting in the wake of President Bidens lackluster debate performance last month.

Black voters make up a critical part of the coalition that sent Biden to the White House in 2020, and their support is essential should he stay in the race for another term.

A recent highly watched New York Times/Siena College poll found a large percentage of Black voters feel Biden is too old for the job  but the same survey also found the president had in fact improved his support with the demographic after his faltering debate performance against former President Trump led to growing calls for him to withdraw.

Now, some Black Democrats are worried about how the debate fallout will impact an election whose stakes they feel couldnt be higher.

People who watched the debate actually increased their level of support for Joe Biden and decreased their level of support for Donald Trump, Adrianne Shropshire, executive director of BlackPAC, told The Hill. Its this post-debate narrative that is out of control  throwing fuel on the fire and actually creating a story that didnt exist on debate night. Democrats need to get their people in order because its affecting what their actual base understands to be true.

Thats not to say those who watched the debate were happy with the presidents performance, Shropshire said, but they werent necessarily surprised by what they saw.

Both candidates showed up in the way that, frankly, voters have come to understand who they are, Shropshire said. Joe Biden seemed old. Trump seemed like a liar. None of that is news to people.

But some Democrats are convinced Bidens performance indicates a need for a new candidate.

Democratic Reps. Raul Grijalva (Ariz.) and Lloyd Doggett (Texas) have both called for Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race. Behind closed doors, others have also called for him to step aside.

Though the president remains adamant he will not be dropping out of the race, Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, said what is generating even more trouble for the party is the debate around who would succeed Biden should he change his mind.

Our expectation would be that the successor would be Kamala Harris, Albright said. Black folks have not at all taken well to this Hunger Games-type approach to who the successor would be. If the party messes around and reads a process that skips over the obvious successor of Vice President Harris, theres going to be consequences and repercussions in terms of Black turnout.

Both Biden and Trump are hoping to shore up support among Black voters. Trump has focused his efforts on Black men in particular and marked a goal of pulling around 20 percent of Black voter support on Election Day.

But despite some polls showing growing Black voter support for the former president, Shropshire pointed out that Trump had set similar goals in the last two elections, and it did not pan out.

Theres no indication from the work that weve been doing or polling or our focus groups that that is the case right now, she said.

Theres something really offensive and sinister about suggesting that a group of people who have longed for fairness and equality and against racism and discrimination and white supremacy in this country would go flocking to a man and a party  a man [who] started his first campaign in 2016 on racism, Shropshire added, referring to how Trump perpetuated the racist Birther movement regarding former President Obama.

For those who are talking about Trumps debate performance, Albright said, its in the form of memes and social media.

The main takeaway that Black folks had from that debate isnt what Biden did or did not say. Its what Trump said about Black jobs, said Albright.

At the debate, Trump insinuated that Black jobs were being stolen by immigrants, prompting social media users to question what the former president considered a Black job to be.

I wish I had $1 for every meme and video going around of Black folks talking about, Here I am in my Black job, Albright said. The Trump that we saw in that debate is the same Trump who has no policies for us, who doesnt care about us, except to think all that were entitled to is some low-wage jobs.

Though only 4 percent of Black voters said Biden did very well at the debate, 73 percent said they would vote for him if the election were held today, according to the New York Times/Siena poll.

And Black voters continue to overwhelmingly approve of Biden over Trump: 63 percent said they have a favorable view of Biden, compared to only 17 percent who said the same about Trump.

Debates are not the end all, be all, said Albright. They only can be or will be if the response becomes all out of proportion, and thats essentially what weve seen with this debate  the response has really been hyperbolic, and no debate is worthy of this level of hyper reaction.

Its a sentiment echoed by prominent Black leaders from former President Obama to Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.). Though they acknowledged that Bidens debate performance  filled with long pauses, half-formed thoughts and unclear answers  was far from his best, they say he remains the only choice come November.

Bad debate nights happen. Trust me, I know, Obama posted on X.

But this election is still a choice between someone who has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone who only cares about himself. Between someone who tells the truth; who knows right from wrong and will give it to the American people straight  and someone who lies through his teeth for his own benefit. Last night didnt change that, and its why so much is at stake in November.

A certain amount of the support isnt surprising, said Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright, but Bidens performance does indicate how the party has struggled in general with communicating to Black voters.

You saw a lot reaffirm their support because we as a community are the most loyal and dedicated voting bloc in the history of this country, said Seawright. But that doesnt mean people dont have concerns, or this idea that there are some legit issues that we have to deal with as a party do not exist. The issues Black Americans have did not go away after that debate.

Still, some have argued that the administration has dropped the ball when it comes to speaking with the demographic, and that the debate highlighted that problem.

Moderators presented the candidates with only one question on Black voters  combining Black unemployment, the maternal mortality crisis and child care into one question  and Biden responded by highlighting what his administration has done for the community.

He said that Black unemployment has reached historically low levels under his administration and that he has helped reduce child care costs for Black families.

Theres more to be done  considerably more to be done, said Biden.

Shropshire said the president was put in a difficult position, as the question itself conflated a multitude of issues without a singular focus, but added that he could have been more forceful in his answer.

Albright added that though the question was a missed opportunity for Biden, what did stand out was just how much the president was able to hit on in his response.

The fact that there is substance there to actually talk about, the fact that he got jumbled up because theres a laundry list of things that he could have said to address it  thats whats more important to Black voters, said Albright.

No Black voter that Ive talked to, or that weve talked to as an organization, thinks that his inability to speak clearly and eloquently in the debate is somehow an indication that the other person would be better.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Every year, it becomes more obvious what an incredible impact humanity has on the environment, from microplastics in the water to an ever-increasing average temperature. Some areas, set aside as nature reserves, escape the worst of the damage, creating a sanctuary for species that would otherwise die out.

Now one of those reserves is at stake in Honduras, where the government intends to build a maximum security prison on an island that was previously almost untouched, Mongabay reported.

What's happening?

The Swan Islands is an archipelago of three small islands over 150 miles from the Honduran mainland. They are so remote that they have their own unique ecosystem, and the distant location has also made them difficult for experts to study, Mongabay detailed.

Now, Honduras has had a recent rash of arrests after a 2022 government announcement allowing law enforcement to ignore some constitutional rights of its citizens. There is no room for all the prisoners, and the government has decided to build its new prison on one of the Swan Islands.

The island in the proposal is only about 1,000 acres in size and previously held nothing but a single landing strip and a crew of about 12 Honduran naval personnel, Mongabay reported. The proposed prison would house 2,000 prisoners.

Why does it matter what happens to the Swan Islands?

According to conservationists, this prison project would devastate the island ecosystem, which has not even been fully studied.

Ilia Rivera, president of the Honduras College of Biologists, told Mongabay: "All human activities, even the smallest ones, have an impact on the environment. So thinking about building a prison in a place so far from the mainland  obviously it's going to have an environmental impact on the island's terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems."

The concern isn't just the prison building and grounds themselves. There is no food and no source of other supplies on the island. The activity of bringing supplies for 2,000 people to the island would be its own ecological disaster  and the Honduran government doesn't even know what delicate ecological balance they'll be upsetting since so little of the work of studying the islands has been completed.

"We're on high alert right now because the construction of this project means quite strong environmental damage," said Rivera.

Another prison was recently built in Utah despite researchers' concerns about the location.

What's being done about the prison project?

Conservationists and critics have protested the decision to build a prison on the Swan Islands. Continued pressure could halt the project, but it's unlikely.

However, individuals can prevent similar projects in the future by voting for eco-conscious candidates and policies.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and cool tips that make it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
Controversial market has new guidelines and a $1T forecast: 'We cannot afford to waste any more time on false solutions'

With the right framework, BloombergNEF analysts think the controversial carbon offset market could excel, potentially hitting a trillion dollars in 15 years.

If 2023 results are any indication, the arrow is pointed up. The market rebounded from a down year in 2022 despite "scandals and accusations of fraudulent projects," Bloomberg reports.

Companies set a record by buying and retiring 164 million credits last year, up 6%, and recent federal guidelines reported on by the New York Times could provide much-needed confidence in the system.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology describes the credit market as tradable "rights or certificates" that can be bought by a company to fund projects that reduce air pollution. In return, the company doesn't have to clean up its operation since it is offsetting an equal amount of pollution through the credit market. Reforestation and investing in renewable energy are examples of clean-energy investments that can earn credits, all per MIT's description.

The system has been criticized for shielding so-called greenwashing. That happens when companies claim to be making planet-friendly investments but, in truth, are not fulfilling the promises. A story last year from the Guardian noted that 39 of 50 offsets it studied were likely "junk."

"We cannot afford to waste any more time on false solutions," Anuradha Mittal, director of the Oakland Institute, told the newspaper. The institute is a policy think tank focused on social, economic, and environmental issues.

Shell, a company that has been criticized for disingenuous offsets, is among a group of companies that BloombergNEF notes retired a deluge of credits in December to put the market ahead.

In a report from last year, BloombergNEF sustainability research lead Kyle Harrison characterized figuring out how to effectively standardize the system as the carbon offset market's "space race."

"Buyers need transparency, clear definitions around quality, and easy access to premium supply," he said.

Suggestions in the article mostly deal with better defining what types of projects qualify, from preventing deforestation to capturing and safely storing air pollution. Part of the solution could be allowing only specific projects, like direct air capture, to qualify.

The Times reports that the U.S. government prefers that companies clean up pollution in "their own supply chains" before buying credits.

At its best, the market could be a useful tool for companies to help reduce overall planet-warming air pollution. NASA has linked the fumes to an increased risk of severe weather, and others have linked them to a growing list of health problems. The recent government guidelines announced by President Joe Biden are intended to strengthen faith in the system through public disclosure of results and other vetting processes.

Anyone can play the role of watchdog by staying educated on how companies are sticking to their climate-related promises. Supporting brands that do can encourage more businesses to follow suit.

In the end, reaching $1 trillion in carbon offsets only matters if the projects actually work.

"Voluntary carbon markets can help unlock the power of private markets to reduce emissions, but that can only happen if we address significant existing challenges," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in the Times story.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
UPDATE: CoreCivic has announced that Dex has been found and returned to his canine handler.

A local resident of the Clarksdale area found Dex and contacted CoreCivic.

**************

MEMPHIS, Tenn.  CoreCivic is asking the public for help to locate a missing correctional service canine.

CoreCivic correctional service canine, Dex, who is assigned to the Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility, escaped his residential enclosure in Clarksdale, Mississippi, near Catalpa Street.

Dex is a Belgian Malinois and was last seen at approximately 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 4.

Missing correctional service canine, Dex.

Missing correctional service canine, Dex.

Missing correctional service canine, Dex.

It is believed that he was spooked by fireworks being set off in the nearby area. CoreCivic said Dex is not considered aggressive, but he does not enjoy being petted.

Woman says thieves trolling social media to steal lost dogs

CoreCivic asks that anyone who might have seen Dex or has information regarding his whereabouts please contact us at (662) 833-9319 or (662) 833-9368, or contact the Clarksdale Police Department.

CoreCivic is offering a $2,500 reward to anyone who assists us in his safe return.

Were grateful to the public for helping us locate Dex so that he can return home safely and continue with his public service work at our Tallahatchie facility, Luis Rosa, Warden of Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility said.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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'COVID Tongue' Is Definitely a ThingHere's What It Is and How to Know if You Have It

In the early days of COVID, it felt like we were learning new things about the virus in real time daily. Its severity, especially for specific populations like older adults and the immunocompromised, and the reality that the virus could cause temporary loss of taste and smell were rather unsettling.

Since then, we've learned a lot about the virus, but staying current on potential signs, symptoms and side effects is still critical.

"We have gone from pandemic COVID to endemic COVID, which means it will be with us for a long time to come," says Dr. Linda Yancey, MD, the director of infection prevention at the Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston. "It is going to be important to understand all the possible presentations of the virus."

One of those presentations is the "COVID tongue," which is not a clinical diagnosis. However, if you experience the sore tongue and throat that COVID-19 can trigger, you're not imagining things. What can you do about COVID tongue symptoms, and are they preventable? Here's what doctors want you to know about COVID tongue sores, the mysterious white coating and how long it'll last.

Related: Here's What You Can Expect COVID Symptoms to Look Like Day by Dayand Why Days 5 through 10 Are the Most Important

What Is COVID Tongue?

Clinically, it's known as "glossitis," but it's become known as "COVID tongue" because you might experience it if you catch the virus. "COVID tongue refers to a rare but well-described condition in acute infection where the taste buds are attacked and temporarily damaged by the virus," Dr. Yancey explains.

COVID tongue symptoms vary. Dr. Omid Mehdizadeh, MD, an otolaryngologist (ENT) and laryngologist at Providence Saint Johns Health Center says they might include:

Discomfort

Burning

Swelling

Redness

Change or loss of taste

Ulcers

Plaque-like smooth areas signifying loss of the papillae or taste buds (for the unfamiliar, papillae are the small bumps on your tongueyour taste buds reside inside.)

About the white COVID tongue photos you may see on social media: It's a common symptom of benign glossitis, and you'll likely notice it around the papillae.

Importantly, these symptoms can also pop up because of other issues, so it's important not to assume you have COVID if you notice oral symptoms like sores, says Dr. Thomas Gut, D.O., the associate chair of medicine at Staten Island University Hospital. Dr. Gut explains that other reasons for glossitis include the following:

Other viral infections

Dry mouth

Allergies

What Causes COVID Tongue?

COVID spreads via droplets, and the mouth we use to breathe and eat is one of the virus's favorite "doorways." Dr. Gut says that scientists have theorized that COVID-19 starts to attack the bumps on the tongue (papilla) by using what's known as an angiotensin-converting enzyme receptor (ACE-2). The theory has "been held as a plausible scenario based on the increased presence of ACE2-receptors in areas of the mouth where COVID has been known to affect," Dr. Gut explains.

As a result, COVID tongue symptoms can occur, including inflammation and swelling. The effect it has on taste buds can impact how you enjoy food for a bit.

"COVID tongue may represent loss of taste buds or papillae on the lining of the tongue," Dr. Mehdizadeh says.

Related: The #1 COVID Symptom to Look Out For, According to Infectious Disease Experts



How Common Are COVID Tongue Sores And Other Symptoms?

It's not the most common symptom of the virus. However, people have reported it since COVID-19 became a part of our lives in 2020. For instance, a study of more than 650 people in Spain found that more than a quarter experienced oral issues, including tongue swelling, redness and inflammation.

While that is a significant number, more recent studies found fewer people experience COVID-19 symptoms. One from 2022 put the number at about 15%, while another from 2023 found that 20.5% of people reported signs associated with COVID tongue, like lesions.

Still, the authors of the 2022 research on COVID tongue called for more data because of "the ever-increasing rise in the number of oral infections attributed to the SARS-COV-2 virus."

Can You Treat or Prevent COVID Tongue?

No, and not really. "There is no consensus on formal treatments," Dr. Mehdizadeh says. "Remedies utilized in the literature include multivitamins and minerals, anti-septic oral rinses and antifungals if indicatedperhaps topical steroids if recommended by a provider."

The good news? "This tends to be a temporary issue that resolved on its own," Dr. Yancey says.

The time it takes for COVID tongue symptoms to clear up varies, but Dr. Mehdizadeh puts it in the "days to weeks" range. While the symptom is rare and generally uncomfortable but not life-threatening, Dr. Mehdizadeh advises people to see a doctor if they are experiencing:

Severe pain

Difficulty swallowing

Severe swelling

Problems breathing

The only true way to prevent COVID tongue is to avoid getting COVID in the first place. Dr. Yancey also stresses that vaccination is the best way to avoid severe cases and symptoms of the virus.

Up Next: Get Ready to Fill up That Grocery Cart, Because We Found 20 Doctor-Approved Foods That Fight Infection

Sources
CHICAGO  A 16-year-old boy was left in critical condition after being attacked by a group of males and hit by a car, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Police said the teen was standing in the street in the 7300 block of West Gregory Street around 11:45 p.m. Friday when a group of unknown males approached and physically beat him. After beating him, the group got into a white sedan and the driver struck the victim as they fled the scene.

1 rescued, search continues for 2 others after boaters fall into water near marina in Hammond, Indiana

Police said the victim suffered a broken jaw and punctured lungs, among other various injuries, and was taken to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in critical condition.

Police have no one in custody and the circumstances of the incident remain unknown as Area Five detectives continue to investigate.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for any information that leads to an arrest.

If you or someone you know has information that can help lead toward making an arrest and conviction in the investigation, contact police. Anonymous tips can be filed online at cpdtip.com.

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The Prince George's County Administration Building in Upper Marlboro. Prince George's County photo.

A crowded field of candidates is lining up to fill the vacant at-large seat on the Prince Georges County Council, with just one month until the primary in the special election.

At least 13 people  nine Democrats and four Republicans  had filed a certificate of candidacy by Fridays deadline.

According to the Maryland State Board of Elections website, the Democratic candidates include County Council Chair Jolene Ivey, state Del. Marvin E. Holmes Jr., former Del. Angela M. Angel, Bowie Mayor Tim Adams, Tamara Davis Brown, Gabriel Njinimbot, Keisha D. Lewis, Judy Mickens-Murray and Leo Bachi Eyombo.

The state board also reported that Republicans Kamita Gray, Michael Riker, Isaac Toyos and Jonathan White had filed for the seat.

All the candidates will run in a special primary election scheduled for Aug. 6, with early voting to run from July 31 to Aug. 5. The winner would run in the Nov. 5 general election, the same day as the presidential election.

They are running to replace former at-large County Council Member Mel Franklin (D), who abruptly resigned on June 14 after serving 14 years on the council. Less than a week later, charging documents were filed against Franklin for multiple counts in what authorities said was a campaign theft scheme that involved more than $133,000 from his campaign account.

The winner of this falls special election would serve the remaining two years of Franklins term.

Belinda Queen, a community activist and former Prince Georges school board member, said the county might have to pay for another special election, depending on who wins.

An Ivey victory would require an election to fill her current seat representing the countys District 5, an area that includes Bladensburg, Cheverly and Glenarden. Ivey has another two years on her four-year term. Other county elected officials have been mentioned as possible candidates, but none were on state or county lists as of Friday evening.

The taxpayers will have to pay for that, Queen said. I get why all of them are running  to see about wanting to serve in a larger position.

She believes most voters will support Ivey, whos already known in the county with her position on the council.

Iveys campaign has already mailed fliers to Democratic voters that include a family portrait with her husband, Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-4th) and their children, a summary of her legislative work and an endorsement from former County Executive Rushern L. Baker III.

Meanwhile, Queen, who isnt supporting any candidate, offered advice for all the candidates.

The most objective way to get your voice out there is to go in the grocery store and meet the people. Thats the best thing to do, Queen said.

The other known candidates include:

Holmes, who has served as a state delegate for more than 20 years. Hes one of the leading voices on housing topics as chair of the Housing and Real Property Subcommittee on the House Environment and Transportation Committee.

Adams, who became Bowies first Black mayor in 2019. Hes also the owner of a multimillion-dollar company in the county called Systems Applications & Technologies Inc. (SA-TECH).

Davis Brown, an attorney and community activist, ran in the May 2022 Democratic primary for the District 26 legislative seat against state Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D). She lost by 345 votes.

Angel, a former state delegate, sought a vacant House seat in December to represent legislative District 25.

Mickens-Murray is a former school board member who was appointed in 2021. State law passed a year later removed all four appointed members starting this month and will make the body a fully elected board to represent nine districts.

Njinimbot, an entrepreneur, ran an unsuccessful congressional campaign in this years May primary against Ivey. He came in second place, but only garnered 4,366, or 5.5%, of the vote.

Bachi Eyombo sought the at-large seat two years ago in the Democratic primary election. So did White, an Air Force veteran whos now running as a registered Republican.

Riker is a retired Prince Georges County Police officer.

Toyos did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

The state Board of Elections updated the list of candidates at 9:22 p.m. Friday with Lewis and Gray, but no information was immediately available on them.

The post Crowded field files to replace former Prince Georges County Council Member Mel Franklin appeared first on Maryland Matters.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Dalai Lama said on Saturday he is recovering from a knee surgery and feels "physically fit", brushing aside rumours of ill health on his 89th birthday.

"Recently I had surgery on my knee, which has given me some problem. However, I am recovering and have no problem at all now," the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism said in a video message from the United States, where he is recuperating.

"There may be people trying to confuse you about my health, saying that the Dalai Lama has gone to a hospital and is undergoing treatments, and so on, making my condition sound grave. You don't need to trust such misinformation," he said.

A charismatic figure who popularised Buddhism internationally, the Dalai Lama won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for keeping alive the Tibetan cause in exile. He fled to India in 1959, nine years after China sent troops into the Himalayan region in 1950, saying it was liberating Tibetan "serfs".

As the spiritual leader ages and battles health problems, the appointment of his successor has become a looming issue for Tibetans struggling for more autonomy in China or outright independence. Tibetan Buddhists believe that learned monastics are reincarnated after death as newborns.

The Dalai Lama has said he will clarify questions about succession - including whether and where he would be reincarnated - around his 90th birthday.

"I am nearly 90 now but I don't feel unhealthy, except for the slight discomfort in my legs. I would like to thank all my fellow Tibetans in and outside Tibet for your prayers on my birthday," he said, adding that some issues are part of ageing.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of Buddhists and well-wishers around the world are to gather to celebrate and pray for the long life of a leader who for them represents the strongest hope of an eventual return to Tibet.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah in New Delhi; Editing by William Mallard)
FILE PHOTO: Tibetan participate in a march to mark the 65th anniversary of the uprising in Dharamsala

FILE PHOTO: Tibetan participate in a march to mark the 65th anniversary of the uprising in Dharamsala

By Charlotte Greenfield and Sunil Kataria

DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) -In a monastery beneath snow-capped mountains in northern India, the Buddhist monk entrusted with protecting the Dalai Lama and foretelling his people's future is concerned.

The Dalai Lama turns 89 on Saturday and China insists it will choose his successor as Tibet's chief spiritual leader. That has the Medium of Tibet's Chief State Oracle contemplating what might come next.

"His Holiness is the fourteenth Dalai Lama, then there will be a fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth," the medium, known as the Nechung, said. "In countries, leaders change, and then that story is over. But in Tibet it works differently."

Tibetan Buddhists believe that learned monastics are reincarnated after death as newborns. The Dalai Lama, who is currently recuperating in the United States from a medical procedure, has said he will clarify questions about succession - including if and where he will be reincarnated - around his ninetieth birthday. As part of a reincarnation identification process, the medium will enter a trance to consult the oracle.

The incumbent Dalai Lama is a charismatic figure who popularised Buddhism internationally and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for keeping alive the Tibetan cause in exile. Beijing sees him as a dangerous separatist, though he has embraced what he calls a "Middle Way" of peacefully seeking genuine autonomy and religious freedom within China.

Any successor will be inexperienced and unknown on the global stage. That has sparked concerns about whether the movement will lose momentum or grow more radical amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington, long a source of bipartisan support for the Central Tibetan Administration, Tibet's government-in-exile.

The CTA and its partners in the West as well as India, which has hosted the Dalai Lama in the Himalayan foothills for more than six decades, are preparing for a future without his influential presence.

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to soon sign a bill that requires the State Department to counter what it calls Chinese "disinformation" that Tibet, which was annexed by the People's Republic of China in 1951, has been part of China since ancient times.

"China wants recognition that Tibet has been part of China ... throughout history, and this bill is suggesting that it would be relatively easy for Tibet supporters to get a western government to refuse to give recognition for such an extensive claim," said Tibet specialist Robert Barnett of London's School of Oriental and African Studies.

U.S. lawmakers, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi, visited the Dalai Lama in June to celebrate Congress passing the legislation, which Sikyong Penpa Tsering, who heads the CTA, called a "breakthrough."

The bill is part of a strategic shift away from emphasizing Chinese rights violations such as forced assimilation, the Sikyong, or political leader, told Reuters. Since 2021, CTA has lobbied two dozen countries including the U.S., to publicly undermine Beijing's narrative that Tibet has always been part of China, he said.

With U.S. weight behind this strategy, the exiles hope to push China to the negotiating table, he said. "If every country keeps saying that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China, then where is the reason for China to come and talk to us?"

The Chinese foreign ministry said in response to Reuters' questions that it would be open to discussions with the Dalai Lama about his "personal future" if he "truly gives up his position of splitting the motherland" and recognised Tibet as an unalienable part of China.

Beijing, which has not held official talks with the Dalai Lama's representatives since 2010, has also urged Biden not to sign the bill.

The office of the Dalai Lama, who has in recent years apologised for remarks he made about women and to a young child, referred an interview request to the Sikyong.

SUCCESSION QUESTIONS

Most historians say Tibet was assimilated into the Mongol empire during the 13th-14th century Yuan dynasty, which also covered large parts of present day China. Beijing says that established its sovereign claim, though scholars believe the relationship varied greatly over the centuries and remote Tibet largely governed itself for much of the time.

The People's Liberation Army marched into Tibet in 1950 and announced its "peaceful liberation". After a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, a young Dalai Lama fled into exile in India.

In 1995, atheist China and the Dalai Lama separately identified two boys as the Panchen Lama, the second-most-important Tibetan Buddhist leader. The Dalai Lama's pick was taken away by Chinese authorities and has not been seen since.

Many Buddhists consider Beijing's choice illegitimate, though most expect a similar parallel selection for the next Dalai Lama given the Chinese government's stance that he must reincarnate and it must approve the successor.

Chinese authorities have "tried to insert themselves into the succession of the Dalai Lama but we will not let that happen," said Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee during his Dharamsala visit.

India, whose troops clashed with China near the Tibetan plateau in 2022, has been less vocal about its position on succession.

"The U.S. ... does not have to worry about border incursions as India does," said Donald Camp, a former top South Asia official on the U.S. National Security Council.

But as home to tens of thousands of Tibetans and an ascendant voice on the global stage, Delhi will be pulled into the fray, observers of Indian diplomacy say. Hawkish commentators have already called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet with the Dalai Lama as a way of pressuring China.

Delhi's Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the succession but its former ambassador to China, Ashok Kantha, said India would not be "comfortable with China trying to control that process."

"Privately we have told China ... that for them the best option is engaging with the Dalai Lama and his representatives," said Kantha. "Post-fourteenth Dalai Lama we don't know what will happen."

The respect that the Dalai Lama commands among Tibetan exiles has kept in check frustrations and a formal push for independence, though it isn't clear if that balance will be maintained following his death.

Tibetan Youth Congress general secretary Sonam Tsering said his advocacy group respected the Middle Way but, like many other young Tibetans, it wanted full independence.

For now, Tibetans are focused on supporting the Dalai Lama in fulfilling his desire to return to his homeland before his death, he said.

But if the wish "is not fulfilled, then the emotional outburst, the emotional challenges they are going through, it's very difficult to think of," he said.

The Sikyong said CTA's new emphasis on challenging China's narrative united pro-independence Tibetans with those pursuing the Middle Way, as Tibet's historical status was a point of common agreement.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of Buddhists and well-wishers around the world will gather to celebrate and pray for the long life of a leader who for them represents the strongest hope of an eventual return to Tibet.

But time for both the Dalai Lama and his people is starting to run out.

(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield and Sunil Kataria in Dharamsala; Additional reporting by Krishn Kaushik and Tanvi Mehta in New Delhi and Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Katerina Ang)
Dangerous heat continues to bake areas of the West from Washington to Arizona

 Over the upcoming days, all-time record high temperatures will be challenged across portions of the West. Daytime highs from Washington to Arizona can range upwards of 100 F, with some Desert Southwest locations soaring above 115 F daily.

 Factors such as a recent lack of rainfall, low relative humidity levels and stifling temperatures will create an elevated wildfire threat.

 The harsh conditions can dramatically raise the risk for heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion.

An expansive heat wave is projected to continue across the Western states this week, while the core of the heat slowly progresses inland, AccuWeather meteorologists say. The pattern of intense and elevated temperatures plaguing the region is largely due to an amplified ridge in the jet stream anchoring high pressure over it with a consistent flow of warmth from the south.

"The large and expansive heat dome across the western United States will bring record heat from the deserts of Southern California stretching northward all the way into the Pacific Northwest," explained AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Dan Pydynowski.

Daytime highs will soar above 100 degrees Fahrenheit across portions of Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington and even Idaho.

Pydynowski highlighted that cities such as Seattle that will challenge their daily records each day through Tuesday. The heat can be particularly dangerous in some cities west of the Cascades in western Washington, such as Seattle, Olympia and Port Angeles, where many people and homes do not have air conditioning.

Areas east of the Cascades in the Northwest will continue to bake for much of the week.

Across the central valleys of California and the desert and basin regions of the Southwest, highs bove 110 and even 115 are in store over the upcoming days.

The all-time record of 117 in Las Vegas was broken on Sunday as the temperature climbed to 120 degrees. This means that since records have been kept, the temperature has never been higher than this mark. Records date back to the mid-1930s.

Daily records in Las Vegas could be challenged or broken nearly every day through Friday.

Copious amounts of sunshine will continue to expand across the West through at least midweek, providing little relief for residents in terms of any shade gleaming from cloud cover. In the heart of the Southwest, locations like Las Vegas and Phoenix are forecast to have max ultraviolet (UV) index levels categorized as extreme for much of this week, ranging between 11 and 12.

At UV levels such as these, protection against sun damage is necessary for anyone outdoors during the midday hours. Items such as sunscreen, a hat, and loose-fitting and light-colored clothing are recommended in these situations.

Excessive heat warnings have been issued across the West, with many warnings lasting through at least midweek. The record-challenging heat will continue to pose a risk for anyone working outdoors, particularly during the prime heating hours of the daytime from mid-morning through the afternoon.

Forecasters say that a slight nudge in the pattern early this week will result in some cooling along the West coast, while locations farther inland will continue to bake in the heat.

GET THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

"Some relief is in sight for coastal areas as the heat dome shifts eastward as the week progresses, promoting a dip in temperatures along the Pacific coast. Temperatures in cities near the Pacific coast, including San Francisco and Oakland, California, are expected to dip to near historical averages for July," explained AccuWeather Meteorologist Elizabeth Danco.

Danco added that as the core of the heat dome shifts eastward into the Great Basin this week, dry conditions will again be coupled with all-time record highs from interior California into parts of southern Nevada and western Arizona.

As of Tuesday, there were dozens of active fires over the Western states. Forecasters warn that the ongoing heat wave and drier pattern will not improve wildfire conditions in the short term.

"The heat combined with dry brush and low relative humidity across the region will continue to promote the risk for wildfires to start and spread. Individuals are urged to exercise caution when using open flames and to adhere to any bans that may be in effect," highlighted Danco.

Although surface winds will generally be light across the majority of the West over the upcoming days, isolated gusts up to 30-40 mph may occur from areas spanning from southern Idaho to eastern Nevada, Utah and northern Arizona, which can cause any active fires to readily spread and pose challenges for firefighting crews.

Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
President Joe Biden's post-debate interview Friday divided prominent Democrats, with some showing support for his reelection campaign and others joining calls for him to end his 2024 bid for the White House.

Some Biden allies came to the president's defense, applauding his performance in his sit-down with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos. But after the interviewed aired, Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., became the fifth House Democrat asking Biden to step aside in a statement Saturday. She joined a growing number of people within his party asking he reevaluate his campaign, including Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey. Discussions about the future of Biden's candidacy are expected over the next days and weeks. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is reportedly organizing a group of Democratic senators to ask Biden to drop out.

"Given what I saw and heard from the President during last week's debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of forceful response from the President himself following the debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump," Craig said. "This future of our country is bigger than any one of us. It's up to the President from here."

Jan 4, 2023; Washington, D.C, USA; Jan. 4, 2023; Washington, D.C., USA - Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., left, and Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., center, listen to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in the House chamber.

One of Biden's most ardent supporters, Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said the threat former President Donald Trump poses is why the party should rally behind the president right now.

"He clearly laid out the truth tonight  under Trump, all of our progress will be stymied and our democracy would be at risk," Clyburn said in a social media post Friday evening. "Joe Biden is who our country needs and his presidency has laid a foundation upon which we can continue our pursuit of a more perfect union."

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., told Politico after the interview aired that she found the president's answer about whether he would agree to take a cognitive test unnerving. Biden said he didn't need one and serving as president while running for reelection is its own sort of cognitive test.

I found the answer about taking a cognitive test every day to be unsettling and not particularly convincing, so I will be watching closely every day to see how he is doing, especially in spontaneous situations, Chu said.

David Axelrod, a former senior senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, was one of the first Democrats to say there would be discussion about Biden's future in the race following his performance in the first presidential debate. After Biden dismissed his low poll numbers in the interview with Stephanopoulos, Axelrod took to X, formerly Twitter, to respond.

"The president is rightfully proud of his record. But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race," Axelrod said. "Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump. Today, he is six points behind."

More: Biden claims race is 'toss-up' in ABC interview. Here's what latest polls say.

Political consultant Bill Burton, who served as a deputy press secretary in the Obama White House, penned a CNN opinion column published Saturday arguing Vice President Kamala Harris is the "only viable alternative" for Democrats so late in the race.

"If you think our ticket has problems in the Black community right now, imagine pushing our nations first Black woman vice president aside for the fantasy of riding a blank slate to victory," Burton said.

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat representing Biden's home state, is sticking with the president. He shared a clip from the interview and praised Biden, saying he has made "remarkable progress" and would deliver more in his next term.

"I can't wait to help him continue to take the fight to Trump and win in November," Coons said Friday.

Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, as @rachelbarber_

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats react to Joe Biden's interview with George Stephanopoulos
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The Office of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that the heat emergency has been extended across the District until July 9.

Bowser activated the heat emergency on July 4. However, with temperatures passing 95 degrees on the following day, Bowser said that the heat emergency was extended to Tuesday or until conditions improved.

Bowser encouraged residents and D.C. visitors to take precautions to avoid heat-related illnesses.

Wilson Aquatic Center in DC reopening

Officials said residents should limit their time outdoors, drink plenty of fluids, keep pets inside, check on neighbors, and wear appropriate clothing.

For residents across the District experiencing homelessness, the following shelters are open:

Men

801 East Shelter at 2722 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE

Adams Place Shelter at 2210 Adams Pl. NE

New York Avenue Shelter at 1355-57 New York Ave. NE

Emery Shelter at 1725 Lincoln Rd. NE

Women

Harriet Tubman Shelter for Women, DC General Building 9 at 1900 Massachusetts Ave. SE

Patricia Handy Place for Women Extension at 1009 11th St. NW

LGBTQ+

Living Life Alternatively at 400 50th St. SE

The cooling center at the Downtown Day Services Center at 1313 New York Ave. NW is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Officials said entry will be permitted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
A sign is posted in front of Meta headquarters on April 28, 2022 in Menlo Park, California. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

After years of failed attempts, the Maryland General Assembly this year passed a data privacy bill that the governor signed into law last month.

Then-Del. Sara Love (D-Montgomery), the lead sponsor of the bill, said she felt like a lone target when groups tried to strip down the privacy standard she fought for her state to adopt. Now, she knows she was not.

The fight over Marylands new law mirrored much of what has been seen in other states, most recently in Maine, where significant time and energy went into crafting two competing proposals for a landmark data privacy law during that states last legislative session. And while, procedurally, the bills died because neither passed both chambers of the Maine Legislature, the likelihood  or unlikelihood  of their passage was shaped well before they got to the floor.

Both proposals were among the top lobbied bills this year in terms of spending, but the outsized lobbying presence is better captured by the number and frequency of outside interests weighing in.

Of all bills considered this year, those two received by far the most lobbying reports, which lobbyists and their employers file each month to document action. Totaling around 250 reports each, these bills saw more lobbying action than even the highly debated supplemental budget bill, which received just shy of 200 reports.

Interest groups, among them many focused on business, began making their positions on the bills clear before the official start of the second regular session of the Legislature in 2024. Feedback submitted in December showed apparent opposition to data minimization, a baseline protection that only allows companies to collect information directly relevant and necessary for their operations  and a key part of the version of the law put forth by Rep. Maggie ONeil (D-Saco).

ONeils bill, LD 1977, would have made Maines regulations for companies that collect consumer information online among the strictest in the country. It ultimately failed, as did the competing proposal from Sen. Lisa Keim (R-Oxford), which was favored by business and tech interests.

Discussions of these two bills have long been intertwined, with the Judiciary Committee doing line-by-line comparisons, and the companies that lobbied on both proposals also overlapped substantially.

Less apparent in these discussions at the time was the underlying membership of these groups, including Big Tech companies, such as Meta, Google and Charter Communications, otherwise known as Spectrum. Further, these groups had previously employed similar lobbying tactics in other states before they were tried, and successful, in Maine.

A look across state lines

The story of data privacy in the Maine Legislature is far from unique.

Both Loves and ONeils plans faced pushback during public meetings from representatives of tech interest groups, such as TechNet and the State Privacy and Security Coalition.

All of these groups had Amazon, Google, Meta, as their major players,said Love, who has since been sworn in to fill a vacant Senate seat. And it wasnt until much later that Amazon and Google actually came forward themselves. They had the groups come and do the work for them.

Both Love and ONeil said they hadnt seen as hard a lobbying job before in their tenures. One group would ask for a handful of amendments, another group would ask for a different set, and so on.

It was death by a thousand cuts, Love said, adding that eventually she and other elected officials in Maryland said enough. Were going to pass something that matters.

This pattern extended beyond Maine and Maryland. Collin Walke, formerly a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, described a similar process of what he called a lot of procedural chicanery to strip back the data privacy plan in his state, as did Kentucky Sen. Whitney Westerfield and Montana Sen. Daniel Zolnikov.

These lawmakers from across the country shared their experiences with the Vermont House Committee on Commerce and Economic Affairs in April, ahead of the Vermont Legislature passing one of the strictest data privacy bills in the country.

Vermont bucked the trend of watered-down bills by learning from challenges in other states  but that bill was later vetoed by Vermont Gov. Phil Scott. While state and national advocacy groups pushed for Scotts signature, NetChoice, a trade association that represents platforms including Meta, sent a letter to Scott asking him to veto the bill.

It seems like there are enough coincidences state to state from talking to people that I dont know how we fight this unless were doing it together, said Vermont Rep. Monique Priestley, one of the chief architects of her states bill.

There is a patchwork of state laws and parts of federal legislation governing the current digital privacy landscape, as there remains no one federal law to regulate it, despite several proposals.

California was the first state to enact a comprehensive data privacy law, considered the toughest in the country, though now rivaled by Maryland. Most other states with data privacy legislation have followed what has been dubbed the Connecticut model, often described as a diluted approach with regulations falling between Californias and those passed in red states.

Inside the effort in Maine

Early in the year, outside interest in the two data privacy bills in Maine was already apparent. Before April lobbying reports were due, both bills had exceeded 200 reports each.

By the end of session, LD 1977, the stricter plan from ONeil, had the highest number of lobbying reports, 256, though Keims bill, LD 1973, was a close second at 242, according to data submitted to the Maine Ethics Commission.

In terms of spending, the proposals also ended up being the third- and fourth-most lobbied bills after a flurry of last minute attention.

The reports do not specify whether a lobbyist or firm worked for or against a bill, but many made their stances clear.

For example, TechNet and the State Privacy and Security Coalition wrote to the Judiciary Committee throughout the session largely in opposition to ONeils bill and in support of Keims. Data minimization, interoperability and providing the ability for people to sue companies for privacy violations were among key concerns.

TechNets membership includes many companies that also individually lobbied the legislation, including Google, Verizon, Cisco, and DoorDash, among others. The State Privacy and Security Coalition boasts many of the same members  including Google and Verizon  as well as other companies that similarly lobbied the bills under their own names, too: Meta, Charter, TechNet, Comcast, RELX and T-Mobile, to name a few.

While ONeils bill maintained its data minimization standard, lawmakers stripped the bill of a private right of action and added exemptions to the law for several nonprofits  changes that ONeil told Maine Morning Star she wished had not been made.

Representatives of Meta and Charter consulted with Keim in the initial drafting of her bill. In an email shared with Maine Morning Star, the lobbyist listed as working for Meta, Andrew Hackman, wrote ONeil in January 2023 to inform her that he was working with Keim on a data privacy bill based on the Connecticut law. Hackman wrote that there was a broad group of industry players working on the legislation, including Kate Gore, the lobbyist for Charter.

In response to a request for comment about Metas involvement with LD 1973, which companies were a part of the group, and whether the group had been a part of similar efforts in other states, a Meta spokesperson provided Maine Morning Star with a statement about the companys privacy work beyond Maine.

Since 2019, weve spent more than $5.5 billion in a rigorous privacy program that includes teams and technology designed not only to identify and address privacy risks early but to embed privacy into our products from the start, the spokesperson wrote, also pointing to previous comments made by Metas head of state and local policy, Dan Sachs, outlining his view that uniform interstate privacy protections are needed.

On the other side, the research nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) worked with ONeil to fine tune her version. EPIC has also been involved with data privacy bills in other states, including Maryland and Vermont.

Democrats chose to believe an out-of-state nonprofit organization and their analysis on language rather than believing our own people, the businesses that are right here in Maine and that have to comply, Keim told Maine Morning Star.

Ahead of a Senate floor vote on the bills, Keim critiqued the nonprofit exemptions in light of EPICs involvement in shaping LD 1977. However, comments submitted to the Judiciary Committee earlier in session show that EPIC had recommended against such exemptions.

We do believe that nonprofits should be covered by privacy laws, Caitriona Fitzgerald, deputy director of EPIC, told Maine Morning Star.

While some of the changes made to ONeils bill were welcomed by outside interests, data minimization remained a key concern for businesses, including L.L. Bean, whose representative argued it would have prevented targeted advertising. Lawmakers in other states saw similar opposition from prominent local businesses in their areas as well, the Vermont Country Store and King Arthur Baking being other examples.

ONeil said these concerns were unfounded. Rather, she argued the bill would have prevented companies from tracking consumers in invasive ways.

I was disappointed that L.L. Bean led the charge to kill this bill because we really worked hard to make sure that we protected Maine businesses in their ability to advertise, ONeil said.

Jason Sulham, L.L.Beans manager of public affairs, said L.L. Bean advocated for Maine consumers to be afforded the same protections provided to our customers and to consumers in other states regardless of the ultimate legislative vehicle, but declined to say whether the company lobbied for or against either bill.

The Judiciary Committee initially incorporated a suggestion from L.L. Bean to include targeted advertising in the list of exemptions under the bill. However, ONeil said this change would have gutted the main component of her bill  data minimization  because of the way targeted advertising is defined as tracking people across websites. The committee ended up reversing the change.

Sulham said L.L. Bean ultimately opposed the bill because it would have limited consumer choice, led to more spam, unnecessarily complicated compliance, and put Mainers in an overly restrictive class compared to consumers in other states.

While a group of industry players helped initiate Keims version of a data privacy plan, Sulham said L.L. Bean was not among them, nor did we ever speak for other businesses or coordinate with out-of-state interests in any way.

Following the Vermont hearing in April, where lawmakers from other states shared their work on data privacy, L.L. Bean also sent a letter to the committee pushing back on claims from ONeil that the Maine retailer was a spokesperson for the tech industry interests.

In Maine, if L.L. Bean says something, people are going to respect that, ONeil said during the meeting.

Matt Schwartz, a policy analyst at Consumer Reports, another group supportive of ONeils version said, in the end, the rejection of both bills came down to a lack of time.

Im not going to speculate on whether this was intentional or truly a misunderstanding, but you had businesses saying that the bill was going to do things that it wasnt going to do, Schwartz said. I wish we had more time to push back and clarify what the bill actually did.

As seen in other states, it is common for data privacy legislation to take a few sessions to pass, so lawmakers and interest groups say this is only the start for data privacy reform efforts in Maine.

With the tech industry groups and tactics now also more widely known across states, lawmakers are forming their own interstate alliances to push back on their playbook, as Priestley, the representative from Vermont, called it.

I feel like a big part of this was just getting more states talking to each other, Priestley said.

Maine Morning Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maine Morning Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lauren McCauley for questions: info@mainemorningstar.com. Follow Maine Morning Star on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Death by a thousand cuts: A look at Big Techs efforts to influence data privacy appeared first on Maryland Matters.
To a defiant Biden, the 2024 race is up to the voters, not to Democrats on Capitol Hill

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)  To a defiant President Joe Biden, the 2024 election is up to the public  not the Democrats on Capitol Hill. But the chorus of Democratic voices calling for him to step aside is growing, from donors, strategists, lawmakers and their constituents who say he should bow out.

The party has not fallen in line behind him even after the events that were set up as part of a blitz to reset his imperiled campaign and show everyone he wasnt too old to stay in the job or to do it another four years.

On Saturday, a fifth Democratic lawmaker said openly that Biden should not run again. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota said that after what she saw and heard in the debate with Republican rival Donald Trump, and Bidens lack of a forceful response afterward, he should step aside and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward.

Craig posted one of the Democrats key suburban wins in the 2018 midterms and could be a barometer for districts that were vital for Biden in 2020.

With the Democratic convention approaching and just four months to Election Day, neither camp in the party can much afford this internecine drama much longer. But it is bound to drag on until Biden steps aside or Democrats realize he wont and learn to contain their concerns about the presidents chances against Trump.

There were signs party leaders realize the standoff needs to end. Some of the most senior lawmakers, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn, were now publicly working to bring the party back to the president. Pelosi and Clyburn had both raised pointed questions about Biden in the aftermath of the debate.

Biden is who our country needs, Clyburn said late Friday after Biden's interview with ABC aired.

On Saturday, Bidens campaign said the president joined a biweekly meeting with all 10 of the campaigns nation co-chairs to discuss their shared commitment to winning the 2024 race. Clyburn was among them.

But the silence from most other House Democrats on Saturday was notable, suggesting that lawmakers are not all being convinced by what they saw from the president. More House Democrats are likely to call for Biden to step aside when lawmakers return to Washington at the start of the week.

Biden had no public schedule Saturday, as he and aides stepped back from the fervor over the past few days. But the president will head out campaigning again on Sunday in Philadelphia, intent on putting the debate behind him. And this coming week, the U.S. is hosting the NATO summit and the president is to hold a news conference.

Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned Saturday in New Orleans, but she steered clear of questions about whether Biden should step away.

The president's ABC interview on Friday night  billed as an effort to get the campaign back on track  stirred carefully worded expressions of disappointment from the party's ranks, and worse from those who spoke anonymously. Ten days into the crisis moment of the Biden-Trump debate, Biden is dug in.

Even within the White House there were concerns the ABC interview wasnt enough to turn the page.

Campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez has been texting lawmakers and administration officials are encouraging them not to go public with their concerns about the race and the presidents electability, according to a Democrat granted anonymity to discuss the situation.

Democrats are wrestling over what they see and hear from the president but are not at all certain about a path forward. They were particularly concerned that Biden suggested that even if he were to be defeated in a rematch with Trump, he would know that he gave it his all. That seemed an insufficient response.

A lot can change in the next 72 to 96 hours, because thats what happens nowadays," Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Saturday. You know, four months is an eternity in todays political world. Im not worried about making sure we have a great ticket if the president chose some other road.

But Green said he also wants to "respect the president and give him the time to make this decision. And if he decides to be our nominee, hes it. And well go all in against Mr. Trump because he doesnt represent the right values for our people.

As Bidens camp encourages House lawmakers to give the president the chance to show what he can do, one Democratic aide said the Friday interview didn't help and in fact made things worse. The aide expects more Democrats will likely be calling on Biden to step aside.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, without breaking with Biden at this point, are pulling together meetings with members in the next few days to discuss options. Many lawmakers are hearing from constituents at home and fielding questions. One senator was working to get others together to ask him to step aside.

Following the interview, a Democratic donor reported that many of the fellow donors he spoke with were furious, particularly because the president declined to acknowledge the effects of his aging. Many of those donors are seeking a change in leadership at the top of the ticket, said the person, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.

Biden roundly swatted away calls Friday to step away from the race, telling voters at a Wisconsin rally, reporters outside Air Force One and ABC's George Stephanopoulos that he was not going anywhere.

Completely ruling that out," he told reporters at the rally.

Biden dismissed those who were calling for his ouster, instead saying he'd spoken with 20 lawmakers and they had all encouraged him to stay in the race.

Concern about Bidens fitness for another four years has been persistent. In an August 2023 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, fully 77% of U.S. adults said Biden was too old to be effective for four more years. Not only did 89% of Republicans say that, but so did 69% of Democrats. His approval rating stands at 39% in the most recent AP-NORC poll.

Biden has dismissed the polling, citing as evidence his 2020 surge to the nomination and win over Trump, after initially faltering, and the 2022 midterm elections, when many expected Republicans would sweep but they didnt, in part over the issue of abortion rights.

I dont buy that, when he was reminded that he was behind in recent polls. I dont think anybodys more qualified to be president or win this race than me."

At times, Biden rambled during the interview, which ABC said aired in full and without edits. Asked how he might turn the race around, Biden argued that one key would be large and energetic rallies like the one he held Friday in Wisconsin. When reminded that Trump routinely draws larger crowds, the president laid into his opponent.

Trump is a pathological liar, Biden said, accusing Trump of bungling the federal response to the COVID pandemic and failing to create jobs. You ever see something that Trump did that benefited someone else and not him?

Republicans, though, are squarely behind their candidate, and support for Trump, who at 78 is three years younger than Biden, has been growing.

And thats despite Trumps 34 felony convictions in a hush money trial, that he was found liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll in 1996, and that his businesses were found to have engaged in fraud.

___

This story was first published on Jul. 6, 2024. It was updated on Jul. 7, 2024, to correct the name of Hawaiis governor. He is Josh Green, not Mark Green.

____

Miller and Mascaro reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti in Saugatuck, Michigan, Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Bill Barrow in New Orleans and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.
President Joe Bidens make-or-break interview with ABC News appears to have done little to win over skeptics in his party, with Democratic insiders believing he has failed to undo the damage caused by his dismal debate performance.

In evaluating Bidens sit-down conversation with George Stephanopoulos on Friday evening, one longtime Democratic donor bundler told The Daily Beast it was a huge opportunity missed.

This was his Alamo, and hes going down like Davey Crocket, the unnamed individual said.

In the high-stakes interview, the 81-year-old president sought to diminish fears about his age and competency to run for a second term by insisting he is well enough to campaign and defeat Donald Trump in November.

He brushed off the debate as simply a bad night and put it down to him not feeling physically well.

However, it may take more than one interview to change Democrats, and the publics, perception of Biden.

After the interview aired, another Democratic donor bundler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that it reminded them of when my grandfather refused to accept he shouldnt be allowed to drive anymore and that everyone but him knew it.

The insider said that, while the interview was not as bad as the debate, a few alarming moments did not help Bidens case.

Heres how one Democratic bundler put it, relayed with permission. #gapol pic.twitter.com/fjukk8DeqT  Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) July 6, 2024

Rep Lloyd Doggett, who became the first sitting Democratic party member to call for Biden to step down from the race, told CNN that the interview actually reinforced his stance.

The need for him to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday, he said, adding that Biden does not want his legacy to be that hes the one who turned over our country to a tyrant.

Doggett is one of five Democratic lawmakers who have now publicly called for Biden to withdraw himself from the race, with Minnesota Rep Angie Craig joining joining calls on Saturday morning  hours after the interview aired.

I have great respect for President Bidens decades of service to our nation and his steadfast commitment to making our country a better place, Craig wrote in a statement posted on Twitter/X.

Biden sits down with George Stephanopoulos for a make-or-break interview (Getty Images)

However, given what I saw and heard from the president during last weeks debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the president himself following the debate, I do not believe the president can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump, she added.

Ohio Representative Greg Landsman told Axios before the pre-recorded interview that it would be unlikely to change peoples minds about encouraging Biden to step down.

There were 40 million people that watched the debate, so itll take more than a rally and an interview to prove that he can make the case that Trump is unfit to be president, Landsman told the outlet.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has now scheduled a virtual crisis meeting on Sunday with other top Democrats to discuss Bidens path forward, according to reports.

So far, Biden has firmly maintained he will remain in the presidential race.
President Bidens first post-debate interview with ABC seemingly did little to change the minds of Democrats who were rattled by Bidens poor debate showing last week and have questioned his ability to beat former President Trump in November.

The interview was seen as the presidents make-or-break moment to try and reassure voters and leaders within the party that the lackluster performance on stage  when Biden appeared to lack energy, had a raspy voice and stumbled over his words  was a one-time thing.

The debate sounded an alarm among Democrats as to whether he should stay at the top of the ticket. While several names have been floated as potential replacements, the incumbent has insisted that he intends to remain in the race.

Several Democratic lawmakers have joined the calls for Biden to drop out of the race and make room for someone else to challenge Trump in the fall  some even questioning if the president could make it through another four years in office.

Heres what some of them had to say following Bidens interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas)

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) questions special counsel Robert Hur during a House Judiciary Committee hearing to discuss Hurs investigation into President Bidens handling of classified documents on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Greg Nash)

Strong interview tonight from the President, Jackson Lee posted on social media platform X Friday night, in response to another post by Biden which featured a clip of the interview.

Jackson Lee has stood behind Biden, despite questions swirling among the party about his mental fitness. Earlier Friday, she said that there should be no mention of the President stepping down.

We know Joe Biden for who he is. Instead, I am raising my voice in outrage at Donald Trumps created monster that is Project 2025, the Texas Democrat wrote. I have read this document, it is a disgrace. Now is the time to stop it. Enough is enough!

Rep. Lloyd Doggett

FILE  Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, listens during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 16, 2015. Doggett has become the first in the party to publicly call for President Joe Biden to step down as the Democratic nominee for president, citing Bidens debate performance failing to effectively defend his many accomplishments. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File)

Doggett was the first sitting House Democrat to call for Biden to step down days after the debate debacle.

The Texas Democrat joined CNNs Jim Sciutto Friday following Bidens appearance on ABC. Asked if he heard anything from the incumbent in the highly anticipated interview that made him second guess his call, Doggett didnt appear optimistic, saying nothing.

Joe Biden is a good man, hes an American patriot, yet the need for him to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday, Doggett added.

Earlier this week, Doggett pointed to Bidens trailing poll numbers as reason for him to pass the baton, arguing that he has even run behind Democratic senators in key states.

I had hoped that the debate would provide some momentum to change that. It did not, Doggett said in a statement post-debate. Instead of reassuring voters, the President failed to effectively defend his many accomplishments and expose Trumps many lies.

Sen. Chris Coons

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.)

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) is seen during the annual White House Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. (Greg Nash)

Coons, like Jackson Lee, celebrated Bidens showing in the ABC interview.

President Biden has delivered remarkable progress for the American people, and he has plans to do even more in his next term, Coons said Friday in a post on X, responding to the Biden campaigns clip of the interview. I cant wait to help him continue to take the fight to Trump and win in November.

Coons a close ally of Biden and a national co-chair of his campaign, acknowledged after the debate that the president needed to conduct more interviews and host more events without a teleprompter.

We do need to see more unscripted and off-the-record moments, Coons said Monday. That is something Im encouraging.

Rep. Mike Quigley

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) speaks to press in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC, United States on November 8, 2023. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Quigley became the fourth Democrat  behind Doggett and Reps. Raul Grijalva (Ariz.) and Seth Moulton (Mass.)  to push for Biden to step down Friday.

He was asked about his response to a clip of the interview by ABC News Juju Chang.

If you are told, reliably, from your allies, from your friends and supporters in the Democratic party in the House and the Senate, that theyre concerned youre gonna lose the House and the Senate if you stay in, what will you do? Stephanopoulos asked Biden in the clip.

Im not gonna answer that question, Biden responded. Its not gonna happen.

Quigley replied to the video, saying hes not sure I share his confidence when it comes to potentially losing both houses of Congress.

In his call for Biden to step aside, the Illinois Democrat said the presidents legacy is already set and he should give someone else a chance.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said in an interview on MSNBC. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

He previously said poll numbers would be the only thing to change Bidens mind. Despite a drop in the polls post-debate, however, the incumbent continues to insist he will continue and win.

Sen. John Fetterman

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., left, is interviewed, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, on FOX News Channels Special Report with Bret Baier, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Fetterman was asked by Sciutto on CNN Newsroom Friday for his response to the ABC interview and if he heard enough from Biden to quell Democrats concerns.

The freshman senator didnt directly answer the question.

Well, of course its gonna be an ongoing conversation, he said, adding, But yes, of course, he did a fine job on that.

Fetterman has been an intense defender of Biden in the post-debate chaos, sharply responding to The New York Times editorial board requesting Biden halt his campaign.

F that, the Pennsylvania senator wrote in response on X last week.

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U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley encouraged President Joe Biden on Friday to drop his bid for a second term, making the North Side congressman the first in Illinois Democratic delegation to join a small but growing group of party members urging Biden to abandon his race against presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this, Quigley said during an interview Friday night on MSNBCs All in with Chris Hayes.

Quigleys comments came just hours after a defiant Biden repeatedly declared during an event in Madison, Wisconsin and in a TV interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos that he was staying in the race despite his poor performance in last weeks debate against Trump in which he appeared to be at times confused and even hapless.

You probably heard we had a little debate last week. Cant say its my best performance, but ever since then, theres been a lot of speculation. Whats Joe going to do? Is he going to stay in the race? Whats he going to do? Heres my answer: I am running and am going to win again, Biden said at the Madison event, held in a middle school gymnasium. Theyre trying to push me out of the race. Let me say this clearly as I can, Im staying in the race.

Other Democratic congressmen have called for Biden to step aside, including Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, but Quigley is the first major Democrat from Illinois to join the chorus. Quigley, who first took office in 2009, is also from Chicago, which will be hosting the Democratic National Convention next month where Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were long expected to celebrate being renominated to take on Trump in November.

Quigleys comments come just two days after Biden, 81, met with the nations Democratic governors and tried to tamp down concerns about his age and mental fitness and his ability to defeat Trump a second time. Among those who met with Biden at the White House was Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who has been mentioned repeatedly as a potential Biden replacement and someone with White House ambitions of his own.

Following that meeting, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said of Biden that the governors have his back.

A path to victory in November is the No. 1 priority  and thats the No. 1 priority of the president. So thats what were trying to get done, Walz, the head of the Democratic Governors Association, told reporters outside the White House Wednesday. The feedback was good, the conversation was honest and open, and the action that will come out of that will make sure that were getting that message out.

But despite Bidens outreach attempt to the governors, some Democrats said privately that the meeting was too little, too late as questions continued to swirl as to whether the presidents reelection campaign would survive.

A Pritzker political team spokeswoman said Wednesday that the governor reported that the roughly 90-minute meeting was candid and he appreciated hearing directly from the president.
Democrats are aiming their fire at the Supreme Court after this weeks monumental ruling that granted former President Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution, hoping that a messaging blitz focused on the bench could turbocharge campaigns up and down the ballot in the lead-up to the November elections.

The Democrats are floating a host of reform proposals, some more aggressive than others, that theyre hoping to adopt if voters deliver them the House majority at the polls. The list includes efforts to apply term limits to Supreme Court justices; establish a formal  and enforceable  code of ethics by which the justices must abide; increase the number of justices on the court; and grant Congress greater oversight powers over their conduct.

Some lawmakers would go a long step further, calling for the impeachment of several conservative justices who have declined to recuse themselves in cases where they appear to have conflicts of interest.

None of the proposals are likely to become law, given the growing expectations that Democrats will lose control of the Senate, and perhaps the White House, next year.

But House Democrats are promoting the reforms nonetheless in an effort to animate those voters concerned that the Supreme Court has become too activist  and too unaccountable  since conservatives gained a 6-3 majority under Trump.

Highlighting that strategy, the Biden administration this week launched a seven-figure ad buy to call attention to the Supreme Courts presidential immunity decision, Axios reported Wednesday. And congressional Democrats are also hoping the public backlash to a host of conservative rulings  not least the 2022 decision to eliminate constitutional abortion rights  will bring voters to their side.

Theyve unleashed fury all across America, and theres nothing that they can do to stop it, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said last week.

Here are five reform ideas Democrats are pushing heading into Novembers elections.

Congressional oversight

Perhaps the least controversial of the proposals is the notion that Congress should create some new oversight authority over the court  a change thats been endorsed by party leaders like Jeffries.

Under current law, high court justices largely police themselves when it comes to issues of ethics, including the decision to recuse themselves from cases when there are conflicts of interest, or even the appearance of such.

Democrats have been up in arms since reports emerged that Justice Clarence Thomass wife had been a prominent player in Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, and that flags associated with conservative political movements  including Trumps Stop the Steal campaign  flew at two of Justice Samuel Alitos homes.

Both justices have declined calls to recuse themselves from cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, including the recent presidential immunity case.

Democrats have several bills designed to apply new layers of scrutiny to the court.

Some would empower Congress with new oversight powers directly. Others would establish an investigative branch within the Supreme Court to explore allegations of unethical conduct and report the findings to Congress.

Its unclear which strategy Democratic leaders would pursue if they seize control of the chamber, but theyre vowing that action would be swift.

At minimum, in our system of checks and balances with separate and co-equal branches of government, it is Congresss responsibility to engage in responsible oversight over the judicial branch, Jeffries said earlier in the year. And I certainly think that the first opportunity we have to do just that, we will not shy away from oversight, but we will engage in it.

Code of ethics

Another proposal gaining traction in the House Democratic Caucus is the creation of a formal code of ethics to which the justices would be bound. That idea is hardly new, but it picked up steam in the wake of reports that Thomas has accepted millions of dollars in travel benefits and other gifts from a conservative billionaire, Harlan Crow, who has a long history of donating to Republican causes.

Thomas initially did not report the gifts on financial disclosure forms as required  an omission he called an inadvertent oversight.

Under pressure  and with public confidence in the Supreme Court waning  the court in November adopted a first-ever Code of Conduct designed to clarify appropriate comportment and help salvage the sinking reputation of the institution. A key provision of the code says the justices should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities.

Yet critics said the effort fell short of the reforms needed to rein in behaviors they deem corrupt, not least because the code includes no enforcement mechanism. In response, Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee formed a task force to promote a series of specific court reforms, including a bill  the Supreme Court Ethics, Transparency and Recusal Act  which adopts an ethics code with an enforcement instrument.

We have a Supreme Court that is out of control, and is pretty much motivated by power and politics, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who spearheaded the task force and sponsored the ethics bill, said Wednesday by phone. And that needs to change.

Term limits

Once confirmed by the Senate, Supreme Court justices serve open-ended terms that can  and frequently do  last a lifetime. Many Democrats say that arrangement promotes a system in which justices become out of touch with changing public sentiments and unaccountable for explicit misconduct. They want to cap the justices tenure  one proposal, sponsored by Johnson, would limit terms to 18 years  to ensure a quicker turnover of both justices and the ideologies they espouse.

Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), a former professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and now a member of the Judiciary Committee, noted that judges in his home state are subject to term limits and mandatory retirement at age 70. In the wake of the courts immunity decision, he said, Congress should consider similar restrictions on Supreme Court justices.

Ill admit that I really hadnt been entertaining something as dramatic as term limits or something along those lines. But given where they appear to be going  and the removal of guidelines, not only for themselves, but now for the president  I think we might have to get involved here at a different level, Ivey said.

There are variations of what those could be, he continued. But to the extent the court is now sort of the same kind of polarized institution that the political branches are, I think its probably something that we really ought to do.

Pack the court

Liberal Democrats for years have pushed to expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court, an effort that took center stage after the bench overturned Roe v. Wade and one that is getting another jolt of energy following the presidential immunity decision.

I support expanding the republican supreme court because it is the surest way to finally balance this corrupt rightwing body. I urge my colleagues to support expansion, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) wrote on social platform X.

Two other progressives  Johnson and Cori Bush (D-Mo.)  cited their legislation, the Judiciary Act, when reacting to Mondays decision.

The legislation, which is backed by a number of liberals in both chambers, would add four seats to the Supreme Court, making the bench a body of 13 justices.

Johnson said the additional justices would help balance out the courts conservative lean and bring it back in closer alignment with contemporary public sentiment.

At this point the court has been packed with right-wing extremists  and theyre taking our country in a direction that is against the common good. Its against our democracy. And its a display of raw power, Johnson told The Hill in an interview. What they are doing is shifting power to themselves, and to wealthy corporations and to the executive branch. Thats disrupting the delicate system of checks and balances upon which our democracy depends.

And so we cannot sit back and allow that to happen, he continued. These justices have lifetime tenure.  [Some have another 10-20 years on the bench]. And so the quickest solution is to dilute the authority of these right-wing, power-hungry ideological extremists. We can do that by adding justices.

Impeachment

A less likely  but flashier  path Democrats could pursue to push back on the Supreme Court is impeaching the conservative justices on the bench, an idea that several liberals are advocating for.

Last month, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) went to the House floor and urged the impeachment of both Thomas and Alito. More recently, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) drew headlines when  shortly after the high court published its presidential immunity decision  she said she plans to file articles of impeachment when the House returns to session next week.

The Supreme Court has become consumed by a corruption crisis beyond its control, Ocasio-Cortez said in announcing her plans. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture.

Ocasio-Cortez, to be sure, was vague on details  she did not say which justices she plans to target, or note if she intends to force a vote on the matter  but the mere mention of the idea marks a dramatic escalation of the Democrats scrutiny of conservatives on the bench.

Ocasio-Cortezs office did not respond to repeated requests for more information.

The congresswoman could go after all six conservative justices, three of whom were nominated by Trump. Or, she could just try to oust Thomas and Alito for their ethics concerns.

These corrupt justices continue to strip us of our rights while taking bribes from billionaires with business before the Court, Tlaib, who also supports term limits, a binding code of ethics and a court expansion, said this week in an email. We need urgent action in Congress to hold these extremists accountable.

Not all Democrats, however, are jumping on board.

Ivey said both Thomas and Alito should have recused themselves in the immunity case  the Thomas connections in particular are textbook conflicts of interest, he said  but also stopped short of urging impeachment.

I think thats a bridge too far, Ivey said.

Theres very little precedent for such a drastic step. Former Associate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase was impeached in 1805, making him the only member of the bench to receive the penalty. The Senate, however, acquitted him of charges.

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruling granting presidential immunity for official acts -- seen as benefiting Donald Trump in his Jan. 6 trial -- has renewed calls to impeach or take other "aggressive oversight" against conservative members of the court.

The day the ruling came down, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez vowed to file articles of impeachment when Congress returns next week, although that would be a political long shot.

"The Supreme Court has become consumed by a corruption crisis beyond its control," said Ocasio-Cortez in a social media post. However, she did not explain who she would be targeting and has not yet responded to an ABC News request for clarification. "Today's ruling represents an assault on American democracy. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture."

A fellow New York Democrat, Rep. Joe Morelle, said he will propose a constitutional amendment, a similar long shot.

I will introduce a constitutional amendment to reverse SCOTUS harmful decision and ensure that no president is above the law. This amendment will do what SCOTUS failed to doprioritize our democracy, he posted on X.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have long sought to enforce more accountability on the court in the wake of recent reports about the justices accepting travel and other gifts -- and have called on Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to recuse themselves in Jan. 6-related cases.

What the court said and reaction

The court said Trump is entitled to some immunity from criminal prosecution, including some for actions taken to overturn results of the 2020 election, but sent the case back to the trial court to sort out which charges can stand -- which are "official acts" versus "unofficial acts" not covered by immunity.

Experts say that will effectively delaying any potential trial until after the November election.

In the court's majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that a president's motives are not relevant to the assessment of whether an official act is covered by immunity, nor whether an act would have allegedly violated a generally applicable law.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a strong dissent, said the ruling makes the president "a king above the law," dealing a blow, she argued, to the founding principles of the U.S. Constitution and the American system of government that generally holds "no man is above the law."

Democrats joined in the outrage.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, slammed the decision, calling for increased oversight and action concerning the nation's highest court, but with Republicans controlling the House, there's a limit to what Democrats can do on their own.

"House Democrats will engage in aggressive oversight and legislative activity with respect to the Supreme Court to ensure that the extreme, far-right justices in the majority are brought into compliance with the Constitution," Jeffries said in a statement.

MORE: How will the Supreme Court's immunity decision impact Trump's 4 criminal cases?

Republicans applauded the presidential immunity decision as a win, claiming the Biden administration has weaponized the Department of Justice against Trump.

"The President of the United States must have immunity, like Members of Congress and federal judges, which is necessary for any presidency to function properly," said Rep. Elise Stefanik in a social media post.

Amid the heightened scrutiny, here's a look at some legislative options Supreme Court critics have suggested:

PHOTO: United States Supreme Court building (STOCK IMAGE/Getty Images)

How would impeachment work?

According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, only Congress has the authority to remove a federal judge for "'treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors" through a vote of impeachment by the House of Representatives and a trial and conviction by the Senate.

Article III of the Constitution adds that judges "shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour."

A simple majority vote is required for the House to adopt the articles -- 218 votes -- for impeachment.

Right now, Republicans hold 219 seats and Democrats hold 213.

If approved, the articles of impeachment are then referred to the Senate, where a two-thirds vote -- 67 votes -- is needed to convict. The penalty for an impeached official upon conviction is removal from office.

In the Senate, Democrats hold 47 seats, independents hold 4 seats, and Republicans hold 48.

Has a Supreme Court justice been impeached before?

Only one Supreme Court justice has ever been impeached, according to the Federal Judicial Center.

Associate Justice Samuel Chase was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives in 1804, "on charges of arbitrary and oppressive conduct of trials," the center states. However, he was acquitted by the U.S. Senate in 1805 and remained on the Supreme Court bench.

More than a dozen federal judges have been impeached for reasons including improper business relationships with litigants, charges of abuse of the contempt power, intoxication on the bench, and other misuses of office.

Three resigned before the completion of impeachment proceedings. Only eight have been convicted.

PHOTO: Justices of the US Supreme Court pose for their official photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Oct.7, 2022. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images, FILE)

Supreme Court rocked by recent scandals

The Supreme Court has been the target of ethics concerns in recent years after investigative news outlet ProPublica alleged that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito failed to disclose ties to wealthy businessmen and political donors. It reported as well that Justice Sonia Sotomayor used taxpayer-funded court staff to help sell her books.

Alito argued in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that he acted appropriately. In Thomas' case, he said he believed he didn't have to disclose those ties. In Sotomayor's case, the court said she and the others had been urged to follow proper protocols.

Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib called for Alito's and Thomas's impeachment in June in connection with the reports.

"We need urgent action to hold these unhinged, corrupt extremists accountable," Tlaib said on the House floor in June. "It is extremely disturbing that the United States Supreme Court, the highest court of our land, is the only court that does not have an enforceable code of conduct."

Justices Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch and John Roberts have also been criticized for monetary or personal ties to businesses and groups with cases before the court.

These scandals have prompted the introduction of the Democrat-backed "Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act" which would mandate greater oversight of the justices and bind them to the same disclosure rules for gifts, travel and income as lower court judges.

MORE: Supreme Court gives Trump some immunity in Jan. 6 case, but not for 'unofficial acts'

The bill would also create a system to investigate complaints about their behavior and boost transparency around potential conflicts of interest with parties before the court. The bill was first introduced in 2023.

"It's no wonder that the public trust is being so deeply damaged," said Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley in a recent statement championing the bill. "It's unacceptable the Supreme Court justices have no enforceable ethics guardrails fostering corruption."

However, some Republicans say the proposed oversight reform is an attempt to delegitimize the court.

"This is a bill not designed to make the court stronger or more ethical, but to destroy a conservative court," said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham last year in opposition of the bill. "It's a bill to rearrange the makeup of how the court governs itself."

In April 2023, all nine justices released a joint statement, arguing that they already adhere to a code of "ethics principles and practices" and are in opposition to independent oversight.

ABC News' Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.

Democrats call for 'action' against Supreme Court after Trump immunity ruling originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
(FOX40.COM)  According to deputies, a person was found dead early Saturday morning following a stabbing in Northern California.

The Yuba County Sheriffs Department said the incident happened just after midnight on 1129 North Beale Road.

Yuba County deputies said they responded to calls of a physical disturbance. When deputies arrived at the scene, they found someone with stab wounds who was immediately taken to a nearby hospital.

Northern California mine explosion leaves two critically injured, officials say

Medical staff said later that the victim died from their injuries.

Detectives began their investigation into the matter, and after reviewing security footage, were able to identify 27-year-old Michael Collier of Linda as the suspect.

Collier was arrested for homicide and booked into a Yuba County jail, the sheriffs department said.

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Despite what some politicians say, crime rates are decreasing

An FBI Evidence Response Team investigator walks behind a crime scene in Fargo on July 15, 2023. The FBIs Quarterly Uniform Crime Report, which was released in early June, suggests that violent crime dropped by 15% compared with the first quarter of 2023. (Ann Arbor Miller/The Associated Press)

Violent crime in the United States dropped significantly in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same period last year, according to the FBIs Quarterly Uniform Crime Report released earlier last month.

The FBIs data, collected from nearly 12,000 law enforcement agencies representing about 77% of the countrys population, suggests violent crime dropped by 15% compared with the first quarter of 2023.

The data, which covers reported crimes from January to March, shows a 26.4% decrease in murders, a 25.7% decrease in rapes, a 17.8% decrease in robberies, and a 12.5% decrease in aggravated assaults. Reported property crime also fell by 15.1%.

Nevertheless, the widespread public perception that crime is rising  a perception reinforced by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and many other GOP candidates  could figure prominently in Novembers election. And state legislative and gubernatorial candidates from both parties likely also will cite crime statistics on the stump.

In a Gallup poll conducted late last year, 63% of respondents described the crime problem in the U.S. as either extremely or very serious. This is the highest percentage since Gallup began asking the question in 2000.

In May, Trump wrongly called FBI data showing a decline in crime fake numbers. In June, he erroneously claimed that the FBIs crime statistics exclude 30% of cities, including the biggest and most violent.

He could have been referring to the fact some departments couldnt report data in 2021 because the FBI switched data reporting systems, but experts say the overall numbers remain valid.

President Joe Biden has also used crime statistics for political gain. In a May campaign email, Biden said that Trump oversaw the largest increase in murder in U.S. history. While this is not entirely inaccurate  the country did see the largest one-year increase in murders in 2020  it omits context regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the social upheaval following George Floyds murder by a Minneapolis police officer.

The latest FBI crime statistics align with other early data from 2024. In May, the Major Cities Chiefs Association released first-quarter data from a survey of 68 major metropolitan police departments showing a 17% drop in murders compared with the same period last year.

The FBIs latest data is preliminary and unaudited, which means it will change as more law enforcement agencies refine their numbers throughout the year. National crime data is incomplete, as it only includes crimes reported to police, and not every law enforcement agency participates in the FBIs crime reporting program.

Despite the datas limitations, some criminologists and crime data experts say the data is reliable. Some say the FBIs data likely overstates the decreases, suggesting the drop in violent crime is likely less dramatic but still trending downward.

Theres a lot of uncertainty as to the accuracy of the data, so it matches but probably overstates what the trends are, Jeff Asher, co-founder of AH Datalytics, a data consulting firm that specializes in crime data, told Stateline in an interview. In theory, everything will get more accurate as the year goes on.

Although national data suggests an overall major decrease in crime across the country, some criminologists caution that that isnt necessarily the case in individual cities and neighborhoods.

It looks good for the nation as a whole, but even with these great reductions, there are cities in the United States that have likely experienced increases that bucked the trend, Charis Kubrin, a criminology, law and society professor at the University of California, Irvine, told Stateline.

The average Americans understanding of crime and crime statistics is heavily skewed by media coverage that focuses largely on when crimes are committed and by misleading political rhetoric, according to criminologists and crime data experts.

Instead of relying on statistics, which can feel impersonal, people tend to cling to anecdotes that resonate more emotionally. Politicians take advantage of this, Dan Gardner, author of the book Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear, told Stateline.

If you are a political operative, capitalizing on fear of crime is incredibly easy to do, Gardner said.

Telling a tragic story and framing it in a way so that voters feel they or their families could become victims of similar crimes unless they vote for a specific politician is a common, highly effective tactic, he added.

This use of fear as a motivator can drive people to the polls, Gardner said, but it also distorts public perception of crime.

Its a lousy way to understand the reality of personal safety and society, but its a very compelling form of marketing, Gardner said.

The Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, released a report last month urging police and the federal government to provide more timely crime data. The report emphasizes that crime data, especially national data, often lags up to a year, which hampers public understanding of crime trends and limits officials ability to make informed policy decisions to proactively address public safety issues.

We need to accelerate improvements in our [crime] data, John Roman, a senior fellow and the director of the Center on Public Safety and Justice at NORC at the University of Chicago, told Stateline. Roman also is the chair of the Council on Criminal Justices Crime Trends Working Group. The democratization of this data is really critical to more effective policy and programming.

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X.

The post Despite what some politicians say, crime rates are decreasing appeared first on North Dakota Monitor.
How did SLO County deal with record-breaking heat wave in the 70s? The classic water hose

Sometimes the reaction photo is better than the literal subject.

Take heat and hot weather.

Sometimes shimmering mirage like heat can make a good image, but often we find a photo of someone cooling off with a spray of water or a plunge into a pool.

In any era, water is the classic way to cool off, from the hose, a giant swamp cooler at the Mid-State Fair or a spray bottle.

Its especially fun to find a photo from decades ago because we get the added information of that eras style in cars, clothes and hairstyles. Today, most construction sites require workers to wear a helmet and reflective vest. The 1970s were more free-form.

David Ruble would give his co-workers a quick spritz if they asked for it in the heat of the day in September 2016. Workers at the new San Luis Obispo High School tennis courts were spraying water down to compact sand in advance of pouring concrete and setting out reinforcing bar.

The June 28, 1976, Telegram-Tribune had three stories on the front page about heat.

Tragedy had struck three times within the previous week at local lakes when children drowned in unrelated incidents at Lopez Lake and Atascadero Lake.

Meanwhile, Nipomo and Los Osos experienced critical water shortages.

Unrelated front page stories included a French airbus being hijacked by Palestinian and German hijackers. A dramatic rescue operation would later be staged at Entebbe, Uganda.

Scientists examined the potential magnitude of an earthquake from the Hosgri Fault off of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, then under construction.

The Viking 1 lander scientists were looking for a safe landing site on Mars but the hoped for July 4 Bicentennial landing was postponed as the search continued.

San Luis Obispo residents Allen Settle, wife Kathleen and their son were treated for minor injuries after their Cessna aircraft suffered engine trouble and crash landed in Springfield, Virginia. Both would continue to have visible careers in the community, Allen, a Cal Poly professor, later was elected four time mayor of San Luis Obispo and Kathleen was a public school teacher.

Meanwhile back at the subject of heat. Heres one of those front page stories from June 28, 1976:

Record June heat wave melts San Luis Obispo

Weather buffs take note. San Luis Obispo has set a record. And it was going for another one today.

This is the first time since the early 1900s that temperatures have gone over 90 degrees for five consecutive days in June.

Last Wednesday, the mercury hit 100 degrees. On Thursday it registered 103 degrees and on Friday it climbed to 106 degrees. On Saturday the high was 100 and on Sunday it dropped to 98.

Todays temperature was expected to hit at least 90 degrees.

Back in 1973, temperatures topped 90 degrees for four consecutive days in June and through the years there have been sporadic days when temperatures got that warm.

Glenn Clark gives himself a cool shower during work on a construction site in Paso Robles as the temperatures continued in the 100s as seen here on June 25, 1976.

But Paso Robles was the countys real hot spot again Sunday when the thermometer climbed to 109 degrees. Atascadero was close behind with 106 degrees.

Nipomo and South Bay residents still were being asked to conserve water during the heat spell. The National Weather Service said it was expected to continue for at least a few more days.

Voluntary water restrictions have been lifted in Nipomo but homeowners there are still being asked to curb water use.

Nipomo Community Services District manager Douglas L. Jones said response to a request for water conservation was tremendous.

Jones said residents with odd numbered houses are being asked to water lawns on odd number dates and those with even numbered houses are asked to water on even numbered dates.

Adam Grenier cools off in the sprinklers as he and a group of co-workers from Applied Technologies Associates played a game of ultimate frisbee at Barney Schwartz Park in Paso Robles. The group meets a couple times a week during lunch to play. Photo by Joe Johnston 8-21-07

A spokesman for the weather service in Santa Maria said temperatures at the beaches should drop to the 60s and 70s but remain in the 90s inland.

California division of Forestry fire fighters began getting days off again at 7 p.m. Saturday and were back on the normal work schedule.

Were still on alert, a spokesman said this morning. He urged everyone to be extra careful during the hot weather because of extreme fire danger.

In other parts of the state Sunday, Palm Springs recorded a high of 116 degrees and it was 94 in downtown San Francisco. It was 109 in Bakersfield and 102 at Los Angeles Civid Center.
SAO PAULO  Brazils former president Jair Bolsonaro has been a target for investigations since his early days in office, and the swarm of cases have multiplied since his failed reelection campaign in 2022.

Authorities have been looking into everything from allegations he conspired to incite an uprising aimed at ousting his successor, to questions about whether the far-right leader, sitting astride a jet-ski, harassed a humpback whale.

Police scrapped their investigation about the marine mammal, but already an electoral court ruled Bolsonaro ineligible for years. Other probes still loom large; there are dozens of them that could produce criminal charges at low-level courts, which would afford him the right to appeal any eventual conviction. And the countrys Supreme Court will have the final say regarding more than five in-depth investigations that could land the former president behind bars, under house arrest or cut off from all political activity.

Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing in all of the cases, and his allies have alleged political persecution, while recognizing the severity of the legal risks on multiple fronts.

Heres a look at the biggest threats and where they stand.

Vaccination Fraud

Bolsonaro has been indicted for directing an official to tamper with a public health database to make it appear as though he and his 12-year-old daughter had received the COVID-19 vaccine in order to bypass U.S. entry requirements. During the pandemic, he railed against the vaccine, characterized the choice to receive a shot as a matter of personal freedom and has repeatedly said he never did so.

The Federal Police accused Bolsonaro of criminal association and inserting false data into public records, which carry maximum penalties of 4 and 12 years jailtime, respectively. It was his first indictment since leaving office.

STATUS: Brazils Supreme Court sent the indictment to the prosecutor-general, who is weighing whether to use it to press charges. Local media reported that he was seeking to consult American authorities about whether Bolsonaro used the forged document to enter the country, and that having done so could result in U.S. legal action.

Saudi Jewels

Federal Police have probed whether Bolsonaro directed officials to smuggle luxury jewelry worth millions into Brazil from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, then acted to prevent them from being incorporated into the presidential collection and instead retain ownership for himself.

Investigators summoned Bolsonaro for questioning in April and August of 2023. He has returned the jewelry in question.

STATUS: The Federal Police indicted Bolsonaro for money laundering and criminal association, according to a source with knowledge of the accusations. A second source confirmed the indictment, although not for which specific crimes. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly.

Capital Uprising

Federal police are investigating Bolsonaros role in a conspiracy to keep him in office after losing his reelection bid to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, including whether he incited the Jan. 8, 2022 riot that ransacked the Supreme Court and presidential palace in the capital of Brasilia. The Supreme Court on March 18 unsealed testimonies from army and air force commanders who had served under Bolsonaro, and both said he actively participated in the plot.

STATUS: The investigation is ongoing, with several Bolsonaro supporters and allies already convicted and jailed.

Electoral Misdeeds

Brazils highest electoral court in June ruled that Bolsonaro used government communication channels in a meeting with diplomats to promote his reelection bid and sow distrust about the vote. The case focused on a meeting the prior year, during which Bolsonaro used government staffers, the state television channel and the presidential palace in Brasilia to tell foreign ambassadors that the countrys electronic voting system was rigged. The ruling rendered him ineligible for office until 2030.

The court also found that Bolsonaro abused his power during Brazils Independence Day festivities, a month before the election. The ruling didnt add years to Bolsonaros ineligibility, but made any appeal less likely to succeed. A third case is also pending at the court.

STATUS: Bolsonaros appeal of the initial ruling was denied.

Pandemic Sabotage

Brazils Federal Police is investigating Bolsonaro for inciting crimes against public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, which include encouraging people not to wear masks and causing alarm about non-existent danger of vaccines accelerating development of AIDS. A Senate inquiry commission also spent months investigating his pandemic-era actions and decisions, and recommended nine criminal charges.

Brazils former prosecutor-general Augusto Aras, widely seen as a Bolsonaro ally, decided not to file any charges based on the lawmakers findings. They have urged his Aras successor to reopen the case.

STATUS: The investigation is ongoing.

Fake News, Digital Militia

Brazils Supreme Court in 2020 ordered an investigation into a network allegedly spreading defamatory fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices. The probe has yielded the imprisonment of lawmakers from the former presidents circle and raids of his supporters homes. In 2021, Bolsonaro was included as a target.

As an offshoot of that probe, the Federal Police is also investigating whether a group operating inside Bolsonaros presidential palace produced social media content aimed at undermining the rule of law. The group, allegedly comprised of aides and Bolsonaros politician son, has been widely referred to as a digital militia and the hate cabinet.

STATUS: Both investigations are ongoing.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett speaks during a news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol on July 25, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

I was disappointed to read a recent Letter to the Editor in which the writer accused Congressman Doggett of disloyalty to the Democratic Party in calling for President Biden to withdraw from the presidential race.

I feel proud for our area to be represented by Congressman Doggett as he stated the sad reality that President Bidens chances of victory are too greatly diminished after his debate performance. Given that Donald Trump attempted to overturn a free and fair election, that he has vowed to be a dictator on day one, and that the Supreme Court has now granted presidents broad immunity from prosecution, Trump is an existential threat to democracy and the rule of law.

One of the values of our Austin area is openness, and I applaud Congressman Doggett for leading the way in openly calling for a Democratic nominee who can win in November.

Austin Haller, Austin

How to submit a letter to the editor

Send letters of no more than 150 words by using our online form at https://bit.ly/3Crmkcf or send an email to letters@statesman.com.

We welcome your letters on all topics. Include your name and city of residence; we do not publish anonymous letters.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Doggett deserves praise for openly calling on Biden to quit the race
A man wanted for murder in the Dominican Republic is facing deportation after being detained by federal immigration officials here in Massachusetts.

Officers from the Enforcement and Removal Operations, Boston, arrested the Dominican noncitizen June 11, 2024, at the Essex County House of Correction and served him a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge, according to a statement from ERO, Boston.

The 23-year-old man was previously convicted in January of this year for reckless endangerment of a child in Methuen. He had been sentenced to six months behind bars, and 12 months of probation.

This Dominican national ran away from his home country in an effort to escape Dominican law before making his way to Massachusetts, said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. Once he got here, he proved to be a threat to the children of our communities. We can not allow our New England communities to become safe havens for the worlds criminals.

Federal officials say the man lawfully entered the United States on August 24, 2018, on a nonimmigrant visa and then violated the terms of his admission.

Feds say that on April 24, 2019, Dominican authorities issued a warrant for his arrest for homicide.

He is currently in custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings.

ERO Boston will continue to arrest and remove the most egregious noncitizen offenders from our neighborhoods, said Lyons.

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LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)  A puddle of coagulated blood sits on the sidewalk about 100 feet from The Porter, a 98-unit housing building in downtown Lansing.

Residents tell 6 News the blood is from a resident who was assaulted Thursday night.

Scott Bean, a spokesman for the city, confirms Lansing Police and Fire responded to The Porter for an assault call Thursday night at about 11 p.m. Officials from both departments were on scene for approximately 40 minutes, but the man who was assaulted refused to lodge a complaint with police or to accept medical care.

The Porter is a 98-unit housing facility for senior citizens and people with disabilities in downtown Lansing. (WLNS)

Residents tell 6 News the assault is among the most recent disturbances at the facility. They say since property owners Redwood Housing Inc., a Seattle-based property company, took over theyve felt abandoned.

Redwood Housing, Inc. brought in Redwood Communities Inc. to manager the property beginning July 1. But residents and a home healthcare aide tell 6 News, former managers told them they had been fired  on June 24 as they packed up their belongings and left.

Images from The Porter.

CAUTION: Some images contain blood and/or feces.

A letter from Redwood Communities, Inc. announcing their new management role. (WLNS)

Garbage in The Porters utility room is piled high. (WLNS)

The door for this common area bathroom in the basement is missing. (WLNS)

Shards of glass or ceramic on the carpet outside an apartment in The Porter. (WLNS)

Blood on the sidewalk steps from The Porter from an assault that occurred about 11 p.m. on July 4. This photo was taken more than 12 hours later. (WLNS)

Residents and a home health aide tell 6 News this common area bathroom was smeared with feces, as were parts of the common room, which they had partially cleaned up. (WLNS)

Not only are they unable to use the facilities washing machines and dryers because the money compartment is full. And even if they wanted to use the machines, they cant get the required tokens from the office which is locked and dark.

Residents raised concerns about feces in the first floor common area  which they had mostly cleaned up and sanitized by the time 6 News arrived. But some of it remained on the toilet in the mens room. The common mens bathroom in the basement had the door removed.

The buildings trash room is packed with garbage  smelling of rotting items.

In a basement hallway, shards of an item similar to ceramic or glass was spread across the the hallway in front of an apartment. Residents and a home healthcare aide who works in the building tell 6 News the shards were located outside the apartment of the man who had been assaulted.

Knocks on his door went unanswered for 6 News, as well as his worried neighbors and the home healthcare aide.

Ashley Spence is a home healthcare worker providing services for several of residents of The Porter. She called 6 News Friday out concerns for residents safety.

Im not sure when theyll come back or if theyll come back, Spence says of the Redwood management. I just know Im a home health aide and everybody in the building is coming to me for security, for help, for laundry coins, for toilet paper  and I dont have any of that for them. Im just trying to see what I can do to help everybody in the building.

Spence says representatives from Redwood have been in the building once, to her knowledge. Residents confirmed that was their experience as well.

A letter, dated July 1, posted on the office door announced the takeover of management by Redwood. But the phone number to contact them rings to a voicemail. A number for emergencies rings back to the former management company.

Reed Dunn, Director of Marketing and Communications for Redwood Housing, Inc., responded to 6 News with a written statement.

We have had staff at the property every day except for yesterdays holiday and today, and we will have a new manager on Monday. Regardless, residents can call the office anytime at [redacted]. If someone is not available, the line transfers to an answering service. This ensures that there is always someone available to respond to urgent matters. The health and safety of our residents is our highest concern, and our team takes a proactive approach to resolving issues in a timely manner. Redwood Communities will look into the allegations noted and prioritize as appropriate. Written statement from Reed Dunn, Director of Marketing and Communications for Redwood Housing, Inc.

6 News has followed up with Dunn with additional questions.

In addition, 6 News left a message with the former management company for comment on why they no longer managed the property. That company has not responded yet.

Residents tell 6 News the former management company did employ security guards for a time, but that ended earlier this year. Since then, they tell 6 News, drug dealers, homeless people and others have invited themselves into the building. Theyve found people who do not live in the building sleeping the commons room and the public bathrooms.

The security door for the building does require an RFID enabled card to enter. But the door is designed to stay open to allow a person in a walker, a wheelchair or a scooter to move through without being stuck. Residents say people take advantage of this and walk into the building uninvited.

Residents report that when these interlopers appear, confronting them can turn dangerous.

A few months ago, yes, a friend of mine lives in the basement and she called and said somebody was down knocking on all the doors, acting real funny, resident Karen Keirnan tells 6 News. So, I went down there with my dog and I told the guy that he had to leave  and he beat the hell out of me. I had my whole right side of my face. My chest. I mean, I was just full of bruises. I had to go to the hospital and all.

The assault left her afraid to go to the laundry facilities in the basement.

While 6 News was on site, a man residents identified as banned by previous management showed up. As he was walking towards the door to enter the building, a resident confronted him about his ban and the man became verbally abusive and physically aggressive.

6 News stepped in and asked the man if he had been banned from the facility. He says he was over a misunderstanding. He says he used the laundry facility  something I wasnt supposed to do  and mistakenly took a towel belonging to a resident. He says the towel looked like one he owned and it was a mistake.

Former management banned him from the property over the incident, he confirmed. When 6 News explained that his trying to enter the property was a violation of that and that residents expressed concern for their because of situations just like this, he became more verbally abusive, throwing out curse words and threatening to sue the building management.

Spence called police while the incident was occurring.

The man eventually left, but rode by on his bike, calling out curse words.

As the man was leaving, a woman who didnt want to be identified, showed 6 News a chemical self-defense cannister hanging on her keys around her neck.

This is the reason a lot of us women carry this tear gas, she says. Motioning to the man as he was walking away, This right here is the reason.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
Its too early to draw clear conclusions about the meaning of Thursdays dramatic national election in the U.K., and still less about what lessons it might offer to America's feeble attempt to preserve democracy. But one thing is clear enough: Headlines around the world announcing that Keir Starmers Labour Party has won a huge victory are factually accurate yet fail to convey the underlying complexity of the situation  especially the extent to which British politics has been thrown into complete disorder.

Starmer, the moderate who has led Labour since 2020 following the partys crushing defeat the previous year under leftist avatar Jeremy Corbyn, literally became prime minister overnight after the resignation of Rishi Sunak, who also announced that he would step down as leader of the Conservative Party. Sunak oversaw his party's devastating collapse at the polls over the six-week election campaign, and has no possible political future after that. Based on near-final vote counts, Labour has won 412 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons  one of the largest majorities in British political history, and the partys biggest win since Tony Blairs neoliberal-flavored New Labour surged to victory in 1997.

But the actual voting patterns in this week's election appear not just counterintuitive but counterfactual, compared to those results.

Labours overall percentage of the total vote was up less than two points from its near-catastrophic 2019 loss  in fact, it appears that Labour received 500,000 fewer votes nationwide than it did under the supposedly toxic Corbyn regime. And if we compare this week's election with Corbyns narrow loss to Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017, the picture is even more upside-down: In that election, Labour got 40% of the vote and about 12.9 million votes overall; this time around, in what will go down as a historic victory, Labour garnered less than 34% of the vote, about 9.7 million in all.

Starmers supporters will no doubt shrug that off, and maybe theyre right: What matters in the British system, as in ours, is winning enough seats to control the reins of government, and Labour has certainly done that. But its difficult to avoid the conclusion that below the surface Britain has just experienced an implosion of mainstream electoral politics, along the lines of what has already happened in major European nations like France, Germany and Italy. The full consequences of that meltdown are effectively concealed, however, by the U.K.s first past the post electoral system, in which the candidate with the most votes in a given district wins the seat, even when that person often (or, indeed, most of the time) falls well short of a majority.

So how in the name of Guy Fawkes and John Bull could Labour have literally shed millions of votes over the past seven years and won such a massive majority? The real story here, to be sure, is the astonishing total collapse of the pro-Brexit, cross-class coalition put together by disgraced former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his sweeping 2019 victory. The Tories (as the Conservatives have been known since before the partys official creation) lost roughly half their vote total from that election, falling to 24% of the overall total and fewer than 7 million votes.

There are ample and satisfactory reasons for that, given the insulting and chaotic quality of Tory misrule over the last 14 years and the U.K.'s general mood of doom and gloom  but where did all those votes go? Not to Labour, clearly enough, and largely not to the centrist Liberal Democrats, who won a startling total of 71 seats  their best showing since the days of the old Liberal Party in the 1920s  but also lost votes, weirdly enough, compared to 2019.

The only parties that actually gained a significant share of the vote since the last election? Well, let's give a very quiet shout-out to the Green Party, which got nearly 2 million votes and goes from one seat in Parliament to four. Many of the 7 million or so missing Tory voters from 2019 (along with the half-million missing Labour voters) simply stayed home; turnout this year is estimated at 60%, which would be decent in the U.S. but represents the second-lowest rate in Britain in the last 140 years. Those ex-Tory voters who did show up largely punched their tickets for what might be called the secret subterranean winners of this election: Reform U.K., the newly-hatched ultra-nationalist, anti-immigrant party led by professional far-right provocateur and Donald Trump superfan Nigel Farage.

Reform, which was originally known as the Brexit Party before its official rebranding on Jan. 6, 2021, only won five seats in Parliament, one of which will be held by Farage himself. But in terms of total votes and vote share, it has suddenly become the third-largest party in Britain, outpolling the Liberal Democrats (despite their impressive electoral gains) by roughly 600,000 votes. More to the point, Reform accomplished its chaos-agent agenda by torpedoing the Tories in countless parliamentary districts, splitting the right-wing vote and handing over scores of previous blue wall seats  the U.K. political color palette being the reverse of Americas  to Labour or the Lib Dems.

This leads to the most salient single fact of the 2024 British election: Labour's huge parliamentary majority is built on just 9.7 million votes; Reform and the Tories, put together, got nearly 11 million  and as a hypothetical united force, would probably have won. On paper and in the House of Commons, Keir Starmer looks like this years big winner, but the pendulum that just swung so hard in his direction can just as easily swing back. He needs to learn the lesson that American liberals and progressives are absorbing, in painful fashion, right now: Dont assume that the disgruntled far right has been beaten just because it lost an election.
Dozens of anti-Israel protesters, including flag snatcher, arrested at July 4th rally in NYC

Cops cuffed 37 people at the demonstration - organized by radical anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime - which began at Washington Square Park and gradually made its way to Hudson Yards, just in time for the iconic Macy's fireworks display.

More than three dozen anti-Israel protesters were busted in Manhattan Thursday night during a rally in which a hateful group burned an American flag and a man snatched someones Israeli flag, police said.

Cops say they cuffed 37 people at the Flood July 4th for Gaza demonstration  organized by radical anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime  which began at Washington Square Park and gradually made its way to Hudson Yards, just in time for the iconic Macys fireworks display.

Othman Belhamdounia, 36, was nabbed just after 7 p.m. for allegedly snatching someones Israeli flag at the corner of Washington Square East and Washington Place, police said.

A total of 37 people were arrested at the July 4th anti-Israel demonstration in Manhattan, cops said. FreedomNewsTV

The circumstances leading up to the theft were unclear Friday afternoon.

He was slapped with petit larceny and grand larceny charges, cops said.

Then around 8:30 p.m., Nicholas Cross, 33, was arrested at Eighth Avenue and West 19th Street for allegedly attempting to grab a flag that a 17-year-old boy was holding in his hand, authorities said.

The teen held onto the flag and Cross couldnt snatch it away, cops said.

He was charged with attempted grand larceny, authorities said.

One person was arrested for snatching someones Israeli flag  and another person for attempting to grab another flag, cops said. FreedomNewsTV

Seven other people were arrested on charges including obstruction of governmental administration, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and criminal possession of a controlled substance, police said.

Twenty-eight people were slapped with summonses, cops said.

At the same rally, footage captures a group burning an American flag inside Washington Square Park as keffiyeh-wearing photographers brought their lenses in close to capture the desecration.

In a brazen act, a group of protesters set an American flag on fire inside Washington Square Park. FreedomNewsTV

The flag was smoldering next to a poster depicting Trump and Biden wearing crowns beneath DEATH TO ALL KINGS in big block letters.

The poster was evidently a reference to the Supreme Courts ruling earlier this week granting US presidents absolute immunity from prosecution from official acts during their time in office.

The NYPD did not have a record of an arrest in connection to the flag burning.

Also in the Greenwich Village park, the crowd chanted, Over 40,000 dead, Democrats your hands are red, and Israel we know you, you imprison children too, according to videos posted on the Within Our Lifetime X account.

The protest began in Washington Square Park and ended in Hudson Yards as the Macys Fourth of July Fireworks commenced. FreedomNewsTV

The protesters made their final stop at West 28th Street and 11th Avenue.

We raise the flag of the revolution as we rise up and flood New York for Gaza, the organizers posted on X, alongside a video of a horde of protesters gathered  with a Palestinian flag and a sign bearing the words, Stop Cop City Free Palestine prominently displayed as fireworks light up the sky in the background.

Resisting ongoing repression from the NYPD today in order to disrupt the 4th of July, we are making clear that these are our streets, the caption continued.

While youre watching, bombs are dropping! the protesters yelled, as well as Israel bombs, USA pays! How many kids did you kill today?
Driver dies in fiery crash on Sweet-Ola Highway near Emmett, Idaho State Police say

A driver died on Friday north of Emmett after their vehicle went off a road, overturned and caught fire, according to an Idaho State Police news release.

The crash took place Friday afternoon at milepost 12 of Sweet-Ola Highway. The driver failed to negotiate a curve, police said.

The vehicle went off the roadway where it overturned and came to rest at the bottom of an embankment, police said. The vehicle then caught fire, starting a brush fire in the area surrounding the vehicle.

The driver died at the scene. The Gem County coroner is working on identifying the deceased person, police said. The crash is under investigation.

As of early July, 2024s traffic fatality total on state roadways was 106, exceeding the 94 deaths from the same time last year. And last year was the deadliest year in two decades, according to previous reporting.

The time period between Memorial Day to Labor Day is called the 100 Deadliest Days, according to previous reporting. From May 24 to early July, 31 people were killed in traffic accidents in 39 days.
Drone attacks against the town of Shebekino in Russia's Belgorod Oblast overnight on July 6 damaged multiple buildings, vehicles, and an industrial facility, while injuring one person, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed.

Reports of aerial attacks against Belgorod Oblast, which borders Ukraine's Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts, have become a common occurrence in recent months.

According to Gladkov, a total of 11 homes were damaged in the attacks, which also left downed power lines across the community. Undefined social infrastructure was also damaged in the attacks, Gladkov claimed.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify Gladkov's claims, and Ukraine's military has yet to comment on the alleged attack.

Kyiv does not always claim official responsibility for reported attacks on Russian soil. In some cases, Ukraine has disputed Russian allegations regarding attacks in Belgorod Oblast.

Ukraine has targeted Russia's oil infrastructure and defense industry with increasing attacks throughout the first half of the year.

Earlier in the night, a drone attack on Russia's Krasnador Krai caused fires at two oil depots overnight on July 6, while also damaging a communications tower, various Russian media outlets reported.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on July 6 that it had downed eight drones overnight, including seven drones over Kursk Oblast, and one drone over Belgorod Oblast.

On July 1, a Ukrainian drone attack seriously damaged the Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant in Belgorod Oblast, a military intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent on July 3. The facility, which is vital for the Russian military-industrial complex, is the only full-cycle metallurgical enterprise in Russia, according to the source.

Read also: Drone attacks on Russias Krasnodar Krai damage oil depots, communications tower













Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Drone attacks targeting Russia's Krasnodar Krai region caused fires at two oil depots overnight on July 6, while also damaging a communications tower, various Russian media outlets reported.

Throughout the night, multiple drone attacks were reported in the Eisk, Leningrad, and Pavlov communities of Krasnodar Krai.

As a result of the attack on an oil depot, the fragments of a downed drone caused a fire at one fuel storage tank in the village of Pavlov, as well as another fire at a oil depot in the Leningrad community, Russian state-controlled outlet RIA Novosti reported.

A cell tower was also reportedly damaged in the village of Eisk as a result of another downed drone.

No casualties were reported as of 4:30 a.m. local time.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims, and Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the alleged attacks.

In recent months, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry, the profits of which fuel Moscow's war efforts.

Overnight on July 5, Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of Russia's Krasnodar Krai, claimed that a drone attack on the city of Primorsko-Akhtarsk killed a six-year-old girl and injured at least five others, including a child. Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the alleged attacks.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on July 6 that it had downed eight drones overnight over Kursk and Belgorod oblasts. The Ministry's claims did not provide mention of downed drones over Krasnodar Krai.

Read also: Russia claims civilian casualties in drone strike on Krasnodar Krai, Kyiv has not commented on allegations









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Early childhood education is a necessity; we must work together to bring it to every child

While the demands and expectations of parenthood have changed over the years, there has been one constant  and often vexing  desire for families of all shapes and sizes: access to affordable, quality early childhood education.

The importance of early childhood education is well documented.

Studies show that children who are in child care centers beginning at six months of age are better prepared to enter Pre-K and kindergarten, read at or above grade level by first grade, and form stronger social bonds with their peers.

But, unfortunately, the high cost and scarce availability of quality education for young people prevents many children from receiving these benefits.

Week of the Young Child recognizes the importance of early childhood education

Recently, my child development center, Saint Mary Villa in North Nashville, joined others across the nation to celebrate The Week of the Young Child. Started by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) in 1971, this week is all about recognizing that the education received in the early childhood years lays a foundation for success, underscoring a belief that every child deserves the opportunity to build that foundation.

Tyranny Green reads a children's book to the toddlers during circle time at Saint Mary Villa, Child Development Center in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.

At Saint Mary Villa, we are passionate about providing opportunities for all families and children - regardless of income or Zip code. Our child development center started as an orphanage 160 years ago and is one of the oldest centers in the nation still in existence today.

In the 1970s, our center was converted to a childcare center, but our mission has remained the same: providing high-quality, affordable early child development education to all children, including our most vulnerable.

We do that with a curriculum that teaches and engages the whole child through play. Our children learn through stories, songs, teacher-guided activities and social interaction with a diverse group of peers. Our literacy curriculum, through Read to Succeed with United Way, is a comprehensive early childhood learning model that focuses on building literacy and social-emotional skills for Nashvilles most at-risk preschoolers. With this curriculum, our students learn how to express their feelings and emotions while creating a foundation for language development, self-control and self-confidence.

Luz Guzman plays with the children at the playground at Saint Mary Villa, Child Development Center in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.

We also host events, such as the April 3 United We Read celebration, where United Way volunteers celebrated the gift of reading with our families and students by providing breakfast, reading books with our kids, and celebrating the importance of literacy at a young age. We were proud to be chosen as one of four centers in Nashville to be a part of this important event.

We can't ensure equal access to high-quality childcare without your help

In support of our mission to give all our students the opportunity to learn, grow and develop, we participate in the states childcare assistance program and provide childcare on a sliding fee scale based on each familys annual household income. This means families only have to pay what they can afford. We also provide breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack, ensuring all children can learn without worrying about an empty belly.

Because of this mission and our dedication to providing quality early childhood education at an affordable price, our center is full of families from across Middle Tennessee, and we have a long waiting list of families hoping to get in.

While there are plans to open additional centers in the future, we cannot possibly serve all the deserving young children in our community. Thats why we need your help.

Taking inspiration from the message of this Week of the Young Child, if you believe in the importance of early childhood education, we along with National Association for the Education of Young Children are encouraging all of our friends and allies to lift up your voices on behalf of young children, and the adults who love, care for, and educate them.

We encourage you to join the United Way for next years United We Read celebration and to call your local and state representatives and ask them to make long-term investments in affordable, high-quality childcare and in early education.

Alyssa Garnett-Arno

Alyssa Garnett-Arno is the executive director of Saint Mary Villa Child Development Center on Heiman Street, near Fisk University, which has been providing early childhood education for more than 160 years.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Saint Mary Villa raises awareness for early childhood education
For AR Kids spokesperson Bill Kopsky talks about why the group's constitutional amendment initiative came up short of the required number of signatures on Friday, July 5, 2024. (Photo by Sonny Albarado/Arkansas Advocate)

For AR Kids spokesperson Bill Kopsky talks about why the group's constitutional amendment initiative came up short of the required number of signatures during a press conference at Arkansas Public Policy Panel offices in Little Rock on Friday, July 5, 2024. (Photo by Sonny Albarado/Arkansas Advocate)

Proponents of two proposed Arkansas constitutional amendments did not submit their petitions to the Secretary of States office on Friday, saying they fell short of the required number of signatures needed to make the November ballot.

Spokespersons for the amendments supporters said they intend to resubmit similar proposals in the 2026 election cycle and work to get the General Assembly to enact elements of the proposals into law in 2025.

For AR Kids, the coalition behind the Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment of 2024, gathered 69,968 signatures collected from 55 counties, spokesperson Bill Kopsky said at an afternoon press conference. While the group didnt submit signatures, it did submit an affidavit with a county breakdown of where signatures were collected to the secretary of state.

Act 236 of 2023 required 90,704 signatures from at least 50 counties. Previously, signatures need only be collected from 15 of the states 75 counties.

Our runway was about two weeks short, Kopsky said in a reference to the time constraint the all-volunteer signature campaign was under.

Arkansas Citizens for Transparency and the Arkansas Press Association announced in a joint statement shortly before the 5 p.m. deadline for submitting petitions that they didnt have the required total number of signatures but had met the minimum signature qualification in 50 counties. The groups sought to place an initiated act to amend the state Freedom of Information Act on the November ballot as well as a constitutional amendment guaranteeing government transparency as a citizens right.

We were closer on the act than the amendment, said Andrew Bagley, press association president and publisher/editor of The Helena World.

Educational Rights Amendment

For AR Kids and its member groups remain committed to achieving the goals of the proposed amendment, Kopsky said.

Arkansas voters deserve a chance to vote on improving the future of all Arkansas kids, he said.

The primary goal of the proposed amendment was to hold private schools that receive state funding to the same standards as public schools. The proposal stems from a new voucher program that provides taxpayer money for allowable educational expenses, such as private school tuition.

The proposed measure also would have guaranteed voluntary universal access to pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds, after-school and summer programming, quality special education and assistance for children in families within 200% of the Federal Poverty Line ($62,400 for a family of four).

Lawmakers have the power to fund proven strategies like pre-K, after-school summer programs, finally doing something to improve our special education system and giving low-income children more support, Kopsky said. We believe everything in our proposal is a right.

Steve Grappe of Stand Up Arkansas, one of the For AR Kids coalition members, said the group spent a lot of time seeking signatures in rural counties because theyre disproportionately impacted by the tax funds being funneled to private schools under the LEARNS Act.

Theyre feeling the heat, he said, noting that parents in urban areas have lots of choices for educating their children while those in rural counties have only public schools.

Grappe noted that volunteers had collected signatures of support from 40% of the voters who voted in the 2020 presidential election, much higher than the required percentage.

Other members of the coalition include the Arkansas Education Association (AEA), Arkansas Conference of the NAACP, the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, The Arkansas Retired Teachers Association and Citizens First Congress (CFC).

AEA President April Reisma thanked the volunteers who endured hot weather and dishonest opponents to gather signatures and thanked the citizens who bravely signed the petitions.

We didnt have outside money, she said, referring to two groups opposed to the amendment proposal that amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy donors, some of whom are not from Arkansas.

For AR Kids relied on 1,200 volunteers, not paid canvassers, Kopsky said.

I have immense gratitude for each and every one of them and everything they sacrificed, he said.

The measure faced opposition from Arkansans for Students and Educators and Stronger Arkansas, two ballot question committees with close ties to the governor. Additionally, the measure was opposed by Family Council Action Committee 2024, which like Stronger Arkansas also opposes the proposed abortion and medical marijuana amendments.

Arkansans for Students and Educators and Stronger Arkansas have received a total of $986,000 and $375,000, respectively, in campaign contributions, according to June financial disclosure documents. Meanwhile, For AR Kids received a total of $8,217 from donors.

Arkansans for Students and Educators issued a statement Friday saying that Arkansans have once again rejected the status quo of the education establishment that has kept us at the bottom for decades. [T]he message being sent is crystal clear: Arkansans are demanding bold change for our education system  one that empowers parents, puts students first, and starts to pay teachers what they deserve.

A key component of the LEARNS Act was establishing a $50,000 minimum salary for Arkansas teachers.

Elaine Williams, a For AR Kids volunteer from Prescott, told supporters during the press conference:

We did not lose. We just didnt have the total. I say that because people believe in what we were trying to do and what we are yet going to do.

Government transparency

Nate Bell, a former state legislator and chair of the Arkansas Citizens for Transparency ballot question committee, said the group will continue to work for open government.

An open and transparent government is essential for the future of our democratic institutions because a citizenry without independent information will be unable to make informed judgments about the quality of government they are being provided, he said.

Several drafters of a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act in the state Constitution participated in a public forum in Little Rock on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. From left: attorney David Couch, Arkansas Press Association Executive Director Ashley Wimberley, Democratic state Sen. Clarke Tucker, attorney Jen Standerfer and former independent state representative Nate Bell. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

Unfortunately, rules have been set that are very arduous and costly and we have learned a lot from this experience that will be valuable in the future, Bell said in a reference to the higher signature threshold and number of counties required by Act 236 of 2023.

A lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court last year argues the requirement makes it harder for citizen-led petitions to qualify for the ballot. A judge heard arguments in the case in February, but has not yet issued a ruling.

Ashley Wimberley, the press association director, said deciding not to submit the petitions was difficult but was made in order to save the dedicated staff in the Secretary of States office unnecessary work.

In a joint statement with ACT, Wimberley expressed gratitude for the campaigns volunteers and those who donated funds toward the effort.

We were short on time. This is a hurdle not an end. This has been an educational process, and we are hopeful that the same is true for our legislators who represent the people who believe in this across the state, the statement said.

Andrew Bagley, president, Arkansas Press Association (Courtesy photo)

Bagley, installed as the APA president a week ago, served on the Arkansans for a Free Press ballot committee, said: Polling shows that open government is immensely popular, and it is essential whether its at the Capitol or the local level.

He said the association looks forward to working with lawmakers in next years session to preserve the peoples right to know.

Arkansans for a Free Press will continue organizing and will file an updated proposal to try to qualify for the 2026 election, he said.

I still have hope and believe that we share the concerns of a majority of Arkansans. We cannot allow Winthrop Rockefellers legacy to be erased, he said, referring to the Arkansas governor in whose term the state Freedom of Information Act became law in 1967.

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Other unsuccessful measures

Restore Election Integrity Arkansas, a ballot question committee supporting the Absentee Voting Amendment of 2024, did not submit petitions on Friday.

The proposed constitutional amendment would have limited absentee voting to people who can prove their inability to vote in person. It would have allowed absentee ballots to be distributed within 30 days of election day only to registered voters who are unable to be present at the polls on election day because they are absent from the county where theyre registered to vote, or are hospitalized, incarcerated or in a long-term care facility.

Restore Election Integrity Arkansas also had proposed a separate measure to require Arkansas elections be conducted with hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots, but it was rejected by the attorney general.

The Arkansas Supreme Court in May dismissed a lawsuit that asked the high court to independently certify the legal sufficiency of the measures ballot titles and popular names and order them placed on the ballot.

Pine Bluff resident Dave Dinwiddie did not submit petitions Friday for his initiated act to lower the age requirement from 45 years to 25 years for antique vehicle tags because he did not collect a sufficient number of signatures.

Dinwiddie told the Advocate earlier this week that he collected fewer than 100 signatures of the required 72,563. He said he plans to raise money over the next few years and try again to lower the age requirement for antique tags in 2026.

Antoinette Grajeda, Mary Hennigan and Tess Vrbin contributed to this report.

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Michael Proctors duty status hearing, the first step to determine the embattled State Police troopers work status, is scheduled to take place Monday.

A state police spokesperson told Boston 25 that Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read murder case, is expected to participate in the hearing virtually on Monday, a week to the day the high-profile trial ended without a verdict.

Proctor came under fire for a series of disparaging texts about Read that he sent to friends, family, and supervisors, which he read aloud in court during her trial. Proctor admitted on the stand that the texts were unprofessional and apologized multiple times, telling the jury his texts did not impact the investigation.

Interim Massachusetts State Police Col. John Mawn Mawn announced that Proctor had been relieved of his duty on Monday and reassigned from the Norfolk County District Attorneys office, just hours after Judge Beverly Cannone declared a mistrial in the two-month-long murder trial due to a deadlocked jury.

I want to remain very clear. Misconduct in any way, shape, or form in the Massachusetts State Police will not be tolerated, Mawn told reporters after speaking at a Fourth of July safety preparedness event in Boston. I condemn those comments in the strongest terms possible. They are not reflective of the Massachusetts State Police and thats not where we want to be as an organization.

Lead investigator reads his unprofessional & regrettable texts on stand in Karen Read murder trial

During the State Police discipline process, the trooper in question is subject to a duty status hearing, which can result in either being retained on full duty, being placed on restricted duty, suspension with pay, or suspension without pay.

An internal affairs investigation into Trooper Proctors alleged misconduct is ongoing, according to Mawn.

Duty status hearings are not open to the public or the media.

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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EMPORIA (KSNT)  Emporia Walmart employees drenched themselves in water for a good cause.

The retailers Emporia location is joining other Walmart stores across the country to raise money for the Childrens Miracle Network.

To make sure this store met its goal, the store managers volunteered to let guests and co-workers dump buckets of ice water on themselves.

Adventure Cove at Lake Shawnee opens after early-season shutdown

The goal we set for ourselves is to reach $10,000, Mick Schroeder, the manager of Emporias Walmart, said. Last year we fell a little shy at $9,700. So, our goal this year was to surpass that $10,000.

As of July 2, the store was at $9,300, and was hoping to break its $10,000 goal today by selling the ice buckets to dump on the managers. The store will continue to raise money for its local Childrens Miracle Network at the Stormont Vail hospital in Emporia until Sunday, July 7.

For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
Estonia delivers Mistral air defense systems to Ukraine  here's what they can do

Estonia has delivered several Mistral air defense systems to Ukraine, the country's defense ministry said on July 6.

"Let's keep supporting Ukrainian freedom fighters. Together, we can stop Russian aggression," it said in a post on social media.

It did not specify how many of the French-made systems had been handed over, but Ukraine has been receiving and using them since 2022. Norway sent 100 of them shortly after the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion.

Confirmed! Mistral short-range air defence systems and missiles provided by Estonia  have been delivered to Ukraine. Let's keep supporting  freedom fighters. Together, we can #StopRussianAggression.  pic.twitter.com/tdqwWEIsMl  MoD Estonia (@MoD_Estonia) July 6, 2024

The Mistral is a man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) used to intercept and down aircraft and helicopters from short-range, and has been in service since 1989.

The latest version, the Mistral Mk 3, is capable of engaging targets from over 7 kilometers away and is also effective against drones and cruise missiles, its manufacturer MBDA Systems claims.

It launches a "fire-and-forget" missile that tracks a target before exploding nearby, launching a payload of several dozen high-density tungsten balls.

Versions of the Mistral can also be mounted on vehicles.

MBDA is showcasing at #Eurosatory2022 its Mistral ATLAS RC. This latest generation system can be equipped with 2 or 4 Mistral #missiles and can be mounted on light armoured vehicles. pic.twitter.com/sgwXCpMkNO  MBDA (@MBDAGroup) June 16, 2022

and ships.



air defence in a ship container. #MBDA introduces SPIMM #IDEX2019, a Mistral #missile systems designed for urgent operation requirements for unprotected ships against air and asymetric surface threats https://t.co/OXxvRxNAMu pic.twitter.com/gCJXyZT4Gv  MBDA (@MBDAGroup) February 17, 2019

Ukraine has had great success in recent months shooting down Russian fighter jets with MANPADS systems, though the exact models used are not known.

Other systems used by Ukraine's armed forces include the U.S.-made Stinger, the Swedish-made RBS 70 and the Soviet-era Igla.

Video of Ukrainian soldiers with Stinger and Igla MANPADS watching Russian Su-25 aircraft beyond their range. https://t.co/i5WtPZgmY1 pic.twitter.com/GKd3HFSKQ1  Rob Lee (@RALee85) July 4, 2022

Ukraine's National Guard claimed on June 28 it had downed another Russian Su-25 fighter jet in embattled Donetsk Oblast.

In a post on Telegram, the unit said the aircraft was on a combat sortie when it was hit by a "well-aimed shot" from a MANPADS.

It was the second Russian Su-25 jet that Ukraine had claimed shot down in June.

In the previous month, the claimed total was six  Ukraine claimed that it destroyed Su-25s on May 25, May 23, May 4, May 11, May 13, and May 18.

The General Staff said on July 6 that Russia has lost 360 planes since the launch of the full-scale invasion.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify these figures.

Read also: What Ukraines partial Chasiv Yar withdrawal actually means

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Euclid police, still mourning their own fallen officer, show support for Cleveland

***Watch previous coverage above.***

CLEVELAND (WJW)  The Euclid Police Department, still mourning the recent loss of its own fallen officer, is showing support for the Cleveland Division of Police after officer Jamieson Ritter was killed in the line of duty.

Euclid police officer Jacob Derbin was killed while responding to a call at a home on May 11.

The 23-year-old officer, a Cuyahoga Heights native remembered as a true hero, was laid to rest at St. Marys Cemetery on May 18.

Now, less than two months after his death, the Euclid Police Department is paying tribute to Cleveland officer Ritter, who was killed on the Fourth of July.

Memorial service planned for fallen Cleveland officer Jamieson Ritter

Our hearts grieve for our brothers and sisters in Cleveland over this horrible loss, the department said on Facebook Friday afternoon. We will continue to stand with you as youve done for us, even in the darkest of times. You all stay in our thoughts and prayers.

Ritter, a four-year veteran with the Division of Cleveland Police, was shot and killed just before 1 a.m. Thursday while responding to a man wanted for felonious assault near Wade Park.

Investigators say the suspect, 24-year-old Delawnte Hardy, fled on a bike, pulled out a gun and opened fire. Ritter was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead from his injuries.

Inside the investigation: What led to Cleveland Officer Ritters death?

Hardy, who appeared in court Friday morning, is charged with aggravated murder.

A memorial service will be held for officer Ritter Monday morning at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist.

Many other local law enforcement groups and officials have issued statements following Ritters death. You can find more of those here.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
Slates guide to the most important figures in politics this week.

Welcome back to the Surge, Slates guide to the most notable figures of the week in politics. Im Ben Mathis-Lilley, filling in for Jim Newell, who tried to propel himself onto the White House lawn to report on Joe Bidens mental state by strapping his body to a load of fireworks being launched from the National Mall the night of July 4. His explosion a thousand feet above the Washington Monument was described by observers as surprisingly patriotic, and he is expected to make a full recovery at a local hospital that specializes in Wile E. Coyote injuries. (Slates Mark Joseph Stern also lent his expertise and insight to the item about John Roberts, i.e., he wrote it and we copied and pasted it and added a joke.)





This week, obviously, weve got a lot about a Democrat to be named later possibly succeeding Biden on the presidential ticket, as well as news about whos been dropping in on White House meetings. (Hint: Its a convicted felon with a self-admitted history of smoking crack.) Additionally, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denies eating a dog, and the Supreme Court says being president means you get to follow Purge rules. (It really was a very busy week.) But first, the man who wasnt there.

Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images.

1. Joe Biden

Still running (depending on when you open this newsletter).

In some ways, it was a very eventful few days for the president, who probably has not been the focal point of the American news environment to this extent since he was first elected in 2020. There were articles about how he had to interrupt his debate preparation for regular naps, and reports about how he has started to forget the names of longtime allies. There was a story about how he told the countrys Democratic governors that he has trouble working after 8 p.m. What Biden did not do a lot of this week was talking in public; he spoke from a script for five minutes about a major Supreme Court ruling (see below) on Monday, delivered prepared remarks at a Wednesday Medal of Honor ceremony and a Thursday Fourth of July event, and did two short radio interviewsincluding one in which he garbled his words and described himself as the first Black woman to serve with a Black president. Biden, nonetheless, has reportedly been telling people that hes going to make a blitz of more high-profile appearances to prove that he can still handle the demands of running for reelection; Step 1 in that effort was to be an interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos that, inconveniently, was scheduled to air Friday night, after this newsletter was completed but before it was sent out. So, if you could, please grab a Sharpie and write your own take on Bidens ABC interview on your phone or computer screen before moving on to the next item.

2. Kamala Harris

Would they be coco-nuts to just hand her this thing?

Democrats everywhereelected officials, rank-and-file party organizers, frequent social media posters, and even normal peopleare reeling from Bidens debate. Its not quite a seven-stages-of-grief situation, given that it might still have a somewhat satisfactory ending, but it has similarities as far as the wild swings between despair and optimism and uncontrollable laughter/screaming. Playing a key role in this hysteria is Vice President Kamala Harris. On the one hand, shed be the obvious choice to take over Bidens spot, but then again, she did a lousy job campaigning for the presidency in the 2020 primary. And, sure, a hastily contrived pseudo-primary to select someone besides her might degenerate into a nasty mess. But it might be a good idea to test the eventual nominee in a weird, high-pressure media environment culminating at the convention. And if that nominee did end up being Harris, well, maybe it could be fun, like the falling out of a coconut tree thing. The consensus on the VP at any given point is like what they probably said about the weather where you grew up: If you dont like it, just wait five minutes.

3. John Roberts

Briefly interrupting Biden Time to declare that laws are over.

The Roberts-led Supreme Court powered through a series of victories for the GOP this term, culminating in a sweeping decision in Trump v. United States written by the chief himself and issued Monday. Legally, the decision grants Trump, and all future presidents, near-absolute immunity for official acts committed in office. Practically, it means that Trump is unlikely to face further prosecution before the election because lower courts will have to figure out what an official act is. Going forward, its a sign that Roberts has forced his way back into the SCOTUS drivers seat after it had begun to look as if the courts priorities were going to be set by the three Trump appointees and the MAGA-pilled duo of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. All it took Roberts was, lets say, adjusting his principles and temperament to better fit the Trump era, and now pretty much all of the ideas he likes can become the law again. Must be nice!

4. Nate Cohn

Dropping bombs on the discourse from the maternity ward.

The eyeball test for Biden isnt good at the moment: When he doesnt have a teleprompter in front of him, he does something like freeze up for 20 seconds on national television or claim to have been the first Black vice president. Big-shot decisionmakers everywhere, thoughlike the kinds of people who lead the Democratic Party or have enough money to influence their opinionslike having data they can point to in order to justify a risky move, even if that data is kind of speculative and made-up. (Its our understanding that this is the entire purpose of the consulting industry.) Stepping up to fill that need, as always, this weekwith legitimate, good data, to be clearwas New York Times poll maestro Nate Cohn, who helped get a much-anticipated edition of the widely respected Times/Siena College poll out the door just days after the birth of his child. What the poll found was that there has been a 3-point postdebate swing toward Trump; Biden currently trails by 6 points nationally among likely voters, and a (1-point) majority of Democrats think he should be replaced on the ballot. The intra-Dem grumbling about getting rid of him has continued to intensify to the point that its probably now better described as planning.

5. Hunter Biden

Haha, wow, yeah, thats a really bad idea.

In the wake of Bidens debate performance, the people who reportedly advised him against immediately bowing out of the race were his wife Jill and his son Hunter. Leaving aside whether family members should be making this decision at all vis-a-vis the actual Democratic Party, Hunter Biden is a particularly conflicted person from whom to seek counsel, given that he was recently convicted of a federal crime and famously trades on his fathers name to generate his own income. This is a guy with a pretty strong interest in his familys remaining atop the gears of power, in other words. NBC further reports that this week-ish, Hunter popped into several meetings and phone calls at the White House. Just helping out, we guess, and possibly monitoring his fathers advisers to see who needs to be fired for disloyalty. If Joe Biden really wants to show people that he should still be president, letting it leak out that his famously reckless and unemployed son who was just convicted of illegal gun possession is now helping run the country is probably not the best way to do it.

6. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Where to start?

Staying on the subject of political sons with interesting lives, it has also been a heck of a few days for RFK Jr. On Tuesday, Vanity Fair published a long story about him that alleged, among other things, that hed groped a family babysitter andwe are not making this upsent someone a picture of himself pretending to eat a barbecued dog. (The article includes the photo, which Kennedy now claims is a picture of a barbecued goat. He pointedly failed to deny groping the woman, who says she found his advances inappropriate and off-putting.) Then, on Friday, he tweeted that he promises not to take sides on 9/11 as president. This was nominally a reference to a recent 60 Minutes report that the U.S. government might be hiding evidence that the Saudi Arabian government helped plan the attacks, but for one, Kennedys promise was also obviously a dog whistle to his jet fuel cant melt steel beams supporters in the conspiracy community, and for two, it involved using a gotta hear both sides construction in reference to the worst terrorist attack in human history. The good news? Edward Snowden, the exiled National Security Agency whistleblowerwhom RFK Jr. has said hed pardontweeted that the Democrats would be doing fine right now if theyd just nominated Kennedy instead of Biden. You know, Ed, Im not so sure thats true.

7. Keir Starmer

Her Majestys Surge congratulates the new king of Greater London (?).

What ho? Why, its an election in the United Kingdom, coincidentally held on July 4 so that we could gloat and accept their thanks for inventing democracy. The basic dynamic in every wealthy country right now is that voters want to throw out whoevers in charge, and since the conservative Tory party was in power across the pond previously, that made the Thursday vote a big win for liberals, which means that the new prime minister will be a Labour geezer named Keir Starmer. Other outlets might tell you that Starmer has guided Labour back toward the center of British politics or that his dull competence appealed to voters after years of Brexit-related chaos; the Surges take is that Keir Starmer sounds like an Irish name and that the British might want to keep an extra close eye on him in case hes a sleeper agent for the Roman Catholic agenda. (In point of fact, Starmer is an atheist, and his wife is Jewish. Open-minded, those Brits!)
Whos to blame? All of us  every Conservative MP in the last Parliament  has a share of the blame for this defeat. For my part, I made life harder for my Party by calling publicly for tougher policy on migration and defence, and so made negative headlines about Tory splits and factions.

Nevertheless, this weeks result vindicates the argument that I and others (notably Simon Clarke, Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick) were making for the last two years. We lost this election because millions of people who voted Tory in 2019 abandoned us - not for Labour or the Liberal Democrats, but for Reform. They did so principally because we failed on immigration. No other analysis can possibly be sustained on the evidence of Thursday night.

It is also wrong to suggest that people wouldnt have voted for Reform if Conservative MPs hadnt criticised the Government. The public didnt need a few Tory backbenchers to inform them that immigration was too high. Eight million people have been added to the British population by migration this century, first by Blairs commitment to European free movement and then, since Brexit, by our own lax visa regime. No-one voted for it and the public deeply, and rightly, resent it.

But beneath the bald fact of Reform attracting our voters with a cry of net zero migration, there is a deeper and more comprehensive problem. We lost on Thursday not because we were too too left wing or too right wing but because we failed to deliver on our promises. And we failed to do so because we failed to fix the British state.

Brexit was always only the beginning, the necessary precondition for the great project of reform that the country needs. The Vote Leave campaign cleverly made the link between leaving the EU and improving the NHS. The great shame since 2016 has been that despite record investment we have not delivered the improvements in the health service which the people rightly expected. We treated Covid as an excuse for long waiting lists, rather than as an imperative to fix the system.

In 2016 with Brexit, and again in 2019 with Boris Johnson, the British people voted for change. They have just done so again. Keir Starmer fraudulently claims to represent that change - when in fact he received no more votes than Labour did at the last election, and his entire plan for government appears to be to give the civil service even more of a grip on power.

In voting Reform, former Conservative voters have handed over Britain to their ideological opponents. But they have done so to send a clear message: that they want things done differently. They want a health service that works. They want the government to support working families, not grow the welfare list. They want us to control our borders and ensure our national defence. They want a country that produces and exports, not just consumes and imports. They want us to invest in the skills of young Brits, not import cheap foreign labour that depresses productivity and puts unsustainable pressure on housing and public services. And they want the British state to fly the British flag - celebrating our culture, our proud history, our traditions of tolerance and respect - not the flag of protest, grievance and division.

They voted Reform because they didnt believe the Conservatives would do these things. We have to show them that, next time, we will. But were wrong if we imagine we can get these changes simply by shouting for them loudly enough.

The task for our Party, both in its constitutional role as the official opposition and as a political project that needs to win back Reform voters, is to get serious about the profound structural problems in our country. We have deep weaknesses in our economic model, in our public services and public finances. We have an establishment out of touch and out of sympathy with ordinary people. We are in the midst of a technological revolution that is upending everything, all during the most dangerous moment of world history since 1945.

In this context it would be completely wrong for the Conservative Party to rush into a new leadership election. We need a proper post-mortem, with a proper opportunity for ex-MPs and, crucially, members to have their say about what went wrong. We need the various candidates for leader to be in listening mode for long enough to understand what their colleagues and the Party thinks, and for them to take their time to articulate their visions for the future.

This is a time to be humble, and to be serious.

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PALESTINE, Texas (KETK)  An East Texas fifth grade student was named a national scholar and was able to participate in career-oriented development program in Dallas after being nominated.

Blue Bell bringing back two flavors after revival tournament

According to a release from UT Tyler, Javier Alejandro Deluna attends The University of Texas at Tyler University Academy  Palestine, where he participates in several extracurricular activities. He was named a 2024 Envision by WorldStrides scholar and went to the National Youth Leadership Forum: Pathways to STEM program.

Javiers hard work, dedication and positive attitude made him an exemplary student who will undoubtedly continue to achieve great things in the future, Shelly Parsons, interim campus director, said.

The organization reportedly provides students that are nominated the opportunity to turn their career and life aspirations into reality.

I would like to thank my instructors and director for choosing me to take part in this phenomenal journey, Deluna said. I am eager and open minded to encounter new experiences and have become somewhat of a trailblazer with this opportunity.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
In the wake of President Joe Biden's widely-panned debate showing last week, Vice President Kamala Harris has of course been mentioned on the list of preferred potential replacements as calls for Biden to drop out of the race mount. But commentators have cast the net widely, suggesting such other Democrats as California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and various others.

But in the still-unlikely event that the president decides to end his re-election bid, Harris would be the most likely Democrat to take his place, seven senior sources at the Biden campaign, the White House and the Democratic National Committee told Reuters  even if she's not the top choice among pundits.

Biden's lackluster debate performance  characterized by a raspy voice and occasional incoherence that his team explained away as effects of a cold  has ignited panic among Democratic insiders and regular voters alike over whether he's fit enough to handle a second term. Over the last week, Biden's team has scrambled to do damage control as he hits the campaign trail and makes media appearances in hopes of inspiring confidence and altering the clearly unfavorable momentum of his race against Donald Trump.

The conversation around Biden's age and ability to lead the country for four more years is one that "the Biden team was able to delay because there wasn't a really serious primary" in this year's race, argues Kevin McMahon, a professor of political science at Trinity College in Connecticut.

Biden's "debate performance was truly disastrous," McMahon told Salon, adding that he believes the president should step aside. "Now it becomes a question not just of Democrats holding on to the White House," he added, but preventing a Trump presidency. Democrats have "campaigned heavily" on the premise that "another Trump presidency will be destructive to American democracy. So if that's true, you want the best person who can defeat Trump."

Influential Democrats have thrown out numerous options besides Harris, including the governors mentioned above as well as Michelle Obama, who has never expressed interest in running for office. But in reality, going around Harris to nominate another Democrat might well prove next to impossible, both logistically and financially.

Campaign finance laws allow for a presidential candidate and running mate to use one campaign fund when they run on the same ticket, but tightly limit the transfer of those funds to other candidates in the event of a presidential candidate's withdrawal, experts at the Campaign Legal Center told the American Prospect.

If Biden wanted to transfer money from his account to another presidential candidate, he would be limited to $2,000 per election. Should he withdraw from the race, he could transform his campaign committee into a political action committee, or PAC, that would allow him to donate another $3,300 to another candidate  but those meager sums pale in comparison to the hundreds of millions the president's re-election campaign has raised.

Such a newly-formed Biden PAC could theoretically launch an independent expenditure campaign to support a different candidate or the president could refund all the remaining money to donors, notes the Prospect  but the cleanest solution would be to name Harris as the new nominee. She could easily claim all existing campaign funds because she and Biden are already on the same ticket.

Furthermore, Biden passing the reins to Harris would provide a smoother transition for the party in what would already be a chaotic and unprecedented change at this point in the election cycle, according to James Vike, a professor of political science at Widener University.

Biden has various options should he choose to drop out, Vike told Salon: "One would be to kind of endorse" Harris, and another would be "to just step aside."

Vike added that he "couldn't imagine" Biden "stepping away from the campaign and espousing support for a different candidate. That would be quite unusual. The very role, the very purpose of the vice president," he said, is to be present "in the event that the president cannot perform the duties" of the office. Given that, if a president becomes incapacitated for any reason, or voluntarily withdraws, "you would anticipate" that the vice president or vice-presidential nominee would step in.

Rallying behind Harris would also offer Biden the opportunity to "step out a little more gracefully," McMahon added. "His choice for vice president will be the new nominee. She could say, 'I will consult with him a lot,' or something like that. That makes it a little easier for Biden to accept this transition, if he ultimately does so."

Still, according to the Reuters report quoted earlier, some influential Democrats view Harris as a back-burner choice because they don't feel she can beat Trump.

The push for non-Harris alternatives hinges on the "notion of trying to find someone else that has less pre-established negative bias," Vike explained.

Democrats' goal might be to identify "a positive message candidate," Vike said, "somebody that can actually mobilize people who aren't purely driven by the by their oppositional standing," he said. "Looking at the potential alternative Democratic candidates, people are starting to say, not only can we bring together the anti-Trump coalition, maybe we can inspire some previously disaffected or previously disengaged individuals and get them excited about the prospect of something new."

Harris' polling has been relatively poor throughout her term in office, and hasn't improved significantly despite her involvement in advocating for abortion rights, a decisive issue for many Democrats. She has also been subjected to a barrage of sexist and racist attacks from Republicans and conservative media, not to mention the criticism she felt from progressives over her record as California attorney general.

Some of the lesser-known governors Democrats have floated as possible Biden replacements seem attractive as "people that don't have pre-existing negative associations" and "have shown some electoral success in the past," Vike said. "I think that's where some people are looking," in hopes of infusing the anti-Trump coalition with "a positive aspirational vision."

Top Democratic consultants reportedly weighed in on the Biden dilemma during a private call with an audience of Democratic donors Tuesday, according to Semafor. While former Bill Clinton aide James Carville offered advice on how best to oust Biden and former White House strategist Paul Begala professed neutrality, consultant Dmitri Mehlhorn argued that swing voters may be concerned with Biden's ability to lead, but like Harris even less.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Kamala Harris is more threatening to those swing voters than a dead Joe Biden or a comatose Joe Biden, he reportedly said. So if Joe has to go, its gonna be Kamala and if its Kamala, its gonna be harder.

After floating Whitmer and Newsom names as possible replacements last weekend, three Democratic donors who have been applying pressure on Biden to drop out said this week they believe it will be "impossible" to sidestep the vice president.

"There is a real conversation in the Democratic party about leadership right now, but fair to say, and I'm not thrilled about this ... it will be impossible to ignore Kamala," one donor told Reuters.

"She's nobody's choice," another added, agreeing that going around Harris would be "nearly impossible."

Harris' approval ratings are below 40 percent, Reuters added, and recent polling flagged by the Biden campaign indicates that she and the president have similar odds of beating Trump.

Harris trailed Trump by just one point (43 to 42 percent) in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday, which is within the poll's margin of error and statistically just as strong as Biden's standing versus Trump. For all her perceived negatives, the vice president has already been vetted for national office and weathered intense Republican scrutiny, sources told Reuters.

Selecting a Democratic nominee other than Harris would also raise a concern about optics, McMahon argued.

"Do the Democrats really want to choose somebody like Newsom, another white male, and kick out a Black woman who's a historic vice president?" he said, adding that it would be "very difficult to do that unless you know Harris is on board."

To this point, there are no signs the president is likely to back out of the race. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed Biden's debate performance as a "bad night," insisting the president would continue to pursue re-election. The White House also denied reporting that he had seriously considered dropping out of the race.

Harris' aides have also dismissed the possibility of a Democratic ticket without both current candidates. "Vice President Harris looks forward to serving a second term with President Joe Biden," her office told Reuters in a statement.

Democratic delegates are expected to formally nominate the president in a virtual meeting later this month, well ahead of the Democratic National Convention in mid-August. Still, Vike argues that "a clean transition would be beneficial" for the party and the presidential campaign, predicting that if Biden withdraws, delegates and supporters would "go dramatically" to Harris.

"Given the state of the campaign, it's going to require a vigorous and active effort to turn things around," Vike said. Harris would be capable of that, he believes, and is better positioned "to focus on clarity, focus on President Trump's failings and weaknesses, and also try to communicate a positive message for the future."

McMahon agreed, saying that a Harris nomination could offer "youth and energy" in the face of recent polling that indicates voters support Biden's policies but are uncertain about him as an individual. Switching from Biden to Harris would also "take the news away from Donald Trump, who is very good about attracting attention," McMahon argued. If Harris becomes the nominee, he said, the focus would shift to "a Democratic Party that is moving to a new generation of leadership with a plan in place, with experience as vice president and looking to connect to communities that were displeased with the Biden administration."
Brandon Wheeler and his son, Austin, who is referred to by his middle name, at the emergency room in Idaho Falls

Brandon Wheeler and his son, Austin, who is referred to by his middle name, at the emergency room in Idaho Falls in May. (Whitney Bryen/InvestigateWest)

This story was first published by InvestigateWest on July 1, 2024.

In a dark and sterile hospital room, the light from a cellphone highlighted the exhaustion on Brandon Wheelers face as he checked for an email offering help for his son. It wasnt there.

He looked over at the hospital bed where Austin crammed another handful of Sour Patch Kids candies into his mouth. It was one of the only foods Wheelers son could taste after burns from a cigarette lighter  abuse he suffered as a toddler  destroyed most of his taste buds.

That abuse is why Wheeler adopted Austin, who is being referred to by his middle name in this story. And its why Wheeler has returned to the Idaho Falls emergency room for the fifth time in a year seeking care after his now 15-year-old son attacked a resident at his group home and threatened to kill himself.

When do I get to go home? Austin asked.

I dont know, buddy, Wheeler said. Weve got to get you some help first.

Finding care for Austin has been a yearslong obstacle course full of barriers. Without adequate treatment, Austins anger, depression and violent outbursts worsened, and now his doctors say he needs 24-hour care at a psychiatric residential treatment center.

Austin Wheeler plays games on a tablet

There arent any options in Idaho, but Wheeler found a solution: A Montana center is willing to help, and Wheeler just needs the state of Idaho to provide the Medicaid funding to cover it.

But Idaho wont pay.

The state is denying those benefits for Austin and more than 200 other kids like him every year. Instead, the state points those families back to community resources that have already turned them away, arent equipped to treat them or dont exist, trapping low-income kids with life-threatening symptoms in a state of crisis. Those kids are passed from one facility to the next until they turn 18. And then, too often, they end up in prison. Or worse.

Over the past five years, health care providers have told Idaho Medicaid that 1,927 youth need the highest level of psychiatric treatment available, according to data provided by the state. Fewer than one-third of those directives were funded by the state. That has deprived 1,357 children with the most severe needs of their recommended care.

State health leaders say its not about the money. Its about keeping kids at home as long as possible and exhausting all other options before granting the most extreme, and potentially traumatizing, kind of care.

Parents, childrens behavioral health advocates and attorneys say Idaho is violating a federal law called the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment, or EPSDT. It requires states to pay for all medically necessary services for children and young adults under 21 who are covered by Medicaid. Federal investigators opened an ongoing probe into the states compliance triggered by a complaint from an Idaho nonprofit last year.

Marsha Lillie-Blanton, who developed reporting and oversight measures in 2010 for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to ensure states are complying with federal health care requirements, called EPSDT the nations strongest Medicaid benefit.

By federal law, kids medically necessary needs have to be met. Period, she said.

States across the country are falling short of that responsibility, especially when it comes to behavioral health. Kids' mental health is declining, and health care attorneys say some states are relying too much on expensive and intense inpatient care, like psychiatric residential treatment. Removing kids from their homes for treatment should be a last resort.

But in Idaho, attorneys and childrens behavioral health advocates say, the state isnt providing enough of that care.

For some kids, like Austin, it may be the only thing that can save them.

Threat to himself and others

Austins many diagnoses, each requiring specialized treatment, have made finding care in Idaho feel futile to Wheeler. Austin has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, autism, depression and behavioral disorders that cause him to be defiant and aggressively act out.

Behavioral health services are limited across Idaho, especially for low-income children like Austin who are covered by Medicaid. Help is scarcer in rural communities like Chester in southeast Idaho where Austin lives. And Austins options are even more restricted because he has developmental disabilities, too. He is 15 but looks and acts more like a 10-year-old.

Brandon Wheeler listens to his son from the hospital chair

Disability centers that could ease Austins cognitive challenges wont admit him because of his defiant behavior. Behavioral health facilities cant or wont help him because of his disabilities or because he is too aggressive. Emergency rooms and respite care are temporary and provide only immediate stabilization, not the long-term care that Austins doctors say he needs.

Austin was born in a Texas hospital with heroin in his system. He lived at his grandparents remote home where he endured emotional, physical and sexual abuse, Wheeler said. His lips were stapled shut. His tongue burned with cigarette lighters. He was left in a swing outside for days at a time without food or water.

Austin was 4 when child protective services came. Wheeler said it took them three days to find Austin, who had been living in the woods, alone, eating bugs and using a plastic tarp to stay warm.

Hes a survivor in every kind of way, said Wheeler, who with his wife, Shanna, took in Austin and his sister after seven failed foster placements. Austin was 9.

A yearlong stay at a residential treatment center in Texas improved Austins coping skills, calming his behaviors and making him more manageable at home. After moving to Idaho in 2018, a young neighbor told Austin that he was being abused, triggering Austins aggressive behavior. One night, he broke into his dads gun safe and said he was going to take care of it. That led to another yearlong stay at a group home with 24-hour supervision. He was able to return home for a few years after that until Shanna Wheeler died from breast cancer, sending him into another crisis.

Austin refused to eat and lost nearly 40 pounds. He screamed and wailed uncontrollably, without knowing why. His night terrors returned. Thoughts of suicide and violent outbursts escalated.

In April 2023, one year after his mom died, Brandon Wheeler took Austin to the emergency room after he bit the hands of two of his siblings, causing wounds that required medical attention, and threatened to hurt himself.

Another episode of self-harm and violence sent him back to the ER in May.

And again in June.

And July.

Thats when one of the people caring for Austin confirmed that he needed the highest level of care and sent a letter recommending psychiatric residential treatment to the state.

He absolutely is a threat to himself and others, most importantly his siblings and his family. He threatens to harm people regularly by grabbing knives, threatening to make weapons, threatening to burn people, threatening to jump out of windows and punch walls, Kade Anderson, a physicians assistant specializing in psychiatric care at Ascend Mental Health Center who treated Austin, wrote to the state. Please reconsider that this is a medical necessity for his benefit and for the benefit of his family.

Dr. Mark Jennings, a child psychiatrist who treated Austin last year after threats of suicide and violence toward family members, also wrote to the state saying that Austin has not been successful in an outpatient setting. Jennings wrote that residential care will help by providing a structured environment that will maintain safety for the child.

The federal law protecting childrens care guarantees access to routine medical and dental check-ups, screenings to detect potential problems, diagnostic assessments to identify those problems, and treatment to control or correct them. Most medical, mental health and dental care promised under the law is funded without families knowing it, said Juliet Charron, deputy director of Idaho Medicaid and Behavioral Health.

The law requires Idaho to fund all medically necessary care even if its not covered under the states Medicaid plan. For that treatment, like psychiatric residential care, the state requires physicians to get preapproval.

Idahos Childrens Medicaid team decides which services are funded, but they dont have enough staff to keep up with the requests. So, the state contracts with Telligen, an Iowa-based company that employs health care workers who review the requests and make recommendations. The company works with at least seven other states. On its website, Telligen highlights its work in Idaho ensuring services are authorized only when medically necessary and touts its success saving the state nearly $5 million in 2019. Telligen declined to speak to InvestigateWest for this story.

A mental health counselor and two social workers who work for the state are part of the Medicaid team that decides which care to fund but rarely deviates from Telligens recommendations, said Angie Williams, a bureau chief for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

While the final decision fully rests on Idaho Medicaid, as Telligen is the contractor, these decisions are such a high risk that it is most appropriate for (Telligens) child psychiatrist to review all information and make the decision on medical necessity for psychiatric residential treatment facility level-of-care, Williams wrote in an email.

A child psychiatrist employed by Telligen who reviewed some of Austins records but has never treated or even spoken to him disagreed with his medical providers. The request was denied.

Instead, Telligens doctor recommended placement in a facility for intellectual disabilities, or in-home care utilizing local providers for behavioral therapy, medication management and respite care. Those are the same centers that have refused to care for Austin. Or, that were unable to prevent the decline that led to Austins ER visits and his need for more intense treatment.

Idaho is more likely to deny psychiatric hospitalizations for kids than other care thats guaranteed under the law but requires preapproval, state data shows. Since 2019, Idaho Medicaid has agreed to fund 29% of requests for psychiatric residential treatment compared to 75% of all other EPSDT care requests. And thats intentional, Charron said.

Removing children from their homes is a last resort, Charron said. The state prefers community care services in which kids can receive therapy, medication monitoring, help applying for food or housing assistance, and for individualized education plans with schools.

Residential care has historically put children at risk of abuse, neglect and isolation, which is why state and national standards prioritize treating children at home.

Thats always the goal, Charron said, to keep them at home.

Health care advocates say Idaho has history of four decades of failing kids

Poor access to treatment leaves children in Idaho and nationwide at increased risk of suicide, according to a Mental Health America report. Children with untreated mental illness are more likely to rely on public assistance. Fail or drop out of school. And end up behind bars.

Austin has been detained by police at least a dozen times. He usually ends up at an emergency room for a few days before being sent home. But in 2020, a prosecutor filed charges against Austin after he punched holes in the wall at school, broke a desk and a chair, and stabbed his teacher with a fork. All 12 charges were dropped after mental health evaluation found Austin incompetent to stand trial.

We got lucky, Wheeler said. If he hadnt been found incompetent, they would have sent him to juvenile detention, and that would have been it.

For more than four decades, Idaho has failed to fulfill its obligation to care for children in their communities, resulting in worsening symptoms and the need for hospitalization, attorneys and childrens health care advocates said.

In 1980, a 15-year-old known as Jeff D. sued the Idaho governor and other state officials for failing to provide adequate treatment to indigent children at one of Idaho's psychiatric hospitals. Attorneys in the landmark case argued that community treatment is a constitutional right guaranteed to children and the states failure to provide that in the least restrictive environment led to the need for restrictive, residential care.

Austin, who is referred to by his middle name, spent a week in the emergency room in Idaho Falls in May

In 2010, 30 years into that legal battle, Lillie-Blantons federal oversight team discovered that Idaho was violating the EPSDT law, according to emails obtained by InvestigateWest.

Our concerns are that the state's prior authorization process for EPSDT services may impose a significant barrier to access for such services, reviewers stated in an email to the director of Idahos Department of Health and Welfare.

The state worked with federal compliance officers for more than two years, rewriting state policy to comply with the law, emails show.

Then, in a 2015 court settlement, the state promised to deliver publicly-funded community-based mental health services to children by taking full advantage of Medicaid benefits, including those required under the sweeping federal law. The goal was to treat children earlier and at home to avoid the need for residential care later. But children who need more than counseling or a specialized plan to keep them on track at school are still forced to leave home for treatment.

Charron, who began working for Idahos Medicaid and Behavioral Health departments in 2021, said intensive at-home services are pivotal in preventing hospitalization or crisis. Thats also the care that Idaho is most lacking, she said.

Because of a lack of those services in our state, families are getting to the point where theyre in crisis and, yes, sometimes that means they end up needing a psychiatric residential treatment facility or another residential treatment center, Charron said.

That gap in care leaves more than 300 Idaho kids per year to deteriorate beyond the capabilities of their families and local treatment centers, and, according to their health care providers, in need of psychiatric residential treatment. In 2023, doctors filled out the preapproval application for 333 kids asking the state to fund that care.

Williams, who oversees requests for that treatment, said some of the families asking for that care don't understand what it is or what alternatives are available. And clinicians arent well-versed in other options available to patients causing them to overlook other options and prematurely recommend the highest level of care, which can be traumatizing for children who are already struggling. The state works with families and providers to determine the best treatment before approving or denying their request, Williams said.

What you're not seeing in those denials is the approval for other services that are more appropriate, she said. Were not just denying them without any services.

But the services provided to Austin still fell short. A team of state employees who work in Medicaid, developmental disability services and behavioral health have been working with Wheeler to find alternatives for Austin and help him access that care.

Brandon Wheeler checks his email from the hospital room where his son has spent the past week waiting for help

Community providers couldnt offer the level of care or the frequency that Austin needs to be safe at home, they determined. Four behavioral health centers refused to admit Austin for short-term care. He was also rejected by all of the states long-term residential care facilities that accept Medicaid, which would still remove Austin from his home but are less restrictive than the psychiatric facility the state refused to fund.

Now, the team has decided that Austin may need the highest and most expensive level of care that Wheeler has been advocating for since August. But they cannot override the previous denials to pay for that care.

Disability Rights Idaho filed a complaint with federal overseers in August accusing the state of refusing to pay for needed treatment for children and calling for an investigation and accountability for the states failure to comply with federal law. Staff at the nonprofit advocacy group said they have been interviewed by federal investigators.

Director of Disability Rights Idaho Amy Cunningham helped rewrite state policy after federal compliance officers found Idaho in violation of EPSDT in 2010.

Despite court orders and federal pressure, Cunningham said, Idaho has just never gotten it right.

For states that violate childrens federal health care protections, sanctions are rare

Idaho isnt the only state failing to care for kids at home.

Families in Georgia, New York, Iowa, Michigan and Colorado are suing state leaders and health departments they say violated their childrens right to treatment. These children, like Idaho youth, face intensifying symptoms, unnecessary hospitalizations and commitment to the juvenile delinquency system, according to the lawsuits.

Geron Gadd, an attorney for the National Health Law Program who represents the families suing Georgia, said federal law is clear when it comes to states obligation to provide community treatment to kids. And, the law clearly requires states to fund psychiatric residential treatment, but only when its medically necessary, she said. Thats where it becomes murky.

There are sometimes disagreements about what a child needs, and that can lead to a valid denial of coverage of psychiatric residential treatment, Gadd said. It is therefore key that people who really know the child's strengths and needs make the determination and that meaningful choices are available to children and their families. Too often, children who need intensive home and community-based services receive clinical recommendations for psychiatric residential treatment only because the state fails to provide medically necessary home and community-based services.

Does having no other option make a psychiatric institution medically necessary? Thats for the courts to decide, Gadd said.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is charged with ensuring that states provide needed treatment to kids through EPSDT and other federal benefits. But there is little enforcement.

When Lillie-Blanton oversaw quality control, she said her small team struggled to monitor 50 states. She developed reporting requirements in 2010 to more easily identify states not complying with federal programs. The task remained overwhelming.

Our ability to do a really detailed review was not what you would want, Lillie-Blanton said.

For states that violate childrens federal health care protections, Lillie-Blanton said, sanctions are rare.

Federal oversight is focused on working with states to correct Medicaid violations instead of punishing them, she said. Federal funds could be reduced but rarely are because the calculations are too complicated. And stopping Medicaid funding altogether would punish low-income residents who are covered under the program more than the states that misuse it, she said, so thats not an option either.

Closer to adulthood, closer to jail

Lax enforcement leaves families little recourse against states they feel arent complying with the law.

Brandon Wheeler appealed the states decision not to fund his sons care. That was denied.

With nowhere else to turn, Wheeler is seeking help from an attorney.

In the meantime, his son continues to suffer.

Austin in an Idaho Falls hospital room

In May, staff at a group home where Austin was staying called police after he attempted to put a girl in a chokehold and threatened to stab her with a broken CD, according to the Idaho Falls police report. Austin also told officers that he was going to use a piece of metal to harm himself.

Police drove Austin in handcuffs back to the emergency room  his fifth visit in 13 months.

After a week in the ER, Austin was moved to a behavioral health center in Utah where he stayed for three weeks before transferring to an Idaho residential facility that provides medication management and occasional group therapy and houses kids in the corrections system.

A counselor who evaluated Austin when he moved into the facility wrote that his needs will be better served in a psychiatric residential treatment facility," according to an email obtained by InvestigateWest that was sent last week to the team seeking care for Austin. She also said in the email that the facility could not keep him past July 15.

Wheeler doesnt know whats next for his son, but he will continue to fight.

Beginning July 1, Texas-based Magellan Health will take over reviewing the states requests and coordinating resulting care. A company spokeswoman declined to speak to InvestigateWest. Charron said the final decision will remain in the states hands.

Wheeler plans to reapply after the transition. In the meantime, Howard Belodoff, a legal aid attorney who represents Jeff D. and the other Idaho children who sued the state in 1980, is helping Wheeler appeal Idaho's refusal to fund Austins care. The next step is a chance to plead Austins case to an administrative hearing officer who could uphold or overturn the states denials.

If that doesnt work, Wheeler said, hes willing to sue the state if thats what it takes to get treatment for his son.

But that might take too long. Austin will be 16 in August, a year closer to adulthood and, Wheeler fears, a year closer to a jail cell.

The reality is when you turn 18, they dont care if you have special needs, youre going to get thrown in jail, Wheeler said. I get that we want these kids to be treated at home, but thats not always possible, and Id much rather go visit him in a psychiatric facility than in the state pen.

InvestigateWest (invw.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest.
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One to depart at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wis., following a campaign visit, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

False reports that President Joe Biden had a medical emergency while traveling back to Delaware on Friday after a campaign stop in Wisconsin, spread widely on social media on Friday. They were without merit.

Here's a look at the facts.

___

CLAIM: President Joe Biden had a medical emergency aboard Air Force One on Friday.

APS ASSESSMENT: False. There were no signs of a medical emergency on the flight, according to an Associated Press reporter who was traveling with Biden. Air Force One arrived at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, at 7:22 p.m. The president exited the plane on his own, saluted and spoke with an officer at the base of the stairs and took a question from a reporter before leaving the airport.

THE FACTS: As Biden returned to his home in Wilmington, Delaware, after a campaign stop in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday social media users falsely claimed that the president had suffered a medical emergency aboard Air Force One.

Air Force One landed in New Castle, Delaware, at 7:22 p.m. about the same time posts started spreading about Bidens alleged medical emergency.

I just received a tip from an anonymous source, reads one X post. My source says that Joe Biden is currently experiencing a medical emergency on Air Force One as I type this. No further details are known.

Another X post states: Joe Biden is reportedly having a medical emergency on Air Force One right now. Press access has been removed. It had received approximately 15,000 likes and 10,900 shares as of Saturday morning.

The posts presented no evidence that such an event occurred. Press access was not removed.

Video shows Biden walking down the steps of Air Force One in Delaware, speaking with an officer, answering a reporters question about whether he would watch a highly anticipated interview he did with ABC News George Stephanopolous and getting into a car, all without issue.

There were no signs of an emergency aboard Air Force One and the press was not denied access to the plane at any point, according to an AP reporter who was traveling on Air Force One with Biden during the flight from Wisconsin to Delaware. The reporter added that press was able to move about the plane as usual and that a door separating press from Bidens top staff was open for most of the flight.

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates called the claim 100% false in an X post on Friday night.

Other posts claimed that the press did not see Biden when the presidential motorcade arrived at his home Friday night and that his campaign had canceled upcoming events as a result of the supposed emergency.

A press pool was in Bidens motorcade when he was dropped off at his Wilmington home, according to the AP reporter who was traveling with the president. The reporter said journalists did not see him enter the house, but they routinely do not see him enter his Wilmington home because it is set back from the street and it is typical to only see the motorcade going through the gates leading to the house.

Biden had no public events planned for Saturday. He was scheduled to speak at a National Education Association convention on Sunday, but canceled after the unions staff announced a strike on Friday.

President Biden is a fierce supporter of unions and he wont cross a picket line, his campaign said in a statement. The President is still planning to travel to Pennsylvania this weekend.

___

Associated Press reporters Colleen Long and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

___

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.



Hanna Gudknecht, 16, is understandably blunt when asked about not showing her Holstein cow this year due to rising fears about a dairy cattle virus.

"It's really going to suck," said Gudknecht, who attends Kenyon-Wanamingo schools and is a member of the Aspelund Ever Readies 4-H Club.

For rural teens like Gudknecht, summer fairs and livestock shows are a summer highlight. There's satisfaction in seeing the hard work of prepping an animal for judging  the constant clipping, grooming and bathing that begins long before setting foot on the fairgrounds  pay off, not just with blue ribbons but potentially a trip to the Minnesota State Fair. There are friends to be seen and made during competitions, along with the multicolored lights and other delights of the Midway generally accompanying these events.

It's unfortunate that a generation of young livestock exhibitors who already weathered COVID-19 cancellations is now faced with another round of necessary public health precautions that may challenge their ability to show their animals this summer. A highly pathogenic type of influenza typically found in birds has begun to infect dairy cattle. As of July 2, the American Veterinary Medical Association reports that the H5N1 virus has been confirmed in 12 states, with "27 herds in Idaho, 25 each in Michigan and Colorado, 21 in Texas, 12 in Iowa, eight in New Mexico, six in Minnesota, five in South Dakota, four in Kansas, and one each in North Carolina, Ohio, and Wyoming."

While the virus has a high mortality rate in poultry, so far infected cattle appear to recover with supportive care though milk production may be reduced. Still, there's sufficient reason to be cautious. There appears to be cow-to-cow transmission. Along with that, four human cases have been linked to the dairy cattle outbreak. All four of those people have recovered, with the illness in three confined to conjunctivitis-like symptoms, but the cases are a reminder that livestock viruses can pose a threat to human health and other species.

Minnesota state health and agriculture officials are to be commended for setting up sensible new safeguards to prevent livestock competitions from accelerating transmission. In mid-June, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health released new guidelines for showing dairy cattle just in time for summer fairs' high season.

The new precautions don't ban competition. But exhibitors showing a lactating dairy cow will need to present a negative test result for H5N1 within seven days of arriving at the competition and have a certificate of veterinary inspection.

Those requirements remain in place for the remainder of 2024. In addition, the testing must be done at a lab that's in the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN). Important to note: The testing is free, with the federal government picking up the expense or reimbursing owners for it.

Minnesota was at the forefront nationally of putting such safeguards in place, and its requirements are more comprehensive than those in many other states. Wisconsin announced similar testing requirements in mid-June. Iowa also will require testing for fairs and exhibitions, but didn't announce measures until June 25, which is regrettable because that state's county fair season gets off to an early start.

North Dakota will require testing for state fair exhibitors, but is only encouraging county fairs and other events to adopt this policy. South Dakota is not requiring testing, though federal testing requirements for interstate travel still apply to it and all other states.

Minnesota's err-on-the-side-of-caution approach is the responsible course of action to protect the state's poultry and dairy cattle industry along with public health.

The new policy has created additional work for organizers of county fairs and other exhibitions. To avoid having to check testing and other requirements, some fairs are temporarily forgoing competitions for milking dairy cows, though calves and "dry cows" can often still compete, according to officials from the Minnesota Federation of County Fairs. The reason why the precautions are focused on milking cattle:

"Milk is the most likely culprit for transmission and poses the highest known risk. Therefore, ensuring lactating dairy are negative before the event reduces the risk of it spreading via milking equipment," said Board of Animal Health spokesman Michael Crusan, who noted that the milking equipment may be shared by exhibitors during a competition. Cattle and other livestock typically stay on site for several days while competition takes place.

Some families are also planning leave their milking cows at home this year to avoid the risk of having a cow return from a fair and potentially infect the herd.

Regrettably, that leaves many disappointed 4-H'ers like Gudknecht.

In times like this, it's important for Minnesota's youthful competitors to remember that one of the four H's in 4-H is "health." The other three: head, heart and hands. This venerable organization has a noble mission that goes far beyond blue ribbons and the show ring. It also has long prepared members to be good citizens on and off the farm, with community service activities a priority throughout the year.

This year, members of 4-H and other youth agricultural clubs find themselves on the front lines against an alarming virus. There's a broader, memorable lesson to be learned. In life, sometimes the collective good involves individual sacrifice. Nevertheless, those who care about their community step up.

Gudknecht understands that. She wants to protect the family's dairy herd and Minnesota agriculture, which is exactly the right attitude. While this is a setback, she knows it's not permanent. "We can always still hope for next year," she said.

Editorial Board members are David Banks, Jill Burcum, Denise Johnson and John Rash. Star Tribune Opinion staff members Maggie Kelly, Kavita Kumar and Elena Neuzil and intern Aurora Weirens also contribute, and Star Tribune CEO and Publisher Steve Grove serves as an adviser to the board.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  After being hit by a falling rock, a woman fell while hiking near Bonneville Dam on Friday, authorities say.

According to the Multnomah County Sheriffs Office, the hiker fell less than a mile up the trail at Wahclella Falls.

Gov. Kotek declares extreme heat emergency, warns of energy grid strain

Another hiker passing by was able to give her first aid and control bleeding for some type of laceration, officials said.

Cascade Locks Fire has made contact with the hiker and her current condition is unknown at this time.

This is a developing story. Stay with KOIN 6 News for updates.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
A Colorado family trying to enjoy their deck last month found that a bear had the same idea.

The family went to sit on the back deck in Pagosa Springs but soon heard loud huffing and moaning underneath their feet, Colorado Parks and Wildlifes Southwest Region division said Tuesday on social media.

The human residents called wildlife officials, who showed up and discovered a very large bear.

Last week, a Pagosa Springs family went out to sit on their back deck and soon heard loud huffing and moaning underneath their feet. Alarmed, they called CPW as they thought it might be a bear or other injured animal. When we showed up, we found a very large bear. pic.twitter.com/MyUYDSkxfK  CPW SW Region (@CPW_SW) July 2, 2024

The black bear was a male believed to be older than 10 and estimated to weigh around 400 pounds. (Black bears, like this one, can be brown in color.) Wildlife officers thought the bear was one that had been spotted in the area for several years and had a reputation for getting into non-natural food sources.

They decided to tranquilize and relocate the bear from the neighborhood. However, once it was sedated, moving the massive animal from under the deck for transport proved a challenge that needed the assistance of several bystanders, the agency wrote.

The sedation was successful, but getting the giant out from under the deck and into the bear trap for safe transport proved to be quite a challenge. Officers estimated the 10+ year old boar to be approximately 400 lbs, requiring the assistance of several bystanders. pic.twitter.com/uAPaYjHXTZ  CPW SW Region (@CPW_SW) July 2, 2024

Ultimately, it was transported to an ideal bear habitat with abundant natural foods, the agency added.

A video shows a man unlocking the back of a transport vehicle and then sprinting away before the bear clambers toward freedom.

After the grueling process, the big bear was relocated to ideal bear habitat, far from humans to give it the best chance at success where it will find abundant natural foods.



Watch as District Wildlife Manager Nate Martinez releases it. pic.twitter.com/wmBsMTDmQt  CPW SW Region (@CPW_SW) July 2, 2024

One social media user asked whether the bear was under the deck to escape the summer heat or just looking for a nap.

Likely both, Colorado Parks and Wildlife replied. A bit of daytime cover to rest up for nighttime activities.

An estimated 17,000 to 20,000 black bears live in Colorado.

The overwhelming majority of black bears dont want anything to do with people, Scott Murdoch, a district wildlife manager at Colorado Parks and Wildlife, told public radio station KUNC last year.

Murdoch said Colorado sees a handful of attacks involving black bears each year, but that most of them tend to be more kind of inquisitive in nature, or even defensive in nature.

The state wildlife agency stresses keeping trash secure and avoiding attractants, like bird feeders, that might lure snack-seeking bears into residential areas.

Related...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Authorities have closed at least part of the road to investigate a fatal shooting on Charlotte Pike Friday night.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Metro Dispatch stated that at least one man was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center after authorities responded to a shooting call at roughly 6:21 p.m. Friday night. That call came from the 6200 block of Charlotte Pike.

Charlotte Pike shooting investigation (Source: WKRN)

Metro Police on scene said that a middle-aged man went inside a bakery and was walking towards his vehicle when a dark sedan pulled up and multiple people exited the truck and began shooting at the man. Police found 40-50 shell casings in the street.

He was followed by suspects while they continued shooting at him before running into the street and collapsing.

That man was later pronounced deceased. Police on scene are not sure of a suspect at this time and are reviewing video surveillance. No other immediate details were released. News 2 has reached out to Metro Police for more information.

 Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go.

 Sign up for WKRN email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox.

 Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee.

This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE)  The FBI and Rio Rancho Police Department are asking for information on a bank robbery on Friday. They said a man entered the New Mexico Bank & Trust on Southern Blvd. in Rio Rancho with a gun and demanded money.

VIDEO: Officers stop woman driving the wrong way on Interstate 40

The man is described as being about 6 feet tall with a medium build. He was wearing all black clothing including a mask on his face.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI at 505-889-1300. There is a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
FDNY to give all NYC residents extra bonus points on entry exam in slap in the face to heroes

composite image left Kwame Cooper, the FDNY's chief diversity and inclusion officer, standing in a dark suit getting sworn in, with his right hand raised; right131010_, FDNY recuits leaving the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall's Island, NY, lower right fdny promotion ceremony featuring dress uniform and members with their white gloved hands at a salute

Joining the FDNY just got easier for city residents, who will now be granted the same bonus points on the firefighter exam as disabled military veterans or those whose parents were killed in the line of duty  a slap in the face to heroes, critics told The Post.

A scoring change on the upcoming firefighter exam has doubled the bonus points for Big Apple residents, from five to 10, as a way to expand the entry-level pipeline of black and Hispanic candidates, according to the FDNYs chief diversity and inclusion officer, Kwame Cooper.

Candidates will get the 10 extra points if they earned a diploma or GED from an NYC public or private high school, which is one way to prove residency.

Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh (left) swore in Kwame Cooper, a former LA firefighter, as chief diversity and inclusion officer on Nov. 1, 2022. FDNY

They need not be current residents to apply, but once hired they must live in NYC or neighboring counties.

Military veterans get five points.

Disabled veterans get 10 points.

And those who had a parent or sibling killed in the line of duty as a city firefighter, cop, or medic, or one who died from illness linked to work on the World Trade Center rescue effort get 10 points of legacy credit.

Candidates may qualify for bonus points in all categories.

Veterans and legacy candidates can also collect the 10 NYC residency points.

The FDNYs chief diversity and inclusion officer recommended that firefighter applicants get 10 bonus points for NYC residency, instead of five, on the citys upcoming entrance exam. J.C. Rice

With thousands of firefighter hopefuls, many will score the maximum 100 points on the multiple-choice exam.

Bonus points can make the difference between landing a seat in the Fire Academy instead of on the waiting list.

Insiders complained about giving the same extra credit to locals as to heroes injured while serving the country and to offspring of the fallen who follow in their footsteps.

Offering 10 points for applicants who attend a New York City high school gives a disproportionate advantage over the sons and daughters whose parents made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty and the military veterans who served this country, protecting the rights and freedoms of all Americans, James Brosi, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, told The Post.

Its a slap in the face to those who have sacrificed so much for all of us, a retired firefighter agreed.

The FDNY referred questions to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which gives civil-service exams.

The scoring change was made in consultation with the FDNY, and was an initiative of the mayors office, said DCAS spokesman Dan Kastanis, adding that the 10 bonus points for NYC residency was first used on the police officer exam in 2021, and on the sanitation worker exam in 2022.

We encourage not only local New Yorkers to apply, but continue to welcome veterans, our disabled veterans, and those who qualify for legacy credits to join our ranks, Kastanis said.

Its a change we stand by as we continue to succeed in lowering unemployment and bringing jobs to the residents of this city.

The city has been under a court order to boost the hiring of blacks and Hispanics since 2011, when it settled a race discrimination lawsuit for $98 million.

Cooper, who was appointed by Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh in September 2022, recommended the five additional residency points as one way to help diversity the FDNY, according to court records.

The change was endorsed by lawyer Mark S. Cohen, FDNYs diversity monitor, who was appointed by Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis in 2011 to oversee efforts to hire more minorities.

Cohen has since collected tens of millions of dollars in fees, and the city has spent millions on recruitment.

The FDNY has made progress.

A decade ago, 91 percent of the departments firefighters and officers were white.

The change would give those who graduated from a New York City high school the same extra points as disabled veterans and the sons and daughters of first-responders who died in the line of duty. Paul Martinka

As of last month, 65% of the citys 8,387 firefighters were white, 19% Hispanic, and 11.8% black, according to Cohen.

The next city firefighter exam  the first since 2017  is set to begin Jan. 31.

Applications are open now until Aug. 9.
Some Benton County neighbors are still dealing with aggressive dogs and threats from the owners, despite four years of complaints to police and a multi-million dollar settlement.

When Benton County settled a $1.6 million claim last December related to a 2022 attack by a pack of dogs, attorneys for the family told the Herald that neighbors were concerned about speaking out because there were still aggressive dogs on the property and at least one person making threats.

Monday night the sheriffs office was back at the Old Inland Empire Home near Prosser, after another call about aggressive dogs and a man threatening to shoot his neighbors.

When deputies arrived, they found the man was a felon and could not legally be in possession of guns. After serving a search warrant, several firearms were found and the dog owner was arrested. But the aggressive dog was already gone.

Wesley Adam McCoy, 37, was arrested on suspicion of four counts of being a felon in possession of a gun and one count of felony harassment.

A Prosser area neighborhood continues to deal with dangerous dogs and alleged threats from the owners.

History of aggressive dogs

It was the same house where the pack of pit bulls came from that attacked Christin Gregerson and her then 15-year-old son Hunter in April 2022.

The mother and teen were both left with lifelong injuries. Doctors initially thought Christins arm would have to be amputated because the damage was so severe.

Dozens of police reports from 2019 to 2023 show neighbors called police and code enforcement over and over about the dangerous dogs getting loose and trying to attack people and animals, including livestock. The same neighbor who called the police this week had a small dog killed.

Multiple neighbors have also called the police about dogs from the property attacking them while they were walking in the area or on their own property.

The Gregersons were in their front yard when a pack of seven pit bulls attacked. A neighbor had to grab a shovel to fight them off.

The neighbor who was threatened this week had previously told deputies the attacks became so frequent that he began carrying a gun in his orchard for protection. Their small dog was killed the same day the Gregersons were attacked.

The events this week played out in a familiar way for the people living nearby.

Investigators said people were illegally living in rundown RVs on a property found to have an extensive amount of stolen property. Five people with warrants were arrested in Nov. 2022 after a call about a group of dogs trying to attack neighbors.

New dogs, new threats

The neighbor and an employee making a delivery were on his property when a light brown pit bull charged aggressively toward them. The neighbor told deputies he fired a shot from a .22 caliber rifle into ground to scare the dog, but it came back moments later, charging them again.

Then McCoy came to the fence line with a gun, according to court documents. He allegedly told the neighbor and his employee if they shot his dog, he was going to shoot back.

The neighbor called the sheriffs office. He told deputies there was a history at the property that gave him concern for his safety.

By the time deputies arrived and spoke to McCoy, his girlfriend already had taken the dog off the property. Both the threats and hiding dogs are nothing new, say the neighbors.

Court documents previously obtained by the Herald show that after attacks or near misses, various residents would allegedly coordinate to hide the dogs before code enforcement or deputies could arrive to seize them.

Donna Zieglers Old Inland Empire Highway property.

Its unclear how long McCoy has lived on the property, but according to documents he was living in one of the rundown campers that code enforcement officials have previously ordered property owner Donna Ziegler to remove. During a court appearance this week, McCoy claimed he was Zieglers caretaker.

Ziegler has been cited several times by code enforcement employees and has been issued dangerous dog declarations.

The dogs that attacked the Gregersons were owned by Zieglers daughter Melanie Daniels, and Daniels boyfriend Darryl Wynn, both of whom died before they could face charges for the dog attack.

Previous police reports mention several other people living on the property in camper trailers in various states of disrepair, with about a half dozen being arrested on warrants and for stolen property when one search warrant was previously served.

The documents also repeatedly mention Daniels grandson and other residents misleading police and clashing with neighbors.

Despite most of the dogs eventually being taken after the attack and several other close calls, attorneys wrote that dangerous dogs remained on the property. When Ziegler was asked about some of the dogs still there, she allegedly told deputies that they were kept in kennels at the back of the property because they were too aggressive.

The dog that nearly attacked neighbors this week appears to be new to the property.

Its description does not match photos of the remaining dogs in court documents, which show two pit bull mixes and a German Shepherd.

More than a year after a Prosser area mother and son were viciously attacked by a group of pit bulls, neighbors say there are still dangerous dogs on the property. The two pit bull mixes pictured were described in a court document by the owner as too mean and aggressive to ever be let out of their kennels.

Ziegler has been ordered not to have more than four animals after previous hoarding complaints. Its unclear how many are now on the property.

When deputies asked McCoy about the gun he allegedly pulled on the neighbor, he at first told them it was a rock, then a BB gun pistol, according to court documents.

Deputies were unable to locate a BB gun near the trailer McCoy said he was staying in. The deputies requested a search warrant and found a 9mm handgun in plain sight in the trailer on top of a makeshift woodstove.

They also found three rifles ranging in caliber from a .22 long rifle, to a .270 and a 30-30 rifle, as well as 12 gauge shotgun shells and a muzzle loaded rifle, said the documents.

McCoy told deputies he was not allowed to have firearms after a domestic violence conviction, according to the court documents.

Deputies ran a background check and found that he also had a felony conviction for second-degree theft and a previous conviction for unlawful possession of a firearms.

Wesley Adam McCoy was arrested at a home near Prosser after allegedly threatening to shoot a neighbor trying to protect themselves from his dog.

Court records show McCoy has a lengthy history of drug and theft charges in Benton and Yakima counties.

He remained booked in the Benton County jail Friday with bail set at $25,000.
Fico praises Orban in first public appearance since assassination attempt

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on July 5 made his first public appearance since being seriously injured in an assassination attempt in May.

Fico, 59, was shot in an assassination attempt as he walked out of a government meeting in the town of Handlova on May 15. The attack left the prime minister in serious condition, and he has since undergone two surgeries.

During his speech, Fico criticized what he referred to as liberal and progressive political ideologies and expressed praise for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Orban arrived in Moscow on July 5 for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, days after his first wartime visit to Kyiv.

During the Kyiv visit, Orban urged President Volodymyr Zelensky to consider a ceasefire, a suggestion Zelensky rejected.

Fico, a pro-Russian populist, assumed power in September 2023. His government halted military aid to Ukraine in a stark reversal of Slovak foreign policy.

"I don't want Slovakia to be among the countries that make a caricature of Western civilization," Fico said during his speech on July 5.

Slovak Defense Minister Robert Kalinak said on June 30 that Fico is "gradually getting closer" to being able to fully resume the job duties of prime minister.

Fico was shot by Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old writer and political activist.

According to court documents cited by the Slovak news outlet Pravda, Cintula said he had no intention of murdering Fico but instead wanted to "harm his health."

Cintula reportedly told authorities that shot Fico because he disagreed with "certain policies" of the current government.

Read also: It really is insane: Ex-defense minister on Slovakias pro-Russian turn

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
TOPEKA (KSNT)  A nearly century-long tradition is back celebrating Hispanic culture with the community.

Fiesta Topeka is drawing thousands of people for weeks of events starting Saturday, July 6.

A unique aspect of the fiesta is its kings and queens, which has become legacy for some. Throughout the year, a handful of teens show off their commitment to their church by raising funds.

Topeka shelter suspects more pets to be found following the Fourth of July

There has been that process created for them and now they are creating that same process for their younger brothers and sisters, event planner Renee Franklin said. To see what it looks like to be in servant leadership for your church.

At 8 a.m. June 6, people will run or walk in a 5K starting at the Oakland Community Center. Later on at 4 p.m., Evergy Plaza will host live music.

Organizers say this first weekend is just a taste of the action. The main fiesta begins Tuesday, July 16 in the Oakland neighborhood.

For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

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Welcome back to TechCrunchs Week in Review  TechCrunchs newsletter recapping the weeks biggest news. Want it in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.

This week, Figma CEO Dylan Field said the company will temporarily disable its Make Design AI feature after it was accused of heavily training the tool on existing apps. The feature, unveiled at the companys annual Config conference, aimed to jumpstart the design process by generating UI layouts and components from text prompts but faced criticism after it seemingly mimicked the layout of Apples Weather app.

YouTube quietly rolled out a policy change this week that allows people to request the takedown of AI-generated or other synthetic content that simulates their face or voice. The move marks a shift in opinion from YouTube, where the company is now seeing deepfakes as a privacy issue, rather than just a content moderation issue.

Fisker has asked the Delaware Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing its Chapter 11 case to approve the sale of its remaining inventory of all-electric Ocean SUVs. If approved, the company will be able to offload its finished EVs to a New York-based vehicle leasing company for around $14,000 per vehicle  a steep fall from the $70,000 starting price some of them once commanded.

News

Twitter meets Myspace for GenZ: Aiming to bring the social back to social media, a new app called noplace serves as a modern-day MySpace with colorful, customizable profiles  and its surged to the top of the App Store. Read more

How to avoid AI-powered scams: Generative AI has made online scams easier, cheaper, and even more convincing. We put together a helpful guide of what you can do to protect yourself and your loved ones. Read more

Turn off those silly video call reactions: If youve seen thumbs-ups and confetti going off on your screen while on a video call, youre not alone. Heres how you can toggle that setting off on your Apple devices. Read more

Amazon retires Astro for Business: Amazon has decided to discontinue its Astro for Business security robot just seven months after launch as the company shifts its focus to the home version of Astro. Read more

A natural 1 for security: Popular online tabletop and role-playing game platform Roll20 suffered a data breach, which exposed some users personal information. The platform is currently notifying users of the breach. Read more

Cloudflare takes on AI bots: The publicly traded cloud service provider has launched a new, free tool to prevent bots from scraping websites hosted on its platform for data to train AI models. Read more

Is Gemini as good as Google claims?: Google has claimed that its AI models can accomplish previously impossible tasks like summarizing multiple hundred-page documents. But new research suggests that the models arent as good as the company says. Read more

1 billion stolen records and counting: This year has seen some of the biggest, most damaging data breaches in recent history. From AT&T to Ticketmaster, these are the biggest data breaches of 2024 so far. Read more

Analysis

A year of Threads: Threads, Metas alternative to Twitter, just celebrated its first birthday. The social network has reached 175 million monthly active users, but it's still trying to find its own voice. Threads has found itself not as newsy as X and not as open as Mastodon or Bluesky  at least for now. Ivan Mehta reflects on the apps first year and what it can learn from other social networks. Read more

The Supreme Court declares open season on regulators: In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court swooped in with what could be one of the most consequential decisions it has ever made in the context of the tech industry by overturning the 1984 case Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. On paper, wetlands and the EPA seem to have little to do with technology, but as Devin Coldewey writes, the decision opens up regulators to endless interference. Read more
STAMFORD, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  Residents of Stamford looked outside Thursday evening to find large flames in the sky from a fire involving two houses.

On the evening of July 4, a house on Hamilton Street in Stamford caught fire. The Stamford Volunteer Fire Department and Anson Fire Department joined forces to extinguish the blaze. A firefighter from Anson told BigCountryHomepage that the fire spread to a second house and at least one garage.

A nearby gas station employee shared that fire crews were monitoring the scene the morning of July 5. It is not known if any injuries were sustained or what caused the fire. BigCountryHomepage has reached out to Stamford VFD but has not yet received a response.

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ELMWOOD PARK, N.J. (PIX11)  Firefighters battled a fire at the Marcal Paper plant in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, Friday afternoon.

Multiple fire departments in the area responded to the blaze around 12:45 p.m. Firefighters battled the fire in the basement of the paper plant and brought it under control, officials said.

More Local News

Fire officials said that because the plant has its own fire brigade, they were able to quickly contain the fire.

The intense heat from the fire, combined with the hot weather with temperatures in the upper 80s, provided challenges for the firefighters.

Few firefighters were taken to the hospital because of dehydration and smoke inhalation, according to Elmwood Park Police Chief Michael Foligno. He did not specify how many firefighters were hospitalized but said all are expected to be OK.

Man severs finger during Long Island fireworks mishap on Fourth of July

The exact cause of the fire is under investigation. However, Foligno said that it involved a piece of machinery in the basement where they make paper and shuffle the paper back and forth between buildings.

All employees of the paper plant were evacuated, and none of them were hurt. Employees are not going to be able to come back to work until the proper inspections get done, authorities said.

Its not the first time a fire has happened at the Marcal Paper facility. A massive fire in January of 2019 destroyed much of the facility, leaving hundreds of employees jobless.

Foligno was there back in 2019.

I have been on the police force here for 35 years, Foligno said. I can tell you in 2019 I was one of the first people here and I just felt different that day  It was the coldest, windiest day of the year and it just felt wrong, and it took off from there, mainly due to the elements. I didnt think of that today, but when I got here, there is always a concern. It is a paper plant.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Firefighters are battling a large wildfire named French Fire near Mariposa, which ignited on Thursday night in the area of French Camp Road and Highway 49.

According to Cal Fire Madera-Mariposa-Merced, the French Fire has burned 843 acres and is 5% contained.

No injuries or structures have been destroyed, but evacuations and warnings have been issued for many parts of Mariposa and surrounding areas.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved the use of federal funds to assist the state in battling the French Fire.

According to the release, at the time of the request from the state for federal funds, the fire threatened approximately 1,019 homes in and around Mariposa and its population of 1,300.

The Fire Management Assistance Grant will help cover the cost of field camps, equipment use, materials, supplies and mobilization, and demobilization activities attributed to fighting the fire.

According to Cal Fire, firefighters have constructed a fire line around the eastern side of Mariposa.

Multiple evacuations and road closures are in place.

Areas facing mandatory evacuation include:

 Hospital Road- From Silver Creek to the End (up the mountain)

 Grosjean Road

 Alta Vista Road

 Avoca Vale

 Old Highway North from 140 to 10th Street

 Slaughterhouse Road

 Williams Road

 Hospital Road

 Smith Road from Highway 140 to Hospital Road

 Campbell Road

 Pine Street

 Dexter View

 All of Jones Street

 Bullion Street East Side Only from Hwy 140 to the end of the town area. This includes all side roads that run between Jones and Bullion including 3rd Street through 13th Street.

 Mariposa Street

 Trabucco Street

There are evacuation warnings issued for the following areas:

 Parts of Highway 140

 Lakeview Road

 Stockton Creek Area

 Slaughterhouse from Highway 140 to Allred

 Allred Road from Slaughterhouse to Hwy 49 South

There are shelter in place warnings for these areas for the JCF Hospital, Yosemite Inn and Quality Inn.

Red Cross has set up a temporary evacuation shelter at the New Life Christian Church located at 5089 Cole Road in Mariposa. Small pets are welcome there too.

Large animals will be sheltered at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds.

Roads that have been closed include:

 Grosjean

 Alta Vista

 Avoca Vale

 Jones Street

 Smith Road from Hwy 140 to Hospital Road

 Hospital Road

 Old Hwy North from Hwy 140 to 10th Street

 Campbell Road

 Dexter View

 Pine Drive

 Williams Road

 Highway 140 from Highway 49 North to East Whitlock

 Highway 49 South from Old Highway to Highway 140, Northbound Lanes only- Traffic being re-directed to Miller Road.

The cause of fire is under investigation.
Use your fireworks by midnight Friday in Wichita

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  The deadline to shoot fireworks in Wichita is midnight tonight, Friday, July 5. So, if you have any leftovers from the Fourth of July, this is your last chance to use them.

Parents can be cited if their child violates the ordinance. Also, property owners and occupants will be held responsible for violations of the ordinance on their property.

The City of Wichita fines are hefty this year. A first-time violation will result in a $1,000 fine and/or 50 community service hours, plus court fines.

A second violation costs $1,500, and a third is $2,000.

Best fireworks shows in Kansas 2024

The Wichita Fire Department and the Wichita Police Department will be patrolling tonight, looking for violations.

Also, Sedgwick County has opened its non-emergency number to take firework-related nuisance reports. Call 316-290-1011. The line is open from 6 p.m. until 3 a.m.

There are still some community fireworks shows happening around the state. To find the ones happening this weekend, click here.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
First Lady Jill Biden plans campaign stop in Columbus on Monday

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL)  First Lady Dr. Jill Biden is planning a campaign stop early next week in Columbus, the Biden presidential campaign has confirmed to WRBL.

The time and place of the event have not been released.

The First Ladys trip to Georgia comes as some Democrats are calling for President Biden to pull out of race. Biden drew sharp criticism and concern for last weeks televised debate showing against presumptive Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump.

At times during the 90-minute debate, the 81-year-old president appeared confused as he answered questions and countered Trump.

It also comes after an interview with ABC in which Biden said he was not leaving the race.

According to national reports, the Biden campaign is planning an all-out blitz in coming weeks to counter the concerns about President Bidens mental fitness to hold the job.

Jill Biden was last in Columbus in October 2022 for a two-day event at Fort Moore and the National Infantry Museum. She went to a dinner with Gold Star families and met with military families during the visit. She was campaigning in Georgia earlier in the year.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
First lady to visit North Carolina with her husbands political future in doubt

All eyes are on President Joe Biden as some Democrats urge him to end his reelection campaign, but on Monday, his wife, first lady Jill Biden, will be back in North Carolina.

Political observers believe Jill Biden is her husbands most influential adviser on whether he remains in the race.

So her trip to Wilmington on Monday could draw more attention than is typical for a first ladys visit due to speculation on what her husband plans to do next.

The exact details about where she will be and the nature of her visit are not yet known.

But it marks the third time she has come to North Carolina in less than two weeks.

On June 25, Jill Biden visited Charlotte and told a small group of supporters that the campaign is not about age but character.

That messaging became more pronounced when she returned to the state with her husband overnight on June 28, following a debate against former President Donald Trump that left many Democrats calling for Biden to end his campaign.

The debate, which Biden is now calling a bad night, left many wondering about the presidents cognitive abilities and whether he could lead the country through four more years in office.

The next day, Biden held his first post-debate campaign event, in Raleigh, with his wife by his side. There, he addressed the fallout.

I know Im not a young man, Biden said. I dont walk as easily as I used to. I dont speak as smoothly as I used to. I dont debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong, and I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done.

And I know like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down you get back up, Biden said.

His Raleigh rally cry quickly was edited into a campaign ad.

But it didnt quell the questions people had about his abilities or stop media reports that Biden could back out of the race.

Now, as Bidens political future is in question, there is speculation about Gov. Roy Coopers future and whether that could include a run for president or vice president.

Cooper and Vice President Kamala Harris have a relationship that reaches back to when they served as attorneys general of North Carolina and California, respectively.

But so far, Cooper is standing firmly behind Biden and his desire to continue his campaign.

After meeting virtually with the president on Wednesday, Cooper released a statement on social media that Biden told him he would continue to run for reelection and well continue to do everything we can to deliver North Carolina for him.

Biden also mentioned at his Raleigh rally that if he is reelected, there may be a position for Cooper in his administration.

Under the Dome

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The first Whataburger in SC to open in July. Heres when and where

South Carolinas first Whataburger will open July 15 in Boiling Springs.

The Texas-based chain will have an official grand opening at 11 a.m. that day at 3647 Boiling Springs Road in Spartanburg County.

The opening marks Whataburger locations in 16 states.

In South Carolina, the hamburger chain has nine restaurants under construction in the Midlands and Upstate and so far four more planned for 2025.

Whataburger was founded in 1950 as a roadside burger stand by Harmon Dobson in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Dobson died in a private plane crash in 1967, and his wife Grace took over the company. By the time she died in 2005 at age 80, the company had grown to 600 stores.

The family sold its majority interest in the company In 2019 to Chicago-based investment firm BDT Capital, which began the expansion program.

They commemorated their 1000th restaurant in January with the opening of two locations, corporate-owned Atlanta, Georgia, and franchise-owned Yukon, Oklahoma. Whataburger also opened a location in Las Vegas in February.
MANAWA  The city of Manawa, in central Waupaca County, has some cleaning up to do.

Up to 100 homes, including a nursing home, were evacuated Friday after erosion caused the bank at the edge of the Manawa Mill Pond dam to fail, sending floodwaters down into Little Wolf River.

Fortunately, no injuries related to the flooding were reported, local officials said Friday.

Here's how the situation unfolded.

After the rain ended on Friday in Manawa, spectators began to appear on the State 22 bridge over the Little Wolf River to see the river's high water levels. Earlier that day, erosion at the shore beside the Manawa Mill Pond dam caused water to rush downstream, flooding parts of the city.

Manawa receives up to 4 inches of rain

Mid-morning Friday, Manawa started getting a lot of heavy rain that amounted to about 4 inches, Manawa Police Chief Jason Severson said at a news conference Friday afternoon.

It looks like the dam is intact, but there is quite a bit of erosion on the north side, Severson said, adding later that multiple gates on the dam were opened to help alleviate pressure and prevent catastrophic failure.

We started experiencing high flooding in many rural areas, said Josh Smith, the citys director of Public Works.

Manawa homes, roadways flooded

City Hall started getting a high volume of calls about flooding into peoples homes and on roadways, as well as roads being washed away, Smith said. Manawa implemented MABAS, a mutual aid measure, to get help from other agencies.

(Getting information out) was a little slow at first just because of being a small town and needing resources, Severson said. We didnt get things out as quick as we couldve. So, I apologize for that.

First responders helped evacuate motorists first, Severson said. But, as the erosion got worse, he said, homes had to start being evacuated.

Water flows over the Manawa Mill Pond dam on Friday.

Emergency shelters open at Manawa Masonic Center and Little Wolf High School

Emergency shelters were opened at the Manawa Masonic Center, 520 N. Bridge St., for evacuees on the north side and Little Wolf High School, 515 E. 4th St., for evacuees on the south. Manawa Community Living Center was evacuated to the Wisconsin Veterans Home at King.

While this is still an active situation, Severson said he thinks the worst of it is over.

Now, were just going to have to start assessing things and seeing where we go from there, Severson said.

The city is still working to get the wastewater treatment plant running again, and crews have been working on that "almost constantly," Severson told the Journal Sentinel in a phone interview on Saturday.

I want to thank the good Lord that no one was injured or killed in this, Manawa Mayor Mike Frazier said. The rest of that, we can fix and repair.

Manawa Mill Pond dam, as seen Friday evening from a bridge on State 22 in Manawa,. After flooding eroded the side of the dam Friday, water flowed into the Little Wolf River until the water levels became the same.

National Weather Service put up flash flood warning

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for central Waupaca County from about 10:24 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., though that was later extended until 9:30 p.m. Friday, and residents are urged to move to higher ground. In its initial reports, it said major flooding was expected downstream from the Manawa dam and the Little Wolf River.

(1237 PM) A flash flood warning has been issued for central Waupaca County until 930 PM. A dam break on the Little Wolf... Posted by US National Weather Service Green Bay Wisconsin on Friday, July 5, 2024

Since around 8:30 a.m. Friday, the northwest side of Manawa received 5.6 inches of rain, Kurt Kotenderg, a meteorologist for NWS of Green Bay, told The Post-Crescent around midday Friday. Reports were coming in of vehicles stuck in floodwaters, and the city advised drivers to avoid driving and getting stuck.

The streets that were flooded include Union Street, North Bridge Street, Beech Street, Howard Street and Industrial Drive. All were reopened to traffic at 5 p.m. Friday, Severson told the Journal Sentinel on Saturday.

A boil water advisory was issued for Manawa and its surrounding areas

The wastewater treatment plant did sustain some flooding, Smith said at the press conference, and a boil water advisory was issued.

The city is still working to get the wastewater treatment plant running again, and crews have been working on that "almost constantly," Severson said.

The advisory means people should boil tap water before using it for drinking, food preparation and ice, according to a Facebook post from the city of Manawa.

This advisory has been issued because of severe flooding in the area, the post said. We are recommending this course of action as a precautionary measure until some water testing can be done to ensure it is safe to consume.

Some floodwaters remained Friday afternoon outside the wastewater treatment plant in Manawa. Earlier in the day, flooding at the plant led the city to issue a boil water advisory and encourage citizens to avoid walking in flood waters due to the possibility of unknown contaminants.

Tap water should be boiled at a full rolling boil for at least five minutes prior to use, the post said.

The post recommended that people use bottled water if available, including for brushing teeth and warned that boiled water should not be used for infants or expectant mothers.

Officials told those in the area to refrain from wading or driving through any kind of potential flooding.

Its unknown what could be missing underneath, what may have washed away, Smith said. And, who know what kind of contaminants may be in the water."

Manawa Wisconsin - Public Health officials have declared a Boil Water Advisory for Manawa and surrounding areas. A... Posted by City of Manawa on Friday, July 5, 2024

Witness saw vehicles stalled in rushing floodwater in Manawa

Around 10:20 a.m., Ian Corkhill was driving his Silverado onto State 22 south in Manawa when he saw a lot of flooding in ditches and fields with standing water.

When he reached the north side of the city, he said, there was major flooding and a Chevorlet Trailblazer stuck.

The water was running, Corkhill said. It wasnt just like a stationary flood. You could tell that it was rushing water.

Many vehicles pulled off into a nearby church parking lot, he said, and traffic was backing up.

I was just hoping that people in smaller cars would not try and go through there, he said. I couldnt tell obviously how deep the water was. But, I could tell it was up to the doors on some of those cars, so thats probably, I would say, 3-feet deep.

When emergency vehicles began to arrive, Corkhill made his way out of the area. But not before seeing two more vehicles get stuck in the waters.

I was trying to flash my lights, kind of tell them not to go, he said.

As he began his trek back to Clintonville  where the Janesville resident is helping take care of his late grandfathers estate  he encountered other roads with water flowing over them, like a small stream.

I could feel like the rain moving my truck, he said. It was pretty nerve-wracking.

Scenes from the Manawa Dam. Authorities say a structural failure is imminent. pic.twitter.com/jyKNQ98k3z  Noah Cornelius (@thenoahcorn) July 5, 2024

What Corkhill described as torrential rain was coming down in the area for about two or three hours in the late morning into the afternoon.

I really never had rain where it just kept up that high rate, where it was just pouring constantly, he said.

Flooding canceled remainder of Manawa rodeo

The flooding has caused the cancellation of the second day of Mid-Western Rodeo, which was slated to wrap up Sunday.

The rodeo's Facebook page announced that all performances for the weekend would be canceled due to the flooding.

Lindsay Park is also closed, Severson said. The park is where the city is planning to celebrate its 150th anniversary next month during Manawa Night Out.

More: Flash flood warning issued for Outagamie County, including Appleton, Fox Cities

Angelika Ytuarte contributed to this report.

Rashad Alexander can be contacted at ralexander@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Flooding in Manawa, Waupaca County, Wisconsin, updates, warnings
Flight diverts after passenger is accused of exposing himself, urinating in aisle

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Federal officials allege an Oregon man exposed himself and urinated in an airplane aisle during a flight that was ultimately diverted to New York.

In a news release issued Wednesday, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of New York said 25-year-old Neil McCarthy was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with indecent exposure in connection to an incident that occurred the same day.

Green liquid pours into terminal at Miami International Airport

Authorities said the flight, which took off from Chicago on Wednesday morning, was headed to Manchester, New Hampshire, but diverted to Buffalo following the alleged incident.

The news release said police responded to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport following a report made by an American Airlines flight that a man exposed himself and urinated in the aisle of the aircraft while the plane was in flight.

A criminal complaint obtained by the Associated Press indicates that McCarthy told law enforcement he drank several whiskey drinks before boarding his initial flight Portland, Oregon. He also claimed he drank more during a layover in Chicago, and suffered from a medical urination problem, the outlet reported, citing the complaint.

McCarthy now faces a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Passengers, meanwhile, continued on their journey to Manchester after the incident, a spokesperson for American Airlines said in a statement shared with Nexstar. The carriers spokesperson did not say whether the disruptive passenger had been banned from the airline entirely.

We thank our team members for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding, the statement said.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
'We've never dealt with this before': 4 shot dead at Florence party; suspect also dead

Editor's Note: This story has been updated after Florence police clarified the correct age of the suspect.

Police have identified the suspected shooter and the four victims who were killed in a Florence mass shooting Saturday morning.

During a press conference Saturday afternoon, Florence Police Chief Jeff Mallery said Chase Garvey, 21, of Florence, is believed to have gunned down seven people at a private residence, killing four and injuring three others. The four who were killed were identified as: Melissa Parrett, 44, of Florence; Shane Miller, 20, of Florence; Hayden Rybicki, 20, of Elsmere; and Delaney Eary, 19, of Burlington.

Officers were dispatched to the 2600 block of Ridgecrest Drive at around 2:50 a.m. after receiving reports of shots fired. When officers arrived on the scene, they could still hear gunshots, Mallery said.

The residence belongs to Parrett, who was having a gathering for her sons 21st birthday party, Mallery added.

Officers saw multiple victims when they arrived at the residence.

Partygoers identified Garvey as the shooter and said he had fled the scene. They gave officers a description of his vehicle.

Police arriving at the scene saw a vehicle that matched the partygoers description. An officer from the Florence Police Department and a deputy from the Boone County Sheriffs Office attempted to stop Garvey.

A police pursuit ensued south on U.S. 42, into Union and onto Hicks Pike, where police believe Garvey shot himself and crashed his vehicle, Mallery said. Garvey was transported to St. Elizabeth Florence Hospital where he died.

At the Ridgecrest residence, officers administered life-saving measures, but Parrett, Miller, Rybicki and Eary were pronounced dead at the scene. The other three injured people were transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where they're in stable condition and are expected to make a full recovery, Mallery said.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Garvey was not invited to the party but showed up, Mallery said. He is known to the partygoers, police said, but the exact relationship remains unclear.

Police said their initial investigation revealed Garvey acted alone.

Mallery also noted that Garvey had been convicted of a sex crime in the past. Kenton County court records show he was arrested in 2021 and charged in the rape of a 13-year-old girl.

In April 2023, Garvey was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to unlawful transaction with a minor in the second degree, a felony, court records show.

The investigation into Saturday's shooting is ongoing. Anyone with more information on this shooting is asked to call the Florence Police Department at 859-371-1234.

'A great neighborhood'

Weve never dealt with this before. I know its going on throughout the nation, but this is the first time that weve had a mass shooting in Florence, said Mallery, who appeared visibly shaken up at the conference. It is very emotional. And my emotions are for the victims, their families, the officers that responded and everybody that was touched by this situation.

A shooting is very unusual for the neighborhood, neighbors told The Enquirer.

When I tell you this is a great neighborhood, Im not kidding you, said Tony Kinmon, who said hes lived in the neighborhood since 2006.

The residence on Ridgecrest Drive in Florence, Kentucky, where four victims were killed and three others were injured in a mass shooting on Saturday, June 6, 2024.

Greater Cincinnati's 3rd mass shooting this year

The mass shooting in Florence is Greater Cincinnati's third mass shooting of the year.

There is no settled definition of a mass shooting, but Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are injured.

This mass shooting comes after another earlier this week left three dead in the Corryville neighborhood of Cincinnati. A father and son were among the three killed there on Monday.

On June 15, five people were injured in a shooting in Madisonville.

Florence mass killing is the 20th one in the U.S. this year

The shooting in Florence is the 20th mass killing in the United States this year, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press and USA Today. A mass killing is a broader term than a mass shooting. The Associated Press and USA Today define mass killings as incidents in which at least four people die, but not necessarily at the hands of a gun.

Based on early reports from police, the Florence shooting is similar to other mass killings for several reasons: It occurred in a home, rather than a public place. It may have involved members of the same family. And it ended with a self-inflicted gunshot by the suspect.

According to the database, 7 in 10 mass killings occur in residences, almost half involve family members and 1 in 3 end when suspects die by suicide.

The Florence shooting also joins the nation's growing list of mass shootings. There have been 276 other mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Last year, the archive confirmed 656 mass shootings in the United States, the second-highest total in the past decade and a 140% increase compared to 2014.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Police ID suspect and 4 victims killed in Florence mass shooting
Florida Python Challenge is on! Prizes a lot bigger in 2024 for snakes hunted this August

Florida's annual python hunt in the Everglades will run Aug. 9-18, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez announced in May at a news conference in Miami-Dade County.

Burmese Pythons are an invasive species that pose a threat to wildlife in the Everglades. Florida pays hunters annually to catch the snakes. State-approved hunters can win up to $25,000 this year, Nunez said at the news conference outside Homestead.

The Burmese python is one of the largest snakes in the world and is not venomous. Adult snakes caught in Florida are between 6 and 9 feet on average, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The largest captured in Florida was more than 18 feet.

Longest snakes and the most caught will net prizes in Florida Python Challenge

Prizes will be awarded for the longest or most snakes caught, Nunez said.

To register for the Florida Python Challenge, go to FLPythonChallenge.org.

More: How cold does it need to be to kill Florida's iguanas and Burmese pythons?

Last year's hunt caught 209 snakes. The prize was $10,000.

A 2012 study suggested that in Everglades National Park, pythons were responsible for a decline of 85% to 100% of the population of medium-sized animals such as raccoons and rabbits.

How the Burmese python invasion started in Florida

The Burmese python invasion started with releases  intentional or not  of captive snakes, which likely gained a foothold in Everglades National Park by the mid-1980s, according to the 2021 Florida Python Control plan. By 2000, multiple generations of pythons were living in the park, which is noted in a more than 100-page 2023 report that summarized decades of python research.

Haphazard pursuits were undertaken to cull the writhing herd, but it wasnt until 2019 that federal, state and nonprofit officials launched a python management planning group. In 2021, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission made Burmese pythons a prohibited species.

Today, there are no reliable estimates of python abundance in Florida, the 2023 report says.

The study added that eradication of the entire population across the landscape is not possible with any existing tools.

How many pythons have been captured in Palm Beach County?

A demonstration on how to handle a Burmese Python during training for the Python Challenge at University of Florida Research and Education Center in Davie, Florida, January 12, 2012.

From 2006 to 2023, 54 pythons have been captured in Palm Beach County, according to the Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System, or EDDMapS. In addition, four have been found dead, and 24 sightings have been reported.

The 54 that were captured include a 10-foot python caught and killed on an eastern levee at the Loxahatchee Refuge in 2016. Before that, one was found in a parking lot at the refuge. Another was seen in 2008 on a southern levee.

In 2019 there was an unconfirmed python sighting inside the refuge.

Chris Persaud is the data reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at cpersaud@pbpost.com.

Palm Beach Post reporter Kim Miller contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Python Challenge: Prizes bigger for snakes in 2024 August hunt
The folding wingtips on Boeing's massive new 777X are a first in commercial aviation. Here's why the plane needs them.

Boeing's new flagship 777X aircraft is the first commercial plane with folding wingtips.

Airport gate space concerns ignited the need for the new folding mechanism.

The aircraft has garnered 481 orders from carriers such as British Airways, Emirates, and Lufthansa.

Boeing's latest addition to its growing fleet of commercial jets is the innovative 777X.

Boeing announced its next-generation widebody at the Dubai Airshow in 2013 as a bigger and more efficient version of its 777-300ER and its solution to the rival Airbus A350. Over a dozen global carriers, like British Airways, Emirates, and Lufthansa, have contributed to the 777X's 481-strong order book.

Boeing expects the plane to be certified by 2025, though it is already five years behind schedule and $1.5 billion in the hole due to design flaws, supply chain issues, and the pandemic, among other setbacks.

Emirates president Tim Clark, the biggest buyer of the 777X, with 205 on order, told The Air Current in June that the timeline will likely see a 2026 certification. Still, airlines remain confident that the new high-capacity flagship will replace older-generation widebodies as a more cost-efficient long-haul option.

That's thanks to its mammoth engines and wingspan, the latter sporting a revolutionary technology not yet seen in commercial aviation but necessary for the plane's success: folding wingtips.

The 777-9 is the largest commercial airplane in production and is based on Boeing's classic 777 but with modifications that enhance its size and efficiency.

Boeing isn't bringing the plane to the Farnborough Airshow this year as it focuses on quality problems following its 737 Max blowout. Pictured is the plane at 2022 show. Richard Baker/Getty Images

The 777X will be available in two passenger variants, the larger 777-9 and the smaller 777-8, which can carry up to 426 and 384 passengers, respectively.

It will also have a freighter option called the 777F.

Its predecessor is Boeing's best-selling 777 variant, with over 800 units sold since 2000

This upgrade strategy means the 777X and the 777 are familiar to pilots and regulators, making certification easier than building a new plane and keeping airline costs down.

Boeing used Taylor Rains/Business Insider

The 777X is operationally similar to the classic 777. Further, the 777X's flight deck resembles that of the 787. This plane-to-plane familiarity means pilots can cross-train on 777 and 787 aircraft with minimal training, saving airlines money.

Boeing is using four experimental 777X planes for its certification program. They have already flown thousands of hours across some 1,00 test flights.

Still, the 777X has key differences that set it apart from its predecessor, like its size, engines, and wings.

The Boeing 777X cabin mockup on display at Aircraft Interiors Expo in 2022. Georg Wendt/picture alliance via Getty Images

For example, the 777X's massive General Electric GE9X engines generate more than 100,000 pounds of thrust, making the GE9X the biggest and most powerful engine ever made for a commercial airliner.

Meanwhile, the 777X's 10-abreast seats, which are common on the classic 777, are more spacious thanks to its wider cabin. The 777X will also have bigger and better windows, which can be dimmed to a level of darkness not achievable on other widebodies.

The most distinctive feature of the 777X's design is its folding wingtips, a first in commercial aviation.

The revoluationary folding wingtips are an industry first on commercial airplanes. Taylor Rains/Business Insider

The design has never been seen on passenger planes but has found success in military aviation for almost 100 years to offset the limited parking space on air carriers, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The idea to create folding wing tips stemmed from airport gate space limitations. Like pilot training, Boeing didn't want the new 777X to require costly airport infrastructure changes.

The Boeing 777X at the 2021 Dubai Airshow. Thomas Pallini/Insider

The 777X has a wingspan of 235 feet, 5 inches, which means it is too wide to fit into existing 777 airport gates.

To combat the concern, Boeing created the folding mechanism that reduces the wingspan to 212 feet and 9 inches  the length of the 777's wings.

Air New Zealand Boeing 777 at a gate at LAX. The 777X is designed to fit into the same space. Thiago B Trevisan/Shutterstock

This allows the 777X to fit into gates capable of fitting the current 777 models without modifications or changes to the airport.

The airplane will not be limited to which airports it can operate out of, an issue the Airbus A380 faced after the superjumbo's debut in 2007.

Emirates is the world's largest operator of the A380. Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

At launch, many airports couldn't accommodate the A380 superjumbo without modifying the gates and building wider taxiways and runways, limiting where airlines could fly it. Boeing didn't want the same problem with its new flagship 777X.

While Boeing could have simply kept the wings the same length as the 777, it needed an extended wingspan to improve the plane's performance.

Boeing 777X. Boeing

The 777X's wings are about 23 feet longer than the 777's, allowing the jet to generate more lift. According to Boeing, this increases efficiency by reducing fuel burn by about 10% compared to competing widebodies.

Though some might think widening the wingspan would create a heavier plane, Boeing has used a lightweight composite material for the 777X's wings.

There are rows of passenger seats used to transport engineers. Taylor Rains/Business Insider

The company said this strategy means the longer wings do not increase the jet's weight. The composite materials are also beneficial because they allow the wings to flex and bend during flight, which lowers the risk of damage.

The 777X's familiarity and size, the latter partly thanks to the wingtips, are big selling points against the rival A350.

Airlines like Cathay Pacific Airways, Singapore Airlines, and Delta Air Lines are among dozens of carriers that operate the A350. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

Airbus launched the A350 in 2013, garring over 1,300 global orders. The plane is already flying passengers and is the 777X's biggest competitor.

The two families offer similarly giant cabins and good long-haul economics, but each has distinct differences that make it more or less favorable to certain airlines. For example, the A350 is smaller than the 777-9 model but longer-ranged and cheaper.

It is also not mired with the same production problems as the 777X program, meaning it isn't sitting in production limbo costing Boeing and airlines millions.

While the 777X has been much hyped, airlines have voiced concerns over Boeing's ongoing production problems.

The Boeing 777X at the 2021 Dubai Airshow. Thomas Pallini/Insider

The 777X's size and efficiency make it particularly favorable for Middle Eastern carriers Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar because of their strong hub-and-spoke networks, which rely on big planes to shuttle as many people as possible between cities at once.

All three plan to phase out older planes like the A380 and replace them with the more efficient 777X. However, according to Reuters, flying less efficient planes longer than expected is eating into airline bottom lines.

With hundreds of billions of dollars worth of orders on the line, there's much riding on the success of the new 777X flagship.

The cockpit of a 777X test plane. Taylor Rains/Business Insider

Boeing has been scrutinized since the January Alaska Airlines 737 Max door plug blowout, which questioned its ability to safely produce airplanes. That, combined with ongoing production issues on its 787 Dreamliners, too, has made certifying new planes even harder.

Still, Clark told The Air Current that the 777X is a promising plane despite being an ongoing headache for operators.

Read the original article on Business Insider
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (WFRV)  Authorities in Fond du Lac arrested two men who attempted to flee a deputy initiating a traffic stop at 10:19 p.m. on Friday.

According to a Facebook post from the Fond du Lac Sheriffs Office, a deputy observed a reckless driver speeding through a stop sign on County Highway B near Highway 41, and activated the emergency lights. However, the vehicle increased speed, initiating a police pursuit.

Sheboygan man allegedly stabs, kills roommate, taken into custody after hours-long standoff

The FDLCSO requested assistance from nearby agencies to assist in pursuit, as the suspect vehicle attempted to exit the highway near Slinger to avoid tire deflation devices.

A Fond du Lac County Deputy performed a Pursuit Intervention Technique, which was successful, but the suspect vehicle regained control and continued southbound.

Washington County Deputies and Germantown Police officers deployed the deflation devices, leading to the suspect vehicle losing control and becoming disabled in a ditch. The passenger incurred a few injuries after attempting to flee the conclusion of the pursuit and was transported to a local hospital before being released into deputies custody.

The driver was cooperative as he was taken into custody following a high-risk stop.

Cause of vehicle, attached garage fire of Sheboygan County home unknown

The driver, a 32-year-old Fond du Lac male who is also a convicted felon with a criminal history, received felony charges of fleeing, reckless endangerment and possession of THC. The passenger was also a convicted felon with a nationwide arrest warrant.

The pursuit lasted about 41 miles.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Editors note: A version of this story appeared in CNNs Wonder Theory science newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.

The grasslands, glaciers and snow-tipped peaks of the Tibetan Plateau are breathtaking, but the vast expanse in Central Asia is also one of Earths harshest environments.

When I traveled to the plateau three decades ago, my head pounded, and I got sluggish from altitude sickness.

Archaeologists long believed the Tibetan Plateau  more than 13,000 feet (about 4,000 meters) above sea level  was one of the last places on the planet to be settled.

But new research suggests a mysterious species of ancient human was able to thrive on the so-called roof of the world well before Homo sapiens, our own species, arrived on the scene.

We are family

Baishiya Karst Cave is seen at the edge of Ganjia Basin on the Tibetan Plateau. - Dongju Zhangs group/Lanzhou University

Researchers first identified Denisovans in 2010 using DNA sequences extracted from a rare tiny fragment of finger bone found in Siberia.

Now, Baishiya Karst Cave, on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, is helping answer many questions about who the Denisovans were.

Archaeologists have examined a jaw and rib bone found at the cave site, along with thousands of animal bone fragments retrieved during excavations in 2018 and 2019.

The analysis is shedding light on how the extinct humans thrived in the ice age environment for more than 100,000 years.

Lunar update

With the June 25 return of the Change-6 lunar mission, the government of China possesses something no other humans have encountered  rocks and soil from the far side of the moon.

The China National Space Administration has said it will again share its lunar samples with scientists around the world  following the precedent NASA set after the Apollo missions.

But a US law known as the Wolf Amendment, which prohibits the use of government funds by NASA for bilateral cooperation with China or its agencies without authorization from Congress or the FBI, may stymie US access to the samples.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told CNN this week that the federal agency was working to make sure that accessing the lunar soil samples would not violate the law. Results from the analysis of the samples could help scientists peer back into the early days of the moon, Earth and the solar system.

A long time ago

A tracing of the painted scene shows humanlike figures (H1, H2 and H3) interacting with the pig. - BRIN Google Arts

Take a moment to marvel at what researchers say is the worlds oldest known story. Painted on a cave wall in whats now Indonesia, it depicts three humans interacting with a pig.

The research team used a new technique to date the calcium carbonate crust that formed over the art to more than 50,000 years old.

The discovery is the latest rock art to be found in the regions intriguing limestone caves and is at least 33,000 years older than Europes famed Paleolithic sites such as Lascaux.

Some experts think the paintings could have been a visual complement to oral stories lost to time.

Explorations

Rivers often change course as they flow. But a research team studying the Ganges, which snakes its way from the Himalayas through India and Bangladesh, found evidence of something much more dramatic in its ancient past.

From clues hidden in mud and grains of sand, scientists gleaned that a powerful earthquake rerouted the river 2,500 years ago  the first time this natural phenomenon has been detected.

The team found sand volcanoes  a hallmark of a riverbed affected by a quake  and a large river channel that filled with mud at roughly the same time.

If a similar earthquake happened in the Ganges Delta today, more than 140 million people in the area could be affected.

Wild kingdom

Scientists have found evidence that a group of painted lady butterflies traveled nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean, according to a new study. - Gerard Talavera

Entomologist Dr. Gerard Talavera came across 10 painted lady butterflies on a beach about a decade ago in French Guiana. With torn wings peppered with holes, the insects appeared worn out.

While a painted lady is a hardy long-distance traveler, with migration patterns that stretch for thousands of miles, it usually travels over land so it can stop and rest.

Talavera, a senior researcher at the Botanical Institute of Barcelona in Spain, suspected the butterflies had crossed the Atlantic Ocean without stopping. In a new study, he and an international team have pieced together what it took to make such an epic journey.

In other insect news, researchers have spotted ants amputating the infected limbs of wounded nestmates.

The wonder

Dig into these thought-provoking reads.

 The rotation of Earths core has been slowing over the past few decades, a recent study confirmed. Heres what that could mean.

 Paleontologists uncovered fossils of a giant swamp creature with a toilet seat-shaped skull that was likely a top predator 40 million years before dinosaurs appeared on Earth.

 The discovery of fossilized grape seeds has revealed why you have the dinosaurs demise to thank for your glass of red wine.

 A Massachusetts woman who had lost a limb following a 2018 accident is walking and moving like anyone else now that she has a bionic leg fully connected to her brain.

 A new NASA radar image shows a tiny moon around an asteroid as it made a close pass of Earth.

Like what youve read? Oh, but theres more. Sign up here to receive in your inbox the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writers Ashley Strickland and Katie Hunt. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Theres nothing quite like opening the flap of your tent to the view of a lake, watching the rising suns warm glow dance across the water reflecting Colorados mountain majesty.

Yes, in setting a course for a camping trip this summer, were thinking about lakes. Were thinking about these seven scenes of splendor.

chicago lakes Two anglers fish the Upper Chicago Lake at 11,800 feet as the sun begins to sink below the mountains.

Chicago Lakes: The proximity to Interstate 70 and Denver means youre likely to find plenty of day-trippers along the trail to this pair of lakes tucked in the wilderness. From Echo Lake trailhead beside the road up Mount Blue Sky, plenty might venture in and out, but its well worth staying the night.

The best camping is near lower Chicago Lake. The upper lake is above treeline and exposed. Remember Forest Service rules about camping at least 100 feet from water and trails.

101623-ot-mesa 1.jpg A hiker takes in the view of Island Lake from the Land of Lakes overview Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, on the Grand Mesa outside Grand Junction, Co

Grand Mesa: For its claim as the worlds largest flattop mountain, its surprising how underappreciated Grand Mesa can seem along the paved, scenic byway touring it between Cedaredge and I-70. Even more surprising: Grand Mesa is home to hundreds of lakes.

Island Lake, Little Bear, Ward Lake, Crag Crest and Jumbo campgrounds are some to consider, all close to shores. You also can rent cabins from outfitters, including Grand Mesa Lodge and Thunder Mountain Lodge.

Colorful Colorado: At a remote village, magic in the mountains Three-year-old Hendrik Oberhamer pauses along the shore of Hiawatha Lake in April while looking for crayfish near Red Feather Lakes Village.

Red Feather Lakes: You dont hear much talk about Red Feather Lakes among Denver and Colorado Springs folks. But northern Coloradans have long flocked to the quaint hamlet situated amid picturesque fishing holes such as Hiawatha Lake.

Featured Local Savings

Dowdy Lake, Bellaire Lake and West Lake are just a few of the popular campgrounds. For a little more family comfort and spoils, check out Alpine Lodge at Red Feather Lakes and Beaver Meadows Resort Ranch.

34d64b8f239d80e81ddab9fd89bf84b9 Amphitheatre Peak in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area can be seen from Trappers Lake.

Trappers Lake: This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, which protected places where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. Those words are said to be inspired by Arthur Carharts reflections on a place in Colorado: Trappers Lake.

Its as good a year as any to visit the lake deep in Flat Tops Wilderness. You will want to consult directions outlined by a Forest Service webpage, which details five campgrounds nearby. Another option: Trappers Lake Lodge.

08_18_20 state parks1359.jpg A motorboat pulls a person in a tube as the sun sets over Trinidad Lake in this 2020 photo.

Trinidad Lake: The old mining town on Colorados southern border is steadily marketing itself as a recreation hub with the ongoing development of its iconic backdrop, Fishers Peak. A trail to the summit is finally open (upper part closed for raptor nesting March 15 through July 31).

The state park on the other side of Interstate 25 offers a perfect base camp. Dont delay on camping reservations; while not as busy as Lake Pueblo up the highway, Trinidad Lake is beloved by boaters and anglers.

Twin Lakes Recreation Area: This Lake County site is a Colorado favorite for good reason. For its array of nearby activities on foot, bike, boat and ATV. And for the smorgasbord of scenery featuring some of the states tallest peaks between Buena Vista and Leadville.

The lofty reputation means campgrounds fill fast, especially Lakeview and White Star campgrounds, which require reservations. Others are first-come, first-served.

OT EARTH CORPS Willow Creek basin in southern Colorado has been a regular work site for local nonprofit Rocky Mountain Field Institute, which spent recent ye

Willow Lake: Perched near 11,500 feet in Rio Grande National Forest, many pass this waterfall-fed lake en route to the 14,000-foot summits of Challenger Point and Kit Carson Peak. Others stay put, very content amid the woods and melody of that cascade.

The trailhead is reached off a dirt road rising from the funky town of Crestone. Be prepared for a steep hike covering about five miles  with views of the Sangre de Cristo mountains and San Luis Valley all the way.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT)  The Urology Health Foundation (UHF) says prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men in the U.S. in 2023.

To combat this, the Madison County Health Department (301 Max Luther Dr NW) is offering free prostate cancer screenings on Tuesday, July 9, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

According to UHF, nearly 100% of men who are diagnosed with localized prostate cancer, cancer that has not spread beyond the prostate, are still alive five years after their diagnosis. However, UHF says only 33.4% of men who are diagnosed during the late stages survive five years.

You can call the Madison County Health Department at 256-539-3711 for more information.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
Former president of the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) parliamentary group Marine Le Pen gestures as she gives a speech during the results evening of the first round of the parliamentary elections in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. Francois Lo Presti/AFP/dpa

The far right National Rally (RN) will not allow Ukraine to use French long-range weapons in fighting off the Russian invasion, in the event the party has a say in government following current parliamentary elections, Marine Le Pen has said.

In remarks to US broadcaster CNN, Le Pen, a likely candidate for the RN in the 2027 presidential elections, said an RN government would also ensure that French troops would under no circumstances be stationed in Ukraine.

Le Pen was confirming the RN's position after President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year refused to rule out sending French troops to Ukraine to help train Ukrainian forces.

While agreeing that Ukraine should be able to defend itself against Russian aggression, RN leader Jordan Bardella has come out against supplying weapons that could lead to an escalation in the war. France should not supply Ukraine with missiles and other weapons capable of striking Russian territory, he has said.

The RN is looking to take a key role in France's government following the second round of voting on Sunday. It hopes to put up the prime minister, should it take a majority in the National Assembly.

The party emerged in the lead in the first round last Sunday, but recent polling indicates that the party will again take the lead in the second round but fail to secure an absolute majority.
France is gearing up for its second round of legislative elections scheduled for July 7, which could provide the far-right National Rally (RN) with a historic victory and their first-ever chance to appoint a prime minister.

Headed by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella and parliament leader Marine Le Pen, the National Rally ran on a Euroskeptic and anti-immigration platform while attempting to brush off its ties to the Kremlin.

While the party sought to tone down its pro-Kremlin rhetoric ahead of the parliament election, even ostensibly speaking in support of Kyiv, the potential power-sharing between President Emmanuel Macron and the National Rally could undermine France's efforts to push allies to do more for Ukraine.

Le Pen's victory would also cast a shadow on future supplies of SCALP missiles, or their use against military targets inside Russia, the pledged Mirage 2000 jets, and any plans to send military instructors to Ukraine.

Read also: Le Pen against France providing long-range missiles, troops to Ukraine

What is the situation?

The elections for the French parliament's lower chamber  the National Assembly  weren't scheduled for another three years. Yet, Macron called a snap election in a shock move after his party suffered a disastrous result in the European elections in June.

France's National Assembly has 577 seats, with lawmakers elected for five years in single-seat constituencies.

After the first round eliminates those candidates who failed to win at least 12.5% of the registered voters, the second round decides the final winner in what is usually a two-way or three-way contest.

Reaction to the news that Emmanuel Macron, president of France calls ne legislative elections on the election evening of the Rassemblement National party on the day of the European elections, in Paris, France on 9th June, 2024. (Photo by Daniel Dorko / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP) (Photo by DANIEL DORKO/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

To achieve an undisputed victory, a party must win at least 289 seats, an absolute majority.

Macron's coalition had only 250 seats in the previous parliament, meaning it had to curry favors with other parties to pass legislation or use other means, such as the 49.3 clause, to push it through.

Whatever Macron's snap election gamble was, it has not paid off so far.

The National Rally came first in the first round with 33.15%, followed by the left-wing New Popular Front alliance (28.14%) and Macron's centrist Ensemble trailing third (20.76%).

Thirty-nine candidates from RN and its allies managed to secure over 50% of the votes in their respective districts on June 30, meaning they already won the seat.

Facing a far-right majority, the New Popular Front instructed all of its third-place candidates who were able to secure over 12.5% to pull their candidacy to strengthen the anti-right ticket. While Macron's party was more vague on the subject, some 224 candidates who came in third withdrew their candidacy, with later polls showing that such a strategy might actually cost the National Rally its potential absolute majority.

President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands after a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 16, 2022. (Alexey Furman/Getty Images)

Such a situation could lead to a hung parliament.

If the National Rally succeeds in pushing Bardella into the prime minister seat, it will lead to the so-called "cohabitation," or the sharing of powers between the president and the prime minister from opposing political camps.

While earlier cohabitations established a practice where the prime minister ran domestic affairs while the president set the course of foreign and security policy, the French Constitution doesn't particularly state who is responsible for what.

Since there has never been a cohabitation of such a stark political contrast, it remains to be seen whether the far-right prime minister will respect the president's foreign and security policy domain.

The Rally and the Kremlin

Le Pen and her party have traditionally been ranked among the most Kremlin-friendly political forces in the EU.

The far-right party took a controversial 9-billion-euro loan from a Russian bank in 2014 despite sanctions imposed on Moscow over Russia's war against Ukraine and its occupation of Crimea.

The sum was repaid only last year.

Le Pen also called the illegal annexation of the peninsula legitimate in 2017 and has dubbed Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "patriot" and the bulwark of traditional European values.

Vladimir Putin meets with the French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 24, 2017. (Mikhail Klimentyev / Sputnik / AFP via Getty Images)

In April 2022, not long after the outbreak of the full-scale war and shortly before the French presidential election, Le Pen called for "a strategic rapprochement between NATO and Russia" once the "war is over and has been settled by a peace treaty."

More recently, a shift in the party's rhetoric emerged, indicating that the party is seeking to shake off its pro-Kremlin image.

The media noted in June that the far-right party quietly deleted a part of its manifesto that called for closer relations with Russia and leaving NATO military command.

Speaking to the National Assembly in March, Le Pen surprised many by voicing support for Ukraine, saying that Russia "triggered the war on the EU's doorstep and the most dramatic geopolitical crisis in the last 20 years."

"We owe our respect and support to the Ukrainian nation, which has endured aggression... It is the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian people that will lead to Russia's defeat," she said.

Bardella called Russia a "multi-dimensional threat both for France and for Europe."

Many have been skeptical about the sincerity of the RN's turn.

"The shift in the RN language on Russia is purely tactical," said Sudhir Hazareesingh, an expert on French politics at Oxford University, in a comment for the Kyiv Independent.

Le Pen's party does "not want to seem hostile to Ukraine, as there is wide public support for the Ukrainian cause in France," he explained.

In a column for Le Monde, a group of 170 French diplomats voiced concern about France's future foreign policy direction should the far-right party win.

"We have seen Russia invade sovereign states and use tanks to destroy what has guaranteed peace on the European continent," the column read.

French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party President Jordan Bardella looks on during a meeting with French employers' association Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF) gathering party and coalition leaders ahead of legislative elections, in Paris, France on June 20, 2024. (Julien De Rosa / AFP via Getty Images)

"Our duty as citizens and servants of the state is not to compromise with the truth. Submitting to Russia, to authoritarian regimes, undoing Europe and our alliances, ignoring international law, is to choose impotence and servitude."

"The Kremlin will have agents of influence and information. There are links (with the RN) that have long been established. So we must be vigilant," Michel Foucher, a former French ambassador to Latvia, said in a comment to the Radio France International (RFI).

Moscow's reaction to the RN's success in the first round is also telling.

The Russian Foreign Ministry lauded Le Pen and Bardella's party success, saying, "The people of France are seeking a sovereign foreign policy that serves their national interests & a break from the dictate of Washington & Brussels."

Ramifications for Ukraine

Bardella pledged to continue providing Ukraine with defense aid if he becomes prime minister, but also set out clear red lines regarding this support.

"I don't plan to send.. long-range missiles or other weapons that will allow Ukraine to strike the Russian territory," nor "French troops and soldiers to Ukraine," the far-right leader said.

Paris has provided Ukraine with over 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion) worth of weaponry in 2022-2023, including SCALP long-range missiles and Caesar howitzers. Macron also pledged to provide Ukraine with Mirage 2000-5 jets, which could be a major reinforcement to Ukraine's battered Air Force.

Since both SCALP and Mirages could be theoretically used to strike military targets inside Russian territory, Bardella's comments cast a shadow over future supplies.

Le Pen also told CNN that the RN government would not allow the use of French long-range weapons Ukraine possesses to strike inside Russia.

President of the RN parliamentary group Marine Le Pen reacts at the Matignon Hotel as she attends a meeting lead by France's prime minister with parliamentary groups to discuss the pensions reform, in Paris, France on Oct. 14, 2022. (Stephane De Sakutin / AFP via Getty Images)

The French Constitution also names the prime minister as the effective head of the Armed Forces during cohabitation, which could thwart Macron's potential plans to send military instructors to Ukraine.

Hazareesingh believes that the RN government "would not want to look like it was contesting (Macron's) legitimacy too directly."

As for the disagreement on the troop deployment, the political scientist was skeptical about whether Macron actually wants to take this step, adding that Bardella's opposition would provide a suitable excuse to abort the plan.

Based on the statements of the RN leaders and Macron's continued presence in the Elysee Palace, there is little fear that the French backing of Ukraine would cease altogether.

Far-right victory might, however, undermine the president's plans to profile France as the most resolute voice of the pro-Kyiv coalition.

It might also complicate Ukraine's EU accession talks.

French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) party's lead candidate Jordan Bardella (C-R) and RN parliament group president Marine Le Pen (C-L) wave their hands on stage during a campaign meeting ahead of the upcoming European Parliament elections, in Paris, France on June 2, 2024. (Stephane De Sakutin / AFP via Getty Images)

Macron, whose strategic vision appears to be building up the European bloc into an independent strategic player, backed Kyiv's EU candidacy. Ukrainian and European delegates began the accession talks in June, with an eye on Kyiv's entry as early as 2030.

In line with her party's Euroskepticism, Le Pen said in June that she's opposed to "any enlargement of the European Union."

"I do not want to see French agriculture die, nor do I want the French to pay ever more taxes to finance the entry of new countries into the European Union," Le Pen said.

Should the RN manage to secure their historic victory, the full consequences are yet to be seen.

A Dutch scenario sets a hopeful precedent where the victorious far-right took a back seat on the foreign and defense policy while focusing more on domestic issues.

The growing wave of right-wing populists with a history of praising Putin  a phenomenon shared on both sides of the Atlantic  certainly does not bode well for Ukraine in the long term, however.

Read also: What are Frances Mirage 2000-5 jets, and how can Ukraine use them?

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
An aerial view from a drone shows John Duffy planting corn on a farm he farms with his father on April 23, 2020 near Dwight, Illinois. Mild, dry weather has farmers in the state scrambling to get their fields planted. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  The stalemate over the current farm bill may be solidifying a new era in farm politics as it joins the last three farm bills in a trend of delays and partisan division  a contrast from the legislations history of bipartisanship.

Every five years, Congress is tasked with drafting a new federal farm bill. The omnibus law that began 90 years ago as various kinds of payments to support farmers now has an impact far beyond the farm, with programs to create wildlife habitat, address climate change and provide the nations largest federal nutrition program.

The current farm bill process, already nearly a year behind schedule, is at an impasse as Democrats and Republicans clash over how to pay for the bill and whether to place limits on nutrition and climate programs. The previous farm bill expired in September 2023 and has been extended through the end of this September.

Historically, farm bills were completed within a few months of their expiration date. Ten of the 13 farm bills since 1965 were enacted by Dec. 31 in the year of their expirations. But three of the four farm bills since 2008 went beyond that date.

The last three bills  including the 2018 bill, which is the one recent version that passed on time  each had partisan disagreements about spending.

The trend represents a change in how the once-bipartisan legislation is viewed.

The last two farm bills were the anomaly, said Jonathan Coppess, a professor of Agricultural Law and Policy at the University of Illinois who has written a history of the farm bill. Now that it has been three in a row, Im not sure that holds.

A recent report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service notes that starting in 2008, farm bills have been subject to delays, vetoes and insufficient votes to pass on the floor.

The report concluded: Over time, farm bills have tended to become more complicated and politically sensitive. As a result, the timeline for reauthorization has become less certain.

Spending debate

That uncertainty is true of the current farm bill, as Republicans in the House and Senate push for spending limits that Democrats say are non-starters.

I dont think were close to getting a farm bill done until the folks who are negotiating the farm bill are realistic about whats doable within a constrained resource environment, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said June 21 in an interview on the radio program AgriTalk.

The Republican-led House Agriculture Committee approved its farm bill proposal largely on party lines at the end of May, after hours of debate and complaints from Democrats that the process had not been as bipartisan as in years past.

Four Democrats voted for the bill in committee, but they joined 20 other Democrats on the committee in a dissenting views letter expressing genuine concern over the trajectory of the Majoritys partisan farm bill  which they predicted would be stuck in delay and dysfunction without significant changes.

The Senate Agriculture Committee has yet to vote. The Republican and Democratic leaders of the committee have each put forward contrasting bills and expressed their frustration.

The most frustrating time

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat who is retiring after this term, has called the process the most frustrating of her career and said she would not let the Republican approach for the farm bill be her legacy.

Ive actually been involved in six farm bills and led on three of them, and this has been the most frustrating time, Stabenow said in an interview with Michigan Advance at the end of June. Because its so much more partisan than usual and particularly around food assistance.

Partisan division is not uncommon in todays Congress but is notable on the farm bill, which had historically brought together lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. Bipartisan support can be necessary for final passage because the size of the $1.5 trillion farm bill means it inevitably loses some votes from fiscal conservatives and others.

If you dont have a bipartisan bill, this is not going to happen, and that is no matter whos in charge. The margins are too close to be able to get this done without bipartisan support, said Collin Peterson, a former Democratic House member from Minnesota and Agriculture Committee Chairman.

The key dispute for Democrats this year is a funding calculation that would place limits on the Thrifty Food Plan formula that calculates benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP.

Republicans are using the limits to offset other spending in the bill on crop subsidies. The top Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Arkansas Sen. John Boozman, said he wants to put more farm in the farm bill.

Peterson, who is now the head of an eponymous consulting firm, said in an interview with States Newsroom that Republicans would likely have to make changes to the nutrition title to get a bill to final passage.

It is unrealistic to think they are going to get this done without significant changes in that part of the bill, he said.

An uneasy alliance from the start

The nutrition program that is at the center of the impasse was added to the legislation 50 years ago to help build a coalition of wide-ranging bipartisan support.

Lawmakers added the nutrition title to the farm bill in 1973, a move that widened the vested interest in the bill in the House. Lawmakers who wanted to increase payments for cotton and wheat farmers in their districts were able to bring in support from representatives from districts whose citizens could benefit from food aid.

That was the first coalition building between the two interests, Coppess said. But it was pretty intense. And it was an uneasy alliance from the start.

Since then, the farm bill in many ways has become a food bill. Three-quarters of the mandatory spending in the bill falls under the nutrition title, which includes SNAP, the largest U.S. program that addresses hunger.

The program, formerly called food stamps, supplements food budgets for low-income households. Anti-hunger groups have joined the outside interests pushing for the bill every five years.

But with such a large funding line, the nutrition program has become a target for Republicans who want to cut it to offset other spending in the bill.

The dispute is all the pay-fors, Peterson said. And that has been the issue for the last three farm bills and issue on this one as well.

Peterson, who was chairman of the House Agriculture Committee for the 2008 farm bill and was the top Democrat on the committee for the 2013 and 2018 bills, said partisan division on the committee is not unfamiliar at this phase of the process.

The farm bills he worked on also had partisan votes in the House but eventually found support from both sides after conferencing with the Senate.

At the end of the day, every one of those bills was partisan, until we got through the conference committee, and then at that point it was bipartisan, because the Senate brought some of that to the table, Peterson said. So, kind of, whats going on here went on the last three farm bills.

The most recent farm bill in 2018 was marked by contentious partisan debate centered on SNAPs work requirements and other eligibility rules.

The House Agriculture Committees bill that year initially failed on the House floor and later squeaked through on a 213-211 vote. Twenty Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting against that bill.

After reconciling with the Senate bill and the removal of some of the contentious changes to SNAP, most Democrats flipped their votes in support and the House agreed to the final conference report in a bipartisan vote of 369-47. The dissenting votes included 44 Republicans and three Democrats.

A trend toward fracture

The partisan division over the nutrition title creates new fault lines for the farm bill.

Historically, farm bill alliances were more regional than partisan. They were built on a common ground of support for shared crops or producers: cotton in the South, corn in the Midwest and wheat in the Western Plains.

What was our biggest issue back in the four farm bills that I wrote was not Republican versus Democrat. It was usually Midwest against the Southeast or the Northeast or the Southwest from a crop standpoint, former Sen. Saxby Chambliss said in an interview.

Chambliss, a Republican from Georgia, was on the House Agriculture Committee from 1995 to 2002 and the Senate Agriculture Committee 2005 to 2011, which included a stint as chairman and ranking member.

Theres a different political dynamic that exists in the Senate today that did not exist when I was there, Chambliss said. How much of that bleeds into the farm bill? I dont know the answer to that, but obviously its a little more acrimonious than what I ever experienced.

As partisan politics have become more entrenched in regions of the country, with the South becoming more closely aligned with the Republican Party, it has played out in farm-bill politics.

You see a staunch realignment around where the regional and the partisan are now very similar, Coppess said.

The post Frustrating partisan stalemate: the new normal for farm bills? appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at a citizens' dialog in the Weimarhalle, as part of the Social Democratic Party (SPD)'s campaign for the state elections in Thuringia. Bodo Schackow/dpa

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday defended the compromise over the 2025 federal budget arrived at by his three-party coalition in the face of scorn from the opposition.

A way had been found to fund assistance to Ukraine, while also financing Germany's own needs, Scholz told a meeting of his Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Weimar to the south-west of Berlin.

"And for that reason, it's a good budget that the federal government has agreed after a long time and a sleepless night," Scholz said, acknowledging that the three-party coalition had wrangled over it.

The heads of the SPD, the Greens and the pro-business liberal FDP conducted overnight talks into Friday morning to strike a deal on a draft budget after months of discussion.

Speaking at an SPD event to kick of its campaign for state elections in Thuringia in September, Scholz emphasised expenditure on children and families. There would also be investment in roads and rail, he noted.

"The federal government's investment budget will rise sharply," he said.

Germany would also be investing in its domestic and foreign security, Scholz said. While the defence budget would rise by only 1.2 billion to 52 billion ($56 billion), Scholz insisted that the necessary funds were being set aside for defence and that the German military would be better equipped than in the past.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, also of the SPD, had called for an additional 6 billion.

Responding to the budget deal, opposition leader Fridrich Merz predicted the coalition would collapse before the summer was out.

"It may well be the case that we will have to come to Berlin at short notice," the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader said, suggesting that parliament would have to convene during the recess.

"The three-party coalition is not that stable that it will last through the summer," he predicted in remarks to the Rheinische Post newspaper.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at a citizens' dialog in the Weimarhalle, as part of the Social Democratic Party (SPD)'s campaign for the state elections in Thuringia. Bodo Schackow/dpa
German Minister of Finance Christian Lindner takes part in a press conference on the 2025 budget. The coalition parties have agreed on a draft budget. Michael Kappeler/dpa

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner has defended decisions on next year's budget taken by the ruling three-party coalition, in particular those regarding the Defence Ministry, in comments to Bild newspaper on Saturday.

"The defence minister is getting more money than in the previous budget, but he is getting less money than what he called for in public," Lindner, a member of the pro-business liberal FDP, told the mass-circulation tabloid.

"This is the entirely normal budgetary process," he said, pointing out that a minister worked passionately for his department and asked for the maximum. "The task of the finance minister and the federal government overall is then to check what s desirable and what is truly necessary," Lindner said.

The defence budget is set to grow by 1.2 billion from currently around 52 billion ($56 billion), considerably less than the figure demanded by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Pointing to the war in Ukraine and increased security concerns in Europe, Pistorius had called for a boost to his budget by more than 6 billion.

On Friday, Scholz said that the regular defence budget would total 80 billion from 2028, once a special fund of 100 billion, announced shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, had been exhausted.

The German cabinet has been engaged in a wrangle over the budget for weeks, with Lindner insisting that the so-called "debt brake" in the constitution should not be eased to allow more deficit spending.
In May, a major fire broke out at a Diehl group factory in Berlin, which Nato allies suggested was an attack by Russian saboteurs

Germany has become a battleground in Vladimir Putins hybrid war on Nato due to decades of lax security and pro-Russian sympathisers in the east, a senior intelligence chief has warned.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Stephan Kramer, the head of domestic intelligence in Germanys eastern Thuringia state, said Moscow viewed Berlin as a wonderful sabotage target, as he urged extra vigilance.

Germany as it is located in the middle of Europe, is a wonderful target for all types of logistical sabotage. Almost any supply for Ukraine has to go through Germany, Mr Kramer said.

Combined with the political situation  a good portion of Germans in the east are pro-Russia, doubting [their[ own government and public structures - and the unsecured critical infrastructure, this is the classical battleground for a successful hybrid warfare, he added.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been waging what Nato officials call a hybrid warfare campaign against Kyivs allies.

The strategy relies on a mixture of sabotage operations targeting key infrastructure, election interference, cyber-attacks and other covert means of undermining Western countries.

Putin feeds the extreme Left and Right

Mr Kramer also warned that Russia was feeding into feelings of chaos and the delegitimisation of public structures on all channels in Germany.

Russian sympathies in eastern Germany are largely due to its former status as a satellite Soviet state, the GDR, during the Cold War.

All Nato states are concerned about hybrid warfare but the situation is particularly tense in Germany, where a recent, mysterious fire at an arms factory in Berlin is now suspected of being an act of Russian sabotage.

Mr Kramer noted that other Nato allies have spent years securing critical infrastructure whereas Germany only started that discussion some months ago.

Germany was also being destabilised by Russian and Chinese bids to undermine democracy and to encourage distrust towards German leaders, he said. Putin feeds the extreme left and right no matter what, so that in the end our democracy is ruined, he warned.

He also suggested that the stressful pandemic has left the German public in some areas resentful towards the state. And he warned that the long preserved, false, feeling of living in general peace may have made Germany too complacent about the threat from Russia.

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, announced a Zeitenwende, or turning point, in the wake of Putins invasion, vowing to overhaul the countrys defence and foreign policy completely.

This involved a 28 billion (23 billion) funding pledge for Ukraine, major investment in the German army, and the possible return of conscription, which was scrapped in 2011.

While Germany has stopped short of some key demands, such as sending powerful Taurus missiles to Kyiv, the change in their wider approach to Putin appears to have put the country firmly in his crosshairs.

In May, a major fire broke out at a factory in Berlin belonging to the Diehl group, a German defence firm supporting the Ukrainian war effort.

German investigators initially said the blaze was an accident, but have since received intelligence from Nato allies which strongly suggests it was an attack by Russian saboteurs. The German-led investigation is ongoing.

One month earlier, two alleged Russian spies were arrested in Bavaria on suspicion of plotting to attack a US military facility which supports Ukraine.

German officials are also increasingly suspicious of the far-right AfD party, which came second place in the European elections after campaigning against mass migration, Russian sanctions and costly support for the war in Ukraine.

Earlier this year police arrested Jian Guo, an aide who was working for a senior AfD MEP, Maximilian Krah, on suspicion of spying for China in Brussels. He has since been ejected from the partys Brussels delegation.

Mr Krah himself is also under investigation for receiving suspicious payments from Russia and China. He denies any wrongdoing.

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(Bloomberg) -- Ghanas Supreme Court adjourned a hearing on draconian anti-LGBTQ legislation until July 17, as opponents of the bill sought an injunction to stop it moving forward.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Amanda Odoi, an academic, and lawyer Richard Sky filed two separate lawsuits challenging the bill, which seeks up to three years in jail for people who identify as LGBTQ. The cases are being heard at the Supreme Court.

Both Odoi and Sky have now asked the Supreme Court to block the bill from being sent to the president for assent until the court rules on its validity. President Nana Akufo-Addos endorsement is the last step required for the bill to become law.

If endorsed, the punitive law could jeopardize $3.8 billion of World Bank funding over the next five-to-six years, according to Ghanas Finance Ministry. It could also derail a $3 billion bailout program from the International Monetary Fund and hurt the countrys efforts to restructure $20 billion of external debt, it said.

Lawmakers introduced the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill into parliament in 2021 as a private members bill, which means it wasnt introduced by the executive arm of government or on its behalf.

Such bills arent allowed to proceed if their implementation imposes a cost on taxpayers, argued Odois lawyer, Ernest Ako, citing the constitution. They have to be accompanied by a document showing any associated costs, which wasnt attached in this case, he said.

The bill, which has been working its way through the legislative circuit over the past three years, was passed by lawmakers in February after multiple readings and public consultations. A first injunction request was rejected last year while it was still being considered in parliament.

Ako argued Wednesday that the bills passage and a failed attempt by parliament to submit it to the president have provided fresh grounds for a new injunction request to be made.

The parliament speakers lawyer, Thaddeus Sory, argued that any injunction would be presumptive, since Akufo-Addo still has the option of sending the bill back to parliament to address whatever may be deficient.

Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo adjourned the proceedings without ruling on the latest injunction request.

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Gov. Abbott: Texas National Guard constructing barriers that will be placed along El Paso border

Gov. Abbott: Texas National Guard constructing barriers that will be placed along El Paso border

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Texas continues to use all possible strategies to deter and repel illegal entry into our state, Governor Greg Abbott said via his X account on Tuesday, July 2.

The quote was part of a post where Abbott announced that the Texas National Guard soldiers are in the process of constructing barriers that will be placed along the US/Mexico border in El Paso.

On Friday, July 5 our Border Report crews on both sides of the border reported several large piles of worn barbed wire along a half-mile stretch of the Rio Grande overlooking Juarez being taken down.

Texas takes down border razor wire















KTSM and Border Report have reached out to the Texas officials and Gov. Abbotts office to ask if this represents a change of strategy or if its maintenance related.

Were still waiting for their response.

Local political leaders on both sides of the isle, and immigrant advocates were asked about Abbotts X post and the strategies hes been deploying.

Executive director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, Marisa Limon Garza, said there isnt a return on the investments being made at the border by Abbott through Operation Lone Star.

Its unfortunate that we continue to see these tactics played out by Abbott and his administration here at the state level. We know that the amounts of money that are being put into Operation Lone Star are causing great harm to our region, said Limon Garza. Were getting high speed chases, were getting harmful realities for our communities. Were having to foot the bill in many ways at the county level for this unjust work.

County Chair for the El Paso Republican Party, Jorge Gonzalez shared a statement with KTSM:

Governor Abbott has to step in to protect El Pasoans, Texans and all Americans from the damage caused by the Biden administration.

Whoever is pulling the strings of puppet Biden continues to ignore existing immigration law, giving cartels the freedom to continue trafficking dangerous men, innocent children and drugs through our borders.

Meanwhile, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego, a Democrat, said that when migrants are forced to stop and become stuck in Juarez, they become easy prey for cartels, and their operations thrive, but when the immigration process is flowing, the cartels do not function.

Samaniego also said he was not surprised to learn of Abbotts post, saying the state did not communicate with the county, or has ever tried to collaborate with local leaders to find better solutions for the borderland, but instead has other motivations for his actions.

It has to be political, and it has to be him wanting to have relevance in the political party. And I cant see anything thats going to be helpful. The numbers are down, this would be a great opportunity to sort of recalibrate, try to figure out whats best for our community. You know, being able to have discussions with the state government would be very, very favorable. Yet thats not where were getting, said Samaniego.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Suzanne Harrison, a member of the Salt Lake County Council, and Teresa Medici audit the primary election at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Since the night of Utahs June 25 primary election, Republican gubernatorial candidate Phil Lyman has called for an independent audit and has refused to concede to incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox until after his team analyzes the results.

The Associated Press called the race at 8:23 p.m. on June 25 with 64% of the votes counted. It is not uncommon for races to be called shortly after polls close as soon as it is clear it would be mathematically impossible for the trailing candidate to get enough votes to win.

Cox and his running mate Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson beat Lyman and his running mate, Natalie Clawson, by about 9 points, 54.5% to 45.5%, according to the latest tally.

The Lyman campaign has made a long list of claims about Utah elections in the days leading up to, and following, his loss.

Lyman, a certified public accountant, said current election audit practices were nothing like a good audit, and said Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson role as the states chief election officer has led to Utah having selections, not elections. He also called state election officials obstinate in their efforts to subvert citizens requests to public records and transparency. And he endorsed the idea that the states interest in publicly releasing voters information outweighs their right to privacy.

The Lyman campaigns request to obtain Coxs signature gathering packets was denied because of a state law  a law Lyman voted for. The law makes signatures private information in addition to other parts of code that allows voters to make their information private.

The claims made about Utahs elections likely left voters with questions about the fairness of the elections process. To answer those questions, the Deseret News spoke to county and state election officials as well as Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz and an election law expert.

Built-in safeguards in Utah elections

The safety of Utah elections is built from the ground up, beginning with elected election officials in every county in the state. The Deseret News spoke with clerks from Utah, Sevier, Cache, Salt Lake, Davis and Tooele counties to understand these safeguards.

The actual everyday work of voter registration, ballot preparation, tabulation, counting and reporting, that is all done independently of the lieutenant governors office by each individually, independently elected county clerk, Davis County Clerk Brian McKenzie told the Deseret News.

There are hundreds of checks to ensure that ballots are valid, that they were cast by registered voters and are counted accurately, McKenzie said. This includes tracking every ballot through the entire process and tracing every ballot back to a vote credit in participating in the election.

In-person ballots are audited for the primary election at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Before a single mail-in ballot is ever sent out, county clerks and their staff, like Sevier County lead deputy clerk auditor Barbara Crowther, are tasked with making sure they have an accurate voter registration list. County election officers regularly update voter rolls to reflect changes in residence and to ensure that newly convicted felons and deceased individuals are removed, Crowther said.

Once ballots are sent out, there are checks in place to guarantee there will only be one vote recorded per voter. Each ballot envelope carries a unique nine-digit absentee ID number, Crowther explained, that allows ballots to be tracked through the system and prevents voters from casting more than one ballot.

Lifelong Logan resident Bryson Behm has been the county clerk since an April special election that followed years of him working in county election departments. He says rigorous chain of custody documentation begins from the moment ballots are picked up from the drop box or post office, with pairs of election workers clocking in, tracking their time, taking down the name of the post office employee ced, counting the ballots and sealing them with specially numbered zip ties.

Were all about seals, Behm said. After ballots are tabulated in what Behm refers to as a more secure, encrypted Scantron machine, they are sealed again in secure totes that only he and one other election worker have a key to.

Signatures checked on ballots

But before ballots are ever counted, or even opened, there must be a signature that corresponds with one the state has on record, Behm said. Ballot signatures are compared with up to five others, including the signature found on voters drivers license, by county employees with signature verification training.

If there is no signature, or a signature does not match those on record, county election officials will reach out to the corresponding voter through mail, and in many cases through text and phone call, to give voters the opportunity to provide the correct signature and confirm their ballot.

Tooele County Clerk Tracy Shaw takes her job of giving voters every opportunity to remedy rejected ballots very seriously.

I babysit that process really closely myself, Shaw said, explaining they call and email every voter that has a challenged ballot. Voters can remedy their ballots through a text-to-cure digital affidavit process or coming in-person, Shaw said.

Beyond scanning the unique barcode on every ballot and meticulously tracking every ballot each step of the way, Theres a multitude of checks and balances already in place to procedurally make sure that people only get to vote once, Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman said.

Prior to every election, each vote-counting machine is run through a series of logic and accuracy tests, using an already recorded selection of test ballots, to ensure it is tabulating completed ballots accurately, Chapman said.

And following every election, there is a public audit performed with 1% of total ballots cast as an additional verification that the system is working correctly. The process includes going through random batches of votes by hand and comparing each ballot to the image recorded by the tabulation machine which indicates with a green dot how every vote was recorded.

Voters participate in Utah County audit

Utah County Clerk Aaron Davidson views public participation in this 1% audit as a priority. So much so that he doubles the time and quantity of his audit by allowing public participants to select another 1% of ballots at random to verify, for a total of 2% of his votes, or around 2,000 ballots, that are recounted by hand.

They actually participate. They put their hands on the ballots. Theyre not just observers, theyre actually auditors, Davidson said. They have to take an oath of office for a day. So theyre deputized clerks for a day.

During the canvass period, election officials perform statistical analyses of election results to confirm that the total number of processed ballots aligns with the number of registered voters in a given area. A canvass meeting is then held, usually two weeks after the election, where county commissioners or county council members certify county election results and double-check the accuracy of overall numbers to catch any anomalies.

While the election process is decentralized in Utah, security measures are standardized across the state. Ryan Cowley, director of elections in the Lieutenant Governors Office, said county clerks must certify their voter registration lists with his office to provide an additional check that the state is registering people who are real people and meet the criteria of being at least 18 years old, citizens and live where they say they live.

The last few years have seen a number of statewide implementations to heighten election security and voter confidence.

Weve done a lot over the last few years to codify and standardize those practices among clerks by chain of custody, doing that within view of the public, doing that within areas under camera surveillance, Cowley said.

Corrine Johnson, a member of the Salt Lake County Council, is sworn in to help with auditing the primary election at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Steps the Utah Legislature has taken to strengthen Utah elections

After the 2022 elections, the Legislative Audit Subcommittee requested an audit of Utahs election system and controls to see what processes the state needed to improve, according to Schultz, R-Hooper, who was on the audit subcommittee at the time.

We found there were no widespread issues, Schultz said, adding there were some areas found where Utah could improve. But the good part was what the committee said about it  citizens should have confidence in our election systems.

After the audit was carried out, the Utah Legislature passed several bills to strengthen the integrity of the states elections. The bills implemented better processes for verifying signatures on ballots, cleaning up voter rolls and increasing security of elections.

But what Schutlz said was perhaps the biggest change was a bill he sponsored in the 2023 session: an audit of elections every election cycle. Lyman voted for this bill.

Now every general election and primary election in the state will be audited, Schultz said. Auditors are out right now auditing those elections.

Schultz explained an important part of the law he passed is who does the audit. We had the legislative branch do the audit instead of the executive branch, because we wanted it to be independent  give it more credibility.

Independent auditors are in every county and in the Lieutenant Governors Office, Schultz said. They really can audit however they want. They have pretty much full access to do whatever they want.

This audit is different from the process the Lieutenant Governors Office put into place to audit 1% of the ballots publicly. It is focused on cybersecurity and dives into the technical aspects of the technology used. After the conclusion of the election, the Legislature will get a report back.

Schultz said hes looking forward to the results of the upcoming audit because he wants to find every way to make Utah elections better and give the public more confidence.

You look at some of the other states across the nation and Im very fortunate that we have the county clerks that we have here in the state of Utah because I do believe they do a pretty good job, Schultz said.

When speaking about transparency in Utah elections, Schultz said there has been an attempt to balance privacy of voters with public information. He said he thinks more information is better.

Its kind of interesting  some of these groups and people that were saying we want our voter information protected and not open to the public have now come full circle and are saying they want more transparency, Schultz said. He said hes hopeful with the push for more transparency, legislators may be able to walk back how much information is redacted by law.

What the Lieutenant Governors Office does and does not do

The lieutenant governor oversees elections, but per state code, she cannot assume the duties of county clerks. To understand the difference between the two, Cowley said its easiest to start with what county clerks do.

Theyre the ones who actually conduct the election, Cowley said. Theyre the ones who are doing voter registrations, theyre mailing out ballots, theyre counting ballots, during the signature review, theyre the ones doing that. If they challenge a ballot, theyre the ones who are working with the voters, theyre the ones who are tabulating the votes.

Cowley said the Lieutenant Governors Office does not count a single ballot and are, instead, in charge of oversight which includes training and guidance.

When asked about the kind of training the office provides, Cowley gave the example of signature verification training.

Every poll worker, election worker that does signature verification, theres a training module that they have to do and we worked with a lot of the county clerks with the forensic documents examiner to provide that training to those people doing the signature verification, Cowley said.

In addition to providing training, the Lieutenant Governors Office randomly selects 1% of each countys ballots to be audited. Ballots are processed in batches. The county clerk gives the office a list of all the batches and then the office selects 1% of the ballots, so the clerks dont know ahead of time which ballots will be audited.

This audit is done in a public meeting and no more than half of the people participating can be employees of the clerks office, Cowley said.

State code also stipulates that the Lieutenant Governors Office is responsible for ensuring that all voting equipment in the state complies with requirements. Cowley said all equipment in Utah used to tabulate votes has to be certified by the Election Assistance Commission.

Part of that is that any software or equipment thats used has to go through a third-party independent labs test, Cowley said. The third-party lab test looks at many different scenarios and different ballots to not only see if the machines are counting votes correctly, but also looking deeper into the software.

Clerks do additional tests where they will run ballots through the machines where they know the results and compare it to what the machine counted, Cowley said. We also do software hash validations to ensure that nothing in that code has changed. The equipment is never connected to the internet.

Cowley also added theres encryption and additional security measures.

If anybody ever did hack into that equipment or tamper with it, the clerk would know, Cowley said. And at that point, wed have to evaluate it. He said he was not aware of any instances in the state where a machine has been tampered with.

Regarding election transparency, Cowley said voters can go into the clerks office to view any of the processes.

Poll workers are allowed within six feet of any of the processes, so close enough that they can see it. The logic and accuracy test is a public meeting, said Cowley. Many of the processes are public. Theres a post-election audit thats open to the public and then, the results are canvassed by the legislative bodies of the county.

The primary election is audited at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Signature gathering

Days before election night, Lymans running mate Natalie Clawson had submitted requests for the petitions of Gov. Spencer Cox, attorney general candidate Derek Brown and U.S. Senate candidate Brad Wilson.

Pointing toward a case where Washington County is investigating signatures submitted by state Sen. Don Ipson, R-St. George, the Lyman campaign said this is their impetus for looking into other candidates signatures  Cox and Wilson used the same signature-gathering company as Ipson while Brown used a different company.

Washington County attorney Eric Clarke told the Deseret News that Ipsons signatures were being investigated and also said there was no evidence of a candidate or the company acting inappropriately. He said he was looking into it as a matter of due diligence. Tanner Leatham, owner of Gathering Inc., said a couple of contractors gathering signatures for Ipson werent using the companys tools and gathered signatures from people who dont live in Ipsons district, which is why some of them were not valid.

Clawsons request for copies of every signature and personal identifying information on the packets submitted by Cox, Brown and Wilson was denied because of state law. Theres a law on the books, which Lyman voted for, that made signatures protected information. Then, also theres additional state code that allows voters to decide to withhold their information from all candidates for public office.

Instead of obtaining copies of the signature packets, Clawson was given the option of obtaining a list of signers which would exclude the identifying information of voters who chose to make that information private. She could have also chosen to review the packets at the end of July after the identifying information of some voters was redacted, as state law requires.

In a statement to the Deseret News, Lyman said, It is clear that we want transparency when it comes to verifying Spencer Coxs signatures on his candidacy petition. We would like to verify the list of people. I dont want their signature, I want the complete list so we can review it.

The Lyman campaign has pointed toward another part of state law that says government entities can disclose records that are private if they determine the interests favoring access are greater than or equal to the interest favoring restriction of access.

Election law expert Audrey Perry Martin said the balancing test between the competing interests is vague here. She said there isnt a concrete answer to whether public interests could outweigh privacy interests in this case.

The issue over privacy as it pertains to signature-gathering has not been litigated in Utah courts, said Martin.

But privacy over election returns has been reviewed. Henderson released a statement saying, this is a reminder that cast vote records, tabulator information, ballot images, tabulator tapes, back up project databases, and other election materials are considered election returns and not subject to GRAMA.

Henderson cited a ruling from a 2022 lawsuit that arose after Jennifer Orten and Sophie Anderson sued several counties after their requests for election returns were denied, where the court found that the election materials sought by Orten and Anderson were among the most sensitive records.

By restricting access to these records, the Election Code preserves the integrity of both elections and election contests, the court said. In the absence of these restrictions, the door to fraud and corruption would be left wide open. If plaintiffs believe that the number of election records to which access is restricted is too broad, or the number of people to whom access is given is too narrow, then plaintiffs remedy is with the legislature.

Henderson said, The remedy for any individual wishing to contest an election is not through GRAMA, but through the courts.

Lyman considering legal options

On election night, Lyman said he was considering his legal options. The Deseret News was unable to find record of Lyman filing a suit. Martin said litigation wouldnt change the results of the election and the time to file a suit over signature gathering would have been as it was happening, not after signatures were turned in and certified.

Big picture here: theyre not going to overturn the election, Martin said. ... Once the ballots are printed, once the people are on the ballots, once its been certified by the lieutenant governor that these are the people who qualified, the process is done. Your ability to litigate that is over and it becomes a moot issue at that point.

Martin said judges tend to give deference to state administrators, state election officials and local election officials to do their job unless theres overwhelming evidence of corruption.

A suit against Utahs signature gathering law has not been filed yet this year, but if it were, Martin said its unlikely to go anywhere in the lower courts.

Its worth noting Utahs signature gathering law has already been litigated. In 2019, the Supreme Court refused to hear the Utah Republican Partys appeal of a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which allowed the signature gathering law to stand.

Martin said while cases are never completely settled, its highly unlikely the Supreme Court would take up another suit against the law.

Usually state statutes prevail against the rules of political parties, but its still a complicated issue given that political parties are more similar to state actors than purely private institutions. Martin said even so, its highly unlikely Lymans name would be added to the general election ballot.

The primary election is audited at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

State Auditor John Dougall talks with Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman during an audit of the primary election at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The primary election is audited at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

In-person ballots are audited for the primary election at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

David Richmond helps audit the primary election at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The primary election is audited at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The primary election is audited at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Paul Ramirez and Andrew Russ signal that they have completed an audit of the primary election at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The primary election is audited at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Oregon Governor Tina Kotek declared a statewide extreme heat emergency Friday afternoon, warning the states energy grid could be impacted by high temps anticipated through Tuesday.

The emergency declaration comes as the National Weather Service out of Portland is keeping an Excessive Heat Warning in place for the Willamette Valley and much of western Oregon and southwest Washington through the start of next week, with record heat likely in the triple digits.

Extreme weather events are now the new normal for Oregon. Right now, state and local governments are on a path to strengthen our preparedness and response, not only this year but for the years to come, Gov. Kotek said.

Barge ablaze after Waterfront Blues Festival fireworks show, 1 hospitalized

The need for emergency declarations should decrease over time if we continue on this path  including ensuring more Oregonians have air conditioning in the summer months and heat in the winter months, that our electrical grid is modern and resilient, that communities have public spaces and green places that provide relief, and where families have a plan to stay safe and help others to do the same in severe weather.



However, gaps exist today. In the interest of safety and human life over the next several days, I am declaring an emergency due to extreme heat. Both the record-breaking temperatures and the duration of heat present a clear and present danger, particularly for children, elders, people with disabilities, and people who work outside. I am urging Oregonians to take every precaution and check on your family and neighbors, the governor said.

The strain on Oregons energy grid and infrastructure could mean utility outages and some transportation disruptions, according to Kotek.

Beaverton police vehicle hit by IED, suspect at large

Officials urge Oregonians to conserve energy and reduce consumption as much as possible to avoid power disruptions. This includes avoiding using major appliances during peak morning and evening energy demand times.

The governors office also encourages Oregonians to take precautions to reduce the risk of human-caused wildfires as the NWS issued a Fire Weather Watch for central and southwest Oregon Friday afternoon and evening. Thats where wind gusts could near 20-35 mph with low relative humidity values, posing a risk for wildfires to ignite.

Officials said state, local, and tribal agencies will continue to respond to requests for emergency cooling shelters, transportation assistance, and distributing life-sustaining supplies such as water and medical services.

The Oregon Department of Justice is also asking community members to report any concerns of excessive prices for bottled water or other essential goods and lodging during the heat wave.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Grand Strand, Pee Dee to see nearly $90M in state aid with start of new fiscal year

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  Millions of dollars in state aid is headed to the Grand Strand and Pee Dee that will help pay for new police gear, improve college campuses and upgrade aging infrastructure systems.

The states $40 billion budget, which went into affect on July 1, directs more than $86 million into the region through various line items and programs.

Gov. Henry McMaster and state lawmakers had a $1.64 billion revenue windfall to work with this year, allowing many local needs to be addressed.

In the Grand Strand, that includes:

$10 million to Myrtle Beach for downtown revitalization and technology hub enhancements

$8 million to Horry County for public safety upgrades and the Augusta Plantation interchange at S.C. Highway 31

$3.7 million to Coastal Carolina University to offset tuition and fee increases for in-state students

$2 million to Conway for the Kingston Ferry and Trail project

$2 million to the Grand Strand Humane Society

$1.5 million to North Myrtle Beach for Cherry Grove dredging

$1 million to Loris for removal and remediation of its old Main Street high school

In the Pee Dee, that includes:

$16 million to Florence-Darlington Technical College to assist with renovations of its Darlington campus and industrial trades trading facility

$5.1 million to Francis Marion University to offset tuition and fee increases for in-state students and upgrades to the Leatherman Science Facility/McNair Science Building

$5 million to Florence city and county for the Freedom Boulevard water line extension, Carolina Theatre renovations and a new fire engine

$2.5 million to Marion County for detention center improvements

$1.5 million to Dillon County for upgrades to its emergency services facility

Last week, McMaster issued 21 vetoes, cutting $2.3 million out of South Carolinas spending plan. Lawmakers included 292 proposals from his executive budget into the final version.

These proposals included an income tax cut, teacher and law enforcement pay raises, a college tuition freeze, and key investments in our states bridges and workforce development through SC Nexus and South Carolina Workforce Industry Needs Scholarships.

* * *

Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
GRDA releases name of drowning victim; third drowning in Delaware County over holiday weekend

GROVE, Okla.  The Grand River Dam Authority Police Department released the name of a drowning victim on Saturday.

The body of Levi Gibson, 39, of Afton was recovered by GRDA police on Friday around 5 p.m., according to Justin Alberty, GRDA spokesman.

Two drownings reported in Delaware County

Witnesses reported Gibson jumped into the lake, from a boat, to assist a child who had fallen off a towed water device and did not resurface.

The drowning happened near Patricia Island, which is east of Grove.

This is the second drowning on Grand Lake and the third downing in Delaware County this holiday week.

GRDA has not released details surrounding the drowning of a juvenile near Cleora on Friday.

Elsewhere in Delaware County, GRDA officers responded to a reported drowning of a 26-year-old near the Flint Creek Waterpark, west of Siloam Springs, Arkansas on Thursday.

His name has not been released.

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More than 60 garage sales took place throughout Granville on June 29 as part of the annual Great Granville Garage Sale. The event raises money for Licking County Coalition for Housing.

The annual Great Granville Garage Sale is more than just a good excuse to look at vintage collectibles, handmade jewelry or stacks of old books  its a great way to help those in need.

In 2016, the Licking County Coalition for Housing took over this annual township-wide garage sale. The coalition provides a wide range of services meant to help people experiencing homelessness find housing.

The coalition gets most of its funding from grants, and with those grants comes restrictions on the money and on what it can be spent. But the money raised from the registration fee to participate in the garage sale  which fell on June 29 this year  falls into the category of unrestricted funds.

Things like these unrestricted funds go towards actually being able to provide things outside of those perimeters, this would be things like pillows or socks or other household items that are necessities but dont necessarily fit within the confines of the grant, said Ben Stamper, the coalition's marketing and fundraising coordinator.

Other than the garage sale, the coalition also raises funds through its Food Truck Festival and HomeRun 5K and Mile Walk.

Kris Ward, a seller on West Plum Street, has plenty of experience with garage sales. She often travels to flea markets and antique shows and sells her vintage goods there.

We basically do a garage sale every day of my life, she laughed.

Her sale featured sporting goods, fishing supplies, tools, antique bells and dolls, among many other items.

Art work was among the items available at the annual Great Granville Garage Sale on June 29.

Megan Morrice had a booth at the Opera House Park, where she sold vintage Fiestaware dishes from her fathers house and her mothers art.

Its a lot of prints from my mothers collection  an Ohio-based artist, Susan Sturgill  she was an illustrator that was very popular in the 90s, Morrice said.

Sarah Prasher came to the Opera House Park to hopefully sell her records, CDs and stereo equipment, as well as just general household goods and a hodgepodge of things I dont need.

Ive already sold about three tubs worth of albums, Prasher said.

Overall, there were more than 60 locations, as well as booths at Opera House Park and the Granville Farmers Market at Raccoon Valley Park.

All of this goes towards being able to fight homelessness and making sure people have a comfortable way of easing into having a home for themselves, Stamper said.

Ellie Owen writes for write for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison Universitys Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Great Granville Garage Sale helps fight Licking County homelessness
Greta Thunberg detained during climate protest in the Netherlands

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (C) is taken away by police officers during a demonstration by the environmental initiative Extinction Rebellion (XR) blocking an entrance to the A12 highway. Robin Utrecht/ANP/dpa

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was detained during a protest in The Hague in the Netherlands on Saturday, Swedish media reported

Dutch police led the 21-year-old activist away as she participated in blocking the A12 motorway as it passes though The Hague, in a protest organized by the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement.

The A12 was blocked temporarily, with police using water cannon, according to the reports.

The A12 has been targeted in a number of protests. The activists are demanding that the Netherlands halts all state subsidies to fossil fuels.

Thunberg was arrested during protests in The Hague in April. At the end of May she was detained during pro-Palestinian protests against Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo

Thunberg was arrested two weeks ago during an XR protest in Helsinki.
Hamas ready to drop key demand in truce and hostage deal, official says

Hamas is ready to reconsider its insistence that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before signing an agreement that would usher in a temporary truce and begin a process to release hostages still held in Gaza, a senior Hamas official confirmed to CNN.

The change in Hamas position was first reported by Reuters, and comes amid intensified efforts towards reaching an agreement. The group has long demanded Israel agree to a permanent ceasefire before signing any deal, terms Israel sees as unacceptable. The apparent willingness to compromise raises the possibility a deal could be reached.

Hamas would instead accept that talks on reaching a permanent ceasefire would take place throughout the first phase of any deal, which would last six weeks, the official told CNN.

The Hamas official  who is a member of the negotiating team  confirmed to CNN that mediators would guarantee a temporary truce, the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli troops so long as indirect talks continued on implementing the second phase of the agreement.

The Hamas official, who declined to be named, said Hamas accepted a proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli men and soldiers held in Gaza no later than 16 days after the first phase of the agreement begins to be implemented.

Israeli media previously reported that a draft Israeli plan laid out terms for a similar agreement.

The draft stipulates that no later than the 16th day, indirect negotiations will begin between the two parties to conclude the conditions for the implementation of phase 2 of this agreement. The negotiations should be completed before the end of the 5th week of the first phase.

The Israeli Prime Ministers Office (PMO) has not confirmed the authenticity of that draft.

Indirect negotiations between an Israeli team and Hamas resumed in Qatar this week after Prime Minister Netanyahu authorized his negotiators to enter into detailed negotiations to try and broker a deal.

Mossad director David Barea was in Qatar to meet with the mediators and discuss the details of a potential new framework agreement for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Upon his return, the PMO issued a statement saying there are still gaps between the parties.

Efforts to reach a deal between Hamas and Israel have stalled for months. Netanyahu  who faces competing pressure from far-right cabinet ministers and family members of hostages to secure their release - has said Israel wont stop fighting until Hamas is destroyed.

A three-phase Israeli proposal was unveiled by US President Joe Biden in May, setting conditions intended to lead to the eventual release of all remaining hostages, in return for a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following Hamass October 7 attacks, which left around 1,200 dead. Since then, the campaign has killed more than 38,000 people.

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HARRAH, Okla. (KFOR)  Harrah Police are asking for the publics help identifying an armed robbery suspect after an incident at a First National Bank on Friday afternoon.

According to police, the First National Bank inside a Harps grocery store on the corner of SE 29th Street and Harrah Road was robbed at gunpoint at around 3:30 p.m.

Man in wheelchair hit, killed by car in SW Oklahoma City

The suspect, shown in the pictures below, was described by witnesses as a Black man about six feet tall wearing a black hoodie with a blue shirt underneath. The man was also wearing a black mask and armed with a silver handgun.

Armed robbery suspect. Photo courtesy Harrah Police Department.

Armed robbery suspect. Photo courtesy Harrah Police Department.

Armed robbery suspect. Photo courtesy Harrah Police Department.

Robbery suspect vehicle. Photo courtesy Harrah Police Department.

Witnesses also said the suspect drove a 2012 white Hyundai four-door sedan with Oklahoma tag KVE869.

If you any information about the suspect or the suspects vehicle, call the Oklahoma County Dispatch Center at 405-869-251.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
The Harte Research Institute has created a free online platform to educate those interested in oyster farming in Texas.

The online courses are free, and include the opportunity to apply for a paid internship at a oyster farm or hatchery upon completion of the program.

Texas is the second largest commercial oyster harvester in the country, primarily through the harvest of natural reefs. But as wild harvests have dwindled due to overfishing, freshwater intrusion and hurricanes, oyster farming has been introduced as a sustainable alternative.

Harte Research Institute staff visited Texas Oyster Ranch in Copano Bay to develop a new free online program for those interested in oyster farming.

Oyster farming has only been legal in Texas for a few years. The first permitted oyster farm in Texas started operations in Copano Bay in fall 2021. The Caller-Times has reported on the first forays of Coastal Bend oyster farmers.

Currently, there are several oyster farms operating in bay waters across the state, including around Copano and Aransas bays, Tres Pelacios Bay and West Bay and East Bay near Galveston.

Baby oysters rely on reefs made of oyster shells to grow and thrive. Oyster reefs are typically found in upper bay areas with moderate salinity. Changes to salinity, which can happen as the result of a storm, and overharvesting can harm oysters.

During harvests, shells are removed from the reefs, impacting future generations of oysters which need that habitat in order to grow and thrive.

The decline of oyster habitat is also an environmental concern. Oysters are filter-feeders that clean and clear water. Additionally, oyster reefs provide a habitat for other small organisms that in turn attract larger fish.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has closed several bays along the Texas cost to wild harvest, including St. Charles Bay in Aransas County where the Harte Research Institute has successfully worked to restore reefs using recycled oyster shells from restaurants in Corpus Christi and Port Aransas, along with crushed rock and concrete.

Oyster farming is an alternative to wild harvest. Oyster farms rely on seed oysters from a hatchery. Instead of growing in a natural reef, farmed oysters are grown in cages.

According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, there is no nutritional difference between farmed or wild harvested oysters. They also filter water like wild oysters and help remove nitrogen and carbon from coastal waters.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi's Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies provides training for those interested in oyster aquaculture through the Oyster Resource and Recovery Center, a $5.1 million workforce development award from the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality.

According to a news release from the Harte Research Institute, oyster farming is a new industry with a "strong demand for a trained labor force" in Texas.

This program is important for Texas because it will allow future farmers to learn how to set up, operate, and maintain an oyster farm for years to come, DJ's Oyster Company owner David Aparicio said in the news release.

DJs Oyster Company, located in Palacios, was the third permitted oyster farm in Texas.

According to the program website, aquaculture experts and specialists contributed to the courses. Texas Oyster Ranch, the first oyster farm in the state started by Corpus Christi restaurateur Brad Lomax, and DJ's Oyster Company provided interviews and videos and photos of operations for the program.

The Oyster Resource and Recovery Center online program is the first of its kind in the state. The program plans to add a Spanish language version in the coming months.

The program includes courses in oyster hatchery, oyster farming and business development. The program also provides paid work experience at a farm or hatchery for a limited number of individuals who complete the online courses.

Free industry specific workshops will also be held bi-annually focused on marketing, consume behavior, product branding and entrepreneurship.

"This program is going to kickstart the oyster farming industry in Texas and provide training for the next generation of oystermen and women," Oyster Resource and Recovery Center program manager Ellis Chapman said in a news release. "By fostering a trained workforce through these courses, we aim to stabilize and grow oyster populations, ultimately benefiting both the ecosystem and economy in Texas coastal regions."

To learn more or enroll in a course, visit https://www.txoystertraining.org/en/oyster-farming.

Texas was last coastal state to legalize commercial oyster farms. Here's how it's going.

Harte Research Institute eyes new waters after St. Charles Bay oyster restorations

The oyster farming industry is slowly growing in South Texas. Heres whats next.

Sharks, oysters and conservation policy: Look inside the Harte Research Institute

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Harte Research Institute highlights opportunity in oyster farming
Henderson woman arrested after husband shot in the back

LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A 41-year-old Henderson woman faces an attempted murder charge after her husband was shot in the back on Wednesday.

Amber Bender was booked on a charge of attempted 2nd degree murder per domestic violence, according to information from the Mohave County (Arizona) Sheriffs Office.

Benders husband, who was not identified in the report, was flown to a Las Vegas hospital where he was listed in critical condition, police said Friday.

Mohae County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) deputies were dispatched to a home in Dolan Springs just after noon on Wednesday. A female subject told police she shot her husband at a residence in the 17000 block of Needle Drive. When deputies arrived, they found the victim with a gunshot would to his back.

Dolan Springs is about an hour and 15 minutes southeast of Las Vegas on U.S. 93.

Deputies and detectives located Bender, a Henderson resident, at a separate location and arrested her. She was booked into the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility in Kingman.

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Before Oct. 7, Sigal Malachi would wake up at 5 a.m. each day to water her plants, remove weeds, and produce cuttings. The co-owner of a greenhouse in northern Israel, she said her home was once a lush paradise.

Now, it's a war zone.

Like others living close to the Lebanon border, Malachi is one of what the Israeli government estimates are tens of thousands of Israelis uprooted from their homes because of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Forced to shutter her family business, Malachi packed her belongings and left Moshav Liman, an agricultural community in northern Israel on the Mediterranean coast, only a few miles south of the Lebanon border.

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Lebanese militia group, began launching near-daily rocket attacks on northern Israel on Oct. 8, the day after the Iran-allied Palestinian militant group Hamas led an unprecedented incursion from the Gaza Strip into neighboring southern Israel, igniting the war. Hezbollah has said it is striking Israel in solidarity with Palestinians and won't stop until there is a cease-fire in Hamas-ruled Gaza, where an ongoing air and ground assault by the Israeli military has caused widespread devastation.

In Israel, at least 1,200 people were killed and 6,900 others injured by Hamas and other Palestinian militants during the Oct. 7 attack, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). In Gaza, more than 38,000 people have been killed and 87,000 others wounded by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to the territory's Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health. Meanwhile, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged cross-border fire as tensions have escalated in the region.

On June 12, Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets into northern Israel, the largest attack on the country since the war in Gaza began. The group said it was in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike that killed one of its senior commanders in southern Lebanon.

Malachi, a 46-year-old mother of two, is one of an estimated 60,000 people who, for their own safety, have been evacuated from northern Israel in the face of the Hezbollah rocket attacks, according to the Israeli government.

But the attacks have also brought with them an environmental cost, in the form of thousands of acres of wildfires.

"It's dangerous, it's coming next to the houses," Malachi told ABC News of the fires. "Even if it's not coming to the houses, it's killing forests and it's killing all the life on the ground."

PHOTO: Malachi and others in Moshav picking olives from olive trees to make olive oil., July 2, 2023. (Courtesy Sigal Malachi)

Yehoshua Shkedy, chief scientist for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, has been monitoring the environmental damage the fires have caused. Vegetation in the north of Israel is much more widespread than in the south, he said, meaning the fire risk in the north is much higher.

"If this war is going to continue, we're going to see more and more fire in the woodlands," Shkedy told ABC News.

He said the fire ruins vegetation, harms soil quality, and burns small animals that cannot easily escape, including lizards, rodents, snails, and invertebrates.

"As we progress, the effects of the fire are more severe," Shkedy said. "The soil itself is getting burned sometimes  cooked. It's like in the oven, and then it's becoming infertile for quite a while."

PHOTO: Fires burn as a result of rockets launched from Lebanon into northern Israel, next to the city of Kiryat Shmona near the Lebanon border, on June 3, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images)

He warned that after a hot, dry summer, September and October could be highly dangerous.

"Right now we have four times more fires than we have every year," Shkedy said. "It is bad now, and it's going to be worse toward the autumn."

PHOTO: This map provided by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority shows extensive fire damage in Israel amid the ongoing war. (Courtesy of Sheli Elbaz/Israel Nature and Parks Authority)

PHOTO: Fire burned trees in Biriya Forest, June 5, 2024. (KKL-JNF)

Gilad Ostrovsky is the chief forester of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), a nonprofit organization that for decades has helped manage Israel's forests. He said crews are treating the forests and working to reduce fire risk by creating fuel breaks  that is, buffer lines with little to no combustible vegetation that separate settlements and forests by about 70 meters, or about 230 feet.

"Those buffer lines within the forest means they are wide enough to let fire trucks get in safely, but when the fire becomes bigger and more [intense], we have to call the airplanes," Ostrovsky told ABC News, adding that using planes is also dangerous because Hezbollah could shoot them down with missiles.

"We are very worried," Ostrovsky said.

PHOTO: Satellite image taken, June 13, 2024, shows land that burned in northern Israel. (Copernicus Sentinel-Pierre Markuse)

With tensions increasing between Hezbollah and Israel, the prospect of future fires is concerning. Ostrovsky said flames from past fires reached some houses near the northernmost Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. Some farmers, he said, lost orchards and agricultural land to the fires.

Ostrovsky said within two weeks in June, the forest fires in Israel sparked by Hezbollah rockets burned about 5,000 hectares  more than 12,000 acres  hitting the Biriya Forest national park, the Naftali mountains, and the Bar'am Forest Nature Preserve, all of them only a few miles from the border with Lebanon.

Ostrovsky said even Hezbollah rockets intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system can spark fires. "Even if we are successful in not letting the missiles get in, there is a massive explosion in the air. And then thousands of pieces spread all over and each piece can start a fire," Ostrovsky said, which in turn makes managing the multiple blazes more challenging.

"It's not just one place that it started. Now, because of the war and the rockets, it is starting all over, all over," he continued. "It's very hard for us to say, 'Okay, we can be prepared.' The uncertainty is very high. That's the problem."

PHOTO: A firefighter douses a fire that broke out after a rocket strike fired from Lebanon, on July 4, 2024, in Northern Israel. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Beyond immediate safety operations, forest rehabilitation will take years, Ostrovsky said.

"In the northern part of Israel, we prefer natural regeneration," he said, noting that because northern Israel gets more rain than southern Israel and has more vegetation, regrowth can be assessed a few years after the fires to determine which sections of the forest need to be replanted.

The positive news, he added, is that many volunteers arrived in June to help firefighters.

PHOTO: Kindergarten in Moshav Liman that has been closed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, June 29, 2024. (Courtesy Sigal Malachi)

Malachi, who now rents an apartment in Givat Ela, a small village east of the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, told ABC News that she makes the hour-long drive back to Moshav Liman three days a week to care for her plants and property. Others also began venturing back in June to cut grass, remove dried herbs and perform other tasks to help prevent future fires, Malachi said. Yet with so many empty towns, she worries the land is more vulnerable to fire because it's been unkept for so long.

"It's not going to be easy and it's sad and I hope it will stop," she said of the violence. While her home has been spared, Malachi said it's shocking to see the north ablaze.

"You cry and you don't believe it's happened," she said. "You see people fighting the fire and it's scary. It's affected everybody."

Malachi said it will take a long time for communities and agriculture to recover. "It's not like tomorrow we put again a new tree and try to make everything new. It's not so easy," she said, emphasizing the enormity of the fires. Yet she's confident that it will happen.

"Everybody will come and help make the north again new," she said.

Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel spark fires, destroy thousands of acres originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Hello, its the weekend. This is The Weekender 

As Democrats grapple with a crisis atop their ticket of the sort not seen in generations, Republicans seem to be trying to figure out what they want the press and the public to see when it eventually directs its gaze back toward their party. That has, over the course of this week, developed into an effort to hide the ball ahead of the Republican National Convention.

Donald Trump is reviewing a decades-old plank of the GOP platform that calls for a constitutional amendment to extend personhood protections to the unborn, The Washington Post reports. Such an amendment would amount to a nation-wide ban on abortion, and could also imperil in-vitro fertilization treatments and other medical procedures.

Meanwhile, Trump claimed on Truth Social Friday that he had no idea what the Heritage Foundations Project 2025 is, an absurd assertion given that the organizations users manual to a radical second Trump term  gutting the federal government, infusing it with Christian nationalism, and orchestrating mass deportation of immigrants  is written by high-ranking members of his own administration, including Stephen Miller and former OMB Chief Russ Vought.

It suggests that the campaign fears that the public is on to the ways in which a second Trump term could reshape America  especially after the Supreme Court ruled Monday that the insurrection was good and fine and in fact Trump is King, and after the head of Heritage opined on Steve Bannons podcast that his organizations second American Revolution will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be. Dont make us hurt you! Haha! The Trump campaign sees a vulnerability in the public knowing the truth  assuming Democrats soon sort out who Trump is running against.

Heres what else TPM has on tap this weekend:

Kate Riga explains how the Court has left the door open to indulging its anti-abortion preferences at a later date.

Hunter Walker checks in on Mark Robinson.

Khaya Himmelman reminds us of Republicans outrageously cartoonish about face on ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin.

Emine Yucel questions Mike Johnsons memory.

Lets dig in.

 John Light

The Court Saves Its Abortion Moves For Another (Post-Election) Day

This Supreme Court term ended in jurisprudential mushroom cloud. The Court took a sledgehammer to the separation of powers, and jacked up the presidency with an injunction of a-constitutional steroids.

What it did not do was take a couple of prime opportunities to limit accessibility to mifepristone  medication abortions being by far the most common type  and to allow bans on emergency room abortions. In both of those cases, the Court punted: in the former, finding that the anti-abortion doctors lacked standing to bring the suit (obviously correct), and in the latter, that the Court shouldnt have intervened before the case finished its journey through the lower courts (ditto).

Both of these decisions have something in common, though  by not coming to a conclusion on the merits (which is what theyre supposed to do), the Court has left the door open to indulging its anti-abortion preferences at a later date. For the mifepristone case, the argument would need to find new plaintiffs; for the Idaho emergency room one, the Court just has to wait until the case reaches it via regular order.

The more cynical (prescient?) among us may note that both of those maneuvers have pushed these big cases until after the 2024 election. Abortion will likely still be a powerful and salient issue, but there werent any late-game, screaming headlines from this term to make it more potent.

The justices unanimously came to the right conclusion on the mifepristone case, and the Idaho one wouldnt have concluded before the election if theyd just butted out and let it proceed at its normal pace anyway. But we know well by now that the justices are political creatures; these anti-abortion cases are delayed, not denied.

 Kate Riga

Some Folks Need Killing, Mark Robinson Declares

As hard as this is to believe, Republican Mark Robinson has actually taken his extreme rhetoric up a notch and is now talking about how some folks need killing!

Robinson, who has been North Carolinas lieutenant governor since 2021 and is currently the GOP nominee in that states gubernatorial race, has a very long history of making inflammatory comments including wild conspiracy theories and attacks on the LGBT community, Black people, communists, Jews, and much more. TPM has chronicled all of this in depth and Robinson has not toned down his rhetoric for the campaign. Robinsons prolific body of crazy online comments and speeches has included questioning the Holocaust and arguing Nazism is not a current problem, his latest rant actually began with praise for killing Nazis.

We now find ourselves struggling with people who have evil intent. You know, theres a time when we used to meet evil on the battlefield, and guess what we did to it? We killed it! Robinson said, adding, We didnt argue and capitulate and talk about, well, maybe we shouldnt fight the Nazis that hard. No, theyre bad. Kill them. Some liberal somewhere is going to say that sounds awful. Too bad. Get mad at me if you want to.

Robinson went on to seemingly make clear he was just pointing to Nazism as an example and that he believes there are more modern political enemies that need killing.

Some folks need killing! Its time for somebody to say it. Its not a matter of vengeance. Its not a matter of being mean or spiteful. Its a matter of necessity! When you have wicked people doing wicked things, torturing and murdering and raping. Its time to call out, uh, those guys in green and go have them handled. Or those boys in blue and have them go handle it, Robinson said, adding, We need to start handling our business again. Dont you feel it slipping away?

The New Republic has a detailed breakdown of Robsinons remarks , which actually took place at a churchs God And Country Sunday event on June 30. He went on to suggest these unspecified people who need to be taken out are listening to us  tracking us and somehow responsible for cancel culture.

This toxic blend of conspiracy and rage is nothing new for Robinson, but more importantly, its increasingly a feature of Republican politics at large. Trump and his allies have been openly musing about getting revenge on their political enemies if he wins a second term and, obviously, on Jan. 6 and at multiple points during the last contentious campaign we saw unprecedented levels of modern political violence in this country. The calls for retribution and violence coming from Republicans are getting louder.

 Hunter Walker

Wisconsin Supreme Court Reinstates Ballot Drop Boxes

On Friday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which holds a liberal majority, reinstated the use of ballot drop boxes for absentee ballots, reversing a 2022 decision that barred their use.

The court has sided with the left-leaning political action committee Priorities USA, who challenged the 2022 Supreme Court decision that claimed that the Wisconsin Elections Commission had incorrectly told election clerks in 2020 that the use of ballot drop boxes for absentee ballots was allowed.

The decision, according to Fridays ruling, does not force or require that any municipal clerks use drop boxes, but rather notes that clerks may lawfully utilize secure drop boxes in an exercise of their statutorily-conferred discretion.

Although ballot drop boxes have been the source of election conspiracy theories about ballot harvesting and election manipulation since the 2020 election, Republicans, as previously reported by TPM , preemptively began to change their tune ahead of this ruling. Despite perpetuating dangerous misinformation about ballot drop boxes, they recently began encouraging voters to use them.

Jay Heck, executive director of the non-partisan Common Cause Wisconsin, told TPM that Republicans have started to read the tea leaves, knowing that todays decision, with the courts newly instated liberal majority, would likely reverse the courts 2022 decision.

Heck also explained that the Republican strategy will be two-part: both encouraging voters to use drop boxes, but also, as he explained it, to continue to raise the specter of fraud.



You support the voting method until youre losing, Barry Burden, political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Director of the Elections Research Center, similarly told TPM . What weve seen is that for some folks who are losing, theyre willing to go to pretty much any ends to try and ensure they can win.

 Khaya Himmelman

Words Of Wisdom

The president and the vice president are the only two offices in our constitutional system that are elected by all the people. No one who is elected to that office is going to be prone to this kind of crazy criminal activity.

Thats House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) during a Fox News interview this week commenting on the Monday Supreme Court immunity ruling.

Im one of those people who always preaches never say never. But with Trump as the presumptive presidential nominee for the GOP, its not even a reach to think crazy criminal activity might be the norm if he gets elected.

Perhaps Speaker Johnson needs a reminder of the events that unfolded in January 2020. Or maybe he needs copies of the indictments against the former president. Youd think with his legal background it shouldnt be too hard for him to imagine what might happen in a second Trump term when theres almost no fear of accountability.

 Emine Yucel
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A Hillsborough County deputy injured when a fleeing suspect rammed him with their car has been released from the hospital, the sheriffs office announced.

Deputy Kalin Hall was released from Tampa General Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, Sheriff Chad Chronister said.

St. Pete woman hospitalized after large branch crushes her

His dedication to Hillsborough County is immeasurable, from his outstanding contributions within the HCSO K9 unit to his vigilant efforts in DUI operations, Chronister added. He embodies our commitment to keeping the community safe.

A BMW struck Deputy Hall after the driver fled from an attempted traffic stop around 12:25 a.m. on Friday.

Source: Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office

Source: Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office

Source: Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office

Source: Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office

As he started to approach the vehicle, the vehicle accelerated at a very high rate of speed and struck Kalin Hall and continued. That driver had no regard for human life at that moment and fled the scene, a sheriffs office spokesperson said.

Deputy Hall, who has been with the sheriffs office for 11 years, was treated for a broken left leg and an injured right leg.

Investigators said they later found the suspects BMW abandoned about a mile from the second stop. Detectives identified the owner of the car and took them into custody.

This marks the fourth time in less than a year that our deputies have faced brazen and violent attacks, said Sheriff Chronister. This criminal and horrific behavior is reprehensible and will not be tolerated. While there are those who seek to disturb our communitys safety and well-being, we are proud to serve a community that stands firmly behind our deputies. We are deeply thankful for the communitys unwavering support for Deputy Hall during this time.

The investigation remains active, the sheriffs office said.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Following a historic and highly debated police raid on the homes of employees of the Marion County Record in August 2023, former reporter Deb Gruver has settled her portion of a federal lawsuit against the former chief of Marion County police.

On August 11, 2023, Gideon Cody  then chief of police in Marion, Kansas  raided the offices of the Marion County Record while executing three search warrants later found to be insolvent.

During the raid, Cody seized Gruvers personal cell phone and injured her finger, according to Gruvers original lawsuit. The suit alleges that Cody grabbed the phone from Grubers hand while she was trying to call Eric Meyer, the papers publisher, after Cody had served her a search warrant.

Police also took Gruvers computer tower, as well as devices belonging to Meyer and Record reporter Phyllis Zorn, according to the lawsuit. The warrant was withdrawn five days later, with Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey citing insufficient evidence, The Star previously reported.

Cody resigned in October following the submission of Gruvers lawsuit, The Star reported.

Gruver left her position shortly thereafter, according to The Record. As of the June 26 amendment to the lawsuit, the lawsuit no longer names Cody but still names Ensey and Marion County Sheriff Jeff Soyez.

According to documents obtained by The Record, The City of Marion agreed to pay Gruver $235,000 in exchange for removing Codys name from the lawsuit.

The settlement agreement, dated June 25, and obtained by The Record on July 2, included a confidentiality clause prohibiting Gruver from discussing the settlement.

Meyer has alleged the raid was motivated by personal scores, as the paper had turbulent relationships with Cody, Ensey and Soyez, The Star reported previously.

Raids related to search warrants filed by Cody were also executed in Meyers home, and in the home of Marion city councilwoman Ruth Herbel. Meyers mother, 98-year-old Joan Meyer, was upset by the search and died of a sudden cardiac event the next day, The Star reported.

The very first version of the suit only named Cody, according to court records. Gruver filed a motion to amend her complaint on June 17, according to case documents.

The three search warrants against The Record and related persons were originally linked to Record investigations into Marion business owner Kari Newell. After a Record reporter pulled information about Newells DUI record from a Kansas Department of Revenue website, Newell, who had reportedly been driving without a valid license since a DUI in 2008, claimed the information was obtained illegally.

Five lawsuits have been filed by Record employees since the raid, naming the city of Marion and various police and civic officials, The Star previously reported.

Eric Meyer, who filed the fourth suit in late May, said the latest suits are meant to deter the next crazed cop from threatening democracy the way Chief (Gideon) Cody did, The Star reported.

Record office manager Cheri Bentz filed a lawsuit on March 29, alleging that she was unlawfully detained during the raid and that her personal belongings were unlawfully searched.

Along with Gruver and Bentz, Zorn filed a lawsuit naming the City of Marion, Cody, then mayor David Mayfield, several current Marion police officers and the Marion County Commission. Zorns lawsuit alleges that Cody tried to convince her to leave The Record and start a competing paper, which he would fund, The Star reported.

At the time, The Record was actively investigating Codys career with KCPD, during which he was accused of misconduct, The Star reported. Zorns lawsuit also alleges that during the raid, Cody turned off his body camera and read through Gruvers personal file on him, which she kept at her desk.

Attorneys for Gruver and Cody were not immediately available for comment Friday evening.

Reporting by The Stars Katie Moore and Eric Adler was used in this article.
Historic storm Beryl is forecast to make 3rd landfall as hurricane in Texas. See path

Days after its landfall on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Tropical Storm Beryl is intensifying again and is expected to make landfall as a hurricane along the Texas Coast.

On Monday, Beryl made landfall in Grenada's Carriacou Island as a Category 4 hurricane, ravaging the southern Caribbean Islands, flattening hundreds of buildings and killing at least six people. Later Monday night, it became the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record. Driven by record-high ocean temperatures, Beryl's rapid strengthening stunned experts.

Beryl also was the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record  before dropping to Category 3 on Monday  and is the first June major hurricane east of the Lesser Antilles on record.

 Track all active storms

Other than Beryl, tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next seven days, according to the National Hurricane Center. Here's the latest update from the hurricane center as of Saturday afternoon:

Where is Hurricane Beryl going to hit? Track path

Location : 415 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas

Maximum sustained winds: 60 mph

Movement: west-northwest at 12 mph

Hurricane Beryl: Here's latest information on strength, forecast path

Projected path of Tropical Storm Beryl as of 8 a.m. ET Saturday, July 6, 2024.

As of 2 p.m., the center of Tropical Storm Beryl was approximately 415 miles southeast of Corpus Christi. The storm was forecast to turn toward the northwest later Saturday and then north-northwestward by Sunday night.

The historic storm currently has maximum sustained winds near 60 mph with tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 125 miles from the center.

On the forecast track, the center of Beryl is expected to approach the Texas coast by late Sunday into Monday morning. It is likely to intensify into a Category 1 hurricane before landfall along the mid-Texas coast on Monday. The National Weather Service office in Corpus Christi advises residents to prepare for a Category 2.

"Still some uncertainty with the exact strength and track Beryl will take, but an eastward trend in the guidance continues," the advisory stated.

More: South Texas surfers ride out waves caused by tropical storms and hurricanes

The earliest time of tropical-storm-force winds is Sunday morning, but they are more likely Sunday evening, according to NWS. Potential for widespread heavy rain will begin Sunday.

Large swells generated by Beryl are expected to reach much of the Gulf Coast of the U.S. The swells are expected to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Spaghetti models: Where will Hurricane Beryl go next?

Special note about spaghetti models: Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The Hurricane Center uses only the top four or five highest-performing models to help make its forecasts.

Watches and warnings issued for Hurricane Beryl in Texas, Mexico

Hurricane watch

A hurricane watch is in effect for the following:

The Texas coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande northward to San Luis Pass.

A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area. A watch is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds, conditions that make outside preparations difficult or dangerous.

A hurricane warning will likely be issued for a portion of the Texas coast this afternoon.

Tropical storm warning

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the following:

The Texas coast south of Baffin Bay to the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

The northeastern coast of mainland Mexico from Barra el Mezquital to the mouth of the Rio Grande River.

A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area within 36 hours.

Storm surge watch

A storm surge watch is in effect for the following:

The Texas coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande northward to High Island.

A storm surge watch means there is a possibility of life-threatening inundation, from rising water moving inland from the coastline, in the indicated locations during the next 48 hours.

Texas weather watches and warnings

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Hurricane Beryl's path keeps shifting. Where in Texas will it hit?
A surfer passes under a pier after spending time in the water ahead of Beryl's arrival, Saturday, July 6, 2024, in Port Aransas, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

HOUSTON (AP)  Texas officials urged coastal residents to brace for a looming hit by Beryl, which was a tropical storm on Saturday but was expected to regain hurricane strength as it moves across the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

A hurricane warning was declared for a stretch of the state's coast from Baffin Bay, south of Corpus Christi, to Sargent, south of Houston, and forecasters said the storm's center was likely to approach the state Sunday and then make landfall the following day. Storm surge warnings were also in effect.

Were expecting the storm to make landfall somewhere on the Texas coast sometime Monday, if the current forecast is correct, said Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Should that happen, itll most likely be a Category 1 hurricane.

The earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, Beryl caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean islands earlier in the week. It then battered Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, toppling trees but causing no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved across the Yucatan Peninsula.

Texas officials warned people along the entire coastline to prepare for possible flooding, heavy rain and wind as the storm nears.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who is acting governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is traveling in Taiwan, issued a preemptive disaster declaration for 121 counties.

"Beryl is a determined storm, and incoming winds and potential flooding will pose a serious threat to Texans who are in Beryls path at landfall and as it makes its way across the state for the following 24 hours, Patrick said Saturday in a statement.

Some coastal cities called for voluntary evacuations in low-lying areas prone to flooding, banned beach camping and urged tourists traveling on the July 4 holiday weekend to move recreational vehicles from coastal parks.

Mitch Thames, a spokesman for Matagorda County, said Saturday that officials issued a voluntary evacuation request for the coastal areas of the county about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Houston to inform the large number of visitors in the area for the holiday weekend.

I certainly dont want to ruin the holiday weekend for our visitors. But at the same time, our No. 1 goal is the health and safety of all our visitors and of course our residents. Im not so much worried about our residents. Those folks that live down there, theyre used to this, they get it, Thames said.

In Corpus Christi, officials asked visitors to cut their trips short and return home early if possible. Officials asked residents to secure their homes by boarding up windows if necessary and using sandbags to guard against possible flooding.

Were taking the storm very serious and were asking the community to take the storm very serious as well, Corpus Christi Fire Chief Brandon Wade said during a Friday evening news conference.

Traffic has been nonstop for the past three days at an Ace Hardware in Corpus Christi as customers buy up tarps, rope, duct tape, sandbags and generators, employee Elizabeth Landry said Saturday.

Theyre just worried about the wind, the rain, she said. Theyre wanting to prepare just in case.

Ben Koutsoumbaris, general manager of Island Market on Corpus Christis Padre Island, said there's definitely a lot of buzz about the incoming storm, with customers stocking up on food and drinks  particularly meat and beer.

I heard theres been some talk about people having like hurricane parties, he said by telephone Saturday.

In Refugio County, north of Corpus Christi along Texas' Gulf Coast, officials issued a mandatory evacuation order for its 6,700 residents Saturday.

Refugio County Judge Jhiela Gigi Poynter, the countys top elected official, said that based on the growing confidence of Beryls track and the uncertainty regarding the storms intensity and holiday weekend traffic that is already backing up roads, she made the decision to call for the mandatory evacuation.

I would rather be cautious and let Tropical Storm Beryl come crawling in with a little bit of rain and a little bit of wind to an empty Refugio County than the alternative if it were to strengthen more than the predictions, which we know has happened with several storms in the past, Poynter said in a video posted on Facebook.

As of Saturday night, Beryl was about 330 miles (535 kilometers) southeast of Corpus Christi and had top sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

Before hitting Mexico and moving into the Gulf, Beryl had already spread destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados this week. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said.

Mexican authorities had moved some tourists and residents out of low-lying areas around the Yucatan Peninsula before landfall, but tens of thousands remained to tough out the strong winds and storm surge. Much of the area around Tulum is just a few yards (meters) above sea level.

The city was plunged into darkness when the storm knocked out power as it came ashore. Screeching winds set off car alarms across the town. Wind and rain continued to whip the seaside city and surrounding areas Friday morning. Army brigades roved the streets of the tourist city, clearing fallen trees and power lines. No deaths or injuries have been reported.

___

Vertuno reported from Austin, Texas. Associated Press writers Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, and Martin Silva in Tulum, Mexico, contributed to this report.
Utahs 2nd Congressional district debate between Colby Jenkins and Congresswoman Celeste Maloy at the KUED studios at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Monday, June 10, 2024. (Pool photo by Scott G Winterton/Deseret News)

In whats been an increasingly tight race, 2nd Congressional candidate Colby Jenkins sued Washington County Clerk Ryan Sullivan on Friday to obtain the countys list of uncured ballots, which contain the names of voters whose signatures need to be confirmed before their votes are counted.

Washington County promptly objected to the argument, with County Attorney Eric Clarke writing in a Friday court filing the lawsuit is based on a misinterpretation of Utah election law. Washington County has never released this list to a candidate, nor do they have to, and the decision to withhold it is an effort to protect voter privacy, Sullivan said in a statement posted to the countys Facebook page.

A judge in Utahs 5th District Court in St. George scheduled a hearing Monday morning to consider the case.

The suit comes amid an extremely tight Republican primary race for the 2nd Congressional District, with Jenkins trailing Rep. Celeste Maloy by just 314 votes as of Friday. Jenkins campaign says there could be enough unconfirmed votes to trigger a recount, and possibly flip the race.

There are more than enough ballots left in Washington County to not only push this race into recount territory, but to significantly cut Congresswoman Maloys lead and make a recount much more perilous for her, the Jenkins campaign said in a news release.

Uncured votes

Ballots are sometimes rejected by poll workers because the voters signature is incomplete, or does not match their voter registration records. County officials then try to reach the voter to confirm their intent  until they can, those ballots are left uncured and will not count.

In Washington County, the deadline to cure ballots is Monday, July 8. The county will then begin its canvass on Tuesday, where it certifies the election.

The Jenkins campaign was seeking the list of Washington County voters with uncured ballots in hopes it could help urge voters to get their signatures confirmed over the weekend. Attorneys for Jenkins argue there are 531 ballots in the county awaiting confirmation and that his campaign should get a copy of that list by Friday, although the court later announced it will weigh in Monday.

For a recount, Utah law requires a margin of equal or less than 0.25% of the total number of votes cast. There have been about 106,902 votes cast in the 2nd Congressional District race so far, putting the required recount margin at roughly 267. As of Friday, Jenkins was just 47 votes away from reaching that threshold.

It looks very possible that well go into a recount. A recount only counts the ballots that were certified, and so we have to get this cure list, we have to get all of these ballots in before the canvassing begins, said Greg Powers, Jenkins campaign manager. That way we have the maximum number of our votes in as possible before the actual recount starts.

Once the recount starts, Powers said, those uncured ballots will be void. Their only chance for their vote to count and their voice to be heard is right there, he said.

Its worth noting that the voter cure list would include names and contact information, but not information about what candidate the person is for. Ballots arent opened and counted until the signatures on the envelopes have been verified.

Any insinuation that were trying to rig the election is false

Powers said the campaign would have preferred a ruling on Friday  without the cure list, they cant work to confirm ballots over the weekend.

Whether (Sullivans) motives are good or nefarious, the result at this point is that if he gets his way, fewer voters will have their voice heard in Washington County because of his actions, Powers said.

In response, Sullivan said that any insinuation that we are trying to rig the election is false.

The Jenkins campaign initially asked the Washington County Clerks Office for a copy of the ballot cure list on June 28, according to court documents. The campaign also asked Salt Lake County for its list of uncured ballots  Salt Lake County provided the campaign with a list, Powers said, but Washington County did not.

Clarke, Washington Countys attorney, argued Sullivans decision not to provide the list was lawful.

A county clerk has the discretion under state law to decide whether to provide the requested ballot cure lists, Clarke wrote on Friday, asking the court to deny Jenkins request.

Powers called that a silly response.

They admit that they could give the list, why not give the list in the interest of transparency? he said.

Sullivan reassured voters on Friday that the clerk-auditors office is going above and beyond to cure ballots.

Washington County has reached out to every individual whose signature needs curing, informing them that they need to cure their signature before their ballot can be counted, the county said in a statement. A letter was sent to each voter with an uncured ballot, the county said, and voters who provided their contact information were notified via email, text and call.

This is a voter privacy issue for me. I dont want to release voter information to campaign volunteers only to have them show up at a voters doorstep and potentially harass them into disclosing who they voted for, Sullivan said in a statement.

Though Maloy holds a slight edge in the overall race, Jenkins currently has about 59% of the vote in Washington County, compared to the freshman congresswomans 41%.

We find it a suspicious coincidence that such a large outstanding number of ballots are being withheld in a county that Mr. Jenkins is winning with nearly 60% of the vote, the campaign said in a statement Friday, with Jenkins pointing out on X that Clarke endorsed Maloy.

Clarke, in a prepared statement, said Washington County is aggressively defending our county from Jenkins legal claim  which has no basis in fact.

The Utah Legislature wrote the law to give counties discretion in whether to release cure lists, Clarke said. Any claim otherwise ignores both the statutory language and legislative intent.

Counties dont usually release cure lists before the canvass

County officials noted that Washington County, along with the vast majority of other counties in our state, have never released a cure list to a candidate.

Its unclear why Salt Lake County released its cure list (Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman did not respond to a request for comment Friday). However, Davis County Clerk Brian McKenzie told Utah News Dispatch he has typically opted not to release cure lists before the county canvass because until then they are in flux or considered draft records and therefore, in most cases, not public records.

One of the things we never want to have happen is if weve contacted a voter and corrected the issue with their ballot, its been cured, we wouldnt want somebody to contact them, you know, 10 minutes later and say, Hey, Ive got a list right here that says your ballot has not been counted. And the voter says, Well I just talked with the clerks office, and its been counted, McKenzie said.

Such situations, he said, can cause confusion.

When we have confusion, when we have miscommunication, thats when we get frustration and thats when confidence in the voting system can be degraded, McKenzie said. Thats the whole reason why draft records are not normally public, because theyre not finalized.

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The post Hoping for a recount to beat Maloy, GOP House candidate Colby Jenkins sues to get voter information appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., conducts a news conference at the Republican National Committee after a meeting with Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump and the House Republican Conference on Thursday, June 13, 2024. Also appearing from left are, Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP)  House Republicans are off to a quicker, more united start this year when it comes to funding the federal government, passing four of 12 annual appropriations bills before the end of June compared to zero at this time last year when the new majority got off to a rocky start.

But there is no denying the spending fights to come.

All four bills that passed the House so far generated veto threats from President Joe Biden 's administration and drew widespread Democratic opposition and they have no chance of passing the Senate in their current form. That means a protracted, months-long battle that will likely require one or more stopgap spending bills to keep the federal government fully open when the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

Here's a snapshot of where things stand in the appropriations process and the likely flashpoints.

Plowing ahead

House Republicans are intent on passing the dozen appropriations bills one at a time rather than combining them into one, massive catchall bill known as an omnibus, which they say leads to excessive spending and faulty government policies because such massive bills are harder to amend or stop without risking a government shutdown.

Earlier this year, Speaker Mike Johnson broke up the discretionary spending into two bills. Congress ended up passing them in March nearly halfway through the fiscal year. Now, House Republicans are intent on moving more quickly for the fiscal year 2025 spending bills. Johnson bragged that the House has passed four of next year's spending bills compared to zero in the Senate.

House Republicans have committed to building that muscle memory back and go through with regular order, Johnson said.

Non-defense spending cuts

The House GOP's momentum is likely temporary. They decided to go their own way rather than work with Democrats in crafting the bills. GOP leadership jettisoned key aspects of an agreement then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy worked out with Biden that put in place strict spending limits as part of a deal to avoid a crippling default.

The agreement called for defense and non-defense spending to increase 1% during the next fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. But House Republicans have decided that they'll pursue a course where only defense will go up that amount. Non-defense spending will be cut by about 6%, spurning adjustments McCarthy and the White House agreed to that would allow for more non-defense spending than was specified in the debt ceiling legislation.

The difference between the two paths is significant. If House Republicans stayed with the McCarthy-Biden agreement, non-defense spending would rise from nearly $773 billion this year to more than $780 billion in the next fiscal year. Instead, they are working toward roughly $725 billion in non-defense spending.

Rep. Tom Cole, the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, argued that House Republicans are going by what was in the debt ceiling bill. Not all of the Biden-McCarthy agreement was in it. The negotiators had agreed to claw back funding approved outside the appropriations process to shore up non-defense spending and keep it relatively flat. For example, negotiators agreed to trim $20 billion from the IRS and apply that money elsewhere.

The White House says that rather than respecting their agreement and engaging in a bipartisan process, House Republicans are again wasting time with partisan bills that would result in deep cuts" to law enforcement, education, housing and other programs.

Cole argues that Democrats have brought the GOP's course of action on by voting with eight Republicans to oust McCarthy.

Democrats need to understand that they participated in getting rid of the speaker. It was their choice. They had every right to do it. But if you think you can get rid of the person you cut the deal with, and the deal's going to stay the same, maybe you need to rethink it," Cole said.

Meanwhile, House Republicans are adding scores of policy mandates to the spending bills that are dead on arrival with a Democratic-led Senate and White House. For example, the House defense spending bill would not allow the Pentagon to reimburse servicemembers for travel expenses related to getting an abortion. Many troops and their dependents are based in states where abortion is now illegal so they must travel to get abortion care.

Democrats see the House GOP's action as failing to learn the lessons of last year. Any spending bills passed into law will need bipartisan support. They described the House floor action on the spending bills as a waste of time since the bills have no chance in the Senate.

Extreme MAGA Republicans are marching us toward a government shutdown, warned Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Where things stand in the Senate

Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray and the committee's lead Republican, Sen. Susan Collins, have been in talks behind the scenes negotiating topline spending totals for defense and non-defense programs.

Both are looking to go above the 1% increase slated for defense and non-defense under the agreement that Biden and McCarthy reached.

Boosting the defense budget is a top priority of some Republicans, but Murray is insisting on parity.

Parity is the order of the day, she said. Because investments in our families, in our economy, in communities safety and success are no less important than investments at the Pentagon.

The committee is scheduled to take up its first three spending bills on Thursday and the topline amount of money to be allocated for each of the 12 spending bills.

If the Senate goes beyond the 1% increase, that could complicate passage in the House, where many Republicans viewed the spending caps as too generous. A few months after those caps were approved as part of the debt ceiling bill, eight Republicans sided with Democrats to oust then-Speaker McCarthy from his job.

Lame-duck or wait until next president is sworn into office?

Nobody expects Congress to finish its work on spending before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1, meaning that lawmakers in both chambers will have to agree to a stopgap spending bill to keep government agencies operating for a few more weeks while they work out their differences.

Congress is not expected to be in session in October, so lawmakers can be at home on the campaign trail. That means spending legislation will be pushed into November and possibly December or it will be pushed off for a new president and Congress to handle. Some Republicans believe they have a good chance of winning the Senate and the White House, so they should wait until next year to pass the spending bills.

But leadership is pushing to deal with spending this year, saying that if Republicans do take the Senate and the White House, they'll want to focus on other priorities, including tax policy and the border.

Whether we win the Senate or not, the filibuster is still there, and that's the real leverage for either side in the Senate, Cole said. So why stick a new president, who hasn't even gotten his people into place, with dealing with it?
The Chickasaw Nation welcomed visitors from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development (HUD) April 17. Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby and tribal officials welcomed HUD representatives for a daylong tour of the Chickasaw Nations housing, education and health developments located in Ada, Oklahoma.

Housing is foundational to the success of Chickasaw families, Chickasaw Nation Secretary of Community Services Wayne Scribner said. The Chickasaw Nations longstanding relationship with HUD has helped us provide programs and services to support housing needs and community development for our citizens.

HUD Regional Administrator Candace Valenzuela, and Public and Indian Housing Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Richard Monocchio were among those to discuss First American housing issues and the Chickasaw Nations successful implementation of projects funded through HUD programs.

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We have worked with HUD for over 50 years, building a strong and successful partnership. Their recent visit to Ada allowed us to share the progress we have made for Chickasaw families in the community, Scribner said.

Locations of interest included stops at the Chickasaw Housing Administration building, Chickasaw Nation Medical Center, Chickasaw Veterans Center and housing provided to veterans in need. Special attention was placed on visiting the Chickasaw Nations Hilltop Meadows Addition.

Hilltop Meadows Addition is a planned Chickasaw community which features nearly 60 homes. The community was made possible by collaborations between the Chickasaw Nation, HUD and the City of Ada.

Hilltop Meadows Addition demonstrates the great relationships we have built, Secretary Scribner said. The Chickasaw Nations Roads Department completed the roads within the community, while the City of Ada ran water and sewer lines. With 59 new homes, the power and gas companies were happy to provide services as well.

Other stops along the tour included the Chickasaw Nations Wellness Center and several educational facilities.

Chickasaw Nation Housing

For more than half a century the Chickasaw Nation has provided housing to its citizens.

The Chickasaw Nations housing authority was created under the Oklahoma Housing Authority Act of 1965. While a great start, it wasnt until the Indian Housing Act of 1988 that the needs of First Americans were specifically addressed. The legislation was followed by the most significant to date for First Americans, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA) of 1996.

NAHASDA gave tribes, including the Chickasaw Nation, the ability to assume responsibility and administer housing programs themselves. NAHASDA allowed for flexibility with provided funding, tailoring housing programs to the specific needs of tribal citizens.

Addressing the continually changing housing needs of its Chickasaw citizens, the Chickasaw Nation has developed a number of housing services in addition to home ownership and rental assistance for low-income families. Other services include home ownership counseling and home loan services, home maintenance and repair, as well as home improvement assistance, driveway construction, and storm shelter installation.
Hungary canceled German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's planned visit to Budapest, Germany's Foreign Office said on July 5, after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's trip to Moscow.

Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 5 on an unannounced visit to Moscow that came days after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv for the first time since the start of the full-scale war.

"You cannot make peace from a comfortable armchair in Brussels," Orban said on X.

"Viktor Orban is visiting Putin as Hungarian Prime Minister. In foreign policy, the European Council is represented by (European Council President) Charles Michel," Scholz said, referring to the fact that Hungary has recently assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

"The EU's position is very clear: we condemn the Russian war of aggression. Ukraine can rely on our support," Scholz added.

Michel also said that Hungary "has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU."

Baerbock had been scheduled to visit Budapest on July 8, but the trip will be rescheduled at a later date, the German Foreign Office said.

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Orban said on July 5 he had discussed the situation in Ukraine with Putin and found that Ukraine and Russia's stances on the full-scale invasion and prospects for peace are "very far apart."

In Kyiv, Orban urged Zelensky to consider a ceasefire in order to "speed up peace talks," and said that while Ukraine's peace initiatives were admirable, they are taking "too long."

Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva said that Zelensky listened to Orban but repeated Ukraine's "clear, understandable, and well-known" position. Kyiv has stated that a temporary break to hostilities would only provide a window of opportunity for Russia to regroup its forces.

The visits to Kyiv and Moscow come as Ukraine continues to face a difficult situation on the battlefield. Russia continues to pressure Ukraine along the front, launching a new offensive in Kharkiv Oblast and steadily pushing into a key town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast.

Budapest has repeatedly opposed Ukraine's accession to NATO and the EU and sanctions on Russia, undermined Western aid efforts for Ukraine, and maintained close relations with Moscow throughout the full-scale war.

Read also: Ukraines airfields under fire as Russia braces for F-16s

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Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter Szijjarto speaks during a press statement at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin. Rainer Jensen/dpa

The Hungarian Foreign Ministry said planned talks were cancelled between its foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, and Germany's top diplomat, Annalena Baerbock, due to an "unforseen change in his schedule."

The ministry asked Berlin to postpone the visit to a later, but still timely date, it told 444.hu, a Hungarian news site, on Saturday. "There are only technical reasons in the background, not political ones," the statement said.

German Foreign Minister Baerbock had originally been scheduled to travel to Budapest on Monday, in the first visit by a German politician to Hungary in some time, with lawmakers having kept their distance due to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's pro-Moscow and undemocratic policies.

She was due to visit shortly after Hungary took over the rotating EU Council Presidency on July 1.

Her visit would also have come after Foreign Minister Szijjarto joined Orban on a surprise trip to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, which caused consternation in Europe and the US.

Szijjarto has a particularly close relationship with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, who honoured him with the Russian Order of Friendship in 2021.

Orban said his meeting with Putin, who is pursuing a full-scale invasion and war on Ukraine, was a "peace mission."

He spoke with Putin in the Kremlin for two-and-a-half hours amid strong criticism of the visit from top EU officials and leaders.

During a joint appearance with Putin after the talks, Orban again called for efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine war.

Several EU officials later stressed that the Hungarian leader had no official EU mandate for negotiations with Russia, and that it had nothing to do with Hungary assuming the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union.

Orban, often a thorn in the side of Brussels over a range of issues, is seen as closest to Moscow among European Union leaders.

The cancellation of Baerbock's visit by Budapest came at short notice on Friday evening, Germany's Foreign Office said that same day, adding that it regretted the move.

It said that "a serious and honest personal discussion" between the two ministers would have been "very important" in light of Orban's Moscow trip.

Annalena Baerbock, Foreign Minister of Germany, speaks during a joint press conference with Baiba Braze, Foreign Minister of Latvia, at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT)  The Huntsville Police Department held its 70th Session Academy Graduation on Friday morning.

HPD welcomed 14 new cadets during the ceremony who completed the departments 19-week Academy.

Its a tough 19 weeks, Kevin Becatti, HPD Recruiter said. The Academy for the Huntsville Police Department is not easy. We dont want it to be easy. We want to get the best people out there to serve the city. So, we make sure that we give them the training that is needed. And that takes 19 weeks for us.

The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Johnnie Sharp, Jr., Assistant Director of the IT Infrastructure Division at the Federal Bureau of Investigations campus in Huntsville.

The cadets will start field training next week.

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Palestinians perform funeral prayers behind the bodies of the bodies of Palestinian journalists Saadi Modukh and Adeeb Sukkar who were killed during an Israeli attack. Hadi Daoud/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

The Israel Defense Forces said they are continuing operations in several areas of the Gaza Strip in a post on X on Saturday.

The health authorities in Gaza said at least 87 people were killed in the past two days.

The Israeli army said several armed Hamas members who had attacked soldiers were killed in the neighbourhood of Shejaiya in the city of Gaza.

Soldiers also discovered tunnels and longer-range rockets during the operation, which has been ongoing there since the end of June, which indicates "a renewed attempt by the enemy to establish a base in the area," the army said.

Israel's military has sought to eliminate Palestinian Islamist Hamas from the neighbourhood in the past.

The IDF also said fighting continues in Rafah in the southernmost part of the strip and "several terrorist cells that posed a threat" were eliminated there.

In an area designated as a "humanitarian zone" in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, the IDF said it targeted a Hamas rocket launcher hidden there.

Rockets are repeatedly being fired at Israel from the coastal area. A missile aimed at an Israeli town near the Gaza Strip recently fell in an open area, according to recent Israeli media reports.

During the attack on southern Israel on October 7, terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups killed 1,200 people and took up to 250 hostage in the Gaza Strip. Israel believes that around 120 hostages are still there, but many of them are probably no longer alive.

The unprecedented massacre triggered the war in Gaza, with Israeli leaders saying they are still intent on eradicating Hamas.

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, around 38,098 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza so far. This figure includes both fighters and civilians. A further 87,705 have been injured.

Mourners sit around the bodies of Palestinian journalists Saadi Modukh and Adeeb Sukkar who were killed during an Israeli attack. Hadi Daoud/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

A general view of the destruction caused by an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp. Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Rescuers and civilians remove the body of a man from under the rubble following an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp. Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) became the latest House Democrat to call on President Biden to exit the 2024 presidential race Friday, following his poor debate performance last week.

Quigley, in an interview Friday evening on MSNBCs All in with Chris Hayes, joined a growing list of Democrats who are skeptical about Bidens ability to beat former President Trump in November.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said, referring to Biden. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.

He said in the interview that its a tough decision to press Biden to step aside, given what he has done for the country.

Quigley, who has held his seat in Congress since a 2009 special election, joined Reps. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) in explicitly calling for Biden to step down and give someone else the chance to run against Trump.

Doggett, the first to make that call, said he hoped the debate would help the presidents campaign, but was disappointed. In response, he said he hopes Biden makes the painful decision to withdraw.

Grijalva said he will still support Biden but thinks its time the party choose someone new. Moulton said Thursday that Biden should follow in former President George Washingtons footsteps and step aside for new leaders to take on Trump.

Warning of another nightmare Trump presidency, Quigley said if Biden drops out, Democrats would be back in the dogfight.

So, I would say to those folks who say everythings fine: Its not, he said, invoking the potential impact Bidens debate could have on House and Senate races down the ballot. And everything you care about is on the line.

The presidents debate showing last week sparked widespread panic among Democrats about not only Bidens ability to beat Trump in the polls this fall, but also his ability to execute the role of president for another term.

Since then, there have been many calls for him to suspend his campaign and allow another candidate to take on Trump. Still, Biden and his team have insisted he is not going to drop out.

In his first major rally since the calls began, Biden forcefully declared Friday that hes staying in the race. He participated in an interview later Friday with ABC news, in what was largely seen as a make-or-break moment to salvage his campaign.

Quigley joined ABC after Bidens interview, saying he thinks highly of Vice President Harris and that he thinks Biden will ultimately come to a decision.

But for now, he said, everyone should take it day by day.

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A new law in Illinois will make it easier for diabetics to get some of the equipment needed to track blood sugar levels.

The law, SB3414, requires insurance companies to cover the cost of continuous glucose monitors for people with any form of diabetes. The monitors attached to a persons body gives them constant updates about their blood sugar. Insurance companies were only required to cover this cost for people with type one and type two diabetes before the new law. Data from the Illinois Department of Public Health shows more than one million adults in the state have diabetes.

For more information, click here.

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MAINE, Wis. (WFRV)  A man from Illinois was extricated from his vehicle and airlifted to a hospital with critical injuries following a crash into a tree in northeastern Wisconsin on Saturday morning.

According to the Outagamie County Sheriffs Office, deputies responded to Taubel Road, west of CTH I in Maine around 7:45 a.m. on July 6.

An initial investigation showed that the driver, identified only as a man from Illinois, left the road and collided with a tree. Deputies say the man had to be extricated from the vehicle where he was then airlifted to a local hospital with critical injuries.

Sheboygan man allegedly stabs, kills roommate, taken into custody after hours-long standoff

It was noted in the release that alcohol is not believed to have been a factor in the crash.

Taubel Road was closed for roughly four hours and the crash remains under investigation. No additional details were provided.

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There were some headline-grabbing wins for the UK's smaller parties and for independent candidates in the general election.

Jeremy Corbyn stood as an independent and retained his seat in Islington North. (Alamy)

On 4 July, a record number of constituencies ended up celebrating their "independents day".

It was fitting that a general election held on the famous US holiday saw so much success for independent candidates. There were six independent MPs returned on Friday morning, the highest number since the 1950 general election.

While Labour's landslide grabbed most of the headlines, there were significant gains for those with smaller aims. An intriguing electoral tale was spun when taking the five main, established political parties  Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, the SNP and Plaid Cymru  out of the equation.

How did independents perform?

There were no independent MPs voted in at the last general election in 2019, so to have six heading to parliament this time is some turnaround.

Four of the six independent MPs were pro-Palestinian candidates, who gained votes because of anger at Labour's approach to the Israel-Gaza conflict.

In Leicester South, independent Shockat Adam said "this is for Gaza" as he pulled off a shock victory over Labour's shadow minister Jonathan Ashworth.

Iqbal Mohamed won in Dewsbury and Batley to become the first independent to secure a general election seat in Yorkshire since 1907.

(Yahoo News UK)

In Birmingham Perry Barr, independent Ayoub Khan, a former Liberal Democrat councillor, beat Labour's Khalid Mahmood, who had held the seat for 23 years.

Another independent, Adnan Hussain, beat Labour's Kate Hollern by just 132 votes in Blackburn.

Watch: Ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn re-elected as MP after running as independent in Islington North

The most high profile independent winner was former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who won his London seat in Islington North for the 11th time after he was blocked from standing as a Labour candidate.

The final independent winner was in Northern Ireland, where unionist Alex Easton won in North Down after quitting the DUP.

What about the smaller parties?

Both the Green Party and Reform UK can lay claim to a successful election night.

The Greens quadrupled their number of MPs from one to four, while Reform were victorious in five constituencies and ran Labour close in a number of others.

The Greens gained the most seats in the party's history, with co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay winning in Bristol Central and Waveney Valley while Ellie Chowns was elected in Herefordshire North.

Green Party co-leaders Carla Denyer, left, and Adrian Ramsay, right, were both elected. (AP Photo)

The party also successfully defended its only seat before this election  with Sian Berry winning Brighton Pavilion, which had been held by former MP Caroline Lucas since 2010.

Ramsay described the party winning four seats as incredible.

He said: Im truly humbled by the level of support from people.

Four of Reform UK's five new MPs, from left to right, Richard Tice, Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson and Rupert Lowe. (AFP via Getty Images)

Reform took just five seats despite having more than four million voters and a 14.3% share of the overall vote, larger than the Liberal Democrats, who won 71 seats.

Leader leader Nigel Farage, who won in Clacton, said proportional representation in the voting system would have meant Reform looking at nearly 100 seats and called the first-past-the-post electoral system not fit for purpose.

(Yahoo News UK)

Reform's other seats came from Lee Anderson, who left the Conservatives to successfully defend Ashfield; party chairman Richard Tice who secured Boston and Skegness and former Southampton FC chairman Rupert Lowe, who won Great Yarmouth.

Their fifth seat was won later on Friday by James McMurdock, who won Basildon South and East Thurrock with a majority of just 98 votes from Labour.

Almost 30% of the overall vote was won by parties other than the big five, the largest proportion in recent electoral history. In 2015, it was almost 20%, but in every other election dating back to 1950 it has been less than 10%.

Read more

Pro-Gaza candidates dent Labour's UK election victory. "Jonathan Ashworth, who had been expected to serve in Keir Starmer's Labour government, lost his seat to independent Shockat Adam, one of at least four pro-Gaza candidates to win. Several other Labour candidates came close to losing." [Reuters]

Green Party get best election results as four MPs (and both leaders) voted in. "Victories for co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, and for Ellie Chowns in Herefordshire North, delivered a spectacular result for the Greens and meant it met its own ambitious targets of winning four seats." [Evening Standard]

How many seats did Reform UK win - and why they don't match its vote share? "Farage has seen his party win dozens fewer seats than the Liberal Democrats, despite winning a higher share of the national vote." [Yahoo News UK]

Reform claim fifth seat as hecklers interrupt Nigel Farage speech. "The Reform UK leader, whose party won South Basildon and East Thurrock and four other seats, confronted several hecklers during a victory speech in central London." [Sky News]

Jeremy Corbyn wins historic Islington North election as independent thanks to 'kinder' politics. "In his speech following his election as an Independent MP for Islington North, Jeremy Corbyn said: 'Our campaign was a positive one. Our campaign did not get into the gutter of politics as is too often happening in this country.'" [MyLondon]
This article was originally published in Indiana Capital Chronicle.

A new state-by-state report shows Indianas child well-being ranking has dropped  in part due to Hoosier kids dismal math and reading scores, as well as increased rates of youth deaths.

Although Indiana continues to rank in the bottom half of states for its rates of teen births and children living in high-poverty or in single-parent households, those numbers are showing improvement.

The 2024 KIDS COUNT Data Book ranked Indiana 27th among states, three places lower than last year. Its still a slight improvement, however, compared to 2022 and 2021, when the state ranked 28th and 29th, respectively.

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In specific categories covered in the latest report, Indiana came in 15th for economic well-being, 17th in education, 31st in family and community, and 32nd in health.

Indiana has significant opportunities and challenges ahead in supporting the well-being of our children, said Tami Silverman, president and CEO of the Indiana Youth Institute.

We should celebrate the progress weve made, especially in economic well-being areas such as parental employment rates and housing affordability; and we must acknowledge the disparities that persist for our kids, Silverman continued. Every child in Indiana should have access to quality education, regardless of their background or circumstances. By addressing these disparities head-on, we not only invest in the future of our children but also in the economic prosperity of our state.

The report is prepared by the Annie E. Casey Foundation in conjunction with organizations across the county, including the Indiana Youth Institute. It rates states in 16 wide-ranging areas, which are lumped together under the categories of health, education, economic well-being, and family and community support.

Gaps in reading and math

The education portion of the latest edition  focused on student achievement  reiterates low numbers familiar to Hoosier education officials.

Just 32% of fourth graders nationally were at or above proficiency in reading in 2022, the latest year for which numbers were available. That was down from the 34% who were proficient in 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scores were even worse for eighth grade math. Nationwide, only 26% of eighth graders were at or above proficiency in math two years ago, down from 33% in 2019.

In Indiana, one-third of fourth graders performed at or above proficiency in reading  a four percentage-point decrease from the 2019 rate of 37%, the report showed.

Further, only 30% of Indiana eighth grade students performed at or above proficiency in math, marking an 11% decrease from 2019, ranking the state 11th nationally.

Among Indiana fourth graders in 2022, Black students had an average reading score that was 23 points lower than that of white students. Students eligible for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) had an average reading score 18 points lower than those not eligible for NSLP, according to the KIDS COUNT report.

Meanwhile, eighth grade Black students in Indiana had an average math score that was 31 points lower than white students. Hispanic students in the same grade had an average math score that was 19 points lower than their white peers.

The Casey Foundation report contends that the pandemic is not the sole cause of lower test scores, though. Rather, the foundation says educators, researchers, policymakers and employers who track students academic readiness have been ringing alarm bells for a long time.

U.S. scores in reading and math have barely budged in decades. In Indiana, state education officials have repeatedly pointed out that Hoosier literacy exam scores have been on the decline since 2015.

During the 2024 legislative session, state lawmakers took decisive action as part of an ongoing push to improve literacy and K-12 student performance.

Paramount among the new laws passed was one to require reading-deficient third graders to be held back a year in school.

Stats on youth health and family life

Health-focused portions of the report show that  after peaking in 2021  the national child and teen death rate stabilized at 30 deaths per 100,000 children and youth ages 1 to 19.

But in Indiana, the death rate has continued to rise. While 29 deaths per 100,000 Hoosier children and youth were recorded in 2019, the rate increased to 36 deaths in 2022, per the report.

The Indiana Youth Institute (IYI) has already drawn attention, for example, to higher rates of mental health crises such as depression and suicidal ideation among the states youth. According to IYI data, one out of every three students from 7th to 12th grade reported experiencing persistent sadness and hopelessness. One out of seven students made a plan to commit suicide.

The most recent data available additionally show that nationwide and in Indiana, the child poverty rate improved and economic security of parents increased back to pre-pandemic levels.

Between 2018 and 2022, roughly 113,000  or 7%  of Hoosier children were reportedly living in high-poverty areas. Thats a drop from 10% between 2013 and 2017, according to the report.

From 2019 to 2022, teen births per 1,000 declined from 21 to 17, and the percentage of children in single-parent families also dropped from 35% to 32%.

Still, some gains

Advocates pointed to some bright spots for Hoosier kids and their families in this years national report, as well:

Between 2019 and 2022, more parents (75%) had full-time secure employment in Indiana  which surpassed both the national average and that of the four neighboring states: Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio.

In 2022, fewer children (22%) lived in households that faced a high housing cost burden, spending 30% of their income solely on housing expenses, in comparison to the national average (30%).

In 2022, more Hoosier teens (95%) between the ages 16 and 19 were either enrolled in school or employed, an improvement from 93% in 2019.

Far fewer children under 19 (5%) were also uninsured. Indiana saw the fifth-highest decrease nationally in uninsured children between 2019 and 2022  a 29% improvement.

The report offers several recommendations for policymakers, school leaders and educators that include chronicling absenteeism data by grade, establishing a culture to pursue evidence-based solutions and incorporating intensive, in-person tutoring to align with the school curriculum.

Kids of all ages and grades must have what they need to learn each day, such as enough food and sleep and a safe way to get to school, as well as the additional resources they might need to perform at their highest potential and thrive, like tutoring and mental health services, said Lisa Hamilton, president and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Our policies and priorities have not focused on these factors in preparing young people for the economy, short-changing a whole generation.

Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on Facebook and Twitter.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan.  Even on July 5, fireworks take center stage.

Several public fireworks shows are scheduled for Friday night, professional displays that typically prove to be clean and safe. However, July 4 leaves injuries and cleanliness concerns for a sizable number of fireworks fans.

Kansas City Public Works crews didnt have a restful holiday. At least one municipal park was trashed with fireworks  mostly ash and paper. Several workers with a city truck could be seen cleaning up Swope Park.

Its a mess, A.J. Henderson, who lives near Swope Park, lamented.

Jackson County beaches close for the weekend due to flooding

Henderson, who said hes personally helped clean up those messes in the past, and he gets tired of seeing litterbugs ruin his neighborhood park. FOX4 asked Kansas Citys communications office if other public parks were vandalized by fireworks parties, but no one answered our emails on Friday.

They could use those trash cans like they use to  the barrels  but people take them. Bring the barrels. Use trash bags and clean up, Henderson said.

Metro hospitals are also preparing for a weekends worth of fireworks noise, smoke and injuries. Trauma doctors complain theyre seeing the usual mid-summer influx of fireworks-related injuries. Patients needed treatment for various burns, broken bones, hand injuries and injuries to their eyes and faces.

Dr. Julia Slater, medical director at the University of Kansas Health Systems Burnett Burn Center, knows some patients procrastinate, believing their wounds arent bad enough to need a doctors care.

Slater shared this rule of thumb  any trauma-based injury that doesnt heal within 24 hours needs professional attention.

Man dies after placing lit firework on his head during Fourth of July party

If you have any areas where you have blistering of your skin and its larger than the size of your palm, you should definitely come in to the emergency room to have that burn evaluated, Slater said on Friday.

Emergency rooms have been in high demand all week. University of Kansas Health System ER doctors have seen 35 patients for fireworks-based needs since Wednesday. St. Lukes Health System has treated another 14 patients in the same stretch of time. Since Thursday night, 10 patients have been treated by University Health and another two needed aid at Advent Health.

For patients who suffer fireworks burns, doctors recommend treating them with cool water, and keeping the wounds clean with antibacterial ointment.

Moreover, doctors recommend leaving fireworks shows to professionals. You can find a list of Friday night fireworks shows and other weekend activities here.

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Investigation uncovers government-regulated 'sustainable' funds invested billions in world's biggest polluters: 'Pension savers and the general public are being misled'

A recent report has revealed that European Union-regulated funds designated for sustainable causes have invested $18 billion in 200 of the world's largest polluters.

What's happening?

An investigation led by the news outlet Voxeurop and assisted by the Guardian and other media outlets analyzed investments in 25 of the biggest polluters across the eight industries most responsible for carbon pollution.

Data from the last quarter of 2023 unveiled that approximately 20% of $87 billion classified under the environmental and social sections of the EU's sustainable finance directive comes "from funds that also market themselves using environmentally friendly terms."

Most of the $18 billion investment in the 200 companies  which included fast-fashion brands, fossil fuel companies, and SUV manufacturers  fell under the purview of Article 8, which is specific to environmental or social causes. Another $2 billion came from funds classified under Article 9, which focuses on sustainability.

"Europe's biggest green portfolios are just the same dirty companies, repackaged as sustainable," Transport and Environment's sustainable finance director Xavier Sol told the Guardian.

The investigation also found that $11.7 billion of the funds allocated to the biggest polluters came from funds labeled as "ESG," or environmental, social, and governance. Meanwhile, $1.1 billion came from funds with names that included keywords such as "clean," "transition," "net zero," and "Paris," the last two of which refer to the Paris Agreement.

Furthermore, the investigation uncovered that just 10 asset managers accounted for 25% of investments into big polluters. A few, including Amundi, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Fidelity, denied wrongdoing and maintained that the investment did not interfere with any green initiatives.

Why are the investments important?

According to the Guardian, "the classifications are often used to showcase a financial product's environmental credentials." However, several companies have taken advantage of the loose guidelines to make themselves appear more eco-friendly  otherwise known as greenwashing.

That manipulation tactic is frequently used by dirty energy companies and large corporations, allowing them to benefit financially while maintaining the guise of environmental consciousness.

"Status as 'Article 8' or 'Article 9' products have been used since the outset in marketing material as 'quality labels' for sustainability, consequently posing greenwashing and mis-selling risks," European banking and insurance watchdogs said.

"Pension savers and the general public are being misled when it comes to sustainable finance," Lara Cuvelier, a sustainable investment campaigner at Reclaim Finance, said of the Voxeurop and Guardian's report.

What's being done about the greenwashing?

Campaigners have advocated for systemic reforms to outlaw greenwashing, such as stricter policies on labeling to avoid confusion among consumers.

Last month, the European Securities and Markets Authority implemented revised guidelines (PDF) that prevent substantial funding to fossil fuel companies from promoting themselves as green. However, the restrictions won't take effect until later this year, aren't legally binding, and don't have to be adopted by national governments.

"We're seeing now that it's not enough," Cuvelier said of the regulations.

Thankfully, recent efforts, such as the landmark case against Dutch airline company KLM and a lawsuit against oil giants, have begun to hold parties accountable for the Earth's overheating and give hope for a cleaner, cooler future.

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Irans next president wooed the popular vote with reformist ideas  but will he betray their trust?

Masoud Pezeshkian greets supporters outside a polling station in Tehran on Friday - Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty

In the aftermath of the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, a little-known former heart surgeon stuck his head above the parapet and criticised Irans clerical rulers.

It was unacceptable to arrest a girl for not wearing her hijab properly and then hand over her dead body to her family, Masoud Pezeshkian wrote.

As outrage evolved into a nationwide protest movement, he demanded clarification from the authorities about Aminis death, saying: Scientifically, someone cant fall like this.

But as a brutal crackdown began, with hundreds of protesters being killed and thousands more arrested, he changed his tune, warning that those insulting the supreme leader  will create nothing except long-lasting anger and hatred in the society.

This apparent contradiction is a defining feature of Irans more moderate, reformist politicians, who push for change but never fundamentally challenge the theocratic regime overseen by the countrys supreme leader.

Mr Pezeshkian became Irans president on Saturday after winning the support of millions of Iranians by promising to reach out to the West and ease a vicious crackdown enforcing the countrys mandatory headscarf law.

During heated presidential debates, he implicitly challenged supreme leader Ali Khameneis policies.

I have never been able to, and cannot, force my children and grandchildren to dress according to my wishes, so how can we expect society to dress as we dictate? I dont think its possible, he said.

An Iranian displays her ink-stained finger after casting her ballot - Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty

He has called for the renewal of an international deal that restricts Irans capacity to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for sanctions relief.

But the one-time health ministers reformist credentials are only lukewarm.

He repeatedly pledged allegiance to the policies of the supreme leader and has also expressed strong support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), saying that, without them, Iran would face disintegration.

Mr Pezeshkian even appeared in parliament wearing an IRGC uniform after then US president Donald Trump designated the sprawling political and paramilitary organisation a terrorist group in 2018.

A year later, he praised the IRGC for shooting down an American drone, saying it delivered a strong punch in the mouth of the Americans and proved to them that our country will not surrender.

But by distancing himself from the establishment during the campaign, he benefited from a surge in support from voters desperate to snub the regime.

Irans political leaders are the problem of the people, not the United States, he said in a debate on Monday.

Born to an Azeri father and a Kurdish mother, Mr Pezeshkian represents two ethnic minority groups that have faced discrimination in Iran in recent years.

Mr Pezeshkian shows up at a school in Qods city to cast his vote for the second round of presidential elections - Arash Khamooshi/Polaris/eyevine

Unlike others, hes one of the people, not the elite, he knows what people are going through, a member of his campaign, who has been working for Mr Pezeshkian for the past 10 years, told The Telegraph.

We were surprised when he was approved to run and surprised again when reached the run-off stage, he said.

During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Mr Pezeshkian organised the deployment of medical teams to the front lines. He later served as health minister from 2001-05.

He ran for president in 2013 but ultimately withdrew from the race, and was barred from running again in 2021.

During the last debate on Tuesday, he mentioned that he had taken management courses in Britain and at Harvard University, US.

In 2009, after the violent suppression of protests against the election of a hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he briefly disrupted parliament to rail against the use of force on demonstrators.

A cardiac surgeon by profession, he has three children, whom he raised singlehandedly after his wife and another son died in a car accident in 1994. He has never remarried.

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Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks after casting his vote during the run-off election for the Iranian presidential elections. Arne Bansch/dpa

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian, a political moderate, on winning the presidency.

"I call on everyone to work together," said Khamenei, who wields ultimate power in Iran and has final say on all matters of state.

Khamenei said that the rivalry seen on the campaign trail should be transformed into friendship for the good of the Islamic Republic.

Pezeshkian decisively won Friday's second-round presidential election, defeating ultra-conservative hardliner Saeed Jalili.

The head of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, also commended Pezeshkian.

"We are fully prepared to continue and strengthen the cooperation and interaction between the Revolutionary Guards and the government," he said in a statement.
By Parisa Hafezi

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's president-elect, low-profile moderate Masoud Pezeshkian, carries the hopes of millions of Iranians seeking less restrictions on social freedoms and a more pragmatic foreign policy.

Pezeshkian, who defeated hardline Saeed Jalili in Friday's second-round presidential vote, is someone world powers are likely to welcome, hoping he might pursue peaceful ways out of a tense standoff with Iran over its fast-advancing nuclear programme, analysts said.

Pezeshkian managed to win with a constituency - whose core was believed to be the urban middle class and young - that had been widely disillusioned by years of security crackdowns that stifled any public dissent from Islamist orthodoxy.

The 69-year-old cardiac surgeon has pledged to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism.

Under Iran's dual system of clerical and republican rule, the president cannot usher in any major policy shift on Iran's nuclear programme or support for militia groups across the Middle East, since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls all the shots on top state matters.

However, the president can influence the tone of Iran's policy and he will be closely involved in selecting the successor to Khamenei, now 85.

Pezeshkian is faithful to Iran's theocratic rule with no intention of confronting the powerful security hawks and clerical rulers. In TV debates and interviews, he has promised not to contest Khamenei's policies.

"If I try but fail to fulfil my campaign promises, I would say goodbye to political work and not continue. There is no point in wasting our life and not being able to serve our dear people," Pezeshkian said in a video message to voters.

Resurfaced from quiescence after years of political isolation, the reformist camp led by former President Mohammad Khatami endorsed Pezeshkian in the election after the death of hardline President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.

Pezeshkian's views offer a contrast to those of Raisi, a Khamenei protege who tightened enforcement of a law curbing women's dress and took a tough stance in now-moribund negotiations with major powers to revive the nuclear deal.

In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump ditched the pact and reimposed sanctions on Iran. His move prompted Tehran to progressively violate the agreement's nuclear limits.

LIMITED POWER

Pezeshkian has vowed to revive the flagging economy, beset by mismanagement, state corruption and U.S. sanctions.

As the powers of the elected president are circumscribed by those of Khamenei, many Iranians keen for political pluralism at home and an end to Iran's isolation abroad doubt the country's ruling theocracy would let Pezeshkian make major changes even if he tried.

"Pezeshkian might be able to bring some social freedoms. But he will be a weak president because Khamenei and his allies are much more powerful than the president," said Sohrab Hosseini, a 45-year-old businessman in Iran's Kish Island.

"I voted for him to prevent Jalili from winning."

As a lawmaker since 2008, Pezeshkian, an Azeri who supports the rights of fellow ethnic minorities, has criticised the clerical establishment's suppression of political and social dissent.

In 2022, Pezeshkian demanded clarification from authorities about the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died in custody after she was arrested for allegedly violating a law restricting women's dress. Her death sparked months of unrest across the country.

"We will respect the hijab law, but there should never be any intrusive or inhumane behaviour toward women," Pezeshkian said after casting his vote in the first round.

At a Tehran University meeting last month, responding to a question about students imprisoned on charges linked to 2022-23 unrest, Pezeshkian said "political prisoners are not within my scope, and if I want to do something, I have no authority".

During the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s, Pezeshkian, a combatant and physician, was tasked with the deployment of medical teams to the front lines.

He was health minister from 2001-5 in Khatami's second term.

Pezeshkian lost his wife and one of his children in a car accident in 1994. He raised his surviving two sons and a daughter alone, opting to never remarry.

(Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Edited by William Maclean and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Massud Peseschkian (C), presidential candidate of the reformist camp, arrives at an election rally in the capital. Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa

Reformist candidate and heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran's presidential election after beating his ultra-conservative rival Saeed Jalili in a run-off vote.

Iran's electoral authority said on Saturday that Pezeshkian, a former health minister, received 53.7% of the votes cast to the 44.3% won by Jalili, a former top government nuclear negotiator.

State television showed images of supporters celebrating the 69-year-old Pezeshkian's win by honking their car horns in the early hours of the morning.

"We will extend the hand of friendship to everyone," said Pezeshkian in his first remarks, emphasizing that he would work with his political opponents "for the advancement of the country."

Jalili did not immediately comment on the election results.

Pezeshkian ran a low-key campaign calling for renewed trust between the government and Iranians, many of whom have become disillusioned with politics after failed attempts at reform, political repression and an economic crisis.

But in view of the complex political situation and powerful interest groups in Iran, it is unclear to what extent Pezeshkian can affect significant change.

But his win - and the low voter turnout - appeared to show the discontent many Iranians feel towards their leaders.

Some 61 million people were eligible to vote for a successor to president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.

Friday's run-off vote pitted Pezeshkian and Jalili against each other after none of the candidates gained an absolute majority in the first round on June 28.

Polling stations were to close at 6 pm on Friday. As expected, authorities allowed them to stay open later in many places, but voter turnout still only stood at about 49.8%, according to the electoral authority. In the first round last week turnout was a record low 40%.

Conservative reformer

Pezeshkian, a trained heart surgeon from north-western Iran who served in the army during the Gulf War, practised for years in the city of Tabriz.

In the early 1990s, hen lost his wife and one of his sons in a road accident. He often appeared at his campaign rallies with his daughter and grandchild.

He served as health minister during former president Mohammad Khatami's second term from 2001 to 2005.

In the TV debates, Pezeshkian described himself as a conservative politician who believes reforms are necessary.

Despite his moderate rhetoric, he has still expressed his loyalty to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Like many politicians from the reformist camp, Pezeshkian has called for improved in relations with the West.

He also criticized Iran's strict headscarf requirements for women and campaigned for votes with middle-class positions. He said he is opposed to internet censorship.

Critics say that he will have trouble implementing these reforms due to a majority of hardliners in parliament, however.

Growing public frustration

Out of a total of 80 candidates, the Guardian Council, a powerful Islamic supervisory body that vets the hopefuls, had only authorized six candidates for the election.

Two of six later withdrew, leaving three conservatives and the one more moderate candidate, Pezeshkian. Jalili is a loyal supporter of the leaders at the top of the Islamic Republic's system of power.

The president is only number two in Iran's power structure as Supreme Leader Khamenei functions as the head of state and has the final say in all strategic matters. He is also commander-in-chief of Iran's armed forces.

The election came amid a severe economic crisis, as well as tensions with the West and regional powers in the Middle East. Frustration among the public with the enforcement of state authority, especially among the younger population, is running high.

Many Iranians, especially young people, have however lost faith in the possibility of seeing major political change at home.
Massud Peseschkian (C), presidential candidate of the reformist camp, arrives at an election rally in the capital. Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa

Reformist candidate and heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran's presidential election after beating his ultra-conservative rival Saeed Jalili in a run-off vote.

Iran's electoral authority said on Saturday that Pezeshkian, a former health minister, received 53.7% of the votes cast to the 44.3% won by Jalili, a former top government nuclear negotiator.

State television showed images of supporters celebrating the 69-year-old Pezeshkian's win by honking their car horns in the early hours of the morning.

"We will extend the hand of friendship to everyone," said Pezeshkian in his first remarks, emphasizing that he would work with his political opponents "for the advancement of the country."

Jalili did not immediately comment on the election results.

Pezeshkian ran a low-key campaign calling for renewed trust between the government and Iranians, many of whom have become disillusioned with politics after failed attempts at reform, political repression and an economic crisis.

But in view of the complex political situation and powerful interest groups in Iran, it is unclear to what extent Pezeshkian can affect significant change.

Yet his win - and the low voter turnout - showed the discontent many Iranians feel towards their leaders.

Some 61 million people were eligible to vote for a successor to president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.

Friday's run-off vote pitted Pezeshkian and Jalili against each other after none of the candidates gained an absolute majority in the first round on June 28.

Polling stations were to close at 6 pm on Friday. As expected, authorities allowed them to stay open later in many places, but voter turnout still only stood at about 49.8%, according to the electoral authority. In the first round last week turnout was a record low 40%.

Saudi leaders look forward to closer ties

Saudi Arabia's leaders congratulated Pezeshkian and expressed interest in the growth of ties with his country.

Last year, Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran, who supported opposing sides of the conflicts in Yemen and Syria, agreed in a China-brokered deal to restore ties after a rupture of seven years.

The Saudi state news agency SPA reported that King Salman had said in a congratulatory cable to Pezeshkian that he looks forward to "continued development of relations" between the two countries and coordination to "enhance regional and international security and peace."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the oil-wealthy monarchy's de-facto ruler, sent similar congratulations, according to SPA.

Conservative reformer

Pezeshkian, a trained heart surgeon from north-western Iran who served in the army during the Gulf War, practised for years in the city of Tabriz.

In the early 1990s, hen lost his wife and one of his sons in a road accident. He often appeared at his campaign rallies with his daughter and grandchild.

He served as health minister during former president Mohammad Khatami's second term from 2001 to 2005.

In the TV debates, Pezeshkian described himself as a conservative politician who believes reforms are necessary.

Despite his moderate rhetoric, he has still expressed his loyalty to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Like many politicians from the reformist camp, Pezeshkian has called for improved in relations with the West.

He also criticized Iran's strict headscarf requirements for women and campaigned for votes with middle-class positions. He said he is opposed to internet censorship.

Critics say that he will have trouble implementing these reforms due to a majority of hardliners in parliament, however.

Growing public frustration

Out of a total of 80 candidates, the Guardian Council, a powerful Islamic supervisory body that vets the hopefuls, had only authorized six candidates for the election.

Two of six later withdrew, leaving three conservatives and the one more moderate candidate, Pezeshkian. Jalili is a loyal supporter of the leaders at the top of the Islamic Republic's system of power.

The president is only number two in Iran's power structure as Supreme Leader Khamenei functions as the head of state and has the final say in all strategic matters. He is also commander-in-chief of Iran's armed forces.

The election came amid a severe economic crisis, as well as tensions with the West and regional powers in the Middle East. Frustration among the public with the enforcement of state authority, especially among the younger population, is running high.

Many Iranians, especially young people, have however lost faith in the possibility of seeing major political change at home.

Symbolic victory?

"Even among supporters of the regime, there are still significant numbers who are in favour of a more moderate approach and cautious reforms," Tareq Sydiq, an Iran analyst at Germany's Marburg University, told dpa.

Peseshkian's election victory is probably a symbolic success for Iran's moderate and reform-minded forces, he said. "This will certainly at least be recognized within the power system."

But it is unclear how far Peseshkian can make changes, after his criticism of the headscarf policy and strict checks by the morality police. "It remains to be seen whether the various power blocs will be impressed by his ideas," Sydiq said.

Overall, he said, with parliament currently dominated by hardliners, it is uncertain how many of the changes reformists are seeking can be made in practice.
CHICAGO  An Illinois State Police (ISP) trooper was injured on Friday after a crash along Interstate 94.

According to ISP, the crash unfolded just before 3 a.m. near West 75th Street.

Authorities say the troopers squad car was parked in lane 3 of the interstate, with its emergency lights on, while the trooper was helping another driver, who had been involved in a crash, exit the passenger side of their vehicle.

Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines

Officials say a Mercedes, whose driver allegedly failed to move over for the emergency vehicle, then struck the drivers side of the stopped car, causing it to hit the trooper.

The trooper was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and the driver of the Mercedes was issued citations for failure to yield to a stationary emergency vehicle, following too closely, improper lane usage and driving under the influence of alcohol.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
Israel is inching toward a wider war and a nasty fight against an enemy poised to bombard it as no other foe has

Israel and Hezbollah regularly trade fire, but the two are steadily exchanging escalatory remarks.

Hezbollah has greatly increased its fighting capacity over the last two decades.

The Iran-backed militants now maintain a huge arsenal of munitions that could threaten Israel.

The threat of a wider war is looming for Israel, as is the potential that its cities and strategic military targets could face a massive bombardment in ways the country hasn't yet seen.

Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group operating out of Lebanon, have regularly exchanged fire since Hamas  which also enjoys significant support from Tehran  staged its cross-border massacre on Oct. 7.

These tit-for-tat engagements have so far been relatively contained to the border regions, but tensions between Israel and Hezbollah have escalated in recent weeks, raising fears that the two bitter foes may be headed for an unavoidable collision course.

United Nations officials have warned that such a fight would be catastrophic and lead to widespread death and destruction.

For Israel, a larger war with Hezbollah would look very different from the full-scale conflict it's fighting against Hamas in Gaza. The Lebanon-based militants are a much more dangerous force with a lot more weapons and combatants available to them.

Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, on March 27. AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File

In a fight with Hezbollah, Israel would need a lot of munitions readily available to it because "that's a much more difficult conflict" than the one in Gaza, which has been a tough enough fight as is, Daniel Byman, a former Middle East analyst for the US intelligence community, told Business Insider in May.

Hezbollah has grown stronger

Hezbollah has spent decades building up its arsenal and military capabilities. Before the 2006 Lebanon War, a monthlong conflict fought against Israel, Hezbollah maintained some 15,000 projectiles. That figure has swelled to over 130,000 today, with some estimates putting the missile and rocket inventory as high as 150,000.

Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank wrote in a 2018 report that "Hezbollah is the world's most heavily armed non-state actor, with a large and diverse stockpile of unguided artillery rockets, as well as ballistic, anti-air, anti-tank, and anti-ship missiles."

Much of Hezbollah's inventory consists of various shorter-range, unguided projectiles. The analysts said that while these weapons may not be particularly accurate, they exist in large enough quantities to cause concern. The militants also possess precision-guided weapons that could reach deeper into Israel.

Members of Hezbollah parade with a mock missile launcher during a rally in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh on Oct. 27, 2015. Photo credit should read MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images

"Hezbollah views its rocket and missile arsenal as its primary deterrent against Israeli military action," the CSIS analysts explained, noting they are "also useful for quick retaliatory strikes and longer military engagements."

Hamas started the ongoing Gaza war with as many as 30,000 rockets and missiles, according to the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli think tank. It's a much smaller figure, but it has still caused issues for Israel and highlighted the value of maintaining a large stockpile, especially as it continues to expend a lot in Gaza.

That war has seen "a pretty serious rate of fire. And this would be even more so with Hezbollah," said Byman, a senior fellow with the CSIS' Transnational Threats Project. "Hezbollah has a lot more firepower. Israel would be using a lot more firepower in return."

Israel operates a sophisticated air-defense network able to engage different threats, from short-range rockets to medium-range ballistic missiles in the atmosphere. The Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Arrow systems have all been busy since Oct. 7 but, for the most part, have managed to protect the country from enemy munitions.

Israel's Iron Dome intercepts a rocket launched from Lebanon on May 31, 2024. REUTERS/Avi Ohayon

But a larger Hezbollah war could overwhelm some of these systems, a scenario that has caused concern in Washington.

During the 2006 war, Hezbollah fired somewhere between 100 and 200 rockets per day at Israel, according to estimates cited by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank. In a future war between the two, the militants could fire in excess of 4,000 rockets per day in the early stages of a conflict, but they would eventually have to reduce that number to 1,500. Even then, it is still a significantly higher rate of fire than in 2006 and could put immense stress on Israel's defenses.

"Hezbollah's means of attack are highly impressive," the Israeli think tank INSS said in an October 2023 assessment. In a war with Hezbollah, the group's vast weapons inventory "will require Israel to divert countermeasure systems to targeted protection of civilian and military infrastructure."

The Britain Israel Communications and Research Center, an Israel advocacy organization, wrote in an October 2019 updated briefing that "even with Israel's early warning and missile interception system, missiles fired at major population centers in large numbers can be deadly, forcing civilian populations to remain in or near shelters, closing schools and businesses, and paralyzing normal life."

'No one' wants a war

Smoke rises from the southern Lebanese town of Khiam on June 25, 2024 amid the ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces. REUTERS/Stringer

Hezbollah put its firepower on display earlier this week, launching more than 200 rockets and attack drones into Israel in retaliation for the killing of a senior commander. It marked one of the militants' biggest barrages of the nine-month-long conflict.

Beyond the aerial threat, Hezbollah also has a personnel force of more than 50,000 combatants, according to a May 2024 report by the Congressional Research Service. Hamas, by contrast, was thought to have up to 30,000 fighters at the start of the Gaza war, and it has seen thousands of its members killed and wounded since October.

Adding to Hezbollah's potential combat force, thousands of additional fighters from Iran-backed groups across the region have offered to come fight against Israel in the event of a full-scale war.

A firefighter works near Israel's border with Lebanon after Hezbollah said it launched more than 200 rockets and a swarm of drones at Israeli military sites on July 4 2024. REUTERS/Rami Shlush

For now, the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is still relatively low intensity, but fears are growing that it may not stay that way. The militants have tied their action to a ceasefire in Gaza, saying only then will the attacks stop. And as some Western nations urge de-escalation, the two enemies continue to threaten each other, saying that they will resort to force if needed.

More than two dozen soldiers and civilians have already been killed in Israel, and in Lebanon, that figure has surpassed 450. A majority of those dead are militants, but civilians have also been killed. Additionally, tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes in both countries.

"One of our primary objectives from day one  since October  was to do everything we could to make sure that this conflict didn't spread," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a Brookings Institution event earlier this month, adding, "No one actually wants a war."

Read the original article on Business Insider
FILE - A dog sniffs Covid19 scents during a demonstration while Ukrainian deminers tour the Peace Museum Mine Action in Siem Reap province, northwestern Cambodia, Jan. 20, 2023. Japans foreign minister, on a visit to Cambodia, has announced a joint project with her hosts to share knowledge and technology on land mine removal with countries around the world, including Ukraine. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)  Japans foreign minister on Saturday announced a joint project with Cambodia to share knowledge and technology on land mine removal with countries around the world, including Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa made comments during a visit to the Cambodian Mine Action Center, which was formed in the 1990s at the end of the Southeast Asian nations decades of civil war. It seeks to deal with an estimated 4 million to 6 million land mines and other unexploded munitions left strewn around the countryside.

Cambodia, which has steadily advanced mine removal within its own country, is now a leader in mine action around the world, she noted, adding that Japan has consistently cooperated in Cambodias mine removal since the civil war.

Cambodian deminers are among the worlds most experienced, and several thousand have been sent in the past decade under U.N. auspices to work in Africa and the Middle East. Cambodia in 2022 began training deminers from Ukraine, which also suffers from a high density of land mines and other unexploded munitions as the two-year Russian invasion drags on.

As a concrete cooperation under the Japan Cambodia Landmine Initiative, Japan will provide full-scale assistance to humanitarian mine action in Ukraine," she said. "Next week, we will provide Ukraine with a large demining machine, and next month, here in Cambodia, we will train Ukrainian personnel on how to operate the machine.

The NGO Landmine Monitor in its 2022 report listed both Cambodia and Ukraine among nine countries with massive mine contamination, meaning they had more than 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles) of uncleared fields.

Since the end of the fighting in Cambodia, nearly 20,000 people have been killed and about 45,000 have been injured by leftover war explosives, although the average annual death toll has dropped from several thousand to less than 100.

Despite a very active demining program, many dangerous munitions remain in place, posing a hazard to villagers.

Cambodia's training of Ukrainian deminers, in Poland as well as Cambodia, came after former Prime Minister Hun Sen  in an unusual move for a nation that usually aligns itself with Russia and China  condemned Moscows invasion of Ukraine, saying Cambodia is always against any country that invades another country.

Cambodia was one of nearly 100 U.N. member countries that co-sponsored a resolution condemning Russias invasion.

Several other countries, including the United States and Germany, have already provided Ukraine with demining assistance.

Kamikawa also held talks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Hun Sen, his father who stepped down last year after ruling for 38 years.

She and her Cambodian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea, signed agreements for a concessional loan from Tokyo of up to 8.3 billion yen ($51.6 million) for upgrading the highway between the capital Phnom Penh to the border with Thailand, and grant aid up to 386 million yen ($2.4 million) to support junior administrative officials to study in Japan, said a Japanese Embassy statement.

Kamikawa next goes to the Philippines, where she and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara will hold talks on Monday with their Philippine counterparts. They are set to discuss signing a mutual defense pact that would allow each country to deploy troops on the other's territory.
Jeremy Corbyn is attending a pro-Palestine demonstration in central London on Saturday in his first act as newly re-elected Independent MP for Islington North.

Mr Corbyn will call on the new Labour government to immediately end arms to Israel and recognise Palestine as a state.

Mr Corbyn stormed to victory over the party he once led in north London - winning 24,120 votes against Labour candidate Praful Nargunds 16,873.

Following the declaration, Mr Corbyn said his victory proves that dissent cannot be crushed without consequences.

Mr Corbyn had won his seat for Labour at every general election since 1983 but was suspended from the party and barred from running by Labour after his leadership was dogged by antisemitism allegations.

Speaking ahead of the lunchtime march, Mr Corbyn said: Palestine was on the ballot in this election - and I promise to stay true to my word to stand up for the Palestinian people.

We said it to the Tories, and now we will say it to Labour: a government that sells arms to Israel is a government that is complicit in crimes against humanity. A change in government doesnt change the facts that the people of Gaza are still being murdered in their sleep. And it doesnt change the fact that there is only one path to a just and lasting peace: an end to the occupation of Palestine.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) march is assembling at Russell Square at noon and marching to Parliament Square.

Protesters will follow a route down Southampton Row, Kingsway, Aldwych and into Victoria Embankment, stopping just short of Portcullis House for speeches.

A counter-protest by a group called Enough is Enough is also expected to be held.

About 700 Met officers will be on duty to police the events.

Superintendent Martin Kirby, who is leading policing in London this weekend, said: As always the goal is to protect the right to peaceful protest while minimising the impact of these events, including on Londons Jewish communities.

Police do not have the power to ban protest unless there is a risk of serious disorder.

We have been liaising with the PSC throughout this week and will have a significant number of officers on duty to maintain law and order.

Officers will be on hand to ensure the events pass off without issue and will step in to deal with any crime or disorder should it occur.

We will be visible and engaging with those involved in the events and if you see anything of concern we would ask you to talk to officers in the area.
New Jersey lawmakers look for new ways to handle unruly crowds, public brawls

Lawmakers introduced a package of public safety bills after police say a community event in South Jersey devolved into chaos. (Danielle Heminghaus for New Jersey Monitor)

TRENTON, N.J.  Lawmakers have introduced a package of bills aiming to crack down on unruly gatherings  and even hit some parents of juvenile offenders with fines  after police say a community event in South Jersey devolved into chaos.

A group of hundreds descended on Gloucester Township Day, derailing the annual festivities with large fights that led to a dozen arrests. Three people were caught on video kicking and stomping one person, Gloucester police said.

When it hits home in Gloucester Township, then it was like, OK, thats enough. We got to do something about it, said Assemblyman Dan Hutchison (D-Camden). We cant allow something to continue without making an effort to try and change, and this was our effort to change.

Jersey Shore towns have been grappling with parties organized on TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat that lead to hundreds of teens and young adults flocking to boardwalks and beaches. During the overnight hours of Memorial Day, Wildwood police declared a state of emergency and closed the citys boardwalk over claims of civil unrest, and that weekend in Ocean City, a 15-year-old was stabbed on the boardwalk.

Hutchison is the chief sponsor of a bill that would create the crime of inciting a public brawl and allow for police to charge someone with disorderly conduct if they act with purpose to disrupt or cause a disturbance at a public gathering or event.

Inciting a public brawl would be a fourth-degree offense, carrying a fine of up to $10,000 and a potential 18-month prison sentence. The charge would be similar to participating in a riot.

Under another bill Hutchison is sponsoring, parents and legal guardians could face fines or jail time if they were found to demonstrate willful or wanton disregard for delinquent minors under their supervision.

Hutchison, a father of four, admitted it may be difficult for judges to determine whether parents are guilty of this offense, but said the courts will find a way to handle it.

What we cant just do is turn a blind eye as a parent. You cant do it  there has to be consequences, he said.

Assemblyman Cody Miller (D-Gloucester) is sponsoring the third bill that would direct the Attorney Generals Office to create a crowd management training program and make resources available to cops in towns that have seen at least two flash mobs or pop-up parties in the prior year.

Miller, a volunteer firefighter, said these events drain local resources and are a danger to public safety.

We shouldnt be in a position where were canceling events for fear out of there being a flash mob or a public brawl. It shouldnt be that way. We shouldnt have to get to that point, he said.

All three bills have companions in the Senate sponsored by Sen. Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester). They were introduced the last week of June.

New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence T. McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com. Follow New Jersey Monitor on Facebook and X.

The post New Jersey lawmakers look for new ways to handle unruly crowds, public brawls appeared first on Rhode Island Current.
For Jewish voters in France, the election is 'a choice between the plague and cholera'

Protesters stand behind a banner, one holding a sign reading, "Let's rise against the hate of Jews," during a march against antisemitism in Lyon, France, on June 25. (Romain Costaseca / Getty Images)

Covering an entire classroom wall in a Tunisian synagogue in Belleville, an immigrant haven on the slopes of northeastern Paris, are the names of 1,100 Jewish children who were arrested by French police, deported to Auschwitz and killed by the Nazis during World War II.

The war memorial goes street by street, family by family. The 53 children taken from homes a few blocks away on Rue de Belleville included Emile Rosenberg, 6, Eliane Apelojg, 5, Florence Endel, 4, and Michel Blumenkranc, 3.

This shul was their home, the memorial says.

Despite this dark history, some Jews in Belleville are doing the once unthinkable and voting in Frances National Assembly election for the far-right National Rally party, which is leading in polls for Sundays runoff.

One of the partys founders, Pierre Bousquet, was a French fighter in Hitlers Waffen-SS. Another, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who led the party from its birth in 1972 until 2011, dismissed Nazi gas chambers as a detail of history.

Read more: France braces for potential political earthquake: a far-right surge. What to know about the election

Jewish support for the party is a sign of how shaken many Jews have been by the record spike in antisemitic attacks in France since the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered Israel's invasion of Gaza. Last month, police say, a 12-year-old Jewish girl was raped in a Paris suburb by three boys who tormented her with antisemitic insults.

Its also a measure of how much the French left has enraged Jewish voters with its ferocious attacks on Israel and Zionism as it tries to build support among French Muslims, a substantially larger group of voters.

Over lunch with friends at Chez Rene et Gabin, a Tunisian kosher diner just down the hill from the synagogue, Judith Benchetrit said shed voted for the National Rally in the first round  and asked whether anyone else had watched a harrowing TV documentary the night before about the Oct. 7 attack.

It was her deep loathing of the far-left France Unbowed movement and its leader, Jean-Luc Melenchon, that led her to back the far right.

Melenchon campaigns on Palestine, so now hes got all the Palestinians and every Arab in France behind him, said Benchetrit, who is 32 and unemployed.

The National Rally has recast itself as an ally of Jews and Israel. If the party wins a majority in the assembly, its leader, Jordan Bardella, could become prime minister, putting France under the far rights control for the first time since the fall of the Vichy regime that collaborated with the German occupation from 1940 to 1944.

Read more: Nigel Farage, Trump ally and political flamethrower, shakes up British parliamentary vote

A more likely result, polls suggest, is that the party will fall short of a majority, but win more seats than any other, destabilizing France as various factions fight for power.

Whatever the outcome, the snap election called by President Emmanuel Macron is sure to leave France with a parliament dominated by the far right and a far left that many Jews see as antisemitic.

Chalom Sayada, 60, a doctor who runs the synagogues youth programs, said that many members of the congregation were overlooking the National Rallys lineage but that he wasnt buying the rebranding by the partys leaders.

Im not forgetting where they came from, he said.

He called the election a choice between the plague and cholera.

: :

The synagogue, Rebbi Hai Taieb Lo Met, embodies Bellevilles rich history, a cycle of tragedy and renewal.

Founded in 1931 by the banker Edmond de Rothschild, it was built for the thousands of Ashkenazi Jews who settled in Belleville after fleeing persecution in Central and Eastern Europe. Belleville is just up the road from the Marais, the Jewish district of central Paris.

The Great Depression fomented widespread resentment of immigrants across France, leading to discrimination, detentions and expulsions.

During the German occupation, Frances collaborationist government in Vichy barred Jews from practicing many professions and mandated confiscation of their assets.

In July 1942, Belleville was one of the main targets of Paris police in the Vel dHiv Roundup. Citywide, they arrested nearly 13,000 Jews, including several thousand children, and deported them to Auschwitz, where almost all of them were killed.

With few survivors, the Hai Taieb synagogue was hollowed out. On another wall in the classroom, the names of hundreds of adults in the congregation who were arrested in the Vel dHiv raid and killed are etched into 10 stone tablets.

Read more: In Europe, even if 'center is holding,' far right ascends

But the synagogue came back to life starting in the 1950s when thousands of Sephardic Jews from North Africa migrated to Belleville as Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco gained independence from France.

Muslims from the North African coast of the Mediterranean also migrated to Belleville. Their more recently arrived neighbors are Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian and Senegalese.

On the Boulevard de Belleville, the Sabbah grocery store sells kosher and halal food, along with produits orientaux. Shoppers for pastries find makroudh sesame at Rose de Tunis and pains au chocolat at La Baguette des Pyrenees.

Tensions in the neighborhood sometimes rise, most recently between Muslims and Jews.

At the kosher diner, a third of the customers used to be Arab, said Stephane Bsiri, the manager. The Arabs stopped coming after Oct. 7.

They say our money is going to Israel, Bsiri said with exasperation. Idiots.

One of his customers, Sonia Lelloum, a daughter of Tunisian Jewish immigrants, said shed resisted the temptation to vote for the National Rally in previous elections because of its Nazi ties. This time, she said, she went ahead and did it because she likes the partys crusade against immigration.

Id like France to stay French, said Lelloum, a private chef. Were the children of immigrants, but we integrated ourselves into France, we became French, and we respect France.

Read more: Zelensky to Europe: A Russian victory in Ukraine would lead to the unthinkable

Down the street at Jojo, the kosher butcher shop his family has run for 64 years, Joseph Slama said he understands why the National Rally has attracted fellow Jewish voters, but thinks its past is disqualifying, especially when some French youth dont know what the Holocaust was.

His grandfather, who migrated from Tunisia to Belleville in 1956, opened the butcher shop just outside the subway station by a busy street corner where young men now hawk black-market cartons of cigarettes for cash.

Slama, who favors centrists, sees the left led by Melenchon as a threat to Frances estimated 400,000 Jews, the largest Jewish population outside the United States and Israel. Most worrisome to Slama, who has three children, is the constant confounding of Israel, Zionism and Jews.

It puts us in danger in France, he said after wrapping links of merguez for a customer. Im even afraid for my kids.

: :

Antisemitic acts quadrupled in France last year, due to a surge after Oct. 7, according to a report last month by the governments National Advisory Commission on Human Rights. The government has also reported a sharp rise in attacks on Muslims.

Alexandre Bande, a historian who has compiled a political history of antisemitism in France since 1967, said the lefts rhetoric on Gaza had clearly stirred fear among French Jews.

But he questioned the sincerity of the far rights adoption of a friendly posture toward French Jews  most visibly with the appearance of Bardella and Marine Le Pen, a National Rally leader and daughter of the party co-founder, at a Paris march against antisemitism in November. Both Melenchon and Macron skipped the protest.

Theres no historical coherence, Bande said, predicting that the far right will eventually do what its always done, which is turn on the bad French, and the bad French could very well turn out once again to be Jews.

While it makes sense for Jews to fear radical Islam, he said, that doesnt mean one should rush into the arms of another wolf.

Read more: A Ukrainian 'King Lear' comes to Shakespeare's hometown. Its actors know true tragedy

For now, some Jews have removed mezuzahs from the doors of their homes and told their kids not to wear yarmulkes in the street.

On Rue Julien Lacroix in Belleville, not a single sign identifies Hai Taieb as a synagogue, and it takes a security code to enter the front door.

Thousands gather for a march against antisemitism in Paris on Nov. 12. (Sylvie Corbet / Associated Press)

Its unmarked on purpose, said Sayada, the doctor, whose father Gaston began worshiping there in 1956 after migrating from Tunisia and is now the synagogues president. The Jew in France is discreet now. He has a duty to be discreet.

That, he said, is the reason some congregants at the synagogue are supporting the National Rally.

They want someone authoritarian to protect them, he said.

One of the most stunning illustrations of the new opening to the far right came last month when the renowned Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld, 88, an icon to many Jews in France, told French television that if forced to choose between the National Rally and the countrys largest left-wing party, France Unbowed, he would pick the National Rally.

The synagogues memorial to the children credits Klarsfeld for documenting their names among the 74,150 Jews deported from France.

Finnegan is a special correspondent.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Former President Donald Trump stands on the stage during a break in the CNN presidential election debate with President Joe Biden in Atlanta on June 27. Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/UPI

July 6 (UPI) -- The judge hearing the federal classified documents case against former President Donald Trump on Saturday granted a motion to extend deadlines for filing legal arguments regarding potential presidential immunity.

Aileen Cannon, a U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of Florida, granted motions by Trump's legal team to extend the deadlines and set July 21 for filing briefs regarding how presidential immunity might affect the case against the former president and presumptive Republican nominee for the Nov. 5 presidential election.

Cannon granted the motions to the delay after the Supreme Court on Monday ruled 6-3 that Trump has some level of presidential immunity regarding constitutional powers and for official acts taken while in office.

Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith has charged Trump with 40 counts of mishandling classified documents.

Trump's legal team also has challenged Smith's standing as special counsel in the matter, saying he was unconstitutionally appointed and funded and the case against the former president should be dismissed.

Justice Clarence Thomas in the Supreme Court's ruling Monday questioned the legality of Smith serving as special counsel in the case.

Thomas suggested Smith wasn't "someone duly authorized" by the "American people" to prosecute the classified documents case against Trump.

The Supreme Court's immunity ruling also raises doubt regarding the legality of the recent convictions on 34 felony counts in the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that accused Trump of falsifying business records.

The judge in that case, Juan M. Merchan, agreed to postpone Trump's sentencing hearing for two months while the former president's attorney prepares a brief arguing why the convictions should be overturned.
The lengthy manifesto written by the Nashville, Tenn., shooter who killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a Christian private school will not be released to the public, a judge ruled.

The families of the victims will control the release of the documents, as they now hold the copyright of the materials, Chancery Court Judge IAshea Myles explained in the ruling.

The shooters parents adopted the copyright strategy as an unconventional approach to shield the documents and circumvent the Tennessee Public Records Act. In the effort, they transferred ownership of the materials to the victims families.

Interest in the writings, in part, stems from the shooters gender identity. According to the police, shooter Audrey Hale identified as a transgender man and used he/him pronouns. Some have floated the theory that the shooting at the Covenant School was a deliberate hate crime against Christians, and hope to confirm that belief with the journal entries.

During the case, the Covenant parents argued against the public release of the documents, saying it would further traumatize the families and could inspire copycats, according to The Associated Press.

In December of 2023, Nashville police investigated a leak of the journals pages but came up empty-handed.

Myles ultimately agreed that the risk of copycats was a legitimate concern.

Hale used the writings of other perpetrators in similar crimes to guide how this plan was constructed and accomplished, mimicking some not only in their methodology, but also choice of weapons and targets, Myles wrote. Hale even held past perpetrators out as heroes in their attacks, idolizing them.

While the lawsuit will protect many of the documents created by Hale, other documents in the police filing could become public once the case is closed.

The Associated Press contributed.

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Judy Belushi Pisano, the widow of John Belushi and a former actress and producer, has died. She was 73.

News of Pisanos death was reported by The MV Times, which covers Marthas Vineyard, where she spent much of her later years. She died after a long battle with cancer, the publication noted. Belushis official social media accounts also shared the news on Instagram and Facebook.

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Today, our hearts are heavy as we say goodbye to our sweet Judy, the posts began. Her unwavering dedication and creative genius alongside Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi gave birth to The Blues Brothers, a timeless testament to the power of music and laughter.

Pisano was married to Belushi from 1973 until 1982, when he died from an overdose. She remarried in 1990 to Victor Pisano before filing for divorce in 2010.

In the years following Johns passing in 1982, Judy honored his life and championed his legacy and Blues Brothers brand, Belushis social media post continued. As we bid farewell, we pledge to continue her work, ensuring that Johns legacy, and the Blues Brothers will never fade. There was no one like her. Judy made everyone feel loved. She was nonjudgmental, light, funny and pure. You could be truly yourself around her, that alone was a gift. The Belushi and Pisano families will carry your love in their hearts forever.

She worked alongside her first husband and former Saturday Night Live star as an actress on The Blues Brothers and National Lampoons Animal House. She had roles in Nothing Lasts Forever and All Downhill From Here, and served as a producer on The Best of John Belushi and John Belushi: Dancing on the Edge. According to IMDb, she was also working on a Blues Brothers television series.

Pisano and Belushi first arrived on Marthas Vineyard in 1974 after a musician friend in Boston recommended it, according to The MV Times. At the time, they were living in New York City, where she was working as a radio producer, and he was beginning to find his success in comedy.

The publication also noted that she was active in the arts on the island. She held a fundraiser for Marthas Vineyard Community Services with a screening of John Belushi: Dancing on the Edge and another for Marthas Vineyard Playhouse with a Daniel Aykroyd show.

Pisano is survived by her children and grandchildren.

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Kansass Supreme Court has thrown out two restrictive abortion bans, reaffirming the right to an abortion in a 5-1 ruling.

In a set of opinions penned by Democratic Governor-appointed justices Eric Rosen and Melissa Standridge, the court found that the Kansas constitution protected the right to an abortion, striking down the pair of laws.

Senate Bill 95, passed by Kansas Republicans, banned an abortion procedure used in many second-trimester pregnancies called dilation and evacuation.

S.B. 95 does not further patient safety. It compromises patient safety, Rosen wrote in the opinion, adding that the bill eliminates a safe and common medical procedure and leaves patients subject to procedures that are rarely used, are untested, and are sometimes more dangerous or impossible.

The five justices appointed by Democratic governors in the state joined in the majority, while one of the two Republican-appointed justices dissented.

Kansas, which has long allowed abortion through the 22nd week of pregnancy, saw a slew of anti-abortion bills introduced at the state level after the fall of the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade in 2022, though the states own top court says the right to reproductive care is enshrined in the states constitution.

We stand by our conclusion that section 1 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights protects a fundamental right to personal autonomy, which includes a pregnant persons right to terminate a pregnancy, Rosen wrote.

Outside Kansas, at least five states will consider the right to an abortion at the ballot box in November, while even more mull restrictive bans or legal protections in their legislatures.

At a federal level, President Joe Biden has called for a restoration of Roe v. Wade, while the Trump-backed Project 2025 calls for a national ban on mifepristone, a drug that is used in most medicated abortions.
The News

NAIROBI  Kenyas President William Ruto on Friday, July 5 announced several cuts to government expenditure and addressed anti-government protesters in an X space audio format, extending an olive branch to the Gen Z and millennial Kenyans leading the countrys protest movement.

Ruto held a press briefing hours before the X space, announcing the removal of the budgets for the offices of the first lady and the second lady, and the planned dissolution of 47 state agencies. He also suspended non-essential travel for government workers and the purchase of new vehicles. The President had earlier backed the suspension of planned salary increases for lawmakers and cabinet members.

The afternoon X space recorded more than 140,000 live listeners at one point, with Kenyans demanding answers from Ruto on the killings of at least 39 protesters by police, government corruption and wastage, questionable political appointments, and his failure to fulfill many of his campaign promises. He was called a liar multiple times.

Listening to the feedback today on X, I think I need to listen more, I need more empathy and my administration needs more empathy and I have heard you say loudly, more action, Ruto acknowledged shortly after the space. This is very rich and wealthy feedback. It was a great moment for Kenyans engaging openly.

Know More

The choice of X, formerly Twitter, was deliberate, as protesters have been using the app as well as TikTok to mobilize, discuss issues and coordinate protests. A large section of the protesters in Kenya however continue to demand for Rutos resignation despite his concessions so far, including the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024 which contained several tax hike proposals.

And while the X space platform may have won him significant attention from local and international press, many protesters remained dissatisfied by it and the participation of some protesters as hosts.They argued that it gave Ruto a chance to curry public favor and co-opt members of the protest movement. Kevin Monari alias Osama Otero, an influencer and protester who hosted Ruto on his space, has faced heavy backlash from Kenyans online over the move with some terming it betrayal.

He has made promises before and failed to deliver, whats different now? He must resign, said Ignatius Wafula, a protester in Nairobi.





Room for Disagreement

Some observers as well as supporters of the president have argued that Ruto scored crucial political points by participating in the space and rolling out budget cuts as it paints him as a listening president. It also gives him the backing, they say, to undertake greater reforms including expected changes to his cabinet.

It gives him the platform to make big, bold changes that would otherwise have been difficult to do without political repercussions from his allies, economist Anderson Njuki told Semafor Africa.

Notable

Kenyan protesters are using AI in their anti-government fight. Kenyas government has raised concerns about risks associated with use of AI by the anti-government protest movement.

Kenyan celebrities drop Safaricom over alleged protest censorship. Several Kenyan celebrities say they have ended partnerships with the countrys biggest telecom company over claims it disrupted internet access during protests.




BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  Firefighters labored under extreme heat as they attacked dozens of blazes on the Fourth of July while dispatchers fielded nearly 3,000 calls, according to the Kern County Fire Department.

A total of 142 fires were handled by the department, with firefighters also responding to 313 other emergencies and assisting partner agencies, according to a department news release. Three fires were classified as significant incidents requiring 10 or more units.

Annual fireworks display sparks fire at the Park at River Walk

Fire officials urged residents to remain vigilant and take precautions as conditions remain ripe for wildfires, with hot, dry weather expected to continue at least through the weekend.

The Independence Day holiday may be over, but Kern County remains under a red flag warning, the department said in the release. During this time, we have an increased risk of fire. Whether you are traveling, recreating, or working, think of ways to avoid starting fires.

Emergency Communications Center staff took care of 2,945 calls  a 5% increase from last years Fourth of July. Dispatchers saw 911 calls soar 81% from the previous Thursday, according to the release.

The vast majority of reports of illegal fireworks came from Bakersfield. Of 4,126 reports, 86% were in the city, the release said.

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Fire investigators were kept busy as illegal fireworks rattled windows, erupted into shimmering lights and sent clouds of smoke drifting across neighborhoods.

All told, Kern County Fire investigators made approximately 200 contacts for citations, and opened eight investigations, according to the release.

The department recommended residents download the Genasys Protect app  which provides information from local emergency services departments  and identify their evacuation zone to receive emergency notifications in the event of disasters, including wildfires and earthquakes.

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Kitten rescued after being stuck in storm drain for 4 days

DENVER (KDVR)  West Metro Fire Rescue assisted in the rescue of a kitten who had been stuck in a storm drain pipe for four days, according to a post by the department on social media.

This is the tail (tail) of a kitten whos used up at least one of his nine lives, it said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The rescue happened on June 27, according to WMFR.

The department interviewed two nearby residents, identified as Max and Kat, who said the cat had run into the pipe from another property.

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The pair had been trying to rescue the kitten for four days before calling 911 to get help from officials.

WMFR was able to flush the kitten out of the drain pipe with some water. The department said a crew with West Metro Engine 3 and a Lakewood Animal Control officer were part of the rescue alongside the two cat-loving residents.

Max and Kat said they would adopt the kitten after its 10-day quarantine period is over.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
What you need to know about the candidates who could replace Biden on the 2024 ticket

With President Joe Biden facing a grave political crisis after his debate debacle against Donald Trump, jittery Democrats are openly considering who could take over their campaign if he drops out  and the smart money is firmly on Vice President Kamala Harris.

The 81-year-old Biden, so far, has been defiant about staying in the race  a message he drove home at a campaign rally in Wisconsin and in an ABC interview Friday. Biden said only the Lord Almighty telling him to do do would prompt him to leave the race.

But Democratic leaders, donors and pundits continue to question whether Biden can continue in the race. If Biden were to shift course and step down  Harris appears to hold most of the cards over a raft of potential Democratic candidates including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The sitting veep would likely be the only one who could short-circuit a truncated nomination squabble that could turn the Democratic National Convention into a circular firing squad.

As the first Black woman to serve as vice president, Harris could make a powerful case that passing over her would be an unacceptable snub to the most loyal Democratic voters. Harris, 59, is also much more widely known than any of her potential rivals. Many believe she has the chops to successfully take the case to former President Donald Trump, who is widely despised and feared by Democratic voters.

Its like apples and oranges, said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist.

Heres a breakdown of the potential nominees.

Kamala Harris

Pros:

As Bidens loyal vice president, Harris would be the obvious choice to succeed him, perhaps by acclamation if he were to enthusiastically back her. She ran a successful campaign by his side and tens of millions of Democrats have already voted for her.

Harris would portray herself as the younger and more capable alternative to Trump, who remains a singularly unpopular figure who lost the popular vote twice. She has the ability to position ehrself as the candidate who represents a vision of what Democrats see as Americas political future: a smart, younger, non-white woman who has proven herself on the highest stages.

Cons:

Some believe America is not ready to vote for a woman, let alone a Black woman, for the nations highest office.

Republicans say she has a so-so record as vice president and Trump would certainly rip her for failing to solve the crisis at the southern border.

Harriss identity as a California progressive could be a particularly tough sell in the Rust Belt battleground states that look likely to determine the next president.

Gavin Newsom

Pros:

The California governor is a popular, young, considered effective and is an articulate leader of the biggest blue state of em all. He showed he can land and take political punches when he battled Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a one-on-one slugfest during the primary campaign.

Like other relatively youthful Democrats, the 56-year-old could make a dramatic contrast with the older and unpopular Trump.

Cons:

Newsoms slicked-back West Coast image would be a problem in the Midwest.

Republicans would have a field day attacking him for the perceived problems of the Golden State, where they say high taxes and liberal policies have led to an exodus and population decline.

Like any other white candidate, he could likely emerge deeply wounded from what could be an any ugly fight over the nomination and the perception that a capable Black woman was passed over for a white man.

Gretchen Whitmer

Pros:

The Michigan governor is many Democratic strategists dream candidate: Shes the successful and extremely popular leader of perhaps the most pivotal Rust Belt swing state.

At 52, shes younger than many of her rivals, let along Trump, who is 26 years older than her.

Whitmer has a tough-as-nails Midwest demeanor that could hold broad national appeal, especially in contrast to Trump.

Cons:

Whitmer is still not as well known nationally to Democratic voters as her main rivals and has not yet ran for president.

Some say American voters wont vote for a woman candidate, pointing to Hillary Clintons losing 2016 campaign.

Like others, she would have a tough time repairing the damage from a potential fight with Harris and uniting the partys base to confront an ascendant Trump.

Pete Buttigieg

Pros:

Bidens transportation secretary is an effective communicator and popular moderate Democrat who won plaudits for a promising, if losing, Democratic primary campaign in 2020.

The openly gay former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has spent three-and-a-half years as a loyal Democratic team player and by most accounts effective member of Bidens Cabinet.

He brings Midwest authenticity, and at 42 would claim a generational mantle for change, a dramatic shift from the 81-year-old Biden and 78-year-old Trump.

Cons:

While it might be hard to imagine after the drama over Bidens age, but Buttigiegs youth and inexperience could be seen as a downside especially against a figure like Trump.

Even though Buttigieg rarely talks about his sexual identity, a significant chunk of American voters say they wont vote for an LGBTQ person.

Buttitieg performed abysmally with Black and Latino voters in the 2020 race. That would make him a particularly tough sell to the partys base, especially if there is an open fight with Harris over the nomination.

Michelle Obama

Pros:

The popular former first lady is a surprising darling of pollsters, leading Trump by a wide margin even as most potential Biden alternatives trail the ex-president.

Cons:

Michelle Obama has repeatedly said she isnt interested in running for any office, let alone the White House.

Theres really no reason not to take her at her word, especially since she knows better than anyone the toll that such a race would take on her and her family.
What we know about the flooding in Manawa in Waupaca County

The waters of the Mill Pond dam in Manawa flooded around the structure holding it back Friday following heavy rain. The onrushing water flooded streets and forced dozens of homes to be evacuated. Here's what we know one day after the flooding.

After the rain ended on July 5, 2024, in Manawa, Wisconsin, spectators began to appear on the State 22 bridge over Little Wolf River to see the river's high water levels. Earlier that day, erosion at the shore beside the Manawa Mill Pond dam caused water to rush downstream, flooding parts of the city.

Did the Manawa dam fail?

No, the dam itself didn't fail. Rather, the earth on the sides of the dam became eroded enough to give way to the waters behind the dam, according to Manawa Mayor Mike Frazier.

Why did the flooding occur in Manawa?

Flooding in Manawa started after the area received heavy rain. The pressure of the water behind the dam couldn't be contained by the eroded embankment, city officials said.

How much rain did the area receive?

Since Friday morning until Friday afternoon, Manawa received 5.6 inches of rain, according to NWS of Green Bay Meteorologist Kurt Kotenderg.

Where is Manawa?

Manawa is located in central Waupaca County. It has a population of 1,238, according to its Census Reporter page.

Water pours over the Manawa dam on July 5, 2024.

How many homes and buildings needed to be evacuated?

Mayor Frazier said that around 100 residences were evacuated.

However, that number does not include the number of people who were evacuated outside of the city limits. Frazier said the city does not know what that figure is.

As of 5 p.m. on Friday, all evacuated residents, apart from those living in the nursing home, were able to return to their homes, according to Manawa Police Chief Jason Severson.

Frazier estimated 160 firefighters from Manawa and surrounding municipalities were on stand-by Friday in the event that more evacuations were necessary.

Can people go into the floodwaters?

Officials advised people to not wade or drive in flooded areas. The city said if someone has been in the flooded areas, they should wash with soap and clean water, as well as making sure they are up to date on their tetanus vaccinations.

How much will it cost to clean up the area?

Frazier said the city has received an initial estimate of $5 million to repair roads and other damages done to city property by floodwaters.

In addition to the roads, repairs are needed to the dam and its embankment, Severson said.

The wastewater treatment plant also needs to be cleaned up and restart operations. Residents are advised by the city to either boil their tap water for consumption or use bottled water until the plant is running and there have been tests done to ensure a drinkable quality of water.

"I couldn't even guess how long it would take for any of those projects," Severson said.

Has flooding like this happened before in Manawa?

There was a close call for the dam to start flooding in 1969, according to Frazier. Since then, the city has not had anything like this happen until this year, he said.

When was the dam built?

The dam's construction was completed in 1920, according to Manawa's official city website.

When was the last inspection of the Manawa dam?

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' repository of dams listed the dam's last inspection date as February 28, 2015.

What about the closed roads?

Roads that were closed due to flooding in Manawa reopened Friday evening. These roads included Union Street, Beech Street, Howard Street, Industrial Drive and Highway 22.

Did Manawa's mayor have any additional information?

Frazier said that he was told by emergency responders that the erosion that gave way to water being released "saved the dam" from the tremendous pressure acting on it that might have caused a more severe scenario.

"Most of the water is gone except for the flooding in Lindsay Park," said Frazier. "(The city) has repaired our streets temporarily."

Rashad Alexander, Hannah Kirby and James B. Nelson contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What we know about the flooding in Manawa in Waupaca County
What to know about Keir Starmer, UKs new prime minister

The Labour party won a landslide victory in Thursdays election, bringing an end to 14 years of Conservative rule under five Tory prime ministers.

Rishi Sunak immediately tendered his resignation as the nations leader and is also standing down as party leader of the Tories, apologizing to the nation and his conservative colleagues for the loss.

Sir Keir Starmer is now the nations prime minister.

Many notable Tories lost their election, including former Prime Minister Liz Truss, leader of the House Penny Mordaunt, who was viewed as a successor to Sunak, and Jacob Rees-Moggs, a conservative firebrand.

Starmer is only the fourth Labour leader in the partys 124-year history to lead it to an election victory. He took over as leader in 2020 after the party lost 84 seats in the 2019 elections. Many U.K. election watchers at the time believed the loss was a demonstration of the fact that Labour could simply never win an election again.

Starmer led a four-year transformation of the party, bringing it back to the center and working to purge segments of the party that had been accused of antisemitism and bigotry. He has been accused of dullness, but he argues that the nation wants stability and not more politics of personalities.

During his first speech as prime minister, he promised that Labour would tread more lightly on your lives after an era of noisy performance.

Whether you voted Labour or not, especially if you did not, I say to you directly, my government will serve you. Politics can be a force for good. We will show that, Starmer said during his first speech as prime minister. We changed the Labour party, returned it to service and that is how we will govern.

Who is the man who led Labour to this landslide victory?

Background

Starmer, 61, was named after the Labour Partys founder Keir Hardie. He is one of four children and grew up in a cash-strapped household.

His father was a toolmaker, and his mom was a nurse. His mother was chronically ill while growing up, and he spent much of his youth in the hospital with her, which he has said helped shape his worldview.

Education and legal work

Starmer studied law at Leeds University, becoming the first person in his family to attend college. He then became a Human Rights lawyer and helped defend clients facing the death penalty.

He also served as a legal advisor to the Northern Ireland Policing Board for five years. The board was responsible for bringing communities together after the Good Friday Agreement.

In 2008, Starmer was named the Director of Public Prosecutions, making him the head of prosecutions in England and Wales.

The prosecution service faced heavy cuts in 2008, and Starmer oversaw its adjustments. He stood down as its head in 2013 and was knighted in 2014 for his service as a prosecutor.

He won election to the House of Commons in 2015.

Experience as party leader

Starmer first entered parliament in 2015, and he served as the shadow immigration minister from 2015 to 2016 and shadow secretary for leaving the European Union from 2016 to 2020.

After Jeremy Corbyn stood down, he won the Labour Partys leadership election in 2020. Corbyn resigned after the 2019 general election, in which the party lost 84 seats.

Starmer regularly disagreed with Corbyn, who was far more left-leaning. At one point, he resigned from senior party leadership in protest of Corbyns left-wing policies.

While campaigning to become leader in 2020, Starmer promised to rebuild Labour as a center-left party, moving away from Corbyns work to pull the party towards the left. Many blamed that leftward push for one of Labours worst losses in 2019.

During his four years as opposition leader, Starmer has led a largely disciplined Labour party that has focused on attacking three Tory prime ministers Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak for scandals, a cost-of-living crisis, an economic slowdown and a COVID-19 response.

Campaign pitch

Change.

Labour rolled out a one-word campaign slogan the day Sunak announced the election would take place on July 4.

Starmer promised a stable government without much of the turmoil of the last four Tory prime ministers and an ever-constant change in government ministers. Some departments have had more than ten cabinet ministers in 14 years.

He has also promised to cut waiting lists for the nations health services, stop illegal migration and restore economic prosperity.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Trade unions have struck out in securing a labor deal over the construction of the new terminal at John Glenn Columbus International Airport that they say is necessary to protect wages and benefits of union and nonunion workers on the site.

"It's really just disappointing," said Mike Knisley, secretary-treasurer of the Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council.

"I think they're going to find great challenges to get the project done on time and under budget," said Dorsey Hager, executive secretary-treasurer of the Columbus/Central Ohio Building & Construction Trades Council.

Planned new $2 billion terminal at John Glenn Columbus International Airport

The Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which oversees John Glenn, and Hensel Phelps, the Colorado-based general contractor on the project, said they made significant efforts to collaborate with trade unions.

"Despite our comprehensive proposals, the Columbus/Central Ohio Building & Construction Trades Council has rejected all offers," the airport said in a statement.

In a similar statement, the company said, "Hensel Phelps has offered numerous compromise proposals to the (trade unions), who have rejected all offers."

John Glenn Airport's new terminal to replace one built in 1958

The airport expects to break ground this year on the ambitious, $2 billion project to build a new terminal to replace the existing one, built in 1958. The new terminal will be built west of the current terminal on what is now the "blue" parking lot, south of International Gateway, the main drive into the airport from Interstate 670.

The project is expected to be finished in 2029.

Construction of the new terminal at John Glenn Columbus International Airport is expected to be completed in 2029.

The new terminal will be capable of handling 13 million passengers, which is more than 4 million above the 8.7 million passengers that traveled through John Glenn Columbus and the Rickenbacker airport passenger terminal combined in 2023, the second-best year for both airports on record. The airports are on track to hit a record this year.

The project could have as many as 1,500 construction workers on site, Hager said.

What are project labor deals?

Project-labor deals guarantee that workers on the site will be paid good wages and benefits, and that local contractors and workers will be hired, labor leaders say.

They also say that since the $2 billion project is being financed in part with tax dollars, the project should benefit Ohio workers.

"We wanted everybody to make top wages and benefits," Hager said.

The unions have been able to strike similar agreements with other major projects in the region, including Intel's $28 billion semiconductor plant in Licking County, the $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant that Honda and LG Energy are building in Jeffersonville, the Hollywood Casino hotel project on the West Side, the Franklin County jail and other projects, they said.

A new terminal at John Glenn Columbus International Airport is designed in part to allow planes to get in and out of Columbus faster.

Projects with such agreements tend to come in under budget, on or ahead of schedule, and are done safely, Knisley and Hager said.

"You have to have willing partners to see the value of this thing, Knisley said.

Without such a deal, workers and contractors could be brought in from out of state and may not receive the wages and benefits they're due, Hager said.

The airport authority has previously said it already has a prevailing wage policy, along with other hiring requirements for small companies and companies owned by minorities, women and veterans.

More: $179 million parking garage to replace McDonalds at John Glenn Columbus Airport

Hensel Phelps, which is working with Columbus-based general contractor Elford on the project, said on its website it has partnered with several Ohio-based diverse business partners and disadvantaged business enterprise-certified small businesses "who will be integral during the preconstruction phase of the project."

"Hensel Phelps is committed to paying prevailing wages and fringe benefits and is utilizing the most qualified best value trade partners to meet or exceed the (airport authority's) local, small and disadvantaged business goals," the company said.

Columbus Urban League President Stephanie Hightower wrote in a column last month in The Dispatch that the Urban League welcomed the project and the benefits it will bring to small, minority, women and veteran-owned companies.

"Those who werent invited or dont know how to find their way into the room where decisions are made, those who have confronted closed doors or found themselves slammed against glass ceilings understand how profoundly important it is that entities like the Columbus Regional Airport Authority are pressing hard to involve minority, veteran and women-owned small businesses in their expansion," she wrote.

mawilliams@dispatch.com

@BizMarkWilliams

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New Columbus airport terminal to be built without union deal
Los Angeles Police Department detectives are searching for the driver of a vehicle that hit a pedestrian in North Hollywood and then fled the scene.

The pedestrian, police said, was taken to the hospital with severe injuries.

It happened on Wednesday around 4:35 p.m. on Sherman Way near Coldwater Canyon Boulevard, police said.

The pedestrian was walking outside a crosswalk when they were struck by a white Infiniti sedan that did not stop to identify themselves or provide aid, which is required by law.

Paramedics from the Los Angeles Fire Department arrived on scene and transported the unidentified pedestrian to the hospital with major injuries.

A photo of the actual vehicle involved in the crash was distributed by the LAPD Friday with a reminder about the requirements to pull over after a collision, notify emergency services and remain at the scene.

This Infiniti sedan was involved in a near-deadly hit-and-run in North Hollywood on July 3, 2024. (Los Angeles Police Department)

The City of Los Angeles offers rewards of up to $25,000 for members of the community that provide information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of those who have committed a hit-and-run.

Anyone with information about this particular case is urged to contact LAPD Investigator Reyes at 818-644-8114 or Investigator Santos at 818-644-8024. Anonymous tips can be provided online or by calling 800-222-8477.

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LAS VEGAS, N.M. (KRQE)  Officials in Las Vegas have eased restrictions on laundromats as the city continues to recover from flooding. While non-essential businesses were allowed to reopen, car washes and laundromats had to stay closed.

Ruidoso GoFundMe central hub page has already raised about $400,000 in relief

Now, the city is allowing laundromats to open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Car washes will remain closed. The city is asking for residents and businesses to continue to conserve water as they increase reserves.

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LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  The dangerous heat hitting the Las Vegas valley is wearing down restaurant workers, especially those who spend most of their time in the kitchen.



According to data from the Nevada State Occupation Safety and Health Administration, a third of all the heat complaints in June came from the accommodation and food industry.



Despite the oppressive heat, people still have to work, and some restaurant workers are finding creative ways to stay cool on the job.



This is like a little personal air conditioner I use. I got it on the internet. It just blows air up, blows air down, Jason Cohn of Brooklyns Best Pizza said.

He was wearing a white device around his neck that looks like headphones. Keeps me cool, he added.



Cohn has to keep cool while hes stirring two large pots of tomato sauce, which is a four-hour process.



Business is slow on Friday at Brooklyns Best Pizza located at 241 West Charleston Boulevard, however, it is mostly due to the post-Fourth of July holiday, according to owner Joey Gonzalez.

Business is slow on Friday at Brooklyns Best Pizza located at 241 West Charleston Boulevard, however, it is mostly due to the post-Fourth of July holiday, according to owner Joey Gonzalez. (KLAS)

Its hard, its hard in this hot weather, Gonzalez said of working in these temperatures. Its hard on the body, you know? I tell them bring a change of shirt. With the heat, you got to overstaff. This way, you give the guys a break.

Data from OSHA showed that in June there were 108 complaints from Southern Nevada tied to the heat and last year there were only 22 complaints.



Forty of them, which is a third of the complaints, were from the accommodation and food industry.



Health experts couldnt stress enough the importance of staying hydrated.



You have to think of heat like stress. Thats what it is. It puts stress on our body. It puts stress on everything, and that stress can then subsequently cause a major illness to manifest, Dr. Ketan Patel, the emergency department medical director at UMC said.



As for Gonzalez, he has taken steps to protect his staff.



You got swamp cooler number one. You got little baby a/c number 1, Gonzalez said pointing at portable air conditioning units in his kitchen.



However, even all that he said is not enough.



Our a/cs are maintained. We had to fix them twice this year because of the heat. You know, they break down frequently, because its a lot of demand, Gonzalez said.



When it comes to heat illness claims, nearly half of the compensation claims the state of Nevada awarded from 2016 to last year were for temperature extremes.





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Last of 9 Roch. Hills shooting victims out of hospital

Last of 9 Roch. Hills shooting victims out of hospital

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)  The last of nine victims in the June 15 shooting at a Rochester Hills splash pad is out of the hospital and back home.

The 39-year-old Rochester Hills mother, whose 8-and-4-year-old sons were also injured and previously released, left the hospital Friday after a three-week stay, Oakland County Office of the Sheriff said.

The 8-year-old boy, who sustained critical injuries, got out of the hospital last week.

An officer with the Oakland County Sheriffs Department secures the scene of a shooting at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad, Saturday, June 15, 2024, in Rochester Hills, Mich. (Katy Kildee, The Detroit News/Detroit News via AP)

The woman was seriously injured while she was trying to protect her children from the gunman on June 15.

In total, seven adults and two children were injured in the random shooting. Officials said they are not identifying the victims.

The gunman, 42-year-old William Nash of Shelby Township, killed himself after Oakland County deputies surrounded the mobile home Nash had shared with his mother.

The shooting is still under investigation.

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Last of Rochester Hills splash pad shooting victims out of the hospital

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Three weeks after a gunman opened fired at a splash pad in southeastern Michigan, the last of the nine people injured was released from the hospital Friday, authorities say.

The Oakland County Sheriffs Office said in a release that the 39-year-old Rochester Hills woman was shot multiple times trying to protect her children. The Associated Press previously reported she was hit in the abdomen and leg.

Her 8-year-old son was shot in the head and her 4-year-old son in the leg, but both survived and were previously released from the hospital.

While we are incredibly pleased all shooting victims have been released from the hospital, we know there is a long road ahead on both the physical and psychological healing, Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a statement. Our support will remain with the victims, and we will continue to look for any information that gives insight into the motive of the shooter.

The shooting happened June 15 at a splash pad in the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills. Two children and seven adults were injured, but no victims were killed.

The shooter later took his own life when the police closed in on him.

Authorities have indicated the attack was random  the shooter didnt have any link to those shot or the splash pad.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
The last of nine victims in the Rochester Hills splash pad shooting, a 39-year-old Rochester Hills mother, has gone home.

On June 15, a suspect, later identified as 42-year-old William Michael Nash, of Shelby Township, randomly opened fire on families at the splash pad, leaving nine people injured. The gunman died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after the mass shooting, police said.

Evidence markers indicate the position of spent shell casings following a mass shooting at the Brooklands Plaza Splash Pad in Rochester Hills on Saturday, June 15, 2024.

The woman and her two children, an 8-year-old boy and a 4-year-old boy, were all injured in the shooting. The woman was shot multiple times while trying to protect her children from the gunman. Her 8-year-old, who was seriously injured after being shot in the head, was released from the hospital on June 28, and her 4-year-old was released following a wound to the thigh.

Previously, a GoFundMe identified the three as members of the Bebout family and asked for donations to accommodate the Bebouts as the father, the sole provider of income for the family, will have to take off work for an undetermined amount of time to support his family through their recovery. The GoFundMe can be accessed here.

The woman, who has not otherwise been identified, was finally reunited with her family at home nearly three weeks after the shooting.

While we are incredibly pleased all shooting victims have been released from the hospital, we know there is a long road ahead on both the physical and psychological healing, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said in a news release. Our support will remain with the victims, and we will continue to look for any information that gives insight into the motive of the shooter.

The shooting remains under investigation.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Last victim in Rochester Hills splash pad shooting sent home
Latest Russian strikes on northern Ukraine leave more than 100K without power

A set of Russian strikes in northern Ukraine knocked out power for more than 100,000 people and cut off the water supply to a regional capital.

Attacks overnight in Ukraines eastern regions also killed 11 people, The Associated Press reported.

According to Ukraines General Staff, Russian forces launched six rocket strikes and 55 airstrikes across Ukraine. Russia also used 70 glide bombs, or retrofitted Soviet-era weapons, which the country has increasingly used in recent weeks, per the AP.

Our people continuously suffer from Russian terror. This week alone, Russia has used over 600 guided aerial bombs, more than 60 Shahed drones, and nearly 40 missiles of various types, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted Saturday on social media platform X, adding that the nations military had used international aid from the U.S. and Germany to strengthen its air defenses.

However, to protect all our cities and villages and to truly overcome Russian terror, we need more concrete decisions, he continued. Next week, we will work with our partners for such decisions  preparations are already underway.

Russia struck the northern Sumy region overnight, according to the Ukranian Energy Ministry. Hours later, the Ukrainian public broadcaster reported that Russian drones had hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy. The strike hit power lines that feed the citys system of pumps.

According to the Russian state agency RIA, a local pro-Kremlin underground leader said that Russia had hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in Sumy as well. Still, that claim has not been independently verified, according to the AP.

In Ukraines eastern Donetsk region, heavy shelling also continued overnight, and the Ukrainian General Staff said that Ukraine and Russian forces clashed 45 times near Pokrovsk over the previous day.

The regions governor also reported that three more people died in Chasiv Yar, a strategically located town in Donetsk, whose fall, military analysts say, could put nearby cities in jeopardy. Russia has claimed the Donetsk region is Russian territory, which has been rejected by Ukraine and the overwhelming majority of the international community.

In recent months, Russia has increasingly targeted Ukraines energy infrastructure to cripple the nation as it continues to fight against Russias invasion.

Russia has launched at least seven major attacks on Ukrainian power plants in the last three months, per the AP. In early June, Ukraine imposed emergency power cuts across the country in response to Russian attacks.

In April, a Russian missile barrage damaged Kyivs largest thermal power plant, and a massive attack on May 8 targeted power generation across the country.

In the past, Zelensky took to X to denounce the attacks on civilian infrastructure.

Civilian people, infrastructure, and energy facilities. This is what Russia is constantly at war with, Zelensky wrote last month on X. This night, another barrage of over 50 missiles of various types and around 50 Shahed drones targeted the south, center, and west of Ukraine.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

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The Supreme Court isnt making it easy to be a law professor these days.

After overturning the 40-year-old Chevron deference last week, the justices threw law curricula for another major loop on Monday with their earth-shaking ruling on presidential immunity  all this just two years after Roe v. Wade was struck down after 50 years on the books.

Law school professors have been meeting to discuss the forthcoming changes to their courses, trying to get their heads around the new legal landscape the conservative-leaning court is creating.

Administrative law goes through some periods where change is glacial, if at all, and other periods when its extremely rapid. The period around the New Deal is a very rapid change, the Nixon administration and immediately afterwards was a period of rapid change and this is now a period of very rapid change, said David Super, a professor at Georgetown Law. So if you were to compare a syllabus from three years ago, four years ago, with one from next year, I think youd see not just different cases, but different topics being discussed.

The Supreme Court ruled presidents have broad immunity from prosecution when they are engaging in official acts of the office, giving a major win to former President Trump in the federal criminal case regarding Jan. 6, 2021, and his efforts to stay in office.

Its really out of keeping with many, many of the prior cases. Its also out of keeping with the line of cases regarding presidential immunity in which the court has been really clear that presidents are not above the law, but this decision says, in important ways, that they are, said Claire Finkelstein, professor of law and philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania.

And so, its going to be hard to know how to teach this, to know how to teach this to students, because it really requires us to rethink and reframe what weve been teaching them all along, she added.

And that rewrite-the-books ruling came just days after the court struck down Chevron, which allowed judges to rely on government agencies when an ambiguous law was sued on the basis of interpretation. Judges will now have to use their own best interpretation of the law when deciding a case, making it much easier for regulations to be overturned.

We do not call into question prior cases that relied on the Chevron framework, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. The holdings of those cases that specific agency actions are lawful  including the Clean Air Act holding of Chevron itself  are still subject to statutory stare decisis despite our change in interpretive methodology.

Law professors say they are lucky such rulings typically happen over the summer, as it gives them time to converse with peers about how to teach them in the upcoming school year.

It takes us a while to process the opinion, then we talk a lot about it with our colleagues to try to figure out whether the opinion is actually going to be as consequential as we think it is, and then whether its the kind of thing that needs to be in an introductory course, in which case you really have to think hard about how it fits into the curriculum, or whether its something thats for a more advanced class, in which case you might be able to sneak it in under a rubric like contemporary developments or something like that, said Noah Rosenblum, an assistant professor of law at New York University.

In the coming years, experts say, textbooks will be changed, and the lower courts will help narrow the scope of how new case law will be used.

Were in a period of rapid constitutional change, and that means that we dont know where theyre headed, said Sam Erman, a law professor at the University of Michigan Law School.

Depending on their areas of expertise, some professors are used to constant change in the law, but even among those specialties, the past few years could prove unprecedented.

Its a conservative supermajority thats building out a new vision of constitutional law, and were watching that unfold, Erman said. And so I also have to decide what topics to cover, he added, as previous subjects that didnt appear quite as interesting or relevant are going to become a big deal, and we have to spend time on it.

Professors say its par for the course for attorneys to have to deal with ever-shifting laws. And sometimes its easy to see which way the wind is blowing, such as when conservatives chipped away at Roe v. Wade over the years before it was overturned fully in 2022.

But they acknowledge that their students, particularly those preparing for the bar exam, can also be thrown when precedent-changing decisions are dropped.

For law schools that really have to worry whether their students are going to pass the bar, having constitutional law be a moving target can create challenges, because you might teach it to them in year one, and then essentially in year four or the end of year three, theyre taking the bar exam, Erman said. And if a lot has changed since they learned constitutional law, then they both have to learn new material to pass the bar, and they have to unlearn old material.

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French far-right politician Marine Le Pen said in an interview with CNN on July 5 that her party is against continuing to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles and the possibility of sending French troops to Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron has long supported providing Ukraine with long-range missiles, and France already supplies Ukraine with long-range SCALP missiles, the equivalent of the British Storm Shadows.

Macron said in May that he would not rule out the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. Kyiv has not appealed to the West to send its troops to Ukraine, instead asking for increased arms supplies to help its soldiers fend off Russia.

After months of discussion, Macron said on June 7 that France was finalizing a coalition of countries to send military instructors to Ukraine.

Le Pen spoke with CNN ahead of France's second round of elections on July 7. Le Pen's party, National Rally, emerged as the most popular party in the first round on June 30.

Prior to February 2022, Le Pen openly expressed her admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and said she did not believe Russia's annexation of Crimea was illegal.

Le Pen told CNN she recognized that Russia has violated Ukraine's territorial integrity and "we have condemned Russia in this matter," but claimed that Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 was "more complicated than it is made out to be."

"We have two red lines, sending French troops to Ukrainian territory...and the delivery of long-range weapons that could hit Russia, and therefore make France a co-beligerent in this conflict," Le Pen said.

Le Pen is the president of the National Rally grouping in the French Parliament, but the leader of the party is Jordan Bardella, a 28-year-old member of the European Parliament.

Bardella said on June 19 that he would continue supporting Ukraine if elected prime minister, but also ruled out sending French troops or supplying the country with long-range weapons.

Ukraine's partners are divided on to what extent Kyiv should be allowed to use Western-supplied weapons to carry out strikes on military targets in Russia.

The U.S. gave Ukraine permission on June 1 to use American-supplied weapons, including HIMARS rockets, to strike targets in Russia located near the border with Kharkiv Oblast after Russia launched a renewed offensive in the region on May 10.

Ukraine is still prohibited from using ATACMS and other long-range U.S.-supplied weapons for strikes deeper inside Russia.

Read also: Ukraines airfields under fire as Russia braces for F-16s

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Le Pen calls for cancellation of authorisation for Ukraine to use French weapons to strike Russia

Marine Le Pen, the de-facto leader of the French far-right National Rally party, has promised that if her party comes to power after the second round of parliamentary elections, she will not allow Ukraine to use French long-range weapons to strike Russia.

Source: Le Pen in an interview with CNN

Details: Le Pen said that in addition to the deployment of French troops, which French President Emmanuel Macron did not rule out, Kyiv's permission to use French long-range missiles in Russia would also be cancelled.

She noted that the only red line with regard to Ukraine is to prevent France from becoming a fighting side in the war through Ukraines use of French-supplied missiles against targets in Russia.

"If Emmanuel Macron wants to send troops to Ukraine and the prime minister is against it, then there are no troops sent to Ukraine. The prime minister has the final say," she said.

Background:

In turn, Jordan Bardella, the leader of the National Rally, said that if his political force came to power, he would not allow Russia to "consume Ukraine".

Bardella also stated that he was ready to confront Russia if he became prime minister after the early parliamentary elections.

The results of the latest two polls in France predict that the right-wing populist National Rally will not win an absolute majority in the National Assembly in the second round of the 7 July parliamentary elections.

The right-wing populist National Rally and its allies won more than 33% of the vote in the first round of early parliamentary elections in France on 30 June.

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What we learned from the UK's general election that will shape politics over the coming years

The statues of former British Prime Minister's David Lloyd George, left, and Winston Churchill stand in Parliament Square in Westminster across from the Houses of Parliament in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. Britain's Labour Party swept to power Friday after more than a decade in opposition, as a jaded electorate handed the party a landslide victory  but also a mammoth task of reinvigorating a stagnant economy and dispirited nation. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

LONDON (AP)  The U.K. has its first change in government in 14 years after the Labour Party won a landslide victory in a general election Friday that saw the Conservative Party suffer its biggest defeat ever.

The new government faces huge challenges, including fixing the country's sluggish economic and social malaise resulting in part from the U.K.'s exit from the European Union, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and several Conservative Party scandals.

Here are some things we learned:

A fraying two-party system

For the past 100 years, Britain's two main political parties have garnered the vast majority of votes. In 1951, for example, the Conservatives and Labour netted nearly 97% of the vote combined.

In the decades since, the trend has been clear  down. This election marked a new low, with the two parties combined barely able to muster 60%.

Despite that relatively low share of the vote, Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be able to govern with a massive majority in the House of Commons that will make it easier for him to get his legislation through. Labour more than doubled its seats while the Conservatives lost around a third of the seats they contested.

That's because in Britain's electoral system, the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins even if they don't get a majority. This makes it easier for a party to win a seat on a relatively low share of the vote, especially when votes are spread out among many parties. These include the anti-immigration Reform UK, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.

Conservatives punished

No election has seen this many Cabinet ministers lose their seats in Parliament, including some who were prospective candidates to replace Rishi Sunak when he steps down as leader of the party.

With all 650 contests counted, a dozen Cabinet ministers lost their seats. Perhaps the most consequential for the future of the Conservative Party is Penny Mordaunt, who gained international notoriety when she held up a large sword throughout much of last year's coronation of King Charles III. She was widely tipped to be a future leader as she has support across the party.

Others included Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary Mark Harper and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan.

The casualty with the highest profile wasn't even in the Cabinet. That honor goes to Liz Truss, who was prime minister for just 49 days in the fall of 2022 and whose unfunded tax cuts roiled financial markets and sent borrowing costs for homeowners surging. Sunak, who succeeded Truss, could never shake off the legacy of her premiership.

Labour's Gaza problem

Four of Labour's candidates lost to independent challengers campaigning on a pro-Palestinian platform in constituencies with big Muslim populations.

The biggest surprise was Jonathan Ashworth, who was expected to be in Starmer's Cabinet but lost his seat in Leicester, a city in central England where a third of the population is Muslim.

Even Starmer, who has been criticized for being slow to back a ceasefire in Gaza, saw his majority in his Holborn and St. Pancras seat reduced as more than 7,000 ballots were cast for an independent candidate who had Gaza at the heart of his campaign.

Labour is back in Scotland

In 2015 Labour, which had been dominant in Scottish politics for decades, lost all but one of its seats to the pro-independence Scottish National Party.

Thursday's election almost reversed that, with Labour winning the vast majority of seats in Scotland while the SNP lost the bulk of the seats it was defending, leaving it with only nine and putting to rest any thoughts of a pro-independence referendum for Scotland any time soon.

The SNP, which governs in Scotland, has had a difficult few years, most notably as a result of a funding scandal that has embroiled former leader Nicola Sturgeon and her husband.

John Swinney, who only became first minister a few weeks ago, pledged a period of soul searching and admitted that the party was not winning the argument" over independence.

Musical chairs

The newly elected candidates will officially become members of parliament on Tuesday when the House of Commons returns for the swearing-in and oath of allegiance to King Charles III.

When they take their seats on the green benches, the 412 Labour members will sit where the Conservatives have been for the past 14 years, on the right-hand side of the speaker of the House. The 121 Conservatives will be the main opposition and will sit to the left of the speaker.

The other opposition benches will look very different, however. If as anticipated the Liberal Democrats win the final seat to report, the party will have 72 members of Parliament, up from the 11 it won last time.

There will also be four Green members rather than one, and five members of the anti-immigration Reform U.K., including its leader and self-professed political agitator, Nigel Farage, who won a seat on his eighth attempt.

Reform, which contested its first election, is already saying the U.K.'s electoral system is unfair and is calling for a change, noting they got 14% of the vote, 2 percentage points more than the Liberal Democrats, but ended up with a far lower number of seats, But the U.K.'s electoral system has always been about getting the votes in the right place.

___

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The story of King Arthur and his trusty sword Excalibur has been a British legend for centuries, but other countries in Europe similarly have their own versions of ancient swords used by brave warriors of the past. France's version of Excalibur, however, just disappeared without a trace.

The French town of Rocamadour has been home to Durandal, an iron sword that has been lodged in a high rock wall for what legend says is about 1,300 years. According to La Depeche, the sword is believed to have belonged to Roland, a famed knight and military leader who served under Charlemagne in the eighth century. It's been a part of Rocamadour history ever since.

The story goes that Roland was badly wounded at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass and didn't want his trusty blade to be taken by the Basques that Charlemagne's forces were fighting against. To ensure they wouldn't get it, he purportedly traveled hundreds of miles away to Rocamadour and drove Durandal into the rock there.

An investigation into what happened is ongoing. Dominique Lenfant, the mayor of the village, expressed her disappointment regarding the theft.

"We will miss Durandal. It has been part of Rocamadour for centuries," she lamented. "Rocamadour feels robbed of a part of itself. Even if it is a legend, the destinies of our village and this sword are entwined."

Lenfant went on to explain some details surrounding the object and its intended use hundreds of years ago.

"Durandal is a public property that belongs to the state," she said. "This sword was embedded in the rock face at a shallow depth, very close to the [Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de Rocamadour chapel]."

"It measures 80 centimeters, so it is a small medieval sword that was forged to stun people or horses, not to kill them," she added.

Durandal, the legendary sword of the knight Roland, has been stolen.



The sword, sunk more than ten metres into the rock, was stolen from the French town of Rocamadour on the night of 21-22 June. An investigation is underway. It's a priceless treasure that has gone missing. pic.twitter.com/0YFZ6F8mM7  Sey @ FGO (@exceddius) July 3, 2024

For now, this small French village is mourning the loss of its crown jewel.
Who is responsible for protecting Native students' rights to wear tribal regalia?

The early years of this country exemplify the calculated efforts of the government to extinguish the cultural practices and religions of Native Americans. The federal and state policies that focused on outlawing Native American religious practices is a dark time in history, but is also parallel to the issues many Native American students are experiencing today during graduation ceremonies.

State Bill 429 was enacted to protect the rights of Oklahomas Native American students to wear tribal regalia during school events including graduation ceremonies. Public schools are banned from creating and enforcing policies that ban tribal regalia or discriminate against Native American students who wear tribal regalia.

The law does not list any consequences or penalties for school districts that violate the law. There is no administrative body assigned to handle reports of noncompliance. There may be times when a Native American student is having their right to wear tribal regalia violated as they are attending the graduation celebration and have no time to file any type of legal injunction. They or their guardians would likely need to shell out thousands of dollars for legal representation. There is no compensation for injury in this law and even if they took a case to court, what could the outcome even be if the graduation has already occurred? This lack of penalties makes way for schools to blatantly ignore the rights of the Native American students.

The Oklahoma Legislature needs to meaningfully work on passing an amendment to ensure that if Native American students have their religious and cultural rights violated, they have a path to justice.

 Kendra Lowden (Potawatomi/Osage), Shawnee

Maybe we should shift our sights north

Oklahomas children are not faring well. They are suffering in most measures of national standards of health, economics, education and general well-being. The latest sad Oklahoma showing comes from the Annie E. Casey Foundations recent national information and report.

Oklahomas children ranked 40th in overall child well-being. The poorest showing came in education with the state 49th out of the 50 states. Only New Mexico lagged behind Oklahoma.

Can we do better? In matters of business climate and taxes, we probably do compare favorably with other states. Recent Oklahoma governors have even suggested our state is a likely top 10 state.

We most always want to compare favorably with Texas. In most child well-being factors, we seem to be already in a league with Texas. Texas generally ranks about as low as Oklahoma in these national measures.

But, can we do better if we shift our vision a little? What if we compare Oklahoma to Kansas? Our northern neighbor seems to rank much higher than Oklahoma in every significant measure.

Kansas ranks 19th in overall child well-being to Oklahomas 46th ranking. Kansas ranks 12th in economic well-being to Oklahomas ranking of 39th. Texas comes in even lower with a 41st economic ranking. We do come closer to Kansas in education, yet a wide gap in the two states ranking remains.

Maybe it is time we look in another direction for our public policy inspiration. We should ask ourselves and our states public and private leadership just what is it that Kansas seems to be getting right. Maybe there are ideas in our northern neighboring worth trying in Oklahoma.

 Jerry Edward Stephens, Edmond

Bibles in every fifth- through 12th-grade classroom?

State Schools Superintendent Ryan Walters announced on national television that starting immediately, every public-school classroom in Oklahoma from 5th through 12th grade is to have a Bible in it, and teachers are to teach from it. He later published a statement that instruction will follow directing what is to be taught, "to insure uniformity."

As a Bible believer (I have a theology degree from a Bible college), I love the Bible, but Im absolutely appalled by this action by a school leader who has tried since his election to force his own agenda on schools.

Aside from whether or not Oklahomans might like the Bible in schools, as a practical matter, we can anticipate dozens, if not hundreds of lawsuits that our schools and government will have to defend, at a cost of millions of dollars that could have gone to improvements in schools as well as services to those in need or road and infrastructure upkeep.

But on another level, the United States is composed of not only Christians, but those of many other faiths, or no faiths. I would be ashamed to force those parents to stand helplessly by as their children are being taught---in public schools that they support through their taxes---a religion they dont embrace, even as I wouldnt want my children to be indoctrinated in Islam or any other religion in school. Religion should be the responsibility of parents, not schools!

The First Amendment to our Constitution states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

 Ed Koonce, Mustang

'Separation of Church and State' was intent of the First Amendment

I am appalled at the lack of knowledge of state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters in light of the fact that he is supposed to have a degree in history. His statement that the Oklahoma Supreme Court "got it wrong" and that "separation of church and state is not in the Constitution" is ludicrous.

Although Founding Father James Madison was the principal author of the First Amendment to the Constitution, Republican President Thomas Jefferson is the one who originated the amendment in a draft. Amendments to the Constitution are the Constitution. Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Amend, Amendment, = "To change for the better, improve, to alter formally in phraseology. Correction of faults, the process of amending a constitution." First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

Since 1776, when questions presented themselves as to what legislators intended by passing legislation, what the "purpose" was, of the law's intent, it has been settled by determining "legislative intent." Since 1776, the courts, the legal profession, etc. have looked to the writers of a law (in this case, Thomas Jefferson) and what they said referring to that law in other documents.

The Danbury Connecticut Baptist Association upon Jefferson's election to the presidency wrote to him and pled for help because they were suffering from the oppression by the theocracy of other religions, which they were subject to. Jefferson wrote back to the Danbury Connecticut Baptists and in that letter, Jefferson wrote the now famous phrase "Separation of Church and State," thus, solidly establishing forever the legislative intent of the First Amendment.

Two of the standard responses by Christian nationalists to this, in their quest to turn the U.S. into a theocracy, is "separation of church and state is not in the Constitution" and/or "the First Amendment is not the Constitution." Just plain appallingly ludicrous and lacking of knowledge about their own country's history.

 Rev. John E. Karlin, Oklahoma City

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Letters: Native students' rights to wear tribal regalia; Bibles in school
Out U.S. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota has become the latest in a growing list of Democratic lawmakers publicly urging President Joe Biden to step aside and allow a new candidate to lead the party in the 2024 presidential race. Craig, who is the first out LGBTQ + member of Congress to make this call, joins a chorus of voices expressing doubts about Bidens ability to campaign against former President Donald Trump effectively.



In a Saturday morning statement posted on X (formerly Twitter ), Craig acknowledged Bidens decades of service and legislative achievements but pointed to his recent debate performance as a critical factor in her decision.

Given what I saw and heard from the President during last weeks debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from the President himself following that debate, I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump, she wrote.

Craig praised Biden for passing critical legislation such as the bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act. She also highlighted her collaboration with Biden on bills capping insulin costs for seniors, expanding mental health support for police officers and their families, and investing in resources to combat the fentanyl crisis at the southern border.

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However, Craig emphasized the high stakes of the upcoming election.

This is not a decision Ive come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency. Thats why I respectfully call on President Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee for a second term as President and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward, she wrote.

Craig is one of the Democratic Partys so-called frontline members whose candidacy for reelection faces formidable challenges. Her remarks come on the heels of a Friday evening primetime interview Biden gave to ABCs George Stephanopoulos, where he sought to address concerns stemming from his widely criticized debate performance. Biden described the debate as a bad episode and attributed his difficulties to a really bad cold, dismissing any indications of a more severe health issue. Despite this, Biden remained resolute about continuing his campaign, stating that only the Almighty could convince him to step aside.

The pressure on Biden is mounting as more Democratic lawmakers publicly and privately express their concerns. Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley became the third Democratic member of Congress to call for Biden to withdraw. To prevent utter catastrophe, step down and let someone else do this, Quigley said on MSNBC Friday.

Other prominent Democrats, including Rep. Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, have also voiced their desire for Biden to step down. Doggett, the first to publicly call for Bidens exit, praised Bidens transformational work but emphasized the need for a transitional leader. Grijalva, the second Democrat to call for the president to move over for a new candidate, highlighted Bidens responsibility in maintaining the presidency for the Democrats and suggested stepping aside as a part of that duty.

Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton also called for Biden to step aside. On Thursday, he expressed his lack of confidence in Bidens ability to defeat Trump and emphasized the need for a new generation of Democratic leaders, Boston public radio station WBUR reports .

These public calls reflect a broader sentiment within the Democratic Party, where many members are increasingly worried about Bidens viability as the partys nominee. Virginia U.S. Sen. Mark Warner is reportedly organizing meetings to discuss the presidents future candidacy, the Washington Post reports . House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York is also meeting with members to discuss Bidens future, according to The New York Times.

Bidens team, however, remains adamant that he will continue his campaign. In his interview, Biden insisted the race remains a tossup and rejected the notion that pressure from Congress would lead him to step down. Its not going to happen, he told Stephanopoulos.

Watch the ABC News interview with George Stephanopoulos and Joe Biden below.

President Biden sits down for interview with George Stephanopoulos l ABC News exclusive www.youtube.com
SIR  Contrast the speech made by Suella Braverman, who held on to her seat in the near wipeout of the Conservatives at the general election, with those given by Grant Shapps and Robert Buckland, who did not.



Ms Braverman gave an unequivocal apology for the Conservative government having let us down so badly, while the others blamed those who divided the party by disagreeing with their Left-of-centre approach.



If it is to stand any chance of preventing Reform UK from mopping up many more disaffected supporters, the Conservative Party had better hope that the likes of Ms Braverman hold sway during the post-mortem, and that true Conservatives such as Lord Frost are welcomed rather than shunned.



Tim Coles

Carlton, Bedfordshire

SIR  Being a member of the Conservative Party, I received countless emails throughout the election campaign asking me for donations. They would invariably include words to the effect of: Thanks to your generosity  well continue to have MPs standing up for your values.



But the sad truth is, the party hasnt stood up for my values for a long time. I favour lower taxes, unashamedly pro-business policies, ensuring our Armed Forces are not stripped to the bone, and politicians willing to take the tough decisions necessary to secure our borders and address the concerns many have about high levels of immigration and social cohesion.



Perhaps the election result will finally cause party grandees to stop ignoring us humble supporters.



James Luke

Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire

SIR  The Conservatives lost this election because they repeatedly contrived to make those who voted for them last time look and feel stupid for doing so.



Having watched through their fingers at the unfolding calamity, those voters have now sought to purge their embarrassment and exact revenge.



The root cause of the disaster is the apparent split of the parliamentary party into two factions, largely determined by the Brexit divide. If relations between the two sides had not broken down irretrievably before Thursdays vote, surely they must have done now.



In my view, the division needs to be formalised by the creation of two separate parties. Then the two factions could conduct an honest fight for support among the different shades of Right-leaning voters.



The alternative is for the Conservatives to carry on as they are. In that case, they may struggle to survive.



Anthony Tanney

Wickham Bishops, Essex

SIR  On the day after Boris Johnsons defenestration, I wrote to you to say that the Conservative Party would pay a high price for its betrayal.



I take no pleasure in being proved correct.



Garry Critchley

Liverpool

SIR  The onset of Starmageddon was caused entirely by Rishi Sunaks backstabbing of Boris Johnson. However, now it is time for all Tory MPs to bow their heads in shame and apologise unreservedly to the nation for their hypocritical intriguing.



Furthermore, MPs from all sides ought to be reminded that politics isnt a career. It is a privilege and an honour to be democratically elected to represent and serve the nation  a role that should be undertaken with humility rather than self-interest.



Jean Maigrot

London SW6

SIR  If the Conservatives think their demise was due to party infighting, this just shows how out of touch the party hierarchy is with the country.



Is there anyone left to prick their Westminster bubble?



John Wylson

Lowestoft, Suffolk

SIR  Every general election has a silver lining.



For me, as a Conservative, this time it was the loss for Liz Truss, who even in defeat could only blame others, confirming the arrogance of a government that the people have taken delight in removing.



Mark Peaker

London W1

SIR  Perhaps, as Winston Churchills wife told him on his losing the 1945 election, this result is a blessing in disguise for the Conservatives.



David Littlefield

Tynemouth, Northumberland

SIR  The Conservatives catastrophic defeat will lead many to conclude prematurely that the party must be replaced. There are, however, numerous historical precedents for an unexpectedly swift electoral recovery.



Following their albeit much narrower defeat in October 1974, the Conservatives chose an energetic, dark-horse leader who was determined not to repeat past errors and possessed a clear vision for the country based on sound conservative principles. Margaret Thatcher successfully united a fractious party and a shadow cabinet comprised of people with diverse political ideologies.



She wisely consulted people and organisations outside the political mainstream to develop a coherent narrative that would eventually sustain her in power for more than a decade.



The depleted ranks of the Tory parliamentary party contain some highly talented and thoughtful people, including some elected only this week. The new leader must be willing and able to unite the party and, above all else, possess the emotional intelligence to cut through with the electorate.



Philip Duly

Haslemere, Surrey

SIR  The very last thing he Conservative Party should do now, and therefore quite possibly the very first thing it will do, is rush into a leadership contest.



Instead, it needs a period of calm reflection, both to identify which two MPs should be put to the party membership, and also, even more importantly, to work out how an accommodation can be achieved with Reform UK.



Simply to bleat that the party should have no truck with Nigel Farage is not only self-defeating, but would also be an insult to the millions of Conservative voters who backed Reform in the hope that, at long last, the Conservative Party might listen to them. To make that process work, an interim opposition leader should be appointed by acclamation for a fixed period of one year. It would need to be someone with stature and gravity, a politician of the first rank who, by their age, is beyond ambition. The obvious choice, indeed the only choice, is Sir David Davis, the MP for Goole and Pocklington.



When the history of these times comes to be written, it will be seen that Thursdays tragedy stemmed directly from the party membership rejecting Sir David for leader in favour of David Cameron in 2005.



Even now, if it has the wit to do so, the party could start the long, slow march back to power by enlisting Sir Davids formidable talent.



Patrick Nicholls

Tenterden, Kent

SIR  Tobias Ellwood has said that the new Conservative leader must be chosen by MPs without any involvement from party members. Its this sort of arrogance that has caused the downfall of the party.



At the last leadership contest we were given two candidates to choose from, who had been provided by MPs  but it wasnt much of a choice. The membership was correct in not choosing Rishi Sunak, as is now evident.



Mr Ellwood went on to say that the party must move to the centre. He describes it as a broad church. That, to me, is the problem. Someone recently said that it is a broad church with no religion. Spot on.



Clive Greig

Felbridge, West Sussex

SIR  There is not that much wrong with the Tory leadership election process, except that it is upside down.



The party membership should execute the first cull of the hopefuls, and the Conservative MPs should make the final selection from the most popular three or four.



That way, MPs will be aware of the preferences of the members, and would also be more likely to show loyalty to their leader.



Ron Billard

Dorking, Surrey

SIR  If this election was a landslide, why am I left unconvinced?



Labour failed dismally to capture the imagination of the country. It increased its share of the vote from 2019 by a miserly 2 per cent, and only 60 per cent of those eligible voted. Such a low turnout means that the mandate Sir Keir Starmer referred to in his victory speech amounts to the backing of a mere 20 per cent of the electorate.



The turnout in Sir Keirs constituency of Holborn and St Pancras decreased by more than 10 per cent compared with the 2019 election, and his personal vote has diminished from 41,343 in 2017, to 36,641 in 2019, and now 18,884 in 2024.



Labour may have won a landslide in terms of parliamentary seats, but not a popular landslide as we know it. If I were a Labour adviser, Id be feeling somewhat uneasy. Id know in my bones that, if votes for the Conservatives and Reform UK were aggregated, the total is more than Labours  and represents a real challenge to the centre-Left.



If the Labour government fails to translate Sir Keirs vision of national renewal into reality within the next two years, Labour should be worried. And, if the Conservative/Reform Right wing of British politics manages to renew and reorganise, Labour should be extremely worried.



John Stevens

Bristol

SIR  The Liberal Democrats won 12 per cent of the vote and 71 seats. Reform UK won 14 per cent of the vote and five seats. Are the Lib Dems still keen on proportional representation?



Robin Hawke

Dewsbury, West Yorkshire

SIR  As with the previous government, which ultimately squandered its opportunities, a huge electoral majority now gives the Labour Party an unprecedented chance to address pressing issues such as spiralling immigration, an overwhelmed welfare system, and an NHS in dire need of reorganisation.



Above all it needs to mend a divided, uncertain country that has lost trust in its leaders and lies in danger of losing its identity.



Alternatively, it might just stick to a more traditional approach founded on outdated class perceptions and dependency culture. I am not holding my breath.



Charles Smith-Jones

Landrake, Cornwall

SIR  Would anyone care to place a bet on how long it will be before Labours pre-election obfuscations are dropped and we find out the radical policies it did not tell us about or simply denied as Tory lies?



Barry Bright

Storrington, West Sussex

SIR  It didnt take long for truth to become a casualty under the new administration. No surprise there.



From now on you have a government unburdened by doctrine, said our new Prime Minister on the steps of Downing Street. Really? So why the proposed imposition of VAT on private school fees?



Theres no educational benefit or, after offsetting the costs of relocating the pupils concerned, economic justification for the proposal. Its entirely doctrinal.



David Leonard

London E1

SIR  Sir Keir Starmers announcement in Downing Street that hed accepted the Kings request to form a government contrasted sharply with Harold Macmillans refusal to do so in 1957.



When a few reporters outside No 10 (including me for The Daily Telegraph) asked him if he was now the new prime minister, he answered: There will be an announcement from Buckingham Palace.



He was unwilling to say anything more because he was reluctant to break the usual practice of the announcement being made by the monarch.



However, he remained enough of a politician to answer a question I posed to him anyway: Is there going to be an election? He swiftly replied: No. So wed at least got a bit of news out of him.



Sir Keirs speech  understandably applauded by crowds of happy Labour supporters  was certainly very different to the muted handover of power in 1957. It was almost as if Sir Keir was still electioneering.



I also found his emphasis on how much the country has suffered recently a bit hard to take, since Macmillan was beginning his stint after the disastrous Suez invasion and Edens resignation.



John Osman

Witney, Oxfordshire



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While the world watches the U.S. presidential race, something dark is happening across the Atlantic.

Far-right parties won about 40% of seats in the recent European Parliament elections. This is a dramatic increase in comparison to the last five years, when only 25% of members of the European Parliament voted against the rights of LGBTQ+ people.

Shortly following these events, President Emanuel Macron called for the snap of the national parliamentary elections in France. With this move, he hopes to consolidate his parliamentary power. Sadly, his hopes are increasingly diminishing.

After the first round of elections on June 30th, the far-right party, Rassemblement National (R.N.), received 33% of the popular vote, the best result in the French far-right's history. And it looks like, after next Sunday's second and final round, the far-right party of Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen will have a majority in the French Parliament.

For the first time since the Vichy Regime during World War II, there's a chance that France will be run by a far-right government.

In the European Parliament, the French far-right has consistently voted against equal rights for LGBTQ+ individuals. The party has publicly called for taking away the rights of transgender people, including restricting hormone treatments for trans minors. Historically, the party has always been against marriage equality and adoption rights for same-sex couples.

Until just a year ago, many activists thought that any opposition to LGBTQ+ rights was a thing of the past or, at least, a rising issue in Eastern Europe. But they couldn't be more wrong.

France has always had a conservative underbelly. For the last two decades, the French countrysidesometimes referred to as La France Profondehas been unhappy about how things are run from Paris. Farmers and workers accuse the 'globalist liberal left' of taking away their securities, leading to large protests. The far-right has used social unrest to gain popularity, finding scapegoats in immigrants and the so-called 'woke' of Paris.

In May 2013, as France was introducing legislation for same-sex marriage and equality, the ultraconservative organization 'Manif Pour Tous' mobilized more than 300,000 French citizens to take the streets to protest in protest. It became, by far, the largest anti-LGBTQ+ protest in Europe's history. More than 10 years later, the organization is still very active regarding anti-LGBTQ+ topics in French politics, developed in close cooperation with the French far-right and Russia.

Manif Pour Tous is just one of many anti-LGBTIQ+ groups that have set their minds on changing politics within and beyond Europe. The US-based International Organization for the Family has organized five of seven World Congresses of Families in Europe over the last ten years. The conference, led by Brian S. Brown, the leader of the USA's National Organization for Marriage, brings together thousands of anti-LGBTQ+ leaders from across the world. In 2013, the European organizations within the World Congress of Families founded Agenda Europe . It's a plan to make anti-LGBTIQ+ and anti-democracy narratives mainstream.

Ultraconservative civil society and policymakers from all corners of the European continent became part of it. It's Europe's version of Project 2025 and is already in action.

The international anti-LGBTIQ+ movement is more organized than ever before. Through infiltration and disinformation, these anti-LGBTQ+ associations and accomplices seek to not only withhold our rights but topple our democratically elected governments. What we see happening today in Europe will occur in the USA if Trump wins the presidency.

Our rights are attacked everywhere. That's why we need to work collectively at the international level, exposing the anti-democratic forces that are scapegoating LGBTQ+ communities across the world. We need to work together to prevent them from taking away our human rights and democracy in France, the U.S., and all across the globe.

Remy Bonny is a human rights defender and expert in international relations. He serves as the executive director of Forbidden Colours  a Europe-wide non-profit delivering human rights and democracy for LGBTQ+ people in Europe. Bonny's work has been featured in many international media like Time, Politico, The Guardian, Sky News, Le Monde, Liberation, El Pais, and many more.

Voices is dedicated to featuring a wide range of inspiring personal stories and impactful opinions from the LGBTQ+ and Allied community. Visit Advocate.com/submit to learn more about submission guidelines. We welcome your thoughts and feedback on any of our stories. Email us at voices@equalpride.com. Views expressed in Voices stories are those of the guest writers, columnists and editors, and do not directly represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.
Long-running heat wave expected to break more records with over 130M under advisories

The heat waves that broke records across the nation over the last month are showing no signs of stopping, as more than 130 million people remain under advisories of extreme heat  and temperatures are expected to be 15-30 degrees higher than average into next week

Oppressive heat and humidity may lead to temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit across the U.S. from the Pacific Northwest to the mid-Atlantic regions. Across northeastern California and western Nevada, the National Weather Service said the temperature will not go below 100 F until next week, The Associated Press reported.

For most of June, much of the U.S. has been under heat advisories, with around 270 million people experiencing temperatures at or above 90 degrees. In late June, record-breaking heat hit much of the I-95 corridor, with temperatures above 100 degrees.

This current heat wave has already scorched much of the West Coast, and Death Valley, Calif. one of the hottest places on earth  saw its heat record broken Friday with a new high temperature of 127 degrees. According to the AP, the previous record of 122 degrees was last hit in 2013.

By 9 a.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service (NWS) had recorded a 98-degree temperature in Phoenix, which saw a record high of 118 Friday.

The worst is yet to come, with triple-digit temperatures likely through next week, between 15 and 30 degrees higher than the average. Baltimore and other parts of Maryland may hit close to 110 degrees this weekend, per the AP.

Temperatures in Death Valley are expected to climb to 129 degrees Sunday and around 130 on Wednesday. The NWS has also extended a rare heat advisory for the mountains around Lake Taho.

Scientists, including the infamous Bill Nye, believe that climate change is exacerbating heat waves across the country, and they warn that extreme heat in the summer might become the new normal.

Its the beginning of the new normal, with respect, Nye said late last month. So, the latest  the latest research is that theres not a turning point or a tipping point or a knee in the curve. Its just going to get hotter and hotter and worse and worse and more and more extreme.

Without actions to mitigate climate change, heat-related deaths around the world could increase by 370 percent, according to a study from last year.

As the threat of extreme heat continues to grow, President Biden has proposed the nations first ever standards aimed at protecting workers from extreme heat.

If finalized, the proposal would mandate that employers provide rest breaks and access to shade and water for workers who face extreme heat risks.

However, it is unclear whether the standards will ever go into effect since they likely will not be finalized before the end of Bidens first term. Former President Trump, if elected, is not expected to approve these standards.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 436 workers died due to extreme heat exposure, and the Biden administration argues that this rule would save lives. Between 2011 and 2020, there were around 34,000 work-related heat injuries.

There are currently no federal heat protections for workers.

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Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido is suing the county's top lawyer and its ethics board weeks ahead of a public hearing scheduled for the July 17 ethics board meeting on an ethics complaint filed against Lucido.

Lucido is suing John Schapka, the county's corporation counsel, and the ethics board in a June 28 lawsuit that also has a motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stay ethics board proceedings against Lucido, per Macomb County Circuit Court online records.

Lucido is asking a judge to disqualify Schapka from representing the ethics board in any ethics ordinance matter against Lucido and to invalidate all "adverse actions" taken by the board against Lucido, including, but not limited to the July 17 hearing.

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido

Lucido also wants the court to enjoin Schapka and the ethics board from conducting any more closed session meetings about Lucido and to declare that state law, specifically the Michigan Campaign Finance Act, supersedes the county's ethics ordinance "and the Ethics Board has no subject matter jurisdiction to rule on this matter."

The lawsuit states that the defendants held meetings in April, May and June to consider complaints against Lucido and that Schapka "wrongfully advised" the ethics board to suspend the open meetings and go to closed session, where Lucido's representative was excluded.

"Defendants ignored state law, and after the closed session on June 18, 2024 ended, they immediately voted to take adverse action against Plaintiff by scheduling a hearing for July 17, 2024," on one of the complaints against Lucido.

Lucido's attorney, Todd Perkins, said in a news release July 2: "We are confident that after the court applies the law, the remaining meritless complaint will also be dismissed."

Schapka said Friday: "There is no merit to this lawsuit. Its full purpose is to avoid a hearing on the merits of Mr. (Mark) Brewer's complaint (against Lucido). If I had nothing to hide, I would welcome a hearing where I could be vindicated."

Schapka filed a motion Wednesday asking that a hearing set for July 9 on Lucido's motion for a temporary restraining order be adjourned until July 29 or later so that he can retain legal counsel. Because Lucido's claims concern the performance of Schapka's official duties, Schapka wrote in his motion, he is entitled to legal counsel at the county's expense.

Per the county charter, Schapka wrote, he must obtain approval from the county Board of Commissioners before retaining special outside counsel. The earliest chance for that approval will be July 18 at the county Board of Commissioners' government oversight committee meeting.

"Absent violating the Charter provision regarding retention of special outside counsel, neither Defendant Schapka nor Defendant Board are able to retain counsel, and any such counsel will not be able to be adequately prepared to defend any issue presented in Plaintiff's TRO motion," according to Schapka's motion.

A hearing on his motion is set for July 8.

Ethics Board Chairperson Dorie Vazquez-Nolan said she could not comment on the lawsuit as she has not seen it. She said unless the board has other business on the agenda July 17, the meeting may be canceled because of the pending litigation.

Vazquez-Nolan recused herself from the Lucido complaints, citing a conflict, as she is executive director of Care House, the Macomb County Child Advocacy Center. She previously said she and Lucido's office work closely developing child abuse cases.

The complaint the ethics board voted to forward for a hearing alleged Lucido used county property, buildings and offices to create a photo of himself for political campaign purposes. If the board finds he violated the ethics ordinance, Lucido could be fined up to $500, Schapka previously said.

Perkins said in his release the photo was taken before the start of business hours by Lucido's daughter with her personal cellphone the morning he took office in January 2021. It depicts him sitting at his office desk. It was later put on his campaign website, with no tax dollars used for its capture or transmission, it states.

In June, the ethics board dismissed a second complaint against Lucido filed by Brewer, the former Michigan Democratic Party chairman. That complaint alleged Lucido allowed a former Sterling Heights City Council candidate to use county property, buildings and offices to create photos for political campaign purposes.

Perkins, himself, last month also filed an ethics board complaint against Schapka.

Lucido, a Republican, is seeking reelection this year. Brewer has contributed to the campaign of Christina Hines, the Democrat running for county prosecutor against Lucido.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Macomb Prosecutor Peter Lucido sues county's top attorney, ethics board
People celebrating in Washington Square Fountain after the New York City Pride March on June 30, 2024

Theyre here, theyre queer  and theyre not invited.

Trump-loving LGBT conservatives say they are marching to the tune of their own drum after finding themselves ostracized by the increasingly left leaning gay rights movement.

Mark Dorman, a retired teacher from Hells Kitchen, said he has been all but blacklisted from the Atlas Social Club, his local gay bar, since he spoke positively about the former president there last summer.

Brave pals John McGuigan, left, and Anthony Tolve, right, at the 2024 LGBT Pride parade in New York City. Jon Levine

Supporters of Donald Trump gathering outside the Stonewall Inn in New York City as President Joe Bidens motorcade passes by. Getty Images

Atlas Social Club did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.

Im almost anti-gay, a frustrated Dorman, 64, told The Post. Its an embarrassment to see this kind of behavior Id really invite them to go to Iran or Gaza. See what that does for you. See how fast they throw you in prison or kill you.

It feels like the Soviet Union, Marxist environment now, he said. With the gay community, they feel that Republicans on the far right have an anti-gay thing. Yes, they have a certain religious belief. They have a right to say they dont like that lifestyle.

The signs were clearly evident years ago  when his politics nearly got him kicked to the curb by his own hubby, Dorman said.

LGBT conservatives say they dont have a place in the gay rights movement today. Getty Images

When Trump won, my husband was so upset he wanted me out of our apartment. The rage was unexplainable  I mean honest rage. I could not understand this emotion in him and why anyone would let a political vote destroy or nearly destroy a marriage, he said.

The marriage survived  but we dont talk politics, Dorman said.

Brave pals Anthony Tolve and John McGuigan hit the chaotic New York Citys Pride Parade June 30 with rainbow Trump flags, earning them deathly cold stares and jeers from revelers, one who flipped them the bird, they said.

There was definitely a lot of hate, said Tolve, 45. A lot of rich white women with children who feel inclined to come up to you and face off with you.

In recent years the LGBT movement has embraced many causes alien to their original mission, critics say. Getty Images

I was at the beach the other day and I was booed off the beach, a guy started kicking sand on me. This was at Riis Park, Tolve added.

The community has always leaned liberal, but the movement has increasingly embraced causes unrelated to gay rights, further alienating conservatives. The rainbow flag, a decades long symbol of gay rights, has increasingly been supplanted by the Progress Flag  which ads a menagerie of new colors paying homage to the movement.

Its an aesthetic and design monstrosity that no gay man should approve of. Its a disgrace to our sexual orientation, said Andrew Sullivan, a longtime gay cultural critic who now runs a popular substack said of the new banner.
Patients who received mammograms at a South Florida hospital in the past two years may have been given inaccurate results and should get tested again after a review found the images failed to meet standards, federal regulators say.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ordered North Shore Medical Center, 1100 NW 95th St. in North Miami-Dade, to stop performing mammograms and notify patients about the problem, according to a letter obtained by the Miami Herald. Its one of the most recent service stoppages at the struggling hospital, which has seen cutbacks and layoffs as owner Steward Health Care System seeks bankruptcy protection to thin out debt.

The possibly inaccurate mammograms were done at North Shore from March 14, 2022, to March 14, 2024, according to the hospital.

Over this time, it was determined that the administration/evaluation of these mammographies were not in line with the industry standard and could be subject to an inaccurate interpretation, hospital spokeswoman Cathy Pague told the Miami Herald in an email.

The news shocked patients, including Liz Guseila-Rizo, 67, who has a family history of breast cancer and has had her mammograms done at the hospital for years. Her most recent exam was in December.

Could I possibly have cancer  breast cancer  and not know it? said Guseila-Rizo, who has a genetic mutation that increases her breast cancer risk. She received a certified letter from the hospital notifying her about the problem in April, more than a month after the FDA ordered the hospital to shutter its mammography services.

Serious concern about mammography at North Shore

There is a serious concern about the quality of the mammography that our facility performed, Dr. Terri Noe, lead interpreting physician at North Shore, wrote in a letter to patients. Noe said the FDA determined North Shore failed to meet the clinical image quality standards established by the American College of Radiology, the facilitys mammogram accreditation body. As a result, the FDA required us to stop performing mammography as of March, 14, 2024, Noe wrote.

This does not necessarily mean that the results you and your health care provider(s) were given are wrong, Noe states in the letter. However, most patients will need to have their mammogram(s) performed at our facility reviewed to determine whether a repeat mammogram at another facility is needed.

It was a one-two punch for Guseila-Rizo, a longtime patient, therapist and 1199SEIU union delegate at North Shore, who was in the midst of unemployment paperwork when she received the letter. The music therapist, who worked at North Shore for more than 34 years, was part of a group of employees laid off in February after the hospital unexpectedly closed its critical but costly labor and delivery, neonatal, and behavioral health units to try to slow its financial bleeding.

READ MORE: Why a healthcare giant has slowed care at a Miami hospital, and where it leaves patients

Steward Health Care System, which owns North Shore, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May and is looking to sell all 31 of its hospitals, including eight in Florida. They include North Shore, Palmetto General, Hialeah and Coral Gables hospitals in Miami-Dade, and Florida Medical Center in Broward.

Steward Health is selling all 31 of its U.S. hospitals, including its five South Florida hospitals, after filing for bankruptcy protections.

I dont know if Im OK. I dont know how long its going to take me to get into a new doctor since I dont live in Miami anymore, said Guseila-Rizo, who now lives in Broward County and is in the process of setting up her new medical insurance to schedule an appointment.

This is even more shocking that this went on for two years. ... How could this go on for two years? she said, recalling how North Shore, like other hospitals, is periodically visited by various regulatory agencies. The former employee said she had to go in person to the hospital to get her results after the phone number the letter directed patients to call kept going straight to voicemail.

Pague, North Shores spokesperson, said the hospital has contacted patients and their physicians, as required by the FDA, and is also voluntarily covering the costs for reevaluation of individual mammograms and offering new screenings for all those who have not had subsequent screenings.

The letter sent to patients states that for North Shore to cover the reevaluation and screenings, it needs to be done at another certified facility within the hospitals health network, or at a partner facility.

READ NEXT: A healthcare giant owes millions to Florida taxpayers. Will the state see the money?

Pague did not answer questions on how many patients are affected or why the mammograms did not meet image quality standards. The hospital spokesperson also did not answer questions on whether the hospital is planning to resume mammograms in the future or if the image quality issues extend to mammograms performed at Stewards other hospitals in South Florida.

The FDA declined to answer the Miami Heralds questions, saying it is not able to discuss details of possible or ongoing regulatory actions. Instead, the federal agency sent a detailed email explaining its role under the Mammography Quality Standards Act, or MQSA, which regulates mammogram centers and requires them to meet certain standards to legally perform screenings.

This includes meeting the standards for clinical image quality established by its FDA-approved accreditation body, which in the case of North Shore, is the American College of Radiology. Speaking generally, the FDA said that if an accreditation body revokes the facilitys accreditation, federal regulators can put the facilitys mammography certificate into a No longer in effect status, suspend the certificate, or revoke the certificate.

The facility is then no longer allowed to perform mammography or display a MQSA certificate. In order to get its certificate reinstated, the federal agency says that the facility will need to comply with all requirements and work with the accreditation body to address any corrective actions that should be completed.

North Shore says patients should speak to their doctor as soon as possible to discuss reevaluating their mammogram images and possibly undergo a new exam. Patients who have a new doctor or who are advised by their doctor to have their mammogram reviewed or repeated should contact North Shore.

READ MORE: Whos watching over the bankruptcy of a big healthcare firm that runs Miami hospitals?
MAMOU, La. (KLFY) The Mamou Police Department is currently trying to locate a suspect involved in a drive-by shooting thats wanted for attempted second-degree murder.

The drive-by shooting happened on March 20, around 10 p.m., near the 600 block of 7th street by JD Bank in Mamou. Authorities said a brown Buick, with 4 individuals in it, drove past teenagers walking home, two of which were under the age of 14. The vehicle came to a stop and 20-year-old Christopher Paul McGee, one of the occupants of the vehicle and who is believed to be the shooter, according to authorities, opened fire.

An officer on patrol saw the shooting and was able to quickly stop the vehicle. The officer saw McGee holding what appeared to be a handgun, exit the Buick and leave the scene on foot. No one was injured in the shooting, and all of the victims found a way to take cover.

Three out of the four occupants of were taken into custody. Tyler Vaughn Chrisp, Isaiah Tajhawn Malveaux, Michael Thompson, all 19, were charged with principle to attempted second degree murder. McGee is currently at large and evading law enforcement officials; he faces charges of attempted second-degree murder. Authorities said he is considered to be armed and dangerous.

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Anyone with information on McGees whereabouts is urged to contact the MPD at 337-468-5222.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  The suspect accused of being involved in multiple burglaries at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in May has been arrested.

The Portland Police Bureau announced that 33-year-old Portland resident Jacob C. Blanchard was arrested at 8:34 a.m. on Wednesday near Southwest 11th Avenue and Southwest Market Street by Portland State University Campus Public Safety Officers.

Blanchard has been booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center after a warrant for his arrest was issued on June 18, police said.

LIST: Daytime cooling centers in Portland, Vancouver, Salem metro areas amid heat wave

Last month, some of the sacred items that had been stolen from the church on May 28 were returned. A woman, who wasnt identified as the burglary suspect, had called the church saying she had the tabernacle and wanted to return it. Police later recovered a stolen monstrance a few days later after serving a search warrant in Southwest Portland, though no arrests were reported at the time.

Blanchard is facing charges that include two counts of first-degree burglary, one count of second-degree burglary, one count of first-degree theft and one count of criminal trespass in the first degree.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
A 29-year-old man arrested on Tuesday stands accused of killing a teen who was found dismembered near a Pennsylvania lake last week.

DaShawn Watkins, 29, was taken into custody and accused of fatally stabbing 14-year-old Pauly Likens Jr., who was last seen by a friend on the night of June 22, according to reports by NBC affiliate WFMJ. Her remains were discovered three days later near Shenango River Lake by police.

Watkins is charged with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, abuse of a corpse and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, according to court records reviewed by HuffPost.

Pauly Likens via GoFundMe GoFundMe

Likens left a friends home at around 9:30 pm on June 22, her friend told police. She posted a photo on Snapchat at around 2:30 a.m. the following day, according to a criminal complaint cited by WFMJ and Nexstar affiliate WKBN. Immediately after, the friend messaged Likens, who responded initially but then stopped replying.

Likens phone last pinged about an hour later, and surveillance footage from her last known location, at a park, showed her walking slowly and pausing, as if waiting for someone, according to the outlets.

Surveillance footage also revealed a vehicle pulling up to Likens area and returning to an apartment complex, according to the complaint. The driver was later identified as Watkins, and video allegedly shows him struggling to carry a large duffel bag.

Police said Watkins made several trips from his apartment the following day, June 24, carrying multiple bags and garbage bags, according to the outlet. Likens was reported missing to the Sharon police department on June 25, the same day police discovered her remains.

Likens cause of death was sharp force trauma, according to the outlet.

Police said they found blood all over Watkins apartment and a receipt that showed a purchase of a saw with exchangeable blades, according to WFMJ.

During an interview with detectives, Watkins allegedly said he met someone on Grindr, but could not remember if he went to Likens last known location because his memory was poor, according to WKBN.

Watkins is due in court for his preliminary hearing on July 17. An attorney was not listed under his records.

Pamela Ladner, president of the LGBTQIA+ Alliance Shenango Valley, told HuffPost in an email that she was given permission from the victims mom to share that Likens was transgender, and that shebelieves her daughters killing was a hate crime.

Ladner said that authorities are still recovering body parts.

Related...
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)  A man suffered serious injuries after he was shot multiple times in San Francisco on Friday night, the San Francisco Police Department said.

SFPD responded to the 1100 block of Connecticut Street at about 9:50 p.m. for the report of a shooting. The victim was found lying in the street.

He was then transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.

No arrests have been made in this case. Anyone with information is asked to call SFPD at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said a man was shot in Southeast D.C. on Friday night.

Police said that a 911 call was made at about 11:15 p.m. for a shooting in the 2700 block of Minnesota Ave.

Minnesota Vikings CB Khyree Jackson among three killed in crash in Prince Georges County

When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man who had been shot.

He was conscious and breathing.

The man was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Man in wheelchair hit, killed by car in SW Oklahoma City

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  A man in a wheelchair was hit and killed by a car, while crossing the street during Friday mornings rainstorm.

Dark, dark roadway, dark clothing, and rain coming down. Thats just a terrible combination, said Msgt. Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department.

Around 6:15 a.m. on Friday, just before the morning rush hour, our 4Warn Storm team said nearly two inches of rain fell quickly near Southwest 29th and Kentucky.

The man in the wheelchair, for whatever reason, was crossing the street mid-block, said Knight.

ORIGINAL STORY: Police investigating after person hit, killed by car in SW Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City Police said a car hit the man, killing him. The driver stayed on scene.

It doesnt have a lot of lighting so you have to be very careful, said Leona Stephenson.

Stephenson uses public transportation in the area. She said its dark at night and she has to stay on alert.

Right here, theres a hill right here so its kind of hard for them to see me, said Stephenson.

OKCPD said when pedestrians are sharing the area with drivers in vehicles, its best to cross at a crosswalk.

LOCAL NEWS: 10-year-old boy injured after firework explodes on him

While theres no indication the driver in Fridays accident was distracted, Stephenson said crosswalks dont always help. Especially when it comes to people on their phones or just not paying attention.

They dont even respect the crosswalks that well, said Stephenson.

So far, the victims name has not been released.

Police said the driver showed no signs of being impaired.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
A 900-acre fire is burning through Mariposa County, California, near Yosemite National Park, prompting evacuations and forcing a local hospital to shelter in place.

The French Fire began just after 6 pm on Thursday. It was 15 percent contained as of Friday evening, and some 3,100 people are without power in the county, according to PowerOutage.us. Cal Fire is mobilizing ground units and a helicopter to quell the blaze.

1,100 people were ordered to evacuate after the blaze broke out, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Friday. While some orders have been lifted, others remain under warnings. Footage of the fire shows billowing clouds of smoke as a helicopter releases fire retardant.

Officials also ordered patients and staff at Californias John C Fremont Hospital to shelter in place on Thursday, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports. However, that order expired on Friday afternoon.

Shelter-in-place orders for Yosemite Inn and Quality Inn were also lifted on Friday, local outlet ABC 30 reports.

The French Fire in Mariposa County, California is burning near Yosemite National Park, prompting evacuations in the region (Associated Press)

The fire forced the closure of Highway 140, a well-trafficked road into Yosemite, on Thursday, according to ABC 30. However, the road re-opened on Friday.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the fire.

On Friday morning, Newsom said his office secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The program allows states like California to apply for reimbursement of their fire-fighting costs.

California is also battling the Thompson Fire, which has burned through nearly 4,000 acres and is 46 percent contained. The blaze, which started some 70 miles outside of Sacramento, forced some 17,000 people to evacuate  though many have been allowed to return to their homes, the Associated Press reports.

It was panic, because my dad didnt want to leave and I told him, You gotta get in the car right now, resident Lynette Bailey told NBC News.

Most counties in California are under an excessive heat warning this week, which is exacerbating fires in the state.

These conditions are so hot anything that can create a spark can create a fire that can grow real fast, Ryan Kittell, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, told the Los Angeles Times.

The human-caused climate crisis will continue to create prime conditions for destructive wildfires as global temperatures increase, making rain more erratic and droughts more prolonged and intense.

Climate scientists say that it is very likely 2024 will be the hottest year on record globally, following the record-setting temperatures of 2023.
Police in Mississippi said Saturday they caught two murder suspects who escaped from a jail early Friday morning.

Tyrekennel Collins, 24, and Dezarrious Johnson, 18, were found in an abandoned home Saturday around noon by officers, following a 33-hour manhunt, according to police.

The suspects, who escaped from the Claiborne County Detention Center around 2:20 a.m. Friday, were considered armed and dangerous according to the authorities.

PHOTO: In these booking photos released by the Claiborne County Sheriff Department, Tyrekennel Collins and Dezarrious Johnson are shown. (Claiborne County Sheriff Department)

"When you have someone in jail and they are charged with murder, you get them apprehended as quick as possible because we don't want them to go out and hurt any more individuals," Jefferson County Sheriff James Bailey said, according to WAPT.

The sheriff's office live streamed officers putting the suspects away in a police SUV on its Facebook page.

"Early this morning, two inmates escaped from the Claiborne County Detention Center," said the Claiborne County Sheriff's Department in a statement on social media on Friday. "The escape occurred at approximately 2:20 AM."

MORE: Video shows dog starting house fire by turning on stove in middle of night

Sheriff Edward Goods said both suspects were caught on camera escaping through the ceiling and leaving behind the outside wall, according to ABC News' Jackson, Mississippi, affiliate station, WAPT.

Both suspects are charged with murder. Collins was being held for a crime in Copiah County while Johnson, who is from the Natchez area, was being held for Jefferson County, according to the Claiborne County Sheriff Department.

2 fugitive murder suspects who escaped Mississippi jail caught following manhunt originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the states Republican nominee for governor, declared that some folks need killing in a bizarre rant at a church Sunday.

Its time for somebody to say it. Its not a matter of vengeance. Its not a matter of being mean or spiteful. Its a matter of necessity, said Robinson, a conspiracy theorist who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump.

When you have wicked people doing wicked things, torturing and murdering and raping, its time to call out those guys in green and go have them handled. Or those boys in blue and have them go handle it, he said at Lake Church in the town of White Lake.

Robinson, whose speech was first reported by The New Republic, has a history of controversial remarks.

In the past, hes said that hed absolutely want to go back to the America where women couldnt vote. Hes also called the 1960s Civil Rights Movement crap, shared Islamophobic posts on social media, quoted Adolf Hitler, denied the Holocaust, suggested that transgender women should find a corner outside somewhere instead of using their preferred public bathroom, and described school shooting survivors as spoiled, angry, know it all CHILDREN.

North Carolina GOP gov nominee Mark Robinson endorses political violence in June 30 video surfaced by @newrepublic: "Kill them! Some liberal somewhere is gonna say that sounds awful. Too bad! ... Some folks need killing! It's time for somebody to say it." https://t.co/GVKCE7QvVVpic.twitter.com/AjfAxo08xE  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 5, 2024

Robinson said Sunday that we now find ourselves struggling with people who have evil intent.

You know, theres a time when we used to meet evil on the battlefield and guess what we did to it? We killed it, said Robinson, who went on to refer to killing members of the Japanese military after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

We didnt argue and capitulate and talk about well, maybe we shouldnt fight the Nazis that hard. No, theyre bad. Kill them. Some liberal somewhere is going to say that sounds awful. Too bad. Get mad at me if you want to.

He later declared that we need to start handling our business again.

The further away we get from the concept of 1776 and why we declared our independence and how we declared our independence, the further we start sliding into making 1776 a distant memory and the tenets of socialism and communism start coming into clearer focus, he said.

Theyre watching us. Theyre listening to us. Theyre tracking us. They get mad at you. They cancel you. They dox you. They kick you off social media. They come in and close down your business. Folks, its happening ... because we have forgotten who we are.

The Rev. Cameron McGill, the pastor of Lake Church, told The New Republic that both he and the GOP nominee predicted the killing comments would be scrutinized.

Without a doubt, those he deemed worthy of death [were] those seeking to kill us, Cameron told the outlet, adding that Robinson certainly did not imply the taking of any innocent lives.

Michael Lonergan, a spokesperson for Robinsons gubernatorial campaign, told NewsNation that the GOP nominees comments referred specifically to the Japanese and Nazis during World War II.

Morgan Hopkins, a campaign spokesperson for Robinsons Democratic opponent, Josh Stein, said in a statement to NC Newsline that the Republicans comments fall into a long history of Robinson endorsing violence, including political violence.

Related...
New images published by the European Space Agency have captured a 600-kilometer-long (373-mile-long) snaking scar on Mars' surface in greater detail than ever before. The Red Planet is full of scratches and scars, and this one, named Aganippe Fossa, is another of these ditch-like grooves with steep walls  more specifically, however, Aganippe Fossa is what's called a "graben."

"We're still unsure of how and when Aganippe Fossa came to be, but it seems likely that it was formed as magma rising underneath the colossal mass of the Tharsis volcanoes caused Marss crust to stretch and crack," ESA officials wrote in a recent press release .

As is common in planetary nomenclature, the name "Aganippe Fossa" has its roots in classical mythology. Aganippe, daughter of the river Termessos, was a nymph associated with a spring found at the base of Mount Helicon in Greece. In homage to its naming origins, Aganippe Fossa appears at the base of one of Mars' largest volcanoes, Arsia Mons. "Fossa" is then derived from the Latin term for ditch or trench, and refers to a long, narrow depression on the surface of a planet or moon.

The recently published images owe themselves to ESA's Mars Express, Europe's first mission to the Red Planet, which has been orbiting Mars since 2003. Although its lander, Beagle 2, was lost, the orbiter remains conducting a global investigation of Mars. It maps minerals, studies the atmosphere, probes beneath the crust and investigates the planet's blob-shaped moons, Phobos and Deimos.

Related: Largest canyon in the solar system revealed in stunning new images

Mars Express captured the new images of Aganippe Fossa with its high resolution stereo camera and revealed the varied surface features of Mars in great detail, showing both clustered, uneven hills and smooth, gently sloping cliffs covered in debris  referred to as hummocky and lobate terrains, respectively.

a rainbow landscape seen from space shows a swath split in two by a winding, segmented canyon.

These terrains are characteristic of Arsia Mons's ring-shaped "aureole," the ESA press release states, in reference to a 100,000-square-kilometer (38,610-square-mile) disk around the base of the volcano, possibly associated with ancient glaciers.. "Intriguingly," the statement continues, "this aureole has only built up on the northwestern flank of the volcano, likely due to prevailing winds from the opposite direction controlling where ice settled over time ."

The team also describes windblown dust and sand dynamics of this region of Mars, which create "zebra-like" patterns on the planet's surface as a result of darker material getting deposited on lighter ground. "The surface here also shows evidence of lava flows, dating from when the volcano was active." the scientists wrote.

Related Stories:

 Mars may still be volcanically active, study finds

 Ancient Mars was rocked by violent, climate-changing volcanic eruptions

 Mars images shows 'fingernail' gouging-like features on surface

Aganippe Fossa is one of many classical albedo features on Mars, which refers to the light and dark features that can be seen on the planet through even an Earth -based telescope. With space -based orbiters, astronomers have been given unprecedented views of the planet's surface and its intriguing topography.

"The mission has been immensely productive over its lifetime, creating a far fuller and more accurate understanding of our planetary neighbor than ever before," ESA scientists said.
The investigation into "Friends" actor Matthew Perry's death is ongoing, and as more details emerge, the Hollywood world may be exposed.

The LAPD, the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and the US Postal Inspection Service are working together to try and find out how Perry, who passed away on October 28, 2023, got a hold of the ketamine, which was determined to be the cause of death. While the actor was in ketamine treatment, the autopsy concluded that the drug could not have been administered through his therapy based on the drug's half-life and the timing of his last treatment.

As The Blast reported, two big-name celebrities are being investigated concerning Matthew Perry's death, and now the LAPD says charges are expected to be announced and may even include involuntary manslaughter.

LAPD's Investigation Into 'Friends' Actor's Death Continues

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In addition to Brooke Mueller, who was once married to actor Charlie Sheen, another female B-list celeb is linked to Matthew Perry's overdose, and while the identity of the woman has yet to be announced, Page Six reports that the star "was very close to Perry for many years and the pair even appeared on-screen together."

Plus, photographic evidence shows Perry and this second individual together at the office of a doctor who prescribes ketamine. The publication contacted the doctors office, which claims Perry was never seen as a patient and that they are not talking with any law enforcement about any cases at this time.

Two Celebrities Are Being Looked Into Concerning Matthew Perry's Fatal Ketamine Overdose

MEGA

While the second celeb's identity remains a secret, law enforcement could obtain her cell phone as they are "100 percent sure the feds will find the text messages between the two that will expose a lot of information that could help their investigation," per a source who spoke with InTouch magazine.

The two also reportedly had numerous late-night discussions about their addictions, struggles with sobriety, and personal lives.

If the feds had either one of their phones  especially [the second celebs], because she doesnt erase her text messages  they would probably find conversations about the drug and How can I get extra? Like, Oh, come see my doctor if you need more, the source told InTouch. It will not look good for the celebrity.

Drug Rings In Hollywood Could Be Exposed

MEGA

As the investigation continues, former CIA and FBI special agent Tracy Walder told Page Six that multiple individuals could face charges. Walder further explained that there has been a significant increase in drug rings committing mail fraud by sending prescription medication through the mail, which is a federal offense.

Intent is going to be the question, she told the outlet. They obviously knew what they were doing was wrong [by drug dealing]. However, did they actively know that by procuring this it would kill him?

Using the mail to commit a crime is more common than you think, she added. People pay a heap of money to buy drugs say, someone gets a legal prescription for ketamine and maybe has a $20 copay on insurance, then decides to sell the prescription for $10k because this junkie needs it and they know he has the money. There is big money to be made."

There are whole networks, its really disturbing. Its now easier to get drugs by mail than fake an identity.

Manslaughter Charges Could Be Coming

MEGA

The former CIA agent disclosed that there could be involuntary manslaughter charges, potentially leading to a sentence of up to five years in prison. However, there will be no murder charges, as Perry consumed the ketamine himself.

As to how he got the drug, Walder suggests Perry could have swapped prescriptions with friends and then asked an assistant to pick up the drugs.

He could easily have been procuring drugs through friends, if you give me money I will give you my prescription, there is a whole market that way, she told PageSix.

Its incredibly sad, I feel sad for Matthew Perry  [but] the people that fed off [his] weakness are problematic," she continued. "I would love to see some kind of felony conviction for the people that were procuring the drugs for him, something that is going to stick with them for the rest of their lives.

'Doctor Feelgoods' Take Over Los Angeles

MEGA

A different source exposed LA as being filled with Doctor Feelgoods who prescribe narcotics to known addicts.

I was very close with him and when he started on ketamine, he told me, This is fantastic, He wanted to go into business with some guy, and obviously this guy was giving him as much as he wanted," the source told PageSix. "But you cant do that with an addict, it was terrible. I think he was able to get it without even seeing a doctor, it was like Anna Nicole Smith.

The LAPD is preparing for a press conference to announce potential charges.
DiJuana Davis, with daughter Treasure Woodard, at home in Nashville. Davis is a plaintiff in a Tennessee class-action lawsuit contesting the states Medicaid eligibility process. She and her children lost their coverage in 2019 after Tennessee launched a Deloitte-built eligibility system. (William DeShazer for KFF Health News)

Deloitte, a global consultancy that reported revenue last year of $65 billion, pulls in billions of dollars from states and the federal government for supplying technology it says will modernize Medicaid.

The company promotes itself as the industry leader in building sophisticated and efficient systems for states that, among other things, screen who is eligible for Medicaid. However, a KFF Health News investigation of eligibility systems found widespread problems.

The systems have generated incorrect notices to Medicaid beneficiaries, sent their paperwork to the wrong addresses, and been frozen for hours at a time, according to findings in state audits, allegations and declarations in court documents, and interviews. It can take months to fix problems, according to court documents from a lawsuit in federal court in Tennessee, company documents, and state agencies. Meanwhile, Americas poorest residents pay the price.

Deloitte dominates this important slice of government business: Twenty-five states have awarded it eligibility systems contracts  with 53 million Medicaid enrollees in those states as of April 1, 2023, when the unwinding of pandemic protections began, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Deloittes contracts are worth at least $5 billion, according to a KFF Health News review of government contracts, in which Deloitte commits to design, develop, implement, or operate state systems.

State officials work hand in glove with Deloitte behind closed doors to translate policy choices into computer code that forms the backbone of eligibility systems. When things go wrong, it can be difficult to know whos at fault, according to attorneys, consumer advocates, and union workers. Sometimes it takes a lawsuit to pull back the curtain.

Medicaid beneficiaries bear the brunt of system errors, said Steve Catanese, president of Service Employees International Union Local 668 in Pennsylvania. The union chapter represents roughly 19,000 employees  including government caseworkers who troubleshoot problems for recipients of safety-net benefits such as health coverage and cash assistance for food.

Are you hungry? Wait. You sick? Wait, he said. Delays can kill people.

KFF Health News interviewed Medicaid recipients, attorneys, and former caseworkers and government employees, and read thousands of pages from contracts, ongoing lawsuits, company materials, and state audits and documents that show problems with Deloitte-operated systems around the country  including in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas.

In an interview, Kenneth Smith, a Deloitte executive who leads its national human services division, said Medicaid eligibility technology is state-owned and agencies direct their operation and make decisions about the policies and processes that they implement.

Theyre not Deloitte systems, he said, noting Deloitte is one player among many who together administer Medicaid benefits.

Alleging ongoing and nationwide errors and unfair and deceptive trade practices, the National Health Law Program, a nonprofit that advocates for people with low incomes, urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Deloitte in a complaint filed in January.

Systems built by Deloitte have generated numerous errors, resulting in inaccurate Medicaid eligibility determinations and loss of Medicaid coverage for eligible individuals in many states, it argued. The repetition of the same errors in Deloitte eligibility systems across Texas and other states and over time demonstrates that Deloitte has failed.

FTC spokesperson Juliana Gruenwald Henderson confirmed receipt of the complaint but did not comment further.

Smith called the allegations without merit.

The system problems are especially concerning as states wade through millions of Medicaid eligibility checks to disenroll people who no longer qualify  a removal process that was paused for three years to protect people from losing insurance during the covid-19 public health emergency. In that time, nationwide Medicaid enrollment grew by more than 22 million, to roughly 87 million people. At least 22.8 million have been removed as of June 4 , according to a KFF analysis of government data.

Advocates worry many lost coverage despite being eligible. A KFF survey of adults disenrolled from Medicaid during the first year of the unwinding found that nearly 1 in 4 adults who were removed are now uninsured. Nearly half who were removed were able to reenroll, the survey showed, suggesting they should not have been dropped in the first place.

If there is a technology challenge or reason why someone cant access health care that theyre eligible for, and were able to do something, Smith said, we work tirelessly to do so.

Deloittes contracts with states regularly cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the federal government pays the bulk of the cost.

States become very dependent on the consultant for operating complex systems of all kinds to do government business, said Michael Shaub, an accounting professor at Texas A&M University.

Georgias contract with Deloitte to build and maintain its system for health and social service programs, inked in 2014, as of January 2023 was worth $528 million. This January, state officials wrote in an assessment obtained by KFF Health News that its eligibility system lacks flexibility and adaptability, limiting Georgias ability to serve its customers efficiently, improve the customer and worker experience across all programs, ensure data security, reduce benefit errors and fraud, and advance the states goal of streamlining eligibility.

Deloitte and the Georgia Department of Community Health declined to comment.

Deloitte is looking ahead with its path to Medicaid in 2040, anticipating sweeping changes that will expand its own business opportunity.

State Medicaid leaders and policymakers are hungry to know what the future of health care holds, the company said. Deloitte brings the innovative tools, subject matter expertise, and time-tested experience to help states.

Trouble in Tennessee

When Medicaid eligibility systems fail, beneficiaries suffer the consequences.

DiJuana Davis had chronic anemia that required iron infusions. In 2019, the 39-year-old Nashville resident scheduled separate surgeries to prevent pregnancy and to remove the lining of her uterus, which could alleviate blood loss and ease her anemia.

Then Davis, a mom of five, received a shock: Her familys Medicaid coverage had vanished. The hospital canceled the procedures, according to testimony in federal court in November.

Davis had kept her insurance for years without trouble. This time, Tennessee had just launched a new Deloitte-built eligibility system. It autofilled an incorrect address, where Davis had never lived, to send paperwork, an error that left her uninsured for nearly two months, according to an ongoing class-action lawsuit Davis and other beneficiaries filed against the state.

The lawsuit, which does not name Deloitte as a defendant, seeks to order Tennessee to restore coverage for those who wrongly lost it. Kimberly Hagan, Tennessee Medicaids director of member services, said in a court filing defending the states actions that many issues reflect some unforeseen flaws or gaps with the eligibility system and some design errors.

Hagans legal declaration in 2020 gave a view of what went wrong: Davis lost coverage because of missteps by both Tennessee and Deloitte during whats known as the conversion process, when eligibility data was migrated to a new system.

Tennessees Medicaid agency, known as TennCare, along with its vendor, Deloitte, designed rules to govern the logic of conversion, Hagan said in the legal declaration. She also cited a manual, keying error by a worker made in 2017.

Davis family was incorrectly merged with another family during conversion, Hagan said.

Davis regained coverage, but before she could rebook the surgeries, she testified, she became pregnant and a serious complication emerged. In June 2020, Davis rushed to the hospital. A physician told her she had preeclampsia, a leading cause of maternal death. Labor was induced and her son was born prematurely.

Preeclampsia can kill the mom. It can kill the baby. It can kill both of you, she testified. Thats like a death sentence.

Deloittes Tennessee contract is worth $823 million. Deloitte declined to comment on Davis case or the litigation.

Speaking broadly, Smith said, data conversion is incredibly challenging and difficult.

Hagan called the problems one-time issues: None of the Plaintiffs cases reflect ongoing systemic problems that have not already been addressed or are scheduled to be addressed.

States leverage Deloittes technology as part of a larger push toward automation, legal aid attorneys and former caseworkers said.

We all know that big computer projects are fraught, said Gordon Bonnyman, co-founder of the nonprofit Tennessee Justice Center. But a state that was concerned about inflicting collateral damage when they moved to a different automated system would have a lot of safeguards.

TennCare spokesperson Amy Lawrence called its eligibility system a transformative tool, streamlining processes and enhancing accessibility.

When enrollees seek help at county offices, you dont get to sit down across from a real human being, Bonnyman said. They point you to the kiosk and say, Good luck with that.

A backlog of 50,000 cases

As part of the Affordable Care Act rollout about a decade ago, states invested in technological upgrades to determine who qualifies for public programs. It was a financial boon to Deloitte and such companies as Accenture and Optum, which landed government contracts to build those complex systems.

Problems soon emerged. In Kentucky, a Deloitte-built system that launched in February 2016 erroneously sent at least 25,000 automated letters telling people they would lose benefits, according to local news reports. State officials manually worked through a backlog of 50,000 cases caused by conflicting information from newly merged systems, the reports say.

We know that the rollout of Benefind has caused frustration and concern for families and for field staff, senior Deloitte executive Deborah Sills said during a March 2016 news conference alongside Gov. Matt Bevin and other senior officials after Kentucky was bombarded with complaints. Within two months, roughly 600 system defects were identified, found a report by the Kentucky state auditor.

In Rhode Island, a botched rollout in September 2016 delayed tens of thousands of Social Security payments, The Providence Journal reported. Advocacy groups filed two class-action lawsuits, one related to Medicaid and the other to food stamp benefits. Both were settled, with Rhode Island officials denying wrongdoing. Neither named Deloitte as a defendant.

In a 2018 statement for a Statehouse hearing, Sills of Deloitte said, We are very sorry for the impact that our system issues have had on your constituents, on state workers, and on service providers. The states top human services official resigned.

A 2017 audit by a top Rhode Island official prepared for Gov. Gina Raimondo found that Deloitte delivered an IT system that is not functioning effectively and had significant defects. Widespread issues, it said, caused a significant deterioration in the quality of service provided by the State.

Deloitte held itself out as the leading vendor with significant experience in developing integrated eligibility systems for other states, the audit read. It appears that Deloitte did not sufficiently leverage this experience and expertise. Deloitte declined to comment further about Rhode Island and Kentucky.

Deloitte invokes the phrase no-touch to describe its technology  approving benefits without any tasks performed by the State workers, it wrote in documents vying for an Arkansas contract.

In practice, enrollee advocates and former government caseworkers say, the systems frequently have errors and require manual workarounds.

As it considered hiring Deloitte, Arkansas officials asked the company about problems, particularly in Rhode Island.

In response, the company said in 2017, We do not believe Deloitte Consulting LLP has had to implement a corrective action plan for any eligibility system project in the previous five years.

Arkansas awarded Deloitte a $345 million contract effective in 2019 to develop its system.

It had a lot of bugs, said Bianca Garcia, a program eligibility specialist for the Arkansas Department of Human Services from August 2022 to October 2023.

Garcia said it could take weeks to fix errors in a familys details and Medicaid enrollees wouldnt receive the states requests for information because of glitches. They would lose benefits because workers couldnt confirm eligibility, she added.

The enrollees were doing their part, but the system just failed, Garcia said.

Arkansas Department of Human Services spokesperson Gavin Lesnick said: With any large-scale system implementation, there occasionally are issues that need to be addressed. We have worked alongside our vendor to minimize these issues and to correct any problems.

Deloitte declined to comment.

Heated negotiations

In late 2020, Colorado officials were bracing for the inevitable unwinding of pandemic-era Medicaid protections.

Colorado was three years into what is now a $354.4 million contract with Deloitte to operate its eligibility system. A state-commissioned audit that September had uncovered widespread problems, and Kim Bimestefer, the states top Medicaid official, was in heated negotiations with the company.

The audit found 67% of the system notices it sampled contained errors. Notices are federally required to safeguard against eligible people being disenrolled, said MaryBeth Musumeci, an associate teaching professor in public health at George Washington University.

This is, for many people, whats keeping them from being uninsured, Musumeci said.

The Colorado audit found many enrollee notices contained inaccurate response deadlines. One dated Dec. 19, 2019, requested a beneficiary return information by Sept. 27, 2011  more than eight years earlier.

Were in intense negotiations with our vendor because we cant turn around to the General Assembly and say, Can I get money to fix this? Bimestefer told lawmakers during the 2020 legislative audit hearing. I have to hold the vendor accountable for the tens of millions weve been paying them over the years, and we still have a system like this.

She said officials had increased oversight of Deloitte. Also, dozens of initiatives were created to improve eligibility accuracy and correspondence, and the state renegotiated Deloittes contract, said Marc Williams, a state Medicaid agency spokesperson. A contract amendment shows Deloitte credited Colorado with $5 million to offset payments for additional work.

But Deloittes performance appeared to get worse. A 2023 state audit found problems in 90% of sampled enrollee notices. Some were violations of state Medicaid rules.

The audit blamed flaws in system design for populating notices with incorrect dates.

In September, Danae Davison received a confusing notice at her Arvada home stating that her daughter did not qualify for coverage.

Lydia, 11, who uses a wheelchair and is learning to communicate via a computer, has a seizure disorder that qualifies her for a Medicaid benefit for those with disabilities. The denial threatened access to nursing care, which enables her to live at home instead of in a facility. Nothing had changed with Lydias condition, Davison said.

She so clearly has the need, Davison said. This is a system problem.

Davison appealed. In October, a judge ruled that Lydia qualified for coverage.

The notice generated by the Deloitte-operated system was deemed legally insufficient because it omitted the date Lydias coverage would end. Her case highlights a known eligibility system problem: Beneficiary notices contain non-compliant or inconsistent dates and are missing required elements and information, according to the 2023 audit.

Deloitte declined to comment on Colorado. Speaking broadly, Smith said, Incorrect information can come in a lot of forms.

Last spring in Pennsylvania, Deloittes eligibility role expanded to include the Childrens Health Insurance Program and 126,000 enrollees.

Pennsylvanias Department of Human Services said an error occurred when converting to the states eligibility system, maintained by Deloitte through a $541 million contract. DHS triaged the errors, but, for a small window of time, some children who still had coverage were not able to use it.

These issues affected 9,269 children last June and 2,422 in October, DHS said. A temporary solution was implemented in December and a permanent fix came through in April.

Catanese, the union representative, said it was another in a long history of problems. Among the most prevalent, he said: The system freezes for hours. When asked about that, Smith said its hyperbole.

Instead of the efficiency that Deloitte touted, Catanese said, the system constantly runs into errors that you have to duct tape and patchwork around.

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KFF Health News senior correspondent Renuka Rayasam and correspondents Daniel Chang, Bram Sable-Smith, and Katheryn Houghton contributed to this report.

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. Subscribe to KFF Health News free Morning Briefing.

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***Watch previous coverage above.***

CLEVELAND (WJW)  A memorial service will be held Monday honoring fallen Cleveland police officer Jamieson Ritter, who died in the line of duty on the Fourth of July.

Cleveland city officials say the memorial will take place at 10 a.m. at Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, located at 1007 Superior Avenue.

There will also be a procession leading to the church, but city officials say route details will be released in the upcoming days.

Who was Cleveland police officer Jamieson Ritter?

Ritter, a four-year veteran with the Division of Cleveland Police, was shot and killed just before 1 a.m. Thursday while responding to a man wanted for felonious assault near Wade Park.

Investigators say the suspect, 24-year-old Delawnte Hardy, fled on a bike, pulled out a gun and opened fire. Ritter was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead from his injuries.

Inside the investigation: What led to Cleveland Officer Ritters death?

Hardy, who appeared in court Friday morning, is charged with aggravated murder.

A funeral for Ritter, a New York native, will be held out-of-state.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A 43-year-old man was sentenced on Friday to more than eight years in prison in a conspiracy to sell methamphetamine and heroin across the Las Vegas valley, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Jacobo Aguilar Humberto was sentenced to 97 months in prison  eight years plus one month  by U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro. He will also have to serve five years of supervised release when he gets out of prison.

Humberto pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. He was arrested on Sept. 14, 2022, along with co-defendant Eduardo Flores-Martinez, who prosecutors described as a courier.

Law enforcement agents recovered a pound of heroin and an ounce of methamphetamine, as well as $2,060 in cash and two loaded firearms from Humbertos vehicle on Sept. 14, 2022, a Friday news release said. Agents also conducted a traffic stop on Flores-Martinezs vehicle where they recovered a pound of methamphetamine, an ounce of heroin and a loaded firearm. During a search of Humbertos residence, agents recovered $16,156 and three firearms.

Flores-Martinez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. On July 25, 2023, Navarro sentenced Flores-Martinez to seven years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, from January 2022 to September 14, 2022, Humberto and Flores-Martinez conspired to sell methamphetamine and heroin. At times, Humberto would call Flores-Martinez to sell narcotics on his behalf. Humberto directly sold or dispatched Flores-Martinez to sell methamphetamine and heroin on multiple dates.

United States Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kevin Adams for the DEA Las Vegas District Office made the announcement.

This case was investigated by the DEA and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua Brister prosecuted the case.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE)  Earlier this year, New Mexico lawmakers approved a law to boost healthcare across the state. Now, a close look at the impacts of the bill shows that the smaller hospitals are going to be getting a small share of the help, while larger, more profitable hospitals will get more cash under the new law.New Mexican hospitals had a net revenue of over $334 million in 2022. Concurrently, they are receiving unprecedented subsidies from both the state and federal government, Allegra Hernandez, a senior fiscal analyst with the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC), told lawmakers in a meeting on July 1. The state subsidies have an uneven financial impact and are likely to help hospitals that are larger and more profitable than hospitals that are currently experiencing negative profitability.

This act is not equitable in which hospitals receive how much money. And so its not actually targeting hospitals that are at risk of closure, Hernandez added. And thats more or less by design.

After 6 months of inspections, regulators suspect violations at 60% of oil and gas facilities in New Mexicos Permian Basin

New Mexico recently approved the Healthcare Quality Delivery and Access Act as a way to try to improve the quality of care at hospitals. Funding through the law is tied to how many non-Medicare patients each hospital has along with their quality of care. The result is that already-struggling hospitals get smaller payouts than those that are already succeeding, a new report from the LFC said.

For example, Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital was operating in the red by nearly $20 million in 2022, the LFC noted. Under the Healthcare Quality Delivery and Access Act, the hospital will get a bit over $6.5 million. This will not cover the full extent of the losses that Rehoboth faces, the LFC said.

The report notes that other hospitals, like Eastern New Mexico Medical Center  which actually increased its finances in 2022  will receive more than $37 million from the Healthcare Quality Delivery and Access Act.

In essence, the Healthcare Quality Delivery and Access Act doesnt ensure that several hospitals in New Mexico remain profitable. And a handful of other hospitals that are on the financial edge might not get enough of a boost to remain stable, the report said.

Educators, consultants, and lawyers have outsized representation in New Mexicos legislature

The upside is that the Healthcare Quality Delivery and Access Act is tied to the performance of a hospitals operations. So, lawmakers and regulators could use the act to ensure that hospitals do improve their quality of care (as long as they are able to keep the lights on), the LFC said. But lawmakers need to revise the performance expectations, Hernandez said.

Not everyone thinks that will work, however. We need to change the paradigm. Healthcare should not be for profit. Thats getting us into trouble, Rep. Eleanor Chavez (D-Abq.) said. We need to figure out a better system.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
Military: Russia has lost up to 5,000 soldiers fighting for one district of Chasiv Yar

Russia has lost up to 5,000 service members in the fighting over one district of the town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces, said on July 6.

His statement follows Ukraine's withdrawal from the Kanal neighborhood in the east of Chasiv Yar amid a Russian offensive against the town. Defensive positions in the neighborhood were destroyed, Voloshyn said on July 4 when announcing the military's decision.

After capturing Avdiivka in February, Russian forces shifted their focus toward Chasiv Yar, an elevated town that potentially opens for Russia the way to further advances into Donetsk Oblast.

Over the past day, there have been no assaults against Chasiv Yar, but the town is constantly being shelled, Voloshyn reported on national television on July 6.

Over 100 Russian soldiers were killed, and another 132 were injured in the past 24 hours in the Chasiv Yar-Toretsk direction, according to Voloshyn.

The active Russia-Ukraine front line has recently expanded as intense fighting continues in the areas of Pokrovsk and Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on July 2.

Read also: What Ukraines partial Chasiv Yar withdrawal actually means

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A traditional dance group poses before performing at the Milwaukee African Cultural Festival Saturday, July 6, 2024, at Brown Deer Park in Milwaukee.

Colorful patterned fabrics and flags blowing in the wind shone brightly at the Milwaukee African Cultural festival Saturday in Brown Deer Park. People traveled from all over Wisconsin, some even coming from Africa, in support of the event.

Yollande Tchouapi, one of the event's organizers, had family visiting from Cameroon. She said the event featured representatives from 22 African nations.

What is the African Cultural festival?

The African Cultural Festival came to Milwaukee this summer for locals to celebrate African culture through music, traditional African art, food tasting and a dance demonstration.

The free event took place at Brown Deer Park from noon to 7 p.m. There were vendors in the park selling art, clothing and accessories. The full program schedule can be found on festival's website.

The event started when three women came together to bring the African Cultural Festival to the Milwaukee area with hopes it would share culture with community and also help raise funds for African refugee programming. The last event of its kind in the Milwaukee area was a picnic in 2019.

Tchouapi said she wanted something local that spoke to African heritage while also supporting the community.

She said the purpose of the event is to showcase the culture of African people in the Wisconsin area.

"This event really highlights the entrepreneurship part of what we're trying to foster, which is small, family-operated businesses that are doing great things but are not yet featured across town."

In addition to the many food vendors selling traditional cuisine, there was also a free food tasting that featured sample food from different African cultures. There was also a parade where some locals got to participate by carrying their country's flag around the park.

The importance of celebrating diversity

Nakeesha Brown of Milwaukee came to the festival with her son as a way of showing her support and wanting her family to stay connected to their culture.

"Not every city has this (event) and we haven't had it in a while, so it means everything to have it," Brown said. "People mistakenly look at Africa as a country when it's a continent with a vast amount of different people and they don't all look alike. It's important for people to have a better understanding of what Africa is."

Many residents and families showed up, but there were also performers, volunteers and organizers.

Zacharia Nchinda is department chair and history instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College, but is also a highly respected elder in the Cameroon community, according to Tchouapi. Nchinda said the festival holds importance by enriching society as a whole because everybody gains from being able to express their authentic self.

"What you will find here is the cultural aspect of Black Africa," Nchinda said. "There is a deep sense of community."

The event also helps support the community as locals can purchase from small Black-owned businesses.

Vendor Thomas Adeetuk came from Madison to be a part of the event and sell clothing and other souvenirs.

"This is a melting pot," Adeetuk said. "As people, we are one. We bleed the same blood. We should learn from each other and what unites us, I believe in that very strongly," Adeetuk said.

Brown said that is exactly what she wants her son to do: learn.

"I want him to be a well-rounded child. My motto in life is that wherever I go is home, I just need to get to know my family," Brown said. "And that is what I want him to learn."

What groups were performing at the festival?

African Gospel Music: City of Praise

Traditional Dance: Umu-Ada Dance Group

Fashion Show: Traditional and Contemporary African Attire

Medley of African Musical Instruments: Lucky Diop

Traditional Dance: The Nefertari Group

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee African Cultural Festival celebrates African cultures
PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now)  The Maryland State Police said its investigating a crash that killed three people early Saturday morning, including Minnesota Vikings rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson.

Police said that at about 3:15 a.m., they responded to a crash on Route 4/Pennsylvania Avenue and Presidential Parkway, north of Dower House Road.

Officers said the three cars involved in the crash were an Infinity Q50, a Chevrolet Impala and a Dodge Charger.

All three victims were in the Dodge Charger.

Police identified the victims as 23-year-old Isaiah Hazel, of Upper Marlboro, 24-year-old Khyree Jackson of Waldorf and 24-year-old Anthony Lytton, Jr. of Upper Marlboro.

People in DC hit pools, patios to beat extreme summer heat

Officers said Hazel was the driver of the car, Jackson was the front seat passenger and Lytton was in the rear of the car.

Hazel and Jackson died at the scene.

Lytton was transported to the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center where he died.

Police determined the driver of the Infiniti, who was identified as 23-year-old Cori Clingman of Upper Marlboro, was traveling north on Route 4/Pennsylvania Avenue when she attempted to change lanes while driving at a high rate of speed.

Clingman then hit the Dodge Charger and the Chevrolet Impala.

The Charger then traveled off of the right side of the road and hit multiple tree stumps before stopping.

1 dead, 3 hurt after road rage incident leads to shooting in Carroll County

Clingman had two other passengers in her Infinity at the time of the crash  none of them were injured.

Only one person was in the Chevrolet Impala at the time of the crash  he was also not hurt.

Police said they believe alcohol may have been a factor in the crash and charges are pending. Maryland State Police is leading the investigation.

Representatives from the Minnesota Vikings released statements saying:

We are deeply saddened by the news of Khyrees passing. Khyree had an extremely bright future ahead of him as a player, and it was clear he was dedicated to being a tremendous person who made a positive difference in peoples lives. We are thinking about Khyrees family and friends and all members of the Minnesota Vikings following this devastating loss.  Owners Mark & Zygi Wilf

I am absolutely crushed by this news. Khyree brought a contagious energy to our facility and our team. His confidence and engaging personality immediately drew his teammates to him. In our short time together, it was evident Khyree was going to develop into a tremendous professional football player, but what was more impressive was his desire to become the best person he could be for his family and those around him. I am at a loss for words. My heart goes out to Khyrees family, friends, teammates and coaches.  Head Coach Kevin OConnell

I am heartbroken by the loss of Khyree. As we got to know him throughout the pre-draft process, it was clear the goals Khyree wanted to accomplish both professionally and personally. His story was one of resilience. He was taking steps to become the best version of himself not just for him, but for those who cared about and looked up to him. Khyrees personality captured every room he was in. Im devastated that his life and everything he had in front of him has been cut short. My thoughts are with Khyrees family and friends, those who played with and coached him in college, and his teammates and coaches here at the Vikings.  General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
A hearse and van sit outside the Return to Nature Funeral Home in October 2023 in Penrose, Colo. Investigators found stacks of partially covered human remains, bodily fluids several inches deep on the floor and flies, prompting state lawmakers to enhance funeral home regulations in Colorado. (David Zalubowski/The Associated Press )

This story originally appeared on Stateline.

The headlines were the stuff of nightmares.

One Colorado funeral home owner let the body of a woman decompose for two years in a hearse parked outside a house he rented, while hoarding the cremated remains of dozens of others inside.

Last year, authorities discovered nearly 200 improperly stored bodies at another Colorado funeral home after receiving an odor complaint from neighbors. Investigators later learned that the funeral home had sent fake ashes to families that had paid for cremation services.

The incidents, which led to criminal charges, sparked public outrage and traumatized families already coping with grief. But they also highlighted the states lax regulation of the funeral industry.

For 40 years, Colorado had some of the nations most lenient rules for funeral homes. It was the only state where a professional license wasnt required to be a funeral director. That changed this year.

Amid nationwide workforce challenges, some states have looked to make it easier to work in funeral homes and crematoriums. But after grisly incidents at some facilities, lawmakers in Colorado, Illinois and Michigan have sought to tighten control over this essential but often overlooked industry.

It was just, We have to do something. We have to fix this problem, said Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone, a Democrat who was among the bipartisan sponsors of a new law tightening funeral home regulation.



With the grief these families went through, it was like they died again.  That trust was broken on a sacred thing.

 Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone on abuses in funeral homes

People just assume funeral homes are safe and clean, she said, and that the workers embalming, cremating and burying the dead are doing so with care.

With the grief these families went through, it was like they died again. And I dont think a lot of people think about it that way until something like this happens, Titone said. That trust was broken on a sacred thing.

One Michigan lawmaker is trying to change state regulations to ensure bodies are refrigerated as they await burial or cremation. The effort follows discoveries of unrefrigerated bodies decomposing in a Flint funeral homes garage and a Detroit funeral home storing more than 50 infant and fetal remains without families permission.

When a loved one dies, we deserve to know that their remains will be treated with the utmost respect, Democratic state Sen. Kevin Hertel wrote in a local newspaper opinion piece on the legislation he sponsored. As we grapple with grief and trauma, the last thing we should worry about is that a parent, sibling, spouse or child who has passed is neglected in death.

Hertel did not respond to requests for comment. His legislation has not advanced.

In Colorado, one law passed in 2022 expands the states ability to inspect funeral homes and crematories. Another one passed this year requires funeral directors, embalmers and cremationists to be licensed by the state  they must obtain certain academic degrees or have enough professional experience or certain industry certifications.

Its a huge deal, said Faith Haug, the chair of the mortuary science program at Arapahoe Community College, Colorados only accredited program.

Haug, who holds professional licenses in several other states, was surprised to learn that none was required when she moved to the Centennial State a decade ago.

When I first moved here, it was a little insulting, she said, noting that people with extensive education and experience were treated the same under the law as those with none.

While even the states funeral industry supported the legislation this year, it did raise concerns about retaining existing workers who havent had to obtain professional credentials before.

Beginning in 2027, the law requires that funeral directors complete an accredited educational program, pass a national board exam and have work experience.

But the law does give existing funeral directors several options to obtain provisional licensure, including passing national exams or having 4,000 hours of documented work experience.

The biggest concern is just workforce disruption, Haug said. If you dont have different paths to licensure, the fear was that the workforce would essentially collapse.

A tight labor market has pushed some states to expand eligibility for licensed funeral workers. For example, Missouri lawmakers in recent years have sought to expand licensure, which currently requires passing an exam. Proposed legislation would allow workers who have completed an approved apprenticeship to become licensed. A bill passed the state House but did not make it out of the Senate before the end of this session.

Its not easy getting people in the profession, said Chris Farmer, general counsel for the National Funeral Directors Association.

While he said he understands the urge to regulate in some cases, he said all industries include bad actors: Even in the most stringent states, somebodys going to do something bad. You cant prevent it.

Recently, state legislatures have been busy passing measures on new practices such as human composting and so-called water cremation.

Farmer noted that funeral directors perform some 2.4 million funerals each year  and the vast majority of them never result in headlines.

Unfortunately, it is a reactive situation, he said. Funeral service only gets their attention when something goes wrong.

That was certainly the case in Illinois.

A local coroner last year uncovered inconsistencies with cremated remains that dated back years. Authorities said at least 80 families around the country received the wrong remains  some of which had to be exhumed from a national cemetery.

We found that there were families that were impacted from the West Coast to the East Coast and all places in between, said Illinois state Sen. Doris Turner, a Democrat.

Turner sponsored successful legislation this year that requires funeral directors to use unique identifiers on the body, body bag, or any donated body part or organ of the deceased. She said that chain of custody should prevent future problems with funeral homes mixing up remains.

For me, this is probably the most important piece of legislation that I have been able to pass during my time in the General Assembly, she said.

Some families had spread ashes in meaningful places, and one woman told Turner how she had for months talked to an urn in her home that she thought contained the remains of her mother.

Those families later learned that what they had were the remains of strangers.

Those are things that you cant correct, Turner said.

Sheila Canfield-Jones, who lives about an hour outside of Denver, never thought to question the funeral home she found online after her daughter died of a heroin overdose in 2019. The Colorado facility promoted natural funeral services and promised to plant a tree in her daughters honor.

Four years later, the FBI notified her that she hadnt received her daughters cremated remains; shed gotten a box of ground-up concrete.

Her daughters body was among those left to rot inside the Return to Nature Funeral Home for years.

You have nightmares, she said. You think, What did she look like? What did the room look like? There were 190 bodies. There was an infant in there.

Canfield-Jones said the hellish stories and the testimony of affected families were too much for lawmakers to ignore.

We pestered the hell out of them, she said. So they had to listen.

While she believes the legislation was a solid first step in addressing industry problems, she said it will take a long time to rebuild trust. In the meantime, she said, she wouldnt want to be taken to a Colorado funeral home.

If I die tomorrow, Id be in a car going to Kansas, she said. Until all this comes down, I dont know that I could trust anybody. You want to believe theres good people in this industry that do a good job. And Im sure there are. But how do you know?

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X.
Former President Donald Trump in a pre-recorded message told The Danbury Institute, a group opposed to abortion, that he hopes to protect innocent life if elected in November. In this photo, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on Feb. 24, 2024, in National Harbor, Maryland (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images).

All of Missouris votes at the Republican National Convention are pledged to the nomination of former President Donald Trump, but the fight over who will cast those votes is putting new rips in the fabric of the state GOP.

On Wednesday, the executive committee of the Missouri Republican Party chose 27 at-large delegates and 26 alternates to replace the delegation elected at the May 4 state convention and discarded June 28 by the conventions contests committee after a complaint about the selection process.

The contests committee ruled that alarming irregularities plagued the election at the Republican state convention in Springfield. It focused on a five-hour credentialing process that it said undermined confidence that the delegates on hand were those selected to attend the convention at county mass meetings.

The list of new delegates, obtained by The Independent, is heavily weighted toward the slate that was prepared for the convention, but never nominated, by state party Chairman Nick Myers.

The executive committee could have resubmitted the discarded list. But only five people selected at the convention  two delegates and three alternates  were selected for the replacement delegation. And three of those delegates told The Independent they didnt agree to be included.

Carla Grewe of St. Louis, elected as an alternate at the state convention and in the new list, said she and her husband Gary Grewe  like her, elected both at the convention and on Wednesday list  never agreed to be split off from their slate.

We think what the party has done is horribly corrupt, Grewe said in a text to The Independent. Nick should re-submit the Truly Grassroots for Trump slate.

Sam Alexander of Fair Play, in a text message, said he is asking to be removed from the new delegate list.

Of the 27 newly chosen delegates, 20 were a delegate or alternate on the party leadership list. Of the 26 newly chosen alternates, 10 were on the party leadership slates.

The original delegation included two of the partys three leading candidates for governor, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and state Sen. Bill Eigel, and they were not in the new delegation.

I wouldnt be a part of any slate other than the one duly elected by the GOP State Convention, Eigel said in a text to The Independent. Anyone participating in this new Swamp Slate  from the GOP executive committee to the delegates themselves accepting a role in this sham  is part of the problem.

Ashcroft declined to comment.

Recognizable names in the new delegation include former U.S. Rep. Billy Long, state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a candidate for secretary of state, and Missouri Right to Life Executive Director Susan Klein.

The move to reject the state convention-elected delegation is causing rumblings of discontent in the GOP.

The state party was responsible for the disorganization at the state convention and now in charge of hand-picking new delegates and alternates to attend the national convention, less than two weeks away, read a statement from Mark Schneider, chair of the 6th Congressional District Republican Central Committee posted to several social media accounts. Hotel rooms, flights and other arrangements have been made. This is an absolute disgrace to the process, our party and the grassroots movement that took their time to participate at the county and state level.

Schneider said the solution is to resubmit the names elected at the convention.

The in-fighting in our party must stop and it starts with state leadership recognizing the results of the state convention and allowing those duly elected delegates and alternates to attend the national convention, he wrote.

While the deadline for submitting the new delegation was 4 p.m. Friday, the deadline for appealing the contests committee decision is Saturday. Coby Cullins, a member of the convention-elected delegation, is preparing the appeal, he wrote in an email to The Independent.

Cullins said he believes the contests committee was a tainted jury influenced by Missouri Republican National Committee member Carrie Almond.

The appeal will present evidence that the state convention result should be accepted.

We have the facts on our side, including hours of video proof and almost 300 notarized affidavits.

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If the contests committee doesnt reverse itself, there is a final appeal to the conventions credentials committee.

We hope that this completely different committee will allow us to speak and if that happens we are confident the truth will prevail, Cullins said. The grassroots of Missouri are tired of being told to get in line. We are fighting back in an attempt to take our Republican Party back from the establishment swamp.

Missouri Republican Party spokeswoman Erica Choinka did not return telephone and text messages seeking comment.

Dan OSullivan, one of two candidates for delegate who filed the complaint, said he doesnt see how an appeal can succeed.

I cant imagine how some would appeal our decision without being able to produce a list of people that were credentialed at the convention, OSullivan said.

OSullivan said he was told there were offers made to include more of the delegates and alternates elected at the convention but they were refused.

OSullivan and Derrick Good of Jefferson County, who also filed a complaint, were selected as delegates on Wednesday.

The May 4 convention was a chaotic affair, and the contests committee report states that the evidence shows many delegates arrived without their credentials, only to find a party staff using incorrect lists and distributing newly minted credentials without verifying who was receiving them.

It took five hours to get the convention seated, followed by a fight over the chairmanship that elected Sophia Shore, manager of Eigels campaign for governor, over Eddie Justice, the party leadership choice.

Under the convention rules, delegations were elected by slates that had to have all the slots filled. Before slates were nominated, there was a fight over what Shores backers considered an inconsistency in the rules.

One portion of the rules said the slates had to have 27 delegates and 27 alternates, while another said that 16 delegates and 16 alternates were to be nominated at congressional district conventions and offered by Myers at the state convention.

Missouri can send 54 delegates and 54 alternates to the Republican National Convention scheduled to start July 15 in Milwaukee. Of that number, there are three each from the states eight congressional districts, 27 at-large and three slots reserved for party leaders.

Once the convention agreed to the change that removed the allowance for 16 delegates and 16 alternates offered by Myers, the Truly Grassroots for Trump slate was the only complete slate nominated.

The fight over the rules was cited in the complaints filed by OSullivan and Good but the contests committee found that the credentialing process was so badly flawed that it did not need to consider that portion of the complaint.

The committee reserves the right to reconsider any of the remaining issues, should there be an appeal, the report stated.

OSullivan said he filed the complaint because the convention was so poorly run, not because he was upset he wasnt chosen as a delegate. He said the party leadership is to blame for the poorly organized start to the convention and it was so bad the meeting shouldnt count.

They didnt do the credentialing correctly, OSullivan said. There was no conspiracy to screw it up. It was incompetence. Thats embarrassing for everybody.

This article has been updated to add a comment from Sam Alexander and to clarify that the Truly Grassroots slate was the only one nominated at the convention.

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The post Missouri GOP snubs state convention results in new presidential delegate selections appeared first on Missouri Independent.
(Bloomberg) -- On a rainy morning in Arras, a city that has resisted the Marine Le Pen wave sweeping across Northern France, Quentin Rouget said he cant decide whether to take a final stand against her.

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A left-leaning economics teacher, Rouget voted for centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron without much thought in 2017. He backed him again reluctantly five years later. But he isnt sure he can lend his support in Sundays legislative election by casting a ballot in this district for the presidents junior agriculture minister, Agnes Pannier-Runacher.

His indecision shows why  despite surveys that suggest Le Pens National Rally party wont secure the absolute majority it needs to form the next government  the outcome of the runoff is still highly uncertain.

Voters like Rouget form the bulwark of an electoral maneuver known as the Republican Front thats been key to keeping the far-right from government since the end of World War II. In Frances two-round system, the practice requires the weakest candidates to withdraw after the first round to clear the way for whomever is best placed to defeat the far-right in the second. Then its up to moderates to rally to that person.

Macron called snap elections to deploy the tactic and strengthen his hand after his party was crushed in European elections. But his gamble risks backfiring. Incensed by the presidents stinging attacks on the left in an attempt to shore up his own base, Rouget, and many others, might just stay home instead.

Ill make up my mind on Sunday, he said. Im tired of seeing the left being insulted by Macronists, even though were the ones blocking the National Rally every time.

The potential for the Republican Front to crumble has pushed France toward either political paralysis of a fractured hung-parliament, or the empowerment of a once fringe party rooted in xenophobia. Spooked investors have dumped French assets, driving up the countrys borrowing costs and sending shockwaves across financial markets.

Though hes keeping a low profile now, Macron went on the stump in the days after calling the election and lashed out at Jean-Luc Melenchons far-left France Unbowed  branding it extreme and immigrationist, a catch word of the far-right that plays on peoples concern about more welcoming migration policies.

It was an attempt to create a broad centrist alliance that didnt work. Leftist parties came together in an unexpected union of convenience to form The New Popular Front, and polled second behind the National Rally on June 30. Macrons Ensemble party trailed a distant third, and could even be on the verge of a total wipeout.

At the Elysee Palace a day later, right-leaning members of Macrons team  including finance minister Bruno Le Maire  argued against asking their candidates to drop out where that would help France Unboweds chances, according to a person at the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity. But others said the Republican Front must hold at all costs, with trade minister Franck Riester quipping that in 1944 France had no problem siding with Stalin to fight the Nazis, the person said.

Macrons office never issued clear guidelines. They have since pulled a number of candidates from three-way races, but in some places, like the presidents hometown of Amiens, his lawmakers have not bowed out.

The conservative Les Republicains party is facing a similar situation after splintering when some members joined up with Le Pen under the leadership of Eric Ciotti.

In the end, while more than 200 candidates have withdrawn from the run-off, there are still 89 three-way races left.

Back in Arras, candidates were out leafletting on a wet Wednesday.

In an outdoor market, Macrons minister, Pannier-Runacher, was campaigning meters away from National Rallys Alban Heusele, who topped the first round with 37.3% of the vote ahead of her on 21.5%.

Divisions that traditionally defined the contours of the Republican Front have long since exploded, Heusele said, adding that he has already secured the support of leftist voters.

Among them Hugo Garbe, a 21-year-old law student, who joined Macrons movement in 2022 and now criticizes what he calls the partys disdain for poorer voters and a failure to adequately address concerns over income, healthcare, security and immigration.

As a Macron minister, Pannier-Runacher bears some responsibility for this chaos, Garbe said.

Sheltering in a cafe, Pannier-Runacher acknowledged that some voters hesitate between her and the National Rally despite stark differences. She added, Some people say Weve tried everything, but we havent tried the RN  but we have tried, it was in 1940.

To subscribe to Bloombergs Paris Edition newsletter, Click here.

--With assistance from James Regan.

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By Parisa Hafezi

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran's president-elect, a relative moderate who beat a hardline rival to win election but who will likely be constrained in how much change he can effect, urged Iranians on Saturday to stick with him on "the difficult road ahead".

Masoud Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, won Friday's run-off presidential vote against former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. He will replace hardline President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash in May.

Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, has pledged to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism.

However many Iranians are sceptical about his ability to fulfil his campaign promises as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, not the president, is the ultimate authority in the Islamic Republic.

"Dear people of Iran, the election is over, and this is just the beginning of our working together. A difficult road is ahead. It can only be smooth with your cooperation, empathy and trust," Pezeshkian said in a post on social media platform X.

"I extend my hand to you and swear on my honour that I will not abandon you on this path. Do not abandon me."

After the voting result is confirmed by a hardline election watchdog body and approved by Khamenei, Pezeshkian will take the oath of office before parliament in Tehran in the coming days.

Turnout was almost 50% in Friday's vote, following historically low turnout in the first round ballot on June 28.

Pezeshkian managed to win with a constituency - whose core was believed to be mostly the urban middle class and young - that had been widely disillusioned by years of security crackdowns that stifled any public dissent from Islamist orthodoxy.

One Iranian source said Pezeshkian enjoys an insider status and close relationship with theocratic Khamenei, and may be able to build bridges between factions to yield moderation, but not bring about fundamental changes that many Iranians yearn for.

The Islamic Republic has experienced two approaches to reform. The first from 1997 to 2005, was when President Mohammad Khatami sought political reforms, a stronger civil society, and more press freedom, but was opposed by Khamenei and the powerful Revolutionary Guards.

The second was led by pragmatist Hassan Rouhani from 2013 to 2021. He used his political capital to secure Khamenei's consent to the 2015 nuclear pact, leaving nothing for domestic reforms.

FOREIGN POLICY

Pezeshkian's victory lifted hopes of a thaw in Iran's relations with the West that might create openings for defusing its nuclear dispute with world powers.

Commending what he called a "high turnout", Khamenei congratulated Pezeshkian on his win and counselled him to continue Raisi's policies.

Videos on social media showed Pezeshkian's supporters dancing in streets in many cities and towns across the country and motorists honking car horns to cheer his victory.

The election coincided with escalating regional tension due to the conflicts between Israel and Iranian allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as increased Western pressure on Iran over its fast-advancing nuclear programme.

Under Iran's dual system of clerical and republican rule, the president cannot usher in any major policy shift on Iran's nuclear programme or support for militia groups across the Middle East, since Khamenei calls all the shots on top state matters.

However, the president can influence the tone of Iran's policy and he will be closely involved in selecting the successor to Khamenei, now 85.

Backed by Iran's reformist camp led by Khatami, Pezeshkian is faithful to Iran's theocratic rule and has no intention of confronting the powerful security hawks and clerical rulers.

Foreign leaders sent congratulatory messages to Pezeshkian, among them Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

(Writing by Parisa HafeziEditing by Frances Kerry)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  After a months-long investigation, authorities have arrested two people for their connection to a homicide that occurred in December 2023.

On Saturday, July 6, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) announced that a Davidson County Grand Jury returned indictments charging 38-year-old Jose Pablo Zavala with first-degree murder. He was reportedly taken into custody in Dallas, Texas on Friday, July 5.

PREVIOUS | Homicide investigation underway after body found inside SUV

Police said 31-year-old Rosa Carol Torres was also indicted and faces charges of evidence tampering and abuse of a corpse.

Jose Zavala (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department)

Rosa Carol Torres (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department)

According to MNPD, the charges stem from an incident on Dec. 27, 2023, after officers found the body of 58-year-old Orlando Hernandez hidden inside an SUV at a Nashville wrecker yard.

Authorities reported Hernandez was found by an employee at the wrecker yard who was inspecting the inside of a Chevrolet Blazer when they found the body concealed in the back seat.

CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime news from Middle Tennessee

The Chevrolet, which belonged to Hernandez, was reportedly towed from a residence in the 50 block of Tusculum Road on Dec. 15, 2023, at the request of the landlord who believed it had been abandoned.

After a months-long investigation, detectives determined that, as part of a drug-motivated crime, Zavala killed Hernandez inside a home on N. Natchez Court. He is then accused of placing Hernandezs body into the rear seat of his Chevrolet Blazer, which was outside the home on Tusculum Road.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Torres is believed to have helped dispose of the body and remains jailed in Wilson County, police said. Meanwhile, Zavala will be returned to Nashville from Texas in the near future.

No other information was immediately released.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
The new moon of July 2024 occurs today as Earth reaches its farthest point from the sun, known as aphelion.

The new moon arrives on July 5 at 6:57 p.m. Eastern Time (2257 UTC), according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, and two days later the young moon will make a close pass to Mercury in the evening sky.

Earth reached aphelion today, meaning our was farther away from the sun than at any other period in its yearly orbit. Earth's orbit around the sun is slightly elliptical, or oval-shaped, meaning our distance from our star can vary up to 3% throughout the year. This small variation isn't significant enough to be noticeable for most observers.

New moons occur when the moon is directly between the sun and Earth; in many lunar calendar systems they mark the beginning of the lunar month. Technically, the sun and the moon are in conjunction, on the same north-south line that passes through the celestial pole. Lunar phases' timing is measured by where the moon is relative to the Earth, so a given phase happens at the same time all over the world. Any differences are only because of the time zone one is in  in Melbourne, Australia, for example, the new moon occurs at 8:57 a.m. on July 6.

New moons are invisible unless there is an eclipse; eclipses don't happen every new moon because the orbits of the moon and Earth aren't perfectly aligned; they are tilted relative to each other by about 5 degrees. The moon's shadow then "misses" the Earth most of the time. (The next solar eclipse isn't until Oct. 2, 2024).

A bright central sun glimmers in starry space. The outline of a large green circle around its glow. Within, points labeled Mars and Venus, with Earth on the line, and mars just outside on the upper right.

Close pass to Mercury

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In the evening hours of July 7, the moon will pass by Mercury as it moves out of the new phase; the thin crescent will be some 3 degrees to the north of Mercury at 2:33 p.m. Eastern time , according to skywatching site In-the-Sky.org. At sunset, when the moon becomes visible, it will be about 16 degrees above the horizon; Mercury will be below the moon. But the planet won't be really visible at all until about 9 p.m. (sunset on that day is at about 8:29 p.m . in New York; times are similar in cities such as Chicago or Sacramento) and by that time it will only be 8 degrees high, so from anywhere in mid-northern latitudes the conjunction will be a challenge to see  one will need a flat, unobstructed and clear horizon.

Observing the conjunction gets easier as one moves closer to the equator. From lower latitudes (either from the north or south) the ecliptic, or plane of the Earth's orbit projected on the sky, makes a steeper angle with the horizon. That means planets, which all move within a few degrees of the ecliptic, tend to reach higher altitudes. (It is also why tropical sunsets seem so short, whereas sunsets in higher northern and southern latitudes seem to linger  in the tropics the Sun is approaching the horizon almost straight down, whereas in more northern or southern regions it approaches at a gentler slope).

From Miami the conjunction takes place at 2:33 p.m. local time but both the moon and Mercury will be higher in the sky; the sun sets at 8:16 p.m. local time and at that point the moon is 20 degrees high and Mercury is 18 degrees above the western horizon. By about 8:30 p.m. Mercury should just become visible and it will still be about 12 degrees high, so with a clear horizon with no obstructions one should be able to catch it.

From Bridgetown, Barbados (and similar latitudes) the moon will appear to be to the right of Mercury, and at sunset, at 7:29 p.m. local time , the moon is a full 18 degrees high in the west, by 7 p.m. it is still 14 degrees above the horizon, as is Mercury, and both will be more visible than from the continental U.S.

In the Western Hemisphere the conjunction itself happens in the afternoon, in daylight, but as one moves east the moment of conjunction moves into evening. From Madrid, Spain, the observing challenges are similar to those in New York (the two cities are at nearly the same latitude) but the conjunction occurs at 8:33 p.m. local time.

In the Southern Hemisphere, observing is slightly easier  the days are shorter as it is the austral winter. In Sao Paolo, the sun sets at 5:22 p.m. local time, and while the conjunction happens at 3:33 p.m., still during the day, at sunset the moon will be 18 degrees high in the northwest, and Mercury will appear above and to the left of the moon. Mercury won't become visible until about 6 p.m. and it will still be about 12 and a half degrees high. In Cape Town, where the conjunction happens at 8:33 p.m. local time  sunset is at 5:51 p.m. and the moon and Mercury set at 7:34 p.m.; about a half hour after sunset the pair is about 13 degrees high in the northwest.

A red hazy sky shows stars with the outline of an orange circle floating in the center. A forking image of blue lines connecting stars in sky through the circle. Also within the circle, a small crescent moon and a dot labeled Mercury.

Visible planets

Venus will be emerging into the evening sky, but it will still be largely lost in the solar glare; while it appears a bit higher in the sky at sunset as one gets closer to the equator it is no more than five or six degrees high as the sky starts to darken.

Saturn is the first planet to rise, at 11:40 p.m. on July 5 in New York City. In the constellation Aquarius, which is a fainter star group than many, it will be quite distinct in its region of sky. As the sky starts to lighten by about 4:30 to 5:00 a.m. (the morning of July 6) it will be about 41 degrees above the south-southeastern horizon.

Mars will be prominent in the wee hours of the morning; as the year progresses it rises later and the planet will eventually be lost in the sun's dawn light. On the night of the new moon (July 5-6) in mid-northern latitudes the planet will rise at about 2 a.m.  it rises at 2:03 a.m. in New York City, and the time will be similar in cities such as Chicago (1:56 a.m. CDT), Denver (2:10 a.m. MDT), and Sacramento (2:18 a.m. PDT). Mars will be in the constellation Aires, and will be easy to spot as Aires is made up of fainter stars.

Jupiter rises after Mars, at 3:07 a.m. EDT in New York. Jupiter is in Taurus, and is to the left and above Aldebaran, the brightest star in that constellation. Aldebaran is noticeably more orange, and twinkles, which makes it easy to pick out the planet which is white-yellow and emits a steady light.

This means that by about 4:30 a.m. local time in mid-northern latitudes the three naked-eye planets further from the sun than Earth will make a kind of line across the sky from the eastern horizon to the right, starting with Jupiter and ending with Saturn.

In the Southern Hemisphere, for example in Melbourne, Australia, (where the new moon is on July 6) the three planets will form a line also, but this time upwards and to the left (as one faces north). Saturn will also be higher in the sky. In Melbourne (and other mid-southern latitude locations) Saturn will rise at 10:22 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard time on July 6; when the planet transits (crossing the north-south line in the sky) at 4:43 a.m. July 7 it will be a full 58 degrees above the northern horizon. Mars rises at 3:22 a.m. AEST, and Jupiter at 4:47 a.m. Jupiter's position in the sky relative to Aldebaran will be reversed; Jupiter will appear below Aldebaran rather than above (it will still appear to be on the left).

an illustration of the night sky showing saturn, jupiter, uranus, mars and neptune in the night sky against thousands of background stars

Summer stars

For Northern Hemisphere sky watchers, by about 10 p.m. the Summer Triangle is high in the eastern sky; the "top" star is Vega, the brightest star in Lyra the Lyre, and it is almost at the zenith (about 70 degrees above the horizon). The other two stars in the Summer triangle are Deneb and Altair, both of which are east (to the left) of Vega; from a dark-sky site one can see the Milky Way inside the Triangle. The three stars make a rough right triangle with Altair at the southern end.

Turning left  towards the north one will see the Big Dipper to the left (west) and slightly below Polaris, the pole star. Following the "pointers" (the two stars in the front of the bowl of the Dipper, Dubhe and Merak) to Polaris and continuing straight across you encounter Cepheus, the king, and just below Cepheus is the "W" shape of Cassiopeia, which will be low in the northeast.

In the other direction, follow the handle of the big dipper and "arc to Arcturus" the brightest star in Bootes, the herdsman, and continuing downward you hit Spica, the brightest star in Virgo. Turning south (to the left), one sees the bright red star Antares, the heart of Scorpius, and in darker sky locations looking up (north) from Scorpio one sees Ophiuchus the healer, with Sagittarius and its "teapot" shape to the left of Scorpius.

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In the mid-southern latitudes one sees the stars of winter  darkness comes earlier. By 7 p.m. the sky is dark and the Southern Cross is high above the southern horizon, about 65 degrees. To the left of the Cross (east) is Alpha Centauri, also called Rigil Kentaurus, our nearest stellar neighbor. Further east and closer to the horizon is Scorpio, though upside-down (from the point of view of a northern hemisphere observer) and very high in the sky; Antares is a full 47 degrees in altitude by 7 p.m.

In the southwest, the ship's keel, Puppis, is setting and marked by Canopus, about 20 degrees above the southwestern horizon. Canopus is the second-brightest star in the night sky after Sirius. In the same region of sky to the left (towards the south) are the Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Clouds, two satellite galaxies of the Milky Way.
More records expected to shatter as long-running blanket of heat threatens 130 million in U.S.

A person cools off during the Waterfront Blues Festival on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Portland, Ore. A slow-moving and potentially record-setting heat wave is spreading across the Western U.S., sending many residents in search of a cool haven from the dangerously high temperatures. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  Roughly 130 million people were under threat Saturday and into next week from a long-running heat wave that already has broken records with dangerously high temperatures  and is expected to shatter more from East Coast to West Coast, forecasters said.

Oppressive heat and humidity could team up to spike temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 38 degrees Celsius) in parts of the Pacific Northwest, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, said Jacob Asherman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

In Oregon, records could be broken in cities including Eugene, Portland and Salem, Asherman said. Dozens of other records throughout the U.S. could fall, Asherman added, causing millions to seek relief from the blanket of heat in cooling centers from Bullhead City, Arizona, to Norfolk, Virginia.

The National Weather Service said Saturday it was extending the excessive heat warning for much of the Southwest into Friday.

A dangerous and historic heatwave is just getting started across the area, with temperatures expected to peak during the Sunday-Wednesday timeframe, the National Weather Service in Las Vegas said in an updated forecast.

Excessive heat will likely continue through Friday, the service said.

In sweltering Las Vegas, where the temperature hit 100 degrees (37.7 C) by 10:30 a.m., Marko Boscovich said the best way to beat the heat is in a seat at a slot machine with a cold beer inside an air-conditioned casino.

But you know, after it hits triple digits its about all the same to me, said Boscovich, who was visiting from Sparks, Nevada to see a Dead & Company concert later Saturday night at the Sphere. Maybe theyll play one of my favorites  `Cold Rain and Snow.

Heat records being shattered across the southwest

By 10:30 a.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service said the temperature already had risen to 100 degrees (36.6 C) in Phoenix, which saw a record high of 118 F (47.7 C) for the date on Friday.

Meteorologists predict temperatures will be near daily records region-wide through most, if not all, of the coming week with lower desert highs reaching 115 to 120 degrees (46.1 to 48.8 C) .

Rare heat advisories had been extended even into the upper elevations, including around Lake Tahoe, with the National Weather Service in Reno warning of major heat risk impacts, even in the mountains.

How hot are we talking? Well, high temperatures across (western Nevada and northeastern California) won't get below 100 degrees (37.8 C) until next weekend, the service posted online. And unfortunately, there won't be much relief overnight either."

A new heat record for the day was set on Friday in California's Death Valley -- one of the hottest places on Earth  with the mercury climbing to 127 F (52.8 C). The old mark of 122 F (50 C) was last tied in 2013.

Palm Springs, California, hit 124 degrees (51.1 C) Friday, breaking the city's all-time record high of 123 degrees (50.5 C).

More extreme highs are in the near forecast, including 129 F (53.8 degrees C) for Sunday at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park, and then around 130 (54.4 C) through Wednesday. The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134 degrees (56.67 C) in Death Valley in July 1913, though some experts dispute that measurement and say the real record was 130 F (54.4 C) recorded there in July 2021.

The worst is yet to come across much of the West and Mid-Atlantic

The worst was yet to come across much of the West, with triple-digit temperatures likely  between 15 and 30 degrees (8 and 16 degrees Celsius) higher than average into next week, the National Weather Service said.

The Eastern U.S. also was bracing for more hot temperatures. Baltimore and others parts of Maryland were under an excessive heat warning, as heat index values could climb to 110 F (43 C), forecasters said.

"Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors," said a National Weather Service advisory for the Baltimore area. Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances.

Heat-related deaths are starting to mount

In Arizonas Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, there have been at least 13 confirmed heat-related deaths this year, along with more than 160 other suspected heat deaths are still under investigation, according to the countys most recent report.

That does not include the death of a 10-year-old boy earlier this week in Phoenix who suffered a heat-related medical event while hiking with family at South Mountain Park and Preserve, according to police.

California firefighters battle string of smoky wildfires fanned by low humidity, triple-digit heat

In California, firefighters were dispatching aircraft and helicopters to drop water or retardant on a series of wildfires around the state. In Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles, the so-called Lake Fire scorched over 19 square miles (49 square kilometers) of grass, brush and timber. Firefighters said the blaze was displaying extreme fire behavior and had the potential for large growth with high temperatures and low humidity.

Revelers at a music festival cope with the heat with cold water and shade

At the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon, music fans dealt with heat by drinking cold water, seeking refuge in the shade or freshening up under water misters. Organizers of the weekend revelries also advertised free access to air conditioning in a nearby hotel.

Angela Quiroz, 31, kept her scarf and hat wet and applied sunscreen at she protected herself from the heat at the music festival.

Definitely a difference between the shade and the sun, Quiroz said Friday. But when youre in the sun, it feels like youre cooking.

___

Associated Press reporter Julie Walker contributed from New York. Boone reported from Boise, Idaho, and Sonner reported from Reno, Nevada. Associated Press journalists Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Jonathan Drew in Raleigh, North Carolina; John Antczak in Los Angeles; Rio Yamat in Las Vegas; Denise Lavoie in Richmond, Virginia; and Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia, contributed.
There are a number of theories on why so many Texas students received zeroes on certain question types on this years state test. But one thing is for certain: The issue isnt unique to Texas.

In Fort Worth and across the state, the number of students who received zeros on constructed response questions on this years State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, exams grew substantially this year over last year. That growth comes following the rollout of a newly redesigned state test and a shift to automated scoring. Texas Education Agency officials say theyre confident the new exam still offers an accurate look at how students are doing.

But a national testing expert says many states across the country are seeing the same trend.

Its not a Texas problem. It seems to be a national problem, said Scott Marion, executive director of the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment.

TEA rolls out STAAR redesign, online grading

In December, the state education agency rolled out an automated scoring engine, a computer-based grading system, to evaluate STAAR exams. Officials said the grading engine would score three-quarters of all essay questions, and human graders would continue to handle the rest. The agency had used computer-based grading for closed-ended questions like multiple choice for years.

The shift to automated grading isnt the only change the agency has made to the test over the past few years. Last year, the agency rolled out a newly redesigned state test that featured fewer multiple choice questions and more constructed response prompts. State education officials said the new test was designed to more closely resemble the instruction students receive in class.

The redesigned test also features new kinds of questions that students had never dealt with before, including extended constructed response questions that ask students to draw on information from a reading passage to craft an in-depth response to a prompt.

This year, the number of Texas students in grades 3-8 receiving a zero on constructed response questions jumped nearly 20% from last years total, which itself represented a sharp uptick over the number of zeros students logged before the STAAR redesign. About 35% of test-takers across the state received a zero on a constructed response question on last springs exam, TEA records show.

In the Fort Worth Independent School District, about 54% of test-takers received a zero on a constructed response question this year, according to TEA data. Thats 14,280 students in grades 3-8, a 12% uptick over last year.

Students receiving a zero on constructed response questions dont necessarily fail the entire exam. About 76.5% of students across the state passed this years state test, compared to about 78.1% last year, according to TEA data.

Rise in zeros is a national issue

Marion, the testing expert, said the growing number of zeros on constructed response questions is a major topic of conversation in his meetings with clients. Marions center works with education officials in 35 states and about 40 large school districts, and many are seeing the same thing, he said. Although theres little reliable data to explain the trend, Marion said he suspects some part of it may come from a growing number of test-takers simply refusing to take the questions seriously.

My hunches are that were dealing with some post-pandemic residue of kids saying, Ive been through the pandemic. What are you going to do to me now? he said.

If states want to get more students to do a better job of engaging with test questions, they need to do a better job of writing them, Marion said. One way of doing that is by using a strategy educators call a cognitive lab. Test developers give students a series of sample questions and ask them to talk through their thought process as they respond. If the students have trouble understanding what theyre being asked to do, developers can go back and clarify the question. If they understand it but wont engage with it, the developers can talk with them about how they could make the prompt more interesting.

Although the trend in Texas began just after the state shifted to computer-based grading, Marion said he doubts the two changes are related. While no automated scoring system is perfect, Marion said the one Texas adopted is generally reliable. Also, he said, the uptick in zeros seems to exist in both human-graded and computer-graded tests.

TEA: STAAR difficulty doesnt vary by year

Chris Rozunick, director of the assessment development division at TEA, cautioned against making too much of the uptick in zeros on constructed response questions. The agency always works to make the STAAR consistent in its level of difficulty from one year to the next, but only at the overall test level, she said. Individual sections within the test can vary, she said  if one section is harder one year, another section will be easier.

There are a number of ways a student could fail to earn any points on a constructed response question, including writing a response that answers the question but lacks an organizational structure or one that doesnt include any relevant evidence, according to the agencys grading rubric. But usually, when a student receives a zero in that section, it means that they didnt demonstrate that they could answer the question directly, Rozunick said.

That doesnt always mean the student left the question blank, Rozunick said. Often, students offer responses that are clear, concise and well-constructed, but dont deal with the question at hand, she said. Under the states scoring scale, those students would receive no points for such a response, she said.

As soon as a student shows some knowledge to answer, to interact with and engage with a question, they will generally start to see points, she said.

Although she said theres probably some merit to the theory that students arent willing to engage with constructed response questions nationally, Rozunick said she suspects that the uptick in zeros in Texas has more to do with changes to the test format. The new extended constructed response questions are a major departure from the kinds of questions students have seen on the test before, she said.

In the past, we generally asked kids to write how was your summer? or whats your favorite hobby? she said. And when youre asking someone to take a piece of text and analyze it and create an answer, that, of course, is a very different set of skills.

The good news, Rozunick said, is that the issue most likely has more to do with students being unfamiliar with that kind of test question than it does with their ability to answer it. Over the coming years, as students get more practice with the new question types, she expects to see those scores begin to bounce back.
Adnan Hussain (centre, in white shirt) is the new independent MP for Blackburn in Lancashire - SWNS

A newly elected MP who won his seat on a pro-Palestinian ticket once told a Gaza rally lets make Israel burn.

Adnan Hussain was elected as an independent in Blackburn on Thursday, defeating Kate Hollern of Labour by tapping into voters anger over her partys stance on the Israel-Hamas war.

Around one in three Blackburn residents are Muslim and Mr Hussain promised during the campaign to speak out against the injustice being inflicted against the people of Gaza.

Speaking at a Free Palestine rally in Bradford in 2014, the now-MP claimed Israels military operation in the summer of that year amounted to a holocaust.

He told activists: Every corporation that supports Israel, lets stop their funding. Lets stop the funding.

They let Gaza burn, they hate Gaza Now lets make Israel burn, lets make Israel burn. We will stop their funding...

United we stand, divided we fail. We will raise. We will show Israel that we do not support its holocaust. We will never support its holocaust.

While he continued to use the term genocide during the election campaign, Mr Hussain has not talked about Israel burning or used similar violent language in recent years.

In the Gaza war of 2014, Israel launched an offensive after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped and murdered in the West Bank by Palestinian terrorists with links to Hamas.

Gaza 2014: A Palestinian girl in Shejaiya the day after the war ended - Roberto Schmidt/AFP

Some of the deadliest fighting in the region for decades then unfolded between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas terrorists.

Explaining his remarks at the 2014 rally, Mr Hussain said that he was speaking from a place of very high emotion triggered by what I very clearly state in the speech in question - a genocide. He added that he was calling for a boycott of Israel and that his reference to burning should be interpreted in this vein.

Mr Hussain said that he concluded his speech by expressing solidarity with Jewish brothers and sisters.

In hindsight, and with the maturity of at least ten years since the speech in question, Id use my words much more carefully, in order for room for nuance not to arise, he said.

The speech itself, other than a potential failure in adequate articulation of my point, carries a very positive, and inclusive message when listened to as a whole. I call for harmony between all racial and religious groups, Muslim, Christian and Jewish.

However as far as my stance on the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza goes, and my belief that all arms must be halted to Israel until this ugly chapter is brought to a close, and those complicit are brought to justice before the World Court, my views have not altered, in fact, given the situation on the ground in Gaza right now, they have in fact strengthened.

Israel is literally burning

A spokesman for the British Jewish organisation Community Security Trust said: Adnan Hussain may have called for Israel to burn several years ago.

But the sight in recent months of parts of Israel literally burning at the hands of Hamas terrorists and under Hezbollah rocket bombardments shows just what this slogan means in practice.

This kind of rabble-rousing, extreme language would be alarming coming from anyone, but is especially so from a person who has since been elected a member of Parliament and needs to represent the views and interests of all his constituents.

A video posted on Mr Hussains TikTok account on Friday showed his supporters chanting free, free Palestine as he celebrated his victory with activists.

Allah has gifted me

In a second clip, as he spoke at a rally of supporters during the campaign, Mr Hussain said: My people of Blackburn, I can assure you I will carry your rage in the corridors of power.

I will scream until they hear us, I will scream until they stop a genocide. Because Im telling you, MP or no MP, I have continued to speak for Gaza.

He added: I feel Allah has gifted me an ability to represent you. I have been gifted an ability to speak the truth and speak the truth I shall in the corridors of power, if Allah wills.

Jeremy Corbyn, who has a long history as a pro-Palestinian campaigner, was elected as an independent, after being thrown out of Labour - Tejas Sandhu/PA

On his campaign website, Mr Adnan told voters it was time to get rid of the old guard and make Blackburn great again.

And a third video, of a from Blackburn to Gaza rally, showed a number of his supporters behind a banner that read from Blackburn to Gaza, globalise the intifada.

Some people have interpreted the term intifada as a call for violence, but others defend it as a call for solidarity with Palestine.

Sixth-biggest party

Pro-Palestinian MPs effectively became the sixth-largest party in the UK after five independent candidates including Mr Hussain unseated their Labour rivals.

Shockat Adam defeated Jonathan Ashworth, who had been the shadow paymaster general, in Leicester South, saying this is for the people of Gaza while holding up a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf.

Our message to the government: we are a movement for Palestine, and we are never, ever going away. pic.twitter.com/1UCNdT8x7w  Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 6, 2024

Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader and a long-term supporter of the Palestine movement, was re-elected in Islington North as an independent as he defeated his old party.

Mr Corbyn spoke at a pro-Palestinian rally outside Parliament on Saturday, addressing thousands of supporters from the stage.
Update 6 p.m.: Topeka police say all I-70 eastbound lanes are open, and traffic conditions have returned to normal.

TOPEKA (KSNT)  A multi-vehicle crash has reduced rush hour traffic on I-70 to one lane.

Just before 4 p.m. Friday, July 5, the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) and the Topeka Police Department (TPD) responded to an injury crash involving multiple vehicles on I-70 near Southeast 10th Avenue.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

KHP troopers on scene are conducting an investigation, while Topeka police officers are assisting with traffic control. Traffic has been reduced to one lane on eastbound I-70 approaching Southeast 10th Avenue.

Officers encouraged drivers to avoid the area while the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is encouraged to email telltpd@topeka.org or contact the Topeka Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400. Anonymous tips can be made by calling Shawnee County Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007. You can also make anonymous tips online here.

For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

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President Trumps former Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said he was flabbergasted by President Bidens campaign decision to hype up his Friday interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos, calling the interview mediocre and not changing anyones mind.

I know the White House is describing that interview that you just showed as energetic and eloquent [] either they believe that in which case they have a problem, or they dont believe that in which they have a problem, Mulvaney said in an interview with NewsNations Markie Martin.

He added, Im a little flabbergasted the fact that the campaign hyped it as much as they did, and then delivered such a sort of a mediocre performance.

Mulvaney spoke with Martin Saturday morning amid the growing fallout from Bidens debate performance on June 28. The president stumbled at times and appeared to have a raspy voice. A few minutes into the debate, Democrats had already begun to panic about Bidens ability to beat Trump.

Since the debate, many Democrats have called on Biden to step down as the partys nominee, with five sitting House members publicly saying he should. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is believed to be circulating a letter among colleagues to deliver to the president asking him to step down.

Biden and his campaign have been adamant that he will not step down, and the ABC interview is part of their strategy to alleviate concerns about the presidents ability to serve.

Democrats, by and large, do not appear to be impressed with the interview, saying it did not do much to alleviate peoples concerns. The fifth House member released their statement calling Biden to stand down after the interview.

Mulvaney added that he believes Bidens campaign has managed the post-debate fallout poorly, leading to more problems for the campaign.

The debate was bad but the management was even worse, Mulvaney said. It was a bad debate, but after that it was the staff that really have to step up and earn their money.

However, Mulvaney does not believe that has happened, instead pointing to First Lady Jill Biden and Bidens son, Hunter Biden, stepping in to help the president, saying that their involvement will tension.

That can create all sorts of tension inside of White House when youve got a new group of people, whether or not their families coming in to sort of take over and clean up the mess from the previous team, Mulvaney added. That creates a lot of tension, and what youre seeing is the result of that. Youre not seeing a good, unified, coherent response.

Martin asked Mulvaney if he still believed Harris would be the nominee if Biden stood down, and Mulvaney said he believed she was the only viable candidate.

I do not know how my Democrat friends would who are so beholden to identity politics, how they pass over the African American woman vice president, Mulvaney said. If the President is not able to run, might there be other candidates for better than that. Maybe. But, we went through the primaries, the voters have spoken, and Democrat voters want Joe Biden to stop the ticket.

If that changes, Kamala Harris, my guess is, have to be the candidate or else to rip that party apart, he added.

Mulvaney also dismissed calls for Biden to take a cognitive test, saying that only people in the beltway and the media care about that.

I dont know if the voters back out in the countryside care about a cognitive test, he said. They care about their president being able to do the job, and looking like he can do the job, acting like it can do the job. And right now, the impression amongst so many of those voters is that Joe Biden cannot do that. I dont think cognitive test really answers the question.

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.

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Pollster Nate Silver, the founder of ABCs FiveThirtyEight, called for President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 White House race after making incoherent comments in his first postdebate interview Friday.

Earlier Friday, Silver wrote a column about whether a model could appropriately determine Bidens chances of winning the election, as voters remain skeptical of his abilities more than a week after his poor debate performance.

Silver, who viewed Bidens interview with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos before it was aired publicly Friday evening, posted to social platform X with a change of tune.

This is a pretty incoherent answer including a non-sequitur [complaining] about a New York Times poll, which he incorrectly claims had him down 10 points before the debate, Silver wrote on X, sharing a clip of the interview. He added that The New York Times survey only had Biden down 3 or 4 points.

I wimped out in todays column and deleted a line saying he should formulate a plan to transition the presidency to [Vice President] Harris within 30-60 days, but Im there now, Silver said. Something is clearly wrong here.

He joins a growing list of people calling on the president to preserve his legacy by stepping aside and allowing someone new to take on former President Trump this November.

The most generous way to put it is that he doesnt seem in command, and thats an extremely hard sell when youre Commander in Chief, Silver said.

The pollster shared a statistic that said 57 percent of people believe Biden will drop out. He said he thinks that number is low, and Democrats will apply incredible amounts of pressure.

After his poor debate showing, Biden and his team have been adamant that he is in it to win it. Hes hosted rallies, spoken with Democratic governors and other lawmakers and sat down with Stephanopoulos in an attempt to bolster support.

The ABC interview was seen as a make-or-break moment for Biden as he tries to salvage his campaign and regain support among his base.

During the interview, Biden refused to take a cognitive test. Silver said that this decision was disqualifying on its own.

Less than a week ago, the pollster predicted Bidens polls would get worse following the debate debacle.

The incumbent pushed back on Stephanopouloss remarks that his approval rating was below 36 percent. Silver said the polls were the least of Bidens worries at this point.

At this point its only like their 4th most important problem, he wrote Friday evening on X, adding, but the fact that the White House has drunk the Kool-Aid on the poll denialism stuff all cycle long isnt helping matters.

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A NATO summit and mending EU relations are among first tasks for new UK leader Keir Starmer

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech, following his first cabinet meeting as Prime Minister, in London, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Britains new Prime Minister Keir Starmer has appointed a Cabinet of Labour Party lawmakers and a few outside experts as he tries to tackle priorities including boosting a sluggish economy, building more homes and fixing the creaking state-funded health service.(Claudia Greco, Pool Photo via AP)

LONDON (AP)  New British Prime Minister Keir Starmer doesnt get to take a breather. After a draining six-week election campaign, the center-left politician must get straight to work assembling his government, tackling a mountain of domestic problems and putting his stamp on the U.K.s relations with the rest of the world.

Its a daunting list for a new leader who has never served in, much less led, a government. But Starmer insisted that he is up to the challenge of heading the U.K. in a world that is a more volatile place than it has been for many years.

Appoint a government

Like someone moving into a new home with their IKEA furniture, Starmers first task was to assemble a Cabinet.

Starmer began putting together his government soon after he walked through the door of 10 Downing St. on Friday afternoon following his landslide election victory. He has a plethora of lawmakers to choose from  his Labour Party won more than 400 seats in Thursday's election, almost two-thirds of the 650 in the House of Commons.

Key players in the new administration include Treasury chief Rachel Reeves  a former Bank of England economist and the first woman to hold that job  who will liaise with international financial institutions.

The new foreign secretary, Britains top diplomat, is David Lammy, a Harvard Law School graduate who vowed to reconnect Britain for our security and prosperity at home.

Make friends on the world stage

Starmer has said his message to the world from the U.K. is: Were back. He wants Britain to take a larger role on the global stage after years of soured relations with Europe over Brexit and the inward-looking U.K. political soap opera that followed.

In the hours after taking office, the new prime minister held a string of calls with world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Union leader Ursula von der Leyen and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He also dispatched Lammy on a weekend trip to Germany, Poland and Sweden.

Starmer takes office at a time of multiple crises  including the war in Ukraine and the Middle East, a surging far right, and a muscle-flexing China  that will test the cool head he honed in his former job as Britains chief prosecutor.

Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general of the Royal United Services Institute, a military think-tank, said that with France facing a far-right surge in legislative elections and the U.S. embroiled in a polarizing, high-stakes presidential election, Britain has the most stable government of all the major Western democracies.

It therefore has the opportunity, and responsibility, to help steady the ship of Western unity at a time of exceptional political fluidity, he said.

Starmer is set to make a high-profile international debut by flying to Washington Tuesday for NATOs 75th-anniversary summit. The gathering is overshadowed by questions about Bidens fitness and the uncertain outcome of the November U.S. presidential election.

Starmer has said there will be no change to Britains staunch support for Ukraine, and has pledged to increase U.K. military spending to 2.5% of GDP  though he hasn't put a date on it.

The decision for Starmer is how much to try to persuade the U.S. - as well as other wavering members of NATO  to remain a defender of Ukraine, on the grounds not just of sovereignty but European security, said Bronwen Maddox, director of international affairs think-tank Chatham House.

Starmer also faces divisions within his party over Israels war against Hamas. Several Labour lawmakers were defeated in the election by challenges from pro-Palestinian independents angered by the partys initial refusal to call unambiguously for a cease-fire in the Gaza conflict.

Patch things up with the neighbors

On July 18, Starmer will host leaders from across Europe at Englands Blenheim Palace for a meeting of the 47-nation European Political Community. Its a chance to begin to mend ties with the U.K.s neighbors in Europe, which have frayed and soured since the U.K. left the European Union in 2020.

Starmer says he wants to reduce some of the post-Brexit barriers for people and goods that have hobbled relations between Britain and the bloc. He insists, though that he wont reverse Brexit, or rejoin the EUs single market and customs union.

Critics say that shows a lack of principle, but supporters say it respects Britons desire not to reopen the divisive Brexit debate.

Tackle a long to-do list

Starmer also faces a daunting range of domestic challenges, underlaid by the widespread sense that many facets of Britains public life have broken down during 14 years of Conservative rule

Stagnant growth and low productivity restrain the economy while millions of people struggle with the cost of living. The countrys aging infrastructure is creaking and the state-funded National Health Service is at breaking point, with long waiting lists for treatment, a situation that has been worsened by a long-running series of doctors strikes. Ending that dispute will be a priority, but Starmer has vowed to keep a tight lid on spending and wont want to agree to the big salary increases the doctors are seeking.

Starmer promises to take control of migration and stop people making dangerous journeys across the English Channel in small boats, but he is scrapping the Conservative governments controversial plan to send asylum-seekers on a one-way trip to Rwanda  declaring Saturday that the Rwanda deal was dead and buried. The U.K. has paid Rwanda hundreds of millions of pounds (dollars) as part of the deal without a single flight taking off.

Hes also expected to emphasize Britains commitment to fighting climate change after a series of backward steps under the Conservatives.

The new governments legislative plans for the next year will be set out on July 17 in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the ceremonial State Opening of Parliament.

A lot of people are feeling a sense of potential transformation, said Lise Butler, senior lecturer in modern history at City University of London. I think that theres going to be elevated expectations for Starmer, which are going to be difficult to meet.

___

Associated Press video journalist Kwiyeon Ha contributed to this story.
This picture, taken after the end of the war in Europe but while combat was still underway in the Pacific, shows members of the Womens Royal Navy Service, posing with double-decker buses  their supposed service to mask that they were involved in a top secret decoding program. Jean Watters, then Jean Briggs, is pictured in the back row, sixth from the left. (Courtesy of Robin Watters)

LINCOLN, Nebraska.  For years, Jean Watters kept secret her critical role in helping defeat Hitler in World War II.

Watters, who was born in Suffolk, England, worried that shed slip up and accidentally reveal what she had sworn to withhold  she even had nightmares about it.

But for more than three decades, long after the war was over, she withheld her past from her husband, American pilot John Watters, as they made a new life, with six children, in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue.

Eventually, after the British government declassified the existence of the Ultra programme to decipher the codes used by the German Armed Forces, Jean could reveal her wartime work.

Now, her story of heroism might get a much wider audience.

A documentary on her work as one of the British code breakers was posted recently on a YouTube channel operated by a partnership that highlights the exploits of military veterans.

All-out war effort

A 20-minute film, Decoding Jean: Secrets of WWII, focuses on a then-18-year-old girls sacrifice during the war as part of the all-out effort in England to defeat Hitler, as well as Watters dedication to her duty to keep unsaid her work as a code breaker.

If the video gets enough views and finds financing, the amazing story of a young English womans work to crack the codes used by the German Army may become a feature-length film.

She and her husband were interesting people that told an increasable story of WWII, said filmmaker Daniel Bernardi, president and director of El Dorado Films, which produced the documentary.

We are looking at turning it into a feature-length story, and bring in more of her husbands story, he said. But for that to happen, we need to raise additional funds.

El Dorado Films, in conjunction with San Francisco State University, are partners in the Veteran Documentary Corps, which posts its work on a YouTube channel.

Two of Jean Watters children, Pete of Lincoln and Robin of Jamestown, Rhode Island, said turning the story of their parents into a full-length film would be a fitting tribute to their service and sacrifice during the war.

Top aide to Gen. LeMay

John Watters, who died in 2018 at age 101, flew more than 25 missions as a navigator and bombardier aboard a B-17 bomber from his base in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, Jeans hometown. He insisted on flying more than the required 25 missions  most didnt survive 10  so he would obtain better information about the bombing runs because of his role as the planner for the next missions.

He served as a top aide to Gen. Curtis LeMay at Offutt Air Force Base before his retirement.



His wife, as one of the 10,000 people involved in the Enigma codebreaking program, fed intercepted German messages into an electromechanical machine known as a bombe.

The machine, which has been described as an early version of a computer, deciphered Nazi military commands, providing a warning for the Allies of troop movements and impeding submarine attacks. It shortened the war and prevented countless deaths, officials have said.

We were reading their military mail, we knew where their people were going, Robin Watters said. It was really, really advantageous to know that.

Jean Watters, a talented artist, turned down a deferment to attend art school to enlist in the Womens Royal Navy Service, known as the Wrens. At one point, she told her family she was being trained as a driver, concealing her top secret service. Robin Watters said his mother avoided coming home on weekends, perhaps as a way to avoid slipping up and revealing what she was doing.

Its hard to convey to people today the mindset of people like my parents, he said.

They werent unique. They were surrounded by people doing this, he said. But these were a different kind of people, with stunning courage.

Sought advice from Churchill

His father, he said, pledged to marry Jean Briggs the first time he laid eyes on her at a dance at the base in Bury St Edmunds.

They dated throughout the war, but when it came time to plan a new life in the United States, they faced roadblocks because of Jeans secret service during the war and because she was still a member of the British Navy.

It wasnt until John Watters wrote to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, then the leader of the opposition party in the United Kingdom, that he found out how he could marry his sweetheart: Get married first, an aide to Churchill advised, then request a move to America.

Robin Watters, a Navy retiree, said his mother was old school, which meant that when she signed a pledge to keep her top secret war work secret, she kept it secret.

He said he was too young to really process that shed been a key contributor in Hitlers defeat when his mother finally told her family. His father, as a military member himself, understood why she had kept her wartime heroism from him.

Having secrets is just part of the job, Robin Watters said. To do something of that importance, that young, its pretty impressive.

This story was first reported by the Nebraska Examiner which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Neighbor of NYC maniac who butchered sibling, 8, and stabbed parents speaks out: He never smiled

The sicko who viciously stabbed his 8-year-old sibling to death and slashed his parents in their Queens home Thursday was antisocial and standoffish, according to a shocked neighbor  who described the rest of the family as so happy and so lovable.

Pedro Felix, 20, was fatally shot by cops when they responded to the heartbreaking Independence Day bloodbath and found him holding his father in a headlock over the kitchen sink with a knife to his throat.

He never smiled. Now that I think about it he never smiled. He always had a serious face, said neighbor Vanessa Rivera, who lives next door to the family.

He never interacted with nobody. When we would pass each other in the hallway, he wouldnt say hi or anything to me, she added, noting that the only time she ever saw Felix was when he came in and out of the apartment.

Cops fatally shot Pedro Felix, 20, after responding to the 4th of July bloodbath and found him holding his father in a headlock over the kitchen sink with a knife to his throat. DCPI

Rivera said Felixs steely demeanor was the polar opposite to the rest of his family.

Anytime you see them, they were smiling, she said.

I can honestly say Ive never seen them upset at each other.

Police said Felix butchered 8-year-old Jacob Lopez, who was either his brother or stepbrother, and stabbed his mother, Channel Lino, before turning the blade on his father, Jose Adan Perez.

Authorities believe the knife attack stemmed from a domestic dispute.

By Friday morning, the front desk of the high-rise apartment building in Jamaica had been transformed into a growing memorial of candles, balloons and stuffed animals in tribute to Jacob.

Rivera described the boy as a ball of youthful energy and joy.

He was so jolly. He was so happy. Thats a little boy, thats a regular active 8-year-old  jumping around, so happy. He loved his mother, always mom, mom, mommy, its so sad, she said.

They were just my neighbors, they were so happy, so lovable. You would never think in a million years, she added of the tragic slaying.

Cops were called to the gory scene after Felixs mother, bleeding badly from a stab wound in her back, ran outside pleading for her life, NYPD Chief John Chell said Thursday.

Inside the familys extremely small Jamaica apartment, cops saw Felix had stabbed Perez, 43, once in the chest and was holding him in a headlock with a knife to his throat over the kitchen sink.

He never smiled. Now that I think about it he never smiled. He always had a serious face, neighbor Vanessa Rivera, who lives next door to the family, said of Felix. Peter Gerber

They gave repeated commands, both in English and Spanish, to drop the knife. He did not. One officer fired one round, striking the target, saving that mans life, said Chell.

The family of four was rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center where Jacob and Felix succumbed to their injuries.

An 8-month-old infant who was also in the home was left unscathed in the havoc.

Another neighbor, Cheyenne, 37, who didnt want to give her last name, praised the NYPD for saving the dads life.

Keep up the good work! the preschool teacher and romance novel writer said while clapping.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a campaign rally for President Joe Biden in Bucks County on Saturday July 6, 2024 (Capital-Star photo by John Cole)

DOYLESTOWN  California Gov. Gavin Newsom continued his swing through Pennsylvania on Saturday, stumping for President Joe Biden in Bucks County and pushing back against calls for the president to step aside.

If Donald Trump succeeds, God help us, we will roll back the last half century, Newsom told an audience outside of a Biden-Harris campaign office.

Look what the Biden-Harris administration has done to turn that around, Newsom said. I dont need to tell Bucks County to buck up, Democrats deliver, Democrats did that, you did that, our president did that, he delivered.

Bucks County is the only purple county in the southeastern part of the state, and both parties have put particular focus on the densely populated suburb just north of Philadelphia.

Bucks County, probably as much as any other county in America, is likely to tip the tide one way or the other, Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman state Sen. Sharif Street (D-Philadelphia) said Saturday. As goes Bucks County, so goes Pennsylvania, and as goes Pennsylvania, so goes the country and the world.

Newsom has become one of the most vocal defenders of Bidens candidacy following the presidents shaky debate performance against former President Donald Trump. Hes also one of the Democrats most frequently mentioned in speculation about who would replace Biden on the ticket if the president stepped aside.

As of Saturday morning, five U.S. House Democrats were among those calling on Biden to not seek a second term. But on Saturday, Newsom dismissed concerns that he is damaging his credibility by continuing to support the president.

Look, theres a handful of folks that may have different opinions, Newsom told reporters. The vast majority of the caucus remains solidly behind the president. He added that he thinks Biden made the point very effectively during his interview with ABC News and a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Friday, and called on the campaign to stay the course.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has been another vocal supporter of Biden remaining as the party nominee. On Friday night, Fetterman criticized Democrats calling for the president to drop out. If you want to betray the president like that youre entitled to your opinion, but enjoy your three minutes of fame, he said during an interview on MSNBC.

Newsom declined to comment on Fettermans statement about Democrats betraying the president, but praised the senators steadfast support of Bidens candidacy.

Thats how I was raised too, Newsom said. Its a character test, respect the senator, respect this president, I was just raised that way.

Newsom also campaigned for Biden in Michigan on July 4 and in Pittsburgh on July 5. Hes scheduled to appear in Chester County later on Saturday for another event promoting Biden and Democrats.

Ashley Ehasz, the Democratic nominee challenging U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-1st District) in Bucks County, spoke at the Saturday rally, saying she was terrified of what Trump and his MAGA enablers would do if they win in November.

We all know that Donald Trump is a draft dodger, Ehasz said. But what we should all also know is that Fitzpatrick is a truth dodger. He refuses to tell us, his constituents, whether or not he will endorse Trump in November.

Fitzpatrick is the only Republican in Pennsylvanias congressional delegation to represent a district that Biden won in 2020 and not announce whether he is supporting Trumps candidacy in 2024. For the 2016 election, Fitzpatrick has said he wrote in Mike Pence for president, but voted for Trump in 2020.

Ehasz is a far left extremist whose values are wildly out of touch with Pennsylvanians, and thats why shes going to lose miserably to Representative Fitzpatrick again, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella wrote in an email to the Capital-Star on Saturday, in response to a request for comment from the Fitzpatrick campaign.

I cant speak for what other elected officials or candidates are saying, all I know is for me, right now, we have a 34- time convicted felon at the top of the Republican ticket and as a veteran, I am working to stop him, Ehasz told reporters. So, whoever can stop Trump is who Im getting behind.

When asked whether she thought Biden is best-equipped to prevent a second Trump term, Ehasz said I think right now he has the record of being one of the best presidents this country has ever seen.

Newsom reiterated that he would not run for the nomination if there was an open convention and answered a question about the leaks from Democrats questioning Bidens candidacy.

Its a lot of people talking to you guys. Ive never seen anything like it, Newsom said, while chuckling. Ill just leave it at that and thats everyones judgment to make that determination.

When asked if he thinks those Democrats should stop talking to reporters, he said I offer zero advice.

A group of pro-Trump protesters were standing alongside the road in front of the rally, with one holding a sign that read Go Back to Cali NewSCUM.

The Trump campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Saturday.

Trump, who has made four appearances in Pennsylvania so far in 2024, will hold a rally in western Pennsylvania on July 13. Biden, who has visited the state eight times so far this year, is scheduled to be in Pennsylvania on Sunday, at a church service in Philadelphia and a campaign event in Harrisburg.

A Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll, which was released on Saturday, showed some promising numbers for Biden against Trump in multiple battleground states, although its sample size is relatively low.

Update: This article was updated at 6:40 p.m. July 6, 2024 with comment from the NRCC.

The post Newsom rejects calls for Biden to step down during Bucks County rally appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
(Bloomberg) -- The Conservatives considered themselves Britains party of government, coming to power with promises to rescue the economy and restore stablility. Now, after the worst election result in their history, its more a case of who can come in to rescue them and restore their fortunes.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Tories, whose 14-year term was dominated by wrangling over leaving the European Union and the handling of the pandemic, face a fight to avoid a generation in opposition. That starts with finding a new chief who can reverse a surge in votes for Brexit architect Nigel Farages Reform UK.

Outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will stay on as Conservative leader for the immediate term to ensure a stable handover to a successor who will front the opposition in the UK Parliament. Kemi Badenoch, the departing business secretary who is on the right of the party, is the bookmakers favorite to win  and she has acknowledged the threat Farage poses.

The Reform leader was responsible for turning a Tory defeat into something closer to a wipeout. His populist, anti-immigration rhetoric tapped into the sentiments of voters on the right, seeing Reform finish second to Labour in swathes of districts. In some 140 seats that the Conservatives failed to hold, Reform won a larger vote share than the margin by which the Tories lost.

Farage now has a seat in parliament for the first time, providing him with a platform he hopes he can use to subsume the Tories. Let the Conservative Party tear themselves apart in opposition, Farage said after the election.

Most Conservative leadership contenders have said they would not allow Farage to join the Tory party and do not want to enter into an electoral pact with Reform. That includes former ministers Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly from the center-right of the party, and Priti Patel and Robert Jenrick from the right wing. Only former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said she would welcome Farage into the fold.

Yet if the right-wing vote remains split throughout the next parliament, with Reform solidifying its vote share, it will be difficult to see how the Tories can avoid another crushing defeat at the next election due five years from now.

That means the next Conservative leader will come under immense pressure to either find a way to vanquish Farage, or do what many in the party consider would be a deal with the devil.

Solving that dilemma will determine whether the Tories can become a competitive player in British politics again.

Many Tories digesting the huge losses took the view that the party is likely out of power for at least a decade, seeing the next general election as a mountain they are unlikely to climb.

However, some took a more optimistic view, arguing that new premier Keir Starmer faces a hard task to keep Labour voters happy given the scale of challenges facing his administration. His large parliamentary majority, they say, also obscures a smaller vote share and lack of enthusiasm among some people about his prospectus for government.

Sunaks deputy, Oliver Dowden, in the meantime is likely to take a more public-facing role for the opposition, with his boss essentially becoming a titular figure in the coming weeks. The Tories will also have to appoint what will effectively be a caretaker shadow cabinet to make up the opposition front bench.

That task has been complicated by high-profile Tories losing their seats in the Labour landslide, including Defense Secretary Grant Shapps and Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons.

--With assistance from Ellen Milligan and Celia Bergin.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
FILE - An injured victim of a suicide bomb attack receives treatment at a hospital in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on June 30, 2024. Recent suicide bombings in northeastern Nigeria have raised questions about the country's claim that it has degraded the Islamic extremists whose insurgency since 2009 has killed more than 35,000 people directly and displaced more than 2 million. (AP Photo/Joshua Omiri, File)

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP)  For the first time since 2020, three female suicide bombers attacked the Nigerian border town of Gwoza, where Boko Haram extremists declared a short-lived caliphate 10 years ago, signaling that the world's longest war on militancy is still ongoing.

This came two days after officials touted success in their war against extremists, with Nigeria's military spokesperson Maj. Gen. Edward Buba telling reporters the often-used phrase: We have greatly degraded the terrorists.

The first of the three coordinated suicide bombings on June 30 targeted a well-attended wedding, the second was detonated at the victims' funeral and the the third at a hospital attending to the injured.

At least 32 people in total were killed in the attacks, including nine family members and friends of Mohammed Kehaya, a resident who is now worried about his safety in the state of Borno, a hotbed of Islamic militancy, where extremists once kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls in 2014.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings, but blame quickly fell on Boko Haram, which since 2009 has launched an insurgency to establish its radical interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, in northeastern Nigeria. They have since splintered into different factions, together accounting for the direct deaths of at least 35,000 people and the displacement of more than 2 million amid a humanitarian crisis with people in dire need of foreign aid.

Still, Nigerian authorities maintained that the attacks were not a setback.

Nigeria's Defense Chief Gen. Chris Musa said the bombings were rather a sign of desperation and described them as a one-off by the militants. Some individuals would do everything possible for us not to succeed, he said.

However, several security analysts and locals interviewed about the bombings echoed concerns that the attacks must have taken a lot of planning and coordination and portend danger in Borno, where some villages lack security presence.

One of the extremists goals could be to distort the narrative that the security situation in the region has normalized, said Vincent Foucher, consulting senior analyst for West Africa at the International Crisis Group.

Its a way to show the war goes on, Foucher said.

In Borno, the three bombings sent shock waves across families and left many wondering whether they should pack what was left of their belongings and flee once again.

Parents have been calling in to ask if their kids would be safe going back to school, said Yusuf Ibn Tom, a public school teacher in Maiduguri. Everyone here is scared.

At the height of the insurgency in 2014, Boko Haram was considered the world's deadliest terrorist group, killing at least 6,000 people that year alone, according to the Institute for Economics and Peaces Global Terrorism Index. A lot has changed since then, making the extremists far less lethal.

The military has pushed them further into the fringes of the Lake Chad axis, and the 2021 death of the groups founding leader, Abubakar Shekau, demoralized some members and made suicide bombing less popular. Clashes between Shekaus faction and the one linked to the Islamic State group have made the extremists turn against themselves, sometimes shifting the focus of attacks from the military and civilians and even contributing to the defection of thousands who are undergoing a reintegration program.

But what has not changed over the years is the operational prowess of the extremists, said Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Attacks like the latest one are rarely one-off incidents and are often part of a wider series, Hudson said, not ruling out that more might come in the future. That will give a better indication of the relative strength of the insurgency today as well as the Nigerian militarys ability to respond, he added.

____

Asadu reported from Abuja, Nigeria.

____

Follow APs Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
NJ toll troll racked up more than $25K in unpaid fees  and now the Port Authority is after him

Vehicles drive through a toll plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike as the sun sets on May 11, 2021 in Newark, New Jersey

Its time to pay the toll, troll.

Thats the message that the Port Authority is sending to one New Jersey scofflaw, who racked up an impressive $25,000 in unpaid tolls over a four-year period, according to a new lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court this week.

The suit claims that Cumberland County resident Jose Guzman owes them $25,407 in unpaid fees and administrative costs racked up while crossing into New York City between December 2015 and December 2019.

The Port Authority  which controls the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, Outerbridge Crossing and the George Washington, Goethals Bayonne bridges  is asking for an additional $5,255 in interest, bringing the total to over $30,000. Universal Images Group via Getty Images

On top of that, the Port Authority  which controls the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, Outerbridge Crossing and the George Washington, Goethals Bayonne bridges  is asking for an additional $5,255 in interest, bringing the total to over $30,000.

If Guzman was driving a regular passenger car, that means he averaged over 400 unpaid crossings a year in the roughly two-and-a-half hour trip each way from his address in Vineland.

The bridge and tunnel agency has actually been after Guzman since 2020, filing legal action due to toll evasion, theft of services, trespass, fraud, and negligence for unpaid tolls, and successfully won a lower civil court judgment against him in 2023.

In those proceedings, the agency asked Guzmans bank to restrain over $24,000 in his bank account.

The current suit seeks to force the bank to turn over the debt in full.

No part of which has been paid or satisfied, the suit reads.

The agency has actually been after Guzman since 2020, filing legal action due to toll evasion, theft of services, trespass, fraud, and negligence for unpaid tolls, and successfully won a lower civil court judgment against him in 2023. Getty Images

Representatives for the Port Authority or their lawyers were unavailable to comment Friday.

Federal trucking records show that Guzman owns a small motor carrier business, which means his toll amounts per trip might be higher than the typical $15 levied during the time period covered by the suit, though exact details of his supposed fleet were not immediately available.

Guzman couldnt be reached for comment.

One relative told The Post that the family has not been in touch with Guzman for years, but confirmed that he has at least one vehicle in a trucking business.

Its probably been years, the relative said, adding that Guzmans past legal trouble led the family, including his two children, to cut ties entirely.

We parted ways, she said, but then to still deal with the drama, even though we dont even talk to him, is kind of more frustrating in itself.

You do something, you always pay for it eventually.
'No fireworks on ISS,' so astronauts experiment with 'light painting' instead (photos)

NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick plays with lighting and camera effects for a July 4, 2024 photoshoot on the International Space Station, during Expedition 71. | Credit: Matthew Dominick/NASA/X

With no fireworks allowed on the space station, NASA astronauts improvised with camera flashes to celebrate Independence Day.

International Space Station (ISS) astronaut Matthew Dominick played around with "light painting"  a long exposure in a dark room that illuminates a subject with a light source  during Expedition 71's time off to celebrate the Fourth of July.

"No fireworks on ISS so we used camera flashes instead. Experimented with 'light painting' today," Dominick wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Dominick has already been practicing image time-lapses on the orbiting complex in between his regular duties, capturing stunning pictures of Earth and the space station in motion. But for the U.S. holiday, the NASA astronaut mounted the Stars and Stripes to the back of the Japanese Kibo module and played around with interior exposures. Then he posted the results on social media.

Two of the photos show Dominick skittering across Kibo in different ways  one with him zooming through the shot like a superhero, and another one catching him in more of a space tumble. The grin on his face is infectious.

Related: NASA astronauts send Fourth of July message to Earth from ISS (video)

a photo stack of matthew dominick showing several ghostly images of himself in a dark space station module. at back is an american flag

Dominick described how the time-lapses were staged: "Turned off the lights. Manually actuated our own flashes. Ambient light only from computers and experiment LEDs." He also added some photography stats, for aspiring space photographers: 15-second exposures, f22, 24mm, ISO 500.

For one photo, he got much of the Expedition 71 long-duration crew and the two Boeing Starliner astronauts (in space for a shorter mission) to join him in Kibo. Each astronaut used their own light source to illuminate themselves in the semi-darkness of the research facility.

The group was instructed to "fire your own flash at will, inside the 15 second exposure of course," Dominick explained in a reply about how they staged it.

several astronauts in a dark module of the space station with their faces and bodies lit up by camera lighting. at back is an american flag

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While Dominick is using his spare time to play with photos in fun, all astronauts are trained in orbital photography to assist with vital Earth observations during their time in space.

"Astronauts often take beautiful pictures of the aurora borealis, city lights at night, and the horizon, but they can also photograph natural hazards such as volcanic eruptions and wildfires from space," NASA officials wrote in 2021. (More recently, for example, Expedition 71 has been capturing pictures of Hurricane Beryl from space.)

"In fact, astronaut photography can play a crucial role in helping scientists and decision makers monitor hazards in near real-time," the NASA posting added. "While most traditional satellites only take photos looking straight down at the Earth, astronauts can capture images from a variety of perspectives."
No Labels Founding Chairman and former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks about the 2024 election at National Press Club in Washington, Jan. 18, 2024. Lieberman served as No Labels' chief public defender when the critics got the loudest. The centrist group he helped create ignited a political firestorm over the last year by working to recruit a third-party presidential campaign that some feared might tilt the 2024 election in former President Donald Trumps favor. | Jose Luis Magana

An earlier version of this article was published in the On the Trail 2024 newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox on Tuesday and Friday mornings here. To submit a question to next weeks Friday Mailbag, email onthetrail@deseretnews.com.

Hello, friends. I hope all are enjoying a safe and restful Independence Day weekend. Im writing this morning from Madison, Wisconsin, where President Joe Biden will rally this afternoon. More on that to come.

3 things to know

The Big Idea

No Labels warned us

The morning after last weeks debate, No Labels chief strategist fired off an email to the groups supporters. Im angry, he wrote. Im angry because a No Labels presidential candidate should have been on that stage last night, providing a viable choice to Americans who cant possibly imagine four more years of Trump or Biden.

For the better part of two years, No Labels prepared for this scenario. Biden was a historically unpopular incumbent. Trump was his historically unpopular predecessor. Even in late 2022, most Americans didnt want a Biden-Trump rematch.

Enter No Labels: the centrist group established in 2010 to promote bipartisanship in Congress. It entered the fray as the vehicle for a third-party centrist to run for president. It worked to register as a political party in states across the country and get ballot access. It ran poll after poll that showed Americans desperate for another option. It pitched moderate politicians on both sides of the aisle about joining the ticket.

But they couldnt get anyone to say yes. Not Joe Manchin, long seen as their top option. Not Jon Huntsman Jr. (when we asked if he would join the ticket, he told us no). Not Mitt Romney (he told us no, too). Not Nikki Haley (she told us no, three). Not Chris Christie or ex-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan or ex-Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.

Ryan Clancy, the groups chief strategist, is less disappointed in those folks, and more frustrated by the outside groups  largely Democrat strategists and Never-Trump politicos  who saw the effort as a threat to Biden and worked to curtail it.

The same groups of operatives and party elites that were trying to kill off No Labels were the same people who have been gaslighting the whole public about Bidens condition, Clancy told me. Its like, irony isnt dead.

Now, even some of Bidens staunchest supporters are coming around to the idea that he may not be the best candidate to defeat Trump. But the ship has sailed on No Labels reentering the competition. In the hours after the debate, Clancy asked the groups teams overseeing ballot access and legal operations to investigate whether it was too late to run a candidate (if a willing candidate emerged). If a miracle happened, and the second coming of Abraham Lincoln showed up tomorrow, could there still be an opening? he said. It doesnt look like it.

The caveat here is that securing a candidate and getting on the ballot were preliminary to that candidate running a successful campaign. When No Labels pulled the plug in April, it had only secured ballot access in 23 states. There was a plan to get on the ballots in the rest, Clancy said. But after swinging and missing on candidate after candidate, there was no reasonable path forward.

The original sin of why were here is because people who thought they knew better tried to short circuit the democratic process, Clancy said.

John Holman, of Denver, Colo., right, and others with the group No Labels take part in a rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 18, 2011. | Jacquelyn Martin

Weekend reads

Much has been made of Bidens age and stamina. But what, exactly, is keeping Biden from dropping out? Its a question best suited for Bidens biographer, who points to the tight-knit circle of longtime aides and staffers surrounding Biden. Their identities are wrapped up in their association with the career of one political figure. To admit his end is to provoke a crisis in their own professional life. If Im not whispering in Bidens ear, then what am I? Someone Needs to Take Bidens Keys (Franklin Foer, The Atlantic)

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox finishes his term as head of the National Governors Association this summer. On the way out, hes opening up about the tensions within the Republican Party  and why he doesnt find a home with either the MAGA crowd or the Never-Trumpers. I have a very optimistic view of who we are and who we can be again, and the fact that some people have lost that optimism  I want to try to understand why, and I want to solve those problems, he said. We Are Confusing Conservatism With Anger and Hate(Ryan Lizza, Politico)

See you on the trail.

Editors Note: The Deseret News is committed to covering issues of substance in the 2024 presidential race from its unique perspective and editorial values. Our team of political reporters will bring you in-depth coverage of the most relevant news and information to help you make an informed decision. Find our complete coverage of the election here.
It was a bad episode, President Joe Biden told ABC News George Stephanopoulos of his rambling June 27 debate appearance in an interview airing tonight that could be pivotal in whether the 81-year-old incumbent stays in the race against Donald Trump or not. No indication of a serious condition, Biden added in words even Ronald Reagan didnt have to say while in office.

I was just having a bad night, the president went onto say in terms he and his supporters have repeated over and over to shrug off the disastrous debate. I was exhausted.

More from Deadline

Its not clear that POTUS actually watched the debate, however, according to the ABC News clip.

Did you ever watch the debate afterwards? GMA co-anchor and ABC News chief newsman Stephanopoulos asked. I dont think I did, replied Biden in a line that will do little to help those who say the president is 100% on the ball  as you can see below:

EXCLUSIVE: President Biden tells @GStephanopoulos the debate was a bad episode, adding that he was feeling terrible after a busy month.



The full exclusive interview airs at 8/7c on ABC.https://t.co/hlL4FaVp80 pic.twitter.com/unJF13rrQ7  ABC News (@ABC) July 5, 2024

Conducted this afternoon in Wisconsin right after POTUS offered a rousing defense in the battleground state as well as apologies for his terrible and stumbling debate performance with his predecessor on June 27, the full unscripted live-to-tape interview with the former top Clinton aide will air in full in a primetime special tonight on ABC at 8 pm ET.

Despite a growing cascade of deep pocketed donors, governors and potentially a gaggle of Senators pleading with the poll-sagging president to drop out for another Democrat, started by Watchmen showrunner Damon Lindelof in an exclusive guest column in Deadline, pleading, Biden has said over and over the past week that he has not intention of leaving. In a speech before a four more years chanting crowd in Madison Friday, the teleprompter president reiterated he was staying in the race. Words Biden said again with no teleprompter to reporters before boarding Air Force One to leave Wisconsin this evening.

After several days of pretty much silence on what went down at the debate, Biden and aides began circulating that the president was tired and jet lagged because of his overseas trips last month. However, what they neglected to add was that POTUS had been back from Europe for a week before the debate in Atlanta, while prepping up in bucolic Camp David.

In the clip that went out tonight, Biden speaks of the cold he had on debate night, but it will be interesting to see if Stephanopoulos pursues a line of questioning on the jet lag narrative  and how flimsy it seems

Yet, with 78-year-old attention-deprived Trump mocking Biden again Friday with a call for a new debate with no moderators, even a primetime sit-down might not be enough to quiet the chorus calling for the incumbent to hand over the reigns before it is too late.

Right now, ABC News is on the books to host the second official debate between the 46th POTUS and the 45th. That showdown is set for September 10.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Norfolk made history last month by swearing in the citys first Black fire chief.

In a June 28 ceremony attended by dozens at Norfolks MacArthur Memorial, 40-year department veteran Sidney Carroll was sworn in by Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander  the citys first Black mayor  and City Manager Patrick Roberts.

In my opinion, it was monumental, Carroll said in an interview.

The ceremony came after an April announcement from the city that Carroll, then-interim fire chief, would accept the full-time position.

Its been a decades-long journey for Carroll, who became interested in Norfolk Fire-Rescue while taking courses at Old Dominion University. He recalls being approached by a Norfolk official looking to recruit more African Americans into the profession.

At the time, the only thing Carroll knew about the job was from driving down Church Street and looking at the fire station there.

I see these guys sitting out in front of the station in wooden chairs, and Im saying, Looks like an easy job,' Carroll said with a chuckle.

The reality, Carroll said, certainly was different. After four months of training, he joined the department in 1982, and his first station was on City Hall Avenue, now the site of the MacArthur Center. Eventually, he transferred to Church Street.

It wasnt anything like I thought it would be, Carroll said. They were busy. They worked.

Carroll recalled his jobs, ranks and stations with ease: ladder truck operator in Berkeley, lieutenant at Fire Station 10 on Virginia Beach Boulevard, captain at Fire Station 4 near the former Military Circle mall.

From there, he said he ventured into administrative work, with jobs including aide to the deputy chief, battalion chief and health and safety officer. With it came 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours  Carroll said firefighters typically work 24-hour shifts for 10 days a month  and a greater knowledge of the inner workings of the department.

He also learned a valuable leadership skill from his mentor and former Chief Jeff Wise.

He always told me, Listen to your people. Listen to what their problems are  even the citizens,' Carroll said.

Carroll acknowledged racial prejudice existed even before he accepted a job. After joining, he began talking with other Black firefighters about the issues.

They opened my eyes to a lot of things that I needed to look out for, Carroll said.

Those firefighters included members of United Black Firefighters of Norfolk, who in the late 1970s filed a lawsuit against the city alleging employment discrimination in lack of promotions and hiring practices, according to Virginian-Pilot archives. In response to a later Justice Department civil rights suit, the city signed a consent decree to make good-faith efforts in hiring a certain percentage of Black employees, which Carroll said remains in effect.

In the original agreement, Norfolk officials agreed to strive to hire Black employees for 30% of all entry-level firefighting positions.

Today, 68 out of 477 fire-rescue employees are Black, or about 14%, according to city data.

Stacy Himes, battalion chief, communications, said after working with Carroll for several years, she sees him as down-to-earth and passionate about the field.

He understands what it means to be in all the different positions in the city, so he can relate to anybody, Himes said.

The fire and rescue field has changed significantly over Carrolls career, he said. Now, firefighters must be proficient in technical rescues and water rescues, such as when vehicles crash off a bridge into local waterways. The fire department has several water rescue craft and trains for aquatic rescues.

Carroll said he is also proud of efforts to hire and promote more women. In 2020, Norfolk Fire-Rescue was facing gender discrimination suits from a retired firefighter and a fire investigator. According to city data from June 28, the department employs 49 women out of 477. Thats a slight increase from 42 women out of 504 employees in 2020.

Carroll makes $188,600 annually, according to thecitys website. Predecessor John DiBacco made $156,962 annually, according to 2022 salary data compiled by the Pilot.

In the end, firefighters are around to serve Norfolk citizens, Carroll said.

They will response with integrity and respect, and make everyones difficult time a better time, Carroll said.

Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com
One of Hawthorne's oldest homes, a brownstone overlooking Goffle Brook, has a story to tell.

Listed in June for $950,000 by Jeff Vander Molen with Terrie O'Connor Realtors, the Van Winkle House at 868 Goffle Road was Passaic County's first known murder scene. Dating to the mid-18th century and expanding to its current footprint in the early 19th century, the four-bedroom, five-bathroom home wears its history like a badge of honor  minus the bloodstains.

Exposed beams and stone feature throughout the interior, as do whitewashed wainscoting, chair rails and dark hardwood floors. The primary suite nonetheless comes with motorized window treatments and a sleek modern bathroom. The office is a large contemporary space with a vaulted ceiling.

The historic Judge John S. Van Winkle House at 868 Goffle Road is one of Hawthorne's oldest homes and Passaic County's first murder scene.

Further possibilities for modernization await as the original section of the home features two gutted rooms and a bathroom with professionally designed plans available for the next owner, according to Vander Molen. New metal and wood beams in the basement reinforce the home that sits on two-thirds of an acre.

The largest part of the home was built as an addition in 1811 by a famous murder victim and county judge, John S. Van Winkle. Born in 1784, Van Winkle ran a farm and a gristmill on the then 212.5-acre property after inheriting it from his father, Simeon Van Winkle, aka Simeon of the Bogt, who lived in Paterson's Riverside section, according to federal historical records. Seeking to expand his operations, Van Winkle and a neighbor in 1828 successfully lobbied the state to build a damn on the Passaic River and establish what became a profitable canal route, records show.

A prominent resident and businessman, Van Winkle was named judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Passaic County when the county was founded in 1837, according to county records. Things were going well for Van Winkle until January 1850, when a farmhand he had released from jail sneaked into his home, fatally stabbed him and killed his wife with a hatchet.

The historic Judge John S. Van Winkle House at 868 Goffle Road is one of Hawthorne's oldest homes and Passaic County's first murder scene.

The home stayed in the Van Winkle family until 1901 but was mostly leased to tenant farmers after the murder, according to municipal records. The earliest part of the home was built with rough stone between 1746 and 1774 by Van Winkle's grandfather, also named John S. Van Winkle. Local records show the date of construction is uncertain but thought to be 1761.

The large dressed stone addition has a cornerstone dating the construction to 1811, 39 years before the home held Passaic County's first recorded murders. More recently the subject of a book by Don Everett Smith Jr., "Passaic County's First Murder and Execution: The Van Winkles and the Goffle Road Murders," the story remained a topic of conversation for decades, according to municipal records.

170 years ago, Passaic County was rattled by its first murders and a public hanging of the killer

The convicted killer, a 34-year-old Liverpudlian named John Jonston, shared Christmas dinner with the Van Winkles just two weeks before the murders, according to Smith. He climbed through a second-story window using Van Winkle's gristmill ladder before killing 61-year-old Jannetje Van Winkle in her bedroom with two blows of a hatchet, he said. After a scuffle with 65-year-old Van Winkle, Jonston lost the hatchet, but he pulled a knife, the Paterson Intelligencer reported a week after the murders. Jonston fatally stabbed Van Winkle before escaping from the home.

Jonston was caught soon after at a rail station in Ridgewood, then known as Godwinville, the Paterson Intelligencer reported. He was tracked through footprints in the snow and found with a bloody bag. Van Winkle died 16 hours later, giving him enough time to plan his own funeral, Smith said.

The historic Judge John S. Van Winkle House at 868 Goffle Road is one of Hawthorne's oldest homes and Passaic County's first murder scene.

Jonston spent two months in confinement before being indicted. He was found guilty, sentenced to death and hanged at the end of April 1850. It was the first of five executions in Passaic County's history, county records show.

The end of the house where the slaying took place was sealed for decades after the judge died, according to a New York Times report from August 1882. During that time, the ladder Jonston used to breach the home remained propped against the side of the house, the newspaper reported.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: North Jersey home listed for $950K comes with a history of murder
North Koreans have a new fashion accessory  Kim Jong Un lapel pins. Here's what they mean for the supreme leader's legacy.

North Korean officials have been seen wearing lapel pins featuring their leader Kim Jong Un.

Experts say the new pins reflect Kim's efforts to establish a distinct, lasting legacy.

North Koreans have long been required to wear pins over their hearts, the Associated Press reported.

North Korean officials have been spotted wearing lapel pins featuring the image of the country's supreme leader, Kim Jong Un.

North Korean state media recently released photos showing officials wearing the pins at a Workers' Party meeting.

The country's citizens have long been required to wear pins over their hearts, but these have typically featured images of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, or Kim Jong Il, his son and Kim Jong Un's father, the Associated Press reported.

A pin on a North Korean state cameraman showing Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. REUTERS/Jorge Silva/Pool

The new pins are likely an effort by Kim Jong Un to elevate his so-called "cult of personality" to that of his predecessors.

"Kim Jong Un wants to ensure he's not seen simply as a carbon copy of his grandfather and his father," Edward Howell, an expert on North Korea's domestic and foreign policy, told Business Insider.

"One of the things that Kim Jong Un has shown more explicitly in recent years is his desire to stamp his own legacy, put his own mark on North Korea in a way that differentiates his leadership," Howell said, adding that the pins showed "quite clearly that Kim wants to cement his legacy."

While Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il have been immortalized by national holidays marking their birthdays, statues, and portraits across North Korea, relatively few images featuring Kim Jong Un have been found in public since he came to power in 2011.

But the younger Kim has made a number of moves in recent years to change this, with his portrait seen up alongside those of his predecessors at a Workers' Party training school in May.

Kim also released a new propaganda song earlier this year, which experts said was a calculated effort to spread state propaganda to the masses.

The tune, called "Friendly Father," portrays Kim as a "father figure," much like his predecessors.

Peter Moody, a North Korea analyst at Sungkyunkwan University, told The Telegraph that the song was an attempt to "elevate his status and stature" to their level, noting that Kim had previously had to rely on their reputations to "indicate his legitimacy to be the successor."

North Korea, Kim, and Putin

North Korea was founded in 1948 under Kim Il Sung as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Its population of roughly 26 million people is cut off from much of the world, largely due to the country's guiding principle of "Juche," or self-reliance  the idea that North Korea should be able to function independently.

But North Koreans face severe economic difficulties, with much of the population struggling with high poverty levels and food shortages.

Many have sought to flee to neighboring South Korea. At the end of 2022, the number of North Korean defectors living in South Korea was 33,752, according to South Korea's unification ministry.

In recent years, the country's current leader, Kim Jong Un, has sought to develop increasingly strong ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

North Korea is believed to have supplied a number of munitions to Moscow to aid its invasion of Ukraine in return for economic aid and assistance with military technologies.

"We know that relations between Moscow and Pyongyang have been upgraded considerably," Howell told BI.

Read the original article on Business Insider
A North Texas woman says shes grateful to be alive after being attacked by a shark at South Padre Island on the 4th of July.

Tabatha Sullivent and her family were celebrating her daughters 15th birthday at the south Texas beach when their world turned upside down, according to a GoFundMe. The Celina woman said she lost her left calf in the attack.

I swam up closer to the beach and was pulled in, Sullivent wrote on GoFundMe. The shark was still in pursuit and Cary (my husband) hit the shark and kept it from having me for lunch probably. He also has a few sharks bites and was released yesterday.

At least two other people were injured Thursday in shark attacks along South Padre Island. Officials believe one shark is responsible, Texas game warden captain Chris Dowdy told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV.

The attacks occurred over a period of about two hours, WFAA reported. According to Dowdy, the shark then headed to open waters.

Tabatha Sullivents daughter Skylar Sullivent said in a public social media post that the family received an outpouring of love and assistance in the hours following the attack.

We as a family have a very long road to recovery, but we are so hopeful, Skylar Sullivent posted Friday. Shes (Tabatha is) smiling and now eating some dinner! We are so thankful and blessed with the support from everyone.

Sullivent can move her toes and has circulation in her foot, according to the GoFundMe. Shes undergone surgery for her injuries, and doctors are hopeful they can save her leg if infection doesnt set in.

I probably wont have full mobility when Im put back together and will not have the same leg I had before, Sullivent wrote in the GoFundMe. But, Im alive.

Money raised through the GoFundMe will help the Sullivent family with medical expenses.

 More top stories from our newsroom:

 Did Fort Worth ISD break law with closed meeting on STAAR scores?

 Fire destroys 50-year landmark Tex-Mex restaurant

 Mom accused of abandoning baby to die in ditch charged 23 years later

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(FOX40.COM)  Two people were critically injured on Friday morning during a mine explosion in Placer County, according to the Foresthill Fire Protection District.

The agency said the incident occurred around 9:45 a.m. at a mine in the Tahoe National Forest along Mosquito Ridge Road.

Foresthill officials said when paramedics arrived at the scene, they found the two people in critical condition before taking them Sutter Hospital in Roseville.

Woman in critical condition after suffering major burns in Modesto, sheriffs office says

Further investigation indicates that tools operated in the mine may have created static electricity causing nearby explosives to ignite, Foresthill Fire said on Facebook.

The agency added that the status of the mine is unknown.

Mining in the area is common and most mines are small individual operator claims. While mining is common, incidents involving mines in Placer County are very rare, Foresthill Fire concluded.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
On the morning of May 17, police helicopters clattered overhead and squad cars again closed off the block in suburban Massapequa Park, just as they had a year before.

The first search had been immediately after the hulking architect in the ramshackle house on First Avenue was arrested as the Gilgo Beach Killer. It lasted for 13 days in July of 2023, and it seemed the investigators must have collected everything of evidentiary value from the ranch house Rex Heuermann shared with his wife and two grown children, a daughter in her twenties and a stepson in his early thirties.

Heuermann was indicted for murdering four young sex workers whose remains had been among 10 bodies dumped roughly 500 feet apart along a deserted quarter-mile stretch of beach previously known as one of Long Islands better surfing spots. The Gilgo Four, as they were called, had disappeared between July 2007, and September 2010.

Grisly New Details Revealed on Accused Serial Killers 2 More Victims

Six weeks ago, the police were suddenly back to conduct a second search. Heuermann was indicted on June 6 for killing two other women. (Heuermann was remanded without bail. He is due back in court on July 30.) One alleged victim, 28-year-old Sandra Costilla of Trinidad and Tobago by way of Queens, had been murdered and dumped near a highway toward the end of Long Island in 1993. This was 14 years before the earliest of the Gilgo Four.

And that meant Heuermann was alleged to have begun killing at least two years before FDNY Firefighter Etienne de Villiers and his wife, Patricia, moved in next door.

For 30 years, this proud serial rescuer with Engine Company 303 in Jamaica, Queenswho spent every working day ready to risk all to save livesunknowingly lived next to a suspected serial killer who is alleged to have meticulously planned how to hunt, torture, and murder his victims.

The de Villiers came to suburban Massapequa, L.I. from Astoria, Queens, in 1995, and one difference in their new home was that they now had a yard where Patricia could sunbathe. One unwelcome twist was that the 6-foot-4-inch Heuermann took to peering over the fence and trying to make small talk when de Villiers was on duty at the firehouse (where he is known to colleagues, because of his distinctive surname, as Frenchie).

Etienne de Villiers speaks about his next-door neighbor, the alleged Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann, on July 19, 2023, in Massapequa Park, New York. Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images

Every time shes out there and Im at the firehouse working, Rex would hang over the fence, talking to her, de Villiers recalled. She finally told me that he was creeping her out.

De Villiers, who is 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and weighs 170 pounds, confronted his much larger neighbor.

I had a talk with him, and he said, Oh no, no, Im just so tall and you know de Villiers recalled. And I said, Rex, please stop.

Heuermann continued gawking at Patricia.

Finally, I literally threatened the guy, de Villiers said. I figured if I got to fight the guy, I got to fight the guy. I dont care how big he is. I told him, Dont make me I said STOP!

Heuermann heeded the warning.

Not only did he stop, he didnt get mad, de Villiers recalled. He didn't come back at me, which kind of surprised me. He said, I wont do it no more, and he backed off immediately. So I went, OK.

From then on the two were friendly, if not quite friends.

We didnt have a beer together or play cards or anything together. But whenever I came out to get my car, he we would always say, Howre you doing?

The two would then sometimes have what de Villiers later termed a little two-minute chitchat.

Thats pretty much how it went, how it stayed over the next 30 years, de Villiers said.

Heuermann invariably made reference to his size.

Every time, youd talk to the guy, hed throw that in; Me being six-five, 250, de Villiers recalled.

Heuermann also told de Villiers that he had a big gun collection and liked hunting. Heuermann said he was an architect who facilitated renovations in Manhattan, which surprised de Villiers given the rundown condition of the mans home. Heuermann had grown up there and bought it from his widowed mother in 1994. He spoke about renovating it, but let it fall into further disrepair.

A shoemaker with holes in the soles, de Villiers later said. People would say, Oh, you live next to that house.

Others in this suburban neighborhood would cross the street when they saw Heuermann.

The neighbor to the other side of him had these big trees put up so you cant see his house at all, so he had zero contact with the guy, de Villiers said. So its sad to say that pretty much the only one who spoke to that guy was me.

Crime scene investigators at the residence of architect Rex A. Heuermann in Massapequa Park, New York, on July 18, 2023. Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Heuermann asked de Villiers several times if he played cards. De Villiers lied and said no.

Show me a fireman who doesnt play cards, de Villiers later remarked.

De Villiers recalled that Heuermann had two or three friends who came by occasionally early on, but they were scruffier than typical Massapequa residents, many of whom are cops and other firefighters.

They seemed a pretty low life type, de Villiers said. You could pick them up and put them in a trailer park.

I went outside and said, Rex is the Gilgo killer?

A year after de Villiers moved there, and three years after Heuermann allegedly began killing, the architect married Asa Ellerup. The best man was Heuermanns brother, Craig, who was on parole after being sentenced to three years for criminally negligent homicide. He had killed a New York City Housing Police captain while driving drunk, and what court papers describe as coked up, at 9:30 a.m.

During a few random encounters, de Villiers found Craig to be a nasty and mean motherfucker. Heuermann was by the firefighters experience kind of a wuss.

Ellerup moved into her husbands home and they had a daughter, Victoria, two years later. Ellerup already had a son, Christopher Sheridan, who was then 8 years old and, by her account, has developmental disabilities. De Villiers noted that the boy seemed extremely withdrawn, and appeared to be friendless as he grew older.

In the wake of 9/11, de Villiers was at Ground Zero for days, joining his comrades in searching for bodies. He only recently learned that his neighbor had allegedly been working at the same time on what Heuermann termed a post event to-do list.

According to court papers, Heuermann began a computer document he labeled HK2002-04 in 2000, and was still editing it in 2002. The document was deleted at some point, but was recovered by investigators in March during an exhaustive examination of some 30 computers seized from Heuermann.

One section headed body prep concerned measures to prevent bodies from being found and identified, the very opposite of the mission of de Villiers and his fellow firefighters in their continuing recovery effort.

Wash body inside and all cavities remove ID marks remove head and hands, it read.

By 2004, de Villiers began to suffer the after-effects of searching the toxic ruins of the World Trade Center. He retired with the satisfaction of having spent his adult life saving lives. He did not imagine that his next door neighbor might be responsible for the grisly discoveries at a beach across the Great South Bay from Massapequa.

In Dec. 2010, Officer John Mallia of the Suffolk County Police Departments K-9 unit was searching the edge of a roadway when his German shepherd, Blue, alerted him. Mallia had been looking for a missing sex worker named Shannon Gilbert, but instead found the remains of Melissa Barthelemy, who had disappeared in 2009. She would become one of the Gilgo Four. Police would come to believe that Heuermann used her cellphone after the murder to make obscene and threatening calls to her 15-year-old sister, asking if she was also a whore.

Blue kept searching and found four more of the 10 that would be discovered there. Police announced that Long Island had another serial killer, preceded by Joel Rifkinin who is believed to have killed 17 women before his arrest in 1993, and Robert Shulman, who was arrested in 1996 and convicted of killing five women.

Now there was The Gilgo Beach killer. Investigators initially suspected a disgraced high-ranking police official with a sadistic streak. But DNA convinced them otherwise.

A pizza box that was tested for DNA evidence appears as part of a bail application regarding Gilgo Beach murder suspect Rex A. Heuermann. Undated photo, released July 14, 2023. Suffolk County Court via Reuters

At 5:30 a.m. on July 14, 2023, police knocked at de Villiers door and asked him to move his cars from his driveway and the front of his house.

I said, Yes officers, absolutely. But could you tell me why? They said, No, de Villiers recalled.

De Villiers did as he was told, then turned on the news. He was stunned by what he heard.

I went outside and said, Rex is the Gilgo killer? de Villiers remembered. The guy looked at me and said, Thats why I cant talk.

As it happened, Heuermanns stepson had begun to make a kind of social breakthrough thanks to another dog, this a black Lab mix named Stuart he had acquired a few weeks before.

Once he got the dog, the kid just came out of his shell a bit, de Villiers said. It was like, so nice to see he would walk around with the dog, take him out for walks regularly. Four or five times a day hed be taking that dog out. He finally has, like, a friend.

And Christopher seemed to open up more after his fathers arrest.

It looked like the dog was a good thing for him, but the really big change came when the father got arrested, de Villiers reported. Hes come along a long, long way. It seems like mentally, he progressed. Now you could have a conversation with him.

Ironically, one of those conversations was about Heuermann.

He looks at me and says, I dont think my father did that, de Villiers recalled. And I said, Chris, its OK, you shouldnt think your father did that. Its OK. In America, youre innocent until proven guilty.

An empath by inclination as well as profession, de Villiers also felt sympathy for the 27-year-old sister, Victoria.

Shes like going around with purple colored hair and stuff like that, but at the same time very, very reserved, de Villiers said. I never really had a conversation with her, just waving and smiling at each other. And you know, I always felt sorry for her, because between the house and Rex and everything, I would imagine that the kids in high school [had] probably made fun of her.

What a horror for that kid

Then came the second search. Ellerup, who had by then secured a post-arrest divorce from Heuermann, temporarily relocated along with her children and the dog.

After the second search ended on May 23, the family returned. Christopher seemed more withdrawn. He told de Villiers the familys lawyer had told them not to talk to anybody.

On June 6, Heuermann was charged with two more murders; his earliest on record, Castilla, in 1993 and his second, 20-year-old Jessica Taylor in 2003. The indictment reported that Taylors torso had been found shortly after her disappearance in a wooded area near a rifle range where Heuermann had briefly volunteered as a gun safety instructor.

Her head and forearms had not been discovered until eight years later, 40 miles west, on the same road where the remains of the Gilgo Four were found. An investigator who asked not to be identified suggested that the failure to discover the severed parts may have convinced Heuermann that Gilgo Beach was a good dumping ground.

The decapitation and severed limbs were in keeping with HK2002-04, the murder manual that the indictment says Heuermann was working at the time de Villiers was searching for those lost on 9/11. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney later described it as a planning document to methodically blueprint and plan out his kills with excruciating detail."

His intent, specifically, was to locate these victims, to hunt them down and to bring them under his control and to kill them, Tierney would note in a June 6 press conference. One section is titled TRG, which investigators believe stands for TARGETS.

Small is good, the document says.

De Villiers later noted to The Daily Beast that this would have applied to his wife.

Shes a petite girl, 105 pounds, smoking hot, he said. So you know it's scary now, when you stop and think that the girls all look like my wife.

Now, the hulking architect who had once leered over the fence at Patricia was being held without bail, having pleaded not guilty to six murders. De Villiers looked over at Heuermanns yard, where the grass had grown long during the second search. He saw Christopher preparing to cut it with an antiquated rotary mower that looked considerably older than Christopher himself.

De Villiers had learned over the years that the son was not fond of physical labor, and the lawn seemed a challenge. The firefighters heart went out to the son of the accused serial killer.

I saw him mowing the lawn with that rusty old piece of shit, and you know, you almost feel like saying, Let me buy you a freaking mower, he said. What a horror for that kid. He just started to come out of his shell, and then the whole world gets upside down.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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composite image: lefgt councilman kalman yeger sitting with his arms folded in front of him on a dark brown desk; right adrienne adams standing outside, smiling, holding a purple folder in front of her; inset an israeli tank with an israeli flag flying

The office of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams had staff block emails to lawmakers opposing the left-wing drumbeat of an Israel-Hamas cease-fire resolution  a disturbing pattern of silencing Jewish voices, critics told The Post.

Days after news broke that Adams had drafted a cease-fire resolution  even as Hamas terrorists continue to hold at least 116 hostages  thousands of identical messages began pouring into council members office inboxes in mid-June as part of a coordinated campaign demanding they vote against the proposal.

Amid the influx, the Councils information technology team quietly began blocking the messages and redirect[ed] certain emails sent to lawmakers inboxes, according to a veteran staffer and a note Director of Technology Greg Olsen sent to council members last month after The Post inquired about the firewall.

The order to implement the email block came from Council Speaker Adrienne Adams office, according to a veteran staffer. Andrew Schwartz / SplashNews.com

Council members and staffers hadnt been informed about the email block before then, several lawmakers and staff said.

The email block received approval from the office of the general counsel, the staffer added, meaning the directive had to be coming from the Speakers Office.

Its part of a very disturbing pattern on the part of Council leadership silencing Jewish voices, Councilman Kalman Yeger (D-Brooklyn) said, pointing to Adams recent policy change barring legislators from displaying any political signs  including Israeli hostage posters  on their chamber desks.

They took the right of these people to contact their officials away from them, and they also are denying the right of elected officials to see the concerns of their constituents.

Council members and staff griped that theyve been spammed over the years with mass email campaigns, including during the Black Lives Matter protests and over legislation to allow noncitizen voting.

But in those cases, they said, no one was told to block the messages.

Its hypocritical and outrageous because we get emails about controversial subjects all the time, said Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn).

Councilman Kalman Yeger (D-Brooklyn) said the email block was the latest move by Council leadership to silence Jewish voices. Stefan Jeremiah for N.Y.Post

Council members received thousands of messages to vote down a cease-fire resolution before the IT staff began blocking the emails. REUTERS

During prior email campaigns, she and her staff have simply set up their filters to deal with spam.

They want to pass a cease-fire resolution clearly, and they are interfering with the peoples right to speak up, she added.

There is no grand conspiracy. New Yorkers ability to email their Council members has not been interrupted  the Council welcomes communication from the public on every side of an issue, Council spokesperson Benjamin Fang told The Post Saturday night.

The number of emails received created instability for accounts and servers, and the best way to protect the system from malfunctioning was a workaround that delivered the communication to members in a spreadsheet, he added.

Council Members received these communication records and were informed of this approach, which is consistent with past practice by city government in response to mass email campaigns that destabilized servers and systems.
A notoriously lenient judge sprung an accused drug dealer who allegedly received a package containing cocaine and fentanyl at the Washington Heights dental office where she works  despite prosecutors requests for a hefty bail, documents shows.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Valentina Morales sprung Madelyn Javier on supervised release on June 28 even though New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan asked for $100,000 cash or $150,000 bond, the records show.

Drug agents tracked a UPS package from California to Esthetix Dental Spa in Washington Heights, where Javier was working June 27, and watched her accept the box and give an undercover agent posing as a UPS delivery person her identification, according to a criminal complaint.

Judge Valentina Morales is notorious for going easy on criminals.

Madelyn Javier received a package containing cocaine and fentanyl at the dental office where she worked. Obtained by NY Post

Five minutes later, another agent went inside the office and found Javier, 31 of Washington Heights, with the box open in front of her, prosecutors said in the complaint.

The package had been tracked because a drug dog on the West Coast flagged it to agents on June 26.

When the detective looked inside the box, he found two brick shaped packages and three plastic baggies with numerous pills inside.

A field test revealed about eight ounces of cocaine and fentanyl, which was believed to be for resale, the document states.

Javier, who was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, pleaded not guilty and had to surrender her passport as part of her release, the records show.

A call to her attorney Friday wasnt immediately returned.

Morales, a one-time public defender and Mayor Bill de Blasio appointee, has sprung at least four allegedly violent criminals in the past three years, including an allegedly knife-wielding Venezuelan migrant who stabbed a man with a bottle in Times Square last year, leaving him in need of 20 stitches.
Ocean City sinkhole: How are they formed, and what can cause them?

A star-spangled... sinkhole?

Motorists who journeyed into Ocean City, Maryland, over the Fourth of July faced major traffic congestion courtesy of a sinkhole, which was discovered at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening near the base of the Isle of Wight Bay Bridge.

The Ocean City Police Department warned motorists of intermittent closures on eastbound Route 90 from Route 589 and westbound lanes from 62nd Street in Ocean City back onto Route 90. Drivers were urged to use alternative routes such as Route 50 and Delaware Route 54.

Temporary repairs ensued, and were completed by 1 a.m. on Thursday, July 4. The Ocean City Expressway remained open to traffic while transitioning to one-way flagging operations during repairs, before resuming normal operations around 8 a.m.

Original story on sinkhole: Sinkhole opens up at base of Route 90 bridge into Ocean City: What to know

"Thank you to the Maryland State Highway Administration crews that worked throughout the night on the repairs," the OCPD said online.

"It was pretty easy," Mark Crampton, District Engineer for the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA), said of the repairs. "We were able to get some trained eyes on it to figure out, okay, what do we have and what do we need to go get."

FIREWORKS DAZZLE IN OCEAN CITY: Ocean City says 'happy birthday America' with dazzling fireworks show: PHOTOS

Can sinkholes form in Ocean City? Yes.

In this file photo, the Isle of Wight Bay Bridge (Route 90) is shown.

Although sinkholes rarely occur in Ocean City, they can happen.

Sinkholes are often created through erosion, which is caused by constant exposure to water.

"Sinkholes in Western Maryland are (often) associated with limestone. Our guess is that, in this case, it's probably tidal action moving water, and if it gets into a crack and starts to get the material behind it, it can start to wash things out," Crampton said.

"The bridge has been there a while, and you constantly have tides and things like that that work against it," he said, adding how it doesn't take much for water to get in.

"These are the things we'll look at with the bridge remedial folks to make the repairs, permanently fill any voids, and seal off any gaps to prevent water intrusions going forward," he added. "That'll be part of the more permanent fix as we get past the holiday weekend."

SINKHOLE OPENS IN OCEAN CITY: Sinkhole opens up at base of Route 90 bridge into Ocean City: What to know

Further repair work ahead on Ocean City's Route 90 bridge

The State of Maryland is hyper-focused on maintaining and improving its bridges.

"Maryland has one of the best, if not the best, bridge inspections across the country," Crampton said.

Further repairs are expected to be done to Ocean City's Isle of Wight Bay Bridge.

"We had emergency repair work done on the abutment to the bridge on MD 90 West," said the MDOT SHA. "A permanent repair will be done in a few days so we don't disrupt beach traffic."

Olivia Minzola covers communities on the Lower Shore. Contact her with tips and story ideas at ominzola@delmarvanow.com.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: How often do sinkholes appear in Ocean City, and what can cause them?
Ohio police officer goes into action to help new mother and baby

Ohio police officer goes into action to help new mother and baby

MILFORD, Ohio (WCMH)  An Ohio police officer is being praised for going above and beyond his regular duties to help a new mom and her one-week-old infant.

On social media, Miami Township police shared a video from Corporal Hunter Willoughbys bodycam due to increased interest in a previous post about his good deed. The caption explained that after receiving a frantic phone call from a mother who could not feed her newborn, Willoughby went into action.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Columbus Zoo shares update on dog who was best friends with cheetah

The clip shows Willoughby approaching a closed grocery store late at night, knocking on the door and shining a light inside to get workers attention. When a woman arrives at the door he explains that a mom whose milk dried up could not find anywhere open to buy formula. After being welcomed inside, Willoughby is directed by store employees to the formula aisle and they helped him select the right size baby bottles.

The post noted Willoughby delivered the items to the appreciative mother and he refused to accept any payment for the formula or bottles.

Powell mother and daughter killed in Wisconsin house fire

Police Chief Mike Mills called Willoughbys actions an example of the Miami Township Way in the post.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Police on Friday publicly confirmed the identity of a victim from a fatal stabbing in northwest Oklahoma City a week ago.

The Oklahoma City Police Department announced the name of the victim, Allen Williams, 39, in a news release.

Williams was found dead by police after a report of a stabbing near the intersection of NW 23 and N MacArthur Boulevard around 5 p.m. on June 28.

According to investigators, Williams had been fighting with another man near the street when the other man stabbed Williams to death with a knife. The man, 28, fled the scene on foot as officers arrived and was taken into custody a short time later, police said.

The man was first taken to a local hospital. He was booked into the Oklahoma County jail on complaint of first-degree murder Wednesday. The Oklahoman is not naming the man because he has not yet been formally charged. Jail records show his bond is set at $10 million.

FBI crime data: Where does Oklahoma's homicide rate rank?

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Fatal stabbing victim identified by police 2 days after suspect jailed
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Teaching the Bible in Oklahoma public schools is a new mandate put in place by Oklahomas State Superintendent Ryan Walters.

Walters said in a statement, The Bible is a standard and necessary historical document.

Reverend and Doctor Shannon Fleck has studied theology for almost a decade and she disagrees with Walters.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Can OSDE mandate schools teach the Bible, Supt. announces new requirement

When you teach a historical document you take into account the context, the authorship, and the audience for which it was written, said Fleck.

A metro teacher also felt it was time to use her voice on this topic, but requested to keep her identity anonymous.

She tells News 4, As both a parent and a teacher, I firmly believe that it is up to the families to teach their children about religion.

Despite her concerns, she does not think religion is a bad thing, but adds, It just doesnt belong in schools.

When News 4 spoke with the Oklahoma teacher, we asked how she plans to approach this upcoming school year.

Her response was, My priority is to be an adult that these kids can count on. At the end of the day, I started doing this. I have always been passionate about education, I have two children myself.

As an instructor she says her next steps are unclear but will continue to keep her students first.

We have no direction from the Department of Education on what exactly this is going to look like, what exactly we have to do, she says.

Last Friday, Walters told NBC News  Oklahoma educators who refuse to teach students about the Bible could lose their teaching license.

News 4 has also heard from several people via email who support Walters new mandate, expressing concerns over teachers who may go against it.

We reached out to them for a comment and have not heard back yet.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
One assignment away from having my full diploma: USF student expelled for taking part in protest days before graduation

One assignment away from having my full diploma: USF student expelled for taking part in protest days before graduation

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Students at campuses across the country responded to the war in Gaza this spring by setting up encampments, including at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Protesters who are facing punishment for what they did during those protests said their rights have been violated.

Victoria Hinckley is still fighting the consequences of her beliefs. She feels punished for protesting back in April for calling on USF to cut ties with Israel.

I was only one assignment away from having my full diploma, Hinckley said.

Three days before graduation, Hinckley was expelled from USF.

It was extremely frightening to see USF call out that much force, she said.

Hinckley as well as other members of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society organized a solidarity encampment for Gaza at the end of April.

We had demands for USF to disclose their investment portfolios and divest in companies that were supporting the genocide and Palestine, Hinckley said.

During the two-day protest, demonstrators were seen with umbrellas and wood shields. A group formed, standing together in a circle with arms locked as tear gas was deployed. It led to 13 arrests, including five USF students.

Hinckley was not arrested but is accused of breaking university policies and was required to attend a hearing.

I had a formal hearing where they called witnesses from USF side, and I was able to have my witnesses there as well, and they found me allegedly responsible for six charges, including possession of weapons and firearms, which I did not have, she said.

Hinckley also said USF suspended another SDS member. Hes an international student now facing deportation because his visa is in jeopardy.

USF sent 8 On Your Side this statement: The University of South Florida values free speech and protecting the constitutional right for individuals and groups on campus to gather and express themselves. This includes protests and demonstrations that have occurred many times on our campuses without incident. However, those activities must remain peaceful and there are consequences for violating the law or university policies. USF has been clear that violence, threats, harassment and disruptions will not be tolerated.

Despite the uncertainty of her degree, Hinckley remains optimistic.

I think its only right that they give me my degree and thats what Im going to continue to fight for and thats what Tampa Bay SDS is going to fight for, Hinckley said.

USF also said: Due to student privacy laws, the university is unable to provide information about an individual students status in the conduct process or their disciplinary record. Any student who is arrested or is accused of violating university policy may be subject to sanctions from the university for violating the USF Student Code of Conduct.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
One injured after vehicle crash causes camper to overturn in Carroll Co.

CARROLL COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) The Hillsville Fire Department reports one person was injured after a vehicle crash on Rt. 58 on Friday, July 5.

According to the fire department, crews were dispatched at 3:51 p.m. on a report of a crash at the intersection of Carrollton Pike and Patridge Rd. They found it to be a vehicle crash involving two vehicles, with both blocking the intersection of Eastbound Rt. 58.

The fire department says they were able to clear the scene and no other hazards or leaks were found.

Downed powerline sparks small brush fire in front of Lynchburg Central General Hospital

One patient was taken to a local hospital by Pipers Gap Rescue Squad to get treatment for injuries.

The fire department says the scene was turned over to Virginia State Police, who are investigating the crash.

(courtesy, Hillsville FD)

(courtesy, Hillsville FD)

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
One person dead after head-on collision in north St. Louis County

One person dead after head-on collision in north St. Louis County

ST. LOUIS COUNTY  The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports that one person is dead after a wreck in north St. Louis County. Darrel J. Williams of St. Louis died following the accident on July 5 around 9:30 p.m.

Williams was driving north on Bellefontaine Road in his 2005 Hyundai Sonata when a 2003 Buick Century traveling south crossed into his path. The two vehicles collided head-on.

Williams was pronounced dead at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The other driver is in serious condition.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
RICH COUNTY, Utah (ABC4)  One person died in an off-highway vehicle crash in northeastern Utah on Friday morning, according to the Rich County Sheriffs Office.

Around 11:40 a.m., Rich County authorities responded to reports of a crash in the Temple Flats area. They say one person was involved in the crash and died from their injuries.

Officials are currently working to identify the crash victim and notify their family. The cause of the crash has not been released.

Off-highway vehicles (OHVs), also known as off-road vehicles, include ATVs, side-by-sides, and dirt bikes. Rich County authorities did not disclose what kind of OHV the driver was riding.

This story is developing, and this post will be updated as new information becomes available.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Stadium of Fire Dancers hold American flags during Stadium of Fire held at LaVell Edwards Stadium on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo on Thursday, July 4, 2024. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

On July 4, 1776, the 13 colonies represented by the United States Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence. This document is seen as one of the founding documents of our country and the first formal statement declaring a nations people to choose their own form of government. As we consider this holiday, I am reminded of each of our unique perspectives of what it means to be American, and also what we can do as individuals to foster opportunity and belonging for others.

As the education co-chair of the America250 Utah Commission, I admire this group of revolutionary leaders, ranging in age and backgrounds, who had the audacity to declare:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

These ideas profoundly changed our country and influenced many geopolitical events across the globe in the Revolutionary era. Next July, Utahns will start a yearlong celebration of unity, education and engagement that will culminate on July 4, 2026, to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

Gov. Spencer Cox and the Utah Legislature have charged this commission to Think Big while creating opportunities for every Utahn to celebrate during the upcoming years. The America250 Utah Commission is committed to honor the signing of the Declaration of Independence as a pivotal moment in American history and through the unique and rich lens of Utahs heritage.

In the area of education, America250 Utah will work to reach students in grades K-12 with professional teacher development programs and a variety of lesson plans. Exhibits looking at Revolutionary history and our states people will travel from the Utah Capitol to libraries, museums and elementary schools throughout the state.

Through this effort, America250 Utah will explore themes from our nations founding and the legacy of the Revolution, help people young and old explore truths about our experiment with liberty and equality, and celebrate our enduring American spirit.

Americas birthday is an invitation for everyone to commemorate traditions, to gather together and to find fun ways to celebrate with neighbors, family and friends. This year, I encourage you to boldly celebrate the 248th anniversary of our country in the spirit of our Founding Fathers.

America250 Utah is in the planning phase of our project and with the help of communities, nonprofits and others will be planning unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Visit america250.utah.gov to sign up for exciting updates and join fellow community members in finding creative and authentic ways to fulfill our ongoing journey to form a more perfect Union.

Ron Fox is a public historian and education co-chair of the America250 Commission. He is the co-author of two books: When The White House Comes to Zion and Visions of Freedom, the story of Wilford Woodruff and the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Opinion: Why Kamala Harris Is the Prosecutor This Nation Needs

In the criminal cases against Donald Trump, prosecutors seem to have only boosted his chances of getting elected.

But, as the Democrats seek to make a political case against a second Trump term, a prosecutor is exactly what they need, to call him on his lies built upon lies built upon lies.

And, long before she became vice-president and a possible replacement for President Biden on the Democratic ticket, Kamala Harris developed formidable prosecutorial skills as an assistant district attorney in Alameda County, CA. She handled felony cases such as one in 1996, where a man was charged with scalping his girlfriend with a Ginsu knife, having failed in a previous attempt with a duller blade. The assailants attorney tried to say it was an accident.

Kamala Harris a year after the exchange with a domestic abuser that showed her mettle as a career prosecutor. He was jailed for almost three decades for trying to scalp his girlfriend. Mary F. Calvert/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images

How many cases have you heard where someone slipped and scalped someone? Harris was quoted saying in response. She added, He intended to scalp her and he did scalp her. It was a vicious crime.

The man was convicted and sentenced to 12 years to life.

Those who have encountered Harris prosecutorial skills in very different settings include Trumps last Attorney General Bill Barr. Then Sen. Harris (D-CA) tore him up at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on May 1, 2019. She was seeking to determine if then President Trump had instructed Barr to target people for investigation, and the exchange is worth reading.

Has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone? Harris asked.

Barr had what might have been perceived as a senior moment if he had been older. Um ah, I wouldn't, I wouldnt, uh, Barr said.

Harris questioning of Trumps Attorney General Bill Barr was precise and prosecutorial and showed the forensic ability she would bring to a debate with Trump. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters

Yes or no? Harris asked, just as she would have with a recalcitrant witness when she was an assistant district attorney working felony cases in Alameda County, California. Could you repeat the question? Barr asked.

I will repeat it, Harris said. Has the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone? Yes or no, please, sir.

The president or anybody else Barr said, trailing off.

It seems you would remember something like that and be able to tell us, Harris said.

Yeah, but Im trying to grapple with the word suggest, Barr replied. I mean, there have been discussions of matters out there that they have not asked me to open an investigation, but

Perhaps theyve suggested, Harris said. I don't know, I wouldnt say suggested,  Barr said. I dont know, inferred.

Harris never did get an answer.

He did not answer the question, and Im sure he didnt because he knew he was under oath, and he knew that he could potentially expose himself to perjury if he didnt answer honestly, Harris told CNN the next day.

She had similarly rattled Barrs predecessor, Attorney General Jeff Sessions when he appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2017. Harris took Sessions to task for repeatedly saying that he could not recall when asked about particular facts and conversations.

Bill Barrs normal jolly demanor was no match for Harris as she probed him with accomplished prosecutorial skills. Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters

If you dont let me qualify it you will accuse me of lying, so I need to be correct as best I can, Sessions said.

I do want you to be honest, Harris said.

I am not able to be rushed this fast, it makes me nervous, Sessions famously replied.

Harris was even tougher on Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court before the Senate Judiciary Committee. At one point she asked him about his views on abortion.

Can you think of any laws that give government the power to make decisions about the male body? she inquired.

Kavanaugh said he would be happy to answer if she was more specific. Male versus female, Harris said. Im not thinking of any right now, Senator, Kavanaugh said.

When Harris went toe-to-toe with Jeff Sessions she left him pleading for her to slow down because she made him nervous. Joshua Roberts/Reuters

She also asked Kavanaugh if he had discussed special counsel Robert Muellers investigation with anybody, specifically with anyone at Kasowitz Benson Torres. That is the law firm founded by Marc Kasowitz, who was then Trumps personal lawyer.

Well, is there a person youre talking about? Kavanaugh asked Harris. Im asking you a very direct question, Harris replied. Yes or no?

Kavanaugh gave a rambling non-answer. I would like to know the person youre thinking of, he then said.

I think you're thinking of someone and you dont want to tell us, Harris told him.

Such exchanges made Harris an internet star. And that was no doubt a major factor in Bidens decision to choose her as his running mate even though she possesses otherless positivecharacteristics of a career prosecutor. She can be grating and full of herself. One reason many of us feel we do not really know her after three years is that we have not really wanted to get to know her.

But nobody is more bothered by Harris than Donald Trump. He described her as extraordinarily nasty when Biden picked her. He cited the ways she treated now Justice Kavanaugh.

She was nasty to a level that was just a horrible thing, Trump told the press. And I wont forget that soon.

The exclusive video obtained by The Daily Beast this week makes clear how bothered Trump still is by her. Shes so bad. Shes so pathetic, Trump says after suggesting she would probably replace Biden on the Democratic ticket. Shes so fucking bad.

Consider the impact Harris could have on a debate with Trump, who lolled back in his golf cart seat to call her so fucking bad to people on his golf course. The Daily Beast

If Harris does replace Biden, she should demand as many debates as possible. Imagine how Trump would respond if this so-fucking-bad-nasty woman gave him her most thorough treatment.

A Harris cross-examination may be just what is needed to stand against the lies of a nitwit from Jamaica, Queens, who now endangers the whole nation.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Oregon is in the midst of its first extreme heat wave of the summer, prompting Gov. Tina Kotek to declare an extreme heat emergency. (Getty Images)

Oregon is in the midst of its first extreme heat wave of the summer, with temperatures soaring into the triple digits, and that prompted Gov. Tina Kotek to declare an extreme heat emergency through Tuesday.

Extreme weather events are now the new normal for Oregon. Right now, state and local governments are on a path to strengthen our preparedness and response, not only this year but for the years to come, Kotek said.

She urged the public to be careful.

Both the record-breaking temperatures and the duration of heat present a clear and present danger, particularly for children, elders, people with disabilities and people who work outside, Kotek said. I am urging Oregonians to take every precaution and check on your family and neighbors.

Throughout the emergency, the Oregon Department of Emergency Management will coordinate with other state and tribal agencies to address heat-related needs across the state and marshal resources to mitigate the effects of the heat. Agencies have opened cooling centers as well, including in Multnomah, Jefferson and Josephine counties. To find county resources, including the location of cooling centers and transportation, call 211 or check 211info.org. If someone is having a medical emergency, call 911, officials said.

Our top priority is health and safety during this heat wave, said Ed Flick, director of emergency management at the Oregon Department of Human Services.

The agency is working with community organizations to get water bottles to the public and ensure air conditioners are working. As of Thursday, the department had delivered nearly 1,200 cases of water to churches, shelters and other facilities.

The Oregon Health Authority has been distributing air conditioning units to community-based organizations  it has delivered about 615 units so far  and since this spring, it has delivered air conditioning units and air filters to people through Medicaid, the Oregon Health Plan. Agency officials said they expect to deliver more than 1,500 units over the course of the heat wave.

Extreme heat can cause heat exhaustion and lead to heat stroke. Anyone experiencing heat exhaustion symptoms  dizziness, thirst, heavy sweating, nausea or weakness  should get to a cooler area, loosen or remove their clothing and sip on cool water. But dont gulp it down, which can make the nausea worse.

Find a cooling center

Call 211 or 1-866-698-6155 Help is available 24 hours per day / 7 days per week

Visit 211info.org Click on the globe on the top right to select your preferred language. Click the house icon for housing and shelter, then click severe weather shelter and extreme heat cooling centers, or visit 211info.org/summer-and-heat-related-resources Enter your Zip code to search for cooling centers in your area.



If heat exhaustion is not treated, people can develop heat stroke, which can be life-threatening. Symptoms include confusion, dizziness or loss of consciousness  and often in addition to heat exhaustion symptoms. If someone near you is experiencing heat stroke, call 911 and get them to a cooler area, if possible, loosen their clothing and cool their body with water or ice while waiting for emergency services to arrive.

Do not give a person experiencing heat stroke alcohol or liquids with caffeine, which can make the body more dehydrated, and do not give them aspirin, ibuprofen or acetaminophen, which can aggravate symptoms.

To avoid getting sick:

Postpone or limit outdoor activities. If you have to work outdoors, take frequent breaks and avoid the hottest part of the day. Never leave children or pets in your vehicle alone.

Drink plenty of water and avoid sugary, caffeinated and alcoholic drinks. Check that animals also have access to fresh water and shade.

Escape from the heat by going to an air-conditioned place such as a public library, shopping mall or public cooling center. Check on loved ones and neighbors who may be at risk and dont have air conditioning.

Organize a stay-at-home kit in case the power goes out. It should include things like batteries and chargers for flashlights, cell phones, sleep-apnea machines and wheelchairs, Have fresh water, nonperishable foods and medications on hand.
Jordan Preaster, of Orlando, has been arrested for stalking a University of North Florida student, according to the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office.

On May 22, the victim told police a man, later identified as Preaster, left multiple items by her car: a teddy bear, a rose, candy, and two accessory trays.

According to the arrest report, the victim said Preaster used his car to block the victim in her parking space. He then allowed her to leave the parking lot and followed her from Osprey Ridge Road until she lost sight of him while entering I-295.

The victim said she also received a TikTok message from Preaster.

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According to police, Preaster has a history of running into law enforcement on the UNF campus, including being trespassed, being arrested for trespassing, and a pending warrant for domestic violence.

On June 23, he turned himself into the Police Memorial Building.

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Preaster is charged with stalking and trespassing.

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Images of the "VOTE JACKSON" drone messages during the Sertoma Duck Race Festival are shared in this June 23 post by the Commissioner Bradley A. Jackson, Christian County, MO Facebook page.

A 15-minute long drone show June 22 that included an endorsement for a Christian County Commissioner candidate left two nonprofits scrambling to assert their political neutrality, while highlighting a potential gray area in state campaign ethics law.

The display closed out the Sertoma Duck Race Festival in Ozark, a yearly event run by the Christian County Children's Charities Sertoma Club. Proceeds from the 2024 event benefitted four organizations: Care to Learn - Ozark, Children's Smile Center, Least of These Inc. and Dogwood Ranch.

Near the end of the display, which ran at the same time as the fireworks display sponsored by Appleby Healy Law, drones spelled out "VOTE JACKSON" in reference to Christian County Eastern Commissioner Bradley Jackson, who is up for re-election in November.

Bradley Jackson

A specific campaign activity, during the fireworks display, may have given attendees an incorrect assumption that Least Of These supports any one candidate or party over another. This is simply not true, and we cannot afford to lose any food pantry donors, volunteers, advocates or clients at the expense of such campaign marketing, advertising and activities," said Kristy Carter, Least of These Inc. executive director, in a press release June 28. "The families we serve should not go hungry because of how a candidate chooses to promote their campaign.

The Children's Smile Center executive director Jackie Barger said given the charitable nature of the Sertoma Duck Race Festival, the nonprofit was "surprised by and do not condone a specific campaign activity that occurred during the fireworks display.

Dogwood Ranch's CEO Dana Lopez provided the following statement: "Dogwood Ranch is extremely grateful for the Sertoma Duck Race and the great folks of Christian County who attend and support our charity through this amazing annual event. As a non profit, we are committed to staying neutral when it comes to political candidates and will not have any further comment regarding the matter."

Care to Learn-Ozark did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.

Jackson was also the chairperson for the 2024 Sertoma Duck Race Festival, and has been for eight years, according to reporting by KOLR 10. Kristin Jackson, who is married to Bradley Jackson, said she and her husband paid for the whole drone display.

"There was no endorsement intended or implied for any business or candidate that was included in the drone show," Kristin Jackson wrote from the Sertoma Duck Festival email account. "There were many political candidates whom either had booths or were sponsors of the Duck Race Festival. All candidates and parties that applied for booths or sponsorships were accepted."

As of publication, Bradley Jackson has not commented in his capacity as a commissioner candidate.

The drones also displayed the Ozark Chevrolet logo and the Appleby Healy Law logo during the display.

Did the display need a 'paid for by' message?

It's not clear if the drone display that urged onlookers to "VOTE FOR JACKSON" needed to have the caveat that it was paid for by the candidate himself. Video from the event posted on social did not show whether Jackson disclosed the information.

According to the Missouri Ethics Commission, "paid for by" disclosures are required on "any pamphlets, circular, handbill, sample ballot, advertisement, sign, or other imprinted or lettered material that is relative to candidates or ballot measures" and "informational material about candidates/ballot measures (not necessarily supporting/opposing)."

There are a few instances where printed material does not need a "paid for by" disclaimer, such as when it's a news story, commentary or editorial printed by a newspaper or other periodical without charge to someone; when it's a sign that is personally printed and constructed by an person without compensation and is displayed at that person's their place of residence or on their vehicle; or when it's an item of "personal use" that is given away or sold, which is paid for a candidate or committee, is obvious in the identification with a specific candidate or committee and the cost of which is reported on campaign finance reports.

More: What's on the ballot in Springfield and Greene County in the August primary elections

The MEC declined to comment when asked about this specific situation.

Federal Election Commission guidelines apply to federal candidates as well as any radio or television broadcasts regarding candidates, since radio and television are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.

When it comes to federal candidates, the FEC requires disclaimers on any "public communication." However, there are a few exceptions: when it cannot be printed easily, like on bumper stickers or campaign pins; when the item is of minimal value, does not contain a political message and is used for administrative purposes; and when the display is not practicable, like on water towers or skywriting.

Susan Szuch reports on health and food for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Ozarks nonprofits affirm neutrality after drone show campaign message
Ukrainian partisans claimed on July 5 to have successfully sabotaged a railway line near the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, halting trains being used to transport North Korean ammunition.

In a post on Telegram, the ATESH partisan group said the operation was carried out on the Trans-Siberian railway east of the Ural Mountains.

It also claimed Russian journalists were prevented from accessing the scene of the operation and repairs were only allowed to be carried out after Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) had visited.

A video accompanying the post appeared to show an explosion at the scene of the sabotage.

ATESH movement reported it has stopped the operation of trains with North Korean ammunition near Russian Yekaterinburg.



ATESH agents conducted a successful operation on the Trans-Siberian railroad near Yekaterinburg. As a result, the railroad track carrying North Korean pic.twitter.com/xUBR4qilpe  Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 5, 2024

"And we want to remind you once again that the railway will explode even more often as long as ammunition is being carried along it," ATESH added.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.

North Korea has sent containers to Russia that could contain as many as 4.8 million artillery shells, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said in an interview with Bloomberg published on June 14.

With Russia's military stocks running low due to extensive use in Ukraine, North Korea has been shaping up as Russia's leading weapons supplier.

The ATESH movement claims to be active in both occupied areas of Ukraine and inside Russia itself.

Last week it claimed one of its agents successfully infiltrated a Russian air base and hinted at carrying out sabotage operations.

In a post on Telegram on June 22, the group said it had scouted the Baltimore airfield in Voronezh, around 220 kilometers north-east from the border with Kharkiv Oblast and home to Russia's 47th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment.

Pictures and videos accompanying the post show several aircraft including a helicopter and what ATESH say are Su-34 fighter bombers, a plane Russia frequently employs to launch missiles at Ukrainian cities.

"In some of them, Russians now have surprises waiting for them," the post reads.

On June 12, the group said a Russian satellite communication station was destroyed in a sabotage attack in Moscow Oblast.

In a video posted by Atesh partisans on Telegram, an Atesh agent is seen pouring a flammable liquid on an R-441 Liven communications satellite. The communications station is seen subsequently catching fire.

The incident allegedly occurred in the Klin district of Moscow Oblast  approximately 85 kilometers (over 50 miles) northwest of the Russian capital.

Read also: Ukrainian partisans claim they located air defense system protecting Putins dacha in Sochi

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
On Portland Avenue above I-94 is a little green house, the Peace House, where figures gather on the lawn each morning before doors open and breakfast is served to those who don't have anywhere else to go during the day, and can't afford food.

Lately, the crowds have grown. One day last month, a record 244 people passed through Peace House, crowding the main room and exacerbating friction among a diverse clientele dealing with more acute challenges of poverty, hunger, addiction and depression since COVID-19. The cost of supplies and insurance have soared, yet Peace House has fewer volunteers than ever. Retirees who used to donate their time left during the pandemic and haven't returned, reducing the volunteer ranks from 40 a week before 2020 to 22 today, and forcing the organization to hire more staff. Even so, there are only two staffers at any given time to monitor things, pick up litter around the property and try to keep clients from trespassing onto the neighbors'.

Peace House's projected expenses this year are about $400,000, but its projected revenue  from state grants, private foundations and individual donors  is about $300,000. At the rate the nonprofit is spending down its reserves, Peace House will be bankrupt in 18 months, Executive Director Marti Maltby said. He believes more volunteers could reverse the spiral, and is asking residents to step up.

"The more volunteers we have, the more we can connect with the individuals who walk through our door, get to know their names and make them feel welcome," he said. "When we can make those connections, our community members want to see Peace House succeed, so they are more careful about not making us look bad to the neighborhood."

Some of the regular clients go out of their way to help gather garbage because they understand how fragile Peace House's welcome in Ventura Village is, Maltby said. But it's an ongoing battle because there's an influx of new people who don't yet feel an attachment to the organization.

"There are a lot of individuals who are just trying to get their needs met, and they don't really care about the places that are providing the services because they're trying to survive," he said. "And unfortunately, homelessness attracts predators too," he said. Drug dealers and sex traffickers tend to orbit encampments and shelters.

"We're trying to balance all those different dynamics, being a welcoming and safe place for the community members who come here while also being a good neighbor and protect the neighborhood from some of the darker elements," he said.

The community center will turn 40 next year. Kat Countryman, who is homeless with four cats that she brings to Peace House in a stroller, said she'd been coming just as long. She is deeply unsatisfied with the current conditions, she said  namely drug use in the bathrooms, the unsolved theft of her suitcase and tents proliferating in the alley. As she was speaking, someone set off a firecracker on the back patio, prompting Countryman to curse.

People still come, despite the frustrations, "because most of them, this is the only place they can come," she said. "I've been coming here for 39 years. So it's like me."

Another regular, Joy Rindels-Hayden, has been visiting twice a week for 10 years because she "wanted to have a place to be with people in the daytime." A wheelchair user, she spent long hours at the Capitol last year advocating for bus safety measures for people with disabilities. Her friends at Peace House watched her testify and sent her notes of support, Rindels-Hayden said, which kept her spirits up.

"We have some people that are problematic, we have some people who are on drugs," she said. "They're trying to get a better handle on things, and the fact that we've had steady staff has been a big help. Before that, there was a lot of turnover, and that's not ever good when you're trying to support a population ... emotionally."

Peace House, founded by Sister Rose Tillemans of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, offers three meals a day  Loaves and Fishes rents the building in the evenings and serves dinner. Clients can also receive haircuts, hand massages and group meditation, conversations led by staff on matters such as existing in public places as a homeless person, staying hydrated in the summer heat and the availability of public toilets.

Antoine Thornton, who has played dominoes at Peace House with a group of friends he's known for more than a decade, turns his nose up at meditation time. He has problems with the bathrooms too, how there are only two and how long people keep them occupied. There are racial tensions, he said.

But if Peace House were to close, Thornton predicted its clientele would crowd nearby 1800 Chicago, Hennepin County's walk-in behavioral health center, or "they might be putting these tents up, or they'll be right on the sidewalk, nobody knows."

"Everyone who walks through this door right now, in the last three years, has been through very tough problems," said Lloyd Peoples, another Peace House dominoes player who helps his brother run Massie's Mobile Mission, a nonprofit that supplies homeless people in St. Paul with food, clothes and hygiene products. "Our community is kind of flooded with drug addiction on a major scale. This place over here is doing the best they can, but when it comes to your drug addiction, it makes it very difficult. They're balancing a lot of different people with different needs here in this house."

Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley dropped in on meditation time last month to provide information about the county's cooling centers  including every library. She also wanted to see how Peace House was holding up after hearing it had been receiving larger numbers of daily visitors than ever before.

"We have to be honest with ourselves ... fentanyl is taking over everything, and we have to have a response that recognizes that," Conley said. "Unfortunately, we have bulldozers, we have concrete and we have [high-barrier] shelters. We have to be willing to change the way we think about unsheltered homelessness, change the way we think about the providers who support people who are unsheltered, and then make dollars readily accessible to keep their doors open."
Firefighters and paramedics rushed to an underground LA Metro station in Hollywood Friday evening after a pedestrian was hit by one of the subway trains and suffered serious lower extremity injuries.

It happened just after 5 p.m. at the Hollywood and Highland Metro Station, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The pedestrian, officials said, was trapped under the train and emergency crews were working to free them.

The Hollywood and Highland station is located on the Metro B Line, one of L.A.s two underground heavy rail subway lines. Unlike other lines on the Metro system, the B Line, formerly the Red Line, is entirely underground, meaning the pedestrian collision could not have happened on the street level.

The Fire Department did not say if the pedestrian was hit near the train platform or further down the line in one of the underground tunnels.

One of the tracks between Universal City and Hollywood/Vine was shut down while first responders worked to free the person from underneath the train. Riders were told to expect delays as trains would be sharing the remaining unaffected track through the end of the evening, according to LA Metro Rider Alerts.

Paramedics transported the unidentified patient to a local hospital. Their condition is unclear at this time.

A statement from LA Metro released Friday evening voiced gratitude to firefighters and paramedics and provided a crucial reminder to riders.

Stand behind the yellow line at all rail stations and never walk on or around train tracks, the statement reads in part. Please look and listen for trains in both directions and never run to catch the train.

If you or someone you know is experiencing mental distress or suicidal thoughts, you can contact the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by phone call or text. You can also visit 988lifeline.org.

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(KRON)  The San Francisco Fire Departments marine rescue crews responded to a person on a pleasure boat who was experiencing a medical emergency on Saturday morning.

CHP investigates fatal I-580 motorcycle crash in Oakland

At around 11 a.m., a San Francisco Police Department Marine Rescue boat requested an SFFD paramedic rescue boat to respond to the person experiencing the medical emergency. That person was on a 15-foot pleasure boat near the Golden Gate Bridge, SFFD said.

Officials did not provide specific information on the medical emergency itself. SFFD and SFPD marine crews said they were able to provide care for the person on the pleasure boat.

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QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) Police have released the identity of a 20-year-old who allegedly went on a stabbing spree in Queens on Thursday.

Pedro Felix, of Queens, allegedly stabbed his 8-year-old half-brother to death before stabbing his father and stepmother, authorities said. The incident happened at an apartment at 94th Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica around 5:15 p.m., according to the NYPD.

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Responding officers fired a single shot at Felix, which killed him, authorities said. An 8-month-old baby girl was rescued by officers from inside the apartment, police said. She was physically unharmed.

Police believe the incident started as a domestic dispute that escalated quickly.

Both the father and stepmother were transported to a hospital and were listed in stable condition, authorities said.

Charline Charles is a digital journalist from Brooklyn who has covered local news along with culture and arts in the New York City area since 2019. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.

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NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  A Norfolk police officer and a suspect were both shot multiple times after the suspect opened fire on police on Saturday afternoon, authorities say.

Norfolk Police Chief Mark Talbot says the officer is in good condition after being struck multiple times and is expected to recover. Meanwhile the suspect, 29-year-old Norfolk resident Samuel M. Burton, was also shot multiple times and was still in the hospital as of Sunday afternoon. He was listed in critical condition.

Talbot said this happened after police originally got the call around 3:22 p.m. to help child protective services with a case in the 3800 block of Arcadia Street in the Ingleside neighborhood. When officers arrived, Talbot said a woman, later identified as 23-year-old Cassandra J. Smith, became combative outside.

Cassandra Smith (Courtesy of Norfolk police)

While police were engaged with Smith, Talbot said Burton came out of the home and began to open fire, striking the one officer multiple times.

Police then returned fire and struck Burton multiple times.

Burton has been charged with attempted aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer, and use of a firearm, and will be taken to the Norfolk City Jail without bond once released from the hospital.

Smith is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault on a law enforcement Officer, disorderly conduct, and obstruction of justice. Shes being held at Norfolk City Jail without bond.

Todays shooting is yet another reminder of the dangers that exist in the work that Norfolk Police Officers do each day to keep the city and its residents safe. This afternoon Officers were called upon to resolve a volatile situation that escalated quickly despite significant steps taken by officers to de-escalate, Talbot said in a statement. This incident was tragic. But we can all be thankful that it wasnt much worse. The officers did exactly what they were trained to do, which was nothing short of heroic. They put themselves in harms way so that others would not have to. We are grateful that our Officer who was shot several times will survive his injuries, and we all owe a debt of gratitude for the bravery and professionalism that was shown by all of the officers who were involved.

Talbot also said the child involved in the CPS case is safe, and theres no danger to the community related to the case. Virginia State Police have been called to the scene to investigate, and all officers involved in the shooting are on administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation.

This is one of a handful of incidents in which suspects have shot at Norfolk police so far this year. A man was shot and killed after a chase and exchange of gunfire with officers back in March, and another man was shot multiple times after police said he fired at officers on Bagnall Road back in May.

People have to stop shooting at police, said Norfolk Commonwealths Attorney Ramin Fatehi. I hate to be that blunt about it. Its that simple. Each of these incidents is its own thing with its own facts. They all depend on what happens on a given day. But the common denominator is people are shooting at the cops, and they need to stop.

Check back for updates on this breaking news.

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Police Say Pa. Girl, 12, Died After Abuse Committed By Her Father And His Girlfriend. Her Sisters Want Change

Malinda Hoagland died in May. She was emaciated, weighing just 50 lbs., and had several broken bones

Chester County District Attorney Malinda Hoagland

The sisters of a young girl who, according to police, died from abuse allegedly committed by their father and his girlfriend are searching for answers.

Malinda Hoagland was 12 years old when she died in a hospital in Pennsylvania. She was emaciated, weighing just 50 lbs., and had several broken bones.

Rendell Hoagland, Malindas father, and his girlfriend, Cindy Warren, have been charged with attempted criminal homicide, kidnapping and several other charges related to his daughters death, prosecutors said at the time. It is not immediately clear if they have entered a plea to the charges.

Authorities previously said an investigation uncovered that Malinda had been pulled out of school in late 2023. Police also said they found videos on Warrens phone showing a shackled Malinda allegedly being berated by both defendants over a speaker system.

Prosecutors allege that Rendell and Warren punished Malinda by making her do strenuous physical exercise, and sometimes denied her food.

Related: Pa. Couple Shackled 12-Year-Old Daughter to Furniture and Denied Her Food. She Died Weighing 50 lbs.: D.A.

Warren, court records show, previously pleaded guilty to endangering her 3-year-old-child in a 2007 child abuse case.

Malindas half-sisters Emily Lee, 28, and Jamie Hoagland, 23, tell PEOPLE they were not aware of the conditions their younger sister was facing at the end of her life.

I was just estranged from my father, waiting for my sister to get older, Lee says. We had a relationship prior to my father's relationship with Cindy, but I wouldn't say that we knew anything was going on. It's just that we were kept in the dark.

After Rendell began dating Warren, Lee says she Googled his new girlfriend and learned about her legal history.

I had said something to my dad like, Hey, Dad, do you know what this woman has been accused of? Do you know what she's done?, Lee recalls. And we were just not supposed to talk about it.

Chester County District Attorney Rendell Hoagland, left, and Cindy Warren

Lee says she was hopeful that Warren had changed, but when Rendell moved away and communication started dwindling, her concern for Malinda grew.

Jamie Hoagland says she last saw Malinda in May 2023, after Rendell had begun dating Warren and moved to Chester County, more than two hours away from where she lives. Jamie was going to a competition that Rendell was entered in. When Malinda wasnt at the competition, though, Jamie demanded to see her.

I showed up at the hotel with food for all of them, Jamie recalls. "[Malinda] was in a room that was 50 degrees, so she was under blankets and sweatshirts. I didn't really think anything of it.

Jamie says when Rendell and Warren left the room, she had a conversation with Malinda, who gave seemingly normal answers, saying she was making friends at her new school.

And then that's really when [Rendell and Warren] came back into the room and were like, We're going to bed, you guys need to leave now, Jamie says.

Months later, authorities say Malinda was pulled out of school.

Given Warrens criminal history, Lee and Jamie, who are being represented by attorneys Alexandria Crouthamel and Tom Bosworth, believe that Child and Youth Services should have visited the home where Malinda was living Rendell and Warren after she was taken out of school.

The sisters are currently working on establishing Malindas estate, and Crouthamel tells PEOPLE that they are trying to uncover why more red flags werent being raised by child services.

While a lawsuit is possible, for now Lee and Jamies attorneys are pushing for legislative change.

We're pushing for something called Malinda's Law, which is basically a registry for physical offenders, Crouthamel says. So yes, there's a registry for sex offenders, as we all know, and everyone can look it up, the general public jobs, everyone. But there's nothing for physical offenders. So the girls would like to have some kind of registry or database to establish that.

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Crouthamel says she and Bosworth have been in contact with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro about a potential law in Malindas name.

Malinda loved movies and was very outgoing, according to her sister, who remember her as a bubbly child, who loved the world for what it was and loved being in it, Lee says.

Lee and Jamie are still grieving in the months since Malindas death, but they feel compelled to tell her story.

It never does get easier to talk about it, Jamie says. Even a month, even a year from now, it wouldn't be easy to talk about it. But this subject isn't easy, and if we don't have the courage to talk about it, nobody will. And this will go back under the rug where it began, and it can't go back under the rug.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.



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Poll: More and more Russians think a nuclear strike on Ukraine is justified

One in three Russians believe a nuclear strike against Ukraine would be justified, according to research from the Levada Center, a Russian independent polling organization.

In polling released on July 4, 10% of respondents said they believed such an attack could "definitely" be justified, while 24% said "probably."

The figures, collected in June 2024, had increased by 5 percentage points over the past year.

While a majority of respondents  52%  are against the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, this is a decrease from 56% in April 2023.

The polling found those who approved of a nuclear strikes tended to be older and got their news from Russian state media.

Those against were younger and tended to get their news from YouTube.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said in an interview published on May 25 that the U.S. had told Russia that if it uses nuclear weapons, there will be an American response using conventional weapons on Russian forces in Ukraine.

"The Americans have told the Russians that if you explode a nuke, even if it doesn't kill anybody, we will hit all your targets (positions) in Ukraine with conventional weapons, we'll destroy all of them," Sikorski told the Guardian.

Sikorski added that both China and India have warned Russia not to use nuclear weapons.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has repeatedly made nuclear threats against Ukraine and the West since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Though the threats have failed to materialize, and Russia continues to wage its all-out war without using its nuclear arsenal, Russian rhetoric and nuclear drills have both increased in recent weeks.

Russia and Belarus began the second stage of tactical weapons nuclear drills last month, amid escalating tensions between Moscow and the West.

"The situation on the European continent is quite tense, which is provoked every day by new decisions and actions of European capitals hostile to Russia, and above all by Washington," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in comments reported by Reuters.

In May, Russia said the exercises were a response to what it described as "provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials against the Russian Federation."

The United States may have to increase its deployment of strategic nuclear weapons amid growing threats from China, Russia, and other adversaries, a White House official said on June 7.

Read also: Polish FM says US will strike Russian troops in Ukraine if Russia uses nuclear weapons

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Young pongamia trees grow in a grove in St. Lucie County, Fla., Thursday, June 6, 2024. The ancient tree, native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia, is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida. The tree produces a legume that can be processed into plant-based protein and sustainable biofuel. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

An ancient tree from India is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida, and could help provide the nation with renewable energy.

As large parts of the Sunshine States once-famous citrus industry have all but dried up over the past two decades because of two fatal diseases, greening and citrus canker, some farmers are turning to the pongamia tree, a climate-resilient tree with the potential to produce plant-based proteins and a sustainable biofuel.

For years, pongamia has been used for shade trees, producing legumes  little brown beans  that are so bitter wild hogs won't even eat them.

But unlike the orange and grapefruit trees that long occupied these rural Florida groves northwest of West Palm Beach, pongamia trees dont need much attention.

Pongamia trees also dont need fertilizer or pesticides. They flourish in drought or rainy conditions. And they dont require teams of workers to pick the beans. A machine simply shakes the tiny beans from the branches when they are ready to harvest.

Terviva, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2010 by Naveen Sikka, then uses its patented process to remove the biopesticides that cause the bitter taste, making the beans suitable for food production.

Florida offers a rare opportunity for both Terviva and former citrus farmers. The historical decline of the citrus industry has left farmers without a crop that can grow profitably on hundreds of thousands of acres, and there needs to be a very scalable replacement, very soon, Sikka told The Associated Press. Pongamia is the perfect fit."

What is the pongamia tree?

The pongamia is a wild tree native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia.

The legume is now being used to produce several products, including Ponova culinary oil and protein, which are featured ingredient in Aloha's Kona protein bars. The company also makes protein flour.

The legumes also produce oil that can be used as a biofuel, largely for aviation, which leaves a very low carbon footprint, said Ron Edwards, chairman of Terviva's board of directors and a long-time Florida citrus grower.

Turning a wild tree into a domestic one hasn't been easy, Edwards said.

There are no books to read on it, either, because no one else has ever done it, he said.

Bees and other pollinators feast on the pongamias flowers, supporting local biodiversity, Edwards said. An acre of the trees can potentially provide the same amount of oil as four acres of soy beans, he added.

Whats left after the oil is removed from the pongamia bean is a very high-grade protein that can be used as a substitute in baking and smoothies and all kinds of other plant-based protein products, Edwards said. Theres a lot of potential for the food industry and the oil and petroleum industry.

Why Florida?

We know pongamia grows well in Florida, and the end markets for the oil and protein that come from the pongamia beans  biofuel, feed, and food ingredients  are enormous," Sikka said. So farmers can now reduce their costs and more closely align to the leading edge of sustainable farming practices."

At a nursery near Fort Pierce, workers skilled in pongamia grafting techniques affix a portion of the mother tree to a pongamia rootstock, which ensures the genetics and desired characteristics of the mother tree are perpetuated in all of Terviva's trees.

Pongamia vs. citrus

Citrus had been Florida's premier crop for years until disease caught up with it starting in the 1990s with citrus canker and later greening.

Citrus canker, a bacterial disease, is not harmful to humans, but it causes lesions on the fruit, stems and leaves. Eventually, it makes the trees unproductive.

Citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing, slowly kills trees and degrades the fruit, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Greening has spread throughout Florida since 2005, devastating countless groves and reducing citrus production by 75%. The disease has spread to Louisiana, Texas and California.

Hurricane Ian caused about $1.8 billion in damages to Florida's agriculture in September 2023, hitting the citrus industry at the beginning of its growing season.

Disease and climate issues have also affected most of the world's top citrus-producing countries. For example, this year's harvest in Brazil  the worlds largest exporter of orange juice  is forecast to be the worst in 36 years because of flooding and drought, according to a forecast by Fundecitrus, a citrus growers organization in Sao Paulo state.

But climate and disease have little effect on pongamia trees, the company's officials said.

Its just tough, a jungle-tested tree Edwards said. It stands up to a lot of abuse with very little caretaking."

Pongamia also grows well in Hawaii, where it now thrives on land previously used for sugarcane.

What are citrus farmers saying?

John Olson, who owns Circle O Ranch, west of Fort Pierce, has replaced his grapefruit groves with 215 acres (87.01 hectares) of pongamia trees.

We went through all the ups and downs of citrus and eventually because of greening, abandoned citrus production, Olson said. For the most part, the citrus industry has died in Florida.

While the grapefruit grove was modest, it was common for a grove that size to be profitable in the 1980s and 1990s, Olson said.

Edwards said farmers used various sprays to kill the insect that was spreading the disease. Eventually, the cost of taking care of citrus trees became too risky.

That's when he decided to go a different route.

What attracted me to pongamia was the fact that one it can repurpose fallow land that was citrus and is now lying dormant, he said. "From an ecological point of view, its very attractive because it can replace some of the oils and vegetable proteins that are now being generated by things like palm oil, which is environmentally a much more damaging crop.

What about biofuel?

In December 2023, Terviva signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation to provide biofuel feedstock that can be converted into biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.

Our partnership with Mitsubishi is off to a great start, Sikka said, noting that the company coordinates closely with Mitsubishi on tree plantings and product development and sales. Tervivas progress has accelerated thanks to Mitsubishis expertise and leadership around the globe on all facets of Tervivas business.

What food products does pongamia produce?

The research is ongoing, but Edwards said they have made really good graham crackers in addition to the table oil and other plant-based protein products, including flour and protein bars.

Pongamia offers an alternative to soybean and yellow pea protein if you dont want your protein to come from meat," he said.

___

This story was first published on Jul. 6, 2024. It was updated on Jul. 8, 2024 to correct the spelling of Ponova culinary oil, which is made from pongamia trees.
This population of people is growing faster in SC than rest of US, new Census data shows

South Carolina has become an increasingly popular place for White people, new Census data shows.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, South Carolina had the fastest-growing White population in the nation in 2023, year-over-year. This latest data follows a trend of overall faster population growth for the Palmetto State compared to most of the country in recent years.

The White population in the U.S. was 195,432,584 in 2023, representing a loss of 0.2%, the Census data shows. The Hispanic population accounted for just under 71% of the overall growth in the U.S. population  an increase of 1.16 million between 2022 and 2023.

The Hispanic population is expanding at a substantially faster rate than the non-Hispanic population, primarily due to natural increase, that is, more births than deaths, Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Census Bureaus Population Division, said in a press release.

The non-Hispanic white population still had the largest share of the nations total population at 58% in 2023. With nearly 630,000 more deaths than births, natural decrease was the main contributor to the non-Hispanic White population decline.

SC white population changes

The White population in South Carolina was up 1.6% or 54,695 people, in 2023.

Horry County had the largest increase in the White population in the state at 3.8% or 11,107 people between 2022 and 2023.

Among counties with White populations above 10,000, Jasper County, at 8.2%, had the fastest-growing White population between 2022 and 2023.

SC overall population growth

South Carolinas growth in its White population can mostly be attributed to its relatively rapid total population gains in recent years as more people moved into the state.

South Carolina ranked as the fastest-growing state in 2023, previous U.S. Census data shows. The states population grew by 1.7% to a total of 5,373,555. South Carolina was followed closely behind by Florida and Texas, both at 1.6% population growth. The state ranked third fastest-growing in 2022 with a 1.7% increase in population, a gain of 89,368 people.

Other Census demographics highlights

South Carolina had the fastest-growing Two or More Races population, which increased 4.5% or 4,592 residents.

California had the largest White population in the U.S. in 2023 at 13,361,684, followed by Texas at 12,088,544 and Florida at 11,742,859.

The metro area with the largest-gaining White population between 2022 and 2023 was Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN, which added 16,858 people for a total of 1,463,208.

Among states, California (15,760,437), Texas (12,135,690), Florida (6,197,465) and New York (3,873,130) had the largest Hispanic populations.

The Black population of the U.S. totaled 42,313,088, up 0.6% year-over-year.

Texas had the largest Black population (3,872,036) of all states in 2023, as well as the largest-gaining Black population, increasing by 90,976 (2.4%) from 2022 to 2023. Georgia has the nations second largest Black population (3,543,000). Maine had the fastest-growing Black population, which jumped 7.7% (2,020) from 2022 to approximately 28,000 in 2023.
MADISON, Wis.  President Joe Biden said Friday that he didnt think his candidacy was faltering as badly as perceived after his first 2024 presidential debate against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

In his first sit-down interview since the June 27 debate, Biden told ABC News George Stephanopoulos that he didnt believe the polling on his standing in the campaign tells the whole story, and he denied that his allies in the Democratic Party would definitively call for him to step down.

Do you really believe youre not behind right now? Stephanopoulos asked Biden.

Biden suggested that polls, which show Trump with a substantial post-debate lead, arent fully accurate. All the pollsters I talk to tell me its a toss-up, Biden said.

Similarly, he denied that allies would view his campaign as a liability for the Democratic Party. If you are told reliably from your allies, from your friends and supporters in the Democratic Party, in the House, in the Senate that theyre concerned youre going to lose the House and in the Senate if you stay in, what will you do? Stephanopoulos asked.

Im not going to answer that question, Biden replied. Its not going to happen.

The presidents interview with ABC came at an incredibly high-stakes moment for his reelection campaign. The reason Biden did it at all is because hes on clean-up duty after a disastrous debate last week with Trump, which prompted a Democratic crisis of faith and concerns about Biden as a viable candidate. While a few Democrats have already moved to call for Biden to withdraw his candidacy, the majority of the party establishment seems to be reserving formal judgment as Biden does damage control.

But he has weeks, if not days, to prove to shaky Democratic Party operatives and supporters that he can do better  that he is better  than he was during Fridays debate.

Biden stumbled through the 90-minute debate but particularly struggledin the beginning, when he appeared to lose his train of thought in response to a relatively easy question about the national debt. He mixed up trillions, billions and millions, rambled about health care and making people eligible for something hes done for the COVID, and then, as the microphone was about to be cut off, confusingly declared, We finally beat Medicare.

It got worse. The president was handed a question on what should have been a slam-dunk issue for him, abortion, and for some reason he pivoted to talking about a woman murdered by an immigrant, handing Trump an easy line of attack against the presidents border policies.

Bidens appearance was troubling as well. His voice was raspy and weak, which made him hard to understand. He mouth often hung slightly open, his gaze fixed on something.

The presidents performance gave a boost to Trump, who delivered more forceful responses and could more or less articulate complete sentences. But per usual, Trump lied constantly about big and little things, without being checked by the moderators. And he came to the debate as a deeply flawed, if not scary, contender for the presidency: a twice-impeached convicted felon known for his ugly attacks and authoritarian plans for a second term.

It's a make-or-break moment for President Joe Biden's reelection bid. Samuel Corum via Getty Images

Bidens campaign has been scrambling to manage the fallout. Staffers said he had a cold heading into the debate, which is why he sounded so rough. The president himself said he was traveling too much ahead of the debate and struggled to stay awake during the debate, with a promise to recalibrate and do better going forward.

But some top Democratic donors, political operatives and elected officials have begun urging Biden to step aside after his performance. Plenty of others are standing by him, at least for now. But even some of his allies are suggesting that while theyre not ready to defect yet, theyre looking for Bidento prove in the coming days that he is up to the task of campaigning and can win in November.

Fridays ABC interview was essentially Bidens pitch to those Democrats that they should stick with him.

During the 22-minute interview, Biden pushed back on the perception that he was frailer and less sharp than he had been in 2020. What Im asking you is about your personal situation, Stephanopoulos asked. Do you dispute that there have been more lapses, especially in the last several months?

Can I run the 110? No. But Im still in good shape, Biden replied. He blamed his debate performance on exhaustion, citing his schedule.

When Stephanopoulos asked him if he would be willing to take a cognitive test to reassure the American people, Biden also pointed to that schedule, as well as the duties of the presidency, as evidence that he is cognitively astute.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but Im on the move, Biden said. It sounds like hyperbole, but were the central nation in the world, referencing recent calls with the prime ministers of Israel and the United Kingdom.

Though Bidens demeanor during the interview was noticeably sharper than in last Thursdays debate, he was quiet and occasionally slow to answer.

Still, Biden asserted he remains the best bet to beat Trump in November, despite the doubts.

Have you convinced yourself that only you can defeat him? Stephanopoulos asked Biden of Trump.

Ive convinced myself of two things, Biden replied, that I am the most qualified person to beat him, and I know how to get things done.

If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Donald Trump, will you stand down? Stephanopoulos continued.

Well, it depends, Biden said. If the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me not to run, I might do that.

A Biden-Harris campaign official told HuffPost on Friday ahead of the ABC interviewthat the president, the campaign and the White House have been engaged in an active effort to address concerns raised bythe debate. Beyond the Fridayinterview, this official noted, Biden has recently done two radio interviews, announced new travel to Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and is set to holda press conference next week during a NATO summit.

The president also met with Democratic governors at the White House this week, all of whomemerged with strong statements of support for Biden. He has talked withHouse and Senate Democratic leaders, too, who are standing by him.

Related...
Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig has become the fifth House Democrat to call for President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, saying there is simply too much at stake.

Craig, who is the first openly LGBT member of Congress from Minnesota and the first lesbian mother to serve in Congress, said in a statement on X that she had not arrived at her position easily.

As an elected leader, I feel a responsibility to be honest about what I believe, even when its hard to hear. President Biden is a good man & I appreciate his lifetime of service. But I believe he should step aside for the next generation of leadership, Craig wrote.

This is not a decision Ive come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency. Thats why I respectfully call on President Biden to step aside as the Democratic nominee for a second term as President and allow for a new generation of leaders to step forward.

US Representative Angie Craig (D-MN), second from left, with Vice President Kama Harris, US Representative James Clyburn (D-SC), Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) with Joe Biden. MANDEL NGAN

Craig joins Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) to call on the president to step aside after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.

If we truly believe that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win. This future of our country is bigger than any one of us. Its up to the President from here, Craig said.

As an elected leader, I feel a responsibility to be honest about what I believe, even when its hard to hear.



President Biden is a good man & I appreciate his lifetime of service.



But I believe he should step aside for the next generation of leadership.



The stakes are too pic.twitter.com/rtZLz6riDp  Angie Craig (@AngieCraigMN) July 6, 2024

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella claimed Craigs statement was simply about trying to hold onto her seat in an election year.

Everyone can see Craigs statement for what it truly is, a transparent election-year ploy to try to cling to her seat. President Biden is sitting in the Oval Office because Angie Craig and Democrats hid the truth from voters and lied about the presidents condition. Angie Craig must answer the question: Is Joe Biden fit to serve as President? he said.

Bidens campaign has been hopeful that some rallies and a sit-down interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos would help turn things around for the president.

Biden said during that interview he was staying in the race and that the debate was simply a bad episode, which he blamed on exhaustion and said there was no underlying condition.

If the Lord Almighty came down and said, Joe, get out of the race, Id get out of the race, Biden said. The Lord Almightys not coming down.

Further adding fuel to speculation that Biden may step down is a decision by key ally Rep. Jim Clyburn, canceling a scheduled interview with CBS Face the Nation.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The new Prime Minister claims to love driving  but he may be about to target motorists

Sir Keir Starmer talks to students during a visit to the Grimsby Institute during the general election campaign - reuters

Nestled somewhere in the new Prime Ministers in-tray at Downing Street is a Labour Party pledge that would reverse Rishi Sunaks decision to delay the ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol vehicles to 2035.

Last September, Rishi Sunak announced that his new approach to achieving net zero would include a five-year stay of execution for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and vans, allowing electric car charging infrastructure to be rolled out properly across the country.

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with Jeremy Hunt at the Nissan production plant in Sunderland - Getty

Prime Minister Starmers retort is that his commitment to the original 2030 cut-off would provide much-needed certainty to car manufacturers, whose model planning demands stability  despite some of them announcing they could leave the UK if the 2030 deadline was reimposed by a Labour government.

Last month, Peugeot and Vauxhalls owner Stellantis stated that the stupid change would damage its UK operations. Group executive, Maria Grazia Davino, said the firm, which also owns the Citroen and Jeep brands, might be forced to shut plants at Luton and Ellesmere Port with thousands of job losses.

If manufacturers are unclear about the future of EVs in the UK, you can forgive drivers for being completely bamboozled. Is their ICE vehicle about to plummet in value, should they wait for more affordable EV prices before committing to battery power  and what about petrol/electric hybrids?

In the September announcement, Sunaks government didnt clarify whether hybrid cars would be available for a further five years from the extended 2035 deadline, as originally planned with the 2030 mandate. The latest Labour pledge is equally vague about when the axe will fall.

With motoring organisations such as the RAC and trade body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) also concerned about the affordability of EVs, the new Prime Minister faces a car conundrum, not helped by his professed love of driving.

During a campaign visit to Grimsby last month, Sir Starmer admitted driving was in his blood from a young age. He told reporters: Growing up, getting a car was the single most important thing in my life. Its what I saved for when I was a teenager; it was my first and proudest purchase. I wouldnt say petrolhead, but Ive always loved driving.

How much? Roughly 20 years ago, before he married his lawyer wife, Victoria, Sir Keir was a human rights advisor to the Northern Ireland Policing Board. On one memorable occasion, through a distant connection, he came to visit my home in County Down.

As supper bubbled on a Rayburn, talk inevitably turned to cars. Before long, I found myself in the garage, seated beside the newly-appointed Queens Counsel who had climbed inside my Jaguar E-Type. The Series 1 coupe dated back to 1962  the same vintage as Sir Keir himself.

Starmer has declared himelf an admirer of Jaguar's iconic E-type - Alamy

As we peered down that iconic bonnet and sipped cold beers, Sir Keir cooed about the curvaceous, aerodynamic styling of the Jag, created by aircraft engineer and designer Malcolm Sayer. Such was his enthusiasm for the compelling shape that I suggested he might want to buy one now before prices shot up (which a few years later they duly did, but only after Id sold my own car).

The future PMs response was typically considered, if a little unexpected. Id love to but all my spare money is donated to my parentss donkey sanctuary.

The future Labour leader had purchased a plot of land in Surrey in the 1990s for his parents to look after neglected donkeys. After they died, Sir Keir then sold the land for around 400,000 in 2022  more than enough to buy his dream motor.

Instead, like many of us, Sir Keir recently revealed that most of his cars have been more sedate affairs. His first motor was a black Morris Minor that cost 125 but fell apart pretty quickly.

The Prime Minister's first car was a Morris Minor - Hulton Archive

That was followed by a dark green, C-registered Morris Oxford Traveller. The half-timbered classic ferried him from home in Surrey to Leeds University, where he studied law. The car started with a crank handle and was nicknamed The Hedge  no reflection on the new PMs ability to sit on the fence when asked about some future policies, but because moss grew from the woodwork.

Until today, when the PM will likely find himself chauffeured to Downing Street aboard an armoured Audi or Jaguar, the Labour leader drove around the capital in a fourth generation Toyota RAV4 hybrid.

In 2020, Sir Keir was contacted by police after his Toyota was in collision with a Deliveroo cyclist, leaving a deep scratch in the front wing of the SUV. Like Rishis designer sliders, his purchase choice is unlikely to do much for Toyota sales either.

However, if the ban on ICE vehicles is to be brought forward, the PM may want to consider an all-electric SUV to support Labour policy. JLR has yet to launch an electric Range Rover but the new Mercedes G-Class features a motor on each wheel, allowing it to spin on the spot and execute the perfect U-turn.

Memorable leaders cars

Prime Ministers may be first among equals but their choice of car has never been that inspiring. Heres our pick of some memorable Downing Street drives.

Sir Winston Churchill  Humber Pullman

Sir Winston was rarely seen in public without a cigar, so his understated Humber limousine was installed with an extra-large ashtray. His 1954 state car was one of the last and featured a push-button radio, a luxury at the time.

Sir Winston's Humber limousine was installed with an extra-large ashtray - Getty

Sir Harold Wilson  Vanden Plas Princess

The Labour leaders 1967 saloon was equipped with a modified gearbox, to allow him to make a fast getaway in an emergency. The car was also specified with rear picnic tables, rear safety belts and wing mirrors.

The Labour leader's 1967 saloon was speedy enough to make a fast getaway in an emergency - Getty

Margaret Thatcher  Austin Maestro

Although the lady wasnt for turning, she once swapped her official Jaguar XJ for a humble Maestro. The Iron Lady took the hatchback for a test drive  even though her press secretary, Sir Bernard Ingham, was horrified that the test car was painted red.

Thatcher once swapped her official Jaguar XJ for a humble Maestro - Alamy

Boris Johnson  Toyota Previa

Johnsons family-friendly Previa dated back to 1995 and had room for up to eight people. The former PMs battle bus was notoriously untidy, with limited hair room on the back bench.

The former PM's Toyota Previa was notoriously untidy - Getty

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Northern Plains Independent newspaper publisher Darla Downs (Photo by Darrell Ehrlick of the Daily Montanan).

A healthy disregard of powerful government is nothing new. The United States Constitution set up the American system of government, stating what the three branches of government could do; but there was a serious objection to the Constitution being ratified by the states. It did not say what the government could not do, and many states were unhappy about that.

Addressing this dilemma, agreement was reached that once the Constitution was ratified and the government of the United States properly elected, Congress would draw up a list of rights to be safeguarded and submit them to the states to ratify as amendments to the Constitution. The promise was kept, and 10 of the twelve proposed amendments were adopted, known as the Bill of Rights.

The First Amendment protects freedom of speech and of the press. Why was that important? Because without the press, the American Revolution may have never taken place. In the mid-1700s views about the way the British king and Parliament treated their American colonies were not positive, but without a press to publicize this throughout the colonies the citizens of colonial America would not have known how widely spread this dissatisfaction was. Writing about it was dangerous. Under British law criticism of the king or his officers was prohibited under the Seditious Libel Law and punished severely.

One of the first cases in America to address this was in 1734 when New York printer John Zenger wrote uncomplimentary articles about King George IIIs Governor of New York, William Cosby. Zenger was arrested and spent nine months in prison awaiting trial. By convincing the jury that what he had written about the Governor was true, and therefore not libel, he won the case.

Its important that some authority besides government tells us what is going on, and that is the purpose of the press. In 1861 Wilbur F. Storey of the Chicago Times wrote, It is a newspapers duty is to print the news and raise hell.

One of the biggest stories in American government was the Washington Posts breaking open the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixons presidency, but there are many more examples of the free press ferreting out scandal and wrongdoing before and after Watergate.

In the 1890s S. S. McClure, who had arrived in America as a penniless immigrant from Northern Ireland, started a magazine called McClures. Besides running serialized stories by famous authors of the day like Mark Twain and Robert Louis Stevenson, he hired investigative reporters who covered business monopolies and civic corruption. Ida Tarbell wrote an expose of John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil Company that led to the breakup of that monopoly under the Sherman Anti-trust Act, and Lincoln Steffens investigated the crookedness of municipal politics in St Louis and Minneapolis. Upton Sinclair (who I heard speak in 1961 when he was 92 and still full of fire) exposed conditions in the meatpacking plants in Chicago. These articles led to major business and political reforms.

Freedom of the press is just as important on the local level. In Montana, two newspapers have filed suit to enforce the states open meetings laws. The Choteau Acantha and the Montana Free Press (disclosure: I am a contributor to the Montana Free Press) were barred from witnessing the interviews of two candidates for a judicial vacancy. The chair of Gov. Greg Gianfortes Judicial Selection Committee for the 9th Judicial District had the Committee go into executive session for the interviews, citing privacy issues. The Acantha and Montana Free Press prevailed in a Helena District Court, which found no privacy issues needing protection, but the Governors Office has appealed to the Montana Supreme Court and the appeal is pending.

In Roosevelt County the editor of the Northern Plains Independent successfully filed suit to remove the Roosevelt County Attorney from office because he had falsified his place of residence in order to qualify for the election, claiming to reside in Roosevelt County when he actually resided in Valley County. The editor, representing herself, won in District Court and also on appeal to the Montana Supreme Court.

This is the legacy of the American press and its protection of American values, and I hope, its future.
Amid rising pressure on President Biden to withdraw from the race, questions are looming over the mechanics of getting another Democrat on the ballot ahead of November.

Democrats do have a path forward: The filing deadline for the party to get their presidential candidate on the ballot in most states hasnt been met yet, and there are avenues within the party over how to choose a new candidate if need be.

Much of the chatter over Bidens fate for now is speculation, as the president and his campaign maintain he is committed to running for another term. Still, some Democrats have expressed uncertainty over his electoral chances against Trump in November, while others have called for him to drop out immediately, injecting uncertainty into an already chaotic election cycle.

Heres what to know about the rules governing a new Democratic presidential pick.

How does the process work?

Typically, the Democratic presidential candidate is officially selected at the Democratic National Convention, but this years presidential nominating process is set to look a little different.

Democrats are holding a virtual roll call in response to earlier concerns that the president wouldnt be able to get his name on the November ballot in Ohio ahead of the states filing deadline. In Ohio, Democrats initially needed to submit the name of their candidate to the state 90 days before the election, which is Aug. 7 this year. Thats earlier than when the convention begins: Aug. 19.

It wasnt the first time this year that Democrats had run into a filing deadline problem. In Alabama, the issue was settled quickly after the state agreed to change its filing deadline, while Washington state accepted a provisional certification.

When Ohio Republican lawmakers initially deadlocked over a legislative solution, Democrats decided to instead hold a virtual roll call. Ohio lawmakers later passed legislation after the party came up with their workaround solution, allowing Democrats to submit their candidate to the state by Sept. 1.

But questions are looming over whether Biden will remain the Democratic nominee.

Its possible, but also highly unlikely, that delegates could choose someone other than the president during the virtual roll call.

The vast majority of delegates have pledged, but are not bound, to choose Biden as their nominee. If more than half of his delegates decide to choose a candidate other than the president, the process would lead to further rounds of voting before a nominee is chosen, according to ABC News.

According to the network, delegates choices would be recognized as present if they voted for someone other than Biden. If a delegate doesnt vote at all, their vote isnt included in the initial tally. Still, its extremely unlikely that delegates would make such a pronounced move like that with Biden in the race.

There are questions about how the process works, even among Democrats, should the president withdraw from the race before the virtual roll call is held. Delegates likely would not have to throw their support behind Vice President Harris, meaning there is the potential for what Rep. James Clyburn (R-S.C.) referred to as a mini-primary to play out among them as they weigh other possible candidates.

If Biden chooses to withdraw after the convention, Democratic National Committee (DNC) members could vote on a pick put forth by DNC Chair Jaime Harrison and top party leadership, according to NBC News.

What about making the ballot?

In most states, the filing deadline for Democrats to submit their presidential nominee for the general election ballot is not due for at least another few weeks, as most state filing deadlines take place between August and September, according to an analysis of state rules compiled by The Hill. In some states, there is no deadline at all.

New Mexico offers an unexpected curveball because the state technically does not have a state filing deadline. Once the Democratic primary takes place, whoever wins the contest is automatically placed on the November ballot.

Alabama, South Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, Arkansas and California require the nominee before the convention finishes on Aug. 22. However, they all have processes to accept provisional certifications by their deadline and then the official nominee after the convention finishes.

Last week, the Heritage Foundation released a report saying they would file suits in Wisconsin, Nevada and Georgia to prevent a change on the general election ballot. However, officials from those states cast doubt on Heritages claims, saying that the state deadlines have not yet passed, allowing for a change to be made.

Valencia Richardson, a voting rights counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, dismissed this lawsuit, calling it a threat that is intended to and would serve to impede voter access and confusion, adding that the threat was baseless.

How likely is a Biden replacement actually?

It remains to be seen whether Biden chooses to withdraw, or if any delegates move to support somebody else. While some members of the party, including incumbents, have been vocal about asking the president not to seek another term, most top Democratic governors, senators and House members have largely rallied behind him.

Ultimately, most observers agree that the outcome hinges on what Biden himself decides to do. And if the president does decide to exit the race, his successor will most likely be Harris, something that other party leaders, like Clyburn, have reaffirmed.

A new candidate at the top of the ballot would also raise fresh questions, including how he or she will perform with their base and among swing state voters. It also raises questions over whether Democrats who cast protest votes against Biden over his administrations handling of the Israel-Hamas war see reason to come home to a different nominee.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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The newly released Palm Beach grand jury records in the Jeffrey Epstein case reveal disturbing tactics used by his high-powered legal team in 2006 to manipulate the justice system and help the billionaire escape accountability for his heinous crimes. They succeeded; It was a travesty of justice.

What those 200 pages of transcripts reveal should be a cautionary tale. They show Epstein was aided not only by the lawyers on his payroll, but also by prosecutors in charge of proving Epsteins guilt but who instead smeared the reputation of his underage victims before a grand jury. The girls were lured to his home to give him paid massages and ended up being sexually assaulted.

The documents reveal the blame-the-victim game Palm Beach prosecutors played by painting the girls as drug addicts, liars, thieves, prostitutes and questionable characters not worthy of belief. Grand jury members appeared to believe the false narrative. Epstein skated out of trouble.

During their testimony, each underage victim was confronted with questions about whether they understood that they had engaged in prostitution and could be charged with a crime. That was akin to asking a rape victim what type of clothing she was wearing.

Did you have any idea that deep inside of you that you  what youre doing is wrong? a juror asked one of two girls who testified.

More importantly, the records also mark a point in time when Epstein could have been stopped. Instead, he went on to molest scores of other girls.

The grand jury was impaneled by then-Palm Beach State Attorney Barry Krischer, who had for months resisted efforts by the Palm Beach Police Department to charge Epstein with multiple felonies for his alleged sexual exploitation of underage girls. The probe had begun when the stepmother of a 14-year-old girl reported that her daughter had received $300 to massage an older man on Palm Beach Island. It was Epstein.

Epstein eventually pleaded guilty to two charges of soliciting prostitution and served a light prison sentence. But in the years since the Epstein case was closed in 2008, Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie K. Brown wrote a series called Perversion of Justice that details Epsteins dark world, made acceptable by his wealth, legion of powerful friends, fancy homes in New York, Paris and the Virgin Islands, and the private jets he used to travel and transport his victims.

After the Herald published its investigative series, a federal judge ruled the non-prosecution agreement eventually brokered by Epsteins legal team with then-South Florida U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta was illegal. Epstein was rearrested on sex trafficking charges in New York. The following month, Acosta was forced to resign as U.S. Secretary of Labor. On August 2019, Epstein died by suicide in his Manhattan jail cell.

A Palm Beach County judge unsealed the controversial grand jury records on Monday after years of legal action by the Palm Beach Post, the Miami Herald, CNN, the New York Times and others. And, earlier this year, the Florida legislature passed a new law unseal the Epstein grand jury records, usually kept secret.

The prosecutors job is to serve justice for victims, not aid in their re-victimization, which is what occurred here. Epstein was an unusual defendant. He was calling the shots, jockeying to escape prosecution with money and influence. But prosecutors should have held firm in efforts to convict a man who became a notorious sex trafficker.

By casting doubt on the underage girls testimonies and credibility, the prosecutor helped Epsteins expensive legal team achieve their goal. This allowed Epstein to continue abusing underage girls for 11 more years. What an atrocity.

The tactics used were unethical, reprehensible, and a gross disservice to Epsteins victims. They show how power, money and influence can manipulate a system meant to protect the innocent. It is a failure of justice that must never be repeated.

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Russian leader Vladimir Putins statements have indicated that he does not want to agree on anything else other than destroying Ukrainian statehood and identity.

Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Details: On 5 July, during a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russian leader Vladimir Putin firmly rejected the notion of a negotiated ceasefire, instead advocating for a definitive conclusion to the war that would obliterate Ukrainian sovereignty. Putin emphasised that a temporary truce would only allow Ukraine to regroup and rearm, insisting on a comprehensive and irreversible end to the conflict.

Putins rhetoric and demands highlight his refusal to settle for anything less than the total dismantling of Ukrainian statehood and national identity. His conditions include the cession of substantial Ukrainian territories and the complete surrender of the Ukrainian military as prerequisites for any peace talks.

Furthermore, Putin likely envisions Ukraine's capitulation as a means to overthrow its democratically elected government, replacing it with a pro-Russian administration that aligns with his strategic interests.

To thwart Putin's objectives, Ukraine must continue its counteroffensive operations aimed at reclaiming key territories. The international community, particularly Western allies, must accelerate their support to empower Ukraine's military efforts. This robust assistance is vital to disrupt Putins plans, shorten the conflict, and achieve a peace settlement that respects Ukraines sovereignty and meets the expectations of its global partners.

To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 5 July:

Russian leader Vladimir Putin used a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on 5 July to oppose a negotiated ceasefire altogether and expressed his commitment to pursuing a "final" end to the war that would achieve his goal of destroying Ukrainian statehood.

Putin is demanding both the surrender of a significant portion of Ukraine's territory and people to Russian occupation and Ukrainian military capitulation in advance of any negotiations on an end-state to the war.

Ukrainian counteroffensive operations that liberate operationally significant territory remain the soundest course of action for degrading Putin's confidence in and commitment to his desired end state for his war of aggression against Ukraine.

Putin's rejection of any ceasefire agreement contradicts the Kremlin's previous effort to place the onus for negotiations on the West and Ukraine.

Putin attempted to portray Orban as an EU representative who can speak on the EU's behalf  a claim that EU officials explicitly denied.

Recent Russian domestic polls suggest that Kremlin information operations are influencing domestic Russian support of the war in Ukraine.

These Russian polls indicate that Russians who criticise the conduct of the war in Ukraine still support the war due to patriotism and disenfranchisement.

Many of Russia's "non-opponents" to the war have criticisms that parallel those of Russian ultranationalist milbloggers, yet they lack the ultranationalists' close attention to the war and desire for political change in support of Russian war aims.

Ukrainian forces conducted successful drone and missile strikes against targets in Tambov and Rostov oblasts and Krasnodar Krai on 4-5 July.

Russian forces recently advanced near Vovchansk, Toretsk, and Donetsk City.

Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials continue to portray themselves as providing adequate medical care and other support for Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine amid ongoing criticisms that the Russian military command sends injured soldiers to fight on the frontline.

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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL)  If authorities could turn back time, Carter County jail inmate Billy Fletcher  whose escape is thought to be connected to the disappearance of still missing 61-year-old Victor Birchfield  probably wouldnt have had trusty status allowing him to work outside the jail building with little supervision.

Friends of missing Carter County man still looking for answers

Had Carter County known this individual was going to walk off, obviously they would not have made him a trusty, Eric Stanton, a criminal justice instructor at Northeast State Community College, told News Channel 11 Friday.

Fletcher was legally eligible to be a work detail inmate, or trusty  Tennessee law only prevents registered sex offenders from such privileges  but the question of whether the 43-year-old with an assault conviction and other charges of violent crimes should have been is at the top of a number of peoples minds.

They include the woman whose father remains missing days after authorities discovered his vehicle more than 100 miles away in South Carolina. Tiffany Cole told News Channel 11 she isnt convinced the department did an adequate job vetting Fletcher.

How Fletcher was allowed to be a trusty is a question that the community needs to keep asking, because this did happen to my dad, but it could have been any one of us, Cole said.

Tiffany Cole, daughter of missing man Victor Birchfield, said she has questions about why Billy Fletcher was allowed to be a trusty. (Photo: WJHL)

Close family members to him that no longer have contact with him have told me, you know, its not a question to us that hes a dangerous person. Were wondering ourselves how he was outside of the detention center.'

As the Carter County Sheriffs Office (CCSO) put it in a news release Friday, less than 24 hours after Fletcher was captured in South Carolina, some in the public have raised concerns regarding Fletchers participation in the inmate work program.

The CCSO defended the decision to allow Fletcher trusty status, saying his criminal history had been vetted and he met the programs eligibility requirements. But the news releases own recounting of Fletchers criminal history is missing a 2020 assault charge and subsequent 2021 guilty plea, calling into question the accuracy of a claim by Jail Administrator Matt Patterson that none of Fletchers convictions are classified by state law as violent offenses.'

Fletcher was captured in South Carolina Thursday, two weeks to the day after he walked away from a work detail at Carter County Detention Center. For days after his escape and Birchfields disappearance, the CCSO released no statements about a possible connection.

Even after Cole told News Channel 11 on June 27 that she was concerned about a connection because Birchfield had likely driven past the jail around the time Fletcher walked off, Sheriff Mike Fraley released a statement saying there was no information or evidence linking the two incidents. He added that the department was investigating every lead we receive in both of these separate cases.

CCSO leaders confirmed on July 1 that Birchfields June 19 disappearance and Fletchers escape were being investigated as related incidents. The search for Birchfield continues.

No violent offenses?

CCSOs Friday release stated the department runs a complete criminal history check on potential trustys  inmates who work, sometimes inside the jail and sometimes outside and usually for good time credit that can reduce their time served by about half.

Multiple people Im sure looked at it and decided that he wouldnt be an escape risk or something of that nature, Northeast States Stanton said. Unfortunately, he violated that trust.

Northeast State Community College criminal justice instructor Eric Stanton. (Photo: WJHL)

CCSOs release said Fletcher was serving a three-year sentence after being convicted of violating probation for absconding from required appointments  something Stanton did say could raise questions.

If hes not showing up for his court appointed appointments, you know, why is he not then just going to walk away? Stanton said.

Other criminal history CCSO mentioned included the attempted aggravated burglary conviction for which he was on probation when he violated, which occurred during a 2017 incident in Johnson County during which Fletcher was also charged with domestic assault and attempted kidnapping.

Fraley pointed to the fact that Fletchers assault and attempted kidnapping charges were dismissed, noting state law regarding jail work programs deals with convictions on ones record.

The release stated Fletchers only convictions that showed up in a criminal history check were the attempted aggravated burglary and probation violation, a failure to appear in Carter County, and a conviction on a misdemeanor count of violating an order of protection.

But a check of Johnson County online court records showed that Fletcher was arrested in January 2020 and charged with aggravated assault for an incident in which a womans nose was broken. Those records show that charge was bound over to a grand jury and that on Sept. 30, 2021, Fletcher pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of assault with bodily injury, a Class A misdemeanor.

None of Fletchers convictions are classified by state law as violent offenses that would prohibit him from participating in an inmate work program, Patterson said in the release.

Other than the prohibition on sex offenders, though, state law appears to be silent on what disqualifies an inmate from serving as a trusty.

Its a black eye for them

While he stressed repeatedly that CCSO had information the public doesnt when they approved Fletchers trusty status, Stanton said he expects the department to do some soul searching in the wake of this incident.

Once all this is done, theyll absolutely look at their policy and procedures because, again, its a black eye for them, Stanton said.

CCSOs release said Fletcher, who was initially jailed in August 2023, had been in the inmate work program since Jan. 26 with no disciplinary incidents. Stanton said thats pretty much the norm for a practice that is widespread.

More times than not, these trustys go off without a hitch, its perfect, Stanton said. Its good for them. Sometimes it allows them to be able to work off their time quicker, it allows the sheriff or whoever is over that that facility to be able to use inmate labor to save taxpayers money, which is a great thing.

Stanton added that no inmate, no matter how good their behavior, has any right to be granted trusty status, but that it is absolutely at each departments discretion. That would include how to weigh situations in which a person was charged but not ultimately convicted.

The inmate applies and then the committee looks and makes a decision, Stanton said. If the committee decides this person should not be a trusty, some departments allow that trusty or that individual to appeal that decision, but it will probably go before the same board.

Ultimately, he said, its an honor to be able to get out of sitting in that cell 23 hours a day  its an absolute privilege.

Tiffany Cole said the fact that Billy Fletcher was deemed worthy of being a trusty doesnt square with what she heard from his own estranged family members.

Thats hard to hear, she said. Im not a person that typically feels anger. Thats not an emotion Im very familiar with. But at this point, if that anger is what fuels me through this, to find my dad, and then so be it.

Cole said if she can be a change agent when it comes to policies or practices surrounding trusty programs, that would provide her some satisfaction.

I think regardless of the outcome with my dad, of course we hope he comes home alive and well and can continue this life with us  I will see the changes made if I can help, but I will not allow this to happen to anyone else.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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JAMAICA, Queens (PIX11)  Questions remain as to why a 20-year-old man allegedly went on a stabbing spree in Queens on Thursday.

The incident happened at an apartment at 94th Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica around 5:15 p.m., police said.

The 20-year-old allegedly stabbed to death his 8-year-old half-brother before using the same knife on his father and stepmother, according to police. In the end, police shot and killed the 20-year-old when he allegedly refused to drop the knife.

Police are still gathering evidence at the apartment building where the tragedy unfolded.

More Local News

The family was supposed to be headed out for a Fourth of July celebration on Thursday. Instead, the mother and father walked into their apartment and found their 8-year-old bleeding out from multiple stab wounds.

Police said the 8-year-olds half-brother went on a violent rampage with a butcher knife and allegedly stabbed the mother in the back.

Surveillance video obtained by PIX11 News showed the mother running down the street bleeding and pleading for help. Meanwhile, back at the apartment, the father tried to wrestle the knife away from his 20-year-old son but could not.

When officers arrived, they ordered the son to put the knife down, but he allegedly refused, and one of the officers fired his weapon, according to police. The 20-year-old was later pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.

Police believe the incident started as a domestic dispute that escalated quickly. Now the family is left mourning the deaths of two sons lost in a matter of hours.

A baby girl was also in the apartment during the incident but was not hurt, police said.

Police have not released the identities of the family members involved.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
St. Mary canal siphons burst resulting in severe erosion and flooding in the surrounding area. (Photo via U.S. Bureau of Reclamation)

St. Mary canal siphons burst resulting in severe erosion and flooding in the surrounding area. (Photo via U.S. Bureau of Reclamation)

Repairs to the broken St. Mary Canal pipes that are part of the Milk River Project can begin immediately through an emergency authorization with the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Sen. Jon Testers office announced Friday.

The St. Mary Canal near Babb diverts water from the St. Mary River to the Milk River. The river provides 18,000 people with municipal drinking water and feeds one million people annually, according to the Milk River Joint Board of Control.

It also supports industrial uses, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

Without the canal, the Milk River would run dry six out of 10 years, according to the Joint Board of Control, made up of eight irrigation districts.

The river runs into Canada and then back into Montana near Havre.

On June 17, a couple of the canals aging siphons failed, and Montanas political leaders, including its Congressional delegation, have been advocating for urgent action from the Biden Administration.

In a news release, Tester said the Bureau of Reclamation agreed Friday to fund the repairs through its emergency authority.

This is an important step forward for north-central Montana water users who rely on the Milk River Project to support their farm operations that feed the world and to keep their small businesses running, said Tester, a Montana Democrat, in a statement.

In a newsletter Friday, Republican Rep. Ryan Zinkes office shared a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Interior and Bureau of Reclamation from him and the rest of the delegation, Tester, Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, and Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale.

We urge you to take immediate action to authorize federal funds to replace the siphons under the authority granted in Public Law 111-11, the letter said. A swift federal response is critical to restore the lands damaged by the catastrophic failure and to return water to the Milk River.

A contact in the Bureau of Reclamation office in Montana could not be reached Friday by voicemail.

In a phone call, Jennifer Patrick, project manager for the Milk River Joint Board of Control, said the funding package has moved quickly, which will make a difference in work on the ground.

That will allow us to move forward into construction a lot quicker, Patrick said.

The cost of fixing the breached St. Mary siphon and another piece of infrastructure in need of replacement, the 100-year-old Halls Coulee siphon, is $70 million together, Patrick said.

So far, Montana irrigators arent impacted this year partly because of the rain and full reservoirs, although Patrick also said its a compressed irrigation season.

If the winter is strong, that will help storage for Montana, she said, but it wont make construction easy. Montana holds water in the Fresno and Nelson reservoirs on the Hi-Line.

Were really, really trying to have water running back into the Milk River by the fall of 2025, Patrick said.

Patrick, however, also said Alberta, Canada, likely will be affected because it doesnt have water storage like Montana does.

She said Milk River irrigators are working closely with landowners, the Blackfeet Nation, and state and federal government, and the cooperation and partnerships are incredible.

Were moving quickly. You might not hear from us that often, but our goal is to have water back in the Milk River in 2025, Patrick said.

The entire congressional delegation has been turning over rocks for funding, emergency authorizations, and whatever works best for the state of Montana, she said. And she said local representatives and state legislators have been on the job as well.

Kwebb Galbreath, water director for the Blackfeet Nation, also said politicians and decision-makers have been moving quickly, which is key to fixing the problem.

The problem is that this has been something thats been left unattended for 100 years, Galbreath said. It should have been replaced probably 75 years ago.

He described the current situation as chaos, but I think right now its controlled chaos. And he said a plan is in place that he believes will lead to repairs made to both siphons by 2025.

I do believe that theyll both be fixed, and next year in August, well have good water flowing, Galbreath said.

The St. Mary Diversion Dam and Canal is dilapidated and has long been in need of repair, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act set aside $100 million for facilities that have failed in a way that prevented water delivery for irrigation, and the St. Mary canal is the only project that fit the criteria, according to a project overview on the Bureau of Reclamation website.

Bozeman company NW Construction was recently awarded a more than $88 million contract to complete the canal and dam replacement project, part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Douglas County, Georgia, elections officials Milton Kidd, left, and Tesha Green fear being followed home by angry voters. Nationwide, many election officials are concerned for their safety. (Matt Vasilogambros/Stateline)

Editors note: This story contains profanities and racist slurs.

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga.  When Milton Kidd leaves work at the end of the day, he slips out the back door of the domed Douglas County Courthouse, avoiding the public entrance where people might berate him or demand his home address.

He never takes the same route home two days in a row, and he makes random turns to avoid being followed.

Kidd, a Black man, has a very dangerous job: He is the elections and voter registration director for Douglas County.

Milton Kidd is a nasty n***** living on tax money like the scum he is, one voter wrote in an email Kidd shared with Stateline. Living on tax money, like a piece of low IQ n***** shit.

Another resident from Kidds county of 149,000 west of Atlanta left him a voicemail.

I dont know if youre aware, Milton, but the American people have set a precedent for what they do to f***ing tyrants and oppressors who occupy government office, the caller said. Yep, back in the 1700s, they were called the British and the f***ing American people got so fed up with the f***ing British being dicks, kind of like you, and then they just f***ing killed all the f***ing British.

Kidd smiled incredulously as he shared his security routine and the hate-filled messages that inspired it. He is dumbfounded that hes the target of such vitriol for administering elections in 2024  but he knows where it originated.

The lies told by former President Donald Trump, who faces state felony charges for trying to pressure Georgia officials to change the 2020 results, have resonated with many Douglas County voters, Kidd said. Now this nonpartisan official, like many others across the country, is forced to face their ire.

Its an idea that has become insidious in the mindsets of Americans, that because a single individual did not win an election, that now I can behave like this, said Kidd, who has a thick beard and wears a thumb-size crystal on a black string around his neck.

As he prepares for the next presidential election, Kidd said he will continue to press his states elected officials for more leadership and money to protect him, his staff and the democratic process.

If this office fails, then our democracy has failed, he said. I will never let a detractor who calls with vile language deter me from the work that I do.

Like standing in a puddle of gasoline

Kidd is far from the only election official who has faced threats inspired by the lies of Trump and his allies, who continue to claim without evidence that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

Nationally, 38% of local election officials have experienced threats, harassment or abuse since 2020 just for doing their jobs, according to a survey released in May by the Brennan Center for Justice, a voting rights nonprofit housed at the New York University School of Law. More than half of the over 900 respondents said they are concerned about the safety of their colleagues and staff.

If this office fails, then our democracy has failed. I will never let a detractor who calls with vile language deter me from the work that I do.

 Milton Kidd, Douglas County, Georgia elections and voter registration director

Kidds colleagues in neighboring counties also have felt the hostility.

In the green hills of Bartow County, a rural community in northwest Georgia, Election Supervisor Joseph Kirk has taken steps to protect himself, though he wont disclose specifics. While harassment has not reached the level it has in other counties, he said he has lost staff members who left their positions because of the changed atmosphere.

Theres a lot more animosity now, he said in his Cartersville office, a red-brick building 4 miles from Main Street.

Cobb County Director of Elections Tate Fall is also fortifying her suburban Atlanta elections office. In the coming weeks, her office will install a shatterproof safety film on the glass that shields the front desk. More access points will require key cards for entry, and there will be additional panic buttons.

Its very surreal, she said. In the office, people have become so desensitized to people yelling at them that they dont consider a lot a threat anymore.

At least a dozen states have enacted new protections for local election officials in recent years, including boosting criminal penalties for those who threaten or harass them.

This month, Georgia officials announced a first-in-the-nation requirement that all new police officers undergo a course on election security, partly focusing on protecting election officials from threats.

This is part of a broader mission to build more coordination between sheriffs offices and elections offices, said Chris Harvey, deputy executive director of the Georgia Police Officer Training and Standards Council, which will lead the effort.

Harvey, a former detective, also served as Georgias state elections director for six years, including through the 2020 presidential election.

After the January 2021 U.S. Senate runoff, he was doxed  his home address and a picture of his house were posted online. He also received an emailed death threat that included a photo of him with crosshairs over his face.

While he says he wasnt worried about his safety, he did worry about his wife and four children at home. He called the local police, who posted a car in front of his house for two weeks.

In this supercharged environment, its like standing in a puddle of gasoline, he told Stateline. Anything can set it off. It didnt used to be like that.

The democratic path

Democracys fragile promise has always been part of Kidds life.

Kidd, 39, grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois, a former manufacturing hub of 18,000 people along the Mississippi River.

His family was part of the Great Migration, moving north from Southern states such as Arkansas and Mississippi looking for work and safety. But shortly after his ancestors arrival, white mobs killed hundreds of Black newcomers during several months of 1917, displacing 6,000 Black people in the southern Illinois city.

His grandmother was a sharecropper in Luxor, Arkansas, and instilled in his mother the importance of voting. Growing up, he heard stories about civil rights activists Fannie Lou Hamer, who was beaten for registering voters, and Medgar Evers, who was assassinated. It made Kidd a student of history, able to recite the Declaration of Independence and parts of the Constitution.

The importance of the ballot box has always been something that has been stressed to me, he said. I know in my own family individuals have tried to register to vote and had dogs sicced on them. These are not words in a book. Its not that far off.

Inspired by his father, who left school in the ninth grade to work, and his mother, who received a college education later in her life, Kidd earned his masters degree in public administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2010.

He then did what he called a reverse migration back to the South to begin working elections in various counties in the Atlanta area, including Douglas County. He started there in 2015 and was promoted to lead the office three years later.

In that time, Kidd has seen the election environment turn nasty.

Weve reshaped this nation into an uglier, vile, vitriolic spirit that were just allowing to continue to manifest, he said last month.

A view of the domed courthouse in Douglasville, Georgia.

He and his eight full-time staff members have attempted to bolster their public standing by going to local churches, fairs and political party meetings of both parties to share details about how they run elections and tabulate the vote securely.

But he needs more resources from the state. The same lawmakers who wink and nod at the lie that massive fraud is stealing elections do not support additional funding for local election administration, he said, especially for the safety of election administrators.

Every one of the security enhancements he made to his office  including a series of magnetic locks on the doors  came through outside grant funding, a practice the state later outlawed in 2021.

Some of Kidds staff members have quit, and hes finding it hard to fill the temporary positions that allow elections to run smoothly. Constant turnover can lead to errors, which leads to more distrust. The workers who have stayed are still fearful.

On election night, my husband definitely waits for me to get home, said Tesha Green, the countys deputy elections director. You have to always make sure that no ones there when were leaving out the door.

Kidd was encouraged by Georgias announcement that it would require all new police officers to undergo a course on election security. Does Kidd feel supported by his local sheriffs office? He chuckled and said theres a lot more that could be done.

Cpt. Trent Wilson of the Douglas County Sheriffs Office said the office took Kidds complaints seriously. Though they were concerning, he said, there was nothing criminal in the voicemails and emails Kidd received.

It was very distasteful, Wilson said. But just because theyre distasteful dont mean theyre criminal.

Pressed about what constitutes a threat, he added: Look, Im a Black man. So, we dont like to be called a n*****. But calling someone a n***** is not a crime.

When election season comes, he said the sheriffs office boosts security, adding more deputies to the courthouse. Visitors already must pass through metal detectors, he noted.

As head of the election office, Kidd knows hes a target, and hes accepted that. But he worries about his staff, many of whom are older women who dont feel safe walking to their cars at night. And, closer to home, he worries that if something happens to him, no one will be able to take care of his beloved dogs, Kleo and Knight.

In 2024, I work a job that I have to allow myself to be called a n*****, he said. But I do it because I want to make sure people have access to the ballot box.

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This report was first published by Stateline, part of the States Newsroom nonprofit news network. Its supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and X.

The post Racist slurs and death threats: The dangerous life of a Georgia elections official appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
RADFORD, Va. (WFXR) The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) awarded Radford University with a $1.2 million grant to establish a program designed to increase retention and graduation rates of Pell Grant-eligible and low-income undergraduate students at the university.

The goal of the four-year grant is to increase retention by 5% and six-year graduation rates for this group of students by the end of the 2027-28 academic year. To help carry out the program, Radford will use this grant to hire four student success advocates to work with Radfords Pell-eligible students and provide them with programming, interventions, and resources to promote their education efforts.

Baby boy delivered by members of Lynchburg Fire Department

According to the university, around 37% of all Radford undergraduate students are eligible for the Pell Grant. Advocate systems will be set up to provide a support system for these students to assure their academic success, well-being, a sense of belonging at Radford, and career preparedness.

By receiving this exceptional SCHEV grant, Radford has a unique opportunity to positively impact our Pell-eligible student population, said interim Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Bruce Hayden 93, M.S. 95. We are strategically positioned to provide student success advocates as dedicated resources and advocates for these students. The SSAs will help navigate pathways and connect students to resources they may not be aware of. I firmly believe that the touchpoints between SSAs and their students will significantly contribute to achieving their graduation goals.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
A rhino named Beckham after the former England footballer is one of the animals who have had the pellets injected into their horns - Cebisile Mbonani/Bloomberg

Radioactive pellets have been implanted into the horns of rhinoceroses in South Africa as part of a hi-tech battle against rampant poaching.

The Rhisotope Project, designed by a team of scientists at the University of Witwatersrand, has injected radioisotopes into the horns of 20 animals at The Rhino Orphanage in the countrys Waterberg region.

The team believe the radiation will devalue the horns and also make it easier to catch and prosecute poachers running industrial-scale smuggling operations across the world.

The main goal is to make the horns unattractive, because then you reduce the demand, said Prof James Larkin, the leader of the project.

The Rhisotope team say that inserting the pellets is far more cost-effective than dehorning the animals.

The pellet insertion costs around 1,115 and lasts five years, while dehorning, at 780 per operation, is required every 18 months.

Dehorning is a stressful procedure that requires heavier sedation, said Prof Larkin. We are using a complex drug system that uses about half the quantities used in dehorning.

The rhino is put to sleep for the injections, so it does not feel any pain. The process also drastically reduces the time that the animals are under anaesthetic, cutting it from around 40 to 10 minutes.

Im not saying this is the panacea, said Prof Larkin. But if we can offer an alternative tool to put in the toolbox  I think were making a significant contribution to the protection of rhinos.

Some conservationists, however, are sceptical about technology-led anti-poaching schemes.

All these initiatives, they never work, said Andy Martin, chief executive of Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide (CROW). Ive seen them try many times. Money is wasted this way.

A plan which involved microchipping every rhinoceros horn in Kenya in 2013 actually had the effect of making the rhinos a target for poachers, and the project was quietly phased out, Mr Martin said.

A better investment would be training more rangers to protect the parks throughout Africa, he added. No conservation project can be successful without involving the communities, starting from local rangers.

No silver bullet for poaching crisis

Nina Fascione, executive director of the International Rhino Foundation, said there is no silver bullet that will solve the rhino poaching crisis.

It takes a combination of tools and methods at every level to protect these imperilled animals, she said. Techniques such as this may remind poachers that  poaching doesnt pay.

The Rhisotope Project has employed people from local communities on game parks  large swathes of land where wild animals are hunted for sport  to act as its ambassadors and spread the word when rhinos are treated with radiation.

The local population are the front line in the defence of these animals, said Prof Larkin. Rangers are dedicated individuals who are doing a dangerous job, but if we can protect them by making the horns slightly radioactive, I reckon we are doing a good job.

If the concept is proven to be a success following a six-month monitoring period, Rhisotope will make the project widely available to those who want to treat their animals around the world.

South Africa is home to the largest global population of rhinos  accounting for around half of the total black rhino population in Africa, and the greatest global number of white rhinos. More than 15,000 rhinos are estimated to live in the sprawling country.

Experts have warned that illicit poaching and the smuggling of the rhino horns abroad pose an existential threat to the species.

There have been more than 10,000 rhinos killed illegally in South Africa since 2008.

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Raleigh police say car had right of way in fatal moped crash, but driver arrested

A man riding a moped was killed when he turned in front of an oncoming car on Louisburg Road in North Raleigh on Friday night, according to police.

Said Ramirez-Silva, 25, tried to turn left from northbound Louisburg Road onto Fox Road when he was hit by a Nissan Altima at about 9:34 p.m., according to police.

The collision knocked Ramirez-Silva from his bike into the side of another car. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died, police said.

Ramirez-Silva had a flashing yellow left turn signal, which means he was free to cross Louisburg Road onto Fox if it was safe. The southbound Altima had a green light, police said.

Police arrested the driver of the Altima, Jordan John, 20, and charged him with driving while impaired. They say their investigation of the crash is not complete.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY)  The waters to the 2024 presidential election still look murky.

While President Joe Biden still has his eyes on the prize, saying at a Wisconsin rally Friday that he is staying in the race, some of his Democratic Party members, including Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, appear to want the president to step aside.

Thats causing people like Sen. Warner to start thinking about options because of all the uncertainty, said Old Dominion political science associate professor Dr. Benjamin Melusky said.

Va. Sen. Mark Warner organizing group to ask Biden to leave race, reports say

According to the Washington Post, Warner is attempting to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask the president to exit the race.

Its not out of the realm of possibilities for this to have occurred, Melusky said.

Melusky said that after Bidens shaky debate performance, some Democrats arent sure that the president can run a campaign that could beat his challenger, former President Donald Trump.

Others, such as Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, told 10 On Your Side that he still believes in the presidents ability to serve and win.

Joe Biden says to me, Ive got this, I believe him, Kaine said, because he has never once done anything that would make me question his patriotism or judgment.

Melusky said a group of senators possibly addressing Biden directly could be the push that brings this all to a head, as there is no time to waste.

There is potential that a president can turn around a poor debate performance, Melusky said. Stepping away from the election is a bit of uncharted waters this close to the election event, especially this close to the nominating conventions.

The Republican National Convention will be held July 15-18 and the Democratic National Convention will be held from Aug. 19-22.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
Airn Barnes enjoyed a cool fountain at Courson Park Pool on Wednesday as temperatures in Palmdale rose into the triple digits. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Swirling winds helped push a layer of cool marine air across much of Southern California on Saturday, providing a slight respite from a blistering heat wave that has created dangerous fire condition across the state.

The whirling air currents deepened and extended the marine layer farther inland into coastal valleys, helping temperatures drop about 10 degrees below Friday's, said Robbie Munroe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. The slightly cooler weather is expected to continue until midweek.

The cooling trend prompted the Weather Service to call off excessive-heat advisories and warnings in many of the coastal valleys, but they remained in place for deserts, mountains and the Santa Clarita Valley, he said.

Temperatures in the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys had been expected to range from the mid-90s to a high of 105 degrees, but fell below that on Saturday.

Chatsworth hit a high of 92 degrees on Saturday, down from 109 degrees Friday; Saugus cooled down to 100 degrees from 118 the previous day; and Woodland Hills dropped to 96 from 106 in that period. Palm Springs also cooled to 114 degrees Saturday, down 10 degrees from Friday.

Downtown Los Angeles hit 87 degrees Saturday, about the same as its high on Friday.

But broiling heat shattered records in other areas Saturday. Palmdale tied its all-time record of 115 degrees. Death Valley set a new record for July 6 with a high of 128 degrees.

Extreme heat, low humidity and strong winds prompted officials to issue a red flag warning through the weekend along the 5 Freeway corridor and in the Antelope Valley foothills, said Joe Sirard, another National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard.

A man plays soccer against a wall in Venice Beach during a warm afternoon earlier in the week. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

"Fires are dangerous anywhere, but this is really a heightened danger," he said, adding that blazes in these conditions "will spread rapidly  explosively  and it's extremely dangerous for firefighters."

Hampered by scorching temperatures, crews continued to battle numerous wildfires across California on Saturday. The largest is the Basin fire in Fresno County, which started June 26. The fire, which had burned 14,027 acres, was 60% contained Saturday afternoon.

Crews were beginning to get the upper hand on the French fire, which began on the Fourth of July and had threatened the town of Mariposa outside Yosemite National Park. The 908-acre fire, which temporarily triggered mandatory evacuations and closed State Route 140 leading into the park, was 35% contained on Saturday.

In Southern California, the Lake fire in Santa Barbara County swelled to 12,271 acres late Saturday afternoon with zero containment, officials said. The blaze, near Zaca Lake in the Santa Ynez Valley, triggered an evacuation order early Saturday for an area north of Zaca Lake Road, east of Foxen Canyon Road and south of the Sisquoc River.

Temperatures in the 90s and very low humidity overnight Friday fueled the fire's spread, while a layer of warm air trapped its smoke close to the ground, Scott Safechuck, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, said in a post on the social media platform X.

Farther south, the Rancho fire, which was reported Friday evening, burned about 13 acres of brush along the 101 Freeway near Thousand Oaks.

Andy VanSciver, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department, said in a video posted on X that the Rancho fire had been contained as of around 7 p.m. Friday. After stopping its forward progress, firefighters worked overnight to extinguish hot spots, he said.

Charlie Hammond, left, and Pierre Mordacq relax in the sun in Venice Beach earlier in the week. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

In Riverside County, firefighters managed to get control of the 70-acre Hills fire near Juniper Springs, with 75% containment as of Saturday afternoon.

Authorities evacuated an area close to the fire after it broke out Friday afternoon near Juniper Flats Road and Mapes Road in Homeland. People affected by the evacuations were directed to Tahquitz High School in Hemet and the Riverside County Animal Shelter in San Jacinto.

Two fires east of Apple Valley and a small blaze near UC Riverside broke out on Saturday; the latter was soon 50% contained, according to CalFire.

Meanwhile, residents of Los Angeles County's valleys and inland areas are urged to stay indoors during the day if possible and avoid hiking, even in areas that might seem cool at sea level.

"Even in the Santa Monica Mountains, which are close to the coast, once you get above a certain elevation, 1,500 feet, it's going to get very, very hot," Sirard said.

Lifeguard Ellie Gonzales, right, keeps an eye on swimmers enjoying the cool water at Courson Park Pool in Palmdale. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

He said people should follow commonsense practices such as hydrating through the day and wearing lightweight and light-colored clothing. Sirard recommended that those who want to get some sun head to the beaches, where temperatures should range from the low 70s to the low 80s.

"If people want to beat the heat this weekend," he said, "the coast is the place to go."

The city of Los Angeles has four cooling centers open through the weekend where people can find relief from the heat:





Lake View Terrace Recreation Center, 11075 Foothill Blvd., Lake View Terrace

Mid-Valley Senior Citizen Center, 8825 Kester Ave., Panorama City

Fred Roberts Recreation Center, 4700 S. Honduras St., Los Angeles

Jim Gilliam Recreation Center, 400 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles

Los Angeles County has a network of more than 150 cooling centers, including libraries, parks and community centers, all listed here.

In the Bay Area, cool weather along the coast gave way Saturday to blistering heat in northern Sonoma and Napa counties, where temperatures were expected to climb to 110 degrees, said Nicole Sarment, a Weather Service meteorologist in San Francisco.

"There's as much as a 50-degree variation, depending on where you are," she said.

San Francisco was forecast to see a high of 79 degrees Saturday before dipping to 58 at night, she said. In Oakland, temperatures were expected to range from 59 to 87 degrees, while San Jose was predicted to see a low of 64 and high of 99.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Reformist candidate for the Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian clenches his fist after casting his vote as he is accompanied by former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, at a polling station in Shahr-e-Qods near Tehran, Iran, Friday, July 5, 2024. Iranians are voting in a runoff election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a May helicopter crash in the countrys northwest along with the foreign minister and several other officials. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian won Irans runoff presidential election Saturday, besting hard-liner Saeed Jalili by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the countrys mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.

Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Irans Shiite theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country. But even Pezeshkians modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels with enough of a stockpile to produce several nuclear weapons if it chose.

A vote count offered by authorities put Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Jalilis 13.5 million in Fridays election. Overall, Iran's Interior Ministry said 30 million people voted in an election held without internationally recognized monitors, representing a turnout of 49.6%  higher than the historic low of the June 28 first round vote but lower than other presidential races.

Supporters of Pezeshkian, a heart surgeon and longtime lawmaker, entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Jalili, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator. Pezeshkian later traveled to the mausoleum of the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and addressed journalists in a chaotic event.

In this election, I didnt give you false promises. I did not lie, Pezeshkian said. Its been many years after the revolution that we come to the podium, we make promises and we fail to fulfill them. This is the biggest problem we have.

Pezeshkian's win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Mideast and a looming election in the United States that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk. Pezeshkian's victory also wasn't a rout of Jalili, meaning he'll have to carefully navigate Iran's internal politics as the doctor has never held a sensitive, high-level security post.

Government officials up to Khameni, the supreme leader, predicted higher turnout as voting got underway, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centers. However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in Tehran saw light traffic and a heavy security presence on the streets.

Authorities counted 607,575 voided votes  which often are a sign of protest by those who feel obligated to cast a ballot but reject both candidates.

Khamenei praised the turnout Saturday despite what he alleged was a boycott campaign orchestrated by the enemies of the Iranian nation to induce despair and a feeling of hopelessness.

I would like to recommend Dr. Pezeshkian, the elected president, put his trust in God, the Compassionate, and set his vision on high, bright horizons, Khamenei added.

Voters expressed a guarded optimism.

I dont expect anything from him  I am happy that the vote put the brake on hard-liners," said bank employee Fatemeh Babaei, who voted for Pezeshkian. "I hope Pezeshkian can return administration to a way in which all people can feel there is a tomorrow.

Taher Khalili, a Kurdish-origin Iranian who runs a small tailor shop in Tehran, offered another reason to be hopeful while handing out candy to passersby.

In the end, someone from my hometown and the west of Iran came to power, Khalili said. "I hope he will make economy better for small businesses.

Pezeshkian, who speaks Azeri, Farsi and Kurdish, campaigned on outreach to Iran's many ethnicities. He represents the first president from western Iran in decades  something people hope will aid the country as those in the western part are considered more tolerant because of the ethnic and religious diversity in their area.

The election came amid heightened regional tensions. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups armed by Tehran  such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemens Houthi rebels  are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.

While Khamenei remains the final decision-maker on matters of state, Pezeshkian could bend the countrys foreign policy toward either confrontation or collaboration with the West.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, which has reached a detente with Iran, sent his congratulations to Pezeshkian that stressed his keenness to develop and deepen the relations that bring our two countries and peoples together. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has relied on Iranian-made drones in his war on Ukraine, similarly congratulated Pezeshkian.

Responding to questions from The Associated Press, the U.S. State Department called the Iranian election not free or fair" and noted that a significant number of Iranians chose not to participate at all.

We have no expectation these elections will lead to fundamental change in Irans direction or more respect for the human rights of its citizens, the State Department added. As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the supreme leader.

However, it said it would pursue diplomacy when it advances American interests.

Candidates repeatedly touched on what would happen if former President Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew America from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, won the November election. Iran has held indirect talks with President Joe Biden's administration, though there's been no clear movement back toward constraining Tehran's nuclear program for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Pezeshkian's win saw Iran's rial strengthen Saturday against the U.S. dollar, trading 603,000 to $1, down from 615,000 on Thursday. The rial traded 32,000 to $1 at the time the 2015 nuclear deal was reached.

Though identifying with reformists and relative moderates within Iran's theocracy during the campaign, Pezeshkian at the same time honored Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on one occasion wearing its uniform to parliament. He repeatedly criticized the United States and praised the Guard for shooting down an American drone in 2019, saying it delivered a strong punch in the mouth of the Americans and proved to them that our country will not surrender.

The late President Ebrahim Raisi, whose death in a May helicopter crash sparked the early election, was seen as a protege of Khamenei and a potential successor as supreme leader.

Still, many knew him for his involvement in the mass executions that Iran conducted in 1988, and for his role in the bloody crackdowns on dissent that followed protests over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by police over allegedly improperly wearing the mandatory headscarf, or hijab.

___

Vahdat reported from Tehran, Iran. Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs global election coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections/
A woman casts her vote at a polling station during the run-off election for the Iranian presidential elections. Arne Bansch/dpa

Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has won Iran's presidential election after beating hardliner Saeed Jalili in a run-off vote, a spokesman for the electoral authority said on state television on Saturday.

Pezeshkian garnered 53.7% of votes, while his arch-conservative challenger received 44.3%.

Some 61 million people were eligible to vote for a successor to president Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.

Friday's run-off vote pitted Pezeshkian and Jalili against each other after none of the candidates gained an absolute majority in the first round on June 28.

Polling stations were supposed to closed at 6 pm (1430 GMT). As expected, authorities allowed them to stay open later in many places, but voter turnout still only stood at about 49.8%, according to the electoral authority.

Conservative reformer

Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old heart surgeon from north-western Iran who served in the army during the Gulf War, practised for years in the city of Tabriz.

He ran a low-key campaign calling for renewed trust between the government and Iranians, many of whom have become disillusioned with politics after failed attempts at reform, political repression and an economic crisis.

In the early 1990s, Pezeshkian lost his wife and one of his sons in a road accident. He often appeared at his campaign rallies with his daughter and grandchild.

He served as health minister during former president Mohammad Khatami's second term from 2001 to 2005.

In the TV debates, Pezeshkian described himself as a conservative politician who believes reforms are necessary. Like many politicians from the reformist camp, Pezeshkian has called for improved in relations with the West.

He criticized Iran's strict headscarf requirements for women and campaigned for votes with middle-class positions. He said he was opposed to internet censorship.

Pezeshkian expressed his loyalty to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the powerful Revolutionary Guards, but he said reforms were needed.

Critics say that he will have trouble implementing these reforms due to a majority of hardliners in parliament, however.

Growing public frustration

Out of a total of 80 candidates, the Guardian Council, a powerful Islamic supervisory body that vets the hopefuls, had only authorized six candidates for the election.

Two of six later withdrew, leaving three conservatives and the one more moderate candidate, Pezeshkian. Jalili is a loyal supporter of the leaders at the top of the Islamic Republic's system of power.

The president is only number two in Iran's power structure as Supreme Leader Khamenei functions as the head of state and has the final say in all strategic matters. He is also commander-in-chief of Iran's armed forces.

The election came amid a severe economic crisis, as well as tensions with the West and regional powers in the Middle East. Frustration among the public with the enforcement of state authority, especially among the younger population, is running high.

Many Iranians, especially young people, have however lost faith in the possibility of seeing major political change at home.

The grandson of the Iranian revolutionary leader, Hassan Khomeini (C), after casting his vote at a polling station during the run-off election for the Iranian presidential elections. Arne Bansch/dpa

A man fills out his ballot paper at a polling station during the run-off election for the Iranian presidential elections. Arne Bansch/dpa
Rep. Angie Craig Becomes 5th House Democrat To Call On President Joe Biden To Drop Out

Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) on Saturday became the fifth Democratic member of Congress to call on Joe Biden to drop out of the race following his disastrous performance in last weeks presidential debate against Donald Trump.

In a lengthy statement, the congresswoman extolled Bidens decades of service and legislative accomplishments, such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the CHIPS and Science Act, before urging him to make way for a new generation of leaders.

If we truly believe that Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans must be stopped, there is only a small window left to make sure we have a candidate best equipped to make the case and win, Craig said in the statement.

Craig said she was proud to have the President sign her bills, including one that capped insulin costs for seniors at $35 per month, but noted his debate performance  and the lack of a forceful response to assuage concerned voters  had undone her confidence.

I do not believe that the President can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump, Craig wrote Saturday. This is not a decision Ive come to lightly, but there is simply too much at stake to risk a second Donald Trump presidency.

Thats why I respectfully call on President Biden to step aside.

Craig has joined a growing congressional chorus of fellow Democrats requesting the same. Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett became the first on Tuesday, arguing that the president had failed to reassure voters or defend his accomplishments.

Craig said Biden dropping out could help inspire and unite our great nation. Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images

In the aftermath of Bidens shaky performance, Reps. Raul Grijalva (Ariz.), Mike Quigley (Ill.) and Seth Moulton (Mass.) all gave similar statements. Moulton told Boston radio station WBUR that Biden needs to let new leaders rise up and run against Donald Trump.

Our party has an extraordinary number of talented leaders within it, Craig said Saturday. I believe this is an opportunity to put forward an open, fair, and transparent Democratic process to select a new nominee to inspire and unite our great nation.

In an interview Friday with ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos, the president dismissed polls showing that hes trailing Trump and called the election a toss-up. Biden has maintained his debate performance was merely a bad night.

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Rep. Quigley is first top Illinois Democrat to call on Biden to drop out of 2024 campaign

CHICAGO  Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley on Friday became the first high-profile Democrat in the state and the fourth member of Congress to call on President Biden to end his re-election campaign.

Quigley commented on Bidens recent debate performance in multiple TV appearances Friday and argued, in part, that the president lacks the vigor to win the race.

The congressman said Biden should step down and let someone else lead the party ticket. Earlier this week, he warned that Bidens performance could impact races down the ballot.

Biden meets with Pritzker, other governors as he tells staff hes in this race to the end

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) on Tuesday was the first Democrat to call on Biden to step aside.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) chimed in Wednesday. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) on Thursday called for Biden to bow out. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) added her name to the list on Saturday.

Democrats will hold their nominating convention in Chicago next month.

Rep. Quigley Statement to WGN

President Joe Biden has served our nation with honor for more than fifty years and distinguished himself as one of the greatest presidents of our lifetime. This is a man who pulled our nation and our economy out of COVID and who pulled us back from the brink of autocracy. Our nation owes him a tremendous debt of gratitude.

The best thing the President can now do to secure his legacy is to step aside.

The most important thing in America today is ensuring Donald Trump does not have a second term. Currently, President Biden is more than six points behind in the polls and trending in the wrong direction. That deficit is reflected in the polling of my colleagues in tight districts and swing states. Protecting the White House, House, and Senate from the extreme right is more important than any one man. Thats why I believe President Biden should step aside and our party should select a new nominee.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
close-up of a sign in front an apartment building. Getty Images

Maryland is among the most-challenging states for minimum wage workers to earn enough to be able to afford rent for a two-bedroom apartment, suggesting that affordable housing is out of reach for many low-wage renters.

Thats the conclusion of the Out of Reach report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a housing research organization, which shows that Maryland is behind only seven states and Washington, D.C., in the 2024 ranking.

With renters making up a third of Maryland households, the lack of affordable housing has been at the forefront of many legislative discussions. Lawmakers and state officials have tried to make Maryland a more renter-friendly state. But advocates say more should be done.

Were going to need sustained attention to this through multiple lenses, said Claudia Randall Wilson, executive director of the Community Development Network of Maryland, noting that affordable housing impacts other societal challenges.

So when were talking about improving the health of Marylanders, when were talking about the longevity economy and seniors and where theyre going to live  weve got to be thinking about housing, she said.

The Community Development Network of Maryland partners with the NLIHC to help produce the report.

But landlords argue that they face unavoidable costs that lead to increasing housing costs.

Those costs could come from a number of things, said Aaron Greenfield, director of government affairs for the housing association for the Maryland Multi-Housing Association.

The land, the simple foundation and framing costs, HVAC systems, he said. And then on top of that, for an apartment community to operate  maintenance and payroll and property taxes and insurance costs, which have gone up significantly over the last few years  which, ultimately, are passed on to the residents, unfortunately.

The report uses a metric called the housing wage to describe how much a worker would have to earn per hour in order to afford a rental home of a particular size at the fair market rent  or how many hours a week they would need to work at minimum wage to do so. To be affordable, the costs for housing and utilities must not exceed 30% of household income.

California, the least affordable state in the ranking, requires $47.38 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment, while North Dakota comes in last with just $18.38 an hour needed.

A two-bedroom housing wage in Maryland is $36.70, or $76,345 a year. For just one bedroom the housing wage is $30.93, or $64,330 a year.

Thats well above the states current minimum wage of $15 an hour, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The report notes that a minimum wage worker in Maryland would need to work 82 hours a week in order to afford a one-bedroom apartment.

The report said some of the states most common occupations do not have wages high enough to afford a one-bedroom apartment, such as janitors, home health and personal care aides, cooks, nursing assistants, security guards, secretaries and administrative assistants, construction workers and truck drivers.

I think that those folks deserve to live with dignity in a place that they can do so, Wilson said. Its very easy, with a middle-class lens, to think, Oh well, they could have roommates and we shouldnt be expecting those folks to have their own two-bedroom apartment. The greatest need is  families with children.

Housing affordability was an issue at the forefront of the 2024 legislative session, when Gov. Wes Moore (D) pushed a housing package to increase the supply of affordable housing options in the state, which faces a housing shortage of an estimated 96,000 units.

Some of the housing legislation intends to incentivize the development of new affordable housing units across the state. But just one of those bills has taken effect so far, meaning that any potential impact from new affordable housing developments as a result of the legislation are a ways off.

Wilson agrees that development is an avenue to improve the number of affordable housing options for Marylanders, but said the General Assembly will need to have sustained attention on affordable housing down the line.

This is not going to be a one-year thing or two-year thing. Were going to need sustained attention on housing, she said.

Greenfield said the Multi-housing Association is also concerned with whether Marylanders can afford to rent.

The reality is were in the business of housing people. We want people to have housing, he said. But we also want to make sure they get paid for that housing. To the degree that Maryland can lift up these lower-wage workers is a benefit for everyone  its better for our entire economy.

The post Report: Affordable apartments are out of reach of many low-wage Maryland renters appeared first on Maryland Matters.
ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR)  In an article published by The Washington Post, it was reported that Virginia Senator Mark Warner is attempting to gather a group consisting of other Democratic senators to ask President Joe Biden to exit the presidential race.

The Washington Post reports according to people familiar with private conversations, that Warner is telling other Democratic senators that Biden cannot remain in the election after last Thursdays debate performance.

Although Warner has not publicly commented about the debate, it is reported that he has voiced his concern about Biden being able to run a campaign to beat former president Donald Trump to other members of the Senate.

Conflict flares at Lynchburg City Council Special Session

According to the Washington Post, multiple tactics are being discussed between the Senators to relay their growing concerns to the President.

Among the options under consideration is a meeting at the White House between senators and Biden. Even if some senators do not want Biden to drop out, advocates for the meeting argue they could use that forum to air candid concerns in person. Though no sitting Democratic senator has publicly called for Biden to step aside, theyve privately shared mounting concerns with each other over the past week as they fight an already uphill battle to maintain the Senate majority. Washington Post

To read the full story, visit this link.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
This image taken from video provided by WGBA-TV, shows water breaching a section of a dam along the Little Wolf River, Friday, July 5, 2024, in Manawa, Wis. (WGBA-TV via AP)

MANAWA, Wis. (AP)  People living downriver of a Wisconsin dam that was breached by floodwaters have been allowed back into their homes following an evacuation order and many of them now face the mess of cleaning up flooded basements, police said Saturday.

The dam in Manawa along the Little Wolf River was breached Friday afternoon by rain-driven floodwaters that eroded an estimated 50-foot-wide (15.2-meter-wide) portion of the dam, said Manawa Police Chief Jason Severson.

The dam breach happened after the National Weather Service said a deluge of about 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) of rain fell on that area of eastern Wisconsin in a few hours Friday.

Homes south of Manawa's dam were ordered evacuated Friday, but that order was lifted at 5 p.m. in the city about 55 miles (88 kilometers) west of Green Bay after the flooding subsided and a highway along which most of the affected homes are located reopened, Severson said Saturday.

Dozens of homes in the community of about 1,200 residents were temporarily evacuated, but it was not immediately clear how many residences were affected by that order, he said. There were no reports of injuries following Friday's dam breach, Severson said.

While officials will need to repair two local roads damaged by the floodwaters, the main cleanup work in Manawa will involve residents whose basements got flooded, he said.

Theres a lot of homes that did take on water in their basements. The water was so high it was just running through the streets and some people took on property damage," Severson told The Associated Press.

He said a high school and a Masonic lodge that had served as emergency shelters were shut down Friday night after people returned to their homes. But Manawa's wastewater treatment plant, which was swamped by the flooding, remained offline Saturday and a boil-water order was in effect for the city.

Christine Boissonnault spent most of Friday in the local high school's shelter after she was evacuated from her mobile home. She said it was shocking to see the flood damage in Manawa.

I cried when I came down and saw it. My daughter works at the store and she said she saw and heard the water going down the road, Boissonnault told WFRV-TV.

Severson said a staffer with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation inspected the area Friday and found that the dam appears to be intact aside from erosion on one side of it.

The weather service warns that rain and possibly thunderstorms are possible through the weekend and into early next week.
(Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Keir Starmer said voters gave his government a mandate for change in the UK election on Thursday and that his new Cabinet must hit the ground running with a focus on delivery.

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Speaking in his first press conference since ousting Rishi Sunaks Conservatives, Starmer set out what he sees as a clear shift in tone. He also immediately scrapped his predecessors flagship policy to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

Self interest is yesterdays politics, I want a politics and a country that works for you, Starmer told reporters. We have been planning for months to hit the ground running, he said, adding: But look, it is not an overnight exercise changing the country.

Starmers Labour won a huge parliamentary majority comparable to Tony Blairs landslide victory in 1997, but with the backing of just 34% of voters  a remarkably efficient campaign but one that critics are already suggesting undermine claims of a mandate for change. On Saturday, the new premier made clear he doesnt see it that way.

He said he would visit the four nations of the UK on Sunday for talks with the first ministers, and that his government had already begun the work on delivering change. As well as completing his cabinet lineup, Starmer has set out what he calls mission delivery boards to track progress on commitments.

The new premier said he would travel to Washington on Tuesday for the NATO summit, his first opportunity to meet world leaders since taking office. He repeated his commitment to spend 2.5% of GDP on defense as soon as the public finances allowed, though stopped short of targeting a specific date.

Thats a change from the position of Rishi Sunaks outgoing government, which this year pledged to hit that percentage by 2030.

Starmer spoke by phone to leaders including US President Joe Biden, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The incoming Labour government stood ready to conclude a free trade deal that was being negotiated between Sunaks and Modis officials without agreement, Starmers office said in a statement Saturday.

The newly-appointed cabinet set to work this weekend on implementing Labours plans for the first 100 days of its administration.

Starmer said he agreed with Health Secretary Wes Streeting that the National Health Service is broken. Streeting announced he would begin pay negotiations with the doctors trade union, the British Medical Association, to avert more strikes by junior doctors. Industrial action blighted Sunaks time in office, with the former premier unable to resolve disputes over pay and conditions and blaming the action for his failure to reduce NHS waiting lists.

Among Starmers more eye-catching ministerial appointments so far are Patrick Vallance, who was the governments chief scientific advisor during the coronavirus pandemic, and Timpson CEO James Timpson, who has advocated for the rehabilitation of prisoners and is minister for prisons, parole and probation.

In a past interview with Channel 4 News, Timpson said Britain was addicted to sending people to prison and suggested only a third of prisoners should be there. Starmer  a former director public prosecutions  defended Timpson when asked about those remarks, insisting he had huge experience and that the massive problem of recidivism would be a priority for his administration.

A crisis in Britains prisons looks set to be one of the Labour governments early political fights, with money desperately needed for a justice system with jails close to overflowing. The right-wing media  as well as the Tories and Nigel Farages Reform UK party  take a hard line on prison sentences and will criticize any shift of emphasis toward rehabilitation and early release  though Sunaks government was also releasing prisoners early due to overcrowding.

Still, the new administration will also face pressure from the left of the governing Labour Party, as well as Greens and independents who won more seats than expected at the election, on policies such as the cap limited child benefits to two children. Starmer maintained his position that he would not be able to afford to lift the cap.

He batted away claims that his governments mandate wasnt as strong as his parliamentary majority suggests, and reiterated that he would reach out to all areas of the UK. He repeated his campaign line that he is not a tribal politician and that any metro mayor or regional leader who wanted to deliver for their area could work with him regardless of the color of their rosette.

The premier told reporters he wanted to be called Keir or prime minister if necessary, and said he would move his family into the Downing Street residence soon. I am restless for change, and I think and hope that what youve already seen demonstrates that, he said.

(Updates with talks with world leaders from sixth paragraph, details throughout.)

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The "Naturalization Tree" at Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville is shown in a swearing-in ceremony in 1918.

An anecdote in a story on Page 10 of the Aug. 16, 1918, edition of the Courier Journal was the first reference to a 'naturalization tree' at Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville.

World War I had not yet ended and Camp Zachary Taylor was one of 16 national Army camps in the United States that trained more than 125,000 soldiers, according to the Kentucky Historical Society. While the camp shut down in 2020, one prominent feature remained  the Naturalization Tree.

"Nine hundred and fifty foreigners will be naturalized to-morrow morning at Camp Zachary Taylor under the 'naturalization tree' on Lee Avenue. Judge James Cochran, of Covington, will president over the court, and Gen. Austin is invited to attend the ceremonies," the Aug. 16 paper read.

A few days later, Aug. 21, 1918, the paper said the ceremony was "the largest number of men ever taken into the arms of this country at one time at any American Cantonment. The tree was selected by the naturalization officer, Lieut. Perkins. It is one of the many objects of interest at the reservation and stands directly behind the camp laundry. When the aliens are sworn in they have a full view of the Stars and Stripes as they fly over the camp."

Camp Taylor's Naturalization Tree, Nov. 1, 1931. November 1, 1931

Following the closure of Camp Zachary Taylor, there was concern over what would happen to the tree, which had become a landmark for the city along with the soldiers stationed there and immigrants that took their citizenship under it.

"Woodman, spare that tree!" was the first paragraph of a story that appeared in the Jan. 23, 1921, edition of the Courier Journal discussing the Jefferson Post of the American Legion's efforts to save the tree.

"The tree is declared to be symbolic, as nothing else, of this country's remarkable war record of blending, in a short space of time, all the alien and diversified forces of the population into one unit - the American citizen. It represents the entrance into Camp Taylor, and into all the military camps in existence during the war, of thousands of aliens in many of whom was the feeling that they owed nothing to this country except what might be derived from it, and their emergence in a short space of time as American soldiers."

Camp Taylor's Naturalization Tree monument, July 2, 1973.

The Naturalization Tree happened to have been chosen by the American Forestry Association for inclusion in the Tree Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C., earlier that year.

"A photograph of the Naturalization Tree will hang side by side with that of the famous Washington Elm, at Cambridge, Mass., under whose branches (George) Washington took command of the Continental Army, July 3, 1775."

A few months later, word came that the tree would survive as told under a March 2, 1921, headline: "Historic tree will be saved," which included a note that the Jefferson Post of the American Legion would give up its claim to the tree so that Fincastle Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution could take control.

Page from New York Tribune Jan. 16, 1921, that references the Naturalization Tree being included in the Hall of Fame for Trees.

The tree would not last forever, being felled following a lightning strike in 1951.

"Camp Taylor's 'Naturalization Tree,' a 140-year-old ash commemorated by the Fincastle chapter, D.A.R., in 1921, yesterday bowed to age via surgery. Two of its huge limbs, broken in a recent windstorm, were removed after they fell into the yard adjoining its lot at the corner of Kentucky and Lee."

A monument dedicated to the tree in 1921 remains but was moved from its original site to Camp Taylor Memorial Park, near where Poplar Level Road meets the Watterson Expressway.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Retro Louisville: What happened to the Naturalization Tree?
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister, Jeyhun Bayramov, recently expressed his enthusiasm after addressing the Ministerial Meeting of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Shusha, Azernews reports.

The meeting, which was part of the Informal Summit of Heads of State of the OTS, highlighted the importance of unity and cooperation among Turkic nations.

Bayramov voiced his confidence that this significant gathering will play a crucial role in reinforcing the Organization and the broader Turkic family. He emphasized the potential for enhanced collaboration and the strengthening of ties within the OTS.

The Ministerial Meeting in Shusha marks a pivotal step towards maximizing the cooperation potential among member states, fostering closer relationships, and promoting shared goals within the Turkic world.
In a key battleground in the larger debate about removing and restricting school books, plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Escambia County School Board asked a federal judge this week to order officials to return to the shelves seven titles that have been off-limits for over a year.

Lawyers for a parent who is a plaintiff also asked U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell to block the school boards attorneys from taking the deposition of J.N., a 7-year-old who just completed first grade.

Attorneys for authors, a publishing company, parents and a non-profit organization filed the lawsuit last year, contending the Escambia school board violated First Amendment and equal-protection rights in removing 10 books from school-library shelves and restricting access to more than 150 others.

Wetherell in January allowed the lawsuit to proceed, rejecting motions to dismiss First Amendment claims but dismissing plaintiffs equal-protection allegations.

The school board has argued it has authority to decide what books should be allowed and that a 2023 law (HB 1069) that set up a process for book challenges by members of the public helps shield it from the allegations.

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In a motion for a preliminary injunction filed Monday, lawyers for the plaintiffs said Escambia officials had restricted 1,031 books under the countys review process.

As of June 27, some 178 challenged books remain restricted, although no decision has been made about the validity of the challenge, according to the motion.

The motion said that, while the plaintiffs believe restrictions should be lifted on all books, the request for a preliminary injunction was limited to seven books that have not been challenged for reasons that would require their restriction pending review under the (school) boards own policies, and should be returned to the shelves immediately, while any review and resolution of the challenges proceeds.

The boards restrictions and removals have disproportionately targeted books by or about people of color and/or LGBTQ people, the plaintiffs lawyers wrote.

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Six of the seven books at issue include LGBTQ subject matter, while one tells the story of a Black teenager who is killed by a police officer and the impact on the teens friend, who witnessed the death.

In an example, a challenge to the book Lady Midnight flagged a passage that said: Alexander Lightwood was Magnuss boyfriend for over a decade. They couldve gotten married under the new laws, according to Mondays motion.

The seven books at issue  which have been restricted for over a year  were clearly challenged based on their positive portrayal of LGBTQ themes and other viewpoints that challengers found objectionable, the motion said.

For well over a year, defendant Escambia County School Board has restricted access to books in its school libraries based on nothing more than discriminatory viewpoint-based challenges by local residents who dislike the messages in those books. These restrictions violate the First Amendment and they need to end immediately, the motion said.

READ: Orange County school district leaders and parents working to help combat bus driver shortage

Also this week, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued Wetherell should block the school board from taking the deposition of J.N., daughter of plaintiff Ann Novakowski.

Novakowski opposes the boards request to depose J.N. as cumulative and unduly burdensome, given that the board can elicit the same information from her parent, a motion for a protective order filed Tuesday said.

In the motion for a preliminary injunction, the plaintiffs lawyers argued that the only books required to be removed under the 2023 state law are those that are challenged on the basis of depicting or describing specific kinds of sexual conduct  which, the plaintiffs said, the seven books do not include.

Notwithstanding the plain text of HB 1069, the board has apparently interpreted HB 1069 as requiring media specialists in each school to determine whether any books in the media specialists schools library contain material describing or depicting sexual conduct, the motion said.

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The plaintiffs include parents, five authors, the publishing company Penguin Random House and the free speech group PEN American Center, Inc. They are represented by the legal advocacy group Protect Democracy Project and the Ballard Spahr LLP firm.

The lawsuit has played out amid controversy in Florida and other states about school officials removing or restricting access to books. As a sign of the controversy, Gov. Ron DeSantis in April signed a bill aimed at limiting book challenges filed by people who dont have children in public schools, saying some people who filed mass objections to books made a mockery of the process.

The case is one of two federal lawsuits involving decisions by the Escambia County board to remove or restrict books. The other case centers on the childrens book And Tango Makes Three.

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That book tells the story of two male penguins who raised a penguin chick at New Yorks Central Park Zoo. Plaintiffs in the case, authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and an Escambia County third-grade student, are seeking a preliminary injunction to require restoring the book to Escambia school library shelves.

Meanwhile, three parents on June 3 filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the process laid out for challenging school-library books and instructional materials in the 2023 law unconstitutionally discriminates against parents who disagree with the states favored viewpoint.

The law only provides a mechanism for a parent to object to the affirmative use of material; it does not provide a mechanism for a parent to object to the lack of use or discontinued use of material, the lawsuit said.

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Romania has reported an increase in its aircraft activity in response to the Russian drone attack on facilities in Ukraines south on the morning of 6 July.

Source: European Pravda, citing Romania's Ministry of National Defence

Details: The ministry noted that they detected Russian drones flying towards Ukrainian territory near the Romanian border on the morning of 6 July.

Romanias National Defence Ministry alerted the Air Police Service.

In addition, two F-16 aircraft belonging to the Romanian Air Force took off from the 86th Borcea Air Base to monitor the air situation.

Furthermore, Romania's National Defence Ministry issued an order at around 07:30 to inspect the area to identify possible drone wreckage.

The ministry noted that nothing suspicious had been found.

Background: On the evening of 5 July, Ukraine's Air Force reported the movement of Russian drones targeting Ukraine. In particular, Russian UAVs were spotted in Odesa Oblast.

Ukraine's Air Force reported that air defence units had shot down 24 out of 27 UAVs.

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A Nashville judges ruling in The Covenant School shooting public records case creates a disappointing precedent that further cements secrecy in how government operates.

Chancellor IAshea L. Myles released her 60-page ruling at 11:58 p.m. Thursday  on a federal holiday  and created a new exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act based on the notion that federal copyright law trumps state law.

This has the potential of impacting future cases where someone involved in a crime or civil matter may claim copyright status in order to avoid having materials appear in the public record.

The judge also provided further cover to Metro Nashville Police Department, allowing law enforcement to keep the school shooting records secret as long as the investigation is ongoing. Myles cited a police lieutenants assertion that the investigation could last another four months, but who knows if that could be another four weeks, four months or four years.

Meanwhile, leaks from MNPD  which the department has unsuccessfully investigated  allowed case records to be released with little context while fueling conspiracy theories in the community about the shooters motives.

The public interest has been ill-served by this ruling.

What this public records case is about

When the plaintiffs, including The Tennessean, other media organizations, and a state lawmaker, sued for access to the records, they sought the writings, musings and drawings of the shooter who murdered six people at the school on March 27, 2023, including three 9-year-old children and three adults.

Chancellor I'Ashea Myles talks to attorney Rick Hollow during the show cause hearing over the release of documents related to the Covenant School shooting at the Historic Metro Courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, April 16, 2024.

The purpose was to understand the shooters motives. The Tennessean had no plans to publish the writing verbatim and instead fought to maintain the peoples access to public information.

This is a heart wrenching and tragic story and the parents of The Covenant School are genuinely concerned about re-victimizing their children in the first ever mass school shooting in Nashville.

The case has taken various twists since 2023 as Myles gave the parents standing even though they were not a formal party to the lawsuit. After the shooters parents transferred the writings to the Covenant parents, Myles accepted the argument that the latter owned the materials and had the right to display them or not.

Families of six Covenant victims respond to ruling in records lawsuit: 'We are thankful'

The Covenant School shooting may be unique  and hopefully there will never be another heinous act in our community like this again  but the ruling provides a blanket excuse in future cases for people to hide records from the public.

Public Records law was meant to keep the people informed

The Tennessee Public Records Act was enacted in 1957 to ensure the public could inspect and observe the ongoings of government.

Over the decades, lawmakers have made several exemptions limiting certain access, which Myles cited in her ruling.

But the judge created an incredibly broad exemption  one that should be challenged in court or fixed in a future session of the legislature.

Why a courts witch hunt over a leak in The Covenant School shooting case is a problem

There are uncomfortable truths the public learns when sunshine is allowed to be a disinfectant to darkness, but citizens deserve reasonable access to be informed and engaged in democracy.

The copyright law exemption is not reasonable.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or find him on X at @davidplazas.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Covenant School shooting records ruling creates unreasonable exemption
Russias Krasnodar Krai has claimed that Ukrainian drones have attacked three districts, resulting in damage to mobile phone towers and fires at two oil depots.

Source: Astra Telegram channel with reference to the operational headquarters of Krasnodar Krai; Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency RIA Novosti

Details: Russian media and Telegram channels reported that Ukrainian drones allegedly attacked the Yeysk, Leningradskaya and Pavlovskaya districts of Krasnodar Krai.

It is said that Russian air defence downed a UAV in Yeysk, the wreckage of which slightly damaged a mobile phone tower.

In addition, fuel storage tanks caught fire at an oil depot in the Pavlovskaya district after drone wreckage fell. The same happened in the Leningradskaya district.

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Russia hit mock-ups during recent attacks on airfield, Patriot launchers, Ukraine's Air Force says

Russian forces hit mock-ups of warplanes and Patriot air defense launchers during recent missile attacks that Russian sources claimed had destroyed a Mig-29 aircraft and two Patriot batteries, Ukraine's Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on July 6.

The statement follows the publication of videos filmed by Russian reconnaissance drones showing missile strikes on the Dovhyntseve airfield in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, and a base of Patriot air defense systems near Yuzhne in Odesa Oblast.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that a Ukrainian Mig-29 fighter jet was destroyed as a result of Iskander missiles hitting the Dovhyntseve airfield on July 3.

Russian pro-war Telegram channels published a video showing another Iskander strike near Yuzhne on July 6, claiming that two Patriot batteries and a Giraffe radar system were destroyed. The Russian Defense Ministry has not reported on the attack.

Oleshchuk reshared the footage on his Telegram channel, saying that Ukraine's Air Force personnel "successfully conducted passive defense measures."

"Thanks to everyone who helps with quality mock-ups of aircraft and air defense systems. The enemy has fewer Iskanders, and more mock-ups will arrive," he added.

"Of course, both we and the enemy have losses of equipment and people. But neither side is talking about it publicly. It is clear why!"

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The Kyiv Independent is unable to verify the claims immediately.

Ukraine's airfields have recently faced an uptick in Russian strikes as Kyiv gets ready to receive the first batch of Western F-16 fighter jets.

Over the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed five Su-27 Soviet-made jets and damaged two more stationed at the Myrhorod airfield, a Mi-24 helicopter at the Poltava airfield.

Reports of the attacks drew outrage on social media, with some criticizing the Air Force for failing to properly protect the airfields despite advance warnings and the expected arrival of F-16 fighter jets.

Air Force spokesperson Illia Yevlash refused to give any comments to the Kyiv Independent on reported Russian attacks against Ukrainian airfields.

Read also: Ukraines airfields under fire as Russia braces for F-16s





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Russia is strengthening the blocking of VPN services and trying to restrict phone calls via the Internet to restrict citizens' access to truthful information and increase surveillance.

Source: UK Defence Intelligence review dated 4 July on Twitter, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The agency assessed the removal of several VPN applications from the Russian App Store at the request of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media because they allegedly provide access to "illegal content".

"This is almost certainly intended to restrict the ability of Russian citizens to access independent Russian and international media, as well as to simplify the ability of the security services to monitor Russian citizens," the review says.

Separately, the Federal Security Service requires telecom operators to turn off Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Telephony services, explaining this by the need to reduce the number of fraud cases.

"In reality, it is highly likely it is intended to increase the ability of the Russian authorities to monitor and restrict the communications of private citizens and corporate entities," the review says.

The UK Defense Ministry points out that these two measures correspond to Russia's efforts to control the internal environment and restrict citizens' access to information that does not align with the Kremlin's narratives.

In a previous assessment, UK analysts explained how Russia steals minerals and resources from the occupied parts of Ukraine.

Earlier, UK Defence Intelligence claimed that Russia is resorting to legal prosecution of migrants, mainly from Central Asia, to force them to join the Armed Forces and fight in Ukraine.

Also, UK Intelligence assessed the risks for the Russian government in connection with the practice of sending convicts to the war against Ukraine.

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Russian attack on Kherson Oblast destroys house, claiming lives of two civilians  photos

The aftermath of the Russian attack on the village of Khreshchenivka, Kherson Oblast. Photo: Ukraines State Emergency Service

A man and a woman have been killed in the Russian attack on the village of Khreshchenivka, Kherson Oblast, on Saturday (6 July).

Source: Ukraine's State Emergency Service

   6 ,  

The aftermath of the Russian attack on Khreshchenivka, Kherson Oblast.

Photo: Ukraines State Emergency Service

Quote: "Kherson Oblast. Two people have been killed in the Russian attack.

A residential building has been destroyed today in the enemy bombardment of the village of Khreshchenivka, where emergency workers have retrieved bodies of a man and a woman from the rubble."

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Russian attacks against Ukraine killed 12 people and injured 50 others over the past day, regional authorities reported early on July 6.

Civilian casualties were reported in Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson oblasts.

Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin reported that Russian attacks killed 11 civilians and injured 43 across the region.

Three people were killed in Chasiv Yar, while five people were killed and 15 injured in the town of Selydove. An attack on the town of Toretsk killed one person and injured three others.

Russian forces dropped three guided aerial bombs on the village of Komar, killing one person and injuring 18 others, Filashkin said.

Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported that one person was killed and five others were injured in the region over the past day. Russian attacks also damaged eight homes, a gas pipeline, and critical infrastructure.

One woman was killed and another woman was injured in the village of Khreshchenivka in Beryslav district when it was targeted by Russian artillery fire, Prokudin said.

In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, two men aged 21 and 61 were injured in an attack against Nikopol, Governor Serhii Lysak said.

Russian attacks against Dnipropetrovsk Oblast damaged seven homes and a high-rise building, as well as a medical facility, an industrial enterprise, and a gas pipeline over the past day, Lysak added.

Russian attacks were also reported in Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, without mention of civilian casualties.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: F-16s will challenge Russias aerial dominance over Black Sea, Navy chief says

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Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

A Russian drone attack overnight on July 6 caused damage to energy infrastructure in Sumy Oblast, leaving several communities in the region without power, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.

In recent months, Russia has intensified its attacks against Ukraine's critical infrastructure in a renewed assault against the country's energy grid.

Explosions were heard in Sumy Oblast shortly after midnight local time, Suspilne reported, as the Air Force warned of the threat of Russian Shahed-type drone attacks.

Emergency crews are currently on scene and are investigating the extent of the damage, the military administration said.

Earlier in the night, local officials in the city of Sumy said that a Russian drone attack temporarily cut off power to the local water system and disrupted the water supply. Water usage was restored by 7:30 a.m. local time, Suspilne Sumy reported.

As a result of the attacks on energy infrastructure, Ukraine began implementing rolling blackouts on May 15.

Due to dwindling energy supplies caused by Russian attacks, Ukraine's largest privately-owned energy provider DTEK has warned that Ukrainians have only have electricity for 6-7 hours per day in the upcoming winter.

In a "worst-case" scenario in which Ukraine is unable to repair damaged energy facilities and prevent future attacks, Ukrainians could experience up to 20 hours of blackouts a day, DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk told the Kyiv Independent in an interview on June 9.

Across the border in Russia's Belgorod Oblast, drone attacks against the town of Shebekino overnight on July 6 damaged multiple buildings, vehicles, and an industrial facility, while injuring one person, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed.

Read also: Drone attack on Belgorod Oblast damages buildings, industrial facility, Russian governor claims









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Russian forces kill Ukrainian volunteer and injure his wife in Kharkiv Oblast

A volunteer was killed and his wife was injured in a Russian attack on the village of Odnorobivka in Kharkiv Oblast on 6 July.

Source: Viktor Kovalenko, the Head of Zolochiv hromada, in a comment for Suspilne Kharkiv, local branch of Ukraine's public broadcaster

Details: Russian forces shelled Odnorobivka in the Zolochiv hromada at 10:45 (Kyiv time) on 6 July. (A hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories  ed.)

A volunteer and manager of a local club, aged 46, was killed, and his 48-year-old wife was injured.

The couple were working in their yard. The woman was hospitalised in Kharkiv. Information about damage to buildings and infrastructure has yet to be confirmed.

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Gun rights are not unlimited, according to an 8-1 Supreme Court decision that draws back from the extreme Second Amendment decision the court made two years ago in the notorious Bruen case. The holding in the new case, United States v. Rahimi, is that the government may bar people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from owning guns.

But the real significance of the case lies in the way the courts conservatives splintered over the history and tradition approach that Justice Clarence Thomas used in Bruen. In that case, he wrote the opinion. In this one, Thomas found himself the lone dissenter.

The court remains committed to its conservative constitutional revolution; but in the gun context, at least, it is now pulling back from the brink of absurdity.

Rahimis case arose solely because of the Bruen precedent. Even though Zackey Rahimi was subject to a restraining order for domestic violence, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said he couldnt be punished for owning a gun  a violation of a federal statute that says people subject to domestic violence restraining orders cannot own firearms. The Fifth Circuits argument was that the U.S. has no history or tradition of denying gun rights to domestic abusers. In his dissent, Thomas said the Fifth Circuit got it right.

The narrow opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts substantially weakened Bruen. Roberts analogized denying the gun law at issue in Rahimi to two historical types of weapons regulations. One type were so-called surety laws, which said that people who were suspected of being dangerous needed to provide what were effectively cash bonds if they were going to carry weapons. If they used the weapons wrongfully, they lost their money. The other type of law treated as an analogue by Roberts is called a going armed law. Such laws prohibited going armed, with dangerous and unusual weapons, to terrify the people of the land.

In theory, the Roberts opinion just applies the Bruen rule, which says there must be history and tradition to support a gun regulation. In practice, it shows that when the justices want to allow gun regulation, they will. The truth is that analogies are highly malleable. The New York concealed carry law struck down in Bruen could easily have been analogized to the going armed laws, since open carry can be a means of terrifying the people of the land, or at least the subway. (The courts three liberals, in their concurrences, all said the Bruen history and tradition test was wrong from the outset.)

In light of the obvious pullback from Bruen  and intense criticism of history and tradition as a judicial methodology  the three Trump-appointed conservatives all wrote individual concurrences. None joined any of the others, a stark sign of division. All set out to clarify their own theories of how to interpret not just the Second Amendment but the Constitution as a whole. And they differ.

Gorsuch, the leading proponent of literalist textualism when it comes to interpreting statutes, brought a variant of his textualism to the Constitution. He said, essentially, that history only matters to ascertain the meaning of the Second Amendments text because the amendment enshrined into law a preexisting right of the people. Pre-ratification history tells you what that right was. History serves the text, which is primary.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a lengthy disquisition on interpreting vague constitutional text. What you need to know is that, to Kavanaugh, its all vague  including the pretty clear language of the Second and even First Amendments. Kavanaugh insisted that judges must follow history, not policy in interpreting vague constitutional provisions. That history can come from before the ratification of the relevant constitutional text or after. In essence, the judges are trying to get a gestalt sense of what the vague text means, and they need to look backwards to do it, eschewing (magically) their own policy preferences. Oh, and they can consider precedent, too.

Justice Amy Coney Barretts concurrence acidly referred back to her concurrence in Bruen, in which she effectively warned that history and tradition was unmoored from classic originalism because it went too far back and too far forward. Barrett skewered tradition, saying (for the second time this term) that tradition unmoored from original meaning is not binding law. And she expressly restricted relevant history to the period immediately before the ratification of a constitutional provision  an attack on the back-to-the-Middle Ages approach Thomas took in Bruen.

Barrett isnt a Gorsuch literalist, however. She accepts, as does Kavanaugh, that vague constitutional provisions can be liquidated by history, which is James Madison-speak for the idea that historical practice after ratification can give meaning to a vague provision. This admission is in fact a devastating blow to originalism, which is why Gorsuch wont make it. But Barrett is too smart not to make the concession. Shes also astute enough to realize it wont shake the established dogma of originalism too much.

The upshot is that the new generation of conservatives realizes they went too far in Bruen and that history and tradition is a land mine. Their efforts to figure out what to do next will shape the future of Second Amendment law  and much, much more.
The aftermath of the Russian attack. Photo: Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration

Russian forces shelled the Chervonohryhorivka hromada in the Nikopol district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killing a 65-year-old woman. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a town, village or several villages and their adjacent territories  ed.]

Source: Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration

Details: Russian shelling damaged several private houses, outbuildings, and greenhouses, as well as a garage and a scooter.

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A Russian military blogger has captured close up video of what appears to be a Ukrainian drone strike on an oil depot in Russia's Krasnodar Krai region overnight on July 6.

"Romanov" appears to have been at the scene of an earlier drone strike and was filming rescue services in the area.

As he is recording, the sound of another incoming drone can be heard. Shouting "incoming" he runs for shelter before a loud explosion can be heard.

He then proceeds to tell those nearby that "everything is fine" as flames shoot into the sky.

Russian "military blogger" Romanov witnessed a drone attack on an oil depot in the Krasnodar region.



Judging by the footage he published, no air defense work could be heard in the background, and the drone accurately hit the fuel infrastructure facility.



"Everything is fine," https://t.co/gzs0K8Jw7V pic.twitter.com/o2YCoO2n1X  Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 6, 2024

Drone attacks targeting Russia's Krasnodar Krai region caused fires at two oil depots overnight on July 6, while also damaging a communications tower, various Russian media outlets previously reported.

Throughout the night, multiple drone attacks were reported in the Eisk, Leningrad, and Pavlov communities of Krasnodar Krai.

As a result of the attack on an oil depot, the fragments of a downed drone caused a fire at one fuel storage tank in the village of Pavlov, as well as another fire at a oil depot in the Leningrad community, Russian state-controlled outlet RIA Novosti reported.

A cell tower was also reportedly damaged in the village of Eisk as a result of another downed drone.

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The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims, and Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the alleged attacks.

In recent months, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry, the profits of which fuel Moscow's war efforts.

Overnight on July 5, Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of Russia's Krasnodar Krai, claimed that a drone attack on the city of Primorsko-Akhtarsk killed a six-year-old girl and injured at least five others, including a child. Ukraine's military has not yet commented on the alleged attacks.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on July 6 that it had downed eight drones overnight over Kursk and Belgorod oblasts. The Ministry's claims did not provide mention of downed drones over Krasnodar Krai.

Read also: Partisans claim sabotage of Russian railway transporting North Korean ammo

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The city of Selydove on 5 July. Photo: Donetsk Oblast Military Administration

Russian forces killed 11 civilians in Donetsk Oblast on 5 July: 5 in Selydove, 3 in Chasiv Yar and 1 each in Komar, Toretsk and Ukrainka.

Source: Donetsk Oblast Military Administration

Details: Another 43 people in the oblast were injured.

Namely, 15 people were injured in Selydove, and 18 in Komar.

Two more people suffered in Ukrainka, three in Toretsk, and one civilian was injured in each of the towns and settlements of Kostiantynivka, Ivanivka, Perebudova, Sloviansk and Druzhba.

In total, the number of people killed in Donetsk Oblast, excluding Mariupol and Volnovakha, has risen to 2,064.

Background: Russian forces dropped two guided aerial bombs on a business in the city of Selydove, Donetsk Oblast, and also targeted the city with cluster munitions and FAB-500 unguided bombs, killing 5 and injuring 11 people.

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There are two cathedrals in Lerida, a small city in Catalonia. The medieval cathedral, with a tall, 14th-century octagonal tower, was left a ruin in 1707 during the War of the Spanish Succession.

The new cathedral, finished in the neoclassical style in 1781, was burnt out in the Spanish Civil War. When I was there a couple of weeks ago I had a look at the restoration and new artwork completed over the past few decades. In one chapel there was a banner rather like one carried at a miners gala. It depicted a young layman in 1930s dress.

It was Francesc Castello. Id never heard of him. On September 29 1936 he was shot by a firing squad after being taken by lorry from prison to the cemetery on the other side of the river Segre, on which Lerida is built. He had been held for a time in the medieval buildings at the top of the city. He was 22.

He had done nothing wrong. Indeed there was an almost comic charge against him at the peoples tribunal that condemned him to death: that books from enemy powers, Italy and Germany, had been found at his house. These were chemistry textbooks that he needed for his work.

Another stupid mix-up might have been that he was a member of a religious group called in Catalan Federacio de Joves Cristians, known by way of abbreviation as fejocistas. The revolutionary committee investigating Castello might possibly have confused this word with the Catalan for fascist, feixista.

Really no more evidence was required against him once it was established that he was a churchgoer. Elements in the Republican movement were hotly antagonistic to Catholics, and Castello declared boldly that he was one.

Asked if he wanted to say anything in his defence, he replied: If being Catholic is a crime, I am very glad to be guilty.

I hope he wasnt treated too badly before he died, but in his last three short letters, to his fiancee (who married, dying only in 1976), his sisters and his spiritual director he said he was very happy and was offering his sufferings to God.

In the economy of grace, Catholics believe that saints and blessed martyrs pray for us from heaven. Its part of the clause in the Creed by which Christians say they believe in the Communion of Saints.

In celebrating the admission of the martyrs into the Church Triumphant in heaven, there is no call for triumphalism over the people who killed them. Often the martyrs asked for their murderers to be forgiven, as Christ did, and St Stephen, the first martyr.

So far 2,127 martyrs from the Spanish Civil War have been beatified. Pope John Paul II beatified 233 martyrs in 2001, bringing the number of Civil War martyrs beatified in his pontificate to 473. Pope Benedict beatified 498 Spanish martyrs in October 2007.

Pope Francis, who has in his life seen both sides of violence against believers, beatified 522 martyrs in October 2013, and has beatified more groups since.

Only last November, 20 martyrs were beatified in Seville cathedral. These martyrs bore witness to Christ to the end, Pope Francis said. May their example strengthen the many Christians who in our time are discriminated against for their faith.

There are plenty of those. As children we were told that we would not have to meet a courageous death like our faithful forefathers. That is hardly the case now.

It is, to my mind, harmful literally to dig up enmities from a war more than 80 years ago, as politicians do gladly in Spain. Believers should seek the prayers of martyrs for reconciliation.

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Gavin Newsom speaks after being elected governor of California during an election night party in Los Angeles in 2018.

Biden should step aside, Newsom step in

To save our nation from the wrecking ball that is Donald Trump, Joe Biden must step down and the Democrats should replace him with, my choice, Gavin Newsom, the current governor of California.

Yes, Newsom has protested against being recruited and is totally supportive of Biden, saying, Im very proud of the presidents record and his vision of the future. He defiantly pushes back against calls for Biden to step down, saying, You dont turn your back because of one performance.

But even the editorial board of The New York Times says Biden should go. And the number of pundits and political observers who say the same is growing.

Newsom is a youthful 56, intelligent, handsome, articulate and personable  all things Donald Trump is not. His smile alone would garner votes. A comparison with President John F. Kennedy is unavoidable. He has lots of political experience, having been a member of San Francisco's board of supervisors, the citys mayor, lieutenant governor and governor of California, a state the size and economy of which is greater than some countries.

He has also been a successful businessman and a TV talk show host.

Can you imagine a debate between the youthful, charismatic Newsom and the bloated, orange, 78-year-old Trump with his ridiculous six-foot red tie?

Imagine their side-by-side head shots on your TV.

Gordon Rowley, Wakefield

Biden must step aside

As a Biden supporter, I was crushed by his inept performance last Thursday. There were no positives  he didn't contest the Trump lies, he couldn't articulate his own accomplishments, and he appeared zombie-like when not speaking. Without a teleprompter he's lost.

He has to go. It's not about accomplishments and freedom of democracy, it's about electability. Trump lost no supporters, Biden lost many undecideds. And I fear if he stays there may be other incidents. I'm in my 80s and it doesn't get better. What if his next "incident" is after he's nominated?

The party needs to act quickly with an articulate and strong candidate and there are several possibilities. Unwillingness to act on the part of Democratic leadership will result in a Biden epitaph of "Failed to get out of the way, and democracy died."

Gary Smith, Wakefield

Biden should think about his legacy

In light of his debate performance with Donald Trump, much is being written and much is being discussed about whether Joe Biden should bow out of the race for president. I believe one factor is not getting the attention it deserves  the consequence for Biden's legacy should Trump win the election.

Over the past three and a half years as president, Biden has accumulated an impressive record of accomplishments  rebuilding America's infrastructure, taking on climate change and environmental issues, repairing our relations with NATO and other allies, and attempting to restore civility and bipartisanship to our politics, to name a few.

Much of this admirable Biden legacy would be dismantled should Trump return to the Oval Office.

Trump has made it clear on the campaign trail that his would be one of his top priorities, from Day 1.

Sadly for Joe Biden, that which would be most remembered about his legacy will not be his achievements but that he lost his re-election bid to Donald Trump, with all that will entail for the country he loves.

Putting the nation's interests first has always been Joe Biden's North Star. He should continue to follow it, putting what is best for the country before himself, withdraw from the race and throw his full support behind a new Democratic nominee.

Karl F. Inderfurth, Charlestown

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Saturday letters: Aftermath from the Biden-Trump debate
Saudi crown price keen to develop Iran ties following Pezeshkian's election, state news agency says

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken meets with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's king and crown prince congratulated Masoud Pezeshkian on his election as Iran's president, state news agency SPA reported on Saturday.

"I affirm my keenness on developing and deepening the relations between our countries and people and serve our mutual interests," SPA quoted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as saying.

In March 2023, Iran and Saudi Arabia signed a landmark China-brokered deal to re-establish relations after years of regional rivalry.

Since then, officials from both sides continued talks to bolster ties.

(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha; Editing by Toby Chopra)
Massud Peseschkian (C), presidential candidate of the reformist camp, arrives at an election rally in the capital. Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa

Saudi Arabia's leaders have congratulated Iranian reformist Masoud Pezeshkian on winning the presidential election and expressed interest in the growth of ties with his country.

Last year, Saudi Arabia and its regional rival Iran, who supported opposing sides of the conflicts in Yemen and Syria, agreed in a China-brokered deal to restore ties after a rupture of seven years.

The Saudi state news agency SPA reported Saturday that King Salman had said in a congratulatory cable to Pezeshkian that he looks forward to "continued development of relations" between the two countries and coordination to "enhance regional and international security and peace."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the oil-wealthy monarchy's de-facto ruler, sent similar congratulations, according to SPA.
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci argued its political malpractice to believe President Biden can continue running the country if he does not suspend his campaign and wins reelection.

Scaramucci joined John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby for Fridays Cats & Cosby Show, where he discussed the fallout from last weeks presidential debate and the calls for Biden to drop out of the race.

We have to be honest about these things and evaluate these things. I dont think he can make it to the election, if Im just being brutally honest, Scaramucci said.

I dont think he makes the next four years, and I think its political malpractice at this point to suggest otherwise, he continued.

Bidens shaky debate performance sparked fear and panic among Democrats. Some are calling on the president to step aside and allow someone else the chance to take on former President Trump in the November election.

Despite the calls, Biden and his campaign insist he is in it for the long haul. In his first major rally since the debate, the president forcefully declared hes staying in the race.

The decision to step aside ultimately comes down to the president himself, but Scaramucci argued that conversation also includes Bidens son, Hunter Biden, and the first lady, Jill Biden.

Biden will sit down for his first postdebate interview Friday night in what is largely being seen as a make-or-break moment to salvage his campaign and appeal to voters.

Scaramucci, who worked in the Trump administration, argued that even if Biden doesnt fumble Fridays ABC interview, its not fair to voters to have him continue the campaign.

I think its very unfair to the American people. Whether you like Donald Trump or dislike Donald Trump, the Democrats should put an opponent up that can put sentences together and has some neural flexibility off the teleprompter, he said.

Scaramucci believes Vice President Harris will take on Trump as the Democratic Partys nominee. Harris has firmly backed Biden since the debate.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Scientists have uncovered evidence of a nearly 1,000-mile-long river system that flowed beneath Antarctica around 40 million years ago, Live Science reported.

The team of geologists made the discovery during a 2017 expedition that set off from southern Chile and traversed through the Drake Passage into western Antarctica.

"This is exciting  just having this exciting image in your brain that there was this gigantic river system flowing through Antarctica that is now covered by kilometers of ice," study co-author Johann Klages said, per Live Science.

The publication explains that the Earth went through an era of extreme climatic change 34 to 44 million years ago. During this period, known as the middle-to-late Eocene, carbon dioxide levels fell drastically and global cooling triggered the formation of glaciers. The amount of carbon dioxide during the late Eocene may be similar to the levels predicted in about 150-200 years if we continue pumping out planet-warming pollution, Klages said.

As such, the discovery could offer a glimpse into how extreme climate change could alter the planet, the scientists say. This could help us to better prepare for the future as we also continue to try to slow down warming by cutting down on our use of dirty energy sources.

In recent years, we have already seen the impacts of rising global temperatures, from more frequent and severe flooding to extreme heat  the first half of 2024 saw oppressive heat waves sweep the globe from Asia to Mexico, the U.S., and Greece. Extreme heat paired with droughts have also crippled agriculture across the world, causing the prices of some food staples to spike drastically.

Luckily, a number of scientists are focusing their efforts on ways to help us mitigate the effects of this heating. For instance, some cities are using "heat-reflective" paint that can cool temperatures by over 10 degrees. And a Spanish startup is working on a new modeling system that can better predict flood risks.

You can do your part by making sure to vote for climate-friendly candidates who can enact meaningful environmental policies.

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In the almost two years since the U.S. Supreme Court summarily ended a half-century of constitutional protection for abortion rights and invited state politicians to impose whatever restrictions they want, the U.S. has become two Americas.

In almost half these 50 states, the protections formerly offered by Roe v. Wade remain in state laws, allowing women to make their own reproductive decisions and allowing doctors to provide them with the most medically sound guidance. But in Missouri and 26 other states today, those complex and deeply personal choices have been severely restricted or outlawed altogether.

In theory, that widely varied patchwork of state abortion laws is how federalism is supposed to function. But almost immediately after Roe fell two years ago this month, it became painfully obvious that anti-choice activists dont accept that state-by-state dynamic.

Instead, they are, in myriad ways, seeking to reach outside the states where citizens have agreed to (or at least have tolerated) these intrusions into womens privacy and impose them in states that clearly dont want them.

The good news is that pro-choice America is fighting back.

With Congress effectively paralyzed on this issue, the only way to protect abortion rights where they remain today is to restore them where they dont. Voters in Kansas and some other deep-red states have already done exactly that. Those in Missouri and more than a dozen other states have the chance to join them this year.

Missouri certainly isnt the only red state in which anti-choice politicians have sought to expand their post-Roe restrictions beyond their own borders, but its among the most intrusive.

It was the first state to officially ban abortion completely, literally minutes after the Supreme Courts June 24, 2022, decision overturning Roe. Missouris law bans abortion from the moment of conception, even in cases of rape or incest, with a sole, vague exception for medical emergencies. Doctors can face up to 15 years in prison for violations.

If that looked like the end of the issue in Missouri, it quickly became clear it was just the beginning.

Obsessed with the fact that neighboring Illinois and other states still offer abortion services, some Missouri lawmakers have proposed censoring billboards and internet sites to prevent Missourians from even learning about out-of-state services.

One Missouri lawmaker even proposed using civil litigation against doctors in other states who provide abortion services to Missouri women who travel to them. Some Texas politicians have taken it even further, with some local jurisdictions outlawing use of local roads to aid women in leaving the state for abortion services.

Its all beginning to look like Americas women will need a modern version of the pre-Civil War Underground Railroad, which spirited enslaved people out of states that denied them basic rights and into states where those rights would be respected. Then, as now, the states seeking to deny rights insisted the tyranny in their own state laws should be enforceable even in free states; then, as now, they were wrong.

Other forms of interstate disruption have spread since the court overturned Roe with the naive suggestion that it would end this contentious debate. Consider:

As the Post-Dispatch reported in June, one month after Florida imposed a strict new abortion ban  closing off what had been a destination of last resort for women in neighboring southeastern states  abortion clinics in Southern Illinois and the Metro East have seen a spike in patients. It indicates that this particular manifestation of the Underground Railroad is becoming a longer and more difficult journey, especially for women of limited financial means.

Medical programs in states with strict abortion bans have seen a significant drop in OB-GYN residency applications, with Arizona and Missouri leading the trend. The cause isnt hard to figure out. As Pamela Merritt, executive director of Medical Students for Choice in Missouri, told the Missouri Independent: I dont know anybody whos invested close to half a million dollars in their education who wants to walk into a residency program in a state where people with absolutely no background in medicine are drafting regulations that deny your ability to care for your patients.

The Washington Post reports that insiders advising former President Donald Trump on his campaign for another term want to use federal labor law to limit the ability of private employers in abortion-ban states to provide employee medical coverage that includes abortion services. That could prevent women who happen to be unlucky enough to work in abortion-ban states from accessing abortion services in states where its legal.

Trumps campaign advisers are also considering a second proposal to scuttle a federal rule that requires employers to offer reasonable accommodations to workers to get time off for pregnancy-related purposes, including abortion services. Given the travel times necessary today for some red-state residents to legally obtain an abortion, such accommodations are crucial.

In these and other developments, states that deny abortion rights would, in one way or another, seek to prevent women in their states from accessing abortion services in states where they are legal. Which drives home the urgency of taking the fight for reproductive rights to the source of the threat.

Since the end of Roe, voters in seven states have considered abortion-related ballot initiatives. In all seven  California, Michigan, Vermont, purple Ohio and the red states of Kansas, Kentucky and Montana  voters endorsed a womans right to decide what happens inside her own body. No wonder Missouri Republicans were so determined to keep abortion rights off the ballot this year.

It appears they have failed. In addition to Missouri, abortion-related ballot measures are either approved or pending this year in such restrictive states as Florida, South Dakota and Arizona. In the absence of Roe, that multi-front fight is the only way to protect whats left of the right to choose.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  First responders on the Oregon Coast have stayed occupied due to the sometimes troublesome combination of Fourth of July, high temperatures and fire season.

According to a press release, Seaside Fire & Rescue arrived on the scene of a two-alarm structure fire at 84937 Hwy 101 around 8:58 p.m. on Thursday night.

Heat wave could disrupt some Portland Public Schools summer programs

A single-story residence was fully engulfed in flames, prompting officials to close the highway in both directions for nearly three hours. Crews extinguished the blaze by 9:57 p.m.

There were no injuries reported, but the resident was displaced. The Red Cross assisted in coordinating care for the homeowner.

Investigators are still determining the source of the fire.

But after midnight on Friday, firefighters responded to another structure fire at 2481 Hwy 101. City officials said it was initially reported as an inflamed shed, but it was actually a commercial dumpster.

Fire crews also extinguished multiple other small blazes throughout the holiday period due to dumpster and trash can fires and smoldering logs on the beach, Seaside officials said in a release. In addition to fires, rescue crews responded to four motor vehicle accidents and several medical calls, including falls and illness, during this period.

Officials additionally reported the Seaside Police Department had a busy day, with 77 responses recorded on Thursday and another 23 recorded by 5 a.m. on Friday.

Arsonist with butane torches tried to start dumpster fires in downtown Portland: Police

Police responded to complaints concerning fireworks, parking and traffic. SPD also said officers were dispatched to disturbances, people driving under the influence of intoxicants and one person who eluded an officer.

In the release, the City of Seaside also thanked residents and visitors who assisted in the annual Treasure the Beach cleanup that follows Independence Day.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
An effort is underway by Virginia Sen. Mark Warner to get Senate Democrats on the same page about the future of President Joe Bidens reelection bid, sources told CNN, putting further pressure on the White House as it struggles to handle questions about the presidents mental fitness and the viability of his campaign.

Warner, who is taking on a leadership role in the effort, is reaching a place where he thinks it is time for Biden to suspend his reelection campaign, a source familiar with his efforts told CNN.

The Biden administration and campaign have grappled in recent days with how to spin the presidents poor debate performance, offering contradicting excuses and making the argument that Bidens record in the past three years is more significant than his shaky 90-minute standoff with former President Donald Trump.

However, the debate only exacerbated concerns about the presidents health and questions on whether he is fit to serve another four years in office. As pressure has increased within the party, some Democrats have urged the president to consider whether he is the partys best chance at beating Trump in November, while others have gone as far as to call for him to step aside as their presumptive nominee.

Warners meeting with his colleagues, first reported by The Washington Post, is expected to take place Monday, according to a source familiar with the planning.

Biden responded to reports of Warners efforts on Friday, telling ABC News George Stephanopoulos in an interview that Mark is a good man but he has a different perspective.

Well, Mark is a good man. Weve never had that. He also tried to get the nomination too. Marks not, Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him, he said without elaborating, adding that members of Democratic congressional leadership have told him to stay in the race.

Warner declined CNNs request for comment. His spokeswoman, Rachel Cohen, neither confirmed nor denied the senators efforts in a statement to the Post earlier Friday, saying: Like many other people in Washington and across the country, Senator Warner believes these are critical days for the presidents campaign, and he has made that clear to the White House.

Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is summoning his members to a virtual meeting Sunday with Democratic committee ranking members, which is expected to focus on Biden, a Democratic lawmaker told CNN.

Jeffries meeting was first reported by NBC News.

Biden privately told an ally earlier this week that the next stretch of days is critical to whether he can save his reelection bid. But the president remained defiant Friday, telling reporters before boarding Air Force One following a campaign rally in Wisconsin that he is completely ruling out getting out of the 2024 race.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNNs Samantha Waldenberg contributed to this reporting.

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Orange County prosecutors charged a third-strike offender and two other men with murder on accusations of running a car over a 68-year-old New Zealand woman and dragging her nearly 65 feet during a robbery at Newport Beachs Fashion Island.

Prosecutors charged third-striker Leroy Ernest Joseph McCrary, 26, of Los Angeles; Malachi Eddward Darnell, 18, also of Los Angeles; and Jaden Cunningham, 18, of Lancaster with special-circumstances murder. (Authorities initially gave Darnell's middle name as Edward.) They could be sentenced to death if they are convicted of killing Patricia McKay in the commission of a robbery, with a felony enhancement of causing the death of a person over the age of 65. The trio were captured after leading police on a high-speed chase into L.A. County.

The incidents Tuesday raised questions about why McCrary hadn't served prison time for his previous felony convictions.

California has had a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty since 2019 and has not executed anyone since 2006.

McCrary also faces charges of felony attempted second-degree robbery and evading while driving recklessly. He was previously convicted of the felonies of residential burglary in 2018, criminal threats in 2020, and robbery in 2023, all in L.A. County. Records show he was also convicted of being a narcotics addict in possession of a firearm in 2023.

In addition to the murder charge, Darnell faces charges of second-degree attempted robbery, attempted murder, and personal use of a firearm, as well as a felony enhancement of personal discharge of a firearm.

Cunningham is also charged with attempted second-degree robbery in addition to murder.

Read more: Zip ties, guns and a rope: New details emerge on Newport Beach home invasion

Patricia McKay and husband Douglas McKay, a well-known Auckland businessman and leader, were waiting for a ride after shopping at Newport Beachs Fashion Island on Tuesday when a white Toyota Camry pulled up outside the mall next to the couple, and two men in masks jumped out. One of the men put a gun to Douglas McKay's head and demanded his watch as they forced him to the ground, according to prosecutors.

Cunningham is accused of tossing Patricia McKay to the ground as she held several shopping bags, and then allegedly dragged her into the street in front of the Camry while grabbing the bags.

Douglas McKay jumped in front of the vehicle in an effort to stop it from running over his wife, but McCrary allegedly drove it forward, pushing him out of the way and running over the woman, then dragging her body 65 feet under the car.

As Cunningham ran after the getaway car, another man seeking to intervene gave chase. Darnell, who by then was back inside the car, is accused of firing three shots at the Good Samaritan.

After the incident, police pursued the Camry as it sped north, reaching speeds of up to 110 mph. A television news helicopter captured video of the car speeding on the left shoulder of the 105 Freeway and at one point grazing the concrete median.

Cunningham was arrested after he bailed out of the vehicle in the city of Cypress. McCray and Darnell were arrested later in South Gate. All three defendants were being held without bail Friday.

Our entire community extends its deepest sympathies to the loved ones of Patricia McKay and to the entire country of New Zealand as we mourn her senseless death in the commission of a crime that should have never happened, Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer said in a statement announcing the charges. "Lawlessness and violence will not be tolerated in our society."

Read more: A botched robbery. A tourist run over and killed. Violence erupts at upscale Newport Beach mall

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon described Patricia McKays death as an absolute tragedy, and extended condolences to family members, whom he knows personally. Douglas McKay is a prominent energy and business executive who served for several years as chair of the Bank of New Zealand and three years as the first chief executive of the Auckland Council created in 2010 for the region's "supercity."

In a statement, the McKay family said: "No words can express our sadness as we try to come to terms with the loss of our mother, wife, and friend Patricia. We ask for privacy at this time as we work through this as a family."

In 2023, McCrary pleaded no contest to charges of robbery and being a narcotics addict in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to two years of probation with three years in state prison suspended.

Asked to explain the lack of prison time for McCrary, the L.A. County District Attorney's Office said in a statement: "The case against [him] had significant problems with proof. As a result of these issues, the management team at the Airport Court authorized a plea offer that allowed Mr. [McCrary] to be placed on probation with a suspended state prison sentence."

Still, the District Attorney's Office called the latest crimes that McCrary is accused of "reprehensible."

In announcing this week's charges, Spitzer, the Orange County prosecutor, put some of the blame on Gov. Gavin Newsom and other California Democrats.

Our shopping centers and malls have become hunting grounds for criminals who are stalking innocent shoppers to rob them blind," he said in a statement, "because our Governor and our Legislature refuse to hold anyone accountable for their actions."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
SERIOUS CRASH: Ogden Canyon closed in both directions

UPDATE 2:30 p.m.: Two people are confirmed deceased after Saturdays crash in Ogden Canyon, according to Utah Highway Patrol.

A tow truck carrying heavy equipment was reportedly heading eastbound in the canyon around milepost 8 while an SUV carrying five people was traveling westbound.

While the cause is unclear, the equipment fell off the back of the tow truck onto the SUV, killing two of the occupants in the vehicle.

Courtesy of Benson

Courtesy of Benson

Three others were transported to the hospital with minor injuries, according to UHP.

The tow truck driver was uninjured in the crash. The road will remain closed for at least the next two hours.

No further information is available at this time.

ORIGINAL STORY: OGDEN, Utah (ABC4)  Ogden Canyon is closed in both directions due to a serious crash, according to Utah Highway Patrol.

A multiple-vehicle crash in Ogden Canyon has resulted in serious injuries, officials said.

Details are limited at this time, but the canyon has been closed in both directions and will remain closed for several hours, according to police.

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UHP troopers are currently conducting an investigation into this incident.

Please find an alternative route, UHP posted on social media.

This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this post as new information becomes available.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
(NewsNation)  A series of recent shark attacks in Texas and Florida may leave people wondering if its safe to go in the water. But while shark attacks have risen, they are still rare.

Unprovoked shark attacks did increase in 2023, and fatalities doubled. But the numbers remain small: In 2023, there were 69 shark attacks around the globe and 11 fatalities. Thats up from an average of 63 attacks in prior years and five deaths in 2022.

Considering the number of people who go into the ocean each year, getting bit by a shark is pretty unlikely. The Florida Museum puts the odds at one in 11.5 million. You have greater odds of being killed by a wasp or hornet (one in six million), winding up in the ER after a pogo stick incident (one in 115,300) or becoming president of the United States (one in 10 million).

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Of those 69 shark attacks in 2023, 36 of them occurred in the U.S. Florida beachgoers are most likely to experience an unprovoked shark attack, followed by Hawaii, California and South Carolina. Swimmers, snorkelers and surfers were most likely to be attacked in the water.

Experts say there are two main factors in the increase in attacks. The shark population has increased dramatically thanks to successful conservation efforts, and more people are visiting the beach and getting in the water.

Humans arent natural prey for sharks, who eat fish and other marine animals, and most unprovoked shark attacks are a result of mistaken identity or curiosity. Sharks, much like toddlers, tend to explore the world with their mouths.

There are ways to lessen your chances of having an unwanted encounter with a shark. Dont swim alone, avoid swimming at dusk or dawn when low light can lead to mistaken identity, and try to avoid splashing, which can appear like the sound of a struggling fish.

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You should also avoid swimming near people who are fishing, since the bait can also draw sharks, and take off jewelry before getting in the water because the flashing light on it can mimic the way light bounces off a fishs scales.

If you spot a shark in the water, dont panic. Splashing and quick movements can make you look more like prey. You should also try to keep eye contact with the shark since they prefer to ambush their food. If a shark seems to be in attack mode, trying to make yourself look as big as possible can help deter an attack, but if a shark is simply passing by, you should try to make yourself small so you dont seem like a threat.

If a shark does attack, dont play dead. Instead, experts say you should fight back, aiming for sensitive areas like the gills or eyes and using anything you have on you, like a snorkel, as an improvised weapon.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (WFRV)  A Sheboygan man was arrested after he allegedly stabbed and killed his roommate on Friday evening, the incident caused an hours-long standoff on South 25th Street.

According to a release, officers with the Sheboygan Police Department responded to a residence in the 1700 block of South 25th Street shortly before 6 p.m. for reports of a victim who had been stabbed by his roommate.

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When officers arrived, they were able to get to the victim, who was previously helped by neighbors, and take him to a local hospital for treatment. However, despite lifesaving efforts, the 33-year-old Sheboygan man died at the hospital as a result of his injuries.

After obtaining a search warrant for the 34-year-old suspects home, efforts to take him into custody began.

For several hours without a response, the suspect stayed inside his home where the stabbing reportedly happened. Eventually, officers used a vehicle-mounted ram to break the front door and continued to issue commands for the suspect to cooperate.

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After several minutes he exited the home and was taken into custody without further incident.

A charge of First Degree Intentional Homicide is being referred to the Sheboygan County District Attorneys Office.

Assisting agencies included:

Sheboygan Fire Department

Sheboygan County Sheriffs Office

Manitowoc County Sheriffs Office

Wisconsin State Patrol

The incident remains under investigation. Local 5 will update this story when more details are released.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
The New York primary may come to be seen as a key tipping point for the Democratic Party, said Li Zhou on Vox. Last week, Jamaal Bowman, a member of the ultra-progressive faction in Congress known as "the Squad", and a fierce critic of Israel, lost the race to George Latimer  a pro-Israel moderate.

It was a contest that highlighted stark divisions among Democrats over the war in Gaza. Bowman had received strong support from fellow squad member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and from the veteran senator Bernie Sanders, who called the primary "one of the most important elections in the modern history of this country". While some might challenge Sanders over that claim, what is certainly true is that it was the most expensive congressional primary in history. The American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) funnelled some $15 million into the campaign.

The "obscene sums" spent on defeating Bowman will "serve as a warning to other politicians about the cost of breaking with Washington's pro-Israeli political consensus", said Michelle Goldberg in The New York Times. In one sense, his defeat is not surprising. The district, comprising a slice of the Bronx and parts of suburban Westchester County, is heavily Jewish. And Bowman has been "reckless" in his language about Gaza. He has "fallen into the left-wing habit of using 'Zionist' as an insult", and he stupidly dismissed reports of Israeli women being raped during Hamas's 7 October raid on Israel as a "lie" used for "propaganda". (He later apologised.) Nevertheless, it will be a shame if his defeat stops Democrats voicing legitimate qualms about the Gaza conflict. And the race has set a worrying precedent for "big money interference in local politics".

It suits Bowman and his supporters to blame his loss on AIPAC money, said Liz Wolfe in Reason, but it's not that simple. His strident criticism of Israel certainly "didn't play well", and nor did his "far-left progressivism", following a spike in street crime. Bowman is the Democratic version of his fellow New York demagogue Donald Trump, said Dana Milbank in The Washington Post. Like Trump, he has a history of foul-mouthed public rants, of "playing the martyr" and peddling conspiracy theories (such as that 9/11 was an inside job). But while the Republicans have embraced Trump, the Democrats have tired of Bowman's act and now given him the boot. "Good riddance."
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Travelers headed to Sicily and Stromboli in southern Italy are facing disruptions due to volcanic activity.

Eruptions at Italy's Mount Etna and the smaller Stromboli volcano spewed hot ash and lava, raising alert levels on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and forcing a temporary shutdown of Catania Airport on Friday.

Etna, one of the world's most active volcanoes, has seen intense activity in recent days, lighting up the sky near the city of Catania, while Stromboli off the northern Sicilian coast has spilled lava into the sea. The eruption is only affecting Sicily and its nearby islands.

Italy's civil protection agency issued its top, red alert for Stromboli, warning the situation could deteriorate. A UNESCO World Heritage Site and island just off the northern coast of Sicily, Stromboli attracts tourists for its volcanoes and beaches. The island has been battling overtourism over the past few years, as an average of 2,000 visitors arrive by boat to the island's only pier each afternoon.

Civil Protection Minister Nello Musumeci said Stromboli was "under surveillance," adding that authorities were making sure evacuation plans were ready in case of emergency.

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Mount Etna volcano eruption on July 5, 2024, in Sicily.

Catania's Mayor Enrico Trantino issued an ordinance on Friday prohibiting the use of cycles and motorcycles for 48 hours and placed a speed limit of about 18 miles per hour "following the copious fallout of volcanic ash."

The fire brigade said they had preemptively doubled the number of firefighters on the island.

Around Catania, on the eastern coast of Sicily, residents and authorities moved to clean up the city after streets and cars were left smothered in black volcanic ash, while the nearby airport was closed temporarily.

Catania Airport is Sicily's busiest airport and Italy's 6th busiest airport, with nearly 9 million passengers each year.

"The runway at Catania Airport is unusable due to the volcanic ash fall. Both arrivals and departures are suspended," the airport said in a statement. As of late Friday night in Italy, 69 flights were canceled, mainly flights from low-cost European airlines EasyJet and Ryanair, according to FlightAware. Twenty-seven percent of its departing flights and 31% of its arriving flights were delayed.

Many flights were being diverted to Palermo, about four hours away from Catalina by car, Euronews reported.

Around 4:30 p.m., the airport tweeted on X, formerly Twitter, that it reopened with limited operations and delays.

Contributing: Angelo Amante; editing by Crispian Balmer and Jason Neely

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is it safe to travel to Italy? Sicily's volcanoes erupt, flight delays
An N.C. Business Court judge has denied a summary judgment motion by Qorvo to allow the company to avoid paying millions of dollars to restore a former leased facility in Greensboro to its initial shell condition.

The ruling from Judge Julianna Earp was posted on the courts website Wednesday.

Qorvo requested the court dismiss the lawsuit filed in October 2022 by BCORE Timber EC Owner LP, an affiliate of Link Industrial Properties of New York City.

BCORE sued Qorvo for breach of the lease contract in July 2022 in Delaware Superior Court. The lawsuit was transferred to N.C. Business Court in June 2023.

The summary judgment request was based on Qorvos assertion of three-year statute of limitations grounds. The company claims it had repudiated the building restoration obligations more than three years before BCORE initiated its breach of lease claim.

Earp ruled the three-year statute of limitations that began in October 2021 had not expired, thus not relieving Qorvo of its restoration obligations.

Qorvo could not be immediately reached for comment on the court order.

Earps order also lifted a stay in the complaint. She ordered the parties to file within 10 days an updated case management report, a proposed case management report and next steps that could include mediation.

The legal dispute centers on a 15-year lease that RF Micro Devices  the predecessor of Qorvo  signed in September 2007 for a 120,000-square-foot shell building in a Greensboro industrial park. At the time, RF Micro had announced plans for expanding operations for the fourth time in Greensboro with its third fabrication plant that represented a 300-job, $103 million capital investment.

As part of the manufacturing expansion, Qorvo made several upgrades to the building, including a steel-framed mezzanine, in 2007 and 2008 that represented overall a $34 million expenditure.

According to the court order, BCORE said Qorvo agreed to restore the building to its initial shell condition upon request at the end of the lease term on Sept. 30, 2022.

Qorvo disagreed with BCOREs interpretation of the lease and declined its building restoration demands.

In March 2008, RF Micro bought a semiconductor fabrication plant in the United Kingdom that supplanted its need for the third Greensboro plant. The facility was converted to use for general storage and warehousing.

When RF Micro paid $1.6 billion to buy TriQuint Semiconductor of Hillsboro, Ore., in January 2015 to form Qorvo, Qorvo took over the facility lease.

In January 2020, BCORE acquired the facility as part of a massive $233.4 million Link Industrial purchase of Highwoods Properties Inc.s industrial and single-story flex portfolio in Greensboro.

According to the court order, BCORE officials spoke with Qorvo in December 2019 before the Highwoods portfolio sale was closed.

The order listed that Steve Bean, Qorvos facilities director, was quoted as saying the company had been keeping in mind a budget of millions of dollars to restore the property when the lease term ended. A later discussion indicated the amount could be up to $3.5 million.

However, Qorvo removed the restoration language from the tenant estoppel letter in January 2020, saying its legal department had determined under the terms of the lease, we are not responsible for restoring the building back to its initial shell condition.

Highwoods and BCORE signed a cost-sharing agreement before closing the portfolio sale that acknowledged the lease dispute with Qorvo.

In September 2021, BCORE sent Qorvo a notice of breach of lease related to Qorvo not commencing with restoration of the building.

When the lease expired on Sept. 30, 2022, Qorvo returned the building to BCORE with no restoration done. Shortly thereafter, BCORE conducted the restoration project.
Fico during his first speech since the assassination attempt. Screenshot from video

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico made his first public appearance on 5 July since being seriously injured in an assassination attempt. In a speech, he praised his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban, for his recent visits to Kyiv and Moscow.

Source: The Associated Press; Ficos speech; Radio Liberty

Details: Fico delivered a speech on stage during the evening ceremony marking Cyril & Methodius Day, a national holiday in Slovakia.

The Associated Press noted that people stood and applauded when he arrived at the Devin Castle in the capital. In his address, Fico criticised his liberal political opponents and praised Orban for his recent visits to Kyiv and Moscow.

Quote from Fico: "I want to express my admiration for the Hungarian prime minister for not hesitating to visit Kyiv and Moscow. If my health allowed me to travel, I would gladly have joined him."

Previously: On 15 May, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot several times by 71-year-old writer Juraj Cintula after a government meeting in the town of Handlova.

Background:

On 5 July, Russian leader Putin met with Orban in the Kremlin to discuss a range of issues, including some concerning the situation in Ukraine. He kicked off the meeting with an ultimatum for Kyiv.

Bertalan Havasi, the press chief for Orban's office, announced that Orban had arrived in Moscow as part of his "peace mission" and would meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Orbans visit to Russia came just a few days after he visited Kyiv on 2 July.

Orban did not inform the European Commission about his plans to visit Moscow and did not coordinate his actions with it.

EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell said Orban's visit to Moscow is taking place solely within the framework of bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia and is not part of Hungary's presidency of the Council of the EU.

Orban himself stated that Hungary has no mandate to hold peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

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Robert Fico, the Slovakian prime minister, said he would have loved to have joined Hungarys Viktor Orban on his trip to meet Vladimir Putin if his health had permitted it.

Mr Orban angered western EU and Nato allies when he travelled to Moscow on Friday to meet the Russian president, whose country invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

He visited Kyiv and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, earlier this week, just after his country had taken over the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union.

In his first speaking appearance after surviving an assassination attempt on May 15 Mr Fico said: I want to express my admiration for the Hungarian premier for travelling to Kyiv and Moscow without hesitating. If my state of health allowed me to go, I would have loved to join him.

Mr Fico delivered his speech standing, though he appeared to have lost weight and his voice sounded weaker than before the attack.

Both Hungary and Slovakia have refused to provide military aid to Ukraine under Orban and Fico, who are seen as Russias closest allies in the EU.

Mr Orban said he was on a mission to help end the war. Both he and Mr Fico are advocating peace talks with Russia. There are never enough peace talks and initiatives, Mr Fico said on Friday.

Mr Fico, 59, is recovering from the serious injuries he suffered when a gunman shot him four times from close range after a government meeting in central Slovakia.

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban (left) with Russia's president Vladimir Putin - VIVIEN CHER BENKO/AFP

The gunman, identified by Slovakian media as 71-year-old poet and author Juraj Cintula, is being prosecuted on terrorism charges. He is currently in custody awaiting trial.

Mr Fico leads a three-party governing coalition of his centrist nationalist Smer-SD party, the centrist Hlas and the far-Right SNS.

He underwent two lengthy surgeries in hospital and was transferred for home treatment to the capital Bratislava on May 31.

On Friday, he made his first appearance at a ceremony marking the arrival of St Cyril and Methodius in former Great Moravia in 863 to spread Christianity among the Slavic people. His speech at Devin Castle near Bratislava lasted more than 15 minutes and was greeted by a standing ovation.

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The SNPs destruction is a taste of whats to come for Labour

Arranging the colourful display of fresh fruit and veg at the front of his shop on July 5, Kristopher Dunlop admitted he was buzzing about the election results.

The manager of Food Fayre, a grocery store and butchers in the Drumchapel Shopping Centre in Glasgow, is an SNP voter who decided to switch his support  like tens of thousands of others whose vote helped turn vast swathes of Scotlands electoral map from Nationalist yellow to Labour red.

And on paper at least, Sir Keir Starmer  while celebrating the radical reversal of his partys electoral fortunes north of the border  should probably also be buzzing to have attracted the 32-year-olds vote.

Yet, in truth, Mr Dunlops support may prove to be short-lived  and his message may not be one the Labour leader wants to hear.

I only voted Labour to guarantee getting the Tories out, he explains. The Tories flung Scotland to the side, so I voted for the only party that was going to get a majority. And it worked.

The SNP went from 38 seats to 10 at the general election (pictured: SNP Leader John Swinney) - Getty

Normally, I vote for the SNP. And while its true they havent done a great job, at least they stand up for Scotland. Lets see what Keir Starmer does, lets see how he runs the country  but Ill probably vote SNP again next time.

A council worker cleaning up the verges near the shops also admitted only voting Labour as an anti-Tory tactic. I voted SNP before, but this time it was a vote for Labour to get rid of the Tories, he explains. The Tories have never done anything for Scotland  it goes right back to Margaret Thatcher and the poll tax.

Food Fayre sits at the end of a small parade of shops including a Greggs, two bookies, a takeaway pizza place and a job centre. By 10 oclock on July 5, a group of men were sitting on a wall drinking cans of Tennents and Red Stripe lager.

Drumchapel, which is regularly ranked as one of the most deprived areas of Scotland, is in the Glasgow West constituency  one of six within Scotlands biggest city which all swung from SNP to Labour.

Across the whole country, in a result party members admit is catastrophic, the SNP has so far slumped from 48 seats to just nine [the outcome in the seat of Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire is due to be declared on the evening of July 6]. The Lib Dems and Tories returned five MPs each. But Labour picked up an incredible 37 seats  compared to just one in the 2019 election.

It marks the first time since 2010 the party has won a national election north of the border, crushing the SNP and bringing to a juddering halt the nationalists long-running winning streak.

The scale of the victory is breathtaking  with the party retaking whole regions that were once Labour heartlands across the Central Belt of Scotland: in Edinburgh, Lanarkshire, Inverclyde and Ayrshire  as well as major gains in Fife and Tayside.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar hailed a historic day and promised the partys new MPs  and arent there so many of them?  represented the change that people have voted for.

Was Labour's victory in Scotland simply a protest vote against the Tories and SNP? - Stuart Nicol

But in Glasgow West, where new MP Patricia Ferguson won with a strong 6,000 majority, its not clear that the swing is actually backed by support for the policies or leadership of Sir Keir or Angela Rayner  but is instead is driven by protest at the parties of government.

While some like Mr Dunlop clearly voted Labour in fury at 14 years of Tory rule at Westminster, there are also many  including previous SNP supporters  who voted in equally furious protest at the performance of the Nationalist Scottish Government, which has been in power in the Holyrood Parliament even longer, since 2007.

A grandmother waiting for a bus with her toddler grandson says: I voted SNP in the past  but not this time. They just havent done what they promised.

Chief among the complaints were the Nationalists handling of the health service, their prioritising of independence and the ongoing police investigation into missing funds.

The partys former chief executive Peter Murrell has been charged in connection with alleged embezzlement of SNP funds  which he has denied  while his wife, former first minister Nicola Sturgeon is still subject to investigation after being arrested last year then released without charge.

David, a 57-year-old communications engineer, who was forced to quit work because of a bowel condition, says: Everyones fed up with the SNP. Theyve done nothing for Drumchapel. They just blame everything on Westminster. Ive been waiting three years for an operation for polyps. Its got worse while Ive been waiting  Ive been losing blood, fainting. The whole care service has gone to pot.

The SNP are too focused on independence, says a dog walker who gives his name as Robert. But people have had enough of change  Brexit isnt going well: independence wouldnt either. Then look at the NHS  people cant see a dentist or a doctor. The SNP has forgotten what peoples priorities are.

Robert McAllister is a retired joiner who walks with a stick after a fall from a roof while working. The 75-year-old has been waiting more than six months for a knee replacement. Ive no idea when it will get done he says. Meanwhile, with the SNP its been one scandal after another.

Its a point recognised by high-profile SNP figure Joanna Cherry, who lost her seat in Edinburgh  admitting that the SNPs reputation as a party of integrity had taken a battering.

Even SNP voters admit that allegations about missing money had dented support.

Bernadette O'Reilly switched from Labour to the SNP after the 2014 referendum - Stuart Nicol

Bernadette OReilly, 54, voted Labour until the 2014 referendum on Scottish Independence  then switched her allegiance. There have been a lot of things going on  with the money for example, she says. But Sir Keir has got a lot of work to do to win over SNP voters. Im worried about what could happen to the free tuition fees and free prescriptions, which were introduced by the SNP. It would take a miracle for Sir Keir Starmer to sway me to vote for Labour again.

Im delighted the Tories are out of power  but its come at the cost of a Labour stronghold in Scotland, which seems to have happened because of a lot of tactical voting.

According to Professor James Mitchell of the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Edinburgh, the apparent scale of that tactical voting suggests that Labour, although buoyed by the result, should beware the possibility their vote could collapse in Scotland just as quickly as the SNPs.

The SNP took the electorate for granted, he tells The Telegraph. It made the same mistake it used to accuse the Labour Party of in the past  entitlement and arrogance. They pursued populist policies to grab headlines but completely neglected the economy.

But the electorate in Scotland  as elsewhere  is now more volatile and is less rooted to political parties in the way it was a generation ago. If Labour makes the same mistakes as the SNP and simply thinks, Okay, weve got our voters back, they will pay the price because thats not how the electorate sees it; their votes dont belong to anyone. They judge parties on their record in office  rather than out of party loyalty.

Labour, he explains, will be able to enjoy a grace period in Scotland  ironically until a probable victory in the Scottish elections in 2026.

He says: For the next two years, Labour in London dont have a problem in Scotland as the electorate will still be looking to the SNP Scottish Government to deliver on public services and the economy. In that respect, devolution serves Labour well.

But if, as seems likely, Labour come to power in two years time in the Scottish Parliament elections, then things will look very different. Labour will have to deliver, particularly on the crucial issue of the economy. If they dont, the fragile support they currently enjoy will very quickly fade.

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Collateral damage

So, because Hamas started the war, that means that innocents are just collateral damage? When will it end? The war wont stop Hamas because it is an organization that most Palestinians do not support. Israel tactically could have come up with a better plan, but total destruction of the area was what it decided on. This eye-for-an-eye thing is so primitive.

24 hours in a day

What happens if we have a national crisis after 4 p.m.? The White House staff says the president is fully functional from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. So who is in charge the rest of the time? Do things happen before 10 or after 4? We need a president available and capable 24/7.

A simple request

Attention, enemies Of America: Just a reminder that our president only accepts dire national security calls between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., as recently divulged to the press by White House aides. Please make sure that your military actions against the U.S. and its allies occur only between those hours so that we might have a decent chance to defeat you. Outside of those hours, you are much more likely to be successful because our current president needs as much sleep as he can get.

No rush

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to impeach one or more justices of the Supreme Court. However, she doesnt want to interrupt her vacation.

Bad alternative

Now we have boxes to deposit babies in if a mother decides she doesnt want to, or cant, handle her newborn. Wouldnt it be better for women to decide whether she wants to be pregnant? What if the baby has defects or the baby dies in that box? We treat our dogs better.

What if?

Explain the scenario if Joe Biden had picked a reliable vice president. One that was picked for intelligence instead of DEI or BLM? Hed be in a much better situation four months until the election.

Different rules

If you or I attempted a coup on Jan. 6 where people died, wed already be in jail. If we conducted tax fraud, wed already be in jail. If we tried to sway an election, wed already be in jail. Not to mention the thousands of people who died during COVID because of his poor decisions. And now, if Donald Trump wins, hes immune? There is no way that I will vote for Trump. Ill take my chances with President Biden.

Bidens performance

Watching the debate, I was concerned for the president. He was extremely pale, and dementia does not cause paleness. It appeared that he may have had too much cold medicine, or no medicine at all. He had a rough night, but he still answered the questions asked of him. His great record far exceeds one bad debate night and will not deter his supporters.

Deadly tribute

A recent article publicized another memorial balloon release. If mourners had dumped dozens or hundreds of plastic Walmart bags into the Gulf or across a beautiful meadow, would that have been considered a lovely tribute? The result is the same.

Racist video

The racist rant video article, on the front page of the Sunday paper was probably one of the most horrifying things I have read in a long time. Two things were very terrifying: One, you have a man displaying a complete lack of civility to a fellow citizen. He goes on a racist rant and says things that are way out of line. If he had any common sense, he would be ashamed, but I am afraid in this day and age, he probably thinks that what he did was normal. Just as horrifying is the reaction of Biloxi city officials, the police department, and the newspaper. People want charges brought, his license to drive removed, and an arrest warrant. All because he exercised his freedom of speech. She was never in danger. The only person with common sense in the entire article was the judge, who refused to issue an arrest warrant. Watch out for the speech police, they are coming for you soon if you dont think like they do. We are one step away from throwing people down the memory hole. Everyone involved in this is causing me to lose sleep over the lack of common sense. Who do I tell them to arrest over that?

The button

Someone asks if President Biden should have control of the nuclear war button. Are you kidding? You want the braggadocios man-baby, Donald Trump, having control of nuclear war?

Abolish the Court

The Supreme Court has become a political tool  and not just recently. Justices are not nominated for it because of their constitutional expertise and legal esteem, but because of their political usefulness to the president doing the nominating. Consequently, the Supreme Court should be abolished; interpretation of our Constitution should become the responsibility of Congress. At least then we will know that the interpretation is political.

Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@sunherald.com.
On June 14, the Southern Baptist Convention at its annual meeting overwhelmingly adopted a resolution condemning in vitro fertilization (IVF). The resolution begins with the language: Every human being is made in Gods image and is thus to be respected and protected from the moment of fertilization. . . .

The resolution points out that IVF creates embryos that are not implanted and may eventually be destroyed or used in medical research. Although the resolution goes on to acknowledge the searing pain of infertility, it calls upon all Southern Baptists not to use reproductive technology that doesnt protect every embryo and to advocate for the government to restrain IVF.

I dont want to change what Southern Baptists believe or practice and some, perhaps, can afford to create and implant one embryo at a time.

But what about the rest of the people in the United States? Should the government forbid parents who are infertile from having children by using IVF because of the religion of one group? Should states prosecute the employees of an IVF clinic for wrongful death when frozen embryos are destroyed?

How does IVF work?

Natural reproduction is a complicated process, requiring healthy eggs, unblocked fallopian tubes that let the eggs be released, healthy sperm with the ability to fertilize an egg, the ability of the embryo to become implanted in the uterus, good embryo quality, and a lot of other factors to bring an embryo all the way to birth.

Angel and Jeff Watts used in vitro fertilization to conceive their two sets of twins  Alexander and Shelby, 3, and Angelina and Charles, 16 months. The Wattses are looking for parents for their six embryos, posting a request on Facebook.

IVF requires five steps. First, hormones are injected into a woman to promote the development of a number of healthy eggs. The eggs are harvested and then mixed with the partners sperm with the goal of creating as many embryos as possible. The embryos are grown for five days (and reach a size of 100 to 250 cells, about the size of a sharp pencil/crayon point) and then one, or sometimes two, are implanted. The remaining embryos are frozen.

Most people go through two to three cycles of IVF before getting pregnant and each cycle costs about $15,000 to $20,000.

Are we human beings at the moment the sperm meets the egg?

The attribution of personhood cant be explained by biology. There are too many philosophical and legal aspects to what it means to be a person.

Linda Manning stands with other demonstrators who gathered in response to the potential overturning of Roe V. Wade after a leaked document revealed the Supreme Court privately voted to strike down the case that guarantees the right to abortion at Federal Courthouse in Nashville , Tenn., Tuesday, May 3, 2022. You cannot ban abortion you can only ban safe abortion for those most vulnerable, Manning said.

Rene Descartes, a philosopher living in the 1600s sometimes credited with being the father of modern philosophy, famously wrote: I think; therefore I am. So, perhaps, its the ability to think, conscious awareness, that defines us as human beings.

Im no scholar of religions, but Im advised that it is widely accepted that a complete ban on abortion is against Jewish law. On that basis, Jewish congregations have brought lawsuits in Florida, Indiana, and Kentucky against the abortion bans enacted there.

Many Buddhists believe that since it is the woman who carries a child, she must make the decision. Accordingly, a Buddhist priest has joined in the lawsuits in Florida along with a Unitarian minister.

Finally, there are those of us who dont depend on religion in making the determination that a single cell organism is not a human being whose existence and potential destruction someday should keep infertile couples from creating children.

Can or should one religious group prevent infertile couples from having their own biological children?

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. In 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court held that this clause, the Establishment Clause, prohibited states from making laws that gave certain religious denominations privileges.

I have several grandchildren who would not exist without IVF. They are wonderful, deeply loved, and enrich the lives of their families. The parents really wanted to have children. I always laugh and say: The village was ready. If there is a divine being, surely he or she wanted them to exist.

Barbara Moss is the founder of Elder Law of Nashville.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Southern Baptists don't agree with IVF, but what about everyone else?
Amid a historic heatwave, many in Southern California may flock to the beach to cool off, but weather officials are cautioning beachgoers to beware of high surf and rip currents this weekend.

According to the National Weather Service, there will be strong rip currents and long-shore currents at beaches from Ventura County to Los Angeles County through Sunday evening, and waves could reach as high as six feet.

A Beach Hazards Statement put out by NWS indicates that south and southwest facing beaches will likely see the highest surf.

The inventor of the Frisbee hated its name: Heres what he wanted instead

Swimmers are advised to stay near occupied lifeguard towers and stay away from rock jetties.

There is an increased risk of ocean drowning, weather officials said. Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea, and waves can wash people off beaches and rocks [as well as] capsize small boats near shore.

KTLA 5s Omar Lewis spoke to beachgoers in Manhattan Beach on Saturday morning, and they seemed to agree with weather officials advice.

There are definitely rip currents out thereif you are not a water person, definitely be cautious of the rip currents because you will get sucked out, said surfer Dipan Desai.

I think its safer for [my kids] to have a pool day today, another surfer, Eric Mizufuka, told Lewis.

The Beach Hazards Statement comes as SoCal gets scorched by a historic heatwave; Fridays high of 124 degrees in Palm Springs broke a record, and both Palmdale (113 degrees) and Woodland Hills (106 degrees) tied their records for hottest days.

Danny Trejo involved in Fourth of July parade brawl over water balloon

In addition, multiple small wildfires have recently broken out in the Southland, including one in Simi Valley and another in Homeland, a community in Riverside County northeast of Menifee.

Click here to view the most updated forecast for your community.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
(Bloomberg) -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez voiced support for the left-wing alliance attempting to stem the rise of Frances populist National Rally party, the latest European leader to make direct remarks about Frances election.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Far-right parties in Europe are imposing their frameworks on conventional right-wing parties incapable of resisting their thrust, which includes rhetoric against immigration, gender equality and the fight against climate change, Sanchez said in Bucharest.

Its our responsibility to stand up to this reactionary wave because no one else will. Were the last line of defense. It depends on us that Europe doesnt betray its own soul, he said at a gathering of the Socialist International, a global association of leftist parties, in Romanias capital.

So French progressives, the world is watching you, you will defeat the far right and you will govern because the best way to stop the reactionary wave is to govern, he added.

Frances political establishment has been shaken by the prospect of the far right taking control of its government after spending more than 50 years keeping it at bay. Its forced several parties that had been at each others throats to swallow their animosity and come up with a largely unified electoral front.

Polls show National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, and its allies are on track to win the largest block of seats Frances National Assembly on Sunday  between 170 and 250 seats of the 577 up for grabs based on six surveys released Thursday and Friday  but fall short of an absolute majority.

The left-wing New Popular Front alliance is projected to win 140 to 198 seats, while President Emmanuel Macrons group is on track for between 115 an 162.

--With assistance from Alan Katz.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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North Carolinas Republican candidate for governor used a recent speech about freedom to talk about how he sees the United States slipping away from the Declaration of Independence and how he thinks wicked people should be punished by the military and police.

This is the second year in a row that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson has given an Independence Day-themed speech at an ultra-conservative church and made controversial comments. In 2023, he talked about hells gates and targeted teachers and LGBTQ+ people. Before a speech June 30 at Lake Church in Bladen County celebrating the Fourth of July, the pastor hosting Robinson said he thinks the devil is behind President Joe Biden.

Robinsons speech, still available on the churchs Facebook page, has gained attention for his comments about why he thinks some folks need killing, referencing Germans and Japanese in World War II, but he talked beyond that.

As first reported by The New Republic, Robinson said, There was a time when we used to meet evil on the battlefield. And guess what we did to it? We killed it. We didnt quibble about it. We didnt argue about it. We didnt fight about it. We killed it. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, what did we do? We flew to Japan and we killed the Japanese army and navy.

We didnt even quibble about it. I didnt start this fight, you did! You want to be left alone, you should have left me alone. We didnt argue and capitulate and talk about, Well, maybe we shouldnt fight the Nazis that hard. No, theyre bad. Kill them. Some liberal somewhere is gonna say that sounds awful. Too bad, Robinson said to the congregation.

Get mad at me if you want to. Some folks need killing, he said.

Robinson had spent most of his speech on the topic of freedom, praising Revolutionary War soldiers, Union soldiers in the Civil War and the sacrifices made by parents whose sons and daughters served in the Vietnam War. But he went beyond wartime when he spoke about the punishment he wants for wicked people.

Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running for governor, speaks at a Moms for Liberty rally outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C. on Wednesday, June 12, 2024.

Wicked people and defending remarks

Its time for somebody to say it. Its not a matter of vengeance. Its not a matter of being mean or spiteful. Its a matter of necessity. We have wicked people doing wicked things  torturing and murdering and raping. Its time to call out those guys in green, go have them handle it. Those boys in blue, have them go handle it. We need to start handling our business again, Robinson said.

The U.S. Army and other branches of the military usually wear green uniforms depending on their location, and are under the federal government. Law enforcement officers, referred to as those in blue, serve at the town, city, county and state level. The lieutenant governor has no jurisdiction over the military or police. The governor can request the National Guard, and the N.C. Department of Public Safety, which includes the State Highway Patrol, is a Cabinet agency of the governors office.

Robinson spoke during the churchs two-hour service. Before his speech, he had a conversation in rocking chairs by the pulpit with Lake Church pastor, the Rev. Cameron McGill. The church, which also has a lakefront retreat camp, is in White Lake, and is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

McGill also serves on the Bladen County Board of Commissioners. McGill said the church will also host U.S. Rep. Dan Bishop, who is running for attorney general, and Dave Boliek, who is running for state auditor.

In response to Robinsons speech, McGill told The New Republic that without a doubt, those he deemed worthy of death [were] those seeking to kill us, adding that Robinson certainly did not imply the taking of any innocent lives and that the rest of his speech was non-controversial.

Mike Lonergan, Robinsons campaign spokesperson, criticized news organizations and Democrats on social media, saying they took Robinsons words out of context, claiming that they are defending the Axis powers. The Axis powers during World War II included Nazi Germany, Japan and Italy, while the Allied powers included the U.S., Great Britain and France, among others.

Robinson thinks freedom is slipping away

By saying handling our business again, Robinson explained by referencing something he said at the beginning of his speech, about people on their way to the church having the freedom to dress how they like and listen to what they want on the radio. He thinks those freedoms are slipping away.

Keep thinking about it. Dont you feel it slipping away? Dont you feel it slipping away? he repeated. The further away we get from the concept of 1776 and why we declared our independence and how we declared our independence. The further we start sliding into making 1776 a distant memory, and the tenets of socialism and communism start coming into clearer focus.

Robinson claimed they are watching, tracking, listening to, canceling, doxxing and mad at you and us.

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican candidate for governor, acknowledges the crowd at the Trump campaign rally in Greensboro on Saturday, March 2, 2024. Donald Trump endorsed Robinson at the event.

He also used his speech to preach about salvation through Jesus Christ, how he didnt want to wear a mask in a store during COVID-19 restrictions and why he doesnt celebrate Juneteenth.

Robinson is North Carolinas first Black lieutenant governor, and if he wins in the fall will be the states first Black governor. For Juneteenth, Robinson said he isnt from Galveston, Texas, which was the location where news of the Emancipation Proclamation last reached enslaved people, noting that slavery was not ended until the 13th Amendment was ratified. Ratification was on Dec. 6, 1865. Congress passed it on Jan. 31, 1865.

White House reaction

Robinson, who is part of the MAGA wing of the Republican Party, has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. During his visit to the Lake Church, McGill showed the congregation a photo of Robinson with Trump. Before Robinsons speech, McGill also talked about President Joe Biden.

I said here last week, and I know its offensive, probably, McGill said. But people ask me all the time, Whos behind President Biden, and that administration? Is it Obama, is it Clinton? Read your Bible. It is the devil. He is the father of lies. He is the deceiver. He is the divider. He is the manipulator.

Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika criticized Robinson for following Trumps lead in calling for violence against his enemies.

Donald Trump sows division and hatred, openly fantasizes about revenge against his opponents, and encourages political violence. Mark Robinson  the extremist Trump endorsed and compared to Martin Luther King Jr.  is following Trumps lead in calling for violence against his enemies and saying that some folks need killing, Chitika said in an emailed statement.

Mark Robinson and Donald Trump embrace a dangerous, violent, and anti-American vision of the country  its not who we are as Americans, and its why voters will put a stop to it in November, she said.

Morgan Hopkins, a spokesperson for Democratic Attorney General Josh Steins campaign for governor, called Robinson divisive and dangerous.

Mark Robinsons repeated and repulsively violent rhetoric fits into his pattern of spewing division and hate rather than serving North Carolina families. We cannot have a governor who calls for extrajudicial killings, Hopkins said.

In the Spotlight designates ongoing topics of high interest that are driven by The News & Observers focus on accountability reporting.
Attorneys for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School have asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to stay its order that the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board (above) -- which since has been replaced by the Statewide Charter School Board -- must rescind its contract with the school.

Attorneys for St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Friday to issue a stay of its order that a state board rescind its contract with the charter school, while acknowledging that such a stay wouldnt allow the school to open for the 2024-25 academic year.

The request was made in a court filing three days before the new Statewide Charter School Board is set to consider  during its first meeting  how to handle the situation involving St. Isidore.

The state Supreme Court issued its ruling June 25, ordering the new boards predecessor, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board, to rescind its contract with St. Isidore. But three days later, in the final meeting of that board before its dissolution, it failed to take action on the court order. The old boards legal responsibilities now fall to the new board, which began operating July 1.

St. Isidore wants the stay to be in effect until the expiration of time for the school to file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, or, if such an appeal is filed, until notice of final disposition by the U.S. Supreme Court.

St. Isidores attorneys said in the court filing the requested stay would be limited and would not permit St. Isidore to open to children or allow state charter-school funding to go to St. Isidore while review by the U.S. Supreme Court is sought. The limited stay would simply preserve the current contract in the event the U.S. Supreme Court reverses.

In its filing, St. Isidore said the request is merited for two reasons  it would allow the school to not lose the benefit of the contract or have to execute a replacement contract if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the state Supreme Courts ruling, and the rescission of the contract isnt necessary to give practical effect to the state courts decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court is also reasonably likely to grant review, St. Isidores attorneys wrote in the filing, noting the state courts opinion hinged on its determination that St. Isidore is a state actor  a question that currently divides other courts.

A spokesman for Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who filed the lawsuit against St. Isidore, referred a reporter to previous statements issued by that office. The most recent of those statements was issued on the day of the state Supreme Courts ruling and called the decision a tremendous victory for religious liberty.  While I understand that the Governor and other politicians are disappointed with this outcome, I hope that the people of Oklahoma can rejoice that they will not be compelled to fund radical religious schools that violate their faith.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sued the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board last year, claiming its contract with St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School was illegal.

By a 3-2 vote last October, the Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved the creation of St. Isidore and Drummond quickly sued, saying such an agreement was unconstitutional. The state court heard oral arguments in the case on April 2 and in its decision, it ordered the state board to rescind the contract.

Attorneys for the state board and St. Isidore argued the school, which would be the nations first Catholic virtual charter school, would actually be a private entity, and not a public school. They said not allowing St. Isidore to receive public funds like Oklahomas other charter schools would amount to religious discrimination that would violate the U.S. Constitution.

In his opinion, Justice James Winchester disagreed, saying the contract between the state board and St. Isidore violates the Oklahoma Constitution, the Oklahoma Charter Schools Act and the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The state Supreme Court noted that under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school. The case is being eyed closely due to its religious overtones and potential for a precedent-setting ruling.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, which operates the school along with the Diocese of Tulsa, has said because of the time it will take for an appeal to work through the court system, St. Isidore will not open as planned for the 2024-25 school year. The archdiocese has said more than 200 applications for the school have been received.

As a result of the state Supreme Court's decision, a second lawsuit against St. Isidore, filed in Oklahoma County District Court by a group of taxpayers, has been stayed until at least Feb. 1 by District Judge Richard Ogden.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: St. Isidore asks Oklahoma Supreme Court to issue stay of its ruling
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA)  A missing St. Petersburg woman who was last seen on the Fourth of July has been found safe, according to police.

Editors note: Due to the woman being found safe, all identifying information and photos have been removed from this story.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Cincinnati lost so much in January. Many in our city do not realize how much we now enjoy was engendered by Ohio Senator Stan Aronoff. Ive been waiting to write this column until after his celebration of life on June 22.

As a longtime friend, I was privileged to be among Neil Bortz, Steve Loftin, Jon Husted, Diane Martin, Jeff Ruby, Steve Hunt, Jeff DeLeone and Toria (granddaughter) and Brian Schottenstein as speakers on June 22. This is what I said then.

Sen. Stan Aronoff did more for Cincinnati than most civic leaders ever have. There are many reasons for this, but I will mention a few.

He was brilliant. He studied problems and solutions before he acted. Many legislators simply talked about what they thought they wanted without studying the possibilities or the obstacles. Stan was one of the exceptions. When he advocated for something, he had the facts in hand, and he had figured out how to clear the obstacles.

He worked hard and he understood Ohio. Being a state senator from Cincinnati and president of the Ohio Senate meant he had to travel from one end of the state to the other frequently.

Some of that driving was before interstate highways. Much was before car phones. Can you imagine?

I once calculated that Stan had traveled more miles back and forth from Cincinnati to Columbus than Neil Armstrong had to the Moon. Anyone who ever rode with Stan knew he probably traveled faster.

Stan loved Cincinnati and its people. He was born here and spent his life here. His family were immigrants  refugees. But Cincinnati was home to Stan, and he left it a much better place.

After working his way up to the Ohio Statehouse, Stan secured the rightful share of state support that Cincinnati had long been denied.

The icons of our built environment  the University of Cincinnati campus with its signature-architect structures, the renovation of Cincinnati Union Terminal as the nationally acclaimed Museum Center (my wife, Sue Ann, was instrumental) and the Aronoff Center for the Arts, which truly revived Downtown  would not exist except for Stan Aronoff. The Ohio Arts Council, which supports countless large and small arts institutions, would not exist without Stanley J. Aronoff.

A view inside the Aronoff Center for the Arts, a venue created with the support of the late Stan Aronoff.

He was the rare visionary who also had the ability and determination to accomplish great things.

He was a Republican who worked with Democrats to get things done. The best government we had in Ohio while Ive been alive was when Stan Aronoff was Senate President and Vern Riffe was House Speaker: one Republican and one Democrat; one urban and one rural.

Nothing could pass unless Stan and Vern agreed. This meant compromise was necessary to round off the edges and keep extremists of either party in check, and it worked well. Back then, the legislature focused on school funding, criminal justice, and public health. While they surely couldn't solve everything, they made an effort to try, rather than an effort to "own" the other side.

In Stan's day, the extremely goofy legislation we see now with Ohio's one-party government would never have even been considered.

The recent proposals to ban drag shows and prosecute school librarians would have been laughed out of a legislature populated by adults.

Sue Ann and I were privileged to know Stan and to have played a small part in this journey.

One day, we hope to see his equal again.

Mark Painter

Cincinnati native Mark Painter served for 30 years as an Ohio judge. After serving 13 years on the Hamilton County Municipal Court, Painter was elected to the Ohio Court of Appeals in 1994. He served on Ohio's Court of Appeals until 2009, when he was elected by the UN General Assembly to serve as the first American on the UN Appeals Tribunal. He is the author of six books and hundreds of nationally published opinions.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Stan Aronoff did more for Cincinnati than most civic leaders ever have
(Bloomberg) -- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his new Labour government would scrap predecessor Rishi Sunaks plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda, confirming his intention to adopt a new approach to immigration.

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Sunaks Rwanda plan was dead and buried before it started, Starmer said in his first press conference as premier on Saturday.

The question of how to stop the small boats carrying migrants across the English Channel was a major theme of the campaign. Sunak called the election without putting his deportation plan into effect, and Labour has repeatedly called it a gimmick that wouldnt work.

Starmer has said his government would shift the focus to the criminal gangs running the people-smuggling trade to tackle the issue. On Saturday, he said the Rwanda policy had never delivered the deterrent that Sunak promised, pointing to the record number of asylum-seekers arriving in the UK so far this year.

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Widowed and retired homeowner Carol Kahn reads her Hamilton County property tax documents, which shot up more than $1,800 a year in the latest property reassessment from the county, pictured, Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, at her home in Amberley Village, Ohio.

Remember the shepherd boy who cried "wolf" one night when he was feeling lonely so other shepherds would come to his aid? There was no wolf. He did it again and the other shepherds came. Still, no wolf. The third time there really was a wolf, but when the shepherd cried out for help, nobody came.

I remember that when I see criticisms of Ohios property tax process. After administering Hamilton Countys property reappraisals for over three decades, I understand the frustration of the property owner who sees his or her tax bill increase. Often that frustration expresses itself in misinformation, playing politics and conspiracy theories which accomplish nothing. Like the shepherd boy, the critics lose credibility by making false charges and not knowing the facts.

First, the county auditor has to follow state law in setting values. The state tax commissioner reviews all reappraisals and makes auditors change values if they dont match up with community sales ratios. No county auditor, past, present or future can change the process.

In 2022, the State Board of Tax Appeals turned down an appeal by then-Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds and made him increase values in Fairfield and West Chester townships and the cities of Fairfield and Hamilton.

Second, there is politics. "Democrats are raising your taxes," said the Ohio Republican Party chairman on social media, attacking the Hamilton County reappraisal. Those charges collapsed faster than President Joe Bidens poll numbers when it was pointed out that all-Republican Butler and Clermont counties' values (and taxes) increased even more than Hamilton County.

In 2007, Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, removed the income test for the senior citizen Homestead Exemption. Hamilton County went from about 8,500 to over 47,000 properties receiving this property tax reduction. While those eligible were grandfathered in, Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, reinstituted the income test, severely restricting the people who now qualify for this reduction.

Kasich and the Ohio Legislature also slashed the Local Government Fund in 2011, putting more of the burden of funding local services on local taxes. They also removed the 10% and 2.5% rollbacks on newly voted tax levies. Those rollbacks were promised as a part of Ohios income tax in the 1970s and 1980s.

Speaking of promises, when voters passed the stadium sales tax in 1996, voters were told 30% would go toward lowering property taxes. Both Republican and Democratic County Commissions reduced that amount considerably over the years breaking that promise.

Third, property owners hurt their cause with misinformation. In 1996, ours was one of the first large counties to put property information on the internet, making it available to everyone 24/7. I started this website in the interests of transparency and providing accurate information to the public.

Some critics cherry-pick properties that seem to be inaccurately valued. For example, they questioned the former auditors home being assessed at $200,000 less than the sale price. The purchase was made after the books were closed on data gathering for the reappraisal. The office did not have the future sale price when they were setting values.

Others say a county auditor can use "a different way" of setting values. That is a lie. There is no "different way" and will not be until the Ohio Legislature creates it. Local governments and schools will get the money voters approved. Reducing taxes for some will raise taxes for everyone else.

One solution is to restore state funding to reduce the dependence on property taxes. Another is to remove the "20 mill Floor" for schools, the "charter millage" for cities and the "emergency" levy exceptions to the mandated rollbacks of voted levies. The law (House Bill 920) says most voted levies cannot raise any more than voters approved. Increased values are not supposed to significantly raise taxes.

They do because of the above-noted special interest exceptions by the Ohio Legislature. Those exceptions create big windfalls for the taxing entities and the higher taxes for property owners.

Instead of crying "wolf," well-meaning citizens should demand action from their state senators and representatives. And thats the only way the property tax problems can be corrected.

Dusty Rhodes is the former Hamilton County auditor, serving from 1991-2023.

Dusty Rhodes

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Property owners' frustration with taxes expressed in misinformation
UPDATE 7/7/24, 12:09 p.m.: The Silver King Fire has grown to over 5,400 acres, according to an estimate from Utah Fire Info on Sunday.

The fire continued to progress Saturday night into Sunday, exhibiting extreme fire behavior, Utah Fire Info stated.

Firefighters and aircraft are working ahead of the fire to the east and south at this time, officials said. Fire managers are also assessing additional plans of action while crews are engaged in battling the blaze.

Courtesy of Utah Fire Info

Courtesy of Utah Fire Info

A Red Flag Warning remains in place through 9 p.m. Sunday, July 7, displaying record high temperatures, low humidities and winds up to 30 miles per hour out of the northwest, Utah Fire Info stated.

The cause of the fire has been identified as a lightning strike.

This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this post as new information becomes available.

ORIGINAL STORY: MARYSVALE, Utah (ABC4)  A wildfire that kicked up in Piute County Friday morning dramatically increased in size throughout Saturday, according to Utah Fire Info.

The wildfire  named the Silver King Fire  is located around eight miles west of Marysvale and 17 miles southwest of Monroe, in the Fishlake National Forest. On Saturday morning, the fire was estimated to be about 686 acres in size, and was burning in very steep and rugged terrain with limited accessibility, according to Utah Fire Info.

Around 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, Utah Fire Info gave an update and said the fire was estimated at 2,830 acres and was exhibiting extreme fire behavior.

PREVIOUSLY: Historic mining structures threatened by southern Utah wildfire

Courtesy of Marysvale Fire Dept.

An image of the Silver King Fire shared by officials on July 6, 2024. (Courtesy: Utah Fire Info)

An image of the Silver King Fire shared by officials on July 6, 2024. (Courtesy: Utah Fire Info)





Officials said the fire was pushing south through the Beaver Creek drainage, and it was burning in heavy dead and down timber stands.

As of Friday night, firefighters were able to hold the fire west of the 113 road, Kimberly Road. This provided protection for the historic Silver King Mine in the Old Kimberly Mining District.

Crews were looking to build out the fireline Saturday, where possible, and were scouting areas for safe access.

Today crews protected the Historic Silver King Mine and worked to catch spot fires in an attempt to prevent fire spread to the north, Utah Fire Info said on Saturday night.

Officials determined the cause of the Silver King Fire to be lightning.

A Red Flag Warning is currently in place, citing hot, dry, and windy conditions with low relative humidity.

Please avoid the areas of the Beaver Creek drainage and Bullion drainage to provide for the safety of firefighters and the public, fire officials said on Saturday.

As of Saturday morning, one hot shot crew, four engines, and an aircraft were on scene, and more resources have reportedly been ordered and are en route to assist.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
The upcoming NATO summit will discuss ways to increase cooperation between Ukraine and South Korea, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on July 5.

"The flagship project is partly related to the medical education of Ukrainian soldiers," he said at a press conference in Washington, where the summit will be held on July 9-11.

"We are also considering how we can expand the exchange of intelligence with South Korea."

Though Stoltenberg didn't refer to it, Seoul last month said it would consider supplying Ukraine with weapons in response to Moscow's recently announced security agreement with North Korea.

Up until now, Seoul has only provided humanitarian aid to Kyiv, though it has been reported the country has indirectly supplied artillery shells via the U.S.

Stoltenberg highlighted escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere, and their implications for Ukraine.

"Iran and North Korea are fueling Russia's war with drones and missiles," he said.

"China is supporting Russia's military economy and supplying microelectronics and other dual-use goods for Russia's war. The closer these authoritarian players get, the more important it is for us to work closely with our friends in the Indo-Pacific region."

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would take decisions that are "unlikely to please South Korea" if Seoul decides to send arms to Ukraine.

He also did not rule out the possibility of sending weapons to North Korea, based on the recently signed deal between the two countries.

Under the new treaty, Russia and North Korea pledged to provide aid to one another if either is attacked, Putin said.

Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesperson, called Putin's threats "incredibly concerning" at a press briefing on June 20.

Read also: Putin gifted Kim Russian-made luxury car made by company that uses South Korean parts, Reuters says

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Semaglutide drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have seemingly exploded in popularity in recent years. As more doctors prescribe these medications for weight loss, scientists are diving in to the potential risks that they may present in humans down the road.

A new study published in the JAMA Ophthamology journal researchers illuminates one concerning health outcome that could be possibly linked to semaglutide use. According to the study, people were prescribed semaglutide as Ozempic for diabetes or Wegovy for weight loss were more likely to be diagnosed with a rare medical condition called nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), per The Guardian. It's essentially a stroke of the optic nerve, which can lead to blindness.

The scientists noted, however, that they have no evidence that semaglutide directly causes NAION. They simply found that patients taking the drug had a greater risk of developing it.

"The use of these drugs has exploded throughout industrialized countries and they have provided very significant benefits in many ways, but future discussions between a patient and their physician should include NAION as a potential risk," study co-author Dr. Joseph Rizzo said in a statement. "It is important to appreciate, however, that the increased risk relates to a disorder that is relatively uncommon." The condition is estimated to affect roughly two to 10 people out of 100,000.

"Our findings should be viewed as being significant but tentative, as future studies are needed to examine these questions in a much larger and more diverse population, Rizzo added. "This is information we did not have before and it should be included in discussions between patients and their doctors, especially if patients have other known optic nerve problems like glaucoma or if there is preexisting significant visual loss from other causes."

Novo Nordisk, the company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, said in a statement that patient safety is paramount. It noted that the study data does not establish a "causal association" between the drugs and NAION, and that NAION is not one of the potential side effects on their marketing labels approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

"Semaglutide has been studied in large real-world evidence studies and robust clinical development programs with a cumulative exposure over 22 million patient years," the pharmaceutical company told USA Today.

As always, talk with your doctor to determine if either of these medications are right for you.
Two of Bui's mugshots along with a still from security footage of the 2022 attack.

A convicted migrant rapist on lifetime parole who managed to stay in the U.S. thanks to legal loopholes will finally be sent back home, The Post has learned.

Van Phu Bui fractured a Bronx mans skull in 2022 with a brutal sucker-punch. Now serving time for that heinous crime, Bui, 56, will be deported back to his native Vietnam as soon as hes released from prison, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement official told The Post this week.

Bui came to the U.S. in 1985 through Seattle, seeking asylum. Six years later, he was in the Big Apple and arrested for the first time for attempted robbery, online court records confirm.

A still from surveillance footage showing Bui attacking Jesus Cortes Cabrera in 2022. DCPI

Additional details about that incident werent immediately available.

An immigration judge ordered Bui removed from the United States on Feb. 5, 1991, ICE said.

But Bui wasnt booted because of a 1990 law that shielded migrants from deportation to countries facing natural disaster or war.

So Bui settled in Claremont in the Bronx, where he raped a teenage girl at gunpoint on Christmas Eve in 1994. He was convicted in 1995, and sentenced to 6 years to life, ultimately serving 20.

Yet officials were unable to deport him in 2015, thanks to a 2008 deal excluding Vietnamese nationals who arrived in the U.S. before 1995 from being repatriated.

The brutal incident seriously injured Cortes Cabrera. DCPI

He shouldve been removed a long time ago, an ICE source told The Post on condition of anonymity.

Then, in August 2022, Bui  now homeless  cold-cocked Jesus Cortes Cabrera without warning outside the Fuego Tipico Restaurant in Fordham Manor. Cortes Cabrera, who teaches Mexican dance to children, spent three weeks in the hospital with severe brain bleeding and a skull fracture.

The case sparked headlines after cops charged Bui with attempted murder, only to have the Bronx District Attorneys Office downgrade the charge to assault. Bui was convicted in May and received a 3 1/2 to 7 years sentence.

Bui made The Posts cover after he was released without bail.

Once Buis current sentence is served, hell finally be shipped back home, officials insisted, thanks to recently relaxed repatriation agreements first initiated in 2019 by the Trump administration.

He will be amenable to removal from the United States to Vietnam upon completion of his prison sentence, ICE said, adding Bui has agreed not to fight deportation.

Cortes Cabrera said learning of Buis decades-old deportation order was disappointing.

Cortes Cabrera said Buis attack has forever changed his life. Georgett Roberts/NY Post

I would have hoped that he got deported the first time, so he wouldnt have hurt me, Cortes Cabrera explained. It shouldnt have happened.  Its a miracle Im alive.

Cortes Cabrera said Bui deserved more prison time than he got.

[If] this guy spends three years in jail and then they deport him to Vietnam, I want him to stay in jail in Vietnam, said Cortes Cabrera. He is very, very bad, and hell do the same thing there. I dont think hell change.

Buis lawyer could not be reached for comment.
By Nafisa Eltahir

CAIRO (Reuters) -Rival Sudanese political factions formally attended reconciliation talks in Cairo on Saturday, the first since a conflict in the country began almost 15 months ago, but admitted there was little prospect of quickly ending the war.

During the conference the Democratic Bloc, which is aligned with the army, refused to hold joint sessions with Taqaddum faction, which it accuses of sympathising with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Neither the army nor the RSF attended.

The war in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023, has forced almost 10 million people from their homes, sparked warnings of famine and waves of ethnically-driven violence blamed largely on the RSF.

The force this week swept through the state of Sennar, causing new displacement. In response, army head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the army would not negotiate with the RSF or its supporters.

"The stark deterioration in the humanitarian situation and the catastrophic consequences of this crisis, call on all of us to work to immediately and sustainably to stop military operations," said newly-appointed Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty.

Talks in Jeddah between the army and RSF that were sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia broke down at the end of last year.

Taqaddum is a coalition of pro-democracy parties, armed groups, and civil society that has called for an end to the war. The army-aligned Democratic Bloc includes several armed group leaders participating in the fighting.

While Egypt was able to wield its influence to assemble the group, the main attendees were seated at opposite sides of the hall at the conference's opening.

The two political factions agreed only to form a small subcommittee to come up with a final communique calling for an end to the war, which three Democratic Bloc leaders with forces fighting alongside the army did not sign.

"We told them [the Egyptians] not to have high ambitions for this meeting," Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim told Reuters. He along with Darfur governor Minni Minawi and Sovereign Council deputy Malik Agar did not sign the communique.

"Given the situation on the ground, if we sit and eat and drink and laugh with the people who are allied and partners in the crimes that are happening we would be sending the wrong message to our citizens and to our soldiers," he said.

He added that an end to the war was not realistic without the withdrawal of the RSF from civilian areas, in line with an agreement signed in Jeddah last year, and the end of material support to the RSF by the United Arab Emirates. U.N. experts have said that accusations of such support are credible though the UAE has denied them.

Former Prime Minister and Taqaddum head Abdalla Hamdok rejected accusations that the coalition was linked to the RSF, saying he awaited the army's agreement to meet.

"A crisis this complicated and deep is not expected to end in one meeting... The lesson is for us to be patient and to build on anything positive that comes out of it," he told Reuters, echoing sentiments from diplomats at the meeting.

U.S. Special Envoy Tom Perriello said he hoped momentum from Saturday's talks would carry on to another meeting called by the African Union next week, another of several overlapping initiatives.

(Reporting by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Alexandra Hudson)
President Biden and his campaign made an attempt to quell concerns and win back support this week after a poor debate performance last week but calls for him to step aside have continued. Those calls and his first post-debate interview are likely to be the focus of this weeks Sunday news shows.

Bidens debate showing  where he appeared to lack energy and often stumbled over his answers  sparked widespread panic among Democrats about not only his ability to beat former President Trump in November, but also if the 81-year-old can serve another four years if reelected.

Since then, there have been numerous calls for him to suspend his campaign and allow someone else to have the opportunity to run, namely his Vice President Kamala Harris, who has vowed her support to Biden.

The president held campaign rallies this week to drum up energy among Democrats and prove that debate night was just a bad episode. In an interview Friday with ABCs George Stephanopoulos Friday, a conversation that was seen as a make-or-break moment for his campaign, he again insisted he would stay the course.

While better than his debate performance, he didnt instill enthusiasm among his base during a critical time.

One of the first to call on Biden to step aside was former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio). Ryan said too much is at stake in this election and Harris should take over as the partys nominee. He is set to join Fox News Sunday, where he will likely speak about his request of Biden.

Other allies of the incumbent are set to appear on the shows this weekend. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) will join CNNs State of the Union. In the past, Dingell has said she is sick and tired of people talking about Bidens age because he can do the job just fine.

The Democrat lawmakers are likely to defend the presidents decision to stay in the race despite a growing number of their colleagues calling on him to resign.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will join CBS Face the Nation this week, where he will likely talk about Biden as well. Graham argued Friday that Biden staying in the race was very good news and would help Republicans up and down the ticket.

While the Democratic Party is struggling internally, questions remain about the Republican Party. Trump has hinted that he already made his pick about his vice president is and will announce his running mate at the Republican National Convention, which begins July 15 in Milwaukee.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who are among the top rumored candidates, will appear on the shows this weekend. Vance is scheduled to appear on NBCs Meet the Press and Rubio will join CNN.

They will likely talk about Trumps recent successes, which include the debate against Biden and the recent Supreme Court immunity ruling that grants presidents immunity from prosecution for official acts.

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this weeks Sunday talk shows:

NewsNations The Hill Sunday  Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.).

NBCs Meet the Press  Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio); Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).

CBS Face the Nation  Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.); NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

CNNs State of the Union  Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.); Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.).

Fox News Sunday  Former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio); American University history professor Allan Lichtman

Fox News Sunday Morning Futures  Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.); Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.); Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley; New York Post columnist Miranda Devine.

ABCs This Week  Replay of President Bidens interview with George Stephanopoulos.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Guardian or Authority of Law, created by sculptor James Earle Fraser, rests on the side of the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

The Guardian or Authority of Law, created by sculptor James Earle Fraser, rests on the side of the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 28, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)

This story first appeared on KFF Health News.

A landmark Supreme Court decision that reins in federal agencies authority is expected to hold dramatic consequences for the nations health care system, calling into question government rules on anything from consumer protections for patients to drug safety to nursing home care.

The June 28 decision overturns a 1984 precedent that said courts should give deference to federal agencies in legal challenges over their regulatory or scientific decisions. Instead of giving priority to agencies, courts will now exercise their own independent judgment about what Congress intended when drafting a particular law.

The ruling will likely have seismic ramifications for health policy. A flood of litigation  with plaintiffs like small businesses, drugmakers, and hospitals challenging regulations they say arent specified in the law  could leave the country with a patchwork of disparate health regulations varying by location.

Agencies such as the FDA are likely to be far more cautious in drafting regulations, Congress is expected to take more time fleshing out legislation to avoid legal challenges, and judges will be more apt to overrule current and future regulations.

Health policy leaders say patients, providers, and health systems should brace for more uncertainty and less stability in the health care system. Even routine government functions such as deciding the rate to pay doctors for treating Medicare beneficiaries could become embroiled in long legal battles that disrupt patient care or strain providers to adapt.

Groups that oppose a regulation could search for and secure partisan judges to roll back agency decision-making, said Andrew Twinamatsiko, director of the Health Policy and the Law Initiative at Georgetown Universitys ONeill Institute. One example could be challenges to the FDAs approval of a medication used in abortions, which survived a Supreme Court challenge this term on a technicality.

Judges will be more emboldened to second-guess agencies, he said. Its going to open agencies up to attacks.

Regulations are effectively the technical instructions for laws written by Congress. Federal agency staffers with knowledge related to a law  say, in drugs that treat rare diseases or health care for seniors  decide how to translate Congress words into action with input from industry, advocates, and the public.

Up until now, when agencies issued a regulation, a single rule typically applied nationwide. Following the high court ruling, however, lawsuits filed in more than one jurisdiction could result in contradictory rulings and regulatory requirements  meaning health care policies for patients, providers, or insurers could differ greatly from one area to another.

One circuit may uphold a regulation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for example, while other circuits may take different views.

You could have eight or nine of 11 different views of the courts, said William Buzbee, a professor at Georgetown Law.

A court in one circuit could issue a nationwide injunction to enforce its interpretation while another circuit disagrees, said Maura Monaghan, a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton. Few cases are taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court, which could leave clashing directives in place for many years.

In the immediate future, health policy leaders say agencies should brace for more litigation over controversial initiatives. A requirement that most Affordable Care Act health plans cover preventive services, for example, is already being litigated. Multiple challenges to the mandate could mean different coverage requirements for preventive care depending on where a consumer lives.

Drugmakers have sued to try to stop the Biden administration from implementing a federal law that forces makers of the most expensive drugs to negotiate prices with Medicare  a key cog in President Joe Bidens effort to lower drug prices and control health care costs.

Parts of the health care industry may take on reimbursement rates for doctors that are set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services because those specific rates arent written into law. The agency issues rules updating payment rates in Medicare, a health insurance program for people 65 or older and younger people with disabilities. Groups representing doctors and hospitals regularly flock to Washington, D.C., to lobby against trims to their payment rates.

And providers, including those backed by deep-pocketed investors, have sued to block federal surprise-billing legislation. The No Surprises Act, which passed in 2020 and took effect for most people in 2022, aims to protect patients from unexpected, out-of-network medical bills, especially in emergencies. The high courts ruling is expected to spur more litigation over its implementation.

This really is going to create a tectonic change in the administrative regulatory landscape, Twinamatsiko said. The approach since 1984 has created stability. When the FDA or CDC adopt regulations, they know those regulations will be respected. That has been taken back.

Industry groups, including the American Hospital Association and AHIP, an insurers trade group, declined to comment.

Agencies such as the FDA that take advantage of their regulatory authority to make specific decisions, such as the granting of exclusive marketing rights upon approval of a drug, will be vulnerable. The reason: Many of their decisions require discretion as opposed to being explicitly defined by federal law, said Joseph Ross, a professor of medicine and public health at Yale School of Medicine.

The legislation that guides much of the work in the health space, such as FDA and CMS, is not prescriptive, he said.

In fact, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said in an episode of the Healthcare Unfiltered podcast last year that he was very worried about the disruption from judges overruling his agencys scientific decisions.

A whole host of existing regulations could be vulnerable.

 Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy, KFF

The high courts ruling will be especially significant for the nations federal health agencies because their regulations are often complex, creating the opportunity for more pitched legal battles.

Challenges that may not have succeeded in courts because of the deference to agencies could now find more favorable outcomes.

A whole host of existing regulations could be vulnerable, said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF.

Other consequences are possible. Congress may attempt to flesh out more details when drafting legislation to avoid challenges  an approach that may increase partisan standoffs and slow down an already glacial pace in passing legislation, Levitt said.

Agencies are expected to be far more cautious in writing regulations to be sure they dont go beyond the contours of the law.

The Supreme Courts 6-3 decision overturned Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which held that courts should generally back a federal agencys statutory interpretation as long as it was reasonable. Republicans have largely praised the new ruling as necessary for ensuring agencies dont overstep their authority, while Democrats said in the aftermath of the decision that it amounts to a judicial power grab.

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.

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Attorney General Drew Wrigley, left, presents a report on building cost overruns Dec. 19, 2023, at the Capitol. At right is Rep. Scott Wagner, R-Fargo. (Amy Dalrymple/North Dakota Monitor)

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision curbing the regulatory power of the executive branch could give the state a boost in its roughly 30 pending lawsuits against the federal government.

The high courts ruling, released June 28, reverses a 40-year policy that required federal courts to defer to executive branch agencies when interpreting vague laws.

Its a long time coming, Wrigley said of the decision in Loper Bright Enterprises vs. Raimondo. This was an unwise doctrine when it was first pronounced decades back.

The practice  often called Chevron deference after the Supreme Court 1984 ruling that created it  applied to how federal agencies enacted regulatory marching orders from Congress.

When Congress passes a law directing an agency to regulate something, its instructions are seldom 100% clear. The court decided in the 1984 case that federal agencies could use their own expertise to fill in the blanks in areas where the law is ambiguous.

The idea was that the agencies would know best how to interpret the will of Congress, and that the doctrine would protect them from excessive legal challenges.

The Supreme Courts recent decision revoked this power. Now, its up to federal judges to interpret gray areas in legislation.

The ruling is expected to lead to significant regulatory changes as the federal government implements the new standard.

Wrigley said he expects the ruling to be largely positive for North Dakotas spate of lawsuits against the federal government  which includes cases challenging regulations passed by the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Department of Education and more.

This decision has taken away power from nameless, faceless bureaucrats, he said.

The ruling could also have major impacts on the federal governments relationships with Native tribes, said Tim Purdon, a former U.S. Attorney for North Dakota who represents tribal communities as a private practice lawyer.

There are lots of regulations that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Interior and places like that have historically interpreted, he said.

Some critics of the Chevron deference are hopeful its ouster will lead to more consistency in the executive branch.

Under Chevron, the regulatory environment could swing from one extreme to the other when new presidents took office, said Paul Traynor, an assistant professor for the University of North Dakota Law School whose specialties include insurance and corporate law.

It kind of put both the country and people in sort of a whipsaw, he said. (His brother, Dan Traynor, is a U.S. District Court Judge for the District of North Dakota.)

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The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to overturn the doctrine, with the courts three liberal judges dissenting.

The courts opinion, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, states that reversing Chevron is consistent with the intent of the U.S. Constitution, which gives the federal courts the power to interpret laws.

The Framers  anticipated that courts would often confront statutory ambiguities and expected that courts would resolve them by exercising independent legal judgment, Roberts wrote.

The courts liberal justices countered that federal agencies are better suited to make sense of the instructions Congress gives them.

Congress knows that it does not  in fact cannot  write perfectly complete regulatory statutes, Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent. It knows that those statutes will inevitably contain ambiguities that some other actor will have to resolve, and gaps that some other actor will have to fill. And it would usually prefer that actor to be the responsible agency, not a court.

The North Dakota courts also have a history of deferring to state agencies interpretation of the law, according to Chief Deputy Attorney General Claire Ness.

The question remains as to whether the Supreme Courts decision will lead North Dakota to reexamine the level of regulatory power it gives those agencies.

I think that our state regulators  are going to have to very seriously look at the grant of authority that they have been delegated by the Legislature, Traynor said.

The decision to overturn Chevron comes just two years after another landmark Supreme Court ruling that curbed the executive branchs regulatory power, commonly referred to as West Virginia v. EPA. In that decision, the Supreme Court struck down an EPA rule that regulated carbon dioxide emissions by power plants. North Dakota was also a plaintiff in the case.

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UCLA police name man arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting student in dorm

UCLA police say the suspect in custody is not affiliated with the school  the site of Friday's early-morning assault of a student in her dorm room at Saxon Suites. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

The man suspected of sexually assaulting a UCLA student in her dorm room early Friday is 41 years old and not affiliated with the university, campus police said Saturday.

Jeffery Brewer has been arrested on suspicion of forcible sexual penetration, burglary, false imprisonment and assault with intent to commit a felony. Bail was set at $1,050,000.

It was around 2:40 a.m. Friday when a man entered Saxon Suites residential dorms by unknown means and assaulted the student in her bed, the UCLA Police Department said in a news release.

The incident was reported immediately after the man fled the room, police said. The man was described as being heavy-set with a curly beard, wearing all-black clothing and a beanie.

After searching all day, officers located and apprehended the suspect around 9:45 p.m. Friday. The victim and two witnesses positively identified him, campus police said.

The victim, whose age was not provided, received medical treatment at the scene, according to the news release.

Brewer was previously arrested by UCLA police on July 11 last year on unspecified misdemeanor charges, according to the L.A. County Sheriff's Inmate Information Center.

UCLA has had more sexual assaults reported than any other school in the 10-campus University of California system  36 between April 2023 and March 2024. Overall, 1,975 crimes were reported at UCLA during that period  larceny and theft being the largest category, with 441 reports, UC systemwide data show. The vast majority of arrests involved suspects who were not affiliated with the university of about 46,680 students.

UC Berkeley, the system's second-largest university, with about 45,700 students, had 14 reports of sexual assaults among 2,222 crimes reported between April 2023 and March 2024. Larceny, theft and motor vehicle theft were the largest issues there, accounting for 1,000 reported crimes; most suspects also were not affiliated with the campus.

UC Santa Barbara had 18 reports of sexual assault, UC Davis 14 and UC Irvine 13 between April 2023 and March 2024. Nine were reported in that period at UC Santa Cruz, seven at UC Riverside, six at UC San Diego, and five each at UC Merced and UC San Francisco.

UCLA police encourage students to report any suspicious activity to them at (310) 825-1491.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Suspect in deadly BeltLine stabbing was an escaped inmate, Atlanta police say

The man wanted in a deadly stabbing along the Atlanta BeltLine on Friday was an escaped inmate.

According to Atlanta police, William Coleman, 27, was wanted by the Georgia Department of Corrections for escape.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Officers say they were called to the portion of the BeltLine along Montgomery Ferry Road around 8 p.m. on Friday night where they found a man who had been stabbed several times. He was pronounced dead on scene.

Investigators found a man matching the suspects description in the area and identified him as Coleman.

When they learned that Coleman was wanted, he was arrested and taken to APD for questioning.

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He was eventually charged with murder, aggravated assault and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony.

Channel 2 Action News is working to learn when Coleman escaped and what he was initially arrested for.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
WEST JORDAN, Utah (ABC4)  A suspect is dead after being shot by officers following a domestic violence incident in West Jordan Friday night, according to West Jordan Police.

Upon police arrival at a West Jordan residence, a suspect in a domestic violence incident  since identified as Nicholas Kemp  began firing at officers. Kemp reportedly then got into a vehicle and fled the scene as officers pursued.

PREVIOUSLY: Suspect shoots at officers in West Jordan domestic violence incident, chase ensues

Kemp continued shooting at officers during the chase, police said, which came to an end at 9600 South. At some point during the chase, officers shot Kemp  details on when and how Kemp was shot have not been made available at this time.

Kemp was taken to the hospital after the incident. ABC4.com confirmed Saturday that Kemp died in the hospital overnight following the shooting.

1300 West between 9800 South and 9000 South was closed following the incident.

No officers were injured in the shooting.

No further information is available at this time.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
A teenager pleaded guilty Friday to manslaughter and assault for shooting at a car full of young people in Tacomas Hilltop neighborhood, killing 14-year-old Iyana Ussery and endangering others close to the gunfire.

Christopher Anthony P. Felizardo was 17 years old when he and Jeremiah Anthony Greg Averitt were accused of firing 28 rounds at a Dodge Magnum occupied by six people crossing South 19th Street on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. According to court records, bullets also struck an ambulance occupied by two workers and Ezells Chicken, sending customers fleeing for cover.

The defendants, both now 19, were charged as adults in Pierce County Superior Court due to their age at the time of the July 6, 2022 shooting and the severity of their charges. Averitts case remains pending with a trial-readiness status hearing set for Aug. 20.

Felizardo pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault. Prosecutors originally charged him with second-degree murder, eight counts of first-degree assault, drive-by shooting and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Christopher Anthony P Felizardo, 19, pleads guilty to first-degree manslaughter and two counts of second-degree assault in the July 6, 2022 murder of 14-year-old Iyana Ussery at Pierce County Superior Court on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Tacoma, Wash. AMBER RITSON /aritson@thenewstribune.com

The victims mother, Kelsey Ussery, told The News Tribune the change in charges felt like a slap in the face. She said prosecutors informed her via email Wednesday that charges would be amended, giving her little time before the July 4 holiday to voice her disagreement.

Its an injustice, Kelsey Ussery said. These boys got out of the car in broad daylight and shot my car up 27 times. And for the prosecutors to even offer such a plea deal like this is just disrespectful.

The mother said she was told a key witness to her daughters death died in a separate incident, and that was part of the reason charges were lowered from murder to manslaughter. That witness was DeLayah Sims, a 17-year-old girl who was fatally shot in Tacoma in April, allegedly by her boyfriend.

Felizardos guilty pleas also came with an agreement with the state. Deputy prosecuting attorney Matthew Thomas said in court that the state doesnt intend on calling him to testify in his co-defendants trial, but if the defense calls him to testify, the plea agreement requires that he testify truthfully.

If he does, according to a spokesperson for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorneys Office, prosecutors will ask that one of Felizardos second-degree assault charges be dropped at sentencing.

Iyana Ussery pictured in January 2022. Courtesy Kelsey Ussery

A sentencing date was set for Oct. 18. Prosecutors will recommend that he be sentenced to 119 months, just under 10 years in the states custody, the prosecuting attorneys offices spokesperson said. In Washington, young people sentenced for crimes committed before they are 18 go to juvenile rehabilitation in the custody of the Department of Children, Youth and Families until age 25, when they would transfer to the Department of Corrections.

Prosecutors have said the shooting might have been gang-related. Police said they suspected the shooting was targeted, but at the time it was unclear who that target was. According to charging documents, a victim told police that Averitt and a boy in the car had been feuding because of rival gang membership.

Ussery, the oldest of three siblings, was with friends on her way to get snacks at a convenience store when the car she was a passenger in was fired upon at about 11:35 a.m., court records state. Ussery was shot on the right side of her torso, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Hundreds of people gathered for a peace march the day after Usserys death to support her family and call for an end to gun violence. The shooting came in the middle of the deadliest year on record for Tacoma, with 45 homicides recorded, according to previous reporting from The News Tribune. State crime records that date back to 1980 show the closest the city has come to matching those grim records was in 1988, 1994 and 2020, when the city had 33 homicides.

Kelsey Ussery, center-right, grieves as she is followed by hundreds of people during a peace walk in the memory of Usserys daughter, Iyana, on Thursday, July 7, 2022, in Tacoma, Wash. Iyana Ussery was shot and killed on Wednesday, July 6, 2022. Pete Caster/pcaster@thenewstribune.com

In the days after the deadly shooting, Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards said in an issued statement that the deadly shooting had left her furious, and Police Chief Avery Moore said his department wouldnt rest as it pursued safety and security for Tacoma.

At the County-City Building on Friday in downtown Tacoma, at least 35 people filled the seating area of a second-floor courtroom, including relatives and friends of both the victim and defendants families.

Felizardo entered the courtroom unrestrained and wearing a gray and pink jail uniform. He said little during the hearing except to answer standard questions about his plea from Judge Bryan Chushcoff. Felizardo and his co-defendant have remained in custody on $1 million bail for nearly two years while the case has pended. After pleading guilty Friday, Felizardo was placed on a no-bail hold.

The defendants attorney from the Department of Assigned Counsel, Peter Reich, declined to comment after court adjourned.

Outside the building, Kelsey Ussery told The News Tribune she felt let down by the justice system. She said the last two years have been hell for her and her family. She has two sons, now ages 3 and 7, and she said the older had to be taken out of school and is still going through speech therapy because of the trauma they all felt from the shooting.

Iyana Ussery was like a second mom to her sons, Kelsey Ussery said, and she was a guardian angel to her. With her daughter gone, she said it feels like theres a dark cloud over her.

Kelsey Ussery, mother of Iyana Ussery, expresses her feelings about the outcome of Christopher Felizardos plea deal outside the Pierce County Superior Court on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Tacoma, Wash. Ussery says that she dosent feel like justice was served. AMBER RITSON

Daija Sims, 15, was a close friend of the victim, who also went by Yana. She said Iyana Ussery was the sunshine in anyones day. She was also upset by the outcome of Fridays plea hearing. She said it felt like they werent getting any justice.

He still gets to live his whole life. Yana doesnt get to live her life no more. Yana has to be under the ground.

Kelsey Ussery said she plans to attend Averitts trial, which prosecutors said is expected to begin sometime in September. The mother said she also hopes to bring pressure to Felizardos sentencing hearing. She said shes praying that the sentencing judge uses his or her discretion to impose a longer punishment.

Were giving them child time, Kelsey Ussery said.

At the least, she said, she hopes Felizardo is sentenced to 14 years, the same amount of time her daughter had on Earth.
Tampa resident guns down man who entered house through window: police

Tampa resident guns down man who entered house through window: police

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Tampa police said they are investigating a deadly shooting that happened early Saturday morning.

Officers said at about 4:19 a.m., police responded to a burglary call at a home on South Bermuda Boulevard.

St. Pete woman hospitalized after large branch crushes her

When they arrived at the home, they found a man in his 40s who was shot in the upper body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the shooter told them he shot the man after he illegally entered his home through a window.

According to the department, the shooter cooperated with investigators, and there is no threat to the public at this time.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
When a former Jeopardy! champion-turned-teacher was arrested as part of an investigation into the spreading of sexualized images on social media, it cast an unwelcome light on an elite New York private school known for its celebrity alumni.

But the disturbing episode has also highlighted other accusations against Saint Anns School, the freewheeling, grades-free school in Brooklyn Heights whose alumni include actresses Lena Dunham and Jennifer Connelly, and fashion designer Zac Posen.

The Brooklyn District Attorney says the probe into ex-math instructor Winston Nguyenpreviously convicted of stealing cash from an elderly couple in his careis ongoing, and that he hasnt been charged with any crime.

But rather than a one-off misfortune, the arrest has only increased the pressure on the school, whose history of recent scandals includes a family's wrongful death suit following their 13-year-old sons May 2021 suicide. It occurred three months after Saint Anns dismissed him over what they called his academic challenges.

A lawyer for Ellis Larivieres family, Jeff Korek, compared Saint Anns response to the Nguyen controversy to his own clients case, saying the schools modus operandi is circle the ranks, circle the wagons, and less information is better than more information.

Why was this guy given a chance when Ellis wasnt? said Korek, partner at Gersowitz Libo & Korek law firm. During the same school year, Saint Anns decided it was acceptable to hire someone with a criminal record who abused vulnerable people and put him into a situation among vulnerable kidsand that Ellis, a child with a great track record, was disposable. It makes no sense.

St. Anns School at 129 Pierrepont Street at the corner of Clinton Street in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City in 2013. Beyond My Ken/Wikipedia

Saint Anns, where tuition can cost up to $60,000 a year, has not responded to multiple requests for comment. A school spokeswoman previously told us that Nguyen was placed on leave after his arrest, and that the institution was fully cooperating with law enforcement in their efforts, and focused on helping our students process this news.

According to the suit, Ellis teachers praised him, including in a report before his death, calling him highly perceptive and thoughtful and a pleasure to teach.

But Saint Anns told Ellis parents, Roger Gural and Janine Lariviere, that he would not be allowed to continue to its prestigious high school. Dont let the school do an assembly about this, Ellis wrote in his suicide note, his familys complaint says.

The refusal to admit Ellis, the lawsuit states, was likely because of an undisclosed policy of refusing re-enrollment to students who may not be admitted to elite private colleges in order to burnish its own reputation at the expense of the rejected students.

The family has said Ellis made progress with learning difficulties including dyslexia in the second and third grades, and that an evaluator recommended by Saint Anns indicated he could stay at the school back then with additional support.

The school has never disclosed the standards that were applied in their decision to deny [Ellis] a place in Saint Anns high school, the filing alleges.

For its part, Saint Anns argues Ellis was home and under the custody of his parents when he died, and that it had no prior knowledge of the boys suicidal ideations or intent to engage in self-harm.

The schools lawyers, in a memorandum supporting a motion to dismiss, say claims that Ellis killed himself over his denied enrollment is pure speculation and without any basis in fact.

Private schools arent under any obligation to keep students, the lawyers added, and administrators made the decision due to his documented academic challenges that had been evident since the third grade.

Ellis parents say the schools arbitrary and secret practice directly contradicts its public mission, which includes embracing a commitment to education for its own sake, oriented to the capacities of each individual student, free of the encumbrances of formal grading.

Korek said discovery has yet to be taken, and a July 24 hearing will determine whether the case moves forward.

I think were just scratching the tip of the iceberg, Korek said, and theres a whole lot to be learned about what was going on at Saint Anns, what continues to go on at Saint Anns, and we will only learn that through discovery.

While Ellis family mourned their son that summer, Nguyen was promoted.

Winston, who joined us this year as Special Assistant for Covid-Related Projects, will stay on as Special Assistant to the Administrative Team; Winston will also teach a math class, said the school newsletter, the Saint Anns Times.

Winston Nguyen at the New York City Ballet 2017 Spring Gala. Jared Siskin/Getty Images

At one point, Nguyen was apparently so trusted with students that he taught a seminar called Crime and Punishment.

A freelance article on the National Food Museum website references Nguyens criminal record and role as a prison-reform advocate who taught his course at an independent school in Brooklyn, where he recently devoted a days lesson to prison food.

Nguyen told the writer his students were aware of his past.

I think because of this being so public, students know what I did and feel comfortable coming to me with their own poor choices, he said. I keep thinking what can I make of this for the greater good? Helping my students helps me.

In August 2017, then home-health aide Nguyen was arrested for swindling more than $300,000 from a 92-year-old Manhattan woman and her 96-year-old blind husband.

Prosecutors say that six years after he was hired to help the couple, Nguyen used their credit cards and bank account in 2015 to fund tickets to the ballet and Broadway shows, as well as trips to Florida. The arrest came three years after he appeared on Jeopardy!, where he won his first episode but lost on his second.

Nguyens lawyer, Frank Rothman, previously told The Daily Beast that Nguyen pleaded guilty, and served jail time and probation. He was also ordered to pay restitution.

Parents told The Daily Beast they were puzzled that Nguyen was hired despite his crimeand complaints about Rikersbeing publicized in the media throughout 2017 and 2019, when he served jail time for a few months.

What did you expect to have happen with a person who infiltrated himself into a 96-year-olds life under the guise of being their aide, and then stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from them? one parent said. Thats a person with a problem. Why did you turn around and put that person in charge of children?

The parent said their child was in Nguyens class and one of their classmates had received messages from a catfishing account, one that she believes could be connected to the teacher.

Well before Nguyens arrest, the child said they had Googled their teacher and found news stories about his conviction for scamming an elderly couple out of large sums of money. Do you know that our teacher is a felon? the child asked.

Nguyen seems to have been hired with the help of a friendthe head of the Upper Middle School, Maureen Yusuf-Moralesduring a perfect storm of the COVID-19 pandemic and Saint Anns scrambling to address its lack of diversity.

Yusuf-Morales was Facebook friends with Nguyen and according to her LinkedIn worked at Breakthrough New York and East Harlem Scholars Academies, two places Nguyen was also employed. (She did not return requests for comment from The Daily Beast.)

On June 14, the school updated parents in an email, noting Nguyen disclosed his felony in his initial interview, and the School ran our standard background check process. His record was considered along with his abilities and references, and the School made the decision to hire him.

On Tuesday, Rothman said theres all kinds of rumors running wild about his client but that the DAs office hasnt drawn up any complaint. Until I know exactly what theyre putting on paper I dont want to speculate, Rothman told us.

Still, Rothman said he doesnt expect this to just blow over, if you will. Nguyen, he said, could face charges in the coming weeks.

Another former parent said they were shocked that my kids were exposed to this person and theres been no communication from the school whatsoever.

Some people assume a level of competence and good intentions from Saint Anns because of their reputation and image, they added.

An image is not going to protect a kid in this situation. There were no protections for these kids. What I would say is that these are institutional failures.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Teen Sisters Killed In Front Of Dad By Man Hiding In Their Home: Police

An Oregon tribal nation was rocked by the fatal shootings this week of two Black and Indigenous teenage sisters by a man hiding in their home.

Aleeka Qualls, 19, and her 14-year-old sister, Zion Qualls, were killed on the morning of June 29 at the Klamath Falls home where they lived with their father.

Aleeka Qualls, 19, (left) and her sister, Zion Qualls, 14, were killed in their Klamath Falls, Oregon, home on June 29. Klamath Tribes

Police initially responded to a report that a man had been hiding in the familys home and threatening them with a gun, according to a police press release.

When officers arrived at 8 a.m., they said they heard sounds of gunshots coming from inside the Qualls apartment. They rushed inside and arrested Elijah Albert Croy, 20.

One of the girls was declared dead at the scene, while the other died later at a hospital, police said.

Police said Croy had also attempted to kill the girls father, Tashka Qualls, but his gun jammed, ABC affiliate KDRV reported.

Authorities said that Croy admitted that he had fatally shot the girls after their father discovered him in a bedroom, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by KDRV.

The Klamath Falls Police Department is also investigating whether Croy tried to sexually assault the girls, according to the outlet.

Croy was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and three counts of unlawful use of a weapon, according to court documents obtained by HuffPost.

Spokespersons for the Klamath Falls Police Department and the Klamath County District Attorneys Office were out of the office when contacted by HuffPost on Friday.

Tashka Qualls, a popular tattoo artist in Klamath Falls, thanked the community and the Klamath Tribes for their support in the wake of his daughters killings.

There are no words to express how I feel about the loss of my daughters and the love that I feel from our community, Qualls said. This has shattered me to the core, and I never want anyone to have to feel the pain that I am feeling at this time.

The girls mother, Crystal Davis, who had joint custody of her daughters, is not doing well at all, her sister Courtney Franklin told HuffPost Friday.

Crystal Davis holds her daughter Zion when she was a baby in an undated photo. Courtney Franklin

Were just really shocked and shook to the core, Franklin said about the loss. She said the girls were more than sisters  they were best friends.

Aleeka was sweet and quiet, and very positive, focusing on finding solutions rather than dwelling on problems, Franklin said.

The 19-year-old was planning to go to college this fall in Sacramento and live with Franklin, who is a professor. She planned on studying real estate and possibly makeup, her aunt added.

Both girls loved pink, and Aleeka, whom Franklin described as very spiritual, even had a pink Bible, she said.

She described Zion as feisty and said she loved to hang out with friends and play video games.

The Klamath Tribes said in a press release that it was in deep mourning for the girls, who were Klamath tribal descendants.

Tribal council member Leslie Anderson said the community has a responsibility to raise awareness for missing or murdered Indigenous people. Violence against Native Americans is significantly higher than national averages, but has received less attention from media and law enforcement agencies.

We have a responsibility moving forward. Under new tribal leadership, we are advocating for justice for all of our tribal community who fall victim to violence and senseless crimes, Anderson said.

The Klamath Tribes must continue to stand strong in unity and prayer for the victims and their families. Law enforcement must take these crimes against Tribal Members seriously and prosecute these criminals aggressively, the Klamath Tribes Council said in the press release.

Zion (left) and Aleeka (right) Qualls pose with their cousin Madison (middle) during a recent visit to their aunt Courtney Franklin's home. Courtney Franklin

The girls were proud of their biracial identities, their aunt told HuffPost.

When they visited their mother, they frequently did their hair, got braids. They liked to bead and do featherwork, through the tribe, Franklin said.

Even though their mom is African American, she was also close to the tribe, Franklin said.

Croy is currently being held in the Klamath County Jail. His next court hearing is scheduled for July 9.

Related...
Tesla hits SUV, sending it over Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart and onto a parking lot below

STUART  Two people survived a rear-end crash that sent their SUV off the Roosevelt Bridge and into the Safe Harbor Harborage Yacht Club condominiums parking area early Friday, police said.

The female driver and her male passenger were in stable condition at a nearby hospital, Stuart police Lt. Richard Shine said Friday.

The man driving the Tesla that hit their Toyota 4Runner was arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a crash, said Shine, who did not release his identity. He could face more charges as police continue to investigate, Shine said.

As subcontractors finishing sealing the southbound span of the Roosevelt Bridge, Florida Department of Transportation District Four staff give a tour of the project Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, in Stuart. Two lanes of the newly sealed southbound span of the Roosevelt Bridge are anticipated to reopen Nov. 7, allowing trucks to pass over the bridge and detours to be removed, according to FDOT District Four Secretary Gerry O'Reilly.

The SUV was northbound when it was hit, sending it over a concrete barrier, through a metal guardrail and over the east side of the bridge around 1:30 a.m., Shine said.

"When (officers) got there and did the investigation of the crash, they learned that the vehicle was hit from behind by a Tesla that drove off from the scene," Shine said. "They didnt have to go too far to find the vehicle. ... He didnt live too far from where the incident occurred."

Florida Department of Transportation workers examined the bridge and marked off the impact site with cones and tape, but no lanes of travel were affected, Shine said.

Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers. Follow @coreyarwood on X, email corey.arwood@tcpalm.com or call 772-978-2246.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Tesla driver arrested in crash that sent SUV over Roosevelt Bridge
Texas on alert as Beryl churns closer; landfall as hurricane likely

Editor's note: Read USA TODAY's live coverage of Beryl for Sunday, July 7, including the storm's track as it heads toward Texas.

Beryl, once a hurricane and now a tropical storm, is expected to regain hurricane strength before it hits the south Texas coast late Sunday or early Monday, the National Hurricane Center said Saturday.

The storm weakened after making landfall on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Friday morning, after it plowed through the Caribbean and Jamaica earlier this week killing at least 11 people.

This is a determined storm that is still strong, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said at a news briefing on Friday.

At 4 p.m. local time, Beryl was about 385 miles southeast of Corpus Christi in the Gulf of Mexico, traveling west-northwest at 13 mph. It was expected to continue moving northwest into Sunday, then north-northwest by Sunday night, and make landfall on the Texas coast Monday after re-strengthening to a Category 1 hurricane.

On Saturday, Beryl's winds reached up to 60 mph, with higher gusts.

Hurricane, tropical storm and storm surge watches and warnings were issued Saturday along Texas' Gulf Coast, the hurricane center said. Storm surge in Texas could reach as high as 6 feet from Mesquite Bay to Sargent and Matagorda Bay.

Tornadoes are possible Sunday, and rainfall totals were forecast between 5 to 10 inches, with as much as 15 inches in some locations.

"This rainfall will likely produce areas of flash and urban flooding, some of which may be locally considerable," the hurricane center said. "Minor to isolated moderate river flooding is also possible."

Beryl tracker: See projected path, spaghetti models of path toward Texas

A stunning storm: As Hurricane Beryl tears through the Caribbean, a look at its record-breaking path

Key developments:

 At least 11 people were killed in Jamaica, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and northern Venezuela after Beryl tore through, officials have said. There were no casualties in Mexico.

 Beryl, the first hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic season, became the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record. With its rapid intensification, Beryl became a hurricane within 24 hours of formation. Within another 24 hours, its winds had increased 55 mph, reaching 130 mph, almost a Category 4 hurricane.

 Schools near Texas' coast canceled class activities on Monday, including the Corpus Christi and West Oso school districts. Del Mar College will close its campus on Monday, while Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi will shift to remote status.

How ocean temps have fueled Beryl: Hurricane super-charged by warm seas

'Beat the rush,' be prepared, hardware store owner says

Shop now, not later. That's what Raoul Martinez, who owns a hardware store in Corpus Christi, Texas, reminded his customers Saturday as Beryl took a turn toward the city.

"GET EVERY BATTERY CHARGED in your household," Martinez posted from the No Hassle Tools and More Facebook page early Saturday. "Have a chainsaw on hand to cut away any debris. Cut your grass now so it dont grow like crazy. Tie down kids playgrounds and animal houses."

Worried but calm customers were buying necessities, he told USA TODAY. Martinez vowed his store will be open through the storm as long he can reach it safely.

"There are people who are going to be in need and we will never know until it happens," he said. "I have tools for everything, and I want to be at people's disposals and it's OK for me."

Martinez encouraged people to be prepared and not wait.

"Beat the rush," Martinez said. "A lot of us small businesses are taking the time out and there are little stores selling water, sand bags, and I'm at least staying open for people."

Some Texas residents asked to evacuate ahead of storm conditions

Voluntary evacuations were in place in some counties along the Texas coast.

Aransas County urged residents to evacuate but made it voluntary. Emergency officials there said anyone who lives in an RV should evacuate, as well as those in low-lying areas.

Matagorda County warned residents that floodwaters from the storm could trap them in their homes and called for voluntary evacuations in coastal areas of the county.

"The biggest concern for this situation is the coastal areas of our County. Low lying areas that normally flood are impacted," the county said in a news release on Friday.

Sandbags were being distributed in the City of Kingsville in Kleberg County as voluntary evacuation was underway in Baffin Bay, Loyola Beach and all low-lying areas of the county.

Sandbag distribution has ended for the day at 1300 E. Corral. It will continue tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. Proof of... Posted by The City of Kingsville, TX on Friday, July 5, 2024

Beryl's effects could start to be felt Saturday in Texas

As Beryl strengthens over the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters said Texans will already be feeling its impact Saturday ahead of its arrival.

"The exact location of Beryl's landfall is uncertain at this point, but what's most important is that heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surge are expected for much of the state's coastline and portions of the central Gulf Coast beginning tonight into Sunday," the Weather Prediction Center said early Saturday.

Swells and "life-threatening" surf and rip currents caused by the storm are also not far off.

Tropical storm conditions are expected to start hitting Texas' coast on Sunday night.

What areas in Texas are in Beryl's path?

Multiple large urban areas in Texas, including Houston, Austin and San Antonio, lie in the storm's broad path of projection, and it's still uncertain exactly where the hurricane will pass through. Most of the state will feel at least some impacts from the storm.

The weather service in Corpus Christi also said south Texas should prepare for power outages.

About 3 to 5 feet of storm surge is likely around areas along the coast, and "the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves," the hurricane center said. The storm surge will impact areas from Baffin Bay to San Luis Pass, Corpus Christi Bay, Matagorda Bay, between the mouth of the Rio Grande to Baffin Bay, San Luis Pass to High Island and Galveston Bay.

Heavy rain and flash flooding are some of the greatest threats, forecasters warned. About 5 to 10 inches of rain and up to 15 inches in some areas will inundate the Texas Gulf Coast and parts of eastern Texas starting late Sunday and into next week. Flooding is likely wherever Beryl passes, Patrick said.

Contributing: Cybele Mayes-Osterman, Doyle Rice and Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY; Cross Harris and Alexis Simmerman, the Austin American-Statesman; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Beryl live updates: Storm likely to make Texas landfall as hurricane
The woman was reportedly charged with three counts of child endangerment and was released on bond

Getty Stock photo of car in heat

A mother in San Antonio, Texas, was arrested and charged with three counts of child endangerment after a woman noticed her three children in a hot car while she was shopping.

Angela GarzaAmador was taken into custody on June 28 after the San Antonio Police Department said she left her kids  aged 4, 2 and 1 month  alone while she shopped for nearly an hour, outlets including local CBS affliate KENS 5, local NBC affiliate WOAI and CNN reported.

Speaking to KENS 5 in a separate report, the woman who discovered the children and filmed some of the incident after she had gotten help, said it happened at around 2 p.m. local time, when she noticed the 4-year-old boy in a car next to her in the parking lot for a shopping center.

As she told the outlet, she saw the vehicle was off and spotted a 2-year-old girl in the car as well. She then opened the front door of the car, which was unlocked, before running inside the store to get help, including calling 911.

The boy, he was really sweating profusely, and you know, was crying, she told KENS. It seemed like he was grasping for air to me, like they were already on that verge.

A group of people eventually got the kids out of the car, and they discovered the 1-month-old baby as well. The woman told KENS 5 that the mother then exited the store as police arrived. She had the keys with her, she said the car was on, she said, 'I left it on with my esposo, my esposo,'  she told the outlet of the children's mother.

The San Antonio Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for more information on Saturday.

Related: Prevent Hot-Car Deaths: A Checklist for Parents

As KENS 5 noted, it was 97 degrees at the time the kids were found and left in the vehicle for nearly an hour. CNN also spoke with authorities, who confirmed the time the children had been in the car.

The mother of the children was at the scene and stated she went inside a store and did not realize how long she was gone, police told CNN. Based on information gathered, the children were in the car for approximately 50 minutes.

Garza-Amador was arrested and charged with three counts of abandoning/endangering a child, per CNN, with a preliminary police report revealing that all three children were expected to be discharged from a local hospital the same day.

While details of investigations are confidential according to law, I can confirm there was no open case regarding this family when the report of this incident came in, a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services spokesperson told the outlet. The children were not placed in CPS care and were placed in the care of family.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

The woman who spotted the children in the car, whose identity remains anonymous, recorded her encounter with the kids and shared the footage with KENS. In the video, the eldest boy could be seen heavily breathing and coughing as the good samaritan asked him if he needed water, before other bystanders stepped in to assist.

I live across town, I hadnt been there to that store I was going to in ten years. I feel that God literally sent me over there for those kids," the woman said. I pray that they get the help that they need and her too, that she learns from this."

Garza-Amador has reportedly since been released on bond according to WOAI, with the bond set to $25,000.

Related: What to Know About Hot Car Deaths and How to Avoid Them

Her arrest came days after a North Carolina mother was arrested and charged when her 8-year-old daughter died after she was "left in a vehicle in hot weather conditions."

Nonprofit Kids and Car Safety reported at the time that there had been five confirmed hot car death this year in the U.S. Since then, that number has raised to seven following the deaths of children in Georgia and Houston, Texas.

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Read the original article on People.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  Three people were killed last week in a multi-vehicle crash in the Mountain Empire area, said California Highway Patrol.

The collision happened around 1 a.m. Friday, June 28, when a 45-year-old woman, a Boulevard resident, was driving a 2015 Toyota Camry eastbound on Old Highway 80, west of Tierra Del Sol. At that same time, CHP said a 65-year-old woman, also from Boulevard, was driving a 1995 Ford F-150 westbound.

For reasons still under investigation, the driver of the Toyota reportedly drove to the left, across the solid double yellow lines, and crossed into the westbound lane. CHP said this caused the Toyota to crash into the Ford, which was also carrying two passengers.

How to stay safe during a heat wave

The Toyota came to a stop, blocking the eastbound lane of Old Highway 80 with no lights on. According to authorities, the woman exited the vehicle and was standing in the eastbound lane when a 58-year-old Boulevard man approached in a 2000 Honda CR-V. Not seeing the woman or vehicle, the man crashed into both, CHP said.

The driver of the Toyota died at the scene. The driver of the Ford was transported to a local hospital, where she died from her injuries. A 70-year-old passenger in the Ford also died at the hospital.

A 62-year-old man, another passenger in the Ford, sustained major injuries, and the driver of the Honda was reported to have suffered non-life threatening injuries from the crash.

According to CHP, drugs or alcohol do not appear to be factors in this fatal incident; however, and investigation remains ongoing. Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is encouraged to call

According to CHP, drugs or alcohol do nor appear to be factors in this fatal incident; however, and investigation remains ongoing. Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is encouraged to call CHP officer Jared Grieshaber at (619) 401-2000.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
On Thursday evening three people were shot in downtown Seattle.

Around 11:01 p.m., officers answered a call about a shooting at Third Avenue and Pike Street.

When police arrived, they found two victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Police provided aid until Seattle fire crews arrived.

One man had been shot multiple times and was taken to Harborview Medical Center in serious condition.

The other man, believed to be a bystander, was hit once and also taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Seattle police said the suspect fled on foot and has not been found.

Shell casings were found and taken as evidence.

10 hours later, a 31-year-old man told police that he was shot Thursday evening near Third Avenue and Pike Street.

Police investigated and took the man to the hospital in stable condition.

Detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit are investigating and ask anyone with information to call (206) 233-5000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.




Typical "Police Line Do Not Cross" barricade tape, often seen cordoning off crime scenes.

Three women who were employees of a nursing home in Guthrie have been charged with felony elder abuse and conspiracy.

According to court documents, McKenzie Bolfa, 20, and Aubrey Granata, 21, both of Guthrie, and Jade Williams, 21, of Oklahoma City, were arrested and charged last week. All worked at the Golden Age Nursing Home.

The Guthrie Police Department declined to provide The Oklahoman with the incident report or details about the case, but an Oklahoma City television station, KFOR, quoted Guthrie Police Chief Don Sweger as saying the department launched an investigation after a former employee of the nursing home reported abuse of patients.

"They had excuses for some of their behavior, but it didn't really match up with the evidence we had uncovered," Sweger told the TV station. The date of the offense listed on the court dockets is Dec. 1, 2023.

More: Nursing home staffing must be fixed, Democratic lawmakers tell execs at major chains

The women allegedly sent and received Snapchats of residents, including a video of a resident in only a shirt and diaper, with fecal matter on the bed, sheets and the residents socks, according to the KFOR report. Other videos found by investigators included a male resident lying on his stomach nude from the waist down.

Its probably one of the saddest things, Sweger told KFOR. We take service to everybody very responsibly, but especially for those who dont have a voice for themselves.

A spokesperson for Golden Age, Tandie Hastings, sent a statement to The Oklahoman on Thursday saying the women were no longer employed at the facility. She said all employees were subject to background checks and receive training about patients rights and safety.

We are committed to protecting the privacy and safety of the residents and families involved and will continue to keep them updated with any developments related to this matter, the statement said.

According to court documents, Bolfa and Granata posted a $50,000 bond on the conspiracy charge and were released with court dates scheduled in July and August. Williams had not posted bond as of Friday and was being held by the Logan County sheriffs office, according to the court's website.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Three women charged with felony for elder abuse in Guthrie
Is it time to disagree better? Some are ready for an end to divisive politics

GREELEY, Colo.  The consultants kept pushing, and Scott James listened.

A longtime local elected official in northern Colorado, James was running for Congress as a plainspoken, common-sense conservative for constituents.

But to flip the 8th Congressional District Republican and stand out against competitors, the consultants James hired insisted he go on the attack.

"They say in order to win a primary, you have to be a smash-mouth  have to hit them in the nose," said James, a former talk radio host in this conservative county north of Denver.

The problem? That's not James.

"Ultimately I wished my campaign had sounded more like me: aspirational, not confrontational," said James, who dropped out of the race in February.

Scott James, a Colorado Republican who found his Congressional campaign took on a negative tone he didn't like.

Across the country, a small but growing number of candidates, political experts and ethical leaders are pushing to return civility and respect to politics at a time when politicians routinely bad-mouth one another, compare their opponents to Nazis or Communists, and threaten violence against people with whom they disagree.

Right now, being a jerk can help win elections, experts say, especially in gerrymandered congressional districts where extremist language gets rewarded in primary races.

Other factors include the loss of local media coverage, cable television programs that ceaselessly repeat the latest insults slung between members of Congress, and social media echo chambers.

"There's really strong incentives for politicians to be disagreeable, to be virulent and to get reelected," said James Piazza, a political science professor at The Pennsylvania State University.

Leaders try to 'disagree better'

Many of the efforts to cool the rhetoric are now coming from Republicans.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has launched a "disagree better" initiative among the nation's governors. And in Salt Lake City, fellow Republican and former Utah state Rep. Becky Edwards has started a political action committee to support Republican candidates who agree to maintain civil, productive discourse.

Edwards launched her PAC after losing a congressional race in which she spent months talking to thousands of voters. That experience persuaded her people are hungry for a change.

"We see this hunger everywhere, and it really starts with being willing to get familiar with people who have different backgrounds, different moral beliefs, moral perspectives," said Edwards, who still speaks like the marriage and family therapist she trained as.

Edwards said divisive language in politics makes many Americans tune out, which creates even more space for those extreme voices. Her PAC is now supporting about 12 candidates for local offices in Utah, from school boards to the Legislature.

"People are feeling frustrated and unseen, unheard and ignored. And it doesn't take a lot to do those things. Listen. Really understand. And by talking to folks with different perspectives, we start to build that Venn diagram that allows us to see people as human."

Edwards said it's too early to tell if her Governing Group's PAC efforts will win elections, but she considers the work vital. And she said she has heard anecdotal reports from other candidates that they feel empowered to run a cleaner campaign knowing their opponent is, too.

"Quite honestly, it takes a lot of courage to be the person who can thread that needle between standing up with vigor and commitment to some of the horrific things in our past, but also being being willing to sit down with people who oppose you," she said.

Cox, who has been pushing for Americans to "disagree better," was booed by GOP delegates at the Utah Republican state convention earlier this year. Delegates then threw the majority of their support to his primary challenger, Phil Lyman, a conservative firebrand with a long history of aggressively opposing the federal government, which owns more than 60% of the state's land.

In a debate June 11, Cox said it's possible to simultaneously be highly conservative while treating people with respect. "I don't just represent Republicans. I represent the entire state, I represent everyone, and our state gets judged by the way I that conduct myself."

Responded Lyman: "I'm not against polite words, but there's a point where we have to use aggressive rhetoric."

Cox went on to defeat Lyman 54.5%-45.5% in the June Republican primary, setting him up for a likely easy win in the general election because Utah has so few Democrats.

At his victory party, Cox reiterated his belief in taking the high road.

The destruction of institutions, destroying trust in our neighbors, destroying trust in our fellow Americans, destroying trust in the institutions that have made us the greatest nation on Earth and the greatest state in the nation, is not healthy for any of us, Cox said, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

American politics have long been rough-and-tumble

It's a mistake to think American politics has never been this coarse or dangerous before. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by a Confederate sympathizer in 1865, and President Richard Nixon authorized illegal burglaries of his political opponents in 1972.

"American politics have always been awful," said Peter Loge, director of the school of media and public affairs at The George Washington University. "Where we are today is a direct result of where we were."

But for many Americans, especially those who remember the 11th Commandment often invoked by Ronald Reagan during his initial races  "Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican"  the language of today's campaigns feels particularly ugly.

Bob Mitchell has been fighting this battle for decades.

A Democrat from Michigan, Mitchell remembers a time on Capitol Hill when pragmatism and bipartisanship were goals, not criticism. But even 20 years ago, he worried that politicians were casting their opponents as something other than people as good faith, and he founded the Bipartisan Leadership Project.

More than 800 people have graduated from the project's Michigan-based leadership program, and 65% of them have gone on to be elected, he said.

"We can disagree but we don't have to be disagreeable," said Mitchell, who ran a losing race for Congress as a Democrat in 1994. "You've got to be willing to listen, to discuss. The goal has to be to show that it's possible for people who are very much in disagreement to work together."

Today's politics rewards extremism

Experts say former President Donald Trump and the people surrounding him in particular have played a major role in coarsening today's political discourse. In his first campaign, Trump often encouraged chants of "lock her up" about opponent Hillary Clinton, promised to pay the legal bills of supporters if they assaulted his critics, and lauded police for being rough with suspects. Earlier this year, he shared a picture of a bound Joe Biden displayed on the back of a pickup.

"It all has a nexus back to Trump," said James, who now sends socks with pictures of rhinoceroses on them to fellow leaders as a joke when they, like him, are called a "Republican in Name Only," or RINO, for not adopting Trump-like campaign strategies.

The problem, experts like Mitchell and Edwards say, is that today's political system rewards extremist behavior. If Americans want to change how their politicians behave, they have to change their expectations for behavior and speech, they said.

Asks Daniel Byman, a professor at Georgetown University's School Foreign Service: "Is victory achieved by playing to your base or trying to work across party lines?"

Byman, who studies how extremist language leads to violence, said today's political climate is driven by a relatively small number of people who often have stances well outside the mainstream. But because those voices are the ones amplified by the media, it starts to make people in the mainstream think they're in the minority  and sometimes shifts their own thinking.

"Social media rarely makes people suddenly become racist. But ... there was this untapped demand for racism. So when people started to post about it, people started to watch it. And then that intensified things," he said. "There was a time when if someone said horrible things, it was a negative. People didn't (avoid that) because they were nice, but because it would hurt them."

Policing language comes with a host of challenges, especially when it comes to the First Amendment and Americans' expectation that they can say pretty much whatever they want, whenever they want.

"American politics have always been awful. It's sort of this background noise that is the sound of democracy. But that doesn't mean it should be completely unfettered," said Loge, the GWU professor who also directs the Project on Ethics in Political Communication. "We need more people to say: 'This is the right thing to do.' And they need to be rewarded for that behavior."

But Loge said there's always a concern people will use polite language to maintain the status quo. He noted that that the role model for many of today's leaders, Martin Luther King Jr., broke social norms in his fight for racial equality.

"I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice," King wrote to white religious critics while imprisoned in the Birmingham, Alabama, jail for organizing a march without a permit. "But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or even more, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends."

In other words, Loge said, Americans worried about losing rights or security might be justified in using bombastic language.

All politics is local

Experts say the nation's governors are among the best examples of politicians striving to find common ground using moderate language.

When wildfires, floods or hurricanes know no political boundaries, so too must governors work across party lines to serve their constituents. Extremism in governors' races tends to be far less common, experts say, because governors usually must win over independent voters to maintain their positions.

"If any politicians are motivated to moderate, to work together, it would be governors," said Piazza, the Penn State professor.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon finds himself in that exact place. Solving big problems like wildfires or carbon pollution require big solutions, and despite his political differences, Republican Gordon has partnered with the liberal governors of Colorado and New Mexico on a range of issues.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon makes at a point at the annual meeting of the Western Governors Leadership Forum in Olympic Valley, California on June 11.

His own party has also censured and issued a vote of no-confidence against him, accusing him of having a "socialist agenda" for saying Wyoming needs to address climate change by working harder to adapt the state's coal-focused economy.

Gordon said he has been frustrated that his fellow Wyoming Republicans are angry with him  calling him an "environmental wacko"  for speaking at liberal Harvard University or acknowledging that climate change is a concern. Parts of Wyoming are up to 3 degrees warmer than historical averages, snow is melting earlier and drought concerns are rising, according to federal scientists.

"Governors have to get things done," said Gordon, speaking at a regional governors' conference recently. "What is exciting is that regardless of our political differences, we have been able to work together over the years on an incredible number of issues."

In northern Colorado, James is settling back into his "normal" elected office as one of the five commissioners who oversee Weld County, which is twice as large as Rhode Island. James said he initially felt called by God to serve in Congress, but prayer and reflection has helped him see he's more useful at the local level.

He said he wishes the Democratic and Republican parties alike would pay attention to the issues, including extremist language, that are driving millions of Americans to avoid identifying with either party.

"(What) I keep saying to people is that part of the problem is that we're no longer parties of principle but cults of personality. And they look at me like I'm a boring old white guy. I keep asking, 'Do you want to self-govern or do you want to be entertained?'" James said. "People are far less concerned about policy and more about having old men shaking their fists at clouds."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Extremism wins elections, but some politicians are pushing back
Congressional Democrats are to hold an emergency weekend meeting to discuss Joe Bidens tottering presidential candidacy, after a primetime television interview failed to dispel doubts triggered by last weeks debate fiasco.

Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrats leader in the House of Representatives, scheduled the virtual meeting for Sunday with ranking committee members, according to multiple reports, even as Biden struck a defiant posture in Fridays interview with ABCs George Stephanopoulos.

In a 22-minute interview from a school library in Wisconsin, aired in full, the president brushed off his miserable debate display as a bad night and insisted he would only withdraw his candidacy if the Lord almighty ordered it.

But his posture appeared only to reinforce the views of those Democrats who had already publicly urged him to quit the race, while others were said to be privately infuriated by his seemingly insouciant attitude to the prospect of defeat at the hands of Donald Trump in Novembers election.

On Saturday, Congresswoman Angie Craig of Minnesota became the fifth House member to publicly urge Biden to stand aside. Four others had done so before Fridays interview.

Given what I saw and heard from the president during last weeks debate in Atlanta, coupled with the lack of a forceful response from [him] following [it], I do not believe [Biden] can effectively campaign and win against Donald Trump, she said.

Asked by Stephanopoulos how he would feel if he had to turn the presidency back to an opponent he and his party loathe, the president said: Ill feel as long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do  thats what this is about.

The response seemed to minimise the consequences of handing over power to a rival who tried to overturn the results of the 2020, incited a mob to attack the US Capitol and vowed to seek retribution on his opponents if he won again, a threat that has unnerved many Democrats.

Related: Democrats in disarray as Trump immunity ruling raises stakes

The convening of Democratic House members by Jeffries would follow a similar move even before Fridays interview by Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, who called on fellow senators from his party to meet to discuss Bidens candidacy. Warner has been reported to be leading an effort by Senate Democrats urging the president to stand aside.

Democrats who had already called publicly for an end to his candidacy reiterated the sentiment after Friday evenings broadcast of the interview, in which Biden projected greater assuredness than in the 27 June debate with Trump, yet affected obliviousness to concerns over his mental acuity or loss of support in the polls.

Lloyd Doggett, a veteran Texas Democrat who had been the first congressman to call for Biden to withdraw last Tuesday, said the interview only confirmed his view.

The need for him to step aside is more urgent tonight than when I first called for it on Tuesday, he told CNN.

He added: [Biden] does not want his legacy to be that hes the one who turned over our country to a tyrant.

Mike Quigley, an Illinois congressman who was the fourth to urge the president to stand aside  after Doggett, Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Seth Moulton of Massachusetts  called aspects of the interview disturbing, adding that it showed the president of the United States doesnt have the vigour necessary to overcome the deficit here.

Addressing Bidens response to a putative Trump re-election, he told CNN: He felt as long as he gave it his best effort, thats all that really matters. With the greatest respect: no.

Julian Castro, a former Democratic presidential hopeful and a member of Barack Obamas cabinet, acknowledged to MSNBC that Biden had been steadier than in his debate performance but was in denial about the decline that people can clearly see.

Addressing Bidens comments on a possible second Trump presidency, Castro said: I think the most chilling was when Stephanopoulos asked him, Well, what if you lose to [former President Trump,] then how are you gonna feel? and President Biden said, Well, as long as I gave it my all, that, basically, that he would feel OK.

Thats not good enough for the American people. Thats not good enough with the stakes of Donald Trump winning.

Other Democrats criticised Bidens resistance to the idea of taking a cognitive test. He dismissed the suggestion out of hand by telling Stephanopoulos: I take a cognitive test every day, referring to the daily work of the presidency and running for re-election.

I found the answer about taking a cognitive test every day to be unsettling and not particularly convincing, so I will be watching closely every day to see how he is doing, especially in spontaneous situations, Representative Judy Chu of California told Politico.

Tim Ryan, a former representative from Ohio  who has also urged a Biden withdrawal  echoed that sentiment, telling the same network: I think there was a level of him being out of touch with reality on the ground.

He also said: I dont think he moved the needle at all. I dont think he energised anybody. Im worried, like I think a lot of people are, that he is just not the person to be able to get this done for us.

Several Biden loyalists, including Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a chairman of his campaign, and John Fetterman, a senator from Pennsylvania, voiced their continued support. But even among supporters there were doubts.

Ro Khanna, a California congressman and Biden surrogate, issued a statement saying he expected the president to do more to show he has vigour to fight and win the election and that requires more than one interview.

I expect complete transparency from the White House about this issue and a willingness to answer many legitimate questions from the media and voters about his capabilities, Khanna said.

Gavin Newsom, the California governor who has been widely discussed as a potential successor to Biden, was campaigning on Saturday for the president in Pennsylvanias Bucks county.

Kamala Harris, the vice-president, was due to make a public appearance at the Essence culture festival in New Orleans the same day.
The final two will be voted on by rank-and-file Tory party members ahead of the result on 2 November.

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick will battle it out to be the next leader of the Conservative Party after James Cleverly was knocked out of the contest on Wednesday.

In the final round of voting among Tory MPs, Badenoch secured the highest number of votes, with 42 colleagues backing her.

Jenrick was second with 41 votes and Cleverly was surprisingly knocked out with just 37 MPs backing him, despite coming top of the previous round's vote on Tuesday.

Badenoch and Jenrick are both considered to be more right-wing than Cleverly, indicating the direction the majority of MPs want the party to head in.

Cleverly had been seen to be gaining momentum in the race following a successful appearance during the Tory party conference.

On Tuesday he was the bookie's favourite to win.

The two remaining candidates will now spend the next three weeks trying to win support among members of the Conservative Party (which numbered around 170,000 in 2022).

Tory leadership race: key dates. (PA)

The ballot closes on 31 October with the final result announced on 2 November.

Here, Yahoo News UK takes a look at the two remaining candidates and their odds of winning the contest, according to betting odds website Oddschecker.

Kemi Badenoch (2/5)

Kemi Badenoch has been able to back up her claims of "huge support" for her leadership campaign with a surprising victory in Wednesday's vote.

Popular with the Tory grassroots, the current shadow housing secretary ran unsuccessfully for the party leadership in 2022 but has since put herself in a much stronger position this time around and is now the bookies' favourite to win following Cleverly's defeat.

It was thought she was facing a battle to make the final two candidates, but a shock victory at the expense of Cleverly in the final round of MPs' voting coupled with polling suggesting she has more support among Tory party members means she is now favourite to win the contest.

According to a poll of Tory members published on the ConservativeHome website on 6 October, support for Jenrick among Conservative Party members had slumped, while Badenoch remained the most popular candidate - seven points ahead of her nearest rival.

Badenoch's campaign stumbled in September when she was forced to clarify comments she made about maternity pay, saying that "contrary to what some have said", she does support it.

She had previously appeared to criticise statutory maternity pay when she said the government is doing "too much".

She told Times Radio: "Tax comes from people who are working, were taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive."

Appointed business secretary by Sunak, Badenoch has also served as women and equalities minister and vowed to change the Equality Act to rewrite the definition of sex and allow organisations to bar transgender women from single-sex spaces.

On the issue of immigration, Badenoch has said not all cultures are "equally valid", giving the example of societies that "that believe in child marriage" or that "women don't have equal rights".

Seat: Badenoch won her North West Essex seat with 19,360 votes to the Labour candidate's 16,750.

Robert Jenrick (7/4)

Robert Jenrick at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. (Alamy)

Former immigration minister Robert Jenrick had topped the opening two rounds of the contest to seemingly put himself in pole position.

But he has now seen Badenoch pull ahead of him.

He sits on the right of the party, with key policies including leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, cutting the foreign aid budget and raising defence spending to 3% of GDP.

However, while he had previously garnered significant support among Tory members, his popularity has waned since the Conservative Party conference at the start of October, when he was criticised over claims that UK special forces are "killing rather than capturing terrorists".

Since then a ConservativeHome poll released on 6 October showed he had slipped to third favourite among Tory members behind Clverly, before the latter's exit from the contest.

Jenrick resigned from his government post as immigration minister in December, claiming Rishi Sunaks Rwanda deportation policy did not go far enough.

He has said the Tories lost the election because they failed to deliver on "crucial issues" such as immigration, adding that the party should be "repenting" for its mistakes.

He has proposed a legally binding cap on numbers, which would have to be approved by Parliament and said "we will never secure our borders" or get "dangerous criminals and terrorists out of our country" unless the UK leaves the European Convention on Human Rights.

Seat: Jenrick held his seat in Newark with 20,968 votes to the Labour candidate's 17,396.

Round four results:

Kemi Badenoch - 42

Robert Jenrick - 41

James Cleverly - 37 (eliminated)

Round three results:

James Cleverly - 39

Robert Jenrick - 31

Kemi Badenoch - 30

Tom Tugendhat - 20 (eliminated)

Round two results:

Robert Jenrick - 33

Kemi Badenoch - 28

James Cleverly - 21

Tom Tugendhat - 21

Mel Stride - 16 (eliminated)

Round one results:

Robert Jenrick - 28

Kemi Badenoch - 22

James Cleverly - 21

Tom Tugendhat - 17

Mel Stride - 16

Priti Patel - 14 (eliminated)
Media outlets and political pundits have ripped into Donald Trump after he claimed to have no knowledge about Project 2025.

Amid growing calls to address the right-wing plan, which has seemingly emerged from the dark corners of the internet overnight, Trump took to Truth Social to deny his involvement in a way that left many scratching their heads.

I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they're saying and some of the things they're saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them, he posted.

In response, DNC Spokesperson Aida Ross released the following statement:

Donald Trump and Project 2025 are one big MAGA operation, coordinating on an extreme blueprint to rip away freedoms and undermine democracyand theyve made it clear themselves. Many of Trumps closest former White House aides are leading the project and his campaigns own press secretary starred in one of their recruitment videos, the statement read.

The Trump allies Ross is referring to include: Trumps former chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel and Management, Paul Dans; former associate directors of presidential personnel, Spencer Chretien and Troup Hemenway; former Trump White House aide, Johnny McEntee; former chief of staff Mark Meadows; and former Trump West Wing adviser Stephen Miller.

Daily Shows Trevor Noah Roasts Stephen Millers Hair Migration

All of the above people have been openly connected or listed on Project 2025s website in some form or fashion. Moreover, Trump's campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt has been spotted in recruitment ads for Project 2025.

Trumps Press Secretary is literally starring in recruitment ads for Project 2025 https://t.co/AyuAbyz7aU pic.twitter.com/PKeZm8TIsd  Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) July 5, 2024

So what is Project 2025? According to its website, Project 2025 is the effort of a broad coalition of conservative organizations that have come together to ensure a successful administration begins in January 2025. And by successful, the project seems to mean an administration with the right conservative policy recommendations and properly vetted and trained personnel to implement them. They added, We will take back our government.

The Heritage Foundation is the main organizer of Project 2025, and if that foundation sounds scarily familiar, it is because their proposals have been behind nearly two-thirds of Trumps policies, including his Supreme Court picks, during his presidency. The Project 2025 website also proudly lists that fact, sharing, Most recently, the Trump administration relied heavily on Heritages Mandate for policy guidance, embracing nearly two-thirds of Heritages proposals within just one year in office.

As for what the Heritage Foundation has in store for the American people if we are indeed blessed/cursed with another conservative president? A list of agenda dismantling protections and rights on everything from abortion and climate change to LGBTQ equality and foreign aid is painting a grim picture.

If youre not afraid of Project 2025, you should be. pic.twitter.com/QOYUqN3oXg  David Leavitt  (@David_Leavitt) July 5, 2024

The fact Trump denies it should be taken as confirmation he knows everything about Project 2025, wrote Democratic Coalition co-founder Scott Dworkin.

Even President Joe Biden called B.S. on Trump not knowing about a plan in which he is the alleged linchpin for its activation.

What is he talking about?



Trump is lying about Project 2025.



Its his people and his plan. But its your freedoms and future at risk.



Trumps project will destroy America. If you dont believe me, google it. https://t.co/YoZnGGJv57  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 6, 2024

What is he talking about? Biden tweeted. Trump is lying about Project 2025. Its his people and his plan. But its your freedoms and future at risk.

He added, Trumps project will destroy America. If you dont believe me, google it.

So when Trump says he knows nothing about Project 2025, either he is outright lying, or he is not mentally fit to be president because he cant remember.

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Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a campaign event in Chesapeake

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a campaign event in Chesapeake

By Nathan Layne

(Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump tried to distance himself on Friday from a conservative group's sweeping plans for the next Republican presidency, days after its leader claimed a second American Revolution was underway that would "remain bloodless if the left allows it to be."

The Republican presidential candidate renounced any connection with Project 2025, a plan Democrats have been attacking to highlight what they say is Trump's extreme policy agenda for a second term should he beat President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 election.

Many people involved in the project lead by the Heritage Foundation, America's top conservative think tank, worked in the Trump White House and would likely help fill out his administration if he wins in November.

But Trump said on his Truth Social platform he had nothing to do with the plan.

"I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it," he wrote.

"I disagree with some of the things they're saying," he continued, adding some of their assertions were "absolutely ridiculous and abysmal."

Trump's post came three days after Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts' comments on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast about a second American Revolution. Democrats and others criticized what they viewed as a veiled threat of violence.

In a statement provided by a Project 2025 spokesperson on Friday, Roberts repeated his claim that Americans were carrying out a revolution "to take power back from the elites and despotic bureaucrats" and said it was the political left that had a history of political violence.

The spokesperson said that while Project 2025 provided recommendations for the next Republican president, it would be up to Trump, should he win, to decide whether to implement them.

Trump's move to create distance with Project 2025 could in part reflect an effort to moderate his message in the final months of the race, especially with Biden's campaign faltering after the Democratic candidate's June 27 debate, said James Wallner, a political science professor at Clemson University.

"Trump is basically now seeking to appeal to a broader audience," Wallner said.

The Biden campaign has stepped up its efforts to tie Trump's campaign to Project 2025.

Project 2025 is the extreme policy and personnel playbook for Trumps second term that should scare the hell out of the American people," campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement.

The 900-page blueprint calls for drastic reform of the federal government, including a gutting of some federal agencies and a vast expansion of presidential power. Trump's statements and policy positions suggest he is aligned with some but not all of the project's agenda.

The plans have been drawn up by the Heritage Foundation in coordination with a collection of other like-minded groups.

A number of people who worked on Project 2025 have close ties to the former president. Russ Vought, who was Trump's director of the Office of Management and Budget and is heading up a key committee at the Republican National Convention, authored one of the project's chapters.

Stephen Miller, a former senior adviser to Trump who is widely expected to be tapped for a top job in a second Trump administration, heads up a legal group on Project 2025's advisory board.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Chris Reese)
As President Joe Biden sat down with ABC News to explain away his less than stellar debate performance and unequivocally assure host George Stephanopoulos that he plans to stay in the race, former President Donald Trumps most loyal allies wasted no time attacking the sitting presidents mental and physical fitness to serve another term.

Per the usual Trump loyalist playbook, the attacks were two parts conspiracy, one part delusion, and equal parts catty, as they took to Elon Musk's X, formerly Twitter, to advance the narrative that the sun is setting on Bidens health while Trump somehow remains immortal.

Biden is in denial and in decline.  Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) July 6, 2024

Former Trump senior advisor Jason Miller tweeted, We need to hear directly from Dr. OConnor. Hes been covering this up for 3 1/2 years, referring to presidential physician Kevin OConnor. Miller finished his tweet with the hashtag #CoverUp, where everything from UFO sightings to tattoos have become topics of discussion under the hashtag.

Trump political advisor Steven Cheung chose to focus on Bidens response to Stephanopoulos after the host asked him if he watched the playback of his debate with Trump. To which Biden responded, I dont think I did.

Cheung tweeted, How the hell do you not know if you re-watched the debate?

Pressure Mounts as Another House Dem Calls on Biden to Quit

Failed 2022 GOP congressional candidate and Trump 2024 national press secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted Biden is in denial and in decline.

Meanwhile, former Fox News host Megyn Kelly took the road of being more concerned for Bidens legacy than his political affiliations. She tweeted, Im genuinely sad/angry over what these ppl around him are doing to Joe Biden. He deserves better than to go out like this. The answer is to let him retire w/some dignity. Not to keep forcing the critically wounded racehorse to run more.

That was not a media interview of a sitting President. That was a therapy session with a former Democratic operative begging President Biden to get out of the race.



There wasnt a single challenge to President Bidens statement that America is in good shape under his  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 6, 2024

Yet no Trump-related discourse would be complete without a word from the mayor of Trumpworld, the former presidents favorite fan in the south, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Graham slammed Biden, and Stephanopoulos skills as an interviewer, as he claimed that there wasnt a single challenge to Bidens thoughts that American is better under his leadership.

That was not a media interview of a sitting President. That was a therapy session with a former Democratic operative begging President Biden to get out of the race, Graham tweeted. America is hurting and the world is on fire.

We have to respectfully agree that indeed the world is on fire, but probably not for the reasons Graham believes.

Graham said, This interview was a disservice to the American people, adding that to suggest the debate was a bad night instead of a deteriorating condition is not only disingenuous, its an insult to the intelligence of the American people.

Questions about President Biden and former President Trumps mental capacities aside, what is clear is that each side is leaning into this narrative that one is more mentally fit over the other. The claws have officially come out in this presidential race, and it is only going to get more intense.

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NEW YORK  With the survival of his candidacy in question, Joe Biden sat down with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Friday for one of the most important interviews of the Democratic president's decadeslong political career.

The 22-minute sit-down came a full eight days after Biden's disastrous debate performance, in which more than 50 million people watched the 81-year-old struggle to complete sentences and respond to basic questions about his campaign.

Far fewer people watched the ABC interview, of course, but the audience included many of the elected officials, donors and political strategists who are actively deciding whether to help rescue  or end  Biden's candidacy in coming days. Top Biden aides pressed elected Democrats not to go public with their concerns.

The president and his team were hopeful that this interview would help rally his party and generate momentum for the long road ahead. It's unclear if he was successful.

Here are some key takeaways:

Biden faced a low bar after his debate

At this point, every Biden answer, interview and speech will serve as a Rorschach test of sorts to voters, who consistently tell pollsters they're worried about his age.

If people were looking for further signs of trouble, they were easy to find.

Biden performed better than he did on the debate stage. There were also flashes of strength as the president talked up his record, vowed not to leave the race and took shots at presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, whom he repeatedly described as a "pathological liar." Biden also referred to Trump at one point as a "congenital liar."

But he needed to do much more than clear the incredibly low bar he set on national television last week. The ABC interview had several examples of awkward pauses, garbled words and moments where he meandered.

In one of the opening answers of the interview, Biden struggled to explain clearly whether he was aware of how bad his debate performance was as it was happening in real time. He jumped from his preparation to polling to Trump's lies during the debate to not blaming anyone.

Trump allies seized on another Biden response suggesting he wasn't sure if he rewatched his debate performance. "I don't think so," Biden said.

He said only 'the Almighty' could talk him out of running

Pressed over and over on whether he would step aside, Biden didn't offer the slightest hint that he might bow to pressure within his party and leave the presidential race.

He refused even to entertain the possibility, offering only one exception: "If the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that."

Stephanopoulos presented him with various data points and shared "the prevailing sentiment" from his conversations with party officials. "They are worried about you and the country. And they don't think you can win. They want you to go with grace," the journalist said.

Biden pushed back.

"The vast majority are not where those folks are," he said. "Have you ever seen a time when elected officials running for office aren't a little worried?"

He took the blame  and dismissed questions about his health

The bottom line is that Biden does not have a good explanation for his dismal debate performance.

In the interview, he called it "a bad episode," but said there was no indication of a "more serious condition." Instead, he said he simply had "a really bad cold." When pressed again, he said, "I just had a bad night."

He also didn't blame anyone but himself, even as whispers surfaced in recent days about his staff and those who coordinated his preparations.

He also refused to agree to undergo any medical testing that might further assuage concerns.

Stephanopoulos asked whether Biden would agree to an "independent medical evaluation that included neurological and cognitive tests." He asked more than once when Biden didn't answer directly.

"Look, I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test," Biden said. "Everything I do. Not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world."

It was not an easy interview

If Biden's aides picked Stephanopoulos for the president's first major post-debate interview hoping he might go easy on him, they were wrong.

Stephanopoulos, who worked as an aide to former President Bill Clinton decades ago, peppered the Democratic president with tough questions and blunt truths, albeit with a soft tone.

When Biden suggested he recently drew big crowds, Stephanopoulos retorted: "I don't think you want to play the crowd game. Donald Trump can draw big crowds."

Biden appeared flustered at times.

The president paused for an extra beat when Stephanopoulos asked whether he knew "how badly it was going" during the debate. Later, he paused again when Stephanopoulos asked whether he was acting like Trump by "putting his personal interests ahead of the national interest" by staying in the race.

In another exchange, Biden asked Stephanopoulos whether polling is accurate as it used to be.

It was meant to be a rhetorical question. But the interviewer quickly answered.

"I don't think so, but I think when you look at all the polling data right now, it shows that he's certainly ahead in the popular vote, probably even more ahead in the battleground states," Stephanopoulos said of Trump. "And one of the other key factors there is, it shows that in many of the battleground states, the Democrats who are running for Senate and the House are doing better than you are."

Biden didn't ask many other rhetorical questions.

One interview won't fix the damage

Even before the interview was over, it was clear it would take much more to win over a party that is suddenly open to Biden alternatives just four months before Election Day.

At roughly the same time ABC released the first interview clip, Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., became the fourth Democratic member of Congress to call on Biden to leave the race.

"To prevent utter catastrophe," Quigley said on MSNBC, "step down and let someone else do this."

Democrats were encouraged by the White House and the president's campaign not to go public with their concerns about Biden's viability or electability, according to a Democrat granted anonymity.

Another Democrat who watched said they found Biden to be shaky and predicted more will call on him to leave the race.

Biden, for his part, refused to entertain the possibility that congressional leaders might confront him in coming days and ask him to step aside.

But, as Stephanopoulos said repeatedly, that is a very real possibility. Earlier this week, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia reached out to fellow senators to discuss whether to ask Biden to exit the race.

Biden said Warner "is a good man" but brought up the Virginian's own previous considerations for a presidential run.

Asked how he would feel next January if he ultimately loses the race, Biden's answer may not inspire confidence.

"As long as I gave it my all and I did the goodest job as I know I can do," he said, "that's what this is about."

Presidential debate: Biden, Trump square off in Atlanta, in photos
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on July 6 proposed establishing a "peace platform" to end the war in Ukraine.

Fidan said current efforts to end the war "should be spread on a wider basis," the Turkish newspaper Haber7 reported.

"A peace platform that will prevent deepening polarization, has high participation and representation, and prioritizes diplomacy should be established," he said.

Fidan did not provide any further details.

Turkey has long been trying to take a leading role in peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin that Turkey could help mediate an end to the war.

Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, rejected the idea, stating that Erdogan could not serve as an intermediary, without giving specific reasons.

While Turkey is a NATO member, Erdogan has aimed to maintain positive relations with both Russia and Ukraine, previously securing a deal for safe grain shipments from Ukraine's Black Sea ports that lasted for a year.

Ukraine repeatedly said the peace talks should be held on the basis of its 10-step peace formula, which includes a full withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. Moscow has rejected this proposal.

Kyiv is preparing for the second peace summit and aims to create a detailed action plan which will include steps related to "all the crises" caused by Russia's all-out war, Zelensky said.

Read also: Putin claims Istanbul peace plan draft still on table for talks between Russia and Ukraine

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Two arrested in connection with Friday morning gas station robbery in Fort Smith

FORT SMITH, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  The Fort Smith Police Department says two people have been arrested in connection with a robbery that occurred at a gas station in Fort Smith on Friday morning, according to a news release.

Talyn Thomas, 18, and a juvenile were arrested in connection with a robbery at the Valero gas station on Grand Avenue that took place around 6:30 a.m. on Friday.

FSPD said the two arrested were connected to a vehicle robbery in Paris, Ark., and were arrested a short time later.

Thomas and the juvenile are being extradited to Fort Smith to face aggravated robbery charges, the department said.

The investigation is ongoing and more information will be released as it becomes available.

Anyone with information is asked to call FSPD and 479-709-5000.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY)  Two kayakers were rescued from Lake Drummond in the Great Dismal Swamp Friday afternoon, a Chesapeake fire official said.

(Photo  Chesapeake Fire Department)

The Chesapeake Fire Department responded to a call from a kayaker for a medical emergency at Lake Drummond, in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge at 4:44 p.m. Multiple units, including a fire boat and swift water rescue company, responded.

Crews launched from the Dismal Swamp Canal ramp at Ballahack Road and went through the feeder ditch to Lake Drummond, where they found two middle-aged men, one of them suffering from a heat-related illness and was moved to Chesapeake Fire Boat 8.

Medics on Boat 8 treated the man and took him to a waiting medic unit, where he got more treatment and was released at the scene.

(Photo  Chesapeake Fire Department)

Both kayakers had launched from the ramp at around 1:30 p.m. Friday and headed toward Lake Drummond, but due to the hot temperatures, they were not able to make the return trip.

Chesapeake Police, along with the fire departments swift water rescue team, also assisted in the rescue efforts.

The Chesapeake Fire Department cautioned people to plan well if they take part in outdoor activities when there are extreme temperatures, saying people should have enough water and a means to communicate when they are outdoors in secluded areas.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
Two Italian men were arrested on Friday after they were accused of splitting upand then rapingtwo American women, according to local media reports.

Police told Corriere Del Mezzogiorno that the two men rode up to the women while on a scooter as the women tried to use a cigarette vending machine in Syracuse, a city in Sicily. As the men pretended to offer their help to the women, both of whom were in the country to study, they conspired to separate the two.

Eventually, the two men succeeded, according to police. One woman was allegedly assaulted near a marina, while another was allegedly abducted to a home and raped there. Both women reported their attacks to police on Thursday, and the men were taken into custody on Friday.

According to ANSA, the suspects were arrested on charges of aggravated sexual assault.

The identities of those involved have not been released, though Rai claims the men are originally from Syracuse.

The attack came months after a Canadian woman was raped in Palermo, Sicilys largest city. U.S. State Department currently has a level two travel advisory for Italy, warning against potential terrorist attacks.

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Two people suffered critical injuries Friday morning when an explosion occurred as they worked inside a mine shaft in Placer County, officials said.

The explosion was reported about 9:40 a.m. at the mine along Mosquito Ridge Road within Tahoe National Forest, according to a news release from the Foresthill Fire Protection District.

The Foresthill Fire District, along with units from Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service, responded to the report of the explosion. Firefighters arrived and found the two critically injured people who were working in the mine at the time of the explosion, fire officials said.

Medics provided initial care at the scene and took the two patients to a nearby landing zone, and they were then flown by helicopter to Sutter Roseville Medical Center. There was no further information available about the two injured people.

Fire officials said further investigation indicated that tools used in the mine may have created static electricity, which caused nearby explosives to ignite. The status of the mine is unknown, as the mine shaft has not yet been inspected, according to the Foresthill Fire District.

Personnel from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration also arrived to the scene and will continue to investigate the explosion and determine the safety and status of the mine.

Mining in the area is common and most mines are small individual operator claims, Foresthill fire officials said in the news release. While mining is common, incidents involving mines in Placer County are very rare.
A suspect remains at large after a student was sexually assaulted while she was sleeping in her dorm room at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The incident happened early Friday at around 2:40 a.m. as the female student was sleeping in her room located in the Saxon Suites, according to the UCLA Police Department.

The suspect entered the students room and sexually assaulted her while she was in bed, officials said. He then ran out of the building and fled the area in an unknown direction.

The suspect is described as a white male in his 30s. He has a heavy set build, a curly beard and was last seen wearing all-black clothing and a beanie.

The Saxon Residential Suite dorm rooms on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. (KTLA)

The Saxon Residential Suite dorm rooms on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. (KTLA)

The Saxon Residential Suite dorm rooms on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. (KTLA)

The Saxon Residential Suite dorm rooms on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. (KTLA)

The Saxon Residential Suite dorm rooms on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. (KTLA)

The Saxon Residential Suite dorm rooms on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. (KTLA)

A UCLA Police Department patrol car seen on the University of California, Los Angeles campus. (KTLA)

UCLA Police Department patrol cars are seen on the University of California, Los Angeles campus. (KTLA)

Students participating in an activity near Royce Hall on the UCLA campus on March 11, 2020. (Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images)

Students walk through the UCLA campus in Westwood. (Credit: Los Angeles Times)

An undated file photo shows the UCLA campus. The UCLA Foundation has announced a $5-million gift for scholarships, COVID-19 emergency support, mental health services and other student needs. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Its unclear how the man was able to enter the dorm room or the building. The victim was medically treated at the scene.

Students were alerted of the assault Friday morning and many said they now feel uneasy.

They sent the police report saying a girl was assaulted while sleeping which is very frightening, especially for me as a young woman, said Chantal de la Cruz, a UCLA student. Ive been living here for a year and the [crime] reports we usually get are burglary reports and theyre outside of the campus, so this is a huge shock for everybody. A lot of students dont feel safe.

Tips from UCLA police to stay safe on campus include:

Always be alert and aware of your surroundings

Report any suspicious activity to the police

Do not leave doors to buildings propped open

Secure your residence by locking all windows and doors

Avoid poorly lit or deserted areas when walking at night

Utilize the UCLA Safe Ride Service and UCPD CSO evening escorts

Calling 911 for emergencies or UCLA PDs 24-hour line at 310-825-1491

The incident remains under investigation.

Anyone with information on the case is urged to call UCLAPD at 310-825-1491. Anonymous tips can be provided by calling 310-794-5824.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
New UK PM and European Commission president discuss support for Ukraine

Keir Starmer, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has had a telephone conversation with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission (EC).

Source: press service of the UK prime minister, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Von der Leyen congratulated Starmer on his election victory.

The leaders discussed areas of close cooperation between the UK and the EU, including support for Ukraine, climate change and regional security.

They also stressed the importance of the unique relationship between the UK and the EU in addressing these challenges.

Starmer and von der Leyen agreed to remain in close contact and said they look forward to meeting in person in the near future.

Background:

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly had a phone call with Starmer on the day he was elected as the new UK prime minister.

On Friday, Labour leader Keir Starmer officially became the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after meeting with the King.

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The TV presenter who was the target of a kidnap and rape plot has released a statement, saying women should be not made to feel unsafe going about their daily lives.

Holly Willoughby, the UKs former lead presenter of ITVs flagship magazine show This Morning, spoke publicly after Gavin Plumb was convicted of assembling a tool kit to use for highly sexualised violence against her. He denied soliciting murder and inciting kidnap and rape. He was arrested and charged after he unwittingly disclosed his plans online to an undercover police officer in the U.S.

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Plumb was convicted on Thursday following an eight-day trial and will be sentenced in the upcoming days.

Willoughby, who took a leave of absence after the plot against her was made public, released a statement after the verdict:

As women, we should not be made to feel unsafe going about our daily lives and in our own homes, she said. I will forever be grateful to the undercover police officer who understood the imminent threat, and to the Metropolitan and Essex police forces for their swift response.

She thanked others involved for ensuring that justice was done and that the defendant will not be able to harm any more women, adding: I would also like to commend the bravery of his previous victims for speaking up at the time. Without their bravery this conviction may not have been possible.

Willoughby left This Morning shortly after the plot was revealed. She had been under police protection the week that Plumb was arrested and taken into custody in October. At the time, she said on Instagram she was leaving This Morning for me and my family.

Having already had a difficult year following the allegations against her ex-This Morning co-host Phillip Schofield, Willoughby then spent some time away from TV screens before landing a role presenting ITVs Dancing on Ice. She is also now making a Netflix survival series with Bear Grylls titled Bear Hunt.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has had a phone conversation with the new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who assured the president of his unwavering support for Ukraine.

Source: Zelenskyy on  (Twitter)

Quote: "I was pleased to speak with Keir Starmer on the day of his appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I congratulated Sir Keir Starmer on his election victory and wished him success in fulfilling the British people's expectations of the new government."

Details: Zelenskyy said Starmer assured him that the support for Ukraine from the UK would remain unwavering and principled.

Quote: "We coordinated positions ahead of the NATO Summit in Washington and other international events, as well as discussed ways to strengthen our partnership, including the preparation of an unprecedented 100-year partnership agreement between Ukraine and the UK."

Background:

Keir Starmer officially became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after an audience with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated Keir Starmer and the UK Labour Party on their election victory.

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By Andreas Rinke

BERLIN (Reuters) - Britain wants a balanced position on the war in the Middle East and will use diplomatic efforts to ensure a ceasefire is reached and hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas are released, its new foreign minister David Lammy told Reuters.

Lammy is on a visit to Germany, his first international trip following the Labour Party's thumping victory in Britain's election on Friday, which ended 14 years of Conservative government and propelled Keir Starmer to power as prime minister.

"The time has come for the United Kingdom to reconnect with the outside world," Lammy said in an interview in Berlin.

"I want to get back to a balanced position on Israel and Gaza. We've been very clear that we want to see a ceasefire ... We want to see those hostages out."

He added: "The fighting has to stop, the aid has got to get in, and I will use all diplomatic efforts to ensure that we get to that ceasefire."

Lammy did not elaborate.

The Labour Party suffered significant election setbacks in areas with large Muslim populations in the election on Friday amid discontent over its position on the war in Gaza, despite a landslide victory in the parliamentary vote.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza gathered momentum on Friday after Hamas made a revised proposal on the terms of a deal, and Israel said negotiations would continue into next week.

Gaza health authorities say more than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive launched in response to a Hamas-led assault on Israel last Oct. 7 in which 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Lammy also said Britain would seek to reset its position globally on issues including the climate crisis as well as key relationships, such as with European and emerging powers.

"Let us put the Brexit years behind us ... there's much that we can do together," Lammy said, pointing to a previously floated idea of a UK-EU security pact.

Lammy will on Sunday travel to Poland and Sweden, where he will focus discussions on areas including cooperation on NATO and the war in Ukraine, Britain's foreign office said.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Reuters TV in Berlin; Writing by Sachin Ravikumar, Editing by William Maclean)
The UK used to be a European tourism hot spot. Heres how it all went wrong - and how it could be fixed

Its hardly a great tourism slogan.

Britain is grinding to a halt was the verdict of the UKs Labour Party on the country they hoped to govern, as they were setting out their case for election in June.

On July 4, they won by a landslide, promising change. As residents wonder what to expect day-to-day, those abroad might wonder what it means for their travel plans. Because one industry that could do with a change is tourism.

Since time immemorial, visitors have flocked to the UK. Its heritage and cultural sites have traditionally made it one of the jewels in Europes crown.

Yet while visitor numbers are up across the board on the continent  nearly all EU member states saw numbers rise in 2023 year-on-year  the UK has not yet caught up with pre-pandemic numbers.

Nearly 41 million overseas residents visited the UK in 2019. In 2023, 37.68 million entered  a drop of 7.3%.

Compare that with Italy, which set a new record for arrivals numbers in 2023. Only Luxembourg saw a drop of 0.1% fewer tourists.

Whats more, international visitors applying for a tourist visa were down by 19% on pre-pandemic numbers.

The slow recovery coincides with tourism-allied hiccups. Regular strikes have been hampering transport. Rail cancelations are at record levels, according to the new government in its pre-election manifesto.

The UK has a glorious coastline, but in recent years many beaches are increasingly polluted by sewage. Tax-free shopping for tourists has been axed, and EU visitors now need a passport to visit, which most dont have.

And in 2024, the rhetoric around safety in the capital has been ramped up. In February, then prime minister Rishi Sunak suggested the country was descending into mob rule. He also flagged a 20% rise in knife crime in London in May.

His comments were political, made while campaigning for local elections. Yet few listening from abroad would have noted the context.

So whats gone wrong for the UK  and can the incoming government turn it around? Labours pre-election manifesto, in which the party outlined its plans for the country, pretty much ignored the tourism industry. But it didnt mince its words when describing the problems.

Britain is grinding to a halt, it said. Rail cancelations are at record levels Conservative chaos has seen major projects abandoned, decades-long delays and our infrastructure crumbling.

The party has promised to modernize UK transport infrastructure, rebuilding Britain. The railways will be brought under public ownership. Those traveling by car will be pleased to know that Labour also pledged to repair potholes.

However none of this will be quick. Labours infrastructure overhaul is based on a 10-year plan.

Shifting priorities

Italy has seen record visitor numbers, while the UK struggles to regain its pre-pandemic figures. - JC Milhet/Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images

Is the UK really doing that badly or have travel trends shifted, post-pandemic? For Tom Jenkins, CEO of the European Tourism Organisation, its the latter. I think the UK is doing perfectly well but well see more people going to [continental] Europe, he says of 2024, adding that theres allegedly a slight plateau of American demand for the UK.

Patricia Yates, CEO of VisitBritain, disagrees, saying that American visitors have driven our recovery since the pandemic. Kayla Zeigner, owner of travel agency Destination Europe, says she is booking ever-more trips to the UK.

But for Marcy Zyonse, owner of Live The Dream Travel, a luxury vacations company, the UK has been hit by changing post-pandemic travel trends. The appetite for epic, culturally immersive travel has been so strong in the past couple of years, she says.

People were starved for that. In the US, we didnt go beyond the Caribbean for a couple of years, so people are looking to do that Greece or Italy trip. Weve missed out on two or three years of travel, and I think the UK is too low down on the list. English-speakers want a more exotic experience, she says  starting with a foreign language.

After all, the UK is known for history, culture and the royals  all of which will be around next year. Its easier to prioritize that for a much-needed Mediterranean break.

And that heritage has also meant the outgoing government has let the tourism industry slide, says Yates.

Theres a view that we have enormous strength in our culture and heritage, and people will just come, she says.

That isnt the case. Like every export industry, we have to pitch  to tell people why they should come now. The balance of being a history and heritage destination is that it was there 10 years ago and will be there in 10 years.

Theres also a hangover from the pandemic, when UK travel rules were particularly chaotic, say experts. Destinations that opened early got visitors raving about their first post-lockdown trips  which had a knock-on effect.

Current hotspots are destinations that opened early in 2021 to American tourists, which created a huge surge in demand, says Zeigler.

Zyonse agrees. You guys in the UK were behind, and people lost confidence. People booking in 2021 for 2022 didnt book the UK, and the effect snowballed. Social media has driven people to those places [that opened up earlier].

Making Britain great again

The UK should promote iconic outdoor destinations such as the Lake District, says Zyonse. - Owen Humphreys/PA Images/Getty Images

So whats to be done? For Yates, the new government could use tourism as an economy-booster  to the tune of 7% growth every year, she says, according to VisitBritains projections.

The strength of tourism is that you can dial up quickly  we dont need to build lots of infrastructure, she says.

Its a case of promoting the right places at the right time to the right customers.

Promotion is tricky in itself. The outgoing Conservative government was infamous for its austerity cuts to public spending. In evidence to parliament in March 2024, VisitBritain revealed that its marketing budget was around 18 million ($23 million) annually, compared to over 80 euros million ($85.5 million) for Ireland.

Back in November 2021, Yates told CNN that VisitBritain didnt know what its budget would be from March 2022.

Today, she explains, it has a 19.8 million core budget, and gets around the same amount from another government campaign. Thats still around half of Irelands budget  so private-sector funding is used to boost it.

We know that for every 1 invested we get 15 spent by tourists  a slice goes to the treasury, and money goes directly from international visitors into the economy. Its a win-win, she says.

But shes keen for the new government to help take things further.

Tourism delivers over three million jobs, around 10% of the economy, she says. To have a real growth plan, we have to make a statement about Britain overseas that will drive visitors and investment.

Welcoming visitors

New Prime Minister Keir Starmer needs to make the UK appear more welcoming, says VisitBritain's Yates. - Phil Noble/Reuters

Not many tourists will have cared about political instability  as Zeigler says, Americans are dealing with our own political chaos. But Yates says that what does cut through is the message of welcome.

Its hugely important as a driver for international visitors, she says. Sometimes Britain has done that well, like during the London Olympics. Sometimes we dont score as well. We need to look at how we position Britain as a welcoming destination, and how we look at borders and visas.

In the 2023 Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index, which ranks 60 nations on a range of attributes, the UK received its lowest ever rating for Welcome. Its rankings for Culture and People also dropped, though overall it rose two places to fourth position.

A visa for a Chinese visitor to the UK lasts a year, but costs the same about as a 10-year visa to the US, she says. Marcus Lee, CEO of China Travel Online says that visa efficiency is one of the top three drivers for Chinese tourists.

Visitors from the Gulf states have increased since the UK introduced a speedy electronic travel authorization scheme to fast-track their applications, says Yates. The scheme was due to expand to Europe and US markets  it will now be up to the Labour government to do so.

Meanwhile the self-styled hostile environment towards immigration of the last government hasnt helped either. For tourism, we want an efficient and effective border, but we do want people to come, she says. We need to think about language. She says that people who visit the UK on vacation are 18% more likely to invest in the country  and investment is something the new government will be looking for.

Brexit side effects

The UK has a stunning coastline - yet fewer visitors are coming to see it. - Matt Cardy/Getty Images

As a result of Brexit, in 2021 the UK government abolished tax-free shopping for non-EU citizens. It means the UK is now the only European country not offering tax-free shopping to visitors from outside the continent.

Data from New West End Company, which represents over 600 businesses in central London, in February showed that although visitor numbers in 2023 to the area were just 4% below 2019 levels, spending was down 19%. Visitors from the Gulf states  some of the wealthiest tourists to grace the UK  were up 20% on 2019 figures, yet they only spent 10% more.

The pattern was repeated with tourists from across the globe. US tourists were up 8% but spent 14% less. In Italy and Spain, however, US spending was up by 143% and 179% respectively.

The impact of losing tax-free shopping is clear to see, says Dee Corsi, chief executive of the NWEC. While the UK strives to return to pre-pandemic levels of travel and spend, continental Europes recovery continues at pace.

Whilst the likes of Italy and France are actively leveraging tax-free shopping as a driver of growth, British businesses continue to trade at a disadvantage. With domestic spend remaining squeezed, a continued decline of tourist spending will have a knock-on effect on employment rates, inward investment, and supply chains across the nation.

She calls bringing back tax-free shopping a rare, golden opportunity for the government to inject a shot of growth back into the economy, with a tried-and-tested scheme and a captive audience.

We would urge the new government to grasp this opportunity with both hands, she adds.

Meanwhile, EU citizens now need a passport to visit the UK, where pre-Brexit they could cross the border with their ID cards. In 2021, Jenkins told CNN that three-quarters of Europeans dont have passports.

Then there are clouds on the horizon regarding getting in and out. When the new ETIAS scheme launches, every traveler entering the Schengen area for the first time will need their biometric data captured. Itll be time consuming initally, he says. Theres evidence that really bad entry systems deter people.

Bridgerton to the rescue?

Visitors love the UK's pomp and circumstance, and the royals, as King Charles' coronation showed. - John Sibley/Reuters

So what can be done? For Zyonse, VisitBritain should spend that marketing budget on attracting influencers and travel advisors to lesser-known destinations. A self-declared lover of the UK, who calls London a better version of New York, she says that the post-pandemic drive for more epic adventures calls for a different approach. Timelapse videos of an elevator going up Londons Shard skyscraper, or something more wild in the Lake District, could attract social media likes, she says.

She also thinks that the majority of US family trips are driven by childrens choices. She just went to Greece to give her daughter a Mamma Mia! experience, and says that the UK needs to get young girls posting on social media wearing a crown, or having afternoon tea, or doing something Bridgerton-related.

Shell approve of VisitBritains next big campaign, then. Launching at the end of 2024, Starring Great Britain will revolve around filming locations, says Yates, who adds that her team also wants to promote cheaper, out-of-season travel.

For Yates, the new government offers a chance to grow the industry. But she warns that the UK needs to revamp its international reputation, wishing for it to be seen internationally as a welcoming, culturally diverse, vibrant country that people want to visit, send their kids to school and invest in.

With the new government promising change from day one, it might not be long until she sees her dreams coming true.

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Ukrainian air defense shot down 24 of the 27 Shahed-type attack drones launched by Russia overnight on July 6, the Air Force reported.

Russia reportedly launched the drones from occupied Crimea, as well as Russia's Kursk Oblast.

Explosions were heard in Sumy Oblast shortly after midnight local time, Suspilne reported, as the Air Force warned of the threat of Russian Shahed-type drone attacks.

During the overnights attacks, a Russian drone stuck energy infrastructure in Sumy Oblast, leaving several communities in the region without power, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.

In recent months, Russian attacks on critical infrastructure have increasingly targeted Ukrainian energy facilities.

As a result of the attacks on energy infrastructure, Ukraine began implementing rolling blackouts on May 15.

Mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Air Force were involved in repelling the air attacks. The drones were brough down over Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Sumy, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, and Mykolaiv oblasts.

Drone attacks are a daily occurrence in Ukraine, affecting various regions across the country.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on July 6 that it had downed eight drones overnight, including seven drones over Kursk Oblast, and one drone over Belgorod Oblast. The Kyiv Independent cannot verify the claims.

Read also: Drone attacks on Russias Krasnodar Krai damage oil depots, communications tower









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Ukraine is ready to assist Moldova in repelling Russia's hybrid threat before elections

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has announced Kyiv's readiness to share information about the hybrid threat to Moldova in order to prevent Russia from influencing the Moldovan presidential election and the referendum on EU accession.

Source: Kuleba said this at a briefing following trilateral talks between the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania in Chisinau, Ukrinform writes, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Kuleba said that Kyiv is ready to share with Chisinau everything it knows about how the Russian hybrid threat works to help defend itself against it.

Quote: "We have agreed on steps to counter disinformation and other forms of Russian hybrid aggression against our countries," Kuleba said.

He pointed out that Russia is using its entire propaganda machine to influence the presidential election and referendum in Moldova this autumn.

Background:

Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi did not rule out further expulsion of Russian diplomats from the embassy in Chisinau.

Last summer, the Moldovan government announced that the number of accredited diplomats and technical and administrative staff of the Russian Embassy in Chisinau would be reduced from 84 to 25.

This happened after the publication of an investigation by Jurnal TV and The Insider, stating that dozens of antennas and satellite dishes were installed on the roof of the Russian embassy in Moldova and used by the Russian secret services for spying.

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The Ukrainian government is working on a new maritime strategy that will be soon approved by the National Security and Defense Council, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 6.

The Black Sea has become one of the main theaters of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Kyiv having multiple successes striking Russia's naval forces in the region. Due to the naval drone attacks, Russian warships do not enter the northwestern part of the Black Sea, an area of almost 25,000 square meters, according to Ukraine's Navy Commander Oleksii Neizhpapa.

"We clearly understand that the war has changed the balance of forces in our entire Black Sea region, and the Russian Fleet will never dominate this water area again," Zelensky said in his evening address.

"We are consolidating our interests, taking into account the new technological possibilities of Ukraine and our relations with partners."

Zelensky said the strategy is being finalized and did not disclose any further details on the plan.

Read also: Who needs warships when youve got drones? Russia loses control over Black Sea

"Ukraine will always be a state capable of protecting its own interests at sea, transport arteries, and the interests of our allies and partners," the president added.

Ukraine wants to expand its shipping corridor, which facilities the only maritime traffic from the three main Odesa ports, to include the ports of Mykolaiv and Kherson in the country's south, Neizhpapa told Reuters in an interview published on July 5.

Kyiv was forced to set up a new export route in the Black Sea last year after Russia unilaterally terminated the Black Sea grain deal. Initially envisioned as a humanitarian corridor to allow the departure of ships stranded there since the start of the full-scale war, it has since grown into a full-blown trade route.

Neizhpapa also said that the upcoming delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine would challenge Russia's "full dominance" of the skies over the Black Sea.

Read also: Ukraines airfields under fire as Russia braces for F-16s

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Ukraines Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko has visited combat units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the frontline in Donetsk Oblast.

Source: Klymenko on Telegram

Quote from Klymenko: "I met with the soldiers of the 12th Azov Brigade, Lut, Special Forces of the National Guard, and Border Guard.

I listened to the command's reports on the operational situation in this frontline area. The situation is complicated  the enemy is putting pressure, continuing assault operations and attempting to break through the defence line. At the same time, our soldiers and police continue to stand firmly and confidently in their positions.

I paid special attention to long and meaningful communication with the soldiers  those who are performing tasks on the frontline. Their experience, suggestions, and vision will only help us improve the process of recruiting, training, and serving in the ranks of the combat units."

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Ukrainian embassy urges Bulgarian politicians not to exploit topic of war for personal gain

The Embassy of Ukraine in Bulgaria has urged Bulgarian officials and political forces to refrain from exploiting the topic of the war in Ukraine for political purposes.

Source: the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Bulgaria, as reported by European Pravda

Details: This is how the Ukrainian embassy reacted to the statement by Dimitar Glavchev, Bulgaria's interim Prime Minister, saying that Sofia would propose to start peace talks between Ukraine and Russia at the NATO summit in Washington.

"The Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Bulgaria calls on all officials and all political forces in Bulgaria to refrain from exploiting the war for political purposes," the statement said.

The embassy emphasised that Ukrainians pay the most terrible price every day in their efforts to stop the aggressor, stating that calls to limit or halt assistance to Ukraine effectively encourage support for Russia.

The Ukrainian diplomats expressed their gratitude for Glavchev's attendance at the Peace Summit and for the political, financial, energy, humanitarian and practical defence support provided, and urged Bulgaria's political forces and civil society to consolidate their efforts to strengthen assistance to Ukraine.

Background: Glavchev announced that at the NATO summit in Washington, Bulgaria would propose to start peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

He said he sincerely believed that Sofia should be in favour of peace talks, with Bulgaria acting as a mediator.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that in order to achieve a peaceful solution in Ukraine, NATO members should provide Ukraine with military support, which, he added, was exactly what the Alliance countries have been doing.

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United States Marshals open fire during armed carjacking in Southeast DC, police say

WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  D.C. police said agents with the departments Internal Affairs Bureau were investigating after two United States Marshals shot someone early Friday morning.

Around 1:15 a.m., the Deputy United States Marshals were parked in two vehicles in the 2100 block of 11th Street, Northwest. Thats when 18-year-old Kentrell Flowers, of Southeast, got out of the car and approached one of the Marshals, according to the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

Metro Transit police officer shoots carjacking suspect, Arlington County police say

Police said Flowers took out a handgun and pointed it at one of the Marshals in an attempt to carjack them. The Marshal pulled out his gun and fired several shots at Flowers. The second U.S. Marshal from the second car responded and also opened fire.

Flowers was taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Police said the U.S. Marshals were not hurt in the incident.

Flowers was charged with the following:

Armed Carjacking

Carrying a Pistol without a License

Possession of a Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device

Police confirmed the gun, shown in the picture below, was recovered from the scene.

Gun found at the scene on July 5. (Photo Courtesy: Metropolitan Police Department)

The shooting was under investigation and authorities said the United States Attorneys Office will independently review the case as well.

The carjacking remains under investigation by the MPDs Criminal Investigations Division.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (202) 727-9099, tips can be sent to 50411.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Emmanuel Macron, president of France, will still be in a job on Monday - but many of his MPs may not - Ludovic Marin/AFP

An unpredictable or even unstable Emmanuel Macron could resign after Sundays second-round parliamentary elections, top aides have warned.

I know the man  this is not science fiction, one former top adviser told The Telegraph of the French president, whose snap election could leave his centrist alliance with half the MPs it had last month.

Final polls suggested Marine Le Pens National Rally (RN) would fall short of a majority, leaving a chaotic patchwork of parties  from the hard-Left to the centre  to form a government, or mire France in political paralysis.

Mr Macron privately relished throwing an unpinned grenade at the French political establishment and electorate by dissolving parliament after defeat in EU elections, according to an Elysee source.

Ms Le Pen could become president if current polls were borne out - Benoit Tessier/Reuters

But he now faces the final three years of his presidency with no clear majority, and even his closest allies fear the grenade may prove to be a cluster bomb should he step down. An early presidential election could put Ms Le Pen in the Elysee, if current popularity polls are accurate.

In a letter to the French people a fortnight ago in the regional daily press, Mr Macron insisted he would not stand down. You can trust me to act as your president until May 2027, he wrote.

Asked by Le Figaro Magazine if he had lost the plot, as some have suggested, he said: No, not at all. I can confirm that I have not. Im only thinking about France.

However, one loyal cabinet member remarked: In seven years, Ive had the opportunity to spend hours with [Mr Macron]. One day, he can make you a promise straight to your face, and the next day do the complete opposite. Completely the opposite.

So when he says: Ill never leave, I have my doubts, the MP told Le Parisien.

He swore to us that he would not draw any national conclusions from the European elections and we got the dissolution. Hes capable of anything, said another. I dont know whats going on in his head. Hes become elusive, said a third.

They pointed to Mr Macrons curious decision to pop champagne corks last Sunday  as the humiliating first round election results came in  to fete the birthday of friend. The results left his Ensemble camp in disarray, likely to drop from 250 seats to as few as 118 in Sundays second round vote.

Has he lost touch with reality to this extent?, asked one senior cabinet minister.

Our MPs are being wiped off the legislative map and hes taking a moment to toast with his mates. Whats the next step? He resigns, Le Pen is elected president, and a big ball is organised in the Elysee party room to celebrate his departure?

Howling Mad Murdoch

Strange photos taken last Sunday of Mr Macron in shades and an aviator jacket in Le Touquet prompted social media comparisons to Captain HM Howling Mad Murdock, the fictional pilot in hit 1980s TV series The A-Team who was declared insane.

Mr Macron's unconventional look in Le Touquet sparked A-Team comparisons - Ludovic Marin/AFP

Theories abound as to Mr Macrons rationale for dissolving parliament, some suggesting he hoped to unmask the RN as a bunch of charlatans in government and thus stop Ms Le Pen being elected president in 2027.

His father Jean-Michel Macron offered some insight this week, saying: Its better for France to experience [the RN in power] for two years than for five.

If the RN shows in two years that it is completely incapable of governing, we can hope that it will go no further. Thats what my son told me two months before the European elections, he told Le Dauphine Libere, a regional newspaper.

Three years as a lame duck?

However, some commentators fear the prospect of being a lame duck until 2027 might prove too much for the hyperactive 46-year-old.

An Ipsos Talan poll on Friday saw the RN winning 170-205 seats, a huge increase from the current 89 but well below the 289 required for an absolute majority.

Meanwhile, speculation is rife that the Socialists, Communists and Greens could forge a republican front, with Mr Macrons depleted centrist camp and centre-Right Republican MPs who have not joined forces with Ms Le Pen.

The Leftist France Unbowed, whose figurehead is ex-Trotskyite firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, however, has ruled out joining such a republican front.

Either way, Mr Macron is heading for a power-sharing cohabitation, in which his role will be limited to foreign and defence policy  and even there, his wings as an international statesman will probably be clipped.

Ms Le Pen has already called for Mr Macron to go if his party suffers a major defeat, saying that, given a reshuffle and fresh elections are impossible, the only way out of a potential political crisis is for the president to resign

However, some observers say he will do no such thing.

The guy is actually hyper-rational, said one aide. He will never resign. Hes very lucid He knows that if he did [go], it would spell the end of the Fifth Republic [and leave Ms Le Pen in power].

An MP from Mr Macrons Renaissance party said: Im convinced that hes not thinking about that, its not in keeping with the type of person he is. He couldnt care less about dissolving others. But dissolving himself, thats not his thing.

Another MP the reality was more prosaic. He is neither God nor a mental patient. Hes just the guy who made a big mistake.

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US to announce new steps to strengthen Ukraine's air defence at NATO summit

A representative of US President Joe Biden's administration has stated that the US will announce new measures to strengthen Ukraine's air defence and military capabilities at the NATO summit on 9-11 July in Washington.

Source: Ukrinform citing a high-ranking representative of Biden's administration during a phone briefing

Quote: "Next week, youll also see a strong demonstration of US and Allied support for Ukraine. Allies will reaffirm that Ukraines future is in NATO; will make significant new announcements about how were increasing NATOs military, political, and financial support for Ukraine."

"The United States will also announce new steps to strengthen Ukraines air defences and military capabilities to help Ukraine continue to defend themselves today and to deter Russian aggression into the future."

Details: He specified that these announcements will be "part of Ukraine's bridge" to NATO membership.

He also added that the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting will take place on Thursday, after which the US President will hold a joint event with the Ukrainian president and nearly two dozen allies and partners who have signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine.

The White House representative also noted that the Washington summit will send Putin a "strong signal" that he will not be able to outlast the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine.

Background:

Recently, the media reported that at the 75th anniversary NATO summit in Washington, Allies will announce the creation of a new structure for coordinating all types of assistance to Ukraine in the long term, which will be called the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU).

According to sources, the Allies are discussing the creation of a special representative in Kyiv to monitor the international coordination of arms supplies and exercises for the Ukrainian Armed Forces under the auspices of NATO.

Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine, said she hoped that the Washington NATO summit decision would be worded to include a statement on the irreversibility of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic course.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke about the latest preparations ahead of the NATO summit to be held in Washington next week and announced good news for Ukraine, in particular, concerning air defence.

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US pauses military exercises with Georgia as relations with Tbilisi deteriorate

The United States has indefinitely postponed joint military exercises with Georgia amid a comprehensive evaluate of its bilateral relationship with Tbilisi, the U.S. Defense Department announced on July 5.

The U.S. government initiated a full review of its relationship with Georgia on May 30, soon after the Georgian parliament passed a controversial bill requiring organizations that receive foreign funding to be labeled as "foreign agents."

The joint exercise "Noble Partner," originally scheduled to take place in Georgia from July 25 to Aug. 6., will be put on hold indefinitely, the Defense Department announced.

The Georgian government falsely accused the U.S. of pressuring Georgia "to open a second front against Russia to alleviate pressure on Ukraine," prompting the decision, according to the Pentagon.

The decision was not made "lightly," the Defense Department said.

"The United States will continue to partner with the Georgian Defense Forces as we look to continue strengthening Georgia's ability to safeguard its sovereignty and maintain its territorial integrity," the briefing said.

The U.S. implemented the first tranche of sanctions against Georgian government officials on June 6, imposing travel restrictions on individuals "responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia."

Read also: Politico: US considering significant trade, military deals with Georgia if it reverses democratic backsliding

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The White House has issued a comment in response to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbans visit to Moscow, which included a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Source: European Pravda, citing a senior White House official during a press briefing

Details: The US presidential administration official said that Washington was concerned over Orbans trip to Russia.

"So were concerned that Prime Minister Orban would choose to take this trip to Moscow, which will neither advance the cause of peace nor will it promote Ukraines sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence," the official said.

He added that "Russia could end this war today by ceasing its aggression against Ukraine."

Background:

Russian leader Vladimir Putin hosted Viktor Orban, Hungarian Prime Minister, in the Kremlin on 5 July to conduct negotiations and discuss Ukraine, among other things. He started the meeting by mentioning an ultimatum for Kyiv.

During a joint press-conference with Putin, Orban said that he realised during his visits to Moscow and Kyiv that the two countries have positions on the war of aggression unleashed by Russia that are "very far apart".

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Native Vote 2024. The fight to hold state lawmakers accountable to voters continues. On Tuesday, July 2, 2024, at the request of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, the Spirit Lake Tribe, and individual Native voters, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated an Eighth Circuit ruling that would have given state legislators complete immunity from civil discovery.

Tuesdays decision in Turtle Mountain Band v. ND Legislative Assembly is related to a discovery dispute in the case Turtle Mountain Chippewa v. Howe. In Howe, the Tribes and Native voters sued North Dakota in 2022 because its newly adopted legislative map diluted Native American voting power.

Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

During that case, the plaintiffs requested that six North Dakota legislators and one staff member share nonprivileged documents and depositions related to the redistricting process. The magistrate and district judges supported the document request. However, on appeal, a divided panel of the Eighth Circuit held that state legislators are absolutely immune from this kind of civil discovery in federal courts.

Meanwhile, the voters and Tribal Nations went to trial and won their redistricting challenge, which, according to the Supreme Court, was cause to vacate the Eighth Circuits unprecedented opinion. Tuesdays Supreme Court decision upholds citizens right to hold elected officials accountable.

NARF, Campaign Legal Center (CLC), and the Law Office of Bryan L. Sells, LLC, represent the voters and Tribal Nations. Robins Kaplan LLP represents the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Spirit Lake Tribe.

About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
VAN, Texas (KETK)  Melissa Davis, the chief of police at Van Police Department was fired on Monday, according to the mayor of Van, Tammy Huff.

19-year-old shot in head, suspect arrested in Smith County July 4 fatal shooting

Former Van police chief Melissa Davis. Photo courtesy of the city of Van.

The City Council held a closed session at 7 p.m. on Friday to discuss the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of the Police Chief. The council voted unanimously to table the matter until their next meeting on Thursday, July 11.

According to Clint McNear with the Texas Municipal Police Association, Davis was fired by the city manager John Desha via letter on Monday after Davis reportedly didnt want to fine victims of graffiti and instead organized the community to help clean the graffiti.

The status right now is she was terminated by our city manager, John Desha, on Monday, July 1, Huff said. Thats really all I can talk about, because its a personnel matter.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
Christopher J. Devine is an associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton. He is the author of "Do Running Mates Matter? The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections (with Kyle C. Kopko) and Im Here to Ask for Your Vote: How Presidential Campaign Visits Influence Voters.

Donald Trump has reportedly narrowed his list of potential vice-presidential running mates.

Conventional wisdom is his VP should be someone who helps win the election by delivering a home state or a key voting bloc. No finalists come from a top battleground state.

Former President Donald Trump appears with U.S. Senator JD Vance outside Wright Bros. Aero Inc at the Dayton International Airport on March 16, 2024 in Dayton, Ohio.

Perhaps U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik could help Trump with women; U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio with Latinos; or U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds or former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson with Black voters.

The conventional wisdom is wrong.

People vote for presidential candidates, not a vice president.

Who Trump chooses doesn't really matter

My book with Kyle C. Kopko, "Do Running Mates Matter?," shows vice-presidential candidate evaluations have very small, direct effects on presidential voting. Running mates rarely have targeted effects on voters from their home state or demographic group.

All about the VP picks: Trump's VP options: Sizing up their pros and cons from Ohio's JD Vance to Vivek Ramaswamy

Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008, had no discernible effect on votes among women. Evangelicals didn't swing toward Trump after he chose Mike Pence in 2016. Kamala Harris did help Joe Biden win Black and women voters in 2020, but not by much.

It is very unlikely Trumps running mate will decide this election.

Heres a better strategy: Choose a well-qualified running mate, who is ready to serve as vice president  or president, if necessary.

Voters reward presidential candidates for choosing a credible running mate and punish them for not doing so. For example, in 2008, Barack Obamas selection of Joe Biden boosted evaluations of his judgment and won him additional votes. John McCains selection of Palin had the opposite effect.

Trumps choice likewise will shape voters expectations about his second term in office.

The issue with Vance, Donalds and Carson

Is he serious about governing, or focused on retribution against his opponents? Will he be more successful working with Congress to enact his policy agenda? Will he demand absolute loyalty from his subordinates?

Some of Trumps finalists would not be particularly credible. U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance is a first-term senator. Donalds is a second-term congressman. Carson has never held elective office and served only one term as a cabinet secretary.

Voters are unlikely to view them as well-qualified to be President Trumps right-hand man or to potentially take over as commander-in-chief.

The remaining finalists would lend Trump more credibility.

Stefanik is a five-term congresswoman and chair of the House Republican conference. Scott is serving his third term in the Senate. U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton has served in the House and Senate for more than a decade. Doug Burgum has no federal government experience but has been North Dakota's governor for eight years following a successful career in business.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) making media rounds in the Spin Room at Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion after the CNN Presidential Debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump held at CNN's studios in Atlanta. CNN Anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are moderators of the debate.

Rubio's the best man for the job

Trump's best choice is Marco Rubio.

He has 25 years of experience in local, state and federal office, and is in his third term as a U.S. senator from Florida. (Rubio would have to switch residence to a different state to run with Trump, a fellow Floridian.) He has served as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives and chaired the Senate's intelligence committee.

Chris Devine

As a former Trump rival for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, he is not only a credible vice-presidential candidate, but as a former presidential contender he's already been vetted by national media.

Picking Rubio might reassure voters worried about Trumps loyalty demands, given his sharp criticism of Trump in 2016 and his vote to certify Bidens election in 2020. It would signal Trump wants to govern in the national interest, not just in his interests.

Trump's history suggests his top priority will be picking an unquestioning loyalist, such as Vance, who fits that bill better than Rubio.

But in choosing fealty over credibility, Trump would do himself (and the nation) more harm than good.

Christopher J. Devine is an associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton. He is the author of "Do Running Mates Matter? The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections (with Kyle C. Kopko) and Im Here to Ask for Your Vote: How Presidential Campaign Visits Influence Voters.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: There's a big problem with Trump picking Vance, Donalds or Carson VP
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed four bills Wednesday that include the creation of a new registry for vaping products and a slew of changes related to transportation laws and the state DMV.

Cooper also vetoed two other bills ahead of his anticipated participation with other Democratic governors in a meeting with President Joe Biden later on Wednesday.

One of the bills signed by Cooper focuses on creating a registry under the North Carolina Department of Revenue for certified vapor products  like e-cigarettes  or consumables containing nicotine at the end of the year. Certification for those products would be mandatory for manufacturers to sell in North Carolina.

There will be penalties for sellers and manufacturers who dont abide by the new regulations. Both would be subject to varying fee amounts, and manufacturers could be charged with a misdemeanor.

ALSO READ: Blew my mind: Woman says Lincolnton vape shop sold to 14-year-old grandson

Another approved bill makes a wide variety of changes to transportation laws. The modifications include creating digital drivers licenses that can be displayed on mobile devices, printing temporary registration plates on-demand, implementing a work zone safety course and increasing littering penalties.

The third piece of legislation is the states annual Farm Act. Under this years iteration, agricultural areas would be exempt from municipal stormwater fees and a tax credit for certain types of land conservation-related donations would be enacted, among other alterations.

The last bill signed by Cooper makes various changes to insurance law.

Two other bills did not make the cut. The first bill allows for title certification for all-terrain and utility vehicles, as well as permits modified utility vehicles to travel on any roads that are 55 mph or less, which Cooper said would pose a risk on state highways.

The second bill makes several changes regarding tenancy and landlords. Cooper criticized a portion of the bill for barring cities from passing ordinances that stop landlords from refusing to lease to someone who pays for rent with funds from federal housing assistance programs.

ALSO READ: Tenant kicked out of home wins lawsuit against landlord

Although the General Assembly adjourned, it has a list of dates where lawmakers can reconvene to take up certain actions, which includes the consideration of veto overrides. Republican supermajorities in both chambers make the prospect of overrides likely.

The next date to reconvene is July 10.

Coopers decisions came hours before Bidens meeting with other Democratic governors, in which the governors office confirmed Cooper would be attending virtually. The meeting follows a rough week for Bidens campaign, sparked by his debate performance that led to pundits and some officials calling for him to pull out of the presidential race.

Last week, the governor stumped for Biden at his rally in Raleigh  the first campaign stop the president made following his debate in Atlanta. Cooper told the cheering crowd that Biden saved this nation in 2020 and needed to do it again in 2024.

If Joe Biden wins North Carolina, hes president of the United States, Cooper said last week.

(WATCH BELOW: Action 9: What to do if your landlord hasnt fixed your A/C)
The United Nations documented President Nicolas Maduro's regime continues to detain political opponents despite agreeing in 2023 to hold free and fair elections. File Photo by Miguel Gutierrez/EPA-EFE

July 5 (UPI) -- Today is Venezuelan Independence Day, less than a month out from the country's highly anticipated general election on July 28 when many opposition supporters expect to unseat President Nicolas Maduro.

Leading the opposition is Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, an unassuming, soft-spoken former diplomat who was catapulted into the political spotlight in April after opposition frontrunner Maria Corina Machado and her first substitute Corina Yoris were barred from running against Maduro.

Gonzalez, with the popular Machado backing him, now is leading in the polls with many citizens believing the political newcomer could prevent Maduro from winning a sixth term at the helm of the beleaguered South American nation.

Machado's removal from the ticket follows an alarming pattern the Maduro regime has taken in dealing with political opponents.

Maduro, who has held onto power since 2013, is presiding over a country in political and economic turmoil. The sitting administration has cracked down fiercely on anti-Maduro demonstrations and detained and even kidnapped political opponents, according to the U.S. State Department.

Due to Maduro's track record of harsh dealings with political dissent, the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned it is likely that his administration would interfere in the upcoming election.

"My office continues to receive reports of detentions as election day approaches, including of supporters and members of the opposition. This does not augur well, and I urge a change to such practices," Turk said, noting his office has documented at least 28 cases of arbitrary detention in the past year.

"This occurred for periods ranging from two to 41 days, thus amounting to enforced disappearance. All allegations of enforced disappearances must be investigated and prosecuted, and the practice must end."

Venezuela's ambassador to the U.N. Alexander Gabriel Yanez Deleuze rebuked Turk's characterization of the Maduro government and instead blamed "foreign and domestic" entities for undermining the stability "that has been won thanks to the leadership of President Nicolas Maduro."

"The high commissioner, the Venezuelan opposition, however, are calling out a fraud and are calling for violence because they do not accept the Bolivarian revolution," he said, noting the election will have 17 different auditors to oversee the counting of votes.

The Carter Center, a nonprofit established by former President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter, said it plans to deploy an election observation mission to Venezuela ahead of the election.

The center was invited to observe the election by Venezuela's National Electoral Council pursuant of the Barbados Agreement, which Maduro and opposition party leaders signed in October 2023 as a roadmap to hold a free and fair election in 2024.

The United States in January reimposed some economic sanctions against Venezuela due to Maduro's continuing arrest of political adversaries.

The State Department in 2019 withdrew all diplomatic personnel from U.S. Embassy Caracas and suspended operations.

The U.N. International Organization for Migration estimated the political and economic instability in Venezuela has caused more than 6 million migrants to flee, and 17 South American countries host about 80% of them.

While many nearby nations have welcomed these undocumented refugees and provided them with health care, education and employment, the United States earlier this week agreed to help Panama deport "irregular migrants" who are coming into the country through the Darien Province from South America.

The Department of Homeland Security estimated about 520,000 "irregular migrants" traveled through Darien Province last year.
From vice president for the UNC System to chief medical officer, here are recent hires

UNCW chief of staff accepts new role

Ballou

The University of North Carolina Wilmington Chief of Staff Bradley Ballou has accepted a new role as vice president for Executive Leadership and Management with the University of North Carolina System Office. He will transition into the new role full time as of Aug. 1.

Ballou joined UNCW as chief of staff in October 2015 under former Chancellor Jose V. Sartarelli.

More: 40 Under 40: Bradley Ballou

Lower Cape Fear LifeCare names new chief medical officer

Weiss

Lower Cape Fear LifeCare (LCFL) recently named Deric Weiss, MD, ACP, as its new chief medical officer and clinical director.

Weiss joined LCFL in 2020. He has since served as an outpatient physician to hospice and palliative care home patients and as medical director at its inpatient hospice care center, Dr. Robert M. Fales Hospice Pavilion, in Wilmington. Weiss was recently named 2024 Physician of the Year by the Association for Home and Hospice Care in NC.

As chief medical officer, Weiss will set standards for medical services provided by LCFL, as well as provide medical direction and guidance to its team members and volunteers. The role functions as senior medical liaison between LCFL, regional medical professionals and the community-at-large to build effective relationships to inform about LCFLs medical services, including hospice and palliative care, and LifeCare Memory Partners.

In this position, Weiss will also provide clinical expertise at medical staff rounds or meetings with affiliated facilities. He will operate as a member of LCFLs executive leadership team, making policy recommendations to shape the overall strategic direction and vision to fulfill the nonprofits mission.

New agents join Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage

Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage recently welcomed seven agents to different offices in the Wilmington area.

Real estate veteran Michelle Roberts recently joined Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage.

Real estate veteran, Michelle Roberts has joined the Wilmington-Autumn Hall office. Roberts began her real estate career in 2007. As the past president of the NC REALTORS Housing Foundation, Roberts led the 100 Homes in 100 Counties affordable housing initiative. Roberts has also donated her time to serve on the NCR Professional Standards Committee and the Cape Fear REALTORS Board of Directors. She helped launch the Cape Fear REALTORS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Network and recently graduated from the NCR Leadership Academy.

Emmeline Yennaco recently joined Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage.

Emmeline Yennaco, with extensive experience in the hospitality industry, joins the Wilmington-Autumn Hall office. Originally from a small coastal town in Massachusetts, Yennaco has been a resident of Wilmington for the past four years.

Tahseen T Muhammad recently joined Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage.

Tahseen T Muhammad, with many years of experience in the sales area, has joined the Hampstead office. Prior to his transition into real estate, Muhammad spent 13 years at Hendrick Auto Group, starting as a salesman and rising to the position of sales manager. He also spent four years as a finance manager. ence and a passion for providing ethical, value-oriented service, he said. As well as English, Muhammad is fluent in Arabic.

Neil Sims joined Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage.

With a long history in the service industry, Wilmington native Neil Sims joined the Wilmington office at Autumn Hall. Sims also has worked for two years as an assistant home inspector.

Amy Jakubowski has joined Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage.

Amy Jakubowski, a former owner of an insurance firm, joined the Wilmington office at Midtown. She chose to shift into residential real estate due to her love of homes and working with people, and she looks forward to applying her personable nature and customer service skills to her new role.

Giovanni Galati joined Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage.

Giovanni Galati joined the Carolina Beach office. With a background in tech and AI (Artificial Intelligence), Giovanni is uniquely prepared to serve real estate clients with advanced tools and technology. He looks forward to applying his tech savvy and communication skills to serving clients.

Lori Rhew joined Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage.

Lori Rhew joined the Oak Island office. A cardiac operating room nurse for 33 years, Rhew is excellent at working in high-pressure, high-stakes situations.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: New hires and appointments in Wilmington, NC
An Illinois politician was the victim of an act of vandalism carried out in his Capitol Hill office over the Fourth of July holiday, calling it a "vile act of hate."

Rep. Brad Schneider, an Illinois Democrat, called out the vandalism in a post on X Friday, writing that the posters of more than "100 people still held hostage in Gaza (including 8 Americans) were ripped from the wall, shredded and tossed across the hallway."

The act of vandalism would have been shameful if it had been carried out on any day, but it was especially shameful that it was carried out on "July 4, our countrys Independence Day," he wrote in the post.

"Sadly, it was but one of many hateful, un-American actions that took place across the country on the day we celebrate freedom and democracy."

Who is Brad Schneider?

U.S. Representative Brad Schneider speaks during a press conference on preventing gun violence outside of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 10, 2024, in Washington, DC. Rep.

Brad Schneider, 62, is a member of the U.S. representing Illinois' 10th Congressional District, according to Ballotpedia. Schneider has served Illinois since 2017 and is running for re-election in 2024.

Acts of vandalism 'don't call for peace,' U.S. rep says

My Capitol office was vandalized yesterday in a vile act of hate in which the posters of the more than 100 people still held hostage in Gaza (including 8 Americans) were ripped from the wall, shredded and tossed across the hallway. pic.twitter.com/zSh86mdvIX  Rep. Brad Schneider (@RepSchneider) July 5, 2024

Schneider said he has been especially "disgusted" by the videos and reports of individuals calling July 4th a 'terrorist holiday' and burning American flags."

Schneider also said acts of vandalism aren't just happening at his D.C. office, revealing in a separate post that his home was "targeted last weekend at 2:30AM by approximately 50 masked demonstrators banging drums, blowing horns and screaming antisemitic chants."

"The same groups that were at my house earlier in the week marched through Chicago on July 4th, not calling for peace, but rather condemning the United States of America," he said.

Direct Actions for Palestine, an Instagram page dedicated to "highlighting direct actions for Palestine happening in Chicago" have called for Schneider to support restoring U.S. funding for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and ending the war, according to reporting by Reuters.

Protesters were criticizing Schneider's votes to defund UNRWA, according to the "Direct Actions for Palestine" Instagram page, Reuters reported. A clip showed the group protesting outside Schneider's home, captioning the post: "If we don't get no justice, then you don't get no sleep."

The U.S. Capitol Police Department said in a statement to USA TODAY on Monday that it was "aware and investigating," but could not provide any additional information at this time.

Schneider's Office was not immediately available for comment on Friday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rep. Brad Schneider office vandalized in Gaza demonstration
A member of a Virginia school board says he wont resign despite being sentenced Monday to 12 days behind bars for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington, D.C.

Miles Adkins, 39, pleaded guilty to two federal misdemeanors after he was found to be among the many rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn the 2020 election results and keep Donald Trump in the presidency.

While inside, Adkins helped an individual enter the U.S. Capitol building through a broken window next to the Senate Wing Door, according to a criminal complaint.

The Justice Department identified Adkins with the assistance of security footage from the Capitol, along with Adkins own social media activity.

In a social media message, ADKINS corroborated his identity and actions inside the U.S. Capitol building by bragging that he drank a Coors Lite beer in the U.S. Capitol building, the complaint said.

The day before the attack, Adkins talked to a friend on Facebook about what time they would travel to Washington.

Fights are at night, Adkins said, according to messages obtained by the Justice Department.

Adkins, who was elected to Frederick Countys school board in 2021, told NBC4 Washington that he wont heed calls to step down.

Youre going to need a bigger wrecking ball to get me out of there, he told the station.

Adkins previous convictions include a DUI and a hit-and-run. Following this weeks sentencing, Adkins will serve his 12 days of incarceration on weekends and will be placed on two years of probation.
VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  The Visalia Fire Department responded to 65 service calls during the Fourth of July, as well as battling several fires provoked by illegal fireworks within a 24-hour period, firefighters said.

Fire officials say they handled 65 service calls in a 24-hour period, with one of them involving an incident that firefighters describe as particularly challenging, due to it requiring eight units to contain it. It was a large 1-acre grass fire that was sparked by illegal fireworks.

Additionally, firefighters say within a two-hour period beginning at 11:47 p.m., the department responded to three working structure fires. Two were caused by legal fireworks that were improperly discarded in trash cans. The third one, on South Linda Vista Street, was caused by a malfunction.

Courtesy: Visalia Stringer.

Courtesy: Visalia Stringer.

Courtesy: Visalia Stringer.

Courtesy: Visalia Stringer.

The Visalia Fire Department urges residents to prioritize safety by refraining from the use of illegal fireworks. They also remind the public to properly discard fireworks by soaking them in water for at least 24 hours before disposal.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
It was four summers ago when Chelsea Banks, out for a routine walk in her Uptown 23rd neighborhood, was crossing the street at NW 23 and Walker  when a car struck her. The driver of the car, Banks remembered, had not yielded to her when she was trying to cross the intersection and instead turned into the pathway anyway.

As president of the Uptown 23rd District Association and the Ward 2 representative for Oklahoma City's community development committee, Banks has long been an advocate for increased walkability and pedestrian safety in the city. Actually getting hit by a car, though, made the issues even more important to her.

Im 51 and hardly 150 pounds, so its not like Im ever going to stand a chance against a ton or 2-ton vehicle, you know? she said. Theres never going to be a fighting chance for me if the conditions were just wrong. Luckily for me, most of the conditions were wrong except for in the instance of the timing being in my favor, so I was able to escape what could have been a really fatal situation.

Banks escaped that situation with mostly minor injuries, but many havent been that fortunate.

Just a year before Banks accident, a prominent chef riding his bicycle was struck by a car and left for dead near NW 16 and Classen. The driver fled the scene after dragging the bicycle for several blocks.

And just last year, a woman in a wheelchair was killed after being struck by two different vehicles along Portland Avenue. Neither driver stopped.

These types of tragic collisions are exactly what Banks and other leaders in Oklahoma City want to prevent with the upcoming Vision Zero Plan, an ambitious data-driven strategy aimed at eliminating all traffic fatalities and severe injuries.

"Vision Zero is really awesome because it comes from the perspective that we can eliminate all deaths on public roadways," said Banks, who serves on the project's advisory board. "Theres a lot of different achievements and metrics that different cities have put out to work toward this goal of zero deaths on public roadways. Oklahoma City is in the process of building ours."

Oklahoma City will be working to prevent auto fatalities and improve pedestrian safety with the new Vision Zero Plan.

Related: What are the most dangerous roads and intersections in OKC? The worst might surprise you.

OKC's Vision Zero Plan seeks residents' help

Plans with the same name and goal have been adopted in other major metropolitan areas throughout the United States and around the globe, with the earliest implementation seeing success in Sweden during the 1990s. Sweden now has a traffic fatality rate of 22 people per million in the population, while Oklahoma Citys rate is 146 per million people, according to spokespeople with the city.

Between 2016 and 2020, at least 402 vehicle-involved fatalities on Oklahoma City streets were reported. Traffic deaths on Oklahoma City roads have increased by 34% over the past five years, with 99 fatalities reported in 2021, according to the city. Researchers say that most deadly auto-related accidents happen on streets with limited lighting or with speed limits of 45 mph and higher.

Oklahoma City was awarded an $800,000 action plan grant last year from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program. The competitive grant, combined with $200,000 in matching funds from the city, launched the creation of the city's Vision Zero Plan. The project team says its webpage is off to a good start already, with more than 400 engagements, but they need all of the data they can get.

Maps provided by the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office show collisions on roadways in Oklahoma City in 2021, the latest data set available. Serious crashes are in red and fatal crashes are in black.

Residents are encouraged to take an online map survey or fill out a questionnaire form at vision.okc.gov/vision-zero. The map survey allows participants to "drop a pin" on specific locations in need of safety improvements, while the written survey asks questions about broader transportation safety.

Results from the surveys will help staff implement strategies to make transportation safer and, they hope, eliminate fatal crashes on Oklahoma City streets.

Planners and consultants with the city held pop-up events during a recent Juneteenth celebration on NE 23 and a Mid-Week Farmers Market in Lower Scissortail Park. But Justin Henry, a transportation planner with the city, said public workshops would also be scheduled at libraries and other locations soon.

A person looks at information related to Oklahoma Citys new Vision Zero Plan, which will strive to prevent auto fatalities and improve pedestrian safety.

"Were really trying to keep the engagement going through most of the summer," Henry said. "We have a lot of data to work with  data about where collisions are happening, some of what was written on police reports about contributing factors  but we really think that the context we can get from the public can really help describe it. So if were seeing theres been several accidents at a location, but the public tells us that, Oh yeah, we regularly see speeding here on the weekends, or something like that, it will really help us target what the solution might be."

To spread awareness of the project and increase feedback, planners also are providing the surveys in Spanish and Vietnamese. Henry said the translated materials were an additional step taken after learning from the public engagement process during updates to the city's bike/walk OKC plan, where staff heard concerns from state lawmakers, including the young south OKC Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, about how to better incorporate input from the city's immigrant communities.

"Its a harder community to reach a little bit because they just use slightly different forms of media," Henry said of the Hispanic-majority population residing in the city's south side. "But even right now looking at the map, theres still just not enough context and comments in the near-southside, which we know just doesnt jive with the data. Theres a lot of streets and intersections down there that have a lot of collisions, so we know they probably have good information to feed back to us."

Related: OKC looking for input on city projects, community needs in new feedback site

The city's Vision Zero project dovetails with a similar, broader effort by the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments to develop a regional safety plan for cities and communities in several central Oklahoma counties. Hannah Nolen, ACOG mobility and planning manager, said the association is working with the city on how to address overlapping concerns with crash histories.

"The top 3 issues officially that were seeing are unsafe speeds, failure to yield and driver inattention," Nolen said. "I feel like if you ask anybody on the street what they think the biggest transportation safety problem is, I feel like they would say driver inattention. And its one of those things where, even though its the third top factor, we really think it could be higher, because driver inattention has trouble with reporting. If there are multiple causes for a crash, the officer might put something like speed first, and we might not catch that driver inattention really was a problem in that crash."

What issues could Vision Zero target?

Solutions for issue areas in the research could mean anything from more physical engineering in the built environment (such as increased signage, bike lanes and other traffic-calming measures) to better enforcement and education strategies.

Bike lanes are painted on roads near NE 8 and N Lottie Avenue in Oklahoma City.

More: Safe Streets grants are supposed to save lives. Why are they missing so many deadly roads?

Staff with ACOG and the city acknowledged they were seeing issues with receiving more recent crash history data beyond 2021 because of the layers of agencies the data has gone through. The switching of data compilation responsibilities from the state's highway safety office to Service Oklahoma, a new customer-facing agency, has contributed to the delays.

While the state doesnt have the latest data available, we are still looking into our own internal police reports to help inform the plan, as well, Henry said.

To planners, this makes the public engagement process even more important. Once the feedback phase of the project is complete, the Vision Zero team will analyze city roadways and recommend to the Oklahoma City Council an action plan for adoption, which they hope to present later this year.

Actionable goals with a target deadline are still being developed. Sasha McCrone, another member of the project's planning team, said opportunities for additional federal funding with the plan will arise.

"We're trying to develop the plan really quickly, because there's a certain window of time to be able to apply for an implementation grant," McCrone said. "But that grant would help make the process smoother and more efficient."

Sasha McCrone speaks to people about Oklahoma Citys new Vision Zero Plan to prevent auto fatalities and improve pedestrian safety.

For Banks, who also serves on the city's MAPS 4 advisory board, it's "a duty and a gift" to represent her community. She sees the Vision Zero Plan as a promising sign that officials are heeding calls for better and safer accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists around the city.

"The fact that Oklahoma City is even considering adopting a plan like this and making it a priority tells me that they're listening and that this is of value," Banks said. "And I think that as were looking at developing Oklahoma City for the future for the next 25, 30, 50 years, if were not considering more sustainable development, which includes humans having better access to their needs without a vehicle, we are missing the point."

More: How reverse-angle parking in OKC's 39th St. District could affect neighborhoods in the future

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC leaders developing plan to bring traffic fatalities to zero
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Vice President Kamala Harris will speak at a Las Vegas campaign event on Tuesday, July 9, according to a news release.

Harris will highlight the stakes of the election for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, campaign officials said Friday.

Details of when and where the even will be have not been released.

The visit will mark the sixth time Harris has come to Nevada this year, and the 14th since taking office. She was in town Friday, June 28, and spoke the day after the debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

She was quoted in a Wednesday report from The Associated Press as saying Bidens performance in the debate was not his finest hour. However, she said, The outcome of this election cannot be determined by one day in June.

That report characterized Harris as trying to hold the line as Democrats worked to stabilize the campaign.

Pressure on Biden has built since the debate, but he said Friday on X, Let me say this as clearly as I can: Im the sitting President of the United States. Im the nominee of the Democratic party. Im staying in the race.

Harris was the subject of another AP report on Wednesday that examined whether she could use Bidens campaign funds if he were to drop out of the race.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
WA counties to receive nearly $30M in payments for tax-exempt federal land

A sign at one of the boundaries of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. (U.S. Forest Service)

Washingtons counties will share close to $30 million in payments this year from the U.S. government to compensate them for untaxable federal land within their boundaries.

The Interior Department last week announced $621.2 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes for state and local governments nationwide. How much each place receives depends on the number of acres of federal land in the jurisdiction and its population.

These funds are critical to the vast majority of our counties, said Derek Young, interim executive director for the Washington State Association of Counties. He added that the importance of the money varies depending on how much federal acreage a county has and other factors.

In some cases, it makes up a significant chunk of their general fund because they cant collect property taxes on those lands, Young said.

He noted that between 60% and 80% of most Washington counties operating budgets are supported by property taxes, so when tens of thousands of acres are off the rolls it can be a hit.

For example, Chelan County has almost 1.5 million acres covered by the PILT program. The county received the states largest payment  $3.9 million.

The 2024 budget plan Chelan County commissioners approved in December included $56.9 million in projected spending but also called for tapping reserves to cover a $2.6 million gap.

Other larger PILT recipients in Washington include Okanogan County ($3.3 million), Whatcom County ($2.4 million), and Jefferson County ($1.9 million) The smallest payment was to Thurston County  $1,520.

Overall, payments to counties in Washington will total $29.6 million. In 2023, the payments totaled $27.1 million

The payments are for land held by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, and Army Corps of Engineers.
Want to know if you qualify for student loan forgiveness? Here's how Minnesotans can find out.

The U.S. Supreme Court wiped out President Joe Biden's biggest student debt relief program last year. But the administration tweaked existing programs and added more tailored debt forgiveness efforts.

Here are some of the programs and who qualifies for them:

Income-Driven Repayment Forgiveness: Income-driven repayment plans base people's monthly federal student loan payments on their income and the size of their family. People who complete their payment periods, which are typically 20 or 25 years, depending on the plan, can have the remaining balance forgiven in some instances.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness: This program forgives student loan debt for people who work full time for a government agency or some nonprofits, if they have made 120 qualifying payments on a direct loan. Federal family education loans and Perkins loans aren't eligible for this program.

SAVE Early Forgiveness: This new program bases payments off a borrower's income and family size, with some people paying nothing each month. People who originally borrowed $12,000 or less could be eligible for forgiveness in 10 years. Republican-led states have challenged some aspects of this program in court.

Total and Permanent Disability Discharge: Some people who provide proof of a total and permanent disability can have their federal student loans forgiven. To qualify, borrowers must provide documentation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Social Security Administration or a medical professional showing that they are "unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity due to a physical or mental impairment" that is fatal or expected to last for five years.

Additional information on each of the programs, including details on how to apply, can be found at studentaid.gov.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), an influential centrist who is close with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), is working to gather support among Democratic senators to ask President Biden to drop his reelection bid, according to two sources familiar with the effort.

Warner is concerned Biden could perform so badly in November that he risks taking down Democratic senators who were thought to be in relatively safe seats, such as fellow Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine.

He talks to a lot of his colleagues all of the time. Theres a statewide race going on in Virginia, said a source familiar with Warners efforts to muster support among Democratic senators to ask Biden to drop out of the presidential race.

Hell underscore the Senate race in Virginia, which we thought was going to be a walk in the park, but its not, the source said of recent polling showing Biden and former President Trump tied in Virginia, which could portend a tough race for Kaine, the incumbent.

Im sure people in the White House are probably a little annoyed, but this is an exercise that a lot of Democrats needed to be taken, the source added.

Hes one United States senator, the source added, emphasizing that Warner recognizes he has limited leverage given that Biden has amassed 3,894 delegates and has the nomination locked up if he chooses to continue his campaign.

Biden, asked about reports on the Warner effort as he was leaving a Wisconsin campaign event, said hes the only one. He added that hes talked about his campaign to at least 20 members of Congress who had offered support for his candidacy.

And when Biden was asked about the effort during his ABC News interview that aired Friday night, the president said, Well, Mark is a good man.  Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

The Washington Post first reported that Warner is seeking to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask Biden to exit the race.

Warner spokesperson Rachel Cohen didnt confirm or deny the report.

Like many other people in Washington and across the country, Sen. Warner believes these are critical days for the presidents campaign, and he has made that clear to the White House, Cohen told the Post in a statement.

Trump and Biden are now in a dead heat in Virginia, where Trump leads slightly, 43.9 percent to 43.7 percent, according to 18 polls analyzed by The Hills Decision Desk HQ.

Biden insisted at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Friday that hes staying in the race.

Theyre trying to push me out of the race, he told a cheering crowd. Well let me say this as clearly as I can: Im staying in the race.

Im not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work, he declared.

Senate Democrats have stayed relatively unified in support of Biden until now.

However, two liberal senators from the Northeast, Sens. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), have publicly expressed misgivings with the Biden campaign, a sign that more Senate Democrats are deeply alarmed about the trajectory of Bidens campaign.

Welch, in an interview with Semafor, criticized Bidens campaign for dismissing Democrats expressing concern and anxiety about his viability as a candidate in the wake of his disappointing debate performance.

I really do criticize the campaign for a dismissive attitude towards people who are raising questions for discussion. Thats just facing the reality were in, Welch said in the Monday interview.

Welch warned in a CNN interview later in the week that Biden could wipe out Democratic candidates downballot if he remains the partys nominee and fails to turn around his flailing campaign.

If we do really poorly at the presidential level, that creates a fierce undertow, he said.

The most important thing is to have Trump out of the office, a Democrat in office. Doing that, I think, is the best help that we can give to our Senate candidates who are doing great but having a tough challenge, he said.

Asked by CNN host Brianna Keilar if Biden should continue his bid for a second term, Welch said its up to Biden to decide.

Thats the question, he said. Hes wrestling with that. Hes reading the polls.

Im confident that at the end of the day, the president will make his decision based on whats best for the country, he added.

Whitehouse told a local media outlet earlier this week that Bidens campaign needs to reassure Democratic lawmakers and voters that his debate meltdown was an aberration.

I think, like a lot of people, I was pretty horrified by the debate.  I think people want to make sure that this is a campaign thats ready to go and win, that the president and his team are being candid with us about his condition  that this was a real anomaly and not just the way he is these days, Whitehouse said.

Schumer reaffirmed his support for the president earlier this week.

The Senate Democratic leader told reporters in Syracuse that he and the president had worked hard together for four years, and weve delivered a lot for America and Central New York.

Im for Biden, he declared.

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The author says the "sweepstakes" to be Donald Trump's running mate has hit humorous levels. (Photo: Clayton Henkel)

When the big envelope arrived at the homes of Trumps presumed top choices for vice president recently, the vetting documents were surely greeted with the delighted squeals of a giddy freshman winning a bid to her dream sorority.

Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio, Tim Scott and J.D. Vance are believed to be front runners thanks to implementing such extreme levels of toadying and sucking up that even jaded politicians are impressed.

Did they jump up and down and, like, totally call each other with loud and highly insincere congrats? Hmmm, maybe they met in person to celebrate

Vance: OK, guys. No matter who President Trump picks, I hope you all know that in my book youre ALL winners. Its just like I was telling Don Jr. the other day while we were wrestling gators or something else totally not made up

Burgum: (sarcastic) Oh, do you know Don Jr.? I didnt realize you were close. You only mention it every other minute.

Vance: Im sorry. What was your name again?

Burgum: Very funny. Im Doug Burgum, Governor of North Dakota! Fun fact: Mrs. Burgum and I have flown on President Trumps plane more than any other veep candidate.

Rubio: North Dakota! Dont make me spit my water out. Seriously. Dont. Look, Ive got the edge. Donald Trump doesnt know youre alive unless he slams you with a few soul-crushing insults. Remember how he called me Little Marco? How he made fun of my ginormous ears and my weird inability to drink from a glass? Thats his love language!

Scott: Guys, Im just so gosh-darn happy to be with such fine men during this final selection process. As the only marginally less crazy senator from the great state of South Carolina, I welcome the vetting process

Vance: Put a pin in it, Scott. Has anyone ever told you that youre kind of a snooze?

Scott: (laughs) Just every pretend girlfriend Ive ever had!

Bergum: Hey, lets not turn on each other. I propose a toast. Heres to the Final Four, if you will!

Vance: The Final Four! Wait. Tim, is that milk in your glass?

Scott: (sheepish) Yes. Im uncomfortable drinking giggle water.

(Doorbell rings)

Nikki Haley: Cmon guys. Open up! I know youre in there.

Scott: Come in, but you can only stay a minute. Were having a little celebration and its no girls allowed!

Haley: Just wanted to pop by. You must feel like youre the top contestants in a beauty pageant. (looks around) OK, maybe not.

Scott: Nikki, youre MEAN! Thats why the big guy didnt choose you.

Haley (dryly): Yeah, that mustve been it.

Burgum: Why are you here? Is it because you want to see our special packet of documents? Ha! You didnt get one. Too bad, so sad!

Haley: Just here for the show, boys. Wont be long until yall turn on each other.

Burgum: I dont know about the others, but I just want to serve my country. I will be the first vice president whose name everyone will remember!

Vance: You kidding? I cant remember it NOW.

Burgum: Very funny, J.D. You know we should stick together. We were the only ones who went to President Trumps trial in our matching red ties! We were there to wipe his tears and frankly any other areas that might have needed attention

Haley: And so it begins

Rubio: OK, thats enough. Time for you to go Nikki. Actually, Ill walk you out. DeSantis wants a meeting to discuss his latest vision for our Florida.

Nikki: Close all the libraries and make women wear aprons even if theyre lawyers?

Rubio: Especially if theyre lawyers! Later, guys!

Burgum, Vance and Scott gather for a final toast.

Vance: To Mike Pence! Said no one ever!

Burgum: Good one, J.D.

Scott: I didnt get it

Vance: Of course you didnt.

The post Weekend humor from Celia Rivenbark: Its rush season for Veep hopefuls appeared first on NC Newsline.
U.S. President Joe Biden may hold a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the upcoming NATO summit, a senior White House official said during a background press call on July 5, as cited by the White House.

"And while the president will have quite a busy schedule given his commitment as the host of the summit, were working to set up several bilats and meetings with various world leaders on the margins of the summit, including President Zelensky, again, as I mentioned earlier," the official said. "And well have more information on those to share in the coming days."

The official also said that Biden would host an event with Zelensky "and nearly two dozen of our allies and partners whove signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine."

"The U.S. will also announce new steps to strengthen Ukraines air defenses and military capabilities to help Ukraine continue to defend themselves today and to deter Russian aggression into the future," the official added.

The NATO Summit will be held in Washington on July 9-11.

It will also discuss ways to increase cooperation between Ukraine and South Korea, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on July 5.

"The flagship project is partly related to the medical education of Ukrainian soldiers," he said at a press conference in Washington. "We are also considering how we can expand the exchange of intelligence with South Korea."

Read also: French far-right surge threatens the countrys commitment to Ukraine

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White House says meeting between Biden and Zelenskyy possible

US President Joe Biden might hold a bilateral meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington, DC.

Source: European Pravda, citing a senior White House official during a press briefing

Details: Biden and Zelenskyy might meet as part of the NATO summit that will take place in Washington, DC, on 9-11 July.

"And while the President (Biden  ed.) will have quite a busy schedule given his commitment as the host of the summit, were working to set up several bilats and meetings with various world leaders on the margins of the summit, including President Zelenskyy," the official said.

The official added that on the afternoon of 9 July "therell be a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, after which the President will host an event with nearly two dozen Allies and partners who have negotiated and signed bilateral security agreements with Ukraine."

Background:

Ahead of the NATO summit in Washington, DC, which will take place on 9-11 July, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that support for Ukraine will be at the top of the agenda.

Stoltenberg also said he hoped that Ukraine would join the Alliance within the next decade.

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Why Nepal had a religious monarchy  and why some people want it back

Gyanendra Shah, former king of Nepal, will celebrate his 77th birthday on July 7, 2024. Twenty years ago, his birthday would have been a Nepalese national holiday. Indeed, when I first traveled to Nepal in 2001, the nation prided itself on being the worlds last Hindu kingdom. Every rupee note showed the kings face. The national anthem sang his praise.

But between 2006 and 2008, Nepal transitioned from a Hindu monarchy to a secular democracy. It dissolved its monarchy completely, and Shah left the palace in June 2008. He has been living ever since as a private citizen.

In 2012, when I submitted my doctoral dissertation on the transition, it seemed that Nepal had decisively eliminated its monarchy and that Nepalis were gladly anticipating their secular future. But today many Nepalis are disillusioned with their multiparty democratic system. Following a major pro-monarchy rally in November 2023, Nepals capital has witnessed a series of modest but vocal follow-up demonstrations advocating a return to Hindu monarchy.

What had religious kingship looked like in Nepal? Why was it ended  and why do some people want it back?

Hindu monarchy

Unlike European monarchies, which were deeply connected to Christianity, Nepals monarchy was rooted in Hinduism. This meant the king of Nepal needed to be born into a Hindu family, and he needed to marry a Hindu woman. He needed to uphold family lineage rituals and worship in his ancestral shrine room. He also needed to have close relationships with Brahmin priests.

The modern palace hired a priestly Brahmin staff  salaried employees who reported daily to a palace office to do rituals. The king needed to honor major Hindu holidays by making public appearances and performing rituals. He surveyed the army on Shiva Ratri, a festival that honors Lord Shiva, and blessed government leaders during the Hindu festival of Vijaya Dasami. He received a blessing from his patron goddess Kumari, a young girl believed to be the manifestation of the Hindu goddess Taleju, during the festival of Indra Jatra.

These roles made the king the patriarch, protector and archetype of the nation. Even though for most of Nepals history the king was not directly running the government, in a common royalist phrase, the king was Nepals ekata ka prateek: the symbol of unity.

Consolidation of monarchy

Modern Nepal has existed for only about 250 years. For centuries, what is now Nepal was divided among many small principalities. In the 1760s, though, a minor local king conquered all his neighbors, relocated his capital to Kathmandu and set his dynasty on the throne. But after this ambitious and effective king, the descendants who followed were mostly weak and ineffective rulers. By 1800, the country was being governed in the kings name by regents and self-appointed prime ministers.

In 1950, however, King Tribhuvan Shah, who had been serving a purely ceremonial role since 1922, formed an alliance with a budding democracy movement in order to step into more direct political power. From King Tribhuvan onward, Nepals kings would actively lead the government.

The modern monarchy was further centralized and consolidated by Tribhuvans son, King Mahendra, who ruled from 1955 to 1972. Urbane and cosmopolitan, he worked to modernize the country and his role as king. Meanwhile, he greatly expanded the idea of Hindu kingship. He also dissolved the countrys first democratically elected government in order to put himself in charge of the panchayat, an ostensibly grassroots democratic system that in reality was tightly controlled by the palace.

He also enacted a nationalistic program that would reshape a diverse Nepal into a single identity, around himself as the symbol of national unity. This program was summed up by the slogan ek raja, ek bhesh, ek bhasa: One king, one country, one national-dress.

Nepals dozens of minority languages and ethnic identities were suppressed in favor of a national culture around the kings own religious, ethnic and language background. When children went to school, they would learn a carefully constructed curriculum, taught only in Nepali language, from books that praised Hinduism and the centrality of the royal family, from teachers dressed in the newly codified Nepali national outfit for men, the daura suruwal.

Modern nationalism thus meant a unified Nepal that erased ethnic, regional and religious differences in favor of the unity of the monarchy.

The monarchy crumbles

King Mahendra passed the throne to his eldest son, Birendra. But in June 2001, King Birendra was murdered in the palace, allegedly by his own son, along with his wife and children and half a dozen other members of the royal family. This event dealt a catastrophic blow to the monarchy.

In the tumultuous aftermath of the royal murders, Gyanendra Shah  Mahendras second son, brother to the murdered king  succeeded to the throne.

The nation was grieving and traumatized, and people found the new King Gyanendra to be an uncharismatic monarch. An armed Maoist insurgency was threatening rural Nepal and working to capitalize on the tragedy, while the multiparty Parliament bickered in the capital. In an attempt to gain control of the situation, King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency and took direct control of the government in 2005.

The country united against him.

In spring 2006, people took to the streets for three weeks, grinding Nepal to a standstill. King Gyanendra capitulated to the insurgency.

At the time, he was so unpopular that the interim government decided to dissolve the monarchy completely. They stripped the king of all ceremonial roles and all religious activities. They wrote the king out of the national anthem and took his portrait off the national currency. They legally declared the country a secular democracy and turned the palace into a museum. The king moved out of the palace in June 2008.

The transition away from monarchy attempted to free Nepal from its history of enforced unity. The first post-monarchy Parliament featured representatives wearing all forms of clothing, taking their oaths in many different languages, tasked with writing a new, inclusive constitution. A pluralist national anthem proclaimed, We are one Nepali garland, made of hundreds of different flowers.

Challenges today

Monarchy supporters are blocked by the police in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2011. AP Photo/Binod Joshi

Unfortunately, Nepals post-monarchy government has struggled to live up to the hopes that swept it to power. The new constitution ran years late, while major leaders have been accused of corruption. The political parties struggle to hold coalitions together, and the constantly overturning government has seen 12 administrations in 16 years.

This instability has led some Nepalis to become nostalgic for the idea of unity through monarchy.

Today, when some people take to the streets to demand a return to Hindu kingship, many of them are not expressing love for Gyanendra Shah. The former king was not beloved; he ruled under clouds of grief and was fired before many got accustomed to his presence.

The ex-king has been living quietly in Nepal for the past 16 years. He rarely makes public appearances, though he occasionally attends religious events, and he once showed up at a nightclub. He periodically makes public statements calling for political peace and unity. While he seems to support recent rallies, he has not explicitly expressed any intention to return to power.

But as the current administration bickers, and Nepalis become ever more disillusioned with their government, I argue that the former king makes a useful tool for protest.

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. It was written by: Anne Mocko, Concordia College

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Anne Mocko has received research funding from the US Government through the FLAS and Fulbright Hays programs.
Incidents of extreme turbulence appear to be on the rise. The latest, on an Air Europa plane travelling from Spain to Uruguay on July 2, injured more than 30 passengers and led to an emergency landing in Brazil.

Its one of a string of high-profile events during recent years. In May, a British grandfather died and 30 more people were injured after a flight from London to Singapore encountered severe turbulence and was forced to divert to Bangkok. Just four days later, 12 people were hurt on a flight from Doha to Dublin.

Meanwhile, back in March 2023, the actor Matthew McConaughey talked of getting a hell of a scare when his Lufthansa flight from Austin to Frankfurt hit severe turbulence, leading to seven passengers being hospitalised. A widely circulated TikTok video showed trays, food and bedding strewn across the cabin in the aftermath.

Damage to the Air Europa plane involved in the July 2 incident - Reuters

Though these incidents are extreme and turbulence-related injuries are rare, bumpy rides are on the rise according to a 2023 study by Reading University published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Analysing data from the North Atlantic and USA, it found that severe incidents of clean-air turbulence (sudden turbulence in the absence of clouds or storms) increased by 55 per cent between 1979 and 2020. Future projections from a team at the university led by Professor Paul Williams, suggest they could further double or even treble over the coming decades due to strengthening wind instabilities and increasing pockets of rough air caused, they say, by climate change.

This is a problem because clean-air turbulence is undetectable by radar and incidents often occur out of the blue, says meteorologist Jim Dale. And higher-altitude turbulence can occur over wide areas and be difficult to avoid and/or negotiate.

But though turbulence might be increasing, technologies are improving too. An algorithm created by Williams in order to predict turbulence strength up to 18 hours in advance is now among those used by the US National Weather Service in its forecasts and hes also working with Airbus to make its planes more resilient in the future.

Theyve been in touch with many questions that we are trying to answer, he says. Because of the long lead time in aircraft design life cycles, the aircraft that will be flying in the second half of this century are currently in the design phase. We need to ensure that the capacity to withstand lots more turbulence is built into the design standards.

Meanwhile, Austrian firm Turbulence Solutions hopes that its turbulence cancelling technology, which makes the phenomenon measurable and controllable using sensors, software and LiDAR (light detection and ranging), will make flights safer and more comfortable. In an interview with Interesting Engineering, CEO Andras Galffy revealed that he hopes to make the system available to commercial airlines by 2030.

Which regions see the worst turbulence?

For now, some flights are definitely bumpier than others. Transatlantic routes are renowned for experiencing bouts of light to moderate turbulence thanks to unpredictable weather over the ocean, caused by the strong jet stream. And according to data from turbulence prediction website Turbli, which analysed 150,000 routes, five of the ten most turbulent of 2023 were internal flights in China. Meanwhile, five of Europes most bumpy short-haul routes landed in Zurich, possibly because they cross mountain ranges.

Global turbulence distribution is quite consistent from one year to the next, explains the sites creator Ignacio Gallego-Marcos. This is because turbulence is generated by global circulation patterns such as jet streams that have little inter-annual variability. Over a specific year, the jet streams do vary in location and strength, with winter being the most prone to turbulence due to the larger temperature difference between the poles and equator (the main driver for the jet stream).

But even if the inter-annual variability is small, there can be noticeable changes from year to year due to the chaotic nature of weather or oscillations (recurring climate patterns). In 2023 on the US East Coast for example, El Nino displaced the jet stream southwards, leading to stronger turbulence in the New York region (compared to the Boston area in 2022).

Is there any way to avoid turbulence?

One solution is to choose a plane that deals with bumps better. Gallego-Marcos recommends the Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A340 for less shaky flights. You have to take the weight divided by the wing area into account  thats called the wing loading and its the most important factor, he says. The larger the ratio, the smoother the flight.

Even though big planes like the Airbus A380 and the Boeing 747 weigh a lot, they actually have big wings so its easier for turbulence to shake them than the 787 and the A340. The A340 actually has the highest wind loading of all, but the 787 has more advanced systems for dealing with turbulence.

Whichever plane you end up on,opt for a seat where the effects of bumps are less dramatic. Travelling in the middle of the plane (near the wings and its centre of gravity) ensures a less bumpy ride while a seat at the back will be the most rocky.

I used to avoid working at the back of the aircraft because thats the worst, says Jane Hawkes, who worked as a flight attendant before becoming a consumer champion. If you are someone who is likely to be concerned by turbulence, speak to the crew when you get on board the plane and see if theres somewhere they can move you further forward.

Rides on the 737 are a little less bumpy, according to experts - John D. Parker

What should I do if turbulence hits?

Theres a reason that cabin crew tell passengers to keep seatbelts fastened. Being seated with the seat belt fastened is the most effective way to prevent a turbulence-related injury, according to The National Center for Atmospheric Research.

On a similar note, American union AFA (Association of Flight Attendants) renewed its call for a ban on infants on laps in 2023, reasoning that the practice is particularly unsafe during severe turbulence and that small children would be better in a safety seat with proper restraints.

Can I claim compensation for turbulence?

You definitely wont get money just because your flight hits a bumpy patch. However, if you are injured and it can be proved that the airline acted negligently, you might be able to make a personal accident claim.

If youre not given enough warning to sit down and strap yourself in then you could be eligible to claim for general and/or special damages under The Montreal Convention if injured as a result, says Hawkes. As well as in cases of delay, damage or loss of baggage, The Montreal Convention also establishes airline liability in the case of death or injury to passengers.

Should I be worried?

Try not to be. The National Center for Atmospheric Research says that there are around 5,500 incidents of severe turbulence reported by US pilots every year. That number is less than the flights operated by US carriers every day: 5,670 according to figures from the FAA (Federal Aviation Authority). However, the same data suggests there are around 65,000 incidents of moderate turbulence.

Hawkes underlines the training that pilots are given in order to deal with every eventuality. These are incredibly well-trained professionals. Every six months, they have to go on a flight simulator. They have scenarios involving turbulence and how they manage it. Even doctors arent tested as much.

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BEAVER DAM, Wis. (WFRV)  A Wisconsin man was arrested on the Fourth of July for allegedly throwing lit fireworks and flashing a gun at another driver during a reported road rage incident.

On Thursday, the Beaver Dam Police Department and Dodge County Sheriffs Office began investigating a road rage and threats complaint, officers stated in a release.

Sheboygan man allegedly stabs, kills roommate, taken into custody after hours-long standoff

The victim reported that they were chased by another driver who allegedly lit and threw fireworks at them. It was also alleged that the suspect, later identified as a 20-year-old man from Beaver Dam, flashed a firearm at the other driver.

After getting a description of the suspects vehicle, authorities were able to find it at a business in the 100 block of Monroe Street. When officers tried to stop the vehicle, the 20-year-old reportedly fled, leading to a pursuit.

Later, the man came to a stop on CTH A, got out of the vehicle, and allegedly threw the firearm, ammo, and a holster into a flooded area of a nearby field. The Beaver Dam man then returned to the road and was taken into custody without further incident.

Fond du Lac Sheriffs Office arrests two on multiple felony charges

After a lengthy search, the firearm and other items were recovered from the water.

Charges of Vehicle Operator Felony Flee/Elude, Recklessly Endangering Safety, Possession of Marijuana (THC)  second or subsequent offense, Carrying a Concealed Weapon, Disorderly Conduct with the Use of a Dangerous Weapon, and two counts of Misdemeanor Bail Jumping are being requested, the release noted.

No additional information was provided.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  The Wisconsin Legislatures Republican-controlled budget committee cant legally block conservation projects initiated by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers administration, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The decision marks a victory for Evers, whose relationship with Republican lawmakers has deteriorated since he took office in 2019, as well as environmentalists across the state.

Biden says hes staying in the race as he scrambles to save candidacy and braces for ABC interview

Ive spent years working against near-constant Republican obstruction, and this historic decision rightfully resets constitutional checks and balances and restores separation of powers, the governor said in a statement. This decision is a victory for the people of Wisconsin, who expect and deserve their government to work  and work for them, not against them.

The Legislatures attorney, Misha Tseytlin, didnt immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment Friday morning.

The court ruled 6-1 that provisions that require the Joint Finance Committee to unilaterally block projects and land acquisitions funded with money from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program violate the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches.

The Legislature gave the executive branch the power to distribute stewardship money when it established the program, Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote in the majority opinion. Once that power was conferred, lawmakers lacked authority to reject decisions on how to spend the money short of rewriting spending laws, she wrote.

The Legislature created the stewardship program in 1989. The state Department of Natural Resources uses money from the program to fund grants to local governments and nongovernmental organizations for environmental projects. The gubernatorial cabinet agency also uses money from the program to acquire land for conservation and public use. The Legislature has currently authorized the agency to spend up to $33.2 million in each fiscal year through 2025-26 for land acquisition, according to court documents.

Republicans have long criticized the program, saying it prevents land from being developed and takes parcels off local tax rolls. The finance committee in April 2023 blocked the DNRs plan to spend $15.5 million from the program to acquire a conservation easement on 56,000 acres (22,662 hectares) of forest, which would have been the largest land conservation effort in Wisconsin history. Evers ended up going around the committee this past January by securing federal money for the purchase.

The governor sued in October, arguing that legislative committees controlled by a handful of Republicans have overstepped their constitutional authority.

He argued that the committees improperly withheld pre-approved raises for University of Wisconsin employees, blocked updates to commercial building and ethics standards, and blocked funding for stewardship programs. The raises eventually went through, but the governor insisted that Republicans were effectively attempting to change state law without passing a bill and sending it to him for approval or a veto.

Target to stop accepting personal checks as of July 15

Evers asked the liberal-leaning court to take the case directly without waiting for rulings from any lower court. The justices agreed in February, but said they would consider only whether the finance committee improperly blocked stewardship efforts.

Chief Justice Annette Ziegler was the lone dissenting justice. She wrote that the justices should have allowed the case to work its way through lower courts. She also said the courts liberal majority handpicked the stewardship question.

Whats the rush? Ziegler wrote. There is absolutely no good reason to have handpicked this case and this one issue, ahead of all the other cases, taking it out of turn, and placing it to the front of the line.

Evan Feinauer, an attorney with conservation group Clean Wisconsin, said the ruling will help preserve public lands for future generations.

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA)  A woman is dead after a deputy-involved shooting in Springfield early Saturday morning.

According to the Sangamon County Sheriffs Office, around 12:50 a.m., sheriffs were dispatched to a residence in the 2800 block of Hoover Avenue for reports of a prowler.

Two deputies began to search the area. Around 1:21 a.m., deputies reported that shots had been fired and a female had been struck. The deputies started to administer first aid until EMS arrived, taking the woman to St. Johns Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

Shots fired in Champaign, Urbana overnight; two people hurt

No deputies were hurt during the incident. The Illinois State Police are conducting an independent investigation into the matter at the request of the Sangamon County Sheriffs Office.

WCIA reached out to Illinois State Police. They said the investigation is ongoing and no further information is available at this time.

WCIA will provide updates as we learn more.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A Mississippi woman is warning people that thieves are searching social media sites for lost dogs to steal.

Angela Perry said last week her three-year-old Exotic Bully named Krypto escaped from her Olive Branch home and was stolen after a good Samaritan found the dog and posted his picture on Nextdoor.

My son saw my neighbor had posted him on Nextdoor. I went there and knocked on his door and said do you have my dog? He said no, someone picked him up 15 minutes ago, Perry said.

Perry said the neighbor who found Krypto tried to contact the animal hospital listed on Kryptos tag but missed her phone number and the dogs name, which were also on the tag.

She said he didnt ask for proof of ownership before handing Krypto over to a man who had contacted him on Nextdoor and said the dog was his.

Neighbor seeks help from city leaders to cut tall grass

He said the man told him the dogs name is Charlie, and it was his grandmothers dog, and he had lost him, and he came from Memphis, Perry said. He said I didnt think to ask for identification or anything for the dog. I didnt think people did things like that. So, thats when my dog went from being lost to stolen.

Perry also posted pictures of Krypto online and offered a $2,500 reward for the dog. She said the same man who took her dog sent her several text messages and said he would bring the dog back if she sent him the money.

He said you need to Cash App it. Im not meeting anyone in person. If you send me the money, Ill drop him off at the house I picked him up from. I said, no, I dont know you, I cant trust you. You are not going to have my dog and money, too. Ill call the police, and thats what I did, Perry said.

The man also wanted Perry to send him a picture of the dogs registration papers. Perry said Olive Branch Police are now investigating. She said Memphis police told her they could not get involved because the alleged crime happened in Mississippi.

Perry is hoping someone has seen Krypto. She said the dog has not been neutered and has very distinctive markings.

Between his eyes almost to his nose, he has a white line, and all up around his neck, stuff is white. Around his back, he has lighter hair, she said.

Perry said her neighbor was so upset about what happened to her dog that he deleted his Nextdoor account. She said losing Krypto is like losing a member of her family, and she just wants him home.

Driver suffers seizure, rams SUV into neighbors dining room

Hes been with me since he was small. I mean, hes an inside family dog and needs to be at home with his family.

She said the man who took Krypto left in a burgundy Maxima with no tag. If you know where the dog is, contact Olive Branch police at 662-892-9400.

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"Wrong about everything so far": Fired-up Biden blasts reporters for suggesting he can't win

President Joe Biden is unconvinced by media and top Democratic narratives that hes no longer electable after his discouraging debate performance last Thursday.

When asked on the campaign trail why he thought he was the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump, Biden touted his record, both as a candidate and as a president.

Because Ive beaten him before, and Ive done more than any president has, Biden told reporters clustering around Air Force One after a Wisconsin rally on Friday.

Biden: You have been wrong about everything so far. You were wrong about 2020. You were wrong about 2022. Remember the red wave? pic.twitter.com/9AGqZTdOB9  Acyn (@Acyn) July 5, 2024

Biden has aggressively pushed back on pressures to exit the race and has hit the campaign trail in full swing, planning large in-person rallies in key swing states to go face-to-face with voters and get in front of cameras, as part of an effort to sway public perception of his competency. But, evidenced in clips like the one above, he is seemingly taking his frustration at the media at large out on individual reporters.

You were wrong about 2020. You were wrong about 2022. We were going to get wiped out. Remember the red wave? Biden says to the reporter in the clip, before unloading another set of races which he says the media falsely predicted.

You were wrong about 2023. You said all the tough races . . . we won all but two."

So look, we'll see, the president said, optimistic about his chances despite recent polls showing him losing by 6 points to Trump, despite him being found guilty of 34 counts of felony fraud, indicted for attacks on the previous election, and liable for sexual assault since the pairs last match-up.
WVU advances their search for a new president with several representatives from southern WV

GHENT, WV (WVNS)  The West Virginia University Board of Governors is advancing their search for a new president.

Incoming mayor discusses plans for Beckley

This announcement comes after WVU President E. Gordon Gee announced his intent to retire after his contract ends on June 30, 2025.

In order to find a new president, the Vice President of the Board of Governors, Dr. Patrice Harris has announced a 21-member Presidential Search Committee.

The committee consists of representatives from WVU faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the Board of Governors, as well as others in the WVU community. There are even a few members of this committee with ties to southern West Virginia such as Dr. Harris herself, Bray Cary, and West Virginia University Institute of Technology President, T. Ramon Stuart.

The search committee will help set the Board of Governors up to make the final decision on who the next president will be.

This committee will also be holding listening sessions throughout the summer to get public recommendations for their search.

The committee is aiming to officially have the position listed starting in mid-September.

Educators, state lawmaker, discuss higher education in midst of FAFSA crisis

To learn more about this process and how you can get involved, visit the website they created for this search.

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YORK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY)  A York County man has been arrested on child pornography charges.

78-year-old Paul William Pyle, of Yorktown, was arrested and charged with nine felony counts of child pornography.

In May, the York-Poquoson Sheriffs Office began investigating an allegation of possession of child pornography by a York County resident. Investigators discovered videos on Pyles laptop computer that violate Virginia law with respect to possession of child pornography.

Pyle is currently being held in the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
Zelenskyy: We're working with our partners to enhance protection for Ukrainian cities and villages  video

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Kyiv is working with its partners to come up with ways to protect Ukrainian cities and villages from Russian attacks.

Source: President Zelenskyy on Facebook

Details: Zelenskyy said that Russia has deployed 600 guided aerial bombs, more than 60 Shahed drones, and nearly 40 missiles to attack Ukraine this week alone.

Quote from Zelenskyy: "We have further reinforced our air shield this week. We are grateful to Germany and the US! Ukrainian Patriots (anti-air systems  ed.) will be able to perform even better in defending [Ukraine] from Russian terror.

But in order to protect all of our cities and villages, in order to truly defeat Russian terror, we need more concrete solutions. Next week we will work with our partners to find those solutions, were already working on that."

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Kashmir: An army trooper who was injured in the initial exchange of fire in Kulgam succumbed to his injuries in a hospital. An anti-terrorist operation is underway in the Kulgam area of South Kashmir. Police officials said that during the initial exchange of fire, one army soldier who was critically injured succumbed to his injuries in a hospital.

The encounter started between terrorists and security forces in the Mudergham area of Kulgam earlier today, after the forces launched a search operation in the area, following specific intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists. A soldier lost his life as security forces and terrorists were engaged in gunfights at two places in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, officials said.

The first gunfight took place in Modergam village of the south Kashmir district after security forces launched a cordon and search operation there following specific inputs about the presence of terrorists, the officials said. The terrorists opened fire at the security forces and an encounter broke out. The officials said a soldier of the Indian Army sustained fatal injuries in the exchange of fire. In another gunfight, contact with terrorists was established in the Frisal Chinnigam area of Kulgam.

"Police and security forces are on job. Further details shall follow," Kashmir Zone Police said in a post on X.
Tamil Nadu chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party was brutally murdered by six assailants on motorcycles near his residence in Chennai on Friday. BSP president Armstrong was hacked to death by an unidentified mob in citys Perambur locality.

Acting swiftly on the incident the local police have arrested eight suspects so far, authorities informed on Saturday. Police officials suspect the murder may be an act of revenge related to the killing of gangster Arcot Suresh last year.

Atleast six men attacked Armstrong while he was having discussion with party functionaries near his home in Chennai. The assailants then fled the scene. His family rushed him to the hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), North Chennai, Asra Garg told ANI, "In the murder case, we have secured 8 suspects so far. This is a preliminary investigation...Ten teams have been formed by us. We are on the job to bring the offenders to light.

He added that a sharp weapon was used on him. Earlier, Chennai Police assembled 10 special teams to investigate the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu president Armstrong.

#WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Visuals from outside Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital in Chennai, where the body of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu president Armstrong has been brought.



He was hacked to death by an unidentified mob of 6 people near his residence in Perambur, Chennai pic.twitter.com/UxNGJArg6W  ANI (@ANI) July 5, 2024

The opposition has criticized the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, claiming that the killing highlights the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

In a post on X, Mayawati described Armstrong as a strong advocate for Dalits and demanded that those responsible be brought to justice.

The gruesome killing of Mr. K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state Govt. must punish the guilty.
In recent developments from Kerala, a concerning health issue has surfaced involving a brain-eating amoeba, scientifically known as Naegleria fowleri. This rare and deadly infection has already claimed the lives of several children in the region, raising alarm among medical experts and the general public. In today's DNA, Anant Tyagi analyses the health threat Kerala is grappling with it.

Itis interesting that the first case of COVID-19 in India was found in Kerala. Then, the first case of the Nipah virus also emerged from Kerala. The first case of the Monkeypox virus was also reported in Kerala.

The infection, known as amoebic meningoencephalitis, is contracted through contaminated water and has shown devastating effects on the human brain. As Kerala grapples with this new health threat, authorities emphasize the importance of preventive measures to protect against this potentially fatal infection. The rare brain infection has been confirmed in a 14-year-old child. The child is undergoing treatment in a private hospital.

Since May, there have been four cases of brain-eating amoeba in Kerala. All patients are children, three of whom have already died. On July 3, a 14-year-old boy died from the infection. The child had gone swimming in a pond, which led to the infection. Before that, on June 25, a 13-year-old girl from Kannur died.The first case of the infection was reported on May 21, when a 5-year-old girl from Malappuram died. This disease has been previously reported in Kerala's coastal Alappuzha district in the years 2023 and 2017 as well.

According to medical experts, this infection occurs when non-parasitic amoeba bacteria enter the body through the nose from contaminated water. The disease has some specific symptoms, such as fever, headache, vomiting, and seizures.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PAM is a brain infection. This infection is caused by amoeba or single-celled organisms called Naegleria fowleri. This amoeba lives in soil and warm fresh water, such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is commonly known as 'brain-eating amoeba.' In this disease, the amoeba infects the human brain and eats the brain tissue.

Preventing the spread of this deadly infection is crucial as it can lead to death within just 5 to 10 days if untreated. Therefore, avoiding contaminated water is essential, and maintaining strict cleanliness standards is highly recommended. It is advisable to consume only fresh, properly cooked food and to thoroughly wash vegetables and fruits with clean water before eating them. During the rainy season, it is best to refrain from swimming in rivers, springs, and lakes to minimize the risk of infection. Additionally, staying away from infected individuals helps reduce the chances of contracting and spreading the illness. These precautions are vital for safeguarding against the rapid transmission and severe consequences of the infection.The risk of infection is higher during the rainy season, so extra caution is needed at this time.
New Delhi: The tragic incident took place on Saturday near Sikri village after Three siblings died when their house's eaves collapsed while they were sitting under it, police said.

Police informed that the eaves, commonly called 'chhajja', were not in good condition and it collapsed after rain in the area.

They said that the owner of the house had been booked and they were trying to catch him. He had given out the house on rent even though it was in a dilapidated condition, Police said, PTI reported.

The three victim siblings identified as Akash (10), Muskaan (8) and Adil (6) were sitting under the eaves late Friday evening. There was rain late in the evening causing a concrete slab to collapse and make a loud noise, they said.

Police said people leaving in the location rushed to save the kids but there was a lot of debris. After removing the debris, they took the unconscious children to a nearby hospital where doctors declared that all three of them were dead.

Dharmendra Kumar, the children's father, filed a complaint on the matter and an FIR was registered under Section 105 (culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Sector 58 police station on Saturday, police said.

"An FIR has been registered against the house owner and we are trying to nab him. The bodies will be handed over to the family today after the post-mortem," said Inspector Krishan Kumar, SHO of Sector 58 Police Station, PTI reported.
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Gujarat on Saturday to meet the part workers, and also the families impacted by recent tragedies, including the Rajkot game zone fire, boat capsize incidents in Vadodara, and the Morbi bridge collapse. The leader of the Opposition (LoP) addressed the party working in Ahmedabad and said that the grand old party is going to form the government in Gujarat after 30 years.

Rahul Gandhi attacked the BJP and said that the way they have broken out of office we will break their government.

"...The way they broke our office, we are going to break their government... But there are shortcomings in Gujarat Congress... There are two types of horses, one for racing and one for weddings... 'Congress race ke ghode ko shadi mein, aur shadi ke ghode ko race mein laga deti hai'," Gandhi said.

#WATCH | Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Addressing the party workers, Congress MP and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi says, "... The way they broke our office, we are going to break their government... But there are shortcomings in Gujarat Congress... There are two types of horses, one for pic.twitter.com/cslOn2C0Fa July 6, 2024

While addressing the party meeting, said that the grand old party is going to form a government after 30 years in Gujarat under the leadership of me and my sister.

"In the last elections, we did not contest against the BJP properly... In 2017, we worked hard for 3 months and the results were good... Now, we have 3 years, we will leave the finishing line behind... You are going to form the government in Gujarat after 30 years... Party leadership including me and my sister, all are going to stand with you," Gandhi added.

Congress leader also highlighted the Ayodhya issues and said that the people of Ayodhya were upset that no one from Ayodhya was invited to the inauguration of the Ram Temple.

"The farmers of Ayodhya lost their land when the Airport was built. The people of Ayodhya were upset that no one from Ayodhya was invited to the inauguration of the Ram Temple... The movement which was started by Advani Ji, whose centre was Ayodhya, INDIA Alliance has defeated that movement in Ayodhya," he added.
Hyderabad Police has revealed that Qnet, a Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing (MLM) company, has been creating various entities to avoid detection by security agencies. Speaking at a press conference in May this year, then Police Commissioner Anand disclosed the arrest of G Rajesh from Bengaluru, and K Manish and Syed Ajmal Mehdi Sajjad from Malakpet, for their involvement in MLM schemes, said reports.

According to a TOI report, Rajesh was apprehended for his association with V-Empire, a subsidiary of Qnet, operating out of Swapnalok Complex, where a tragic fire claimed the lives of six employees. Following the incident, the Central Crime Station (CCS) registered multiple FIRs against those managing V-Empire and other similar MLM operations. Qnet is also allegedly linked to Vihaan Direct Selling India Ltd. When security agencies began investigating Vihaan, they discovered it was an extension of Qnet.

"The arrested individuals collected money from unemployed youth and unsuspecting people by promising high returns. The main suspect, Rajesh, with the help of his accomplices, conducted motivational sessions and enticed victims with promises of earning between Rs 20,000 and Rs 60,000 per month after an investment ranging from ?50,000 to ?1.5 lakh," stated then Commissioner Anand.

The accused were found to be running a prohibited pyramid scheme disguised as a direct selling business. According to Telangana's 2017 direct selling guidelines, MLM and pyramid schemes are banned. "In the V-Empire case alone, we found that 150 victims had invested Rs 3 crore. Hyderabad CCS has frozen 35 bank accounts holding Rs 54 crore," Anand reported.

Officials noted that V-Empire was registered with the Registrar of Companies (ROC) in Bengaluru, and its key directors, Imtiyaz and Dileep, are currently at large. "The victims' money deposited in V-Empire was subsequently transferred to Vihaan's bank accounts," added Deputy Commissioner of Police (CCS) P Shabarish.

Senior police officers in Hyderabad have urged the public to report any MLM schemes they encounter. "Without information from victims or the public, it becomes challenging to act. We have increased awareness among our officers to proactively combat companies operating MLM models and deceiving people," Commissioner Anand emphasized.

Additionally, Maneesh and Ajmal were arrested for allegedly defrauding people through MLM operations by establishing E-store India (Axis E Corp Pvt Ltd and Ayurcare Health Products Pvt Ltd), though these companies were not connected to Qnet.
New Delhi: After Keir Starmer was elected as the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on Friday, he delivered his first speech outside 10 Downing Street and promised to serve all the citizens irrespective of their voting preference. He said that the process of change would commence immediately.

"If you voted Labour yesterday, we will carry the responsibility of your trust as we rebuild our country. Whether you voted Labour or not especially if you did not, I say to you directly, my government will serve you. Politics can be a force for good. We will show that," said the UK Prime Minister, ANI reported.

During the first speech, Keir Starmer said that they had reformed the Labour Party and promised to work for the country first.

"We've changed the Labour Party, and returned it to service, and that is how we will govern country first, party second. Yet if I'm honest, service is merely a precondition of hope, and it is surely clear to everyone that our country needs a bigger reset, a rediscovery of who we are, because no matter how fierce the storms of history, one of the great strengths of this nation has always been our ability to navigate away to calmer waters," he added.

The newly elected UK PM assured the public that the process of change would begin immediately and that they were committed to rebuilding Britain.

"I want to say very clearly to those people, not this time. Changing a country is not like flicking a switch. The world is now a more volatile place. This will take a while. But no doubt that the work of change begins immediately. Do not doubt that we will rebuild Britain," said Starmer.

Starmer said that many people currently lack faith in a better future for their children, and promised that their government will work tirelessly to change this and restore hope.

"The world-class schools and colleges, the affordable homes that I know, are the ingredients of hope for working people. The security that working-class families like mine can build their lives around. Because if I asked you now whether you believe that Britain will be better for your children. I know too many of you would say no. And so my government will fight every day until you believe again. From now on," he further added.

Starmer also expressed gratitude to the outgoing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, for his achievements as the first British-Asian Prime Minister. He said, "I want to thank the outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. His achievement as the first British-Asian Prime Minister of our country. The extra effort that will be required should not be underestimated by anyone. We pay tribute to that today. And we also recognise."

"The dedication and hard work he brought to his leadership. But now our country has voted decisively for change, national renewal and a return of politics to public service," the UK Prime Minister added.
New Delhi: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) raised an Orange alert for heavy rainfall in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Maharastra, and Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday, while extremely heavy rainfall can be expected over the area of Uttarakhand, Hence the weather department raised Red alert.

The weather department issued a warning for a thunderstorm accompanied by lightning likely to prevail over an isolated area of Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Medhya Maharastra and Gujarat.

Weather Forecast For Delhi

The National capital has witnessed rainfall over the past few days and the weather department predicted generally cloudy skies with the possibility of light rain for today. The minimum temperature was recorded at 27.1 degrees Celsius with 33 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

Heavy Rainfall In Bihar

Bihar has been witnessing rainfall for the past few days and due to that the weather department raised an alert for the state. The districts that may receive rainfall today are Bhagalpur, Patna and Purnia.

The members of a high-level committee set up by the central government in Bihar to find long-term solutions for the recurring flood-like situation. As per the PTI, a five-member panel briefed the minister on ongoing and proposed flood management and control projects formulated by the central government.

Amarnath Yatra Temporarily Suspended Due To Heavy Rainfall

Following the heavy rainfall the Amarnath Yatra is temporarily suspended on both routes to the cave shrine on Saturday as a precautionary measure, as per the PTI reports. Intermittent heavy rainfall has been seen over the regions of Baltal and Pahalgam since last night.
Ahead of the October Assembly elections in Haryana, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed Dr. Satish Punia and Rajya Sabha MP Surender Nagar as the incharge and co-incharge of the Haryana BJP, respectively. This announcement was made by BJP president JP Nadda as part of a pan-India release of incharges and co-incharges for state units.

Dr. Satish Punia, who previously served as the BJP president of Rajasthan, will take over from Biplab Deb, the Tripura MP and former chief minister.

If Elections Were Today...

The timing of these appointments is crucial, as recent voting data at the Assembly segment level suggests a competitive race in Haryana. If elections were held today, the data indicates a split house, with the Opposition INDIA bloc likely emerging as the leading alliance. This prediction comes on the heels of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, where the BJPs performance saw a significant decline.

The partys seat count dropped from a dominant position in 2019 to securing only five seats in the most recent elections, while the Congress matched this with five seats of their own. Moreover, the BJPs vote share decreased from 58.21% to 46.11%, whereas the Congress saw an increase from 28.51% to 43.67%.

Despite contesting only one seat, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed to raise its vote share from 0.36% to 3.94%, reflecting a growing influence in the region.

Terrified From Strengthening Opposition

In the Assembly segments, the BJP led in 44 out of 90 seats, closely followed by the Congress with leads in 42 seats, and the AAP in the remaining four seats. Neither the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) nor the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) led in any segments.

This shows that the BJP would fall just short of the 46-seat majority mark needed to form a government. In contrast, the combined tallies of the Congress and AAP would grant the INDIA bloc a simple majority. However, the lack of an alliance between the Congress and AAP this time has provided the BJP with some breathing room.

Balancing Caste Equations

The caste equations play a vital role in Haryana politics, which explains why the leading contenders go out of their way to balance them in the run-up to the polls. In Haryana, OBCs account for the largest chunk of voters at about 30%, followed by Jats at nearly 25%, and the Scheduled Castes (SCs) at about 20%. To effectively target the OBC community, the BJP has appointed Satish Punia as the co-incharge for the Haryana elections.

As the election date approaches, Punia and Nagars roles will be critical in shaping the partys strategy and execution on the ground.
New Delhi: Ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget 2024, by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, voices are growing stronger for allocating higher budget for the insurance sector and hike in deduction limit for health insurance premiums.

Ashwani Dhanawat, Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer, Shriram General Insurance Company said that the insurance sector anticipates the upcoming union budget to address several critical areas essential for economic growth and public welfare.

"We welcome the prospect of higher budgetary allocations to the insurance sector, which will enhance our ability to provide comprehensive coverage and innovative solutions to a broader segment of the population in achieving the Insurance for All mission of IRDAI," said Dhanawat.

In light of rising healthcare costs, we expect an increase in the deduction limit for health insurance premiums, as it will offer greater financial relief to policyholders, added Dhanawat.

Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance said the finance ministry must consider lowering GST on life insurance products. Additionally, in the pension products category, with the objective of securing post-retirement financial needs of the individuals. He urged the government to align life insurance annuity or pension products with the National Pension Scheme (NPS) and allow the similar additional deduction of Rs 50,000 or more for life insurance annuity or pension products under Income Tax.

"We also request the ministry to introduce Long Term Capital Gain taxability for all high value traditional life insurance plans (more than Rs.5 lakhs aggregate annual premium), in line with high value ULIPs. This will bring in uniformity and tax efficiency for insurance customers at par with other similar financial products in the market, Chugh added.

He said, reducing the GST on health insurance policies will make these essential products more affordable and accessible.

Although there has bee no official announcement regarding the presentation of the Union Budget 2024, media reports have said that Finance Minister might table it on July 24.

As per a report in the Financial Express, the FM could present the Full Budget on July 24 while the Economic Survey will be tabled a day ahead on July 23.


The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and its Indo-Pacific partners, including South Korea, plan to discuss resilience, support for Ukraine, disinformation, cybersecurity and emerging technologies during their summit in Washington next week, a senior US administration official said.

The NATO summit is set to take place in the US capital from Tuesday to Thursday. The leaders of the alliance's four Indo-Pacific partners (IP4) - South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Japan have been invited to the summit that marks the 75th anniversary of NATO's founding, reported Yonhap news agency.

"We are bringing together some of our closest non-NATO partners to have a discussion around issues like resilience, cyber, disinformation, and technology," the official said in a virtual briefing.

He added, "This particular grouping of IP4 as we call them in NATO lingo -- Australia, Japan, New Zealand and ROK (Republic of Korea) ,These are some of our closest partners that we work with in the region".

The NATO summit involving Indo-Pacific partners is set to take place on Thursday.

The official did not elaborate on the issue of resilience. In a NATO context, resilience refers to the capacity to prepare for, resist, respond to and quickly recover from shocks and disruptions across the full spectrum of threats, according to an article on NATO's Allied Command Transformation website.

At the NATO gathering, there will be a "strong" demonstration of U.S. and allies' support for Ukraine, the official said, highlighting Washington's plan to announce new steps to strengthen Ukraine's air defences and military capabilities.

"Together, the Washington summit will send a strong signal to Putin that if he thinks he can outlast the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine, he's dead wrong," he said.

"We are also sending an important message to the rest of the world, including through our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, as we stand together united and in support of democratic values," he added.

The summit comes amid growing concerns about Biden's mental health and physical fitness, which was called into question again following a poor debate performance last week.

Observers said that Biden is likely to capitalise on the summit to highlight that he is up for the job and capable of leading the nation for another four year term.

"Foreign leaders have seen Joe Biden up close and personal for the last three years. They know who they are dealing with and they know how effective he's been," the official said.

"What the president has done over the last three years is to reinvigorate the NATO alliance, including expanding it, making it more capable. He has stood up to President Putin's unprecedented aggression against Ukraine by mobilising a coalition of a minimum of 50 allies and partners to provide capabilities to Ukraine.
Photos by ChiHon Kim ()

Each of us has one or two kinds of nostalgic food that brings back old memories. As a Korean, the food that induces nostalgia is a spicy tteokbokki. Tteokbokki (or stir-fried rice cake) is a beloved comfort food mainly made of gochujang (red pepper paste) and cut garaetteok, cylinder-shaped white rice cakes. You might also find it served with fish cake, boiled eggs and scallions for added flavor and texture.

When I was in elementary school, tteokbokki was the only snack I could enjoy with my daily allowance of 500 won (about $0.41). Back then, the big flat pot with gooey rice cakes in thick gochujang sauce was like heaven on earth for me. I remember devouring the tteokbokki with cabbage.

Even in high school, my friends and I would head to the snack bar nearby to refuel on tteokbokki while studying for the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT). This tradition continued at college, where, for a poor student like me, this chewy, flavorful dish served with fried vegetables was a cheap and delicious meal. I think tteokbokki will be my go-to for the rest of my life.

Despite sounding like Im a tteokbokki superfan, this is a common food many enjoy and have enjoyed since the Joseon Dynasty. Old literature shows that the tteokbokki was served at the royal palace but as gungjung, a non-spicy version, made with soy sauce, vegetables and beef. Today, this is no longer a dish reserved for royalty and it is readily available at restaurants and buffets around South Korea.

The spicy version we all love, however, actually originates from post-Korean War Seoul. A woman named Ma Bok-rim living in Sindang-dong neighborhood accidentally dropped garaetteok (the unseasoned, plain rice cakes) into a bowl of jajangeyeon (black soybean-sauce noodles). Since food was a commodity after the war, Ma tried the dish so it wouldnt go to waste. The flavors of the sauce melding with the chewiness of the rice cakes was the inspiration for her to try seasoning the rice cakes with the red pepper paste.

An interesting fact is that since tteokbokki came about post-war and is now considered one of the most common Korean street foods, it only exists in South Korean cuisine. So, don't fight with your brothers at home, otherwise, one of your brothers might lock the door and enjoy the delicious food alone.

Spicy tteokbokkis history isnt very long, but more than half a century has passed since its creation and now there are more variations. Not a fan of spicy foods? Try carbonara or curry tteokbokki. Though a bit controversial for tteokbokki purists, I love the fusion varieties, too.

Recently, the Tteokbokki Museum opened in Daegu and since I have had to put my visit on hold, I decided to make my favorite dish at home. Its easy to make and if youve grown tired of your usual recipes, mix it up with this Korean favorite. Cooking is a stress and disappointment reliever (and for me, an opportunity to cook as much tteokbokki as I want and can eat!).

Tteokbokki at home

All the ingredients to cook up this star are found at any local grocery store or convenience store in South Korea. This recipe will allow you to use up leftovers and clean out your fridge if you do not stick to the old way of tteokbokki cooking.

- PREP TIME: 10 minutes - COOK TIME: 15 minutes - TOTAL TIME: 25 minutes - DIFFICULTY: Easy - SERVINGS: 2

INGREDIENTS

Main

 350g cylinder-shaped rice cake (tteokbokki tteok) or 1 packet of instant tteokbokki. Use a little more if youre not adding optional ingredients.

 2 cups water or anchovies stock. (*1 cup = 250ml)

 150g Korean fish cakes, hard-boiled eggs, green (or napa) cabbage, one stalk green onion, and any veggies you prefer. (optional)

Sauce (You can skip this step if you buy a tteokbokki packet that comes with the sauce mixed with gochujang seasoning)

 3 tablespoons gochujang (Korean red chili paste)

 1 1/2 tbsp sugar (You can use honey or oligofructose instead sugar. I prefer to skip this ingredient.)

 1 tbsp soy sauce

 1 tsp minced garlic (I put 4 tsp minced garlic to suit my taste)

 1 tsp dried red pepper powder (Optional, but the more you add, the spicier your sauce will be)

(*1 tbsp = 15 ml)

Garnish (optional)

1 stalk small green onion, chopped

Instructions

Rinse the rice cakes and soak them in water for about 10 to 15 minutes. Or just rinse them if you going to buy an instant tteokbokki packet that has sauce.

(In the local grocery market, there are two types of rice cake for the tteokbokki dish. The first thing is a small portion of packet that has sauce. Another one is a large number of rice cakes in the clear packet, which one is somewhat thicker and harder than the small instant packet.)

For the broth, you have many options. For the traditional way, boil dried anchovies and dried kelp for about 15 min, strain the ingredients and keep the broth. If you have beef or chicken stock available, feel free to use this instead. Another option is just 2 cups of water.

This is a step to upgrade your tteokbokki dish. Cut the fish cake, cabbage, and scallions into bite-sized pieces. Dont forget to mince to garlic. When you cook tteokbokki, be creative. You can put any veggies you already have in the kitchen such as broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, etc. Halved hard-boiled eggs are also a popular topping.

Put broth (or just water), rinsed rice cakes and veggies youve prepared in a pan or shallow pot. And add your sauce packet.

If you bought a large packet that has no sauce, then add gochujang (Korean red chili paste) and rest of seasonings in the ingredient list. Simmer for about 10-15 mins. Until the rice cakes are fully cooked and the sauce thickens. Make sure to stir so the sauce wont stick to the pan.

A common ingredient that has started to pop up on tteokbokki dishes is sesame seeds sprinkled on top as a garnish. I dont really like it but give it a try if it appeals to you. I usually stick to just chopped green onions on top. Other popular garnishes include cilantro, parmesan cheese powder, or mozzarella cheese. Serve it up as soon as its done cooking and enjoy. Bon appetite!

Speakin' Korean

Do you like spicy food? Mae-un eum-sik joh-a-hae-yo?

I cant handle spicy food. Jeo-neun mae-un geol jal mot meo-geo-yo.

I love spicy food. Jeo-neun mae-un eum-sik jeong-mal joh-a-hae-yo.

Its really good! Masisseoyo!

Lets go to snack bar to eat tteokbokki. Bun-sik-jeom-e tteokbokki meo-geu-reo-gayo.

What does it taste like? Masi eottaeyo?

Oh, thats quite hot. O, jom mae-wo-yo.

Please give me some water. Mul jom ju-se-yo.

Your face is so red! Eol-gul-i jin-jja ppal-gae-jyeo-sseo!
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In late September, when House Bill 314 was under consideration by the Idaho Legislature, patrons of the Buhl Public Library threatened to burn down the building.

During a prior town hall meeting, a district representative claimed that the library was grooming children with its catalog of books containing LGBTQ+ content.

Although the claims were false, according to library director Maegan Hanson, the angered Buhl residents ran with them and sought retribution.

The patrons wondered why the library chose not to remove the controversial materials, including previously challenged books such as Maia Kobabes Gender Queer and Juno Dawsons This Book is Gay  but Hanson says that libraries have a responsibility to reflect the whole of the community, regardless of public opinion.

Book challenges arent new to libraries, she said. We serve the public and the public is a diverse population. We dont get to pick and choose, and we try really hard to be representative of our community at large.

The small city is home to only a few thousand people, most of whom are white (64.8%) and Hispanic (32.6%). Because there are 25 churches in the community, Hanson said the library installed inspirational collections for children and adults and a nonfiction religion section.

We try to be really cognizant and make sure we have stuff for everybody, Hanson said.

Like other small libraries in Idaho, theres a larger sense of vulnerability in regards to community pushback. Although the Buhl Public Library is protected by the city and can seek legal counsel, not every library has the same safety net.

Hanson told the Times-News that she and her colleagues had to take de-escalation training courses to learn how to protect themselves and other patrons in the case of an emergency. It was and is stressful for her team, but its the cost of making sure that everyone in the community feels seen and heard.

HB 314, otherwise known as The Childrens School and Library Protection Act, was proposed in 2023 to protect minors from harmful materials including pornography and acts not limited to masturbation and homosexuality, as defined by state statute Title 18, Chapter 15.

According to the bills text, a parent could request materials to be reviewed by library staff. After a series of procedures and if library staff failed to restrict the material from minors, the accuser could recover $2,500 in statutory damages, actual damages and other reliefs the law made available.

Although the bill failed to pass, three similar ones, HB 384, Senate Bill 1289 and HB 710, made their way onto the state legislative floors earlier this year.

HB 710 lowered the damage fee to $250. The bill requires library staff to move challenged materials to an adults-only section, where any child under 18 couldnt access them.

Despite lobbying and protests from opposers of the bill, HB 710 soared through the state house and senate floors after multiple amendments.

Gov. Brad Little signed the bill on April 10, stating, I signed that stinking library bill  as reported by Idaho Reports  although he did express some concern over the future of library protections.

The bill went into effect on Monday.

Lance Clow, Republican candidate for House Seat 25A, told the Times-News that this isnt the first time Idaho Legislature has made efforts to protect minors from harmful content in libraries. The first he remembers was in 2011, when a bill aimed to protect minors from using computers to access pornography in public libraries.

In 2018, Clow presented a bill to protect minors from using Wi-Fi in public libraries to access pornography. On both occasions, Clow said that librarians opposed the bills.

When the state House of Representatives proposed HB 710, Clow lobbied to lighten some of the restrictions outlined in previous bills.

He worked to lower the damage amount, bringing it down from $2,500 to $250, and extended the time that libraries would have to review challenged materials. In the first draft of HB 710, libraries would only have 30 days, but the amended version allowed a 60-day period.

Ultimately, Clow said that the choice is up to the libraries. Although people can request certain materials to be reviewed, the Miller Test decides that the content as a whole must outline harmful intent.

He used Khaled Hosseinis The Kite Runner as an example  although there is some harmful content featured in the novel, as a whole, the purpose of the book isnt harmful in nature.

The piece needs to be judged as a whole, he said.

The law puts a procedure in place for the libraries that didnt have one, Clow said, and it encourages parents to be more involved in having a say over the selection of books that their child reads. Libraries should also consider the impact of a book that staff members choose to include in their collections.

Some people take a strong position based on their basic values, he said, but every day theres the opportunity for a library to make a decision about what books theyre going to buy. Think about all of the books they dont buy that have no harmful materials in them

There are many books they dont buy because they dont have enough money. They take taxpayers money and make decisions (Libraries) should concentrate their money on the core needs of the community. The smaller the library  why would they want to buy Gender Queer over The Kite Runner? Which book should they choose?

Should those books be available to children? Its not an easy subject, but if Im going to make a mistake, then Ill make it on the side of protecting children.

During a follow-up interview, Hanson explained that the Buhl Public Library receives $15,000 per year to purchase books and other library materials each year. On average, paperback books cost anywhere from $13.95 to $17.95, but hardback books are sold at a higher price. The librarys staff searches for sales and deals to purchase the books their community needs the most.

We understand that we are funded by hardworking people, and we try to make sure that we spend money on books that will be used by our community over and over again and cover a diverse range of topics, she said.

When asked about an example of a book that features mature themes but serves a greater purpose, Hanson thought of Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. In the book, one of the protagonists is abused by their stepfather. For a child who is experiencing abuse, Hanson said, reading the characters story might help them understand what they are going through.

In a community where one set of parents was upset that their child picked up Eleanor & Park, another child was curious about another familial structure that wasnt as safe and loving as what they experienced growing up. Hanson said that both perspectives were valid and demonstrated why these stories are necessary.

We live in a world thats not childproof, she said, and thats really hard. We live in a world where children and families have different backgrounds, they need different things, need to have different conversations and have different supports. Not everyones home life is warm, fuzzy, happy, healthy and safe, and because of that, we get to make acknowledge and respect that both types of families are present

We have our warm, fluffy and safe stories, but we also have harder stories because children face dragons too. They need to have that understanding and awareness that they have the power to overcome the dragons in their lives as well.

On Monday, Democrats across Idaho participated in the Bans off Our Books Protest, opposing the newly ratified HB 710.

A group of passionate protestors lined up outside the Twin Falls Library with their signs in hand and pins on their shirts. Democratic legislative candidates W. Lane Startin (House Seat 25A) and David Roth (U.S. House of Representatives, Idaho District 2) also attended to show their support.

We shouldnt be in the business of banning things. These things should be left up to the parents, not the legislators and not the libraries, Startin said.

These bills are specifically targeted at the LGBTQ+ community, Roth said. As a member of that community, I know as a child growing up how hard it was to not have examples available Its taking away opportunities for kids to see positive, affirming examples of how life could be. I always remind people that a book isnt going to change who your child is  but it will change their life.

Two friends from Twin Falls, Jane Anderson and Carol Dumas, called the bill censorship in sheeps clothing.

Growing up, Anderson said that she read anything she could get her hands on  from Shakespeare to the Bible  and even those stories contained harmful content.

Let people choose to read what they want, she said. Let parents meet with their kids and see what theyre reading. Dont just take everything away so theres nothing to educate us.

As of Wednesday, the Buhl Public Library hadnt yet received any requests to review media that could contain harmful material. The librarys adult section isnt restricted to patrons aged 18 and older. As a smaller library, she and the team are restricted on space, but Hanson said that the library has always been receptive to public feedback.

The bottom line, Clow said, is that residents should look at the bill rather than the hyperbole of conversation. There is a gray area that comes with what harmful means because it can be a subjective matter.

Were just trying to let the parents be the decision-makers, he said. Then libraries can make the final decision on where the materials should be placed.

Your news on your smartphone Your story lives in the Magic Valley, and our new mobile app is designed to make sure you dont miss breaking news, the latest scores, the weather forecast and more. From easy navigation with the swipe of a finger to personalized content based on your preferences to customized text sizes, the Times-News app is built for you and your life. Dont have the app? Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
We all want to know that medical care will be available for ourselves and our loved ones when we need it. Since Idahos draconian abortion ban took effect, weve seen chaos and suffering for both patients and healthcare providers. The recent Supreme Court decision in Moyle vs. United States provides a sliver of temporary relief; it does not change the fact that women are being denied care.

Moyle vs. United States centered around whether the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), a law enacted by President Reagan requiring hospital emergency rooms to stabilize patients, preempts Idahos extreme abortion ban. The Supreme Court decision is limited. It didnt decide whether states with abortion bans must comply with federal law around emergency medical care. Instead, the justices sent the question back to the lower courts and reinstated the lower court order asserting EMTALA protections.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson aptly wrote, Todays decision is not a victory for pregnant patients in Idaho. It is a delay. While this court dawdles and the country waits, pregnant people experiencing emergency medical conditions remain in a precarious position...

Nicole Millers story, reported in the New York Times, is a harrowing example of the impact of legal uncertainty. As a pregnant Boise mother to young daughters, Nicole went to the emergency room with heavy bleeding. Fearing that following their medical judgment could land them in prison, doctors decided to airlift her to Utah for the emergency care she needed. By the time she was on the plane, she had lost a liter of blood. She survived the ordeal but suffered needlessly.

For the six months this year, Idaho patients went without emergency care protections. Republican leaders celebrated and cases like Nicoles accelerated. Idahos largest health system was airlifting patients every two weeks.

Idaho Democrats are working to ensure women receive needed care, but were up against a GOP supermajority content with the mess its made. Our entire Democratic caucus cosponsored legislation to restore our freedom to make intimate reproductive healthcare decisions. Republican leaders refused to give it a hearing. Physician advocates pushed a bill to create an extremely narrow exception for patients facing serious health risks. Republican leaders refused to give it a hearing.

Even the extremely conservative U.S. Supreme Court admonished Idahos Republican leaders. Justice Barrett wrote that their statements, which prompted the court to temporarily lift the emergency care protections, were unfounded.

Idaho Democrats stand with the majority of Idahoans. We believe women must be able to access medical care, including abortion, to preserve their health and future fertility. We trust women to make decisions about their own bodies, health care, and future. Together, well continue our fight for reproductive freedom.
Globe Telecom Inc. asked the government on Friday for policy reforms to remove barriers in connectivity as the Philippines continues to rate below the global average.

The 2024 edition of the index released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the UN, gave the Philippines a score of 74.4, an improvement by 14 percent from last year.

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The rating, however, was still below the global average of 74.8 and way behind Southeast Asian neighbors such as Singapore, which garnered 97.8, Malaysia with 95.0 and Thailand at 91.0.

The Philippines score places it among the lowest five in the region, better only than Cambodia (72.6), Laos (65.3), Myanmar (63.8), and Timor-Leste (39.2).

We are optimistic that we can score even higher in the global ICT Development Index. This should serve as an impetus for all stakeholders including industry players and the government to work more closely to address persistent gaps in our connectivity infrastructure, said Globe president and chief executive Ernest Cu.

The private sector has poured several billions in resources for ICT development. We cannot do it alone. There are barriers that can only be addressed through strong collaboration among the industry, government, and other stakeholders, he said.

Cu said the country needed more substantial investments in digital infrastructure. The private sector has invested a combined P640 billion in three years, from 2021 to 2023, to upgrade the quality of the countrys connectivity infrastructure.

Globe invested P265 billion in capital expenditure and P236 billion in operational expenses over the past three years to enhance its network capabilities.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology invested only P7.6 billion for internet infrastructure from 2018 to 2024.

The Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC), a Malacanang-initiated body that brings together industry players, called on the government to allocate at least P240 billion to improve internet infrastructure and work with the private sector to build 35,000 new cell sites across the country.

The Connectivity Plan Task Force (CPTF), led by Cu under the PSAC, is also working with the DICT for the rollout of connectivity infrastructure in Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDAs). Globes network currently reaches over 500 GIDAs.

Globe also reiterated its call for policy reform to allow connectivity to flourish.

These include the provision of space for telco infrastructure in housing developments and the removal of lease fees for telco infrastructure in buildings and developments through amendments to the outdated National Building Code (1977).

Bills seeking this reform are still pending in Congress.

Telcos should not be charged for installing infrastructure inside buildings and developments that will provide connectivity, which is now a basic necessity like power and water. It is a life enabler, supporting commerce, peoples livelihood, education and leisure needs, said Cu.
David Bickerton, Oceanagold Corp. general manager for operations at Didipio Mines in the Philippines, is a highly-skilled and experienced miner.

Despite his vast professional achievements and a mining career of over 20 years, his true passion lies with his family.

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I guess my passion now is my family. I think my family and my friends have always been my passion. I enjoy my outdoor time. I suppose growing up in the open air, in the rural side has developed that interest in what I am doing right now, he said.

He had a son at a very young age, who is now a mature individual, forming an important part of his life.

His wife and two children, including seven-month-old daughter Eliza, bring immense joy and purpose to his life. Becoming a father at 47 has been a refreshing experience, reminding him of what truly matters.

Bickertons upbringing in rural Australia fostered a love for the outdoors. He enjoys activities like fishing and bushwalking and finds solace and peace in nature.

His work with OceanaGold has fueled his passion for travel, allowing him to live and work in diverse locations across the globe, from Australia and New Zealand, Papua New Guinea to the United States and the Philippines.

Leadership role

Bickerton didnt start his career with a university degree. Instead, he opted for hands-on experience and mentorships, working his way up from the ground.

This practical approach instilled valuable skills that would later serve him well as a leader. His career path has been diverse, encompassing roles in nickel refining, project management and gold and copper mining across various locations.

I suppose pre-entering into the mining industry, I sort of spent my youth and had some years when I didnt know what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go. I made a decision not to go to university. Ive probably had what some would call a bit of a misfit. I guess things have a way of fitting together what works best for one. My decisions led me here, and Im totally grateful,Bickerton said.

His adaptability is evident in his willingness to embrace new challenges. Throughout his career, he has taken on various roles within OceanaGold, demonstrating a commitment to continuous learning. He even pursued additional qualifications in project management, showcasing his dedication to professional growth.

Returning to PH

Bickertons return to the Didipio project in the Philippines reflects his commitment to shaping the mining industrys future, particularly in operational focus and project execution.

Theres definitely a positive momentum building in the Philippines mining sector over the past few years. Im eager to see if this translates into real operations, unlocking the countrys vast potential, he said, noting a marked improvement in the Philippine mining sector from years of stagnation due to policy constraints.

However, long-term investments in exploration, design, permitting and development require stability in decision-making. Companies need to know the rules wont change significantly, ensuring a predictable environment. This stability will be key to truly setting the Philippine mining industry up for a successful future, he said.

Sustainable future

The mining executive recognizes the importance of stability and consistency in decision-making for the mining industry. He values the positive engagement with local regulators who are objective, proactive and committed to ensuring responsible mining practices.

Bickerton encourages those interested in mining to embrace the opportunities the industry offers. He emphasizes the value of open-mindedness, embracing diversity and working with people from different cultures and backgrounds. He believes that a willingness to learn and grow will lead to a rewarding career in mining.

It was in my late 20s that I met my first really good mentors who taught me about what it takes to be a good leader. I think thats one of the things that I enjoy about the industry. If I could be a mentor and help people, especially those who might start off coming into the industry because they are disadvantaged, it would be a huge opportunity for me to help them, he said.

He aims to leverage his extensive experience to contribute significantly to the development of the mining project and OceanaGolds overall growth. In his second tour with OceanaGold Philippines, he took on the challenge, not as a temporary stint, but as a lifelong career.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday congratulated the United Kingdoms (UK) Labour Party and new Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

On behalf of the Philippines, I extend my warmest congratulations to the Labour Party and (Starmer), Marcos said. We wish the new government success and look forward to further strengthening our deep and longstanding ties.

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The President also expressed hope for enhanced ties between the Philippines and the UK.

The Labour Partys landslide victory in the July 4 UK elections ended the Conservative Partys 14-year rule.

The Philippines and the UK, which established diplomatic relations in 1946, aim to deepen cooperation in trade, investment, technology, and defense under the UK-Philippines Enhanced Partnership.

Starmer is set to work as Britains new leader Friday, speaking with world leaders and appointing his ministerial team after his Labour partys landslide general election victory ended 14 years of Conservative rule.

Starmer named Rachel Reeves the UKs first woman finance minister and appointed David Lammy as foreign secretary following his election win to become centre-left Labours first prime minister since Gordon Brown in 2010.

Flag-waving crowds of cheering Labour activists lined Downing Street as Starmer pledged to rebuild the UK after head of state King Charles III invited him to form a government during a meeting at Buckingham Palace.

Within hours, Starmer held a flurry of phone calls with leaders, including reaffirming Londons unwavering support for Kyivs war against invading Russian forces with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden.

He also spoke to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the prime ministers of Canada, Italy, Ireland and Poland, alongside the heads of the UKs devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Starmer and von der Leyen emphasised the importance of the unique relationship between the UK and EU in addressing shared challenges, his office said.

Meanwhile, Germanys Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Starmer he would be a very good, very successful prime minister in a call.

Earlier, a somber Rishi Sunak conceded defeat during a torrid night for his Conservatives that claimed the scalps of at least 12 of his senior cabinet colleagues  and his predecessor Liz Truss.

Her disastrous 49-day tenure effectively sealed the Tories fate with the public two years ago, when her unfunded tax cuts spooked markets and crashed the pound.

Before leaving Downing Street for the final time as prime minister, Sunak said sorry to the public and revealed that he would step down as Tory leader once formal arrangements for a successor are in place.

The Tories worst previous election result was 156 seats in 1906. Former leader William Hague told Times Radio this was a catastrophic result in historic terms.

By late Friday, Labour had won 412 constituencies in the 650-seat House of Commons  with only one result left to declare  giving it a majority of 174.

The Tories won just 121  a record low  with the right-wing vote apparently split by Nigel Farages anti-immigration Reform UK party, which picked up five seats.

In another boost for the centrists, the smaller opposition Liberal Democrats ousted the Scottish National Party as the third-biggest party.

The results bucked a trend among Britains closest Western allies, with the far-right in France eyeing power and Donald Trump looking set for a return in the United States.

Ex-president Trump congratulated his admirer Farage on winning election to the UK parliament at his eighth attempt but noticeably neglected to mention Starmer.

Outside Londons busy Waterloo station, 49-year-old engagement officer Ramsey Sargent called it a momentous election.

It has been very rocky over the last few months and years. Im really excited to see what happens next, he told AFP.

Tim Bale, politics professor at Queen Mary, University of London, said the Conservatives drubbing was not as catastrophic as some were predicting and that the Tories would now need to decide how best to fight back.

Brexit champion Farage has made no secret of his aim to take over the party.

There is a massive gap on the centre-right of British politics and my job is to fill it, he said after a comfortable win in Clacton, eastern England.

Labours resurgence is a stunning turnaround from five years ago, when hard-left former leader Jeremy Corbyn took the party to its worst defeat since 1935 in an election dominated by Brexit.

Starmer took over in early 2020 and set about moving the party back to the center, purging the infighting and anti-Semitism that cost it support.

Opinion polls consistently put Labour 20 points ahead of the Tories since Trusss resignation, giving an air of inevitability about a Labour win  the first since Tony Blair in 2005.

But as the count neared the end, the gap was around 11 percent, with Labour looking set to win fewer votes than it did in 2019, partly reflecting a lower turnout.

Starmer faces a daunting in-tray, from anemic economic growth to overstretched and underfunded public services and households squeezed financially.

He has promised a return of political integrity, after a chaotic period of five Tory prime ministers in 14 years, scandal and sleaze. With AFP

Editors Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline Marcos congratulates new UK leadership, hopes to strengthen PH ties
Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Raphael Lotilla emphasized the DOEs support for tapping into existing coal capacity to sustain the countrys economic growth.

The Philippines currently enjoys the title of ASEANs fastest-growing economy in 2023 and is expected to sustain this through 2024.

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Central Visayas and at its heart Metro Cebu leads all of the Philippines 17 regions registering a 7.3 growth rate in 2023.

At a recent forum, Lotilla said the Philippines still possesses over 6,300 megawatts of dependable coal capacity aged 10 years or younger. Maximizing the use of existing energy infrastructure avoids imposing additional cost burdens on both the economy and consumers, said Lotilla.

Cebu is largely dependent on importing electricity from neighboring islands such as Panay and Leyte supplemented by Luzon. Up to around 60% of its electricity comes from plants outside Metro Cebu.

In the wake of the Panay Blackout earlier this year, and amidst a shortfall projected for Cebu in the next 3 to 4 years, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn emphasized the need to build baseload power plants in Cebu to meet the provinces demand for reliable power to support its rapidly growing economy and population.

Cebus rapid development is driven by its strategic location, robust infrastructure, thriving tourism industry, and burgeoning business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. This growth significantly contributes to the national GDP (Gross Domestic Product), creating jobs, attracting foreign investment, and promoting regional prosperity.

Meanwhile, in an interview at the sidelines of the recently held Cebu Business Month Summit held at the SM Seaside City, acting Cebu City Mayor Alvin Garcia said the city is taking steps to ensure that the city will have sufficient power supply.

We have to invite investments from the private sectors, especially the power generation companies already here. We only have to let them expand their capacity to supply power to Cebu Island, Garcia said.

At the same forum, Aboitiz Power Corporation, through its subsidiary Therma Visayas Inc. (TVI), announced its readiness to generate an additional 150 megawatts (MW), which will be operational by 2028.

According to Ronaldo Ramos, COO for operated assets of the AboitizPower Thermal Business Group, the target completion of the brownfield expansion plant in Toledo City will depend on the timely approval and release of the prerequisite permits. Ramos, who spoke on the subject of Energy Security at the Cebu Business Month Summit, assured that once all these requirements are approved, the company will start the construction before end-2025.

According to the Philippine grid operator NGCP, the Luzon and Visayas grids reached their all-time high peak demands for 2024 last April with the Visayas grid reaching a peak demand of 2,525 MW. The unprecedented surge in demand caused an overloading of the power systems which in turn raised a spate of Red and Yellow alerts across the challenged Luzon and Visayas grids.

As tight power supply conditions persisted due to the sustained high peak demands in both the Luzon and Visayas Grids, the DOE reported that in the period 16 April to 23 May 2024, the Luzon power grid experienced 6 Red Alerts and 20 Yellow Alerts, while the Visayas grid recorded 7 Red Alerts and 20 Yellow Alerts.

Cebu province accounts for half of the Visayas regions total demand and within Cebu, Metro Cebu with its double-digit economic growth Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, and Cebu cities accounts for more than half of the province-wide demand. According to the NGCP, all roads lead to Cebu when it comes to power consumption in the Visayas.

The Department of Energy (DOE) projects that energy demand for Cebu Province will reach around 1,400 MW in the next two years and will outpace supply by 2027 unless new baseload power plants are constructed.
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:

Electrodermal and sensorimotor synchrony are interrelated and attractive. a The individual ability for synchrony is associated in social and nonsocial tasks: the individual scores of social physiological synchrony with partners while dating correlate with the individual scores of nonsocial sensorimotor synchrony in a finger tapping task. b The individual scores of social physiological synchrony with partners while dating correlate with individual scores of romantic attractiveness. c Individual scores of nonsocial sensorimotor synchrony correlate with individual scores of romantic attractiveness. Electrodermal synchrony scores were calculated as the average of the electrodermal synchrony scores across four dates. Sensorimotor synchrony scores are calculated by the performance in the finger tapping task, where values closer to zero reflect minimal error and increased sensorimotor synchrony. Romantic attractiveness scores are calculated as the average of the attractiveness ratings across dates. Credit: Cohen et al. Communications Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00109-1

Romantic relationships and attraction among humans have been the focus of numerous psychological and neuroscientific studies. While these studies have unveiled some of the neural and mental processes associated with romantic bonding, many questions about their underlying mechanisms remain unanswered.

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem recently carried out a study exploring how physiological synchrony between individuals contributes to their romantic bonding. Their findings, published in Communications Psychology, suggest that greater synchrony with another person can boost the extent to which they are perceived as romantically attractive.

"We aimed to discover a biological mechanism that impacts mate selection in humans and how the ability to synchronize can signify fitness," Dr. Shir Atzil, co-author of the paper, told Medical Xpress. "We hypothesized that the ability to synchronize stems from fundamental sensorimotor abilities and that this adaptability might be perceived as beneficial in romantic contexts."

The idea behind this recent study by Dr. Atzil and her colleagues is that physiological synchrony between individuals could contribute to their mutual attraction. The rationale behind this is that synchronized physiological states between two people can facilitate the regulation of bodily systems, ultimately enabling more fulfilling interactions between them.

"Since we hypothesized that the complex social behavior of synchrony is actually anchored in domain-general sensorimotor features, we measured participants' ability to synchronize, both socially, where we measured the participants' ability for physiological synchrony with their partners during a date, and in a sensorimotor synchronization task, where we measured the participants' ability to synchronize their finger tap to a metronome bit," Dr. Atzil explained.

"We also acquired attraction ratings for all of our participants."

The researchers first carried out an initial online experiment involving 144 participants. These participants were asked to watch short videos in which a male and a female actor interacted with each other, exhibiting either a low or high physiological and behavioral synchrony.

After watching this video, they were asked to rate the attractiveness of the male and female actors. In addition, they were asked to rate how attracted they felt the male actor was to the female actress, and vice versa. Finally, as a last question, they were asked how behaviorally synchronized they believed the two characters in the video to be.

The researchers found that greater synchrony between the actors in the videos increased the attractiveness ratings provided by the study participants. Dr. Atzil and her colleagues then conducted a follow-up study in person, involving 48 participants.

These participants were asked to interact with potential partners in a speed dating experiment. Each interaction lasted five minutes and once it was complete, participants were asked to rate the attractiveness of the person they had just dated with and complete a tapping task designed to measure their synchronization.

During the speed dates, the researchers collected physiological data from the participants using a wearable device called the Empatica E4 wristband. This device measured the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, the secretion of sweat and changes in electrodermal activity.

"We see that the ability to synchronize is stable across tasks and across partners. Some people are super synchronizers, and super synchronizers are consistently rated as more attractive," Dr. Atzil said.

Overall, the findings gathered by these researchers suggest that greater physiological synchrony with another person increases the extent to which this person is perceived as romantically attractive. This observation confirms their initial hypothesis, suggesting that synchrony with others could have evolutionary and cognitive advantages, which could make more appealing as potential mates.

The recent research led by Dr. Atzil, along with colleagues Matan Cohen and Prof. Merav Ahissar, could soon pave the way for further studies exploring how physiological synchrony impacts romantic attraction. Collectively, these works could lead to new fascinating discoveries about the complex processes underpinning mate selection among humans.

"The most important finding of this study is that synchrony is a domain general individual aptitude, which signifies romantic attraction," Dr. Atzil added. "We plan to study and characterize super synchronizers and their neural, behavioral, and physiological profile."

More information: M. Cohen et al, Social and nonsocial synchrony are interrelated and romantically attractive, Communications Psychology (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s44271-024-00109-1 Journal information: Communications Psychology

 2024 Science X Network
In a concerted effort to fortify the integrity of China's capital markets, Chinese authorities have rolled out a robust framework to curb financial fraud and enhance market discipline.

The document was released on Friday by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, the National Administration of Financial Regulation, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

The document underscores a relentless crackdown on fraudulent activities within the capital markets, including the illicit issuance of stocks and bonds. It calls for a rigorous enhancement of the review and registration mechanisms governing the issuance and listing of securities.

A zero-tolerance stance is adopted against various financial irregularities, such as disseminating false information, misappropriating funds, and evading debt obligations.

Financial fraud has a significant impact on market confidence and brings substantial damage to investor interests. In recent years, Chinese regulatory authorities have been continuously intensifying their crackdown on financial fraud in the capital market.

Data indicates that from 2021 to 2023, the CSRC, China's top securities watchdog, handled a total of 397 cases of illegal information disclosure, including 203 cases of fraud.

Since 2021, more than 150 cases involving listed companies or bond issuers suspected of financial fraud or fund misappropriation have been transferred to public security organs.

The document highlights the need for vigilance against the evolving tactics of systemic and organized financial fraud, advocating for stringent legal action against those involved in forging or altering vouchers, fabricating transactions or colluding with third parties.

The statement also emphasizes the importance of regulatory oversight, particularly in the misuse of accounting policies and the targeted crackdown on financial fraud in specific sectors.

It advocates for a proactive approach to risk assessment, aiming to identify and mitigate the risks associated with industry-specific, systemic, and regional financial fraud.

For some time, the relatively low cost of financial fraud has been a thorn in the side of capital market participants. There is widespread demand for the continuous increase of penalties for such violations to ensure punitive measures have a real bite and serve as deterrents commensurate with the gravity of the offenses committed.

The document introduces a comprehensive accountability framework, recognizing the disruptive impact of financial fraud on market order and investor confidence. It insists on holding both the primary perpetrators and their accomplices accountable, advocating for increased penalties and market bans for those found guilty of financial fraud.

Furthermore, the guideline calls for the strict enforcement of mandatory delisting for companies involved in fraudulent issuance and serious financial fraud. It also seeks to intensify the pursuit of criminal accountability for controlling shareholders and actual controllers who may be involved in financial fraud and encroaching upon listed companies' property.

The document directs investigative efforts toward uncovering misconduct by corporate insiders, including the misappropriation of funds, embezzlement, and breaches of trust that harm the interests of listed companies.

A CSRC spokesperson stressed that overall, listed companies have always been outstanding representatives of Chinese enterprises, and those that engage in fraud are a minority.

The spokesperson said that the introduction of these measures will effectively promote all parties to severely punish financial fraud further, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors.
DAVIS  UC Davis is now home to a center devoted to educating students and closely studying one of the most consumed beverages in the world known for powering people through their day  coffee.

The university launched its Coffee Center in May with research focused on providing support for farmers, examining the sustainability of coffee and evaluating food safety issues, among other topics. The launch comes about a decade after the Yolo County school offered its first course on the science of coffee.

At the center in Davis, director Bill Ristenpart said there has historically been much re of an emphasis on researching a beverage like wine, and less so on studying coffee.

We're trying to elevate coffee and make it a topic of academic research and an academic talent pipeline to help support the industry and help support what's arguably the world's most important beverage, said Ristenpart, a professor of chemical engineering.

Most people in the United States buy coffee that's imported from places including Brazil, Colombia and Vietnam, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture; however, California is one of the few places in the country that grows coffee. The U.S. is the second-largest importer of coffee in the world behind the European Union, the agency says.

UC Davis also has programs focused on researching winemaking and the brewing industries. The 7,000-square-foot Coffee Center facility is the first academic building in the nation devoted to coffee research and education, Ristenpart said. It is located in the UC Davis Arboretum near the campus' Robert Mondavi Institute of Wine and Food Science.

Laudia Anokye-Bempah, a graduate student in biological systems engineering, said she wants to research coffee in part to be able to control how your roasted beans are going to come out to the roaster.

We can control things like its acidity level, Anokye-Bempah said.

There are other U.S. colleges, including Texas A&M University and Vanderbilt University, that have delved into the study of coffee. But the UC Davis Coffee Center stands out in part because it is focused on many aspects of coffee research including agriculture and chemistry, said Edward Fischer, a professor of anthropology and director of the Institute for Coffee Studies at Vanderbilt.

Coffee is such a complex compound, Fischer said. It's really important to bring together all of these different aspects, and that's what Davis is doing.

Students often come out of Fischer's coffee class viewing the world differently than it is typically discussed in an academic setting, he said.

In the Western academic tradition, we divide the world up into all these silos, right  biology and anthropology, economics and all that kind of stuff, he said. Coffee is a way of showing how all of those boundaries that we draw in the world are really arbitrary.

Camilla Yuan, a UC Davis alum and director of coffee and roasting at Camellia Coffee Roasters, a coffee shop in Sacramento, visited the Coffee Center in Davis last week, she said.

Having a center and having resources for folks who are interested in specialty coffee or just coffee world in general, I think is super fascinating and cool, Yuan said. I'm glad that something like this is happening.
Paul Flores was ordered to pay more than $1.3 million in restitution to Kristin Smart's family to reimburse them for the costs they've incurred in the 28 years since her murder.

Restitution is a court order that requires those convicted of crimes to pay victims compensation for the expenses caused. It is a required part of the criminal court process in California, and it is ordered regardless of a defendant's ability to pay.

Flores was ordered to pay roughly $351,000 plus interest in restitution on June 17, after an emotional hearing during which the Smart family shared itemized reports of their expenses since Smart first disappeared from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in May 1996.

The interest is simple, the judge ruled, and begins at the time of the crime 28 years ago.

That brings the total restitution owed to the Smart family to about $1,334,404, according to a Tribune estimate.

Now that leaves the question, however: Will he be able to pay it?

Victims who are owed restitution could seek payment through assets belonging to a person convicted of a crime if there are no other forms of payment.

But according to his sentencing report Jan. 18, 2023, Flores' only asset was his home in San Pedro  which had a lien to pay his legal fees, of which he still owed more than $200,000 at the time  and a 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air truck with a salvage title.

He does not have a retirement account and has not had any income since he was arrested in April 2021.

Records show that on March 24, 2023  two weeks after Flores was sentenced to 25 years to life for Smart's murder  he sold his home to his parents' family trust, meaning he had one less asset with which he could potentially pay the restitution.

As part of its Reality Check series, The Tribune investigated what happens when a person convicted of a crime sells their assets and what options the Smart family may have for being paid restitution.

Flores family establishes trust, put ownership of homes into it

There were three homes at the center of The Tribune's investigation: Paul Flores' house in San Pedro and the Arroyo Grande homes that belong to Susan and Ruben Flores, Paul Flores' parents.

Paul Flores first purchased his house in San Pedro in February 2011, real estate documents from Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo County Clerk Recorder's offices show. He borrowed $207,920 from Bank of America for the purchase.

That same year in May 2011, documents show, Susan and Ruben Flores establish the Flores Family Living Trust, into which they placed the ownership of both their homes.

A trust can help streamline the process of distributing assets after death without the need to go through probate court, Ann Wilson, partner at Carmel and Naccasha LLP law firm, told The Tribune. The law firm is not affiliated with the Smart case.

Most anyone can open a trust as long as they have some sort of asset to put in it, Victor Herrera, a partner at the same firm, said. The asset does not need to be high in value, he said, and it is possible for someone to open a trust while incarcerated.

Herrera said trusts need three things: A trustee, or person who manages the trust; beneficiaries, who benefit from the assets in the trust; and a corpus, or something to put inside the trust.

Trusts can be used for asset protection, Herrera said, but a trust does not protect assets from creditors unless it is an irrevocable trust. Assets must be placed in the irrevocable trust prior to any lawsuit or credit taken.

The key difference between the two types of trusts: Revocable trusts can be changed at any time, but an irrevocable trust can only change via court order or with approval of all the trust's beneficiaries.

Revocable trusts, which is what the Flores family has, do not protect assets from creditors.

Creditors can go after assets in revocable trusts if the trustee is the person who is indebted to them, Herrera said, but not if the asset was transferred to a trust of someone who does not hold the debt.

Paul Flores sells San Pedro home after being sentenced to prison

Nothing much happened with any of the Flores homes until May 2021  about a month after Paul and Ruben Flores were arrested in connection to Smart's murder.

Ruben Flores' home was taken out of the family trust on May 26, 2021, the documents showed, and Paul Flores established his personal living trust on May 28, 2021, to which he transferred the ownership of his San Pedro home.

Then, on June 30, 2021, Ruben and Susan Flores borrowed $197,500 from Wells Fargo, putting down Susan Flores' Arroyo Grande home as collateral, the documents showed. That transaction was done through their shared family trust.

A month later, on July 30, 2021, Ruben Flores transferred ownership of his Arroyo Grande home back into his and Susan Flores' trust, according to the documents.

The preliminary hearing for the case against the two Flores men began Aug. 2, 2021. It ended on Sept. 22, 2021.

On Sept. 27, 2021, Paul Flores placed a $400,000 lien on his San Pedro home, listing his attorney, Robert Sanger, as the beneficiary of the lien, documents showed, in order to pay Flores' legal fees.

Little happened with the homes for about two years, until Ruben Flores was approved for a $2.35 million reverse mortgage loan on his house on Feb. 14, 2023  about four months after he was acquitted on Oct. 18, 2022, of helping his son hide Smart's body. Paul Flores was convicted of Smart's murder by a separate jury the same day.

Susan Flores transferred Ruben Flores' Arroyo Grande home back to Ruben as the sole owner on Feb. 17, 2023, documents show.

On Jan. 18, 2023, Paul Flores still owed more than $200,000 on the lien on his San Pedro house, according to his sentencing report.

According to California law, liens on assets must be resolved before any sales or resolved through a sale.

Paul Flores was sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison on March 10, 2023.

Two weeks later, on March 24, 2023, Susan and Ruben Flores purchased their son's San Pedro house through their trust and borrowed $427,500 from American Pacific Mortgage Corp. for the sale, according to the documents.

It's unclear how much of the sale went to pay off the lien placed on his home for the legal fees, and how much Paul Flores was able to keep from the sale.

Can you sell assets if under criminal investigation?

Hypothetically, the Smart family could have asked for money from Paul Flores' San Pedro home if it was still in his trust in order to have their restitution paid, but now that it is in his parents' trust, they cannot.

According to California Courts, judges can freeze assets prior to sentencing and then unfreeze them and order a defendant to use the assets to pay restitution with the assets.

None of the Flores family's assets were frozen during the criminal trial, so the sale appears to be legal.

Victims of crimes also have the right to a "debtor's examination," which means a victim can require the convicted offender to come to court once a year to answer questions about income and assets.

People convicted of crimes who owe their victims restitution cannot escape the obligation, even if they file for bankruptcy.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Paul Flores will have to pay 50% of his prison wages and any money that is deposited to his account into the restitution he owes the Smart family.

This will occur throughout Flores' prison sentence until restitution is paid in full. He can also make voluntary payments toward the restitution.

If he makes parole and is released from prison but still owes restitution to the Smart family, the debt will be referred to the California Franchise Tax Board for collection.

Denise Smart, Kristin Smart's mother, told The Tribune after the restitution ruling the family would drop seeking any restitution in exchange for information that could lead to her daughter's remains.

"The fact that withholding her and protecting their money is more important than anything else in their world is just heartbreaking for everyone in our family," Denise Smart said.

Harold Mesick, Flores lawyer, told The Tribune the Flores family do not have information on Kristin Smart's location and declined the offered.

He declined to comment on this story on behalf of the Flores family.

What is the actual cost of crime in America's largest citiesand which spend the most and least per capita? What is the actual cost of crime in America's largest citiesand which spend the most and least per capita? Key findings The safest cities in America Are larger cities safer or more dangerous? The most dangerous cities in America
The virtual meeting, held under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary and Nominated Authority M Nagaraju on Friday, marked the launch of this auction round on June 21, 2024, offering 67 coal mines.

During the meeting, the ministry presented a detailed overview of the auction process, led by the Transaction Advisor, SBI Capital Markets Limited. CMPDIL, another advisor, provided a technical presentation on the coal mines available in this 10th tranche of commercial auctions for the sale of coal on a revenue-sharing basis.

The ministry addressed various queries from bidders concerning the general terms and conditions of the process, such as bid security, upfront amount, rebates, and technical issues like borehole density, Peak Rated Capacity, and technical difficulties.

To boost participation in the auction process, the ministry assured bidders of maximum support and encouraged them to direct their queries to the Office of the Nominated Authority. The bid due date for this auction tranche is August 27, 2024.

In an effort to increase coal production in India, Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy launched the 10th tranche of commercial coal mine auctions on June 21 in Hyderabad.

The coal mines in this 10th round of allocation are located in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, and West Bengal. Sixteen mines will be offered in Odisha, followed by Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, where 15 coal mines will be auctioned.

Previously, Coal India Limited (CIL) had awarded 23 coal mines to private sector bidders under a revenue-sharing model, aiming to exploit the latent coal reserves in some of its closed and discontinued underground mines. (ANI)
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) have infused Rs 7,962 crore in the Indian equity market in the first week of July, according to the data from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL). The data highlights that the total investment by FPIs in the Indian markets also crossed Rs 1 lakh crore this year and according to NSDL stands at Rs 103,934 crore. The other emerging markets also received substantial FPI inflows this month. Indonesia received an FPI investment of USD 127 million, Malaysia received USD 81 million, the Philippines received only USD 5 million inflow and South Korea received a record investment of USD 927 million in the first week of July. However, the equity markets of Thailand and Vietnam witnessed outflows of USD 69 mn and USD 68 mn, respectively. "Markets remained optimistic about strong government support for the economy, especially for the manufacturing sector, in the upcoming Union Budget. Market optimism continued to extend, with IT services finding favor ahead of the upcoming Q1FY25 earnings season. FPI flows are expected to remain volatile," said Shrikant Chauhan, Head of Equity Research, Kotak Securities. Earlier in June, the FPIs turned net buyers in Indian markets after two months of selling. In June, FPIs injected a net investment of Rs 26,565 crore into Indian equities, following initial selling earlier in the month after the announcement of election results. Before that in May, the FPIs withdrew Rs 25,586 crore from the equity market, while in April, they were net sellers with a withdrawal of Rs 8,671 crore. This trend of outflows created selling pressure in the Indian equity market. But now, the surge in FPI investments points to the renewed confidence by investors in India's market potential and economic outlook. Now the investors will monitor the upcoming budget by the central government and the markets will react accordingly. (ANI)
Feature: Architectural marvels in Dushanbe stand as testament to China-Tajikistan friendship

Xinhua) 09:19, July 06, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attend the inauguration of a parliament building and a government building aided by China in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

DUSHANBE, July 5 (Xinhua) -- In Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, two newly constructed building compounds on Rudaki Avenue stand less than a kilometer apart. These architectural marvels shine brilliantly under the sunlight.

On Friday, visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon attended the inauguration of the parliament and government buildings aided by China in Dushanbe.

Xi noted that the two buildings have become new landmarks symbolizing the friendly cooperation between China and Tajikistan.

China is ready to work with Tajikistan to continue to uphold the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, carry out more cooperation projects in Tajikistan and make greater contribution to the economic and social development of Tajikistan, Xi said.

Rahmon noted the buildings are the most precious gift given to the Tajik people by President Xi on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his first state visit to Tajikistan, and another testimony to the profound friendship between the two countries. They will surely be recorded in the annals of Tajikistan-China relations and be celebrated by the Tajik people for generations to come, he said.

In August 2020, construction commenced on the Tajikistan parliament and government building projects, which were undertaken by China. These two iconic structures represent the collaborative efforts between the two countries along the Belt and Road, marking the first time that China has adopted a mode featuring collaborative design in its foreign aid projects.

"This building integrates local cultural elements, adopting a classical European colonnade structure combined with Persian and Islamic decorative styles. The color schemes and decorations of different meeting rooms and halls also vary," said Zhang Zhigang, General Manager of Yan Jian Group's Tajikistan branch, as he guided the reporters through the building and introduced its features.

The Tajikistan parliament building is a captivating sight to behold. With two 250-seat meeting halls for the Upper and Lower House, a spacious two-tier joint conference hall that can accommodate 1,500 people, and over a hundred diverse offices, exploring the building feels like navigating an exotic maze.

The interior of the building is adorned with exquisite marble walls, magnificent wooden decorative columns, and sparkling crystal chandeliers. These stunning elements create a dazzling visual spectacle.

In an office within the parliament building, Mustafo Rasulov meticulously inspects every inch of the room. As the overseer of the building's quality, he admires the exceptional craftsmanship displayed by the Chinese workers.

"Chinese colleagues always prioritize quality and pay meticulous attention to every detail. I have great confidence in the buildings they construct," he said. Rasulov firmly believes that this building, with its historical significance, will stand as a timeless architectural masterpiece.

Just a short distance away from the parliament building is the Tajikistan government building. "The magnificent 13-story building seamlessly integrates with the surrounding landscape, blending architecture with the beauty of nature ..." said Sha Wenhai, the General Manager of Jiangsu Jiangdu Construction Group's overseas company, eagerly pointing out the exquisite exterior features of this remarkable structure.

Similar to the parliament building, the government building is a collaborative design effort between China and Tajikistan, seamlessly blending the design norms and technical standards of both countries. The building successfully preserves the traditional decorative style of the Tajik people while also showcasing the exceptional craftsmanship of Chinese architecture. This fusion of cultural elements from both countries creates a harmonious and visually captivating architectural masterpiece.

"This building exemplifies the perfect balance between aesthetics and functionality," said Sha, pointing to an air outlet in the government building.

"To highlight the Tajik national style in the wall carvings, we adopted a curved design and recessed the decorative stone wall by 20 centimeters at the air outlet. The angle of the air supply can be adjusted as needed, and the external decorations are removable for easy maintenance," said Sha.

Shahin Negmatov, a construction worker with 30 years of experience, considered the Tajikistan government building project to be the pinnacle of his career. "I admire the exquisite craftsmanship of my Chinese colleagues. It's a great honor to build my homeland together with them," he said.

Chinese constructors have worked on other landmark buildings in Dushanbe. One notable structure is the Tajikistan Independence and Freedom Tower, standing tall at 121 meters in the center of a city park. Constructed by a Chinese company, it has become a renowned landmark. Visitors flock to the observation deck to capture breathtaking panoramic views of the city and its surroundings.

Another remarkable building is the Tajikistan National Library, located on one side of the Friendship Square in the city center. Also constructed by a Chinese company, it resembles an open book, symbolizing the invitation to immerse oneself in the vast sea of knowledge. This library holds such significance that it is even featured on the country's 200 somoni banknote, serving as a lasting commemoration for generations to come.

Yusuf Akhmatbekzoda, deputy director of the Government Project Management Bureau of the Presidential Office of Tajikistan, said these "Made by China" buildings are unique, enhancing Dushanbe's architectural landscape and improving the city's appearance. "They will stand as symbols of Tajik-Chinese friendship, benefiting our descendants," he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during the inauguration of a parliament building and a government building aided by China in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. Xi and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on Friday attended the inauguration in Dushanbe. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged all-out rescue and relief work to safeguard people's lives and property after a dike breach in Dongting Lake in central China's Hunan province which occurred Friday afternoon.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in an instruction.

On Friday afternoon, a dike of the Dongting Lake burst in Tuanzhou township, Huarong county under Hunan's Yueyang city, causing flooding in the area. All the local people affected have been safely evacuated.

Xi, who is on a foreign visit, stressed that people in threatened areas should be evacuated in a timely manner and properly resettled, adding that all-out rescue work should be carried out to protect the safety of people's lives and property. He asked the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters to dispatch a team to strengthen guidance.

Xi emphasized that since China entered the main flood season, some areas in the country have experienced heavy rainfall for a prolonged duration, leading to a severe flood control situation. The prolonged water erosion of embankments may result in dangerous situations, posing significant risks and hidden dangers.

Relevant local Party committees, governments and departments should take prompt action and mobilize forces to carry out flood prevention, disaster relief and emergency rescue work. They should strengthen inspections of embankments and promptly identify and address any potential risks to ensure safety, Xi said.

Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and premier of the State Council, ordered that all efforts should be made to deal with the emergency, control the development of the situation, properly accommodate the affected people and strengthen the patrol of reservoirs and embankments.

Li urged the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters to strengthen early warning and consultation, as well as guidance for and supervision over all localities and departments in flood control and disaster relief work.

According to the instructions of Xi and the request of Li, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Emergency Management have sent working groups to the scene. Party and government officials of Hunan province and Yueyang city are at the site to direct emergency response.
PRNewswire Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], July 6: In India, half the waste produced by households is wet waste, often destined for landfills where it contributes to environmental degradation. Similarly, vast quantities of floral offerings from places of worship end up polluting water bodies and posing health risks. However, these under-utilised resources hold tremendous potential. The Art of Living, under guidance from the world renowned spiritual leader and humanitarian, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, is tapping into this potential to foster a cleaner and healthier environment. Holistic Approach to Waste Management The Art of Living has initiated a revolutionary change by setting up waste separation facilities and management plants at major places of worship and urban centres across India. Beyond waste management, this initiative promotes economic independence among community members. Unemployed youth are trained in the operation and maintenance of waste management machinery, enabling them to become environmental entrepreneurs. Comprehensive Strategy The organisation's strategy begins with a comprehensive assessment of the required facilities, considering factors such as the volume of solid waste generated, including peak demands. Following agreements with the place of worship authorities or the city's municipal corporation, the project's capital funding is secured. The civil infrastructure for the composting unit is built and waste collection and segregation facilities are established. Training is provided to staff for machinery operation and maintenance. Implementation Steps * Waste Collection and Segregation: Collected waste is brought to the site and undergoes a rigorous segregation process. * Composting of Floral/Wet Waste: The floral and wet waste is processed in the composting unit. * Marketing Organic Compost: The resulting organic compost is made available for sale. *Sustainable Project Funding: The proceeds from compost sales contribute to the project's sustainability. Impact * 42,00,000+ kg of waste processed annually across India* 3,60,000+ Biodegradable spoons and plates produced from areca nut leaves* 67,000+ Students involved in waste conversion into bio-manure across 17 states in India* 44,000+ Cleanliness drives conducted * 1,000+ Waste pickers trained in waste segregation across 15 states in India* 18 Composting plants installed in large temples and urban cities across India * 5 Municipal waste management projects active in Chennai and Delhi.* 4 Composting plants setup in New Delhi under New Delhi Municipal Council* 1,000 kg/day Composting capacity in Delhi* 500 kg/day Composting capacity in Chennai* 5,12,000 kg of garbage removed during the Clean Yamuna campaign.* 43,980 Cleanliness drives conducted successfully Broader Environmental Initiatives The Art of Living's commitment to environmental care extends beyond waste management. Initiatives include large-scale tree plantations, natural farming to preserve soil quality, and the rejuvenation of rivers and their tributaries. These efforts have led to significant impacts: Revolutionising Waste Management in Rural India Untreated waste is a significant source of accumulating pollution and poses a serious health hazard in rural areas, lacking adequate infrastructure for efficient disposal. Over the years, numerous methods have been developed to not only treat waste but also convert it into an alternative energy source. The Art of Living's expansive outreach includes health and hygiene camps (5H Program), medical camps, stress relief workshops, and the construction of houses, toilets, borewells, and water body rejuvenation. This comprehensive approach ensures that the community's overall well-being is addressed alongside waste management. Key Initiatives and Impact * Health and Hygiene Camps: Conducted 49,500 hygiene camps in 52,212 villages. * Waste-to-Energy Projects: Generated 150KW/day of electricity and gathered 336 kg/day of compost from a single biogas plant, yielding an income of Rs 4,29,240 per year. * Environmental and Health Benefits: Reduced CO2 emissions, increased soil fertility, and achieved a 72% reduction in malaria cases due to biogas plant and coal briquette installations. By turning waste into a valuable resource and providing comprehensive community support, The Art of Living is paving the way for a cleaner, healthier, and more prosperous future for rural and urban communities. This holistic approach exemplifies how effective waste management can drive positive change and sustainable growth. About The Art of Living Social Projects The Art of Living Social Projects has resolved to create positive societal impact through transformative initiatives. With a focus on holistic development, the organisation strives to contribute to the well-being of individuals and communities alike. Follow at: https://www.instagram.com/artofliving.sp/ Like at: https://www.facebook.com/artoflivingsocialprojects Tweet at: https://twitter.com/artofliving_sp Message at: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/artofliving-sp Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2454509/Transforming_Waste_into_Wealth.jpgLogo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1979631/AOLSP_logo_Logo.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)
NewsVoir New Delhi [India], July 6: FlyTrap.in, a globally renowned 30-year-old US Group specialising in offering a perfect and pragmatic solution to ease the menace of flies for various sectors has launched a series of initiatives in Ramanagara and Kolar in Karnataka for Sericulturists. This comes in the wake of company's concerted efforts to popularise the product thereby boosting production. To this end, the company organised awareness sessions and free distribution of Flytrap Bags at Farmers' Meet at the Government Cocoon Market, Office of the Deputy Director, Department of Sericulture. This was disclosed by Gaurav Aggarwal, Director of FlyTrap.in. Senior Government officials S.N. Srinivas, Deputy Director, Dept. of Sericulture, Govt. of Karnataka, Dr J. B. Narendra Kumar, Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles. Govt. of India and B.M. Shankare Gowda, President, Kolar Sericulture Farmer Producer Company Ltd. were present on the occasion during the launch including key distributors. The key objective of the company was to create awareness among Sericulture farmers on how to control the manifestation of Uzi flies which almost destroys 25 per cent of their productivity! The educative session evoked an overwhelming response from the farmer fraternity and boosted the confidence of distributors. Flytrap Bags is manufactured and marketed in India by FlyTrap.in and is customised for Indian conditions. Devoted to transforming micro businesses at the India-grassroots level (rural, semi-urban) where 68 per cent of India resides and prospers, FlyTrap kills only flies as its nontoxic-organic component is harmful to only flies and is harmless to other animals and humans. All you need is to add a glass of water to its potent mixture and hang its disposable bag in a suitable open place for around 30 days, it attracts and kills flies like a magic magnet while collecting dead flies in its bag! When Flytrap's biodegradable, easy-to-use bag gets filled with dead flies, simply replace it with a fresh bag and start removing more of the dangerous flies in a new convenient way. Now easily, safely & intelligently kill one of your biggest enemy- flies to boost your business progress, profits and reputation with the peace of mind you deserve! To learn more about this award-winning miracle flies' killer and business booster just visit www.flytrap.in and a series of educative YouTube posts viz www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzORzSZKhIU. Extremely cost-effective, the Flytrap box containing three bags is nominally priced at Rs 999/- per box and is available at introductory price of Rs. 699/- per box. Elaborating on the Karnataka initiative, Aggarwal said, "Since inception, we are driven to offer solutions that are easy to use, pocket-friendly and are environmentally compliant. Flytrap (www.Flytrap.in), is a US-based parent company and a global winner since 1994. FlyTrap was first brought to India in 2009 after many years of in-depth research, extensive educative marketing and sales outreach. FlyTrap's operations took off in a big manner in 2019. While initially focused on poultry and dairy farms, Covid's lockdown brought in a new customer base in Sericulture farms through social media influencers and since then there is no looking back! The Sericulture was a game changer as this sector got a huge respite from flies thereby boosting production." Detailing further, Aggarwal said, "Currently, the global Sericulture market is valued at USD 20 billion dollars in 2024 which is about 2000 crores rupees approx. The projected estimate is USD 31 billion by 2031. Interestingly, India is the second largest producer of raw silk in the world. Of this, Karnataka alone produces more than 11,000 metric tons of raw silk annually. Engaging over 27 lakh sericulture farmers in India and more than 97 lakh people involved in the sericulture industry, it offers immense potential. With the total demand of silk in India alone clocking at approx. 65000 MT, there are 32 silk farms functioning under the Department of Sericulture and over Rs. 1000 crores worth of silk is being produced in India annually." "As regards the Uzi flies in Sericulture industry, these pose a huge threat to silkworms. Under normal conditions, few Uzi flies can cause up to 15 per cent damage to the silkworm cocoon production. But once the silkworm rearing farm is infested with Uzi flies, the damage can easily rise up to 80 per cent which can result in total disruption of the industry. It's a real menace to the Sericulture industry." Adding further, "We are delighted to see the response from the farmers as they came in huge numbers to listen to our session and watch a detailed demonstration of Flytrap bags. Their queries were all well attended by our team. We were very happy to distribute the Flytrap Bags as samples to farmers with product pamphlets. We are hopeful that with the use of these effective Flytrap Bags, they will be able to boost their production and efficiency. We intend hosting more awareness sessions in other regions of Karnataka and also in other states where industries like Dairy, Poultry etc are hugely impacted by various kinds of flies." Flytrap bags are manufactured at the state-of-the-art manufacturing factory based in New Delhi, under license from US Parent with strict adherence to global quality standards. Currently, Flytrap Bags are marketed through its company's own website - FlyTrap.in, eCommerce portals like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. and distribution network in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The company is on an impressive growth trajectory to launch it in other states. A strategic and a larger gameplan is in place for this product. The company has invested over 4 crores in growing its sales network and digital outreach. The company is passionate towards making Flytrap the 'Make-In-India' initiative and address farmers' problems. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PNN Pune (Maharashtra) [India], July 6: The construction landscape is undergoing a paradigm shift, driven by technological advancements that are revolutionizing the planning phase of the construction lifecycle. One of the most transformative developments is the advent of automated compliance checking, which is reshaping urban planning by enhancing efficiency, reducing errors, and ensuring regulatory adherence. This new era of construction planning holds the promise of smarter, faster, and more efficient project execution, benefiting government agencies, architects, builders, and ultimately, the communities they serve. Streamlining Government Processes Government agencies at all levels--local, city, state, and federal--are tasked with the monumental responsibility of ensuring that urban development aligns with regulatory frameworks and promotes sustainable growth. Traditional methods of manual and paper-based planning have long been plagued by inefficiencies, delays, and the potential for human error. Automated compliance checking, powered by AI-driven technologies, offers a solution to these challenges. By digitizing workflows and automating the validation of building designs against local and state regulations, government agencies can significantly expedite the permitting process. Advanced algorithms analyze plans with unparalleled accuracy, identifying potential code violations early in the planning phase. This proactive approach not only minimizes rework but also ensures compliance throughout the construction process. Furthermore, tools like GIS mapping enhance smart city planning, enabling efficient urban development that adheres to zoning regulations and supports organized growth. Empowering Architects and Builders For architects and builders, the planning phase often involves navigating a labyrinth of complex building codes and zoning requirements. Automated compliance checking simplifies this process by providing access to a comprehensive library of rules and codes specific to each project and location. This ensures that designs are aligned with regulatory standards from the outset, reducing the likelihood of costly revisions and plan rejections. Smart development control rules search functionalities enable architects and builders to swiftly identify relevant regulations, streamlining the design process. AI-driven engines conduct thorough compliance checks on building drawings, verifying that designs meet regulatory standards. Pre-submission validation capabilities further empower architects to validate their designs before formal submission, expediting the approval process and ensuring a smoother transition from planning to construction. Enhancing Inspections and Quality Control Inspections play a critical role in maintaining quality and safety standards in construction projects. Automated compliance checking extends to inspections management, digitizing scheduling, tracking, and reporting. Government inspectors can conduct site visits more efficiently, documenting findings and communicating with stakeholders in real time. This ensures timely inspections and adherence to quality standards, ultimately enhancing the overall safety and reliability of construction projects. Reducing Rework and Enhancing Efficiency One of the most significant advantages of automated compliance checking is the reduction of rework. By identifying compliance issues early in the planning phase, architects and builders can address discrepancies before they escalate into costly revisions. Comprehensive scrutiny reports provide specific recommendations for modifications, empowering professionals to swiftly rectify non-compliant elements. This not only accelerates project timelines but also results in significant cost savings. The Future of Urban Planning As urban areas continue to expand and evolve, the need for efficient, intelligent planning solutions becomes increasingly critical. Automated compliance checking represents a new era in urban planning, where technology-driven processes replace outdated manual methods. This transformation not only enhances the efficiency and accuracy of planning but also promotes sustainable, organized development that benefits communities. The Role of CivitPlan (AutoDCR + BIMDCR) in Transforming Urban Planning CivitPlan, a flagship software product of SoftTech is at the forefront of this transformation, providing architects, builders, and government agencies with powerful tools for automated compliance checking. By leveraging AI-driven processes, CivitPlan validates 2D drawings and 3D models, ensuring adherence to regulatory standards and expediting the approval process. Its comprehensive library of rules and codes, smart development control rules search, and pre-submission validation capabilities make it an indispensable asset in modern urban planning. Through its advanced functionalities, CivitPlan empowers stakeholders to create approval-ready design plans, streamline workflows, and achieve significant time and cost savings, ushering in a new era of efficient and intelligent construction planning. About Author: Vijay Gupta, an IIT Mumbai alumnus, is the Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of SoftTech Engineers Limited. He holds an M. Tech degree from IIT Mumbai. Vijay strongly believes that technology has to be leveraged extensively to bring in speed, efficiency and transparency in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering & Construction) industry for private as well as public sector organizations. He has a rich experience of about 30 years in the development of cutting-edge BIM/ CAD/ CAE /Project Management Enterprise Software in the AEC domain. About SoftTech Engineers: A leading IT company (www.softtech-engr.com) facilitating business and technology transformation across the AEC industry through innovative software products and solutions. Equipped with 25+ years of deep domain expertise and industry knowledge, SoftTech has helped more than 4500 clients & government organizations, with more than 25000 users in India and around the world to gain a competitive edge and lead from the front in the industry. (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)
Affirming the company's interest in India's AI Mission, Nvidia's Managing Director (MD) of Asia South, Vishal Dhupar, stated that if there is an opportunity, Nvidia, like any other player, will be interested in India's AI Mission. In an interaction with ANI, Nvidia's MD of Asia South said, "If you have an opportunity, and you want to work there, then you will go and apply for it." When asked about the number of deals the company is engaged in, Dhupar mentioned they are in talks with "several" companies in the country for GPUs. Dhupar was in Delhi on Friday to sign an MOU with a private institute, supported technically by the Nvidia AI University program. India's dedicated AI mission is under consideration. Speaking at the inaugural event of the Global India AI Summit 2024 in the national capital, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the government will roll out the India AI Mission in the next two or three months, during which the government will help domestic companies procure computing power units to run artificial intelligence (AI) systems. While announcing the India AI Mission, the Union Minister said, "We will procure 10,000 or more graphics processing units (GPUs) under a public-private partnership so that the efficiencies of the industry can be harnessed for a bigger cause." In March this year, the government approved the Rs 10,372-crore India AI Mission, under which the government will deploy 10,000 GPUs through public-private partnerships. The mission is expected to enhance investments in the AI sector and help companies set up data centers in India. GPUs are specialized processors that accelerate the rendering of graphics and images through rapid mathematical computations essential for AI processing. Speaking at the same event, MeitY Additional Secretary Abhishek Singh said, "We have almost 5,000 crore earmarked for providing more than 10,000 GPUs that are required to support the creation of compute capacity under the mission." He added that the central government is in the process of floating tenders for procuring compute capacity from different companies. He further indicated that the government will provide subsidies for accessing the chips. Discussing the company's efforts to expand its market in India through collaborations with Indian companies and educational institutions, Dhupar told ANI, "The purpose of Nvidia is to tackle complex problems; by engaging with these challenges, we aim to not only find solutions but also create impactful innovations that can open new markets." Nvidia has gained a reputation for making some of the best GPUs in the world, ideal for supporting new technologies in the field of AI. The company has seen huge demand for its chips, driving its market value to USD 3.16 trillion, making it the third most valuable company after Microsoft and Apple. Many Indian companies, such as Reliance Group, Tata Group, and Yotta Infrastructure, have struck deals with Nvidia for its GPUs. (ANI)
To promote sustainable agricultural practices, the Gujarat government has announced a special scheme offering a 50 per cent subsidy on Nano Urea and Nano DAP. This initiative aims to encourage the use of these innovative fertilizers among farmers, which are believed to be more environmentally friendly and beneficial for soil health. Speaking at the 'Sahkar Se Samriddhi' programme on the occasion of the 102nd International Cooperative Day on Saturday, the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, highlighted the benefits of this scheme during the event. He emphasized that traditional use of both liquid and solid urea has detrimental effects on soil quality and human health. By switching to Nano Urea and Nano DAP, farmers can mitigate these adverse impacts and promote healthier farming practices. The minister also pointed out that two brands, Bharat Organic and Amul, are at the forefront of this initiative, offering 100 per cent organic products. Utilising global technology, these brands aim to revolutionise organic farming in India. Amit Shah remarked on the historical significance of the cooperative movement, noting its long-standing presence and importance in the rural economy. Despite past challenges, the movement has seen a revival, especially with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's establishment of a dedicated ministry to underscore the importance of cooperation. In his address, Shah discussed the success of two key points: ethanol production and maize farming. The government has streamlined the maize purchase process by implementing online transactions at THSH and MSP, ensuring fair prices for farmers. This initiative not only benefits farmers but also boosts ethanol production, reducing the country's reliance on petrol imports. Shah also stressed the critical role cooperatives play in the rural economy. He urged cooperative transactions to remain within the sector, avoiding external financial dependencies. Highlighting a pilot project, he noted that additional deposits of Rs 788 crore were identified in Banaskantha and Panchmahal. To further strengthen the cooperative sector, Shah called on NABARD and cooperative banks nationwide to open accounts for district cooperative banks and milk production committees. This move aims to enhance financial efficiency and save money within the cooperative framework. The Gujarat government's subsidy on Nano Urea and Nano DAP aims to enhance agricultural sustainability, offering farmers the tools and support they need to adopt healthier and more productive farming practices.(ANI)
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of fintech company Paytm has all praise for the current government for creating a conducive environment for Indian start-ups to launch, grow, and succeed. Speaking at the JITO Incubation and Innovation Foundation (JIIF)'s Innovation Conclave, Sharma highlighted the significant strides made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. "Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, now is the opportune moment for startups to launch and thrive. The current environment offers unprecedented opportunities, with the government consistently recognizing and rewarding the entrepreneurial spirit of India's youth. The startup ecosystem is flourishing at an extraordinary pace, placing the country on a robust development roadmap to 2047. Over the past few decades, India has established a strong reputation in IT services and software sectors. Today, we are witnessing an unparalleled surge in startup and innovation culture," Sharma said. India's startup ecosystem, now the third-largest globally, is realizing the dreams of countless entrepreneurs and introducing innovative business practices. Sharma highlighted government's initiatives for startups to help them explore new areas like artificial intelligence (AI) to develop ideas that simplify and revolutionize day-to-day life. "The last 10 years of the government had a very positive impact on the infrastructure front, whether you look at connectivity in the country, road connectivity or airline connectivity, in a way infrastructure has been," he added. Other than Vijay Shekhar Sharma, JIIF Innovation Conclave, themed "Ideas to Impact: Cultivating Innovation and Entrepreneurship," was attended and addressed by Aadit Palicha, Co-founder and CEO, Zepto, and Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder Infoedge. The event attracted over 300 angel investors, 100 startups, 30 unicorns, and numerous international investors, offering a unique platform for entrepreneurs to engage with investors and industry experts. Aadit Palicha, founder of Zepto, shared his journey of transforming a local grocery project during the pandemic into a company of Rs 30,000 crore in just three years. "Reflecting on the past three years of building Zepto, the journey of two college dropouts creating a company valued at Rs 30,000 crore in just three years could only happen in one country in 2024: India," Palicha remarked. (ANI)
The first full budget of the BJP-led NDA government in its third successive term will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23. The government on Saturday announced the dates of the budget session of Parliament which will start on July 22 and conclude on August 12. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who will present the Union Budget 2024-25, has been holding pre-budget consultations. As part of the deliberations, she has met economists, experts in finance and capital markets, industry representatives and agriculture experts. Industry bodies, including the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), have urged the government to increase capital expenditure in the upcoming budget. This will be Sitharaman's seventh budget in a row. She will be the first Union Finance Minister to present seven consecutive union budgets. Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai had presented six budgets in a row. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiran Rijuju announced the dates of budget session. "Hon'ble President of India, on the recommendation of the Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July 2024 to 12 August 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business). Union Budget, 2024-25 will be presented in Lok Sabha on 23 July 2024," he posted on X. The Modi government had presented an interim budget in February this year. Sitharaman had announced in the interim budget that the capital expenditure outlay for the next year is being increased by 11.1 per cent to Rs 11,11,111 crore, which would be 3.4 per cent of the GDP. The government had also announced that Rs one lakh crore corpus will be established with five-year interest free loan for youth. Newly-elected Lok Sabha members took oath in the first session of 18th Lok Sabha held from June 24 to July 2 following the results of the general elections. President Droupadi Murmu addressed the joint sitting of two Houses on June 27 and both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adopted a motion of thanks on the President's address. Prime Minister Narendra Modi replied to the debate on the motion of thanks in the two Houses of Parliament. BJP-led National Democratic Alliance returned to power for the third successive term in the general elections. (ANI)
After approval for handing over 643 hectares of forest land by the Odisha government, decks have been cleared for Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) to start mining coal in the Naini coal mine in Odisha. The Odisha government approved handing over 643 hectares of forest land to the coal company on July 4. A Coal Ministry release said that the mine was facing abnormal delay in handing over of forest land after receipt of Stage-II forest clearance in October 2022 which has delayed the operationalization of the mine. The state PSU was allotted the Naini coal block for exploration on August 13, 2015 and the final allotment could happen due to the efforts made by Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy. Though the Environment Ministry had sanctioned FC clearance, Odisha government had not handed over the forest land stating that Wild Life Management Plan has to be prepared by Wild Life Institute. After the approval, the state owned company is set to start the production of coal in the block. The newly-allocated project will help enhance energy infrastructure in the region as well as in the country. The Naini Coal block is located in Odisha's Angul District. It boasts a Peak Rated Capacity (PRC) of 10 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) with a coal grade of G-10. This allotment is a major milestone for Singareni Collieries Company Limited. As per the estimates, the block has a significant 340.78 million tonnes of mineable reserve. The increased production from the Naini coal mine is anticipated to generate significant revenue and profits for SCCL, with an additional Rs 3000 crore in revenue and Rs. 50 crore in profit annually in view of increased 10 MT production. It will also boost statutory revenues like GST, royalty, DMFT contributions, and CSR funds, benefiting both state and central governments. As per the details on the company's website, the governments of Telangana and India jointly own the Singareni Collieries corporation Limited (SCCL), a government coal mining corporation, on a 51:49 equity basis. The Coal Ministry release said that after taking charge, G Kishan Reddy held extensive discussions with the Odisha government to resolve the long pending issue and operationalize the mine at the earliest in the spirit of cooperative federalism. "As a result, approval for handing over of 643hectare of forest land has been accorded to SCCL on July 4, 2024." Reddy thanked the Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi for quickly resolving this issue. "It is expected that SCCL will commence the production from the mine shortly. This step will further strengthen and secure the energy security needs of Telangana," the release said. (ANI)
Actor Katherine Heigl opened up on the longstanding rumour that she rejected an Emmy nomination in 2008 for her role on 'Grey's Anatomy', reported People. During her recent appearance on 'Let's Be Clear' podcast Katherine said that she didn't turn down an Emmy nomination that year, despite the long-held rumor that she did. Actors and actresses have to submit their work to be considered for Emmy nominations, and Heigl told the host, Shannen Doherty, "I didn't turn it down ... I just didn't submit my work that year." "I should've said nothing. I should've just said, 'Oh, I forgot,' " she said, adding, "Because it created such a maelstrom that was so unnecessary." A year earlier at the 2007 Emmys, Heigl won best supporting actress in a drama series for her role as Izzie Stevens on Grey's Anatomy. The Firefly Lane actor admitted that at the time, she was attempting to make a "snarky" point about the material she was given since she did not believe her work deserved Emmy consideration. "I just wasn't proud of my work," she said. "I would never be so bold or so arrogant to turn down a nomination. I would take that nomination. If it came my way, I'd be down." "I was trying to be honourable, I guess. I was trying to have some integrity," she added. Instead of quietly not submitting her name in 2008, she released a statement and said in part, "I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination." She added that she wanted to "maintain the integrity of the academy organization. In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials." On the podcast, the Knocked Up star told Doherty that she was "shamed" for her actions by the industry at the time, and it changed the way she behaved at work because she tried to be more "quiet" and "polite" and "sweet," almost to the point of "disappearing." "I don't like being bullied either," she went on, adding that her reaction to someone treating her badly is sometimes not "calm," reported People. (ANI)
Chennai Police on Saturday said that they have secured eight suspects so far in connection with the murder of Tamil Nadu BSP president Armstrong. Armstrong was hacked to death by an unidentified mob of 6 people near his residence in Perambur, Chennai on Friday evening. Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), North Chennai, Asra Garg said, "In the murder case, we have secured 8 suspects so far. This is a preliminary investigation...Ten teams have been formed by us. We are on the job to bring the offenders to light. After the interrogation of these suspects, we will be able to find the motive behind the murder...Some sharp weapons have been used..." Meanwhile, Devprakash Madhukar, the main suspect in the Hathras stampede that claimed 121 deaths, has surrendered in front of SIT, STF and Police, his Advocate AP Singh said in a video message. Advocate AP Singh said, "Dev Prakash Madhukar who was named in the FIR in the Hathras case, was said to be the main organiser has surrendered in front of SIT, STF and Police. We have handed him over to the SIT and the Uttar Pradesh Police. Now a thorough investigation can be done...His health should be taken care of, he is a heart patient and nothing wrong should happen to him..." "It was my promise that we will not use any anticipatory bail, will not file any application and will not go to any court, because what have we done? What is our crime? We told you that we would surrender Dev Prakash Madhukar, take him in front of the police, interrogate him, participate in the investigation, and take part in the inquiry," he further said. However, no such information has been received from the police yet. Earlier, Chennai Police formed 10 special teams to probe the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Tamil Nadu president Armstrong. On Friday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday morning reached Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to meet with the families of the people affected by the July 2 stampede. En route to Hathras, Gandhi also stopped in Aligarh and met with families of the victims of the tragedy that took place at a religious 'Satsang' event in Fulari village in which 121 people were killed. (ANI)
Punjab Shiv Sena leader Sandeep Thapar was attacked by three unknown persons with a sword in Ludhiana on Friday, according to the police. According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police Ludhiana, Jaskaran Singh Teja, the Punjab Shiv Sena Leader, was attacked on Friday at around 11:30 am. "Around 11:30 am, three unknown persons attacked Sandeep Thapar with a sword. He got injured and is under treatment in the hospital...He is out of danger...The accused have been identified and they will be arrested soon," DCP Ludhiana said. After the incident, the police issued an alert in the entire area and arrested two accused, Sarabjit Singh and Harjot Singh, in connection with the case. "We had got instructions from DGP, CP Ludhiana and an alert was issued in the entire area...The two accused, who were wanted, were arrested near the university area...A Scotty was recovered...An alert has been issued to arrest the third accused as well. Both the arrested accused, Sarabjit Singh and Harjot Singh, are residents of Ludhiana. They have been handed over to Ludhiana Police," SSP Fatehgarh Sahib Ravjot Grewal said. The third suspect, Tahal Singh, involved in the attack on the Punjab Shiv Sena leader is still at large. "We have arrested two accused, Sarabjit Singh and Harjot Singh. Another accused Tahal Singh is still wanted. Further investigation is underway," CP Police Ludhiana, Kuldeep Singh Chahal, said. Further investigation is underway. (ANI)
Supporters of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)'s Tamil Nadu unit president K Armstrong gathered outside the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital Mortuary here raising slogans, demanding the arrest of the culprits. The protesters said they did not have faith in the Tamil Nadu government and have demanded a CBI inquiry into the murder. They have also sought the resignation of Chief Minister M K Stalin Heavy police force have been deployed at the hospital premises with senior police officers also present. Amrstrong was hacked to death by a mob of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai, on Friday evening. His body was bought to the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital Mortuary for an autopsy. Yesterday, shops and business establishments in the vicinity downed their shutters and Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses suspended their services. The Chennai police have deployed heavy security outside the hospital. The police have secured eight suspects so far and formed a special team to investigate the case. Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), North Chennai, Asra Garg said, "In the murder case, we have secured 8 suspects so far. This is a preliminary investigation...Ten teams have been formed by us. We are on the job to bring the offenders to light. After the interrogation of these suspects, we will be able to find the motive behind the murder...Some sharp weapons have been used..." Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP chief Mayawati has condemned the gruesome killing of the party's Tamil Nadu president, asking the state government to "punish the guilty." "The gruesome killing of K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state Govt. must punish the guilty," Mayawati said in a post on X on Friday. AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami also took to social media to slam the ruling DMK party over the death of BSP Tamil Nadu president Armstrong and said that if such a leader is assassinated, then what is the point of criticizing the law and order in the state? (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell head Amit Malviya on Saturday slammed the "silence" of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on the brutal killing of Tamil Nadu's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief and said that this kind of "perverse politics is the ugly face of Balak Buddhi". Chief of Tamil Nadu unit of BSP, K Armstrong, was hacked to death by a mob of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai, on Friday evening. Taking to 'X', Malviya wrote, "Tamilnadu BSP chief, a Dalit, is hacked to death. Expect Third Time Fail Rahul Gandhi to maintain radio silence, just like the hooch tragedy, because the Congress depends on the DMK for its relevance in TN." "This kind of perverse politics is the ugly face of Balak Buddhi", he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address in the Lok Sabha recently used the term "Balak Budhi" for the Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. Meanwhile, in Chennai police have secured eight suspects so far and formed a special team to investigate the case of the murder of the BSP leader. Actor-turned-politician and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Chief Thalapathy Vijay condemned the brutal killing and offered his condolences to the family of the deceased leader. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP chief Mayawati has condemned the gruesome killing of the party's Tamil Nadu president, asking the state government to "punish the guilty." "The gruesome killing of K Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state government . must punish the guilty," Mayawati said in a post on X on Friday. AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami lashed out at the ruling DMK party and said that if such a leader is assassinated, then what is the point of criticizing the law and order in Tamil Nadu.(ANI)
CM Stalin also said that the police have been ordered to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law.

Taking to 'X', CM Stalin wrote, "Bahujan Samaj Party State President Mr. Armstrong's assassination is shocking and deeply saddening. The police arrested those involved in the murder overnight."

"I would like to convey my deepest condolences to all of Armstrong's party members, family, relatives, and friends who are bereaved, and I have ordered the police officers to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law," he added.

Chennai police have secured eight suspects so far and formed a special team to investigate the murder of the BSP leader.

BSP Chief Mayawati has condemned the gruesome killing of the party's Tamil Nadu president, asking the state government to "punish the guilty."

"The gruesome killing of K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state government must punish the guilty," Mayawati said in a post on X on Friday.

Meanwhile, the body of the slain leader has been kept in the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital mortuary for autopsy. (ANI)
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Saturday held a meeting to review the Smart City project in Gwalior, stating that the future of Gwalior is being shaped under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav. "Today, we not only reviewed but also discussed 17 ambitious projects for Gwalior. We received many suggestions, and based on them, we made some changes and moved forward. Gwalior is evolving, and the Gwalior of the future is being built under the leadership of PM Modi and CM Mohan Yadav. Together, we will renovate the historic and glorious legacy of Gwalior, keeping our culture at the forefront as we recreate the Gwalior of the future," Scindia told reporters after the meeting. The Union Minister also highlighted various development projects in Gwalior and their benefits to the public. Meanwhile, Scindia addressed concerns regarding the quality of airports in Delhi, Jabalpur, and Gwalior following recent incidents due to rainfall. "As for the Delhi airport, that department is no longer under my jurisdiction. However, I have always believed, whether it's the Civil Aviation, Telecom, North Eastern Region, or Steel Departments, that no injustice to the public should be tolerated, and any deficiencies must be addressed," he said. "I can specifically speak about Jabalpur and Gwalior airports. Regarding Jabalpur airport, it has a canvas roof, and when water accumulates on the canvas, it can create problems as it lacks cement or concrete. If there were any deficiencies, we would certainly address them," the Union Minister added. Commenting on the Gwalior airport, Scindia stated that the issue was temporary and has since been resolved. "As far as the Gwalior airport is concerned, I do not believe it is a permanent issue. It was a temporary problem; one day it rained heavily, causing a blockage in the drain, which led to water collecting in the arrival area outside. The drain was cleaned within four hours, and there are no longer any issues. The road is now clean, and no water has accumulated due to leakage. The blockage in the drain has been cleared. These things can happen in our homes as well," he concluded. (ANI)
The Mumbai Police's Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) filed a closure report in the Jogeshwari land case against Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Waikar, his wife, and four close associates. This development came after Waikar joined the Eknath Shinde-led faction and subsequently won Mumbai's North West Lok Sabha seat by a narrow margin. The case pertains to the construction of a star hotel in Jogeshwari by allegedly manipulating the land use conditions. The EOW stated that the complaint filed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was based on "incomplete information and misunderstanding." Waikar joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde in March this year. Earlier in January, the Shiv Sena MP appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case related to an under-construction luxury hotel in Jogeshwari. After appearing before the central agency, Waikar's lawyers called the allegations made against the Uddhav faction MLA "bogus and baseless." Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA said that he cooperated in the ED's investigation and would return if called again by the ED. "We have submitted the bank documents and other details. If complaints are made in this manner and permission is revoked after granting it, it is absolutely wrong," Waikar said while talking to reporters. Waikar's lawyers, Mohan Tekavde and Swati Tekavde, who were with the MLA for nine hours during the questioning, said, "We answered all the questions of the ED and provided them with all the details. We submitted documents from the year 2001 pertaining to this matter. There are no proceeds of the crime linked to my client and no tainted money is involved. Allegations of a Rs 500 crore scam made against Waikar are bogus and baseless." The Enforcement Directorate earlier conducted raids at seven locations related to Waikar and his partners in connection with the same case. The ED registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Waikar in November, alleging a "Rs 500 crore 5-Star Hotel Scam." Waikar is accused of defrauding the BMC of Rs 500 crore by obtaining permission to build a five-star hotel on a plot reserved for a BMC playground. Ravindra Waikar won the Mumbai North-West constituency by a small margin of 48 votes. The constituency witnessed a close fight between both Shiv Sena factions - Eknath Shinde's Ravindra Waikar and Uddhav Thackeray's Amol Kirtikar. (ANI)
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan paid obeisance and offered prayers at the Lord Jagannath Temple in Angul district on Saturday. The Union Minister was accompanied by his wife as he sought blessings from the priest at the temple premises. Meanwhile, preparations are underway ahead of the Jagannath Puri Rath Yatra on July 7. Puri District Magistrate Siddharth Shankar Swain said on Wednesday that President Droupadi Murmu will visit the state on the day of chariot pulling. "As you know, this year is a very unique Rath Yatra in the sense that all three important rituals are falling on the same day. At the same time, it's challenging and it is a matter of privilege as well. President Droupadi Murmu is also going to visit Puri on the day of the chariot pulling. All the concerned departments are in readiness, and we had several rounds of interdepartmental and coordination meetings," the Puri DM told ANI earlier. He further said that a 225-bed super specialty was set up at the two ends of the grand road for the Rath Yatra. "Police deployment is massive. Around 28 parking places have been identified for people. Public amenities for people at transit points are also being planned so that people who are coming from different districts and different states can have a temporary resting place," he added. The Puri DM said that the chariot preparations are in final stage, and in a couple of days they are expected to be completed. The Rath Yatra, also known as the Chariot Festival, is believed to be as old as the Jagannath Temple in Puri. The festival, celebrated with great fanfare from New Zealand to London and South Africa, encompasses the onward journey of the Holy Trinity to their maternal aunt, Goddess Gundicha Devi's Temple and culminates with the return journey after eight days. The festival stretches from the day of Akshaya Tritiya (in April) and culminates with the return of the journey of the Holy Trinity to the Shree Mandir premises. (ANI)
The Pakistani national who was working as a cook at Warraich's residence has been identified as Minhaj Hussain.

According to police sources, after Minhaj attempted to molest the woman, she complained to Warraich but he was sent back to Pakistan.

The Delhi Police was informed about the incident on June 28 after which the police registered a case under section 354.

Further investigation into the matter is underway and more details are awaited. (ANI)
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Saturday condemned the tragic killing of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief of the Tamil Nadu unit, stating that the state government will ensure culprits are brought to justice expeditiously. K Armstrong, was hacked to death by a group of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur in Chennai on July 5. Taking to 'X', Gandhi wrote, "Deeply shocked by the brutal and abhorrent killing of Thiru Armstrong, the Tamil Nadu Chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party. My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends and followers." https://x.com/RahulGandhi/status/1809453818771538163 He emphasized that the Tamil Nadu Congress leaders are in constant touch with the state government. "Tamil Nadu Congress leaders are in constant touch with the government of Tamil Nadu, and I am confident that the government will ensure that the culprits are brought to justice expeditiously," stated the Congress MP. The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu and the Congress are allies in the INDIA bloc. Meanwhile, the Chennai police have secured eight suspects so far and formed a special team to investigate the murder of the BSP leader. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also expressed grief over the incident and paid condolences to the family of the slain leader. Stalin said that the police have been ordered to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law. Taking to 'X', CM Stalin wrote, "Bahujan Samaj Party State President Mr. Armstrong's assassination is shocking and deeply saddening. The police arrested those involved in the murder overnight." "I would like to convey my deepest condolences to all of Armstrong's party members, family, relatives, and friends who are bereaved, and I have ordered the police officers to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law," he added. BSP Chief Mayawati condemned the gruesome killing asking the state government to "punish the guilty." "The gruesome killing of K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state government must punish the guilty," Mayawati said in a post on X on Friday. (ANI)
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) clarified on Saturday that the investigation into the roles of all other accused has been completed and only the role of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is being investigated in relation to the excise policy case. CBI counsel Advocate DP Singh further added that we will brief the Supreme Court about some new developments that took place after June 4, which led us to arrest Arvind Kejriwal. The CBI further stated that only the role and investigation of Kejriwal have been further investigated, and the probe against the rest of the accused is almost complete. The CBI further clarified that the statement made by the Solicitor General before was related to all the arrested accused in the case except Kejriwal. Earlier on June 4, before the Supreme Court noted the submissions of Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, that the investigation would be concluded and a final complaint and charge sheet would be filed expeditiously and at any rate on or before July 3, 2024, and immediately thereafter, the trial court will be free to proceed with trial. In light of the said submissions made and having regard to the fact that the period of "6-8 months" fixed by this Court by Order dated October 30, 2023, has not come to an end, it would suffice to dispose of these petitions with liberty to the petitioner to revive his prayer afresh after filing the final complaint/charge sheet as assured by the Solicitor General. Counsels for Manish Sisodia and K Kavitha on Saturday allege that CBI is miscreating and misleading the statements. On March 22, in a judicial order passed by the court, it was noted that the investigation was complete. CBI wrongly stated before the Court that the investigation is complete. Today, the situation is that the status report filed is contrary. The Special Judge Kaveri Baweja on Saturday extended the judicial custody of Delhi's former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and other accused till July 15, 2024. Meanwhile, the Court also allowed Manish Sisodia to sign documents related to the development of his constituency from MLA funds. The court also allowed him to sign bank checks for his family's expenditures. However, the Court also deferred its hearing on the aspect of taking cognizance on the third supplementary chargesheet filed by the CBI against BRS Leader K Kavitha. The court deferred the matter for July 8, 2024, after noting that some of the pages of said chargesheet are incorrectly paginated. (ANI)
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Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the Independence Palace in Astana, Kazakhstan, July 4, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for building a common home of prosperity and development, and called on the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to ensure security in the face of real threat from the Cold War mentality.

Xi made the appeal when attending the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO and the expanded meeting of the SCO, or SCO+.

Common prosperity



Noting that modernization is the shared goal of all countries in the SCO, Xi proposed at the SCO+ meeting that 2025 be designated as the SCO Year of Sustainable Development so as to help the SCO members focus on fostering new forces for growth.

"We will promote regional cooperation through platforms such as the demonstration base for agricultural technology exchange and training, the local economic and trade cooperation demonstration area, and the ecology and environment innovation base," Xi said.

"We will also expand local currency settlement, and actively promote the establishment of an SCO financing platform," he added.

China welcomes all parties to use the Beidou Satellite Navigation System and participate in the development of the International Lunar Research Station, said Xi, adding that China will provide at least 1,000 training opportunities on digital technology to fellow countries in the SCO in the next three years.

Initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative promote regional economic integration, while SCO member states are working to promote cooperation based on mutual respect and common interests, said Abdulaziz Alshaabani, a Saudi researcher at Al Riyadh Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

Iran's Interim President Mohammad Mokhber said that the SCO offers great opportunities for cooperation in the fields of trade, production, energy, transportation, agriculture, customs, and telecommunications, as well as the development of technology, which should be used for the benefit and the welfare of nations and the establishment of sustainable peace in the region and around the world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the Independence Palace in Astana, Kazakhstan, July 4, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Shared security



When attending the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO, Xi called on the SCO members to ensure security in the face of real threat from the Cold War mentality.

He urged the member states to adhere to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, address complex and intertwined security challenges through dialogue and coordination, and respond to the profoundly changing international landscape with a win-win approach, so as to build a world of lasting peace and universal security.

The SCO founding members made a historical decision to pursue peaceful development, commit to good-neighborliness and friendship, and build a new type of international relations, Xi said, adding that the "Shanghai Spirit" has become a shared value and guiding principle for the member states.

Noting that real security is premised on the security of all countries, Xi said at the SCO+ meeting that the SCO countries need to respect the development path of respective and independent choosing, and support each other in safeguarding core interests.

"The SCO should move faster to build a universal center and its branches to address the challenges and threats to the security of SCO member states and the Anti-Drug Center. It should strengthen intelligence sharing and conduct joint operations to jointly safeguard security in our part of the world," Xi said.

As the current chair of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, China will do what it can to ensure the success of the Interaction-2024 joint counterterrorism exercise and other events, Xi added.

The SCO has established itself as an effective and highly-valued structure within the international security system, with strong prospects for further development, said Bolat Nurgaliyev, former Secretary-General of the SCO.

In the context of the intertwined global turmoil, SCO countries must unite and maintain common security, which is the foundation of the SCO, said Chen Fengying, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday termed senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's recent visit to Hathras a political tour. Speaking to reporters in Begusarai, Giriraj Singh said, "Rahul Gandhi going to Hathras was a political tour and nothing else." On BSP Chief Mayawati's demand that 'Bhole Baba' should be arrested, the BJP leader said, "Those who are investigating have said that no one will be spared (in the Hathras stampede accident case)." On Thursday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi visited Hathras to meet with the family members of the victims of the Hathras stampede. At least 121 devotees lost their lives in a stampede at a religious 'Satsang' event of self-styled godman Suraj Pal, alias 'Bhole Baba', in Fulari village in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras on Tuesday. Regarding RJD supremo Lalu Yadav's prediction that the Narendra Modi government would fall as early as August, Singh said, "I have said it earlier; there is no one weaker than Lalu Yadav. There could be no weaker man than someone who has been cut to size at home," referring to the latter stages of Lalu Yadav's political career. On Friday, Lalu Yadav claimed that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre, which came to power last month, could fall by August and elections could happen anytime. Responding to Lalu Prasad's claim, Union Minister Nityanand Rai on Friday said that the RJD chief is "daydreaming," adding that the people of Bihar don't want "jungle Raj" in the state. "Lalu Prasad Yadav is daydreaming. By making PM Modi the Prime Minister for the third time, the people of the country and Bihar have expressed their wish that PM Modi is the true son of India and can take the country forward. The people of Bihar believe in PM Modi, Nitish Kumar, NDA-BJP, they do not want jungle Raj," Nityanand Rai told reporters on Friday. Lalu Yadav made the remarks while addressing party workers on the Rashtriya Janata Dal's foundation day on Friday. (ANI)
Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, VD Satheesan, on Saturday, accused the Left government in the State of doing nothing to contain sea erosion, which is affecting the lives and livelihoods of the fishing communities in the state. "During the monsoon and all other seasons, aggressive sea erosion is happening in the state. So many houses have been lost and people are in trouble," Satheesan told ANI at Edavanakad coastal village in Ernakulam, where several homes are affected due to sea erosion. Congress MP Hibi Eden accompanied Satheesan during the latter's visit to the village. "There are no roads as they are washed away. People who can't live there, especially poor fishermen, are facing issues as they are struggling to make ends meet. Their only livelihood is fishing; they are leaving the place. Unfortunately, the government isn't doing anything," Satheesan said The Congress leader alleged that the state government had made numerous promises to the people living in the coastal area but all of them remain only on paper. "The state government has to protect the coastal areas from sea erosion. The Kerala Fisheries Minister has given so many promises to the people living in the coastal area but nothing has happened. Packages for the coastal areas announced in the previous budgets have not been implemented, with not even a single rupee being spent to contain sea erosion." Satheesan said that Arabian Sea has become increasingly turbulent, and the fishing community is suffering. "Maybe because of climate change or some other reasons, the Arabian Sea is very turbulent and the fishing community is suffering too much. They can not shift to live in any other area, as fishing is their livelihood. We have to give protection to the people living in the coastal areas. Unfortunately, the state government is not doing anything," he said. He said that Eden got an answer in Parliament from the central government that there is no project submitted by the state government for containing sea erosion. "Our MP (Hibi Eden) got an answer in Parliament from the central government that there is no pending project submitted by the state government.That is very surprising because we need financial assistance from the central government." (ANI)
"One Country, One Law, One Nishan and One Chief," Saha wrote in a post in X.

He further lauded Mookerjee as the pioneer of this thought and how great a patriot he was who laid down his life for the protection of the integrity and sovereignty of the country.

"On the occasion of his 123rd birth anniversary, we pay tribute to the memory of 'Bharat Keshari', the pioneer of this thought, who laid down his life for the protection of the integrity and sovereignty of the Indian land, great patriot, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and eminent educationist, 'Bharat Kesari'," Saha said.

The event was held at the Bharatiya Janata Party's Tripura Pradesh office and saw the participation of all party leaders and workers.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, along with BJP Delhi President Virendraa Sachdeva and many Parliamentarians, also paid tribute to the patriot on his birth anniversary on Saturday.

Later today, Saha inaugurated the State Level Training Programme of Dental Surgeons at Pragna Bhavan in Agartala in order to make a major advancement in enhancing the state's oral health care system.

The programme was organised by the National Oral Health Programme under the National Health Mission, Tripura, in association with the Indian Dental Association, Tripura State Branch.

The event also introduced the features of teleconsultation services for dental and oral health issues in the state, which is also a major highlight there.

CM Saha also launched new websites for the Tripura State Dental Council, Agartala Government Dental College and Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) Hospital, designed to provide streamlined access to information and services.

The event drew a wide spread of participation from dental professionals, healthcare administrators, and policymakers. (ANI)
Tamil Nadu Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Udhayanidhi Stalin condemned the killing of state's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief Armstrong, stating that his death is a great loss to the political platform for the oppressed. K Armstrong, the Tamil Nadu BSP Chief, was hacked to death by a group of unidentified men near is residence in Perambur in Chennai on July 5. Taking to 'X', Udhayanidhi Stalin wrote, "I was deeply shocked and saddened to learn that the State President of the Bahujan Samaj Party, brother Mr. Armstrong, was assassinated by anti-social elements. Following the principles of Annal Ambedkar and working in the field for the education of many youths and the rights of oppressed people, Armstrong's death is a great loss to the political platform for the oppressed." The Tamil Nadu Minister further assured that Chief Minister MK Stalin has ordered the officials to bring the culprits to justice. "The police arrested the criminals involved in this heinous act last night. Moreover, in this environment where the investigation has been intensified, our Chief Minister has ordered that the culprits be given due punishment. My condolence and condolences to all Bahujan Samaj Party workers - family - friends who are bereaved of Brother Armstrong", he said. Earlier today, CM Stalin also expressed grief over the incident, terming it "deeply saddening." CM Stalin also said that the police have been ordered to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law. Taking to 'X', CM Stalin wrote, "Bahujan Samaj Party State President Mr. Armstrong's assassination is shocking and deeply saddening. The police arrested those involved in the murder overnight." "I would like to convey my deepest condolences to all of Armstrong's party members, family, relatives, and friends who are bereaved, and I have ordered the police officers to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law," he added. BSP supremo Mayawati said she is planning to visit Chennai tomorrow to pay tribute to the slain leader. Taking to 'X, Mayawati wrote, "Considering the seriousness of this extremely sad and worrying incident, I am planning to go to Chennai tomorrow morning to pay my tributes to Mr. Armstrong, meet his grieving family and console them. I appeal to all to maintain peace and order." The BSP supremo also called for immediate action from the Tamil Nadu government. "The brutal murder of a hardworking and dedicated leader of the BSP in Tamil Nadu and the state party unit president Shri K. Armstrong outside his Chennai residence yesterday evening has sent shockwaves across society. The government should immediately take strict/necessary action to prevent such incidents in the future," she said. Chennai police have secured eight suspects so far and formed a special team to investigate the murder of the BSP leader. (ANI)
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav launched the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign in the state capital Bhopal on Saturday, planting trees alongside public representatives. CM Yadav announced that under the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to plant 5.5 crore trees across the state, with approximately 40 lakh saplings to be planted in Bhopal. "Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign, citizens nationwide are planting trees in honor of their mothers. In line with this campaign, the Madhya Pradesh government has committed to planting 5.5 crore trees statewide. The campaign is being conducted in various districts," CM Yadav stated. "Bhopal is set to plant around 40 lakh saplings, with about 12 lakh to be planted today. We are here with ministers, MPs, MLAs, and other public representatives. People from schools and other institutions have also joined the campaign," he added. The Chief Minister congratulated the Bhopal district administration for organizing the event at Jamburi Maidan in Bhopal. CM Yadav also remembered Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, paying tribute to him on his birth anniversary. State BJP chief VD Sharma participated in the program with CM Yadav, urging the public to join the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign and plant trees. "Today, I participated in the inauguration of the plantation campaign 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' with CM Yadav at Jamburi Maidan, Bhopal, and planted a sapling. Responding to PM Modi's call, citizens nationwide are pledging to protect nature by planting trees. The resolution to plant 5.5 crore saplings in the state under CM Yadav's leadership is commendable," Sharma posted on X. He further wrote, "On this auspicious occasion, I urge all citizens to participate in the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign, plant trees, and give the invaluable gift of nature conservation to our mothers, as per PM Modi's wish." Earlier, state cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya announced that 51 lakh trees would be planted in Indore district under the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign between July 7 and July 14. The Indore Municipal Corporation will provide the saplings. Additionally, the Municipal Corporation, Indore Development Authority, and Forest Department will plant trees in various areas, including city and village lands and BSF properties, he added. (ANI)
Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday held a meeting with state BJP leaders and workers on the preparations for the 2024 Assembly elections in Haryana. After the meeting, the former Haryana Chief Minister told reporters in Karnal, "...The preparations are going on for the Vidhan Sabha elections. The party workers are excited. The lies told by Congress will not work in the next elections. The tactics that they (the Congress) have used in the Lok Sabha elections will not work anymore..." On senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visit to Hathras and not Tamil Nadu, the senior BJP leader said, "I have heard his statements in the Lok Sabha. I am surprised that such words pop up in his mouth. Is the entire Hindu society violent?. The people of the country will give him a befitting reply (when the people come out to vote during the assembly elections)." In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and Congress won 5 seats each in the State. The BJP registered a vote share of 46.11 per cent, while the Congress registered a vote share of 43.67 percent, and its alliance partner, the Aam Admi Party, registered a vote share of 3.94 per cent. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won all 10 seats in the state. According to the Election Commission of India, the BJP won 240 seats, much lower than its 2019 tally of 303. The Congress, on the other hand, registered a strong improvement, winning 99 seats. While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won 292 seats, the INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark, posing stiff competition, and defying all predictions. (ANI)
Highlighting the murder of BSP state president K Armstrong, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President K Annamalai stated on Saturday that the safety of common citizens is not assured under the DMK rule. "Yesterday, a party leader was hacked to death. There is no guarantee for a common man's life in this DMK-led state government," Annamalai said at the BJP's state executive committee meeting. The Tamil Nadu Chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was hacked to death by a mob of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai. The Tamil Nadu BJP chief also attacked the MK Stalin-led DMK government over the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy that killed 65 people. "Illicit liquor is flowing like a river, and nobody has the guts to tell, speak, and raise a voice against it. If they speak and raise voices, they have a life threat," Annamalai said. The Tamil Nadu BJP executive committee meeting is still underway. The meeting, also attended by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, assumes significance as it is the first major meeting of the party in the state after the Lok Sabha election results were declared on June 4. The BJP's electoral performance in the state in the 2024 general election was lower than the party's expectations. Though the party could increase its vote share, it did not win any seats. In the 2024 election, the BJP, by contesting in 23 Lok Sabha constituencies, secured nearly 11.1 per cent of the votes in the state, up from the 3.6 per cent it got in the 2019 general election. AIADMK, the principal opposition party in Tamil Nadu, was the BJP's ally, but just months into the election, the former snapped the alliance, accusing Annamalai of abusing the Dravidian political icons. There were also reports of internal bickering in the state unit of the BJP, with some leaders blaming Annamalai for the results. Meanwhile, Union Minister and BJP leader L Murugan condemned the killing of Armstrong. He said the DMK government has failed to maintain law and order in the state. In a conversation with ANI, Murugan said, "A National Party's state president was unable to survive because of the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu. The DMK government has totally failed to maintain law and order in the state." Referring to the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, which claimed over 60 lives earlier last month, the Union Minister said, "10 days ago, almost 70 people died due to illicit liquor... The Tamil Nadu CM controls the Police and Home Ministry, and he is failing at it. Rahul Gandhi is visiting Hathras but does not know where Kallakurichi is. Political leaders are being murdered; they don't have safety; where is the state headed?" The Tamil Nadu Chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was hacked to death by a mob of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai. Chennai police have secured eight suspects so far and formed a special team to investigate the murder of the BSP leader. Earlier today, CM Stalin expressed grief over the incident and paid condolences to the family of the slain leader. CM Stalin also said that the police have been ordered to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law. (ANI)
Delhi's Tis Hazari court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's former aide Bibhav Kumar for the next 10 days in the alleged assault case of Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. He was produced through video conferencing (vc) after the expiry of judicial custody. He was remanded to judicial custody on May 31 after his interrogation in the case. Judicial Magistrate First Class Gaurav Goyal extended the judicial custody till July 16. Delhi police had sought 10 days' judicial custody of Bibhav Kumar. Advocate Karan Sharma counsel for the accused appeared through video conferencing. He opposed the judicial custody plea of Delhi police. The court has directed to produce the accused through video conferencing on the next date of hearing. Earlier, an order was passed by the court in application of the accused seeking direction to produce him through video conferencing due to safety and security reasons. He was arrested on May 18 by Delhi Police. A case was registered by Delhi police after receiving a complaint from Swati Maliwal on May 16. The incident of the alleged assault occurred on May 13. The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to Delhi Police on a plea moved by Kejriwal's close aide Bibhav Kumar seeking direction to declare his arrest by Delhi Police as illegal. The bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma while issuing notice to Delhi Police, said his plea is maintainable for hearing. The court listed the matter for a detailed hearing before the roaster bench. Earlier, the trial court dismissed Bibhav's bail petition and stated that the investigation is at an initial stage and influencing of witnesses and tampering with evidence cannot be ruled out. Earlier in June, Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal wrote a letter to INDIA bloc leaders, elaborating on the alleged assault by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's former aide Bibhav Kumar, and sought time to meet them. She wrote the letter to leaders including former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. Maliwal, AAP Rajya Sabha MP, said she has been working on the ground for nine years and has heard over 1.7 lakh cases in Delhi Commission of Women. She further alleged that she was "beaten badly" at CM Kejriwal's and there was "character assassination" for speaking against the incident. (ANI)
The union budget for 2024-25 will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23.

This will be first full session of Parliament after the new members took oath in the first session of 18th Lok Sabha held from June 24 to July 2 following results of general elections.

"Hon'ble President of India, on the recommendation of Government of India, has approved the proposal for summoning of both the Houses of Parliament for the Budget Session, 2024 from 22nd July, 2024 to 12 August, 2024 (Subject to exigencies of Parliamentary Business). Union Budget 2024-25 will be presented in Lok Sabha on 23 July, 2024," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijuju said in a post on X on Saturday.

The first budget of the BJP-led government NDA in its fresh term would be significant with Prime Minister Narendra Modi having stated earlier that the third term will be used to write new chapters of bold decisions.

The first session of Parliament after the formation of 18th Lok Sabha was stormy with the opposition and government clashing on a range of issues including NEET-UG examination row.

President Droupadi Murmu addressed the joint sitting of two Houses on June 27 and both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha adopted motion of thanks on the President's address.

PM Modi replied to the debate on the motion of thanks in the two Houses of Parliament.

BJP-led National Democratic Alliance returned to power for the third successive term in the general elections. (ANI)
The Delhi Police has reported a 27 per cent increase in the prosecution of traffic violators booked on drunk driving charges in the first half of 2024, police said. This concerning trend highlights the urgent need for increased awareness and stringent enforcement of traffic regulations to ensure public safety on the city's roads. From January 1 to June 30, the Delhi Traffic Police booked 12,468 violators for drunken driving, compared to 9,837 during the same period in 2023. This represents an almost 27 per cent increase in prosecutions over the previous year. The surge in prosecution during the first half of 2024 compared to the previous year is alarming and demands immediate attention from both law enforcement agencies and the public, police said. Additionally, the Delhi Traffic Police conducted a comprehensive analysis of the top ten traffic circles with the highest number of challans issued in 2024. This analysis sheds light on areas with the most prevalent traffic violations, allowing for targeted enforcement efforts to improve road safety and compliance with traffic laws. Driving under the influence of alcohol poses a grave risk not only to the driver but also to passengers, pedestrians, and other motorists. It impairs judgment, slows reaction times, and increases the likelihood of accidents causing injuries or fatalities. The consequences of such irresponsible behaviour can be devastating and irreparable, In response to this concerning surge in cases, the Delhi Traffic Police have intensified their efforts to crack down on drunken driving. Strict enforcement measures, including increased checks and breathalyzer tests, are being implemented to deter individuals from engaging in this hazardous behaviour, police said. Furthermore, the Delhi Traffic Police urge the citizens of Delhi to prioritize safety and act responsibly while driving. It is imperative for everyone to recognize the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and to refrain from doing so. The Delhi Traffic Police also emphasize the importance of community involvement in combating the menace of drunken driving. Citizens are encouraged to promptly report any instances of suspected drunken driving, thereby contributing to the collective effort to create safer roads for everyone, police said. (ANI)
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An estimated 250,000 people in parts of eastern Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza under an Israeli evacuation order are on the move, UN humanitarians said on Friday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) revised downward its estimate of the population area affected from one-third to one-quarter of the Gaza Strip, or from 117 to 85 square kilometers. The displaced moved toward western Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, areas already overcrowded and lacking essential services, critical infrastructure, shelter materials and even sufficient space.

OCHA said its assessments on Thursday showed more than 9,000 displaced households are living at a site in Khan Younis and nearly 1,000 more at a site in Deir al Balah with just 650 tents.

"All of these families are in dire need of safe drinking water, with people -- especially children -- spending long hours queueing to collect water each day," the humanitarians said.

The office said children have been out of school for months, and a lack of space and materials prevents humanitarian partners from providing education services. At one displacement site, children spend most of their time outside, near informal dumping areas, and parents report a surge in waterborne and skin diseases. Neither site has health points available; the closest medical services are at least three kilometers away.

OCHA said the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis is now empty. No equipment remains, and it is not functional. All patients were evacuated, some of them in beds with their intravenous drips.

In southern Gaza, movement to and from the Kerem Shalom crossing continues to be hampered by security risks, most recently following Monday's evacuation order for areas in eastern Khan Younis that encompass parts of Salah ad-Din Road, a crucial artery for the passage of humanitarian goods and personnel.

In northern Gaza, the humanitarian office is concerned about the conditions of up to 80,000 people displaced from Ash Shuja'iyyeh and other parts of eastern Gaza City following a June 27 evacuation order.

Alongside other humanitarian partners, OCHA said it assessed some of the sites hosting the displaced, finding people who had to flee hastily, under shelling and without any of their belongings.

"Shelter and sanitary conditions at the displacement sites are poor, and many people are having to sleep amid solid waste and rubble, with no mattresses and lacking enough clothing," the office said. "Others have found shelter in UN facilities that had been partially destroyed. Some of those displaced report having been separated from family members."

OCHA said hostilities and access constraints severely hinder the delivery of life-saving aid to hundreds of thousands of people across Gaza. Between Monday's evacuation order and Thursday's, just one of 13 planned humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza was facilitated by Israeli authorities -- with the rest denied, impeded or canceled due to logistical, operational or security reasons.

The office said its humanitarian partners report that the lack of fuel in Gaza is increasingly hampering the provision of health care. The director-general of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned of further disruption to health services due to severe fuel shortages.

Tedros said only 90,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza on Wednesday when the health sector alone requires 80,000 liters daily. With limited fuel supplies directed to critical hospitals to prevent services from grinding to a halt, the United Nations and its partners are forced to make impossible choices.

OCHA said fuel shortages also continue to have an acute impact on water and sanitation infrastructure and living conditions across Gaza. Humanitarian partners report receiving less than 52,000 liters of fuel between June 22 and June 28 to operate critical water and wastewater facilities.

"Though this is more than what was received the previous week, the supplies were sufficient for just 10 percent of daily requirements," the office said. "As a result, at least half of the remaining functional water wells across Gaza temporarily stopped pumping water, and more than 100 water trucks have ceased operations."

OCHA added that two desalination plants in central and southern Gaza also had to suspend operations on Sunday and Monday due to a lack of fuel.
The Judicial Inquiry Commission formed by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the Hathras incident on Saturday inspected the site where the stampede took place on 2nd July claiming the lives of 121 people. The commission will prepare an investigation report on five points within two months and the investigation report will be submitted to the government. Former IAS officer Hemant Rao and former IPS officer Bhavesh Kumar Singh were present in the judicial inquiry commission constituted under the chairmanship of former Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava. After the inspection, Justice Brijesh Kumar Srivastava (retired), chairman of the Judicial Inquiry Commission committee, while talking to the media, said that they will question all those who need to be questioned in the case. "We saw the entire spot. What were the entry and exit points? We can't come to any conclusion right now. All the members (of the committee) are present here. We will question all those who need to be questioned. Yes, we will submit our report within 2 months because we have been mandated," he said. Meanwhile, Devprakash Madhukar, the main suspect in the Hathras stampede, has surrendered in front of SIT, STF and Police, his Advocate AP Singh said in a video message on Friday. Advocate AP Singh said, "Dev Prakash Madhukar who was named in the FIR in the Hathras case, was said to be the main organiser has surrendered in front of SIT, STF and Police. We have handed him over to the SIT and the Uttar Pradesh Police. Now a thorough investigation can be done...His health should be taken care of, he is a heart patient and nothing wrong should happen to him..." Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday morning reached Hathras in Uttar Pradesh to meet with the families of the people affected by the July 2 stampede. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adidyanath announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh for the families of the victims who lost their lives, along with Rs 50,000 for the people who got injured there. As per the prima facie report, the stampede took place when devotees rushed to seek blessings and collect soil from around the preacher's feet, but were stopped from doing so by his security personnel. They then started pushing one another due to which several people fell triggering chaos at the site. (ANI)
Members of the Bajrang Dal staged a protest against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Ahmbedabad on Saturday, over his alleged "anti-Hindu" remarks in the Parliament. During the demonstration, the Bajrang Dal members raised slogans against Rahul Gandhi over his comments on the Hindu community. Following this, several protesters were detained by the Gujarat Police. The cadres were chanting slogans of Jai Shri Ram and also tried to burn the effigy of Rahul Gandhi. However, the police stopped them and detained the workers. Joint Commissioner of Police, Neeraj Badgujar, said Bajrang Dal members have been detained and required force have been deployed in the region to maintain peace. "The required police force has been deployed. There is peace now. The Bajrang Dal workers had come out in protest, but they are being detained by the police," Badgujar told ANI. Last week, Rahul Gandhi, in his speech in the Lok Sabha accused the BJP and RSS of "spreading violence and hatred". Targetting the BJP government, he alleged there has been "a systematic attack" on the idea of India. He also connected the Hindu symbol 'Abhayamudra' which gestures fearlessness, reassurance and safety, with the symbol of the Congress party. Rahul's remarks drew protests from the Treasury benches. BJP members took strong objection to Rahul Gandhi's remark and accused Rahul of insulting Hindu religion by connecting it with violence. The BJP leaders accused the Congress MP "of speaking lies, misleading the House and terming the entire Hindu community violent". Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at Rahul Gandhi over his remarks and said calling "the entire Hindu community violent is a very serious matter". In response, Rahul Gandhi hit back stating BJP is "not the entire Hindu society." "Narendra Modi is not entire Hindu society. BJP is not the entire Hindu society, RSS is not the entire society, this is not BJP's contract," he said. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi arrived in Ahmemabad today to meet his party cadre, as well as the families of victims of the Rajkot Gaming Zone tragedy. 28 people were killed in the TRP Game Zone fire incident, which happened on June 25. Last week, Congress alleged that several members associated with BJP, Bajrang Dal, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad vandalised Congress office in Ahmedabad by throwing stones at it. Congress spokesperson Hemang Raval, told ANI that the office was vandalised in protest against Rahul Gandhi's comments in Parliament after which the police filed a complaint in the matter. (ANI)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that Congress and its allies in INDIA bloc will defeat BJP in Gujarat assembly polls like they had defeated it in Ayodhya in the Lok Sabha polls. Addressing party workers in Ahmedabad, Rahul Gandhi, who is Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, referred to BJP losing in Lok Sabha constituency that includes Ayodhya, and claimed that INDIA alliance had defeated the movement started by former BJP chief LK Advani. Advani had carried out rath yatra in 1990 to mobilise support for the movement to construct a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. BJP has said that the yatra also sought to raise questions over prevailing debate concerning "secularism" and "communalism" and for rejecting "cult of minorityism". The BJP lost the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency, which includes Ayodhya, in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls. "Together we are going to defeat them in Gujarat. We will defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat just like we defeated them in Ayodhya," Rahul Gandhi said. Referring to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ram Temple in Ayodhya in January this year, Raul Gandhi claimed that no poor person was visible at the event. "I was wondering in the Parliament that they inaugurated the Ram Temple. Adani and Ambani were visible at the inauguration but any poor person was not seen there," Rahul Gandhi said. "The farmers of Ayodhya lost their land when the Airport was built. The people of Ayodhya were upset that no one from Ayodhya was invited to the inauguration of the Ram Temple... The movement which was started by Advani Ji, whose centre was Ayodhya, INDIA Alliance has defeated that movement in Ayodhya," he said. The Congress leader arrived in Ahmedabad earlier in the day to meet party workers and victims of the Rajkot Gaming Zone tragedy. Members of the Bajrang Dal staged a protest against Rahul Gandhi's remarks pertaining to Hinduism during his speech in the Lok Sabha. The protesters were detained by the Gujarat Police. Assembly polls in Gujarat will be held in 2027. (ANI)
In line with the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Secretary of the Uttarakhand Irrigation Department Dr R. Rajesh Kumar inspected the dam site of Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project on Saturday. Notably on July 3, a review meeting of the Irrigation Department was held by the Chief Minister in which he had directed that the officers should go to ground zero and inspect various projects of the Irrigation Department. Following the instructions, Dr R Rajesh conducted a site inspection of the Jamrani Dam Project under construction in Haldwani. He said that the Jamrani Dam Project is one of the ambitious projects of the state government. During the inspection, the Deputy General Manager of the project BB Pandey informed that under the Jamrani Dam Multipurpose Project, the construction work of a concrete gravity dam of 150.6 m height is proposed. The project will provide annual 42.70 MCM (million cubic metres) of drinking water to the Nainital district of Uttarakhand. Apart from this, the project will also provide additional irrigation facilities in 57,066 hectares of Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts of Uttarakhand and Bareilly and Rampur districts of Uttar Pradesh. MoU has been signed between the Government of India and the State Government for financing the project. For the construction of the project, an amount of Rs 157.50 crore has been released by the Government of India as the first instalment for the financial year 2024-25. The state government has released an amount of Rs 200.00 crore in the financial year 2023-24 for the rehabilitation works of the project. The project officers were directed to speed up the rehabilitation works by establishing coordination with the district administration. As per the official website of Uttarakhand Irrigation Department, the Multipurpose Jamrani Dam Project is proposed to be constructed on the Gola River in Nainital. In the first phase of the project, the construction of Gola barrage, reconstruction of the 244 km canal and construction of the Damuva and Amritpuri colony has been completed. In the second phase, the construction of the main dam is under consideration. (ANI)
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his apparent reference to former Vice President Hamid Ansari in Parliament, terming his remarks "awful and unacceptable." This comes after Prime Minister Modi, during the recent Parliament session, said that BJP's strngth in Upper House was low in 2014 and then Rajya Sabha Chairman had "inclinations" towards the Opposition. on Saturday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his speech in the Rajya Sabha. Condemning the PM's accusation that former Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Hamid Ansari, was biased towards the Opposition, Ramesh called Modi's words "awful and unacceptable." Taking to his official X handle, Jairam Ramesh said, "One thing that the non-biological PM said in the Lok Sabha on July 2 has escaped much media notice. What he said was simply awful and unacceptable, and ought to have been immediately expunged." "He (PM Modi) accused the former Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Hamid Ansari of 'leaning' towards the Opposition." Stepping up his attack on BJP, he accused PM Modi of "targetting" Hamid Ansari during his farewell speech in 2017. He emphasised that Ansari held top diplomatic positions in big countries, which were vital for India's interests. "This is not the first time Narendra Modi has targeted Hamid Ansari. In his farewell speech on Ansari's retirement seven years ago, he alluded to Ansari's top diplomatic postings which happened to be in Islamic countries. That these countries were of vital interest to India, and that Ansari retired from the IFS after having served as High Commissioner to Australia and as India's Permanent Representative at the UN in New York as well, was mischievously overlooked," Ramesh said. the Congress general secretary also accused PM Modi of "breaking parliamentary decorum" and lowering the "remaining dignity of his post." "No PM has ever attacked a former Speaker or Chairman of the Rajya Sabha in the manner that Modi has. He has broken all Parliamentary norms in doing so. He has further diminished whatever is left of the dignity of the office he holds after his despicable election campaign," the Congress leader added. Notably, during his reply to the Motion of Thanks on President's Address in the Rajya Sabha on July 2, PM Modi, without taking any names had said, "No matter how many numbers they claim, when we came in 2014, our strength in the Rajya Sabha was very low, and the Chair's inclination was somewhat on the other side. But we did not waver from our resolve to serve the country with pride." "I want to tell the people of the country that the decision you have made, the order you have given us to serve, neither Modi nor this government will be afraid of any such obstacles. We will fulfil the resolutions we have set out to achieve," he added. Hamid Ansari, the former Vice President, held the position of Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from August 11, 2012 to August 10, 2017. (ANI)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh along with his wife Savitri Singh planted a sapling at his residence on Saturday as part of the "Ek Ped maa ke naam" campaign started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Today I paid homage to my revered mother Late Shri Gujarati Devi ji by planting a sapling at my residence under the #Ekpedmaakenaam campaign started by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi," Rajnath Singh wrote in a post on X. "Planting trees not only protects nature but also nurtures our Mother Earth. All of you are requested to join the #Plant4Mother campaign in protecting nature and contribute actively in making the movement for environmental protection more effective and dynamic," he added. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav also launched the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign in the state capital Bhopal on Saturday. CM Yadav announced that under the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to plant 5.5 crore trees across the state, with approximately 40 lakh saplings to be planted in Bhopal. "Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign, citizens nationwide are planting trees in honor of their mothers. In line with this campaign, the Madhya Pradesh government has committed to planting 5.5 crore trees statewide. The campaign is being conducted in various districts," CM Yadav stated. "Bhopal is set to plant around 40 lakh saplings, with about 12 lakh to be planted today. We are here with ministers, MPs, MLAs, and other public representatives. People from schools and other institutions have also joined the campaign," he added. Earlier, state cabinet minister Kailash Vijayvargiya announced that 51 lakh trees would be planted in Indore district under the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign between July 7 and July 14. The Indore Municipal Corporation will provide the saplings. Additionally, the Municipal Corporation, Indore Development Authority, and Forest Department will plant trees in various areas, including city and village lands and BSF properties, he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched "Ek ped maa ke naam" campaign on World environment day. PM Modi was accompanied by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena during the sapling planting. (ANI)
After Congress MP Rahul Gandhi visited Gujarat today, State Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi said that he is good at mixing politics with every issue. "Rahul Gandhi visited Gujarat during his political tour. There is no connection between Rahul Gandhi and sympathy. He never had sympathy in him. I pray to God to give him some sympathy. He is good at mixing every issue with politics," Sanghvi said. "Rahul Gandhi, along with his INDI alliance partners, is running Tamil Nadu govt. The way many people died by consuming illicit liquor, did he go to that place? He didn't speak a single word for them. Yesterday a BSP leader was killed in Tamil Nadu, did Rahul Gandhi utter a word for him? In Bengal, INDI alliance's govt is going on, a woman was mercilessly beaten up on road...did Rahul Gandhi utter a single word?" he asked further. The Congress MP today met the victims of the Rajkot Gaming Zone Tragedy and the party cadre in Ahmedabad. Addressing party workers in Ahmedabad, Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, said that Congress and its allies in the INDIA bloc will defeat the BJP in Gujarat assembly polls like they had defeated it in Ayodhya in the Lok Sabha polls. "Together we are going to defeat them in Gujarat. We will defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat just like we defeated them in Ayodhya," Rahul Gandhi said. Referring to the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ram Temple in Ayodhya in January this year, Raul Gandhi claimed that no poor person was visible at the event. "I was wondering in the Parliament that they inaugurated the Ram Temple. Adani and Ambani were visible at the inauguration but any poor person was not seen there," Rahul Gandhi said. Members of the Bajrang Dal staged a protest against Rahul Gandhi's remarks pertaining to Hinduism during his speech in the Lok Sabha. The protesters were detained by the Gujarat Police. (ANI)
Earlier in the day, CM Manik Saha paid homage to Syama Prasad Mookerjee at the BJP State Karyalay in Agartala.

He remembered Mookerjee's role and said he laid down his life for the protection of the integrity and sovereignty of the Indian land.

"One Country, One Law, One Nishan and One Chief," Saha wrote a post in X.

He further lauded Mookerjee as the pioneer of this thought and how great a patriot he was who laid down his life for the protection of the integrity and sovereignty of the country.

"On the occasion of his 123rd birth anniversary, we pay tribute to the memory of 'Bharat Keshari', the pioneer of this thought, who laid down his life for the protection of the integrity and sovereignty of the Indian land, great patriot, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and eminent educationist, 'Bharat Kesari'," the Tripura CM added.

The event was held at the Bharatiya Janata Party's Tripura Pradesh office and saw the participation of all party leaders and workers.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, along with BJP Delhi President Virendraa Sachdeva and many Parliamentarians, also paid tribute to the patriot on his birth anniversary on Saturday.

Saha also inaugurated the State Level Training Programme of Dental Surgeons at Pragna Bhavan in Agartala in order to make a major advancement in enhancing the state's oral health care system.

The programme was organised by the National Oral Health Programme under the National Health Mission, Tripura, in association with the Indian Dental Association, Tripura State Branch.

The event also introduced the features of teleconsultation services for dental and oral health issues in the state, which is also a major highlight there.

CM Saha also launched new websites for the Tripura State Dental Council, Agartala Government Dental College and Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) Hospital, designed to provide streamlined access to information and services. (ANI)
After meeting the street vendors and daily wage labourers in the GTB Nagar of the national capital Delhi, leader of the opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked BJP's central government and said that the daily wage labourers are facing troubles and hardships in their regime. He asserted that these labourers are forced to live their lives in poverty and run their households for four days with one day's earnings. In his post combined with a video on X, Rahul Gandhi said that the workers who are building the future of India, their families are in danger. He further alleged that labourers are forced to run their households for four days with one day's earnings. In the video, the Congress leader was seen interacting with the public and asking about their problems. Rahul Gandhi also went to a construction site in Gopalpur with labourers and was spotted engaging in their work. The Leader of the Opposition (LoP) resolved that he will ensure that the hard-working labourers of India will get their full rights, security and respect. Taking it to social post on X, Rahul Gandhi wrote, "Under Narendra Modi's government, the 'makers of India' are facing terrible hardships. The labourers are forced to run their households for four days with one day's earnings. They have no savings and are living a life of poverty because of the worry of paying the interest. I got the opportunity to meet street vendors and daily wage labourers in GTB Nagar and get to know their life struggles closely. Those who are building the 'future India', their own families' future is in danger. I will ensure that the hard-working labourers of India get their full rights, security and respect - this is my resolve." Earlier, Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Defence Minister Rajnath Singh of "lying" on the floor of the Parliament over the Agniveer scheme and demanded an apology from the latter. In his video message on X, Rahul Gandhi said that Singh had lied in Parliament about the issue of compensation to families of killed Agniveers. Upon his allegations, the Indian Army said that it salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar who lost his life in the line of duty and his family has already been paid Rs 98.39 lakhs. Ex-gratia and other benefits amounting to approximately 67 lakhs will be paid on final account settlement shortly post-due police verification. Indian Army's Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) posted a 'clarification on emoluments to Agniveer Ajay Kumar' on Wednesday and said certain posts on social media have brought out that compensation hasn't been paid to the next of kin of the Agniveer. "It is emphasised that the Indian Army salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar. The last rites were carried out with full Military Honours. Of the total amount due, family of Agniveer Ajay has already been paid Rs 98.39 lakhs," ADGPI said in a post on X. "Ex - Gratia and other benefits amounting to approximately 67 lakhs, as applicable according to the provisions of the Agniveer Scheme, will be paid on Final Account Settlement shortly post-due police verification. The total amount will be Rs 1.65 Cr approximately. It is re-emphasised that emoluments due to a fallen hero are paid expeditiously to the Next of Kin of departed soldiers, including Agniveers," it added. (ANI)
The Border Security Force has intensified its operation against touts and trans-border criminals in order to clamp down on the influx of Bangladeshi nationals and smuggling of contraband items in the state of Tripura, BSF Inspector General, Patel Piyush Purushottam Das said. During a press conference on Saturday, BSF IG informed that the manpower has been beefed up in the sensitive border outposts and a special operation has been launched to crack down on the network of touts and smugglers in the bordering areas. He stated that BSF has a "zero tolerance policy" against all such activities and field commander have been briefed to launch intelligence based operations to nab the touts. He further said that physical domination has been augmented with state of the art surveillance technology which includes AI enabled cameras and facial recognition tools. "Gaps in border fencing are being plugged using improvised methods. Additional teams are being deployed in depth areas and special focus is being given to joint operations with state police and sister agencies and the results are already visible on ground," the release quoted the IG as saying. "In the current calendar year, seizure of contraband worth Rs 29 crores has been made and 198 Bangladeshi nationals and 12 Rohingya Illegal Migrants (RIMs) were apprehended. A huge haul of narcotics and psychotropic drugs amounting to Rs 32 Crores has also taken place," he added. The IG further said that in the recently concluded IG BSF- Regional Commander BGB talks from July 1-4 in Shillong, a dossier containing list of Bangladeshi touts and criminals was handed over to Border Guard Bangladesh, which has assured to take action against them as per the law of land. Both the border guarding forces further agreed to identify vulnerable patches along the border and enhance the special coordinated patrols which is done jointly. A decision was also arrived to share the telephone numbers at field commander level to enable sharing of real time information, the release added. BSF IG concluded by saying that this multi-dimensional approach will ensure a safe and secure border in the state of Tripura. (ANI)
BSF Punjab Frontier said, "On July 6, 2024, based on information shared by the BSF intelligence wing about the presence of a suspected packet in the border area of Gurdaspur district, BSF troops promptly launched a search operation in the suspected area. During the search operation, at around 10:30 am, the troops successfully recovered one packet weighing 480 grams of suspected heroin in torn condition from a farming field of village Wazirpur Afgana in the Gurdaspur District. The narcotics were found wrapped in yellow adhesive tape."

The BSF said that reliable information and swift action of the troops thwarted yet another illicit attempt of cross-border narco-smugglers to smuggle narcotics into Punjab.

Earlier the Border Security Force (BSF) and Punjab Police jointly recovered around 550 grams of heroin from the Amritsar border area.

"On 04th July 2024, during late evening hours, the BSF intelligence wing shared information regarding presence of narcotics packet in the border area of district Amritsar. Acting promptly, BSF troops, in collaboration with Punjab police conducted an extensive search operation in the suspected area," the BSF said in a release.

During the search operation, at about 09:25 pm, troops successfully recovered one packet of suspected heroin (Gross weight- 550 grams) from the area adjacent to the village- Roranwala Khurd in district Amritsar, said the official release.

The narcotics were wrapped in yellow colour adhesive tape and one metal ring along with an illuminating strip was found attached to the packet, said the BSF.

This border district of Amritsar has been prone to illegal weapons and narcotics smuggling from across the border. (ANI)
After being discharged from hospital, veteran BJP leader LK Advani is stable, healthy, and resting at home. Notably, Lal Krishna Advani was discharged from the Apollo Hospital on July 4 where he was admitted. The 96-year-old leader was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Sarita Vihar at 9 pm on July 3 and was under observation of Dr Vinit Suri. Earlier, the BJP leader was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on June 26 and discharged after a night-long stay at the medical institute. Advani served as Deputy Prime Minister in the NDA government led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee from 2002 to 2004. He was conferred Bharat Ratna by President Droupadi Murmu in March this year. Born in Karachi (present-day Pakistan) on November 8, 1927, Advani joined the RSS as a Swayamsevak in 1942. He served as the BJP National President from 1986 to 1990, then from 1993 to 1998, and from 2004 to 2005. Advani had served as the President of the party for the longest period since its inception in 1980. Capping a parliamentary career of nearly three decades, LK Advani was first the Home Minister and, later, the Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet of Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1999-2004). In the run-up to the 2009 elections, Advani being the Leader of the Opposition in a parliamentary democracy was assumingly considered the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate for the general elections, ending on 16 May 2009, according to the official website of BJP. On 10 December 2007, the Parliamentary Board of BJP formally announced Advani as its prime ministerial candidate for the general elections due in 2009. But when Congress and its allies won the 2009 general elections, Advani paved the way for Sushma Swaraj to become the Leader of the Opposition in the 15th Lok Sabha. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday emphasized that people should take advantage of the 'Drone Didi Scheme', launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to train women to use drones for spraying fertilizers in their fields. Speaking at the 'Sahkar Se Samriddhi' programme on the occasion of the 102nd International Cooperative Day on Saturday, Shah praised the Gujarat government's decision to give a 50 per cent subsidy to farmers on Nano Urea and Nano DAP. "The Gujarat CM has taken a very important decision concerning nano urea. A subsidy of 50 per cent has been given on nano urea and nano-DAP. I want to appeal to the farmers that after sprinkling nano urea on your crops, you do not need to sprinkle the granular urea. This will cause harm to your crops and soil. Liquid nano urea and liquid nano DAP are sufficient for your crop health and increased productivity... The government has reduced the prices, so please make use of them," he said. "PM Narendra Modi has launched the 'Drone Didi Scheme', so please train women to use drones for spraying fertilisers," Shah added. The Home Minister further added that for many years, the cooperative sector had a demand for a separate ministry but Congress did not feel the need to do so. "PM Narendra Modi initiated an independent cooperation ministry on this day. For many years, the cooperative sector had a demand for a separate ministry, but Congress did not feel the need to do so. PM Narendra Modi understood the needs of the cooperative sector and formed an independent ministry for it. I appeal for a huge round of applause for the Prime Minister," Amit Shah said. He emphasized that the traditional use of both liquid and solid urea has detrimental effects on soil quality and human health. By switching to Nano Urea and Nano DAP, farmers can mitigate these adverse impacts and promote healthier farming practices. The minister also pointed out that two brands, Bharat Organic and Amul, are at the forefront of this initiative, offering 100 per cent organic products. Utilising global technology, these brands aim to revolutionise organic farming in India. To further strengthen the cooperative sector, Shah called on NABARD and cooperative banks nationwide to open accounts for district cooperative banks and milk production committees. This move aims to enhance financial efficiency and save money within the cooperative framework. The Gujarat government's subsidy on Nano Urea and Nano DAP aims to enhance agricultural sustainability, offering farmers the tools and support they need to adopt healthier and more productive farming practices. (ANI)
Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Sandeep Rai Rathore said on Saturday that they have apprehended eight people suspected to be involved in the murder of BSP state president K Armstrong. The Tamil Nadu Chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was hacked to death by a mob of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai, on July 5. "...8 people have been apprehended who we suspect to be involved in this crime. They are being questioned. Armstrong's post-mortem has been conducted," Rathore said. He also said that the situation in Chennai is normal. The situation in Chennai is normal. We will leave no stone unturned to unravel this case and investigate all the various angles. All other accused involved in this crime will be caught...," Rathore added. The top police official ruled out any political angle in the BSP leader's murder case. "There is no political angle to this...," Rathore said, adding that "BSP Leader Armstrong was attacked outside his residence." He said that the deceased Armstrong had seven cases against him. "In all the cases, he has been acquitted and the cases are closed." Rathore said police immediately rushed to the spot after being alerted and sent Armstrong to the hospital in ambulance. "Doctors at the hospital declared him dead upon arrival." Following the murder, he said ten special teams were formed. "After investigating the spot and accessing CCTV, we arrested 8 suspects in 2 hours.". Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President K Annamalai stated on Saturday that the safety of common citizens is not assured under the DMK rule. "Yesterday, a party leader was hacked to death. There is no guarantee for a common man's life in this DMK-led state government," Annamalai said at the BJP's state executive committee meeting. (ANI)
In preparation for the upcoming Kanwar Yatra during the holy month of Sawan, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently convened a high-level meeting, directing officials to ensure robust arrangements for Kanwar pilgrims' safety and convenience and urged officials from other states to issue ID cards to the Kanwar pilgrims. Subsequently, on Saturday, Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and DGP Prashant Kumar met in Meerut with senior officials from western Uttar Pradesh and four other states to strategise on ensuring a safe and successful pilgrimage of the devotees. Officials from neighbouring states were also urged to issue ID cards to the Kanwar pilgrims from their respective regions. In the meeting, officials stated that Kanwar pilgrims would not be allowed to carry spears, tridents, or any kind of weapon. There will be no ban on DJs on the Kanwar Yatra route, but the sound must be within the prescribed legal limit. The Kanwar Yatra will be monitored by CCTV and drones. Special attention will be given to devotees carrying the national flag during the Yatra. Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh said that the Kanwar Yatra will start on July 22 in the state. Senior officials from Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan participated in the Kanwar Yatra Coordination Meeting in Meerut. Senior officials from the bordering districts of Meerut joined the meeting online, while officials from the range and division were present. The Chief Secretary stated that a WhatsApp group has been created for all 12 districts of the Kanwar route. This group is divided into two parts: one for senior officials and the other for police station-level officers to share information. He further mentioned that for security reasons, the entire route has been divided into five zones. Health camps and Kanwar camps will be set up at various places along the route, providing resting, dining, and accommodation facilities for the pilgrims. Separate camps will be arranged for women. Health camps will also have anti-venom injections available. Eight combined control rooms will be set up in UP and Uttarakhand, operated by officials from both states to ensure all necessary facilities for the Kanwar pilgrims. DGP Prashant Kumar said that changes have been made in the traffic system in view of the Yatra. The entry of heavy vehicles will be banned from the routes from which the Yatra starts. Additionally, heavy vehicles will be banned from 12 midnight of July 21 on Delhi Expressway, Dehradun Expressway and Chaudhary Charan Singh Kanwar Marg. He further mentioned that the police will regulate the songs played by DJs and the sound limits during the Yatra. Special security measures will be in place on the borders of Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan, with active dog squads, bomb disposal teams, IB, intelligence, and LIU teams. Liquor and meat shops along the Kanwar route will be closed. Electric poles will be covered with polythene and transformers with nets to prevent any accidents. Camps along the Yatra route will be set up away from highways and expressways. DGP Kumar also mentioned that officials from other states have been instructed to provide ID cards to the Kanwar pilgrims to ensure they can be contacted and assisted in case of any issues. Additionally, the villages and police stations of the groups of pilgrims should be noted. (ANI)
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday paid floral tribute to the former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram, who is known as the pioneer of the Green Revolution on his 38th death anniversary. CM Siddaramaiah said that Babu Jagjivan Ram was a great person who provided food security to the people of the country. He was speaking to the media on Saturday after paying floral tributes at the statue of former Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Babu Jagjivan Ram near the west gate of the Vidhana Soudha on the occasion of his death anniversary. "At the time of independence, there was a severe shortage of food in the country, and there was a situation where we had to ask from other countries. Jagjivan Ram provided food security through many measures including the development of new varieties of crops," he said. "Babu Jagjivan Ram Bhavan, which has been built at a cost of around Rs 3 crore, will be inaugurated on July 13. Earlier, when our government was in power, the foundation stone for the construction of this building was laid. Science and skill development training will also be provided to eligible candidates in this Bhavan," CM Siddaramaiah added. Popularly known as Babuji, Jagjivan Ram was one of India's greatest Dalit icons, who fought for the rights of the underprivileged. He was the Defence Minister during the India-Pakistan War in 1971. Babu Jagjivan Ram was also the Deputy Prime Minister between 1977 and 1979. (ANI)
The Tripura government has rolled out a standard operating procedure (SOP) for organising the Rath Yatra festival in the state in order to avoid any unprecedented incident. It should be noted here that ten devotees were electrocuted to death after the metal made top of a chariot carrying lord Jagannath came in contact with a live electric wire at Kumarghat in Unakoti district. The Rath Yatra was organised by the Intentional Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Sharing details of the precautionary steps undertaken by the administration this time, District Magistrate West Tripura Vishal Kumar informed ANI that materials having insulative properties would be used for the construction of the chariot and the height of the chariot had been restricted to five meters. "The SOP has been communicated to all the organisers. All agencies and organisers are asked to strictly adhere to the rules and regulations. The administrative teams have inspected the composition of the Rath and routes have been planned accordingly. We hope the best services will be provided to the people and the celebrations will not be marred by any unfortunate incident," he told ANI. The District Magistrate also informed that Tripura State Electricity Corporation has also rolled out a specific guideline ahead of the festival. "As per the recommendations of the TSECL, the highest height of the chariot will be five meters as the electric wires are fixed at a height of six meters. We have also asked the organisers to use insulators for construction of the chariot instead of metals. So, this time only wood will be used, which is also the tradition. Moreover, ambulances, fire services tenders, and heavy security escort the procession. The number of volunteers and police personnel attached to the big processions had doubled this time," he added. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister of Tripura Manik Saha inaugurated the historic Jagannath Rath Yatra Mela in the Melaghar town of Sipahijala district of Tripura which will span for over nine days and will conclude on July 14, 2024. This event is jointly organized by the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs and the Melaghar Municipal Corporation. A major highlight of this year's mela is the grand Rath (chariot) prepared for Lord Jagannath, which stands at an impressive height of 58 feet. The procession of the Rath is a central attraction, drawing devotees and visitors from across the region. (ANI)
After the death of Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Tamil Nadu President K Armstrong, the party's National Coordinator Akash Anand will fly to Chennai to pay tribute to the late leader. K Armstrong was hacked to death by a group of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur on Friday evening. The BSP on Saturday wrote a letter to the Inspector General, CRPF and requested to take action to make all security arrangements. It added further, "Akash Anand, BSP's National Coordinator is going to depart by Charter plane from New Delhi to Chennai, Tamil Nadu on July 7, to pay floral tribute to late K. Armstrong, BSP Tamil Nadu State President, and to meet victim's family." BSP supremo Mayawati earlier in the day had said that she is planning to visit Chennai tomorrow to pay tribute to the slain leader. Taking to 'X, Mayawati wrote, "Considering the seriousness of this extremely sad and worrying incident, I am planning to go to Chennai tomorrow morning to pay my tributes to Armstrong, meet his grieving family and console them. I appeal to all to maintain peace and order." The BSP supremo also called for immediate action from the Tamil Nadu government. "The brutal murder of a hardworking and dedicated leader of the BSP in Tamil Nadu and the state party unit president Shri K Armstrong outside his Chennai residence yesterday evening has sent shockwaves across society. The government should immediately take strict/necessary action to prevent such incidents in the future," she said. Chennai police have secured eight suspects so far and formed a special team to investigate the murder of the BSP leader. Earlier today, CM MK Stalin also expressed grief over the incident and paid condolences to the slain leader's family. Taking to 'X', the Chief Minister wrote, "Bahujan Samaj Party State President Armstrong's assassination is shocking and deeply saddening. The police arrested those involved in the murder overnight." "I would like to convey my deepest condolences to all of Armstrong's party members, family, relatives, and friends who are bereaved, and I have ordered the police officers to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law," Stalin said. Meanwhile, BSP workers and supporters today gathered outside the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital mortuary in Chennai, where the body of the slain leader has been kept for autopsy. Chaotic scenes were witnessed outside the hospital as the BSP supporters attempted to break barricades to enter the hospital premises with the police trying to curb them. The protestors also staged a 'road roko' protest. BSP workers were captured raising slogans demanding the arrest of the culprits and a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The angry party workers also called out on Chief Minister MK Stalin, demanding his resignation. Several BSP workers held a sit-in protest on Poonamallee High Road in Chennai, causing a traffic jam and halting vehicular movements. (ANI)
Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee president Asish Kumar Saha on Saturday hit out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and accused it of using unfair means to wrest power in 94 per cent panchayat across the state in 2019. Speaking exclusively to ANI after a meeting of the party's senior leaders, Saha said, "In 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate didn't win elections through a democratic process. Instead of that, they wrest power riding on violence, intimidation and other unfair means." "From the very beginning, we have been asking for arrangements for online submission of nomination papers as last year many of our candidates faced violence. Even proposers were roughed up when they turned up to file their nomination papers. Instead of receiving a circular from the Election Commission of India, the State Election Commission is not willing to make arrangements for online nomination submission," said Saha. According to Saha, because of the large-scale violence, elections were conducted in only 14 per cent seats of the Panchayats. Describing unfair elections as one of the key reasons behind alleged corruption in the Panchayat administration, Saha said, "The Social Audit is not being conducted in the Panchayats. There is a dedicated department that is supposed to conduct the audit but the government is intentionally delaying it. So far we know, that an audit was carried out in some selected Panchayats and the outcome was concerning." "Corruption has crossed all limits in the village-level institutions. But, this time the situation is different. The Congress Party will fight the elections with full strength. Today, we reviewed the whole situation in a meeting attended by our block-level and district-level workers. The newly appointed Panchayat elections observers were also present in the meeting," asserted Saha. On being asked about the equation with INDIA block partner CPIM, he said, "Panchayats are very local level institutions. The state leaders should not interfere in that. We have left the decision on block-level leaders to reach a consensus on seat sharing with CPIM." Earlier on June 10, Tripura State Election Commissioner Saradindu Chaudhuri on Monday said that 2,650 polling stations have been identified and around 55 lakh ballot papers are to be printed for three-tier panchayat polls in Tripura. The Tripura State Election Commissioner also said that approximately 12,95,086 voters across 35 blocks are eligible to vote in the upcoming panchayat polls. Chaudhuri also said that the panchayat elections are going to be held in the last part of July or the first part of August as by August the present term (of the Panchayat) will be complete. (ANI)
Citing Model Code of Conduct violations, the Bharatiya Janata Party has raised a complaint against the Aam Aadmi Party for releasing the dreaded gangster Daljeet Bhana on parole ahead of the Jalandhar West Constituency by-elections. In a letter to the Election Commission of India, the BJP stated that the dreaded gangster Daljeet Bhana, who is out on parole, is campaigning for the AAP and spreading fear among the voters. "It came to the knowledge, that during the bye-election process of AC Jalandhar west, the ruling AAP Govt. of Punjab has released, one dreaded gangster, Daljeet Bhana, on parole, in violation to MCC guidelines," the letter stated. "The said gangster is a resident of AC Jalandhar west and is involved in various murder cases. The saidgangster is now roaming freely in the area of AC Jalandhar west with the police officials and creating terror, which has led to a lot of panic amongst voters," it added. The letter further stated that the BJP workers also have apprehension that the gangster has been brought out to capture polling booths of the area. Requesting the Election Commission to cancel parole of the gangster, the BJP, in the letter stated, "you are requested to take immediate action, his parole be cancelled to ensure the free & fair elections". Earlier, while addressing a Press conference on Thursday, Former chief minister and Jalandhar MP Charanjit Singh Channi accused the AAP of manipulating the Jalandhar West assembly by-election. "The government has stooped to a new low and has brought in gangsters and notorious elements to intimidate the voters. A gangster Daljit Singh Bhana was given parole two days ago, and he is aggressively campaigning for the ruling party. There are apprehensions of booth capturing on the polling day by these anti-social elements. What is need of giving parole to dreaded gangster," he said while addressing the Press conference. The bye-election for the Jalandhar West Assembly seat is scheduled for July 10. (ANI)
After Uttar Pradesh Police arrested the main accused Dev Prakash Madhukar in connection with the Hathras stampede, the police investigation revealed that political parties were in contact with Madhukar, who was carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh. Two other accused, Ram Prakash Shakya and Sanju Yadav, were also arrested on Saturday. With this, Hathras Police have now arrested a total of nine accused. The stampede happened during the 'Satsang' of self-styled godman Suraj Pal Singh, or 'Bhole Baba' in Fulari village in Hathras on July 2. According to Hathras Police, interrogation of the accused revealed that some political parties had contacted them some time ago. Meanwhile, the involvement of political parties in the incident through funding is being investigated. Hathras SP Nipun Aggarwal said that Dev Prakash Madhukar was arrested by the district SOG of Hathras on Friday evening from Najafgarh (Delhi), while the Sikandra Rao police arrested accused Ram Prakash Shakya from Kailora Chauraha and accused Sanju Yadav from Gopalpur Kachauri, Sikandra Rao on Saturday. Aggarwal further noted that Dev Prakash Madhukar, due to his long-term involvement with the organization, had become its fundraiser, collecting money to support its operations and conduct Satsang. "Based on the interrogation so far, it appears that a political party might be involved with them for its own political and personal gains," the Hathras SP revealed. Meanwhile, all bank accounts, movable and immovable properties, and money trails associated with the accused Madhukar are being investigated, and assistance from other agencies will be sought as necessary, Aggarwal informed. According to Hathras Police, the interrogation also revealed that the preacher's vehicle was driven through the crowd by the accused and their assistants, despite knowing that doing so could cause a stampede and a terrible accident due to the rush for the preacher's blessings. Additionally, an in-depth investigation is being conducted to determine whether this incident was incited or instructed by someone else. The police stated that if necessary, the arrested assistants and organisers would be taken into police custody and remanded for further interrogation. The police reported that during the initial interrogation, accused Dev Prakash revealed that he has been working on a contract basis as a junior engineer in the MGNREGA in Etah district since 2010. He has been associated with this organization for years, organizing events and collecting funds for it. He was the main organizer of the Satsang event held in the village of Phulrai on July 2, and he obtained the necessary permissions for this event. Dev Prakash and other assistants prevented the police administration from intervening at the event site. People were prohibited from doing any videography or photography at the event site. Violating several conditions mentioned in the permit issued by the administration, they disrupted traffic arrangements and other logistics. The interrogation also revealed that no efforts were made to control the crowd, and all of them fled the scene. (ANI)
Amid the heavy rainfall in the state, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on Saturday informed that the water level of the Ganga river in Rishikesh is continuously rising. As the water level of the river reached the Triveni Ghat Aarti Sthal, SDRF issued an alert for travellers and warned them to avoid staying at the ghats at night. Currently, the situation is normal at the moment and all the travellers and citizens in the town are being alerted by the water police and SDRF teams. Earlier in the day, Additional Chief Executive Officer (Administration) State Disaster Management Authority Anand Swaroop denied the viral video that showed the breaking of the NTPC Dam in Chamoli. He clarified that an old video of a disaster in the Raini village of Chamoli district, which occurred on February 7, 2021, is rapidly going viral on social media, which is creating confusion among the general public. Meanwhile, the water level of the Ramganga River in the Pithoragarh district is 0.10 meters above the danger mark and the water level of the Gauri Ganga River in the Pithoragarh district is 0.20 meters above the danger mark, but at present, it is showing signs of going down. Earlier, on Friday, it was reported that Uttarakhand Police issued an alert for the people residing on the banks of the Pindar River due to a rise in the water level of the river. Heavy downpours and incessant rainfall in the district have resulted in the Pindar River's water level rising significantly which led to an issuance of alert for the locals. The police have appealed to people to be on "alert mode" and inform about any emergency by dialling 112. Taking it a social media post on X, the Chamoli Police Uttarakhand wrote in Hindi, "Due to continuous rain in the district, the water level of the Pindar river is rising and the velocity of the water is high. Chamoli Police appeals to the people living on the river banks to please be alert and inform about any emergency on dial 112." (ANI)
Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai on Saturday visited Sheroes Cafe in Lucknow and asserted that the party members always stand with the acid-attack survivors and urged the government to take strict action against those who sell acids. Cafe Sheroes Hangout operates in Agra, Lucknow, and Noida and is run by acid-attack survivors. Speaking with ANI, Rai said, "Sheroes cafe, which is run by our daughters, who are the acid-attack survivors, the whole Congress family stands with them." He added, "Currently, one girl, who suffered an acid attack, is struggling between life and death in a hospital. Our Congress workers went to the hospital and expressed their support to her family." Taking to his official X handle, Ajay Rai posted, "Recently in Lucknow, a young man attacked a girl student with acid in broad daylight, due to which the girl was severely burnt." He added, "Today, a delegation led by the State Women Congress President Mamta Choudhary reached KGMU to enquire about the well-being of the victim student and met the family members and assured them of all possible help. Choudhary said that the government has failed to provide security to the daughters. The criminal should be punished as soon as possible by conducting a trial in the fast-track court and justice should be given to the victim." Asserting Congress' support to the acid-attack survivors, Rai said, "'Jaha bhi atyachar, anyay hoga, puri Congress party ka ek ek karyakarta khada rahega. (Wherever there are atrocities and injustice, every worker of the Congress Party will be there).' We will give them the strength. We came to Sheroes cafe so that these girls and their families get the strength." Urging the government to take strict actions, Rai said that these kinds of acids, which are available in the shops for Rs 20, Rs 30, are misused. "The government should immediately ban them so that these kinds of incidents stop. The government should also take action against the shop owners who sell acids." (ANI)
Attacking the DMK government in Tamil Nadu over the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party state president K Armstrong, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shehzad Poonawalla said on Saturday that "no Dalit is feeling safe" in the state. He also attacked the Tamil Nadu government over the Kallkurichi hooch tragedy and asked why "no action" has been taken till now. "The law and order situation in Tamil Nadu has completely gone out of hand. MK Stalin is directly responsible, as he is the Home Minister as well. When K Armstrong, a Dalit BSP leader of Tamil Nadu is killed at 7 pm with heavy weapons in Chennai, who is safe? No Dalit feels safe in Tamil Nadu," Poonawalla told ANI. "65 Dalits lost their lives in Kallkurichi hooch tragedy but no action was taken? Does the Chief Minister have any moral right to continue? Where are the INDI alliance leaders?.. Rahul Gandhi did not speak a word about the entire killing of so many Dalits in Kallakurichi. Will he visit the houses of these Dalits? This shows his selective outreach." Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai also attacked the DMK government after the incident. "Yesterday, a party leader was hacked to death. There is no guarantee for a common man's life in this DMK-led state government," Annamalai said at the BJP's state executive committee meeting. Union Minister and BJP leader L Murugan also condemned the killing of Armstrong and said the DMK government has failed to maintain law and order in the state. "A National Party's state president was unable to survive because of the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu. The DMK government has totally failed to maintain law and order in the state," Muruganm told ANI. Armstrong, the Tamil Nadu chief of BSP was hacked to death by a mob of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai. Chennai police have secured eight suspects so far and formed a special team to investigate the murder of the BSP leader. Meanwhile, the body of the slain leader has been kept in the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital mortuary for autopsy. Referring to the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, which claimed over 60 lives earlier last month, the Union Minister asked why Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Hathras but not Kallakurichi. "10 days ago, almost 70 people died due to illicit liquor... The Tamil Nadu CM controls the Police and Home Ministry and he is failing at it. Rahul Gandhi is visiting Hathras but he does not know where Kallakurichi is. Political leaders are being murdered, they don't have safety; where is the state headed?" he asked. Earlier, Tamil Nadu CM Stalin expressed grief over the incident and paid condolences to the family of the slain leader. He further said the police have been ordered to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law. Taking to 'X', CM Stalin wrote, "Bahujan Samaj Party State President Armstrong's assassination is shocking and deeply saddening. The police arrested those involved in the murder overnight." "I would like to convey my deepest condolences to all of Armstrong's party members, family, relatives, and friends who are bereaved, and I have ordered the police officers to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law," he added. BSP Chief Mayawati has also condemned the gruesome killing of the party's Tamil Nadu president, asking the state government to "punish the guilty." "The gruesome killing of K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state government must punish the guilty," Mayawati said in a post on X on Friday. (ANI)
Abu Dhabi [UAE], July 6 (ANI/WAM): Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, congratulated Ronald Lamola, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of the Republic of South Africa. During a phone call today, the two ministers discussed the friendly relations and bilateral cooperation between the UAE and the Republic of South Africa and ways to enhance them in all fields to serve the mutual interests of the two countries. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed expressed his wishes to Ronald Lamola for success in his work duties, stressing his aspiration to work with him to develop the prospects for bilateral cooperation in support of the two countries' development plans and their aspirations to achieve sustainable economic prosperity. (ANI/WAM)
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has criticised the transparency of the 2024 general elections, describing them as "not transparent." Despite acknowledging rigging against his party in every election, he refuted claims that the February 8th elections saw the largest rigging in Pakistan's history, as reported by ARY News. Speaking at a press conference in Quetta, Bilawal emphasised the need to end the recurring issue of rigging in elections through political consensus. "The politicians need to agree that the match should be played fairly and the result should also be accepted," he asserted. Bilawal highlighted PPP's proactive role in advocating for election reforms, lamenting occasional hindrances from rival parties or individual politicians. He pointed out ongoing cases of election rigging being adjudicated in election tribunals, underscoring the importance of fair electoral practices, ARY News reported. Regarding developmental initiatives, Bilawal praised the Sindh government's achievements in healthcare, citing the establishment of a state-of-the-art hospital in Gambat for liver transplants. He pledged similar advancements in Quetta, ensuring equitable access to quality healthcare and education for its residents. "The hospital in Naseerabad, Balochistan, will match the standards set by the Gambat facility," Bilawal affirmed. Discussing PPP's manifesto, Bilawal reiterated the party's stance on the abolition of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He criticised NAB for allegedly engaging in political engineering, revenge tactics, and tarnishing the reputations of politicians, which he claimed has adversely impacted Pakistan's economy and democratic processes. Bilawal expressed disappointment over the lack of consensus regarding NAB's abolition, signaling PPP's intent to continue advocating for its removal. Commenting on the 2024-25 budget, Bilawal stated that PPP supported the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to ensure the federation's stability. However, he voiced dissatisfaction with PML-N's alleged failure to uphold agreements made between the two parties. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari emphasised PPP's commitment to electoral integrity, healthcare advancements, and economic reform, underscoring the party's ongoing efforts to address national challenges and uphold democratic values in Pakistan, ARY News reported. (ANI)
The Tibetan Buddhist monks-in-exile celebrated the 89th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama in Shimla on Saturday. The monks gathered to offer early morning prayers for the Dalai Lama's long life at the Dorje Drak Monastery in Shimla. The boy monk Nawang Tashi Rapten, the Taklung Tsetul Rinpoche, and the head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism also participated in the prayers. Acharya Lodoe Zangpo, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, said, that they celebrated the 89th birthday of Dalai Lama and offered prayers for his long life. He stated that Buddhists consider the Dalai Lama a "peacemaker" and "very important" in this degenerating time. Speaking to ANI, Zangpo said, "Today we are celebrating the 89th birthday of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Early in the morning, we offered long-life prayers and long-life Mandalas in front of His throne. We have done cake-cutting celebrations and now we have done all the prayers for his long life in continuity of Buddha Dharma in this world." Asked on how the Dalai Lama is important for peace, he responded, "This is very important for all of us because of this degenerating time. There are so many changes and negative things and wars happening in this world. We see him as a peace maker and revealer of peace and he is teaching a message of peace to us and everywhere in the world. So, we see him as very important in this degenerating time." The 14th Dalai Lama was born to a small farming family of Tibet's Takster on July 6, 1935. He was named Lhamo Thondup, which literally means 'Wish-Fulfilling Goddess', according to Dalai Lama's website. At the age of two, the boy Lhamo Dhondup was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. In October 1939, he was brought to Lhasa and was formally installed as the head of the state of Tibet on February 22, 1940. At the age of six, Lhamo Dhondup was named Tenzin Gyatso. On November 17, 1950, the Dalai Lama was officially enthroned as the temporal leader of Tibet in a ceremony held at the Norbulingka Palace. In March 1959, after the suppression of the Tibetan National Uprising, the Dalai Lama was forced to escape into exile in India with over 80,000 refugees. For over the past 60 years, the Dalai Lama has been working for the promotion of peace, love, and compassion. (ANI)
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has called on Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to recuse himself from the benches hearing cases related to the political party, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. Also, PTI founder Imran Khan has said that he was contemplating going on a hunger strike if he continued to be denied justice. Speaking to reporters after attending court proceedings in the 190m corruption case on Friday, former Pakistan PM Imran Khan said that the decision on the cases must be made on the basis of 'like or dislike', as all citizens are equal before the law. He stated that every other case involving PTI was fixed before CJP Isa despite his lawyer's objection to the CJP's presence on the bench. The PTI founder said that his legal team wanted such cases to be transferred away from Courtroom 1, according to Dawn report. Imran Khan reiterated his allegation that Adiala Jail was being managed by some colonel or major and added that the jail superintendent served "under their command" who did not allow him to meet with PTI leaders. Some PTI leaders had come to the jail to meet Imran Khan over the party's internal disputes,. However, the jailer, allegedly as per the instructions of that military officer, did not allow them to meet Imran Khan for at least three hours, Dawn reported. Imran Khan said he was considering the decision to go on a hunger strike and would do so if justice was denied. Speaking to reporters, Khan said he would advise his party leaders not to make internal differences public, as it would divert attention from the real cause. PTI founder further said that the recent budget had already buried Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) politics. Meanwhile, PTI Central Information Secretary Raoof Hasan demanded that the Chief Justice of Pakistan should recuse himself from all cases related to PTI as they had reservations about him, the report said. Speaking on the occasion, PTI lawyer Shoaib Shaheen said that the party wanted that decisions should be made based on the law and the Constitution. He further said that the CJP should not remain on the bench, as the the party and its leader had expressed reservations about CJP. PTI leader Shaukat Basra said that all 180 PTI Members of National Assembly and Members of Provincial Assembly from across the country would appear in court to express their reservations. Khan (71), who served as Pakistan's Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022, has been incarcerated in Adiala Jail since August 2023 on multiple charges. (ANI)
Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian has secured a win in the presidential elections in Iran, CNN reported, citing Press TV. Out of 30.5 million votes counted in Friday's runoff, Pezeshkian received over 16.3 million votes while his ultraconservative rival Saeed Jalili got more than 13.5 million votes, CNN said. According to election headquarters under the auspices of the interior ministry, the voter turnout was 49.8 per cent in the Iran's presidential elections, the report said. Pezeshkian was elected in a second round of voting after he received the highest number of votes in the first round, ahead of Jalili. The first round witnessed lowest turnout for a presidential election since Iran was established in 1979. He will become the president of a country that is facing rising international isolation, internal discontent, a spiralling economy and the prospect of direct conflict with Israel. Snap elections were held in Iran after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a chopper crash along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials in Iran's remote northwest in May. Pezeshkian was the only reformist candidate who was contesting for the top elected seat in Iran after dozens of other candidates were stopped from running. He has backed holding talks with Iran's foes, especially over its nuclear program and considers that as a means to address domestic issues in Iran. At a recent presidential debate, Pezeshkian said, "The primary issue is the perspective: Do we want to solve our problems with the world or not? I believe we must get out of the deadlock to solve the country's problems." President in Iran enjoys some powers. However, the ultimate authority lies with Iran's supreme leader, who has the final say on the matters of state. Masoud Pezeshkian was a health minister under reformist president Mohammad Khatami. He is a trained heart surgeon and lawmaker. He gained the attention of people for his stance against the crackdown on the 2009 pro-democracy protests and the violence perpetrated by the notorious morality police in 2022 after Mahsa Amini's death. Mahsa Amini died in the custody of morality police after being detained for not following Iran's strict dress code for women. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands were arrested as the authorities wanted to suppress the protest, CNN reported, citing the United Nations. Amini died in the custody of the morality police after being detained for not adhering to the Islamic Republic's strict dress code for women. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested as the authorities sought to crush the protests, according to the United Nations. During the 2022 protests, Pezeshkian, in an interview with Iran's IRINN TV, said, "It is our fault. We want to implement religious faith through the use of force. This is scientifically impossible." He said, "I bear part of the blame, the distinguished religious scholars and the mosques bear part of the blame, and the (Iranian) broadcasting authority bears part of the blame." He added, "Everybody should step forward and be held accountable, rather than capture that girl, beat her up, and eventually deliver her body (to her family)." Pezeshkian (69) has presented himself as a candidate for all the people of Iran. After he lost his wife and one of his children in a car crash in 1994, he devoted much of his time to politics. He ran for president in 2013 and 2021 polls. However, he was unable to make headway. He hails from an ethnically mixed family. His father is Azeri and his mother is Kurdish and his mother tongue is not Persian. That has burnishe The 69-year-old hails from an ethnically mixed family - his father is Azeri and his mother is Kurdish. Persian isn't his mother tongue. That has burnished his image for minorities in Iran. However, it has him open to xenophobic attacks from some opponents. According to experts, a more moderate face as Iran's President could facilitate talks between Iran and Western nations. Pezeshkian might also bring some social changes, which he had talked about during his election campaign. However, experts have said that such moves are far from guaranteed. Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the Chatham House think tank in London, said it's unlikely that Pezeshkian's election would immediately translate into policy changes. Vakil further said, "But Pezeshkian has made it clear that he will try to work through and within the system in order to perhaps accommodate a less repressive environment," CNN reported. She stated that reformist did not guarantee that he could make those changes, adding that this shows the limits of presidential powers in Iran. Vakil added, "But (it may add) a bit more room for maneuver on social freedoms." He will become Iran's President at a time when Iran is facing escalating tensions with Israel and its western allies, triggered by the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the advancement of Iran's nuclear program. A few months ago, Iran and Israel exchanged fire for the first time as the conflict in Gaza widened. Israel is now preparing for a potential second front against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Last week, Iran's mission to the United Nations said that should Israel "embark on full-scale military aggression" against Lebanon, then "an obliterating war will ensue," CNN reported. In a post on X, Iran's mission to UN stated, "All options, including the full involvement of all Resistance Fronts, are on the table." In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that "a regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed." According to experts, Pezeshkian is not expected to change the trajectory on Israel. (ANI)
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Omar Ayub has said that the party's public gathering in Islamabad will take place as per its schedule today despite the authorities' suspension of the No-Objection Certificate (NOC), Pakistan-based ARY News reported. In a statement, Ayub said that the PTI was given permission after the order was issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to hold the public gathering. He added that PTI would not be deterred by the government's attempts to restrict their political activities. Omar Ayub said that the government took the decision out of fear and it was trying to stop the rally from taking place. He said that PTI was making preparations for the rally and workers were gathering to attend the event, according to an ARY News report. The PTI leader's statement comes after Islamabad Chief Commissioner suspended the no-objection certificate (NOC) issued to the party for public gathering just a day before the scheduled public gathering. The decision to suspend the NOC issued to PTI was taken during a meeting chaired by the Islamabad Chief Commissioner, wherein security agencies voiced their reservations regarding the potential risks related to the rally, ARY News reported. The authorities said that the decision to suspend the NOC was taken to ensure the maintenance of law and order in the city. The authorities stressed that the safety of the people is their top priority, and all necessary measures must be taken to ensure that peace and tranquility are maintained in the city. The district administration of Islamabad had allowed PTI to hold a public gathering near Tarnol Chowk on July 6, ARY News reported. After the NOC was issued, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) disposed of the application for the issuance of the NOC for public gathering. Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court heard the petition, which requested permission for the PTI's meeting in Islamabad. Meanwhile, PTI founder Imran Khan has said that he was contemplating going on a hunger strike if he continued to be denied justice. Speaking to reporters after attending court proceedings in the 190m corruption case on Friday, former Pakistan PM Imran Khan said that the decision on the cases must be made on the basis of 'like or dislike', as all citizens are equal before the law. He stated that every other case involving PTI was fixed before CJP Isa despite his lawyer's objection to the CJP's presence on the bench. The PTI founder said that his legal team wanted such cases to be transferred away from Courtroom 1, according to Dawn report. Imran Khan reiterated his allegation that Adiala Jail was being managed by some colonel or major and added that the jail superintendent served "under their command" who did not allow him to meet with PTI leaders. Some PTI leaders had come to the jail to meet Imran Khan over the party's internal disputes, however, the jailer, allegedly as per the instructions of that military officer, did not allow them to meet Imran Khan for at least three hours, Dawn reported. Imran Khan said he was considering the decision to go on a hunger strike and would do so if justice was denied. Speaking to reporters, Khan said he would advise his party leaders not to make internal differences public, as it would divert attention from the real cause. PTI founder further said that the recent budget had already buried Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) politics. (ANI)
On the occasion of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's 89th birthday, special prayers were offered at the Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Bodh Gaya on Saturday. Tibetan monks gathered to offer prayers for the long life of the Dalai Lama. After the prayers, Tibetan monks planned to cut the cake to celebrate the birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, renowned globally for his teachings on compassion and peace, is currently recuperating following a successful knee surgery in the United States. The Dalai Lama was discharged from the hospital on June 29. Dalai Lama's birthday was also celebrated in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla. The monks gathered to offer early morning prayers for the Dalai Lama's long life at the Dorje Drak Monastery in Shimla. The boy monk Nawang Tashi Rapten, the Taklung Tsetul Rinpoche, and the head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism also participated in the prayers. Acharya Lodoe Zangpo, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, said, that they celebrated the 89th birthday of Dalai Lama and offered prayers for his long life. He stated that Buddhists consider the Dalai Lama a "peacemaker" and "very important" in this degenerating time. Speaking to ANI, Zangpo said, "Today we are celebrating the 89th birthday of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Early in the morning, we offered long-life prayers and long-life Mandalas in front of His throne. We have done cake-cutting celebrations and now we have done all the prayers for his long life in continuity of Buddha Dharma in this world." Asked on how the Dalai Lama is important for peace, he responded, "This is very important for all of us because of this degenerating time. There are so many changes and negative things and wars happening in this world. We see him as a peace maker and revealer of peace and he is teaching a message of peace to us and everywhere in the world. So, we see him as very important in this degenerating time." The 14th Dalai Lama was born to a small farming family in Tibet's Takster on July 6, 1935. He was named Lhamo Thondup, which literally means 'Wish-Fulfilling Goddess', according to Dalai Lama's website. At the age of two, the boy Lhamo Dhondup was recognised as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. In October 1939, he was brought to Lhasa and was formally installed as the head of the state of Tibet on February 22, 1940. At the age of six, Lhamo Dhondup was named Tenzin Gyatso. On November 17, 1950, the Dalai Lama was officially enthroned as the temporal leader of Tibet in a ceremony held at the Norbulingka Palace. In March 1959, after the suppression of the Tibetan National Uprising, the Dalai Lama was forced to escape into exile in India with over 80,000 refugees. For over the past 60 years, the Dalai Lama has been working for the promotion of peace, love, and compassion. (ANI)
Sheikh Abdullah expressed his wishes to Secretary Lammy for success in his work, praising the historical relations between the two countries.

He also expressed his aspiration to work with Secretary Lammy to reinforce and develop these relations to achieve the mutual interests of the two countries and benefits their peoples. (ANI/WAM)
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has planned a national gathering that seeks to bring attention to and protest against the systematic extermination of Baloch people in Pakistan. BYC organiser Mahrang Baloch on Saturday said details regarding the Baloch National Gathering will be announced on the outfits official YouTube channel this evening as per a social media post on X of the BYC. The gathering seeks to bring attention to and protest the "systematic extermination" of the Baloch people. The BYC has urged all supporters to participate in their assembly and express solidarity with the Baloch community in their quest for justice and respect. According to BYC, the event aims to amplify awareness about the challenges faced by the Baloch population and advocate for their rights amidst ongoing struggles. It serves as a platform for unity and collective action to address the issues impacting the Baloch people's well-being and future. As per the BYC, the well-being and future of the Baloch people are profoundly affected by several critical issues, particularly concerning human rights violations and natural resources. Human rights abuses, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and arbitrary detentions, are rampant in Balochistan. These violations create a pervasive atmosphere of fear and insecurity among the population, undermining their ability to live freely and securely, the organisation claimed. In addition, the exploitation of Balochistan's abundant natural resources, like gas, minerals, and fisheries, has often occurred without equitable distribution of benefits to the local Baloch communities, it said. This economic marginalisation exacerbates poverty and unemployment, contributing to socio-economic disparities and hindering sustainable development in the region. The combination of human rights violations and the exploitation of natural resources underscores the urgent need for advocacy and intervention to address these systemic challenges and uphold the rights and well-being of the Baloch people, the BYC said. Global bodies have condemned the violations committed against the Baloch people and urged Pakistan to investigate and prosecute those responsible and to ensure the protection of fundamental rights in Balochistan. Earlier in June, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee highlighted the situation of family members amid cases of enforced disappearances. It said that Baloch families continue to protest in Turbat demanding safe return of their loved ones. "Eid has come and gone, but Baloch families continue to protest at Shaheed Fida Chowk Turbat, demanding the safe return of their loved ones who have been missing since Eid. The District Administration had falsely assured them of their loved ones' release before. Now, no state authority has come forward to address their demands," BYC posted on X. According to the statement, the protesters included families of victims of enforced disappearances like Fateh, Nisar Karim, Rafiq, Meeras Hussain, and Jan Mohammad, all missing since 2023. (ANI)
Uyghur Americans commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Urumqi Massacre in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC. The Uyghur Americans Association shared pictures of the protest on X. In a post on X on Friday, the Uyghur Americans Association stated, "Uyghur Americans commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Urumchi Massacre in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., today." https://x.com/Uyghur_American/status/1809449111147446731?s=08 The tragic events unfolded on July 5, 2009 as thousands of Uyghurs took to the streets in a march towards the People's Square in central Urumchi to protest the Chinese government's handling of the Shaoguan incident. A large number of people were killed and sustained injuries in three days of violence between ethnic minority Uyghurs and Han Chinese that began on July 5, 2009, in Xinjiang's largest city, Urumqi. This incident involved the deaths of several Uyghurs at the hands of a mob of Chinese factory workers during a dispute. The 15th anniversary of the Urumqi Massacre was marked by various groups and individuals concerned with human rights, Uyghur advocacy, and remembrance of the victims. These events typically serve as a platform to raise awareness about the Urumqi Massacre, commemorate the victims, and advocate for justice and accountability. There are several significant issues concerning Uyghurs in China. Reports from various sources indicate that Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region face widespread human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, forced labour, forced assimilation practices, and religious and cultural repression. The Chinese government has been accused of detaining hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs in internment camps under the pretext of combating extremism and terrorism. These camps are reported to subject detainees to indoctrination, abuse, and harsh conditions. According to reports, Xinjiang is heavily monitored through surveillance technologies, including facial recognition, AI-driven monitoring systems, and mass data collection. On July 5, The World Uyghur Congress (WUC), an Uyghur rights organisation based in Munich, Germany in a statement released on Friday, condemned the Chinese authorities for the atrocities they inflicted upon the Uyghur community of East Turkistan. The WUC slammed Beijing and stated that the country must take responsibility for atrocities in the East Turkestan/Xinjiang region, and compensate the victims for the losses they had suffered. In a post on X, World Uyghur Congress stated, "On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Urumchi massacre, the WUC & @GfbV demand that the government must finally recognise its responsibility for the massacre of the Uyghurs in East Turkistan and compensate the victims."(ANI)
PM Modi further expressed his eagerness to work closely with the newly elected Iranian President to further strengthen the country's long-standing bilateral relationship with India.

Taking on X, PM Modi wrote, "Congratulations @drpezeshkian on your election as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Looking forward to working closely with you to further strengthen our warm and long-standing bilateral relationship for the benefit of our peoples and the region."

https://x.com/narendramodi/status/1809520924095377577

Reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian secured a win in the presidential elections in Iran, CNN reported, citing Press TV.

Out of 30.5 million votes counted in Friday's runoff, Pezeshkian received over 16.3 million votes while his ultraconservative rival Saeed Jalili got more than 13.5 million votes.

According to election headquarters under the auspices of the interior ministry, the voter turnout was 49.8 per cent in the Iran's presidential elections, the report said.

Pezeshkian was elected in a second round of voting after he received the highest number of votes in the first round, ahead of Jalili. The first round witnessed lowest turnout for a presidential election since Iran was established in 1979.

He will become the president of a country that is facing rising international isolation, internal discontent, a spiralling economy and the prospect of direct conflict with Israel.

Snap elections were held in Iran after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a chopper crash along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other officials in Iran's remote northwest in May.

Notably, Pezeshkian was elected in a second round of voting after he received the highest number of votes in the first round, ahead of Jalili. The first round witnessed lowest turnout for a presidential election since Iran was established in 1979.

He has become the president of a country that is facing rising international isolation, internal discontent, a spiralling economy and the prospect of direct conflict with Israel. (ANI)
The birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama was celebrated by his followers at the Kalchakra Monastery in West Bengal's Siliguri on Saturday. Dalai Lama's followers said they would celebrate July 6 as the 'Universal Day of Compassion' to honour the great contributions of the Dalai Lama towards a global mission for peace and harmony among humankind. Prior to this, the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace (ABCP) unanimously declared July 6 as the 'Universal Day of Compassion' in 2024. The followers of Dalai Lama offered prayers for his long life. They also cut birthday cake and performed cultural celebration. Large crowds gathered at the Kalchakra Monastery, since the morning, to celebrate Dalai Lama's birthday. Prayers were also organised to mark Dalai Lama's birthday. Himalayan Buddhist Cultural organisation, Chief Secretary, Sanam Ninduk Lama said that July 6 will now be celebrated as 'Universal Day of Compassion.' He also elaborated on the celebrations being held today. Speaking to ANI, Sanam Ninduk Lama said, "We are celebrating Dalai Lama's 89th birthday. We celebrate it every year...Now, every year, this day will be celebrated as 'Universal Day of Compassion.' We are very happy. We have been preparing for this celebration for the past month, including the children, parents and school children." "Since this morning, we have prayed for the long life of Dalai Lama. After that, the program has started. Cake has been distributed among children. The guests were served tea and food," he added. He expressed happiness that the Universal Day of Compassion is being celebrated and added that Dalai Lama has given the message of peace and compassion to the whole world. Asked on the reason why Universal Day of Compassion is being celebrated, he stated, "The reason why we celebrate Compassion Day is because it is Dalai Lama's 89th birthday. He has been in Tibet for 25 years. He has lived in India for more than 70 years. He has given message of peace and compassion to the whole world." A Buddhist follower, Prerena Waling said that they will now celebrate Dalai Lama's birthday and the 'Universal Day of Compassion' every year on July 6. She said that Dalai Lama's birthday will be celebrated in a grand manner next year. "Today is 6th July, which is the birthday of His Holiness 14th Day Dalai Lama. So, today along with it...we have started to celebrate 'Universal Day of Compassion'. That means that the day of His Holiness Dalai Lama, who is known for his compassion' and has spread the message of unity among all the communities, not just Buddhist community," she said. "So, from today onwards, we will celebrate Universal Day of Commission on the birthday of His Holiness, Universal Day of Compassion, which is declared by the Himalayan Buddhist Preservation Society. So, all over the world, we are celebrating Universal Day of Compassion since today. We are very happy because every year we celebrate the birthday since His Holiness is the patron of the school and association as well. We celebrate this birthday every year. We are celebrating it in a grand manner," Waling added. Dalai Lama was born to a small farming family in Tibet's Takster on July 6, 1935. At the age of two, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. After a failed uprising against the Chinese rule in 1959, the Dalai Lama was forced to escape into exile in India with over 80,000 refugees. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his non-violent campaign for democracy and freedom in his homeland. Since fleeing to India, he has spent his time in exile pushing for autonomy for Tibet. (ANI)
In a telephone conversation, the Prime Minister extended invitation to PM Starmer for an early visit to India.

The two leaders agreed to work towards early conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

"Both leaders recalled the historic relations between the two countries and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen and advance the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UK," a PMO release said.

Appreciating the positive contributions of the Indian community in the social, economic and political development of the UK, the two sides agreed to continue to promote closer people-to-people ties.

Both leaders agreed to remain in touch.

PM Modi also said that the two countries were committed to deepening economic ties.

"Pleased to speak with @Keir_Starmer. Congratulated him on being elected as the Prime Minister of the UK. We remain committed to deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust - economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our peoples and global good," PM Modi said in a post on X.

Labour Party won a huge mandate in the UK elections and has come to power after after 14 years of Conservative rule.

Starmer, a former barrister who entered Parliament in 2015, assumed Labour leadership in 2020.

In his first speech outside 10, Downing Street, Starmer promised to serve all citizens, regardless of who they voted for and assured that the process of change will start immediately to "rebuild Britain."

PM Modi had earlier lauded former PM Rishi Sunak's contribution to fostering ties between India and United Kingdom.

"Thank you @RishiSunak for your admirable leadership of the UK, and your active contribution to deepen the ties between India and the UK during your term in office. Best wishes to you and your family for the future," PM Modi posted on X. (ANI)
The residents in the Darel region of Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan (PoGB) are expressing their opposition to a recent military operation and the killing of a local allegedly involved in a terror incident. Shah Faisal masterminded the bus attack on the Karakoram Highway that claimed the lives of nine passengers, according to Pakistani media. However, locals claim that these terrorists were earlier supported by the same army now involved in a military operation, which has created fear among the residents. A protest was held outside the Gilgit Press Club where demonstrators argued that the operation was not solely about ensuring security or addressing local issues but was primarily driven by a desire to control valuable minerals in the area, thereby disturbing the region's peace. In a video shared on social media, a man surrounded by others holding placards expressed strong dissatisfaction over the military operation that resulted in the death of an alleged terrorist commander. The man in the video said, "These military operations are harming us without any benefits. Instead of peacefully apprehending criminals, the army resorted to gunfire. You (Pakistan) intend to disrupt our peaceful region. We simply want to live in peace. It is you (Pakistan) who seek to create chaos, fueled by dollars from America to conduct bombardments similar to those in Balochistan and FATA. Your focus is on our resources. People will unite against this oppression, and oppressed people will stand in solidarity with us." https://x.com/KashmiriWaheeda/status/1809481512259080527 The man further remarked, "You have forcibly divided us along sectarian and tribal lines and occupied us for 75 years. We will liberate ourselves from this. You seek to brand us as terrorists to obtain money from America under the pretext of counter-terrorism." Shah Faisal, identified as a terrorist commander, was killed in an intelligence-led security operation in Gilgit-Baltistan's Darel district, Dawn reported. His associate Zahidullah was injured in the operation, which involved prolonged gunfire and escalated tensions in the district. Shah Faisal was reportedly responsible for a bus attack in Chilas last December, resulting in the deaths of eight people and injuring 18 others. Pakistan recently launched "Operation Azm-i-Istehkam" in response to escalating terrorist activities. Despite previous operations, persistent terrorist threats continue to challenge Pakistan's security, casting doubt on the operation's effectiveness. Additionally, Pakistan's military operations frequently face allegations of human rights abuses, including excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests, disappearances, and mistreatment of civilians in conflict zones such as Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and areas affected by insurgency. These allegations are often documented by human rights organisations and international observers, prompting concerns about the protection of civil liberties and adherence to international humanitarian law. (ANI)
The home department of Punjab province has sent a letter to the Pakistan's interior ministry recommending the suspension of popular social media applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

However, the final decision on the social media shutdown request lies with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, as it has not been definitively approved or denied at this stage.

Heightened security measures are currently underway across various regions of the Islamic Republic, as reported by Pakistani media.

It has been reported that 502 locations in Punjab have been identified as sensitive areas, prompting the deployment of army and Rangers personnel.

On Saturday, the Punjab government implemented Section 144 throughout the province for Muharram due to perceived risks to public peace, sectarian unity, and overall law and order. Sensitive cities like Karachi have made extensive preparations for Muharram.

Muharram holds profound significance for Shia Muslims. However, Pakistan has faced recurrent sectarian violence during this period between Sunni and Shia communities.

On January 19, 2007, a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque in Quetta during Muharram prayers, resulted in 15 deaths and numerous injuries. On December 28, 2009, in Karachi, a suicide bombing targeting a Muharram procession claimed the lives of 43 people and injured over 100. Another bombing during a Muharram procession in Rawalpindi on November 21, 2012, resulted in the deaths of at least 23 people and injured over 60.

The Pakistan government's inability to effectively mitigate these threats has exacerbated the situation, leading to deadly incidents targeting Shia gatherings. Extremist factions exploit social media platforms during sensitive religious periods like Muharram to propagate hate speech and incite violence. (ANI)
Newly elected Prime Minister of the UK, Keir Starmer held his first Cabinet meeting on Sunday morning, stressing that the country comes first and the party (Labour Party) second. Labour Party's leader Starmer emphasised that his government is ready to serve the people of Britain. "Country first, party second. I held my first Cabinet meeting this morning. My government is ready to serve the people of Britain," the UK Prime Minister said in a post on X. https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1809555237297967187 Labour Party won a huge mandate in the UK elections and has come to power after 14 years of Conservative rule. Starmer, a former barrister who entered Parliament in 2015, assumed Labour leadership in 2020. After Keir Starmer was elected as the United Kingdom's new Prime Minister on Friday, he delivered his first speech outside 10, Downing Street and promised to serve all citizens, regardless of who they voted for and assured that the process of change would start immediately, saying that "we will rebuild Britain." He further said they have reformed the Labour Party to serve the country, putting the nation's interests above the party. "If you voted Labour yesterday, we will carry the responsibility of your trust as we rebuild our country. Whether you voted Labour or not especially if you did not, I say to you directly, my government will serve you. Politics can be a force for good. We will show that," said UK Prime Minister. While delivering his first speech, the newly elected UK PM assured the public that "transforming a country takes time and effort, and it's not a quick fix. Despite the challenges, they assure that the process of change will start immediately and they are committed to rebuilding Britain." The UK Prime Minister acknowledged that many people currently lack faith in a better future for their children, and promised that their government will work tirelessly to change this and restore hope. Following this, Starmer expressed gratitude to the outgoing Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, for his achievements as the first British-Asian Prime Minister. (ANI)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday that he was "not prepared" to continue with the previous Conservative governement's policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, Al Jazeera reported. "The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. It's never been a deterrent," Starmer said in his first news conference on Saturday, after his Labour Party won a landslide in the general elections, Al Jazeera reported. The previous government led by Rishi Sunak approved the contentious law in April, declaring Rwanda a safe third country, which bypassed an earlier UK Supreme Court ruling that said the scheme was unlawful on human rights grounds, Al Jazeera reported. "I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as deterrents," he told reporters after a cabinet meeting, calling the plan a "problem that we are inheriting". Starmer said the Rwanda scheme was widely expected to fail. "Everyone has worked out, particularly the gangs that run this, that the chance of ever going to Rwanda was so slim--less than 1 per cent. The chances were of not going, not being processed, and staying here therefore in paid-for accommodation for a very, very long time," he said. Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, called on the new Labour government to follow through on its campaign promise to scrap the Rwanda pact. "Our asylum system must be made to focus on delivering as fairly and efficiently as possible the security and certainty to which every refugee is entitled, however they may arrive," Callamard wrote in a social media post. The authorities started detaining asylum seekers in May. Sunak, who promised to stop migrants and asylum seekers arriving on small boats from mainland Europe, had pushed for the policy. Several activists and critics of Sunak's government raised concerns about the East African country's own human rights record and said asylum seekers faced the risk of being sent back to countries where they would be in danger. (ANI)
Built in the 15th century, it has faced adversity twice. Once during the Pacific War when it was burned and destroyed, and again in 2019 due to a fire accident.

Despite these challenges, it has been designated a World Heritage Site.

In 2022, Shimizu Corporation initiated construction efforts, embodying the collective hope to restore Shuri Castle.

In May, the castle commemorated the midterm ridgepole raising ceremony, following a style inherited from the 8th century.

The main event was placing the ridgepole on the roof. Participants pulled red and white ropes to raise the ridgepole, guided by the ceremony leader's instructions.

The relatives and designated individuals took part in pulling the ropes in sequence. The ridgepole represents the final component in completing the roof construction.

Skilled individuals ascended to the roof's peak and struck wooden hammers to secure the ridgepole in place.

This ceremony was conducted to pray for the successful completion of construction and the enduring safety of the castle and its inhabitants.

Koji Okumura, Shimizu Corporation, said, "It is rare to undertake large-scale restoration and maintenance work for shrines and temples. I am very happy to have marked this milestone day. We undertook reconstruction work at Izumo Taisha Shrine, a building for the emperor's traditional ceremony known as 'Daijyo-sai', which was 60 years old. This work was also undertaken in various other places in Japan. I believe that our knowledge and skills, cultivated in various locations, have been effectively utilized".

Shimizu Corporation is a prominent construction company specializing in both modern buildings and traditional Japanese wooden structures.

Through their blend of modern and traditional technologies, they cater to the spiritual and emotional needs of the people, providing both security and cultural continuity. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his telephonic conversation with newly-elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, invited him for an early visit to India, the Prime Minister's office said in a release. PM Modi congratulated him on being elected as the UK Prime Minister. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. "Both leaders recalled the historic relations between the two countries and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen and advance the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and the UK," a PMO release said. Appreciating the positive contributions of the Indian community in the social, economic and political development of the UK, the two sides agreed to continue to promote closer people-to-people ties. The two leaders also agreed to remain in touch. PM Modi said that the two countries were committed to deepening economic ties. "Pleased to speak with @Keir_Starmer. Congratulated him on being elected as the Prime Minister of the UK. We remain committed to deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and robust - economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our peoples and global good," PM Modi said in a post on X. Labour Party won a huge mandate in the UK elections and has come to power after 14 years of Conservative rule. Starmer, a former barrister who entered Parliament in 2015, assumed Labour leadership in 2020. In his first speech outside 10, Downing Street, Starmer promised to serve all citizens, regardless of who they voted for and assured that the process of change would start immediately to "rebuild Britain." Earlier on Friday, PM Modi shared a congratulatory message on X, saying that he looks forward to positive and constructive collaboration to further strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. "Heartiest congratulations and best wishes to @Keir_Starmer on the remarkable victory in the UK general elections. I look forward to our positive and constructive collaboration to further strengthen the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in all areas, fostering mutual growth and prosperity," PM Modi said on X. PM Modi had earlier lauded former PM Rishi Sunak's contribution to fostering ties between India and the United Kingdom. "Thank you @RishiSunak for your admirable leadership of the UK, and your active contribution to deepen the ties between India and the UK during your term in office. Best wishes to you and your family for the future," PM Modi posted on X. (ANI)
As clouds of uncertainty continue to gloom over US President Joe Biden's campaign, a new Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report has stated that the incumbent leader has failed to consolidate support within his party as compared to his rival. The report stated that unifying the party is the most important job for any presidential candidate, but Biden is "bleeding Democratic support" in the latest poll, conducted after his "rough debate" with Trump. Biden has the votes of 86 per cent of Democrats on a test ballot against Trump, the new poll found, lower than his 9 per cent share in February and well below the 93 per cent of Republicans who say they would back Trump. It added that the incumbent has allowed the race to become "referendum on his leadership" rather than a choice between him and an "unpopular challenger." Meanwhile, in his first television interview since the CNN debate with Donald Trump, President Joe Biden described candidly addressed his performance, describing it as a "bad episode" and taking full responsibility for what transpired. "It was a bad episode," Biden clarified. "No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and -- and a bad night." Biden also claimed that he is more qualified to win the race than anyone else. Speaking to ABC News, Biden called Trump a "congenital liar" and added that he lied over 20 times during the debate with him. Earlier, White House too unequivocally denied any consideration of President Joe Biden stepping down, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stating "absolutely not" when asked about the possibility. Concerns are mounting about Biden's viability as a candidate following the first presidential debate broadcasted on CNN, which has been described as a "devastating performance" in Atlanta, according to a New York Times (NYT) report. The age disparity between the 81-year-old incumbent US president and his 78-year-old challenger was starkly apparent throughout the evening, with Biden notably hoarse and exhibiting limited vocal range, struggling at times to articulate clear differences from Trump. Earlier, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed that several prominent Democrat leaders have suggested that US President Biden is "brain-damaged" and it is only a matter of time before they remove him from running for the post again. After the debate, former US President Barack Obama voiced his support for Biden, acknowledging that "bad debate nights happen". (ANI)
Prominent Baloch activist Mahrang Baloch said in a video press statement that the Baloch Yakjehti Committee plans to hold a Baloch National Gathering in Gwadar on July 28. Mahrang, representing the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, addressed several critical points. She underlined the committee's steadfast opposition against the ongoing Baloch genocide perpetrated by Pakistan. She also pointed out additional forms of genocide besides direct killings and disappearances, such as deaths resulting from road accidents, illnesses like cancer worsened by the state's negligence, and the continuation of drug-related issues among Baloch youth. Mahrang said, "The Baloch genocide extends beyond the abduction and killing of Baloch youths. The state is perpetrating new forms of genocide against our people. On one side, the state abducts and kills our youths; on the other, thousands of Baloch perish in road accidents. In places like Dera Ghazi Khan, thousands fall victim to cancer. Throughout Balochistan, the state knowingly allows drug problems to persist, leading to the deaths of many Baloch youths or leaving them physically and mentally disabled." Mahrang underscored the economic oppression faced by Baloch farmers, labourers, and fishermen. Baloch farmers are trapped in debt while their lands are seized for state projects. "Baloch labourers and fishermen are exploited, their livelihoods threatened by government policies and actions," Mahrang said. "The brutality and oppression by the Pakistani state do not end there. In Bolan and Naseerabad, state representatives mistreat Baloch farmers and others. Baloch farmers work their lands year-round, only to find themselves deeply in debt when harvest time arrives. Meanwhile, state representatives' buildings continuously expand and improve, with Baloch farmers always at the receiving end of this oppression," she added. Mahrang detailed the military's brutal tactics in border regions and urban areas, including curfews, home invasions, and violence against civilians. She drew parallels to historical atrocities, emphasising the severity of the situation. Mahrang's speech encapsulated the Baloch Yakjehti Committee's mission to raise awareness, unite the Baloch people, and mobilise against state-sponsored atrocities in Balochistan. (ANI)
Carricou [Grenada], July 6 (ANI/WAM): The island of Carriacou in Grenada has been virtually "flattened" by the devastating Hurricane Beryl, a senior UN official there reported on Friday, as humanitarian teams ramp up their support to communities affected across the Caribbean. Speaking via video link from Grenada, Simon Springett, UN Resident Coordinator in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, outlined a scene of total devastation in Carriacou - where Beryl first made landfall on July 1. "The entire island is completely affected, that is literally 100 per cent of the population," UN News quoted Springett as saying. Hurricane Beryl is the strongest hurricane in history to form in June in the Atlantic Ocean. Initially a tropical depression, it rapidly intensified into a Category 4 storm and briefly reached Category 5 status, with winds up to 240 km/h (150 mph). On Friday morning (New York time), it made landfall in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, and is reportedly tracking west-northwest, projected to make landfall in southern Texas, United States on Monday morning. Springett highlighted the situation as a "very complicated crisis", one that is marked by severe logistical and access challenges. Four days after the hurricane hit, roads on the island are impassable and communications were only restored last night, he said. "Directly after the hurricane, the seas were exceptionally rough, which made it nearly impossible to get there. The air control towers are out - so there is only fly-by visibility. But also, even when things get to the airport, there are no roads to access the goods." Nations near and far are dispatching aid, with a French ship arriving in Carriacou later in the day as well as assistance from Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, Springett said. "We have a large outpouring of international response. It is really an international effort, and the UN is really proud to be to be a part of this," he said. Also speaking, via video link from the Bahamas, Dennis Zulu, the Resident Coordinator for Jamaica and the Bahamas, echoed international collaboration. He highlighted that the UN is working in coordination with Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the regional emergency and disaster response agency to ensure a coherent regional response. "We are poised to mount a coordinated humanitarian response with the international development partner community and are already engaging international partners and organisations in Jamaica," he added. Detailed assessments of damage in Jamaica and other island nations supported by his office are ongoing, Zulu said. "The damage is widely apparent and is felt by people from all walks of life, especially in rural Jamaica, including in the southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and Saint Elizabeth, and for those in vulnerable housing," he added. He also noted that the Government of Jamaica has put in place an effective response plan, supported by the UN and partners, including shelters for those who lost their homes. Alongside, other key requirements include clean drinking water, access to communication and data and livelihood support. According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), over 650,000 people - including 150,000 children - in Barbados, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tobago were in the path of Hurricane Beryl. Many have lost their homes and are being housed in temporary shelters. The UN agency for its part had pre-positioned life-saving supplies before the storm and is mobilising supplies and funds for the response. (ANI/WAM)
Iran's president-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian, delivered his inaugural address in Tehran following his victory in the election run-off against Saeed Jalili, a prominent hardline candidate. Pezeshkian, positioned as a centrist and reformist figure, emphasised the significance of his win in opening a "new chapter" for Iran, Al Jazeera reported. At the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, he expressed his commitment to overcoming challenges and providing prosperity for all Iranians. "We are ahead of a big trial, a trial of hardships and challenges, simply to provide a prosperous life to our people," Pezeshkian remarked, reflecting on the responsibilities that lay ahead after securing nearly 16.4 million votes out of more than 30 million cast. His opponent, Jalili, acknowledged Pezeshkian's victory and urged unity in supporting the elected leader. "Not only should he be respected, but now we must use all our strength and help him move forward with strength," Jalili said in a broadcast on state television, as reported by Al Jazeera. The election, notable for its relatively high turnout of 49.8 per cent, showcased a divided electorate with significant portions abstaining or protesting silently. Pezeshkian's campaign, focused on reform and greater openness to the international community, resonated amid Iran's socio-political complexities. The election followed a period of uncertainty after the untimely death of Ebrahim Raisi, prompting a snap election to determine his successor. Celebrations erupted among Pezeshkian's supporters upon the announcement of his victory, which also drew congratulations from global leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, responses from Western leaders awaited further developments in Iran's political landscape. Pezeshkian's transition to the presidency is anticipated within 30 days, pending parliamentary procedures and formal endorsement by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His tenure is expected to navigate Iran through economic challenges exacerbated by international sanctions and internal governance issues. Analysts speculate on the potential implications of Pezeshkian's presidency, suggesting a pragmatic foreign policy stance that could facilitate renewed negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. The country's approach to international relations, particularly with regard to the stalled 2015 nuclear deal, remains a focal point amidst broader geopolitical tensions. Tohid Asadi, a professor at Tehran University, highlighted the electorate's desire for policy shifts both domestically and internationally. "Pezeshkian's victory showed that many Iranians are interested in a shift in domestic and foreign policies," Asadi remarked, underscoring the dynamic nature of Iranian politics where the president's influence coalesces with broader institutional frameworks. The complexity of Iran's political establishment, notably the role of the Supreme National Security Council in shaping foreign policy, underscores the distributed decision-making within the Iranian government. Mostafa Khoshcheshm, a Tehran-based analyst, cautioned against expecting radical shifts in Iran's foreign policy without broader consensus within the political elite. "The ball is going to be in the court of the United States and the West," Asadi continued, noting the pivotal role of international dynamics in shaping Iran's strategic direction. The upcoming US presidential election adds another layer of uncertainty, influencing prospects for future negotiations between Iran and global powers. As the ninth elected president of Iran, Pezeshkian inherits a nation grappling with economic constraints and geopolitical pressures, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)
Former Obama senior adviser David Axelrod has publicly called for President Joe Biden to step aside from the 2024 race, citing concerns over Biden's age and performance. In an op-ed for CNN, Axelrod emphasised that he believes Biden's duty to the country should prompt him to withdraw, suggesting that failing to do so could overshadow his legacy. Axelrod's stance underscores growing pressures within the White House following Biden's lacklustre showing in a recent CNN presidential debate. Axelrod's commentary adds to existing doubts about Biden's campaign, which were not assuaged by the president's recent interview with ABC News. Critiquing Biden's demeanour in the interview, Axelrod described it as displaying "defiant delusion," indicating a disconnect between Biden's self-assessment and public perception, as reported by CNN. Concerns are mounting about Biden's viability as a candidate following what has been described as a devastating performance in Atlanta. Meanwhile, President Biden himself has sought to pivot attention towards contrasting his policies with those of his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. Biden targeted Trump's alleged association with "Project 2025," a contentious platform reportedly aimed at reshaping the federal government along conservative lines. Biden's campaign characterised Project 2025 as a dangerous agenda that threatens fundamental democratic principles, such as reproductive rights and governmental checks and balances. In response to Biden's accusations, Trump distanced himself from Project 2025, claiming ignorance of its details and asserting that it does not represent his official policy platform. Trump's campaign has been keen to clarify that Project 2025 is not endorsed or aligned with their official stance, according to CNN. Amid these political manoeuvres, Biden convened with his campaign co-chairs to discuss the future of his reelection efforts. According to Delaware Sen Chris Coons, a campaign co-chair, the conversation with Biden was characterised by openness and a quest for candid feedback. Coons highlighted Biden's determination to address doubts about his candidacy, particularly within Democratic circles sceptical of his viability as the party's nominee. Following a successful campaign rally in Wisconsin and an interview with ABC News, Biden's aides are optimistic that direct engagement with voters through town halls and press conferences will bolster his image. Coons noted positive feedback from allies regarding Biden's recent public appearances, signalling a strategic shift towards more unscripted interactions to reassure voters. Looking ahead, President Biden is scheduled to hold his first formal press conference since the debate, timed to coincide with the conclusion of the NATO summit. This event is expected to provide a platform for Biden to address pressing issues and reaffirm his leadership amidst ongoing political challenges, CNN reported. (ANI)
A day after a powerful Hurricane Beryl swept Jamaicas southern coast, bringing floodwaters and ripping off rooftops, hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans remain without power and water, while others are trying to pick up the pieces of their shredded lives.

United Nations representatives in the Caribbean say it is still too early to put a price tag on the devastation. But Beryls trail of destruction they say, which includes sunken boats in Barbados, flattened homes in the Grenadines, cut off roads in St. Lucia and downed plantain fields in southern Haiti, is a huge blow to the development of several island-nations.

Events like this put the sustainable development of these countries back decades, said Simon Springett, the U.N. resident coordinator in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. It has such a major impact on their economic development.

In the sister-islands of Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the storm hardly left a home standing in some communities. Roofs are missing, second floors are now empty spaces and walls of churches have crumbled.

Recalling a recent exchange between a government minister on the island of Carriacou off of Grenada, and international partners, Springett said when they asked if there were any flat areas for them to set up tents, the minister was pretty direct, and he said, The whole island is flat. And then they responded, Well, what do you need? And he said, We need anything that would allow a human being to survive. 

The prime ministers of Grenada and St. Vincent have said the record-setting storm has left a field of devastation in their islands with the roofs of private homes and government buildings, gone.

In Jamaica, the situation is not as grim but the devastation still apparent. The Caribbean nation of about 3 million managed to escape a direct hit of Beryls Category 4 winds and rains on Thursday, but many rural residents have lost their entire livelihoods. Along with damaged roofs, they are faced with downed power lines, fallen trees and boulder-blocked roads.

The damage is widely apparent and is felt by persons from all walks of life especially in rural Jamaica, including the southern parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St. Elizabeth, and those in vulnerable housing, said Dennis Zulu, the U.N. resident coordinator in Jamaica.

Hurricane Beryl tore off roofs and destroyed homes in Treasure Beach, a small fishing and tourism community off the southern coast of Jamaica. Residents assessed the damage on July 4, 2024.

Zulu said as of Friday afternoon, about 70% of people did not have water and 40% were without power. The storm has also affected data connectivity after the countrys two main cell phone providers suffered outages.

Zulu confirmed that there was one dead associated with the hurricane conditions and said a possible second one has yet to be confirmed.

The United Nations has relayed to governments affected by the storm that it stand ready to help, and is currently mobilizing its agencies to respond. In the case of Jamaica, the U.N. has secured $2.5 million from its Emergency Response Fund, and says it can be increased.

Zulu said the U.N. is poised to mount a coordinated humanitarian response to the international development partner community and already engage international partners in Jamaica and international nongovernmental organizations.

Even at this very critical time, I really want to thank and commend the government of Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the government of Jamaica for leading a very proactive approach in response to the effects of Hurricane Beryl, he said.

When I drove through Holland Bamboo my heart broke a million times. pic.twitter.com/wD3tUHo6Ue  Floyd Green (@floydgreenja) July 5, 2024

Prior to Beryls arrival in Jamaica, the storm barreled through the eastern Caribbean where it decimated the housing stock in several islands. Springett said the U.N. had nine of its agencies in Grenada and 10 in St Vincent and the Grenadines, which have received additional staffing after the storms passage.

As part of the U.N.s response, there is a ship leaving on Saturday with supplies to St. Vincents sister islands of Canouan, Mayreau and Union Island, which have a total population of about 15,500, Springett said. Afterward, the ship will head over to Carriacou and Petite Martinique, which are part of Grenada and have about 11,000 inhabitants.

This is a very complicated crisis, Springett said. This is really complicated by the severe logistical and access issues directly after the hurricanes. The seas were exceptionally rough, which made it nearly impossible to get there. The air control towers are out, so theres only fly by visibility but also, even when things get into the airport, theres no roads to be able to access the goods.

In Carriacou, for example, there is still no road access and communications were only re-established on Thursday. Still, there has been a large response from volunteers in Grenada and St. Vincent, as well as a large international response. Regional governments have also responded. Their response includes relief by Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, and a French naval vessel thats expected to dock in Carriacou on Friday.

Its really an international effort, Springett said. .
President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with ABCs Good Morning America co-anchor and This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos in Wisconsin on the campaign trail on July 5, 2024. (Photo used with permission of ABC News)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Friday in his first televised interview since the presidential debate defended his reelection bid and rejected calls that he should step aside amid growing anxiety among some Democrats about his mental and physical state.

The 22-minute interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos came as some lawmakers and other prominent Democrats have said Biden should suspend his campaign and let someone else become the official nominee.

But Biden said thats unnecessary, distilling his actions during the June 27 debate as simply a bad night.

It was a bad episode, no indication of any serious condition, Biden said. I was exhausted. I didnt listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and it was a bad night.

Biden refused to answer a question about what he would do if allies and friends in Congress urged him to leave the presidential campaign.

Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen, Biden said.

Members of Congress and Democratic governors have expressed concern with Biden remaining the presumptive nominee ever since he struggled to answer questions and had moments where he appeared confused during the first presidential debate.

Biden brushed aside Virginia Sen. Mark Warners plans to convene Democratic senators on Monday to discuss the future of Bidens bid, which multiple news organizations reported Friday. Both chambers of Congress will return to Washington next week.

Mark is a good man, Biden said, before incorrectly claiming Warner tried to get the nomination for president  Warner in 2006 said he would not make a bid. Mark and I have a different perspective. I respect him.

Biden wont commit to cognitive exam

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden during the interview on whether he really has the mental and physical stamina to remain president for another four years, and whether Biden is being honest with himself about his age.

I believe so, Biden said. I wouldnt be running if I didnt think I did. Look, Im running again because I think I understand best what has to be done to take this nation to a completely new level.

Biden repeatedly declined to commit to taking a cognitive exam, suggesting that his schedule and daily work load are evidence enough hes up to the task of being president.

I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test, everything I do, Biden said. You know, not only am I campaigning, Im running the world.

Biden added that there are 125 days left in the campaign and that people should watch him in the months ahead to determine if hes suitable to be reelected to the highest position in the government.

In Wisconsin, Biden points to Trump flubs

The ABC News interview aired just hours after Biden held a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, where he repeatedly criticized the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

This Novembers presidential election, Biden said, should be about character, honesty and decency.

Lets focus on what really matters: Were running against the biggest liar and the biggest threat to our democracy in American history, Biden said. Thats not hyperbole.

Biden sought to shift the attention from his performance at the debate to flubs Trump has made over the years, including in a Fourth of July speech in 2019 when the former president said securing the airports was essential during the Revolutionary War.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work.

 President Joe Biden

He said George Washingtons army won the Revolution by taking control of the airports from the British, Biden said before crossing himself somewhat jokingly. Talk about me misspeaking  airports from the British in 1776? Its true, he is a stable genius.

Trump, at the time, criticized the teleprompter for the comment.

Biden during the rally listed off what he views as his accomplishments, including canceling some student loan debt, nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, signing a same-sex marriage bill, approving gun safety policies and working with Congress on a sweeping climate change law.

Im not letting one, 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work, Biden said.

During the next four years, Biden said, whoever holds the Oval Office will appoint at least two new justices to the Supreme Court.

Should that be Trump, a recent ruling from the justices on presidential immunity could lead to a challenging time for the country, Biden said.

For over two centuries, Americas been a free, democratic nation, Biden said. And Ill be damned if in the year 2024  just two years before our 250th anniversary as a nation  Ill let Donald Trump take this away.

Illinois Dem congressman says Biden should quit

Biden briefly spoke with reporters in the White House pool after the rally, saying he was determined to stay in the race and brushing aside calls from some lawmakers for him to withdraw.

When asked by a reporter about Warner suggesting Biden let another person take over as the partys presidential candidate, Biden said Warner is the only one considering that.

Later in the evening, Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley said on MSNBC that Biden should step aside.

Mr. President, your legacy is set. We owe you the greatest debt of gratitude, Quigley said. The only thing that you can do now to cement that for all time and prevent utter catastrophe is to step down and let someone else do this.
Several parcels owned by the city of Port Huron off of 25th and 26th streets, as well as $650,000 in city-administered COVID stimulus funds, would be part of a proposed deal with a Lansing-based housing nonprofit to build 14 duplex-style townhomes.

PORT HURON  Another city-supported residential development is in the works for South Park  one that officials said is aimed to help combat the areas housing shortage.

On Monday, Port Huron City Council members will be asked to sign off on a memorandum of understanding with Michigan Community Capital, a Lansing-based housing nonprofit, to develop 14 duplex-style condominiums in exchange for the city using $650,000 in remaining American Rescue Plan Act funds to help finance any gap in funding.

Under the document  a statement about the commitment but not a final agreement  the development would be located on several parcels located on city-owned property around 25th and 26th streets.

On Wednesday, City Manager James Freed said itd be near Knox Field.

This is a $4.3 million investment into South Park  he said. This is working with Michigan Community (Capital), and theyve done this all over the state. These units will be homes that will be purchased, theyll be for sale, and itll be affordable. They would sell for between 112,000 and 180,000 (dollars), and the people that buy them can utilize our (Urban) Pioneer homebuyer program to get $10,000 downpayment assistance.

The maximum purchase price for homes eligible with Urban Pioneer, which uses funds through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was $218,000 as of 2023. It also assists first-time homebuyers.

According to the citys memo, three of the 14 units in Michigan Community Capitals development would be sold to buyers who are at no more than 60% of the areas medium income if a definitive development agreement is reached.

The rest would go to buyers at no more than 120% of the median income.

Additionally, each dwelling would be anticipated to include 1,342 square feet of livable space, three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, second-floor laundry space, a primary suite with walk-in closet amenities, and a detached one-car garage near the building.

Financing would include a combination of $2.264 million in developer funds to be repaid upon sales, a MiNeighborhood grant of around $1.4 million and other to-be-determined sources.

A 30-year tax increment financing plan addressing housing needs  such as recently drafted by the Southside Neighborhood Improvement Authority  would be requested with an estimated of $1.292 million in TIF proceeds.

Freed emphasized the need for infill housing as an item in the NIAs recent TIF and development plan proposals. A public hearing about the plans was also set for Mondays council meeting.

So, if you look at the recent (NIA) plan that the TIF board worked on, this is part of it, the city manager said. And this nonprofit took notice of it. This is part of our all-of-the-above plan for housing.

This proposal would mark the third involving city-owned property within the last two years after the proposed 66-unit housing complex at 3550 Electric Ave. with Woda Cooper Companies, as well as another four-story, 37-unit structure thatd be built beside another building rehab for a total of 40 units off Erie Street with Community Housing Network.

Each project, officials have said, is waiting for some type of funding assistance through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.

Freed said each one is still in the running, depending on MSHDA decisions later this year.

Some of our biggest developments, they were two, three years in conversations before they actually pulled the trigger, he said Wednesday. So, these things take time. We have several others in the pipeline. We have several that are going through MSHDA in October, I believe.

City Council meets at 6 p.m. on Monday in the meeting chambers of the Municipal Office Center, 100 McMorran Blvd., downtown. Agenda items can be viewed online at https://porthuroncitymi.iqm2.com/Citizens/calendar.aspx.

Contact reporter Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: City to propose deal for 14 townhomes around 25th, 26th streets
People in major European countries such as France, Italy, Spain and the UK dont favour increased defence spending, a poll by the European Council on Foreign Relations has found.

That may pose a challenge as the continent seeks to bolster its military in the face of the war in Ukraine, and faces up to the prospect of a US less committed to transatlantic security.

The results, based on polls of 19,500 adults in 15 countries, also show many EU citizens sceptical about the bloc expanding to the east, just days after Brussels began the formal process of membership talks with both Ukraine and Moldova.

"European governments are unlikely to receive public support for direct military involvement, said the policy brief by Ivan Krastev and Mark Leonard.

Kyiv and Brussels are divided about the purpose of EU enlargement, with Ukrainians saying membership would recognise their struggle, while EU nationals see it as part of an eventual settlement deal, they add.

The 25 June opening of formal membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova was described by European Council president Charles Michel as "a proud moment for both nations and a strategic step for the EU, representing the start of negotiations that can in practice take years.

Scepticism about increased defence spending was highest in Italy, where over 62% said the government shouldnt splurge if that means cutting other priorities like health or education.

Interestingly, in Germany  a country pacifist since the Second World War  a majority of those expressing a preference favoured higher military spending  though theres clearly an anti-war mood among voters too, courted by parties such as left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance and Alternative for Germany on the right.

The poll comes just before leaders from the NATO military alliance gather in Washington, DC, amid fears that a second Donald Trump presidency might not show the same support to Ukraine, or indeed Europe.

An increasing number of NATO allies are now meeting a target to spend 2% of GDP on defence, and Ursula von der Leyen has promised to make military policy a key plank of her hoped-for second mandate as head of the European Commission.

But another main plank of her pro-Ukraine plans  allowing it to join the EU  also faces public apathy.

Over half of Germans think Ukraines membership is a bad idea, and more in France oppose than support the move, with sceptics citing security, corruption and cost among their concerns.

Neighbours such as Poland, Estonia and Sweden, as well as Spain and Portugal, are rather more positive, saying Ukraine is culturally part of Europe and that it could help end the war.

The EU has pledged to send a million shells to Ukraine to help in the war effort  while Frances Emmanuel Macron has even hinted at going further by sending French troops to join the fight.

But, with legislative elections due to be finalised this Sunday, Macrons leadership is under threat from a resurgent National Rally party  whose far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, has previously expressed her admiration for Russias Vladimir Putin and his foreign policy.
Arlen Foster wants the federal government to reconsider its determination that this area on his Fulton-area farm, pictured in an image submitted as part of a federal lawsuit, is a wetland. A recent Supreme Court ruling could clear a path for that to happen. (Courtesy of U.S. District Court of South Dakota)

A Fulton, South Dakota-area farmer will have a chance to argue that a federally designated wetland on his property is actually regular farm ground thanks to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

The case will be one of the first in the nation to be re-examined as a result of Loper Bright Enterprises vs. Raimondo.

The ruling overturned what was known as the Chevron rule, which required courts to defer to federal agencies in their interpretation of ambiguous federal laws and the rules written to enforce them.

The decision could have far-reaching implications for the right of citizens or companies to challenge agency authority and conclusions in court. Many in the farm and ranch community see particularly pointed impacts in South Dakota, as agricultural operations are heavily influenced by federal rules on crop insurance, conservation payments or wetland determinations.

Arlen Foster first attempted to challenge federal authority in 2011.

The Hanson County farmer sued the U.S. Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) over its determination that an area of his property was a wetland.

Farmers cant use drain tile or ditches to make federally designated wetlands more easily farmable without losing access to USDA supports like crop insurance. Wetlands created through human-led development  in other words, land that wasnt wet until something was done to nearby land to alter drainage patterns  can be drained without losing access to USDA programs.

The NRCS first determined that 0.8 acres on Fosters property are a wetland in 2004. In 2008, Foster asked for a review, and NRCS again ruled it a wetland in 2011.

At his initial hearing with an administrative law judge, Foster argued that the puddle on his property only shows up in very wet years, and only because his father planted a belt of trees to prevent erosion in 1936. Its the trees and not nature, he argues, that created what NRCS calls a wetland.

At the time it was developed, the tree belt was a conservation measure encouraged by the then-recently established Soil Conservation Service, which is the Defendant agency now titled the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Fosters lawyers would later write in a complaint against the NRCS.

The puddle only appears briefly, Foster argues, and as a direct result of the tree belts capture of snow and slowdown of other moisture. In half the years, the disputed spot and the area around it dont drain quickly enough for planting, taking about two acres on the 44-acre field out of production. Thats why he wants to drain it.

In 2011, an administrative law judge said Foster hadnt presented proof that the ephemeral wetlands were created by the tree planting and not natural.

Foster hired experts and attempted to get a new determination in 2017 and 2020, hoping to add new information from his experts. But the NRCS declined to review its determination, citing a rule it had written on eligibility for a new determination.

Thats when the conservative-leaning Pacific Legal Foundation took up Fosters cause. He filed a lawsuit and made it to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which deferred to NRCS under the Chevron rule.

He was just trying to get them to look at the evidence, because the first time they told him there wasnt any, said Jeffrey McCoy, the lawyer with the Pacific Legal Foundation who represents Foster.

After the Loper Bright decisions release, the Supreme Court listed Fosters case as one that would need a new hearing before the appeals court. Its one of at least nine cases that will reopen as a result of the decision. Foster had filed for a writ of certiorari at the Eighth Circuit, asking for a review of his case in light of the then-pending Loper Bright decision.

McCoy told South Dakota Searchlight that the court could finally decide if Foster is owed a chance at a new wetlands determination.

It doesnt necessarily mean hes going to get his way, McCoy said.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X.

The post South Dakota farmers fight against wetland designation gets boost from Chevron ruling appeared first on North Dakota Monitor.
The first African-born member of parliament in Germany has announced that he will not stand in the next federal election in 2025, just weeks after receiving a death threat.

Karamba Diaby, 62, said such racist threats were not the main reason for his decision. He simply wanted to spend more time with his family and make room for younger politicians.

After months of consideration and weighing, I, in consultation with my family, have come to the decision not to run for the Bundestag again, he wrote in a letter to his party colleagues, the German Press Agency reported.

I look back on 11 enriching and successful years in federal politics. After three legislative periods, its time to make way for the next political generation and explore new paths.

Mr Diaby, a member of the centre-left Social Democrats representing Halle since 2013, has endured many racist attacks and threats over the years, including several on his office.

Of course, I will remain active and engaged in the SPD. We face big challenges and hard work, he said.

At the same time, Im looking forward to having more time for my family and friends and our allotment.

Mr Diaby was born in Senegal and is the only member of the German parliament with African heritage.

He was seven when he lost both his parents and was brought up by his older sister and her husband. He moved to Germany on a study grant in 1985.

In spite of the attacks and insults he has faced in Halle over the years, Mr Diaby told Der Spiegel last year: I feel very comfortable in Halle.

But the unpleasant incidents, he said, made him sad and worried.

Karamba Diaby speaks in the Bundestag on 28 May 2020 (Getty)

In several interviews, Mr Diaby has noted the increasingly hostile atmosphere he has had to contend with in the parliament and society, attributing it to the 2017 entry of the populist AfD party into the Bundestag.

Since 2017, the tone in the German parliament has become harsher, he told the Berlin Playbook podcast of Politico. We hear aggressive speeches from colleagues of the AfD. We hear derogatory and hurtful content in these contributions. That is truly a totally new situation compared to the period between 2013 and 2017. This aggressive style of talking is fertile breeding ground for the violence and aggression on the streets.

More recently, after receiving a death threat, the MP wrote on Instagram: For me the level of hatred and agitation has reached a new level. I now encounter it every day in the news and commentaries, but also in the German Bundestag.

Bullet holes in the window of Karamba Diabys constituency office in Halle (Getty)

I wont let myself be intimidated. I am fighting back. The hatred that the AfD sows every day with its misanthropic narratives is reflected in concrete psychological and physical violence! This jeopardises cohesion in our society.

He said this latest threat against him crossed a new red line.

My coworkers are also threatened and blackmailed, he said.

Mr Diabys absence from the 2025 Bundestag election will leave a void as the parliamentarian has been an outspoken advocate for social justice and a key figure in combating racism within German politics, German newspaper Aussiedlerbote noted.
An Ohio parent joined LifeWise Academy to post its curriculum online. Now it's suing him

A Hilliard-based nonprofit provider of Christian instruction to public schools has sued a former Ohio man for copyright infringement, claiming he improperly uploaded and shared proprietary instructional materials with families.

LifeWise Academy filed the lawsuit July 2 against Zachary Parrish, a parent who strongly feels that public schools should be free of influence by any single religion, especially when it is offered for payment.

LifeWise calls itself a "privately funded Christian non-profit that provides public school families with 'released time' religious instruction in traditional, character-based, Biblical teaching during school hours." Released time would include lunch breaks and non-core instruction like art, music or study halls.

Joel Penton, the founder of LifeWise Academy, stands out in front of its then-home office in Hilliard in this April file photo. LifeWise previously announced it would move into the former Aquatic Adventures Ohio building in Hilliard later this year.

Parrish said he volunteered to become a LifeWise instructor in hopes of learning more about the company's teaching.

During his training, he gained access to the company's entire curriculum and was shocked, calling it "indoctrination."

He eventually copied the materials onto his personal computer and shared them with a network of people who also adhere to the so-called Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

According to the lawsuit, LifeWise told Parrish to remove the materials, calling his actions: "willful copyright infringement involving registered copyrighted works obtained by deceit."

Parrish refused and was angered to learn that LifeWise also filed a report with Hilliard police, claiming that he hacked into its computer systems.

The police report, obtained by The Dispatch, concludes "it is unclear whether Parrish committed a crime by hacking into their system or LifeWise unintentionally gave him access to their training courses." No charges were filed.

"My view is that it's a parental rights thing," Parrish told The Dispatch. "I feel that any parent who wants to send their kids there should have access to this information."

Zachary Parrish, right, poses with his daughter, Ramsie, 10, in this undated handout photo. Parrish is the defendant in a lawsuit by LifeWise Academy, which accuses him of copyright infringement after he posed its curriculum online.

In 2021, Parrish's daughter was in second grade in Defiance Public Schools when a teacher offered to enroll her in a LifeWise class. He refused.

"I thought this can't be legal, but I didn't say anything. It was all very new to me. Mind you, we are just out of COVID-19, and she was already struggling to learn how to read. Instead of this class, they wanted to put her in a study hall. But I was told there was no study hall before LifeWise was implemented."

Materials, Parrish learned, include "videos, activity pages, leader guides, cards, and printables," according to the lawsuit.

LifeWise states in the lawsuit that it "hosts the LifeWise curriculum in a password protected portion of itswebsite solely for use by local LifeWise Academy chapter programs across the United States." Those chapters (but not the schools or students) pay LifeWise a fee to access the curriculum.

Parrish operates a Facebook page called Parents Against LifeWise, currently with about 2,800 members.

LifeWise states that Parrish's primary purpose was to harm "LifeWises reputation and galvanize parents to opposelocal LifeWise Academy chapters in their communities," which Parrish does not dispute.

"It is pretty shady to say that we can't show this to parents," he said.

The LifeWise website has several positive reviews but also critics, including from Baltimore-based Dr. Cynthia Mobley:

"30,000 children enrolled already in 12 states!!! Please protect our American children!!! I'm a pediatrician and this is extremely disturbing, indoctrinating our children into one singular religion in a pluralistic society, even if it appears voluntary on the surface. While it's technically legal, it's not in line with our American tenet of separation of church and state."

LifeWise wants Parrish to stop maligning it, to remove copyrighted documents and to pay court costs.

It states that it has lost revenue by Parrish sharing "the full texts of the registered copyright works which those readers would otherwise have to purchase in paper format, or acquire in digital format."

In response to questions from The Dispatch, LifeWise provided this statement:

LifeWise filed a lawsuit against Zachary Parrish for intentional copyright infringement. He improperly obtained our entire copyright protected curriculum, and he posted to his website without our permission. We asked him to remove the curriculum voluntarily, but he has refused to do so.

Posting the entire curriculum is not 'fair use,' and we are confident that the Judge will agree. We are hoping to settle this dispute swiftly."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: LifeWise Academy of Hilliard sues Ohio man for copyright infringement
MANILA, Philippines  Last month, Chinas coast guard attacked Filipino troops with axes and knives, ramming vessels on a routine mission to resupply a Philippine outpost on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea and severing the thumb of one sailor.

A week later, the Philippines found itself bracing for the United States  a long-standing ally and defense partner  to withdraw from global affairs as Donald Trump makes gains ahead of Novembers election for the White House.

A withered performance by 81-year-old U.S. President Joe Biden during his first debate of the season against 78-year-old Trump saw the right-wing populist former president surge in electoral betting markets, prompting panicked Democrats to scramble for an alternative standard-bearer who could top the ticket  and many international observers to brace for the return of President Trump and his America First agenda.

A U.S. abandonment of East Asia would force weaker countries in the region to, without choice, accept Chinas carrot-stick hegemony, Rep. Mark Cojuangco, a national lawmaker in the Philippines House of Representatives, told HuffPost. We would lose our territorial integrity, and American commitment would always be doubted going forward.

During Trumps administration, the Philippines was ruled by then-President Rodrigo Duterte, a similarly brash populist who lashed out at Washington and sought to forge closer ties with Beijing. But increasingly aggressive Chinese actions to claim uninhabited islands and fishing grounds in waters internationally recognized as part of the Philippines have driven current President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. to shore up relations with the U.S.

Marcos, 66, the namesake son of a former dictator, cast Chinas push for dominance in the heavily trafficked waterway as a challenge to the open, inclusive and rules-based international order established after the end of World War II, which sought to make the floors of the United Nations the last battlefield.

A ship captain named Jorge Dela Cruz, pictured at right on Dec. 10, 2023, in Palawan, Philippines, looks for Chinese vessels after turning his boat back from a civilian-led resupply mission to people on a contested group of islands due to the presence of Chinese navy and coast guard ships in the area. Jes Aznar via Getty Images

We made a determination for humanity to survive and to never again be wiped out in another holocaust, Marcos said in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore in May.

The Philippines has always been part of that history, he said. Amidst the rubble of war, we were there amongst the architects of the new peace.

Yet he warned that Filipinos remained unyielding in protecting our patrimony, our rights and our dignity as a proud and as a free country.

In a bid to lower the heat, Filipino and Chinese diplomats held a meeting Tuesday in Manila. At the same time, however, the Philippines is openly courting U.S. battery investors to help prop up the country as an alternative source of nickel, as Washington looks to scale back Chinas dominance over electric-vehicle supply chains.

The South China Sea, which the Philippines refers to as the West Philippine Sea, is the one of the worlds busiest shipping routes, with 60% of all maritime trade passing through its waters. China drills more than one-third of its petroleum products and two-thirds of its natural gas offshore in a region ringed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.

Starting in 2015, the U.S. began patrolling the sea in what Washington calls freedom of navigation missions aimed at keeping Beijing from asserting total sovereignty over the international waterway. When the Duterte administration accepted Chinese military aid in 2017, Trump did nothing to change Dutertes pro-China policy, said Patricio Abinales, an expert in Philippine politics at the University of Hawaii.

A missile hits a target at sea amid U.S.-Philippines joint military exercises on May 6, 2024, in Laoag, Philippines. The Philippines and the U.S. initiated drills extending beyond the Philippines' territorial sea and into the contentious South China Sea after the Philippines accused China of attacking its ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal. Ezra Acayan via Getty Images

After taking office in 2022, Marcos renewed ties with the U.S., last year announcing four new sites for American military bases across the archipelago nation as the Biden administration sought to bolster defenses of Taiwan, the self-governing island democracy that hasnt been ruled from Beijing since 1895.

U.S. military officials have said repeatedly over the past year that China will invade Taiwan within the decade, particularly after Taiwanese voters gave the presidency to Lai Ching-te, who is perceived as more pro-independence than his predecessor from the same party. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has signaled that he thinks the U.S. is trying to goad the Peoples Republic into a risky amphibious invasion, but Western experts last month told Business Insider that this was part of Beijings strategy to drive a wedge between Washington and its allies in Brussels.

At Singapores recent global gathering on Asian security, a top Chinese general confronted Marcos, accusing the Philippines of jeopardizing peace in the region. But tensions reached new heights in mid-June when Chinas coast guard assaulted Philippine sailors en route to reinforcing a rusting World War II vessel, which Manila parked atop a contested reef in a bid to keep China from claiming the island and setting up its own outpost.

I think theres going to be a war, I really do, Carlos, a taxi driver in the Metro Manila city of Pasay who gave only his first name, said without prompting after confirming that the reporter in his car that late morning was American. Are you guys going to back us?

Since 1951, the U.S. has had a NATO-like defense pact with the Philippines, which Washington had seized as a colony along with Puerto Rico and Guam in 1898 but freed in 1946 following the end of World War II. Despite years of up-and-down relations, Biden cemented closer ties with the Philippines by establishing new Marine units based in Honolulu and Okinawa, Japan, with U.S. forces there running frequent joint exercises with their Filipino counterparts.

Philippines President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. delivers a speech during the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on May 31, 2024. NHAC NGUYEN via Getty Images

The Biden administration has done much to make up for the lackluster support the Trump administration gave to the Philippines, Abinales wrote in an email. Of course the Philippine military and Filipinos in general want more than just joint exercises (like perhaps coming to the aid of Filipino ships harassed by the Chinese Coast Guard), but we are patient.

If Biden loses his reelection bid, however, Chinas Xi can easily flatter Trump and push the U.S. to pull back support from its ally, Abinales said.

Given Trumps lack of interest in anything happening outside the U.S and a strong isolationist movement inside the GOP, Filipinos expect that reduction to happen, he said.

Marcos recently laid out what appeared to be a red line, stating that the death of any Filipino in the South China Sea conflict would be seen as very close to an act of war.

Cojuangco said its time for the U.S. to put up or shut up.

Weve been your allies since before World War II, the Filipino lawmaker said. Its time for you to show us love as your allies and brothers.

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A budding partnership led by deputies in the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office aims to prevent crime among the area's Karen youth, the latest effort to provide support and deterrence for teens found particularly susceptible to drugs and gang violence.

Law enforcement officials and the Karen Organization of Minnesota launched the joint effort after a March brainstorm session about gangs, resource sharing and summer activities to help at-risk youth in the Karen community.

Pronounced Kuh-ren, the ethnic group is native to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.

The March meeting was personal for sheriff's deputy Kaw Ku, who came to Minnesota in 2019 after immigrating to Arizona nine years earlier. He was 17 when he arrived in the U.S. and struggled to learn English, make friends and cope with bullying. Now as a deputy, Ku said, he wants to be a role model to the Karen community.

"Coming to another country, and [with] how you look, sometimes people see those things and make you feel like you do not belong," Ku said. "I want to do something to lead by example, making a difference, and to help the youth. Because the youth are the future. They are the leaders for the community."

An estimated 20,000 Karen live in Minnesota, mostly in St. Paul. The state's Karen population is the largest in the U.S. Many came to the country to escape war and persecution in their homeland, where reports of Karen being subjected to forced labor, rape and death persist.

Their families found opportunity in Minnesota, but gangs and drugs have plagued many of their youth. As the Star Tribune has reported, authorities and advocates have found that historical trauma and a lack of resources have left Karen children vulnerable to their influence. Some allegedly were even forced to use drugs at gunpoint.

Many Karen parents who escaped persecution in Myanmar have reported extreme depression because they don't know how to help their kids.

St. Paul police said an alarming rate of methamphetamine and fentanyl addiction fueled violence among Karen gangs last year. They say a suspected gang member was shot in the ankle last June as he walked by his home. In another incident, more than a dozen bullets peppered the house of a Karen youth whom police believe was associated with a gang. When the home was struck again months later, two stray bullets hit a neighbor's house. No one was hurt.

St. Paul's Humboldt High School, which has the highest percentage of Karen youth in the city's school district, stemmed the tide of gang and drug influence through a partnership with police, the Karen Organization and the nonprofit Urban Village. That partnership reportedly has shown progress, bringing opportunity and community to troubled Karen youth, but advocates say more support is needed.

And deputies at the Sheriff's Office say helping Karen people could help everyone.

Deputy Daryl Gullette helps to direct the Youth Plus Program, a grant-funded program at the Sheriff's Office that serves mostly Karen, Karenni and Somali youth. He organizes fishing trips, homework assistance and other activities to help participants interact with each other.

Gullette said the program helps build relationships among young people from different cultures. As a St. Paul native and former school resource officer, he said such work is important in building a strong community.

"Empowering the Karen and Karenni community  it benefits us all. It gives us a different view into their struggles and to open up understanding," Gullette said. "We've all had problems. It's OK to ask for help. It's OK to offer help ... it's [about] how do we reach success together?"
by Gulnar Shaimergenova

Amidst growing geopolitical tensions and threats of existing and emerging conflicts, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a diverse yet cohesive coalition, plays a crucial role in maintaining regional stability and promoting prosperity.

Since its inception in 2001, the organization has been committed to developing good neighborliness, strengthening mutual trust, expanding multilateral dialogue and enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation.

The Shanghai Spirit ensures that every member state has an equal voice, regardless of economic scale, military potential, or international influence, setting an example of multilateral cooperation.

Tackling regional security concerns and coordinating responses to security threats remain the main focus for SCO members. The organization provides an important platform for member states to address common security challenges, particularly terrorism, extremism, and separatism.

Through the SCO's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, member countries have been able to enhance intelligence sharing and operational coordination, leading to more effective efforts in combating terrorism.

Energy security also holds an important place in the SCO agenda. In recent years, efforts have been directed toward creating a unified energy market and developing joint projects in the energy field. Kazakhstan and China are actively developing projects in the energy sector, as evidenced by significant investments and expanding cooperation.

Meanwhile, the SCO needs to update its methods for addressing emerging challenges and threats. Active and effective work is being done to achieve this goal.

Beyond security, the SCO has also become a driving force for economic integration and development. Member states have leveraged the organization's strengths to deepen trade ties, expand connectivity, and explore new investment opportunities.

From an economic perspective, the SCO represents a vast market that has yet to be fully explored. A major focus of its expansion is to achieve collective economic development. By fostering a safe environment, developing relevant infrastructure, and setting unified standards and regulations, the SCO will inject new momentum into economic collaboration among its member states.

Such an expansion will link markets from Europe to the Caucasus, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, permanently transforming the geopolitical and economic landscape of Central and South Asia.

China has played a leading role in shaping the SCO's vision and boosting cooperation among member states. Chinese wisdom says: "To become rich, build roads." This fully applies to the ancient Silk Road, which served as the first example of globalization in human history.

Today, we are recreating and reviving this historic feat by jointly building the Belt and Road. Synergizing with the SCO's agenda, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) fosters infrastructure development, trade, and investment across Eurasia. I am sure that the BRI will provide a solid foundation for building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Digitalization and innovation are also vital for the SCO's future. The organization will keep advancing digital technology development and working to bridge the digital gap.

Looking ahead, the SCO has the potential to play an even greater role in shaping global governance and fostering a more inclusive international order. By deepening cooperation in areas such as cybersecurity, public health, and sustainable development, the SCO can address pressing global issues and contribute to the peace and prosperity of humanity.

Editor's note: Gulnar Shaimergenova is the director of Kazakhstan's China Studies Center.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.
BELOKO, Central African RepublicThey were all wearing military fatigues and armed with Kalashnikovs when they showed up suddenly at about 5 oclock one Friday evening at the start of December. The four men were soldiers from the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) who drove right up to where I was interviewing about a dozen people hoping to get cross the border.

Among those I was interviewing were a couple of artisanal miners who had gathered in front of a security checkpoint in the Central African Republic (CAR) border town of Beloko. It is the countrys first customs checkpoint on the trade corridor linking the capital, Bangui, to the Cameroonian port city of Douala. A number of them had lost their homes following the fighting between rebels and Russian paramilitaries supported by FACA forces, and were hoping to find refuge in Cameroon.

Suddenly, four gun-wielding soldiers appeared from nowhere, rushed me, and started to drag me away. I began to scream for help but the civilians around, including those I was interviewing, were too scared to intervene. Two armed Russian paramilitaries, who came to the scene when they heard me screaming, encouraged the soldiers to assault me, telling the FACA officials to beat me up until I confessed to being a criminal. When one elderly man courageously asked the soldiers why they were dragging me away on a stony road, one of them replied: Hes a terrorist.

I didnt resist their arrest, yet the soldiers manhandled me in such a brutal way that anyone watching would think I did not want to be apprehended. By the time we got to a nearby military outpost close to a customs checkpoint, there were bruises on my hands and legs.

FACA soldiers and Russian paramilitaries are very visible and active in Beloko. The town is the CARs main source of customs. About 80 percent of the countrys imports, including supplies from Russia, pass through here. A year ago, militants from the Coalition of Patriots for Change (CPC)a fusion of major rebel groups in CAR destroyed dozens of vehicles in Beloko, burned fuel stocks and razed the customs office. Two mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group deployed to CAR and at least two other civilians were killed in the incident.

Philip Obaji Jr. after receiving treatment. Philp Obaji Jr. / The Daily Beast

In September, three months before I arrived in Beloko, FACA soldiers and Russian paramilitaries repelled an armed attack against the town by CPC rebels. A civilian was shot and injured, and many houses were damaged during the incident. There were allegations that Russian paramilitaries, who continue to exert influence over the CARs security agencies, tortured a number of locals as they searched for the militants. It was also claimed that they were in the business of collecting bribes from drivers that transported goods from Cameroon. I was investigating the allegations when the soldiers seized me.

Putins Private Army Accused of Massacring Dozens to Seize Gold Mine

When we arrived at the military outpost, soldiers flogged me with whips and accused me of spying on them. I denied that I had done that. The soldiers then seized my phone and camera and began to search the contents of the devices. They saw nothing in them. I had cleared and backed up the files before I arrived in Beloko and had not even started recording anyone at the customs checkpoint when I was arrested.

I had arrived in Beloko the previous day after a long road trip from Douala through the Cameroonian border town of Garoua-Boulai to dig into Russian operations in the CAR following the death of Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. My contacts advised me to go near the customs checkpoint in search of locals and transporters who may be willing to speak about their experiences with the Russians, whove been active in the CAR since the government turned to Moscow for help in securing arms and paramilitaries in 2017.

The CAR is a very dangerous place to be a journalist. In the last decade, a number of reporters have been killed while carrying out their work. The list includes local journalists Elisabeth Blanche Olofio, Desire Luc Sayenga, and Rene Padou; French photojournalist Camille Lepage; and three Russian investigative reportersOrkhan Dzhemal, Kirill Radchenko and Alexander Rastorguyevwho traveled to the country in 2018 to report on the presence of Wagner paramilitaries.

According to Reporters Without Borders, journalists are often subjected to pressure, threats, violence or cyber-harassment, and reporters who interview other parties to the countrys decade-long conflict are routinely treated as spies or as accomplices of the various armed groups. In recent years, theres been a surge in disinformation, spread by trolls linked to Russia.

The soldiers who confiscated my equipment at the military outpost found nothing else on me. I had left my passport at the small guest house where I lodged, so they couldnt tell that I was a foreigner, but they still wouldnt let me go. I was in painbruises all over my body, a dislocated wrist and a swollen upper eyelid. I couldnt answer or even comprehend the questions they asked me. It felt as if I was unconscious. That may have been my saving grace. Had the soldiers first interrogated me rather than manhandle me in the way they did, they would probably have known I was a foreign journalist, as I would likely have confessed out of fear.

I was detained in a very small room with a tiny window inside a cargo container throughout the night. The room had no electricity and soldiers offered me no food or water. I didnt have the appetite for either. Very early in the morning, at about 6 a.m., the commercial motorcyclist who took me to the customs checkpoint the previous day and witnessed how I was treated arrived with a soldiera close friend of his from a different military unit in Belokowho successfully pleaded with his colleagues to release me.

There was no apology or regret from the soldiers, rather they said I was lucky I hadnt been killed. No one whos detained here gets out of here alive, one soldier said.

To make matters worse, they refused to return my phone and camera to me, claiming that they couldnt find where they were kept. I left without my most important equipment, but was incredibly grateful to be alive.

CAR forces, working closely with Russian paramilitaries, have a history of torturing and murdering civilians at checkpoints. In June 2021, FACA soldiers and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group set up a roadblock in the northwestern town of Bossangoa, stopped a dozen men on motorbikes, beat and shot them dead, and then put at least eight of the bodies in a shallow hole next to the road, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Around the same period, FACA soldiers unlawfully detained 21 men they accused of being rebels in inhumane conditions in an open hole at a national army base in the southern town of Alindao, according to HRW. Witnesses told the organization that both national army and Russian-speaking forces beat five of the men and may have executed two who were rebel combatants.

Teenage Twins Say They Were Drugged and Raped by Putins Rampaging Private Army

As soon as I returned to the guest house at the outskirts of Beloko, a local nurse was invited to treat the wounds I had sustained. He could only administer first aid treatment. It was the best medical care I could immediately get in a town with no standard hospital or easy access to prescription drugs. Still my dislocated wrist and swollen upper eyelid needed close examination, and only a long trip back to the Cameroon capital, Yaounde, or Douala that could take at least two days on motorbikes and commercial vehicles along very bad roads would guarantee that.

I managed to get to Garoua-Boulai the following day but began to feel feverish and so decided not to risk making the very long road trip to Douala. I felt better after taking a dose of aspirin the next morning, by which time, the wounds on my legs and hands had started to heal. I then made a decision to return to CAR to complete my investigation on Russian operations in the country since the death of Prigozhin. So I bought a new phone and camera and returned to the CAR to finish the work I had started.

Demonstrators hold a banner reading "We thank the FACA (Armed Forces of the Central African Republic)" in Bangui on February 23, 2022 during a pro Russia demonstration held around a statue representing Central African soldiers and Russian armed men. Carol Valade

The attack by Russian paramilitaries on locals in the northwestern CAR town of Koki in which at least 50 villagers were killed became an obsession for me, all the more because the victims were ordinary people who had done nothing wrong. I managed to interview 16 witnesses to the attack.

But I soon faced another hurdle. In mid-December, while departing the northwestern CAR village of Gallo where I had gone to interview a couple of witnesses to the Koki attack, the driver who transported me in a Volkswagen Passat vehicle sighted a group of armed men on the main road leading out of the village and was about to turn the car back to where we came from when the armed men started to shoot in the air. Fearing that the men could open fire at us if he continued in his attempt to avoid them, the driver stopped the vehicle. He then came out of the car with his hands raised as he walked up to the militants to explain to them who we were and why we visited Gallo.

But nothing the driver said to the militants, who accused me of being a foreign spy disguised as a journalist, was enough to let us go right away. We were held for about eight hours and only regained freedom after a higher-up militant arrived, listened to our story and was convinced I was a reporter on a mission to report on the attacks on Koki by Russian paramilitaries and not to spy on CAR rebels as his colleagues had thought.

It was close to midnight when the militants released us. We spent the night in Gallo and were able to travel out of the village the following day. I left the CAR for Cameroon two days after.

My trip to the CAR formed part of my work as Jim Hoge Reporting Fellow. Last April, when the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) asked me if I was interested in completing a three-month reporting project focused on a pressing global issue as part of its newly introduced Jim Hoge Fellowship, I knew straight away what I wanted to do.

I had spent nearly three years investigating and documenting dozens of human rights abusesincluding gut-wrenching massacresby mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Group active in the Central African Republic (CAR) and in Mali, despite threats in an incredibly risky context. In 2022, I became a target of the Wagner Group. Contacts told me that my photo had been circulating on chat groups used by locals recruited by Wagner, who have apparently denounced me as an obstacle to fighting extremism in CAR and claimed Im an agent of the West who should be arrested or killed.

But there was still more to discover about Russias involvement in the CAR and no amount of intimidation was going to stop me from continuing my investigation.

Before my exclusive reporting on the Koki massacre, little was known about how Russian paramilitaries operated in the CAR following the demise of the Wagner boss. Who was coordinating Russian operations in the country? How many Russian paramilitaries were in the country? The governmentas usualwas silent; Russian paramilitaries and CAR forces prevented journalists from traveling far to seek answers. Villagers were warned never to speak to reporters.

I was determined to overcome those obstacles and get the answers that I so desperately needed. Thankfully, that was achieved.

This story was supported by the International Center for Journalists through the Jim Hoge Fellowship

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TOKYO, Jul 06 (News On Japan) - A dry rainy season has led to the massive growth of vegetables, with prices significantly lower than usual, offering a double benefit for consumers. This week, some stores are selling large heads of lettuce for as low as 54 yen each.

On July 4th, temperatures soared to the highest of the year across various regions, with central Tokyo recording a high of 35.0C, marking the first extremely hot day of the year.

Visitor from Austria: 'Very hot!!'

Teenager: 'It's hot. Really hot. So hot. It's unbearable, it's the end. I can't survive August.'

Amid the heatwave reminiscent of the end of the rainy season, fresh, juicy heads of lettuce were priced at a surprising 54 yen each at a supermarket in Sumida Ward, Tokyo.

Even on the 27th of last month, the price was already a low 83 yen per head, but within a week, it dropped another 30%.

Shopper (40s): 'At 50 yen, I'd like to buy more, but I don't have enough space to store them. If it's still 50 yen tomorrow, I'll come again.'

'50 yen for lettuce is unbelievable. It's great to eat now that it's hot, for dishes like cold shabu-shabu or salads. It's very helpful.'

Other vegetables also saw significant price drops, with thick green peppers priced at 106 yen for three, and cabbage at 106 yen per head. But why are prices dropping so much?

Izumi Supermarket President, Mamoru Gomi: 'The weather has been favorable, resulting in a very good yield, with more than double the usual shipment volume, leading to these prices. It's a great opportunity right now.'

It's not just the prices that are impressive; the sizes are too...

President Gomi: 'We usually pack 18 heads, but today, due to their large size, we packed 12.'

'Because they are so large, we can't fit more. Customers are very pleased. They say the heads are about twice the usual size. And at this price!'

**Giant Eggplants and Green Peppers: Why Such a Bountiful Harvest?**

We visited a farm growing summer vegetables in Chiba Prefecture, near Matsudo City, where the temperature reached 34.5C on the 4th.

In the fields at harvest time, eggplants were found to be at their best. Normally harvested at around 15 cm, they had grown close to 20 cm.

Tobari Farm Owner, Yasutaka Tobari: 'We are harvesting green peppers every other day, and they keep growing larger.'

The green peppers had grown to 1.5 times their usual size. You might think they would be less flavorful due to their size, but the freshly picked green peppers tasted...

TV Asahi Announcer, Maya Ki: 'They are really juicy! With every bite, more and more moisture bursts out. There's very little bitterness.'

Farm Owner Tobari: '(Q: Do green peppers contain this much moisture?) Yes, it's partly because they are freshly picked, but also because the soil conditions are good, resulting in such juicy peppers.'

Fresh green peppers are recommended to be eaten raw with miso or mayonnaise.

The reason for the growth of such large summer vegetables lies in the soil.

Farm Owner Tobari: 'We have maintained just the right amount of moisture this year. Without proper nutrition reaching the roots, vegetables wouldn't grow this well.'

June saw only 10 days of rain, the least in the past 10 years, creating soil conditions perfect for summer vegetables.

Additionally, the current temperatures are contributing to the bountiful harvest.

Farm Owner Tobari: 'Unlike midsummer, the temperature drops at night, creating an environment with daytime highs around 30C and nighttime lows below 25C, which is ideal for the current state of the eggplants.'

Source: ANN
TOKYO, Jul 06 (News On Japan) - The Tokyo gubernatorial election, with voting on July 7, has sparked a debate over the 'Senkyo-Wari' campaign, which offers discounts and services at participating stores upon presenting a voting certificate, aimed at boosting voter turnout. Approximately 250 establishments, including ramen shops, cafes, and beauty salons, are participating in Tokyo.

Public opinion on 'Senkyo-Wari' is divided. One person said, 'I think it's great if it increases voter turnout. I haven't voted before and didn't plan to, but if I had known about this, I might have gone.' Another remarked, 'If people vote without proper consideration just for discounts, it defeats the purpose.'

When asked about 'Senkyo-Wari,' early voters had mixed reactions. One individual said, 'I didn't know about it. Ideally, voting should be done without such incentives.' Another commented, 'I was unaware of it. If such a campaign exists, it might encourage more people to vote.'

A ramen shop offering free toppings or eggs for about five years through 'Senkyo-Wari' aims to spark interest in elections. Michiko Watanabe from Paimein Setagaya Main Store said, 'I hope people will think, "Lucky! There's this kind of service if I vote," and take more interest in elections.'

Some bakeries have reported customers using 'Senkyo-Wari.' A customer said, 'When I asked if a photo was acceptable proof, they said yes. Knowing about such offers might encourage more people to vote.'

Shotaro Sato, President of the Election Discount Association, which organized 'Senkyo-Wari,' emphasized its significance. 'We aim to encourage non-voters to take their first step and remind regular voters to participate despite their busy schedules.'

However, concerns about potential benefits to specific candidates or vote-buying have been raised. Sato responded, 'After consulting with lawyers and election officials, we established strict rules to ensure compliance with the Public Offices Election Act.'

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, overseeing the election, stated that 'Senkyo-Wari' does not pose immediate legal issues and that improving voting conditions is key to enhancing turnout.

The Tokyo gubernatorial election voting is set for July 7.

Source: FNN
By Dayo Johnson, Akure

A bloody clash between the Ondo state security outfit codenamed Amotekun and some Fulani herdsmen in Akure, the state capital, has left many wounded.

The personnel of the security outfit and the herdsmen were seriously injured during the clash over the weekend.

Amotekun operatives were attacked while enforcing the anti-open grazing law in the lgoba area of the state.

Sources said that an ugly incident occurred When the personnel of the security outfit arrested over 120 cows and their herders for grazing and destroying tomato farms worth millions of naira at Igoba town in Akure North council area of the state.

Reports had it that the farmers in the area had been complaining about the herders grazing on their farms.

The personnel of the security outfit responded to a distress call from a tomato farmer and arrested the cows and herders.

The Amotekun personnel were said to have been attacked by the Fulani herdsmen while they were transporting the arrested herders and cows to their office in the state capital.

Vanguard learnt that the clash later resulted in Injuries on both sides.

Reacting, to the clash, the state commander of Amotekun, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, said his officers were attacked with stones, bottles, daggers, and guns, and several officers sustained injuries.

A statement signed by the spokesperson for the outfit, Jimoh Adeniken, said that the personnel were attacked while enforcing the anti-open grazing law of the State.

Adeniken said that the herdsmen  continued to throw stones and bottles till they invaded the main road and hacked one of the Amotekun officers to a coma while attempting to disarm the officers and men of the Amotekun corps.

 Sequentially, the officers of the Amotekun Corps shot into the air to dislodge them and move back to the office.

Unfortunately, other officers sustained varying degrees of injuries during the attack and they are currently receiving medical attention at the Hospital.

Hence, the cows owners have been identified while investigation continues by the corps.

He added that Government will continue to pursue with vigour, through lawful means, to ensure strict compliance of the law to ensure that the efforts of farmers would not be truncated through destruction of their farmlands by herders and their cows.

TOP HEADLINES
Region 11 emergency management is encouraging safe driving with the fall changes that drivers are experiencing. From the end of daylight saving time to active wildlife to Halloween, there are many things that drivers need to be on the lookout for.
In the Friday, Nov. 18, 1887, first edition issue of the Daily News, the contents one will find are quite a bit different from what you'd see in a modern paper. Advertisements were of the times, with such services as blacksmithing and livery stables still relevant during the era.
The China-made drone parts seized by Italian authorities were disguised as wind turbines in order to be shipped to Libya, in violation of a UN embargo, news agencies reported.

Earlier this month, Italian customs found Chinese drone components in six containers at the Port of Gioia Tauro in southern Italy. The components were hidden among composite material replicas of wind turbine blades to avoid detection.

The drones were heading for Benghazi in Libya under orders from Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

The Times reported that these were Wing Loong UAVs, which are made in China.

Wing loong drones are potent offensive weapons that are often compared to the MQ-9 Reaper of the US.

The UN found that in 2019, the drone was likely used by Haftars forces in attack on the suburbs of Tripoli, where a rival internationally-recognized government is based.
The army of Thailand managed to rescue 12 Moroccans who were trapped by gangs that lured them into well-paid jobs in Myanmar casinos before holding them hostage for months.

The operation was conducted in collaboration with the Moroccan embassy in Thailand, Thai media The Nation reported.

The liberated Moroccans are part of a larger group including other nationalities who have been duped by what came to be called call-center gangs in Myanmar.

Thai authorities are still negotiating the release of other Moroccans who have been scammed into casino jobs.
The key features of the Royal Initiative for the Atlantic took center stage at the 7th edition of the international conference Morocco Today Forum (MTF), organized on Friday, July 5 in Dakhla, under the high patronage of King Mohammed VI.

The Morocco Today Forum was held under the theme: Vision of a King: The Atlantic Africa, for an Integrated, Inclusive, and Prosperous Continental Region.

This annual forum, organized by the Le Matin Group in partnership with the Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI) and the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab Regional Council, was marked by the participation of several prominent Moroccan and African personalities and officials and provided a platform to discuss the opportunities offered by the Royal Atlantic Initiative.

Speaking at the inaugural session of this edition, Leila Benali, Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, emphasized that Morocco is firmly committed to developing and making available its road, port, rail, air, and energy infrastructures to realize this royal vision.

This initiative does not merely stem from a traditional geographical neighborhood policy, but above all from a profound conviction of historical, cultural, political, and geostrategic belonging, she emphasized, noting that Africa faces many challenges, including low access to modern energy and dependence on fossil fuel imports.

A tremendous opportunity for African countries integration

Former Malian PM Moussa Mara, who participated in the forum, described the Royal Atlantic Initiative as a tremendous opportunity to ensure the integration of African countries.

HM King Mohammed VIs initiative is a tremendous opportunity for these Sahel countries that have no access to the sea, he said, recalling that his country has joined this Initiative.

The countries of the Sahel, rich in mineral resources and agricultural potential, need maritime outlets, and the fact that Morocco is making its port, airport, rail and road infrastructure available to these countries is a tremendous opportunity, said the former Malian Prime Minister.

He also stressed the importance of accompanying this Initiative by building infrastructure and projects to promote mobility and the free movement of people.

The human element at the heart of the initiative

In a statement to the media, on the sidelines of the second panel of this meeting, Moroccos ambassador to the United States, Youssef Amrani, affirmed that the royal vision is clear, because it places, above all, the human element at the center of the strategy. Moreover, it highlights the connection between this Africa-Europe-Sahel corridor, which promotes growth and creates synergies, electrical and energy interconnections, submarine cables, and rail and maritime transport, the diplomat said.

In this context, the port of Dakhla is a fundamental element that not only unlocks the Sahel countries but also creates opportunities for all the countries in the region, the diplomat argued. It is a vision that creates stability and prosperity, and we are happy today to see that our partners have not only supported this initiative but have also clearly indicated that it fits within their national priorities, he concluded.

A pragmatic response

For his part, the president of the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM), Chakib Alj, stated that this 7th edition of the MTF is timely, occurring when Morocco is taking the lead on certain issues thanks to the royal vision and this Atlantic initiative, which is a pragmatic and practical response to many of the problems our continent is facing.

The Moroccan private sector is mobilized to respond to this royal vision. The kingdom is already the second African investor on the continent in various sectors such as banking, insurance, industries, pharmaceutical laboratories, agriculture, and agri-food, he said. We are ready to invest in a win-win spirit and partnership to develop African economies. We work very closely with African business organizations to identify complementarities between the different countries and create a Made in Africa that will give a new impetus to our economy, explained the business leader.

Policymakers, diplomats, local actors, business leaders, experts, and academics from Morocco, the continent, and beyond participated in MTF 2024, which is particularly significant this year both in view of the chosen theme and of the choice of the host city, Dakhla, not to speak of the new dimension of the event, now strengthened by the partnership with AMCI and the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region.
China endeavors to foster more united, prosperous SCO community

Xinhua) 09:22, July 06, 2024

* Noting that modernization is the shared goal of all countries in the SCO, Xi proposed at the SCO+ meeting that 2025 be designated as the SCO Year of Sustainable Development so as to help the SCO members focus on fostering new forces for growth.

* When attending the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO, Xi called on the SCO members to ensure security in the face of real threat from the Cold War mentality.

* Since its inception in China's Shanghai in 2001, the SCO has expanded from a regional organization with six members into a trans-regional organization with 10 full members, two observer countries, and 14 dialogue partners.

BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for building a common home of prosperity and development, and called on the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to ensure security in the face of real threat from the Cold War mentality.

Xi made the appeal when attending the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO and the expanded meeting of the SCO, or SCO+.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the Independence Palace in Astana, Kazakhstan, July 4, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

COMMON PROSPERITY

Noting that modernization is the shared goal of all countries in the SCO, Xi proposed at the SCO+ meeting that 2025 be designated as the SCO Year of Sustainable Development so as to help the SCO members focus on fostering new forces for growth.

"We will promote regional cooperation through platforms such as the demonstration base for agricultural technology exchange and training, the local economic and trade cooperation demonstration area, and the ecology and environment innovation base," Xi said.

"We will also expand local currency settlement, and actively promote the establishment of an SCO financing platform," he added.

China welcomes all parties to use the Beidou Satellite Navigation System and participate in the development of the International Lunar Research Station, said Xi, adding that China will provide at least 1,000 training opportunities on digital technology to fellow countries in the SCO in the next three years.

Initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative promote regional economic integration, while SCO member states are working to promote cooperation based on mutual respect and common interests, said Abdulaziz Alshaabani, a Saudi researcher at Al Riyadh Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

Iran's Interim President Mohammad Mokhber said that the SCO offers great opportunities for cooperation in the fields of trade, production, energy, transportation, agriculture, customs, and telecommunications, as well as the development of technology, which should be used for the benefit and the welfare of nations and the establishment of sustainable peace in the region and around the world.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the Independence Palace in Astana, Kazakhstan, July 4, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

SHARED SECURITY

When attending the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO, Xi called on the SCO members to ensure security in the face of real threat from the Cold War mentality.

He urged the member states to adhere to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, address complex and intertwined security challenges through dialogue and coordination, and respond to the profoundly changing international landscape with a win-win approach, so as to build a world of lasting peace and universal security.

The SCO founding members made a historical decision to pursue peaceful development, commit to good-neighborliness and friendship, and build a new type of international relations, Xi said, adding that the "Shanghai Spirit" has become a shared value and guiding principle for the member states.

Noting that real security is premised on the security of all countries, Xi said at the SCO+ meeting that the SCO countries need to respect the development path of respective and independent choosing, and support each other in safeguarding core interests.

"The SCO should move faster to build a universal center and its branches to address the challenges and threats to the security of SCO member states and the Anti-Drug Center. It should strengthen intelligence sharing and conduct joint operations to jointly safeguard security in our part of the world," Xi said.

As the current chair of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, China will do what it can to ensure the success of the Interaction-2024 joint counterterrorism exercise and other events, Xi added.

The SCO has established itself as an effective and highly-valued structure within the international security system, with strong prospects for further development, said Bolat Nurgaliyev, former Secretary-General of the SCO.

In the context of the intertwined global turmoil, SCO countries must unite and maintain common security, which is the foundation of the SCO, said Chen Fengying, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping poses for a group photo with leaders attending the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the Independence Palace in Astana, Kazakhstan, July 4, 2024. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

EXPANDED COMMUNITY

In a major development for the SCO, Belarus was formally accepted as the 10th member state of the inter-governmental organization at Thursday's summit.

The latest expansion bolsters the SCO's capacity for regional cooperation and strengthens its influence on the global stage, underscoring its role as a vital platform for addressing contemporary security and economic challenges.

Belarus' accession to the SCO is a wonderful gift to the Belarusian nation, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"Belarus is very proud to become a full member of the SCO. We will strengthen the Shanghai Spirit of the organization based on the principles of mutual respect, equality, and solidarity," Lukashenko said Thursday.

Since its inception in China's Shanghai in 2001, the SCO has expanded from a regional organization with six members into a trans-regional organization with 10 full members, two observer countries, and 14 dialogue partners.

The SCO has withstood the test of the changing international landscape, the root cause of which lies in the fact that SCO members remain committed to the fine tradition of solidarity and coordination, the way of cooperation featuring equality and mutual benefit, the value pursuit on fairness and justice, and the broad-mindedness of inclusiveness and mutual learning, Xi said when attending the 24th SCO summit.

It is expected that Belarus will leverage its unique advantages to invigorate the organization with new energy, said Yuri Yarmolinsky, an analyst with the Belarusian Institute of Strategic Research.

"We see that the number of those wishing to become members, observers, dialogue partners is constantly growing," said Nurgaliyev. "This is proof that the SCO is a very popular and effective structure that has found its niche in the system of international security and cooperation."

The continuous expansion of the SCO is a testament to the organization's vitality and broad prospects, said Pramod Jaiswal, research director at Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement.

"This trend enhances the SCO's regional and global influence, promotes multilateral cooperation, and provides numerous opportunities for economic, security and cultural collaboration," said Jaiswal.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
JAKARTA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed in a collision between a minibus and a truck on the toll road in Gresik Regency, East Java, Indonesia, on Saturday at 9:15 a.m. local time.

Imet Chaerudin, head of the highway patrol unit of the East Java Regional Police Traffic Directorate, said that the minibus had switched lanes to the right just as the timber truck was speeding.

"The truck driver applied the brakes and swerved to the right, but the distance was too close to avoid the collision," Chaerudin said.

After the collision, the minibus, which was carrying 17 passengers, including two children, overturned and struck the road median.

The deceased were a passenger and the minibus driver, both of whom were transported to the nearest hospital. 
If 2020 is any harbinger, there is likely a contentious election coming up in November.

Many believe President Joe Biden is unfit to serve in office mentally while others believe former President Donald Trump is unfit to serve in office morally or ethically.

I personally know people who love Jesus yet fall into these differing political camps.

I assume youre aware of this, so my point today is not information but exhortation.

Opinions and preferences can quickly drive wedges between people and sadly, Christians are not exempt from this.

Our political opinions, sporting allegiances, pet theological views, preferences on church styles (e.g. music, preaching, liturgy or not) and a host of other negotiable topics are not wrong, but beware lest they break the oneness Jesus desires in his church.

Friends, in John 17:21, Jesus asks his Father that those who believe in him may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

On the night of his betrayal, Jesus big ask in prayer is for all believers to be unified.

Please dont miss the last part of his prayer where Jesus explains that unity among believers is a powerful proof to the world that Jesus was truly sent from God.

Conversely, a lack of unity among believers encourages the world to ignore the claims of Christ and remain skeptical of him.

Can you imagine how much effort Satan must put toward the goal of dividing the church to discredit Jesus?

Understand that Im not advocating we do away with denominations. I serve at the Berean Church because I appreciate the distinctives we hold.

Im also aware that Berean doesnt have a corner on the market on being right in all our decisions and distinctives.

Holding our opinions and preferences with humility is key to ensuring distinctives dont become divisive. Of course, not everything is negotiable for Jesus church.

I assert that all Christ-exalting churches faithfully hold to the person of Jesus (he is fully God and fully human), the work of Jesus (his sinless life, sacrificial/atoning death, and his glorious resurrection and ascension) and the word of Jesus (his commands requiring obedience).

Those form the bedrock of our unity, and all other issues take a secondary role. Its not that theyre unimportant  its just that they cannot cause us to forsake loving one another and maintaining a unity of spirit. This sort of unity only comes as a fruit of humility.

Have we wrongly elevated personal preferences and distinctives to first importance? Have we despised other believers who differ with us on secondary matters? Have we spoken badly of other believers  perhaps out of jealousy, suspicion or pride?

Paul calls believers to, make (his) joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  Philippians 2:2-4.

How about us? In humility are we valuing others above ourselves? Whose interests are primarily on our mind? Jesus showed us the way as he made himself nothing for our sake.

How is Jesus today asking us to humble ourselves before others?
The Democratic Partys presidential nomination crisis began as a visceral reaction to President Joe Bidens public discombobulation. And elements of his judgment continue to correctly play an important role in Democrats belief that Biden is no longer up to the job of saving the party and the country from Donald Trump.

But even aside from Bidens polling (which is bad) and his performative affect (which is worse), Bidens behavior during this episode has violated clear black-letter lines. That behavior, above and beyond his efficacy as a candidate, is itself disqualifying.

Biden has not broken any laws, but he has violated two important norms. First, he brought his son Hunter in to serve as an adviser in White House meetings. Longtime aides to the president, reports Politico, are now raising concerns about Hunter Bidens new presence alongside the president in meetings. Or, as NBC News puts it less delicately, Another person familiar with the matter said the reaction from some senior White House staff members has been, What the hell is happening?

Its hardly novel for presidents to turn to family members for comfort or guidance. But Hunter Biden, a recovering drug addict and convicted felon, is totally unqualified to advise the president on the matter of his own fitness to serve in office and run for a second term. He lacks any relevant expertise, and his only relevant credential is an abiding love and admiration for his father that renders him totally unable to divorce the familys interests from those of the country.

Indeed, Hunters looming prison sentence creates a massive conflict of interest. President Biden has said he wont pardon his son, but that is a promise he could violate with little penalty after the election. And if Joe Biden steps down as a presidential candidate, he may also have to relinquish the presidency, thus forfeiting any chance to pardon his son.

Hunter is reportedly surpassing Joes longtime advisers, a troubling dynamic that calls into question whether the president is even attempting to distinguish between whats good for himself and whats good for the Democratic party and the United States, let alone whether hell succeed.

Donald Trump did something similar throughout his term in office, using family members to give advice despite a lack of qualifications and enormous conflicts of interest. Democrats bitterly and correctly denounced this arrangement. To accept it now would be to forfeit their standing to attack Trumps norm-shattering mix of family and business.

The second and worse violation is that Biden is reportedly ignoring the need to examine his cognitive health. Since winning the White House, Biden has continued to dismiss the need for a cognitive exam, and aides have said he has never taken one as president  not in three annual physical exams, and not in the week since a halting debate performance raised more urgent questions about the now-81-year-olds mental acuity, reports the Washington Post.

Three former colleagues of Bidens doctor tell the Post that his behavior at the debate suggest that he needs cognitive screening. Paul Campos spoke with medical experts who share this opinion, as does Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

This does not mean that Biden has a neurological impairment. But there is an apparent consensus that his behavior calls for testing, which he has declined to undertake.

Following medical advice and ascertaining his cognitive health is the absolute minimum threshold for allowing Biden to run for president this year and win another four-year term. The idea that Democrats would nominate a man displaying traits consistent with cognitive impairment, and who refuses or otherwise fails to even test for those conditions, is absurd and irresponsible. That Biden would ask them to do so displays profound narcissism or denial.

This matter began with Democrats squinting at the television and wondering if the candidate was up to the job of selling his record and critiquing his opponent. But this is not a theater-criticism issue any more. There are standards of behavior a president needs to follow to maintain the public trust. Biden is not living up to them.

Update: Morning Joe asked Biden, Have you been tested for any age-related illnesses, pre-Parkinsons or anything like that, that might explain sort of having a night like that where you couldnt finish sentences? Biden simply dodged the question:

Mika: "Have you been tested for any age-related illnesses, pre-parkinsons or anything like that, that might explain sort of having a night like that where you couldn't finish sentences?"



Biden: [laughs] Look, I had before, I was feeling so badly before the debate, when I came pic.twitter.com/JdpXpAmZql  Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 8, 2024
Editor's Note: This is a complimentary free numbers report for Oilprice.com readers. Global Energy Alert members receive a Numbers Report plus the latest geopolitical intelligence and vetted energy stock picks from our top traders. Click here to sign up for a 30-day risk-free trial.

In the latest edition of the Numbers Report, we will take a look at some of the most interesting figures put out this week in the energy and metals sectors. Each week well dig into some data and provide a bit of explanation on what drives the numbers.

Lets take a look.

1. Beating Market Expectations, Tesla Sees Investors Believe Again

- The 40% rebound in Tesla shares has eased concerns about the companys future, seeing options investors at their most bullish in more than three years, believing theres still an upside to the carmakers valuation.

- The Tesla rally intensified after the worlds second-largest EV carmaker reported a smaller annual decline in quarterly vehicle deliveries than was initially assumed.

- According to Bloomberg data, the 3-month call skew gauging the premium of call options over puts, has turned positive again and has been trending around 2.75 points.

- The past months Tesla rally has reportedly lost short sellers some $3.5 billion, with short interest in the company currently standing at 3.5% of float with a $22 billion notional value.

2. Unprecedentedly Hot Summer Brings the Heat to US Gas Inventories

- The US natural gas storage surplus to the 5-year average of inventories has declined for a seventh consecutive week, falling to 528 BCf at the end of June on the back of robust gas-fired power demand and production cuts.

- The average value of US natural gas consumption coming from the power sector rose to 45.3 BCf per day by the end of June, a whopping 14% higher than the same period a year ago thanks to an exceptionally hot summer.

- The launch of the Mountain Valley Pipeline on July 1 has led to a recovery in natural gas output across the Appalachian Basin, with production expected to jump to 35 BCf per day from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays.

- For six consecutive weeks already, hedge funds have been holding a net long position in Henry Hub futures, currently around 35,000 contracts, putting an end to extremely bearish market positioning in January-May.

3. Ageing Power Grids Across Europe and Americas Bad News for AI Expansion

- The investment frenzy to build infrastructure for generative AI data centres will test national power grid operators resilience, with Europe and North America needing to upgrade their ageing electricity systems.

- According to Goldman Sachs analysts, an average ChatGPT search consumes 10 times more power than a Google search, with the cost of building a data campus assessed at $10 million per MW of capacity.

- Europes power grid is the oldest globally, averaging almost 50 years across the region, increasingly a liability in a world where geographic proximity to data centres and their reliability plays a key role in consumption.

- Demand for conveniently located data centres is expected to heat up property prices, with demand for data centre space already exceeding supply in Europe's five largest markets (London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Dublin).

4. China Launches Next Stage of Rare Earth Industry Consolidation

- Shares of Chinese rare earth producers have jumped this week after Beijing launched a regulatory overhaul of the mining sector that should alleviate pressure coming from high supplies.

- According to Chinas State Council, a new unified development plan will come into effect October 1, mandating that refineries would no longer be able to use imported ores above government-set quotas.

- Currently, imports (mostly from neighbouring Myanmar) account for some 25% of Chinas rare earth needs and government control is supposed to increase margins of domestic producers.

- Seeking to live out Deng Xiaopings 1992 maxim that the Middle East has oil, China has rare earths, Beijing has sought to bring the industry under control, merging key producers and combating illegal mining.

5. US Oil Exports to Europe Drop to Two-Year Low as WTI Strengthens

- US crude exports to Europe fell to a two-year low as the regions refiners bought cheaper local and West African barrels, seeing outflows decline to 1.45 million b/d according to Kpler data.

- This marks a 14% month-over-month and 27% year-over-year decline, coming as the US benchmark WTI strengthened relative to the European benchmark Brent over May, curbing the profitability of cross-Atlantic trades.

- The Brent-WTI spread hit an 8-month low on May 30, at -$3.95 per barrel, after the US light sweet benchmarks discount narrowed in 15 out of 23 trading sessions on general European weakness.

- Absent any large-scale hurricane impact, US crude flows to Europe should recover over the summer months as the drop in WTI inflows has supported the value of Brent, making arbitrage workable.

6. Tin Stays Strong as Base Metals Rally Dissipates

- Most base metals have come off their May peaks when hedge funds surged into metal futures, depressed by high inventories and soft demand in China, with one notable exception  tin.

- The tin futures contract as traded on LME is up by more than 30% since the beginning of this year, trading around $33,250 per metric tonne, just as tin stocks held in LME warehouses plunged 38% in the same period.

- In contrast to nickel, supplies of refined tin from Indonesia have been disrupted by a backlog in approving new licences whilst exports from Myanmar were curbed after militias took over tin mines in Wa State.

- The positioning of hedge funds in tin contracts is the most bullish since LME started to publish its Commitments of Traders Report in 2018, holding a net length of 3,726 contracts at the close of last week.

7. Resounding Labour Victory in UK Election Expedites Majors Exodus

- The landslide victory of the Labour Party in the UK parliamentary elections, ending the 14-year rule of the Conservative Party, does not bode well for the future of North Sea production and exploration.

- The new Prime Minister Keir Starmer has consistently promised to end licensing in the North Sea should Labour win, concurrently increasing the crippling 75% windfall tax by another 3 percentage points and extending its sunset clause until the end of the next parliament.

- UK oil production has been falling by an average 8-10% per year and out of the roughly 280 active oil and gas fields currently in the UK side of the North Sea, 180 will have ceased production by the end of this decade.

- US oil giant Chevron has sold its assets in the UK North Sea this May after 55 years in the country, simultaneously to ExxonMobil selling its stakes to a local upstream firm, and Labours win might prompt others to join the exodus.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will travel to Moscow on July 5 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, days after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, a Hungarian government source told RFE/RL.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto will also accompany Orban to the Kremlin, the government source said on July 4. Szijjarto has visited Russia more than five times since Moscow invaded Ukraine more than two years ago.

News of the Moscow visit comes days after Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the European Union -- an action that raised concerns among many in the EU because of Orbans regular pro-Russia statements  and elicited quick condemnation from leaders of the bloc.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, posted on X that the EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU.

The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine, Michel added.

An EU official who asked not to be identified told RFE/RL that Orban has not informed the bloc of any planned trip to Moscow.

If Orban would have asked, Michel would have strongly advised against such a visit, the official said.

Since Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Orban has stood out among leaders from the European Union and NATO for his reluctance to sign onto massive Western weapons and aid packages for Ukraine.

Central European investigative editor Szabolcs Panyi first reported on the trip in a post on X. RFE/RL later received confirmation of the visit via a Hungarian government source.

The Hungarian prime minister's press office has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Last month, Putin said Russia would end its war -- which is believed to have killed and wounded at least 500,000 soldiers on both sides -- only if Kyiv met certain conditions.

Those included renouncing its NATO ambitions and ceding four partially occupied regions that Russia claims in their entirety, in addition to Crimea.

Related: Liberty Ostrava's Insolvency Raises Concerns for European Steel Industry

Ukraine dismissed the conditions as absurd and said they amounted to capitulation.

While in Kyiv, Orban -- who maintains close relations with Putin -- said he presented Zelenskiy with a cease-fire proposal aimed at pausing fighting with Russia more than two years into Moscows full-scale invasion.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with Zelenskiy, Orban gave no details about the contents of the proposal but said he asked the Ukrainian president "whether it was possible to take a break, to stop the firing, and then continue the negotiations, adding that a cease-fire "could ensure speeding up the pace of these negotiations."

The talks were notable because of Orbans vocal, persistent criticism of Western military aid for Kyiv.

Zelenskiy did not express his opinion on the proposal during the briefing with reporters, but a spokesman for the president said later on July 2 that Zelenskiy gave Orban an opportunity to air his thoughts.

Ihor Zhovkva, Zelenskiy's deputy chief of staff, also said Hungary was not the first country to come forward with a potential peace plan.

Zhovkva said Zelenskiy listened to Orban's proposal but stated Ukraine's "quite clear, understandable, and known" position in response.

Ukraine says its "territorial integrity" must be the foundation of any peace agreement -- a notion underscored by 80 countries that participated in the Ukrainian-initiated Global Peace Summit in Switzerland last month.

Orban last visited Moscow in September 2022, when he paid his respects at the funeral of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

By RFE/RL

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(file photo)

One of the most romantic and traditional festivals, Tanabata, also known as the Star Festival, is celebrated every year on the seventh day of the seventh month.

The Star Festival originated from the Chinese legend of two stars, Vega and Altair  lovers who were separated by the Milky Way and allowed to meet only once a year on July 7.

The legend of Star Festival in Japan varies according to the region, and one that I was told in my childhood goes like this:

Vega (a weaver and princess called Orihime in Japanese) was a beautiful daughter of King of the Sky. She always weaved celestial clothe for her father by the bank of Milky Way. There was also a young herdsman named Altair (called Hikoboshi in Japanese). One day, the herdsman visited the princess when she was working with her loom and they fell in love at the first sight. As princess met her lover more and more frequently, she began weaving less and less. The king, who was suspicious about his daughters change, finally saw her meeting with the herdsman. In anger, the king separated the two lovers across the Milky Way and forbade them to meet again. The princess became so desperate and continued weeping until her father finally allowed her to meet with the herdsman once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month.

So, if you look up into the evening sky on July 7 and it is clear, you can see the two stars reunited. But if it is rainy or cloudy, know that they will try to meet again next year.

As part of the Tanabata celebration, Japanese tie fancy slips of colored paper - blue, red, violet or yellow and white - called tanzaku on bamboo branches. We write our wish on one of the papers and tie it to the bamboo branch, which is also decorated with shiny, metallic decorations, just like a Christmas tree. According to my mother, girls back in the day used to wish that their weaving and sewing skills would improve, like the weaver princess. However, as weaver princess eventually became a guardian of arts in general, many children today wish improve their skills in hand-writing, drawing or singing.

Shopping districts throughout the nation are decorated with colorful bamboo branches. Tanabata is not a national holiday but is a tradition observed by Japanese families. Some regions celebrate this festival on July 7 in accordance with the old lunar calendar, which is Aug. 10 this year.
Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Alex Ampaabeng has reiterated Ghana's unwavering dedication to regional integration and cooperation within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).



During the Mid-Year ECOWAS Council of Ministers Meetings in Abuja, Nigeria, Dr. Ampaabeng emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts among member states to achieve collective objectives.



"We are committed to working closely with our ECOWAS counterparts to foster deeper integration and enhance economic cooperation," Dr. Ampaabeng said.



Ghana's active participation and advocacy for inclusive regional policies highlight its role as a key partner in shaping the future of West African economic integration, he added.



Dr. Alex Ampaabeng led Ghanas delegation on behalf of the Minister for Finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam.



The discussions at the meetings underscored the significance of joint initiatives aimed at bolstering trade, infrastructure development, and policy harmonization among member states.



The meetings convened Hon. Ministers responsible for Finance, Foreign Affairs, and Regional Integration from across the ECOWAS sub-region, providing a platform to assess the community's mid-year performance reports and strategize on advancing regional economic goals.



The event, held in Abuja, served as a pivotal moment for ECOWAS member states to reaffirm their collective resolve towards regional stability and economic growth.



As discussions concluded, delegates expressed optimism about the prospects of intensified cooperation and renewed commitments towards achieving sustainable development goals across the ECOWAS region.

Source: Ghanaweb.com









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ACCRA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese medical team in Ghana has successfully treated two Ghanaian orphans born with umbilical hernias, earning praise from the local community.

Ding Hui, a surgeon and member of the Chinese medical team, performed the surgeries alongside local medical staff at the Motherly Love Orphanage in LEKMA Hospital, also known as the China-Ghana Friendship Hospital.

An umbilical hernia is a condition where the abdominal wall behind the navel is damaged. "It is just like a small hole in there," Ding told Xinhua on Friday. "Through the surgery, we repaired the small hole and closed it. We stitched it together, and nothing can come out through there again."

Ding said that if the affected child is more than two years old, the umbilical hernia can no longer heal on its own. Although umbilical hernias rarely result in serious complications, there is a risk of the lump growing larger when the child laughs, coughs or even relaxes.

The two young patients showed signs of recovery and were discharged on Friday, just two days after the procedure.

Edmond Moukala, a representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) office in Ghana, praised the Chinese medical team for their kind gesture. He said that UNESCO partnered with the medical team to carry out these interventions because it concerns the health and well-being of infants. "They have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS and have many health complications, so it has become a shared responsibility for us," Moukala said.

Hadiza Mohammed, an official at the Motherly Love Orphanage, expressed gratitude for the timely intervention. "Doing this by ourselves would cost us a huge sum of money. But they have come to our rescue, and everything is successful," Mohammed said. 
The Vice President and flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has proposed the adoption of mobile money as a common payment system in Africa in order to address trade barriers and other financial challenges on the African continent.



Addressing African participants at an Interoperability Symposium in Accra on Friday organized by Africa Prosperity Network (APN), Dr. Bawumia pointed out age-long challenges associated with inter-African trade such as low rate of trading among Africans, low export rate, difficult and slow payment system, pressure on foreign exchange, among others.



To address these, Dr. Bawumia proposed the adoption of a mobile money interoperability payment system for Africa which he said would be seamless and boost trade among Africans.



"Trade payments and relationships are currently hampered by inadequate settlement systems which result in high costs, limited access, slow processing speeds and a lack of transparency.



Dr. Bawumia further said "making mobile money interoperable across borders (Africa) would allow our citizens to trade seamlessly", however, he added, a strong political will is required to make it a reality.



"Without political will, it is not likely to be achieved. It takes a lot of effort to bring stakeholders together on a common platform", he said.



Dr. Bawumia later wrote on his Facebook wall how mobile money interoperability payment system could become a common currency for trade in Africa, referencing Ghana's successful implementation of this payment system as a case study for Africa.



Read Dr. Bawumias post below:



I was the keynote speaker for the opening session of the Africa Prosperity Network Conference held in Accra today. This session of the conference seeks to explore the partnerships and possibilities of intra-Africa continental mobile money interoperability.



The theme underscores Ghana's leading role in ensuring triangular mobile money interoperability that ensures seamless financial transactions across telcos, bank accounts, and e-zwich platforms.



Ghana's successful implementation of a comprehensive mobile money interoperability, which is unique on the continent, will become handy as the rest of Africa strives to pursue a similar course.



For me, having continental mobile money interoperability will ultimately achieve, to a greater extent, the objectives of a common currency without necessarily having a common currency in Africa. We should aim at pursuing this on an incremental basis.



This does not require pursuing the elusive macroeconomic convergence criteria by the West African Monetary Zone countries for example but rather the implementation of digital payments convergence criteria. Just a few countries like Ghana, Nigeria and Cote dIvoire can start and we can proceed incrementally.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Yesterday marked a remarkable celebration for Gifty Afia Oware-Mensah, the Deputy Executive Director of the National Service Scheme (NSS) of Ghana, as she commemorated her birthday with series of philanthropic activities across Accra. Known for her dedication and service, Gifty took this special occasion to give back to the community in meaningful ways.



The day began with Gifty Oware-Mensah and her husband visiting the New Life Nungua Children's Home, where she donated essential supplies to support the children. Her act of kindness set a positive tone for the day's events, highlighting her commitment to improving the lives of the less fortunate.



Gifty Oware-Mensah then made her way to the University of Ghana Hospital, where she continued her charitable endeavors by donating medical supplies and equipment. This gesture was aimed at enhancing the hospital's capacity to provide quality healthcare services to patients, reflecting her deep concern for public health.



In addition to her contributions to the hospital, Gifty Oware-Mensah also visited the Madina Mosque, where she made another generous donation. Her visit to the mosque underscored her inclusive approach to community service, recognizing and supporting diverse groups within society.



The celebrations continued in Madina, where Gifty Oware-Mensah put in order a free health screening exercise at the Madina Astroturf. This initiative provided residents with access to essential health checks, promoting wellness and preventive care within the community. Speaking about the screening exercise, Oware emphasized the importance of health awareness and regular check-ups in maintaining a healthy population.



Throughout the day, Gifty Oware-Mensah was also seen on the streets of Accra, gifting children with various items. This act of kindness brought smiles to many young faces, further demonstrating her compassion and generosity.



Gifty Afia Oware-Mensahs birthday celebration was not just a personal milestone but a day of significant impact on many lives. Her contributions to the children's home, hospital, mosque, and the broader community through health screenings showcased her dedication to service and her unwavering commitment to making a positive difference. As she prepares for her next chapter beyond the NSS, Gifty Oware-Mensah leaves behind a legacy of generosity and community engagement that will be remembered and appreciated by many.









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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Cybersecurity has become a paramount concern for governments, businesses, and individuals alike. The complexity of the technological landscape, coupled with the evolving nature of cyber threats, necessitates a collaborative approach to address these challenges effectively.



Assuming there is nothing that can be done to combat the cyber security and data privacy challenge is a step in the wrong direction. According to a Verizons 2012 Data Breach Investigations Report, 97 percent of data breaches could have been avoided with the implementation of simple countermeasures. This statistic underscores the potential for significant risk reduction while highlighting the urgency of our collective responsibility.



By implementing proactive measures, governments and multi-national organizations, such as Huawei can significantly mitigate cyber security risks. The key lies in our shared commitment to transparency, openness, and determination. As smartphones, cloud computing, and global app stores proliferate, our technological ecosystem grows increasingly intricate, necessitating a comprehensive approach to security.



Cyber security is not merely a technical issue; it is a multifaceted challenge encompassing policies, technologies, behaviors, standards, guidelines and laws that cut across multiple sectors and societal levels. In order to adequately address cyber security issues, the private and public sectors must align their goals within a risk-based framework that prioritizes data integrity and security.



Huawei believes collaboration on cyber security must transcend geographical, political and competitive boundaries. While some may view it as a competitive edge, the reality is the impact of not collaborating provides the bad actors with many opportunities to exploit the weak links in the global cyber security chain.



Existing collaborative forums, while valuable, often fall short of providing a truly united front.In this context governments must take the lead to establish an integrated governance to drive comprehensive and collaborative approaches Huawei commits itself to supporting such an endeavor.



The current cybersecurity landscape suffers from a lack of trust and cooperation among stakeholders. As equal stakeholders in finding solutions, technology users and vendors must set a better example. Industry and governments must work together to develop the right policy framework to enhance cyber security.



Our collective effort should be guided by principles that provide a framework for coordinatedaction, driving progress on an aligned strategic priorities and goals, and time-based milestones. We must acknowledge that initial commitment may vary due to trust issues, geopolitical considerations, and competitive dynamics. However, these factors cannot become excuses for inaction.



Some key principles to guide our effort should include;



 Embracing the global nature of cyber challenges in governance and legislation.

 Harmonizing international standards while respecting cultural differences.

 Fostering public-private partnerships to bolster our defenses.

 Implementing risk-based standards for ICT vendors.

 Adopting global verification methodologies for product conformity.

 Basing security improvements on evidence rather than speculation.

 Prioritizing basic cybersecurity hygiene to raise the bar for attackers.

In summary at Huawei, the believe is that, the resolution of cyber security and data privacy protection challenges is a shared responsibility. We must unite in an atmosphere of openness and trustworthinesseach contributing to improving knowledge, processes and products as well as actively supporting the development and implementation of international standards and best practices for a more secure digital world.

Source: Huawei









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Senior Political Science Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon, Prof. Alidu Seidu has opined that the New Patriotic Party will have a herculean task of marketing the newly appointed running mate, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, to floating voters ahead of the upcoming December 7, 2024 general elections.



The Professor, who is the Head of Department, maintains that it is obvious the NPP will struggle to mobilise votes from persons who are not staunch members.



According to the Professor, the perception of arrogance created about the Manhyia South lawmaker, poses a dire consequence on the fortunes of the party since Ghanaians have registered his comments regarding the dumsor timetable in their minds.



In an interview with Joynews Raymond Acquah, the Political academician expressed worry over the daunting task ahead of the NPP considering the limited time left to the December 7 elections.



Professor Seidu said, We have just six months to elections. Yes, you can convince the NPP supporters that this is not how Napo is. Few people have worked with Napo and they know that these are perceptions and that Napo is not like that.



But we the people outside NPP or even people within the party who havent fraternised with him, how long will it take them to change their perception? he quizzed.



He further pointed out, And a lot of people have been referring to the recent 'dumsor' which a lot of Ghanaians were angered. Because 'dumsor' has affected their work, businesses, and personal life.



But NPP National Organiser, Lawyer Henry Nana Boakye dismissed assertions that Napo is rude.



Speaking on Peace FMs Midday News on Friday July 4, 2024, Nana B maintains that, there is no such perfect person on earth, however, the competencies, boldness and assertiveness of Dr. Matthewe Opoku Prempeh is what some misconstrue as arrogance.



I have worked closely with him, so for me, I see a lot of confidence in him. I see somebody who is committed and dedicated to his work, I see that he has the energy to always turn things around.



As for me, I have said that Napos confidence, assertiveness, and competence makes people think he is arrogant. His work ethics is topnotch, making him the most effective education minister since independence. His ability to roll out the free shs programme is part of the qualities that makes him outstanding.



As a political party, the ticket must be sold to Ghanaians and that is what we are going to do, Nana B said.





Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has unequivocally endorsed Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh as the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) candidates for the upcoming 2024 general elections, describing them as an "excellent pairing".



The National Council of the NPP confirmed Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, popularly known as Napo, as the running mate for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Thursday, July 4.



President Akufo-Addo in response said: National Council has endorsed the nomination of Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh to be the running mate of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.



The NPP has an excellent ticket, and were going to win with this ticket on 7th December 2024, thats the news. The feeling is good, they make a very good pair, and they are going to win"

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Charles Owusu has hailed the New Patriotic Party for their selection and approval of Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh to partner their flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, into the December presidential polls.



Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh was presented before the National Council of the New Patriotic Party on Thursday, July 4, and by a unanimous decision, the Minister, affectionately called "NAPO", was accepted as the party's Running Mate.



He will reportedly be presented to the Ashanti Overlord, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on Tuesday, July 8.



Next week, Tuesday, July 8, 2024, the NPP will perform two duties. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is a native of the Ashanti Region, so we will present him to the Asanteman Council and Otumfuo Osei Tutu in Kumasi on Tuesday afternoon next week. Then, we will proceed to outdoor him at Jubilee Park in Kumasi.



Then afterwards, Dr Bawumia will hit the trail up north to begin the constituency by constituency campaign while his running mate also begins his tour around the country. So, these are busy days ahead for the NPP, and the NPP is determined to win this December election", Sammi Awuku, NLA Chief Executive Officer and a key advisor to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumias campaign team, said in an interview on Citi FM.



Commenting on this development, Charles Owusu welcomed the NPP's choice of Running Mate stating "I believe that, yes, they have a good choice from their side. He's been an MP for four terms and Minister for Education and Energy respectively. I don't think an incompetent person who will be sent to Education and later handed the Energy Ministry. This means the President even has seen something unique in Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh".



He also believed NAPO will help Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to fight his political battles as the former's rich political experience is worth noting.



To Charles Owusu, the Bawumia/NAPO team is solid, however he cautioned Dr. Opoku Prempeh to engage in self-intropection to correct the wrong impressions about him.



"I believe what they have seen in him for which reason he has been selected as Running Mate will yield fruits for their party", Mr. Owusu, a former Head of the Monitoring Unit at the Forestry Commission, said on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Head of Communications of the Bawumia campaign team, Dennis Miracles has highlighted what informed the decision by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to choose Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Energy Minister, as his Running Mate.



Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh was unanimously approved by the National Council of the New Patriotic Party on Thursday, July 4, and will be presented to the Overlord of the Ashanti Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on Tuesday, July 8.



Sammi Awuku, a key advisor of the campaign team, revealed; Next week, Tuesday, July 8, 2024, the NPP will perform two duties. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is a native of the Ashanti Region, so we will present him to the Asanteman Council and Otumfuo Osei Tutu in Kumasi on Tuesday afternoon next week. Then, we will proceed to outdoor him at Jubilee Park in Kumasi.



Speaking on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, Dennis Miracles noted that Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is a good choice for the Running Mate position, stressing his work ethics, experiences and achievements at both the Education and Energy Ministries formed the basis for his appointment as Running Mate.



He recounted how Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh initiated moves that transformed Ghana's education system during his term as Minister of the sector and his feat at the energy sector.



"You realize that Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh received the least labour unrest during his time as a Minister of Education than all the other previous Ministers", he said.



"There is no doubt, absolute no doubt about his competence. Among all the criticisms about NAPO, have you heard even one person raise concern about his competencies and his ability to deliver as well as his experience?", he questioned NAPO's critics.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Chairman of Parliaments ad hoc committee that probed the IGP leaked tape saga, Samuel Atta Akyea, has dismissed allegations of bias.



The Abuakwa South Member of Parliament said he has no reason to disgrace the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr George Akuffo Dampare or any of the officers who appeared before the committee.



The committee is reportedly divided over the final report as it was signed by all seven members except the Chairman.



On the back of this, lead counsel for IGP Dampare, Kwame Gyan claimed Mr. Atta Akyea, who should remain neutral, has shown bias and has his own agenda.



He cited the Chairmans behaviour following the release of the Committees report as evidence supporting his suspicions.



Mr Gyan stated that, the IGP has been vindicated and that any attempts by the Chairman to tarnish his reputation will not succeed.



However, reacting to the claims on Asempa FM Friday, Mr. Atta Akyea said he has no time to do evil.



I really wish I wouldnt comment on this out of respect for the Speaker but they should enjoy. The tape was not my invention so how can I change the fact or overhaul the truth? So that if Im no longer in parliament and the case is revisited, I will tarnish my reputation?



What is the dividend for me to disgrace the IGP? People should think. I dont see what I will gain in perpetuating evil. He hasnt offended me or chased after my wife so why I will hurt him? I leave everything to God, else things will not turn out well, he said.



According to him, he only as the Chairman suggested for certain things to be done but there was no consensus.



If as a Chairman, I suggest that we should do something and people disagree and want to make the report public without my signature, then that is it. Why else will the Speaker ask us to go back? he quizzed.











Source: adomonline.com









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The Member of Parliament for the opposition National Democratic Congress for Cape Coast South, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, has mounted a spirited defense for Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, who, some have described as arrogant.



In a panel discussion on JoyNews flagship program, Newsfile, on Saturday, 6th July, 2024, the NDC MP said that sentiments that NAPO, as Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is popularly called, is arrogant are not the case. He said that if one gets to know NAPO well, the person will come to appreciate the fact that he is a fantastic person.



Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is a fantastic person if you get to know him well. He is very assertive and can be bold at times, but that cannot be an attribute of arrogance in the real sense of the word. He is very fantastic if you ask me the MP stated.



He also indicated that Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is an intellectual who engages in intellectual arguments, and that, he posited, can never be understood as arrogance. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is all about intellectual debates he stated.



Sampson Lardy, the host of the program, also had this to say about Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has strong views to express on topics tabled for discussion. He makes his points strongly and would make sure he sends them across no matter what. That cant be described as arrogance in any dictionary.



Legal practitioner, Kofi Bentil, a panelist on the show, in his view, said that what constitutes arrogance to some Ghanaians does not qualify for same. In Ghana, if you are assertive, you are tagged arrogant, if you are bold, it is arrogance. When you are well organized, you are described as arrogant, etc.



He said that though he has made certain pronouncements in the past which didnt go down well with some people, that should not be the yardstick for the job Matthew Opoku Prempeh is expected to perform as Vice President if the NPP wins the 2024 elections.



The argument should be, can he do the job? Does he have the track record? I would say Yes because the two critical ministries entrusted to him fared very well. He implemented Free SHS successfully and handled affairs at the Energy Ministry very well. The arrogance argument doesnt come in at all. He is results oriented, and, to me, thats more important the Vice President of IMANI Africa stated.



The National Executive Council (NEC) of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has concertedly approved Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh as the running mate for Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for the 2024 general elections.



The National Council endorsed the decision on Thursday after earlier meetings with the National Executive Council, and the National Steering Committee of the party.



Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, popularly known as NAPO, is also the Member of Parliament for Manhyia South in the Ashanti Region and former Education Minister and currently the Energy Minister. The party highlighted that Dr Opoku Prempeh meets all the criteria for the running mate position, which led to his unanimous approval.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Damage caused by Hurricane Beryl in Puerto Aventuras in Mexico's Quintana Roo state.

Beryl weakened to a tropical storm Friday after hitting Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, with fierce winds causing material damage but no injuries along the touristic Yucatan Peninsula.

Now headed for the Gulf of Mexico, Beryl is expected to intensify as it moves toward northeastern Mexico and the US state of Texas by the end of the weekend, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC).

After tearing through the Caribbean and coastal Venezuela leaving seven people dead, the storm hit southeast Mexico early Friday with winds of up to 175 kilometers (108 miles) per hour.

It flattened trees and lampposts and ripped off roof tiles, according to Mexico's civil protection authority.

Electricity was lost in at least three municipalities in the southeastern Quintana Roo state as Beryl moved deeper inland and weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm.

"On the initial reports, there appears to be no loss of life, and that is what matters most to us," President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in his daily press briefing.

Mexico's emergency authorities later told reporters there were no injuries or deaths, nor damage to critical infrastructure such as roads and the water system.

Electricity had been 70 percent restored and would be fully recovered by Sunday, civil protection chief Laura Velazquez said.

Residents in Tulum, Mexico, queue to receive food rations provided by the Mexican army following the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

About 2,200 people had sought cover at temporary shelters and more than 25,600 security force members and employees of the CFE electricity agency were deployed to help residents and repair damage.

As a precaution, 348 flights were cancelled at Cancun airport, the largest terminal in the Mexican Caribbean.

By Friday afternoon, state governor Mara Lezama said the airport had resumed service.

Re-intensification

The NHC said Beryl weakened from a Category 2 hurricane to Category 1 by the time it hit Yucatanmilder than earlier in the week when it left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean and parts of Venezuela.

It added on Friday that a hurricane watchsignaling a forecast re-intensification from tropical storm statushad been issued for much of the Texas coast ahead of Beryl's anticipated arrival there late on Sunday.

The Mexican army said it has food supplies and 34,000 liters of purified water to distribute to the population.

By late Friday, the NHC tracked Beryl 995 kilometers southeast of Corpus Christi in Texas, while the storm's maximum sustained winds had slowed to 95 kph.

In Mexico, hundreds of tourists were evacuated from hotels along the coast before the storm's arrival.

The army, which deployed some 8,000 troops to Tulum, said it had food supplies and 34,000 liters of purified water to distribute to the population.

The army also set up a soup kitchen in Tulum for people who could return home due to flooding or blocked roads.

Alvaro Rueda, a 51-year-old bricklayer, told AFP his neighborhood had already started clearing up after the storm's passage.

"Most of the stores are already open... we have purchased food, even if it is canned, there is food," he said.

Beryl is the first hurricane since NHC records began to reach the Category 4 level in June, and the earliest to hit the highest Category 5 in July.

Beryl left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean and the coast of Venezuela, killing at least seven people.

It is extremely rare for such a powerful storm to form this early in the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from early June to late November.

Scientists say climate change likely plays a role in the rapid intensification of storms like Beryl, since there is more energy in a warmer ocean for them to feed on.

North Atlantic waters are currently between two and five degrees Fahrenheit (1-3 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

 2024 AFP
Local officials in Indonesia on Sunday (June 30) stopped a wedding ceremony and banned the church from further worship meetings at the site, sources said.

In Mergosari, Tarik District, Sidoarjo Regency of Java island, village head Eko Budi Santoso halted the wedding at the Pentecostal Church in Indonesia (Gereja Pentekosta di Indonesia, or GPdI) site and banned them from meeting, claiming the congregation lacked a building permit and that area residents opposed their church, local media reported.

Area residents in the Muslim-majority country reportedly said they were not opposed to the presence of the church worshipping at the House of Prayer, a structure that does not have the function and markings of a church building.

Declining to allow the congregation to finish the wedding and worship, Eko and five state officials took Pastor Yoab Setiawan to a roadside stall to tell him they were responding to public complaints about the existence of the prayer house and the lack of permit, according to media outlet radarsidoarjo.jawapos.com.

A video by the Hagios Legal Aid Institute (Lembaga Bantuan Hukum, or LBH), shows Pastor Setiawan telling the officials that they might first ban the prostitution taking place in front of the village head office. The pastors wife, Lidya Laviyanti, adds, Were not causing any trouble, sir. Were sorry, we ask for your understanding. We come from everywhere. We are a minority group. Our congregation is small in number. So please understand.

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Village head Eko, motioning to the head of the community association and the head of the neighborhood association, says all activities must have permission from the neighborhood.

Pastor Setiawan and his wife ask him what activities, and Eko responds, All activities. Period, and ends the discussion.

The House of Prayer is registered through a local government report certificate signed by the Christian Community Guidance Regional Office leader, Luki Krispriyanto, on Dec. 7, 2023, according to International Christian Concern (ICC), which said Eko admitted he was not aware of the certificate.

At a meeting with the parties in conflict at the office of the village head in Mergosari village, 10 miles from Surabaya, on Monday (July 1), the acting regent of Sidoarjo, identified only as Subandi, supported the ban at the site but said congregation members could worship at home, according to Celah.id.

Officials at the meeting concluded that the church must obtain a building permit, which they said they would expedite. They gave a deadline of one month to complete the permit.

While waiting for permission to be completed, you can worship at home, Subandi said on Tuesday (July 2), according to celah.id. It doesnt mean that you are not allowed to worship.

Asserting that residents welcomed construction of a place of worship and upheld tolerance among religious communities, Subandi suggested the parties build good communication among themselves.

An area resident said that they were not disturbed by the congregations worship activities, according to detik.com. Even when hundreds of people attended, the residents welcomed them, said the resident, identified as 53-year-old Mulyati. Another resident, 25-year-old Agus Febro, said that residents, especially young people, never felt unrest due to the prayer houses Sunday activities.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace, a human rights organization, said the case was a clear sign of state subordination to the will of the intolerant groups.

Local political constellations and electoral interests, in gaining support from the masses, make public officials choose sides and accommodate the demands of intolerant groups, Bonar told Morning Star News. They intentionally ignore it, even though it is considered to violate the constitution.

Indonesia ranked 42nd on Christian support organization Open Doors 2024 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. Indonesian society has adopted a more conservative Islamic character, and churches involved in evangelistic outreach are at risk of being targeted by Islamic extremist groups, according to the WWL report.
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California fire officials and forecasters warned that the danger is far from over, with high temperatures expected to spread further.

California firefighters battled multiple blazes in record heat Friday, with a new fire breaking out near the famous Yosemite National Park even as a larger inferno further north came under control.

Temperatures up to 117 degrees Fahrenheit (47 degrees Celsius) were recorded in the western US state Friday, as the region's latest heat wave nears its peak.

"Dangerous heat is likely to become more widespread in the West today and Saturday... Temperatures will be 15-30 degrees above average for much of the West Coast today," warned the National Weather Service.

"Widespread temperature records are expected to be tied or broken," the NWS said.

The excessive heat comes on the July 4 weekend, when millions of Americans celebrate the anniversary of their nation's independence with displays of fireworks that can spark blazes in hot, dry conditions.

A fast-moving fire erupted just outside Yosemite National Park late Thursday, causing large parts of the former Gold Rush town of Mariposa to be evacuated.

By Friday afternoon, the fire had burnt nearly 1,000 acres (405 hectares) and was 15 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

"Winds have calmed which has helped firefighters make progress overnight," it said.

Some residents had been allowed to return to their homes. The fire's cause was not yet known.

There was also progress in northern California, where earlier this week thousands of people were ordered to evacuate from the Thompson Fire near Oroville.

Despite some of the region's highest temperatures, firefighters reported success in containing the blaze, with some evacuation orders lifted.

Still, fire officials and forecasters warned that the danger is far from over, with high temperatures expected to spread further and to peak Saturday.

"The duration of this heat is also concerning as scorching above average temperatures are forecast to linger into next week," warned the NWS.

Climate scientists say the western US is undergoing a decades-long aridification as weather patterns change, at least in part because of human-caused global warming.

 2024 AFP
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Indigenous ranger Scott West from the Kiwirrkurra Indigenous Protected Area in Western Australia, holding a bilby poo sample. Credit: Kiwirrkurra Indigenous Protected Area

Commonly known as Australia's "Easter bunny" due to its large ears and hopping movement, the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is the last of its kind. Today we published its reference genomeall 3.66 billion pieces of it.

Published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, it is the largest marsupial genome to date. Not only is it bigger than the koala genome, it's even bigger than that of humans.

A genome is the entire set of DNAthe building blocks of lifeholding the genetic code for what makes a species what it is. So, what is a reference genome and why is it useful?

A reference genome is the reference point for investigating the biology of a species. It's like the lid of a puzzle box: without it, you can figure out where the pieces go with time and patience. With it, the puzzle comes together quickly as you know what each piece is and where it goes.

The new reference genome can tell us more about bilby biology and evolution, like what genes are involved in their keen sense of smell, or how they have a slow metabolism to live in arid areas.

Importantly, the genome has allowed us to build new conservation tools to help managers and rangers save this unique Australian species.

A culturally important species

Bilbies are more than their unique biology. They are culturally important to Indigenous Australians, and have many Indigenous names across the country. We call the greater bilby Ninuthe name used by Western Australia's Gibson Desert Kiwirrkurra Community we worked with. Sadly, Ninu only now exist in 20% of their former range.

Historically, Ninu occurred across temperate and arid regions, while the Yallara (lesser bilby, Macrotis leucura) were only found in the sandy deserts. Both species declined sharply when Europeans arrived. They were predated on by foxes and cats, had to compete with rabbits, and experienced changes in cultural fire regimes.

The Yallara were well known to the Indigenous peoples of the central deserts but went extinct in the 1960s. Critical as "ecosystem engineers" thanks to their digging nature, today Ninu persist in small, fragmented populations mostly in the central deserts of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Indigenous knowledge, bilby ceremonies, stories and songlines still exist across the country linking sites and people, even where the animals are locally extinct.

The importance of genes

The more genetic variation (variation across the genome) a species has, the greater its ability to adapt to a changing world. Due to the extinction of the Yallara, and rapid declines of Ninu, a Ninu captive breeding program was established in 1979.

Originally housed in zoos, in 1997 Ninu were released onto islands and into fenced sanctuaries, to establish what's known as a "metapopulation". To ensure their persistence, the National Bilby Recovery Team sought to increase the number of fenced sanctuaries between 2016 and 2021.

Using our reference genome in combination with 363 Ninu samples from different sites, we were able to determine the genetic diversity of each site, and how different these sites were from one another.

We used this genetic data to select individuals to release into sanctuaries. Through this approach, we produced genetically diverse offspring, supporting the long-term survival of the species.

We can learn a lot from poo

Even though there are around 6,000 Ninu in the metapopulation, very little is known about Ninu in the wild. The Kiwirrkurra Community Indigenous Rangers have been working with the WA Department of Conservation, Biodiversity and Attractions for several years.

Using our reference genome and working with our team, department scientists developed a new scat (animal droppings) analysis tool. Using their cultural knowledge, Indigenous Rangers already knew where Ninu lived, what they ate, and how to track them.

Now, by picking up their poo, they can tell them apart and know what sex they are, providing the Rangers with information to manage their Ninu populations.

Kiwirrkurra Indigenous Ranger Scott West notes: "Using old-ways and new-ways together helps us get good information about Ninu and how to look after them. This is what two-way science is."

Starting in 2024, with the support of the Save the Bilby Fund and Deadly Science, we are working with Indigenous communities across Australia to pick up poo so we can understand the genetic diversity of bilbies across their range and compare this to the metapopulation.

More information: Carolyn J. Hogg et al, Extant and extinct bilby genomes combined with Indigenous knowledge improve conservation of a unique Australian marsupial, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02436-2 Journal information: Nature Ecology & Evolution

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Model selection between the original BMS symmetries (dotted lines) and the extended BMS symmetries (solid lines) with Einstein Telescope (ET) and Cosmic Explorer (CE). Evidence for the simulated symmetry group (log Bayes factor) is shown against the observation time. Credit: Physical Review Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.241401

As predicted by the theory of general relativity, the passage of gravitational waves can leave a measurable change in the relative positions of objects. This physical phenomenon, known as gravitational wave memory, could potentially be leveraged to study both gravitational waves and spacetime.

Researchers at Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI) and the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) recently carried out a study exploring the possibility of using gravitational wave memory to measure spacetime symmetries, fundamental properties of spacetime that remain the same following specific transformations. Their paper, published in Physical Review Letters, suggests that these symmetries could be probed via the observation of displacement and spin memory.

"For a long time, I was curious about the phenomenon of gravitational wave memory and the connection of the associated low energy physics with quantum mechanics," Boris Goncharov, co-author of the paper, told Phys.org. "I first heard about Weinberg's soft graviton theorem from Prof. Paul Lasky at Monash University in Australia, during my Ph.D, when discussing gravitational wave memory. Then I learned about the so-called "Infrared Triangle' that connects the soft theorem with gravitational wave memory and symmetries of spacetime at infinity from gravitational wave sources."

Weinberg's soft graviton theorem and the 'infrared triangle' are mathematical formulations outlining the same physical phenomenon: gravitational wave memory. As part of their recent study, Goncharov and his colleagues set out to explore the possibility of leveraging gravitational wave memory to probe spacetime symmetries.

"This phenomenon plays a role in an ongoing attempt to describe a hundred-year-old, unsinkable, and yet incompatible with the microscopic world Einstein's theory of gravityGeneral Relativityas a quantum field theory at the asymptotic edge of spacetime," Goncharov said.

"This approach to a unification in physics seems substantial and promising to me; I find it very exciting. Our specific project emerged while discussing new advances in this field with Prof. Laura Donnay, a co-author of the publication."

When they reviewed previous literature in this area, the researchers found that a growing number of distant spacetime symmetries were discussed, yet it was not clear which of those symmetries and the corresponding memory terms exist in nature. While several physicists had explored the possibility of detecting gravitational wave memory, Goncharov and his colleagues were unsure about what physics could be constrained using their measurements.

"The idea that we could test these spacetime symmetries was central in our study," Goncharov explained. "Another aspect is that I and Prof. Jan Harms are members of the Einstein Telescope collaboration, for which it was important to investigate the observational prospects of gravitational wave memory. The Einstein Telescope is the next-generation European ground-based gravitational wave detector planned for 2030s."

So far, researchers had not yet introduced a conventional approach to measure spacetime symmetries via the observation of gravitational wave memory effects. The recent paper by Goncharov and his colleagues was aimed at filling this apparent gap in the literature.

"There was a lot of prior important work focusing on (a) predicting when and with which instruments we will be able to detect various gravitational wave memory terms, (b) how to compute gravitational wave memory effects analytically or using numerical relativity, and (c) how different models of spacetime symmetries yield gravitational wave memory terms," Goncharov said. "However, a discussion of spacetime symmetries based on the observed memory effects seemed like a gap in the literature."

The recent work by these researchers could be viewed as a proof of principle. In their paper, they introduce new observational tests that could be used to probe spacetime symmetries, while also outlining potential limitations of their suggested approach, which could be addressed in the future.

Overall, their study suggests that the pool of tests of General Relativity theory could be expanded. In addition, it provides some useful calculations that could be performed using data collected by various gravitational wave detectors.

Goncharov and his colleagues hope that their paper will open further discussions about spacetime symmetries and gravitational wave memory among others within their research community. These discussions could potentially pave the way towards the unification of various physics theories.

"At the moment, with Sharon Tomson (a new Ph.D. student at my current institute, AEI in Hannover, Germany), and Dr. Rutger van Haasteren, I am starting a search for gravitational wave memory with Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs)."

PTAs are tools for astronomical observation that collect highly stable and regular signals originating from pulsars (i.e., rapidly spinning neutron stars), using radio telescopes on Earth. These neutron stars behave like highly precise clocks, as they are sensitive enough to pick up delays and advances of radio pulses resulting from the propagation of gravitational waves across the Milky Way.

"PTAs are galactic-scale detectors, which currently seem to be gradually picking up a joint hum of slowly inspiraling supermassive binary black holes in the nearby universe. The signal yields slow variations in pulse arrival times that are most prominent on timescales of several years to decades," Goncharov added.

"One standing out merger of supermassive binary black holes in a nearby galaxy may cause a gravitational wave burst with memory, detectable by PTAs. Although such bursts are very rare, we hope to extract some useful information from the data by placing limits on their existence."

 2024 Science X Network
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Young pongamia trees grow in a grove in St. Lucie County, Fla., Thursday, June 6, 2024. The ancient tree, native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia, is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida. The tree produces a legume that can be processed into plant-based protein and sustainable biofuel. Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

An ancient tree from India is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida, and could help provide the nation with renewable energy.

As large parts of the Sunshine State's once-famous citrus industry have all but dried up over the past two decades because of two fatal diseases, greening and citrus canker, some farmers are turning to the pongamia tree, a climate-resilient tree with the potential to produce plant-based proteins and a sustainable biofuel.

For years, pongamia has been used for shade trees, producing legumeslittle brown beansthat are so bitter wild hogs won't even eat them.

But unlike the orange and grapefruit trees that long occupied these rural Florida groves northwest of West Palm Beach, pongamia trees don't need much attention.

Pongamia trees also don't need fertilizer or pesticides. They flourish in drought or rainy conditions. And they don't require teams of workers to pick the beans. A machine simply shakes the tiny beans from the branches when they are ready to harvest.

Terviva, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2010 by Naveen Sikka, then uses its patented process to remove the biopesticides that cause the bitter taste, making the beans suitable for food production.

"Florida offers a rare opportunity for both Terviva and former citrus farmers. The historical decline of the citrus industry has left farmers without a crop that can grow profitably on hundreds of thousands of acres, and there needs to be a very scalable replacement, very soon," Sikka told The Associated Press. "Pongamia is the perfect fit."

Terviva's John Young, left, and Ron Edwards walk in a grove of pongamia trees, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in St. Lucie County, Fla. Terviva, a San Francisco-based company founded in 2010, has patented a process to remove the biopesticides from the pongamia tree legume that cause a bitter taste, making the bean suitable for food production. Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

What is the pongamia tree?

The pongamia is a wild tree native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia.

The legume is now being used to produce several products, including Ponova culinary oil and protein, which are featured ingredient in Aloha's Kona protein bars. The company also makes protein flour.

The legumes also produce oil that can be used as a biofuel, largely for aviation, which leaves a very low carbon footprint, said Ron Edwards, chairman of Terviva's board of directors and a long-time Florida citrus grower.

Turning a wild tree into a domestic one hasn't been easy, Edwards said.

"There are no books to read on it, either, because no one else has ever done it," he said.

Bees and other pollinators feast on the pongamia's flowers, supporting local biodiversity, Edwards said. An acre of the trees can potentially provide the same amount of oil as four acres of soy beans, he added.

What's left after the oil is removed from the pongamia bean is "a very high-grade protein that can be used as a substitute in baking and smoothies and all kinds of other plant-based protein products," Edwards said. "There's a lot of potential for the food industry and the oil and petroleum industry."

The pods of a pongamia tree are ready to pick at a grove, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in St. Lucie County, Fla. The legume of the pongamia tree produces a plant-based protein high in Omega 9. It also has the potential to produce a sustainable biofuel. Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

Why Florida?

"We know pongamia grows well in Florida, and the end markets for the oil and protein that come from the pongamia beansbiofuel, feed, and food ingredientsare enormous," Sikka said. "So farmers can now reduce their costs and more closely align to the leading edge of sustainable farming practices."

At a nursery near Fort Pierce, workers skilled in pongamia grafting techniques affix a portion of the mother tree to a pongamia rootstock, which ensures the genetics and desired characteristics of the mother tree are perpetuated in all of Terviva's trees.

Pongamia vs. citrus

Citrus had been Florida's premier crop for years until disease caught up with it starting in the 1990s with citrus canker and later greening.

Citrus canker, a bacterial disease, is not harmful to humans, but it causes lesions on the fruit, stems and leaves. Eventually, it makes the trees unproductive.

A Terviva employee puts a pongamia tree in a larger pot at the company's nursery, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Fla. The tree grows in wet and dry soils and is mostly pest resistant. It also adds nitrogen to the soil and stores carbon, which helps to mitigate the effects of climate change. California-based Terviva has removed the bitterness from the pongamia bean to make it edible. Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

Citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing, slowly kills trees and degrades the fruit, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Greening has spread throughout Florida since 2005, devastating countless groves and reducing citrus production by 75%. The disease has spread to Louisiana, Texas and California.

Hurricane Ian caused about $1.8 billion in damages to Florida's agriculture in September 2023, hitting the citrus industry at the beginning of its growing season.

Disease and climate issues have also affected most of the world's top citrus-producing countries. For example, this year's harvest in Brazilthe world's largest exporter of orange juiceis forecast to be the worst in 36 years because of flooding and drought, according to a forecast by Fundecitrus, a citrus growers' organization in Sao Paulo state.

But climate and disease have little effect on pongamia trees, the company's officials said.

"It's just tough, a jungle-tested tree" Edwards said. "It stands up to a lot of abuse with very little caretaking."

Pongamia also grows well in Hawaii, where it now thrives on land previously used for sugarcane.

Elisabeth Beagle, Terviva's director of tree operations, places a newly grafted pongamia tree in a high- humidity greenhouse at the company's nursery, Thursday, June 6, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Fla. The tree produces a legume that is now being used to produce several products, including Panova table oil, Kona protein bars and protein flour. Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

What are citrus farmers saying?

John Olson, who owns Circle O Ranch, west of Fort Pierce, has replaced his grapefruit groves with 215 acres (87.01 hectares) of pongamia trees.

"We went through all the ups and downs of citrus and eventually because of greening, abandoned citrus production," Olson said. "For the most part, the citrus industry has died in Florida."

While the grapefruit grove was modest, it was common for a grove that size to be profitable in the 1980s and 1990s, Olson said.

Edwards said farmers used various sprays to kill the insect that was spreading the disease. Eventually, the cost of taking care of citrus trees became too risky.

That's when he decided to go a different route.

"What attracted me to pongamia was the fact that one it can repurpose fallow land that was citrus and is now lying dormant," he said. "From an ecological point of view, it's very attractive because it can replace some of the oils and vegetable proteins that are now being generated by things like palm oil, which is environmentally a much more damaging crop."

What about biofuel?

In December 2023, Terviva signed an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation to provide biofuel feedstock that can be converted into biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.

"Our partnership with Mitsubishi is off to a great start," Sikka said, noting that the company coordinates closely with Mitsubishi on tree plantings and product development and sales. "Terviva's progress has accelerated thanks to Mitsubishi's expertise and leadership around the globe on all facets of Terviva's business."

Naveen Sikka, founder and CEO of Terviva, poses for a portrait at the company's headquarters in Alameda, Calif., Thursday, May 9, 2024. Founded in 2010, the company works with farmers to grow pongamia trees, which are climate resilient and produce a high-protein legume. Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

A bag of harvested Pongamia legume pods slowly dries out at the Terviva nursery, Thursday, March 21, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Fla. The ancient tree, native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia, is now thriving in groves where citrus trees once flourished in Florida. The tree produces a legume that can be processed into plant-based protein and sustainable biofuel. Credit: AP Photo/Marta Lavandier

Ponova Oil is poured into a container at the Terviva headquarters in Alameda, Calif., Thursday, May 9, 2024. The oil, which is high in Omega 9 is made from the pongamia tree legume. The company has patented a process to remove the biopesticides from the pongamia tree legume that cause a bitter taste, making the bean suitable for food production. Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

What food products does pongamia produce?

The research is ongoing, but Edwards said they have made really good graham crackers in addition to the table oil and other plant-based protein products, including flour and protein bars.

Pongamia offers an alternative to soybean and yellow pea protein "if you don't want your protein to come from meat," he said.

___

Correction note: This story was first published on Jul. 6, 2024. It was updated on Jul. 8, 2024 to correct the spelling of Ponova culinary oil, which is made from pongamia trees.

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
ATLANTIC CITY  A 32-year-old city woman was arrested Thursday after commanding her kids to get into her car that was supposed to get repossessed and then crashing into a family of four in a hit-and-run, police said.

Taquanda Roberts was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, eluding and criminal mischief, police said Saturday in a news release.

Roberts was arguing with a tow truck driver who was attempting to repossess a vehicle registered in her name when Officer Kenlyn Johnson responded to the 700 block of Maryland Avenue at 1:34 p.m. Thursday, police said.

While Johnson was verifying Roberts information, she entered her vehicle and sped onto the sidewalk, hitting a parked car.

She then pulled up to her children who were also at the scene of the incident, ordered them into the vehicle and sped off with them, despite Officer Bryan Victoria-Garcia ordering her to exit the vehicle, police said.

Roberts struck another vehicle occupied by a woman and her four children ranging from ages 1 to 10 while trying to flee and did not stop. The family was treated at the scene by medical personnel, police said.

Detective Christopher Dodson later found and arrested Roberts. She is being held in the Atlantic County jail.
TABERNACLE  State Forest Fire Service crews are continuing Saturday to monitor and improve containment lines of a 4,000 acre blaze in Wharton State Forest.

As of 4 p.m., the so-called Tea Time Hill Wildfire was 65% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. No structures are threatened by the fire.

The fire was in the area of the Batona Campground and Apple Pie Hill in Wharton. Firefighters were using a backfire operation to burn fuel ahead of the fire to contain it.

Ground crews and an observation helicopter were at the scene, said officials, who asked the public not to fly drones in the area so they may work freely.

The Batona Campground was evacuated. The Batona Trail was closed between Route 532 and Carranza Road, the Forest Fire Service said. Additionally, the Tulpehocken Trail was closed from Apple Pie Hill to Hawkins Bridge.

Carranza Road is closed from the Carranza Memorial to Speedwell Road at Friendship Field.

The Forest Fire Service asked people to avoid the area.

Officials did not say when the next update would be.
For a while after they won their freedom, the Americans turned to Europe for art, including music. It wasn't long, however, before they started looking for a distinctly American sound. They "fought hard," so said Aaron Copland, "to free American composition from the dominance of European models because that struggle was basic to the establishment of an American music." And eventually, American musicians did find their own voice. Here are five of the best pieces to come from the composers of the Land of the Free:

1. Fanfare for the Common Man--Aaron Copland

What better place to start than with the Dean of American Composers himself? The three-minute piece moves at a stately pace, but nonetheless rouses its listeners. One might almost believe that it was written to accompany the painting Freedom of Speech by Norman Rockwell-another American icon. In truth, the Fanfare's creation was brought about by two things: the United States' entry into the Second World War, and Vice President Henry A. Wallace's speecj, where he announced the 'Century of the Common Man.' Now what could be more American than that?

2. Symphony No. 1--Florence Price

Florence Price was roughly a contemporary of Copland. She was aware of her disadvantages, and whenever she wrote to other composers, she opened with: "I have two handicaps - those of sex and race." Price more than overcame these "handicaps," however. She was especially celebrated in Chicago, where in 1933, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra premiered her Symphony No. 1-the first symphony by a black woman to be performed by a major America orchestra. African-American influence echoes in this work, including a Juba dance rhythm in the scherzo, and spiritual-like melodies throughout.

3. Symphony No. 4--Charles Ives

If Charles Ives had been a full-time composer, he might have given Copland a run for his money. He liked to do two things: push the boundaries of tonality, and quote hymn tunes and traditional songs. He does the same in his Symphony No. 4, but to a degree of muli-layered complexity unmatched by the rest of his oeuvre. How complex? The symphony usually requires two conductors to perform. It includes quotations from Beulah Land, Marching Through Georgia, Ye Christian Heralds, Nearer, My God, to Thee, and even Joy to the World.

4. Star Wars--John Williams

With more than 100 film scores--many of them iconic--under his belt, it is difficult to overestimate John Williams' importance as a composer. His score for Star Wars is easily the most recognizable, and there is something about the heroic, intrepid sound of the main title theme that makes it sound American.

5. Afro-American Symphony--William Grant Still

If Copland was the Dean of American Composer, William Grant Still was the Dean of Afro-American Composers. In his Afro-American Symphony, he blends classical forms with African-American culture, and portrays "not the higher type of colored American, but the sons of the soil...who have not responded completely to the transforming effect of progress." Premiered in 1931, it was the first symphony by an African-American to be performed for an American audience by a major orchestra.

This selection was chosen from a longer list originally published by ClassicFM.
The South Dakota Department of Education awarded 36 grants totaling $6.4 million to school districts for career and technical education programs, with Douglas School District receiving $243,744 to advance its CTE initiatives.

The funds will support all Douglas career and technical education programs.

"This includes a flight simulator, a large welder, components for our construction program, an industrial-level kitchen upgrade, and virtual reality skill-building equipment," said Sandi Jimenez, executive director of secondary academics. "This equipment enhances skill building and our capstone program, allowing students to complete internships with local businesses and build workplace-relevant skills.

The grant will provide Douglas students with state-of-the-art equipment in various fields, including government and public administration, tourism and hospitality, architecture and construction, manufacturing and STEM. According to Jimenez, the resources will open new opportunities for both students and educators.

We got together as a department, made our wish list, and prioritized our needs, Jimenez said. We had to ensure we met the grant's expectations and timeframes, calling on our buildings and grounds team for support. Everyone worked together to put everything together according to the grant's standards and submitted it.

CTE programs integrate academic knowledge with technical skills, preparing students for careers through hands-on training and industry-aligned curriculum. CTE programs equip students with the tools to succeed in post-secondary workforce pursuits by emphasizing real-world applications and essential employability skills.

Our teachers are always seeking to improve their instruction and programs, said Beau Voegeli, Douglas High School principal. In order to improve the student experience, the modern equipment received was essential to prepare students for post-high school, whether they're career, military, or college-bound. Hands-on experience with modern equipment is crucial.

The grant will enhance the Government and Public Policy Program, which supports the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, a college-based program for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces, and the welding program. It will also upgrade the industrial equipment in the Hospitality and Tourism Program.

Having industry-level equipment helps students develop the skills required for industrial-level positions, Jimenez explained. Many students start with jobs directly out of high school, which can lead to post-secondary education. This way, they can secure well-paying jobs and have the resources to pursue further education if they choose.

Funds from the American Rescue Plan and the federal Perkins grant made the scale of the unprecedented, one-time grant opportunity possible.

We expect to have all the equipment in place and ready by September 1, Jimenez said. While there will be some minor subscription costs annually, the hardware and equipment purchased will support the program for many years."
Despite the heat that saw temperatures climb over 100 degrees, one of Richmonds most prominent historical figures was honored Friday.

The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia celebrated Maggie L. Walkers 160th birthday at Gallery5 on West Marshall Street in Jackson Ward after the gathering was moved from Walker Memorial Plaza due to heat.

The event was attended by more than 100 people who celebrated with drinks, art and dance.

The celebration featured a live D.J. and performers from The Love Movement, who led the crowd in Maggie Walker trivia and dancing.

Walker was an entrepreneur, newspaper editor, bank president and political candidate from Jackson Ward who played an integral part in its development and success.

Members of Walkers family attended, including her great-great-granddaughter Liza Mickens and her great-grandson Johnny Mickens III.

Were super excited. It feels great to have the 160th birthday celebration of Maggie Walker right here in Jackson Ward, Liza Mickens said. Its so great to have the community come out and be a part of this. Maggie centered the community in everything she did, and its great see the way the community embraces her.

The gallery featured art from Richmond students whose schools have direct ties to Walker.

My idea as the interpreter was, well get art from the schools where Maggie Walker went to school, where Maggie Walker was born and the school that was named in her honor, said National Park Ranger Nathan Hall, who helped arrange the exhibits.

All art was made by students from Bellevue Elementary School, which was built on Walkers birth site; Armstrong High School, Walkers alma mater; and Maggie L. Walker Governors School, which is named in her honor.

Maggie Walkers whole thing was children, education; she started out as a teacher, Hall said. And really her making history is kind of finding how to still work with kids after doing that as a teacher.

Shakia Gullette Warren, executive director of the Black History Museum & Cultural Center, said Walker is more than a historical figure to Jackson Ward; rather, she was a revolutionary.

She is our hidden figure, Warren said. She is someone we have not learned about over the years, and this specific event and the next two weeks is really about celebrating her legacy and more importantly, her personhood.

Warren said Walkers emphasis on education is something that the organization still stresses.

We are still living in a time period where education is paramount and its key in terms of educating the Black child and the Black adolescent, she said.

Mary C. Lauderdale, director of collections at the museum, echoed Warrens stress on education. She said that in her 30 years at the museum, its a mission that has remained at the forefront.

Lauderdale said Walker was a multifaceted figure who refused to be put in a box.

She ran the first Black business on Broad Street, and she was a woman, at a time when Blacks werent allowed on Broad Street, Lauderdale said. She never put people in categories regarding to their color. She very well could have taken advantage of that. She wouldnt stand for that.

Faithe Norrell, education and programming coordinator for the museum, spoke before attendees on the importance of Black history, which she said has been deliberately hidden.

She said the museums mission is to tell stories that promote and advance understanding of the history of Black people in Virginia.

We do that through inspirational stories that have either been untold or under-told or purposefully left out because of the Lost Cause false narrative, she said.

She noted that the first enslaved Africans reached Virginia in 1619 and that Black people make up an indisputable part of the states history.

Our story is totally woven into the story of America, she said.
If Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is organizing an effort to persuade President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential campaign, hes not telling Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Virginias junior senator and, like him, a former governor.

The Washington Post reported on Friday afternoon, based on two unnamed sources, that Warner is trying to arrange a meeting between the president and a group of Senate Democrats who want him to step down from his looming election rematch with former President Donald Trump after a disastrous debate last week that ignited a firestorm of concern about Bidens ability to win in November and govern for four more years.

Kaine, who is seeking reelection to a third term with Biden at the top of the ticket, does not know anything about Warners alleged initiative, according to campaign spokesman Michael Beyer.

Senator Kaine is not aware of any such effort, Beyer said Friday. Of course, Senator Kaine is talking to folks  including his Senate colleagues  about the debate performance. He believes Joe Biden has always demonstrated patriotism and that leads Kaine to be confident in the Presidents ability to make the right call.

The Associated Press subsequently reported that three unnamed sources said Warner reached out to fellow senators throughout this week to discuss whether to ask Biden to exit the race.

Warners office is not commenting on the report or sharing a statement that the Post reported receiving from communications director Rachel Cohen that said, Like many other people in Washington and across the country, Senator Warner believes these are critical days for the presidential campaign, and he has made that clear to the White House.

One source, who asked not to be named, has confirmed that Warner called Bidens debate performance a disaster, but another source on Capitol Hill said the senator has not requested a meeting with the president to ask him to step down.

Bidens campaign office in Virginia did not respond to a request for comment.

The fate of Bidens reelection campaign has been on the minds and lips of Democrats across the country, with some saying he should step aside because, at 81, its now clear to voters that his age has caught up with him and he cannot campaign effectively for reelection.

Somebody had to do it, said Larry Sabato, president of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, of Warners reported presidential intervention.

There is widespread concern among elected officials and donors, Sabato said Friday. They just wont go on the record.

But Biden isnt conceding anything.

In a social media statement on Friday afternoon, the president said, Let me say this as clearly as I can: Im the sitting President of the United States. Im the nominee of the Democratic party. Im staying in the race.

Earlier, in a public speech to supporters in Madison, Wisconsin, the AP reported that Biden acknowledged his poor debate performance, but declared, I am running, and Im going to win again.

The AP reported Biden said, I beat Donald Trump. I will beat him again.

Trumps campaign issued a mocking press release about what it called the Meltdown in Madison, but the AP said Biden reminded supporters that the former president said during the 2020 campaign that the Continental Army took over the airports in defeating the British almost 250 years ago.

Talk about me misspeaking! Biden said as the crowd laughed, according to the AP.

But even before the presidential debate last week, concern was growing among Democrats that Biden, in the words of one person who attended a fundraiser at the McLean home of former Gov. Terry McAuliffe late last month, doesnt have his fastball anymore.

Hes very frail, said the person, a supporter who asked to remain unnamed.

But another Virginia Democrat who attended the fundraiser called the presidents speech excellent and spoke with him directly, raising no concern about diminished abilities.

Paul Goldman, a former chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party, rebuked Warners reported effort.

It proves what former President (Harry) Truman said about the culture of Washington politics: if youre in politics in D.C. and youre thinking you need a friend, then get a dog, Goldman said in a widely distributed text message.

I never thought Id see the Democratic Party do this to their own guy, he said.

PHOTOS: Primary voting in the Richmond area
Generations of the Claytor family have practiced medicine in Roanoke since 1907, when John B. Claytor Sr. opened a clinic in the northwest neighborhood of Gainsboro.

There has been a Dr. Claytor practicing since he began his practice, said his grandson Conrad Claytor, a retired podiatrist. Thats 117 years and going.

Today, Claytor Memorial Clinic operates on Second Street Southwest. But the clinic was in Gainsboro for decades, before city policies during the era of urban renewal uprooted the family practice and so much more of the historic Black neighborhood.

When I think of my grandparents, I think of the enormous obstacles they faced trying to carve out a living while raising a family in a segregated Roanoke and under the Jim Crow laws of the South, said Conrad Claytor. They always placed front and center their faith in God, their love of family and their never-ending perseverance.

Roanoke unveiled signage to commemorate that perseverance at Old Gainsboro Road on Friday morning.

When it opened in 1948, it was one of the earliest family-owned Black medical clinics in Southwest Virginia, the marker reads. Now, the old clinic building, gutted by arson in 1995, is boarded up and overgrown with foliage.

We would love to see this building refurbished and actually serve as a landmark for the city, said Conrad Claytor. And maybe be the genesis for further development in the Gainsboro community.

The Claytor family legacy impacts not just the city but all of Virginia, said Nelson Harris, a minister and former Roanoke mayor who applied to the state for the historical marker.

This clinic and the Claytor family ended up changing the constitution of the commonwealth of Virginia when they challenged eminent domain provisions, Harris said.

City policies between 1955 and the 1990s seized and demolished homes, businesses and churches in Roanoke, leaving a husk where once was a thriving Black community in Gainsboro. Those federally funded policies became known as urban renewal, remembered as a scourge on minority-occupied neighborhoods nationwide.

Old Claytor Memorial Clinic faced the same fate.

City authorities in the 1970s threatened to designate the clinic and other Claytor-owned buildings as blighted and to confiscate the land, although the city never did so. For decades, the threat of condemnation prevented the Claytor family from leasing to tenants or securing bank loans for maintenance, they said.

Members of the Claytor family sued the city in 2001 and won a jury trial in 2005, receiving their land back unencumbered, along with more than $600,000. The case prompted significant changes to Virginias eminent domain law.

We honor certainly their history here in the city, Harris said. But we also honor their tenacity in challenging something that should never have been, and changing the commonwealth of Virginia forever.

Local historian Jordan Bell said its now time for the city to take care of the Claytor familys legacy, after they have spent more than a century taking care of the communitys health needs.

The city of Roanoke needs to step up and invest not only into this community but into the clinic, Bell said. It was because of the city that Claytor Memorial Clinic is not thriving here today. In order to right that wrong, the city needs to step up.

Plans fell through in recent years on a deal for the city to acquire the clinic property. But Bell said he does not want to see the city take direct ownership like that.

Im speaking of them investing resources and finances into restoring this clinic for the community, Bell said. Community leaders need to step up and put pressure on the city in order for that to happen.

Vice Mayor Joe Cobb agreed he would like to see the city make an investment into refurbishing the property. But its unclear at this point what that investment might look like or when it might occur.

While what stands here may appear to be a shell of what was, Cobb said, teeming within these walls is an unquenchable spirit of love, innovation and compassion, awaiting a resurrection and newfound purpose.

About 40 members of the Claytor family, some of whom traveled from across the country, applauded as officials unveiled the new state historical marker for Claytor Memorial Clinic. Rhonda Claytor Payne said theres a sense of responsibility that comes with knowing her family history.

This is also a reminder that there are so many families who have stories like ours, she said. There are so many untold, unshared, unamplified stories.
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Hurricane Beryl finishes Caribbean tour slamming Quintana Roo

Riviera Maya, Q.R.  UPDATED: A majority of the state has been without power since early Friday morning with the arrival of Hurricane Beryl. Within half-an-hour of its arrival, lights began to flicker as the storm entered the region.

Mexicos National Meteorological Service (SMN) reported landfall at 5:05 a.m. as a Category 2 hurricane north of Tulum. However, Beryl slammed the island of Cozumel first, arriving around 3:00 a.m. local time with category 2 winds.

Hurricane Beryl reached Cozumel at 3:00 a.m. July 5, 2024.

At 03:00 hours, Central Mexico time, Hurricane Beryl was a Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Its center was located approximately 45 kilometers (km) south of Cozumel and 65 km east of Tulum with maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour (km/h), gusts of 215 km/h and moving west-northwest at 24 km/h, the Servicio Meteorologico Nacional (SMN) reported.

Beryl downed rows of power poles before leaving the island of Cozumel. Photo: July 5, 2024.

The island was beaten and battered for nearly two hours while the fast moving storm barreled forward toward the states coast. Rows of power poles were snapped by Beryl as the storm roared over the island leaving residents without electricity.

The Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) reported 185,948 residents around Quintana Roo were left without electricity. The CFE is coordinating with Civil Protection to determine when there is no risk to citizens or CFE personnel to begin restoration work.

Cars go around downed Riviera Maya highway power poles (top). CFE crews make repairs Friday (bottom). Photo: July 5, 2024.

Once the conditions are met activities will continue until service is restored to all affected users. 2,330 electrical workers, 372 cranes, 624 vehicles, 68 emergency plants, 6 all-terrain vehicles, 39 mobile communication equipment and 5 helicopters have been made available for emergency response, they reported.

Rain and wind was recorded in nearly every part of the state. Holbox, Isla Mujeres and Cancun were left with some flooded areas due to the extensive storm band. Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen and Puerto Aventuras were also soaked.

Beryl felled numerous aged power poles leaving Isla Mujeres in the dark. July 5, 2024.

Pablo Gutierrez Fernandez of Cancun City hall reported 252 people people being moved to shelters of which 33 were tourists. He also said the city was left with only minimal damage.

Beryls force bent a metal intersection sign in Playa del Carmen.

Photo: July 5, 2024.

As Beryl headed toward Riviera Maya, its first order of business was power loss. The entire city of Playa del Carmen was left in the dark around 4:00 a.m. CFE personnel worked to restore electricity, which was finally up and running at approximately 2:00 p.m. Friday after personnel were forced to wait out the storm.

Beryl kept its eye focused on Tulum where it finally made landfall at Soliman Bay, north of Tulum.

A Puerto Aventuras gas station was pushed over by the hurricane force winds. Photo: July 5, 2024.

Friday morning, at 5:05 a.m. Central Mexico time, the center of Beryl made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale with maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour (km/h) and gusts of 220 km/h north of Tulum, the SMN reported.

Many residents took advantage of the free temporary dog shelters.

Days ahead of the storms arrival, the federal government announced the deployment of military personnel to help after the hurricane. Plans DN-III-E of the army and GN-A of the National Guard were implemented in states of Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo.

The emergency plan deployed 2,392 army and air force soldiers and 2,501 elements of the National Guard who assisted with rescues, clean up, medical assistance and community food kitchens.

Temporary kitchens were set up to help those effected by the hurricane with free hot meals. July 5, 2024.

On Friday afternoon, Governor Mara Lezama reported the state was up and running normally. Economic activity has been reactivated throughout the state, the dry law has been lifted and public transportation has been reactivated throughout the state, she said.

Activity returned to normal. Tourists ventured out for photo ops at Cancuns picturesque Playa Delfines after Beryl. Photo: July 5, 2024.

Public transportation such as combis, city buses, ferry services (including Holbox) and taxis are running as is the Cancun International Airport. As of Saturday, the Tulum International Airport will also resume operations. Governor Mara Lezama had announced the airport would be shut until July 7 since Beryl was forecast to pass very near and structural damage was expected, however, the airport was left unscathed.

We are resuming flights to the heart of the Mayan zone! Starting Saturday at 8:00 a.m., Tulum International Airport will resume operations to receive flights and passengers as normal following the passage of Hurricane Beryl in Quintana Roo, Governor Lezama reported Friday.

A Tulum cafe is opened for business as usual Friday morning after Hurricane Beryl. Photo: July 5, 2024.

Brigades of CFE personnel were out well past midnight still restoring power. More than two dozen trucks were sent to the state to restore electricity in effected areas. Governor Lezama reported as of Friday night, power outages were still felt in areas of Isla Mujeres, Tulum and several of the Mayan communities near where Beryl made landfall. Photos below are from July 6, 2024.

There have not been any deaths reported in Quintana Roo due to Hurricane Beryl.

The storm has officially left Quintana Roo and is now a tropical storm where intense rains have been reported in Campeche, Yucatan, Chiapas and Tabasco. The storm is forecast to regain hurricane strength as it travels the Gulf of Mexico.
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SIOUX CITY -- Missing seismic bracing in the new Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center could further delay the troubled project.

The Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center Authority shared that 292 seismic bracings on the fire suppression system were not installed as called for in the design. The issue could push the substantial completion date past the earlier estimate of finishing by the end of this month.

The Authority also shared updated information on an ongoing noise control issue and a heating and air issue.

The project has faced a myriad of problems that have delayed the opening. Most recently, the issues included missing fire dampers and issues with the heating, ventilation and air condition (HVAC) system.

On Tuesday, Shane Albrecht, project manager for the Baker Group, the Des Moines-based firm managing the project for the Authority, disclosed the missing seismic bracings. Albrecht said the Authority is working with the general contractor, Hausmann Construction, and its subcontractor, Prairie Fire, to fix the problem.

"Seismic bracing, as set forth in the project specifications, is required by code because of the soil type at the new LEC," according to an Authority news release. "The impact of this omission is still being evaluated."

Albrecht said Hausmann leaders believe the corrective work could be completed before the end of this month, but it is still unknown.

Authority member Mark Nelson asked if the bracing was included in the project drawings. Albrecht confirmed they were, but Hausmann, their subcontractor and the fire marshal inspection all overlooked them.

"I don't know how HCI [Hausmann] and their sub could have missed this. I don't know how the inspector could have missed it. It just blows my mind," said Nelson, who is also a county board of supervisor.

County Sheriff Chad Sheehan asked if the missing braces would raise the Authority's project costs. Albrecht said no because the cost was included the original bid.

Another issue causing a project delay is noise levels in the jail control areas.

In May, Albrecht said air handling sounds were reaching 60 decibels in the master control and secondary housing control areas. The industry standard, in comparison, is 35 decibels.

"We've got to get that corrected because that radiated noise will affect radio operations," Albrecht said at the time.

On June 12, corrective information was submitted, but part of the work in secondary control had to be removed by the Authority because "the work was intrusive and would have caused months of delays," according to a news release.

"The Authority is still working with its experts and Introba to find a less intrusive fix to Secondary Control," according to the release.

For the past seven months, the Authority has been working on an issue that would not keep inmates or staff adequately warm in certain areas during subzero weather.

If outdoor temperatures fell below negative 2 degrees, the thermostat in some areas of the jail wouldn't go above the 56 to 64-degree range, according to documents obtained by The Journal through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Corrective equipment has been installed except for one valve, and the system is currently being balanced and commissioned, according to the news release.

Sheriff criticizes Introba

Last month, the Journal acquired a variety of attorney letters through Iowa's open records law showing months of contentious back-and-forth correspondence between representatives for the Authority, Goldberg Group Architects (GGA) and Introba.

The Authority repeatedly raised questions about the competency and qualifications of Introba's project leaders, while blaming Introba for the missing dampers issue and ongoing heating issues.

Sheehan said letters going back and forth between attorneys are not working. The sheriff said he believes a face-to-face conversation is in order.

"If it requires somebody to drive to their office, wherever it is, or whatever, just let me know. I'll take a day off ... It's always easier to ignore you through a letter or a phone call," Sheehan said. "It's a little harder when somebody's sitting across a table from them or wherever, in the lobby, at his front door at his house. Give me an address, I'll drive whoever from GGA, I'll drive them there. We'll get this guy's attention."

"If this was our house, nobody would stand for an architect or whoever, a mechanical engineer, to wait three months to give us the answer. I've had enough of it, whoever they are I've had enough."
Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers Neighborhood said: When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, Look for the helpers. 

Its a good line. Especially in Siouxland and Northwest Iowa these days. Thank you, Mr. Rogers. And its endurance isnt surprising.

Elissa Strauss, a former CNN reporter adds: The presence of helpers offers us hope in moments of chaos. The world might feel terrible right now... but, somehow, there are still people out there caring for others. Even better, those people think caring for others -- the key ingredient of maintaining social bonds -- is still worth their while. Their actions remind us that there will, after all this, be something left thats worth fighting to preserve.

I am inspired by many local helpers and heroes in recent days. And I am reminded of -- and call your attention to -- 13 people who represent the best of humanity in Siouxland. These 13 individuals gave their energy and heart to advocate for equal opportunity and justice for all.

Walk along Nebraska Street in downtown Sioux City and discover again The Rudy and Flora Lee Celebrating Community Project. Mark Avery, the Siouxland native and talented sculptor behind the project, knew it was important to recognize selflessness in leaders on the local level. Mark sculpted the busts that have been placed on pedestals alongside, appropriately enough, the Martin Luther King Jr. Transportation Center.

-- Nguyen Thi Hong Cuc, Asian American honoree

-- George Boykin, advocate for children honoree

-- Tomasa Guerra Salas, Hispanic/Latino Americans honoree

-- Richard Owens, advocate for disabled Americans honoree

-- Rabbi Albert Gordon, Jewish Americans honoree

-- Sgt. First Class John Raymond Rice, veterans honoree

-- Connie Spain, those recovering from addiction/substance abuse honoree

-- Susan LaFlesche Picotte, Native/Indigenous Americans honoree

-- Evelyn M. Freeman, African American honoree

-- Marilyn Murphy, advocate for women honoree

-- Mike Wood, advocate for the homeless honoree

-- Rhoda Tenuta, advocate for victims of domestic violence honoree

-- Beulah Webb, advocate for the elderly honoree

Also included is a contemporary sculpture representing Martin Luther King Jr.s statement "The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, but it Bends Toward Justice."

On May 28, 2014, the Journal's editorial board wrote: This wonderful collaboration of private and public sectors speaks to local art, history, culture and diversity.

The project was funded by significant donations and the cooperative work of the Celebrating Community Foundation, Mark Avery Studios, the Sioux City NAACP and the city of Sioux City.

Let us celebrate all the helpers and heroes in our communities. A brief summary of these 13:

-- Thi Hong Cuc, an immigrant herself, worked tirelessly as an advocate, mentor, and interpreter for others

-- Boykin, who served for decades with the Sanford Community Center and on the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors

-- Guerra Salas, an advocate with LaCasa Latina in Sioux City, and the NAF Multicultural Center in South Sioux City

-- Owens, in his words: I have been fortunate to devote many years to teaching and also to being of service to agencies which are advocates for the needs of the intellectually and learning disabled population and their families.

-- Gordon, a tireless worker for equality and justice, assisted in the formation of the Sioux City Human Rights Commission, and served for 40 years as a rabbi in Sioux City.

-- Rice, who in August 1951, Sioux City became embroiled in a bitter controversy that erupted when officials at Memorial Park Cemetery refused to bury Rice, a decorated World War II veteran who died in service to his country during the Korean War, because of his Native American ancestry.

-- Spain, who was instrumental in starting numerous recovery programs in Sioux City, starting with the regions first halfway house in 1971 was part of the Jackson Recovery Centers founding team in 1976.

-- Picotte, who acknowledged as one of the first Indigenous people, and the first Indigenous woman, to earn a medical degree. Healer, trailblazer, and warrior... all these and more to her Omaha Tribe and the Walthill community.

-- Freeman, who in 1955 was the first African American teacher hired by the Sioux City School District.

-- Murphy, who provided decades of service, beginning with the Iowa Church Leaders Peace Caravan and Siouxlanders Concerned About the Nuclear Arms Race and then the Community Action Agency and the Sioux City Human Rights Commission.

-- Wood, who worked with the Mental Health Association of Siouxland and Iowa Advocates for Mental Health Recovery. In 2004, he started Henry Muller Hall for homeless men with mental illness. In 2005, he co-founded Siouxland Sleep Out.

-- Tenuta, who advocates for victims of domestic violence working in the Woodbury County Attorneys office and with Iowa Legal Aid.

-- Webb, who early in her life organized the Sioux City Association of Colored Women to promote culture, education, literature, and art. To alleviate racial problems, she later was a leader in the establishment of the Downtown Senior Citizens Center the Sanford Community Center.

David Halaas has a commitment to community involvement, recently serving on the boards of Leadership Siouxland, SafePlace, the Sioux City Public Library and currently on the board of trustees of the Sioux City Public Museum. He is the pastor of St. Mark Lutheran Church ELCA in Sioux City.
Remember 2016? It surprised the world with the back-to-back racist retrenchments of Brexit and MAGA. Now in 2024coincidentally another shared election year with Americas most familiar foreignersthe twinning is over. In the U.S., convicted felon Donald Trump is leading the polls while preparing Project 2025. That would essentially install a draconian, theocratic dictator in place of a rapidly deteriorating (and stubborn) guardian of democracy in Joe Biden.

By contrast, steeped in Brexit regret, Brits this week elected Keir Starmer, a human rights lawyer and literal white knight, in a landslide victory for the liberal Labour Party that marked the worst defeat for the conservative Tories in their 190-year history, losing some seats held since the 1800s. The election restored trust in Labour and ended the Tories 14-year reignof five prime ministers, one who resigned just 45 days in. The last of them was Rishi Sunak, the first nonwhite person in the job, now packing his bags. As of Friday morning, Labour has captured 412 seats in Parliament to the Tories 121, with the remaining 115 members of Parliament divided among smaller parties and two results outstanding.

Labour is regaining power with an unprecedented mandate to reshape the U.K. in its vision; the headline of Starmers victory speech was change begins now. Will it?

Sweeping change is coming to London this summer, but the new resident of No. 10 Downing St. deserves less credit than what he is inheriting: a populace adopting an American-style ethosmore mythos in the States these daysthat democracy is an ever-radical experiment in equality. That experiment is undergoing a British breakthrough: Starmers victory coincides with Londonfor centuries the hub of historys largest empire with its requisite colonial villainyjoining the very short list of majority-minority global capitalsEuropes first!thanks to the might of Asian Brits. His reign may well be defined by Labours relationship with them.

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In Britains 2021 Census, 46.2 percent of Londoners identified as Asian, Black, mixed, or other, and extrapolating demographic trends, they will cross the majority threshold this summer. (With Dubais majority comprised of migrants trapped in what is essentially slave labor and Washington D.C.s disenfranchised, Londons only true counterpart is Brasilia, where 48.7 percent of residents are mixed race alone.)

Exit polls are still rolling in, but on the eve of the election, 53 percent of nonwhite Brits told YouGov they intended to vote for Labour. The party has been riven by racial tensions, particularly over the Gaza war, but another preelection poll showed that more than twice as many Asian voters (40 percent) thought Labour would improve life as those who thought Labour would make things worse (19 percent).

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The historic demographic shift transforming London may not be a political watershed yet. But Londoners are living in the globalized 21st century heretofore known only to pockets of Los Angeles, New York City, Singapore, Sydney, and Toronto. Otherness is Britains newest tradition. Starmer can lean into that truth or be knocked over by it. Canada is projected to become majority-minority by 2036. America is forecast for 2044. There will be plenty of other chances if the U.K. doesnt get it right.

And there are plenty of reasons to doubt that it will.

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Sunaka devout Hindu who moved into 10 Downing on Diwaliis an anti-immigrant child of immigrants. One of his partys most controversial plans was to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda. And Starmer is not much more inviting. Are you two really the best we have got? an audience member asked them at a town hall debate. Like Sunak, Starmer does not want to rejoin the E.U. When Starmer criticized the Rwanda plan at the debate, Sunak repeatedly asked, What would you do with them? Starmers uninspiring answer was that he wants to debut a vague Border Security Command focused on enforcement. Its a bit of the bland leading the bland.

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Not much has changed in the government since 2021, when thenPrime Minister Boris Johnson rewrote a supposedly independent report on ethnic and racial disparities to deny institutional racism so flatly that 10 Downings highest-ranking Black adviser resigned in disgust. No politicianLabour or Toryseems to have read a 2019 paper finding that British prosperity was not ruined by immigrants but rather by the governments welfare austerity plan.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Europe, life is even harsher. Denmark, Italy, and Spain are cracking down on immigration and minority populations. France and Germany prohibit gathering data on race and ethnicity. But a major German survey last year revealed discrimination and racism so endemic that the director of the reporting institute said it can weaken and threaten democracy. And a report last year by Frances human rights commission found that 51 percent of the country doesnt feel at home in France anymorerising to 91 percent among supporters of the far-right National Rally party, which in June elections tilted France the farthest right its been since collaborating with Nazi occupiers in World War II. Forty-three percent of the French public blames immigration for that insecurity, rising to 83 percent among National Rally supporters.

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But there are signs of change in Britain outside the Labour triumph. Consider the London borough of Newham, where no ethnicity comprises more than 16 percent of the population. Despite being impoverished, Newham is sending schoolchildren to Oxford and the Ivy League and participating in a massive, 10-year study on the mechanics of prosperity. Its just one example of how London is leading the world in how to be the kind of plurality about which even America only dreams.

The fastest population growth in the U.K.as it is in the U.S.is among Asians. Between 2011 and 2021, Asian Brits grew from 4.2 to 5.5 million, accounting in 2021 for 9.3 percent of the national population. For context, Britains Black population is 4 percentbarely more than the 3 percent of Brits who are Indian alone. (For comparison, in the States, Asian Americans make up roughly 6 percent of the population.) If British census trends hold, this summer the U.K. becomes 10 percent Asian. In mixed-race data, the 2021 Census also saw 0.8 percent of the country identify as an Asian-White blend, so by some measures, this double-digit threshold was crossed years ago.

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The U.K. is crossing a social Rubicon. In its favor, Asian Britain has a superpower beyond demographics or elections: everyday culture. Brits are now a generation beyond the well-worn truth that their nations most popular dinner is chicken tikka masala. The Asian reality of British culture is now far more entrenched: London is now the Asian capital of Europe.

Asian Brits win The Great British Baking Show, captain the Tottenham futbol team, bring home Olympic gold as young as 13, sweep the Booker Prizes, and win BAFTAs at the awards ceremony they co-host. Londons West End is wowing audiences with sold-out stage productions of anime classics like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away, as well as with brash upheavals of orientalist tropes such as Untitled Fuck Miss Saigon Play (which came out of a surge of Asian plays at Edinburgh Fringe Festival). New Asian arts festivals are flourishing, too, from the ESEA Lit Fest of domestic East Asian and Southeast Asian writers to the Muslim International Film Festival.

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Taken in all, British pop culture is now anchored in Asianness as much as American pop culture is in Blackness. In both countries, the only thing more persistent than bigotry against minorities is defiance by the marginalized themselvesand a grudging, unacknowledged acceptance by those very bigots of their victims vitality.

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Starmer must decide whether his government works for or against this new Britain. But even if he adopts the reactionary postures of his predecessor and Britains neighbors, he may have no choice but to adaptor risk political punishment.

Labours tenure is likely to rely on how many voters Starmer can retainas Black voting was long a pillar of Democrats successes and now, feeling underserved, threatens to defect. Or consider how Muslim Democrats may tip the U.S. election with voter absenteeism in solidarity with Palestinians. As with the many unspoken similarities between Starmer and Sunak, Americas least popular bipartisanship is that Biden and Trump are near-kindred spirits on immigration, policing, Chinese trade feuds, and IsraelPalestine. Voters have noticed.

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I am a Palestinian Brit who lives in America with a green card. I have watchedwithout the ability to vote anywhereall three of those countries descend into tribal spirals of anger, hatred, and spite. When youre a Palestinian immigrant who gets treated as foreign in Brooklyn, London, and the West Bank, you learn to develop a radar to listen for the people who welcome you as you are.

That radar perked up during London mayor Sadiq Khans radical embrace of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. And in 2022 when I queued to pay homage to the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II and was greeted by SWAT officersnot a militarized police force but the Sikh Welfare and Awareness Team. They offered weary, waiting mourners free hot chocolate, coffee, tea, soup, sandwiches, and sweets. And this year, at the Ramadan lights twinkling around Piccadilly Circus alongside the 3,000 meals of a Trafalgar Square iftar.

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There is also increased acknowledgment by the broader British public that Asian Brits have long been part of British success, from the Chinese Labour Corps in World War I to the pivotal miners strikes in the 1980s. And there is lingering goodwill from 2015, when a knife assailant on Londons subway system had his This is for Syria battle cry rebuffed by an onlooker who replied You aint no Muslim, bruv to global acclaim.

Asian Brits are leading their nationnot by making it more Asian or less British, but by proving that the clash and community of cultural crossroads can be about more than zero-sum antics of pettiness and counterpettiness that tend to dominate identity politics. A melting pot can privilege cooperation and validation over domination and submission. Londons future is about how it embraces the zhongyi of it all. The mashallah of it all. The jugaad of it all. The thuong of it all. (If you dont know those words, wait a few years; you will.)

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London is certainly no paradise. A massive report last year on Londons police force found it to be systemically bullying, homophobic, racist, sexist, and all-around bigotedagainst the public it serves and within its ranks. (A Muslim officer got bacon stuffed in his boots, for example.) There is also recurring Asian-on-Asian violence, chiefly in Londons ChinatownEuropes largestbetween Hong Kongers and Beijing loyalists. In March, a major donor to Sunaks party said that Diane Abbott, who in 1987 became the first Black woman elected to Parliament, made him want to hate all Black women and that she should be shot. Although Sunak himself condemned the remarks, his party kept the donors 10 million. And in April, a white Londoner went viral for a racist tirade on the subway in which he said Listen, this is England, not no fucking foreign cunts like you lot.

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Related From Slate Lets Take a Moment to Appreciate the Spectacular Defeat of the U.K.s Conservative Party Read More

Moreover, diversity in politics is a dangerous idol. Black political power can manifest as Clarence Thomas or Ketanji Brown Jackson. Women can elect a serial womanizer to the highest office in the land. And its a dice roll whether clumsy constructs like the Latino vote can mean a future of immigrant amnesty or legislation to protect fetal heartbeats. Similarly, Britains 14-year Tory reign saw two female prime ministers as well as Sunak. Heterogeneity is not always a winning prospect for progress.

Take New York, please.

In New York City, Americas bastion of multiculturalism, locals squabble about the overrepresentation of Asian students in the citys elite public high schools (and the consequential underrepresentation of Black and Latino students). They squirm at living next to hotels converted to shelter majority-minority refugee migrants or homeless people. A poll last year of New York City residents found 62 percent agreed with Eric Adams, the citys second Black mayor, that a migrant influx will destroy the city. Thats the current state of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

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By contrast, London has unquestionably beaten America at its own multicultural game. Consider this moment a cultural or social Sputnik. Americans have some serious catching up to do.

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Asians are not part of Labours rise to power; Labour is part of Asians. The question Britain now faces is one the U.S. has been failing since its inception: Can it be a democracy that actually represents all the people in it, and doesnt only or best serve white people? Starmer, for all his faults, has said growth relies on migration. He can pivot from toxic ideology toward government enabled by and centered upon shared domestic otherness. If he doesnt, Britains ever-growing nonwhite population will have little reason to think much of the Labour Party. For their part, Asian Brits are confident their ascendant power persists with or without the new governments backing, trusting that the future is the one home where all arrive as migrants.
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Daria Otreshko, 18, had not planned on coming to Slovakia. Her mother made the decision for her almost two years ago. Then everything happened quicklywithin two weeks, they arranged her application to university, and Dasha, as her mother calls her, was accepted to study international relations in Banska Bystrica, central Slovakia.

Daria comes from central Ukraine, from the city of Kremenchuk, situated on the banks of the Dnipro River. The city was founded in 1571 as a military fortress and has since grown into an important transport and trade hub.

During the Second World War, Kremenchuk suffered significant damage, but was subsequently rebuilt. It became one of the country's main industrial centres with a strategic location that supports trade and logistics. The city has around 220,000 inhabitants, and is about a three- to four-hour drive from Kyiv.

"My city is beautiful; I like it very much. It's small, but Banska Bystrica is even smaller. Everything is organised in our city; we have a university, nature, work, and leisure opportunities," Dasha describes her hometown Kremenchuk.

Circus and city hall

As a child, Dasha wanted to work in the circus, then become a shop assistant, psychologist, and even the mayor.

"I read a psychology book and gave consultations to my toys. I couldn't even write yet, and was already pretending to fill in papers at the city hall. My grandparents still have those papers saved," she recalls.

She danced every day for 12 years but wanted to keep dance as a hobby. She learned English and German but did not want to be a teacher like her mother, who then suggested studying translation. Dasha considered attending university in Lviv, western Ukraine, or studying international relations at Kyiv's Taras Shevchenko University.

"The criteria to get there are very strict. I was good at Ukrainian and English; I could learn history, but I wasn't so sure about mathematics. In Ukraine and in Banska Bystrica, the field of study is quite different; in Ukraine, you also receive a degree in translation and focus on foreign languages and diplomatic communication. In Banska Bystrica, we study more diplomacy, politics, history, geography," she says.

She did not attend university in Ukraine in the end.

Mom decided for Dasha

Dasha's mother, father, grandparents, and some friends remained in Kremenchuk.

"The boys under 18 left; those 18 or older stayed and worked. They couldn't leave. The girls went to Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, or Sweden," Daria describes.

She adds that those who could leave, did.

"And I understood that: if you stay, you will be in relative safety, but you won't have the opportunity to learn something new. Some schools are starting offline studies, but I'm not sure if it's safe. Some schools still have online teaching, but nobody takes it seriously," she explains.

"My aunt, who lives in Austria, said that we had to urgently leave, and my mom said, 'Okay, Dashka will go, but I will stay here; I have a job, family, and a flat. And I don't want to leave that,'" Dasha describes the final decision at home.

Dasha now follows domestic events every day, receiving updates through a Telegram group. She says that in the last month, people experience 10 to 20 air alerts every day. There are no explosions or serious attacks in the city itself, but Shaheds (Iranian attack drones used by the Russian army, Ed.) frequently fly over the city.

"My parents send me videos; the sound is terrifying. I feel bad about it and don't know how to help them from here," Daria says.

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Read also: War on the mind and canvas: A Ukrainian family of painters finds a safe haven in Slovakia Read more

You are 21, and your life is over

Dasha's mother Olga is an English teacher, and her father works as a car mechanic. Dasha visits home every six months, after exams.

"Whenever I come home and buy two coffees for 5, instead of one like in Slovakia, I'm glad to support the economy. Many people from Kharkiv have moved in and started businesses, like restaurants, which helps. People try to live; it's important," she describes her home visits.

She adds that there are opinions saying that everyone must work only for the army, during wartime.

"But you have to work for yourself too, make time to relax, but of course, remember thanks to whom you live," she believes.

Dasha initially thought everything would be fine and that Ukraine would quickly win. She still believes this but doesn't know when it will happen. Her older brother also went to the front to fight. He is 32 years old and was home on medical leave for a while.

He was in the front lines and shared experiences at home that shocked Dasha.

"My brother was not a soldier; he was an ordinary guy. He finished secondary school and worked as a shop consultant. When the war started, he volunteered, and after two months, he was taken in," she explains. She adds that her brother spoke about seeing friends die on the front, with their limbs flying around.

Today, her brother is back in the war, but no longer on the front line. Dasha can't reveal more.

"Here in Slovakia; you are 20 years old, you're about to go to university, and in our country, you are 21 or 22, and your life is over. It's terrible," she says.

When you do not see the future

She adds that she personally knows girls from Kremenchuk, whose friend went to the army at the age of 19 and studied a military-related subject. He recently died in battles in the Donetsk region; he was hit by a bomb.

"Everyone in my town was shocked, it was unexpected, no one saw it coming, he was very young," she says.

"I'm also very sensitive when I see videos of children who have lost their fathers or haven't seen them for a long time, or women talking about how much they miss someone who died and obviously shouldn't have died yet," she says.

People try to help. Dasha sees fundraising initiatives daily, but pessimism is growing. People in the city are used to air warnings, but many have lost hope and believe that it will remain this way for the rest of their lives. They are unable to change the situation. The war has cost everyone a lot of psychological strength and the country a lot of money.

Dasha's parents are still managing quite well. Her mother says she has Dashka in Banska Bystrica but everything else at home. Her father never thought about leaving. Dasha says that they have set their minds to live and survive in Kremenchuk.

First thing in Slovakia? McDonald's

Dasa's journey to Slovakia took two days. She accepted the fact that she was leaving Ukraine and was looking forward to life in Banska Bystrica. She found out that her classmate Diana was also going, and they were roommates in the first year of their stay in Slovakia.

Dasha, along with her mother, a friend, and her friend's mother, travelled about 20 hours to Lviv, then to Uzhhorod.

"It was my first experience in the western part of the country. I felt that the language was different; my current boyfriend is from there. It was an experience for me to see such different cultures and languages within one Ukraine," she says.

She laughs, saying she had one suitcase and five bags. They travelled from the border with other students by minibus. There, she said goodbye to her mother. They arrived to the dormitory at eleven at night.

"With our new friends, two boys, we went to McDonald's. We are still friends today," she describes where her first steps in the new city led her.

When her mother returned to Ukraine, her "adult life" began. Dasha laughs that if she had known what awaited her, she would not have been so excited. She learned what it is like to cook, be tired, and then go to work.

She has two jobs: she teaches small children German and works as a waitress in a cafe.

"I really enjoy teaching children. My mother is also happy about it. I improve my foreign language and can teach someone a new skill, which is great," she says.

The first semester at school was challenging for her; she did not understand what she was studying, both because of the language and the content of the subjects. Now it is much better. Dasha enjoys school and wants to develop in this direction.

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Her friend Mark

"I definitely associate the university with Slovaks," Dasha says, listing that she likes how her classmates treat each other, that they have a club. She recalls a nice experience when they went to Brussels together, where they genuinely worried about her not getting lost in the big city.

And then she mentions Mark. He is Slovak and they study together. When Dasha was new at school and did not know Slovak yet, he tried to speak Russian with her. They made pancakes together and helped each other in school.

"He is very kind; he was involved in helping Ukrainians. He was the first Slovak I met. I feel that he tries to understand and accept me," she describes her friend and his importance in making her feel comfortable in the new country.

However, she also experienced the opposite in Slovakia. She admits that her closest relationships today are mainly with Ukrainians in her small bubble. But she believes that it will get better over time.

Being Ukrainian is no joke

"If someone says I'm Ukrainian in a negative way, I don't feel good. When I experienced it at work, I left, later they called and apologised, saying that it had been a joke. We take it seriously; I don't think it's something to joke about," she describes an unpleasant experience.

It affected Dasha, and she says that it can affect others even more. For example, someone from Kharkiv or Kherson who fled due to the fighting and explosions they directly experienced might feel an even greater inner pain.

"I was still okay with it in the end, I just shrugged it off, but it's important to watch what you say," she says.

"Yes, I'm a foreigner, but I don't want to feel like a foreigner here. I try to do everything to avoid feeling that way, but there are situations when people make comments like these. Even after two years, when they remind me I'm Ukrainian or start correcting my grammar or vocabulary. If it's constructive, I'm glad, but if it's in the sense of 'you've been here two years and still can't speak properly,' it's not okay," she thinks.

She also adds that Ukrainians should study the language, and she does not understand those who do not try to speak or engage with the new society.

Brussels, Cyprus, elections, and Odor

Dasha tries to get involved. She participated in the Erasmus programme in Cyprus, where she realised that even as a Ukrainian she could intern at the European Parliament, for example, in the field of culture. She has also been to Strasbourg as a volunteer for the European Parliament in Slovakia. She applied and succeeded.

"It was one of the best internships; I liked it a lot, and it motivated me a lot. Communication, diplomacy, or non-governmental organisations all appeal to me," says Dasha.

She adds that she sees many opportunities and wants to get involved not only in the new society, but also in new areas of her life.

"I can't vote, but for example, I was in Brussels, where I represented Slovakia in the campaign before the European elections. It was an event where we dealt not only with elections but with artificial intelligence, democracy, and human rights," she describes how she tried to convince others to vote. She made posts about the elections on Instagram.

At the invitation of students, former MEP Vladimir Bilcik and former caretaker government prime minister Ludovit Odor visited the university.

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Read also: On Telegram, she helps Ukrainians. In Bratislava, she stands with protesting Slovaks Read more

Alarms on

Dasha thinks about the war every day, and even in Banska Bystrica, she does not turn off the air raid warnings.

"I have notifications on; I get them every day; I never turned them off. I'm scared. I deleted the app that also calls and tells you to go to the shelter, but I still get the messages," says Dasha. She keeps them on for her family, to whom she forwards the warnings.

She explains that she is very afraid that if she turns them off, she will miss something.

"That's my main fear. I don't read the news every day, but I follow the alerts for my city and region," she adds.

When she reads bad news from home, she says she primarily feels angry.

"I write angry messages in groups, for example, on Telegram. I know it doesn't change anything, but I have to release my emotions. Then I try to support Ukraine, sending money to fundraisers for the army. The most important thing is to calm myself, realise I'm here, I'm okay, I can only support those there. I call my parents and friends, telling them they're important to me, I care for them, and I worry about them," Dasha describes how she cares for her mental well-being and others.

Wearing headphones during the explosion

In the summer of 2022, six months after the war began, Dasha was at home.

"I was walking, with headphones on my head, and the ground started shaking beneath me. I heard an explosion at the shopping centre and ran to the shelter. My mom was in another part of the city; we weren't together," she recalls an explosion in Kremenchuk. She says that there was no possibility of calling in the shelter. She was hiding with pregnant women who were crying and screaming. "I'll never forget those moments," she says, adding that such experiences include moments when they hid in the shower during alarms at the beginning of the war.

The city she returns to is different from the one she left.

"For me, the city is made up of people. Now, when I return, I don't know anyone. I used to meet five or six acquaintances. Small children are now teenagers," she describes how the war has changed her hometown in central Ukraine.

However, she says that her parents have not changed. She tries to call them as often as possible. The war has, of course, affected them, but they try not to show it so that it does not affect Dasha as well. When she calls and asks if everything is okay, they tell her not to worry about it and to take care of herself.

"They love me just as much, and I love them just as much, maybe even more," she concludes.

This story was created with the support of UNESCO under the Support for Ukrainian Refugees through Media programme, funded by the Japanese government.
A selection of short feel-good stories from Slovakia.

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Every week The Slovak Spectator brings you a selection of three short stories from across Slovakia from which pessimism and negativity are absent.

Story by a Slovak in Australian magazine and the first translation into Hebrew

A short story by a Slovak writer will be published in the renowned Australian literary magazine Heat in mid-July.

Written by poet, translator and radio presenter Michal Tallo, the magazine will publish the English translation of a piece titled Dreams of This Unfamiliar Earth.

It is part of his new short-stories collection, Everything is Fine, Everywhere is Love, which will be published in July. It is full of stories about tired, nameless people somewhere between reality and feverish dreams, the Slovak Literary Centre reported.

An international literary journal, Heat focuses on innovative poetry, fiction, essays and hybrid literary forms. The magazines aim has always been to publish innovative Australian and international writers of the highest standard.

Michal Hvorecky (Source: Sme)

Meanwhile, the first Slovak book will be published in Hebrew this summer, thanks to the support of the SLOLIA grant. Michal Hvoreckys Troll, published in 2017, will be issued by the Israeli publishing house Pardes Publishing, which also plans to bring other Slovak books to their market in the future, according to the Slovak Literary Centre.

Small girl discovers a rare butterfly considered to be extinct

Pericallia matronula spotted in the Vihorlat Forest. (Source: Rudolf Gabzdil)

A grandad and his granddaughter recently found a special butterfly species while strolling through the Vihorlat Forest nature reserve in eastern Slovakia.

It was Pericallia matronula (a genus of tiger moths in the Erebidae family  ed. note), said entomologist Rudolf Gabzdil, whose three-and-half years old granddaughter spotted it, as quoted by the Korzar regional newspaper. It is considered extinct in several countries of central Europe; and in the east of central Europe and in eastern Europe, where it survives, its rare finds are considered exceptional.

As he continued, his granddaughter spotted the butterfly mostly thanks to its typical yellow underwings.

The rare butterfly, protected by law in Slovakia whose social value has been settled at 230, was last seen in the Vihorlat mountains in 1960. There are some later records of its occurrence in the Bratislava surrounding, as well as in the national parks of Velka Fatra and Slovak Paradise.

A Slovak owns hundreds of dolls from across the globe

Visitors to the village of Cerova in the Zahorie region in the westernmost part of Slovakia can found an exceptional museum in an old barn house.

Local Marek Snelly opened an exhibition of costumed dolls in late June, the MY Zahorie regional newspaper reported. In his collection, which contains some 700 pieces and has already earned him the Slovak record in collecting dolls, one can found original Russian dolls from the 1970s or porcelain dolls from France, as well as retro dolls, dolls from Disney collections or even iconic horror dolls like Anabelle and Chucky. The oldest one comes from 1870.

At the beginning, Snelly collected folk costumes, but later realised something was missing. He then started with collecting dolls.

When I saw that the costumes look exactly like this on people, it all started to make sense to me, he told MY Zahorie.

He then started visiting villages in Slovakia as well as abroad, persuading people to sell him dolls. He says he wants to preserve them for future generations.

Five feel-good stories published by The Slovak Spectator to read:

Political meme of the week

(Source: Facebook/Rosie Naive Art)

Caption: Dude, Im extremely grateful to the voters of this coalition. But we can still rob them, right?

Artist Rosie Babicova, whose works can be found on the internet and social networks under the name Rosie Naive Art, alludes to the recent decision of the Constitutional Court which deemed constitutional several changes to the Penal Code which, among other things, reduce punishments for corruption, shorten the statute of limitation for economic crimes and cancel the Special Prosecutors Office. The amendments were challenged by both former president Zuzana Caputova and the opposition MPs.

You can send me your tips on good news stories about Slovakia or funny memes at: radka.minarechova@spectator.sk. Thank you!
Canada's Ismael Kenneth Jordan Kone (8) scores against Canada goalkeeper Richard Laryea in a shootout to win a Copa America quarterfinal soccer match between Venezuela and Canada, Friday, July 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)  Canada hasn't scored much on the way to the semifinals of its first Copa America.

Don't look for apologies from American-born coach Jesse Marsch.

Ismael Kone scored in the sixth round of the shootout right after a third save by Maxime Crepeau and Canada moved on with a victory over Venezuela on Friday night.

The Canadians won 4-3 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinals, keeping Venezuela from advancing to the Copa America semifinals for the first time since 2011.

Just the fourth team to advance out of group play by scoring just one goal, Canada is moving on again following a 0-0 draw against Chile that sent it to the elimination round.

People will talk about should we score more goals or whatever, Marsch said. We should score more goals. But those are two pretty strong performances against very good opponents. You can see that this team is building.

Jacob Shaffelburg scored in the 13th minute for Canada before Salomon Rondon got the equalizer in the 64th minute for Venezuela.

The victory earned 48th-ranked Canada a rematch with Lionel Messi and Argentina, the world No. 1 and defending Copa America champion, on Tuesday night at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Argentina beat Canada 2-0 in a group play opener.

Each team scored three times in the five rounds of the shootout, forcing the extra session.

After Crepeau silenced the pro-Venezuelan crowd of 51,080 at the home of the Dallas Cowboys by stopping Wilker Angel, Kone eased his shot past Rafael Romo for the win.

I heard some of the guys saying afterward I should have had him shoot earlier because hes got ice in his veins, Marsch said of the 22-year-old. They were right. Probably should have had him shoot earlier. But when we needed him, he stepped up.

With 54th-ranked Venezuela trailing 1-0, Jon Aramburu sent a long pass from his own penalty box, leaving just Rondon and Moise Bombito battling for the loose ball near midfield.

Just as Rondon gained possession, Crepeau realized he was too far out and sprinted toward his net. It was too late. Rondon's lofted shot over the scrambling Crepeau bounced 2 yards in front of the net and in.

Shaffelburg scored on an assist from Jonathan David after David scored Canada's previous goal in a 1-0 victory over Peru on a helper from Shaffelburg, who right-footed a pass from David between the right post and Romo.

After scoring, Schaffelburg held over his head the No. 17 jersey of Tajon Buchanan, who broke the tibia in his lower left leg in practice three days before the meeting with Venezuela.

Rondon had two early chances on headers turned away, and it wasn't long after his goal that Shaffelburg took another dangerous shot from just inside the penalty box that Romo deflected away.

Before Rondon's equalizer, Eduard Bello redirected a corner kick from across the toward the net, but the ball landed on top of the net after a leaping deflection from Crepeau.

Venezuela is in position to be a first-time qualifier for the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. A World Cup-high nine games will be at AT&T Stadium.

But La Vinotinto fell short in trying to reach the final four of Copa America for just the second time. Venezuela finished fourth 13 years ago.

I think that we need to continue working and to set an objective for ourselves, Venezuela coach Fernando Batista said through a translator. This is a long process. We have a huge dream that were going for. All Venezuelans want to qualify for the World Cup, and the Copa America gave us the possibility of strengthening our squad.

Not long after Rondon's goal, Liam Millar got a shot past Romo, but it went wide right. Millar had Canada's first miss of the shootout, sending a shot way over the crossbar right after Yangel Herrera was wide left for Venezuela.

The teams traded misses again in the fourth round of the shootout before a pair of makes set up the extra session.

We were the better team, Marsch said. We deserved to win that match. The penalties, its most a flip of the coin. But we were the better team on the day.

___

The story has been corrected to show that Wilker Angel was the player whose penalty kick was saved by Maxime Crepeau, not Jhonder Cadiz.

___

AP Copa America coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/copa-america
American Eagle ERJ-170 aircraft operated by regional carrier Envoy Air at the gates of Terminal B at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The airline is experimenting with zero-emission hydrogen powered engines for such craft. Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News

American Airlines is reaffirming its confidence in hydrogen as a means to meet its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The Fort Worth-based airline  the No. 2 carrier at San Antonio International Airport  is purchasing 100 hydrogen-electric engines to power its regional jets and increasing its investment in ZeroAvia, the U.S.-U.K. startup developing the fuel cell-powered engines.

ZeroAvia is currently testing a prototype for a 20-seat plane.

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Advancing the transition of commercial aviation to a low-carbon future requires investments in promising technologies, including alternate forms of propulsion, Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines, said in a statement. This announcement will help accelerate the development of technologies needed to power our industry and uphold our commitment to make American a sustainable airline so we can continue to deliver for customers for decades to come.

Hydrogen-electric engines have long been eyed by the aviation industry as an environmentally friendly alternative to jet fuel. Theres still a lot of work to be done before they can replace fuel-powered engines, though. Fuel allows for large aircraft to fly long distances and a hydrogen-powered aircraft cannot yet do that.

ZeroAvias engines use hydrogen in fuel cells to generate electricity, which then powers electric motors to turn an airplanes propellers. The only inflight emission is low-temperature water vapor.

American first invested in ZeroAvia in 2022 and now is investing in the companys Series C financing round. Its hoping to have a working 20-seat plane with its hydrogen-electric engine certified by the end of 2025 and is working on a powertrain for 40-80-seat aircraft by 2027.

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In signing this purchase agreement and furthering its investment, American is supporting our mission of innovation for clean aircraft propulsion and it is a good signal that ZeroAvia is delivering on our technology roadmap, ZeroAvia CEO Val Miftakhov said. The solutions that can serve the largest airlines are within reach.

American and other carriers in recent years have been making other investments in the future of flying.

In 2021, American invested in Vertical Aerospace, which is developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft known as eVTOLs. In 2022, American and Boom Supersonic made a deal for up to 20 Overture aircraft, planes expected to carry passengers at twice the speed of todays fastest commercial aircraft.

And early this year, Southwest Airlines made a $30 million investment in LanzaJet, a sustainable aviation fuel technology provider, and launched a new subsidiary dedicated to it. The Dallas-based airline, which is San Antonios No. 1 carrier, has a goal to replace 10% of its jet fuel consumption with sustainable aviation fuel by 2030.

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Chicago-based LanzaJet has a patented ethanol-to-sustainable aviation fuel technology and is building a plant to provide the fuel to Southwest.
Marine Le Pen hits back at Kylian Mbappe over election comments

France captain Kylian Mbappe has been criticised by French politician Marine Le Pen over his recent election comments.

Mbappe and other French internationals have spoken out over the potential of a political change in France ahead of Sundays crucial election.

Ahead of a key vote, Mbappe has repeated his plea for French voters to block the extremes from coming into power ahead of the second-round elections.

Mbappe described the first round results as catastrophic and called on young people to react and ensure Le Pen is not elevated into a position of power in Paris.

France face Portugal in the Euro 2024 semi finals with the final schedule for July 14 which will clash with the vote if France get past La Roja and reach the showdown game.

However, despite praise for his stance on the issue, Le Pen has hit back at Mbappe, claiming his position does not reflect French society in a realistic way.
Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Drew Thorpe (33) aims a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, July 5, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

MIAMI (AP)  Drew Thorpe threw 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball, Nicky Lopez doubled twice and drove in two runs and the Chicago White Sox beat the Miami Marlins 3-2 on Friday night.

Luis Robert Jr. had two hits, two walks and two stolen bases for the White Sox, who won their first opening game of a road series this season. They were 0-14 before Friday.

I thought we hit the ball extremely well, White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. We had some good at-bats. They just made some pitches when they needed to keep the runs down. Good baseball game all the way around.

The Marlins lost their fifth straight and dropped to an NL worst 30-58.

In his fifth major league start, Thorpe (3-1) pitched into the seventh for the first time since being promoted from the minor leagues June 11. The rookie scattered three hits, walked two and struck out five.

I felt everything was working, mixing the speeds, Thorpe said. I just stuck to the game plan and tried not to do too much.

Thorpe also considered it an important career milestone extending his outing into the seventh.

It means a lot, Thorpe said. We had a bullpen day the other day and you get to save them. I just tried to extend as much as possible. Thats what I needed to do coming in. I wanted to finish (the seventh), but it is what it is.

The White Sox struck quickly against Marlins starter Bryan Hoeing on Lopezs run-scoring double in the second.

Martin Maldonados RBI double against reliever Roddery Munoz in the fourth made it 2-0 before Lopez hit another run-scoring double in the fifth.

John Brebbia relieved Thorpe after Dane Myers one-out double in the seventh and allowed a run scoring single by Xavier Edwards. Miami loaded the bases against Brebbia with two out when center fielder Robert tracked down Bryan De La Cruzs drive at the wall to end the threat.

Not many guys can make that play, Grifol said. I dont know what the catch probability on that is.

The Marlins rallied against closer Michael Kopech in the ninth. Vidal Brujan reached on a fielders choice, advanced to third on Jazz Chisholm Jr.s two-out single and scored on De La Cruzs single. But Kopech retired Josh Bell on a groundout for his eighth save.

Tough day offensively, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. Thorpe was good. We couldnt get to the changeup even when we sat on it. We couldnt hit it. Just a lot of weak contact. I thought we had some really good at-bats against their bullpen.

Hoeing (0-1), recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on Friday, gave up one run, five hits and struck out four in three innings.

TRAINERS ROOM

White Sox: INF Yoan Moncada (left adductor strain) will be used as designated hitter in games at the clubs rookie complex in Arizona next week.

Marlins: Optioned Kyle Tyler to Triple-A Jacksonville for Hoeings spot on the roster. ...RHP Sixto Sanchez (right shoulder inflammation) threw a bullpen session at the clubs spring training complex in Jupiter.

UP NEXT

LHP Garrett Crochet (6-6, 3.02) will start for the White Sox on Saturday against Marlins RHP Yonny Chirinos (0-0, 3.77).

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/anti-israel-and-us-protests-took-place-on-july-4-american-flags-burned-1119258057.html

Anti-Israel and US Protests Took Place on July 4, American Flags Burned

Anti-Israel and US Protests Took Place on July 4, American Flags Burned

Sputnik International

Around 100 protesters gathered in Washington Square Park in Manhattan during the Fourth of July holiday where they protested Israels military offenses in Palestine that have prompted global condemnation.

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Around 100 protesters gathered in Washington Square Park in Manhattan during the Fourth of July holiday where they protested Israels military offenses in Palestine that have prompted global condemnation.The protestors lit American flags on fire and chanted anti-US slogans in reaction to the unwavering US support for Israel. Footage showed protestors wearing keffiyehs also known as a hatta- a traditional Arab headdress which has become a symbol of Palestinian support - trying to set fire to a tattered American flag on the ground, Fox News reported.The group of protestors, a majority of which were reportedly younger Americans, could be heard chanting, f*** Israel and f*** the USA. They also chanted, Israel bombs, USA pays, how many kids did you kill today?A poster with images of US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump wearing crowns was labeled with the slogan death to all kings was also sighted, according to a separate report from the New York Post.The poster was most likely in reference to the US Supreme Courts controversial decision earlier this week to grant US presidents absolute immunity from prosecution for official acts they made during their presidency.It was reported that at least 37 people were arrested during the demonstration which was organized by the group Within Our Lifetime - though a majority of those appeared to be court summonses.Six pro-Palestinian protesters in the US city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were also arrested after burning flags and clashing with police. The protest, which first began in Rittenhouse Square, eventually grew to about 400 people.A report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that over nine years leading up to 2022, the US has supplied 68% of Israels weapons.In April, Congress approved a further $26 billion in aid to Israel including $5 billion for their air defenses as well as a hoard of weapons shipments. That is in addition to a 10-year agreement signed in 2016 between the two countries which allows exports of military aid worth $3.3 billion as well as $500 million a year for air defenses.More than 500 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed since the war in Gaza first began, while the death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip has risen to 38,011 with 87, 445 people injured, according to the enclaves health ministry.And in addition to the ongoing violence as a result of Israeli military forces, one in five of Gazas population - that's nearly 500,000 people - are facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity The Guardian reported late last month, citing a draft report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/belarus-china-to-hold-counterterrorism-drills-from-july-8-19---defense-ministry-1119261033.html

Belarus, China to Hold Counterterrorism Drills From July 8-19 - Defense Ministry

Belarus, China to Hold Counterterrorism Drills From July 8-19 - Defense Ministry

Sputnik International

Belarus and China will hold joint counterterrorism drills from July 8-19 in the Eastern European country, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

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"Servicemen of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army have arrived in Belarus. The soldiers will take part in a joint counterterrorism exercise which will take place from July 8-19," the ministry said in a statement. The drills are aimed at exchanging best practices and laying the foundation of Belarusian-Chinese cooperation for joint training of troops, according to the statement.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/kill-crazy-foreign-mercs-in-ukraine-bragged-about-murdering-russian-pows---report-1119264039.html

'Kill-Crazy' Foreign Mercs in Ukraine Bragged About Murdering Russian PoWs - Report

'Kill-Crazy' Foreign Mercs in Ukraine Bragged About Murdering Russian PoWs - Report

Sputnik International

Foreign mercenaries fighting on the side of the Kiev regime reveled in executing Russian prisoners, reported the New York Times.

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Foreign mercenaries fighting on the side of the Kiev regime reveled in executing Russian prisoners, the New York Times has reported.The atrocious killings are believed to have been carried out by members of the so-called "Chosen company." One incident in August 2023 was described to the outlet by a witness, the units medic, a German called Caspar Grosse.Grosse explained that a wounded and unarmed Russian soldier seeking medical help from his foreign captors was shot in cold blood. First one mercenary shot the Russian in the torso, and then, as he slumped still breathing, another soldier just shot him in the head, Grosse recalled.According to several accounts, video footage and text messages exchanged by members of the unit and reviewed by the outlet, such unwarranted killings continued.In another episode, a Chosen company fighter threw a grenade at a surrendering Russian soldier who had raised his hands, killing him, the outlet stated, referencing reviewed drone footage. It was added that the Ukrainian military published a video of this episode, but edited out the surrender moment.Militants from the company of foreign hirelings and thrill-seekers reportedly talked freely about the murders of prisoners of war in group chats. In a third episode, revealed by such messages, a soldier in command in October 2023 told the fighters he would take personal responsibility if anything comes out about the killings.At the center of all these three incidents was reportedly a Greek mercenary with the callsign Zeus. He shot a wounded Russian in the trench, tossed the grenade at a prisoner, and bragged a thousand times about killing the surrendering Russian, claimed Grosse.Benjamin Reed, a former American member of the unit, claimed that he heard, to such a large degree, innumerable conversations, about the executions of PoWs on various operations. Furthermore, the units recruiter told him that it was OK to kill PoWs if they didnt surrender in the strictest Geneva Convention standards. Reed posted a video on TikTok, calling his former comrades kill-crazy cowboys, nothing more.In interviews, Grosse is said to have recounted details that other Chosen members corroborated.Ryan OLeary, the American who claims to be the de facto commander of Chosen company, denied to the outlet that his fighters had committed war crimes. However, after being contacted by The Times, OLeary reportedly vowed in a group chat to cast a wide net to snare the rabbit who had been speaking to journalists.Any footage showing the killing of a surrendering soldier should have triggered an investigation in the US, underscored the publication.As for the so-called "Chosen company," the report described it as a motley band of deserters, thrill seekers and aging soldiers. Formerly the 312th Volunteer Company, it was reportedly reorganized in 2023, changing its name and becoming attached to Ukraines 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, said the report.Since the launch of the Russian military operation in February 2022, "a total of 11,675 foreign mercenaries from 84 countries officially arrived in Ukraine to participate in hostilities on the side of the Ukraine Armed Forces," according to data provided by the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD). Some have been eliminated while others fled the country. Around 3,100 mercenaries continue to fight for the Kiev regime, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin said in April. Moscow has stressed that regardless of their status, military officials or mercenaries represent a legitimate target for our armed forces."

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240410/bodies-of-american-mercs-slain-in-ukraine-piling-up-at-us-cemeteries-1117840454.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/moscow-says-nyt-data-on-murder-of-russian-soldier-by-pro-kiev-militants-will-be-verified-1119264797.html

Moscow Says NYT Data on Murder of Russian Soldier by Pro-Kiev Militants Will Be Verified

Moscow Says NYT Data on Murder of Russian Soldier by Pro-Kiev Militants Will Be Verified

Sputnik International

All information suggesting that pro-Kiev militants killed a Russian prisoner in need of medical assistance will be verified, a Russian FM special envoy Rodion Miroshnik told Sputnik.

2024-07-06T17:41+0000

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Earlier in the day, The New York Times reported, citing a medic with the so-called international "volunteer unit" Chosen in Ukraine (mercenaries acting in the interests of the Ukrainian armed forces), Caspar Grosse, reported that pro-Kiev militants had brutally killed a Russian prisoner who had asked for medical assistance. If the murder is confirmed, it can be qualified as a war crime, the diplomat said. This is not the first case of merciless torture of Russian soldiers in Ukraine, he added. "The Kiev regime will be held accountable for every confirmed case of torture," Miroshnik said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/kill-crazy-foreign-mercs-in-ukraine-bragged-about-murdering-russian-pows---report-1119264039.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/nasa-telescope-releases-new-image-of-celestial-fireworks-surrounding-star--1119257294.html

NASA Telescope Releases New Image of Celestial Fireworks Surrounding Star

NASA Telescope Releases New Image of Celestial Fireworks Surrounding Star

Sputnik International

The image shows the protostar gathering mass from its parent molecular cloud L1526 which is located in the constellation Taurus, about 460 light-years from Earth.

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NASA has released a new image from the James Webb Space Telescope as a way to celebrate July 4. The image is of a young object becoming a star, and shows a fiery hourglass made up of a molecular cloud harboring a protostar.The protostar is about 100,000 years old, which is relatively young for the object. The image shows the protostar gathering mass from its parent molecular cloud L1526 which is located in the constellation Taurus, about 460 light-years from Earth.In the image, diffuse blue light and the filamentary structures in the image come from organic compounds known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) while the red at the center of the structure is an energized, thick layer of gasses and dust that surrounds the protostar, NASA explained. The region in between, which shows up in white, is a mixture of PAHs, ionized gas, and other molecules.They are also responsible for carving the bright hourglass structure within the molecular cloud as they energize, or excite, the surrounding matter and cause the regions above and below it to glow.NASA had previously released their first image of the fledgling star from Webbs Near-Infrared Camera which showed clear details of the celestial stunner. Looking at analyses of both near-infrared and mid-infrared data, NASA can surmise the overall behavior of the system including how the central protostar affects the surrounding region.As the protostar continues to age and release energetic jets, itll consume, destroy, and push away much of this molecular cloud, and many of the structures we see here will begin to fade, the administration explained. Eventually, once it finishes gathering mass, this impressive display will end, and the star itself will become more apparent, even to our visible-light telescopes.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/orban-reveals-plans-to-hold-more-surprise-meetings-next-week-after-recent-talks-with-putin-1119265245.html

Orban Reveals Plans to Hold More Surprise Meetings Next Week After Recent Talks With Putin

Orban Reveals Plans to Hold More Surprise Meetings Next Week After Recent Talks With Putin

Sputnik International

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that he is planning to hold several meetings next week that would be "equally surprising" as his recent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

2024-07-06T19:15+0000

2024-07-06T19:15+0000

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The Hungarian prime minister visited Russia on Friday to hold talks with Putin. Orban described his visit as a continuation of his "peace mission" after a visit to Kiev, which took place on Tuesday.He added that these meetings would be kept from the public until the fact of his arrival, as it happened earlier during his visit to Moscow.Orban laso stated that he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin three questions during a meeting in Moscow, on Putin's opinion concerning other countries' peace proposals, on the possibility of a ceasefire prior to peace talks and what Europe's security architecture might look like in the future.The first question was about Moscow's stance on existing peace initiatives and talks on the Ukrainian conflict that are held without Russia, the Hungarian prime minister said.The second question referred to the possibility of a ceasefire before the actual start of negotiations, he said, adding that Putin had not agreed to that expecting that Kiev would try to take military advantage of such a ceasefire.The third question was whether Russia had a vision of how a future security architecture of Europe would look like after the conflict, to which Putin answered that Moscow had a detailed plan on the issue, the Hungarian leader said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240705/putin-and-orban-hold-talks-in-moscow-1119251991.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240706/russian-north-sea-fleet-takes-part-in-venezuelan-independence-day-parade-1119258580.html

Russian North Sea Fleet Takes Part in Venezuelan Independence Day Parade

Russian North Sea Fleet Takes Part in Venezuelan Independence Day Parade

Sputnik International

Russia is strengthening cooperation with the South American country as a wave of anti-imperialist leaders throughout the region increasingly reject US domination.

2024-07-06T04:47+0000

2024-07-06T04:47+0000

2024-07-06T04:59+0000

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john bolton

venezuela

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A contingent of sailors from Russias North Sea Fleet participated in a military parade in Caracas Friday marking the 213th anniversary of Venezuelas independence.The seamen arrived earlier in the day to take part in the celebrations, which also fell on the countrys annual Day of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. A contingent of ships including the nuclear submarine Kazan, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov and the supply tanker Akademik Pashin entered the Venezuelan port of La Guaira just two weeks after docking in a Cuban port in Havana."This is a vivid symbol of unbreakable Russian-Venezuelan friendship, which demonstrates our firm desire to further strengthen strategic partnership in all areas," Russian Ambassador to Venezuela Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov told a Russian news agency."Today we are receiving warships of the brotherly Russian Federation," said Venezuelan Vice Admiral Edward Centeno Mass, the deputy commander of the Venezuelan Navy. "Venezuela and Russia are brothers in the fight against US imperialism."The act represents the ongoing strengthening of Russian influence in Latin America and the decline of US power in an area it has long regarded as its imperial backyard. In 2019 former US National Security Advisor John Bolton proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine is alive and well in a speech before veterans of the failed US Bay of Pigs coup in Cuba, declaring the United States presumed right to dominate the region.The US has long opposed Venezuelas anti-imperialist government, organizing a coup against former President Hugo Chavez in 2002 before attempting to unseat leader Nicolas Maduro in 2019. The United States backed a slew of fascistic dictatorships in the region throughout the Cold War, leading to the death and imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of dissidents in a campaign of state terror known as Operation Condor.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240523/venezuela-hopes-to-join-brics-in-2024---vice-president-delcy-rodriguez-1118596940.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231203/kissinger--the-americas-how-the-us-built-order-on-the-ashes-of-genocide-1115362379.html

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russia venezuela relations, russia strengthens ties with venezuela, putin maduro, us losing influence in latin america, russia in latin america, russia venezuela independence day, russia venezuela military parade, russia-venezuela relations
The Ontario Sires Stakes (OSS) will continue its cross-province 50th Anniversary celebration tour on Sunday, July 7 as it heads to Clinton Raceway with a couple of $20,000 Grassroots Series divisions for three-year-old trotting fillies on the afternoon card, which is headlined by the $50,000 Kin Pace.

The two Grassroots Series events will go in Races 4 and 8, while the Kin Pace will cap off the 10-race card on Sunday.

The first Grassroots division includes local trotting filly All Out Marilyn, whose trainer, Pam Forgie, and owner, David Wilkinson (Forgies father), both hail from Goderich, Ont., just a short 20-minute drive away from Clinton Raceway.

My dad is how I got into racehorses, said Forgie. So, I grew up with racehorses because my dad owned horses, and he had a small farm in Goderich, so we would ship into Clinton or Goderich to train  usually Goderich because it was closer. So, I grew up in Goderich watching the races more than Clinton, but wed come to both. Theyre only 20 minutes away.

Coming in as a 10-1 morning line longshot, All Out Marilyn isnt expected to place high, but could surprise.

She has the ability to [win], but weve just been dealing with some health issues with her and were hoping that thats cleared up, said Forgie of All Out Marilyn. I was just having trouble with getting her blood right. She was just having some problems with her liver, but now I think weve gotten that straightened out a bit. And she was getting a bit hot behind the gate so we did some equipment changes there over her last couple of starts, so shes been much better with that.

All Out Marilyn, a daughter of Mister Bianco bred by Peter Albrecht of Atwood, Ont., will be driven by Anthony Haughan. She was a Grassroots winner last year as a two-year-old in her second career start on July 17, beating out other horses shell face on Sunday, including Rhythm Of Life and Abikadabra.

The 8-5 morning line favourite is Matt Bax trainee Birthday Money, a Resolve filly who is currently tied for second in the Grassroots standings for three-year-old trotting fillies coming off a win in the June 20 second leg at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

The field includes 5-1 value play Mass Money, whose reinsman, Travis Henry, will also be driving Go Have Fun in the second division -- both trained by Mark Etsell.

Go Have Fun is owned by Etsell Newton of Rockwood, Ont., Graham Hopkins of Chesley, Ont., Peter Porter of Port Dover, Ont., and Lindsey Turner of Georgetown, Ont., and was bred by Christopher Coyle of Wingate, North Carolina.

Sunday will mark the first time Henry will drive Go Have Fun, who has performed well so far this year, racking up a first, a second and two third-place finishes over seven starts, including a pair of thirds in the Grassroots.

Despite not being familiar with the Kadabra filly, Henry isnt too worried, knowing hell get the information he needs.

Mark [Etsell] usually has driven [the horses he trains] and sat behind them enough that he usually tells me what theyre like, said Henry.

Mass Cara, headlines the second division as the 8-5 morning line favourite with Trevor Henry driving the Muscle Mass filly for trainer Kyle Bossence. Like Birthday Money, Mass Cara is tied for second in the Grassroots standings for three-year-old trotting fillies with 75 points.

Travis Henry will be driving one of two Tony Beaton trainees, Halva Hanover, while Haughan will be sitting behind the other, Pasta Delight, in the Kin Pace for Ontario-sired three-year-old pacing fillies. The 6-5 morning line favourite in Sunday's featured finale is the All Bets Off filly, How Much, from the inside post with Doug McNair driving the 1:55 elimination winner for the David Menary stable.

The Kin Pace pays homage to the early days of Clinton Raceway when the Kinsmen and Kinette Club introduced pari-mutuel wagering to the grassroots track in 1970.

As part of the 50th Anniversary celebration, fans coming out to enjoy the races will also be able to win prizes via giveaways, there will be activity books for the young ones and all ages can take in a timeline illustrating the 50-year history of the OSS.

In advance of Mondays celebration, noted Canadian harness racing writer and historian Robert Smith wrote a brief history of Clinton Raceway, which can be read by clicking here.

The memories [of the OSS] I would say would be that Ive won a few [OSS races], but its going back to when I was watching my uncles and my grandfather win them, said Travis Henry. I remember running to the winners circle when there was the Trillium Series and all of that, so its been a big part of my summer because I used to travel around with them in the summer.

Post time for the first race on Sunday at Clinton Raceway is 1:30 p.m. Click here for a free program from Clinton Raceway. Fans unable to attend in person can visit the track's website for streaming information and make wagers via HPIBet.

To view Sunday's harness racing entries, click the following link: Sunday Entries - Clinton Raceway.

(With files from OSS)
Gov. Greg Abbott, seen here in May addressing a National Rifle Association meeting in Dallas, is on a trip to three Asian countries aimed at increasing trade with Texas. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images South Korea-based Samsung already has a significant and growing presence in Austin and is set to begin operations next year at a new chipmaking plant in Taylor. Ricardo B. Brazziell/TNS

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was arriving in Taiwan Saturday  late Friday Texas time  to begin a weeklong trip to three East Asian countries to promote the Lone Star State as the ideal place to do business.

Accompanied by First Lady Cecilia Abbott, Secretary of State Jane Nelson and a delegation of business leaders, Abbott will visit Taiwan, South Korea and Japan to meet political and business leaders from a part of the world that has become increasingly important to the state economy.

The three East Asian nations are among Texas top 10 economic partners, accounting for a combined $84.5 billion in trade last year.

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Its essential to develop relationships in Korea, Japan and Taiwan, said Plano Mayor John Muns, who is not part of Abbotts trip but has visited the three countries on behalf of his city, which has thriving Asian communities. They need to have a level of trust in who they are working with. Once they feel comfortable that the relationship is just as important to you as it is for them, then they are ready to talk business.

Ron Kirk, a former U.S. trade representative under President Barack Obama and a former Dallas mayor, said the Abbott trip is important because foreign investment, particularly by companies moving to Texas, brings jobs.

Delegation includes San Antonio, San Marcos Heres a look at the delegation participating in the economic development trip, according to Gov. Abbotts office: City of Amarillo Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Kevin Carter

The Borderplex Alliance Executive Vice President Marcos Delgado

Brazos Valley Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Susan Davenport

Calpine CEO Thad Hill

CenterPoint Energy Executive Vice President, Regulatory Services & Government Affairs Jason Ryan

City of Dallas Office of Economic Development Assistant Director for Business & Community Development, Heather Lepeska

City of Dallas Economic Development Corp. President John Stephens

Dallas Regional Chamber Senior Vice President of Economic Development Mike Rosa

Development Corp. of Abilene President and CEO Misty Mayo

Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership Executive Vice President Jessica Heer

Frisco Economic Development Corp. Vice President Gloria Salinas

Greater Houston Partnership Senior Vice President for Economic Development Craig Rhodes

Greater San Marcos Partnership President and CEO Mike Kamerlander

greater:SATX President and CEO Jenna Saucedo-Herrera

Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President for Economic Development Kris Collins

Houston Airport System Deputy Director of Global Industry and Government Affairs Saba Abashaw

Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce Vice President of International Affairs Joe Chapa

Kilgore Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Lisa Denton

McKinney Economic Development Corp. President & CEO Michael Kowski

Opportunity Austin CEO Ed Latson

Ryan, LLC Principal-Credit Incentives Maher Maso

City of Temple Economic Development Corp. President and CEO Adrian Cannady

City of Victoria Economic Development Corp. President Jonas Titus

No state benefits more from our global economic engagement than the state of Texas. Its huge for us, Kirk said.

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With Texas facing competition from states on both coasts, he added, you have to be out telling the story.

The good thing is, we have a good story to tell, he said.

With rich economic opportunities at stake, Kirk said hed like to see Texas leaders refrain from anti-immigrant rhetoric related to the border security debate.

Texas has to guard against the anti-immigrant rhetoric, the talk about putting walls up, because it doesnt match what the governor is trying to sell, Kirk said. With the anti-immigrant rhetoric and then his message welcoming people to the state for business, hes got a little bit of a needle to thread.

Abbott, whos also represented the state on trips to India, has made fostering trade relations with Asia one of his priorities. The East Asia trip is sponsored by the states Economic Development & Tourism Office and the Texas Economic Development Corp., which is described as a nonprofit organization responsible for marketing and promoting Texas.

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According to Abbotts office, Texas lawmakers on the trip include state Reps. Angie Chen Button, R-Garland; Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake; and Jacey Jetton, R-Richmond. Also joining Abbott are Sens. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound; and Carol Alvarado, D-Houston.

The governors visit to East Asia comes as tensions have risen between America and two regional powers  China and North Korea. His trip doesnt include China, though some Chinese Americans in Texas say it would make sense to develop a relationship with the economic powerhouse.

Semiconductors

Abbott has a full schedule.

Hell start his trip on Sunday in Taipei, where hell join officials in opening a Texas-Taiwan office designed to bolster business relationships. During the stop Abbott is scheduled to meet with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.

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The nation, critical to the worlds economy, is Texas seventh-largest trade partner, totaling $21.3 billion in 2023.

Taiwan is the worlds largest producer of semiconductors, providing more than 90% of advanced chips used in cell phones, aircraft, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence.

Opening that office will be very important, said Dr. Charles Ku, a retired dentist from Flower Mound who moved to Texas from Taiwan in 1967 to attend Baylor University. We will have quite a few more companies move to North Texas, and then youll benefit with job creation.

Texas businesses and Taiwan-based companies in Texas are taking advantage of the demand to produce semiconductors.

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GlobiTech, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based GlobalWafer Co., is building a $5 billion silicon wafer plant in Sherman that is expected to create at least 1,500 new jobs. As an incentive to build, Texas provided a $15 million cash grant from its enterprise fund.

Dallas-based Texas Instruments is also investing in Sherman, spending up to $30 billion to build as many as four new semiconductor fabrication plants in the city north of Dallas.

Other Taiwanese businesses are headed to North Texas, including Sysgration America Corp., an electronics manufacturer that plans to move into a 98,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Plano.

According to Abbotts office, Taiwan in 2022 led all nations in foreign direct investment in Texas with more than $5 billion. Over the past 10 years, Taiwanese companies have created more than 2,200 jobs in Texas.

All the big companies have to buy chips from Taiwan, so the AI industry there is booming, Ku said. Its important that Abbott make the trip and continue to develop relationships.

Abbotts visit comes as tensions continue between China and Taiwan.

Taiwan has been independently governed since 1949, but China views the island as part of its territory and hasnt ruled out the use of force to unify the nations.

We are all concerned about the situation in China and Taiwan, Ku said. We have relatives living in Taiwan, and we are concerned. The only way to deal with it is to just make friends.

South Korea, Japan

Abbott will also seek to strengthen ties with South Korea, the second nation on his travel schedule, where he and the delegation will meet with business leaders and tour Samsung facilities.

According to his office, over the past decade companies from South Korea have invested $20.6 billion in 38 projects in Texas, creating more than 7,000 jobs. Last year, Texas trade with South Korea totaled $32 billion.

According to the Dallas Regional Chamber, top companies with South Korean parent companies include Samsung Electronics America, Nautilus Hyosung America, LG Electronics and Harman International Industries.

Texas is a very business friendly state, said John Lee, former chairman of the Greater Dallas Korean American Chamber of Commerce.

Lee said Texas could build on its success in luring South Korean companies to the state.

You see Kia, Honda and all of these guys in Georgia and Alabama, he said. At some point it would be nice to see if we can get another tier of Korean companies to come to Dallas.

Abbott will end his trip in Japan, where hell make stops in Nagoya and Tokyo, board a bullet train and meet with business and political leaders.

According to Abbotts office, Japan leads all nations in the number of Texas jobs created by foreign direct investment projects over the last decade. During that time, companies from Japan have invested $10.87 billion in 129 projects, creating more than 20,000 Texas jobs.

Trade with Japan totaled $31.2 billion last year, making Japan the fifth-largest total trade partner with Texas.

Japans greatest influence on the Texas economy is in Plano, where more than 4,000 people work at Toyotas American headquarters.

According to the Dallas Regional Chamber, other top North Texas companies from Japan include 7-Eleven, Fujitsu Network Communications, Nissan and NTT Data Inc.

Sam Shichijo, honorary consul of Japan in Dallas, said 290 Japanese companies operate in North Texas.

Texas does a lot of business with Japan, he said. Thats why that relationship is so important.

Shichijo said about 4,700 Japanese nationals live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a number that has risen about 6% annually over the past 10 years.

The Japanese population is certainly growing in North Texas, he said.

Abbott, who returns to Texas on July 13, is not visiting China. Some Chinese immigrants say he should.

Jarlin Jia, a leader in the North Texas Chinese community, said that in 2023 Texas exported $25.7 billion in goods to China, up from $21.8 billion in 2022. That made Texas the state with the highest value of trade goods exported to China, she said.

But the relationship between Texas and China has had friction. Last year, the Texas Legislature debated several bills seeking to bancitizens and businesses from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, or the governments, from buying property in Texas  with limited exceptions, for instance for people with dual U.S. citizenship.
The Ontario Sires Stakes season for two-year-old male pacers kicked off on Friday evening, July 5 at Woodbine Mohawk Park with Century Lucifer and Stonebridge Wizard (pictured above) winning a pair of $95,000 divisions.

With Paul MacDonell catch-driving, the favoured Rene Dion trainee Century Lucifer scored an impressive maiden-breaking victory in his second career start after being used twice in the mile and holding off the-late closing Set Shot (Sylvain Filion) by a neck in 1:54 flat over the 'good' track. Time Passer (Louis-Philippe Roy) edged out Bunkhouse Boss (Trevor Henry) to show.

Leaving from post five, MacDonell sent the fired up Century Lucifer to the lead, clearing to command at the quarter pole in :27.1. Time Passer was hot on his heels and took over down the backstretch, but MacDonell moved the favoured colt back out for the retake and swept to the top as they passed the half in :56.2. Heading to three-quarters in 1:25.3, Bunkhouse Boss came to play but Century Lucifer shook off that challenger as they entered the stretch and then held off Set Shot as that rival rallied off cover to make it a close call.

"He responded nice [in the stretch]," commented MacDonell after the victory. "I think he's got that racehorse instinct, so that's going to take him a long way in the future."

The Shadow Play-Exotic Pleasure colt was bred by Century Spring Farms of Gorrie, Ont. He was purchased for $25,000 from last year's London Classic Yearling Sale by S&r Racing Stable Inc. of Acton, Ont., Marc Trudeau of St Sauveur, Que., Sms Ventures Inc. of Montreal, Que., and M And L Of Delaware Llc of Wilmington, Delaware.

Century Lucifer paid $3.90 to win as the 4-5 favourite.

Doug McNair conjured up a winning trip in the second division, sending the Jared Bako-trained Stonebridge Wizard rolling from mid-pack after hot opening fractions and kicking home in :28.1 for the 1:52 triumph over the 'good' track. Sterling Choice (Sylvain Filion) finished 1-1/2 lengths behind in second and Fifth And Five (Jody Jamieson) was third with Allstar Maniac (Louis-Philippe Roy) holding on for fourth over Scratchin An Itch (Jason Ryan).

Sterling Choice, Fifth And Five and Allstar Maniac duked it out early with the 7-5 favourite Allstar Manic landing on top at the :26.2 quarter mark then fronting the field to the half in :55. McNair had Stonebridge Wizard settled in fourth behind the early speed and started to advance mid-way through the final turn, forging three-wide when Sterling Choice popped the pocket in front of him at three-quarters in 1:23.2. McNair tucked Stonebridge Wizard behind cover briefly at the head of the lane then rallied by late to score, giving sire Dancin Lou his first winner.

"There was a little bit of a speed battle on the first turn and mine just kind of relaxed real nice," said McNair afterwards. "Going to the half, he didn't feel like he was going much, he kind of run up on the back of Jody and the half flipped up in :55, so that's a good feeling when they don't feel like they're going much but they really are, so he had a pretty good shot from there."

Stonebridge Wizard is now a perfect two-for-two to launch his career, getting his first stakes win after a maiden-breaking 1:54.1 effort a week ago at Mohawk.

Bred by Angie Stiller of London, Ont., the Dancin Lou-Odds On Magic gelding was a $32,000 yearling purchase from the London Classic Sale for owner David Kryway of Amherstburg, Ont.

Sent postward as the 2-1 second choice, Stonebridge Wizard paid $6.60 to win.

The Ontario Sires Stakes two-year-old pacing colts and geldings will meet again in the second Gold Series leg on on July 15 at Mohawk.

To view Friday's harness racing results, click the following link: Friday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.

(Standardbred Canada)
On Friday, July 5, the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals again ruled that the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) is unconstitutional, dealing yet another blow to the controversial piece of legislation. This new ruling follows a Fifth Circuit decision in November 2022 that also found HISA unconstitutional.

The United States Trotting Association (USTA) has been working closely with others in the industry and with Rep. Clay Higgins (LA-03) to introduce the Racehorse Health and Safety Act (RHSA). RHSA will establish an interstate compact to develop scientific medication control rules and racetrack safety rules, allowing only participating states to export simulcast signals for interstate, offsite betting.

Congressman Higgins stated, This is a victory for horses, horsemen and for state sovereignty. Constitutional rights are worth fighting for. My RHSA legislation is far superior in every way to the current law. With the help of American horsemen, who are actually devoted to the industry and the beautiful horses we love, I will lead the Congressional mission to repeal the unconstitutional law that is currently crippling the horse industry. HISA is going down, and RHSA is standing up.

HISA is broken, and all who care about the health and safety of our racing equines should pivot to the RHSA, said Russell Williams, president of the USTA. After todays ruling, it is beyond dispute that Congress should pass the Racehorse Health and Safety Act to replace HISA. The RHSA will be based on sound veterinary science rather than optics.

The RHSA will focus on whats best for the health of the racehorse, continued Williams. It was developed in cooperation with racehorse veterinarians and requires that all rules be based on generally accepted scientific principles. Its time to adopt sensible government regulation that does not trample the constitutional rights of horsemen or create any crippling financial burden on the horseracing industry.

The USTA is a 19,000-member, non-profit association of Standardbred horse owners, breeders, drivers, trainers and officials headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. It was founded in 1939 and promulgates the rules of harness racing, licenses persons involved in harness racing and insists upon the humane treatment and wellbeing of Standardbred horses. Before state racing commissions began to regulate harness racing in the 1960s, the USTA was the sole regulatory body for harness racing. Standardbred horses, drivers and trainers must be registered with the USTA to be eligible to race in North America.

(USTA)
With a name like House Edge Hanover, it stands to reason that a horse with such a moniker has a fondness for winning.

So far, so good.

A three-year-old gelding by Betting Line out of the Dragon Again mare Hug A Dragoness, House Edge Hanover has started his career strongly and almost perfectly. He's now won five of his six career starts -- and both of his sophomore appearances -- after winning the fastest division in the first leg of the New Brunswick Breeders Stakes on Saturday, July 5 at Connell Park Raceway in Woodstock, N.B.

There were two $8,000 divisions for three-year-old pacing colts & geldings, with House Edge Hanover and The Wicked One prevailing.

Mark Haig had 1-9 shot House Edge Hanover sitting in the pocket behind early leader St Barts (Colin Decourcey) through a :30.1 opening quarter. Haig asked House Edge Hanover to edge out around the three-eighths mark, but the gelding got a bit steppy forcing Haig to take grips and collect his pacer. Straightening out approaching the half, Haig had 'House Edge' back out to challenge and clear through a 1:00.1 half.

Joes Dream Watching (Darren Crowe) pressed the favourite through that third quarter but House Edge Hanover still had lots left heading down the backside. After a 1:29.2 third station, House Edge Hanover increased his lead with every stride. A four-length advantage at the third quarter stretched to seven at the wire, with the mile timed in 1:59.1. Joes Dream Walking was best of the rest with Oligarchy (Stephen Trites) rounding out the top trio.

Everette Hanson of Maugerville, N.B. owns and Ron Matheson trains House Edge Hanover, now a career winner of $9,687. He paid $2.10 to win.

The Wicked One ($9.70) earned a new lifetime mark for his connections after a wire-to-wire win in the second division. Clearing to the front from post two for driver Pascal Berube, The Wicked One made every call a winning one en route to the 2:01 decision. Favoured Resuscitate (Todd Trites) couldn't haul down the leader and settled for second with Majestic Mason (Haig) saving show.

Trainer Charles Gaudreault co-owns The Wicked One (McWicked - Pangoon) with Daniel Gaudreault of Mont-Joli and Maxim Gaudreault of St-Joseph-De-Lepage, Que. The gelding is now a four-time winner with just shy of $11,000 in the bank.

Littlestitious (Todd Trites) and Wickham (Berube) traded blows down the backside and through three-quarters when things got serious in the $15,000 division for three-year-old pacing fillies, but the 4-5 choice Littlestitious was a little bit better on this occason and pulled away for the 2:01 victory. Heart Like A Truck (Decourcey) challenged late, but too late, to muster a runner-up finish with Wickham next best in third.

Winless in 14 starts as a rookie, the Jennifer Ritchie-owned and Wayne Watson-trained Littlestitious ($3.70) has found Canada's east coast to her liking. Her summary after five starts stands at 3-0-1 since racing in Atlantic Canada, and the 2:01 mile time gave the Bettors Delight - Palm Patrol filly a new speed badge to accompany her $18,008 in earnings.

To view the results from the Saturday afternoon card of harness racing at Connell Park, click the following link: Saturday Results - Woodstock Raceway NB.

(Standardbred Canada)
The City of Scottsbluff will be looking to the future, quite literally, as it begins the process for reviewing and updating its comprehensive plan.

Its been about a decade since the city last updated its plan, with that process beginning in 2014 and finalized in 2016. The comprehensive plan provides basic guidelines and policies for land use and development within the community to public officials and developers within the city of Scottsbluff. The comprehensive plan includes zoning guidelines, information regarding utilities and resources within the community.

From the city standpoint, the comprehensive plan is a very important document that gives us guidance and direction for just about everything we do, Scottsbluff City Manager Kevin Spencer said. Theras a few things about this comp plan that are very important to us, one of those things being that were very determined to implement this plan. The last thing that I want to have happen is the plan sits on somebodys shelf and is not utilized.

The council has hired Marvin Planning Consultants, a David City, Nebraska, community planning firm, to work with city officials in developing the plan. In materials submitted as part of a response to a request for proposals, the company laid out that it has worked with communities in 14 states, including Nebraska and Iowa. Some of the communities cited as clients in recent years include working with the North Platte and Lincoln County on a housing needs assessment, Grand Island for development and implementation of a downtown revitalization plan and the City of Kimball on a housing study and comprehensive plan.

According to the plan set out by the consultant company, the process will include meeting with staff and a steering committee to put the process into motion. Spencer said he is aiming to have a diverse group of people who represent the different areas of the community involved, drawing from existing boards and committees, city department heads and other community officials and influencers involved in the steering committee.

Though the plan is based on some projections about how city officials and partners expect the city to grow, the comprehensive plan should be a document that can be adapted based on the communitys actual needs, Spencer said. One change that will be made during the planning process includes segmentation of different areas of the plan so that regular updates can be made to the plan as needed  housing, economic development, transportation, parks and recreation and even public safety and public health are among the areas that will be evaluated and incorporated in the comprehensive plan.

Were determined to make sure that its compartmentalized so each section can be pulled and updated as needed, he said, saying he expects the new comprehensive plan to be more robust than the citys current plan.

Community engagement is also a key part of the formulation of the plan, Spencer said. The process will include participation from the public, which will include a kickoff meeting as the process is outlined to the community. The kickoff meeting will be held July 16, 4 to 6 p.m. at the Midwest Theater.

Its important to this process that we have the attention of the community and get them excited about this project, he said. This is a great opportunity for them to contribute to this plan and to be heard.

Spencer said he anticipates other town hall type meetings in which people can come and look at different discussion points and offer their feedback. An effort to have Spanish interpreters available at the meetings is also being made to allow all in the community to offer feedback.

Other community engagement opportunities set out in the plan includes reaching out to the Scottsbluff School District, ESU 13, Western Nebraska Community College, UNL-Extension and other education entities. Major employers identified, such as Regional West Medical Center and others, are also incorporated into the process. A focus group meeting using community youth is also incorporated into the community engagement portion, according to the materials.

The plan calls for at least two public open houses to present alternative use plans and receive feedback on the desirable options.

The public is encouraged to watch for additional updates on the plan, with a website, social media and other methods planned to keep the public informed. People can watch the Citys website, scottsbluff.org, for details as announcements are made.
People wait in line to enter the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans in this 2019 photo. This term, the 5th Circuit, which hears appeals from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, had three rulings upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, and eight overturned, more than any other court. Gerald Herbert/Associated Press

If the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a boxer, youd bet on the other guy.

The 5th Circuit, which hears appeals from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, had three rulings upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, and eight overturned, more than any other court this term. The conservative circuit court saw its rulings on abortion medication, gun control, administrative power and social media moderation all rejected by the Supreme Court.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh cautioned that the 5th Circuit was taking the judiciary down an uncharted path. Chief Justice John Roberts said they were slaying a straw man. Justice Clarence Thomas, the most conservative member of the court, authored two opinions rejecting the 5th Circuits interpretation of the law.

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The New Orleans-based 5th Circuit leaned to the right even before President Donald Trump appointed six judges to the bench. The new judges, many of whom trained in Texas conservative legal circles, have attracted a slew of ideologically aligned cases.

One of the most conservative Supreme Courts weve ever had is still repudiating right-leaning decisions from the most conservative appeals courts in the country, said Steve Vladeck, a law professor at Georgetown University. But even then, its doing so in cases that should never have gotten to the Supreme Court in the first place.

Just because these rulings ultimately got knocked down at the Supreme Court doesnt mean the 5th Circuit is toothless, Vladeck said.

These rulings have the effect of taking legal theories that were off the wall, and putting them on the wall, he said. Even when theyre losing, the effect is to make these cases of national import and give credibility to those arguments.

The Texas two-step

The story of how the 5th Circuit comes to rule on so many conservative cases starts far away from the John Minor Wisdom federal courthouse in New Orleans. It starts in a handful of district courts in remote parts of the three-state region, where, due to geography and population distribution, only one federal judge hears all or nearly all of the cases.

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In Amarillo, its U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk. In Lubbock, Judge Wesley Hendrix. In Victoria, Judge Drew Tipton. These judges share something beyond professional isolation  they were all appointed by Trump based on their conservative legal bona fides.

When a group of anti-abortion doctors wanted to revoke the Food and Drug Administrations approval of mifepristone, a common abortion-inducing drug, they filed the case in Amarillo.

Kacsmaryks ruling, in which he referred to doctors as abortionists and the process of a medication abortion as starv(ing) the unborn human until death, was unprecedented in revoking a medications long-standing FDA approval. Kacsmaryk overruled the governments argument that the doctors who brought the lawsuit did not have the legal right to sue, known as standing.

The associations members have standing because they allege adverse events from chemical abortion drugs can overwhelm the medical system and place enormous pressure and stress on doctors during emergencies and complications, Kacsmaryk wrote.

This ruling would have resulted in mifepristone being removed from the market, throwing abortion and miscarriage care into chaos nationwide. But the U.S. Supreme Court intervened, ruling that the medication could remain on the market while the case moved through the system.

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The case then went to the 5th Circuit. The three-judge panel, two Trump appointees and one President George W. Bush appointee, agreed that the plaintiffs did have standing to sue. The appeals court ruling would have allowed mifepristone to remain on the market with significant restrictions.

In its first abortion ruling after overturning Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the 5th Circuits ruling and found the doctors who sued did not have standing. Justice Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, quoted conservative legal icon Justice Antonin Scalia in authoring the opinion.

As Justice Scalia memorably said, (standing) requires a plaintiff to first answer a basic question: Whats it to you?   Kavanaugh wrote. For a plaintiff to get in the federal courthouse door and obtain a judicial determination of what the governing law is, the plaintiff cannot be a mere bystander, but instead must have a personal stake in the dispute.

The 5th Circuit was advancing an unprecedented and limitless approach to standing, Kavanaugh wrote, which would seemingly not end until virtually every citizen had standing to challenge virtually every government action that they do not like.

Citizens and doctors who object to what the law allows others to do may always take their concerns to the Executive and Legislative Branches and seek greater regulatory or legislative restrictions on certain activities, Kavanaugh wrote.

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Justice Amy Coney Barrett, another Trump appointee, similarly chided the 5th Circuit for its interpretation of standing on a Louisiana case, Murthy v. Missouri. In that case, the attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri and five individuals accused the Biden administration of pressuring social media companies to censor information during COVID. They filed the lawsuit in Monroe, La., a city of 47,000 people, where Trump-appointed Judge Terry Doughty hears most cases.

Doughty ruled that the plaintiffs had standing, and the 5th Circuit agreed. Barrett, on behalf of the Supreme Court, did not.

This theory is startlingly broad, as it would grant all social-media users the right to sue over someone elses censorship  at least so long as they claim an interest in that persons speech, Barrett wrote. This Court has never accepted such a boundless theory of standing.

These are lawsuits that should never have been lawsuits, Vladeck said. By holding that these plaintiffs do have standing, the 5th Circuit is allowing the federal courts to decide cases they have no business deciding.

Its not just standing. In a case concerning whether domestic abusers can be barred from possessing guns, Chief Justice John Roberts overturned the 5th Circuit and noted that some courts have misunderstood the methodology of our recent Second Amendment cases.

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Thomas overturned a 5th Circuit ruling that found the funding structure of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was unconstitutional. And on the last day of the term, the Supreme Court ruled that the 5th Circuit had failed to adequately assess whether a new Texas social media law was constitutional.

Josh Blackman, a professor at South Texas College of Law, said these rulings reflect the simple fact that the 5th Circuit is to the right of the Supreme Court.

Every judge takes an oath to the Constitution, and I think the judges in the 5th Circuit, and really all the courts, have very strong views on what the Constitution means, Blackman said. The Supreme Court disagrees on that. Thats their call.

The Supreme Court did allow the 5th Circuits rulings to stand in three cases this term, including the overturn of a Trump-era rule that banned bump stocks under the federal machine gun ban. The Supreme Courts conservative majority also upheld the 5th Circuits ruling in a case involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

What does it mean?

By staking out such conservative positions, even ones that get overturned in the end, the 5th Circuit has shifted the nations jurisprudence to the right.

Litigants deliberately steer lawsuits that could have been brought anywhere into single judge divisions in the 5th Circuit, Vladeck said. They get favorable lower court rulings that make for great press. They get fairly favorable 5th Circuit rulings. Maybe they lose in the Supreme Court, but look at how much theyve done, look at how much theyve accomplished by that point.

One side effect of this cat-and-mouse game, Vladeck said, is the Supreme Court gaining a reputation as a profoundly centrist institution because it blocks the 5th Circuits most extreme rulings.

This repeated repudiation from the Supreme Court is unlikely to affect how the 5th Circuit rules going forward.

The judges of the 5th Circuit dont work for the Supreme Court anymore than I work for you, Blackman said. Its a myth that the 5th Circuit will say, Oh man, I got reversed. Maybe I should rule differently next time. 

The job of an appellate judge is not to try to guess what opinions would be upheld by the Supreme Court, Blackman said. But the string of legal losses may still have an effect on how this legal strategy plays out going forward.

Its not surprising that conservative litigants are getting more aggressive because you have a conservative Supreme Court, said Blackman But three years in, there have been a lot of cases that just did not yield success. Do they reevaluate and reassess? Or do they keep bringing these cases even when the Supreme Court keeps saying, Go away. Go away. Go, we dont want these cases. 

Despite taking a tone in recent rulings, the Supreme Court has not taken steps to more formally express its displeasure with the 5th Circuit.

Theres a sizable cohort of judges on the 5th Circuit whose basic attitude is, you know, damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead,  Vladeck said. In prior eras, that kind of behavior from a lower court would have elicited not just reversals from the Supreme Court, but a pretty stern lecture, and we havent had that yet.

It may be that, in some cases, conservative justices appreciate the chance to engage on legal issues that otherwise wouldnt come before the court. When the Supreme Court heard the mifepristone case, for example, justices Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito both raised the specter of the Comstock Act. These 19th century anti-obscenity laws have been essentially defunct for more than 100 years, but conservative lawyers have been trying to revive them to further restrict access to abortion.

Neither the original case, nor the eventual ruling from the Supreme Court, hinged on the Comstock Act. But the hearing offered an opportunity to bring the issue onto the most significant legal stage the country has.
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:

Law enforcement was able to disrupt the LockBit gang earlier in 2024 and take over much of its network.

Cybercrime gangs are looking to rebuild with new tactics after global police operations this year made a huge dent in their activities, experts have told AFP.

The gangs have had a bad year so far, with law enforcement operations taking out some of prominent groups including LockBit, a loose network of largely Russian-speaking cyber criminals.

LockBit was one of the major developers of malicious software that allows criminals to lock victims out of their networks, steal their data and demand a ransom for its return.

Ransomware attacks using LockBit and other software have led to major disruption of governments, businesses and public services like hospitals.

Victims have paid hundreds of millions of dollars to gangs, usually in untraceable cryptocurrencies.

The disruption of LockBit in February and another network of malicious bots in May led to a "cleaning up" of the ransomware scene, said Nicolas Raiga-Clemenceau of the XMCO consultancy in France.

But he said "a number of new groups" had since appeared and started to organize themselves.

Allan Liska of US cybersecurity firm Recorded Future agreed and said there were worrying trends emerging with some of the new groups.

'Violence as service'

Some of the newer gangs appeared to be considering threats of physical violence rather than just online intimidation, he said.

Liska pointed out that gangs would already have stolen a bunch of personal information, like the addresses of senior executives.

"And so if you're not getting anywhere in your negotiations, that's something you can threaten," he said.

"We're going to do something in the real world to hurt you or hurt your family."

New cybercrime crime gangs are looking to extort money from companies and individuals.

He called this "violence as a service".

Liska and other experts are still assessing the new landscape, saying a bunch of new groups had emerged.

"There's about a dozen of them that have popped up since the LockBit takedown, which is a higher number than we've ever seen in that short period of time," he said.

They had all launched extortion websites that showed lists of victims, but it was unclear how effective the new groups would be, he added.

'Bounce back'

LockBit's operations were taken down by law enforcement in February.

The gang had targeted over 2,000 victims and received more than $120 million in ransom payments since it formed four years ago, according to US authorities.

Those targeted have included Britain's Royal Mail postal service, US aircraft manufacturer Boeing and a Canadian children's hospital.

The US authorities said hundreds of encryption keys had been recovered and given to victims, and the network's services had effectively been taken over.

But the software is still out there.

A gang attacked a government data center in Indonesia last month using LockBit, asking for $8 million in ransom.

And experts interviewed by AFP agreed that ransomware attacks were likely to rebound quickly -- possibly in the next few months.

"It's going to bounce back," said Liska.

"Right now there's just so much money in ransomware that people don't want to stop."

 2024 AFP
Liz Teitz covers environmental news and the Hill Country for the San Antonio Express-News. She writes about the San Antonio Water System, news in New Braunfels and Comal County and water issues around Central Texas. She can be reached at liz.teitz@express-news.net.

Liz joined the Express-News in June 2023. She has been a reporter for eight years, covering housing, government, education and other topics for the Ouray County Plaindealer, Hearst Connecticut Media Group and the Beaumont Enterprise. Liz grew up in Rhode Island and graduated from Georgetown University.
Xi urges all-out rescue, relief work after dike breach in central China

Xinhua) 09:24, July 06, 2024

BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged all-out rescue and relief work to safeguard people's lives and property after a dike breach in Dongting Lake in central China's Hunan Province which occurred Friday afternoon.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks in an instruction.

On Friday afternoon, a dike of the Dongting Lake burst in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Hunan's Yueyang City, causing flooding in the area. All the local people affected have been safely evacuated.

Xi, who is on a foreign visit, stressed that people in threatened areas should be evacuated in a timely manner and properly resettled, adding that all-out rescue work should be carried out to protect the safety of people's lives and property. He asked the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters to dispatch a team to strengthen guidance.

Xi emphasized that since China entered the main flood season, some areas in the country have experienced heavy rainfall for a prolonged duration, leading to a severe flood control situation. The prolonged water erosion of embankments may result in dangerous situations, posing significant risks and hidden dangers.

Relevant local Party committees, governments and departments should take prompt action and mobilize forces to carry out flood prevention, disaster relief and emergency rescue work. They should strengthen inspections of embankments and promptly identify and address any potential risks to ensure safety, Xi said.

Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and premier of the State Council, ordered that all efforts should be made to deal with the emergency, control the development of the situation, properly accommodate the affected people and strengthen the patrol of reservoirs and embankments.

Li urged the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters to strengthen early warning and consultation, as well as guidance for and supervision over all localities and departments in flood control and disaster relief work.

According to the instructions of Xi and the request of Li, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Emergency Management have sent working groups to the scene. Party and government officials of Hunan Province and Yueyang City are at the site to direct emergency response.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Pete Gallego, former president of Sul Ross State University and a longtime state lawmaker, has resigned as Bexar County District Attorney Joe D. Gonzales government relations adviser and communications director.

Pete Gallego, the former West Texas lawmaker and two-time high-profile hire of Bexar County District Attorney Joe D. Gonzales, has resigned his position as communications director, effective July 16.

This is the second time that Gallego has worked for Gonzales. He joined the office after Gonzales was first elected in 2018 and left a year later. Gallego returned shortly after Gonzales reelection in 2022 to be government relations adviser and director of communications.

In both administrations he had committed to work for a year to help with transitions, Gallego, 62, wrote in a June 14 resignation letter.

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Interviewed this week, he said he has no idea what hell do next but is looking forward to it.

Ive never been good at planning my life. Ive gone where life has taken me, and with faith, I know it will all work out, Gallego said.

He grew up in Alpine and was elected to the Texas House in 1990, serving there for more than two decades. A Democrat, he represented the sprawling 23rd Congressional District in the U.S. House but lost a reelection bid to Republican Will Hurd in 2014.

Gallego said he and Maria Elena, his wife of 34 years, will spend time this summer with their son, Nicolas, a University of Texas at Austin undergrad.

His career kept him away from home while his son was growing up and the goal is to spend next month hanging out while he still wants to hang out, he said.

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I didnt go to a lot of his stuff, Gallego said. If he didnt get in the car with me and visit three counties, we wouldnt see each other.

Gallego was hired partly to be a liaison with the Legislature, though both he and Gonzales said it was not in response to ongoing efforts by Republican lawmakers to limit the ability of progressive-minded DAs to make reforms or define their prosecution priorities.

In a statement announcing the resignation, Gonzales said he was grateful for the time and energy Gallego devoted to the office.

Petes hard work and commitment have been invaluable to our office over the past year, he said, with efforts to enhance its communication and engagement with the community that have helped foster a greater sense of trust and transparency with the citizens of Bexar County.

Gallego has a law degree from UT-Austin and was an assistant state attorney general from 1986 to 1989, then had a brief private law practice before becoming a state representative. He served for two years as president of Sul Ross State University in Alpine, his alma mater, but left in June 2021.

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Asked if he would take another shot at politics, Gallego quickly said no. The days when Republican and Democratic lawmakers could debate legislation but have a beer together the same evening are now gone, he lamented.

When I started in politics, it was about doing the right thing, he said. Its not about doing the right thing (anymore). Its about winning.

Whatever he does next, Gallego said, hell be ready.

Im sure there will be something else, he said. I have a lot of energy and enthusiasm.

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An XC-99 airplane occupies a berth at Kelly AFB in this photo taken June 19, 1952. Based at Kelly during the 1950s, the huge, experimental cargo plane ferried parts and supplies among air bases. Portal to Texas History

During the 1950s, an aircraft (XC-99) was parked at Kelly AFB. I believe it was the prototype (cargo version) of the Convair B-36 intercontinental nuclear bomber, flown by the Strategic Air Command (SAC) and deployed to Carswell AFB, Fort Worth, the forerunner to the B-52. To my knowledge it was never developed as a cargo carrier. Im curious as to what happened to the old bird.

 Retired Air Force Col. Jay Feibelman

The experimental cargo plane (first covered here Dec. 3, 2006) was one of a kind, made for the military by Consolidated Vultee (later Convair) to be a transport version of the slightly smaller B-36 Peacemaker bomber. The Air Force took delivery May 26, 1949, at the former Carswell AFB near Fort Worth (now Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth), but the huge plane spent most of its working life at the former Kelly AFB (closed in 2001).

The Air Force takes delivery of the XC-99 cargo airplane May 26, 1949, at the former Carswell AFB (now Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth). The plane was a prototype; no others were made. Portal to Texas History

From 1949 to 1957, the XC-99 was the worlds largest operational plane based at what was then the worlds largest air depot. The maintenance department at Kelly was responsible for keeping it airworthy, even building new parts when needed, as the Goliath of the Skies, as it was called, was the only such aircraft ever made.

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S.A. AVIATION HISTORY: Historic wooden structure at Port San Antonio could be early flight control tower for Kelly AFB

A product of the Cold War, it was intended to provide global airlift support, maybe even directly from the United States to Europe if necessary. The propeller-driven, piston-engined plane had a wingspan of 230 feet, was 182 long and stood 57 feet tall, or about the height of a six-story building. It was capable of carrying 400 troops and 100,000 pounds of cargo at a top speed of 300 mph.

With 285 dials to monitor, the XC-99 required a crew of five with an equal number as a backup, because of its long-range capabilities. The plane couldnt be refueled in midair but could fly more than 8,000 miles with a reduced load, according to the website of the National Museum of the United States Air Force, www.nationalmuseum.af.mil.

The crew aboard the XC-99 are shown in this June 27, 1952, photo; the extra-large airplane required a crew of five for its long-haul flights, with a backup crew of equal size. Portal to Texas History

When the XC-99 arrived at Kelly in 1949, it became a local curiosity that drew sightseers to the base for open house tours. It also became a workhorse for the Air Force, ferrying parts and supplies to other bases and was a popular exhibit at air shows all over the country.

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S.A. AVIATION HISTORY: Charles Lindbergh survived San Antonio flight training accident thanks to the new tech of the time

While in use, the aircraft set international records for cargo carrying at various speeds and altitudes. But jet technology pushed the XC-99 into obsolescence, and the Air Force never ordered another. Plans for building a commercial version as a luxury passenger plane also fell by the wayside, as it would have been hard to fill and expensive to operate.

The XC-99 was retired in 1957 and was first ordered scrapped, according to the San Antonio Light, Nov. 4, 1957. City officials and the Chamber of Commerce protested the loss of this special attraction and helped arrange for the aircrafts transfer of ownership to the local Disabled American Veterans, who proposed to turn it into a tourist attraction, to be moved at no cost to the Air Force.

The partially disassembled XC-99 cargo plane sits on the flight line at the Lackland AFB Kelly Annex in this 2004 photo. The unusual plane will be taken in pieces to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force just outside Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. It will be reassembled and put on display with other historic planes. WILLIAM LUTHER/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS The partially disassembled XC-99 cargo plane sits on the flight line at the Lackland AFB Kelly Annex in this 2004 photo. The unusual plane will be taken in pieces to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force just outside Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. It will be reassembled and put on display with other historic planes. WILLIAM LUTHER/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS The partially disassembled XC-99 cargo plane sits on the flight line at the Lackland AFB Kelly Annex in this 2004 photo. The unusual plane will be taken in pieces to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force just outside Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. It will be reassembled and put on display with other historic planes. WILLIAM LUTHER/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS The partially disassembled XC-99 cargo plane sits on the flight line at the Lackland AFB Kelly Annex in this 2004 photo. The unusual plane will be taken in pieces to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force just outside Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. It will be reassembled and put on display with other historic planes. WILLIAM LUTHER/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS The partially disassembled XC-99 cargo plane sits on the flight line at the Lackland AFB Kelly Annex in this 2004 photo. The unusual plane will be taken in pieces to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force just outside Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. It will be reassembled and put on display with other historic planes. WILLIAM LUTHER/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Howard Meek holds a XC-99 cargo plane model he built in this 2004 photo. Meek was a pilot for the one-of-a-kind aircraft during the 1950s. WILLIAM LUTHER/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Howard Meek built the model of the XC-99 cargo plane he flew in the 1950s. Meek was a pilot for the one-of-a-kind plane and is donating the model, shown in this 2004 photo, to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, which also got the real plane from Kelly for static display. The plane was later sent to the Boneyard in Arizona. WILLIAM LUTHER/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Although there was some talk of moving the plane downtown, that proved to be too expensive, and the unwieldy behemoth was relocated off-base, to a field northwest of the main runway. The XC-99 was officially repurposed in 1959 with a champagne reception and speeches from Mayor J. Edwin Kuykendall, Air Force and chamber representatives, says the Light, Feb. 5, 1959.

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S.A. AVIATION HISTORY: Kelly planes crashed 4 months apart

Over the next few decades, the big plane went through some changes in ownership and location until it was acquired by the Air Force museum in the early 2000s. No longer in flying shape, the XC-99 was disassembled and transported in 2007 to Wright-Patterson AFB near Dayton, Ohio, where the museum is located, said Tracy English, Air Force 37th Training Wing historian.

There it was stored for possible reassembly. Big pieces of the aircraft were placed outside, English said, and the variable  wet, harsh  environment found in Ohio has not played well on the Bird.

An undated plan for the XC-99 shows double decks for cargo storage. The one-of-a-kind, long-range aircraft could transport 100,000 pounds of cargo and as many as 400 troops. Portal to Texas History

So it was moved to Arizona, where its in a whole bunch of crates at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, home of the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG), where weather conditions are better for long-term storage of aircraft.

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S.A. AVIATION HISTORY: Air shows keep San Antonio looking up to local military

This facility, which was established after World War II, is informally known as the Boneyard. Thanks to the areas low humidity and alkaline soil  the latter is hard caliche that makes it possible to park even the heaviest aircraft on the desert floor without constructing concrete parking ramps  AMARG is able to store nearly 3,200 aircraft and more than 6,300 engines from military and other federal services, according to the bases website at www.dm.af.mil.

Over the years, Kelly mechanics swapped some of the XC-99s parts with similar B-36 ones; others were retooled or handcrafted. So whats left of it isnt exactly the plane that arrived here in 1949  but its still a piece of history.
The Nebraska Rural Electric Association has announced the addition of Southern Public Power District in Grand Island as its newest member.

Southern Public Power District serves approximately 27,717 retail electric customers in Hall, Merrick, Hamilton, Phelps, Kearney, Adams and Franklin counties in Nebraska. Southern Public Power District operates about 7,098 miles of electric lines and has 95 employees. General Manager Chad Waldow said Southern Public Power District looks forward to working with the Nebraska statewide organization and its members.

After careful consideration by the Board of Directors, management and staff, Southern Public Power District is very excited to become part of the statewide organization, Waldow said. The benefits Southern will gain through the safety program, continuing education for our employees, and the networking opportunities will be invaluable.

Waldow stated it has never been more important to have a central location that professionals involved in electric generation, transmission, and distribution can go to and discuss issues, share ideas and develop solutions.

This industry is faced with many challenges, and we look forward to working through these challenges with the unified members of the NREA, he said.

Headquartered in Lincoln, NREAs mission has evolved to include a broad range of activities to assist our member-systems as they face the many challenges of providing low-cost, reliable electric service to the rural regions of Nebraska.

According to NREA General Manger Rick Nelson, We are excited to have Southern Public Power District join the Nebraska Rural Electric Association. We are stronger together and are able to provide various services to Nebraskas rural electric consumers.

PHOTOS: Magnificent, colorful fireworks fill the night sky over Fonner Park Fireworks light up the sky over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show A girl watches the Fourth of July fireworks show on top of a car at Fonner Park on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday, July 4. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks light up the sky over Fonner Park in Grand Island during the city's Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks light up the sky over Fonner Park in Grand Island during the citys Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Fireworks are set off over Fonner Park for the Fourth of July show on Thursday night. Fonner Park's Fourth of July fireworks show Brilliant colors dot the sky during the show. Fourth of July festivities at the Stuhr Museum Friends and families in several old-time festivities for Fourth of July at the Stuhr Museum on Thursday, July 4.
(TBTCO) - Gia xang dau trong nuoc hom nay (10/10) uoc du bao co the uoc ieu chinh tang manh. Theo o, gia xang trong nuoc co the tang tu 950 - 1.250 ong/lit; gia dau diesel co kha nang tang khoang 820 - 1.050 ong/lit. Tren thi truong the gioi, gia dau giam sau khi du lieu cua Hoa Ky cho thay luong dau tho du tru tang, nhung muc giam bi han che boi rui ro gian oan nguon cung cua Iran do xung ot Trung ong va con bao Milton o Hoa Ky.
Anthony Franze is a native Texan and very passionate about covering any weather that is thrown at him. He can be reached at anthony.franze@express-news.net.

Anthony earned a degree in Meteorology from Valparaiso University in 2017. He has worked as a broadcast meteorologist for six years, one at NBC Montana and the next five at NewsWest 9 in Midland before joining the Express-News in July 2023.

In his free time, Anthony enjoys watching sports, checking out local restaurants and breweries, and getting outside whenever the heat allows for it. If you have any story ideas, questions about the weather or restaurant suggestions, drop him a line.
KNETCO, a leader in transforming businesses visions into digital reality in Kuwait, and Johnson Controls, a global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, have announced a strategic partnership agreement that is aimed at bringing about revolutionary changes in the smart building sector in Kuwait.

The partnership aims to leverage Johnson Controls OpenBlue solutions, the blueprint of the future for smart buildings, transforming buildings from static entities into smart, strategic assets.

OpenBlue is a comprehensive system of connected technologies that integrate data from multiple sources to provide a unified view of building operational technology status.

This platform not only tracks and analyzes operations but also offers actionable recommendations and executes commands automatically to ensure optimal building performance.

The agreement was signed at a key ceremony held at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Kuwait City, which was attended by senior company officials. The partnership marks a significant milestone in the collaboration between these two leading companies.

"This collaboration underscores our commitment to delivering advanced digital and technological solutions. Through our partnership with Johnson Controls, we are poised to transform the smart building industry in Kuwait," remarked KNETCO Chairperson Riham Al Ghanim.

"Our focus on developing smart infrastructure and integrating cutting-edge technologies will lead to significant progress, benefiting our clients and the community as a whole," she stated.

A part of the Fouad Alghanim & Sons Group of Companies, KNETCO has a strong regional presence with operations in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

This strategic partnership will enhance KNETCOs ability to deliver innovative solutions across these markets, further solidifying its leadership position in the region, she added.

KNETCO is the first company in the region to enter into this agreement with Johnson Controls to distribute and export smart building and city technology services to the region, meeting urban development needs and transitioning to a sustainable green economy that protects the climate and environment.

The new services will accelerate this transition in Kuwait, offering smart solutions to manage and optimize energy usage in buildings and cities.

Al Ghanim said the Kuwaiti group remained committed to providing the latest digital and technological solutions, focusing on developing smart infrastructure and smart communication services across all sectors of the state.

This will help the company to strengthen its business relationships with key partners and establish new strategic partnerships in both the government and private sectors.

CEO Khaled Samy said: "Together, we will develop and implement smart infrastructure solutions that enhance operational efficiency, sustainability, and the comprehensive user experience."

"This partnership is a significant step toward realizing our vision of transforming traditional buildings into smart, efficient, and sustainable environments that revolutionise building and city management through smart infrastructure solutions and IoT technologies, enhancing smart control to save and optimize energy," he added.

Mohammad Khalid, Vice President and General Manager for the Mena at Johnson Controls, said: "Our collaboration with KNETCO empowers us to deliver the award-winning OpenBlue platform to the Middle East."

"Through data-driven insights and advanced technological solutions, were transforming the regions built environment by creating smarter, healthier, and more sustainable buildings. This partnership represents another significant step toward a greener future," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Fresh flowers regularly appear on Ward Sackals grave in France, more than 80 years after his B-24 bomber was shot from the sky by German fighters.

Six times a year, on holidays and his birthday, a bouquet is placed in front of his marble cross at the Rhone American Cemetery. Once a month, the U.S. Army Air Forces sergeant receives a single rose with a note that reads, Loving you always, Chris.

Long-time Tucson resident Christine Grady Gorder said its the least she can do for the flyboy she considers the love of her life. She still feels that way at age 98, even though she only knew him for about two months in 1943. She still feels that way, even though he broke her heart.

Early this year, Gorder published a memoir about her wartime romance. In August, she will head back to France to visit Wards grave for the 11th time since her first trip there in 2010.

We were made for one another, she said. Hes with me every minute of every day. Im doing all this for him.

Love unspoken

The two met at a USO dance at Tucsons Pioneer Hotel on Jan. 28, 1943.

He was a 19-year-old staff sergeant from Connecticut, training at Davis-Monthan Army Air Field to be a flight engineer on the B-24 Liberator.

She was a 17-year-old freshman at the University of Arizona, doing her part for the war effort by entertaining servicemen at heavily chaperoned events as a member of the USOs Young Womens Defense League.

They had noticed each other from across the room at previous events, Gorder said, but this was the night they finally danced and talked.

He cut in. He was always cutting in, she said. Somebody would dance with me for a while, and then he would come right back and cut in again. He was determined.

Ward walked her home from the Pioneer that night. She wrote about their meeting in her diary: He introduced himself as Ward Sackal and, oh, I almost swooned when I looked at him. Hes just adorable  about 5-7, dark brown hair and eyes, and a mischievous smile.

After that, they spent as much time together as his training would allow. They would meet at dances, catch movies at the Fox or the Rialto Theatre and take long walks around downtown.

He said, Im gonna call you every day, which he did. Or almost every day, when he wasnt flying, Gorder said.

And in between the calls and the dates, they wrote to each other.

One of Wards letters  in his own handwriting on Davis-Monthan letterhead  is printed in Gorders memoir. I just got through talking to you and here I am writing to you, he wrote on March 3, 1943. It must be a very good friendship  dont you think?

There was never any intimacy. We would stand outside and hug and kiss. That was it, Gorder said. Neither one of us ever said I love you to the other, but we did. Im sure we did.

Their regular outings and near-daily communication continued all through February and March, but something changed about two weeks before Wards unit was scheduled to leave. Without explanation, he suddenly stopped calling her.

She was out with her friend, Martha, about a week later when she bumped into Ward and one of his crewmates. We chatted for a while, then he looked at us and he said, Take good care of her, Martha, Gorder remembered. Then he said to me, Ill call you some time.

But he never did.

She saw him once more in passing at the Santa Rita Hotel, while she was out on a date with someone else from the bomber group.

That same night, she found out that Ward and his unit would soon be leaving Tucson for their next round of training at another base.

In desperation, she called Davis-Monthan the next day and asked to speak to him. Gorder said he couldnt or wouldnt come to the phone, she doesnt know which.

She never saw her sweetheart again, though its possible that he saw her one last time from the air as he departed.

She describes the scene in her book: On April 4, 1943, at about the time Wards unit was scheduled to leave, Gorder stood in her backyard and sobbed as she watched a large formation of bombers roar overhead.

All I could do was stare in disbelief as the planes were leaving the area and slowly disappearing from sight, she writes. It had been a very sweet romance in very uncertain times. And so, it ended. We never said goodbye.

Wartime Tucson

Gorders book is called In the Shade of the Olive Tree, in reference to the small tree that grows closest to Sackals grave.

She said she wrote it to preserve the memory of Ward and all the young men like him who put their futures on hold to fight for their country.

In my mind, its a tribute to the bomber boys of World War II, she said. My boyfriend is the prototype in this book of all the guys. He was at New York University, and a month after Pearl Harbor he just quit school and joined (the Army).

The book also charts Gorders own much longer and more circuitous journey to France.

Her family moved to Southern Arizona from Wisconsin in 1941 in search of a better climate for her sister, who was developing asthma.

Gorder  then known by her maiden name of Christine Grady  graduated from Tucson High School in the spring of 1942 and enrolled at the U of A that fall at the age of 16.

From her familys house on Second Street near First Avenue, the university was just a short walk away. Id pass Pop McKales house. His daughter, Marian, was one of my classmates, Gorder recalled.

She joined the Young Womens Defense League with her friend, Martha, as soon as she turned 17.

There were so many servicemen, and they all wanted to have fun, go to movies and things like that, Gorder said. I had no trouble finding young men to socialize with, shall we say.

The USO dances were typically held at the Pioneer, the Santa Rita Hotel or the YWCA downtown. A few times, she said, members of the defense league were bused out to Davis-Monthan for social events there that would include a tour of the flightline.

Gorder said she kept her conversations light with the servicemen she met, steering clear of topics like their late-night training flights or where those missions might eventually lead them.

The guys never talked about what they were doing, and I never asked them any questions, she said.

Tucson was a much different place in those days.

Country Club was the last paved road going east, Gorder said, and the citys entire population of about 40,000 would have fit comfortably inside present-day Arizona Stadium.

The sidewalks downtown were crowded with men in uniform, but enrollment declined at the U of A as the war escalated. Old Main was soon converted into a Naval Training School, and Bear Down Gym became a barracks for its cadets. By 1944, the young women in the student body outnumbered the men by about 10-to-1.

Killed in action

Because of the way Ward left, Gorder said she resisted the urge to write to him once he was gone. But she couldnt stop thinking about him.

About a year and a half after he flew out of her life, she sent an inquiry to the War Department in hopes of locating him. A terse reply arrived in her mailbox a few weeks later: Ward and eight of his fellow crew members had been killed in action in Europe.

I was devastated, she said.

Gorder tracked down an address for Wards parents and wrote them a letter to tell them how much their son had meant to her. Wards mother replied with a professional portrait of him in his uniform, right after he earned his wings.

At the time, it was the only picture Gorder had of him.

She ended up graduating from the U of A with a degree in Spanish in the spring of 1946, after spending the previous summer studying at a university in Mexico City.

Her dream was to work in Latin America one day, so she enrolled at a special school in New York City that offered accelerated courses in Spanish for business and technical applications. While Gorder was there, Wards mother came down to visit her from Connecticut. The two women spent the day together touring the city.

Then, when I took her back to the train station, she kissed me and she said, Now I know why my son liked you, Gorder said.

They would continue to exchange letters once a year or so, usually around the holidays. Their correspondence lasted until Wards mother died in the late 1960s.

After New York, Gorder parlayed her advanced language skills into a job with the newly formed Central Intelligence Agency, which sent her to Havana in 1949 and then to Ecuador in the early 1950s.

At age 21, I had top secret security clearance, she said with a grin.

She later married a Marine guard from the U.S. embassy in Ecuador and left the CIA after 10 years to start a family.

That path eventually landed her back in Tucson, where she raised two sons, got divorced, and embarked on a second career as an English-as-a-second-language instructor at the U of A.

In 1977, she reconnected with a man she had dated when she was a teenager in Wisconsin, and the two were married the following year. She said she and her second husband, Lyle Gorder, spent more than 25 good years together before his death in 2005.

Footlocker fall

Ward Sackal landed back in her life on Flag Day, June 14, 2009.

Gorder said she was going through an old footlocker filled with keepsakes at her east-side home, when she came across a stationery box with little red roses on it. Inside she found the only letter she still had from her handsome young sergeant: the one he sent on Davis-Monthan stationary on March 3, 1943.

The footlocker also contained the portrait of Ward that his mother had sent and a pair of his flight wings, still in the red-and-gold jewelry box he slipped into Gorders pocket one night while they danced.

I opened up that trunk and I saw that letter, and I just about went to pieces, she said. I think that is when the love story started. That is when I fell in love with him.

With those feelings came a powerful need to know more about what had happened to him.

Some internet sleuthing eventually led her to Wards niece, Ellen, who was born long after her uncles death but still had some family lore to share about the young man.

Gorder also stumbled across the website of an association dedicated to Wards unit, the 392nd Bomb Group. There, she sifted through details about Wards final mission and connected with some of the researchers who had compiled the information.

Thats how she discovered where her beloved was buried: an American cemetery in the south of France, about an hours drive west of Cannes and about 450 miles east of where his B-24 crashed near Bordeaux.

Virtual tour of military cemetery The Rhone American Cemetery in France will mark its 80th anniversary on Aug. 19. The American Battle Monuments Commission, which maintains the cemetery, has produced a new virtual tour of the site, which is available online at virtual360.abmc.gov/rhone. The commission is a federal agency charged with taking care of 57 military cemeteries, memorials and monuments around the globe.

Gorder learned that Ward and the rest of the 392nd were deployed to England in August of 1943. He survived 12 combat missions before he was killed during a raid on a Luftwaffe airfield near St. Jean DAngely, France, on Dec. 31, 1943.

When I found out what had happened to him, I decided Im going there, she said. Not that I wanted to go to a cemetery, but thats where he was. I wanted to go where he was.

She made her first trip in June of 2010, with an itinerary that included a visit to Wards gravesite and a tour of the village where his bomber went down.

One year to the day after I opened the trunk, I was at the site where he was killed, Gorder said.

A street in Montlieu-la-Garde has been named Rue du 31 Decembre 1943 in honor of the fallen crew, and a monument was dedicated there in 1947, inscribed with their names and that of a local villager who died when the burning wreckage struck her house.

Gorder said the town still holds a special church service and a ceremony every year on the anniversary of the crash to remember the young men from America who died fighting to liberate their country.

People in France are so appreciative, she said. Theyre so grateful to this day.

Resting place

After that first trip, Gorders visits to Wards grave became an annual pilgrimage. She went every year until 2020, when COVID-19 canceled her plans.

This will be her first time back since the pandemic, and she knows it wont be easy. She needs a walker or a wheelchair to get around these days.

Ive gotten so old, said Gorder, who turns 99 on Veterans Day in November. I mean, at 93 I was still able to dance in the street at midnight. Now Ill sit in the street.

This years trip was scheduled to coincide with the 80th anniversary of Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France on Aug. 14, 1944. Gorder said she has been invited to sit with the brass at a ceremony that is being held that day near Saint-Tropez.

Then on Aug. 19, the Rhone American Cemetery will mark its establishment 80 years ago, mostly as a burial ground for American servicemen killed in what has been called the other D-Day in France. Gorder hopes to be there for that anniversary, too.

When she gets to Wards grave, she plans to do what she always does: read aloud from a letter she wrote to him before her first visit in 2010.

She also likes to strike up conversations with other cemetery visitors.

Ill say, Oh, this was my boyfriend. I just want to get as many people as possible to know about him, she said.

Its an unusual thing to say about someone who died a lifetime ago, but Gorder insists she has never felt such powerful emotions for anyone  not even the men to whom she was married.

Ever since she opened that footlocker in 2009, she said, she cant stop thinking about Ward. She frequently talks to him as she goes about her day, and she cries for him a lot, too.

Her love for him now is deeper somehow than it was even when they were together all those decades ago, she said.

Those feelings are what drove her to start buying flowers for his grave about 10 years ago. She said it was really expensive at first, but she eventually found a good local florist in France who handles the arrangements for her.

In addition to a rose every month, she said, Ward gets big, beautiful bouquets on Valentines Day, Memorial Day, his birthday in October, Veterans Day, Christmas and New Years Eve.

I dont know whats going to happen when I pass on, she said. Ill have to talk to the florist, maybe make some arrangement far out for a rose or something. Id like to do that.

Gorder isnt sure how many more of these yearly trips to see Ward she has left in her, but she plans to keep going as long as her body and her travel documents are still in working order.

Unfortunately, she said, her passport is only good until she turns 100.
When Rufino Rodrigues discovered the coal mine where he was working was on fire, his first thought was to warn the other miners, most of whom were working on lower levels.

"I'll never see you alive again," a fellow miner told the young Mexican native as he prepared to issue the warning.

The danger didn't stop Rodrigues from running a mile and a half through several levels of the mine at Lehigh in Coal County to sound the alarm and to lead to safety up to 250 other miners who were not aware of the fire.

Rodrigues carried a bucket of water to soak his wool shirt that he used to cover his face to block the fumes from the burning coal. When he finished his run, he was dazed from smoke inhalation and had to be carried out of the mine by a rescue squad.

He was taken to a hospital at McAlester for a couple of days. But he saved at least 150 miners. The number is indistinct because newspaper reports after the fire credited him with saving from 241 to 259.

The citation that accompanied a Carnegie Hero medal he was given set the number he saved at 150 but noted other claims were greater. The trouble started on Feb. 22, 1912, when a workman accidentally dropped a lighted lamp into a barrel of oil in the main shaft of the mine.

The oil blazed, and rather than try to put out the fire, the workman dropped the barrel to the bottom of the mine shaft -- and fled. Rodrigues and another miner who were among a group working 250 feet below the surface soon smelled the smoke fumes that began seeping throughout the mine.

Rodrigues told his friend that he was going to warn the others. That's when the friend shook Rodrigues' hand and warned that he would die in the attempt.

"That was at 10:30 in the morning and he did see me alive again, but not until 6:30 that night," Rodrigues told a World reporter in 1943. "There were 18 lifts in the shaft and I went to each one to warn the workers and help them out."

Meanwhile, in the area where Rodrigues was, all the other miners jumped on a hoist and rushed to the surface.

"But I couldn't help nine of them. They smothered to death," he added.

Among those he rescued was his 14-year-old brother. Rodrigues received the bronze Carnegie medal about a year later along with $1,000 from the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission.

He used the money to buy a three-room house in Lehigh. The Carnegie fund, established in 1904 by Andrew Carnegie, recognizes acts of heroism but it isn't given often. Only 85 Oklahomans received the medal during the 20th century.

Rodrigues lost the house during the Great Depression because he couldn't pay the taxes on it, moved to Nevada to work in gold mines and returned to Tulsa in 1935 and worked as a mechanical engineer.

When war clouds were forming before World War II, Rodrigues was forced to register as an alien along with other foreign-born residents. He was born in Mexico but had lived in the U.S. since he was a month old.

"I have lived in the United States 50 years," he told a reporter. "I have raised two sons and two daughters. I have educated them in American ways. And in my heart I am just as good an American as anyone in this country."

Rodrigues, who died at the age of 90 in 1980, finally became an American citizen on July 8, 1943 -- a milestone he considered his second great honor in this country.

Like this column? Read all the columns in the Only in Oklahoma series from the Tulsa World Archive.
Zelda Fan Faces Jail Time for Carrying Replica Master Sword in Public

A fan of The Legend of Zelda franchise has been arrested and is facing jail time after he was found carrying a replica of the series' "Master Sword" in public.

The individual in question is Anthony Bray from Nuneaton, which is a municipality in northern Warwickshire, England. He was arrested by law enforcement personnel after he was seen in possession of a 15-centimeter Master Sword replica.

Man Arrested for Carrying Zelda Sword Replica

More specifically, Bray was sentenced to four months in prison and was fined nearly $200 for the alleged crime. The main reason for the man's arrest was due to the item in question not being made of Goma Eva and that it had a sharp edge capable of cutting.

The altercation also stems from the fact that the man approached the police officers while holding the replica sword in his hand. He claimed that it was simply something that he bought as a simple fidget to entertain himself and keep his hands busy, according to Softonic.

This is something similar to the spinner but the replica sword was actually sharp enough to cut other things. The situation became that the toy that Bray bought online was actually a weapon that he carried openly in public in downtown Nuneaton.

The law enforcement personnel who interacted with the individual weren't really sure of what was happening and clarified that it was possible to "find toys to hold in your hand that are not fifteen-centimeter blades."

Read Also: Assassin's Creed Shadows Art Book by Dark Horse to Debut with Game Launch

They also said that it was entirely possible to not walk down the street holding the item in front of your person.

While the statements may seem disproportionate, the truth of the matter is that Bray has been arrested in the past and has been jailed several times for theft. Between the '80s and '90s, the man had spent four years in prison.

The 48-year-old man was arrested after officers were made aware on June 8, 2024, via CCTV that the suspect was holding the sword in his hand while walking in public.

The patrol investigations unit's Sgt. Spellman said that they were taking a zero-tolerance approach to bladed articles in public, said The Guardian.

Perceived as Threatening

Police officers also said that Bray told them that the Master Sword replica that he possessed could be perceived as threatening if someone else had seen it. However, he insisted during interviews that he did not plan to use it as a weapon.

The Master Sword is Link's signature weapon in The Legend of Zelda franchise and is frequently featured in many titles across the series. The franchise was first released in the 1980s and to this day is enjoyed by players across the globe.

The sword in question features a blue and yellow handle and sheath and is capable of vanquishing evil and destroying magical barriers. Bray's arrest also comes as Britain has one of the lowest gun homicide rates in the world as it has some of the strictest gun laws that include comprehensive background checks.

Despite this, the region is still struggling with knife crimes and there are more than 50,000 offenses that involve a sharp instrument recorded by police in the year ending March 2023, according to the Washington Post.



Related Article: Dungeonborne's Final Steam Playtest Attracts Thousands of Players Ahead of Early Access Launch
Kien Long Commercial Joint Stock Bank (KienlongBank), based in Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam announced on Friday the dismissal of Tran Thi Thu Hang from her position as chairwoman at her own request.

Following Hangs resignation as chairwoman effective July 9, she remains a member of KienlongBanks board of directors for the 2023-27 term.

Hang, born in 1985, became the youngest female chairwoman in the Vietnamese banking system at 36 years old when she assumed the highest seat on the board of directors of KienlongBank in 2021.

She holds more than 17.2 million shares, or a 4.72 percent stake at the bank.

Tran Ngoc Minh, currently vice chairman, will assume the role of chairman of the board of directors, effective July 9, succeeding Hang.

Minh, born in 1984 in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum, does not hold any shares in KienlongBank.

Following his appointment as chairman, Minh also assumed the role of the banks legal representative.

Several other senior leadership positions within the lender have also been reshuffled.

Tran Hong Minh, deputy general director of KienlongBank, now serves as acting general director, replacing Tran Ngoc Minh.

Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, a member of the board of directors, has been appointed vice chairwoman of the board.

KienlongBank plans to convene an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders later this year to comply with the requirements of the Law on Credit Institutions 2024.

The financial report for the first quarter of 2024 indicated that KienlongBanks net interest income nearly reached VND613 billion (US$24.1 million), showing a slight increase compared to the same period last year.

Its net profit from service provision totaled VND113 billion ($4.4 million) and revenue from foreign exchange trading hit VND11 billion ($432,780).

Consequently, KienlongBank recorded a pre-tax profit of nearly VND213 billion ($8.4 million) and a post-tax profit of VND170 billion ($6.7 million), representing an increase of nearly VND10 billion ($393,437) from the previous year.

By the end of the trading session on Friday, KienlongBanks KLB stock price decreased by 1.63 percent against the previous day to VND12,100 ($0.48) per share.

Over the past year, the market price of KLB has declined by nearly 12 percent.

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Bank customers in Vietnam are complaining about facial authentication required for online bank transfers in excess of VND10 million (US$390) by commercial banks with effect from July 1.

Although they already completed the required biometric registration process, they are still unable to transfer money.

Nguyen Loc, a resident of District 8, Ho Chi Minh City, said that he quickly made his biometric registration after receiving an announcement on facial authentication for online transactions.

However, he failed to transfer over VND10 million on July 1.

His attempt was rejected on the online banking app of TPBank as facial recognition failed, he recounted.

I tried to make a transaction over three times, but I received notifications reading Facial recognition fails. Please re-register biometric information. Please ensure a suitable pose, good lighting and camera when making face authentication. Loc lamented.

Loc shared that he used the same smartphone, Iphone 15 Pro, when registering biometric information on the online banking app and transferring money on July 1.

His smartphone worked well, he said, adding that his face had no changes.

Due to the flop of the system, I had to divide the amount into lower-value transactions to avoid a requirement of face verification, Loc said.

He also worried that if the problem was not resolved, users would be in trouble when transferring large amounts of money.

Meanwhile, Doan Trang, who lives in Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, said that though she successfully made an online payment of over VND10 million for an air ticket using face verification, she had to try several times due to system errors.

I found it inconvenient. Many of my friends have been struggling to transfer money of over VND10 million since the requirement of face authentication took effect, she complained.

Face verification is now required for all online transfers of VND10 million or more in Vietnam. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre

The biometric registration process on banking apps has frustrated many users.

My Khanh, a resident of Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City, said that when she experienced the NFC (Near Field Communication) step to register biometric information on a banking app, a notification appeared, reading that her ID card is invalid.

Yet, she successfully made biometric registration on a banking app of another bank on Tuesday.

Many residents in Ho Chi Minh City visited bank branches for support on Tuesday after they failed to register.

The Vietcombank branch on Phan Dang Luu Street in Phu Nhuan District was crowded with customers the same day.

B., a resident of the southern metropolis, said that he had waited for four hours to be supported for biometric registration at the bank branch.

He shared that he first went to the Vietcombank branch on No Trang Long Street to access the support, but he was informed that it did not have an NFC device.

Facing the same fate, Nhu and Thuy, who reside in Binh Thanh District, suffered from long waits at the branch.

A bank employee at the branch said that all the staffers there had to work through their breaks to support the sheer number of customers in need.

A woman takes the face verification step to use a storage cabinet at a supermarket in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Duc Thien / Tuoi Tre

As for foreigners, they were required to go to bank branches for mandatory biometric authentication, many banks said, citing the directive from the State Bank of Vietnam.

Foreign customers, who have no chip-based ID card, must bring their passport with them to bank branches.

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Read what is in the news in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- The U.S. Embassy in Vietnam on Friday expressed its support for Vietnam's new decree on direct electricity trading, which aims to meet the growing demand for renewable energy among businesses.

Society

-- A rider narrowly escaped death when the rear of his jet ski exploded at Hong Van beach in Co To District, Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam earlier this week, local authorities confirmed on Friday.

-- Police in Binh Thuan Province, south-central Vietnam are investigating the cause of death of a man whose body was discovered floating face down, showing signs of decomposition, in a water tank at a petrol station in Ham Thuan Nam District on Friday.

-- A sleeper bus collided with the back of a tractor on the Vinh Hao-Phan Thiet Expressway in Ham Thuan Bac District, Binh Thuan Province, resulting in one fatality and four injuries on Friday night.

-- Police in Hanoi on Friday evening revealed that one of the three suspects involved in the shooting death of a young woman in Long Bien District turned himself in, following the earlier arrest of another suspect.

-- The Peoples Committee of District 1 has reported to the Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on the results of a 50-day pilot project collecting fees for temporary use of roadbeds and sidewalks from 9:00 am on May 9 to 5:00 pm on June 28, expecting to collect over VND1 billion (US$39,343).

-- Research across 11 provinces and cities in Vietnam shows that the rate of e-cigarette use among students aged 13-15 has increased from 3.5 percent in 2022 to eight percent in 2023.

Business

-- Kien Long Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Kienlongbank), based in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, announced on Friday the dismissal of Tran Thi Thu Hang from her position as chairwoman, citing personal reasons. Tran Ngoc Minh, vice chairman, will assume the role of chairman of the board of directors, effective July 9, succeeding Hang.

Sports

-- Visitors Vietnam overwhelmed hosts Philippines in all three sets at Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila on Friday evening, cruising into the semifinals of the FIVB Womens Volleyball Challenger Cup for the first time.

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Traffic police in Nghe An Province arrested two bus drivers after a video surfaced on social media showing them driving two buses to chase and hinder each other in an attempt to overtake on a section of National Highway 1 in the north-central Vietnamese province.

The two bus drivers, 31-year-old Le Tuan H. and 40-year-old Le Thanh T., both from Nghe An, are currently detained for investigation on charges of disturbing public order, as reported by the public security division of the provinces Dien Chau District to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Saturday.

The incident occurred in Dien Chau District on Tuesday.

According to video footage, a bus belonging to Dong Bac firm was traveling ahead of a bus owned by Thach Thanh firm.

The Thach Thanh bus repeatedly signaled to overtake, but the Dong Bac bus did not yield.

Two buses chase after each other on a section of National Highway 1 in Nghe An Province, north-central Vietnam, July 2, 2024.

This conflict persisted for nearly one kilometer in heavy traffic, causing frustration among commuters.

At the police station, the bus drivers explained that their actions were spontaneous and driven by competition for passengers.

The local traffic police unit then referred the case to the public security division of Dien Chau District for investigation due to its nature as a disturbance of public order.

Following the altercation, Dong Bac and Thach Thanh firms have suspended the two drivers involved.

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Paintings depicting fairies inspired by Vietnamese typical dishes, such as pho (Vietnamese noodle soup), com tam (broken rice), and bun dau mam tom (rice vermicelli noodles with fried tofu and shrimp paste), by a Vietnamese artist have bewitched netizens.

The author of the paintingsNguyen Hoang Son, a 29-year-old artist in Ho Chi Minh City, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he wanted to use images of Vietnamese food as a source of inspiration for his paintings for a long time as they are close and easy to find.

He recently had a job related to the design of characters based on food, so he thought of Vietnamese food, Son said.

It takes him two to three weeks to complete a painting.

He shared that he used no special techniques but tried to describe dishes.

He chose colors based on his emotions to create clothes for the fairies.

The beautiful pho fairy. Photo: Supplied

For instance, the pho fairy is soft, flowing, and gentle.

Meanwhile, the com tam fairy was made beautifully and added some details so that the viewers can easily realize it.

He found the com tam fairy was the most difficult painting. Son wanted to paint costumes of people in the southern region but ao ba ba (a traditional garment of people in southern Vietnam) and non la (Vietnam's traditional conical hat) have been featured in paintings earlier and they do not match com tam.

I kept thinking and decided to use ao dai (Vietnam's traditional long gown). I also painted man (turban) as it looks like a dish.

Painting rice was not hard. I also tried to paint leaves.

I thought the most difficult step was making the painting look delicious and eye-catching so that viewers will crave it.

A basket of bun dau mam tom is also non quai thao (Vietnamese flat palm hat) of the fairy. Photo: Supplied

Son revealed that he bought a bowl of pho as a material for his painting before drawing the pho dairy.

He later ate this bowl of pho but found that he forgot something, so he had to buy another bowl of pho.

He loves the pho painting the most as he painted it naturally and comfortably.

To make paintings of dishes lively, artists need to make themselves crave for the dishes first, then adding details, Son shared.

His secret is to adhere to the topic and then develop ideas.

When everything happens naturally, we find it comfortable to look at and easily recognize the dishes and characters, Son said.

Vietnams banh mi [Vietnamese baguette] in the artists painting. Photo: Supplied

When the paintings were uploaded to social media, local netizens praised the special paintings and provided information about ways to enjoy the dishes in different regions in Vietnam.

As a case in point, pho in Hanoi is not served with bean sprouts and herbs.

Some regions do not use mam tom (shrimp paste) but nuoc mam (fish sauce) with bun dau.

Son added that I am fond of Vietnamese cuisine. Wherever I go, I always remember family meals.

The author of the paintings. Photo: Supplied

I plan to paint bun bo Hue [Hue-style beef noodles] as I love this dish, the artist noted.

He does not intend to paint all Vietnamese dishes but will try to paint as many as possible.

He also plans to do paintings that personify architecture and landscapes in Vietnam and dishes of other countries in the world.

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Epic Games Announces Apples Acceptance of Third-Party App Store

Epic Games has confirmed that Apple has accepted its proposal to launch a third-party app store on iOS devices, marking a significant development in their ongoing dispute. The announcement came shortly after Epic revealed on social media that Apple had reversed its decision on rejecting the Epic Games Store notarization submission.

Read Also: Tactical Breach Wizards Releases Free Demo, Bringing a Fresh Take to the Turn-Based Strategy Genre

Approval and Challenges Ahead

According to Epic, Apple initially rejected the submission citing concerns over the design and placement of the "install" button, which Apple claimed resembled its own "get" button too closely. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney stated that Apple informed them about the approval but indicated it might be temporary, demanding changes to button designs in future updates.

Epic contends that their naming conventions for "install" and "in-app purchases" are standard across various platforms, arguing they follow iOS app button conventions. The company expressed frustration, labeling Apple's rejection as arbitrary and obstructive, potentially violating Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations.

Legal and Regulatory Battles Continue

The approval in Europe underlines a broader legal battle between Epic and Apple over app store policies and fees. Epic's initial move to implement its payment system in Fortnite led to its removal from the App Store and subsequent legal proceedings in the US, culminating in a mixed ruling and ongoing appeals.

The European Union's DMA has added pressure on Apple to open its platform to third-party app stores, influencing Epic's strategy to expand its market presence despite regulatory challenges. Epic remains committed to launching the Epic Games Store and Fortnite on iOS in the EU, pending resolution of regulatory issues.

Related Article: Play Resident Evil 7 Biohazard Free on iPhone 15 Pro, iPad, and macOS
Medical admission counselling 2024 not to start today

Medical (MBBS, BDS, BUMS, BHMS, BAMS) admission counselling based on NEET UG 2024 score, scheduled to commence from today i.e. Saturday July 06, 2024, has been deferred till further notice

Saturday July 6, 2024 1:00 PM , ummid.com News Network

[AI generated image used here for representation purpose.]

NEET UG 2024 Counselling: The medical (MBBS, BDS, BUMS, BHMS, BAMS) admission counselling based on NEET UG 2024 score, scheduled to commence from today i.e. Saturday July 06, 2024, has been deferred till further notice.

NEET UG 2024 Counselling

The counselling for admission in undergraduate courses MBBS, BUMS, BHMS, B. Sc (Nursing), Paramedical and other medical courses is done nation-wide and by different states.

The NEET UG 2024 Counselling nationwide is done for 15% quota (AIQ) by Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) headquartered in New Delhi. The MCC publishes the NEET UG Counselling Schedule on its website mcc.nic.in after the results are announced. It has so far not done so.

Similarly, NEET UG counselling in Maharashtra is done by Maharashtra CET Cell, by Admission Committee for Professional Undergraduate Medical

Educational Courses (ACPUGMEC) in Gujarat, by Directorate General of Medical Education and Training Uttar Pradesh (DGME UP) in Uttar Pradesh, by Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE) in Kerala, by Department of Medical Education (DME) in Madhya Pradesh, by Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination Board (BCECE) in Bihar, by Tamil Nadu Medical Selection Committee in Tamil Nadu, by Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) in Karnataka, NEET UG Medical and Dental Admission and Counseling Board in Rajasthan and other concerned government bodies in other states for the ramaining 85% seats.

These government bodies in various states start NEET UG medical counselling along with the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). But, they publish schedule of the counselling rounds after the MCC NEET UG counselling schedule is published.

Medical Admission Counselling Schedule 2024

The MCC and medical counselling bodies in various states have dedicated websites for MBBS, BDS, BHMS and BUMS counselling along with paramedical and other candidates where detailed counselling schedule as well as counselling and admission related information are published.

As per the earlier reports, the MCC was scheduled to start medical counselling from today i.e Saturday July 06, 2024. The Committee however has so far neither released the counselling schedule nor confirmed the new date and time to start the medical admission counselling.

In the absence of the MCC maintaining silence on NEET UG counselling, respective admission bodies in different states have also not yet confirmed counselling details.

The Maharashtra CET Cell has launched the counselling website for the year 2024-25. But, it is yet to publish all the details on the website.

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET was held on May 05, 2024. Close to 24 lakh students from India and abroad appeared for the mandatory medical entrance exams.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducted NEET UG declared the result on June 04, 2024  ten days before the scheduled date and time. It released the list of NEET UG toppers two days after the result was declared.

Row over NEET UG 2024 Score

As per the NEET UG 2024 result data, a total of 67 students from different parts of India scored a perfect 100% i.e. bagged 720 out of the total 720 marks to jointly share the All India Rank 1 (AIR 1). Overall too most of the students bagged marks more than they had expected.

The NTA on its part said changes in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres were some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks.

But what shocked the students was 6 students from a same centre in Haryana scoring 720 out of the total 720 marks.

The NEET UG 2024 result and toppers list released by the NTA re-ignited the allegations that the medical entrance was rigged and marred by malpractice.

On the very day of the exam, it was alleged that NEET UG 2024 paper was leaked. The NTA however refuted all such claims .

However after the announcement of the NEETUG 2024 result in haste the allegations of paper leak and malpractice re-surfaced.

SC Petition on NEET UG 2024

Even as the Maharashtra government said it was considering to seek legal help on the matter as the NEET UG 2024 scores were injustice to the students of the state, a petition was filed by the SIO in the Supreme Court of India.

The petitioner alleged that the grant of grace marks by the National Testing Agency, purportedly due to delay during the exam, was a mala fide exercise to give backdoor entry to certain students. The petitioner also sought stay on the medical admission counselling 2024 based on the NEET UG score.

The SC vacation bench comprising Justices Vikran Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah admitted the petition for hearing but refused to grant a stay on the NEET UG 2024 medical counselling.

It is not that simple that because you have done it, it is sacrosanct. Sanctity has been affected, so we need answers, the SC bench said to the National Testing Agency (NTA) and deferred the matter till July 08, 2024.

The row over NEET UG 2024 score went to the court even as the Ministry of Education formed a committee to probe the allegations of irregularities in the medical exams.

The ministry formed the committee after a huge demand by the students, who were also supported by various political parties , seeking cancellation and re-examination of the NEET UG 2024.

The NTA had already cancelled the exams of 1,563 students who were awarded grace marks. The demand of the students to cancel NEET UG 2024 for all is yet to be met.

Meanwhile, the Modi government Friday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing cancellation of the NEET UG 2024.

The apex court has scheduled the further hearing on NEET UG pleas on Monday July 08, 2024.





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Surat: Multi floor building housing textile workers collapses

A 6-storey building in Krishnanagar, Sachin GIDC area of Surat where textile workers were staying with their families collapsed Saturday afternoon

Saturday July 6, 2024 8:47 PM , ummid.com News Network

Surat (Gujarat): A 6-storey building in Krishnanagar, Sachin GIDC area of Surat where textile workers were staying with their families collapsed Saturday afternoon.

Eyewitnesses said the building collapsed like a house of card leaving the residents trapped under the debris.

At least 15 people trapped in the collapsed building were rescued and rushed to hospital for treatment. Many more are still reported to be under the debris.

The fire and police team have reached the incident spot and rescue operation is underway.

The exact cause of the building collapse is yet to be ascertained. However, local police blamed the rains and bad weather.

"Recent rains have caused dilapidated buildings and trees to collapse in Surat. A six-story building in Sachin Pali village collapsed, injuring about 15 people who have been taken for treatment. Rescue operations are ongoing. Fire brigade and police officers are on-site", Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlot told media.

Gehlot, who arrived at the scene to oversee the rescue operation, confirmed that the voices of trapped persons were heard at the beginning of the rescue efforts.

"When rescue work started, we heard voices of those who were trapped inside. We rescued a woman alive from the rubble and sent her to the hospital. We suspect that nearly five people are still trapped inside," he said.

The building was built barely 8 years ago. The officials, said although not much old, the building was dilapidated, and most flats were vacant.

A probe to look into what led to the collapse of the building has been announced.







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A NANG  The central city of a Nang has been calling potential investors for development of eight berths and series of infrastructure projects at the key Lien Chieu Port by the end of 2024, expecting that Japanese businesses will seek investment opportunities in the port.

Director of a Nang Citys Investment Promotion Agency (IPA), Huynh Thi Lien Phuong was pitching at the a Nang-Japan Meet, an event in the annual Viet Nam-Japan Cultural Exchange Festival, stating that Sumitomo Group from Japan has been trailing the Lien Chieu Port Project.

She said the port, which is designed as a regional port and logistic centre in Asia, needs an initial investment in infrastructure and foundation facilities of an estimated US$2 billion and major investors will be announced later in 2024.

The city will be building eight berths for docks of container ships, Liquefied Natural Gas vessels, integrated ships and the others. A wave breaker dyke system and a ring-road route connecting the port and key national highways and industrial parks have been developing since last year, Phuong said.

The beach city has drawn $4.3 billion investment from FDI projects, of which Japanese businesses constitute a 30 per cent share, to $1.14 billion, she added.

Chief Representative of the Japanese External Trade Organisation (JETRO), Takeo Nakajima, said a Nang has potential in information technology (IT) education and many universities have been given investment in human resources training to lure in the information industries.

Shiro Muto, chairman of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Viet Nam, said that Japanese investors keep an eye on developments in resorts, tourism, the automobile sector, semiconductor developents, chip design and automation.

He said the city should streamline procedures and train hi-quality manpower to meet the demands of Japanese investors.

Vice chairman of the citys Peoples Committee, Tran Chi Cuong said that a Nang has been given a pilot plan on the development of a municipal government  the first of its kind in Viet Nam  to help speeding up the rapid and sustainable growth for the city and build it into a key driving economic power force for the country.

Cuong said the Free Trade Zone project, which has recently been approved by the National Assembly, would create a huge and promising opportunity for all investors.

He emphasised that import-export turnover between Japan and the city reached $1 billion (a Nangs export to Japan was $650 million) last year.

Cuong said the city has called for further and deeper investment from Japan in a series of major trending industries including semi conductors, AI, IT and green growth technologies.

He said a Nang has been greenlit by the central government in offering the most favourable conditions and top priorities for investors.

Lam Thi Thanh Phuong, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, underlined that a Nang has been playing a key role in attracting investment from Japan in terms of infrastructure, human resources, its location and the long historical ties between Japan and Viet Nam.

She said Japan and Viet Nam shared a similar culture and history, deep and effective co-operation.

Japan was a major Official Development Assistance (ODA) provider with a 30 per cent share in total ODA in Viet Nam. Japan also invested $76 billion in Viet Nam, while hosting 300,000 labourers from Viet Nam, Phuong said.

She said a report from JETRO showed that 64 per cent of Japanese investors plan to expand their current investment in Viet Nam, while 600,000 Vietnamese people are currently working and studying in Japan, making them the second biggest expat community in the country.

The number of Japanese nationals in Viet Nam has also increased by leaps and bounds to 22,000, making great contributions to the socio-economic development of Viet Nam.

Two Japanese investors -- Tokyo Keiki Precision Technology Inc and Niwa Foundry -- were the first ever investors into the a Nang Hi-tech Park from 2013, while Fujikin Incorporated from Japan later launched its $35-million Research, Development and Manufacture Centre there.

Mikazuki Hotel Group of Japan opened the $168.16 million a Nang Mikazuki Resort & Spa.

Yokohama and Sakai have supported a Nang in building a carbon neutral model at a Nang Port and industrial parks in green industries transformation. VNS
SEOUL  Major media outlets of the Republic of Korea (RoK) continued to highlight the results of the recent visit to the Northeast Asian country by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the invitation of his Korean counterpart Han Duck-soo.

Donga Ilbo ran an article, recalling Chinhs speech at the Asian Research Centre of the Seoul National University, in which he affirmed Viet Nam always values its cooperation and exchanges with the RoK while highlighting similarities in the culture of the two countries.

The newswire quoted Seoul National University President Yoo Hong-lim as saying that over the past ten years, about 600 Vietnamese students have studied at the university. He said the university plans to continue to maintain and expand cooperation into research fields with Viet Nam soon.

Meanwhile, Hankuk Kyongjae ran an article, stating that Viet Nam is trying to attract Korean investment in the semiconductor industry. During his visit to the RoK from June 30 to July 3, the Vietnamese PM met with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, examining a possible plan to attract semiconductor investment.

The Vietnamese leader made a field trip to Samsungs semiconductor cluster in Pyeongtaek Province.

Viet Nams Bac Giang Province was mentioned as a top candidate for receiving the investment.

Hankuk Kyongjae quoted PM Chinh as saying that Viet Nam welcomes and encourages investment in semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI). He said the country will promote an ecosystem for the areas and also emphasised that Viet Nam will make efforts to foster high-quality talent, improve systems and develop infrastructure to best support companies investing in the semiconductor industry.

According to Hankuk Kyongjae, all eyes are on whether this move will lead to the development of the semiconductor industry in Viet Nam. If semiconductor investment becomes a reality, the northern province of Bac Giang near Ha Noi is considered one of the favourable locations for Korean companies to enter the market.

As Samsung Electronics produces nearly 50 per cent of the worlds total smartphones in Viet Nam, the country will likely be a venue for the companys semiconductor investment.

Samsung Electronics has so far poured approximately US$22.4 billion into projects in Viet Nam. With more than 90,000 workers working locally, Samsung Vietnams export turnover reached about $55.7 billion last year. The firm currently produces not only smartphones but also network equipment, TVs, screen displays and batteries in HCM City, Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen.

Hankuk Kyongjae quoted Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-Yong as saying that the company is planning to invest in screen displays, and Viet Nam will become the largest screen manufacturing base in the world in the next three years.  VNS
As one of the countries possessing the world's most valuable ginseng genetic resources, Viet Nam faces significant limitations in the conservation and development of ginseng due to a lack of scientific research on ginseng varieties and quality standards.

Establishing quality standards for this precious medicinal herb and its products is essential to ensure that Vietnamese ginseng meets international regulations and practices, thereby enhancing its competitiveness with other types of ginseng on the market.

This, in turn, lays the groundwork for researching and developing Vietnamese ginseng into a national brand, experts say.

Vu uc Loi, PhD, director of the Viet Nam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST), says that many scientific studies have proven that Vietnamese ginseng has a chemical composition and pharmacological effects comparable to other precious ginseng species worldwide.

As an endemic species and as a precious medicinal herb, Vietnamese ginseng has been included in the national product list by the Government since 2017.

Vietnamese ginseng, scientifically known as Panax vietnamensis Ha & Grushv, is one of the 12 species in the Panax genus of the Araliaceae family. It was first discovered in the wilds in the Ngoc Linh mountains of Kon Tum and Quang Nam provinces in 1973, and was officially documented in botanical terms in 1985.

In Viet Nam, three varieties of Panax vietnamensis have been identified, including Ngoc Linh ginseng, Lai Chau ginseng and Langbiang ginseng.

Vietnamese ginseng has been successfully propagated, cultivated and developed to serve the development of health care products for Vietnamese people.

Loi says that quality standards for ginseng and health care products derived from ginseng have been established and included in various countries' compound medical books, including Viet Nam's.

As consumer demand for product quality increases, alongside advancements in science and technology, it is essential to continuously update the quality standards for ginseng and its products to control active ingredient content with increasing precision.

"For Vietnamese ginseng to compete with other ginseng species on the market, it must have clear, modern and reliable quality standards," Loi says.

According to Le Quang Thao, PhD, from the Ministry of Healths National Institute of Drug Quality Control, the quality of Vietnamese ginseng is a matter of great concern.

Currently, Ngoc Linh ginseng costs around VN200-300 million (US$7,850-11,780) per kilogram and Lai Chau ginseng costs around VN80-100 million ($3,140-3,920) per kilogram.

Meanwhile, Tam that hoang (Vietnamese wild ginseng or Panax notoginseng) resembles Ngoc Linh ginseng in appearance, and Lai Chau ginseng is very similar to Ngoc Linh ginseng in both appearance and chemical composition. Therefore, there is a high risk of counterfeit products on the market.

This requires methods to distinguish these types of ginseng, Thao says.

A representative of the Quang Nam Peoples Committee [provincial government] says that there are currently no specific guidelines or regulations to differentiate between wild Ngoc Linh ginseng and farmed Ngoc Linh ginseng.

This lack of clarity poses significant challenges in advising and proposing the issuance of codes for cultivation facilities for wild Ngoc Linh ginseng and in developing the production, business and export of farm grown Ngoc Linh ginseng. As a result, it affects the development and management of Ngoc Linh ginseng cultivation in the province.

Another problem is that Viet Nam has not yet released specific guidelines to issue or manage planting area codes for Ngoc Linh ginseng. Additionally, the workforce dedicated to researching and developing Ngoc Linh ginseng are limited, making it difficult to support the development of Ngoc Linh ginseng. Investment in research and the application of science and technology for developing Ngoc Linh ginseng remains insufficient.

According to the Quang Nam authorities, the conservation and development of Ngoc Linh ginseng in the province has not been systematically done, which is why ginseng has not yet been successfully commercialised.

Phuong Thien Thuong, PhD, deputy director of the VKIST, says that South Korea's ginseng industry reached a value of $2.7 billion in 2023.

According to the Ministry of Health, the economic value of medicinal herbs in Viet Nam is about $500 million, or only about one-fifth of the value of South Korea's ginseng industry.

This underscores the necessity of establishing quality standards for ginseng medicinal herbs, he says.

Pyo Mi Kyung from the Geumsan International Ginseng & Herb Research Institute in South Korea says that there they have their own Ginseng Industry Act, which includes standards for ginseng production, quality inspection, product specifications and ginseng-based functional foods.

Beyond national laws, there are also local standards, such as those from the Geumsan region, which are even more specific, stringent and hard to match compared to national standards.

Enhancing scientific ginseng research

Sharing additional experiences on the development of the ginseng industry in South Korea, Prof Park Jeong Hill from Seoul National University says that South Korea has a group of scientists dedicated to ginseng research, the Korean Society of Ginseng (KSG), which has approximately 1,200 members. The KSG supports 20-30 research projects annually, with a total funding of $1-1.5 million per year.

Annually, over 600 publications on Korean ginseng are released, by contrast there are about ten publications on Vietnamese ginseng each year.

After examining Vietnamese ginseng, Prof Park recommended that Viet Nam develop standardised cultivation methods. Currently, the cultivation techniques for Vietnamese ginseng are underdeveloped, with low yield per unit area, small numbers of farms and limited cultivation areas.

According to Prof Park, scientific research on Vietnamese ginseng is currently limited. It is crucial to enhance research efforts as scientific evidence of the quality and benefits of Vietnamese ginseng to generate demand.

Additionally, there is a need to study the chemical composition, biological activity and quality control of ginseng, he says.

Viet Nam should also focus on protecting the genetic resources, as Vietnamese ginseng only grows in high mountainous areas and has significant genetic diversity.

He also emphasises that collaboration between scientists and farmers, with government support, is essential for the development of Vietnamese ginseng.

Highlighting the prospects of Lai Chau ginseng, Pham Ha Thanh Tung, PhD, at the Viet Nam Institute of Ginseng and Medicinal Herbs says that the MARD has granted plant variety protection for Lai Chau ginseng and the Intellectual Property Office under the Ministry of Science and Technology has issued a certification trademark for Lai Chau ginseng.

Currently, 19 organisations and 217 households are cultivating a total area of 60 hectares of Lai Chau ginseng, along with many smaller, dispersed ginseng plots totalling about 19 hectares under the forest canopy. By 2030, the total area under Lai Chau ginseng in the province is expected to reach about 3,000 hectares, meeting GACP standards.

According to Tung, it is essential to further promote and develop Lai Chau ginseng, complete the scientific database on ginseng and establish quality standards and products derived from Lai Chau ginseng.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Bui The Duy says that the ministry has made investments in Vietnamese ginseng. This is demonstrated by the geographical indication protection for Ngoc Linh ginseng, the establishment of research institutes and centres for Ngoc Linh ginseng in Kon Tum, quality verification support and State management activities to ensure the quality of ginseng, combat counterfeit goods and include Vietnamese ginseng in the list of national products prioritised for research and development.

With the help of Korean experts, the VKIST has successfully transferred technology to domestic enterprises, particularly focusing on high-content herbal extraction technology.

However, Duy says more should be done to enhance collaboration between Vietnamese enterprises, localities, scientists and research institutes to bring the best technologies and valuable lessons from Korean ginseng to Vietnamese ginseng.

This collaboration will help research projects, technology transfer and cooperative production projects between South Korea and Viet Nam regarding ginseng, he adds. VNS
By Trinh Nguyen

HA NOI  Conical hats, toy figurines, lacquerware and embroidery, are just a few of the many unique and traditional crafts made in and around Viet Nam's capital city.

Authorities in Ha Noi know this, and want to ensure such work is protected and exploited for the benefit of all that work in the sector.

A conference was held on July 5 giving crafts men and women the opportunity to discuss their concerns and address future challenges.

The Conference on Dialogue to Overcome Difficulties and Promote Business Production for Enterprises, Cooperatives, and Business Households Operating in Craft Villages in Ha Noi in 2024 was held at the headquarters of the Ha Noi People's Committee.

Chaired by Tran Sy Thanh, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, and Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee, the conference discussed various issues such as planning, infrastructure, tourism and the environment of craft villages; support policies for craft villages; science and technology, trade promotion, branding and linking raw material regions to find practical solutions for the city's sectors and levels.

According to Deputy Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee Nguyen Manh Quyen, the conference demonstrates Ha Noi's commitment to always accompany the business community and entrepreneurs of the capital; continue to implement drastic solutions to support and resolve obstacles for enterprises, especially to overcome difficulties in administrative procedures, improve the business investment environment; implement digital transformation in the government system and support enterprises.

Speaking to Viet Nam News on the sidelines of the seminar, Ha Thi Vinh, chairman of the Hanoi Craft and Artisans Association expressed her happiness and having the opportunity to discuss in detail issues faced.

This is a golden opportunity for craft villages to overcome difficulties," she said.

"City leaders have deeply analysed every detail to understand the challenges faced by craft villages, businesses, cooperatives, and individuals in this sector, including areas such as planning, training, trade promotion and infrastructure. Through the conference, we hope that the villages will bring new ideas, and the city can better collaborate with them.

The preservation and development of craft villages have always been of concern and supported by the city. The programme dated March 17, 2021, by the Ha Noi Party Committee for the 2021-2025 period considers "promoting the development of rural industries and rural economy" as an important content in the economic development of the capital.

To date, the city has 1,350 craft villages and villages with crafts, and 745 out of 2,711 (27.48 per cent) OCOP products of the city are products of these villages. The revenue of these craft villages is estimated to exceed VN24,000 billion, with diverse products of beautiful designs and good quality. Some craft villages with substantial revenue include the Son ong sculpture village, the La Phu confectionery and knitting village, the Minh Khai agricultural product processing village, the Phung Xa agricultural machinery village, the Huu Bang woodworking and tailoring village, the Thiet Ung traditional crafts village and the two leather shoe villages of Gie Thuong and Gie Ha in Phu Yen commune. The craft villages have been actively contributing to the restructuring and development of the rural economy, laying the groundwork for successfully implementing the one-commune-one-product (OCOP) programme and the new rural construction programme in the city.

Director of Ha Noi Promotion Agency Nguyen Anh Duong told the conference: The City Party Committee and the People's Committee have directed various departments to implement synchronised measures to support craft village enterprises, promoting their products to different markets.

"Our craft village products have received significant attention, notably from major commercial centres such as AEON, LOTTE, CGV, where transactions and contracts have been successfully concluded. Recently, the Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee has directed the selection of prominent craft villages for international introductions. Additionally, there have been numerous other promotion activities in Ha Noi and provinces, including regional specialty programmes and events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the capital.

Information from the conference indicates that the Ha Noi Promotion Agency (HPA) will soon collaborate with relevant agencies to organise delegations for overseas trade promotion under the city's support mechanisms and policies. These include the Ambiente Frankfurt 2025 Fair in Germany, a fair in Hong Kong (China), and others.

Emphasising the importance of trade promotion, Ha Thi Vinh said: Trade promotion is one of the crucial issues for us. We believe there are ample opportunities in foreign markets, but the challenge lies in how we enter these markets.

"For our handicrafts to sustainably enter the global arena, the manufacturing facilities in craft villages must meet international standards. This is both an important issue and a difficulty we face. We hope that the city can establish exemplary models that meet international standards, so that other facilities can learn and increase their chances of exporting abroad.

Le Van Nguyen, an embroidery artisan, shared his views on the role of information technology in developing business for handicraft products.

He said: Applying new technology throughout the production and consumption chain is crucial for profitability in craft villages, reducing costs and enhancing competitiveness. From production processes to operations, management, online and direct sales and trade fairs, technology plays a pivotal role.

"These factors can be unfamiliar to producers and small business owners, highlighting the need for specific, verified guidance and targeted support from both central and local levels.

According to the municipal People's Committee, the city's traditional crafts and villages captivate both domestic and international tourists with their rich cultural heritage and the ingenuity of skilled artisans.

These unique products include Phu Vinh bamboo and rattan weaving, Chuong conical hats, Ha Thai lacquerware, Tay Tuu flowers, Quat ong embroidery, Van Phuc silk, Bat Trang ceramics, Xuan La toy figurines, Me Tri green rice, Chang Son fans, ao Thuc water puppets, Thach Xa bamboo dragonflies, Ngu Xa bronze casting, and inh Cong silver carving.

The preservation and development of these craft villages, integrated with cultural, agricultural, and rural tourism, provide multifaceted economic benefits to the local community. This approach is a vital strategy for Ha Noi, both now and in the future. - VNS
'The US Mission to Vietnam through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) since 2017 on the design, development, and approval of the DPPA. USAID will continue to partner with MoIT on the DPPAs implementation.

I extend my sincere congratulations to the MoIT for their dedication and hard work in bringing this DPPA to fruition, US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper shared at the DPPA launch event on July 5. Our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership marks a new era of collaboration between our two nations, and the DPPA is a testament to our deepening ties and shared commitment to sustainable development.

When implemented, the new policy will allow businesses in Vietnam to purchase electricity directly from private firms producing renewable energy, enabling them to power their operations with 100 per cent renewable energy. This will help Vietnam attract private sector investment in renewable energy while meeting the needs of corporate leaders seeking to integrate renewable energy into their operations and achieve their corporations emissions reduction targets.

The US Mission to Vietnam through USAID is honoured to have partnered with the MoIT over several years to reach this milestone, said USAID/Vietnam Mission director Aler Grubbs. The DPPA will enable businesses to reduce their carbon footprint while also enabling Vietnam to accelerate its clean energy transition and advance its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. The US remains Vietnams partner as you roll out this important initiative and expand Vietnams access to clean and renewable energy.

The DPPA will enable international and domestic businesses in Vietnam to achieve greater carbon-reduction towards their net-zero goals while accelerating the countrys clean energy transition. The US partners with Vietnam to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase resilience to climate change for those most vulnerable to its impacts, by, in part, supporting a fair and inclusive energy transition.

The US is a committed partner of Vietnam in advancing the countrys transition to a clean, secure, and market-based energy sector, in line with the two countries shared priorities under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

24 renewable projects show interest in direct power purchase agreement 24 renewable energy projects with a combined capacity of 1,773MW have expressed interest in participating in a pilot scheme for a direct power purchase agreement (DPPA) in Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in a report submitted to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh las week.

DPPA decree may require supplements The draft decree on direct power purchase agreements, if adopted, will be a convenient mechanism for both renewable energy power generation projects and large customers, but there are still concerns about power transmission and expanding the number of electricity buyers.
Beryl slammed into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday as a hurricane before weakening into a tropical storm, bringing whipping rains and flooding as it continues its destructive run across the Caribbean where it killed at least 11 people, according to reports.

Beryl hit with winds howling as much as 70 mph near the coastal resort town of Tulum and weakened as it moved across the peninsula.

But the National Hurricane Center warned that it will regain its intensity and reform into a hurricane when it passes over the warmer waters of the Gulf of Mexico, threatening northeast Mexico and Texas by Sunday or early Monday.

Beryl, the first hurricane of this season and the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record, crashed into the Windward Islands of Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines earlier this week and then moved on to the Cayman Islands and Jamaica before lashing Mexico with its ferocity.

Authorities moved tourists and residents from low-lying areas of Tulum, which in some places is just a few feet above sea level, before Beryl made landfall, the Associated Press reported.

But thousands of people remained to ride out the storm.

More than 3,000 tourists were evacuated from Isla Mujeres, a tourist spot near Cancun, Reuters reported. And around 100 flights were canceled at Cancun's main airport.
Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada is hosting a series of back-to-school vaccines clinics. Here is the schedule:

Moana Neighborhood Center: Saturday, July 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 480 E. Moana Lane.

North Valleys Neighborhood Center: Monday, July 8 from 1 to 4 p.m. at 440 E. Golden Valley Road.

Sun Valley Neighborhood Center: Friday, July 12 from 1 to 4 p.m. at 130 West Gepford Parkway.

Fernley Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows: Saturday, July 20 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 396 US Highway 95a South, Suite 401

Students must be between the ages 5-19 who are eligible for the VFC program if they are uninsured, Medicaid-eligible or Medicaid-enrolled, American Indian or Alaska Native, or underinsured.

Parents must be present and, if possible, provide shot record information. Out-of-state residents must show proof of vaccination to qualify.
Xi congratulates Ghazouani on re-election as Mauritanian president

Xinhua) 09:27, July 06, 2024

BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a message to Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani, congratulating him on re-election as president of Mauritania.

China and Mauritania enjoy traditional friendship, Xi said, adding that in recent years, under the two leaders' joint guidance, bilateral relations have developed steadily and exchanges and cooperation in various fields have yielded fruitful results.

Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Mauritania relations, and is ready to work with President Ghazouani to push their countries' friendly cooperative relationship to a new level and better benefit the two peoples.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Donald Trump on Friday suddenly tried to distance himself from the extremist Project 2025 plan for the nation even though it was created by some of his White House aides and he has already espoused a number of positions in the paper.

"I know nothing about Project 2025," Trump insisted on Truth Social. "I have no idea who is behind it."

He added: "I disagree with some of the things they are saying and some of the things they're saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal."

Nevertheless, he emphasized: "Anything they do, I wish them luck ... but I have nothing to do with them."

I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things theyre saying and some of the things theyre saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.



Donald Trump  Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) July 5, 2024

Critics quickly pointed out that Trump noted he had reservations about some aspects of the 922-page plan he claimed to "know nothing about."

Three key people behind Project 2025  John McEntee, Russ Vought and plan promoter Karoline Leavitt  worked in Trump's White House.

Project 2025 has been created under the auspices of the right-wing think tank Heritage Foundation, which Trump has often extolled and for which he gave a keynote address in 2017, praising its "devotion to our country."

Trump's SuperPac runs promotions on Project 2025, and has referred to it as "Trump's Project 2025." (The Heritage Foundation boasted that Trump enacted 66% of the organization's policies in his first year in the White House.)

McEntee has boasted to Trump's former White House strategist Steve Bannon that Trump would move immediately enact the plan when he takes office.

Here is Trump Senior Advisor and former appointee John McEntee, who helped draft Project 2025, explaining to Steve Bannon last July how Trump plans to implement the plan immediately after taking office. But Trump doesnt know these people or anything about it. pic.twitter.com/XR9X2IbFAk  Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 5, 2024

Project 2025 outlines plans to crack down further on abortion rights and IVF treatments, as well as on members of the LGBTQ community. It would ban pornography.

The plan would shut down the Board of Education (which Trump just espoused late last month) and would also end or curtail Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, would use public funds for Christian education, and would move quickly to execute all prisoners on death row.

It would slash taxes again, and cut federal funds for research and investment in renewable energy, and "stop the war on oil and natural gas."

A mass of federal employees would be deemed political appointees and be replaced by right-wing loyalists under the plan.

On Wednesday Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts sparked a fiery blowback when he appeared to threaten bloodshed if the left doesn't fall in line with a "second American Revolution." It will only "remain bloodless if the left allows it to be," he emphasized.

They are telling us to just be quiet and take it. Are you going to sit back and let them have their revolution? pic.twitter.com/uXcbN745pQ  Fred Wellman (@FPWellman) July 3, 2024

Ammar Moussa, spokesperson for President Biden's campaign, called Project 2025 the "extreme policy and personnel playbook for Trump's second term that should scare the hell out of the American people."

She added that far from having nothing to do with Trump, Project 2025 "staff and leadership routinely tout their connections to Trump's team and are the same people leading the RNC [Republican National Committee] policy platform and Trump's debate prep, campaign and inner circle."

Trump's "Supreme Court and Project 2025 have designed the playbook for Trump to achieve his dream of being a dictator on day one, with unchecked imperial power," she added.

Yet Project 2025 (which could be the first year of Trump's next administration) insisted in a statement on Twitter that it's not connected to any particular presidential campaign, simply the next conservative president.

PROJECT 2025 SPOKESPERSON:



As weve been saying for more than two years now, Project 2025 does not speak for any candidate or campaign.



We are a coalition of more than 110 conservative groups advocating policy & personnel recommendations for the next conservative president.  Project 2025 (@Prjct2025) July 5, 2024

The Project 2025 website states that it is a "2025 Presidential Transition Project" with a goal of building on "four pillars that will, collectively, pave the way for an effective conservative administration: a policy agenda, personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook."
Loved ones of a missing teen found killed and dismembered near a Pennsylvania lake said "only an absolute monster" could commit such a heinous murder.

DaShawn Watkins, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in connection with the death of 14-year-old Paul "Pauly" Likens, Jr., Pennsylvania State Police confirmed.

Pauly vanished on a walk after leaving a friend's Sharon, Pennsylvania home the night of June 22, WFMJ-TV reported, citing the criminal complaint. His family reported him missing the next morning.

Police believe Pauly connected with his alleged killer on the Grindr dating app and the pair agreed to meet at the Shenango Lake, citing phone records and social media.

Days passed and the teen's missing person's case took a turn when dismembered human remains were found in the water. A medical examiner determined the body parts belonged to Pauly and he died from sharp force trauma to the head.

"Only an absolute monster could do something like that to anyone, let alone a child," Pauly's aunt, Liz Morsillo, told WPXI-TV Wednesday. "I hope he (Watkins) gets what he deserves."

Surveillance footage around the time of the suspected slaying allegedly captured Watkins carrying "multiple bags and garbage bags" from his area apartment, where blood was also allegedly recovered, police said, the outlet reported.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe launched to help defray funeral costs stated in part the teen "had a whole life ahead of him. No mother should have to bury their baby."
As Business Head at OSL Luxury Collections, Salesh Grover oversees the Corneliani brand. With a wealth of experience in the luxury fashion industry, Grover has been pivotal in enhancing the brands presence and success in the market. His strategic vision, dedication to excellence, and profound understanding of luxury retail have made him a respected leader in the field.

In conversation with Adgully, Salesh Grover, Business Head, OSL Luxury Collections, speaks about the importance of blending tradition with innovation in the luxury fashion industry. With his extensive experience, Grover emphasizes the need to maintain the heritage and craftsmanship of brands like Corneliani, while adapting to modern trends and consumer preferences. His strategic vision and dedication to excellence have been pivotal in enhancing the brands market presence and success.

What inspired you to pursue a career in the luxury fashion industry, and how did your journey lead you to become the Business Head of Corneliani?

My passion for creativity, artistry, and the ability of design to change lives is what inspired me to work in the luxury fashion sector. I was always captivated by the fine craftsmanship and sophistication of high-end clothing, and I was sure that I wanted to work in a field that honoured creativity and originality.

My journey into the fashion sector started with a solid academic background in business and fashion management, which was followed by years of practical experience in a variety of industry roles. My career began in retail and I moved up the ranks fast to work in strategy development and brand management. Through this growth, I was able to get a thorough understanding of the fashion industry, covering everything from design and production to marketing and sales.

Joining Corneliani was a significant milestone in my career. My professional ideals and objectives were profoundly aligned with the brands dedication to sartorial excellence, historic legacy, and emphasis on quality and elegance. As Cornelianis Business Head, I get to steer the brands growth and innovation while upholding its fundamental values of sophistication and workmanship.

Could you share a significant milestone or project in your career at Corneliani that you believe played a crucial role in your ascent to your current position?

The successful completion of multiple major projects, including the introduction of a new franchise model, the Made to Measure program, and our flagship store renovation, was one of the most important turning points in my career at Corneliani and, in my opinion, fundamental to my rise to my current position. These projects all made a big difference in Cornelianis expansion and in my career advancement, while also demonstrating our brands commitment to quality and innovation.

The introduction of a new franchise model was a strategic move that expanded Cornelianis global footprint. By partnering with select franchisees, we were able to enter new markets and enhance brand visibility. This model ensured that the essence of Cornelianis brand was preserved while allowing for local market adaptation, thereby driving international growth.

Furthermore, the renovation of our flagship store was another successful project. The revamped store not only enhanced the customer experience, but also reflected the brands elegance and modernity and involved design elements that aligned with Cornelianis luxury image, thereby attracting a broader clientele and increasing store footfall.

How do you approach leadership and team management within the luxury fashion sector, and what key qualities do you believe are essential for effective leadership in this industry?

My leadership and team management style in the premium fashion industry is based on encouraging creativity and cooperation. I believe in establishing a clear vision and plan that is consistent with our long-term goals, as well as ensuring that all team members understand and accept our mission. Empowering talent is critical; I prioritize developing creativity and professional progress, encouraging team members to take responsibility for their jobs. Collaboration and open communication are important for utilizing different viewpoints and creating innovation. Understanding and anticipating the needs of our luxury clients allows us to maintain the highest levels of quality and service.

Furthermore, flexibility and adaptability allow us to respond quickly to market trends and emerging opportunities, whereas a dedication to sustainability and ethical practices appeals to todays conscious consumers. Effective leadership in this profession demands visionary thinking, creativity, emotional intelligence, resilience, effective communication, and unwavering determination. By embodying these values, I aim to lead with purpose and encourage my team to excel.

What are some of the biggest challenges that you have encountered as the Business Head of Corneliani, and how have you overcome them to maintain the brands reputation for Italian refinement and elegance?

One of the primary challenges is finding the right location and the correct brand mix. The lack of appropriate retail spaces and the optimal brand mix often results in missed opportunities, and makes it a little difficult to secure prime retail spaces that align with brands standards.

The luxury market is quite competitive, and the right location can make a substantial difference in attracting the target clientele. So, partnering with brands that complement your brand ethos is essential to creating a cohesive and compelling retail experience.

Another challenge has been finding the right manpower to effectively represent your brand. The luxury retail sector demands not only prime locations, but also skilled and knowledgeable staff who can embody the brands values and provide an unparalleled customer experience.

How do you ensure that Corneliani continues to innovate while staying true to its roots of Italian craftsmanship and savoir-faire?

At Corneliani, we prioritize the integration of modern technologies and contemporary design trends while preserving our rich heritage. Innovation is embedded in our process through continuous research and development, allowing us to explore new materials, techniques, and design concepts that enhance our offerings while maintaining the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship.

To stay true to our roots, we are committed to sourcing the finest materials from Italy and working closely with skilled artisans who have honed their craft over generations. This dedication to authenticity and excellence ensures that every Corneliani product embodies the essence of Italian savoir-faire.

By staying attuned to market trends and consumer insights, we can innovate in ways that resonate with our clientele while preserving the core values that have defined Corneliani for decades.

Through this balanced approach, we ensure that Corneliani continues to lead in the luxury fashion industry, combining innovation with the timeless elegance and craftsmanship that our brand is renowned for.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years, and what strategies do you plan to implement to keep the brand at the forefront of the industry?

In the next five years, I see myself leading Corneliani and OSL Luxury Collections towards new heights, expanding our portfolio to include additional premium brands and categories. We are planning to implement a more holistic approach, diversifying our offerings to include more sectors under the OSL umbrella. In the coming times, we will explore and penetrate new markets beyond Italy, leveraging our expertise to establish a strong global presence. By continuously innovating and adapting to industry trends, we will ensure that our brands remain at the forefront of the luxury fashion industry, delivering exceptional quality and elegance to our discerning clientele.

Could you discuss a difficult decision you made in your role at Corneliani, the factors that influenced your decision, and the outcome it had on the company or its direction?

One of the most significant decisions I recently made at Corneliani was significant store renovation and during the period, the store was closed for three months. This decision wasnt taken lightly, as it meant halting our regular in-store operations and risking potential sales.

To minimize the impact of the store closure, we implemented alternative strategies to maintain our sales momentum through trunk shows, exclusive events and home shopping services, ensuring our customers continued to experience the Corneliani brand and access our collections.

So, the outcome of the store renovation decision was challenging, but turned out to be incredibly rewarding. The newly renovated store has been well-received by our clientele, reflecting a modern and luxurious ambiance that aligns with Cornelianis values. The enhanced shopping environment has attracted new customers and reinvigorated our existing customer base. Overall, this strategic decision has positioned Corneliani for continued growth and success, reaffirming the importance of taking calculated risks for long-term benefits.

Also Read: Ad lands young guns: Jaiwant S Dhingra, Director - Marketing, Numero Uno Clothing
The baby care market in India is expected to generate revenue of around $298.70 million in 2024 and grow at a CAGR of nearly 3.13% between 2024 and 2028, as per industry reports. Recently, there has been a growing trend of health-conscious parenting in India, as well as making sustainable consumption choices.

Allter, one of the pioneering sustainable baby care brands in India, offers certified, rash-free, organic, eco-friendly diapers created from bamboo and other baby care products. The brand is spearheaded by Surbhi Bafna Gupta and Arnav Gupta. It was born out of a personal journey, when the founder Surbhi Bafna who is a new mother and entrepreneur advocating sustainability, was looking for eco-friendly substitutes for conventional diapers. The latter contributes majorly to landfill waste, environmental damage including depletion of resources, pollution, and releases harmful chemicals. They also cause problems for babies skin.

The brands vision is to offer solutions prioritizing the health, well-being of babies and the planet, redefining the landscape of baby care in India. It introduces a balanced approach for modern parents to care both for their babies as well as the environment, which in turn impacts their babies health. This ensures that they make informed consumption choices, resulting in an easy-going baby hygiene process.

Recently the brand signed a Rs 1-crore deal on Season 3 of Shark Tank India with entrepreneurs Ritesh Agarwal, Anupam Mittal, and Aman Gupta. Actress Dia Mirza, who is known for being a strong supporter of sustainability, is one of the investors of Allter, where every diaper change is a step towards a more green and healthy future for both the planet and the babies.

In an interview with Adgully, Surbhi Bafna Gupta, Founder & CEO, Allter, delves into the journey of her venture and the story behind its creation. She also sheds light on the guiding principles, the driving force behind Allter, what differentiates it from its competitors, its experience in Shark Tank India - Season 3, and more.

Could you take us through the journey of Allter so far? What is its brand vision and brand positioning?

Allters journey thus far has been nothing short of exhilarating, thanks to the unwavering support of our cherished customers. Since our inception, our vision has been crystal clear: to establish Allter as the go-to brand for parents seeking innovative solutions to their diapering challenges.

Our brand is not just about products; its about transformation. When people speak of Allter, they are not just talking about diapers; they are sharing stories of how we have revolutionized their parenting experiences. Our brand positioning revolves around being the catalyst for change, the solution provider for parents navigating the maze of diapering dilemmas.

We are committed to continuously refining and redefining our offerings to better serve the evolving needs of modern parents. With every product and every interaction, we aim to reinforce our brand promise of reliability, innovation, and above all, transformative solutions. Our journey is propelled by the trust and loyalty of our customers, and we are dedicated to exceeding their expectations at every turn.

How was Allter born and what led to its foundation?

Allters genesis is rooted in a deeply personal journey. Recognizing a widespread issue impacting parents worldwide  the prevalence of diaper rash and the lack of suitable alternatives in the market  we embarked on a mission to redefine diapering standards.

Driven by a fervent desire to provide a safer, more natural option for babies and a convenient solution for parents, Allter was conceived. Our commitment to innovation and sustainability led us to introduce Indias first organic bamboo-based disposable diaper.

This ground-breaking product not only addresses the urgent need for gentle, skin-friendly diapering solutions, but also champions environmental consciousness by utilizing renewable resources.

At Allter, we believe that every baby deserves the best start in life, and every parent deserves peace of mind. Our foundation is built upon these principles, and our journey is propelled by the passion to revolutionize the parenting landscape one diaper at a time.

What are the guiding principles of Allter and what is the driving force behind it?

At Allter, our guiding principles are anchored in a commitment to excellence, innovation, and unwavering dedication to serving parents and their precious little ones. Our driving force is deeply personal; as parents ourselves, we understand the profound desire to provide nothing but the best for our children. This shared experience fuels our passion and propels us forward, inspiring us to craft high-performance natural products that address the most pressing concerns of modern parenting.

Every product we create is a testament to our relentless pursuit of excellence and our steadfast commitment to enhancing the well-being of babies and the peace of mind of parents.

At Allter, we dont just aim to meet expectations; we strive to exceed them, driven by the belief that every parent deserves access to safe, effective, and innovative solutions for their little ones.

What is the USP of Allter and what differentiates it from other competitor brands?

At Allter, our Unique Selling Proposition (USP) lies in our unwavering focus on performance, our relentless dedication to customer feedback, and our deep understanding of the needs and aspirations of parents.

What sets us apart from our competitors is our commitment to listening to our consumers and integrating their valuable feedback into every aspect of our business, from product development to customer service. As business owners who are also parents, we empathize with our target audience on a personal level, allowing us to create products and communications that resonate deeply with them.

Our emphasis on building high-performance natural products tailored specifically for parents stems from our firsthand experience navigating the challenges of parenthood. This unique perspective enables us to deliver innovative solutions that not only meet but exceed the expectations of modern parents.

At Allter, we dont just sell products; we offer peace of mind and solutions that empower parents to navigate the journey of parenthood with confidence and ease. Our commitment to performance, customer-centricity, and empathy is what truly differentiates us in the market.

How was the experience of Allter in Shark Tank India 3, where it bagged a Rs 1-crore deal with sharks Aman Gupta, Ritesh Agarwal and Anupam Mittal?

The experience of Allter on Shark Tank India 3 was nothing short of monumental. Securing a Rs 1-crore deal with esteemed sharks Aman Gupta, Ritesh Agarwal, and Anupam Mittal not only validated the strength and potential of our brand, but also provided an unparalleled platform to showcase our innovative products to millions of viewers nationwide.

The exposure garnered from Shark Tank propelled Allter into the spotlight, allowing us to connect with a vast audience of parents and caregivers and effectively communicate our brand message: Alternative hai! This momentous opportunity not only facilitated brand awareness, but also solidified our position as pioneers in the parenting industry.

Being featured on Shark Tank not only validated our vision, but also reinforced our commitment to providing high-quality, natural solutions for parents and their little ones. It was an experience that fueled our passion and drive to continue innovating and revolutionizing the parenting landscape.

Overall, our journey on Shark Tank was a transformative experience that bolstered our brand presence, amplified our message, and ultimately propelled Allter to new heights of success.

How did your journey as an entrepreneur begin?

My journey as an entrepreneur commenced in the humble surroundings of my homes basement, just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a challenging time, characterized by relentless dedication and unwavering commitment to our vision.

During those early days, my husband and I personally handled every aspect of the business  from product development to order fulfillment. This hands-on approach not only instilled in us a deep appreciation for the intricacies of entrepreneurship, but also served as a catalyst for innovation and growth.

Amidst the chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic, we engaged in intense reflection on our business strategy, recognizing the need for agility and adaptability in the face of unprecedented challenges. We swiftly pivoted our approach, leveraging emerging trends and consumer insights to steer our company toward success.

This period of adversity was transformative, shaping not only our business trajectory, but also our entrepreneurial ethos. It reinforced our resilience, determination, and unwavering commitment to realizing our vision of building a thriving and impactful enterprise.

As we look back on our entrepreneurial journey, we are proud of how far we have come and inspired by the possibilities that lie ahead. Every obstacle we have encountered has only fueled our passion and propelled us closer to our goals, underscoring the boundless potential of entrepreneurship in driving positive change and transformation.

How was the year 2023 for Allter and what are the growth projections, and expansion plans for 2024?

2023 was a pivotal year of growth and innovation for Allter, marked by several significant milestones that underscored our commitment to redefining the parenting industry.

The launch of Indias first diaper subscription service revolutionized the way parents access essential baby care products, providing convenience and peace of mind to countless families nationwide. This innovative offering was met with overwhelming success, reaffirming Allters position as a trailblazer in the market.

Our appearance on Shark Tank further solidified our brands reputation and amplified our reach, garnering widespread acclaim and recognition from both consumers and industry experts alike. It was a momentous occasion that propelled Allter into the national spotlight, paving the way for even greater opportunities on the horizon.

Looking ahead to 2024, our focus remains firmly on growth and expansion. We are poised to scale aggressively, with ambitious plans to venture into offline markets and establish a formidable presence across the country. Additionally, we aim to leverage the burgeoning trend of q-commerce to tap into new markets and engage with consumers in innovative ways.

As we embark on this exciting journey, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction. With a steadfast dedication to excellence and a clear vision for the future, we are confident that 2024 will be another landmark year for Allter as we continue to redefine the parenting experience for families everywhere.

Adgully also caught up with actress Dia Mirza who is a UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador and a strategic investor in Allter, also representing the brand. She shared about how her values align with the brand vision of Allter, how Allter empowers modern parents to make informed consumption choices ensuring stress-free baby hygiene, and how every diaper change with Allter becomes a step towards a greener, healthier future for both the planet and the babies.

How do your values align with the brand vision of Alter?

Reflecting on my values, I find a deep alignment with Allters vision. Both of us share a commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship, recognizing the urgent need to shift our mindset towards greater care for our planet. In todays world, the environmental challenges we face demand that we re-evaluate our behaviours, particularly in how we consume and dispose of products. Allter addresses this need by offering bamboo diapers, a sustainable alternative to traditional diapers. These eco-friendly diapers help reduce waste and conserve resources, fostering a culture of responsibility. This isnt just about convenience; its about necessity. By embracing products like Allters bamboo diapers, we contribute to a healthier planet for future generations. Aligning with Allters vision involves more than individual actions; its about building a community of like-minded individuals dedicated to making a positive impact. Together, we can create a ripple effect, influencing broader societal norms and practices.

How does Allter empower modern parents to make informed consumption choices while ensuring stress-free baby hygiene?

Allter empowers modern parents by offering eco-friendly bamboo diapers that simplify and enhance baby hygiene. These diapers provide a stress-free experience for parents, combining convenience with environmental responsibility. By choosing Allter, parents can ensure their babies stay comfortable and clean while making a positive impact on the planet. Allter's bamboo diapers are gentle on sensitive baby skin, free from harmful chemicals, and highly absorbent. This means parents can trust in the quality and safety of the products they use for their little ones. Additionally, bamboo is a sustainable resource, reducing the environmental footprint of each diaper change. The brand also helps parents make informed consumption choices by providing transparent information about the benefits of bamboo and the environmental impact of their products. By educating parents on sustainable practices, the brand encourages a shift towards greener living, making it easier for families to adopt eco-friendly habits. In essence, Allter supports modern parents by offering reliable, high-quality, and sustainable diapering solutions. This ensures not only the best care for their babies but also peace of mind that they are contributing to a healthier planet for their children's future.

How does every diaper change with Allter become a step towards a healthier, greener future for both babies and the planet?

As a parent, I'm passionate about providing the best for my child while being mindful of our planet. The brand's organic bamboo diapers align perfectly with my values, making every diaper change a conscious step toward a healthier, greener future. Allter uses organic bamboo, a highly sustainable resource that requires less water and pesticides compared to traditional diaper materials. This reduces our environmental footprint with each diaper change.

Additionally, Allter diapers are free from harmful chemicals, ensuring they are gentle on my babys sensitive skin. This reduces the risk of rashes and irritation, promoting better health and comfort. By choosing Allter, I support a brand committed to sustainable manufacturing practices, including responsible sourcing and eco-friendly production processes. This collective effort can make a significant difference. The brand also empowers parents with information about the benefits of organic bamboo diapers, encouraging more families to adopt eco-friendly habits. In conclusion, every diaper change with Allter supports a healthier environment and a sustainable future for our children.
A beloved Connecticut K-9 who nabbed "countless" suspects died Thursday from medical complications, police announced.

Drago was 6 years old when he succumbed to complications from gastric dilation volvulus, or a twisted stomach, according to WFSB-TV.

He was assigned to Trooper Kyle Kaelberer and they "served together as highly respected members of the State Police Tactical Unit," Drago's death announcement on Facebook read.

"During his career, K-9 Drago successfully located countless wanted suspects, missing persons, as well as a large quantity of illicit narcotics."

"Wherever K-9 Drago and TFC Kaelberer went, his bark would stop suspects in their tracks. But the floppy-eared dog was also known to the citizens as a beloved member of the Tolland County community," the post continued, describing the pup as a "tough and decorated member" of the state police.

"K-9 Drago will be missed by everyone. We stand behind TFC Kaelberer and family during this tough time."

Drago first joined the CSP in 2019, according to CT Insider. He was assigned to Kaelberer and the duo graduated from patrol and narcotics detection classes.

"K-9 Drago was a beloved member of Troop C, and made an immeasurable impact on the safety of the citizens of Tolland County, the State of Connecticut, and the Connecticut State Police as a whole," a separate statement read.
Alabama state Sen. Garlan Gudger Jr., R-Cullman, is doing remarkably well after being involved in a jet ski accident with his son on Thursday, his mother said Friday.

I just spoke to his doctor and he is doing remarkably well considering that he was run over by a JetSki!!, Dot Denning Gudger posted on Facebook.

Gudger suffered broken ribs and a chipped vertebrae in the accident on Smith Lake, his mother said.

All of this is causing much pain, especially in his back, she said.

Doctors planned on getting Gudger up and walking on Friday, according to his mother.

I dread that for him so please pray because its going to be very painful, she said. Again, thank all of you and continue to pray for us because thats what we need right now more than anything.

The 49-year-old senator from Cullman was driving a 2024 Sea-Doo GTI Sunday afternoon when the personal watercraft was struck in the rear by another Sea-Doo driven by his son, 21-year-old Garlan E. Gudger III, ALEA Trooper Sgt. Jeremy Burkett said Friday.

The collision happened at 3:15 p.m. Thursday in the Little Crooked Creek area, also known as Rock Creek, on Smith Lake in Cullman County.

Burkett said the crash caused both drivers to be thrown into the water, but both were wearing personal flotation devices.

Burkett said bystanders in the area assisted the father and son out of the water and took them to a nearby dock.

Gudger Jr. was airlifted to UAB Hospital where he was in the Intensive Care Unit after undergoing surgery. He sustained internal bleeding and other injures, according to a statement released by the Alabama State Senate.

Gudger III was evaluated by paramedics and released on the scene.

Gudgers wife, Heather, released the following statement late Thursday night:

From the first responders who were quickly on the scene to the members of the helicopter airlift unit to the doctors and nurses at UAB and everyone else who assisted during this accident, we offer our deepest thanks and recognition that each of them kept a difficult situation from being even worse.

To those across the state who have reached out and lifted up our family with their prayers of mending and comfort, we feel your support and know that God holds Garlan in his healing hands.

Everyone who knows Garlan is aware that he is a strong, tough, and energetic man who will recover from these injuries and continue serving the citizens of his district while promoting the conservative Alabama values that so many of us hold close.

The Cullman Republican was elected to the state senate in 2018, according to a biography on the Alabama Senate Republicans webpage.

The Crane Hill Fire Department and Cullman EMS both responded to the scene and assisted with medical treatment and transport.

The investigation is ongoing by ALEAs Marine Patrol Division.
Comedian Tony Knight was killed last month when he was hit by a falling branch at a music festival in southern France, his family confirmed Thursday.

The 54-year-old English comic died in the June 8 freak accident, which also injured four others just before the start of the Rock & Cars festival in Lavaur, first reported by local outlet Le Tarn Libre.

Knights family confirmed his death this week in a statement to Fox News Digital.

He was only 54 and having the time of his life, said Knights loved ones. He was fit, healthy, happy and had everything going for him. He was charismatic, funny, passionate and so very loved by [his long-term partner] Hayley, his family and his friends all over the world.

Knight and Hayley Wright had been together for over 15 years, her sister Joanne said.

Knight  who had a home in Bouillac, not far from where the festival was held  was back in France for his annual visit for only a few days before the accident occurred.

Hayley was to follow soon, as they did every year at this time, Joanne wrote on a GoFundMe set up to help Hayley with funeral costs, medical bills and fees associated with sorting Knights estate.

Hayley is now living her worst nightmare and facing life without Tonyher soulmate, Joanne continued. She is in Bouillac having to deal with the difficulties of Tony being an Englishman with Australian residency living in France  all while experiencing a crushing amount of grief and disbelief in a foreign country.

The GoFundMe had raised over $8,000 of its $20,000 goal as of early Friday evening.

Le Tarn Libre said the tragedy was surprising to both attendees and organizers as there was no wind or storm, according to a translation.

Lavaur mayor Bernard Carayon released a statement in the wake of the traumatic incident.

I assure his family of our deep compassion and affectionate thoughts in this unbearable ordeal, said Carayon. I wish the injured a quick recovery after the traumatic shock suffered. Never has such a dramatic event occurred in our city.

2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The National Weather Service in Mobile is warning of the potential for life-threatening rip currents along Alabamas beaches through the weekend and for much of next week, fueled by Tropical Storm Beryls churn through the central Gulf of Mexico.

Visitors to beaches from Dauphin Island through the Florida Panhandle are advised to heed the beach flag warning system and follow lifeguard instructions. In Florida, beaches remain closed in Panama City Beach after double red flags were hoisted Friday.

A rip current is a powerful channel of water flowing away from shore. A high-risk warning means the surf zone is dangerous for all levels of swimmers, and the weather service advises swimmers to stay out of the water.

The warning echoes advice Friday from Stephen Leatherman, a professor in the Department of Earth & Environment at Florida International University in Miami and researcher into rip currents, who told Al.com, I think everyone should stay out of the water, go to the pool or watch (the Gulf) from ashore. When the storms are far away, and people think, Whats the problem? that is the formula for a disaster.

Swimmers caught in a rip current, the weather service says, should stay calm, call for help, and float rather than struggle against the flow.

The high risk of rip currents on Alabama beaches is expected to last through Sunday night, then drop to moderate Monday before returning to high Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the weather service.

A coastal flood advisory also remains in effect from Destin, Fla., west through Alabama until 1 a.m. Sunday.

As of Saturday afternoon, Beryl was 415 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas, moving west-northwest at 12 mph. The storm, which has already caused extensive damage in Mexico and parts of the Caribbean, had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. It was expected to gain strength Saturday and Sunday, and hurricane warnings are likely for parts of the Texas coast this weekend.
Three people were arrested Friday after they allegedly tried to smuggle contraband into an Alabama prison, according to the the state Department of Corrections.

Around 8:30 a.m. Friday, a K-9 officer with the ADOCs Law Enforcement Services Division noticed a suspicious vehicle and a person attempting to smuggle contraband into Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore, the agency said.

The officer turned on their lights and sirens before the suspect reentered the vehicle and fled.

The officer pursued the vehicle south onto I-65 before the vehicle left the road and crashed at Exit 10.

Justin Duckworth was identified as the suspect spotted by the officer. He was apprehended after a short foot chase.

The vehicles driver, identified as Jajuan Williams, and the rear passenger, identified as Amber Shields, were taken into custody at the scene, the ADOC said.

All three suspects were taken to the Escambia County Jail.

Duckworth was charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband, attempting to commit a controlled substance crime, marijuana possession, certain person forbidden to possess a firearm, second-degree receiving stolen property and prohibited activities.

Williams was charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband, attempting to commit a controlled substance crime, felony attempting to elude, first-degree criminal mischief, first-degree marijuana possession and prohibited activities.

Shields was charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband, attempting to commit a controlled substance crime, first-degree marijuana possession and prohibited activities.

The Poarch Creek Indians Police Department, the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency assisted on the case.

The ADOC investigation was ongoing and additional charges may be forthcoming, the agency said.
A man was killed and three people were injured, including two women who were flown to a hospital, following a multi-vehicle crash Thursday in southwest Alabama, authorities said.

William H. Moore, 69, of Higginsville, Missouri, was a passenger in a 2017 Jeep Liberty that struck a 2020 Dodge Ram 1500 around 4:17 p.m. Thursday on Highway 31 about six miles south of Brewton, in Escambia County, said Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Senior Trooper Joshua Thompson.

Moore was taken to D.W. McMillan Hospital in Brewton, where he died of his injuries, Thompson said.

The driver of the Ram was also taken to D.W. McMillan Hospital with undisclosed injuries.

After the collision between the Ram and Jeep, the Jeep was struck by a 2020 Hyundai Sonata.

The drivers of the Jeep and the Sonata, both women, were helicoptered to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola for treatment, Thompson said.

The extent of their injuries was not immediately disclosed.

Further information was unavailable as state troopers continued to investigate the fatal wreck.










English News Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence transcend differences in social system, ideology

Alwihda Info | Par People's Daily - 2 Juillet 2024



Under the new circumstances, China will keep working with all parties to inherit and carry forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, call for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, build a community with a shared future for mankind and write new chapters of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.

By He Yin, People's Daily This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Although born in Asia, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence transcend differences in social system and ideology. They have become an important norm governing contemporary international relations and fundamental principles of international law, contributing the wisdom of the East to properly handling state-to-state relations.



Under the current international situation, inheriting and promoting the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence is conducive to fostering international consensus and jointly addressing global challenges, thus promoting world peace and development.



The spirit of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence remains as relevant as ever.



Seven decades ago, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai put forth in full the five principles for the first time -- mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.



Since then, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence have been incorporated into a series of important international documents, widely accepted and recognized by countries across the world.



The enunciation of these principles was a major initiative in the history of international relations and a significant contribution to the building of a new type of just and equitable international relations.



The five principles capture the essence of todays international relations and manifest humanitys common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom. They can apply to relations among all countries regardless of their social system, stage of development or size.



Having withstood the test of the evolving international landscape in the past 70 years, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are showing strong vitality.



The significance of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence remains as important as ever.



The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence have strong vitality because they give concrete expression to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and conform to the fundamental interests of people around the world.



The core of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence is that there is sovereign equality among all countries and that no country should monopolize international affairs. These principles offer a powerful intellectual tool for developing countries to uphold their sovereignty and independence, and they have thus become a rallying call for enhancing solidarity, cooperation and strength among them.

The world today is undergoing both transformation and upheaval; changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace; and human society faces unprecedented challenges. In this context, inheriting and promoting the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence is particularly important.



Only by truly adhering to the principle of sovereign equality of states can the foundation for mutually beneficial cooperation between countries be established, and peace and development of the world ensured.



The role of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence has continued to grow.



The five principles are conducive to both peace and development. Rejecting the law of the jungle by which the strong bullies the weak, they provide a new approach for peacefully resolving historical issues and international disputes, and create a sound environment for mutually beneficial international cooperation and common development. They help build a fairer and more equitable international order.



In the world today, injustice and inequality are still pronounced problems in international relations. Unilateralism, protectionism and bullyism are resurging. Regional conflicts and local wars continue to erupt.



The international community should further inherit and promote the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, uphold sovereign equality, respect each other's core interests and major concerns, enhance mutual trust through dialogue, and build peace through cooperation. By doing this, the international community will continuously embrace common progress and win-win outcomes.



China champions and firmly observes the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Over the past seventy-plus years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, China has always followed a path of peaceful development. It has never initiated a war or occupied an inch of a foreign land. It is the only country that has incorporated peaceful development in its Constitution, and the only country among the five nuclear-weapon states to pledge no first use of nuclear weapons.



China is working to build a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, as well as cleanness and beauty, and a community with a shared future for mankind. Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative, providing Chinese solutions to development issues facing the mankind.



Adhering to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in pursuing friendship and cooperation with other countries, China is committed to promoting a new type of international relations, and will contribute its strength in safeguarding world peace and promoting common development.



Under the new circumstances, China will keep working with all parties to inherit and carry forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, call for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, build a community with a shared future for mankind and write new chapters of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > Prospering telemedicine a reflection of China's rapid internet development To make China-ASEAN cooperation more fruitful China sees prospering development of marine economy Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
One deadly myth harmful to the conservative cause is that once the full weight of the establishment pushes a liberal initiative forward, it is futile to resist it.

Such fatalism is false. Plenty of well-advanced leftist initiatives have suffered crushing defeats. It is enough to recall the doomed Equal Rights Amendment, Roe v. Wade, or Common Core. All found their way to the liberal graveyard of lost causes awaiting reincarnation under other acronyms.

The Fate of DEI

The latest program to suffer the indignity of premature death is DEI. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs require that race, ethnicity, sex, and LGBTQ+ orientation be used as primary criteria to run and staff corporations, universities, and institutions.

These programs were all the rage as little as a year ago. Every corporation, university, or institution had to have its DEI officer or department that would virtue-signal compliance with mandates. Graduates specialized in DEI studies were guaranteed cushy jobs at woke firms.

Those days are now over. DEI and its nasty cousin, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance mandates), are on their way out. Massive pushback from conservative activists has all but sealed their fate.

Massive Backlash Has Results

The DEI debacle happened because people challenged the fatalist myth that resistance to such programs is futile.

DEI is dying because activists and public interest groups are campaigning hard against it. They have seen how DEI programs, with their obsessions with race, sexual orientation, and other preferences, work to the detriment of good business practices. Critics argue that DEI initiatives weaponized the workplace, creating an atmosphere of distrust and mediocrity.

Instead of working to reduce discrimination, the DEI programs create friction and resentment that produce reverse discrimination. Instead of including everyone, they end up explicitly excluding groups of people, thus making matters worse.

Toward Workplace and Admissions Neutrality

Activists have waged war on DEI for some time. However, a Supreme Court ruling last June helped enormously. The decision held that race-based college admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the Constitutions equal protection under the law guarantee.

Taking their cue from the decision, organizations like the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) are working to guarantee equal protection and neutrality in the workplace everywhere.

In the battle against DEI tyranny, WILL and other public interest groups have filed over 100 lawsuits that contest the diversity mandates centered on race, ethnicity, sex, and LGBTQ+ orientation.

Groups like Color Us United and American First Legal have even set up webpages, social media notices, or toll-free numbers to help those who feel they have suffered under DEI injustice obtain free legal services.

A Chilling Effect Upon DEI

These efforts have borne fruit. The most successful lawsuits have been against the federal government, which has used its programs and monetary might to impose DEI mandates. Several court decisions have dismantled government programs or restricted funds worth tens of billions of dollars.

Private companies have much more flexibility in their hiring and operating practices. However, violations exist, and the activist groups target woke firms that promote reverse discrimination.

The threat of legal action has put a damper upon DEI activism everywhere. Even the wokest of companies are shutting down their DEI programs as a precaution against possible litigation. This threat has had a much-needed chilling effect since most companies want to avoid controversy, costly lawsuits or shareholder challenges.

DEI Is Unpopular

Polls show that while Americans might accept some special programs favoring underrepresented groups, they oppose mandated programs, quotas and college admission allocations. Americans favor fairness but not the tyranny of forcing acquired pronoun usage in the workplace.

Such polls also find that majorities, which included all racial groups, believe that a persons qualifications should be the primary consideration for hiring and promotion decisions -- even if it results in a less diverse workforce.

Nevertheless, the Biden Administration has sponsored legislation and signed orders contrary to the nations pro-merit sentiments. On his first day in office, for example, President Joe Biden signed an order declaring that affirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our government. His pro-DEI record favors mandates, quotas, and arbitrary exclusion of non-favored groups.

Anti-DEI Is Popular

While DEI is unpopular with the American public, anti-DEI activist groups are popular and booming.

The ten most popular legal groups contesting DEI reverse discrimination and workplace non-neutrality are growing. The Washington Post reports that from 2017 to 2022, donations to the top ten groups have surged from nearly $35 million to more than $135 million.

The groups mainly take action on the state level. Public interest litigation has proven much more effective than ordinary lobbying efforts. Their litigation has stopped diversity training sessions, abolished racial quotas for boards and eliminated race-based fellowships.

The shift is changing the landscape as merit and ability have a chance to trump the artificial diversity criteria in the workplace. Sound business practices have an opportunity to flourish once again.

All these things are happening because there were those who challenged the myth that it is futile to resist well-established liberal programs. It can be done, and the decline of DEI is proof.

Image: Quinn Dombrowski
The present world we see today can be traced back to a war that is almost unknown in America, yet had it turned out differently  and it almost did  much of the world problems were see today might not exist.

The Dutch Boers (lit: farmers, also called Afrikaners) in South Africa fled inland, away from the Cape Colony, after the British took it over in 1814. They did not want to live under British rule.

The Dutch did not like the imposition of English language and culture. They resented the abolition of slavery. (Where have we heard that before?) But it was more than slavery.

The Boers were primarily the descendants of Dutch, Huguenot, and German Calvinists. In the 1830s, these Dutch farmers left the then-British Cape Colony and headed for the interior, where they would form the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republics.

This was called the Great Trek, and it became the stuff of legend. The arduous journey and settlement of the interior paralleled the American conquest of the West. Great paintings were made; books were written about it.

The Boers were religiously conservative Calvinists. Their leaders carried bibles with them. Admittedly, some took it a bit too far  Paul Kruger misinterpreted the bible to conclude that the Earth is flat  but they were overall quite admirable.

But the British kept interfering with them. They could not let the Boers go free. The English tried to interfere with us, too. They impounded our sailors, a cause of the War of 1812. They tried to persuade the Republic of Texas not to join the Union. They tried to interfere in our Civil War.

Only the Boers were too few to fight back.

In 1881, the Boers won the First Boer War, which secured their independence, though the British claimed they were still a vassal state. The British had expected the Boers to remain backward rubes, annoying, but mostly inconsequential. So to London, their independence was deemed a minor concession.

Only gold and diamonds were being found in the Boer Territory, and incredible amounts of wealth fell into the hands of the Boer  rather than the British, who wanted it for themselves.

So tens of thousands of British subjects poured into the Boer Republics to stake their claim. The Dutch Afrikaners called them Uitlanders (Outlanders, foreigners). The Boer government would not enfranchise them. They knew that to do so would destroy their Dutch Afrikaner republics.

This was clearly a manufactured crisis, similar to those who would ask Israel to give the Palestinians a right of return that would demographically destroy the Jewish state.

The British wanted those diamonds and gold, and they used every trick in the book to claim that the Boers were oppressors.

At first, they tried to overthrow the Boers in the Jameson Raid of 1895. The Boers caught wind of the plot and thwarted the raid.

The British would not let up, and in 1899, they started moving armies to the border to threaten the Boers.

With no other choice, the Boers pre-emptively struck, and for three years, the world saw a few heroic Boers make a monkey of the mighty British Army. The British had to create concentration camps, where Afrikaner women and children were held  and often starved  to force a surrender.

It scandalized the British

What prompted this war was major British money. Cecil Rhodes, a former prime minister of the British Cape Colony and a mining magnate and conspirator in the Jameson Raid, along with a few London bankers, wanted complete control of all the gold and the diamonds. Those diamonds and gold could finance Rhodess elitist dreams for world British control.

Rhodes wanted to bring America back under British rule.

Why should we not form a secret society with but one object the furtherance of the British Empire and the bringing of the whole uncivilised world under British rule for the recovery of the United States for the making the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire?

Yes, this was the mother of all conspiracy theories, only it is true.

When the Boer War started, almost no one on the planet rooted for the British. Even the American public opinion was proDutch Afrikaner on the street.

However, a year earlier, at the Battle of Manila Bay (between the U.S. and Spain), a British fleet prevented the Germans from intervening to stake a claim on the islands.

By order of Kaiser Wilhelm, VAdm. Ernst Otto von Deidrichs brought a German squadron to Manila to protect German citizens and property, and, more importantly, to investigate the possibility of Germany receiving territorial acquisitions in the region after the war. During the blockade the Germans were a frequent annoyance to Dewey, moving in an out of Manila Bay, making contact with Spanish military forces, and looming as a possible threat. Tensions were particularly high because, through a quirk of naval logistics, Deidrichs squadron at Manila had more men available and boasted greater firepower than the Americans for the period of 18 June to 8 July.

This was not so much out of British charity, but they wanted to check a German presence in the Pacific. Britain was in a fix. Their usual policy of destabilizing their competitor wouldnt work in 1898, when both the Germans and the Americans were competitors. So they decided to help America, since they deemed Germany worse. America was the lesser of two evils to the British elite. British assistance at Manila Bay had an ulterior motive.

Rhodess idea was to woo the United States back by educating an elite cadre of globalists  the Rhodes Scholarship. So whereas the American public favored the Boers, the monied elite felt they were obligated to support Britain, in light of that British naval assistance at Manila Bay. The elites overruled the American public.

Cecil Rhodess scheming wormed its way down to the present, with the Rhodes Scholarship, and various globalist fellow travelers.

But the Boers threw a monkey wrench into all of this.

- The Boers were not interested in joining the British Empire.

- The Boers were not globalists. Indeed, they were often isolationist.

- The Boers just wanted to be left alone.

The British won the war, but they took a savage beating and were horribly humiliated.

However, in the wake of their victory, globalization ran ahead.

The USA, formerly hostile to England (we used call the British perfidious Albion), now became somewhat pliant. The Anglophile Woodrow Wilson could have been a poster boy for this sea change. It was often hard to tell who was in charge  the USA or England  but the Anglo-American alliance was what Rhodes had wanted.

Centralized banking took over the Western world soon thereafter. Even when the British Empire fell, it kept control of the banks.

The Boer War had been fought for the control of gold by the elite, not for the common man.

Most white citizens of the British empire were unmoved by the uitlanders discontent, being prejudiced in any case against the mine owners, bankers and Jews who made up some of their number.

Monied interests wanted to control the wealth.

Lies and exaggerations have been made against the Boer.

While the Boers did not treat blacks well, they did not officially sanction slavery  unlike the Confederacy, which did. Were the British that much better?

The British did not fight to free Africans from the Boer. Indeed, after the war, they allowed the Boers to institute Apartheid. The British fought for gold, pure and simple.

Listen to this famous song.

Had the Boers won, the USA would not be so globalist. Internationalists would not have been set up.

The wrong side won.

The Boer War is a cornerstone to history, and no one teaches it rightly.

Image: woodleywonderworks via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
The Jan. 6 insurrection might be old news, but it is still relevant on many levels. And I have never heard it properly addressed in the three-plus years since it occurred. So here goes.

Democrats and their media toadies like to characterize MAGA types as crazed, gun-owning and gun-toting neanderthals of the far right. They frequently state or imply that these folks own every type of firearm imaginable, from pistols to shotguns to rifles to AR-15s. They say guns should be banned because otherwise these gun-crazed fanatics carry them everywhere...and that would lead to bloodshed and death. They dont just think the MAGA people shoot hundreds of rounds a day out back of their trailer parks, farms, or cabins in the boonies; they think they carry them into the shower, restaurants, bars, weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs...everywhere!

The Democrat-Media Complex would have you believe that Trump urged these gun-toting extremists to overthrow the government  and directed them to attack the Capitol Building. And, of course, they say, these mind-numbed Trump-loving automatons did as they were told.

Yet when all these MAGA folks strolled through the Peoples House in an attempt to seize power and reinstall Trump, not a one of them carried a firearm. Is it possible that every one of these thousands of violent protesters and insurrectionists forgot their weapons? Every one? I thought they were essentially epoxied to them. And not a one of them arrived at the scene of the crime and thought, Damn, I forgot my gun. Id better call one of my fellow insurrectionists and ask him to bring a spare! Really? Many hundreds of gun nuts were trying to overthrow the government, but all of them forgot their weapons? Does this seem likely?

If this was the case, they were the worlds worst insurrectionists. (And four of them were killed, versus none of those they were supposedly assaulting.)

It was not much of an insurrection, was it?

Image via Pexels.
Ive been writing about electric vehicles since 2011, the heady days of the Chevy Volt, as Chevys ads then proclaimed it: The car we had to build. What they meant was the Obamites were forking over taxpayer cash for electric vehicles (EVs), and also threatening auto manufacturers to do their bidding, and of course, bailing out everyone but Ford, which is why Ive been driving Fords since.

Graphic: Lateral view 2016 Chevy Volt. Wikimedia Commons.org. CCA-SA 2.0 Generic.

Obama, promoting a dead horse, told auto workers when he left the White House hed buy a Volt. As one might expect, this promise, as with all Obama promises, had an expiration date. He never bought one. Years before Obama left office, I predicted when he did GM would wait a decent interval and discontinue Volt production, and thats what happened. They lost truckloads of cash on every Volt they built. GM denied it, which is unsurprising in a publicly traded company not wanting to admit they were throwing money, and shareholder dividends, away.

One of the cheers electric vehicle cheerleaders trot out is the idea if only EV manufacturers standardized battery packs, that would solve the range/time problem. All an EV driver need do is pull into a service station and within minutes their battery would be swapped for a fully charged battery and theyd be on their way.

Yeah. About that

EV batteries are very big, weigh at least 1000 pounds and are designed as part of the vehicles structure. Replacing one is a dangerous and time-consuming matter, and costs 1/3 or more of the MSRP, which is averaging in the $67,000 range. While it would theoretically be possible for manufacturers to agree on a unibattery, that would require astronomically expensive redesign and retooling, and would of necessity slow, or completely halt, innovation.

There goes competition. If a manufacturer wanted a more powerful battery, how could they market that? If they developed a battery with much greater range than the unibattery, what then? Would the entire market dump the current unibattery and build the better battery, or would a single manufacturer be tempted to break the compact and market their better battery to make bigger profits? And with everyone stuck with batteries of a single size, how could innovation possibly work? A single battery design wouldnt work for everything to subcompact sedans like the Chevy Bolt to full sized SUVs, so there goes the unibattery idea.

It would also require a common design for removing and replacing batteries. Would that be from the back? Front? Sides? Or would special lifts to remove and replace unibatteries from the undercarriage be required? Standard lifts with a single post more or less in the middle of vehicles obviously wouldnt work.

EV batteries hold an enormous amount of energy, requiring special training and tools to avoid electrocuting mechanics, or causing fires or flaming explosions, but well get to this, and related problems, shortly.

And what of unscrupulous EV owners with batteries on their last legs? The more, and more completely, EV batteries are charged, the faster they lose their capacity to fully recharge. They pull into a battery station, get a new battery, and stiff the station for their next to useless battery. Unless there is a more or less instantaneous way to tell if a battery is all but used up, this is a deal breaker. And what of battery thieves?

And heres the worst part. America has a nearly endless network of gas stations, built up over the last century plus. Most of those are also convenience stores, and many are open 24 hours. Few, if any, gas stations anymore have mechanics or do mechanical work.

The only way such a battery network would work is if there was a unibattery, and hundreds of thousands of battery stations, open round the clock, to service EVs. Weve already figured out there cant be a unibattery that would be too big for small EVs and too small for big EVs, and no one is going to pay to build such stations unless there is sufficient demand, and circa 2024, Americans have figured out they dont want, and arent going to buy, EVs.

And this particular EV cheer requires battery swaps as rapid as filling a conventional vehicle with gas, and no more expensive. Are stations going to be happy with the honor system, or will they need deposits? Can one mechanic handle a swap, or will more be required? What station could afford multiple mechanics on three rotating shifts 24/7/365? Who could afford, particularly in comparison to gas costs and convenience, to pay mechanics wages and a deposit for a battery swap?

Sadly(?), this cheer is going to die its inevitable death. EVs will remain a niche product, the playthings of the well-heeled.

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. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
President Joe Biden told reporters Friday that dropping out of his race for the White House was not an option shortly before the airing of a mixed interview on ABC News about his debate disaster with Donald Trump.

"Completely ruling that out," Biden said when he was asked if he was quitting his campaign at the airport following a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin.

He had told the rally crowd: "I am going to run and I'm going to win again."

Later, in an interview that had been taped earlier with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, Biden said that only the "Lord almighty" would convince him to quit after his startling debate failure in which he appeared fragile and confused.

"If the Lord almighty came down and said, 'Joe, get out of the race,' I'd get out of the race," Biden said.

"The Lord Almighty's not coming down," he added.

A defiant Biden again in the interview blamed his poor performance on a cold, on fatigue, on not getting enough sleep, on being destracted by Trump. He said he was "sick" and "feeling terrible." He dismissed calls for a new neurological and cognitive exam.

"No one said I had to. ... They said I'm good," Biden insisted.

"It was a bad episode. No indication of any serious condition," Biden said. "I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing, and I had a bad night."

He told Stepanopoulos he hasn't watched a replay of the debate.

Meanwhile, in a parallel political universe Biden is refusing to recognize, Democrats were mobilizing to push him out of race and turn to alternatives, including Vice President Kamala Harris.

Some deep-pocket donors have already refused to back Biden  or any Democrat  until Biden is out of the race. Heir to the Disney empire Abigail Disney vowed "not another dime" would go to the party until Biden quits the race. If Biden doesn't withdraw, the "Democrats will lose," she said.

Reviews for Biden's interview with Stephanopoulos were mixed.

Barack Obama's former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Juan Castro said on MSNBC that while Biden was "steadier" in the interview than he was in the debate, it was not good enough to assure people he can win the race for presidency, or do the job.

"You have a president who is basically in denial about the decline that people can clearly see," Castro said.
The average work week in Greece, the poster child of the PIIGS countries (explained forthwith), is longer than ours, and its about to get longer.

During the period 20092014, there was a European debt crisis that particularly ravaged the economies of Southern European nations: Portugal, Italy, Ireland (not southern), Greece, and Spain. Essentially, lenders demanded higher rates for their excessive sovereign debt. With unwieldly deficit levels, the PIIGS struggled to finance their budget deficits due to paltry economic growth.

Greece, in particular, not only instigated fear of financial contagion, but was perceived to be riddled with corruption. The Greeks economic plight took flight due to unsustainable spending sprees, but workforce laziness and unproductivity also contributed. Indeed, Angela Merkel, and Germans in general, complained of Greek laziness while insisting they embark upon an austerity program.

But now it turns out they work harder than us, or at least longer than us, generally speaking. Per the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, average annual hours worked per worker in Greece in 2023 was 1,897. In the United States, it was 1,799. (If the 2023 OECD data table doesnt render properly, the data, through 2022, can also be viewed here.)

Americans were once known as work martyrs, but it seems that under Bidens socialistic malaise, Greek workers are now outworking us. And the data represent a period before Greece recently implemented a 6-day work week. The fact that workers and Greek trade unions are up in arms suggests that Greeces pro-business government is doing the right thing. Theyll be widening the gap even more now.

There are noteworthy pockets of vibrancy in our private sector, especially in industries building A.I. doohickeys, and the computing resources and networking infrastructure to support them. However, Bidens malaise seems to have cascaded through the ranks of unproductive government workers.

While many government workers are essential (were grateful for them), others are pigs who have burrowed themselves into mud-filled wallows in the administrative state. Now that SCOTUS, in the decision overturning Chevron, has curtailed federal agencies agency, theyd better get their bloated beings back to the office. Theyd better strive for a newfound, Greek-like work ethic, as envisioned by their ruling conservative party, which is led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Heres why: per the GAO, federal agency headquarters were operating at less than 25% capacity. That stark fact is a main reason for bipartisan legislation to get federal workers back into the office. The goal is to discourage work from home and encourage more work from work.

That shouldnt be a novel concept. After all, employees onsite can more easily and readily mentor, train, and be more productive and collaborative (though collaboration manifesting as liberal groupthink and bandwagon bias is a scary thought, I admit). The facility underutilization is perplexing, given the bloated government payrolls  youd think theyd be squished into office cubicles, like obedient little bureaucrats.

The Labor Department just released its jobs report for last month. Once again, they drastically revised lower the jobs created in the previous month, an ongoing trend in their overestimations  theyve revised almost all of their reports lower (after Biden claimed credit, of course). But government job numbers keep inflating. No wonder the Greeks are working, on average, more than us.

Per the Labor Department, government jobs last month were once again outsized contributors to the ephemeral job gains. Thats problematic because those workers insist that telework is essential to remaining a competitive employer. To repeat: Well need less of them, given the Chevron ruling, so that ought to allay any exaggerated concerns over recruitment and retention efforts  and alleviate the need to lure workers with overly generous telework perks.

Economically unstimulating social assistance jobs represented the largest increase in June, no doubt benefiting from the government-spending boom. One doesnt need to wonder why, as the illegal aliens consume precious American resources.

Even in the private sector, our work ethic seems to be somewhat diminished. Disruptive workplace phenomena, often masquerading as pleasant-sounding work-life balance initiatives, will not help us catch up to the Greeks. These include innocuous-sounding things like quiet quitting (essentially, disengaged employees doing the bare minimum) and bare minimum Mondays (the name says it all!).

Eventually, A.I.-guided algos, bots, and autonomous robots may dislocate the workforce, perhaps allowing for even more leisure time. In the meantime, given our debt levels and exaggerated job creation reports (except in non-productive sectors), its disconcerting to see an old PIIGS country like Greece outwork us.

Then again, following a landslide election victory, they are led by the pro-business New Democracy party. Now the Greeks have gumption.

By contrast, we are misled by the leftist new Democrat party.

It is anti-business, and disproportionately influenced by Squad members whove mastered lazy girl jobs. Socialist-cum-Progressive squad members like congresswomen AOC, Tlaib, Pressley, Omar, and Jayapal  lazy girls all  would rather influence via TikTok than work hard. Pro-business programs and policies are all Greek to them.

Image via Picryl.
Im betting that, as you read this, you already know about Joe Bidens absolute train-wreck of an interview with George Stephanopoulos. Although Biden was in better shape and more coherent than he was during his disastrous debate with Donald Trump, he still presented as a confused old man and, if youre someone who believes in truth, not post-modern relativism, a dishonest old man. For those of us who have watched Bidens decline, this was expected. What wasnt expected was Stephanopouloss desperate attempts to get Joe to acknowledge hes leaving the campaign and the post-interview talking heads savage attacks on Joe. Thats how you know Joes White House days are over.

We conservatives realized during the primary debates in 2019 that there was something wrong with Joe. Remember those bizarre claims about record players? Back then, before the Dems had consolidated around Biden as the candidate, they were willing to acknowledge his problems, whether age or the aura of 1970s racism that invariably clung to himand that was the subject of Kamala Harriss savage attack. However, once Biden was anointed (thanks, Jim Clyburn), the media switched modes.

Image: YouTube screen grab.

For the past four years, weve witnessed the media engaged in the same thing that Bernard Goldberg described in his aptly titled book, A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media. The difference between the medias love affair with Obama and its love affair with Biden is that Obama, while reprehensible (from a conservative, pro-American viewpoint) was, and is, sentient.

In Bidens case, the media could easily handle Joes substantive problems. They didnt care that Biden was a man with a long history of corrupt dealings that his sons laptop fully revealed, a nasty penchant for groping and sniffing little girls, a substance-abusing daughter whose diary strongly hints at inappropriate father-daughter behavior, and a long and well-documented history of lying and incompetence. Those were all Republicans pounce stories that could be deftly set aside.

For the media, the problem was Bidens obvious cognitive decline. Just contrast Joe in 2018 boasting about using taxpayer money to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor who was on to Hunters grift with any random Biden video from before the debate:

Flashback: @JoeBiden in 2018 brags about getting Ukrainian prosecutor fired.



"I look at him and say were leaving in six hours, if the prosecutors not fired, youre not getting the money. Oh, son of a bitch got fired." pic.twitter.com/w97Sdy0Nsm  Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 23, 2019

Joe Biden is speaking gibberish again



pic.twitter.com/ytpXH80D38  Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 23, 2024

In the former, Biden is sleazy and proud of his corruption, but hes obviously compos mentis. In the latterand again, this was before the debateBiden is obviously non compos mentis. His brain is a scrambled egg.

What Biden did on the debate stage was worse than exposing himself. He exposed the media. He embarrassed them by revealing that they are either credulous fools or dishonest hacks. If there was a shred of decency in any of them, theyd be looking within with remorse, repenting of their sins, and trying to reform. But thats not how our media roll. Instead, they now want to erase from the world stage the thing that caused them shame: Joe Biden.

So it was that, during his short interview with Biden, Stephanopoulos was desperate to get Biden to admit that, Yeah, Im feeling my age and, for the good of the country, Im going to step aside. You could feel Georges mounting frustration as Biden resisted the cues, even as Biden continued to demonstrate that he is incapable of being Americas chief executive for even another day. Georges desperation didnt stem from love for America; it stemmed from a desire to hide from his own sins.

I wont clog this post up with videos of Bidens horrible showing last night. If youre a glutton for punishment, Bonchie has all the key videos. Lets just say you know youre a Dem in trouble when Stephanopoulos must remind you not to discuss campaign crowds in a head-to-head with Donald Trump.

It didnt get better after the debate. ABCs talking heads were equally anxious to boot Biden. What you see below is savage:

One month ago, these same people would have assured Americans that Bidens childhood stutter (unknown before the 2020 campaign) was a little worse but that he was every bit as focused and vigorous as always. Now, theyre dragging Bidens inert body to the trash heap. Nothing represents that more than Olivia Nuzzis viral essay, The Conspiracy of Silence to Protect Joe Biden The presidents mental decline was like a dark family secret for many elite supporters. They all knew, every last one of them.

For years now, the American media have called conservatives liars. They told us we were lying when we denied the Russia hoax, we were lying when we denied the Very Fine People hoax, we were lying when we said COVID was a lab leak, we were lying and delusional when we touted hydroxychloroquine's benefits while slamming masks and lockdowns, and, most of all, we were lying about Joe Bidens manifest cognitive decline.

Weve been proven right every single time, but dont expect a mea culpa. The media is simply gearing up to put another leftist in Joes place and, no matter that persons sins or incompetence, the media will tell Americans that conservatives are lying. The real question is this: Moving forward, which party will Americans believe?
No American political campaign can survive without money. Thats why the donor revolt against Biden is the threat most likely to force the Democrats to jettison him as soon as possible. In addition to big donors threatening to withhold cash, Biden is being forced to cancel fundraising events because the outcomes would be too embarrassing to tolerate.

One of the biggest fundraising defections following the debate came from Abigail Disney. Shes a multi-millionaire heiress whos barely held a real job in her life (she produces leftist documents, which doesnt count) but is all-in for the communist revolution. Theres an amazing irony in this, given that her uncleand the source of her wealthis Walt Disney, a fanatic anti-communist who fully understood how communist values would destroy the country he loved. Christopher Rufo had Abigails number a couple of years ago:

.@AbigailDisney called Walt Disney a "racist," but trades on his name for status. She said she gave away her inheritance, but kept $120 million. She presents herself as a "human rights activist," but won't condemn Disney's complicity in Uighur genocide.pic.twitter.com/8NW5ePKS5J  Christopher F. Rufo  (@realchrisrufo) April 11, 2022

Having been fully and completely embarrassed by Bidens revealing himself as the naked (and really grotesque) emperor, Disney is taking her marbles and going home:

Walt Disney Company heiress and liberal megadonor Abigail Disney said she will withhold cash to the Democratic Party until President Biden drops out of the 2024 race. [snip] "I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high," she told CNBC.

Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings, another fantastically rich and fanatic leftist, has called for Biden to walk away from the campaign but hasnt yet said that hes turning off the money spigot. I expect that announcement to come soon.

Its not just one or two famous people, though, who have revolted or are implying that they will do so. The whole house of checkbooks is collapsing, forcing Biden to cancel the fundraising events that are the campaigns lifeblood. Per the New York Times,

Some of President Bidens fund-raising events in the coming weeks are in jeopardy, with one potential Wisconsin event failing to materialize and a Texas event up in the air after his poor debate performance against Donald J. Trump. [snip] The Biden campaign had discussed sending Mr. Biden to Wisconsin for a late July fund-raiser, according to three people briefed on the plans. But donors who had committed to giving large sums and attending began withdrawing soon after the debate ended. The campaign had hoped to raise $1 million from the event, but after the debate, campaign officials reset the events goal to $500,000, according to one person involved in arranging it. Even that proved to be more than Wisconsin donors were willing to give to Mr. Biden. Plans for the event are now off.

The only thing that might save Democrats in Wisconsin now is that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has reinstated ballot drop boxes, something it banned only two years ago. Even without the debate, Wisconsin was iffy. Trump is currently up by 2 points there, and there are the crowds:

This is why the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to reinstate Mail-in Ballots



Raise your hand  if you want the (RNC) to file suit to try and get this blocked



Fact is; =we gotta make it to Big to Rig in Wisconsin, Georgia, Virginia, Nevada, Michigan, and Pennsylvania pic.twitter.com/Qe95SHm7Jo  Chicago1Ray  (@Chicago1Ray) July 5, 2024

This was the size of the crowd at President Biden's rally in Wisconsin today. pic.twitter.com/rDcDM46bZE  The American Conservative (@amconmag) July 5, 2024

Biden tried to compare his campaign events to Trumps during the interview last night, and even George Stephanopoulos reminded him not to get into such a fight with someone who brings in people by the tens of thousands to Bidens tens:

ABC: "What's your plan to turn the campaign around?"



BIDEN: "You saw it today ... how many (incoherent) drew crowds like I did today?"



ABC: "I don't think you want to play the crowd game. Donald Trump can draw BIG CROWDS!"



BIDEN: "Who's he have!?" pic.twitter.com/GstMXRWHrJ  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 6, 2024

Watching Bidens freefall, Im reminded of the Soviet Unions sudden collapse, which truly happened overnight. Like a building infested with termites, an institution may look completely okay (or perhaps just a little rickety) from the outside. However, if the foundations are gone, as they were with the Soviet Union and are with Biden, the collapse when it comes is usually cataclysmic and impressive.

The river banks have broken, and the flood (a flood without money) is upon the Democrats, something that couldnt have happened to a more deserving wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Image by Andrea Widburg using AI
Moving fast when it wants to, the Vatican's courts went ahead and excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the dissident traditionalist critic who said the pope was not legitimate and who blasted the reforms of the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s.

According to the Washington Post:

ROME  The Vatican on Friday excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, exacting a severe punishment on the most vociferous internal critic of Pope Francis for refusing to recognize the authority of the pope and liberal reforms made by the Roman Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. Such drastic steps are exceedingly rare in the church and illustrated the extent to which Vigano  the Vaticans former ambassador to the United States  is perceived to have crossed a line. He has called on the pope to resign and excoriated him in harsh terms, including calling him a servant of Satan.

Much as a lot of us Catholics like the guy for his willingness to stand up to Pope Francis and the crazed leftists who encircle him, it's hard to argue that any of the charges were false, or that they didn't merit the penalty that Vigano got.

Practically speaking, no organization is going to be able to function when some of the lesser members are out denouncing the big guy as 'a servant of Satan,' or saying he's fake.

That he was doing this seemed to be so ... immature, so off the deep end.

After all, popes can be lousy, they can be wrong, they can be wicked, the only time one must pay attention to them is when they speak ex cathedra (from the chair of St. Peter, which is rare) and history shows it. But they are still the popes. For believing Catholics, the smart thing to do is accept that God permits this since we can see that such things have already happened through Church history. The best thing to do is just wait on the subway platform of time for a better pope to come along, which is also what has happened in the past or recall that the Church has sometimes sanctioned saints to silence (as they did to St. Padre Pio) or other punishment, including excommunication, before coming to its senses.

It's hard to justify just what the archbishop did. When he started tweeting sede vacante (meaning, the papal chair is empty) claims, I stopped paying attention to him. It was Martin Luther stuff.

All the same, we know that this pope can be petty, sanctioning other critics by taking away their pensions or Vatican apartment privileges, such as was done to some others who didn't say he was illegitimate.

According to the Post:

A major Francis critic, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Tex., was stripped of his diocese, while another longtime critic, American Cardinal Raymond Burke, lost his pension and Rome apartment.

That stuff, in addition to the repression of the Latin mass, was pretty outrageous, as those bishops did nothing wrong.

Worse still, really disgusting "Catholics," such as Joe Biden, who's busy suing the Little Sisters of the Poor for not providing abortion services, bankrolling and pushing abortion abroad, and calling for a national law to enshrine abortion up until the day of birth as his campaign issue, do not so much as get a hint of Church sanction, not even denial of Holy Communion.

Nor do pervert clerics such as Marko Rupnik, nor Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (whose perversions were exposed by Vigano) get much punishment at all. Worse still, liberation theology promoters who embrace Marxism as Catholicism are gushed about as wonderful, not booted as heretics. Meanwhile, Pope Francis's close associate for promoting the docrine of the faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, certainly has written repellent books about sex fantasies with Jesus among teenagers to disgust the faithful. Who thinks like that, other than a total pervert? If the Church wants to go housecleaning on Vigano, they need to clean out the whole house.

It's sad because a lot of us liked the guy. We liked his fearless adherence to Church doctrine and teaching, his willingness to expose Vatican coverups, which needed to be done and his record of exposing bad clerics such as McCarrick, who molested boys and seminarians, and otherwise would have gotten away with it. We liked his statements for traditional values, and denunciations of Pope Francis's ill-considered excesses and confusing edicts.

It makes for a sad picture, given that the double standard here is so obvious. It shouldn't be too much to ask that they clean out their own house first.

Image: Alex Proimos, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0
New Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has said his priority is to establish a new relationship between the UK Government and Stormonts powersharing Executive.

Mr Benn was speaking after hosting a meeting with Northern Irelands First and deputy First Ministers Michelle ONeill and Emma Little-Pengelly at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down on Saturday evening.

The new Secretary of State also met representatives of the Stormont parties during his first visit to the region since taking up the role.

He said: I wanted to get to work as quickly as possible and was therefore pleased to be able to hold these initial discussions with the First and deputy First Ministers and representatives from the other parties.

My immediate priorities are to establish a new relationship between the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive as we work together to foster economic growth and prosperity, and to improve public services.

I want to ensure that we have a system in place for addressing the legacy of the past in a way that wins support from victims families and that all communities can have confidence in, and which is compliant with human rights.

Mr Benn had been serving as the shadow NI secretary since 2023 and was chairman of the Brexit Select Committee for years.

Hilary Benn said his government was committed to the Good Friday Agreement (Liam McBurney)

The Leeds MP was among new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmers Cabinet appointees.

Sir Keir and Mr Benn have previously said a Labour Government would repeal the controversial Legacy Act, introduced by the Tories to address Troubles legacy issues and widely opposed by all the main political parties in Northern Ireland.

Mr Benn was also vocal in urging the powersharing institutions to be revived during the three-year hiatus.

He takes over from the Conservatives Chris Heaton-Harris, who has been in the role for almost two years and did not contest the General Election.

Mr Benn said that the new UK Government was firmly committed to the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

He said: We will work hard to deliver its vision for reconciliation, equality, respect for rights and parity of esteem.

The Northern Ireland Secretary said his meeting with Ms ONeill and Ms Little-Pengelly was very constructive.

I look forward to building on our relationship in the months ahead, he said.

Ms ONeill said she had made the case for fair funding for health, education and public services in Northern Ireland during her party meeting with Mr Benn.

She added: The cuts our people and public services have endured under the Tories must end now.

We also reiterated the need for immediate funding to be released to build Casement Park. This would allow us to seize the enormous economic opportunities created by Euro 2028.

The British Government must embrace the principles of rigorous impartiality, and respect the provisions in the Good Friday Agreement for constitutional change.

We also called on the British Secretary of State to follow through on previous commitments to scrap the Tories shameful Legacy Act, which has failed victims and survivors.

She added: We will meet Keir Starmer in the days ahead and we will continue to press the British Government on the things that matter most to people, investment in public services, which deliver for all.

New Prime Minister Sir Keir has already said he will visit Northern Ireland during his first days in office.

Mr Benn said had also had a telephone conversation with Irelands Tanaiste Micheal Martin on Friday.

He added: As our nearest neighbour and co-guarantor of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, our relationship with Ireland is of great importance.

The new UK Government will work closely with the Irish Government to reset and strengthen the relationship between our two countries.
George Russell hailed the best Saturday of his life after leading Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris in a stunning British one-two-three in qualifying at Silverstone.

Fifty-six years have passed since three Britons started a Formula One race from the front of field. On New Years Day in 1968, Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Sir Jackie Stewart occupied the top three grid spots for the South African Grand Prix.

The last time three British drivers began their home race at the front was six years previously at Aintree, when Clark started ahead of John Surtees and Innes Ireland.

Here on Sunday, 160,000 expectant fans will gather at this Northamptonshire venue  built on the site of a World War II Royal Air Force bomber station  to witness a modern-age Battle of Britain. Max Verstappen leads the supporting cast from fourth.

The build-up to the sports third round in as many weeks has been dominated by Norris late collision with Verstappen as they duelled for the lead in Austria six days ago.

Russell took advantage of the coming together to claim just his second career win, and the 26-year-old was back on top at a wet-dry Silverstone.

Russell held a mere six-thousandths advantage over McLarens Norris heading into the final runs, only to see Hamilton suddenly charge to the top of the order.

But Russell denied the seven-time world champion his first pole since the Hungarian Grand Prix last year by moving 0.171 sec clear. Norris failed to improve with his last lap after he ran wide at Stowe, finishing 0.211 sec back.

This is definitely one of the best feelings Ive ever had on a Saturday afternoon, said a jubilant Russell.

The car was just insane, and without doubt one of the best feelings Ive ever had on this circuit. Crossing the line and seeing my name in first place was just amazing.

Theres no guarantees for tomorrow but we really feel like were riding this wave at the moment.

Mercedes on the front row, Norris and Verstappen tucked in behind  The starting grid for Sunday's race #F1 #BritishGP pic.twitter.com/fdF12rTXZA  Formula 1 (@F1) July 6, 2024

The crowd gave us so much energy, and I dont think Silverstone couldve dreamt of having three Brits in the top three.

Asked by a French journalist why the British drivers are so good, Hamilton replied: Roast dinners. Norris, sharing the same sofa as the seven-time world champion, said: I dont have roast dinners. Maybe that is why I am not on pole!

Following their underwhelming start to the season, Mercedes would not have dreamt of locking out the front row at what is effectively their home race given their factory is just down the road in Brackley.

The last time Mercedes started first and second via qualifying  rather than as a result of a sprint race  was in Saudi Arabia 945 days ago. Hamilton converted his pole to a win in Jeddah  the scene of his 103rd and last victory.

Red Bulls Max Verstappen had a difficult qualifying session (Andrew Matthews/PA)

And while Russell and Norris will be bidding to land their first wins on home soil, Hamilton has won a record eight times at Silverstone, finishing on the podium at every race here since 2014.

The 39-year-old hopes his experience gives him an edge on Sunday, when inclement weather is expected.

All experiences definitely help, and when it rains those are the conditions I am most comfortable in, but these two are driving very well so I dont think it will make a difference, he replied.

Red Bull have dominated the sport for the past two-and-a-half years but their supremacy appears as though it is finally coming to an end.

Verstappen only snuck through to Q2 after he ran through the gravel at Copse  the same corner where Hamilton punted him out of the race in 2021.

The crowd cheered Verstappens off-road excursion but the Dutchman was able to recover back to the track before hauling his Red Bull safely up the order.

However, he was a distant 0.384 sec behind Russell in the end.

Ill do my best tomorrow to have a good fight with them, said Verstappen, 81 points clear of Norris. Today wasnt our day with Q1 being unlucky but tomorrow we have a good battle. Naturally I know the top three all want to win.
Huge amount of work to do, Starmer tells ministers at first Cabinet meeting

Sir Keir Starmer has told ministers there was a huge amount of work to do as he chaired the first meeting of the new Cabinet on his first full day in Downing Street.

The Prime Minister told his top team it had been the honour and the privilege of my life to be invited by the King to form the Government after sweeping to a historic victory at the polls.

Sir Keir and ministers looked in high spirits as he gave brief opening remarks at the start of the gathering.

Flanked by his deputy Angela Rayner and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, he said: Look, colleagues, it is absolutely fantastic to welcome you to the Cabinet, our first meeting.

And it was the honour and privilege of my life to be invited by the King, His Majesty the King, yesterday to form a Government and to form the Labour Government of 2024.

And now we hold our first Cabinet meeting. So I welcome you to it.

We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work.

The remarks were met with loud applause by Cabinet ministers who Sir Keir appointed on Friday and largely mirror his shadow team before the election.

The Prime Minister confirmed Rachel Reeves as the UKs first female chancellor, Angela Rayner as his deputy and Housing Secretary and Pat McFadden as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hosts his first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, London, following the landslide General Election victory for the Labour Party (Chris Eades/The Sun/PA)

David Lammy was named Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper Home Secretary, John Healey Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting Health Secretary and Bridget Phillipson Education Secretary.

Shabana Mahmood and Ed Miliband will retain their briefs of justice and energy respectively, but former attorney general Emily Thornberry was replaced by barrister Richard Hermer KC.

As ministers filed in to Number 10 on Saturday morning, a jubilant Mr Miliband, who served in Gordon Browns cabinet and was later the Labour leader, told reporters: Its good to be back.

Defence Secretary Mr Healey outlined his mission to make Britain secure at home and strong abroad as he addressed the ministry for the first time.

He told armed forces and civilian staff: We know these are serious times  war in Europe, conflict in the Middle East, growing Russian aggression, increasing global threats. We know there are serious problems  with our armed forces hollowed out and underfunded for 14 years.

And this Government now is totally committed to 2.5% of defence spending, to Nato, to the nuclear deterrent and to support for Ukraine.

(PA Graphics)

The country has new leadership. This ministry has new leadership. Our mission is to make Britain secure at home and strong abroad, with the guiding principle of one defence.

The Environment Secretary said it will take years to tackle the sewage and nature crises.

In welcome remarks, he said: There is no sugarcoating it: we face a crisis point. Record levels of sewage in our rivers, lakes and seas. Nature is dying. Confidence amongst farmers at the lowest on record.

It will take years to reverse this damage, but the work of change begins now.

The Cabinet met in Downing Street with Sir Keir set to face questions from journalists later on Saturday in his first press conference as Prime Minister.

Other ministerial appointments are expected to be announced over the weekend, with Mr McFadden saying Sir Keir will move quickly to allocate responsibilities ahead of the Nato summit.

Sir Keir will make his debut on the international stage as Britains premier when he flies to Washington DC for the gathering next week, which is expected to include discussions on support for Ukraine.

He is also due to host the European Political Community summit in the UK on July 18.

(PA Graphics)

It comes after Sir Keir promised the work of change begins immediately after leading Labour to a landslide victory at the General Election on Friday.

Labour won 412 seats and the Tories 121, marking the worst result in Conservative history.

In his first speech in Downing Street, Sir Keir pledged to usher in an era marked by stability and moderation as he told voters My Government will serve you whether or not they backed his party.

After a low turnout at the polls, he spoke of the need to rebuild trust in the political system after 14 years of Tory rule marred by the partygate scandal and the chaos of Conservative infighting.

Labours vote share also suggests the new Government is unlikely to enjoy much of a honeymoon period, with around 34% of the electorate backing the party  less than Jeremy Corbyn secured in 2017.
Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, who promised to reach out to the West in an effort to ease tensions, defeated hardliner Saeed Jalili to become Iran's new president and immediately urged Iranians to stick with him during the "difficult road ahead," according to reports.

Pezeshkian, a cardiac surgeon, won the runoff election Friday with 16.3 million votes to Jalili's 13.5 million with turnout at about 50%, Reuters reported.

The first round of voting on June 28 saw historically low voter turnout.

The election was called after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.

Pezeshkian's supporters danced in the street to celebrate his victory, but some skeptics question whether he will be able to follow through on his promises because Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is the sole authority in the Islamic Republic.

"Dear people of Iran, the election is over, and this is just the beginning of our working together. A difficult road is ahead. It can only be smooth with your cooperation, empathy and trust," Pezeshkian said on social media, Reuters reported.

"I extend my hand to you and swear on my honor that I will not abandon you on this path. Do not abandon me," he added.

Pezeshkian, 71, has called for "constructive negotiations" with the West over the 2015 agreement that curbed Iran's nuclear ambitions and has pledged to relax the country's mandatory headscarf law, according to reports.

But he'll be hard pressed to fulfill those promises amid hard-liners in the Iranian government and increased tensions from the continuing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, the Associated Press reported.

Still, his supporters remained hopeful.

"I don't expect anything from him; I am happy that the vote put the brake on hard-liners," bank employee Fatemeh Babaei, who voted for Pezeshkian, told the AP. "I hope Pezeshkian can return administration to a way in which all people can feel there is a tomorrow."
A Russian mortar fires on a Ukrainian position - AP

Russian strikes overnight left over 100,000 households without power in northern Ukraine, the authorities have said.

The northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, was plunged into darkness after Russian strikes late Friday damaged energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said.

Hours later, the Ukrainian public broadcaster reported that Russian drones hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, cutting off water by hitting power lines that feed its system of pumps.

RIA, a state-run Russian news agency, cited a local pro-Kremlin underground leader as saying that Moscows forces overnight hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city, which had a pre-war population of over 256,000. The report did not specify what weapon was used, and the claim could not be independently verified.

Since March, Russian forces have intensified their bombardments of the Ukrainian power sector, knocking out the bulk of the thermal and hydropower generation and forcing long blackouts across the country.

05:00 PM BST

Thats all for today.

Thanks for following the Telegraphs live blog. Well be back tomorrow with the latest updates on the war.

04:51 PM BST

Advancing Russian forces seize Donetsk village

Russia claims its forces have captured another village as they continue to advance slowly in Ukraines eastern Donetsk region.

Moscows defence ministry said Russian troops had liberated the village of Sokil, around 18 miles northwest of Donetsk city, the capital of the region by the same name that Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022.

Sokil is the latest Ukrainian village to fall to Russias forces, who have been slowly but steadily advancing in eastern Ukraine.

It comes as Russian drone attacks in northern Ukraine Saturday cut power to a northern city and knocked out its water supply, according to local officials.

04:28 PM BST

Putin congratulates Irans new president

Russian leader Vladimir Putin congratulated Irans reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian on his victory in a presidential runoff, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

I hope that your tenure as president will contribute to a reinforcement of constructive bilateral cooperation between our friendly peoples, Putin said in a message to Pezeshkian.

04:09 PM BST

Sir Keir Starmer speaks to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky

Sir Keir Starmer spoke by telephone with US President Joe Biden and discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between the UK and US and their aligned ambitions for greater economic growth, according to London.

He also spoke to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, former - and potentially future - US president Donald Trump ignored Starmer, instead hailing the five-seat electoral breakthrough of his ally Nigel Farages far-right Reform UK party.

03:17 PM BST

Putin plans wartime-style barrage balloons to fend off Ukraines daring drones attacks

Russia plans to build a network of barrage balloons inspired by the First and Second World Wars to thwart Ukraines daring drone attacks, writes James Kilner.

A Russian aerospace firm says it has already begun testing balloons capable of holding up a net that, it is hoped, will offer protection against the long-range strikes that have badly damaged energy infrastructure and other key targets deep inside Russia.

The balloons are designed to launch from hangars, rise quickly in a row and then drop a 250m-tall net to form a defensive cordon.

Read the full piece here.

02:39 PM BST

Watch: Destroyed Buildings on Ukrainian Frontline

Ukraines military said earlier this week its troops had pulled back from part of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region, a day after Russia said its forces had taken control of a district in the strategic town.

Chasiv Yar stands on high ground. If Russian forces establish full control over the town, they could potentially use it as a staging post to advance westwards towards the Ukrainian cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.

02:07 PM BST

War in Pictures

Ukrainian infantry fire at Russian positions on the zero line of the front in prepared trenches 100 meters from the Russian trenches - Libkos/Getty Images Europe

Ukrainian servicemen carry the coffin of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine - Alex Babenko/AP

01:22 PM BST

Shoddy Russian workmanship is letting Ukraine win the drone war

ussias wider war in Ukraine is a drone war. The side that can deploy more and better unmanned aerial vehicles  for surveillance, strike, minelaying and even resupply  has a clear advantage, even if its outnumbered or outgunned in other ways, writes David Axe.

Which is why both Russia and Ukraine are ramping up production of drones and anti-drone radio jammers. And why the inferior quality of Russias drones and jammers is such a big deal.

In theory, Russia with its bigger economy and defence industry should be able to out-produce Ukraine. In practice, the quality of Russias drones and jammers is so low that its having a measurable effect along the 700-mile front line.

Read the full piece here.

12:45 PM BST

Russian strikes leave thousands in northern Ukraine without power and water

Russian strikes overnight left over 100,000 households without power in northern Ukraine and cut off the water supply to a regional capital, Ukrainian authorities reported Saturday, while civilian casualties rose sharply in the countrys embattled east.

The northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, was plunged into dark after Russian strikes late Friday damaged energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said.

Hours later, the Ukrainian public broadcaster reported that Russian drones hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, cutting off water by hitting power lines that feed its system of pumps.

The report didnt specify what weapon was used, and the claim could not be independently verified. Explosions rocked the city during an air raid warning early Saturday, according to Ukrainian media reports.

12:22 PM BST

Listen: Russias Black Sea Base Useless

Today, the Telegraphs Ukraine: The Latest podcast brings you news from the front lines as Ukrainian troops withdraw from a key district of Chasiv Yar and we have the latest diplomatic and political news as President Zelensky challenges Donald Trump to explain his peace plan.

11:59 AM BST

Brazil says G20 diplomats agree to avoid geopolitical issues

G20 diplomats have agreed to avoid prickly geopolitical issues during the summit of the worlds largest economies in November, host Brazils sherpa said on Friday.

In February, finance leaders from G20 failed to agree on a joint statement in a meeting in Brazil, with divisions over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

Diplomat Mauricio Lyrio, Brazils G20 sherpa, told journalists on Friday that an agreement was reached with his counterparts in the group, following really tough talks during a preparatory meeting in Rio de Janeiro this week.

What we got in this meeting was a deal to how to proceed from now on, so the ministers can focus on their specific themes, he told journalists. Look for agreements in your areas. You do not need to deal with geopolitics anymore.

11:29 AM BST

Ukraine goes to war... with Western moneymen

For months, the Wests most respected military experts have been insisting that Vladimir Putins war machine is close to running out of steam in Ukraine. However, it is a prediction that seems completely at odds with the reality of life for millions of Ukrainians living close to the frontline, writes Ben Marlow, Associate Editor.

Deploying terrifying winged explosives, Russia has in fact stepped up attempts to wipe Ukraines cities off the map.

During the course of last week alone, Moscow fired 800 glide bombs at Ukrainian targets, injuring dozens of soldiers and innocent civilians, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Read the full piece here.

11:07 AM BST

War in Pictures

Ukrainian infantry in the trenches on the zero line of the front - Libkos/Getty Images Europe

Ukrainian infantry stationed 100 meters from the Russian trenches - Libkos/Getty Images Europe

Ukrainian infantry on the frontline in the direction of Toretsk region, Ukraine - Libkos/Getty Images Europe

10:40 AM BST

This is the most dangerous moment for Britain in 40 years

Well, Putin will be laughing. The Conservative Party  perhaps the most significant force for saving Ukraine in the early months of the war and beyond  is out of office, writes Hamish De Bretton-Gordon.

To make matters even more concerning, the new Prime Minister  Sir Keir Starmer  did not mention defence at all in first speech outside of No 10. He only mentioned that we are living in a volatile world.

Even so, I congratulate him for his historic victory today, because we have no choice. There are some really big battles on the horizon, where our gravest enemies of the present moment have a real chance of victory.

Read the full piece here.

10:15 AM BST

Armenia and US to hold joint military drills

Armenia and the United States will hold joint military exercises in Armenia on July 15-24, the Armenian Defence Ministry said on Saturday.

The Eagle Partner 2024 exercise will focus on tasks related to peacekeeping missions and such drills with partner countries are regular, the ministry said.

Armenia, until recently Russias closest South Caucasus ally, has seen its ties with Moscow sour in recent years over what Yerevan sees as Russias failure to defend it from neighbouring Azerbaijan.

Though Armenia remains a treaty ally of Russia, it has said repeatedly that it does not support Moscows war in Ukraine and has sent humanitarian aid to Kyiv, drawing Russias ire.

09:54 AM BST

Hungary cancels foreign ministers meeting with Germany

Hungary has cancelled a foreign ministers meeting with Germany scheduled for Monday in Budapest due to technical, not political, reasons, its Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

Due to an unforeseen change in the ministers calendar, the foreign ministry has requested that the visit take place at a later date, hopefully in the near future, the ministry said.

The reason is purely technical and not political.

Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow - Valeriy Sharifulin/Reuters

The German foreign ministry said on Friday that it was astonished by the cancellation and that a serious and honest discussion was needed after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

The Moscow meeting was the first meeting of an EU leader with Putin in Moscow since April 2022, two months after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The meeting angered some European Union leaders who warned against appeasing Moscow and said Orban did not speak for the EU.

09:38 AM BST

Kyiv: Ukraine air defence shot down 24 of 27 Russian drones

Ukraines air defence shot down 24 of 27 Russian drones fired in an overnight attack on Saturday, Ukrainian air force said.

It said the drones were downed over 12 regions across the country.
Joe Biden has endured a difficult week after his disastrous debate with Donald Trump - Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

Joe Biden vowed to beat Donald Trump in 2020 as he pledged to stay in the presidential race and fight to save his re-election bid.

The US President committed his latest gaffe at a rally in Wisconsin, in the first of a handful of campaign appearances that he has reportedly conceded will decide whether he can stay in the race.

Ill beat Donald Trump. Ill beat him again in 2020, Mr Biden told supporters in the battleground state.

It comes after the 81-year-old, attempting to recover from his disastrous debate performance last week, said he was proud to be the first black woman elected president.

On Friday night Maura Healey, the governor of Massachusetts, became the most high-profile sitting Democrat to publicly call for Mr Biden to consider his position.

The best way forward right now is a decision for the President to make, she said.

Over the coming days, I urge him to listen to the American people and carefully evaluate whether he remains our best hope to defeat Donald Trump.

But at a campaign rally in Wisconsin, Mr Biden gave a forceful speech declaring he would not stand down.

Im staying in this race, he told a crowd of supporters. Im not letting one 90-minute debate wipe out three-and-a-half years of work.

Mr Biden seemed to confuse his own vice-presidency with that of Ms Harris - Carolyn Kaster/AP

At the same rally, he mistakenly told a crowd he would beat Trump in 2020 and confused billions with trillions in a criticism of Trumps alleged tax cuts.

His gaffe about black women was made during an with Philadelphias WURD radio station, when Mr Biden appeared to mix up himself with Kamala Harris, his vice president.

By the way, Im proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first black woman...to serve with a black president, he said, in what appeared to be a reference to both his own term as vice president under Barack Obama and Ms Harriss appointment to the office in 2021.

Both Mr Obama and Ms Harris made history when they were elected in 2008 and 2020 respectively, as the first black president and first black vice president.

Mr Biden may not even be wholly in charge of which policies the White House puts through, a source from inside the building told Semafor news website yesterday.

The source said much appeared to be handled by his close team including chief of staff Jeff Zients. The White House denied the claim.

Hopes for interview

Mr Bidens speech gaffe came ahead of a major interview with ABC News which White House aides hope will extinguish calls from some Democrats for Mr Biden to step back from the 2024 race.

Donors, strategists and some congressmen have argued that Mr Biden is too old to serve a second term, and that his frequent errors in public appearances risk handing the election to Donald Trump.

The pressure has threatened to end his campaign since late last month, when Mr Biden gave a disastrous performance in a televised presidential debate with Trump in Atlanta.

Polls show public support for Mr Biden has dropped markedly since the Trump debate, while trust in Kamala Harris has grown - Matt Kelley/AP

Aides suggested to The New York Times that Mr Biden will attempt to reboot his campaign with the interview and two campaign rallies over the weekend, although some in his own party remain sceptical the situation can be recovered.

In Thursdays interview, when asked why voting mattered, Mr Biden delivered an apparently unrelated answer that referred to the Supreme Courts recent decision to grant Trump considerable immunity to prosecution.

You need someone, someone who is going to make sure thatthe Supreme Court just issued a decision, by the way, that threatens the American principle that we have no kings in America, he said.

Earlier in the day, he fluffed his lines when speaking to military families on the White House South Lawn. During a four-minute address he said he was not going anywhere but he seemed to stumble when he referred to Mr Trump as one of our colleagues.

Damaging revelations

While defenders of Mr Biden say he has long mixed up words, during his 90-minute debate last week he frequently appeared lost.

Further damaging revelations about his mental capacity have since emerged in the US media, including the suggestion that he is not cogent after 4pm each day, and that he sometimes forgets the names of close friends.

A guest at a party attended by Mr Biden told New York Magazine they were shocked to find he could not make it through an evening reception because it was too late.

Other long-time friends of Mr Biden told the publication he struggled to remember their names when they met.

While he has admitted to supporters he does not speak as smoothly as he used to, Mr Biden blamed his poor debate performance on a hectic international travel schedule in the weeks leading up to the event.

Polls show public support for Mr Biden has dropped markedly since the debate, while trust in Ms Harris has grown, leading to speculation that he will stand down and hand her the nomination.
Keir Starmer's promise to be both pro-business and pro-worker won't last first contact with the realities of governing - Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

The canapes and white wine will be packed away. The wooing of the business lobbyists will come to an end. The cosy dinners with Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Tony Blair for select donors will be consigned to the past, and there will be no more polite requests to sign public letters of support for its policies.

With a huge majority secured at the general election, and with power secured for at least five years, business is about to see the real Labour Party unleashed. From higher taxes, to a blizzard of regulations, to an avalanche of legal action, companies will be under siege  and they will have to start working out how they can fight back very quickly.

Over the last few months, business leaders may have been relentlessly courted by Labour. Billionaires such as Sir Jim Ratcliffe and John Caudwell were persuaded to switch their support to the party, reassuring voters. A series of City leaders, such as Sir Douglas Flint, the chairman of Adbrn, and Sir John Kingman, the chairman of Legal & General, were persuaded to join advisory councils, and even a few entrepreneurs were cobbled together to sign a letter of endorsement for the party.

Heres the problem. With a huge majority, even if it was secured on a share of the vote that was lower than that which Jeremy Corbyn won in 2017, the new government does not need them any more. Business is about to find out what the new administration really has in store for them.

It is going to be a very rough ride. We are likely to see a huge increase in employment rights, with protection offered from the first day on the job, a clampdown on zero-hour contracts, plus extra powers for the trade unions. Even though business is already suffering from a crisis of productivity, work will become less flexible, and it will be harder than ever to get rid of someone who is not pulling their weight.

We should expect to see a huge increase in regulations, with extra powers awarded to quangos, and a drive to align with rules set in Brussels, even when businesses dont want them, and regardless of whether they are in the interest of the UK. In a moment of what may have been self-parody, the Labour Party even announced a Regulatory Innovation Office, a kind of meta-quango overseeing all the other rule makers it plans to create. That will be typical of how it plans to rule.

We will see a whole new raft of diversity and inclusion legislation. It may well be perfectly commendable in itself, but it is already clear that it will trigger endless waves of legal action against companies for any possible infringement of individual rights, including plenty of class actions. The law firms will already be gearing up for a bonanza as they pick fight after fight, but it will be companies that eventually have to pay the bill.

We are set to see what will amount to forced investment in a series of partnerships with business. The asset managers may find they are strong-armed into putting pension money into infrastructure  which in reality is often just day-to-day spending with a fancy label  as well as green energy projects. Whether any of them make commercial sense or can earn a meaningful return could be brushed aside.

On top of all that, doubling down on net zero targets, and an obsession with the UKs global leadership in the fight against climate change even though we only account for 1pc of worldwide emissions, will mean huge extra costs for industry.

We already have some of the most expensive power in the world, but costs will rise still higher, the security of supply will be weakened, and we may well see more stringent quotas of cars and vans introduced as manufacturers struggle to avoid fines for not selling enough electric vehicles that no one wants.

The list goes on and on. It is going to be a brutal five years for businesses. Over the next few weeks, companies will have to figure out ways of standing up to the onslaught heading their way. They will have to be prepared to relocate, with plans in place to shift their headquarters overseas, and perhaps production facilities as well. They will have to make sure ministers are aware of that, and hope that the threat is enough to moderate some of the wilder proposals.

They will have to be prepared to negotiate hard, refusing to join any of the partnerships or investment drives the new government may well launch as part of what will increasingly be a planned economy unless there are concessions elsewhere.

And, perhaps most of all, the corporate sector should engage in its own form of lawfare, turning the hugely increased power of the courts against its architects. Every piece of employment legislation, or new regulation, should be taken to judicial review, on to the Supreme Court, and then the European Court of Human Rights, to delay it as long as possible. Whatever his other faults, Sir Keir is a lawyer to his fingertips, and will respect the process. If nothing else, it will be amusing to watch Labour get tied up in the same legal maze it has trapped everyone else in for the last 20 years.

The new Government will talk endlessly about growth. It will stage lots of summits, and launch plenty of task forces and initiatives. And yet the charm offensive is now clearly over, and the business leaders, lobby groups, and trade associations that helped propel the party into power cant expect any special treatment.

In reality, this will be the most anti-business, anti-enterprise government the UK has seen since the 1970s, and perhaps even since the 1940s. It is going to be a hostile environment for anyone who wants to grow a business. In small ways, the private sector will have to find ways of fighting back against that  but no one should kid themselves that the next five years wont be very difficult, and the UK will be a very hard place to run a successful company.
Sir Keir Starmer delivers his first press conference as prime minister, on Saturday - Claudia Greco/REUTERS

The new prime minister has told civil servants they do not have to refer to him by his title, and that he would be perfectly happy to be called Keir.

In his first press conference following his election victory, Sir Keir Starmer appeared to echo Sir Tony Blair, adding that being called by his first name felt most natural to me.

Asked whether he was used to being referred to as Prime Minister yet, Sir Keir said: Yes Im getting used to it. Im very happy to be called Keir or Prime Minister.

I do recognise, and I said this to the civil service yesterday, why for them, it is important to refer to the office holder as prime minister because theyre serving the office.

I recognised this when I was Director of Public Prosecutions and it is actually important to them to use the title because it reinforces in them what they are doing by way of public service, and I respect that and understand that.

Im perfectly happy to be called Keir, but I do recognise why that happens, he added.

Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria are clapped by staff as they enter No 10, on Friday - Stefan Rousseau/REUTERS

In his speech to staff in Downing Street yesterday after he was clapped in, the prime minister told them they could call him Keir.

His comments are reminiscent of Sir Tonys first comments to Cabinet in May 1997, when he told his ministers Just call me Tony.

After he received his Order of the Garter in the 2022 New Year Honours, Sir Tony said he would prefer people to refer to him by his Christian name.

He told Times Radio at the time: Im perfectly happy with Tony as a matter of fact. Thats what feels most natural to me.

It was very gracious of the Queen to bestow the honour, and I accepted in a way not for myself as a person, but because of the government I led and on behalf of the people who worked with me, who were dedicated, committed people who provided a lot of change to the country.
National speed limit applies: Drivers will not be able to turn off the systems permanently - Paul Ridsdale/Alamy

A speed limiter system being introduced on all newly made cars from Sunday cannot be permanently switched off, motorists have been warned.

Called Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA), it is not legally required in the UK, but car makers are still bringing it in, because of the large number of vehicles they sell to the EU which must conform.

The blocs rules mandating ISA on new cars come into force from Sunday, although the tech has been compulsory on new models  as opposed to newly manufactured versions of existing models  since 2022.

The system flashes up warnings on the dashboard when the car is exceeding the speed limit, using GPS and onboard cameras to pinpoint the vehicles location and read road signs.

Audio chimes similar to seatbelt warnings, and haptic feedback  vibrations of the accelerator pedal  also feature on some models, such as Toyotas 2024 GR Yaris.

In some vehicles, the device will stop the driver accelerating until the car is back under the speed limit.

Drivers will learn to live with it

Steve Gooding of the RAC Foundation explained that although the ISA tech can be stopped temporarily by drivers, it resets itself every time the car is turned off.

He said: For now, UK drivers will have the option of disabling ISA where it is installed but I think many motorists will tire of switching it off and they will just learn to live with it.

He added: Arguably ISA will mark the beginning of the end of a world in which people choose their cars on the basis of its top speed and the time it takes to accelerate from 0 to 60mph.

Dashboard display: 'LIM' shows an ISA is switched on - Stephen Davies/Alamy

Its a sign of things to come, he continued. Increasingly, the car is going to decide what you can and cant do.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at the AA, said: Even though ISA isnt mandatory in the UK, many new cars will be sold with this technology.

However, it is only an advisory system, meaning it will beep and flash, but the driver retains control and can even switch it off. Drivers should remember that ISA is an assistance tool and that the ultimate way to moderate speed is through the drivers right foot.

Compulsory in NI

ISA is legally required to be fitted to new cars sold in Northern Ireland, thanks to the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol.

Yousif Al Ani, a principal engineer with automotive company Thatcham Research, said: As ADAS [advanced driver assistance system] is increasingly fitted to cars, vehicle manufacturers will need to address concerns from drivers that these systems, such as emergency lane keeping systems, interfere with their driving experience.

Striking a balance between safety, performance, and integration to create systems that cooperate with drivers is a real challenge for manufacturers.

Sarah Smith, a director at insurance company Allianz, said that despite concerns about degrading drivers ability to control their vehicles themselves, the ISA tech could lead to a reduction in collisions.

Our claims data shows that vehicles equipped with ADAS, such as sensors and lane assist technology, have fewer road accidents, and we support manufacturers in their continued focus on improving safety.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: Safety is the number one priority for car makers and, while the UK already has some of the worlds safest roads, the sector is always working to improve safety still further by developing and deploying new safety technologies.
Marcus Fysh was the Conservative MP for Yeovil who lost his seat to the Lib Dems - DAVID WOOLFALL

A former Tory MP who lost his seat at the general election has quit the party, saying it has no chance of ever being electable again.

Marcus Fysh had represented Yeovil since 2015 but lost to the Liberal Democrats on Thursday as they overturned a majority of more than 16,000.

A minister in Liz Trusss government, he was a staunch Brexiteer and one of the 28 Spartans who voted on three occasions in 2019 against Theresa Mays Brexit deal.

I hereby resign from @Conservatives .



It's dead. No chance of ever being electable again with its current non-Conservative Parliamentary composition



Move on. Let's do something else.  Marcus Fysh (@MarcusFysh) July 6, 2024

Responding to a user who asked whether he would join Reform UK, Mr Fysh wrote: No.

[We] need to be irreproachably centre and centre-Right, sensible, small-c conservative appealing to the whole country.

In a separate post, Mr Fysh said the Conservative Party was no longer a thing in the wake of an electoral wipeout that left it with just 121 MPs.

A number of key figures on the Tory Right lost their seats on Thursday including Ms Truss, the former prime minister, and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former business secretary.

Former cabinet ministers Kwasi Kwarteng and Sir John Redwood, who was head of the No 10 policy unit under Margaret Thatcher, stood down in the run-up to the July 4 vote.

The scale of the Conservative defeat, which left the party in opposition for the first time in 14 years, has already prompted bitter recriminations across all wings of the party.

Lord Frost, Boris Johnsons Brexit negotiator, said on Saturday he was glad that several high-profile centrist MPs, including Damian Green and Matt Warman, had lost their seats.

One of the few bright points of this debacle is to see so many so-called One Nation MPs becoming victims of the electoral strategy they advocated so vigorously, he said.
The Tories were never consistently behind Labour in the polls until the first 'partygate' stories emerged - PA

Voters firmly rejected the Conservatives on Thursday. But they far from flocked to Labour instead.

It is impossible to overstate the scale of the disaster that befell the Conservative Party on Thursday. It won only 24 per cent of the vote in Great Britain. Its previous worst performance was 29 per cent  and that was way back in 1832.

The outcome was far worse than the 31.5 per cent the party won when it was last turfed out of office by the electorate in 1997. Indeed, the Conservative tally was even lower than the 28 per cent to which Labour fell in 1983 when voters rejected a manifesto that one of the partys MPs called the longest suicide note in history.

The timeline of party support during the last parliament points very firmly to what led many voters to want to call time on the Conservative regime. The first cause was partygate. The Conservatives were never consistently behind Labour in the polls until the first stories emerged in December 2021 that gatherings had taken place in Downing St during the Covid-19 pandemic. As soon as the story broke, Tory support fell. By January 2022 it was down to 32 per cent, compared with 39 per cent the previous October.

The party was trailing Labour for the first time. A public that in many instances had given up and suffered much during the pandemic was shocked by the more relaxed attitude to social distancing that prevailed in 10 Downing St  and was offended by the apparent lack of honesty about what had taken place. That reaction was, of course, eventually shared some months later by Boris Johnsons parliamentary colleagues.

The second cause was Liz Trusss fiscal event. When she entered 10 Downing St, Tory support stood at 31 per cent. By the time she left, it was down to 25 per cent. All post-war market crises have undermined the economic credibility of the incumbent government, and 2019 Tory voters who were doubtful about the countrys economic future were now very unwilling to back the party again. Ideology played a part in these disasters. Some Tories had sincere doubts about the legitimacy of the controls on peoples everyday lives that were imposed during the pandemic. Liz Truss and her colleagues genuinely believed that lower taxes would rescue Britains flatlining economy.

By the time Liz Truss left No 10, Tory support was down to 25 per cent - Getty/Leon Neal

But as the party debates whether to aim for the ideological centre or to head to the Right, it would be wise to recognise that, for the public at least, it was the perceived lack of integrity and competence that accompanied these two events that mattered. The party will never regain voters trust and confidence unless, and until, it has restored its reputation for integrity and competence.

The partys fate was, though, made worse by the rise of Reform. Between October last year and April this year support for Reform nearly doubled to 12 per cent. Nigel Farages decision to take on the leadership of Reform  the only decisive event during the election campaign  compounded the problem.

While Tory politicians opted to concentrate their firepower on Labour, 2019 Tory voters were increasingly heading for Reform. According to the final polls, while 15 per cent of 2019 Tory supporters switched to Labour, as many as 26 per cent backed Reform. Just 4 per cent of 2019 Labour and 5 per cent of 2019 Liberal Democrat voters voted Reform.

This pattern was clearly reflected in the results. Conservative support was down on average by 31 points in constituencies where support for Reform was up by 18 points or more on that for the Brexit Party in 2019. But where the Reform vote was up by only nine points or less, the Tory vote was down by just 11 points. Neither Labour nor the Liberal Democrats, in contrast, fared worse where Reform did particularly well. And, of course, most of the seats where Reform advanced most were seats the Conservatives were trying to defend, not least because the Brexit Party did not fight Tory-held seats in 2019.

Those who backed Reform were, of course, mostly pro-Brexit and concerned about immigration. As many as 29 per cent of those who would currently vote to stay out of the EU voted Reform, almost as many as backed the Conservatives (32 per cent), thereby helping to destroy the coalition of Leave voters that gave Boris Johnson victory in 2019. But it would be a mistake to assume that perceptions of integrity and competence did not matter for these voters too. For example, support for Reform first started to rise in the immediate wake of the Liz Truss fiscal debacle. And although, according to the British Election Study, 29 per cent of those 2019 Tory voters who had switched to Labour by the time the election was called reckoned the economy had got a lot worse in the last 12 months, so also did 23 per cent of those who had switched to Reform.

Not much change in level of support

Labour would, of course, dispute this account of the downfall of the Conservative government. They would argue that voters switched to Labour because the change that Sir Keir Starmer enforced within his party convinced voters Labour could be relied upon the change and improve the governance of the country.

Yet the one thing that Sir Keir Starmer did not do was to secure much change in his partys level of support.

In Wales, where Labour runs the devolved government, its support fell by four points. In England the increase was just half a per cent. Only in Scotland, where its support was up by 17 points, did voters turn afresh to the party in large numbers. However, there the partys support was boosted by the travails of the SNP, which were down 15 points. Meanwhile, two in five voters, a near-record stayed at home. This was especially the case in Labour held seats. In short, despite all the talk of a changed Labour party, Sir Keir Starmer was barely any more successful in winning votes than Jeremy Corbyn had been in 2019.

Meanwhile, he was well short of his predecessors 41 per cent support in 2017, let alone the 44 per cent Sir Tony Blair won in 1997. In England and Wales, Labour only gained support where the party appeared best-placed locally to defeat the Conservatives. In seats where it started off in second place to a Tory incumbent its vote increased on average by six points. Elsewhere in England where the opportunity to turf out a Tory did not exist, Labours support was markedly down  on average by five points.

The party fell back especially heavily in seats where more than 10 per cent identify as Muslim, losing on average as much as 12 per cent of the vote. It even lost four supposedly safe seats with large Muslim populations to independent candidates who were standing on the Gaza issue.

While the Conservatives seek ways to heal their wounds, Labour now has to embark on the task of taking over a country whose economy and public services are struggling. While voters have sent a clear message that they are looking for better government, many are far from convinced that Labour can provide what they seek.

Meanwhile, in winning few votes but many seats Labour now finds itself with nearly 100 MPs who enjoy majorities of 10 points or less. They could soon become restive if Sir Keir Starmer cannot persuade voters he is indeed providing the better government they seek.

Sir John Curtice is professor of politics, University of Strathclyde, and senior fellow, National Centre for Social Research and The UK in a Changing Europe. He is also co-host of the Trendy podcast.
Sophia Money-Coutts: 'I can think of several people who've married in church and yet baulked at the idea of christening their child' - getty

Off I went to Farm Street on Saturday morning, the Mayfair church where various Rothschilds and Hiltons and Spencers have married in recent years.

You know its a big posh wedding if the invitation says Farm Street, with its dazzling stained-glass windows and Pugin altar. It wasnt a wedding, though; it was a christening, as I wrote in my card on the train there. Happy Christening, I scribbled to my small godson, Luca.

Nearly exactly 20 years ago I met his mother on our first day at LSE and she became my closest university friend. Little did we know, I told him in the card, that wed be gathering at a London church two decades later to celebrate her first child.

Life is magical like that, I wrote. Yours will be too. Not that he can read it yet. My godson is a genius, obviously, but even he isnt reading aged two.

I reckon half my friends have christened their children. Apparently only half of Brits deem them necessary these days, which roughly correlates with the number of people, 46 per cent, who declared themselves Christians at the last census in 2021.

Funny that weddings have become such a circus while the popularity of christenings has declined. Both are religious ceremonies, but I can think of several people whove married in church and yet baulked at the idea of christening their child, as if introducing their child to the same religion they professed to believe a few years earlier at the altar is somehow distasteful.

Perhaps theres a marketing opportunity for the Church of England there: quick baptism in church before a party in a marquee outside with a photo booth and a bar doling out espresso martinis.

Admittedly Ive been to a quite few christenings, because I have 10 godchildren. Ive stood there while the priest tips the baby towards the font and the baby screams until its puce and everyone watching laughs indulgently.

Awww, sweet, the congregation think while the poor babe waves its fists, a tiny Miss Havisham in an ancient family christening gown which is too small, too hot and smells of mothballs.

Ive always felt pretty hypocritical while renouncing evil on behalf of a godchild, though, because Im not religious. I love a church ceremony, and often think back fondly to the ritual of morning chapel at school; an enforced, contemplative 15 minutes of sitting and mulling the day over before it began. But I didnt leave with any faith.

Theres also been the odd christening where Ive been suffering from too many wines the night before, if the parents of said-godchild have made a weekend of it and weve all congregated at a bucolic 12th-century church in the sticks called something like St Mary in the Dunny.

Does the priest know or care, in such a situation, Ive always wondered, if the parents and godparents look a bit green while hovering around the font? Its occasionally felt sham-like for everyone to gather in suits and frocks for a service that nobody believes in, apart from the poor priest, solemnly going through the motions about being washed and cleansed by the Holy Spirit. I could do with a bit of cleansing myself this morning, Vicar, Ive thought from time to time before.

My doubts about christenings have often been compounded by the silliness of the presents. Why would any baby need a silver rattle? Or a miniscule silver bangle? Oh a silver egg cup and spoon! Thank you, how enormously practical.

There was such joy last weekend, though. The sun poured through the stained glass; various grandparents and parents and friends who hadnt seen one another for years offered enthusiastic hugs; my godson toddled between the pews in white shorts and a smart white linen shirt.

Organising the service, with key members of family and godparents spread across America, the UK and Africa has taken some time, so now that hes two he could totter up to the altar himself.

Whens the water on my head? he kept burbling to his mother, as we gathered beside the priest, mumbling our lines when required. Shhhhh, she whispered back, in a minute.

I want a book, Luca then announced, when he realised the exciting water moment wasnt happening immediately. Shhhhh, Emily told him again, although its hard to disapprove of a child asking for a book these days. Better that than, I want Peppa Pig.

When the magical baptism moment arrived, Luca didnt find it as thrilling as he expected, and rubbed his blonde hair afterwards while fixing the priest with a suspicious glare. Youve been ever so good, the priest added, as if to make amends, Ive had some real screamers.

After wed all silently wondered whether this was an appropriate thing for a man of the cloth to say, we wandered back out into the sunshine and walked through Mayfair to a nearby pub for the reception.

The Pride parade was taking place in Central London last Saturday, and all together it made comical sight: 30 or so of us from the christening, in well-cut suits and dresses, mingling with 20-somethings in sparkly eyeshadow waving rainbow flags.

While I discussed the political situation in America with one of the American contingent whod flown over for the baptism, a man in hotpants carrying a large Durex sign strolled past.

Another Pride participant was handing out rainbow hats, whereupon Lucas grandfather took one and paired it with his navy suit. It was a happy, glorious morning  celebratory in more ways than one.

Do we come to appreciate ceremonies like this more as we get older? Milestones that are marked, no matter what anyone believes in?

During the service, I felt the same lurking hypocrisy as previously while rejecting evil on Lucas behalf, but this could mean the evils of the internet, these days. Or the evils of smartphones. Perhaps thats the kind of evil I can help him with in due course.

But these misgivings didnt seem to matter so much, because I simply felt so glad, and grateful, to be there.

Twenty years ago I met a friend who would later deem me responsible enough to act as some sort of mentor to her son. Thats a kind of faith, isnt it?
Prime minister Keir Starmer chairs the first meeting of his cabinet in 10 Downing Street on 6 July. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

Rachel Reeves, chancellor

The countrys first female chancellor will have some huge early decisions to make. Taxes on private schools, non-doms and oil and gas companies will have to be enacted, but there is a bigger immediate question.

The Tory governments spending plans run out in April 2025, which means a spending review  with all the difficult trade-offs that involves  will have to take place this year. Does Reeves simply roll on existing spending settlements for another year to give herself more time to make the big calls? Or does she go with a longer-term settlement to foster the stability and growth she has placed at the centre of her project?

Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and levelling up secretary

Labours plans for growth rest on huge reforms to the planning system and housebuilding. While this will be tackled by Keir Starmer and Reeves from Downing Street, it will fall to Rayner to turn the ambition into delivery. That will involve early reform plans that will no doubt meet resistance in parliament and society.

Wes Streeting, health and social care secretary

Expectations are high for Labour to restore the NHS. But Streeting will face an immediate battle with junior doctors, who are still threatening strikes this year if their pay dispute cannot be resolved. In the longer term, Streeting has set himself the tough aim of hitting waiting-list targets in five years. A manifesto plan for 2m extra scans, operations and outpatient appointments a year is the main route to achieving this, which will require a serious amount of kit. Then theres the 125m dentistry package, as well as the task of starting to recruit 8,500 mental health staff.

Bridget Phillipson, education secretary

Offering breakfast clubs in all primary schools has been a key Labour pledge for some time, and one it believes will have a real impact on peoples lives, so rolling them out will be a priority. Then theres the recruitment of an extra 6,500 expert teachers, paid for by imposing VAT on private school fees. Phillipson has been passionate about improving childcare, so expect her to be spending her political capital on improving provision and solving the sectors recruitment and retention issues.

David Lammy, foreign secretary

There had been rumours that Lammy might not become foreign secretary should Labour form a government  Douglas Alexanders return to parliament had some making him the favourite  but, now safely in post, Lammy has an overflowing inbox. It will kick off with a delicate reset of EU relations, as the UK hosts a meeting of the European Political Community in less than a fortnight. On Gaza, there is also a decision to be made about Palestinian statehood, something Lammy has said Labour would consider once a ceasefire was secured. Then, theres the small matter of the US  Lammy has said some incendiary things about Donald Trump.

Yvette Cooper, home secretary

A Labour government sees stop the boats become smash the gangs, with Cooper charged with overseeing a new group tasked with taking on the networks behind the perilous Channel crossings. The Rwanda scheme will be scrapped straight away. Some of the structural changes can start quickly, but seriously reducing the numbers via new returns agreements is a harder diplomatic task. The changing political makeup in France could make the task more difficult: some hard-right figures have challenged the current UK-France cooperation on border controls.
Muslim independent candidate Shockat Adam won a surprise victory over Labours Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian

The man who pulled off a shock victory at the general election by ousting shadow cabinet member Jonathan Ashworth has criticised claims that the wave of strong showings by independent Muslim candidates represents the rise of sectarian voting.

Shockat Adam, an optometrist, caused a huge upset by beating Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general and a familiar face in Labours election campaign, to become the new MP for Leicester South.

Adam was one of three independent Muslim candidates to win Labour-held seats amid anger at the partys stance on Gaza, with Labour also losing Blackburn and Birmingham Perry Barr.

Another independent candidate, Iqbal Mohamed, won the new seat of Dewsbury and Batley.

Other Labour MPs only just held on to their seats: new health secretary Wes Streeting won a mere 528 more votes than Leanne Mohamad in Ilford North, while Naz Shah held her Bradford seat by barely more than 700 votes.

Early analysis of the election results by the thinktank More in Common shows that Labours vote share fell sharply in seats with large Muslim populations.

The string of successes by Muslim independents has sparked a backlash, with the journalist Stephen Pollard describing them as the rise of sectarian voting, while Telegraph columnist Sam Ashworth-Hayes condemned their victories as: Total, utter failures of integration.

Speaking to the Observer, Adam said: What people are doing is exercising their democratic rights for the things that theyre concerned about. People in certain positions of power and in the media weaponise terminologies, causing division between communities.

And this is just another example of that, when involvement by minorities or involvement in the political system by Muslims is seen as a threat for some reason, whereas all theyre doing is exercising their democratic right and being part of the democratic process.

At the declaration of the Leicester South result, Adam said: This is for the people of Gaza, but his acceptance speech also referred to the cost of living crisis and the state of the NHS. His key campaign pledges also covered the housing crisis and he emphasised that his campaign targeted all demographics and ethnicities.

I was very cognisant of making this more than a one-issue campaign, he said. Im a healthcare professional. Im an optometrist by profession. And I know the backlog and the issues and the consequences of an inefficiently run NHS service.

The housing crisis, I knew about it, but I didnt know the extent of the issue until I started my campaign, where Ive gone to so many places, peoples homes. And mainly when I spoke at events or on my campaign trail, housing was the No 1 issue.

Related: Dont take us for granted: Muslim voters send message to Labour over its Gaza stance

He said that Labours stance on Gaza  and in particular, Sir Keir Starmers comments last October that Israel had the right to cut off power and water from Gaza  had angered voters and driven them towards him. But he characterised his win as part of a broader backlash against the political mainstream.

The number of times I heard: I hope youre not from Labour, mate. Or: I hope youre not from the Tories, mate, I aint going to vote, theres no point. We were hearing that repeatedly, he said. Theres apathy, theres disenfranchisement. They just feel that the two parties dont represent them.

However, local Labour sources complained of intimidation and harassment during the campaign, which saw Ashworth confronted over Gaza while out canvassing. One anonymous leaflet, featuring an image of the former MP, stated: Vote for genocide  vote Labour.

Leicester has never seen a campaign like this before, said the Labour source, who also claimed that some who signed Ashworths nomination papers had been pressured to withdraw their support.

A spokesperson for Adam said on Saturday: The campaign was a community grassroots effort, taking into account genuine community concerns and was conducted in compliance of full electoral regulations.

We condemn any form of intimidation or harassment as they do not reflect our values.

An organisation called the Muslim Vote endorsed a range of independent and non-mainstream candidates at the election, including the four independent Muslim candidates who were elected, plus former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who held his Islington North seat as an independent, and George Galloway, who lost his Rochdale seat to Labour.

We really have seen Muslim communities stand up and say that, you know, if you want to represent us, then you have to represent our policy positions, said Abubakr Nanabawa, coordinator of the Muslim Vote.

And this goes beyond Gaza  I think speaking to Muslims across the country, two of the things that came up quite often were the two-child benefit cap and the refusal to remove that, and also the state of the NHS.

The insurgent campaigns against Labour MPs were not without controversy. Jess Phillips, who held her Birmingham Yardley seat by just under 700 votes, was heckled at the count after an acrimonious campaign in which she said her activists had their car tyres slashed and abuse screamed in their faces.

Akhmed Yakoob, who failed in his attempt to win Birmingham Ladywood, was revealed to have made misogynist comments and joked about domestic violence. We do not condone these comments at all, said Nanabawa of Yakoob. I think whats actually interesting to see is that these comments may have in some part contributed to his lack of success.
Hamas has dropped a demand that Israel commit to ending its war in Gaza and gave initial approval for a U.S.-backed plan for a cease-fire deal, according to a report Saturday.

A Hamas official and an Egyptian official revealed the apparent compromise move by the militant group, the Associated Press reported.

The officials cautioned that an agreement wasn't guaranteed and noted that Hamas still wanted written assurances that Israel would continue to negotiate a permanent end to the war, according to AP.

The Hamas official said the approval of the three-phase U.S. plan came in response to "verbal commitments and guarantees" from mediators that the war won't be resumed and that negotiations would continue, AP reported.

"Now we want these guarantees on paper," the Hamas representative said.

Under the plan supported by President Joe Biden, there would be a "full and complete" six-week cease-fire during which older, sick and female hostages kidnapped from Israel would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, the officials told AP.

During that period, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow displaced people to return to their homes in northern Gaza, the officials said.

Hamas, Israel and mediators would also negotiate the terms of a second phase that could see the release of the remaining male hostages, both civilians and soldiers, the officials said.

In return, Israel would free additional Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The third phase would include the return of any remaining hostages, including bodies of the dead, and the start of a yearslong reconstruction project, AP said.

A statement released by the families of many hostages said that for the "first time in many months, we feel hopeful."

The families also told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they "have seen how you repeatedly thwart deals in real time."

They warned:: "Don't you dare break our hearts again."

Neither Netanyahu's office nor the White House immediately returned requests for comment to AP.
Violetta Loevska measures methane levels at Pokrovsk mine. Photograph: Jedrzej Nowicki/The Guardian

Standing in front of a Soviet-era industrial elevator, ready to descend 2,000ft for a gruelling six-hour shift at a coalmine in eastern Ukraine, Ludmyla Vashkatova looked unfazed.

The last thing she saw before stepping into the metal cage and plunging into darkness with dozens of other miners was a towering sign urging workers to take care. You are awaited at home, it read, a stark reminder of the perils working at a frontline mine in the heavily shelled city of Pokrovsk.

At first, going underground was scary, but you soon get used to it, said Vashkatova, 49, as bare-chested workers emerging from the night shift, their faces darkened by coal dust and their bodies drenched in sweat, passed by her.

Vladimir Putins invasion, which saw hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian men serve at the front, has pushed women like Vashkatova down into the mines, taking up traditionally male jobs to keep the countrys economy going.

Nearly three-quarters of Ukrainian employers have complained of workforce shortages, according to a recent study, and in Kyiv intervals between metro trains have increased due to a worker shortage, with up to 10% of the workforce mobilised. Nationwide, there is a 30% deficiency in bus drivers.

A former village school teacher in the eastern Donetsk region, Vashkatova lost her job last year when relentless Russian shelling forced her pupils to turn to online schooling.

While scrolling online, she saw an ad on Facebook from Ukraines largest steelmaker, Metinvest, for a job at the Pokrovsk mine, seeking workers to operate machines underground.

The pay is good and stable, she said, which is quite rare these days.

I was a teacher but now I am a student again. It is an interesting process, Vashkatova said, adding that she had a few weeks left of training before she could operate the machinery unsupervised.

To enable women to work underground, the Ukrainian government lifted a law that had previously prohibited women from working in harmful or dangerous conditions.

Some have taken the opportunity with open hands as jobs in the battle-ravished region dried up.

Amid the rumble of rail carts and hum of machinery in the dark and dusty labyrinthine network of tunnels, Marina Vykhrevna, 50, stood alongside a group of male workers inside the mine.

Having spent three decades working at a mine above ground sorting dry coal, she welcomed the opportunity the war gave her to train as a quality control inspector underground.

Her salary had doubled to 19,000 (360), and with the influx of women, a bond of camaraderie had formed. I think its great more women join. The girls are supporting each other, Vykhrevna said.

She added that her female friends were initially surprised when she told them about her job, but have since inquired about available positions.

Ukraine has the worlds sixth-largest coal reserve, with 90% of it located in the Donbas region, where mining has long been the lifeline for many towns and cities.

Nearly everyone at the mine in Pokrovsk, a city with a prewar population of about 61,000, has a relative who was fighting to defend the country.

Violetta Loevska, 21, who recently started working at the mine measuring methane levels, said she saw it as her duty to keep it operating, especially since her uncle who worked at the mine had been sent to the front.

Everyone understands that there just arent enough men left. If we dont work here, who will? she said as she walked down a tunnel.

Down in the mine, Loevska stressed, gender did not matter, dismissing the notion of lingering stigma surrounding taking on traditionally male roles.

I knew very well what I was signing up for. Women can do the job just as well as men. All that matters is keeping other miners safe.

Blue-collar industries heavily dominated by sturdy working-age men, such as mining, transport and construction are disproportionately affected by mobilisation. These vital sectors are expected to face further workforce depletion after president Volodymyr Zelenskiys decision to lower the conscription age to 26.

But in the east, shortages are especially acute, with many families fleeing abroad or to the relative safety of western Ukraine.

Since the start of the war, 915 out of 6,578 male workers at Metinvests Pokrovsk mine have joined the armed forces, while others have left the region, said Serhiy Stepanenko, the head of the mines human resources department.

Stepanenko said that about 30 women have so far taken up jobs underground, while some women have started working in traditionally male-dominated roles in logistics and transportation.

But he said many of the most physically demanding positions would remain closed off to women. The workers deficit is problematic and female employment wont fix it, Stepanenko said, adding that the mine has been forced to change the production outlook this year based on the available personnel.

Beyond the numerous usual hazards and long-term health risks of working in a Soviet-era coalmine  an industry plagued by deadly accidents  miners in Pokrovsk also face the threat of constant Russian bombardment. The mine is located just 15 miles from the battlefield, and Russian forces have been slowly creeping closer to Pokrovsk in recent weeks.

Three days after the Guardian descended into the Pokrovsk mine, Russia shelled another site in the nearby city of Selydove, setting several production facilities on fire. The attack cut electricity at the mine, trapping 53 miners for hours before they were evacuated.

Of course we worry about the fighting. All we can do is follow the safety protocols as best as we can, said Loevska.

But the shortage of men is felt far beyond the frontlines, where the constant noise of rocket alarms and artillery shells has become a fixture in daily life.

To tackle some of these challenges, the Ukrainian government and independent organisations have set up fast-track retraining programmes for female workers across the country.

On a recent morning on the outskirts of Kyiv, a group of women gathered for a truck driving course organised by the NGO Reskilling.

Truck driving was traditionally a male profession, but I have always wanted to experience what its like to be behind the wheel of such a powerful machine, said Valentyna Kaistreno, who lived in Mariupol before Russia occupied the city, as she stepped outside a giant truck.

Kaistreno noted that for a long time, women were expected to stay at home and take care of their children.

But now, the situation in the country has changed, and attitudes are evolving too.
David Lammy meets with Annalena Baerbock, Germany's foreign minister - FCDO/Ben Dance

The Government is working with Germany to see how Britain can move closer to the EU, Berlins foreign ministry said.

In remarks made as David Lammy headed for his first overseas visit as Foreign Secretary, the official Twitter account for Germanys foreign office said: The United Kingdom is our close friend and partner. Together we stand up for democracy and freedom in the world.

It added: The United Kingdom is an indispensable part of Europe. Whether in science, culture or security  (Germany) and (Britain) work closely together: We are working with the new UK Government to see how the UK can move closer to the EU.

Mr Lammy, who voted Remain and advocated for a second Brexit referendum, said ahead of his trip that it was time to put the Brexit years behind us.

Speaking in the Foreign Office, he told The Guardian: We are not going to rejoin the Single Market and the customs union but there is much that we can do together.

He added: I want to be absolutely clear, European nations are our friends.

European friends and allies

The Foreign Secretary will also travel to Poland and Sweden to meet his counterparts before the UK hosts the European Political Community summit in a fortnight.

Mr Lammy said in the aftermath of the meeting that it was time to reset our relationship with our European friends and allies.

He and Annalena Baerbock, German foreign minister, discussed security in Europe, as well as support for Ukraine.

Mr Lammy also shared a photograph of the pair watching England play Switzerland in the Euros.

Labour has pledged to improve the UK-EU trade deal agreed by Boris Johnsons government in 2020.

In particular, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, has said that Labour would look to strike deals in the chemical and veterinary sectors.

Closer relationship

Sir Keir Starmer has previously called for closer ties with the bloc on education, defence and security.

He said in May: Weve got to take that on, a closer relationship, I think not just in trade but also I think in defence. I think theres huge scope for closer work on defence and security. And also education, by the way, I think we could do a lot closer work on.

A potential area of agreement could be rejoining the Erasmus student exchange programme, which has seen millions of students spend time in EU countries as part of their university degrees.

Following the Brexit deal, Michel Barnier, the EUs Brexit negotiator, said that Britains decision not to participate in the Erasmus programme was one of his main regrets in terms of social cooperation between the UK and Europe.

Ms Baerbock and Mr Lammy said in a joint statement: We are tackling todays challenges side by side: boosting our defence in Nato, supporting Ukraine, and working for peace in the Middle East. Together we are joining forces to uphold democracy and freedom around the world.
Biden speaks at a rally in Wisconsin on Friday - GETTY IMAGES

Joe Biden has said only the Lord Almighty can tell him to stand down, as he refused five times to say what he would do if his allies in the Democratic Party turned on him over his health.

The US president, 81, gave an interview to ABC News on Friday evening that was billed as an opportunity for him to recover support after a torrid week of criticism about his mental state.

In the interview, with the broadcaster George Stephanopoulos, Mr Biden repeatedly refused to say how he would react to being told by allies he should leave the presidential race.

If the Lord Almighty said, Joe get out of the race, then I would get out of the race. But the Lord Almightys not coming down, he said.

He denied claims that some of his closest allies, including Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, believed he should consider bowing out.

Ive met with them. Ive met a lot of these people, he said.

Ive talked with them regularly. I had an hour conversation with Hakeem. I had more time than that with Jim Clyburn. I spent time with, many hours off and on the last little bit, with Chuck Schumer.

Asked finally what he would do if those people asked him to stand back for a younger candidate, he replied: Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen.

The polls are a toss-up, says Biden

Mr Biden said he had not watched back his debate performance against Donald Trump last Thursday, which has sparked fresh calls for him to give up his re-election campaign.

The president was defensive about his health, his campaign and his poll ratings  implying several times that reports of his mental infirmity had been exaggerated by the media.

He denied that his position in the opinion polls had worsened since the debate, telling the broadcaster: All the pollsters I talk to tell me its a toss up.

A polling aggregation by FiveThirtyEight suggests Mr Biden is now two points behind Trump nationally, after drawing even with him earlier last week.

President is out of touch

The interview did not appear to have placated Mr Bidens critics, who have been calling for him to stand down since last Thursday.

David Axelrod, a former adviser to Barack Obama who served at the same time Mr Biden was vice president, said afterwards: The president is rightfully proud of his record.

But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacities moving forward and his standing in this race.

Mr Biden blamed the disastrous debate, in which he stuttered and froze, on a cold he had contracted and his decision to work too hard in the days before it.

I was sick. I was feeling terrible, he said. As a matter of fact, the docs with me, I asked if they did a Covid test.

We were trying to figure out whats wrong. He did a test to see whether or not I had some infection in our virus. I didnt. I just had a really bad cold.

He also suggested the reason for his unease on the debate stage was Trump interrupting him.

Even when I was answering the question, and when they turned [Trumps] mic off, he was still shouting and I let it distract me, he said. Im not blaming, but I realised that I just wasnt in control.

Biden insists he is well enough to run

However, Mr Biden repeatedly denied that he was not mentally or physically fit enough to run for office again.

He said: Can I run the 110 flat? No, but Im still in good shape.

Asked several times whether he would agree to a cognitive test, Mr Biden said he showed his mental abilities every day through his work and had not been asked by doctors to complete one.

No one said I had to, he said. No one saidthey said Im good.

The interview came after a week of intense criticism of Mr Biden, including from two sitting Democratic congressmen who said publicly that he should stand down.

On Friday night Maura Healey, the governor of Massachusetts, became the most high-profile sitting Democrat to publicly call for Mr Biden to consider his position.

The best way forward right now is a decision for the President to make, she said.

03:12 AM BST

Thanks for joining us

Thats it for our live coverage of Bidens interview.

Tony Diver says tonights performance shows the US President is in denial about the problem for his campaign.

Far from feeling reassured, Democrats are tonight feeling that Mr Biden is not concerned enough about this crisis to engage with it seriously. That impression is a dangerous one for the president.

Read more: Biden is in denial about the scale of this crisis

02:52 AM BST

Fetterman: Bidens critics need to grow a spine

John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania senator, has called on Democrat critics of Joe Biden to grow a spine and rally around the US President. Joe Biden is our guy,  he said.

Like I just said on @CNN with @jimsciutto, Democrats need to get a spine or grow a setone or the other.



Joe Biden is our guy.  John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) July 6, 2024

Chris Coons, the Delaware senator, also issued a message of support.

President Biden has delivered remarkable progress for the American people, and he has plans to do even more in his next term, he wrote on social media. I cant wait to help him continue to take the fight to Trump and win in November.

02:51 AM BST

Biden in denial and decline, Trump campaign claims

Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaigns press secretary, wrote on social media: Biden is in denial and in decline. Donald Trump has not commented on his rivals interview and has kept relatively quiet since the debate last week.

02:49 AM BST

Were still screwed: Democrats react to Biden interview

One Democrat in the House of Representatives told NBC News that Joe Bidens interview made me sad, adding: Completely out of touch with reality and insulated from truth. Ill be breaking my silence soon.

Another told CNN that Mr Bidens interview was certainly better than the debate, but conceded: We are still screwed.

02:46 AM BST

If you think Biden is fine, you need a cognitive test

Anyone who believes Joe Biden has not declined since he became president needs a cognitive test, Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator, has claimed.

Mr Graham, an ally of Donald Trump, claimed Mr Bidens interview with George Stephanopolous was a therapy session with a former Democratic operative begging President Biden to get out of the race.

He wrote on social media: With all due respect, the American people are not wrong to believe that President Biden is compromised physically and mentally.

That was not a media interview of a sitting President. That was a therapy session with a former Democratic operative begging President Biden to get out of the race.



There wasn't a single challenge to President Biden's statement that America is in good shape under his  Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 6, 2024

To suggest the debate was a bad night instead of a deteriorating condition is not only disingenuous, its an insult to the intelligence of the American people.

What we saw tonight was chilling. If you believe President Biden is as fit now as he was when he took office, as he claims, you need a cognitive test.

02:42 AM BST

The pundits constantly get it wrong, says Biden

Joe Biden has hit out at pundits and politicians predicting the death of his re-election bid following his interview with George Stephanopolous.

In a statement put out by his campaign, the US President said: The pundits and politicians have continually gotten it wrong. Dead wrong.

They were wrong about 2020. I beat Donald Trump then. And I will do it again this year.

They were wrong about what I could accomplish in office. In the past three and a half years, Ive gotten more done than any other President. Thats no hyperbole.

02:39 AM BST

Biden planning two Pennsylvania events on Sunday

Joe Biden shows no sign of ending his campaign as a growing number of critics have urged, with US media reporting that he plans to make two campaign stops in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Sunday.

02:35 AM BST

Biden adviser: Interview is enough to keep us in race

A member of Joe Bidens inner circle believes the ABC News interview is enough to keep him in the presidential race for now, the New York Times reports.

02:31 AM BST

Pictures: Biden vows to fight on at Wisconsin rally

Joe Biden delivers remarks at a campaign rally at Sherman Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin - Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images

Joe Biden poses for a selfie with supporters in Wisconsin - Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images

02:18 AM BST

Biden attacks Trump as congenital liar

Donald Trump is a congenital liar.



He wants to undo every single thing we've accomplished. pic.twitter.com/KmCS0RQYxw  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 6, 2024

02:17 AM BST

Were not the Lord Almighty - but Biden needs to go

Lloyd Doggett, a Democratic congressman who has already called on Joe Biden to step aside, said the need for a new candidate is more urgent following his ABC News interview.

He said: We may not be the Lord Almighty [but] Mr. President, the risk of a Trump presidency, to destroy our democracy, to take over the government and never give it back again, is so great that we have to have our strongest candidate.

02:14 AM BST

Obama adviser: Biden is dangerously out of touch

David Axelrod, a former adviser to Barack Obama while Joe Biden was serving as vice president, has said he is dangerously out of touch over concerns about his age.

The president is rightfully proud of his record.

But he is dangerously out-of-touch with the concerns people have about his capacitiies moving forward and his standing in this race.

Four years ago at this time, he was 10 points ahead of Trump.

Today, he is six points behind.  David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) July 6, 2024

02:14 AM BST

House Democrats unconvinced by Biden interview

Democrats in the House of Representatives have not been convinced by Joe Bidens interview performance, the New York Times reports.

Although a number of individuals contacted by the newspaper believe he looked stronger than in the debate last week, they fear he is in a state of denial about the shape of the race at the moment.

02:03 AM BST

Biden: My approval rating is above 36 per cent

George Stephanopolous tells Joe Biden he has never seen a president with a 36 per cent approval rating get re-elected. I dont believe thats my approval rating, Mr Biden answers. Thats not what our polls show.

02:02 AM BST

Biden: I beat Trump once - I can do it again

Joe Biden says he can repeat his 2020 election victory against Donald Trump, when he is quizzed about supporters who want him to stand aside for a younger candidate.

They are worried about you and the country and they dont think you will win., George Stephanopolous says. They want you to go with grace and they will cheer you if you do. What do you say to that? 

Mr Biden answers: I say the vast majority are not where those folks are. I dont doubt there are some foks there. Have you ever seen a group a time when elected officials running for office arent a little worried?

Ive not. Same thing happened 2020 - Ah Biden I dont know man, whats he going to do.

01:55 AM BST

Biden: I will be happy if I know I did my best

Joe Biden said that doing as good a job as I know I can do is what the election is all about as he was challenged on how he will react to a Trump victory.

George Stephanopoulos asked the US president: If you stay in and Trump is elected, and everything youre warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?

He responded: Ill feel as long as I gave it my all, and I did as good a job as I know I can do, thats what this is all about.

01:55 AM BST

Biden falsely suggests one of his critics challenged run for the nomination

Mr Biden was asked about a report that Mark Warner, a Democratic senator, was organising a group of congressmen to call for him publicly to step down.

Mark is a good man, Mr Biden replied. Weve never had that...he also tried to get the nomination too. Mark I have a different perspective, I respect him.

Mr Warner, a 69-year old Democratic senator from Virginia, has never run for president. In 2006, he was thought to be considering a run, but ultimately declined to challenge Barack Obama in the 2008 race, citing a desire not to disrupt his family life.



01:53 AM BST

Biden: I dont need to revive my campaign

Joe Biden pushes back on a question about how he plans to revive his campaign.

He tells George Stephanopolous: Im the guy supposedly in trouble. We raised $38 million within four days after this [debate]. Over we have over a million individual contributors - individual contributors, thats less than 20 bucks. I mean, Ive not seen what youre proposing.

Questioned whether he is aware of disquiet from Democrats and polls that show Donald Trump in the ascendancy, Mr Biden says he has only seen this in the press.

01:50 AM BST

Im not going to answer that question

Asked if his allies in the House and Senate tell him he will lose to Donald Trump and tell him to drop out, Joe Biden responds: Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen.

01:49 AM BST

Senior Democrats are not asking me to leave, says Biden

Joe Biden is asked if he would drop out if senior Democrats Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi told him to do so.

Ive spoken to all of them in detail, including Jim Clyburn. Everyone else said I should stay in the race. Stay in the race. No one said I should leave, he answers.

The US President adds that he has spoken to all the governors.

01:47 AM BST

Biden: This is not about my personal interest

Joe Biden dismisses suggestions that, like Donald Trump, he was putting his own interests ahead of the national interest by staying in the presidential race.

I dont think those critics know what theyre talking about. Theyre just wrong, he says.

Look - Trump is a pathological liar. He is... did you ever see anything Trump did that benefitted anybody else and not him?

01:41 AM BST

Ive spoken to all my critics, says Biden

Joe Biden repeatedly suggests that the reported criticism of his age has been exaggerated by the press.

He was asked what he would do if Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House, or Nancy Pelosi, said he should stand down.

Ive met with them. Ive met a lot of these people, he said. Ive talked with them regularly. I had an hour conversation with Hakeem. I had more time than that with Jim Clyburn. I spent time with, many hours off and on the last little bit, with Chuck Schumer.

Asked what he would do if they turned on him Mr Biden added: Theyre not going to do thatIve spoken to all of them in detail, including Jim Clyburn. Every one of them. They all said I should stay in the race. Stay in the race.

Pressed a third time, he replied: Im not going to answer that question. Its not going to happen.

01:40 AM BST

My doctors would tell me if something was wrong, says Biden

Joe Biden says he spoke to a doctor after the debate, telling ABC News: He just looked at me said youre exhausted.

I have medical doctors traveling everywhere. Every president does, as you know. Medical doctors from the best of the world travel with me everywhere I go. I have an ongoing assessment of what Im doing. They dont hesitate to tell me if they think theres something else is wrong.

Mr Biden adds: I get a full neurological test every day... not only in my campaign but I was running the world. I know that sounds like hyperbole, but we are the central nation in the world.

He repeatedly refuses to answer when he is pressed by George Stephanopolous when asked if he would submit to a neurological examination and release the results.

01:36 AM BST

Biden: I will be happy if I know I did my best

Joe Biden said that doing as good a job as I know I can do is what the election is all about as he was challenged on how he will react to a Trump victory.

George Stephanopoulos asked the US president: If you stay in and Trump is elected, and everything youre warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?

He responded: Ill feel as long as I gave it my all, and I did as good a job as I know I can do, thats what this is all about.

01:36 AM BST

Im still in good shape, Biden insists

Joe Biden wont be drawn on what the presidency has cost him physically, mentally, emotionally when pressed in his ABC News interview.

I just think it cost me a really bad night, a bad run, he answers. But George - Im optimistic about this country. I dont think were a country of losers.

He denies that he has declined physically since he entered the White House. Can I run the 100 flat? No, he says. But Im still in good shape.

01:33 AM BST

My polls dont show Im behind, says Biden

Joe Biden has questioned polls that show he is behind Donald Trump after his debate performance last week. He said that only the NBC and New York Times/Siena polls show he is consistently behind Trump  and claims the Times poll has been against him from the start of this race.

In fact, polling averages do show that Mr Biden is behind Trump in aggregated scores. One published aggregation by FiveThirtyEight shows Mr Biden is on 39.7 per cent support, compared with Trumps 42.2 per cent.

All the pollsters I talk to say its a toss up, Mr Biden said, adding that he does not think polls are as accurate as they used to be.

01:32 AM BST

Biden: I dont know why - but I had a bad night

Joe Biden says he does not know why he had a bad night but seems keen to point to his campaigning stamina.

After the debate I did 10 major events in a row including until two oclock in the morning after the debate, he told George Stephanopolous.

I did events advance North Carolina I did events in Georgia. I did events like this today. Large crowds, overwhelming response, no, no slipping. And so I just had a bad night. I dont know why.

01:28 AM BST

Trump distracted me by shouting

Joe Biden says another reason for his poor debate performance is that Donald Trump was shouting even while his microphone was turned off.

It came to me I was having a bad night when I realized that even when I was answering a question, even when they turned his mic off, he was still shouting, he said in an interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos.

And I let it distract me. Im not blaming it on that, but I realized that I just wasnt in control.

01:26 AM BST

Biden: Only God could tell me to leave the race

Joe Biden says he might withdraw from the race if the Lord Almighty told him he could not beat Donald Trump.

If the Lord Almighty came down and said Joe, get out of the race, Id get out of the race, Mr Biden says, adding: The Lord Almightys not coming down.

He insists that all Democratic leaders have told him to keep campaigning - despite the fact that a number of senior Democrats have suggested he should make way for a younger successor.

01:22 AM BST

Biden: No one is more qualified than me

I dont think anybodys more qualified to be president or win this race than me, Joe Biden insists, again steering the conversation back to his record and away from the debate performance.

He repeatedly attacks Donald Trump, his Republican rival, claiming he wants to undo everything Ive done.

01:18 AM BST

Biden: My job is a cognitive test - every day

Mr Biden is using an interesting defence of his health that we have not heard before tonight: that his job is enough of a test of his mental abilities.

He refused three times to say that he would take a neurological test to prove he is up to the job  referring instead to the tasks he performs as president.

I have a cognitive test every single day, he said.

This is a new line from the president. There will be some who point to the gaffes and verbal trips that happen almost every day, too, and it may not be enough to keep his critics happy.

01:17 AM BST

Biden attempting to move interview back to record

Biden is attempting to pull this interview back to safer ground  his record in government.

In response to the last question about his age, he spoke about his work on Nato, job creation and the big pharma industries.

I dont think were a country of losers, he says, in response to another question about the physical toll those achievements have taken on his body.

He then talked about the difference between his policy platform and that of Donald Trump. George Stephanopoulos is repeatedly refocusing the president on specific questions about his heath.

01:10 AM BST

Biden is casual and flippant in stage-managed image tonight

Joe Biden is dressed relatively casually, in a striped shirt and blazer and two buttons undone. There clearly has been an attempt to make him look at ease and in control.

This format is not generally the best for the 81-year-old president. He performs best in front of a large crowd, with a teleprompter. Like this, all focus is on what he is saying.

He has repeatedly said he had a bad night last Thursday, in a slightly flippant tone of voice that suggests he is confused about the scale of concern.

But there is no doubting that some thought has gone into this. This could be the most important interview of Mr Bidens life.

12:44 AM BST

Biden struggles to give clear answer in interview clip

Joe Biden appeared to struggle to articulate himself in a brief clip released ahead of his interview with ABC News.

Asked if he realised how badly his debate with Donald Trump was going while he was on stage, Mr Biden answered:

Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobodys fault, mine. Nobodys fault but mine. I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realized - partway through that, you know, all - I get quoted the New York Times had me down, ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is. The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldnt - I mean, the way the debate ran, not-- my fault, nobody elses fault, no one elses fault.

At that point George Stephanopolous, the ABC News host, interrupted to suggest the US President was struggling from the first question, before any exchanges with Trump.

12:38 AM BST

Biden says he has not re-watched debate

Asked by George Stephanopolous, in an excerpt from the ABC News interview, if he had watched the presidential debate back, Joe Biden answered: I dont think I did, no.

He has repeatedly that his debate performance was nobodys fault but mine.

Critics, including Mr Bidens family, have placed the blame on the aides who oversaw the practice sessions at Camp David: Bob Bauer, the US Presidents personal attorney, Ron Klain, his former chief of staff, and senior adviser Anita Dunn.

12:27 AM BST

Biden: This was just a bad night

Joe Biden insisted his debate was simply a bad night in an excerpt from his ABC News interview, which will be broadcast in just over an hour.

The US President suggested he struggled to argue with Donald Trump because his Republican rival lied 28 times.

But it seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in, even before he spoke? interviewer George Stephanopoulos, a former Democratic strategist, asked him.

Well, I just had a bad night, Mr Biden responded.

12:16 AM BST

Biden vows to beat Trump again in 2020

Joe Biden vowed to beat Donald Trump again in 2020 as he attempted to salvage his presidential campaign with a rally in Wisconsin.

Ill beat Donald Trump. Ill beat him again in 2020, the 81-year-old told a crowd of supporters in the battleground state.

It marks the latest gaffe committed by the US President, who has reportedly staked his campaign on a strong performance at rallies this weekend and an interview with ABC News.

Mr Biden, who beat Trump in the 2020 presidential election but faces an uphill battle to do so this year, is facing pressure to drop out of the race following a disastrous debate performance last week.

At one point in the Wisconsin rally, he admitted stumbling over his words but made fun of a slip-up committed by his Republican rival in 2019.

Trump said George Washington won the Revolutionary War by taking control of the airports from the British, he told the crowd. Talk about me misspeaking.

10:10 PM BST

Thats all for now - but well be back

Thanks for following our coverage as Joe Biden attempts to get his presidential campaign back on track. Well be back later tonight, as the US Presidents ABC interview is broadcast. See you then.

09:45 PM BST

No denial from Warner on reported move against Biden

Mark Warners office declined to confirm reports that he was recruiting Senate colleagues to persuade Joe Biden to drop out of the presidential race.

In a statement, his spokeswoman Rachel Cohen, said: Like many other people in Washington and across the country, Senator Warner believes these are critical days for the presidents campaign, and he has made that clear to the White House.

09:42 PM BST

Pictured: Biden urged to pass the torch at rally

Joe Biden greets supporters at a campaign event in Madison, Wisconsin - SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

09:39 PM BST

Reports: Senior senator hopes to convince Biden to drop out

Senior Democratic senator Mark Warner is reportedly trying to persuade colleagues to join him in a plea to Joe Biden to withdraw from the race, David Millward writes.

The Washington Post reported that the Virginia senator has told fellow senators he fears that Mr Biden is incapable of running a campaign which would beat Trump.

Citing two people familiar with private conversations, the paper said concern had increased after his faltering debate performance.

It says an array of possibilities are under consideration including Senators holding a White House meeting with Mr Biden in which they could voice their concerns.

Mr Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is the most senior Democrat to call on Mr Biden to stand aside.

Underpinning the anxiety are growing fears not only that Mr Biden will lose but he will take Democrats down with him in Novembers Senate and Congressional races.

The worst-case scenario would see an unrestrained Trump presidency, with the Republicans controlling both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

09:25 PM BST

Im staying in the race and Ill beat Trump

Joe Biden has insisted that he is staying in the presidential race in a fiery speech at a rally in Wisconsin, despite a disastrous debate performance last week.

Im staying in the race. Ill beat [Donald] Trump, the US President told a crowd of supporters, as he launched multiple attacks on his Republican rival.

Lets stand together, win this election and exile Donald Trump, Mr Biden concluded, before turning to greet supporters as Tom Pettys I Wont Back Down played over the PA system.

Mr Biden is reportedly staking his presidency on an energetic performance at rallies this weekend and an interview that is being broadcast on ABC, having admitted for the first time he is considering ending his campaign.

After days of criticism over his disastrous performance in the debate, the US president told allies he knows if he has two more events like that then he is in a different place, according to The New York Times.

09:15 PM BST

Biden: I misspeak - but Im not as bad as Trump

Joe Biden said he was not too old to fight for a womans right to an abortion, fight for Medicare and Social Security and put the first black woman on the Supreme Court, David Millward writes.

The president said they wanted him to withdraw, but it was unclear who he was referring to.

Amid questions about his mental acuity, Mr Biden mocked Trump.

He said George Washington won the Revolutionary War by taking control of the airports from the British.

Talk about me misspeaking, the airports and the British in 1776. Its true he is a stable genius.

09:10 PM BST

I look about 40, says Biden

A defiant Joe Biden vowed to stay in the presidential race, David Millward writes.

There has been a lot of speculation about what Joe is going to do. Is he going to run again? Here is my answer. I am going to run again. I am going twin again, he said at a rally in Madison, Wisconsin.

I am staying in the race, I am going to beat Donald Trump.

Talking of his debate against Donald Trump, he said I would not say that it was not my performance.

The defiant president made light of the controversy over whether he is too old, telling supporters: There has been a lot of discussion about my age. I know I look about 40.

09:06 PM BST

Biden: Trump has failed every character test

Joe Biden attacked Donald Trumps fitness for office in a rally in Wisconsin, in what he has privately admitted is his last chance to save his presidential campaign.

You cant be pro-insurrectionist and pro-American at the same time. This is so damn serious, the 81-year-old said. You cant love your country only when you win.

He continued: Its about honesty its about the presidents decency, integrity, do they respect people? Or do they incite violence and hate?

Can they honour the Constitution and uphold their oath of office? Well I dont think its an exaggeration to say Trump has failed on every one of these character tests. Every one.

09:00 PM BST

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the live blog. Benedict Smith here. Well be bringing you all the updates today, as Biden attempts to salvage his run at the presidency with a rally in a battleground state and interview later this evening.
The Prince of Wales smiled before the game - Clive Mason

Prince William has appeared in Dusseldorf to cheer on England in their crunch quarter final against Switzerland.

The Prince of Wales made his second trip to Germany for the Euros as the Three Lions hope to make it to next weeks semi-final in Dortmund.

The Prince, who is president of the FA, flew to Germany for Gareth Southgates 100th game in charge of England.

The Prince made his second trip to Germany on Saturday - Michael Regan - UEFA

It comes after he was spotted at Englands group stage game against Denmark last month which ended in a 1-1 draw after an early goal scored by captain Harry Kane.

Prince William was seen chatting to Swiss President Viola Amherd chat prior to the UEFA EURO 2024 quarter-final match.

He was also pictured in the stands talking to legendary Portuguese winger Luis Figo before cheering on England in the Dusseldorf Arena.

The Prince sang the national anthem amid a rapturous atmosphere in the 54,000 seater stadium.
The Prince's Homewards programme has been widely hailed by homelessness charities and experts working in the field - Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace

The Prince of Wales will star in a two-part documentary charting the first year of his drive to end homelessness.

The ITV series, to be broadcast in the autumn, was announced as the Prince prepares to mark the first anniversary of Homewards, an ambitious five-year programme that aims to create a blueprint for eradicating homelessness.

He has described the initiative as a unique opportunity to create lasting change, having been inspired by the heartbreaking visits to homeless shelters he made as a child with his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Homewards, launched last June, aims to put six pilot locations - Bournemouth, Newport, Aberdeen, Northern Ireland, Sheffield and Lambeth - on a path towards ending homelessness by mid-2028.

It is hoped that the documentary will raise the profile of the initiative, generating further interest and involvement.

The series, called Prince William: We Can End Homelessness, will comprise two one-hour episodes, offering a rare insight into the Princes work behind the scenes.

The Prince at a local coalition meeting for Homewards in Sheffield in March - Oli Scarff - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Amanda Berry, CEO of The Royal Foundation, said: We know that television has the power to change hearts and minds.

Homelessness can seem like it is hard to prevent but by sharing the realities of peoples experiences and those who are coming together to support them, we can inspire action.

In a separate push to raise the profile of the project, the Saatchi Gallery will this summer host an exhibition that aims to improve understanding of homelessness.

Homelessness: Reframed, run in partnership with Homewards, will display works from artists inspired by their own or others experiences of homelessness. Participants include the photographer, Rankin and contemporary street artist, Opake.

The Homewards programme has been widely hailed by homelessness charities and experts working in the field, who say the Princes involvement has given them the confidence to change their rhetoric and challenge politicians.

Matt Downie, CEO of Crisis, told The Telegraph last year that the project had already achieved public and political engagement on a scale substantively different to anything done before.

The first year of the initiative has seen blueprints drawn up by local coalitions working at each location.

Charities, local business leaders, councils, schools and academics have come together to identify the specific challenges unique to each area.

The focus is on prevention, and on providing those at risk with long-term solutions. The prince has taken inspiration from Finland, where the problem of homelessness has been virtually eradicated.

The Prince is said to be really actively involved, asking for progress updates and checking in with his team at least once a week.

Celebrity ambassadors include Fara Williams, Gail Porter, Geri Halliwell Horner and Tyrone Ming.

The Prince with Geri Halliwell, one of the initiative's ambassadors - Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

The documentary series will feature well-known Homewards advocates alongside the campaign managers leading the individual projects

It was commissioned by Jo Clinton-Davis, ITV controller of factual, who said: With access to the inner workings of this ambitious project and the work of Prince William and his team, we hope to share with viewers a privileged insight into how they are setting out to tackle an issue which concerns us all and affects so many of our fellow citizens across the UK.

Leo Burley, the Bafta award-winning director, said that throughout the 12 months of filming, they had heard some incredibly moving stories from those facing homelessness.

From street homelessness in Newport to families living in temporary accommodation in Sheffield, and youth homelessness in Aberdeen, the documentary paints a picture of homelessness across the UK today, working with many people who never expected to experience life without a place to call home, he said.

Everyone weve filmed with has welcomed the spotlight that Prince William and Homewards are placing on the UKs homelessness crisis.

Homelessness: Reframed will open at Saatchi Gallery on Aug 7 and run until Sept 20.
Three women have been arrested after driving a van through the gates of the Teledyne CML Composites factory

Three women have been arrested after driving a van through the gates of a factory allegedly linked to the Israeli military.

Activists from the group Palestine Action forced their way onto the premises of the Teledyne CML Composites factory in Bromborough, Wirral, and sprayed red paint on the building in the early hours of Friday morning.

The group claims that the site is used to manufacture parts for F-35 fighter jets for weapons companies that supply the Israeli military.

Police officers arrived on the scene at around 4:45am and arrested three women.

A 40-year-old woman from Toxteth, Liverpool, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass; going equipped for criminal damage; possession of an offensive weapon; and criminal damage.

BREAKING: Palestine Action activists ram a van through the gates of Teledyne's factory in Wirral, the UK, forcing the factory to stop producing parts for Israel's F-35 fighter jets. pic.twitter.com/LUbCa6ljTD  Daniella Modos - Cutter -SEN (@DmodosCutter) July 5, 2024

A 30-year-old woman from Hackney, London was arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass; criminal damage; possession of an offensive weapon; and dangerous driving.

A 20-year-woman from Aigburth, Liverpool, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage.

The incident comes three months after activists attacked another site belonging to the same parent company in what they said was a bid to undermine and undo British complicity in Israeli occupation, genocide, and colonial violence.

Teledyne CML Composites has been approached for comment.
priest

Church of England priests should be allowed extra time off each week to prevent burnout, the General Synod has ruled.

The churchs assembly body voted yesterday to increase the period in which clergy should be completely free from parish duties to 36 hours, up from the current 24-hour period. The motion was carried overwhelmingly after numerous priests recounted instances of depression and stress due to juggling the demands of the job.

Clergy manage their own working weeks, although there is an assumption that employment law entitles them to a 24-hour rest period every seven days.

However, the Synod heard that a culture of overwork in the church, fuelled by the demands of parishioners and priests own sense of vocation, means that, in practice, many go for several weeks at a time without taking a whole day to themselves.

By enshrining a right to 36 hours off in church regulations, it is hoped that clergy will feel emboldened to resist the demands of parishioners who are not scrupulous in respecting their need for a rest. The statutory minimum day and a half would include 24 hours uninterrupted rest period.

Speaking in support of the motion, the Bishop of Winchester, the Right Rev Philip Mounstephen said: Busyness is perhaps one of the great curses of our current age. A long-hours culture is considered normal when it is anything but and mental health suffers.

He added: If our clergy are not in a good place, how can they attend to the needs of those who need them?

Numerous other priests spoke of the theological importance of observing a sabbath period each week, a period of quiet in which to reflect on God  although for clergy this cannot be on Sundays. Some pointed out that to do so was one of the Ten Commandments.

There are 10, not nine

The Rev Mae Christie, the Vicar of All Saints in Tooting, South London, quoted the Scottish rugby player Euan Murray, who famously refused to play on Sundays because of his Christian faith. He said Ive realised its quite simple really  Jesus said if you love me, keep my commandments, and there are 10, not nine.

The Synod voted to accept an amendment to introduce the word sabbath into the motion.

However, an amendment to statutorily enshrine a 48-hour rest period was defeated.

Under the plans proposed by Canon Alison Coulter, from Winchester, now backed by the Synod, draft regulations to enact the changes will be brought before the General Synod to approve at a later date.

Canon Coulter acknowledged that, technically, priests were already able to take more time off than they currently do. But she added: We are clarifying and raising awareness in the church that in order to care for our clergy, we need to ensure they feel able to take long enough periods of uninterrupted rest each week.

You are a precious resource and have given up much to serve us, so our priority needs to be to care for you.
Graham Sutherland leads First Group, Britain's biggest rail company and owner of Avanti, South Western Railway and Great Western Railway

The boss of Britains biggest transport company is being awarded an 800,000 bonus  nearly double the size of his salary  even as train cancellations soar, The Telegraph can reveal.

Graham Sutherland, 60, will receive the performance-related payout despite First Groups three rail companies cancelling tens of thousands of trains over the last year.

His performance targets for the year included ensuring the billion-pound, London-listed company made progress on diversity, and on environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns  the latter having been described as woke capitalism.

Mr Sutherland is in line to receive the 800,000 bonus on top of his salary of 567,000. His total pay packet for this year including pension contributions and other benefits adds up to 1.4 million.

Yet just over 61,000 trains were partially or fully cancelled across Avanti, South Western Railway and Great Western Railway  the three train franchises owned by First Group  over the last year, analysis of Office of Rail and Road figures by The Telegraph shows.

This is an increase of one fifth  19.8 per cent  compared with the 12 months immediately before the Covid pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020, sending train usage plummeting off a cliff.

Thirty thousand employees

A First Group spokesman said the business was the fifth-best performing company in the FTSE 250 last year, having recorded profits of 200 million  and paid out 1.6 billion in wages to its 30,000 employees.

Rail financial performance was not driven by our DfT [Department for Trainsport] rail contracts, where we earn low management fees of around 0.5 per cent, but by our open access companies Hull Trains and Lumo and other services which saw an increase in profits to 37.7 million, continued the spokesman.

In the past year, we also invested more than 120 million, primarily in our First Bus electric fleet and infrastructure which benefits customers and the environment.

Many of the factors behind delays and cancellations, such as bad weather and problems with Network Rail infrastructure, were outside Firsts control, the company said.

Performance bonuses

News of the chief executives bonus payout, which shareholders will approve in a vote at the end of this month, comes after civil servants signed off on millions of pounds in performance bonuses to Firsts three train companies this year.

The company did not deny it had been pleasantly surprised by the bonuses and was expecting to receive less than the 13 million of taxpayers money handed to it.

The DfT did not respond to a request for comment.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers union, condemned the size of Mr Sutherlands bonus and said: So poor performance is rewarded for the CEO whilst five years without a pay rise [for train drivers] is acceptable for the staff?

We know who the hypocrites and bad actors are  those who have plundered the industry for 30 years.

Speaking to The Telegraph on Thursday, he said: Hopefully we are about to get a government with a real green integrated transport system offering value for the passenger, taxpayer and those at the sharp end who deliver it.

Woke capitalism

Corporate focus on Left-wing social goals instead of a companys stated purpose has been criticised as woke capitalism.

Writing in The Telegraph in June, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the long-serving Conservative minister, defined woke capitalism as an over-focus on ESG and diversity which threatened economic growth  and thus the nations prosperity.

The damage that woke capitalism does is immense: it means employers cant hire people on merit, they must tick boxes and meet quotas instead, said Sir Jacob.

Steve Norris, a former transport minister in John Majors final Conservative government of the 1990s, said Mr Sutherlands pay should not have been linked to ESG goals.

Its disappointing that First Group doesnt appear to recognise that its principal job is to run trains and buses profitably.

That is what its shareholders are entitled to expect. And that surely means any bonuses for already well-paid bosses should be geared around how well the company achieves those clear objectives.

Ensuring high standards in terms of ESG and diversity should be taken for granted in a major PLC, not the basis on which the CEO is paid.

Louise Haigh, Labours new Transport Secretary, said: This new Government will deliver the biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.

We wont stand by and watch while failing rail firms cash in on passenger misery.

Thats why well be setting out plans to bring rail franchises back into public ownership as they expire, creating Great British Railways and putting passengers first.

And well be closely monitoring the poor performance of operators to hold them to account.
Labour has been in power in Wales for 25 years - Getty

It is a country which  according to a vast number of metrics  fares considerably worse than England. Yet Wales, ruled in part by the Labour-run Senedd for the past 25 years, voted for more of the same this week by ejecting every single Conservative MP across its land.

Gone was David Davies, the Welsh Secretary and MP for Monmouthshire since 2005, who had helped deliver the Chepstow bypass in anti-motorist Wales. Simon Hart, Conservative Chief Whip, was ousted in Caerfyrddin by the nationalist Plaid Cymru, who also defeated Virginia Crosbie in Ynys Mon (Anglesey).

Ex-ministers Alun Cairns, Stephen Crabb and Fay Jones also lost their seats, along with Rishi Sunaks former parliamentary aide, who had become embroiled in a betting scandal after he admitted having a flutter on the general election date before it was called.

In total, all 14 of the nations Tory MPs were voted out, leaving Labour holding all but five of the 32 seats, with Plaid Cymru gaining four in the west and north, and the Liberal Democrats winning one in Brecon, Radnor & Cwm Tawe.

The Tory wipe-out returns the party to the bleak days of the late 90s and early 2000s, when the party had no representation in Wales. But these swathes of red across its map are  even for a nation as partisan as Wales  puzzling, not least because its love of a one-party state does little to help its fortunes.

Just a brief look at statistics shows how badly the country performs under Labour.

In health, for instance, devolved to the Labour-run Welsh government since 1999, official figures from March show it has nine times as many NHS hospital waits of more than a year compared to England. Roughly 21 per cent of its population are on a waiting list, compared to only 13 per cent in England.

Wales has nine times as many hospital waits of more than a year as England - Alamy

Meanwhile, two decades of Labour rule appear to have done little to boost Waless economic performance. At the turn of the millennium, GDP per capita in the country  total economic output divided among the population, the most common indicator of living standards  was just 13,121. In 2022, that figure was 24,443 compared to Englands 34,241.

And in education, its recent results in the worldwide Pisa rankings were abysmal  with children aged 15 woefully lagging 26 performance points behind their English counterparts.

It all then begs the question, as perhaps in any toxic relationship: why vote for more of the same? Why stick with a party that does not seemingly improve your fortunes?

According to Laura McAllister (CORR), professor of public policy at the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University, the Tory wipeout was not a result of a blinding love affair with Labour, but more  as in England  a comprehensive rejection of the Conservatives.

Of course, Labour has traditionally done very well in Wales, but this isnt that story, she says. Actually, [Labours] share of the vote went down by four percentage points, and in some seats by 15, and the recent vote of no confidence in Waless First Minister Vaughan Gething wont have helped.

She continued This election result wasnt about specific issues introduced by Labour, such as tax on second homes or the 20mph speed limit. Nor its performance, even though Wales does not do badly on all metrics compared to England.This is a tale of people voting against the Conservatives for whichever party was best placed to win the seat.

There is also another factor in play in this nation of three million: Welsh identity. Since 2007, the number of Welsh speakers in the country has steadily grown; up to 862,700. The YesCymru movement for an independent Wales has thousands of members, while research shows roughly half identify as Welsh only, not British. Welsh celebrities such as Michael Sheen, Charlotte Church and Its A Sin creator Russell T Davies have also spoken out in support of Welsh independence.

Welsh First Minister Vaughan Gething recently lost a vote of no confidence - Huw Evans Agency

The importance of this to voters was seen on Thursday in seats like Ynys Mon, typically a competitive three-way marginal between Plaid, Tories and Labour, which, this time, was won by Plaids Llinos Medi with 10,590 votes to the Tories 9,953. Similarly, in Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen), Plaids Ann Davies easily took the seat, with 15,520 votes from former Chief Whip and Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart, who finished third.

Plaid also held Ceredigion Preseli with a large majority as voters returned Ben Lake to Parliament, while Liz Saville Roberts also retained Dwyfor Meirionnydd in the north west.

On Ynys Mon (Anglesey) and in Caerfyrddin (Carmarthen), and other areas, you have a strong number of chiefly Welsh identifiers, says McAllister. And these people are currently being swallowed up by Plaid and Welsh Labour, which is successful at presenting itself as a soft nationalist voice on the Left.

Some traditional Tories even voted for Plaid this time because of their identity, even though Plaid is economically to the left of Labour.

This strong sense of Welshness, she warns, does not bode well for the Tories in the future. Theres a debate going on in the Welsh Conservatives about how Welsh they should be. Historically, when theyve done well in Wales its because theyve represented a particular identity and culture on the centre-Right.

But under [the former leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd] Andrew RT Davies, that [was] probably not a priority. So some would say they need to go back to being a Welsh-identifying centre-Right party and that will help them rebuild. There is space for centre-Right to do well in that space.

Perhaps RT Davies is brooding on this himself, as, unusually for him, since the wipe-out he has not been in the mood for talking. He merely posted on X, formerly Twitter: We are a party that exists to govern and improve peoples opportunities. Lets be frank: weve let a lot of people down. Were going to take the lead in rebuilding our party in the run-up to 2026. Step one: stop taking lifelong Conservative voters for granted.

We are a party that exists to govern and improve people's opportunities.



Let's be frank: We've let a lot of people down.



In Wales, the Welsh Conservatives have a solid record in our communities at all levels of government, from local government, to the Senedd, to Parliament.  Andrew RT Davies (@AndrewRTDavies) July 4, 2024

His embattled colleague David Davies of Monmouthshire has also kept a low profile, writing on X that he had been proud to serve and wished the new MP  Labours Catherine Fookes, who beat him by 3,338 votes  all the best.

Given that Davies had held this seat since 2005, this was a significant loss for the Tory party, but in what is small comfort no doubt, the downfall was helped by a boundary change which saw the seat take in the traditional Labour town of Caldicot.

And  in a boost for the Right, though not the Tories  Nigel Farages party was not entirely ignored in Wales. Even though it failed to secure any seats, in 12 of Labours victories, it came second, beating Plaid and Tories. No doubt, this will be a cause for concern for Labour in Wales ahead of the next Senedd elections in 2026.

There is a view, however, that the heavy losses were to be expected. Dr Marion Loeffler, Reader of Welsh History at Cardiff University, says: Wales has been Labour for more than 100 years, whatever government gets into Westminster. The founder of the Labour Party, James Keir Hardie [Keir Starmer is named after him], set it up for the working classes.

He was Scottish but elected to parliament for Merthyr Tydfil in 1900, in this industrial coal and iron town. He rang in an era of Labour dominance in Wales and by the 1940s, Aneurin Bevan was the national voice for Wales. How Wales operates within the political landscape of Britain is always different to England.

Indeed, total wipe-out for the Tories is not unheard of. In 1997, John Majors Tories lost six seats in Wales. The party failed again to win a single seat at the 2001 election before beginning a revival in 2005, when it picked up three seats.

And while the Tories did mop up 14 seats at the last election in 2019, including Wrexham and Bridgend, some have put this down to a Boris bounce and Brexit.

Labour's Catherine Fookes beat former Welsh secretary David Davies in Monmouthshire by more than 3,000 votes

McAllister adds: Our research showed these seats went Conservative simply because of Brexit supporters, voting for the slogan Get Brexit Done. But this has not been an issue in 2024, so those voters have moved back to Labour or voted Plaid or Reform. So 2019 was not a good control group.

And there is a third and final factor in this weeks election results, according to Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville-Roberts: a neglect of Wales by central government over the past 14 years. Disappointment with the Tories magnified into a roar of anger, she says. It started with the austerity agenda, then carried on with Brexit and empty promises. We were promised new hospitals, new roads, new trains and nothing came about.

Then the political became the personal, where their abstract libertarian policies brought us higher mortgages and energy costs.

The Tory belief in a small state also does not sit well in Wales, says Saville-Roberts. We have the lowest salaries, and an older population who are more dependent on public services. And while we do know that Welsh Labour is technically in charge, we also know it is dependent on money from Westminster.The Tories hold the idea of the individual and small state sacrosanct, but in Wales we get that to have a civilised and less unequal society people need communities and effective public services. And I think England is beginning to understand this too.

She continued Of course, this disgust has gone two ways. Reform has picked up voters, but they are making hay out of fear and hatred and dont offer any solutions.

So yes, this is just a roar of anger. And Wales has been heard
Gary Clark is the weekly nature columnist for the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News. He also publishes feature articles in state and national magazines and has written four books: "Texas Wildlife Portfolio," "Texas Gulf Coast Impressions," "Backroads of the Texas Hill Country" and "Enjoying Big Bend National Park." Gary is also a contributing author in the book, "Pride of Place: A Contemporary Anthology of Texas Nature Writing."

He has won eight Lone Star College writing awards and is the recipient of the Houston Audubon Society 2004 Excellence in Media Award and the Citizens' Environmental Coalition 2010 Synergy Media Award for Environmental Reporting.

Gary is professor of business and developmental studies at Lone Star College--North Harris. In 32 years at the college, Gary has served as vice president of instruction; dean of Business, Social and Behavioral Sciences; associate dean of Natural Sciences; professor of marketing; professor of developmental writing; and Faculty Senate president. He is a recipient of the Teacher Excellence Award.

Gary has been active in the birding community for more than 30 years. He founded the Piney Woods Wildlife Society in 1982 and the Texas Coast Rare Bird Alert in 1983. He served as president of the Houston Audubon Society 1989-1991 and purchased the North American Rare Bird Alert for Houston Audubon in 1990. He was vice president of the Board of Directors for the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory 2001-2008. He currently sits on the Board of Advisors for the Houston Audubon Society and Gulf Coast Bird Observatory. He is also a member of the American Mensa Society.
Jaqueline, outside her familys home in Colombier-Saugnieu on the outskirts of Lyon. She is among 54% of voters there who cast their ballot for the National Rally (RN) party. Photograph: Bagdassarian Alexandre/The Observer

Flanked by fields of corn and tree-lined ponds, Colombier-Saugnieu has a proximity to the bustling metropolis of Lyon that is only hinted at by the regular rumbling of planes in the distance.

But in recent days journalists from the city have begun trekking out to the tiny commune, population 2,500, in hopes of better understanding a dynamic seemingly at play in the countrys snap parliamentary elections: the sharp divide between voters in rural and urban areas.

In Colombier-Saugnieu, 54% of voters cast their ballot for the far right, anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) party  the highest in the eastern central French department of Rhone. Around 17 miles away in central Lyon, the RN was conspicuously absent when it came to the top two choices in the citys four voting districts.

In Colombier-Saugnieu, as she swept leaves from the pavement outside the stately home that has long belonged to her family, 77-year-old Jaqueline explained why support for Marine Le Pens party had soared from 36% in 2022s first round of elections to 54% this time round.

Frankly, Im backing the RN. I hope they come in and things change a bit, she said. I want things to go back to the way they were, with a little more security, more dialogue and less violence. She was swift to acknowledge, however, that crime, violence and lack of dialogue werent particularly hot-button issues in Colombier-Saugnieu. In the village, at the moment, everything is fine. But when you see the news, we absorb it, you realise that its going badly everywhere.

Perhaps she and others in the commune were not looking for change, she conceded, but had voted for RN out of fear of what could come. We want things to stay the way they are. We want our peace.

Four weeks after Frances president, Emmanuel Macron, launched the country into snap parliamentary elections, polls suggest that the RN will fall short of an absolute majority. The far-right party, however, which has promised to slash immigration, bar dual nationals from certain state jobs and work towards banning headscarves in public places, is still expected to become the biggest force in the National Assembly.

Its a political transformation that appears to owe much to those who live outside Frances cities. In Sundays first-round ballot, on average, voters in the countrys 23 metropolises mostly turned their backs on the far right, with the leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance earning more than double the support for the RN.

Now, as the country gears up to vote in the second, decisive round, some in Lyon are worried that those prepared to propel the far right to power were being driven largely by misconceptions.

People in the countryside are afraid of situations that they arent living Matthieu, Lyon

People in the countryside are afraid of situations that they arent living but that they saw on TV, said Mathieu, 33. So the fantasy of the right and far right  Im talking about Macron to Le Pen  is to make people fantasise by saying: Look whats happening. Except that we in cities are living whats happening and were not afraid. He pointed to the rich diversity of Lyon, home to people from all around the world. I see migration every day  its not something to be afraid of, he said. The parties on the left tend to resonate with us more because we see poverty, we see situations that are not the result of immigration at all but rather the result of public policies.

Still, some media had found ratings by choosing to focus incessantly on issues concerning security and immigration, effectively amplifying the message espoused by Le Pen and her party, he said. And since then, weve seen a complete banalisation of what was previously inconceivable for us.

His sentiments were echoed by Melanie, 36, standing outside an office building finishing a cigarette.

Constant news reporting on crime had created a false sense that Frances cities were being consumed by a climate of insecurity, she said. We live here, we know that were not going to be assaulted every day. But those outside the cities watch the news and every day they see stories about assaults and think: Ooh la la, its horrible in the city.

As he strolled with his bullmastiff Sherlock along a tree-lined alleyway in Colombier-Saugnieu, Bernie, 65, had little doubt that the time had come for a far-right government. People dont necessarily want the far right. They want security, less immigration and more purchasing power, he said. The only ones capable of providing this is the so-called extreme right.

The RN, launched in the early 1970s as the National Front, once included in its ranks former members of a Waffen-SS military unit under Nazi command during the second world war. Rife with antisemitic, homophobic and racist views, the party was widely regarded as a danger to democracy that needed to be kept out of mainstream politics. While Le Pen has spent much of the past decade working to soften the partys image, its core message remains one of deep hostility to immigration, with promises to cut welfare benefits and medical insurance for migrants.

In Colombier-Saugnieu, Bernie brushed off any suggestion that France, whose birthrate is declining, needed migrants to help sustain its social welfare state. When they say there arent enough workers in France, I dont know. Its hard to verify.

Instead the son of Italian immigrants took aim at those who were migrating to France. Im not against them coming here  its not a problem. But you can see they have no intention of integrating into our way of life, he said.

When asked if he had ever tried to speak to any migrants to find out about their intentions, he said that he hadnt. No, I never had the chance.

In front of the bakery in Colombier-Saugnieu, one resident shook his head as he attempted to explain why more than half the commune had cast their ballots for RN days earlier.

I really dont understand it, he said, noting that he had always voted for the centre or the mainstream rightwing party. There are a lot of people who dont like foreigners, or rather so-called foreigners. Its like before, when elderly people in the village had their guard up against those from the outside.

Where exactly this intense rejection for foreigners had come from was hard to say, he added. There are very few foreigners here. Very few. People just dont like whats new.

While media have been quick to seize on the political divide between urban and rural areas, much of the voting discrepancy can be attributed to the kinds of people who live in both areas rather than geography, said Mathieu Gallard, research director for pollster Ipsos in France. In the countryside, generally speaking, you tend to have more older citizens, more people from the working class, more people with just a high school diploma, for example.

At the University of Lyon, political science professor Stephane Cadiou cautioned against generalisations. Its just not that simple, he said. There are senior executives who live in the countryside, but they dont vote RN. So you cant say that the countryside votes RN. This idea of one, generalised countryside doesnt exist in France. The same nuance needs to be applied to cities, he said.

In Nice, a big city, they didnt vote in the same way as Lyon.

The southern city of Nice, along with nearby Toulon, ran counter to most cities, with the far right gathering the most votes across the board in last Sundays first-round ballot. The wide difference lies in Nices social fabric, said Cadiou. In Nice, there are very few industrial jobs, very few jobs that require higher education. Its mainly small service-sector jobs, he said. And you also have a right that very quickly cultivated links with the far right. So all of this created a porosity that makes it a favourable breeding ground for the extreme right.

Regardless of where they live, voters are united over the cost of living, said Gallard. People are afraid for their own economic and social situation, he said. Basically, the left says that you can fight social inequalities and have a better level of life by fighting the wealthiest, and the far right says it will be done by fighting immigrants.

He pointed to these entrenched positions to explain polling data that suggested the far right was in a stronger position heading into Sundayssecond-round ballot. I think many people actually think that it would be easier to fight against immigration than to have a fair fight against big corporations and wealthy people.
Rwanda scheme dead and buried, Starmer says as last migrants bailed

The Rwanda deportation policy is dead and buried, Sir Keir Starmer said, as Labour announced plans to release the last two migrants detained as part of the doomed scheme.

The Prime Minister said he was not prepared to continue with gimmicks as he confirmed the multimillion-pound plan to send some asylum seekers to Kigali is to be scrapped.

Hundreds of people who were held pending removal to the east African nation have since been bailed under the former Tory government, according to a spokesperson for Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Before the election, Labour vowed to stop the troubled plan on day one if it entered government.

At his first press conference since entering Number 10, Sir Keir told journalists in Downing Street: The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. Its never been a deterrent.

Look at the numbers that have come over in the first six-and-a-bit months of this year, they are record numbers  that is the problem that we are inheriting.

He added: Its had the complete opposite effect and Im not prepared to continue with gimmicks that dont act as a deterrent.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has branded the scheme a gimmick. Picture date: Friday May 10, 2024.

A spokesperson for Ms Cooper later confirmed that two migrants who remain detained will be bailed over the coming days.

Since April, scores of people who were due to be deported have been released by immigration judges because there was no longer a realistic prospect of removal within a reasonable timescale.

On Saturday, Ms Coopers spokesperson said that during the election campaign, 218 migrants had been bailed under the former Tory government.

The Rwanda scheme was an extortionate gimmick if the last Prime Minister had believed it would work, he wouldnt have called an election before a flight went off, the spokesperson said.

During the election campaign, the previous government had released 218 people previously detained pending removal to Rwanda.

At this time, only two people remain in detention. These will be bailed in coming days.

The Home Secretary briefed officials on the day she was appointed on Labours first step to boosting our border security by setting up a new Border Security Command.

Plans are already underway to deliver additional capacity in the National Crime Agency to go after criminal smuggling gangs.

No asylum seekers have ever been deported under the scheme, described by critics as an Alice in Wonderland adventure that was both absurd and inhumane.

But the financial implications of walking away from the deal and the total bill to the taxpayer are not yet known.

Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference (Claudia Greco/PA)

Sir Keir has said he will curb Channel crossings by hiring specialist investigators and using counter-terror powers to smash the criminal gangs behind the flow of migrants into the UK, but how this will work in practice remains largely a black box.

Earlier this year, Rwandas President Paul Kagame suggested British taxpayers money could be repaid if the deal failed, although his view of the change in UK leadership is uncertain.

Yolande Makolo, a spokeswoman for his administration, later said the country had no obligation to return any of the funds but if the UK requested a refund we will consider this.

But she made clear this would only apply to a portion of funds which were specifically allocated to pay for support for migrants, with the remaining cash put towards boosting the east African nations economy as part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership.

The previous government was often accused of secrecy over payments agreed for the policy, which was confirmed to come with a price tag of at least 290 million, but an investigation by Whitehalls spending watchdog found its cost could soar to around half a billion pounds if implemented.
Sir Keir Starmer will prioritise co-operation over conflict in working with John Swinney, the Scottish Labour leader has said as he eyes future Holyrood success.

Anas Sarwar said the Prime Minister understands and cares for Scotland and will work in the national interest with Scotlands First Minister.

Mr Swinney discussed areas of mutual interest in a Friday night phone call with Sir Keir, where he congratulated the new Prime Minister.

It comes as Mr Swinneys SNP suffered a loss of 38 seats so far, with the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire seat still to be declared.

However, it is understood Drew Hendry, the SNP politician seeking re-election has already conceded to the Liberal Democrats as a recount continues.

Labour won 37 seats in Scotland after struggling electorally in the country in previous general elections.

Speaking in Clarkston where he celebrated the success of new East Renfrewshire MP Blair McDougall, the Scottish Labour leader said his party was now looking at stage two of its rebuild which would focus on the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections.

John Swinneys party suffered heavy losses at the General Election (Jane Barlow/PA)

Asked if Sir Keir would work with Mr Swinney, Mr Sarwar said: Weve seen for far too long conflict over co-operation and ultimately it is the people of Scotland that have missed out.

We will always act in the national interest, we will always work together, where we can, to deliver for the Scottish people.

But lets be really clear  were not talking about a (Scottish) Government that is new in Scotland. This is an SNP Government that has been in charge for 17 years.

Yes well work together in the national interest to deliver for the people of Scotland but I have always been clear that this is just stage one of the change, stage two comes in 2026.

Mr Sarwar then reiterated his intentions for government in Scotland, stating: I am not in this to be an opposition politician.

The Prime Minister is expected to meet with Mr Swinney in the coming days during his first trip to Scotland since winning the election.

Mr Sarwar also spoke to activists in East Renfrewshire on Saturday where he spoke of the delight at Mr McDougalls election.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar meeting locals on a walkabout in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire (Andrew Milligan/PA)

He told them: What we achieved on Thursday night was simply historic. We now have a duty to go out there to all of the people that supported us, and indeed those who thought about supporting us but ultimately didnt, and say thank you for putting your trust in Scottish Labour and we do not take that trust lightly.

We will get to work straight away to make sure a UK Labour Government is working for Scotland, and we also get to work straight away to redouble our efforts to advocate what the change will be in 2026, because yes I want Scottish Labour to play its full part in delivering a UK Labour Government, not to be a drag in the ticket, but to be a gateway to that Government.

But I also will not stop until we actually in 2026 elect a Scottish Labour government.
The troubled Rwanda deportation policy introduced by the former Conservative government is dead and buried, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The Prime Minister said he was not prepared to continue with gimmicks as he confirmed the multimillion-pound scheme to send some asylum seekers to Kigali is to be scrapped.

Before the general election, Labour had vowed to stop the plan on day one if it entered government.

At his first press conference since entering Number 10, Sir Keir told journalists in Downing Street: The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. Its never been a deterrent.

Look at the numbers that have come over in the first six and a bit months of this year, they are record numbers, that is the problem that we are inheriting.

He added: The chances were of not going and not being processed, and staying here, therefore, in paid-for accommodation for a very, very long time.

Its had the complete opposite effect and Im not prepared to continue with gimmicks that dont act as a deterrent.

No asylum seekers have been deported under the scheme, described by critics as an Alice in Wonderland adventure that was both absurd and inhumane.

But the financial implications of walking away from the deal and the total bill to the taxpayer are not yet known.

Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference (Claudia Greco/PA)

Sir Keir has said he will curb Channel crossings by hiring specialist investigators and using counter-terror powers to smash the criminal gangs behind the flow of migrants into the UK, but how this will work in practice remains largely unclear.

Earlier this year Rwandas President Paul Kagame suggested British taxpayers money could be repaid if the deal failed, though his view of the change in UK leadership is uncertain.

Yolande Makolo, a spokeswoman for his administration, later said the country had no obligation to return any of the funds but if the UK requested a refund we will consider this.

But she made clear this would only apply to a portion of funds which were specifically allocated to pay for support for migrants, with the remaining cash put towards boosting the east African nations economy as part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership.

The previous government was often accused of secrecy over payments agreed for the policy, which was confirmed to come with a price tag of at least 290 million, but an investigation by Whitehalls spending watchdog found its cost could soar to around half a billion pounds if implemented.

Since April scores of people, reportedly as many as 200, who were due to be deported have been released on bail by immigration judges because there was no longer a realistic prospect of removal within a reasonable timescale.

The change in UK Government is likely to spark a string of other bail applications by lawyers for remaining detainees with a strong case for release.
World number one Iga Swiatek suffered more Wimbledon woe after she was booed on Court One before she crashed out in the third round to Yulia Putintseva.

Swiatek was on a 21-match winning streak and looked on course to cruise into the last 16 at the All England Club when she claimed the opener, but the Kazakhstan player hit back with a brilliant second set where she broke twice.

Four-time French Open champion Swiatek raced off court before the decider and when she eventually returned faced boos from an impatient crowd.

It seemed to knock the top seed off her stride and she netted to give 30th seed Putintseva an impressive 3-6 6-1 6-2 victory on her third match point.

Phenomenal Putintseva @PutintsevaYulia upsets world No.1 Iga Swiatek 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a stunning performance to advance to the fourth round! #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/lUquT4mBDH  Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 6, 2024

Moscow-born Putintseva soaked up the adulation before she said in her on-court interview: It feels great, it feels really great.

I was just so focused on playing fast and not giving her any time. So, thats pretty much it.

I was feeling it on the court and that is why I was like fire. I was trying to entertain you more and more with my shots.

I just want to enjoy this moment, like cool down a little bit, do a stretch and eat. Important!
Acupuncture could help improve sleep in people receiving treatment for Parkinsons disease. Image credit: tekinturkdogan/Getty Images.

This article originally appeared on Medical News Today

A new study examined how acupuncture affects sleep in people with Parkinsons disease.

The researchers compared real acupuncture with sham acupuncture, where they performed the procedure without sharp tips or otherwise prevented the needles from fully entering the skin.

At the end of the study, the researchers learned that the patients who received the real acupuncture therapy experienced improved sleep at a higher rate compared to the people who received the placebo therapy.

The patients who received real acupuncture also experienced an improved quality of life as a result of the improved sleep.

Parkinsons disease is a type of nervous system disorder that affects movement and can cause cognitive changes. While there is not a cure for the disease, there are some treatments available that can either slow progression or help with symptoms.

One problem many people with Parkinsons disease face is difficulty with getting quality sleep. Poor sleep can exacerbate symptoms, so researchers based in China recently conducted a study to see whether acupuncture can help improve sleep.

When compared to a placebo form of acupuncture, the study participants saw improvements in both sleep and their quality of life.

The study findings are published in JAMA Network Open.

Why people with Parkinsons disease have poor sleep

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), around 500,000 people in the United States have Parkinsons disease, and experts suspect that number could be twice as high since many people live with Parkinsons for some time before diagnosis.

An early symptom of the disorder is developing a tremor, and people may eventually develop muscle stiffness, coordination issues, sleep problems, depression, and later experience difficulty swallowing, walking, and communicating.

Parkinsons disease worsens over time, but symptoms can be managed with medications, surgical treatments such as deep brain stimulation, and occupational or physical therapies.

While these therapies help with symptoms, they can also contribute to reducing sleep quality in people with Parkinsons disease. Poor sleep can worsen Parkinsons symptoms and overall contribute to a worsened quality of life.

Sometimes providers prescribe sleep medications, but oftentimes these medications cause drowsiness during the day. This led researchers in the current study to see whether acupuncture could help with sleep quality.

How 4 weeks of acupuncture treatment affected sleep in Parkinsons

Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medication and has been around for thousands of years. According to the NIH, acupuncture involves inserting needles into pressure points in the skin to treat health issues that include:

fibromyalgia

sciatica

osteoarthritis

cancer pain

migraine.

According to the authors of the current study, when used as an adjunctive therapy with anti-Parkinson medications, acupuncture has shown positive effects in improving sleep quality and reducing motor symptoms.

Since the prior research on using acupuncture to help with sleep quality in Parkinsons disease was limited, the researchers in the current study wanted to delve further into this with a double-blind clinical trial.

The researchers studied 78 participants who were ages 30 to 80. All participants had moderate to severe sleep issues and were presently taking an anti-Parkinsons medication.

Prior to treatment, all participants completed the Parkinsons Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS) questionnaire. The researchers used this to assess their sleep quality.

The scientists randomly placed the participants into one of two groups: real acupuncture or sham acupuncture. The sham group was a placebo group that did not receive actual acupuncture therapy.

The participants received their acupuncture treatments three times per week for 30-minute sessions for 4 weeks. After the 4 weeks were up, the participants completed the PDSS again and then one more time at an 8-week follow-up.

The researchers also administered tests to assess motor skills and non-motor skills of the participants to see how deficits impacted their daily living.

Lasting clinical benefits in improving sleep quality

After comparing the PDSS results between the real acupuncture group and the sham acupuncture group, the researchers found that the real acupuncture group experienced significant improvements in their sleep quality.

Acupuncture provides lasting clinical benefits in improving subjective sleep quality in patients with Parkinsons disease, wrote the authors.

The participants in the real acupuncture group had an improvement of 29.65 points in their PDSS score at the 4-week appointment compared to a 10.47 point improvement in the sham acupuncture group.

Additionally, at the 8-week follow-up, the participants in the real acupuncture group continued to show improvement in their PDSS results but the sham acupuncture group did not.

The researchers saw similar results in the overall quality of life improvement for people in the real acupuncture group. They had a reduction in both motor and non-motor skills severity compared to their baseline scores.

Since none of the participants had adverse side effects, the authors concluded that acupuncture is a safe and effective adjunct therapy for improving both sleep quality and quality of life in people with Parkinsons disease.

Acupuncture does not replace traditional treatment

Lijana Shestopal, DTCM, LAc, CSMA, a licensed acupuncturist based in Illinois, spoke with Medical News Today about the study. Shestopal was not involved in this research.

She commented that:

Considering that acupuncture has no side effects and it does not interfere with any of the pharmaceuticals the patient might be on, this is a groundbreaking finding.

Shestopal treats patients with Parkinsons disease and noted that the study can really help with educating the general public just how much acupuncture can help.

While she emphasized how much acupuncture can help, she also noted that people must stick with the treatment and be realistic about their expectations.

It is not a magic pill from which you get automatic results after one treatment, but with a course of treatments, health does improve in many ways without side effects, emphasized Shestopal.

Raveesh Sunkara, MBBS, MS, MCh, a neurosurgeon associated with ClinicSpots in Hyderabad, India, also spoke with MNT about the study findings. Like Shestopal, Sunkara was not involved in the recent study.

Overall, investigating acupuncture for sleep in Parkinsons disease holds promise for improving patient well-being, Sunkara told MNT. However, further research and overcoming logistical hurdles are necessary for its widespread integration into standard care.

Sunkara noted that this type of therapy could be difficult for some people to obtain. He said finding acupuncturists who have experience treating people with Parkinsons disease could be difficult, and the cost of the therapy could also pose a problem.

Insurance coverage for acupuncture can vary, potentially limiting patient access, he cautioned.

Sunkara also emphasized that acupuncture in people with Parkinsons disease would not replace existing treatments for Parkinsons.

Acupuncture should not replace traditional Parkinsons disease medications but can be a complementary therapy, he advised.

View the original article on Medical News Today
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Are your toenails looking more "Hellraiser" than "Happy Feet"? If so, toenail fungus could be the culprit behind your nail nasties.

Its an embarrassing topic no one likes to think about, let alone discuss. But the truth is that toenail fungus or onychomycosis, to use the medical term, is incredibly common and can happen to anyone. In fact, 1 in 10 people are affected, and for those over 70, this statistic jumps to 1 in 2.

Toenail fungus starts innocently enough, appearing as a small white or yellow spot under the tip of your toenail. Its easy to overlook or dismiss as dirt or a minor discoloration. But, as it progresses, it causes unsightly, discolored and crumbling nails.

Neglecting these symptoms can result in more severe issues, such as pain and discomfort, especially when wearing shoes. To make matters worse, treating toenail fungus is notoriously tricky. Dr. Chris Adigun, a board-certified dermatologist at Dermatology & Laser Center of Chapel Hill, explains that it requires patience and that infections often recur.

She stresses that only prescription topical and oral medications are clinically proven to tackle toenail fungus, but even these, especially the topicals, often dont guarantee a complete cure.

That said, many over-the-counter ointments, foot soaks and brush-on liquids can be effective for mild cases. Since toenail fungus is typically not a serious medical issue, its reasonable to try home treatment, suggests Dr. Amit Garg, a board-certified dermatologist and professor at Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

The challenge with all these options is finding the one that works best for you. To tackle this issue, we consulted three dermatologists to understand why treating toenail fungus is so difficult and which active ingredients in OTC products have the most potent antifungal properties. Armed with this information, we researched dozens of products, evaluating them based on ingredients, ease of use, cost and customer reviews. Below are the best toenail fungus treatments for 2024, according to experts.

Amazon Best overall toenail fungus treatment Fungi-Nail Pen Applicator Price: $9 per applicator/bottle | Active ingredient: Tolnaftate, 1% | Application: Apply twice a day (morning and night) Fungi-Nail takes the prize for best overall toenail fungus treatment because it's easy to use and has a precision pen applicator that allows you to zero in on tricky-to-reach nail edges. It's also available as a brush-on liquid or ointment when you need to cover a wider area. All three versions contain tolnaftate, a known fungus killer, says Dr. Danilo C. Del Campo, a board-certified dermatologist at Chicago Skin Clinic. Tolnaftate is included in many products for fungal skin infections such as athlete's foot, jock itch and ringworm. Del Campo says it's best, however, to opt for a preparation designed for nails. A big caveat  with this and all topical toe fungus products  is that the active ingredient may not reach where it's needed. Nails are hard, Garg points out, and a medication that's readily absorbed into the skin may fail to penetrate the nail plate and reach the tissue underneath. Pros Three preparations to choose from: liquid, ointment or pen applicator

Contains skin-soothing aloe and lavender oil, plus tea tree oil and eucalyptus, which have antifungal properties Cons May not penetrate deep enough into nail bed

Active ingredient may irritate skin $9 at Amazon

Amazon Best budget-friendly toenail fungus treatment Vicks VapoRub Price: $17.50 for a 6-ounce jar | Active ingredients: Menthol, eucalyptus oil, thymol | Application: Apply with finger or cotton swab at least once a day Yes, it's that ointment your mom rubbed onto your chest when you were sick as a kid. But both Del Campo and Garg say it just might improve the appearance of a mildly infected toenail. The menthol and eucalyptus oil that give Vicks its famous minty smell also have antifungal properties  as does a secondary ingredient called thymol, Garg notes. In fact, according to a 2022 research review, there is some limited evidence that Vicks can help improve toenail fungus. One of the studies included in the review found that of 18 people, 15 saw their toenail fungus at least partially clear up after dabbing the affected area with Vicks at least once a day for a year. (Toenail fungus treatment is a long-haul process, the experts say.) "I do suggest Vicks to certain patients," says Del Campo, who also cites the tactic as his grandmother's favorite remedy. It's cheap and low-risk, he notes, and it may be enough for some people. Pros Inexpensive and long-lasting

Long history of safe use on the skin

Scientific evidence supports its use for toenail fungus Cons Strong odor

A bit messy to apply

May not penetrate deep enough $17 at Walmart Explore More Buying Options $27 at Amazon$17 at CVS Pharmacy

Tobcharm Best liquid toenail fungus treatment Tobcharm Antifungal Liquid Solution Price: $20 for 2 0.5-ounce bottles | Active ingredient: Undecylenic acid, 25% | Application: Brush on twice a day (morning and night) Tobcharm is the leading option here because it contains natural fungus fighters, lavender and tea tree oil and a maximum-strength concentration of undecylenic acid, or UA. The UA compound is derived from the castor oil plant, and it's one of the oldest known fungus-fighters, Del Campo notes. "Undecylenic acid provides an accessible option for managing fungal conditions without a prescription, backed by decades of use," he says. Still, the effectiveness of UA for toenail fungus varies widely, Del Campo says. One way to improve your odds is to use a product with a high enough concentration of UA; another is to use it diligently, he emphasizes. Pros Active ingredient has proven antifungal powers

Contains skin-softening olive oil

May be budget-friendly (Baar says one bottle does the job) Cons Users must massage in the liquid after using the brush

May irritate skin

May not penetrate deep enough $20 at Amazon

DAILY REMEDY Best foot soak for toenail fungus treatment Daily Remedy Tea Tree Oil Foot Soak Price: $18 for a 16-ounce pouch | Active ingredient: Tea tree oil | Application: Soak feet for 15-20 minutes as needed This foot soak packs a punch with its combination of tea tree oil and apple cider vinegar, natural ingredients known for their antifungal properties. It also offers bonus skin-soothers like Epsom salt and chamomile oil. Plus, pampering your whole foot, not just your nails, may help relieve symptoms of athlete's foot, which often goes hand-in-hand with toenail fungus. In fact, toenail fungal infections often begin as athlete's foot: As Adigun puts it, "You basically 'catch' the infection from yourself." In other words, if you have athlete's foot, you may end up passing the fungus to your toenails. One downside is that foot soaks are a bigger time commitment than other remedies  you have to mix the ingredients in water until they dissolve, then soak your feet for 15 to 20 minutes. In addition, overdoing Epsom salt soaks can dry out or irritate your skin. Pros Contains skin-soothing Epsom salt and essential oils

Also helps address athletes foot

Can be a de-stresser Cons Time-intensive

Unlikely to penetrate the nail

Overuse may dry skin $20 at Amazon

Amazon Best dual purpose cream for toenail fungus Lamisil AT antifungal cream Price: $16 for a 1-ounce tube | Active ingredient: Terbinafine hydrochloride, 1% | Application: Apply once or twice a day Lamisil is known for its ability to vanquish athlete's foot and jock itch, thanks to its active ingredient, terbinafine, a highly potent antifungal. In fact, when it comes to toenail fungus, oral prescription terbinafine is considered the most effective treatment. That said, the terbinafine in topical antifungals doesn't have the same effect because it's acting from the outside, where (once again) the issue is whether it can penetrate the nail and get where it needs to go. At the same time, there is research suggesting that topical terbinafine  though at a hefty concentration of 10%, not the lower 1% found in Lamisil  can effectively kill toenail fungus with a low risk of side effects. In general, Garg says, it's a matter of weighing risks and benefits: Oral drugs for toenail fungus are most effective but can have side effects and interact with other medications, so some people may prefer (or need) topical treatment. Pros Contains a powerful antifungal ingredient

Easy to use

Budget-friendly Cons Not designed for nail application

May not penetrate deep enough $16 at Amazon

Amazon Best nail repair and fungus treatment kit Opti-Nail 2-in-1 Fungal Nail Repair Kit Price: $21 for a .34-ounce container | Active ingredient: Tolnaftate, 1% | Application: Apply twice a day (morning and night) We like the way this 2-for-1 partners tolnaftate with a nail repair solution. Let's face it: You want an antifungal that works, but you also want that unsightly nail to look better while you're waiting. Opti-Nail promises to help. Step one is to apply the nail repair liquid, which contains lactic acid, glycerin and other ingredients designed to brighten the nail. Then, you brush the tolnaftate solution on top. Both products are housed in one handy pen that makes application easy and mess-free. That said, you end up getting a relatively small amount of the antifungal treatment for the price. Pros Contains an effective antifungal

Contains ingredients to boost nail appearance

Easy to apply Cons More expensive

May not penetrate deep enough

May irritate the skin $15 at Walmart Explore More Buying Options $16 at Amazon$32 at CVS Pharmacy

Amazon Best for improving toenail appearance Kerasal Nighttime Renewal Fungal Nail Patches Price: $19 for 14 patches | Active ingredient: None | Application: Wear once a day for 6-8 hours Kerasal patches are an excellent choice if you want to improve the appearance of your fungus-damaged nails while continuing your primary antifungal treatment. They're easy to apply (and despite the name, you can wear them during the day if you prefer). It's important to stress that they contain no antifungal medication. The manufacturer says the ingredients  including glycerin and tartaric acid  can help fungus-damaged toenails look better by hydrating and exfoliating the area. Consider these an addition to whatever else you're doing to battle your fungal infection. Pros Easy to use

Little risk Cons Pricey (manufacturer suggests up to six months of use)

Contains no antifungal ingredients $17 at Amazon Explore More Buying Options $17 at Walmart$26 at Rite Aid

Amazon Best treatment for toe discomfort Domeboro Medicated Soak Price: $14 for 12 packets | Active ingredient: Aluminum acetate | Application: Soak feet for 15-30 minutes, up to three times a day Experts stress that if your toe hurts, you should see a doctor. "Toenail fungus should not hurt," Adigun says. If there's pain, that could mean there's something else going on, like a bacterial infection. And sometimes what looks like toenail fungus is actually a different animal altogether, Del Campo notes: The skin condition psoriasis, for example, sometimes appears in the nails first. That said, if you're having minor skin irritation  whether from a topical antifungal or a bout of athlete's foot  Del Campo says Domeboro foot soak is a time-honored soother. The brand has been kicking for over 60 years, and the benefits of the active ingredient, aluminum acetate, have been recognized for even longer. "Sometimes the old stuff works," Del Campo says. The tactic does take some effort  dissolving the powder into water, then soaking your feet for up to a half hour, multiple times a day. Somewhat paradoxically, aluminum acetate can also end up causing skin irritation for some people, so ease into the treatment and work up to three soaks per day, if your feet can handle it. Pros Soothes minor skin irritation from many causes

Widely available and budget-friendly Cons Time-intensive

May irritate skin (or eyes if you splash) $14 at Amazon Explore More Buying Options $14 at Rite Aid$18 at CVS Pharmacy

Factors to consider when buying a toenail fungus treatment

Active ingredients. Look for antifungals that can kill the types of fungus that frequently invade the toenail. These include terbinafine, tolnaftate, undecylenic acid (UA) and clotrimazole.

The severity of your problem. OTC products will only work for mild cases of toenail fungus. As an example, Garg says that it may look like you only have one or two nails superficially affected  that is, the nail appears affected, but not the skin under the nail. If your situation is more severe, don't mess around with home remedies. Adigun stresses that even prescription-strength topical medications aren't always effective for treating more serious fungal toenail infections.

Duration of use. Toenail fungus does not succumb easily. The experts point to prescription treatments: Topical medications are typically taken for a year, and even pills generally take three months to work. In other words, buckle up for the long haul and plan to use OTC treatments for the foreseeable future if you hope to experience results.

FAQs

Will anything kill toenail fungus instantly?

The short answer is no. Toenail fungus treatment requires consistent and ongoing application of antifungal ingredients, and even long-term treatment may not clear up challenging infections.

How long should I use an OTC treatment?

It's a tough question. A toenail takes a year or longer to grow out, Del Campo notes. So even if a treatment is knocking out the fungus, you'll probably have to wait patiently to see a completely healthy-looking nail. What all three dermatologists did say: If you've been using an OTC antifungal for two months and aren't seeing any improvement, it's time to see a doctor.

When should I see a doctor about toenail fungus?

In general, the experts say it's wise to consult a doctor as soon as you think you have toenail fungus. While Garg offered a loose definition of a "mild" case that may respond to home treatment, he says it's also tough to judge the severity of a fungal infection with your own eye, especially when you can't readily see what's going on with the tissue underneath your toenail. If you see a doctor, you'll have a better sense of the issue and can opt for OTC treatments if you prefer. If your fungal infection looks more extensive  or "if you have any doubts," Del Campo says  make that appointment.

Finally, it's important to understand that your overall health can contribute to whether or not a toenail fungal infection is more concerning. If you have a serious health condition, like diabetes or HIV, you should see your doctor at the first sign of a problem, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Can I prevent toenail fungus from coming back?

Fungus is everywhere, so it's hard to avoid altogether, Garg points out. Even among people who use oral medications to treat toenail fungus, 20%-25% see a recurrence, often within two years. Some people are just prone to foot fungus, Adigun says.

However, Garg says you can take simple steps to reduce the risk of a recurrence  keep your nails trimmed, change your socks regularly and sprinkle antifungal powder in your shoes. And since athlete's foot can spread to the toenails, Adigun says that treating and preventing that condition is also key.

Meet our experts

Chris Adigun, MD, board-certified dermatologist, Dermatology & Laser Center of Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C.

Danilo C. Del Campo, MD, board-certified dermatologist, Chicago Skin Clinic

Amit Garg, MD, board-certified dermatologist and professor of dermatology, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Resources

Berkley A, et al. (2024). Anti-fungal properties of tea tree oil, oregano oil, lavender oil, coconut oil for nails, and a survey of pharmacy students views. https://crimsonpublishers.com/acam/pdf/ACAM.000680.pdf

Ousaaid D, et al. (2021). Antifungal and antibacterial activities of apple vinegar of different cultivars. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8369171/

Rodriguez JV, et al. (2022). Metaanalysis of the antifungal activities of three essential oils as alternative therapies in dermatophytosis infections.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9545424/
President Joe Biden, in his first television interview since his CNN debate with Donald Trump, brushed off the poor performance as a "bad episode" and said he alone was to blame for what transpired.

Biden sat down with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday after a fiery rally with Democratic supporters, during which Biden insisted he is remaining in the race.

Stephanopoulos immediately dove into last Thursday's showdown, which sparked widespread alarm among Democratic lawmakers and pundits about Biden's ability to campaign and serve another four years.

"Let's start with the debate. You and your team have said you had a bad night," Stephanopoulos began.

"Sure did," Biden responded.

Watch: ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos' exclusive first post-debate TV interview with President Joe Biden airs in its entirety in an ABC News prime-time special Friday, July 5, at 8 p.m. ET.

Stephanopoulos went on to ask Biden about a statement from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led the House during the first two years of Biden's administration and ushered through some of his signature policy achievements.

"But your friend Nancy Pelosi actually framed the question that I think is on the minds of millions of Americans: Was this a bad episode or the sign of a more serious condition?" Stephanopoulos asked.

"It was a bad episode," Biden said. "No indication of any serious condition. I was exhausted. I didn't listen to my instincts in terms of preparing and -- and a bad night."

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks with George Stephanopoulos on July 5, 2024, in an ABC News exclusive. (ABC News)

Biden traveled internationally in mid-June to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France. But he spent nearly a week at Camp David after that in the run-up to the debate to meet with close advisers and prepare.

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden, "Why wasn't that enough rest time, enough recovery time?"

"Because I was sick. I was feeling terrible," Biden said. "Matter of fact the docs with me. I asked if they did a COVID test because they're trying to figure out what was wrong. They did a test to see whether or not I had some infection, you know, a virus. I didn't. I just had a really bad cold."

"Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?" Stephanopoulos asked Biden.

"I don't think I did, no," the president said.

MORE: Defiant Biden insists he's 'staying in the race' ahead of ABC News interview

But did he know how badly it was going while he was on stage?

"Yeah, look. The whole way I prepared, nobody's fault, mine. Nobody's fault but mine. I-- I prepared what I usually would do sitting down as I did come back with foreign leaders or National Security Council for explicit detail. And I realized-- partway through that, you know, all-- I get quoted the New York Times had me down, ten points before the debate, nine now, or whatever the hell it is. The fact of the matter is, what I looked at is that he also lied 28 times. I couldn't-- I mean, the way the debate ran, not-- my fault, nobody else's fault, no one else's fault."

"But it seemed like you were having trouble from the first question in, even before he spoke?" Stephanopoulos asked.

"Well, I just had a bad night," Biden said.

ABC News offered a similar interview opportunity to Trump but he declined.

'Exhausted,' 'bad episode': Biden doubles down on debate explanations in ABC News exclusive originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Several people were bitten by sharks in separate attacks at Texas and Florida beaches on the Fourth of July, authorities said.

A 26-year-old man was bitten by a shark off New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on Friday, the second shark bite reported on the Florida beach during the Independence Day holiday week.

The man, visiting from Sarasota, was bitten around 4:15 p.m. Friday on his left foot while floating in an inner tube in water 5 feet deep, according to Tamra Malphurs, interim director for Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue. He was transported to the hospital for further treatment.

This bite came almost 24 hours after a 21-year-old from Ohio was bitten at New Smyrna Beach while playing football in knee-deep water Thursday afternoon, according to Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue.

Both mens injuries were not life-threatening, Malphurs said.

In Texas, four people encountered a shark as they took to the waters off South Padre Island on the Independence Day holiday.

Details at this time indicate that two people were bitten and two people encountered the shark but were not seriously injured, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said in a statement.

The two bite victims were taken to Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville, where one is being treated and the other has been flown out for further treatment, the department said.

The third person was injured  but not seriously  while trying to assist one of the bite victims, the department told CNN. It is unclear exactly how they were hurt.

Another beachgoer said they felt a shark brush against them as it swam by, the department said.

Shark encounters of this nature are not a common occurrence in Texas, the statement noted. When bites from sharks do occur, they are usually a case of mistaken identity by sharks looking for food.

Earlier, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game Warden Captain Chris Dowdy told CNN affiliate KRGV at least four shark-related incidents had been reported at South Padre Island. The attacks were likely associated with the same shark, which later swam to open waters, he said.

Two off-duty Border Patrol agents from the Search, Trauma and Rescue Unit pulled one of the victims out of the water and applied a tourniquet to their leg, according to a US Customs and Border Protection official.

Two off duty Border Patrol agents helped one of the victims, according to a post from the US Border Patrol Laredo Sector. - US Border Patrol Laredo Sector

Our hearts and prayers are with the injured and their families, and we hope for a speedy recovery, South Padre Island Mayor Patrick McNulty said.

One of the attacks was reported to the South Padre Island Police Department at 11 a.m., the citys Public Information Officer Nikki Soto told CNN. Officers provided immediate treatment and transported the male victim to a hospital, Soto said.

South Padre Island Beach authorities have been patrolling the shoreline and using drones to watch for the shark, she said.

Nereyda Bazaldua told CNN her daughter was one of those bitten Thursday. Bazaldua said her two teenage daughters were in shallow, knee-deep water near the shore playing on boogie boards when they began screaming, Shark!

When her 18-year-old daughter Victoria came out of the water, Bazaldua said she could see some blood coming down her leg, Bazaldua said. Thankfully, she said, Victorias injuries were minor.

The shark pushed into her, five to six of his teeth scratched her leg, Bazaldua said. The wounds arent deep. She said the shark lingered in the water for 20 to 30 minutes before moving along.

We never saw the shark til he was right there with them, Balzadua said. It wasnt choppy water, and the seas were calm. He showed up out of nowhere.

A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter flew low over South Padre Island and used deterrence measures to keep the shark from getting close to shore after the encounters, a spokesperson said.

The Texas Department of Public Safetys Aircraft Division responded to South Padre Island to assist local authorities with a shark attack, Lt. Chris Olivarez said.

A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter flying low over South Padre Island spotted a shark in the waters after the attacks on July 4. - Texas DPS

Olivarez shared with CNN video taken from the helicopter that showed a shark lurking in the waters and swimming against the waves Thursday afternoon. DPS remained on scene until the shark was no longer a threat, Olivarez said.

According to the International Shark Attack File, run out of the University of Florida, there have been fewer than 10 shark bites reported in Texas since 2012. This places the Lone Star State behind Florida, which has had 259 reported bites; Hawaii, which has had 76; South Carolina, which has had 45; North Carolina, which has had 31; and California, which has had 29.

South Padre Island is about 100 miles from Padre Island National Seashore, at the opposite end of what used to be one continuous island, according to the National Park Service.

Padre Island (also known as North Padre Island) is the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world, with 70 miles of protected coastline, the park service said. It divides the Gulf of Mexico from the Laguna Madre.

CNNs Paradise Afshar, Rebekah Riess, Amanda Jackson, Taylor Galgano, Rosa Flores and Andi Babineau contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
A home is inundated due to severe flooding on Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Channelview. Texas officials urged residents whove sustained property damage during recent storms to report that damage to the states emergency management agency. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

A team of local researchers and community advocates that convened in the wake of Hurricane Harvey unveiled a bold plan to address flooding in Houston.

The Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium called for changes that would keep people high and dry, remove people from harm's way and return people to normalcy.

Five years after releasing their report, some of their ideas have been implemented, while others remain far out of reach.

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Items that were achieved include stricter local development guidelines and meaningful flood mitigation projects. But in other ways, Houston's approach to flooding hasn't changed enough, according to Christof Spieler, the director of planning at Huitt Zollars and the project manager for the Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium.

"Personally, I was hoping we'd at this point have done more since Harvey," Spieler said. "I think the people who are trying to do the things feel that way, too. And that's because this requires some major changes in how we think and how we do things. And because there are so many entities involved that it can be really hard to do things."

With Hurricane Beryl drawing a bead on Texas, and forecasters predicting an unusually intense hurricane season, the region's flood control measures are bracing for a fresh test.

Justin McCoy, left, Clayton Labue and Tina Bryant make their way to Labues house through floodwaters from Peach Creek on Friday, May 3, 2024 in New Caney. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A home in River Plantation is seen with its lights on in flood water, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Conroe. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer A man walks through floodwaters on River Oaks Drive on Saturday in Woodlock. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

Members of the consortium wrote in the 2019 report that some entirely new structures are needed, including a single stop regional flood permitting center and a permanent system of recovery case management.

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One of the biggest challenges, Spieler said, has been a lack of public will to make these major changes.

"People care about it a lot after a flood happens, and then it fades from everyone's memory," Spieler said. "It's hard to get the political traction to spend money on this before the event. There's always things that feel more immediate until the rain falls."



Mayor John Whitmire has pledged to improve relations with Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, with hopes of unlocking more federal money for flood mitigation.

Former Mayor Sylvester Turner's administration had a rocky relationship with the office, capped by years of legal and verbal battles. Unconvinced that the city was spending the money wisely, the land commissioner ensured that the city never saw any of the $4.3 billion in federal funds approved for flood mitigation after the 2017 storm.

Flood warning systems

One area that has seen improvement since Harvey is warning systems that alert residents about flood risks, Spieler said.

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Harris County monitors rainfall amounts and water levels in gauges at over 180 locations. Residents can sign up for text and email alerts that provide data from the gauges closest to them, as well as warnings in the event that flooding is either possible or likely.

"The granularity of the warnings they're giving you and the flood warning system map they have online have gotten a lot better in a very useful way," Spieler said.

More upgrades are in the works, said Phil Bedient, the director of Rice University's SSPEED Center, which developed a rainfall mapping tool for the city of Houston. The university is working with the county to update the flood warning system ahead of the release of new floodplain maps that are expected to be made public next year.

Home buyouts

One approach to get residents out of harm's way is to buy their home after a flood to encourage them to move to neighborhoods where the flood risk is reduced.

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To facilitate rapid home buyouts, state funding should be set aside in advance and then used to buy homes that are preapproved for purchase, the consortium recommended.

But right now, these home buyouts are still happening too slowly to address immediate needs, Spieler said.

"There are people whose houses flood who would love it if within a couple weeks they could just get a check and move on," Spieler said. "And we're not capable of doing that. We may do a buyout in that same neighborhood two years later, but at that point that house will actually have been fixed up. It's an incredibly inefficient way of doing things."

In the aftermath of a storm, it can be quicker for the owners of a flooded household to repair the home rather than wait for the money that comes at the end of a lengthy buyout process. Once those repairs are completed, some homeowners feel less urgency to leave.

As of this month, 1,152 homes have been purchased through the Harris County Flood Control District's buyout program since Hurricane Harvey, according to the county website. That's out of over 4,000 properties that owners have submitted to be on the list.

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New development

To reduce flooding, the report called for stricter drainage requirements for new development, more detention ponds and preserving undeveloped land.

New master-planned communities continue to rise on former prairie land in west Harris County, replacing rain-absorbent grass with pavement.

But unlike in the past, new construction projects are building considerable detention ponds, Bedient said.

"There's been a strong effort to put these in in advance, as opposed to playing the catch up game we played not so well in the '80s, '90s and early parts of the 2000s," Bedient said. "Harvey was this enormous wake up call for sure."

Still, as more of undeveloped Harris County turns into housing, the Houston area is running out of time to implement a major flood prevention tool, he said.

"One of the most effective things we could do is basically reserve large swaths of land in places like the Katy Prairie to just not be developed," Spieler said. "That is actually one of the things that makes me the saddest is that that is one of our big opportunities and we're not taking it."

The report also calls for a new regional permitting office  rather than the current system, in which a patchwork of agencies provide oversight  to make it easier for developers to adhere to flood regulations and for officials to make sure the rules are being followed.

Since Harvey, local governments have passed stronger regulations that require developers to make more room for rain, but thats not enough to fully offset the flooding impact of new construction, Spieler said.

"With every development, it's making flooding downstream worse," Spieler said.

While many steps in the consortium's road map haven't been followed, Houston is heading in a better direction, Bedient said.

"It's not like we have made a sea change yet," Bedient said. "But there has been a strong attitudinal shift to realizing the importance of nature-based solutions, especially as we develop in Houston."

Those strategies can include the restoring and protecting of wetlands, preventing development on flood-prone land and designating more protected green spaces.

Bedient credits Harris County Flood Control District Director Tina Petersen, who took over the agency in January 2022, with much of that progress, saying she has hired talented people and been willing to try new methods.
A man suspected of driving into a crowd, killing three people and injuring eight during an Independence Day celebration, has been arrested and is accused of driving under the influence, New York City police said Friday.

Daniel Hyden, 44, from Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, eight counts of assault, one count of driving without a license in the second degree and one count of driving while intoxicated, according to the NYPD.

He was additionally charged with three counts of manslaughter in the second degree, three counts of vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, and one count of aggravated vehicular assault, according to a criminal complaint from the Manhattan District Attorneys Office.

Hyden pleaded not guilty to all the charges during an arraignment hearing Saturday, the DAs office said.

This is a very tragic case, and we extend our sincere condolences to all those impacted, Hydens attorney, Tim Pruitt, with The Legal Aid Society, told CNN Saturday. But Mr. Hyden is entitled to the presumption of innocence and a zealous defense, and at this preliminary stage in the case, we caution the public from making any rush to judgment.

Hydens next court date is scheduled for July 10.

At least three people were killed when a truck drove into a park on Manhattans Lower East Side late Thursday, police said.

A group celebrating the holiday was struck by the gray Ford F-150 when it ran through an intersection and into Corlears Hook Park at about 9 p.m. Hyden was driving at a high rate of speed when he failed to navigate the road and struck 11 pedestrians inside the park, police say.

Hyden, who told police he had a few alcoholic drinks, was found at the scene of the crash next to the drivers side door, bloodied with no shirt or shoes, the complaint said.

Police said Hyden, who was stumbling on his feet, had bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath and clothing, the complaint says.

Pedestrians who witnessed the incident told an officer that Hyden was the only person sitting in the drivers seat when the truck crashed and there were no other passengers in the vehicle, according to the complaint.

When officers arrived on the scene, one pedestrian was still pinned underneath Hydens pickup and emergency responders had to extricate the person from the vehicle, according to the complaint. Multiple people seriously injured in the accident were aided by first responders on scene.

The NYPD identified Ana Morel, 43, on Friday as the third person who was killed after earlier identifying Lucille Pinkney, 59, and Hernan Pinkney, 38, as two of the three victims, officials said. Police say any relationship between the two victims, who share the same last name, is unclear.

One individual remains hospitalized in critical condition with internal injuries, officials said.

Seven of the victims were between 11 and 35, and were taken to hospitals in stable condition, police said. A 30-year-old woman was taken to a hospital in critical condition, according to the NYPD.

Six individuals were treated at various hospitals for pain, abrasions, as well as lacerations to their necks, backs, and faces, the complaint said.

Officials said Hydens license had been suspended at the time of the incident for failure to answer a summons four times on three dates.

CNNs Lauren Rapp contributed to this report.

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Heslin's husband announced via social media on Friday that the actor died after an "unexpected cardiac event"

Jon Kopaloff/Getty Mike Heslin

Mike Heslin, known for his work in Lioness and The Holiday Proposal Plan, has died. He was 30.

Heslins husband, Scotty Dynamo (nee Nicolas James Wilson), shared the news via social media on Friday, July 5, saying the actor died on Tuesday, July 2, from an unexpected cardiac event after a week long battle in the hospital.

Michael was young, in perfect health, and the doctors have no explanation for what happened, Dynamo continued.

Mike Heslin/Instagram Mike Heslin

He shared an Instagram carousel with photos of Heslin at different points in his life  beginning with a fairly recent solo portrait. The post also included the couple's wedding photos and images of Heslin when he was a child.

Dynamo remembered Heslin as a brilliant, selfless, talented, and a real-life guardian angel.

Related: Paying Tribute to the Celebrities Who Have Died in 2024

The grieving spouse recalled how Heslin helped him through multiple rounds of cancer.

He was the first person everyone would call to share good news with, and he was the perfect person to call if they needed a shoulder to lean on or the best advice, Dynamo said in his lengthy tribute, adding that Heslin was the sweetest, most caring, and loving man on earth.

Mike Heslin/Instagram Mike Heslin

Michael, meeting you was the best thing to ever happen to me. You are my world. You are everything to me. When I felt you take your last breath, my heart shattered into a million pieces. If I had the power to trade places with you, I would do it in an instant, he continued.

According to Dynamo, the couple had been in the early stages of starting a family, and even recently started going over their favorite baby names for our future kids.

His spouse added that it had also been Heslins dream to be a donor, and through his death, he would be able to give the gift of life to four different families.

Before ending, Dynamo noted that the couple was 3 weeks away from your birthday and 4 months shy of our 1 year wedding anniversary. He concluded his heartfelt post with a quote from Shania Twain  Ill love you forever and for always. 

A GoFundMe campaign set up to help cover funeral and hospital costs, and to provide support to Heslins loved ones was started following his death.

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 celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Friends and family members remembered the late actor as someone who always helped others.

There are many ways to define a person and their impact, and Mike is many beautiful things to so many people. But the word we keep returning to is Helper. In that Mike spirit, its time for us to be the Helpers, the campaign organizers wrote.

PEOPLE reached out to Heslin's rep for comment.



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Read the original article on People.
Police in Tennessee have arrested a 17-year-old male in connection with the murder of a teen girl who went missing last month and whose remains were found July 3 along a busy Middle Tennessee road.

The Hendersonville Police Department arrested the 17-year-old male from Westmoreland, Tenn., who is currently being held in Sumner County Detention, police said Saturday in a news release. Police charged him with first-degree murder in the death of Trinity Bostic.

Bostic, 17, was reported missing in nearby Macon County on June 29. Her remains were found on July 3 in Hendersonville by a Tennessee Department of Transportation subcontract worker. The worker found her body while picking up trash along the road in a wood line near Vietnam Veterans Boulevard and New Shackle Island Road, police said.

Police have said they suspected foul play in the ongoing investigation. The death investigation is "essentially a homicide investigation," Sgt. Nicholas Edwards told USA TODAY on Friday. The department did not provide any additional information about the arrest.

The Hendersonville Police Department said that a deceased female whose remains were found July 3 has been identified as Trinity Bostic, 17. She was reported missing in nearby Macon County on June 29, 2024.

Ritual killing stopped: How police rescued a woman trapped amid massive Mexican trafficking network

Police ask for the public's help in Trinity Bostic case

Bostic's cause of death remains under investigation, pending an autopsy, police said.

The Hendersonville Police Department asks anyone with any information about the case to contact the department at (615) 822-1111 or the Hendersonville Crime Stoppers at (615) 594-4113. Tips may also be submitted using the P3 Tips Mobile Application.

Contributing: Nicole Young and Katie Nixon of the Nashville Tennessean.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Police charge 17-year-old Tennessee boy in murder of Trinity Bostic
Principal Shundra Harris-Mosley, left, and Inge Garibaldi, executive director feeders, show a spot cooler in a classroom while giving a tour of Key Middle School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Trash cans are set in a classroom to catch roof leaks as Principal Justin Buren gives a tour of Durham Elementary School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Peeling paint is shown on hallways walls as Monique Moody, principal, leads a tour at Revere Middle School, 10502 Briar Forest Dr., Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Principal Justin Buren shows a gutter in an area that he called Durham Falls when it rains heavily while giving a tour of Durham Elementary School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer LaKia Jackson, principal, talks about the cracks in walls in a classroom at Fondren Middle School, 6333 S. Braeswood Blvd., Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer A gate outside Durham Elementary School is padlocked on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Principal Justin Buren and Nicole Perez, assistant principal, open the front gate to Durham Elementary School as they lead a tour on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Assistant Principal Nicole Perez shows leaking roof issues in a classroom during a tour of Durham Elementary School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A disconnected conduit pipe is shown in one of the outdoor walkways at Durham Elementary School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Principal Justin Buren stands in one of the outdoor hallways while giving a tour of Durham Elementary School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Principal Shundra Harris-Mosley, left, Inge Garibaldi, executive director feeders, take a look at a spot cooler in a classroom at Key Middle School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Inge Garibaldi, executive director feeders, helps give a tour of Key Middle School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A zip tie is attached the handle of a locker to leave it unusable at Key Middle School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Principal Shundra Harris-Mosley, left, and Inge Garibaldi, executive director feeders, walk down a stairway while giving a tour of Key Middle School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A damaged floor is shown in the dance room at Key Middle School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A stained sink is shown in the dance room at Key Middle School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Inge Garibaldi, executive director feeders, walks off the stage in the auditorium while giving a tour of Key Middle School on Wednesday, June 26, 2024 in Houston. School leaders showed some of the infrastructure problems in their buildings that would be addressed in a likely vote on the Houston ISD school bond in November. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer LaKia Jackson, principal, talks about wall damage in a temporary building used as classrooms at Fondren Middle School, 6333 S. Braeswood Blvd., Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer An out of order sign is shown on a mens restroom at Revere Middle School, 10502 Briar Forest Dr., Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Zaira Gomez, executive director of feeder, talks about having to use a trash can to catch a leak in a classroom ceiling in a temporary building at J.P. Cornelius Elementary School, 7475 Westover St., Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Monique Moody, principal, shows roof leak water damage at Revere Middle School, 10502 Briar Forest Dr., Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Damaged auditorium seats are shown at Revere Middle School, 10502 Briar Forest Dr., Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer Out of order urinals are shown covered over in a boys restroom at Revere Middle School, 10502 Briar Forest Dr., Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer A water damaged ceiling is shown in a hallway at Fondren Middle School, 6333 S. Braeswood Blvd., Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

Houston ISD has spent at least $700,000 developing and promoting its $4.4 billion school bond proposal that it plans to put on the ballot in November, according to district records.

HISD said in a statement that it has paid at least three different firms between February and April to research, explore and engage the community on the need for a potential bond, which includes conducting a facilities assessment, holding focus groups and meetings, developing websites and presentations, and analyzing enrollment and facility utilization data.

The district said it has budgeted to pay for all of its bond-related expenses through its general fund, but it did not say how much it plans to spend in total on the bond before a potential vote. If the bond is approved, the appointed Board of Managers approved a resolution that would allow HISD to reimburse itself with bond funds for any eligible bond expenses spent after April 12.

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If the Board does not decide to put the bond on the ballot, or if the voters do not approve the bond, all of these initial expenditures will inform future decision-making and drive the ongoing work to improve the facilities conditions for all students, the district said in a statement.

THE REPORT CARD: Subscribe to the Houston Chronicles weekly newsletter recapping HISD news

State-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles said during the school boards most recent meeting that spending funds on bond development and design before a vote will allow the district to hit the ground running and break ground within six months if it is approved.

The bond would allocate about $2 billion for rebuilding and renovating schools with poor facilities and learning conditions. It would also provide $1 billion for expanding pre-K, building three new career and technical education centers and technology upgrades and $1.35 billion for lead abatement, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning improvements and security upgrades.

The bond proposal  which is the largest in state history  is not yet finalized, and it must receive approval from the school board by Aug. 18 for it to appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. It would not raise taxes if approved, according to the district.

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Invoices show that HISD has paid Outreach Strategists, a Houston-based public relations firm, at least $125,000 since the beginning of the year for bond research and strategy, including about $44,000 in February and $81,000 in March. The firms contract began Feb. 3 and extends through Dec. 31.

Outreach Strategists charged a range of $85 to $300 an hour in March for services like enhancing HISDs website, compiling reports from meetings, conducting and analyzing surveys and focus groups, creating presentations and organizing visual content from school visits. It charged $110 to $300 an hour in February for similar activities.

Outreach Strategists is a Houston-based, minority-owned public affairs firm supporting the Districts work to educate and engage the entire HISD community on the need for facilities investment in HISD, the district said. They were selected, in part, because they have supported several successful Houston-area bond initiatives.

HGACBuy, or Helping Governments Across the Country Buy, set the firms classification of work and the hourly rates, the district said. The organization is a purchasing cooperative for local government agencies that is run by the Houston-Galveston Area Council.

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The district has also paid Kitamba, a social impact consulting and products firm, $160,000 for bond-related services since February, although their invoices did not outline an hourly rate. The firm has worked on facilitating meetings, project management, conducting modeling for schools and analyzing facilities, repair, enrollment and utilization data.

HISD has paid approximately $424,000 to Rice & Gardner between February and April for a facilities assessment as part of a broader contract of more than $8.8 million, according to invoices. The district paid about $78,000 in February, $38,000 in March and $308,000 in April to the firm for services that include facility analysis, project planning and modeling.

HISDs elected school board voted in February 2020 to approve a facilities assessment in advance of a potential bond vote. The district later entered into a contract with Rice & Gardner, a consulting firm, to conduct the assessment, but the board never ended up approving a bond election before the state takeover of the district.

The appointed Board of Managers voted in September 2023 to increase the budget for the contract with Rice & Gardner by $2 million to update the assessment to, in part, address changes to district facilities and legal safety and security mandates. As of April, the district still owes about $300,000 to the firm, records show.

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June 18 was a landmark day in Bangkok when the Thailand Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass the Thailand Same-Sex Marriage Bill after more than a decade on anvil.

The bill grants LGBTQ+ couples the same legal rights and recognition as heterosexual couples, including rights related to inheritance.

The bill will take effect after 120 days when its passed by the constitutional court, but this is now being considered a formality.

We have come far in our journey towards social equality, said Thai Prime Minster Shrettha Thavisin, after the bill was passed. Earlier, at the mega-gay parade on June 1, he wore a rainbow-coloured shirt and joined a massive parade of 200,000 people through the capitals streets. In order to showcase Thailand as a welcoming destination for LGBTQ+ people, the Thai PM is working hard for a bid to host World Pride in 2030.

This historic milestone positions Thailand as a leader in the region for LGBT rights, showcasing our commitment to equality and human rights, said Panyaphon Phiphatkhunarnon, founder of Love Foundation which has been fighting for LGBT rights for many years. It sends a powerful message to neighbouring countries and the international community about the importance of inclusivity and legal recognition for all, he said.

The equal marriage law is a very important change for Thailand, said well-known gay film-maker Tannia Tanwarin Sukkapisit. Ours is truly a country that is friendly to people of diverse genders, and this is the way forward for us.

The bill emphasises the inclusivity that is one of the core values long cherished in Thai society, said Sakul Intakul, well-known floral and installation artist who has visited India many times to do the flower decorations.

Well-known gay activist Chumaporn Waddao Taengkliang said that they had been fighting for their rights for more than 12 years. This is the culmination of our efforts and the strength of public activism, he said.

He added: We believe that this milestone will not only inspire more international couples to register their marriages here but also spark movements in neighbouring countries to push for legal protections and rights for LGBTQ+ families. This is just the first step towards broader regional change.

According to Wittaya of the Siam Pride travel agency, The same sex marriage bill will have a significant positive effect on tourism in Thailand. This legislation not only marks a historic step towards equality and inclusiveness, but also positions Thailand as a pioneering country in Asia for LGBT rights.

Veteran journalist-editor Naphalai Areesorn said with honesty, Thailand has long been known for its seeming tolerance for gender diversity. But this acceptance is often superficial. The legalisation of same-sex marriage in Thailand is a positive step towards protecting their basic rights and should be fully supported by all.

Many Thai couples who have been living together for many years expressed their joy that they could finally get married. Among these were Prinn Vadhanavira and Chakkrit Vadhanavira who have been living together for 22 years and are finally waiting to make it legal.

Well-respected travel-writer and former hotelier Andrew J. Wood has lived 33 years in Thailand with his Thai male partner Pichai Visutriratana and said, We are absolutely thrilled! The bill allows same-sex couples like ourselves, to formalise our relationship with the full protection of the law, ensuring equal rights in matters such as inheritance, healthcare, consent, and child adoption.

The most honest and moving words came from Indian-origin editor-journalist Mrigaa Sethi, a long-term resident of Thailand, who is now in the US with her American wife, Eric Sweeney.

I feel lucky to have come of age as a queer person in Thailand. The general atmosphere of tolerance was a wonderful thing for me. Things could have been very different for me had I grown up in India, where I am from, or the United States, where I live now with my wife, and where we are all set to start a family, within a legal framework.

In fact, with the Marriage Equality Bill, Mrigaa felt that she might even return to live in Thailand with her wife and child.

This writer has been amazed by how open Thailand is to the gay community, which is why this bill is the final icing on the cake There are gay streets, bars, coffee-shops, and there is a free and healthy openness, which is why one meets gay diplomats, Ambassadors, CEOs, top artists, filmmakers, and of course tourists, including many from India.

Ever since the bill was passed, the city has been exploding with celebratory events, gay pride parties, film festivals, discounts at restaurants, malls, gyms, and gay pride posters everywhere.

One of the individuals celebrating the most is well-known Thai TV Host Woody Milintachinda, who came out nearly a decade back, married his partner, and now could share his happiness with his gay community.

No doubt, there are many more like him in Thailand which, after Taiwan and Nepal, is only the third country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage.
The mood in the Treasury and Opposition benches during the inaugural session of the 18th Lok Sabha clearly reflected the change in the composition of the Lower House. Having been at the receiving end of a numerically strong ruling dispensation for the last 10 years, belligerent Opposition parties drew confidence from their improved bench strength, making it clear they could not be pushed around anymore. This was evident from newly-appointed Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhis fiery speech during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President.

While the Opposition was all fire and brimstone, the ruling party members appeared decidedly listless. The shouts of Modi, Modi on Prime Minister Narendra Modis arrival in the Lok Sabha were comparatively weaker as compared to the earlier sessions. Similarly, Rahul Gandhi was allowed to have his say with minimum interruptions from the Treasury benches, a vast change from the past. And again the BJP members did not exactly leap up to back the Prime Minister when he intervened to rebut Rahul Gandhi. The BJP benches lost interest in the proceedings once their senior party leaders left the House allowing the Opposition a free run. Except for Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan, BJPs allies were not heard making overly supportive statements.

Well aware that its election campaign on the BJPs proposal to amend the Constitution resonated with the electorate, especially the dalits, the Congress-led INDIA alliance is continuing to focus on this issue as seen in the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha. The Opposition has extended the Samvidhan khatre mein hai narrative to dalit assertion with plans to woo the Scheduled Castes to its fold. It is for this reason, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party gave pride of place in the Lok Sabha to its dalit members  K. Suresh and Awadhesh Prasad. While Mr Suresh was pitched as the combined Oppositions candidate for the Lok Sabha Speakers post, it plans to field Mr Prasad for the deputy speakers position whenever the election is notified. Besides being a dalit, Mr Prasad defeated the BJP in Ayodhya, which is part of the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP is clearly rattled by the Oppositions ongoing focus on the Constitution. It was, therefore, no surprise that the Presidents address and Prime Minister Narendra Modis replies to the debate in Parliament dwelt at length on how the Congress had undermined the Constitution during Emergency.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Sorens decision to reclaim the chief ministers post from party colleague Champai Soren on his release from jail was not totally unexpected though everyone in the state was surprised at the hectic pace these developments unfolded. A section in JMM maintained it was necessary that Hemant Soren take charge again before the forthcoming Assembly polls as he has the stature and profile to expand the partys base especially since the Lok Sabha election showed that the party was confined to the tribal belt. The JMM emerged victorious in Dumka, Rajmahal and Singhbhum  all reserved seats. But thats the charitable explanation. The other reason given is that had Champai Soren continued as chief minister, it would be impossible to dislodge him if the JMM does well in the assembly polls as the partys victory would be credited to him. All eyes are on Champai Soren now. Will he accept this decision quietly or create problems for the JMM?

With several Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant, the Congress Partys communications department is abuzz with excitement as word has got around that one person from the department is likely to be rewarded with a berth in the Upper House. National spokesperson Pawan Khera and his colleague Supriya Shrinate are said to be in the race. While a disappointed Mr Khera had, in the past remarked there was perhaps something lacking in his tapasya that he filed to make the cut, Supriya is said to be a strong contender as social media campaigns she handled during the elections made a big impact and went a long way in lifting the Congress profile. Since it is well known that Mr Khera and Supriya are not exactly best friends, there are others like Karnataka leader L. Hanumanthaiah who is hoping the rivalry between Mr Khera and Supriya will work to his advantage.

Though the Wayanad by-election is yet to be notified, the Congress has already announced that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would be fielded in the Lok Sabha constituency vacated by Rahul Gandhi. This move has put the other political parties in a fix. The Left Front, the Congress Partys chief political opponent in Kerala, has to decide if it should nominate a strong candidate or opt for a token fight. The CPI put up its senior leader Annie Raja against Rahul Gandhi in the recent Lok Sabha election, ensuring that the Left party and Congress were the chief players in the field with no place for the BJP. It is being suggested that a woman candidate be named to take on Priyanka but this proposal has met with internal resistance as women feel they are not viewed as serious candidates and are fielded in constituencies where the party does not expect to win.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer on assuming charge after the remarkable victory of the Labour Party in the just concluded elections. During their conversation, the two leaders agreed to work towards an early conclusion of the long-pending India-UK free trade agreement and bilateral ties. Modi has invited Starmer for an early visit to India.

The ministry of external affairs, in a statement, said that during the conversation, both leaders recalled the historic relations between the two countries and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen and advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between India and the UK.

The two leaders agreed to work towards an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial India-UK free trade agreement. Appreciating the positive contributions of the Indian community to the social, economic and political development of the UK, the two sides agreed to continue to promote close people-to-people ties Both leaders agreed to remain in touch, the foreign ministry statement added.

Modi also extended an invitation to Starmer for an early visit to India as the two leaders agreed to remain in touch, the statement said.

After the conversation, Modi, in a post on X, wrote, Pleased to speak with @Keir_Starmer. Congratulated him on being elected as the Prime Minister of the UK. We remain committed to deepening comprehensive strategic partnership and robust India-UK economic ties for the progress and prosperity of our people and the global good.

The Labour Party of the UK registered one of the biggest wins by defeating the Conservative Party and returning to power after 14 years. Given their turbulent relations and differing views in the past, India and the UK, under the Labour Party, will need to give a fresh start to their bilateral relationship. Especially given that the Labour Party had in 2019, under the leadership of Jeremy Bernard Corbyn, passed a motion seeking the deployment of international monitors in Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian government had seen this as interference in its internal matter and issued a strong statement against the motion. The motion had angered the Indian diaspora too, which since then has aligned largely with the Conservatives.

Five years later, Starmer tried to placate the Indian diaspora and undo the damage done under Corbyn, who was later expelled from the Labour Party. During his poll campaigns for the just-concluded general election, Starmer had extensively reached out to the Indian diaspora and even visited a Hindu temple in London. His election manifesto specifically mentioned his partys commitment to pursue a new strategic partnership with India.

Labour will build and strengthen modern partnerships with allies and regional powers. We will seek a new strategic partnership with India, including a free trade agreement, as well as deepening cooperation in areas like security, education, technology and climate change, the partys manifesto said.

Much has changed between 2019 and 2024. The Labour Party this time has a record 26 Indian-origin MPs. Yet, the partys views on immigration, Jammu and Kashmir and the free trade agreement remain to be seen.
by Steve Suwannarat

Repression continues after Hun Sen relinquished power to his son, with ten environmentalists convicted of lese-majeste and one of two remaining independent unions targeted by the authorities. The lack of charisma of the young heir seems to have be fuelling corruption and abuse of power.

Phnom Penh (AsiaNews)  Almost a year since Hun Manet took over as prime minister from his father, Hun Sen, following the elections of 27 July 2023, thus ending the 43-year reign of the Hun senior, political repression continues in Cambodia with opponents, human rights activists, bloggers, and trade unionists tried, convicted, and jailed or sent into exile.

The latest case was reported two days ago, when 10 members of Mother Nature Cambodia (MNC) were given sentences ranging from six to eight years. The environmental group is committed to protecting the environment and supporting the rights of local communities.

As in previous cases, the lese-majeste law was used. Ostensibly designed to protect the dignity of the Royal House, it has been employed by the governing Cambodian People's Party to enforce its rule

Three activists were handed down the highest penalty, while seven others were convicted of conspiring against the state. Seven of the accused were under age at the time of the alleged offences.

Filing for an appeal is unlikely to overturn a ruling critics call politically motivated, intended to further intimidate every form of dissent.

Any hope raised by Hun Manets rise to power (in elections without opposition) for improvements in human rights and civil liberties have been largely dashed. The only progress reported has been in economic development and foreign investment.

Lacking his father's charisma and the fear he imposed in country, Hun Manet has had to extend the existing patronage system to build consensus around him, at the cost of greater corruption and abuses of power, including cracking down on dissent and censoring information before it reaches Cambodians.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights yesterday condemned the court decision, warning that the use of the lese-majeste law to criminalise freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association are incompatible with Cambodia's obligations under international law, in particular the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the country is signatory.

Before the authorities went after the environmental group, they also targeted one of two surviving independent unions, the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), for a report released on 4 June on freedom of association in the garment industry.

This sector is crucial for the countrys economy, but with the complicity or negligence of big international brands that localised production in the Southeast Asian country, the authorities have clamped down on workers trying to uphold laws and regulations protecting their rights in accordance with recognised standards.

The union's white paper, which is also critical of the International Labour Organisation's programme to improve conditions in Cambodian factories, is under investigation by the Ministry of the Interior.
by Mathias Hariyadi

The head of the group, active from 2019 to 2023, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Poachers are thought to have killed 26 animals, a very high number according to local animal rights activists. Some people believe that rhino horn has aphrodisiac properties.

Jakarta (AsiaNews)  Members of a group of poachers have been sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing several Javan rhinoceros, a species found in Ujung Kulon, Banten province, whose single horn is highly prized in the making of cosmetics and aphrodisiac products.

A rhino horn can fetch from 200 to 500 million Indonesian rupiah (US$ 12,300 to US$ 30,700) on the black market.

Local authorities say that the 13-member group was led by a man called Sunendi. Active from 2019 to 2023, they killed at least 26 animals, the highest number ever recorded for poaching activities according to the Auriga Nusantara Foundation.

At Sunendi's residence, police seized a map and rhino bones. The horns were bound for the Chinese market and sales went through an intermediary, law enforcement said.

In 2023, the Auriga Nusantara Foundation raised the alarm, reporting that 15 animals were missing. At present, some 79 rhinos are left in Java.

According to the Foundation, the poachers arrested by the police probably came from Sumatra, another island known for its rhinos, which however are different, because they have two horns.

Sumatran rhinoceros now exist only in captivity at the Way Kambas National Park in Lampung Province.

Conversely, anyone can easily reach Ujung Kulon from the sea due to the absence of maritime patrols, animal rights activists lamented.
Despite the defeat of Conservative leader Rishi Sunak (who kept his seat), the British House of Commons now has 26 MPs with roots in India. Many new faces can be found among the ranks of the Labour Party which focused heavily on this community. One of the new MPs is Sojan Joseph, a Catholic nurse from Kerala who works with the mentally ill in Ashford.

London (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Despite the crushing defeat of their best-known representative, former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the number of MPs of Indian origin in the British House of Commons is now at an all-time high.

The landslide victory of Keir Starmer's Labour Party last Thursday saw some 26 British-Indian MPs get elected, up from 15 in the previous legislature, out of 650 seats.

Many of the top British-Indian Conservative MPs survived the debacle, including Sunak himself who ran in Yorkshire.

The new thing is that many candidates of Indian origin ran for the Labour Party, which performed poorly among British-Indian voters in the 2019 election.

According to the 2021 census, about a million people in the UK are Hindu, and Hinduism is the third largest religion in the country after Christianity and Islam.

Suella Braverman and Priti Patel are among British-Indian Conservative MPs who retained their seat. Both are former home secretaries.

Another Conservative, Shivani Raja, won in Leicester East, where he faced off two other British-Indian candidates, Rajesh Agrawal for Labour, and Keith Vaz who ran as an independent.

South Asian immigrants represent a large portion of the local population, and one of the main topics in the local election campaign was preserving the lights for the Diwali festival, which were at risk due to cuts to the city's municipal budget.

Among the many newly elected Labour MPs, Kanishka Narayan became the first from an ethnic minority elected in Wales.

Another interesting story is that of Sojan Joseph who won in Ashford, a former Tory stronghold, where he defeated Damien Green, former deputy prime minister under Theresa May.

Sojan Joseph becomes the first British MP with roots in Keralas Catholic community.

Originally from Onamthuruthu, a village in Kottayam district, Sojan Joseph is a nurse who worked in mental health care facilities.

The Indian Catholic news platform Matters India reported that once he graduated from St George's Parish School in Kaipuzha, he had only one concern: finding a job to earn a living and support his parents.

Although in Kerala nursing is seen as essentially a female profession, Sojan completed a three-year programme in psychiatric nursing in Bengaluru (Bangalore) and then left for London in November 2001.

His work led him to politics. I came to know people who go through difficulties that touch the core of their heart, he told Matters India. And many of these people were immigrants from Asia.
Today's headlines: Extreme weather events continue across China. In Taiwan, a member of the ruling party in charge of relations with mainland China was arrested. In Indonesia, data lost to a cyberattack has not yet been recovered. To leave Turkmenistan, citizens must carry cash to prove that they are not planning to emigrate.

IRAN

Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian was elected president in a run-off against Saeed Jalili, a right-winger who supports closer ties with Russia and China. Although the president does not have a direct impact on Iran's policies, he is involved in the choice of the Supreme Leader, a role currently held by Ali Khamenei, 85. The turnout was around 50 per cent, against less than 40 per cent in the first round.

TAIWAN

Prosecutors in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan, said that they had opened an investigation against Cheng Wen-tsan, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party in charge of relations with China, for alleged corruption. Cheng, in a statement released by his lawyer and the foundation he heads, the Straits Exchange Foundation, denied any wrongdoing.

CHINA

Chinese authorities this morning faced a dam breach in Hunan province, while the country copes with extreme weather conditions. No casualties were reported so far but 6,000 people have been evacuated. Yesterday a tornado ripped through part of Shandong province, killing one person and injuring another 79.

INDONESIA

Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan, an official with Indonesias the Ministry of Communication, resigned on Thursday after a cyberattack paralysed government services across the country for several days starting on 20 June. People are using online petitions to demand the resignation of other officials as well. So far, government agencies have salvaged only 2 per cent of the lost data, but the ministry expects full recovery by next month.

TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenistanis who plan to leave the country face a new hurdle. In addition to going through complicated procedures, they must (unofficially) carry US$ 1,500 in cash when they fly out of the country to ensure that they are tourists and not a migrants looking for earnings abroad.

RUSSIA

A Moscow court sentenced Alexei, Ioann, and Timofei Ashcheulov to 17 years of harsh prison. The three are the sons of Father Igor Ashcheulov, an Orthodox priest from Lipetsk; their offence was trying to illegally cross the border with Ukraine to take part in terrorist activities, i.e. fight on the side of Ukraine against the Russia.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the NRA ILA Leadership Forum at the National Rifle Association Annual Meeting & Exhibits at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center on May 18, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump said in a post shared to Truth Social Friday morning he knows nothing about the conservative movement Project 2025 or who is behind it, despite being named more than 300 times in the movement's mandate.

"I disagree with some of the things they're saying and some of the things they're saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal," he wrote. "Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them."

Trump's official platform is Agenda47, which outlines his goals and proposals if reelected.

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Project 2025 officials responded in an X, formerly Twitter, post clarifying that they never claimed to speak on behalf of any candidate or campaign.

"But it is ultimately up to that president, who we believe will be President Trump, to decide which recommendations to implement," the post reads.

Here's what you need to know about Project 2025 and the goals of conservatives behind it.

What is Project 2025?

Project 2025, also referred to as the Presidential Transition Project, is a conservative-led effort to pave "the way for an effective conservative Administration," according to its website. The project has four pillars: a policy agenda, presidential personnel database, presidential administration academy, and playbook for the first 180 days of the next administration.

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The project also supplies online training to applicants "interested in serving the next conservative President" through the presidential administration academy. Once an individual's application is accepted, they can access individual classes and full certificate programs, with a majority of classes running 30 to 90 minutes.

The academy's four certificate programs and courses are taught by "a roster of former political appointees from four previous presidential Administrations, as well as from policy experts, practitioners and subject-matter experts representing more than 100 partner organizations."

Who created Project 2025?

Project 2025 was founded by Kevin Roberts in 2022. Roberts currently serves as president of the Heritage Foundation. The foundation provided policy guidance to the Trump administration, which embraced "nearly two-thirds of Heritages proposals within just one year in office," according to the Project 2025 website.

Now, the Project 2025 team is led by director Paul Dans alongside associate directors Spencer Chretien and Troup Hemengway.

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What is the 'Mandate for Leadership'?

The "Mandate for Leadership The Conservative Promise" is the 922-page book at the forefront of the 2025's policy agenda pillar. The agenda is a collaboration of more than 400 scholars and policy makers who lay out the conservative movement's plans for the next conservative president who takes office.

"The Conservative Promise represents the best effort of the conservative movement in 2023and the next conservative Presidents last opportunity to save our republic," the Project 2025 website reads.

Though the book is currently sold out, the Project 2025 website offers a free PDF version of the book in its entirety. The novel provides five sections each focused on different aspects of the United States government, from the Department of Agriculture to the Federal Trade Commission.

The four main fronts of the Mandate for Leadership are:

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Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children.

Dismantle the administrative state and return self-governance to the American people.

Defend our nations sovereignty, borders, and bounty against global threats.

Secure our God-given individual rights to live freelywhat our Constitution calls the Blessings of Liberty

What are some of the actions the plan proposes?

The "Mandate for Leadership" provides widespread recommendations and actions that need to be taken by the president in order to reform the federal government and alter economic and social policies.

It calls for the abolishment of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, which is responsible for several weather-related services, including hurricane watches, daily weather forecasts and coastal restoration. However, Project 2025's mandate claims NOAA should be abolished because it is "one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry."

Additionally, Project 2025 also calls for the abolishment of the Department of Education and the Gender Policy Council, which is responsible for promoting comprehensive sex education and female reproductive health care through the National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality. The mandate also suggests a pro-life task force within the Department of Health and Human Services "to ensure that all of the departments divisions seek to use their authority to promote the life and health of women and their unborn children."

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Among other things, Project 2025 proposes to defund the Department of Justice, criminalize pornography, and place the Executive Branch of the U.S. Federal Government in the control of the president.

What do people who disagree with the plan say about it?

Former democratic nominee Hillary Clinton shared her opposition to Project 2025 in an X post Wednesday.

"Project 2025 is the MAGA movement's plan to consolidate power under a re-elected Trump and exert more control over everyday Americans' lives," the post reads.

While hosting the 2024 Bet awards, Taraji P. Henson used her platform to speak out against Project 2025.

"Show up and show out when its time to vote because its not just about the presidential election, you guys," she said. "Its time for us to play chess, not checkers. Its about making decisions that will affect us as human beings. Our careers, our next generations to come. Did you know that it is now a crime to be homeless? Pay attention. Its not a secret: Look it up. They are attacking our most vulnerable citizens. The Project 2025 plan is not a game. Look it up!

In a recent segment, Last Week Tonight Host John Oliver critiqued Project 2025 and the plans outlined in the mandate.
6 July 2024 12:03 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

At the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Shusha, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov updated his counterparts on the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia,Azernews reports.

It was also mentioned that the minister briefed his colleagues extensively on regional developments and massive reconstruction efforts in the territories liberated from occupation.

The efforts to fortify the OTS and the potential for cross-sectoral collaboration in the areas of environment, security, economy, trade, energy, transportation, and communications were also highlighted.

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6 July 2024 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

The Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Turkic States (TDT) Convenes in Shusha.

Azernews reports that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has announced the commencement of the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting of the Organization of Turkic States (TDT) in Shusha.

This meeting is part of the larger Summit of Heads of State and Government of the TDT.

During his address at the meeting, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister expressed his confidence in the significance of this gathering: "We are certain that this important meeting will contribute to maximizing the potential of the organization and enhancing existing cooperation."

Prior to the meeting, the heads of the ministries of foreign affairs took a commemorative photo.

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6 July 2024 10:27 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Keir Starmer on his appointment as Prime Minister.

Azernews presents the letter.

"Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I cordially congratulate you on your appointment to the position of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

We attach particular importance to the traditional relations of friendship and multifaceted cooperation between Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom.

Our long-term and fruitful joint activity in the energy sector makes an important contribution to ensuring global energy security. At the same time, the renewable energy sources, transition to green energy and decarbonization occupy central place on the Azerbaijan-United Kingdom bilateral partnership agenda today. In this regard, I would like to particularly note our successful cooperation with our close and reliable partner BP in the transition to clean energy. I express my confidence that our cooperation would be continued within the framework of COP29, which is set to be hosted by Azerbaijan this November.

We highly appreciate the contribution of the United Kingdom contribution to the demining process carried out in the liberated areas of Azerbaijan.

I am convinced that we will successfully continue our joint efforts to strengthen interstate relations between Azerbaijan and the United Kingdom based on mutual trust and support, and further develop and elevate our cooperation to a new level.

I convey my best wishes to you, and wish you success in your high responsible activities.

Sincerely,

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 6 July 2024"

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6 July 2024 11:14 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has sent a congratulatory letter to the newly elected President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian on the occasion of his victory in the extraordinary presidential elections.

Azernews presents the letter.

"I heartily congratulate you on your election as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

We attach great importance to the relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran built on solid foundations such as common religious and cultural roots, friendship and brotherhood. It is gratifying that over the past decades, our mutually beneficial cooperation has developed dynamically and reached its current level, gaining a new content in all domains, especially in the economy, transport, energy and humanitarian spheres.

Today, the agreements reached on the future development areas of Azerbaijan-Iran relations based on mutual respect and good neighbourliness and the implemented joint projects serve the well-being of our countries, the sustainable development and security of the region as a whole.

I am confident that through our joint efforts, we will ensure further strengthening of the traditional friendly relations and the expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran in line with the interests of our peoples and countries.

I invite you to pay a visit to Azerbaijan to exchange views on the prospects for development of our bilateral cooperation.

I convey my best wishes to you, and wish success in your future responsible activities for the prosperity of the friendly and brotherly people of Iran.

Sincerely,

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 6 July 2024"

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6 July 2024 12:25 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev welcomed the heads of state and government participating in the Informal Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States in Shusha on July 6, Azernews reports.

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Shenzhou-17 astronauts meet press after return from space

Xinhua) 09:32, July 06, 2024

Astronauts Tang Hongbo (C), Tang Shengjie (R) and Jiang Xinlin from China's Shenzhou-17 crewed mission meet press in Beijing, capital of China, July 5, 2024. The three astronauts met press on Friday, their first public appearance since they returned from space two months ago. (Photo by Wang Xiayang/Xinhua)

BEIJING, July 5 (Xinhua) -- The three astronauts from China's Shenzhou-17 crewed mission met press on Friday, their first public appearance since they returned from space two months ago.

All three crew members -- Tang Hongbo, Tang Shengjie and Jiang Xinlin -- are in good physical and mental health. Their muscle strength, endurance and exercise cardiopulmonary function have basically returned to pre-flight levels.

China launched the Shenzhou-17 manned spaceship on Oct. 26, 2023. The trio returned to Earth on April 30 this year after spending a record-breaking 187 days in orbit, surpassing the duration of previous crews.

During the mission, the three astronauts carried out 84 space application experiments and tests in orbit, and produced more than 200 samples covering multiple fields.

The mission marked crew commander Tang Hongbo's second journey to the space station, making him the Chinese astronaut with the longest spaceflight time.

"I am honored to witness and participate in the remarkable advancements of China's manned spaceflights," he said at the press conference held at the Astronaut Center of China in Beijing.

Tang Shengjie, the youngest astronaut to have entered China's space station, celebrated his 34th birthday during his first spaceflight. He said he would undergo follow-up training and strive for an early return to space.

The trio conducted two spacewalks and completed China's first extravehicular maintenance task. Jiang Xinlin recounted the extravehicular activities to the press, noting that the process went smoothly due to comprehensive training beforehand.

According to the center, they will resume regular training after passing all health and wellbeing assessments.

Astronaut Tang Hongbo from China's Shenzhou-17 crewed mission meets press in Beijing, capital of China, July 5, 2024. The three astronauts from China's Shenzhou-17 crewed mission met press on Friday, their first public appearance since they returned from space two months ago. (Photo by Wang Xiayang/Xinhua)

Astronaut Tang Shengjie from China's Shenzhou-17 crewed mission meets press in Beijing, capital of China, July 5, 2024. The three astronauts from China's Shenzhou-17 crewed mission met press on Friday, their first public appearance since they returned from space two months ago. (Photo by Wang Xiayang/Xinhua)

Astronaut Jiang Xinlin from China's Shenzhou-17 crewed mission meets press in Beijing, capital of China, July 5, 2024. The three astronauts from China's Shenzhou-17 crewed mission met press on Friday, their first public appearance since they returned from space two months ago. (Photo by Wang Xiayang/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Beryls latest forecast track from the National Hurricane Center, as of 4 p.m. Saturday shows a northerly path that leads to the Gulf Coast in Southeast Texas. National Hurricane Center

BERYL PATH UPDATE: Heres the latest on Beryls path onto the Texas Gulf Coast and its track after landfall

Texas Gulf Coast residents, now squarely in the path of Tropical Storm Beryl, can expect to see it strengthen again into a hurricane on Sunday before the rotating center of the storm comes ashore Monday in South Texas, possibly around Matagorda Bay, according to the latest projections by the National Hurricane Center.

Such a path could put Houston on the so-called dirty side of the storm, or the front-right quadrant of a rotating storm system that tends to produce the strongest winds and highest threat of tornadoes. Heres what forecasters were saying Saturday:

The National Weather Services Storm Prediction Center put Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast from Galveston south to Palacios under a level 2 of 5 risk of tornadoes for Sunday and Monday.

A broad swath of Central and Southeast Texas  including the western half of Harris County, the Interstate 10 corridor from Gonzales to Houston, coastal communities Port Lavaca and Bay City, and inland towns like Sugar Land, Conroe, College Station and Huntsville  faced at least a 40% to 70% chance of flooding, from late Sunday to Tuesday as Beryl moves onto the Texas coast.

All of these forecasts were subject to change if the projected path changes or other weather conditions change.

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Shown is the flooding outlook for Southeast Texas from the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. Beryl's arrival in the coming days is expected to bring heavy rainfall and possible tornadoes. National Weather Service

Where is Beryl now?

As of 4 p.m. Saturday, Beryl was in the Gulf of Mexico, about 385 miles southeast of Corpus Christi, boasting 60-mph winds as a tropical storm, weakened and misshapen from its transit across the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico. The hurricane centers forecast calls for Beryl to reorganize as it takes a west-northwest course at 13 mph through the warm ocean waters on Saturday.

TEXAS STORM TRACKER: Keep an eye on tropical storms and hurricanes as they approach the Lone Star State

The time spent at sea could allow Beryl to become a low-end hurricane Sunday night and into Monday as it approaches the Texas Gulf Coast.

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Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 125 miles from the center, forecasters said.

Shown is the severe weather outlook for Southeast Texas from the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. Beryl's arrival in the coming days is expected to bring heavy rainfall and possible tornadoes. National Weather Service

Whats happening in Texas so far?

A portion of the Texas Gulf Coast, from Baffin Bay northward to Sargent, is under a hurricane warning issued by the National Weather Service. A hurricane warning, typically issued 36 hours before the arrival of tropical storm-force winds, means that hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area. Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion, forecasters said.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN HOUSTON: Heres what a Beryl landfall near Matagorda Bay means for Houston

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A storm surge warning also was in effect for the Texas coast from the north entrance of the Padre Island National Seashore northward to San Luis Pass, including Corpus Christi Bay and Matagorda Bay. The weather service said storm surge warning indicates the possibility of life-threatening flooding from rising coastal waters moving inland in the next 36 hours.

A tropical storm warning, which means tropical storm conditions are expected within 36 hours, was in effect for the Texas coast north of Sargent to High Island on the Bolivar Peninsula.

The National Weather Service's seven-day rainfall outlook for Southeast Texas. National Weather Service

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued a disaster declaration Friday for dozens of South Texas counties in preparation for Beryls landfall. A disaster declaration allows public officials to exercise emergency powers to help protect life and property in the event of a disaster.

What are the weather threats for now?

Winds: The beaches in South Texas could experience tropical storm-force winds beginning Sunday night. By Monday, hurricane-force winds and a storm surge of 3 to 5 feet will be possible in the watch areas, the weather service said, adding that more watches and warnings may be issued farther up the coast.

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Rainfall: Heavy rainfall of 5 to 10 inches with localized amounts of 15 inches is expected across portions of the Texas Gulf Coast and

eastern Texas beginning late Sunday through midweek, the hurricane center said in its forecast update Saturday.

A potential hurricane landfall could include training storms, which are a series of moving rainstorms that repeatedly produce downpours over the same spot, leading to flash flooding and river flooding.

Surf: The hurricane center warned that large swells generated by Beryl are expected to reach much of the Texas Gulf Coast soon.

These swells are expected to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, forecasters said.

In this wind forecast map, the National Weather Service anticipates that Beryls wind field, where tropical storm-force winds are possible, could shrink after landfall. National Weather Service

Where is Beryl going after landfall?

The hurricane centers latest projections show Beryl quickly weakening again after making a Monday landfall, with the center of the storm near Matagorda Bay. As the storm moves inland, it will lose the heat energy and atmospheric moisture provided by the open ocean, which had fueled its once-explosive growth.

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6 July 2024 14:08 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company CJSC (ASCO) has reported that the first ASCO Handysize-type dry cargo ship named Khojaly passed into American waters under the Azerbaijani flag for the first time, Azernews reports.

This vessel, with a cargo of 30,800 tons of cement, sailed from the South Korean port of Bupyeong to the American port of Portland for 20 days, covering a distance of 8,390 km.

"This event happened for the first time in the history of Azerbaijan's shipping industry. The dry cargo ship "Khojaly" became the first vessel of independent Azerbaijan, which entered under the flag of Azerbaijan to the US port, delivering their international cargo," the report of ASCO emphasizes.

The vessel "Khojaly" was purchased within the framework of the Strategic Program of Azerbaijan's shipping development to expand the geography of national shipping outside the Caspian Sea and increase the potential of cargo transportation in international basins.

ASCO and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed an agreement on February 1, 2024, on the acquisition of two Handysize dry bulk carriers (70 percent of the financing for the purchase of the ships, or $42 million, was secured by an EBRD loan without state guarantees, and 30 percent (or $18 million) by ASCO's internal resources).

The Khojaly vessel has a cargo-carrying capacity of 38,593 tons. This is about 8 times higher than the cargo-carrying capacity of existing ASCO dry cargo ships. The ship is 180 meters long, 30 meters wide, 15 meters high, and has a draft of 10.47 meters. Due to its maximum cargo capacity, the ship can enter many harbors around the world.

Handysize"-type dry cargo ships accepted for ASCO balance support Azerbaijan's aspiration to strengthen the country's position as the most important link of the Middle Corridor connecting Central Asia and the South Caucasus with world markets.

Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company CJSC (the largest fleet on the Caspian Sea) currently has 55 vessels for various purposes on its balance sheet.

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6 July 2024 14:41 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan within the framework of the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Shusha, as well as the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OTS member states, Azernews reports.

According to the information, during the meeting, the sides discussed the issues arising from the existing allied relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, cooperation within multilateral formats, as well as regional and international security issues.

It was stressed at the meeting that the Azerbaijani-Turkish alliance's political, economic, energy, communication, and humanitarian successes have contributed to regional stability and cooperation.

Furthermore, it was noted that high-level political dialog between the leaders of the two countries, as well as intensive visits and contacts of representatives of relevant state structures and legislative bodies, play an important role in the development of this alliance.

Meanwhile, it was mentioned with satisfaction that the city of Shusha, where the Shusha Declaration was signed establishing allied relations between Azerbaijan and Turkiye based on brotherhood, friendship, and solidarity, is hosting the informal summit of the OTS.

Referring to the important place in Azerbaijan's foreign policy occupied by the Turkic World and the direction of the OTS, Jeyhun Bayramov expressed hope that the summit will be memorable for the adoption of documents and decisions that will contribute to the development and strengthening of cooperation within the framework of the organization.

Along with the OTS, the importance of intensifying cooperation with other regional and international organizations, including within the framework of various multilateral formats, was noted.

Moreover, it was mentioned that the trilateral meetings of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Turkiye, and Pakistan on July 3 this year, as well as the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkiye, and Georgia on March 15, were beneficial in terms of coordination of interaction on regional, global security, and cooperation issues.

Bayramov also briefed the Turkish side in detail on the current regional situation in the post-conflict period, the large-scale reconstruction and construction works carried out in the territories liberated from occupation, activities to combat the mine threat, as well as the status of the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

It was brought to attention that challenges facing the peace process, including the ongoing claims against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan in the Constitution of Armenia, steps by third countries contributing to the militarization of Armenia, and threats to regional stability, still remain.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

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6 July 2024 14:17 (UTC+04:00)

The visits by the leaders of Turkic States to the liberated lands are a manifestation of brotherly solidarity, said President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as he addressed the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Shusha.

The President of Turkiye has visited Shusha, Fuzuli, Zangilan and Jabrayil, the Presidents of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have been to Shusha and Fuzuli, while the President of Kyrgyzstan has visited Fuzuli and Aghdam.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to once again express my gratitude to the heads of state and government of the brotherly countries for the school and creativity center, as well as for the schools to be built in the future which represent our brotherhood, the head of state noted.

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The Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (hereinafter referred to as the OTS), upon the initiative of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was held in Shusha on 6th of July 2024 on the theme of Building a Sustainable Future through Transport, Connectivity and Climate Action.

The meeting was hosted by H.E. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and attended by H.E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, H.E. Sadyr Zhaparov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, H.E. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, H.E. Cevdet Ylmaz, Vice-President of the Republic of Turkiye, H.E. Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary,

H.E. Ersin Tatar, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, as well as H.E. Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Secretary General of the OTS.

The Heads of State of the OTS,

Considering the Turkic World as a family based on common ethnic roots, history, language, culture, traditions and values of the Turkic peoples that is committed to the ideas of peace, security, stability and development and prosperity in the region and in the world;

Stressing cross-continental dimension of Turkic peoples inputs and the highest value of the role the Turkic peoples played historically in global political, economic and civilizational developments;

Building upon political, economic and civilizational achievements of the Turkic peoples throughout the history of mankind;

Commending the Chairpersonship of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the successful organization of the jubilee Astana Summit held on 3 November 2023 under the motto TURKTIME!, which marked yet another milestone in further OTS transformation and Turkic World integration efforts, as well as strengthening unity and prosperity of their peoples;

Appreciating the proposal of H.E. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan to hold informal meetings of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) of the OTS once a year, along with the regular meetings of the CHS, in accordance with the Nakhchivan Agreement on the establishment of the OTS;

Acknowledging the spiritual significance of the city of Shusha in bringing peoples together from across the wider Turkic World and declaring that the meeting in Shusha after the full restoration of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan bears a symbolic manifestation of the unity of Turkic peoples and their adherence to peace and justice;

Expressing solidarity with the government and people of Azerbaijan in their efforts to rebuild and rehabilitate its liberated territories, including through massive mine action and humanitarian demining efforts that allow the return of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani Internally Displaced Persons to their homeland;

Affirming that the sustainable future is possible through the joint efforts aimed at developing stable and multifaceted links among the Turkic States inter alia for preserving the healthy planet through Climate Action;

Acknowledging that the current geopolitical and security challenges which the world faces, require the consolidated position of the Turkic States to act as a single force that necessitates regular consultations on regional and international matters of mutual interest;

Declared that they:

1. Emphasize the historical value of informal Summit of the OTS in Shusha which has been the Cultural Capital of Turkic World-2023;

2. Reiterate the importance of using the full potential and opportunities of the Turkic States in the political, economic, transport, defense-industry, humanitarian, educational and cultural fields for further strengthening and deepening their strategic partnership and shaping a collective strategy of the OTS;

3. Stress the necessity to set more ambitious goals in view of potential of Turkic States in global scope, put in force relevant mechanisms and regulations to effectively implement the OTS tasks and purposes for building sustainable future by enhancing joint efforts and undertaking regional projects of strategic importance;

4. Highlight the importance of further development of connectivity among the Turkic States through the establishment of appropriate transport infrastructure and efficient trans-regional corridors in view of indispensable role of the Turkic States in the development of global trade and economy in the region and worldwide;

5. Enhance regional connectivity and economic integration among the Members through the Trans- Caspian International East-West Middle Corridor connecting Europe-Turkiye-South Caucasus-Central Asia-China, as a cornerstone for sustainable development, economic prosperity, and international trade by boosting trade volumes and attracting infrastructure investments in ports, railways, highways, and logistical hubs. Call for strengthened cooperation among member states to streamline transport operations, customs procedures, and embrace digitalization;

To that end, instruct Ministers in charge of Transport to take further steps to optimize and digitalize transport and transit procedures, introduce incentive mechanisms for the private sector aimed at attracting more cargo volume, and establish scheduled transport services along the Corridor;

6. Appreciate the modernization of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line and the trilateral efforts between Turkiye, Azerbaijan and Georgia, aimed at expediting customs controls for goods and vehicles along this line;

7. Welcome the signing of the historic Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan on joint cooperation in promoting the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project on 6 June 2024, which will also contribute to the growth of international trade, investment and transit potential of the entire OTS region;

8. Note with satisfaction that the regional trade volume is steadily increasing, agree to take concrete measures to increase the trade volume to its true potential in upcoming years, underline the importance of eliminating technical barriers in trade without prejudice to international obligations and accelerating the completion of the text-based negotiations on DEPA (Digital Economy Partnership Agreement);

9. Emphasize the need for closer cooperation in addressing the climate change and its impacts on the sustainable development of the Turkic States through unified climate action;

10. Encourage the development of climate resilient smart cities and villages concepts within the Turkic States to enhance quality of life, promote sustainable development, and foster economic growth by improving digital infrastructure, public services, and sustainable practices, with a focus on integrating clean energy resources like solar, wind, and hydroelectric power to support climate action and in this line, initiate discussions on establishment of OTS Climate and Green Digital Platform and OTS Forum of Climate Resilient Villages;

11. Highlight the significance of the strategic partnership among the Turkic States in the field of energy, including development of cooperation in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency and welcome the recent developments in Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan Power Systems Interconnection Project (Green Corridor);

12. Call for enhanced cooperation for energy integration and interconnection among their energy systems to utilize immense potential of renewable energy in the Turkic States and to use opportunities for development of an extensive energy systems for export and trade of electricity, including from renewable sources among member states and to third countries;

13. Encourage the development of an institutional building mechanism (twinning) among the relevant authorities of the members of OTS in the fields of common interest like trade, energy, transport and similar, with the aim of transferring the experiences;

14. Welcome the active implementation of the Digital Silk Way Project, which aims to create a new telecommunication backbone route between Europe and Asia by utilizing the existing capabilities/infrastructure of the OTS countries;

15. Promote cooperation and exchange among the Turkic States on further advancement of digital government (e-Government) infrastructures; harmonization of e-signature/digital signature mechanisms for electronic document sharing and integration of online public services; fostering common cybersecurity protection measures against cyber-incidents and cyber-attacks; building policies, guidelines and partnerships on artificial intelligence (AI); and development of policies and best practices on establishment of data centers and cloud infrastructures;

16. Take note of the importance of creating a large language model of Member States for the successful development of AI projects and emphasize the importance of using a common platform, in the form of a large language model, to facilitate intercultural communication, develop educational platforms, improve healthcare technologies and promote economic integration;

17. Take note the importance (necessity) of consolidation of efforts for joint development of space projects in order to increase the capacity and competitiveness of national space programs and integrated development in the field of space technologies in order to increase the level of technological development and competitiveness of joint projects;

18. Instruct the Secretariat to establish cooperation mechanism of the relevant authorities of the Member and Observer States to cooperate in the field of the protection of environment and climate agenda to strengthen the regional and global response to the climate change challenges;

19. Welcome the initiative of the Republic of Uzbekistan, announced at the Astana Summit 2023, to establish a permanent Turkic Environmental Forum at the ministerial level and to plan its first meeting within the framework of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 29) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held from 11 to 22 November 2024 in Baku;

20. Wish the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan success in hosting the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 11-22 November 2024 and support the consistent efforts of Azerbaijan in delivering tangible outcomes of the COP29 based on expectations of the parties to the Convention;

21. Express their readiness to engage in promoting the initiative to establish the new global dialogue Mountains and Climate in the annual calendar of the UN Climate Change Conference and consider joining the draft Document Call to action for advancing the Mountain Agenda: mainstreaming mountains within the UNFCCC";

22. Welcome the initiative of Kazakhstan to host the Regional Climate Summit in 2026 under the auspices of the UN and international organizations;

23. Wish the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan success in hosting the 6th Consultative Meeting of the Heads of States of Central Asia countries in Astana on 9 August 2024;

24. Reiterate their intention to continue joint activity in the field of the defense industry in accordance with the national legislation of the Member States and in this regard instruct relevant bodies of the Member States to take necessary measures;

25. Express deep concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and condemn indiscriminate targeting of civilians, call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and provision of unhindered humanitarian aid into Gaza as well as full compliance with international law, including the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions; and further call for a just and lasting settlement to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict on the basis of the two-State solution;

Support the international recognition of an independent, sovereign and contiguous state of Palestine based on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital and welcome the adoption of the UN General Assembly resolution on 10 May 2024 whereby the UN General Assembly determines that the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations and should therefore be admitted to membership in the United Nations, and call on all countries, that have not done so yet, to recognize the State of Palestine.

26. Welcome the valuable contributions of Hungary, Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to the OTS in their capacity as observers;

27. Commend the continued collaboration and increased synergy among the Turkic cooperation organizations, namely the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TURKPA), the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TURKSOY), the Turkic Academy, the Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation (TCHF), and the Turkic Investment Fund (TIF);

28. The Kyrgyz Republic reaffirmed its readiness to host the 11th Summit of the OTS in Bishkek on 24 October 2024;

29. Consider the proposal of the Kyrgyz Republic on Council of Heads of Government/Vice President;

30. Support the initiative of the Republic of Uzbekistan on charter of the Turkic World and instruct the Secretariat to finalize the draft document for its adoption at the next summit in Bishkek;

31. Welcome Hungary's accession to the Agreement Establishing the Turkic Investment Fund, marking a significant milestone in strengthening economic relations within the OTS.

The Heads of States of OTS extend their gratitude to H.E. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, for his robust and lasting contributions to the unity, solidarity, security and prosperity of the Turkic World, for his firm leadership in strengthening the unified spirit of the OTS, and steering the deliberations of the Shusha Informal Summit of the OTS to a successful conclusion and the warm hospitality of the Government and people of Azerbaijan.

The Secretary General of the OTS is tasked to coordinate the mutual action and joint efforts stipulated in this Declaration.

Signed on 6 July 2024, in Shusha, in Azerbaijani, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkish and Uzbek languages.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Zhaparov

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev

Vice-President of the Republic of Turkiye Cevdet Ylmaz
6 July 2024 19:13 (UTC+04:00)

"Enterprise Uzbekistan" International Digital Technologies Center will be established under the Software Products and Information Technologies Technological Park (IT Park) of Uzbekistan, where global technological giants will be able to work under special legal regulations.

Azernews reports, citing the foreign media that "Ernst & Young" international consulting company will create a "regulatory environment" for the center.

According to the agreement signed between "IT Park Uzbekistan" and the company, the purpose of the project is to develop, implement, and support a special legal regime that will be integrated into the activities of "Enterprise Uzbekistan" International Center for Digital Technologies, and in the future to turn Uzbekistan into a center of information technology development. This initiative is also aimed at increasing the export potential of information technologies and attracting investment to the country.

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6 July 2024 19:44 (UTC+04:00)

On July 4, the Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan Ilkhom Mahkamov held a meeting with a delegation headed by the Minister of Industry and Trade of Afghanistan Nuriddin Azizi, Azernews reports.

At the meeting, the current state of cooperation in the field of transport and logistics, as well as prospects for their further development, were discussed.

During the negotiations, the parties exchanged views on creating favorable conditions for national carriers by reducing fees and duties on cargo transportation.

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6 July 2024 21:17 (UTC+04:00)

Several agreements in the industrial sector were signed between Tajikistan and China, following the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tajikistan, Azernews reports.

The press service of the President of Tajikistan announced that the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China signed an agreement and a memorandum on new energy minerals.

In addition, the following agreements were signed in industrial sector:

An agreement on cooperation between the Agency for Innovation and Digital Technology of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China.

A memorandum of cooperation between the State Supervision Service for Safe Conduct of Work in Industry and Mining under the Government of Tajikistan and the National Administration of Work Safety in the Mining Industry under the Ministry of Emergency Management of China.

The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. In total, 29 significant documents were signed, regulating relations between the two countries in various fields.

To note, China remains one of Tajikistan's most important trading partners. Last year, trade turnover between the two countries increased by more than 24 percent compared to 2022.

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6 July 2024 22:19 (UTC+04:00)

Kazakhstan is interested in further strengthening cooperation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said the Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Nurlan Baibazarov, Azernews reports.

He made the remark during a meeting with the Resident Representative of the UNDP in Kazakhstan, Katarzyna Wawiernia.

"Kazakhstan is interested in further strengthening cooperation with UNDP, in particular, the successful implementation of the UNDP Country Program for 20212025," he said.

In addition, Baibazarov also informed his interlocutor about the countrys readiness to present the third Voluntary National Review on the implementation of sustainable development goals at the High-Level Political Forum in New York in 2025.

"Achieving sustainable development goals is a national priority for Kazakhstan. We pay great attention to discussing the implementation of goals on different platforms to find optimal solutions aimed at the sustainable development of our state. The voluntary review will objectively reflect the main achievements, challenges, and emerging problems of the country," he added.

To note, UNDP activities are aimed at promoting the economic development of UN member countries. In partnership with the government of Kazakhstan, public organizations, the business sector, UN agencies, and other partners, more than 200 projects worth over $200 million have been implemented in Kazakhstan.

Among them are projects for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, green energy, agriculture, ecotourism, and other areas.

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6 July 2024 23:37 (UTC+04:00)

Tajikistan and China have signed a document on cooperation in the energy sector, following the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Tajikistan, Azernews reports.

According to the press service of the Tajik president, a memorandum on the development of investment cooperation in the field of "new" energy was signed between the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Commerce of China.

The signing ceremony took place in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon. In total, 29 significant documents were signed, regulating relations between the two countries in various fields.

To note, China remains one of Tajikistan's most important trading partners. Last year, trade turnover between the two countries increased by more than 24 percent compared to 2022.

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The day after the debate, Allred told a reporter that he was processing it. A week later, Allreds campaign declined to comment further on the presidents debate performance or on his candidacy. Shafkat Anowar/TNS

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, the Democrat running against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, has spent the past few months trying to distance himself from President Joe Biden.

That was before Biden had a shaky debate performance last week that left many  including some Democratic allies  questioning whether he is mentally fit to serve another term as president. Now that Biden is fielding calls to step aside, political observers and experts say Allreds efforts to separate himself are all the more important, and hell likely need to significantly outperform Biden on the November ballot if he is to oust Cruz.

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The day after the debate, Allred told a Dallas Morning News reporter that he was processing it. A week later, Allreds campaign declined to comment further on the presidents debate performance or on his candidacy.

Instead, the campaign provided a statement to Hearst Newspapers saying Allred represents a new generation of leadership in Texas and is laser-focused on beating Ted Cruz. The statement did not mention Biden by name.

A Senate term is six years, and the winner of this Senate race will outlast the next presidents term, said Josh Stewart, a spokesperson for the Allred campaign. No matter who is president, Congressman Allred will always work to fix our broken politics and put Texas ahead of partisan politics.

Joshua Blank, the research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said Allreds efforts to distance himself from Biden in his campaign against Cruz are significant.

A recent UT poll asked voters whether their support for Biden or Trump was more based on actual support for the candidate or a vote against the other. Three quarters of Trump voters said they supported Trump, while nearly half of Biden voters said they were opposing Trump.

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There are at least a couple data points at this moment in time that are pointing to an underlying sentiment, at least in Texas, among Democrats that a little distance between them and the president is not a problem  and is probably to their advantage, Blank said.

Allred previously has criticized Biden, especially on immigration, a top concern for Texas voters and a key issue for Republicans in November. The Dallas Democrat put out an ad earlier this year saying he would go after the cartels and fix the border but do so in a humane way.

I stood up to Joe Biden on the border and to extremists like Ted Cruz for preferring chaos to real solutions, Allred said in the ad, referencing his January vote in favor of a resolution to condemn Bidens response to an increase in border crossings.

At the time, Cruzs campaign called Allreds vote a cowardly flip-flopping strategy. Cruz and his allies  especially the Truth and Courage PAC, which is dedicated to helping reelect the two-term Republican  have also repeatedly tried to tie Allred to Biden.

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The PAC, for example, launched a website called Too Extreme Allred, which has an entire tab deriding Allred as Bidens biggest Texas ally. The PAC also posted a clip on social media Wednesday of Allred defending Biden during a February interview with CBS Austin.

REMINDER: Colin Allred is one of Joe Bidens top supporters in Congress, even recently saying that Biden is mentally fully sharp and fully in charge of everything, the PAC wrote.

The Texas Politics Projects June 2024 poll showed Allred trailing Cruz by 11 percentage points  45% to 34%  on a trial ballot. Another 6% of respondents said they would support someone else, while 14% were undecided. The same poll had Trump beating Biden on a sample ballot 46% to 39%.

A more recent poll by the Manhattan Institute, which surveyed likely Texas voters between June 25 and 27, found Trump with a 9-point lead over Biden and Cruz with a just 3-point lead over Allred.

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Cal Jillson, a politics professor at Southern Methodist University, said Allred likely wont campaign with Biden or look to him for an endorsement.

He knew that he had to separate himself from Biden and outrun Biden in Texas by 6 or 8 points, because Biden was likely to lose by at least that much, Jillson said. If Allred were to outperform enough to be competitive, that would mean an 8- or 9-point better performance than the top of the ticket, and that is a very difficult task.

Jillson said Allred might have to bridge a smaller gap if someone like Vice President Kamala Harris were on the ballot, but its still too early to tell how alternate candidates could affect the Senate race.

Jon Taylor, a politics professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said he understands some Democrats fears that low enthusiasm for Biden could negatively affect the party in down-ballot races. He said Allreds best opening is in his continued criticism of Cruz, who also can be a polarizing figure.

It's important for him to draw out that comparison (against Cruz), and that's where, again, I would be ignoring, as much as you can, President Biden, Taylor said.

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FROM MAY: Ted Cruz warns Texas Republicans of tough matchup with Colin Allred

State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio and the head of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, agreed that the greatest advantage that Congressman Allred has is that nobody seems to like Ted Cruz. This years Senate race is Cruzs first since former U.S. Rep. Beto ORourke came within 3 points of unseating him in 2018.

Martinez Fischer said Democrats are familiar with the prospect of running on the same ticket as a presidential candidate who isnt always popular in the Lone Star State, and Allreds day-to-day campaign likely will focus on his own priorities, not the presidents fitness for office.

Ultimately, Martinez Fischer said this election boils down to kitchen table issues like the economy. He pointed to the Biden administrations Friday announcement that more than 200,000 jobs have been added across the country in June.

For Colin Allred or anybody in Texas to talk about working with an administration that is creating jobs, keeping unemployment low  that, to me, transcends politics, he said.
July's Tidepool Discovery Days at Oceanside Get You Deeper Into Oregon Coast Lifeforms

Published 7/03/24 at 3:45 p.m.

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection

(Netarts, Oregon) - What amazing creatures are lurking at the waters edge? You may want to head over to Oceanside to find out  and the answers may lead to a thrilling little field trip by guided experts. On Sunday, July 7, the north Oregon coast group Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS hosts Tidepool Discovery Day at Oceanside. There are two more days this month as well.

Join the Friends of Netarts Bay WEBS staff and volunteers as they explore the fascinating world of tidepools along the edges of this part of the north Oregon coast. Discover the anemone clone wars, observe how sea stars feed, and learn about hermit crabs shell-swapping antics! From colorful seaweeds to elusive sculpin fish, theres an incredible ecosystem waiting to be explored.



The theme for July 7th will focus on SEAWEED and is a compliment to its Seaweed Pressing Workshop. Learn more about this workshop at the link below.

They also host these events on July 22 at 8:00 a.m. and July 23 at 8:30 a.m.

Details: Wear boots or bring a change of shoes. DO NOT WEAR Flip flops (they are never ideal for exploring tide pools). Be prepared for Oregon coast weather.

We understand everyone learns and experiences the outdoors differently and we are open to working with anyone that needs additional support, WEBS said. We have limited capacity. Please contact us in advance so we can do our best to accommodate your needs and/or find a way for you or your group to have fun participating in our events.

Get more information including event time and location. Registration is required. Find the link to register for this event at: https://www.netartsbaywebs.org/events

WEBS and partners are hosting this event as part of the Explore Nature series of hikes, walks, paddles, and outdoor adventures. Led by a consortium of volunteer community and non-profit organizations, these meaningful nature-based experiences highlight the unique beauty of Tillamook County and the work being done to preserve and conserve the areas natural resources and natural resource-based economy. Learn more about Explore Nature at www.explorenaturetillamookcoast.com.

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Tiny Ray of Hope as Pair of Sea Otter Seen on N. Oregon Coast After Being Extinct Here for 100 Years

Published 6/30/24 at 5:45 p.m.

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection





(Cannon Beach, Oregon)  After being extinct from Oregon's offshore waters for over 100 years, there was a little ray of hope this week for the sea otter. The Elakha Alliance (EA) excitedly announced it had confirmed a pair of sea otters at Ecola Point at the northern edges of Cannon Beach on June 28  the first time two living ones (that were not already dying) were spotted on the Oregon coast in decades. (Photo Chanel Hason)

This is a significant event as there has been no established population of sea otters along the Oregon coast since they were hunted to local extinction for their fur by the early 1900s, EA said.

EA is a non-profit working to reintroduce the sea otter back to Oregon's ocean waters.

The group said it was able to confirm the sighting of the pair after a report from local volunteers spotted them initially. Chanel Hason, a marine biologist and Director of Outreach and Community Relations for the Elakha Alliance, made it down to Ecola Point and managed to photograph the two. Hason saw them swimming around the area and foraging.

Like previous sightings that have happened here, EA said it's likely the two swam down from the the north Washington coast's Olymic Peninsula area, where there's a sizable colony of about 2000 sea otters.



Photo Chanel Hason

Sea otters are not a migratory species, which explains why they have not naturally re-established a population on the Oregon coast during the past century of their absence, EA said.

EA said a few times a year, dead sea otter will wash up on Oregon beaches. While people say they spot otters all the time on coastal rivers  those are river otters and not sea otters.

One of the last major sightings of a sea otter was in April of 2021, when Seaside Aquarium responded to its first as part of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network. The animal was struggling and extremely ill, washing up in the Manzanita area. They do not end up on land unless they are on their last breaths.



Photo Seaside Aquarium: dying sea otter in '21

During that incident, EA told Oregon Coast Beach Connection the odd sighting here or there probably does not mean much. While EA is currently thrilled about this sighting, there's still a long way to go to confirm anything about a new population.

Unless there were a lot sea otters a lot closer to Oregon, it's not an avenue for recovery, EA said in 2021.



Photo Chanel Hason

Another issue: even if there are pairs or a few living along Oregon's coast in little pockets, the gaps between those groups won't help their survival here.

Male otters will occasionally make the long trek down from Washington, but they're usually lone wanderers. Females don't do this, according to EA.

USFWS was able to reintroduce a population of sea otter to the Oregon coast in the '70s but it failed for reasons still yet unknown.

Otter Rock near Depoe Bay was so named because it reportedly had an enormous population of them just floating there, according to newspaper reports in the early century. While it can't be confirmed, history indicates a local man named Joe Biggs claimed to have shot the last one in 1906. He apparently snagged a hefty $900 for the pelt, and supposedly this is when and where the name for Otter Rock was born.

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Premium property boasts 120 rooms and a restaurant, with owners eyeing up further projects in NI

An international hotel brand that revitalises older properties has arrived in Belfast.

The former Radisson Blu in the Gasworks has now been badged as voco, which is owned by IHG Hotels and Resorts.

This is the first voco location on the island of Ireland.

Last year, the venue was acquired by Irish company Cliste Hospitality, which has invested 3.6m in refurbishing the property. It said the work has given it a stylish look and exceptional facilities with 120 premium guest bedrooms, a new ground-floor bar, Pomo restaurant, and outdoor terrace.

Theres also an event space with six rooms for meetings and small gatherings.

The Radisson Blu was snapped up by Cliste and its hotel operating arm iNua Collection after going on sale for 16m.

Cliste said it was scoping out other acquisitions in Northern Ireland.

The bar of voco Belfast

As iNua Collections first hotel here, it joins 13 venues over the border such as Kilkennys Hibernian, Dublin ONE, Tullamore Court in the Midlands and Radisson Blu in Limerick, Sligo, Athlone and Cork.

Voco is now offering rooms starting at 130. A launch event yesterday was attended by around 200 guests, including Tourism NI and the NI Hotels Federation.

The exterior of voco Belfast

Joanna Kurowska, managing director of UK and Ireland operations for IHG, said voco was its premium brand.

Voco was designed by us in 2018 to respond to the growing need of conversion market, and this hotel is a perfect example of something that lends itself very well to spaces that need a conversion and that need new life breathed into them, she said.

Thats exactly what happened here. If you knew the hotel before  the colour scheme, the way it looked, the way it felt and the sense of arrival  that was so different than it is today.

Reception desk at voco Belfast

Ms Kurowska said the hotel will target the corporate and leisure markets, but wont have a star rating.

Its perfect as its so close to the city centre, she added.

We call it premium as we dont really use stars. Theyre just one way of describing the market, but we segment the market by using the terms standard, premium and luxury. Premium means its in the middle between the luxury space and the standard space. Its all about the experience and quality of service.

Downstairs in voco Belfast

The tourism industry here had been nervously anticipating the impact of the additional visa requirement from the UK Home Office, known as the Electronic Travel Authorisation. But with a Labour government, its hoped that concept will be dropped.

Ms Kurowska said: What weve seen between the Republic and UK is that the trend of this market is immense, and people will always travel across the border for natural reasons and for obvious reasons.

There are so many historical, economic, family links and nothings going to break that.

Workspace and meeting area in voco Beflast

Mairea Doyle Balfe, executive director of corporate development for Cliste Hospitality, said the company saw great potential in Belfast.

Belfast is a very young city, we can see theres lots of development so it presented a great opportunity for us, she said.

Were continuing to look at properties across Northern Ireland.

We would certainly like to get another two or three in the next couple of years.

It has beautiful countryside, youve got the coast, youve got the Sperrin Mountains and Mourne Mountains and we see that there are opportunities.

We look forward to becoming a significant part of the community in the city and we will continue to look for further opportunities to expand our presence in Northern Ireland.

IHG Hotels & Resorts is one of the worlds biggest hotel companies with more than 6,000 international locations.

Other brands in the group, such as Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Crowne Plaza, already have a presence in Belfast through partnerships with Andras House.

Pomo Restaurant in voco Belfast

The interior design of voco Belfast was carried out by ODonnell ONeill Design to achieve what the hotel described as a property that feels upscale, but with a laid-back spirit  somewhere reliable, but different.

The fit-out was carried out by Pure Fitout.

The decor features pops of colour and pattern, creative lighting, textured tiling and some quirky but comfortable furniture.

The bedrooms have tech-friendly features like smart TVs and fast wi-fi.

Danielle McGinley, director of sales and marketing at voco Belfast, said: Its an exciting time to open such a stylish new offering in a city that really appreciates style.

It has been a pleasure to work together with our partners to ensure that voco Belfast stands out as a distinctive destination for guests to enjoy.
Stevie Nicks has called off a concert in Glasgow after requiring surgery on a leg injury (Greg Allen/PA)

Stevie Nicks has cancelled a show in Glasgow just hours before she was due to take the stage following a leg injury.

The Fleetwood Mac star, 76, required surgery and will need time to recover, according to a statement from the OVO Hydro.

She was due to perform at the venue on Saturday night but the gig was called off five hours before show time and will be rescheduled.

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A show in Manchester on Tuesday July 9 has also been postponed.

A post from the venue on X said: Due to a recent leg injury requiring a minor surgical procedure that will need a few days of recovery time, Stevie Nicks scheduled performances in Glasgow Saturday July 6 and Manchester Tuesday July 9 have been postponed.

More information will be available at point of purchase, ticketholders are advised to hold on to their tickets as rescheduled dates will be announced soon.

Stevie looks forward to seeing everyone at Hyde Park in London.

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Nicks is due to perform at BST Hyde Park festival on July 12, where she will be supported by Brandi Carlile, Anna Calvi and Paris Paloma.

Nicks, best known for her ethereal singing voice, joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975.

The bands biggest record, Rumours, featuring hits Dreams, Go Your Own Way and The Chain, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, making it the fifth best-selling album of the 1970s.

She also had solo hits with songs such as Edge Of Seventeen and Stand Back.

Nicks was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and as a solo artist in 2019.
New developments on the Microsoft data breach last January have revealed that the cyberattack has also impacted several US departments.

First reported by Bloomberg, the Department of Veteran Affairs and State Department subgroup US Agency for Global Media confirmed to have been impacted by the January cyberattack.

Both agencies disclosed that Microsoft contacted them last March, two months since the Russian-based hacker group Midnight Blizzard attacked the company resulting in its source code and corporate emails being compromised.

The agencies, however, assured that the vulnerabilities were quickly resolved in addition to an ongoing investigation to determine the full impact of the cyberattack.

The new findings follow earlier reports of the Russian-based hackers accessing thousands of customer and client emails, including those from government departments.

Also Read : US Officials Confirm Russian Hackers Accessing Gov't Emails Via Microsoft Breach

Microsoft Alerts More Customers on Compromised Emails

In addition to government agencies, Microsoft has started sending notifications to its customers impacted by the data breach six months ago.

Several users first shared the email on Reddit to inquire about its legitimacy. Later analysis of the supposed alert email showed Microsoft advising affected customers to reauthorize access to the compromised email accounts.

Microsoft claimed that the emails are part of its "commitment to transparency" amid growing discontent among its users for repeated security vulnerabilities.

Microsoft Faces Gov't Scrutiny Amid Surging Data Breaches

Microsoft President Brad Smith has already testified to the Senate earlier last month to address mounting security concerns amid an increasing number of major data breaches on the tech giant.

Before the Midnight Blizzard incident, Microsoft reported in July 2023 a major cyber incident that led to over 60,000 State Department emails being compromised.

The Cybersecurity Review Board ruled that the incident was supposed to be "preventable" if not for Microsoft's "inadequate" security culture.

The review board advised a complete "overhaul" of the company's security system starting with an outlook plan to improve its systems.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has since been reported as telling employees that the company is now putting its cyber defenses as its "No. 1 priority."
Car windscreens of more than a dozen cars were smashed in the grounds of Belfast City Hospital on Friday night.

Police are appealing for information and witnesses after the cars were damaged on the hospital on the Lisburn Road.

Inspector McCrum said: A report was received shortly after 10pm that the windscreens of up to 11 vehicles parked in the area had been broken.

Enquiries are ongoing at this time, with CCTV and other footage being examined. We are keen to establish a motive and who was involved in this senseless act of criminal damage.

Anyone who was in the area between 8.20pm and 9.20pm and noticed anything suspicious or out of the ordinary, is asked to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 1733 05/07/24.

Watch: Gavin Robinson speaks to the media during Belfast count
Secretary of State Hilary Benn MP meets with First Minister Michelle ONeill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly at Hillsborough Castle during his first visit to Northern Ireland since taking up the role.

The First and deputy First Minister have held their first meeting with the newly appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Earlier today (Saturday) Hilary Benn who was formally installed as NI Secretary on Friday by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, met First Minister Michelle ONeill and deputy First Minster Emma Little-Pengelly at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down.

Mr Benn flew to Northern Ireland after attending Sir Keir Starmers first cabinet meeting this morning.

The meeting at Hillsborough was also attended by representatives from other Executive and Opposition parties.

Speaking about his first visit to Northern Ireland since becoming NI Secretary, Mr Benn said he wanted to get to work as quickly as possible.

"I am deeply honoured to have been appointed to the role of Secretary of State, he said.

I wanted to get to work as quickly as possible and was therefore pleased to be able to hold these initial discussions with the First and deputy First Ministers and representatives from the other parties.

My immediate priorities are to establish a new relationship between the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive as we work together to foster economic growth and prosperity, and to improve public services.

I want to ensure that we have a system in place for addressing the legacy of the past in a way that wins support from victims families and that all communities can have confidence in, and which is compliant with human rights.

Mr Benn also said that the new UK Government was firmly committed to the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and to the principle of consent that is at its heart.

We will work hard to deliver its vision for reconciliation, equality, respect for rights and parity of esteem.

The Secretary of State said that his meeting with the First Minister and deputy First Minister was very constructive.

I look forward to building on our relationship in the months ahead, he added.

Addressing the relationship with Dublin, Mr Benn said: As our nearest neighbour and co-guarantor of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, our relationship with Ireland is of great importance.

The new UK Government will work closely with the Irish Government to reset and strengthen the relationship between our two countries.

On Friday, both the First Minister and deputy First Minister spoke to Mr Starmer to congratulate him on becoming Prime Minister after the Labour Party won a landslide of 412 seats.
The main players have fallen out, blaming one another as the leak

Neo-Nazi musicians have hung up their swastikas and abandoned the notorious Blood and Honour movement  and theyre blaming the media.

Northern Ireland had been seen as the last safe haven for the fascists music gigs  having been chased from mainland UK - but after a number of exposes by the Sunday World, its understood senior figures in the movement here have walked away.

Recent election results indicate the far right might be on the rise in Europe, but the Nazis of Northern Ireland appear to be on their knees.

Blood and Honour, formed by Skrewdriver frontman Ian Stuart, is one of the most hardcore factions anywhere in the world.

He was supported by the bands No Remorse, Brutal Attack, Sudden Impact and Squadron.

These bands were previously affiliated with the White Noise Club, a subsidiary organisation of the National Front responsible for organising Rock Against Communism concerts, operating the White Noise Records label.

But the Sunday World has revealed that Ulster Blood and Honour, which had been one of the most active divisions in the UK, is in turmoil.

Recent exposes of their activities have sent them running for cover.

The main players have fallen out, blaming one another as the leak.

The movement regularly held gigs, drawing bands and skinheads from all Europe to Belfast.

But virtually all activities have ceased since recent coverage.

No one trusts anyone anymore, an insider said.

Notorious skinhead band Brutal Attack

They were once a really tight-knit bunch and only a select few knew of the details of the gigs in advance.

But the Sunday World has been spot on with their information for their recent stories and that has led to them believing the information has to be coming from those involved at the top.

A couple of the leading faces who have been friends for years now dont speak, accusing the other of being the Sunday World tout. Its hilarious  they have no clue whats going on or who is giving details about their gigs.

They were mostly an ageing bunch of tattooed losers, but as things stand unless someone else steps up to organise things, they look all but finished.

Most of them have decided they cant be bothered ending up in court  or even worse, in the Sunday World!

The Sunday World revealed how last February notorious British band Brutal Assault were joined at a secretive show in north Belfast by two bands from Europe.

Members of a Polish far-right group were also in attendance for the event, which was organised with strict security in fear of being targeted by protests.

It wasnt the first time the hate-filled bands have held secret gigs in Northern Ireland and there had been plans for many more after the Nazi-supporting lunatics were chased from holding their gigs in Britain.

Recently, venues hosting these gigs in Scotland and England have been infiltrated by members of anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate, forcing them to cancel.

Belfast had remained one of the few destinations still hosting the secretive shows and Blood and Honour leaders had hoped to make Northern Ireland a regular staging post.

In 2019, Sunday World revealed how the racist knuckle-draggers held a skinhead gig at a secret destination in east Belfast.

Bands from Italy and the Czech Republic flew into the country to headline the far-right bash. They brought with them supporters from throughout Europe.

Among those in attendance was infamous north coast Nazi Mark Brown.

Last autumn a senior organiser of secret far-right gigs appeared in court in England on terror charges  and claimed he was a police tout.

Robert Talland was accused of stirring up race hate as well as encouraging terrorism.

Talland is better known to his Hitler-worshipping goons in Ulster as Ginger Rob.

He has been a regular visitor to Northern Ireland and has played a leading role in promoting the Blood and Honour movement here. 

But neo-Nazis were sent into meltdown after his trial started because the court was told Talland had been passing on information about fellow far-right members to the police.
Jim Allisters message for Nigel Farage and unionist proposal for Westminster

New North Antrim MP could still sit with Reform UK on Parliament benches despite humiliating election snub

Nigel Farage had given his election backing to Jim Allister's North Antrim rival Ian Paisley

Suzanne Breen Sat 6 Jul 2024 at 08:30

Jim Allister has yet to decide if he will sit with Reform UKs five MPs when the new Parliament meets on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to visit Northern Ireland as part of UK tour

NI was discussed in the Labour leaders first phone call as Prime Minister with US President Joe Biden

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference after his first Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street, London, following the landslide General Election victory for the Labour Party. Picture date: Saturday July 6, 2024. PA Photo. Claudia Greco/PA Wire

Sat 6 Jul 2024 at 14:19







Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is set to visit Northern Ireland this week as part of his UK tour.
Roughly 130 million people in the US are under threat from the weekend into next week from a long-running heat wave that has already broken records with dangerously high temperatures, forecasters said.

Oppressive heat and humidity could team up to spike temperatures above 38C in parts of the Pacific North-west, the Mid-Atlantic and the North-east, said Jacob Asherman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

In Oregon, records could be broken in cities including Eugene, Portland and Salem, Mr Asherman said.

Dozens of other records throughout America could fall, Mr Asherman said, causing millions to seek relief from the blanket of heat in cooling centres from Bullhead City, Arizona, to Norfolk, Virginia.

A potentially record-setting heatwave is spreading across the western US (AP)He added: Certainly a pretty anomalous event that were expecting here, which looks like it will continue through at least midweek.

At the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, Oregon, music fans dealt with heat on Friday by drinking cold water, seeking refuge in the shade or freshening up under water misters.

Also on Friday, a new heat record for the day was set in Californias Death Valley  one of the hottest places on Earth. The previous high was shattered by five degrees Fahrenheit, with the mercury climbing to 127F (52.8C). The old mark of 122F (50C) was last tied in 2013.

More extreme highs are in the near forecast, including 53.8C for Sunday at Furnace Creek in Death Valley National Park, and then around 54.4C through until Wednesday.

The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134F (56.67C) in Death Valley in July 1913, though some experts dispute that measurement and say the real record was 130F (54.4C) recorded there in July 2021.

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There was also a record high for the date of 118F (47.7C) in Phoenix, where highs of 115F (46.1C) or hotter were forecast through until Wednesday.

In Needles, California, where the National Weather Service has records dating to 1888, the high of 50C edged the old mark of 49.4C set in 2007. It was 51.1C in Palm Springs, California.

The worst was yet to come across much of the West, with temperatures between 8C and 16C higher than average into next week, the National Weather Service said.

The Eastern US also was bracing for more hot temperatures. Baltimore and others parts of Maryland were under an excessive heat warning, as heat index values could climb to 43C, forecasters said.

People have been warned to take care (AP)

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbours, said a National Weather Service advisory for the Baltimore area.

Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances.

In Arizonas Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, there have been at least 13 confirmed heat-related deaths this year, along with more than 160 other suspected heat deaths are still under investigation, according to the countys most recent report.

That does not include the death of a 10-year-old boy earlier this week in Phoenix who suffered a heat-related medical event while hiking with family at South Mountain Park and Preserve, according to police.
Ukrainian service members have gathered in Kyiv to pay last respects to a British combat medic who set up a charity delivering essential supplies to frontline fighters.

Peter Fouche, 49, died in the battlefield on June 27 as his unit clashed with Russian troops, according to his colleague at Project Konstantin, the volunteer group that since 2022 has ferried drones, vehicles, uniforms and food to Ukrainian soldiers in the east.

Comrades of Peter Fouche at the funeral in Kyiv (Alex Babenko/AP)

According to its website, it has also helped evacuate 219 Ukrainian soldiers from combat zones.

At the funeral ceremony, Ukrainian soldiers carried Mr Fouches coffin through Kyivs landmark Independence Square, the site of mass protests in 2014 that forced out a pro-Russian president.

Mr Fouches comrades held back tears as they lined up to say goodbye. Others read prayers as they held up Ukrainian flags and military insignia.

His partner, wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt, knelt down to embrace the coffin.

Peter Fouches partner during the ceremony (Alex Babenko/AP)

A statement released on Monday by Halyna Zhuk, Project Konstantins Ukrainian co-founder, called Mr Fouche a hero and praised his relentless commitment to Ukraine and her people.

Mr Fouche, from west London, helped build a field hospital in Kyiv before he started Project Konstantin, according to the groups website, and later enlisted in the Ukrainian army.

At least five other Britons have been killed while volunteering in Ukraine since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022.
In keeping with a General Election night of surprises, outgoing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had a shock for everyone in his farewell speech  he name-checked Northern Ireland.

Given successive Conservative governments questionable understanding of this place and the criticism of their perceived ambivalence to Northern Ireland, it was notable both the restoration of devolution and the Windsor Framework were highlighted by Sunak as two of the landmark moments of his tenure.

And our United Kingdom is stronger too: with the Windsor Framework, devolution restored in Northern Ireland, and our Union strengthened. Im proud of those achievements, he proclaimed.

A cynic would suggest there are few, if any, more.

A paltry tally of 121 seats out of 650  the worst result in Conservative Party history  would back this up.

Here in Northern Ireland, that Windsor Framework and the Donaldson deal which restarted power-sharing was the very basis for some of the DUPs struggles.

The new MP for North Antrim Jim Allister has tortured the DUP over the partys claims the devolution agreement got rid of the Irish Sea border and restored Northern Irelands place in the UK.

Those were brazen falsehoods and the people of North Antrim called them out as such in this campaign. Therein is the reason why I am now the Member of Parliament for North Antrim, he said.

And the reason that Ian Paisleys seat, the safest DUP seat of them all, was lost. In an era of jaw-dropping election shocks, this one ranked up near the top.

We were expecting drama and got it in spades, though not in the arenas we expected.

The bitter battle for North Down never really materialised, with Alex Easton winning easily in the end.

The contest between Justice Minister Naomi Long and DUP leader Gavin Robinson ended with the sitting MP actually increasing his majority, much to the disappointment of the Alliance Party leader and her supporters.

Alliance found a silver lining in Lagan Valley, where Sorcha Eastwoods determination, drive and focus saw off the challenge of Jonathan Buckley, who had been placed in the unenviable position of trying to reclaim the seat vacated by former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.

Buckleys energetic campaign came up short, and left him repeating the familiar refrain bemoaning a lack of unionist unity. Maybe one day unsuccessful candidates will realise there are other communities out there, whose votes count just as much.

Locally, the results represent another notch on Sinn Feins belt, though seven constituencies will continue to be voiceless in Westminster as the partys outdated policy of abstentionism continues.

Its something new MP Pat Cullen, well-used to having her voice heard in the corridors of power, will have to get used to.

Its over to PM Starmer now. He struck a note of humility in his maiden Downing Street speech, highlighting his brand new government of service. After years of a Conservative circus, it appears some adults have returned to the room to restore some order. We can only wish him and his cabinet well.
Some US citizens are already concerned about the growing potential of Donald Trump being reelected as the US President, especially after the debate where US President Joe Biden fumbled his responses. Here's another thing to look forward to when Trump wins: Nuke testing might be back on the table.

Former Trump Advisors Wants to Test Nukes

Nuclear warfare is never something to wish for, but powerful countries like the US have nukes in their arsenal just in case they get plunged into war as potential rival countries have them as well. For some, however, having them is not enough, and suggested testing the nukes.

Such people include Donald Trump's former advisor, Robert C. O'Brien, who served as the former President's US national Security Advisor between 2019 to 2021. He believes that "Washington must test new nuclear weapons for reliability and safety in the real world."

There are a lot of issues that can stem from making this a reality. For one, the US has not tested any nuclear weapons since 1992, and for good reason. Since then, the weapons have only been tested using computer models, as pointed out by O'Brien.

Another is that nuclear tests were banned decades ago. In 1996, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was introduced and signed by 187, and it prohibits "any nuclear weapon test explosion or any other nuclear explosion" in the world, as mentioned in Gizmodo.

It was even argued that other countries like Russia and China are busy building their nuclear arsenals and the Biden administration hasn't done enough to counter it. O'Brien then explained that nuclear weapons testing would "strengthen the U.S. arsenal and help deter America's foes."

Former Trump State Department official Christian Whiton also shared his thoughts, saying that it would be "negligent to field nuclear weapons of novel designs that we have never tested in the real world. To put how crazy this sounds, even the Trump team calls the advisors "misguided."

Nuclear weapon testing comes with a lot of negative side effects, even if they do fire the nukes in unpopulated areas. There's a reason why the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was put in place and why 187 countries agreed to it.

Read Also : Midjourney Thinks Donald Trump Has Won the US Presidential Election

Nuclear Weapon Test Risks

Nuclear testing, apart from the devastation it leaves on test grounds and waters, also leaves the area radioactive for decades. Further down the line, testing was moved to exploding the weapons in the atmosphere, but even that had negative side effects.

According to the American Scientist, there was a time in the 1960s when there was no place on Earth where the signature of atmospheric nuclear testing could not be found in soil, water, and even polar ice. The radiation from the tests could be the cause of increased cancer rates.

Local human populations would be exposed to both external and internal irradiation. It could come from the radiation of the test fallout, some of which can travel through the wind or fall with rain. Exposed animals that produce products and are consumed by humans may also be a source of radiation.
Bloomfield Walkway overgrown and dangerous, say locals

Residents living near a disused east Belfast railway line, made famous by Van Morrison, have protested how a walkway on it is now an overgrown jungle that they say is presenting dangers for people in the area.
BENNINGTON  Kevin Hoyt, two-time independent candidate for Governor, the Republican nominee for State Representative in 2018, and an independent candidate for State Senator in 2020, has been arrested on outstanding warrants after a tip led authorities to his location in Fair Haven on the Fourth of July.

Fair Haven police, after an anonymous tip, arrested Hoyt as he drove from New York into Fair Haven on Route 22a on Thursday. Hoyt was wanted on warrants stemming from three cases of intentionally violating an abuse prevention/stalking order between June and November 2022.

Hoyt, 52, allegedly violated the stalking order that was put in place on March 29, 2022, when he was ordered to have absolutely no contact with former state Rep. Christopher Bates of Bennington  including any statements on social media. Hoyt refused to sign the stalking order, but it remained in effect until March 29, 2023, according to court documents.

Hoyts stalking order specifically bans him from talking to, telephoning, texting, emailing, or any other form of communication to make contact. He is also ordered not to post to them or about them. He must also stay at least 300 feet away from Bates.

At the beginning of the hearing, Hoyt petitioned Bennington Judge Howard Kalfus to allow him to serve as his own attorney in the three cases, which Judge Kalfus granted. Hoyt was then off to the races, informing the judge that he was also requesting a change of venue into a Federal Court, asking for Federal protection, and that he would not participate in what he called a fictional, corporate entity.

This is 100% political and retaliatory, Hoyt told the judge. I am a 2024 candidate for Governor. They just cut my brake lines. They want to kill me.

Mr. Hoyt, we are here for one purpose. That is to conduct the arraignment, Judge Kalfus told Hoyt.

I am again stating that I dont want to participate, Hoyt said. If I am forced to do so, I will waive all of my rights. I am a living man on Gods soil. I dont need an attorney. I am asking you for a change of venue.

Hoyt then pleaded not guilty to all three counts. Prosecutors asked that Hoyt be kept subject to the conditions set out in the Protective Order. Hoyt objected.

Your honor, I dont have a problem with any of those conditions except two. The one that I cant verbally say the name is outrageous, and the idea that I cant report felony gun crimes. I stand before you today, accused of the crime of trying to report felony gun crimes to officials, including racketeering, human trafficking, money laundering, embezzlement, a long list. This is politically motivated. To say I cant say a name or post to the public removes my First Amendment freedom of speech.

Again and again, Judge Kalfus tried to wrangle Hoyt in. He finally set a calendar call hearing for September 9th. Hoyt objected to that too, telling the court that he would be in Montana for a political gathering September 12-14th. I am on a tight travel schedule, Hoyt said.

We are scheduling this for September 9th. If you do not appear, an arrest warrant will be issued.

Before he departed, Hoyt threatened that if they insist on dragging him through this, that he would collect everyones name so he can Go back and start civil suits against you and everyone else. I dont think you have jurisdiction or authority. I am asking for protection and a little bit of help here.

This concludes this hearing, Kalfus declared.

According to a police affidavit, on June 15th 2022, Hoyt allegedly violated the stalking order by harassing the victim in a video post on Facebook. Hoyt was again charged with violating the abuse prevention order in October 2022 by videotaping himself leaving the Civil Courthouse on South Street and complaining in the tape that no one would protect him from Bates. He goes on to say that, If Bates were to come after him, I will shoot him.

Prior to that video, Hoyt allegedly posted photos of Bates on his Instagram page. The photos show Bates holding a gun, flipping off a camera, and sitting with his arms folded. Hoyt also posted letters from Bennington Superior Court that address Hoyts case against Bates.

Hoyt was once again charged in a November 2022 incident where he allegedly harassed the same victim on another video post.

Officers attempted to call and contact Hoyt multiple times after the violations surfaced. He allegedly did not answer his phone, and there were new residents at his last known address. An arrest warrant was issued on Oct. 28th. He has been on the lam since then.

Hoyt posted bail after his arrest and was issued a citation to appear. He showed up at the courthouse with several supporters sitting behind him as Christopher Bates, the man at the other end of the stalking order, sat on the opposite side in the back row. Bates left before the hearing ended.

Hoyt and Bates both have a long history of antagonization. An incident captured in March 2022 shows Hoyt videotaping town candidates at a voting station when the pair had a confrontation outside the Bennington firehouse. The verbal assault was caught on film.

Both men had a two-year stalking order placed on the other after that confrontation.

Hoyt faces a year in jail on each of the three misdemeanor charges if found guilty.
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This Story in History is selected from the archives by Jeannie Maschino, The Berkshire Eagle.
England Brothers department store, shown in this file image circa 1950, had become a Berkshire landmark and an anchor for North Street  though automobiles had taken the place of the trolleys and horse-drawn wagons of yesteryear.
Eversource and Berkshire Regional Planning Commission say the U.S. Department of Energy's plan to strengthen the so-called "brittle seam" corridor that connects New York's and New England's power supplies through Berkshire County is needed, but it doesn't have to be as wide as it says.

Thomas Matuszko, executive director of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, wants the Department of Energy to explain why it says the power transmission improvement project would need a wider right of way than currently exists: The federal agency's plan allows for up to a half-mile on either side of the existing overhead transmission lines. He's advising the right of way corridor should be kept as narrow as possible.

The Department of Energy calls it a "starting point."

Meanwhile, Eversource, the electric utility that would carry out the project, is indicating that the DOE's call for a mile-wide right of way is unnecessary. The utility told the Energy Department that it doesn't need that room to upgrade the transmission system.

This aspect of the Department of Energy's proposal is not final and might be considered an envelope rather than a defined route. Still, it is worrisome for the potential public alarm and concern it could create. So Eversource and the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission are advising the Department of Energy to narrow it and eliminate any cause for alarm.

Eversource and Berkshire Regional Planning each have submitted feedback on the Department of Energy's National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors plan to boost the power transmission for otherwise "weak" stretches that connect electric grids throughout the country. There are 10 identified across the country and Berkshire County is part of one.

These particular corridors  we see them as the massive overhead power lines over hills and dales in the terrain  are structurally weak and in need of upgrade. One industry lawyer called these the "brittle seams" within the patchwork that is the nation's electrical grid. These result in higher electricity costs, and the infrastructure is vulnerable to more and longer power outages.

The national interest designation, if awarded, will unlock $4.5 billion in federal aid and has the potential to unlock the power of federal eminent domain under certain circumstances.

Locally, the 60-mile route from Stephentown, N.Y., to Northfield links the New York and New England power supplies via the overhead power transmission lines. The Berkshire County stretch runs at least 21.25 miles from Hancock's border with New York east to Windsor. The existing right of way along this route is between 200 and 330 feet wide, according to Eversource.

The Department of Energy has proposed it widen to a mile, if need be in order to add another a major transmission line.

That's simply not necessary, according to Eversource.

Eversources input for the plan called the widening both unnecessary for the development of a transmission project in Eversources [right of way] and concerning for the host communities.

According to Eversource, "the existing right-of-way in Massachusetts is several hundred feet wide, with sufficient scope and size to accommodate a new 345kV transmission project.

Further, Eversource recommended the DOE narrow the corridor width to the existing overhead transmission [right of way] and transportation corridor and clarify the reduced corridor width to the public.

In addition, the utility wrote, Community acceptance is critical for any interregional infrastructure project and narrowing the width of the corridor will go a long way in assuaging community concerns.

Eversource spokeswoman Priscilla Ress said the company recommended this particular link for the national interest designation.

"Other than the mile-wide issue, the information contained in DOEs preliminary potential listing was based on our filing," she wrote The Eagle.

Were a mile-wide right of way to go into effect throughout the route, it would affect developed, protected and agricultural land, along with various water supplies. It would impact 905 buildings, ranging from just one in Peru to 323 in Lanesborough, and 832 parcels of land totaling 13,546.23 acres, including endangered species habitat, according to Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's analysis.

Eversource has delivered a more pointed message to the Berkshire County towns along the route by reiterating and expanding on the comments it sent the Energy Department.

On June 21, Aimee Henderson, Eversource community relations specialist, emailed the following to a Berkshire County town administrator along the affected route: Eversource does not intend to widen the existing right of way, or impact abutters through eminent domain, Henderson wrote. We have never characterized this corridor as a mile wide and intend to clarify it with the DOE. Eversource believes that a majority of the existing corridor within our current easement rights can accommodate a new transmission line that could provide significant benefits to Massachusetts and New England customers.

In addition, Henderson wrote, Eversource does not have any plans to pursue Federal Backstop Siting Authority for any project it may propose in the corridor. Federal Backstop Siting Authority refers to the use of federal eminent domain.

Pauline Banducci, Berkshire media manager for Citizens Climate Lobby, also filed comments.

"The idea of having 1 mile swath in the area where there are houses is NOT necessary," Banducci wrote. "Those individuals will not be able to move to another house because Berkshire County is so expensive. Their homes will not receive the real estate value necessary for them to relocate! What about an 800 foot swath."

Banducci advocated for siting and building clean energy projects and involving local residents.

Prior to filing Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's 40-page comment, Matuszko spoke with a representative from the Energy Department who told him that the New York-New England link was the narrowest of the 10 proposed corridors, being three-tenths of a mile wide. The widest is 100 miles.

Variations in width and length are "due to the nature of the locations, population centers, land status, complexity associated with conducting meaningful on-the-ground surveys, physical and natural impacts, as well as transmission needs, including accounting for existing infrastructure," according to the Department of Energys answers to frequently asked questions about National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors.

Noting the high price of electricity to commercial and residential customers, Matuszko said he understands the need to build capacity along the transmission lines and sees the benefits to Berkshire County.

Its a necessary fix if we want to decarbonize, he said.

In his comments to the DOE, Matuszko also spoke of the need to balance the need for cheaper and reliable electricity with other economic goals, noting the county's reliance on its natural landscape.

He named 12 "notable areas of interest within the corridor which should be given special attention" in Berkshire County. Among them are the Pittsfield and Dalton watersheds, Holiday Brook Farm in Dalton, the Pittsfield State Forest in Hancock and Lanesborough, as well as public and private protected lands.

"The Town of Windsor serves as the headwaters of the congressionally designated Wild and Scenic Westfield River," Matuszko wrote. "The Appalachian National Scenic Trail is in the towns of Hinsdale, Dalton and Cheshire. Impacts to these two nationally significant outdoor recreational assets must be minimized."

Noting that much of the land in the corridor is forested, Matuszko also spoke to the importance of forests in addressing climate change.

The Regional Planning Commission's input to the DOE delved deeply into the impact that a fully mile-wide right of way would have on Berkshire County.

I really dont want to create hysteria at this point, he told The Eagle.

Noting that this is a public process and that the next phase includes public engagement, Matuszko recommended that the DOE meet with select boards of each affected town.

He also offered advice to the eight potentially affected towns as the designation process enters its third phase, which entails public engagement.

I recommend that the towns and the town officials pay attention to how this proceeds, Matuszko said.
(Photo : Unsplash/Rubaitul Azad )

The European Commission asked Amazon to provide further details regarding the steps it has taken to adhere to its obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a law requiring large companies to combat harmful content on their websites and establish standards for advertising transparency.

Amazon's DSA Compliance

According to Reuters, Amazon was instructed to provide comprehensive information on how it complies with the transparency requirements for recommender systems until July 26.

An Amazon spokesperson said the company was reviewing the EU's request and collaborating closely with the European Commission, as it shares the objective of establishing a secure, consistent, and trustworthy shopping environment.

READ ALSO: Meta Faces Another Legal EU Probe Over Breach of Digital Services Act on Child Safety

The European Union's Digital Services Act

The European Union's comprehensive new digital privacy protection law took effect on August 25, marking a significant shift for Big Tech in Europe.

The Digital Services Act (DSA), introduced alongside the Digital Markets Act (DMA), was part of the European Union's comprehensive regulatory framework for big tech. Quartz reported that it mandates major technology companies take greater responsibility in addressing illegal and harmful content on their platforms.

While the DMA targets antitrust reform among major tech firms, the DSA prioritizes individual user protection and aims to prevent the spread of harmful content and misinformation online.

Companies that the EU identified as subject to the DSA include Amazon, Google, Alibaba, and Wikipedia.

Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner of the Internal Market, emphasized in a video posted to Twitter that the DSA aims to safeguard free speech from arbitrary decisions while protecting citizens and democracies against illegal content.

Amazon Trying to Overturn EU Compliance Last Year

Digwatch reported that last year, the European Commission classified Amazon Store as a Very Large Online Platform (VLOP) under the Digital Services Act (DSA), requiring it to make detailed online advertising data publicly accessible.

Amazon initially sought to overturn this decision in the General Court of the European Union and requested interim measures. As a result, the President of the Court temporarily suspended the requirement, prompting the Commission to appeal to the highest court in Europe, which is the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which later overturned the General Court's previous order and mandated Amazon to disclose its platform's advertisements information in a publicly accessible archive.

In the ruling, the Vice-President of the Court of Justice recognized Amazon's arguments that the EU law requiring public access to their advertising repository could infringe on their privacy rights and business freedom.

However, the judge concluded that delaying the Digital Services Act (DSA) objectives due to Amazon's appeal could hinder the regulation's goals of establishing a unified Digital Single Market, which might result in an online environment that compromises fundamental rights. Therefore, the judge determined that the EU's legislative interests outweigh Amazon's concerns, leading to the denial of the suspension request.

RELATED ARTICLE: EU Suspecting DMA Non-Compliance, Probes Tech Giants Apple, Google, Meta in a Regulatory Battle

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Bhanu is expected to focus on expanding India's pharmaceutical exports

K. Raja Bhanu has been elevated from Executive Director to Director General of the Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), effective July 1, 2024.

This announcement follows the retirement of Ravi Udaya Bhaskar on June 30, 2024. The appointment was confirmed by S.V. Veeramani, Chairman, and Namit Joshi, Vice Chairman of Pharmexcil.

Raja Bhanu, a distinguished former official of the Drug Control Administration (DCA), has a robust background in drug control and regulation. His previous role as Executive Director of Pharmexcil showcased his capability to lead and implement significant initiatives within the organization.

Bhanu's career with the DCA is notable for his numerous achievements in ensuring drug quality, safety, and regulatory compliance. During his tenure, he implemented key initiatives that improved the standards and enforcement of drug regulations in India. These efforts have not only safeguarded public health but also bolstered the reputation of Indian pharmaceuticals in international markets.

In his new role, Bhanu is expected to focus on expanding India's pharmaceutical exports, enhancing global competitiveness, and navigating complex regulatory landscapes in various countries. His deep understanding of both domestic and international pharmaceutical regulations is anticipated to benefit the industry and promote its growth.

As Director General, Bhanu will be instrumental in facilitating collaborations, addressing trade barriers, and advocating for the industry's interests on a global platform.
Secured partnerships with 15 esteemed hospitals to provide practical training opportunities

Aster Health Academy, part of Aster DM Healthcare, has announced its strategic collaborations with a distinguished array of hospitals across India. Currently, the academy has secured partnerships with 15 esteemed hospitals, furthering its mission to provide unparalleled practical training opportunities for its enrollees.

These affiliations are integral to the Academy's curriculum, particularly for clinical programmes such as Fellowships in Emergency Medicine, Diabetes, and Critical Care. Enrolled doctors are placed in hospitals for Observership programmes, where they gain invaluable hands-on experience under the mentorship of departmental heads. This practical exposure is meticulously aligned with the educational objectives of their respective programmes.

Prominent among the partnered institutions are KIMS Hospital, Telangana & Andhra Pradesh, Jaslok Hospital  Maharashtra, Metro Hospital  Delhi NCR, Accord Super speciality Hospital, Faridabad, Aster Whitefield Hospital - Karnataka, Charnock Hospital- West Bengal, Chandan Hospital  Lucknow, Spandana Hospital  Bengaluru.

Additionally, Aster Health Academy has joined forces with Yenepoya (Deemed to be University), Karnataka which accredits their courses under the Healthcare Practice Excellence category. Accredited programmes include Certificates in Healthcare Quality Management, Service Excellence in Healthcare, and Doctor-Patient Communication, among others.

These partnerships also signify an expansion of the Academys reach into tier 2 and tier 3 regions, providing learners with practical exposure at leading hospitals nationwide.
For patient safety and setting new benchmarks for patient care delivery

Yashoda Super Speciality Hospital, Kaushabi, a renowned super speciality hospital known for its state-of-the-art infrastructure, has announced the launch of the 'SmartCare Monitoring Programme.'

This initiative marks a significant step towards preventive and proactive care by integrating Dozee's AI-based Contactless Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and Early Warning System (EWS) into all ward beds; the hospital moves beyond reactive measures, focusing on continuous monitoring to identify and address clinical deterioration early.

This strategic move underscores the hospital's commitment to leveraging data-driven technology to enhance patient safety and outcomes, transitioning towards a healthcare ecosystem that prioritises preventive and proactive care over reactive responses alone.

By seamlessly integrating Dozees AI solutions through the SmartCare Monitoring Programme, Yashoda Hospital, Kaushambi will mark an important milestone in its digital transformation journey. Dozee enables healthcare workers to remotely monitor patients vital parameters such as heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, SPO2 levels, temperature, and ECG.

Dozees Early Warning System (EWS) tracks vital parameter trends and alerts healthcare providers to detect possible clinical deterioration early, enabling timely medical intervention. Utilising an AI-based Ballistocardiograph (BCG) for contactless vitals monitoring, Dozee's technology is patented and Made in India. This innovative technology significantly impacts patient safety, clinical outcomes, and operational efficiency.
(Photo : Unsplash/Maggie Yap )

Deb Gruver, a former Marion County Record reporter, has agreed to accept $235,000 as a settlement for a lawsuit that stemmed from a police raid that sparked national outrage from a small community in Kansas.

The Controversial Raid in Marion

Spearheaded by former Police Chief Gideon Cody on August 11, 2023, the raid targeted the newspaper's office, publisher Eric Meyer's residence, and the residence of a former city council member. Marion is a town of approximately 1,900 residents nestled in rolling prairie hills about 150 miles southwest of Kansas City, Missouri. It is home to the Record, which was known for its bold coverage of local government affairs.

Cody claimed to possess evidence suggesting that the newspaper, reporter Phyllis Zorn, and the city council member engaged in identity theft or other computer-related crimes to access a local business owner's driving records. However, all individuals denied wrongdoing, and no charges were ultimately filed.

The lawsuit asserts that the newspaper and its journalists committed no illegal acts, alleging that the search warrants were invalid and motivated by officials' long-standing grievances against the publication.

Legal experts also argue that the police raid on the newspaper likely violated either a federal privacy law or a state lawdesigned to protect journalists from being compelled to disclose sources or surrender unpublished material to law enforcement, the AP News reported.

The Settlement Freeing Police Chief Cody

The settlement only resolved the claims against the former police chief in Marion but not with the Marion County sheriff and the county's prosecutor. Gruver's lawsuit is one of five federal lawsuits filed against the city, the county, and eight current or former elected officials or law enforcement officers related to the raid.

Gruver's attorney did not respond to emails seeking comment on Friday. An attorney representing the city, its insurance company, the former chief, and others declined to comment but released a copy of the June 25 settlement agreement after the Record filed an open records request and provided a copy to The Associated Press.

READ ALSO: Inappropriate Remarks and Misconduct of Police Seminar Trainers Exposed, Marked as "Deeply Troubling" and Unacceptable by State Comptroller

The lawsuit, which was filed by the parent company of the Marion County Record and Eric Meyer, its editor, and publisher, alleges the city of Marion, the Marion County Commission, and five current and former local officials of violating their rights to a free press and protection from unreasonable searches under the US Constitution. The lawsuit also informs the defendants that Meyer and the newspaper intend to add additional claims, including allegations that officials were responsible for Meyer's mother's death after the raids.

Footage captures the 98-year-old mother of Meyer confronting police officers during a raid on her home, where she can be heard demanding, "Leave my house!" has sparked national scrutiny.

The raids on the newspaper and the homes of the Meyers and a City Council member took place on August 11, while Joan Meyer passed away the following day, which her son believed to be due to the extreme stress she suffered from the raid.

RELATED ARTICLE: Ohio Landlord Fined $200,000 for Sexually Harassing Female Tenants, Barred from Renting Properties Again

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Hamas has given initial approval for a US-backed proposal for a phased ceasefire in Gaza, dropping a key demand that Israel gives an up-front commitment for a complete end to the war, Hamas and Egyptian officials said.

The apparent compromise by the militant group  which controlled Gaza before triggering the war with an October 7 attack on Israel  could help deliver the first pause in fighting since last November and set the stage for further talks on ending a devastating nine-month war, but all sides cautioned that a deal is not guaranteed.

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The two officials said Washingtons phased deal will start with a full and complete six-week ceasefire that would see the release of a number of Israeli hostages, including women, the elderly and the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.



Talks are continuing to end the devastating nine-month war (Jehad Alshrafi/AP)

During these 42 days, Israeli forces would withdraw from densely populated areas of Gaza and allow the return of displaced people to their homes in northern Gaza, the sources said.

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Over that period, Hamas, Israel and mediators would also negotiate the terms of the second phase that could see the release of the remaining male hostages, both civilians and soldiers, the officials said. In return, Israel would free additional Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The third phase would see the return of any remaining hostages, including bodies of dead captives, and the start of a years-long reconstruction project.

Hamas still wants written guarantees from mediators that Israel will continue to negotiate a permanent ceasefire once the first phase goes into effect, the two officials said.

The Hamas representative told the Associated Press the groups approval came after it received verbal commitments and guarantees from the mediators that the war will not be resumed and that negotiations will continue until a permanent ceasefire is reached.

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Now we want these guarantees on paper, he said.

Months of talks have stumbled over Hamass demand that any deal include a complete end to the war.



Benjamin Netanyahu (Abir Sultan/AP)

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered to pause the fighting, but not end it altogether until Israel reaches its goals of destroying Hamass military and governing capabilities and returning all hostages held by the militant group.

Hamas has previously expressed concern Israel will resume the war after the hostages are released, and Israeli officials have said they are worried Hamas will draw out the talks and the initial ceasefire indefinitely, without releasing all the hostages.

Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamass October attack, in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed 1,200 people  mostly civilians  and abducted about 250.

Since then, the Israeli air and ground offensive has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the territorys Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

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The offensive has caused widespread devastation and unleashed a humanitarian crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine, according to international officials.

Israel says Hamas is still holding about 120 hostages  about a third of which Israel believes to have died.

In line with previous proposals, the deal would see around 600 trucks of humanitarian aid entering Gaza daily  including 50 fuel trucks  with 300 bound for the hard-hit north of the enclave, the officials said.
Paris famed Moulin Rouge cabaret got its red windmill back on Friday during a special ceremony that featured can-can dancing on the plaza outside.

The mills huge sails, an emblem of the surrounding Montmartre neighbourhood, collapsed after a show earlier this year.

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Part of the cabarets illuminated sign also crashed to the ground as a result of what its director called a technical problem.



Dancers perform in front of the Moulin Rouge cabaret (Thibault Camus/AP)

No one was hurt and the mayor of Paris 18th district said the structure was not in danger.

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The Moulin Rouge scrambled to repair the damage before the Olympic torch relay passes through the area on July 15.

The windmill was first illuminated on October 6 1889 at the opening of the Moulin Rouge.

The cabaret, marking its 135th anniversary this year, is a major tourist attraction and was celebrated in the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film musical starring Nicole Kidman.

Cabaret management says its performers represent 18 nationalities and it receives 600,000 spectators a year.
Irans President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian has vowed to serve all Iranians in a victory speech.

Mr Pezeshkian, a reformist candidate, spoke at the the mausoleum of the late Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, addressing journalists in a chaotic event.

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The heart surgeon said: In this election, I didnt give you false promises. I did not lie.

Its been many years after the revolution that we come to the podium, we make promises and we fail to fulfil them. This is the biggest problem we have.

Mr Pezeshkian bested hard-line former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jaili in Fridays run-off election.



Iran held a run-off election that pitted a hard-line former nuclear negotiator against a reformist (AP)

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Meanwhile, the United States said the Iranian poll was neither free nor fair, saying it likely would not change the Islamic Republics stance on human rights.

The US state department said it would continue to use diplomacy with Tehran when it advances American interests.

The elections in Iran were not free or fair. As a result, a significant number of Iranians chose not to participate at all, the state department said.

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We have no expectation these elections will lead to fundamental change in Irans direction or more respect for the human rights of its citizens. As the candidates themselves have said, Iranian policy is set by the supreme leader.

It added: The elections will not have a significant impact on our approach to Iran, either. Our concerns about Irans behaviour are unchanged.



The election comes during a particularly volatile time in the Middle East (AP)

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Mr Pezeshkian promised no radical changes to Irans Shia theocracy in his campaign and long has held Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the final arbiter of all matters of state in the country.

But even Mr Pezeshkians modest aims will be challenged by an Iranian government still largely held by hard-liners, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, and Western fears over Tehran enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels with enough of a stockpile to produce several nuclear weapons if it chose.

A vote count offered by authorities put Mr Pezeshkian as the winner with 16.3 million votes to Mr Jalilis 13.5 million in Fridays election.

Overall, Irans interior ministry said 30 million people voted in an election held without internationally recognised monitors, representing a turnout of 49.6%  higher than the historic low of the June 28 first round vote but lower than other presidential races.

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Supporters of Mr Pezeshkian entered the streets of Tehran and other cities before dawn to celebrate as his lead grew over Mr Jalili.



Mr Jalili is Irans former top nuclear negotiator (AP)

Mr Pezeshkians win still sees Iran at a delicate moment, with tensions high in the Middle East and a looming election in the United States that could put any chance of a detente between Tehran and Washington at risk.

The victory also was not a rout of Mr Jalili, meaning he will have to carefully navigate Irans internal politics as the doctor has never held a sensitive, high-level security post.

Government officials up to Khameni, the supreme leader, predicted higher turnout as voting got under way, with state television airing images of modest lines at some polling centres. However, online videos purported to show some polls empty while a survey of several dozen sites in Tehran saw light traffic and a heavy security presence on the streets.

Authorities counted 607,575 voided votes  which often are a sign of protest by those who feel obligated to cast a ballot but reject both candidates.

Khamenei praised the turnout on Saturday despite what he alleged was a boycott campaign orchestrated by the enemies of the Iranian nation to induce despair and a feeling of hopelessness.



Turnout was recorded at 49.6% (AP)

He added: I would like to recommend Dr Pezeshkian, the elected president, put his trust in God, the Compassionate, and set his vision on high, bright horizons.

Voters expressed a guarded optimism.

I dont expect anything from him  I am happy that the vote put the brake on hard-liners, said bank employee Fatemeh Babaei, who voted for Pezeshkian. I hope Pezeshkian can return administration to a way in which all people can feel there is a tomorrow.

Mr Pezeshkian, who speaks Azeri, Farsi and Kurdish, campaigned on outreach to Irans many ethnicities. He represents the first president from western Iran in decades  something people hope will aid the county as those in the western part are considered more tolerant because of the ethnic and religious diversity in their area.

The election came amid heightened regional tensions. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups armed by Tehran  such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemens Houthi rebels  are engaged in the fighting and have escalated their attacks.

While Khamenei remains the final decision-maker on matters of state, Mr Pezeshkian could bend the countrys foreign policy toward either confrontation or collaboration with the West.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, which has reached a detente with Iran, sent his congratulations to Mr Pezeshkian that stressed his keenness to develop and deepen the relations that bring our two countries and peoples together.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has relied on Iranian-made drones in his war on Ukraine, similarly congratulated Mr Pezeshkian.
The troubled Rwanda deportation policy introduced by the former UK Conservative government is dead and buried, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

The UK prime minister said he was not prepared to continue with gimmicks as he confirmed the multimillion-pound scheme to send some asylum seekers to Kigali is to be scrapped.

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Before the UK general election, Labour had vowed to abandon the plan on day one if it entered government.

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At his first press conference since entering Number 10, Mr Starmer told journalists in Downing Street: The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started. Its never been a deterrent.

Look at the numbers that have come over in the first six and a bit months of this year, they are record numbers, that is the problem that we are inheriting.

He added: The chances were of not going and not being processed, and staying here, therefore, in paid-for accommodation for a very, very long time.

Its had the complete opposite effect and Im not prepared to continue with gimmicks that dont act as a deterrent.

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No asylum seeker has been deported under the scheme, described by critics as an Alice in Wonderland adventure that was both absurd and inhumane.

But the financial implications of walking away from the deal and the total bill to the taxpayer are not yet known.

Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference (Claudia Greco/PA)

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Mr Starmer has said he will curb Channel crossings by hiring specialist investigators and using counter-terror powers to smash the criminal gangs behind the flow of migrants into the UK, but how this will work in practice remains largely unknown.

Earlier this year, Rwandas president Paul Kagame suggested British taxpayers money could be repaid if the deal failed, though his view of the change in UK leadership is uncertain.

Yolande Makolo, a spokeswoman for his administration, later said the country had no obligation to return any of the funds but if the UK requested a refund we will consider this.

But she made clear this would only apply to a portion of funds which were specifically allocated to pay for support for migrants, with the remaining cash put towards boosting the east African nations economy as part of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership.

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Scores of people, reportedly as many as 200, who were due to be deported have recently been released on bail by immigration judges because there was no longer a realistic prospect of removal within a reasonable timescale.

The change in UK government is likely to spark a string of other bail applications by lawyers for remaining detainees with a strong case for release.
After reevaluating our supply of chilli, we have determined that it is too green to proceed with production as it is affecting the colour of the product, Huy Fong told customers in a letter published online. A local distributor of Huy Fong products, who did not wish to be named, confirmed he had received the same letter. He doesnt expect Australia to get Huy Fong products until October or November, given the backlog of global demand and the extent of the shortage. Victorian sauce maker Emelia Prendergast sells a local version of sriracha. Credit: Chris Hopkins Its far from the first time Huy Fongs production has been interrupted; sriracha lovers struggled during 2022 and 2023 as drought in Mexico impacted red jalapeno crops, which are more labour-intensive and need to be de-stemmed by hand. The shortage pushed prices up to exorbitant levels as high as US$180 a bottle online in some instances. Some customers have also complained that the taste profile has changed. And thats because it probably has; for decades, Huy Fong had a long-running relationship with a key jalapeno grower Underwood Ranches  until 2016, when Huy Fong accused it of overcharging the company.

Underwood countersued and won; Huy Fong was forced to cough up US$25 million. (Underwood Ranges has since launched their own hot sauce.) As the shortage stretches on, local restaurants have had to find alternatives  and producers are cheering the gap in the market. Pho restaurant Madame Nhu. Minh Nguyen, the managing director of Madame Nhu, a small chain of Sydney-based pho restaurants that have been around for nearly two decades, said they hadnt used Huy Fongs sriracha for two years. Theyre not alone. Nguyen said a lot of Vietnamese restaurants in Australia dont use Huy Fong any more. Since we found it had [reached] icon status around the world, the price is almost unsustainable for a restaurant, he said.

If it wasnt for the price, Madame Nhu might keep using the brand, which Nguyen grew up eating. As a brand, they sort of represent who we are as Vietnamese immigrants into a Western country  theres a lot of sentimental value with that brand, he said. Madame Nhu now uses a Chinese brand of chilli oil, Koon Yick Wah Kee, which Nguyen says offers a point of difference for consumers. Since [Huy Fong has] become so popular, its almost mainstream. A packer grabs bottles of sriracha for packing at a Huy Fong facility. Credit: Getty Younger customers are increasingly favouring an up-and-coming sauce by a Vietnamese brand, Chin-Su, which he says has a very different texture to sriracha. Could it eventually take the crown as the new cult favourite? I doubt that. Huy Fong is so established, Nguyen said.

Meanwhile, local producers have found that Huy Fongs absence has put some wind in their sails. Loading Veteran Australian sauce maker Emelia Prendergast, 74, started her business by whipping up condiments in her kitchen 25 years ago. Now with dozens of award-winning products manufactured in Victorian town of Kyneton, she insists Australian-sourced ingredients and all-natural recipes are what Australians really want  and are prepared to pay for. A 482 gram bottle of Huy Fong sriracha retails for $7.50 at IGA  Prendergasts version is $21 for a 500ml jar. They are half the price of what we are, yet we cant keep up because ours is a superior product, Prendergast said.
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 This story is part of the July 7 edition of Sunday Life. See all 14 stories . ON a beach on Bunurong country in Victorias Point Nepean National Park not so long ago, actor Tasma Walton and Indigenous elder Aunty Gail Kunwarra Dawson, lit a cleansing fire. In that moment, Walton, star of Rake and Mystery Road, vividly pictured the day, almost 200 years earlier, when sealers abducted a group of Indigenous girls and young women around that spot. Walton suddenly felt the intensity of the grief in this sorry place, thinking of that day in 1833 when those females were grabbed, bound and forced inside a schooner. Among those on board were girls as young as eight and 10, a couple of 14-year-olds, and a woman in her early 20s named Nannertgarrook: Waltons three-times great-grandmother. The kidnapped girls and women were taken to King Island, north-west of Tasmania, then onto tiny, windswept Gun Carriage Island, in the north-east, then separated. It is at that point they were sold in a slave market to a bunch of different sealers, says Walton, who has been researching her ancestor for 20 years and is set to publish a historical fiction next year based on real-life records. Under pressure to return the women, the sealers fled with Nannertgarrook and one of her kinswomen, first to Kangaroo Island in South Australia, then as far as possible from the authorities to Bald Island, off the coast of Albany in Western Australia. One sealer, a white man, gave Waltons ancestor a new name: Eliza Nowen, but documented in a baptism record as Eliza Gamble. She bore three daughters by him. Walton is descended from the youngest of those three daughters, on her maternal line, and was born in coastal Geraldton in WA. The 50-year-old actor is seated now by a window in the bright, airy Coogee Pavilion by the beach in Sydneys east, sunny even with winter approaching. She is undertaking promotional duties for her latest role, in the second season of Binge/Foxtels jury drama The Twelve, filmed this time in the wheatbelt town of York, east of Perth. I will confess that was a really difficult aspect of the character. Lets name it for what it is: shes racist, and that is inherited from her mother. TASMA WALTON Walton wears a fitted black jacket and coiled tan earrings. Her hair is cropped short and parted to one side. She acknowledges her latest character, juror Thelma Connell, goes on a journey of identity that might be compared to her own. Connell is a council worker caring for a mother with dementia, and mistakenly thinks her heritage is Indian. When she meets a fellow juror who is Indian and comes into conflict with Indigenous neighbours, these events sow seeds of doubt about her identity.

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Thelma needs to make sense of the world through structure and rules, says Walton. When that starts to get challenged, she struggles to adapt. Her new neighbours bring in a new energy. Their kids are badly behaved, and she has prejudged them, based on how they look, basically. Scanlan Theodore sweater and skirt. Credit: JEDD COONEY I will confess that was a really difficult aspect of the character. Lets name it for what it is: shes racist, and that is inherited from her mother. The uncanny echo in this new role of Waltons gradual discovery of her own Boonwurrung/Bunurong ancestry begs the question: was this role written especially for her? It was a fully fleshed and developed role when I came on board, so where the writers drew their inspiration, I have no idea, she says. The actor flashes an engaging smile and laughs a lot, with a vivacity and openness that has made her a screen favourite since her breakout role as Dash McKinley in the popular 1990s Melbourne police series Blue Heelers. Growing up in social housing in Geraldton in the 1970s and 80s, and raised by a single mother with two sisters, Walton says she had an inkling of her Indigenous heritage, but in Western Australia, the so-called Aborigines Protection Act had been repealed only a handful of years before her birth. It had held the threat for many generations of Aboriginal people of being sent to missions. I was also often called names at school that referred to me looking like I had Aboriginality, she recalls now, but as is the case with many families, particularly in the west, you hid your identity.

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The housing commission neighbourhood largely comprised Yamatji Aboriginal people, living in poverty. It was a formative experience sparking Waltons lifelong quest for social justice. It was the forgotten part of town, the roads were bad, she recalls. On top of that, my mum, being really young and vulnerable, found herself in a relationship with a man who was abusive, and it was  and continues to be for women in that situation  really hard to get out of it. Loading When Walton was 12, her mothers fortunes did change: she met a wonderful man, and they are still together. Walton also found her own way out of poverty around that age, when a drama teacher, Linda Martin, tasked Walton with a monologue from Euripides Medea, in which Medea contemplates killing her children. The acting bug took hold, bringing Walton to Sydney at 18 to study at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. Alongside this talent for Greek tragedy, Waltons imagination was captured by the surviving saltwater stories of her ancestor, Nannertgarrook. When Walton was filming Blue Heelers for 42 weeks of the year, she rented an apartment on St Kildas The Esplanade that looked across Port Phillip Bay. Her maternal grandmother would come to stay, telling her amazing womens Dreaming stories of giant whales, mermaids and mystical rainbows as they looked across the sea together. They say country calls and at some point, the ancestors want you to get back there and walk country and get connected. TASMA WALTON I immediately gravitated to St Kilda; I had a very strong sense of home in that place, as well as in the Mornington Peninsula. They were two places that sang for me  They say country calls and at some point, the ancestors want you to get back there and walk country and get connected.

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In 2007, Walton began dating television talk-show host Rove McManus, marrying him in a private ceremony in Broome in 2009. Their chemistry is evident in a delightful clip posted to YouTube from that year from McManuss talk show, on which Walton appeared to be interviewed about her debut novel, Heartless, a fable about the human heart and love. The pair talk about how McManus turned Walton onto birdwatching, and then he mimics the sideways, strutting moves of one species from a David Attenborough documentary. Does Rove still do the plumed bird of paradise dance, 15 years on? He does occasionally! Walton exclaims with a laugh. Max Mara top, skirt and hosiery. Christian Louboutin shoes (worn throughout). Credit: JEDD COONEY For six years, the couple lived in the Santa Monica mountain range of Los Angeles, as McManus chased career opportunities in the United States. Was it difficult being away from the country to which she is so spiritually tied, given her belief that Country is a sentient being? Yes and no, she says. I felt a strong affinity with Country there. We had a really beautiful spot, with natural habitats around us, and I very much felt the presence of the First People in that place. I felt very welcomed there, but interestingly, when we discovered we were pregnant, there was no other consideration than to have her back in [Australia]. In late 2013, Walton gave birth to their daughter, Ruby. During the pandemic, the couple relocated again, back to Perth, to be close to their ageing parents. Walton has been able to film various roles over in the west: as detective Jay Swans alcoholic ex-wife Mary in the two TV seasons of Mystery Road, shot respectively in Wyndham and Broome, and as Mitch, another character seeking her Indigenous identity, in Jub Clercs 2022 road trip film Sweet As, shot in the Pilbara.

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Is it difficult to maintain her acting career, with so much of Australias film and television shot on the eastern seaboard? Its hard to know, to be honest; you dont know what you dont get, but really what it comes down to is our everyday life. When you go through the events of something like a global pandemic, youre faced with a complete re-evaluation of your value system. Camilla and Marc Ortega blazer and trousers, and Vaneer shirt. Credit: JEDD COONEY Both of our families are in Perth and we had not seen them for such a long time. Also our parents were getting older, and we were concerned for their health. We had that terrible fear of wondering were they going to be all right through this pandemic? Are we going to see them again? Certainly, that was playing on our daughters mind, who was only six or seven at the time. So, it basically helped us to restructure and reframe our life, so we could continue to do what we love but also have an everyday experience where we were around family, where we were in a more relaxed mode of living. Loading Writing, meanwhile, continues to be a balm. Walton has embarked on creating a young readers adventures series about an Indigenous girl called Nerra, who is a deep-time traveller. The first book in the series, The Broken Rainbow, was recently published. The more Ive met of people in our community, the more Ive explored ideas of Aboriginal creation myths. Ive wanted to take what has been a sleeping culture  because our mob were decimated quickly upon invasion  I wanted to take that sleeping giant and wake her up and bring her to life in all her glory.

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During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was ruled by a gerontocracy so marked that US president Ronald Reagan  himself a no-spring-chicken septuagenarian  complained that he was having trouble negotiating with the Soviets because they keep dying on me.

Leonid Brezhnev, whose 18-year-term as general secretary was second only to Joseph Stalins in its duration, had a debilitating stroke in 1975, but he remained in power until 1982. Its been reported that Brezhnevs doctors, on hand around the clock, brought him back from near-death a few times.

Reagan went on to negotiate an end to the Cold War with the young and vital Mikhail Gorbachev, a stripling in his 50s. During a debate in 1984 against his Democratic challenger Walter Mondale, the moderator reminded then-73 year old Reagan he was the oldest president in history (at that time). I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue in this campaign, Reagan replied. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponents youth and inexperience.

Since the US presidential debate last month, discussions of the dangers of gerontocracy have moved from the abstract to the horribly real. As Biden stuttered his way through the debate, and visibly lost his thoughts, rendering him unable to hold his opponent even vaguely to account, the realisation dropped like an axe.
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 Its not terribly rare for Australias members of parliament and senators to defect from their political parties, although its rarer on the Labor side. The last Labor rat, to use the partys rich vernacular, was Mark Latham after leaving parliament and taking leave of his senses. The last one to defect while still in parliament was senator Mal Colston in 1996 in the noble cause of pursuing a pay rise. And while each of the defectors has a colourful story, the case of senator Fatima Payman this week stands out. She is the first in the modern era to reject her party on the basis of identity politics. This seems to be the first one around ethnic and religious identity of this type, observes Frank Bongiorno, professor of history at the Australian National University. Announcing her resignation from Labor while staying on in the Senate, Payman on Thursday said: Unlike my colleagues, I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of injustice. My family did not flee from a war-torn country to come here as refugees for me to remain silent when I see atrocities inflicted on innocent people. Shes speaking of the Palestinian people. Paymans family is from Afghanistan, where her father served as a politician before the Taliban took over. She arrived in Australia as an eight-year-old. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and senator Fatima Payman have clashed over the timeline of events that led to her defection. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

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Shes speaking of an explicit identification with the Palestinian people, and a unique personal credential of shared injustice. The ongoing genocide in Gaza is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. It is a crisis that pierces the heart and soul, calling us to action with a sense of urgency and moral clarity. Many in Labor share her pain. One Labor minister said after her resignation: The thing that hurts is that theres not much difference  everyone in Labor wants the war to stop, everyone wants to get to a place where Palestine is recognised. So what, exactly, was the difference between the Payman position and the Labor position? The career-defining difference was this: Payman crossed the floor to support a Greens motion that called on the Senate to recognise the state of Palestine. Labors motion added as part of a peace process with support for the two-state solution and a just and enduring peace. Asked at her resignation press conference to explain why the Labor motion was so radioactive that she would quit the party over it, she replied that it was the conditionality of that recognition I was not OK with. In other words, it had to be unconditional recognition; it couldnt await a peace process. Pauline Hanson, like Payman, rode the ticket of one of the major parties to enter parliament. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Elsewhere in her remarks, Payman said that shes not a single-issue politician, yet she has left Labor over this single issue. And this decision largely defines her as a single-issue politician, like it or not. She said she is acting in defence of humanity, but in earlier statements shed called for Palestine to be free from the river to the sea. This slogan is synonymous with the call for destruction of Israel, though Payman has disavowed this intention. That doesnt cut it. She is young but not that naive.

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The Renegade Activist protesters who climbed onto the roof of Parliament House on Thursday got the message. They hung the giant banner  From the river to the sea Palestine will be free  across the front entrance. Theyd met her a week earlier. They said they wanted to give as much support to Fatima as possible. How much humanity is there in calling for the destruction of Israel? Payman earlier had criticised leaders for performative gestures. But what has she now done? Of course, the Australian governments position is immaterial to the war in Gaza. Much less the position of an independent sitting on the Senate backbench. None of this will shorten the war by one hour. Whos making performative gestures now? This is full-blown identity politics. Australia has had another politician from a major party strike out as an independent in modern times, also on the basis of identity politics. In fact, shell be sitting not far from Payman in the Senate. Pauline Hanson was preselected as a Liberal for the 1996 election, but the party disendorsed her for remarks about Aboriginal welfare that were damned as racist. It was too late to reprint the ballot papers, however. Hanson won the Queensland seat of Oxley listed as a Liberal but sat as an independent. In her first speech to the House, Hanson revelled in her status as an accused racist, and extended her bigotry with her notorious remark that Australia was in danger of being swamped by Asians. Hansons entire political career has been based on this strand of pugnacious racism. Neither woman will enjoy the comparison, but Payman is a left analogue to Hanson: riding the ticket of one of the major parties to enter parliament, striking out as an independent, forging a profile based on identity. In Paymans case, its a positive advocacy for Palestinians, an ethno-religious identity with which she claims a special, personal affinity, while opposing Israel.

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Loading In Hansons, she claims to be the advocate for Anglo-Celtic cultural tradition, while opposing the other  black, yellow or Muslim  depending on the needs of the day. According to the right of politics, its the left thats guilty of playing identity politics, fomenting and exploiting the resentments of minorities. In truth, the right plays it just as hard. The difference is that the right tries to foment and exploit the resentments of the majority. Identity is a force for good as long as it is deployed in the quest for equality. Identity is the powerful moral idea that has come down to us, in the words of Canadian political theorist Charles Taylor. But the moment identity is asserted as the basis for superior rights for one group over another, it is a divisive and hateful force. Loading Identity politics is sweeping the US and Europe. When practised by the left, the right derides it as wokeness. When deployed by the right, its attacked as racism. We know its faces. The leading proponents in the US are Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the left and Donald Trump for the right. Australia has been fortunate so far. Pauline Hanson has made a long career from right-wing identity politics of bigotry and division, but has failed to inflame a major national movement. Some Coalition figures flirt with it from time to time, but it remains fringe.

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The Greens are giving left-wing identity politics a red-hot go, excusing antisemitic vandalism and fomenting hate speech. The war in Gaza is providing the fuel and the Greens are gleefully lighting the fire. The Greens are more than fringe, yet they are not mainstream. How far will Fatima Payman take her identity politics? Its a delicate moment. Stay tuned, shes said in response to questions about her future. She tells us that shes met a group called The Muslim Vote, among others whod like to enlist her as their parliamentary candidate. Much speculation swirls. Loading Australia has a history of sectarian politics, a rabid competition between Catholics and Protestants for dominance. The great Labor split of 1955, for instance, had strong denominational undertones. The breakaway Democratic Labor Party was avowedly anti-communist but its binding identity was Catholic. But Australia never has had a declared religious party at the national level. Religious, ethnic and sexuality-based movements have come and gone, but no actual political parties have formed at the national level. A couple of explicitly religious political parties have flared in NSW, says Bongiorno  the Protestant Labor Party in the 1920s, which never won a seat, and Reverend Fred Niles Christian Democratic Party, which dissolved when Nile retired  but nothing at the national level. If Muslim Vote or suchlike manages to sign up Payman for an explicitly Muslim political party, it would be new ground for Australia. It would introduce a new sectarianism into the Australian parliament. It would give not only Payman a new party, itd also give Hanson a new cause.

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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has ridiculed the Prime Ministers promise that things will get better as he declared his federal and state parties are in a strong position to win the next elections.

Dutton detailed his partys ambitions during a speech at the annual LNP state conference on Saturday, where he championed state leader David Crisafulli ahead of the October poll and attacked Anthony Albaneses record.

The 2024 LNP Convention started on Friday. Credit: LNP/Facebook

This followed Fridays news that divisive LNP senator Gerard Rennicks last-ditch bid to rescue his parliamentary career has reportedly been dashed by his party.

Albanese on Saturday said it is going to get better thanks to Labors short-term cost-of-living relief thats immediate in a way that makes the economy in the medium term better in an interview with News Corp.
A dozen first home buyers have missed out on a one-bedroom unit at the doorsteps of Redfern station that sold for $873,500.

The 81-square-metre property at 51/32 Rosehill Street had a price guide of $735,000. Thirteen buyers, almost all first timers, some with the bank of mum and dad behind them, registered to bid on the home.

It was in a highly coveted location not only for being within a few steps of the train station but also in the heart of the fast-growing South Eveleigh precinct.

An opening bid of $700,000 quickly started the auction and rose even faster from there in $10,000 bids as five parties placed offers. It flew past the $800,000 reserve until the hammer fell at $873,500. It sold to the only bidder who was buying it as their second property but plans to move in.
London: With seven hours before the polls closed, Jeremy Corbyn  an MP with 41 years in parliament who led UK Labour to two elections  took to social media to make a final plea to voters.

Today, Palestine is on the ballot, wrote Corbyn, a veteran left-winger and ardent pro-Palestinian activist who was expelled from his party over an antisemitism scandal, on Thursday.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to pro-Palestine students and protesters in London in June. Credit: Getty Images

If you re-elect me as an independent MP in Islington North, I promise to always stand up for the people of Gaza, and for the only path to a just and lasting peace: an end to the occupation of Palestine.

It worked. The longtime MP was one of five independent candidates who won their seats across Britain by campaigning against Labour by demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, recognition of a Palestinian state and a two-state solution. Along with the election of four pro-Gaza Green candidates, they have rattled Labour organisers.
Washington: US President Joe Biden has defiantly hit back at people he says are trying to push him out of the 2024 election, insisting that last weeks disastrous debate was just a bad night and not emblematic of a more serious cognitive condition.

Amid growing calls to make way for another candidate to run for the White House following his debate performance last week, a fired-up Biden made it clear he would not back down, telling supporters: Im not going to let a 90-minute debate wipe out 3 years of work.

President Joe Biden greets supporters at a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday. Credit: AP

I cant say it was my best performance, he told a rally in Wisconsin, one of the swing states Democrats must hold to win the election.

But ever since then, theres been a lot of speculation: Whats Joe gonna do? Is he gonna stay in the race? Well, heres my answer. I am running and going to win again!
Dike breach occurs in China's second-largest freshwater lake, 5,000 evacuated

Xinhua) 09:46, July 06, 2024

An aerial drone photo taken on July 5, 2024 shows rescuers working on a dike of Dongting Lake in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

CHANGSHA, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers including firefighters and armed police are closely monitoring the situation of a dike breach in Dongting Lake in central China's Hunan Province which occurred Friday afternoon, local authorities have said.

The breach was initially about 10 meters wide but has since continued to expand. The relocation of approximately 5,000 residents of the affected area has been completed, according to the local flood control department.

A large amount of lake water has overflowed from the gap with a fast flow rate, according to the government of Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City.

"The breach is difficult to fix, so we advise the building of a second barrier two kilometers from the breach to contain the water," said Chen Wenping, an anti-flood expert.

Sand carrier ships have been dispatched to the scene for the rescue operation. Trucks were also deployed to fill the gap.

Dongting is China's second-largest freshwater lake. The affected area near Tuanbei Village covers about 50 square km. This area experienced a dike breach back in 1996.

Since June 16, Hunan has suffered the strongest rainfall this year, which has broken local historical records in some regions.

Rescuers work in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province, July 5, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on July 5, 2024 shows rescuers working on a dike of Dongting Lake in Tuanzhou Township, Huarong County under Yueyang City, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke has announced that Binarii Labs, a data security solution developer, has secured an investment of 400,000 from Enterprise Ireland in High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) match funding, bringing to 3 million the total raised by the company to date.

The company, which was founded in 2021, has also announced that it plans to create over 100 new jobs in Ireland by 2027, and has already created over 20 new roles in recent months. The new jobs will include roles in specialist deep tech research and development, data security, tech and customer support, marketing and business development.

'Tangible Solutions'

I know that Binarii Labs has significant growth plans to enhance its impressive offering and scale its talented team," said Minister Burke.

"Data security is at the top of businesses agendas here in Ireland and further afield and Binarii Labs is providing tangible solutions to enable enterprises to securely store and share their data.

New Markets

Binarii Labs focuses on developing innovative, proprietary solutions in data security, and the funding secured to date will enable the Binarii Labs team to continue to be heavily engaged in further R&D and new markets development, as it globally commercialises its proprietary solutions.

The company was originally headquartered in Co. Kildare with the support of the Local Enterprise Office.

'Global Leader'

Our mission is to enable enterprises, especially SMEs to take back 100% control, ownership and secure custody of all of their own and their stakeholders data, whilst providing unrivalled and indisputable transparency around any data securing and secure data sharing actions such that no trust is ultimately required on anyones side, CEO and co-founder of Binarii Labs, Aidan Finn.

We aspire to become a global leader in enabling data security, privacy, and sovereignty through providing a cost effective and fair means of charging based on volume of use and seeing BinariiDSP become the 'go to' solution for any business to seamlessly integrate, so much so that their users would not even know.

Source: www.businessworld.ie
An Taoiseach, Simon Harris visited Googles Bolands Mills campus recently to address a group of graduates from the Ringsend, Irishtown, and Pearse Street areas.

The Taoiseach presented the fourteen graduates with certificates for qualifications across a diverse range of disciplines including nautical skills, training and development, and teacher training education.

These programmes were delivered as part of the This City Works strategic plan, a local employment task force established by Google.

'Important Work'

I have had the pleasure of visiting St Andrews Resource Centre a number of times in the past and it is heartening to see the results that these initiatives are having here in the local area," said the Taoiseach.

"Programmes like these embody the essence of what a community is, being delivered and led by those in the community for those who live here. I want to thank Google for its further commitment to this important work.

Funding

He was joined by Vanessa Hartley, Head of Google Ireland, at the ceremony to announce further funding of 750,000 by Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google.

The grant will enable training opportunities in the domains of digital support, AI prospects, nautical skills, teacher training education, enterprise development, career guidance, and personal growth.

This is part of a strategic plan developed by This City Works and their local partners St Andrews Resource Centre, the Irish Nautical Trust and the Fair Play Anchorage Project.

'Positive Impact'

I am proud that Google has been a part of the Ringsend and Pearse Street community for over 20 years now, and we remain committed to helping create meaningful, sustainable and long-term employment opportunities for people that live here," said Vanessa Hartley, Head of Google Ireland.

"The inspiring stories of today's graduates are testament to the positive impact of these initiatives."
The pipeline for traditional, hand-drawn animation remains a methodical process, which is why its taken six years for Studio Ponocs second animated feature, The Imaginary, debuting tomorrow, July 5, on Netflix.

While the film was released last December in Japan, The Imaginary is the first title in the deal which gives Netflix the global streaming rights to Studio Ponocs animated features. This film is based on the 2014 childrens book of the same name by A.F. Harrold, with the screenplay adapted by Studio Ponoc founder and the films producer, Yoshiaki Nishimura.

As the head of Studio Ponoc for almost a decade, Nishimura says choosing The Imaginary for their follow-up feature afforded them the opportunity to move outside of their storytelling comfort zone, push the look of their animation, and most importantly, give legendary Studio Ghibli animator Yoshiyuki Momose another feature film to direct.

When I entered Studio Ghibli, of course Miyazaki and Takahata were the big names, but there was the third man of Mr. Yoshiyuki Momose who was a special presence in Studio Ghibli, Nishimura told to Cartoon Brew. Unfortunately, he wasnt able to direct a feature film at Studio Ghibli. So I had promised myself that when I get to the position of being able to select a director for a feature film, I would really like to have him direct a film.

Harrolds book about a young, troubled British girl named Amanda, and her imaginary friend, Rudger, immediately struck Nishimura as a story that would lend itself to Momoses skills in imparting emotional storytelling and crafting ambitious world-building.

I realized that it was a world that was derived from childrens imaginations, Nishimura said. But each childs imagination is different so we couldnt depict it with a single type of look. When we got the agreement to be able to [produce] this, I thought that [Momose] would be the best person to direct this film.

Nishimura said he was also excited by the premise of the book being so different from Japanese culture. Where Western children embrace and understand the imaginary friend concept, Japanese children instead gravitate towards spirits, ghosts, and yokai as seen in many Studio Ghibli films.

In order to best sell the odd premise to the Studio Ponoc production team, Nishimura said he wrote an exhaustive 40-page treatment of the adaptation which he presented to Momose. It was so detailed that Momose suggested that he be the one to write the full screenplay and they could continue developing it together.

Storywise, the duo dove into building out emotional stories driving the actions of Amanda, Rudger, and Emily, who is the experienced leader of the town of imaginaries. Nishimura said they put a lot of thought into the origins of imagination for children, and how their experiences with the world around them and the books theyve read help shape their interior spaces.

We asked, what is Amandas life like? And what does the bookstore mean to her? And in terms of her mother, Lizzie, and her father, what is the situation there? said Nishimura. In the original story, there is only one line in the book about the father, that hes not there. When I thought about the character of Rudger, I thought it must be related to her understanding of who her father was. So in terms of the design and the reason for that imagination, it is because of the father, or the lack of the father. So thats how I develop the script and then the characters as well.

As for the animation itself, Nishimura said he and Momose were both more than ready to make a film with techniques that would elevate beyond what theyve all done before.

We did have some dissatisfaction, Nishimura admitted about the status quo mentality amongst some in the 2d Japanese animation industry. Even when we had done Mary and the Witchs Flower, I was thinking, Am I going to continue this for 30 years? Im going to get bored.

For the studios anthology film Modest Heroes, Nishimuras team dabbled with new approaches to lighting and shading 2d animation. The Imaginary was an opportunity to challenge themselves even further, which led to a collaboration with the French company Les Films Du Poisson Rouge that had helped to develop the lighting techniques for Sergio Pablos Klaus.

It wasnt that I wanted to show the figures in a more 3d type of way, Nishimura explained. I felt that if we could control or work with shadow and lighting more, then we could show more psychological and deeper aspects of the characters to the audience. Dealing with the light and shadow would deepen the story, deepen the feeling that the audience got, and thats what Les Films Du Poisson Rouge group had.

Deep into production, Nishimura contacted Poisson Rouge to have their artists apply a final pass of augmented shading and lighting which was overseen by the studios lighting director Anael Seghezzi and producer Catherine Estevez. Said Nishimura, We had completed the entire footage in the Japanese version and then we sent it to Poisson Rouge where their lighting director worked on the lighting and shadow for what we did.

Nishimura said they also identified in the storyboarding stage that they wanted to augment a few key sequences with cg elements. He detailed the process of how such decisions are made at Ponoc:

The storyboard is usually divided into four parts of 25 minutes each. When each part gets completed, then the main staff meets and we decide how to handle the drawing of it, and whether it should be hand-drawn and painted. Or, should we focus on the background art or what kind of cg to put in. I think we could say maybe 10 to 15% in the film. Specifically in the outer space sequence and then the origami bird sequence too. But we have a policy on using cg. Many Japanese animators like to use cg simplify things and to make it easier. But our policy is [to ask] will it help in terms of the expression of the film? Thats what we focus on.

While those sequences were produced by outside vendors, Nishimura said theyve been internally discussing whether they should expand Studio Ponoc to include in-house cg capabilities. Right now, we basically outsource it because those companies have a much faster rate of developing new methods of cg and then using them, so weve outsourced it.

With The Imaginary having been well received in Japan and with strong anticipation for its global release , Nishimura said hes even more determined to continue to honor the tradition of 2d animation, while finding ways to push the art form forward. In Japanese hand-drawn, hand-painted animation theres a limit, so thats why we tried to bring in the shadow aspect. I think we are pushing those borders and were trying to push through the borders at Studio Ponoc, too.
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We have covered a wide variety things to do in Orange County, including the Bowers Museum, the Surfing Heritage and Cultural Center, Kip Barry's Cabaret magic show, the Marconi Automotive Museum, Newport Beach dolphin-whale tours, the dog beach in Huntington Beach, Mission San Juan Capistrano, South Coast Plaza, various restaurants, book stores, art galleries and shows, as well as Disneyland (Knott's Berry Farm's Halloween transformation is coming up).

Festival of the Arts of Laguna Beach and Pageant of the Masters

https://www.foapom.com/ July 3-August 30, 2024

Laguna Beach becomes the center of the SoCal arts universe every summer with several shows, the premier one being the Festival of the Arts, one of the nation's oldest and highly-acclaimed juried shows which features over 100 Orange County artists. All of those this year we saw are very talented in a wide variety of media, from photography to ceramics. We especially like Monica Prado's 3D flowers in Blue Borrigan, using clay and techniques learned from Indigenous people in Guatemala. Patrick Whelan, who was the last illustrator of Nancy Drew books in 2003, describes himself as old fashion, using oil, paper, and no digital techniques to create gorgeous paintings of magical humans and other creatures. Underwater photographer Cheryl Walsh uses models in costumes in a 19th century style known as Pictorialism (see photo).

The FOA's Pageant of the Masters, is a truly unbelievable recreation by actors of famous paintings so that you can't tell the difference between the actual original the illusion of the on-stage version (see photo of POMTissot of one scene from this year's theme of fashion). It sells out and parking is a challenge so reserve and get their early (you should plan to spend at least one entire day in the area).

Markowitz Fine Art https://markowiczfineart.com/ is the only gallery in the hills of Laguna Niguel, so escape the crowds by the coast attending the art shows. This is known for featuring the work of contemporary international artists like Carole Feuerman, Richard Orlinski, and Isabelle Scheltjens, some not readily found elsewhere, as well as offering the work of exceptionally creative Californians, including Paul Ecke, Tom Lieber, and street artist Kai (see photo of a painting by Rachel Bergeret).

Orange's Old Towne Historic Downtown

The City of the Orange's old downtown has the largest Nationally Registered Historic district and a favorite for movies and TV series (like "Parks and Recreation")

https://www.cityoforange.org/our-city/visitor-information/old-towne-orange

It is full of specialty stores and restaurants that make parking sometimes hard to find, especially on weekends (there is a Farmers and Artisans Market every Saturday and special events throughout the year). It is particularly known for its many antique and collectibles shops, some in mini-malls where you could spend many hours. We concentrated on those on South Glassell St. between Chapman and Almond south of the Central Plaza's fountain.

We started at the Orange Circle Antique Mall 218 South, which has 100 vendors on two floors, many of which on a given day will have signs offering a discount on the listed prices). Lots offer vintage clothing, of course. At No. 93 (the numbering of the booths are not in any order) there were Life Magazines going back to 1938 for about $20. "We Believe in Santa" 95 was wholly devoted to everything Christmas. 74 featured Disney figurines and had several groups of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (see photo). 67 was vintage R-rated pin-up art. At 94, a Louis Vuitton briefcase was on sale for $592. 56 offered classic comic books, 98 NASCAR jackets, and 69 Fender guitars.

OC Diamond Estate Jewelry at 138 South is for those who are not looking for bargains on vintage and used items, but high-end oil paintings, statues, watches, coins and jewelry (see photo).

Antique Station at 718 South is a classy multi-vendor mall offering everything from early typewriters and vintage purses to swords. One displayed some of the 2000 kinds of barbed wire, which was designed to keep cattle protected from predators as settlers moved into the Western plains, where there were few trees for wooden fences.

Across the street is the upscale-looking Antique Depot with furniture and other large items, but we had already spent a couple of hours and it was time to move on. To really experience the area, plan to spend at least the three-hour parking limit of most lots and take a break at a restaurant (if you need a restroom, you have to be a customer at most stores, but Starbucks welcomes anyone).

Ralph B. Clark Interpretive Center https://ocparks.com/parks-trails/ralph-b-clark-regional-park/interpretive-center in Buena Park is free and provides an understanding of what Orange County was like in prehistoric times, including fossils as old as 80 million years, while a baleen whale skeleton that is 9 million years old is believed to be one of the only complete Ice Age whale fossils in existence. Guided tours may include watching scientists excavate and prepare fossils for study and display.

Pet Supply Warehouse https://www.petsupplywarehouses.com/Pet-Supply-Warehouse/ is located in Anaheim Hills and open seven days, popular for having just about everything, but it's rare for a "warehouse" store to get excellent reviews for its customer service like this one https://www.yelp.com/biz/pet-supply-warehouse-anaheim-hills: "Great staff, they know their stuff," wrote one, while another commented that "the girl who helped me took me directly to everything I needed so I didn't have to wonder around looking."

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve https://wildlife.ca.gov/Lands/Places-to-Visit/Bolsa-Chica-ER, 1,300 coastal acres in Huntington Beach full of wildlife, including 200 species of birds, in its marshes, islands, and dunes, through which is a four-mile trail. There is an interpretive center that provides free docent-led tours.

Beach Boulevard Club https://beachboulevardclub.com/ in Buena Park is not your usual restaurant and cocktail lounge, but the scene and sound of dueling pianos for those 21+ which run from 8 pm to midnight Thu. through Sat.
In the arid deserts of Nevada, the U.S. Air Force base, commonly known as Area 51, is notorious for its tales of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and extraterrestrial secrets covered up by the government.

Area 51 has spurred more conspiracy theories than any other military facility in the world. The theories claim that the base is used for testing alien technology. Its inaccessibility to the public only serves as support for the theories.

Area 51 is located at Groom Lake, about 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas. It was established in 1955 as part of the Nevada Test and Training Range complex. It continues to be an active military installation today.

The name of the base comes from its designation on maps that were created by the Atomic Energy Commission. Today, the base and the complex are part of the Nevada National Security Site. The CIA refers to it as the Groom Lake and Homey Airport.

In 2013, the U.S. military officially acknowledged the existence of the base for the first time after the CIA released formerly classified documents to the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

The documents chronicled the history of the U-2 spy plane. The base has also been visible on Google Maps since 2018.

However, that does not mean people are allowed to visit the base whenever they want. The activities at the base are still kept secret for legitimate military and government purposes. Area 51 employees reach the facility by airplane. They fly in and out of a restricted terminal on unmarked planes.

On the grounds of the base, there are armed guards patrolling the perimeter, which is surrounded by fencing, security cameras, and underground motion sensors. Additionally, there are countless signs warning visitors about fines for trespassing and that taking photos is prohibited.

Initially, Area 51 was a testing site for the U-2 plane, but it eventually became a testing site for other aircraft as well. Since then, many people have reported seeing UFOs around the base. The term UFO does not necessarily allude to alien spacecraft; it can be used to refer to any kind of unidentified flying object.

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Around 2,200 years ago, a device containing bronze gears was used to track the movements of the sun, moon, and planets.

The ancient device is known as the Antikythera mechanism, and it was found in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901. Some have referred to it as the worlds oldest computer.

Previously, experts believed that it followed the ancient Egyptian calendar. However, new research suggests that it adhered to the Greek lunar calendar instead.

The device is about the size of a shoebox. Dials on the outside were connected to internal gears, which allowed its users to analyze the cosmos with more accuracy than any other known device.

One part of the mechanism, the calendar ring, was used to track the days of the year through one hole per day. Since the ring is only partially preserved, its unclear exactly how many days it was supposed to track.

In 2020, a team of researchers studied new X-ray images of the device and conducted measurements and a mathematical analysis.

Afterward, they concluded that the mechanism did not cover an entire solar calendar year. It most likely went up to 354 days, as seen in a lunar calendar.

More recently, researchers from the University of Glasgow used statistical modeling methods to detect gravitational waves, which are produced by large celestial objects, such as black holes, colliding with each other.

The methods were originally developed for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory.

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Home News Christian conservative groups launch effort to keep pro-life planks in GOP platform

Editors' note: This is part 8 of The Christian Post's year-long articles series "Politics in the Pews: Evangelical Christian engagement in elections from the Moral Majority to today." In this series, we will look at issues pertaining to election integrity and new ways of getting out the vote, including churches participating in ballot collection. We'll also look at issues Evangelicals say matter most to them ahead of the presidential election and the political engagement of diverse groups, politically and ethnically. Read other articles in the series by clicking here.

A coalition of Christian conservative activist organizations has joined together in a bid to preserve the pro-life planks of the Republican Party platform as differences have emerged between former President Donald Trump and advocates on the abortion issue.

The Washington-based Family Research Council announced the Platform Integrity Project this week ahead of the 2024 Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, later this month.

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Announced Tuesday, the project seeks to preserve issues of "life and family values" in the party platform ahead of former Trump's expected coronation as the Republican's 2024 nominee for president. Trump and pro-life advocates have not seen eye-to-eye on whether Republicans should push for federal restrictions on abortion, with Trump believing the issue should be left up to states.

The Platform Integrity Project is a partnership between the Family Research Council and several other Christian and conservative advocacy groups, including WallBuilders, the American Principles Project, the Family Policy Alliance, Eagle Forum, the Danbury Institute and the Center for Christian Virtue among others.

The initiative encourages the public to pray for Republican National Committee delegates to preserve the "strong pro-life, pro-family and pro-freedom" elements of the Republican platform as they meet to draft a new platform in Milwaukee from July 8-9.

The project seeks to collaborate with the RNC and the Trump campaign to create an "open process that will help ensure the preservation of the GOP's solidly conservative platform, which contains longstanding pro-life, pro-family, and pro-Israel planks."

As part of the effort, for the first time ever, individual votes of platform delegates will be scored as a way to track how delegates vote.

"Party platforms matter," said FRC President Tony Perkins in a statement. "They state a party's principles and priorities. According to research by Dr. Lee Payne, the parties actually follow their platforms. Between 1980 and 2004, Republican lawmakers followed their platform 82 percent of the time."

"America is an unprecedented place of moral and cultural confusion and is in dire need of leadership and moral clarity," he added. "The Republican Party must once again communicate a clear and hopeful contrast between the parties by painting a message for voters on the foundational issues  life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness  not in pale pastels but in bright, bold colors."

Insisting that "voters need to see a contrast between the two parties on their policy priorities," Perkins declared, "voters want and need a choice." He told the platform committee to "preserve life and families in the Republican Party platform so that social conservatives can continue to find a home in the GOP."

Perkins, an elected RNC delegate from Louisiana chosen to serve on the platform committee, wrote a letter to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley Monday that highlighted his concerns about the possible omission of pro-life principles from the Republican platform and the process behind its crafting as a whole.

In the letter, Perkins expressed opposition to what he called "the RNC Gag Rule," which he explained "restricts access to the deliberations of various committees and subcommittees only to the credentialed delegates of those committees."

Characterizing the "Gag Rule" as an "unprecedented" apparent violation of RNC rules, Perkins warned that "based on the limited communications delegates have received, it appears that neither guests nor the press will be allowed to observe the platform committee or subcommitttee decisions of the Party's principles and policy priorities."

"The RNC Gag Rule heightens speculation that the GOP platform will be watered down to a few pages of meaningless, poll-tested talking points," he lamented.

Perkins cited such a scenario as an unwelcome contrast to "Ronald Reagan's call for a party platform, 'a banner of bold, unmistakable colors with no pale pastels,' challenging the nation with a clear vision for the future." He identified "bold principles on life, family, and freedom" as positions that "served the GOP well for over a half-century, starkly contrasting with the other Party and attracting many God-fearing Americans to the GOP."

"There is great concern that the foundational efforts of patriots like Phyllis Schlafly and countless others who have built the Republican Party into a majority pro-life, pro-family, pro-ordered liberty party will be undermined by these unprecedented changes in the process," he wrote.

Perkins said he attempted to "resolve these concerns privately" and characterized the responses he had received thus far as "stalling tactics." Perkins requested a formal response by 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Perkins informed Whatley, "If the RNC Gag Rule is not removed and the committee and subcommittee process made open and fair by 10 am tomorrow, I will be forced to escalate this matter to all stakeholders in the GOP platform."

"I understand that raising these concerns might make me the proverbial skunk at the wedding," he added. "However, I cannot forever hold my peace and remain silent when the Party that so many patriots have sacrificed to build is about to adopt a process that is not befitting of the Grand Ole Party. This process will likely result in an outcome that jeopardizes the Party's ability to continue being a stabilizing force for freedom in this nation, as it has been for nearly 175 years."

Perkins formally requested the rejection of the "Gag Rule." He said that if the committee decided to "proceed," he would like to see "the RNC meeting minutes that recorded the motion and the vote, which allowed this unprecedented Gag Rule to be implemented."

"The voice of the conservative movement has been throttled back more than ever before," Perkins told The Christian Post in an interview. He said he remains committed to ensuring that the Republican Party does not commit "self-harm" by watering down its pro-life positions.

The concerns about the Republican Party's position on abortion stem from Trump's insistence that abortion should be left up to the states following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion. The ruling enabled states to enact restrictions or near-total bans on abortion.

Pro-life advocacy groups have repeatedly countered that the federal government has the right to pass laws restricting abortion, or what some call "federal minimum protections for the unborn."

"What's being stated now is different than what was stated in 2016 in that this is simply a state issue," Perkins told CP.

He believes Trump's position diverges from that which is traditionally embraced by the pro-life movement, namely that all human life deserves to be protected. Additionally, Perkins rejected the idea that abortion can only be a state issue in light of the prevalence of the abortion pill, which is often times sent across state lines.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national grassroots pro-life activist organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, asserted in a statement Tuesday that a decision to "remove national protections for the unborn in the GOP platform" would amount to a "miscalculation that would hurt party unity and destroy pro-life enthusiasm between now and the election."

"For over a month, the pro-life movement has sought assurances from the Trump campaign that it will not gut the pro-life plank of the platform, which has for 40 years asserted a 14th Amendment justification for opposing the human rights tragedy of our time," she said. "We are now just two business days away from the platform committee meeting and no assurances have been made."

Echoing Perkins' concerns that "every indication is that the campaign will muscle through changes behind closed doors," Dannenfelser stated, "passionate pro-life activists have been the grassroots backbone of the Republican Party" for decades. She warned that "this alliance is at risk of being severely weakened next week in Milwaukee."

In a letter to Trump last month, Perkins and Faith and Freedom Coalition Chairman Ralph Reed asked that language in the Republican platform calling for the establishment of a "fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed" for unborn babies remain in the platform, Reuters reported.

Their letter also pushed for legislation granting rights to unborn babies under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the passage of a Human Life Amendment prohibiting abortion.

As highlighted in a comparison of the two parties' platforms compiled by the Family Research Council, the Republican Party platform currently contains language indicating that it is "[P]roud to be the party that protects human life and offers real solutions for women" and "strongly oppose[s] infanticide." Examples of pro-life legislation supported in the Republican platform include federal protections for babies who survive botched abortion attempts and prohibitions on abortion based on sex or disability.

Additional pro-life protections embraced by the GOP include a ban on dismemberment abortions where "unborn babies are literally torn apart limb from limb," safety regulations for abortion clinics, a prohibition on human cloning and acts of experimentation on human embryos including three-parent embryos, a ban on the sale of aborted baby body parts and a law prohibiting the "use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood."
Home News Social worker denied job over biblical views: Dangerous precedent for Christians

A 46-year-old devout Christian social worker in the U.K., Felix Ngole, has described an employment tribunal ruling as setting a dangerous precedent for Christians by upholding his employers decision not to reinstate him after being denied a position over his biblical views on homosexuality.

The tribunal, presided over by Employment Judge Jonathan Brain, acknowledged that Ngole had been directly discriminated against when Touchstone Leeds, an NHS recruiter, withdrew the initial job offer, said the group Christian Concern, whose legal arm Christian Legal Centre supported Ngole.

However, the tribunal rejected Ngoles claims of indirect discrimination and harassment during the subsequent procedures, including a second interview designed to probe his beliefs further, the group added.

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Judge Brain reportedly said the decision to rescind the job offer was influenced by legitimate concerns over the potential impact of Ngoles publicly known views on the mental health of patients who identify as LGBT. The tribunal concluded that maintaining the trust and safety of clients was a paramount concern that justified the actions taken by Touchstone.

This part of the ruling drew criticism for potentially setting a precedent that might limit employment opportunities for individuals who do not actively promote LGBT ideology, Christian Concern said.

Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, criticized the ruling for what she described as contorted reasoning. According to Williams, the decision undermines the free expression of traditional Christian beliefs and could lead to widespread employment discrimination against those holding similar views.

Ngole voiced his concerns about the implications of the ruling, stating it could prevent Christians from securing employment if they do not endorse and actively support LGBT ideology.

In 2022, Touchstone offered Ngole a job as a hospital discharge mental health support worker after a successful interview where he outperformed 15 other candidates. However, his job offer was later withdrawn after Touchstone management discovered Ngoles involvement in a legal dispute over his religious statements on social media, specifically concerning homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

Previously, Ngole had been involved in a high-profile case against Sheffield University, which had expelled him from his social work course due to his public expression of biblical views. In a landmark decision in 2019, the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Ngole, stating that he would never discriminate against anyone despite his beliefs, and allowed him to resume his studies and qualify as a social worker.

During this second interview, discussions were held concerning how Ngole would promote homosexual rights. He was also informed about mandatory LGBT awareness training, with restrictions expected on expressing his views, contrary to other staff members freedom to promote LGBT-affirming views.

The ruling ultimately sets a dangerous precedent as it gives employers the freedom to block Christians, and anyone who doesnt promote LGBTQI+ ideology, from employment, Ngole said. If I was discriminated against when they withdrew the job offer then I dont see how I was not also discriminated against when they refused to reinstate me after the second interview.

He added, I was told I was the best candidate for the job, then they suddenly found I was unemployable because they discovered that I am a Christian. No one has ever told me that I have not treated them well in my professional experience. I have never been accused of forcing my beliefs on anyone. I have supported vulnerable individuals from all backgrounds, including LGBT.

Ngole is preparing to appeal the tribunals decision.
Home Opinion 10 ways woke culture is reframing civilization

The book of Genesis recounts how Adam named and categorized the animals, highlighting the profound significance of defining and classifying Gods creation (Genesis 2:19-20). As Gods vice-regent, Adams act of naming was a powerful assertion of authority, underscoring that the one who defines a thing holds power over it. Throughout history, the control of categories, classifications, and definitions has been a critical tool for shaping narratives and influencing the perspectives of entire societies.

Revolutionaries have consistently redefined reality and classifications to control the narrative and advance their agendas.

The French Revolution (1789-1799): The revolutionaries dismantled the feudal system and abolished titles of nobility; redefining citizens as equals to establish a new social order. They also introduced a new calendar, renaming months and resetting the year to Year I, symbolizing a complete break from the past and creating a new identity.

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The Russian Revolution (1917): The Bolsheviks restructured society by emphasizing the proletariat (working class) and the bourgeoisie (capitalist class), instigating class warfare. They employed new symbols like the hammer and sickle and terminology like comrade to unify and motivate the masses. Their extensive propaganda efforts redefined justice, equality, and the role of the state.

Nazi Germany (1933-1945): The Nazi regime redefined racial categories to assert Aryan superiority and justify the persecution of Jews, biblical Christians, and other minorities. Through relentless propaganda, they reshaped reality, portraying these groups as subhuman and dangerous. Nazi education policies indoctrinated the youth with these distorted values and racial theories. Today, Western nations are experiencing a profound revolutionary transformation under the woke ideology banner.

This new wave of cultural redefinition is occurring in the following ways:

1. The inverted covenant with the earth: The rainbow, a sacred biblical symbol of Gods covenant with the earth, has been inverted by the LGBT+ community to illustrate their attempt to influence the whole earth as part of Woke ideology to reframe the foundational covenantal structure of the earth (Genesis 9:13).

2. Binary gender to gender fluidity: Traditional, biblically-defined gender roles are being replaced with fluid concepts of gender. Genesis 1:27 indicates God designed the human race with the construct of binary gender to represent His image. Entities like Facebook have recognized an extensive list of gender options to accommodate the diverse ways people identify. The most recent updates show that Facebook provides over 70 different gender options.

3. The redefinition of marriage

In the beginning, God united one man and one woman in holy matrimony, a union reaffirmed by the Lord Jesus and upheld by Western civilization following the advent of Christianity (Genesis 2:21-24, Matthew 19:4-6). This divine design of marriage has been foundational to societal stability and moral order.

However, woke ideology has progressively sought to challenge and redefine this sacred institution, culminating in the progressive-leaning Supreme Courts landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015, which constitutionally codified same-sex marriage as the law of the land in the United States.

4. Biblical justice to critical race theory (CRT)

The biblical notion of justice is being supplanted by CRT, which emphasizes systemic oppression and racial categorization. Scripture teaches that our identity is found in being children of God through Christ, not in our skin color or ethnicity (Galatians 3:28). The gospel unites us as one body in Christ, transcending racial and ethnic divisions.

In contrast, woke ideology views reality primarily through the lens of skin color and victimization, promoting division and fostering resentment. As believers, we must reject this worldview and uphold the biblical principle that all are equal before God, striving for true justice and reconciliation through the Gospels transformative power.

5. From personal responsibility to state dependency

The biblical principle of personal responsibility, as outlined in Galatians 6:7-8, is being eroded by a progressive woke ideology that fosters reliance on the state. This ideology resembles a nanny state, assuming responsibility for every aspect of its citizens lives.

Scripture teaches that individuals reap what they sow and are accountable for their actions. In contrast, the increasing dependency on state intervention undermines personal responsibility and initiative, leading to a culture where the state is seen as the ultimate provider and caretaker. Thus, progressive ideology has the upper hand in controlling and defining civilization.

6. From meritocracy to victimocracy

A Western culture that once celebrated merit and achievement is shifting towards one prioritizing victimhood. In a meritocracy, individuals are recognized and rewarded based on their abilities, hard work, and accomplishments, fostering a society of innovation and excellence. However, the rise of victimhood culture places greater emphasis on perceived oppression and grievances, often rewarding those who claim victim status over those who demonstrate competence and effort.

7. Culture of service to culture of entitlement

The biblical call to serve others is increasingly overshadowed by a culture of entitlement, where personal demands and rights are prioritized over communal responsibility and selfless service (Mark 10:45). This shift fosters a societal expectation of receiving benefits without corresponding duties.

8. Highlighting days and months of the year

Special emphasis is placed on certain days and months to saturate society with woke ideologies espoused by particular groups. For example:

Pride Month (June).

Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31).

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (May 17).

National Coming Out Day (October 11).

LGBT History Month (October).

Transgender Awareness Week (2nd week of November).

Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20).

9. Through education

Schools and universities are increasingly becoming centers of ideological indoctrination rather than bastions of serious, ordered learning. From celebrating drag queen story hours for small children to teaching anti-American revisionist history in universities, woke ideology is rebranding reality and shaping the minds of the next generation of cultural elites. This shift in education prioritizes ideological conformity over critical thinking, undermining the foundational principles of education.

10. Through politics and law

The Biden administration has utilized taxpayer dollars to promote woke ideology both domestically and internationally. For example, the administration spent $4.6 million to support LGBT projects abroad, including organizing drag shows in Ecuador and funding advocacy groups in multiple countries to promote LGBT causes. For example, Your tax dollars at work: Biden admin spent $4.6 million on overseas LGBTQ activism, and Biden Spends Thousands On Ecuadorian Drag Shows.

Additionally, the Department of Education has proposed grants that prioritize teaching Critical Race Theory (CRT) and related themes, reshaping American history curricula to emphasize systemic oppression and racial biases. For more information: Biden Administration Prioritizes Wokeism, Critical Race Theory In Schools.

These transformations represent a significant reclassification of societal norms and values, challenging long-standing biblical principles and profoundly reshaping civilization.

My prayer is that Christ followers will once again take the lead as futurists, thought leaders, and cultural trend designers who participate with Jesus in the renewal of all things based on the kingdom of God.
Home Opinion Iranian Christians haven't stopped fighting. Don't forget them

When we read stories of persecution against Christians in Iran  such as the recent harsh sentences against brothers and sisters like Yasin Mousavi, a Christian convert who was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison for his conversion from Islam  our immediate reaction is one of deep injustice. These believers are peaceful, loving individuals who strive to be a positive influence in society, praying even for their nation's leaders. Yet, they face severe penalties simply for practicing their faith. Why does the Iranian government treat them so harshly?

The primary reason for the severe persecution of Iranian Christians lies in the government's fear of Muslim-background believers. The Islamic Republic of Iran is acutely aware of the rapid growth of Christianity within its borders and feels threatened by it. This fear is rooted in the transformative nature of Christian faith; once someone converts to Christianity, they rarely revert to Islam. The dramatic life changes that come with this conversion are evident to friends and family, leading to a ripple effect of more conversions.

The Islamic government knows that this faith is not just personal but contagious. The visible change in new Christians lives often prompts curiosity and interest among their social circles, leading to more conversions. This viral nature of Christianity poses a significant threat to the Islamic establishment's control over religious life in Iran.

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The main crime for which many Iranian Christians are imprisoned is attending house churches. This reveals the regime's fear of Christians gathering together. In 2013, all church buildings were closed to the public, except for a few that conduct services in Armenian and Assyrian languages. These churches are prohibited from admitting Muslims or Muslim-background Christians, under the threat of closure.

This reaction stems from a recognition of the power inherent in communal Christian worship. In the West, church attendance is often seen as optional, but in Iran, the government seems to understand better than many Western Christians the profound societal influence a united church can wield. This is exemplified by the fact that if Christians in the U.S. were united, they could significantly influence political outcomes, such as elections.

Knowing they cannot completely stop the growth of Christianity, the Iranian government's strategy is to intimidate and isolate believers. By imposing long prison sentences on those who witness or attend house churches, they aim to discourage Christians from gathering or sharing their faith. The message is clear: If you are a Christian and you stay at home without sharing your faith, you will be safe. But if you gather with others or witness, you face years in prison.

This intimidation is not limited to ordinary believers. Iran Alive is also targeted. Despite not being a political activist, I am seen as a threat because of our large and growing following within Iran. The government fears that we could mobilize followers against them, causing significant unrest.

In the face of this persecution, we can take actions that support our brothers and sisters in Iran.

Pray: First and foremost, we must pray for their courage, wisdom, and close fellowship with God. Many imprisoned Christians testify to feeling the Lord's presence strongly while in jail and even use their time there to minister to fellow inmates. The Iranian government, aware of this, often places Christian prisoners in solitary confinement to prevent them from converting others.

Send Letters: Letters can make a tangible difference. Former prisoners report better treatment, cancelled executions, and earlier releases when letters began arriving on their behalf. Send letters urging release at Article 18 or send an encouraging letter directly to prisoners through PrisonerAlert.com.

By engaging in these actions, we can make a profound impact and stand in solidarity with Iranian Christians facing persecution. Their silent struggle calls for our support and unwavering prayer.
Home Opinion Polls spell disaster for a GOP that abandons life and marriage

With just two weeks left until the GOP platform committee meets in Milwaukee, conservatives are preparing for what many believe will be an all-out war for the partys soul. Rumors have been swirling for months that a quiet army of moderates is assembling to overthrow key Republican pillars on life and marriage. And while delegates are used to having to defend core principles, insiders say this time is different. Theyre coming for the GOPs most basic beliefs, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said somberly. I hate to tell you this, but its true  The Republican Party Platform is under assault.

While most of the attention is on the bright lights of the convention itself, the majority of conservatives realize that the lead-up to the big television bonanza is what makes or breaks the party. If you change the platform, Perkins warned, you change the party. July 8 and 9, when the document is hashed out for the first time in eight years, are critical to keep at least one party aligned with biblical truth, he insisted.

Fortunately, a few stories are bubbling up that should cast some serious doubt on the wisdom of diluting the life and marriage planks. For one, Republican support for same-sex marriage is cratering. After creeping upward for the last decade or so, the bottom fell out of the issue for the GOP, dropping almost 10 points in the last two years. Only 46% of Republicans favor the idea now, down from 55% in 2022 according to Gallup.

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Some of that pushback was obvious in the aftermath of the House and Senate votes on the far-left Respect for Marriage Act, when 51 Republicans abandoned their base and sided with Democrats. Together, they helped bulldoze natural marriage and gutted religious freedom  a decision that resulted in a stunning amount of backlash at home. The grassroots outrage was so intense after the first vote in July that eight fewer House Republicans supported it on final passage in December.

Over in the Senate, the 12 Republicans who betrayed natural marriage faced blistering criticism in their states. Across Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, Indiana, and North Carolina, the urgency to do something about the Republicans vote intensified in the following months, as counties moved to censure and publicly excoriate members who set fire to the partys principles. Senator Thom Tillis (N.C.) even lost the partys financial backing. A year and a half later, Gallups numbers show that the fury over these traitorous moves is still very much alive.

As for the suggestion that watering down the GOPs life position would win over more voters, the primaries in South Carolina are one in a long line of stories that should put that logic to rest. Three Republican state senators who tried to filibuster the chambers pro-life protections lost their reelection bids this month  including the longest-serving female in the Senate GOP. The women, who became known as Sister Senators, refused to back the Palmetto States lower abortion threshold, eventually costing Sandy Senn, Penry Gustafson, and Katrina Shealy their jobs.

PBS points out, Billboards saying Shealy was not pro-life were all over her district in Lexington County, which led the charge to flip the state from Democratic to Republican control over the past five decades.

FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter, who watched the states primary with interest, told The Washington Stand, Ultimately, the takeaway from the defeat of these three South Carolina senators who defected from the rest of the conference on the issue of protecting the unborn is that Republican primary voters are paying attention to who is truly pro-life, and who will side with the pro-abortion Left. Protecting the unborn is just as salient an issue for Republican primary voters today as it has ever been, they wont allow the Overton Window to move left on the protection of life, and theyre willing to throw out incumbents to make that point.

Lets hope national leaders are paying attention to these signs. As Perkins pointed out on Washington Watch Tuesday, a lot of things were pivotal to Donald Trumps 2016 support among evangelicals: releasing a list of pro-life nominees he would pick for the Supreme Court, choosing a known conservative as his running mate, and the embrace of the most conservative Republican Party Platform in history. Those three things galvanized his support.

Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, agreed. I think we absolutely need a repeat in 2024, he said. Were at an inflection point in this campaign, and in many ways, the foundation for the fall is going to be laid in the next three weeks. We have a debate taking place here in Atlanta  And how well the president does, meaning former President Trump and how well Biden does is going to determine a lot. Itll be a key moment.

The second, Reed explained, is the selection of his vice presidential running mate. And the third will be the gathering in Milwaukee and the adoption of the platform. And Ive said repeatedly  and I know that youve said similar things  that if the Republican Party and the Trump campaign send a message of equivocation or retreat on the historic defense of innocent human life by the Republican Party  [which] I believe [is] the most important position of this party other than its opposition to slavery  it will make it harder to turn these voters out in the fall.

Originally published at The Washington Stand.
Home Opinion The rise of social conservatives complicates push to dilute GOP platform

While the media fans the flames of a full-blown attack on the Republican Party Platform, some new polling should give those moderates pause. In the eight years since the GOP drew up its last document (COVID derailed any 2020 revisions), conservatives havent abandoned their social values. If anything, theyve become more adamant about protecting them.

The numbers might surprise Republicans, but in the last 20 years  as Democrats declared war on gender, girls sports, parental rights, marriage, and life  the percentage of GOPers who consider themselves conservative or very conservative on social issues jumped from 64% to 74%. Thats bad news for the partys rebel flank, who hope to rip out key planks of the platform on abortion, marriage, and sexuality in July. As internal forces prep a siege on longtime principles, Gallups findings ought to stiffen the spines of any delegates tempted to water down what Republicans stand for.

FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter sees the increase in social conservatives in the GOP as significant. Its a rejection of the progressive ideology that has infected every institution in America, he told The Washington Stand. It tells me that there is a ceiling on just how far the Left can advance their cause among the American people. I think further evidence of this is the fact that Pride Month has been relatively muted this year compared to previous years. The novelty of much of the Lefts cultural agenda is wearing off and the pendulum is beginning to swing back.

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This idea that Republicans need to become more like Democrats to get elected is  and has always been  a ridiculous notion. Conservatives should be doing everything in their power to highlight the sharp contrasts between the GOP and the radical party of child mutilation, same-sex marriage, unborn baby dismemberment, and infanticide. As Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) warned when his colleagues sided with the presidents social extremism on a few occasions, Republicans in office dont help Republican candidates win elections by acting like Democrats. In fact, the opposite is true. Democrats make much better Democrats than weak-kneed Republicans. We will never beat them at their own game. Ever. Nor should we try.

While Republicans harden their positions on social issues, so have Democrats. Since 2004, the presidents party has become just as polarized in these culture wars  almost doubling the population of social liberals from 39% to 69% in the last two decades. The Left, on the other hand, doesnt shy away from spelling out its positions in the party platform, even the overwhelmingly unpopular ones, like taxpayer-funded abortions and gender transitions, transgender access to restrooms, locker rooms, and showers, bans on sexual orientation change efforts, the end of conscience rights, biological boys in girls sports, sexual indoctrination in the classroom (without parental notification), and on and on.

To anyone who says these documents dont matter, Ed Martin would say: youre dead wrong. The president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles joined Family Research Council President Tony Perkins on Washington Watch Tuesday to call for prayer for what he considers the most important work of convention week.

Words are very important, he insisted. And when you write it down in the platform, [for] the Republican Party, [these are] our principles. This is hopefully what we govern with  but its [also] who we stand for. Martin, who was just appointed by the Republican National Committee as a deputy director of the Platform Committee, says its more important than ever for social conservatives and Christians to stand up and be counted.

He pointed to the mission creep in Ireland, where there are about 10 political parties. One by one, they systematically took the definition of marriage from their beliefs. Then they had a vote, Martin explained, and the people of Ireland  like 85% voted for marriage between whoever you want it to be. [The platforms principles] are like an exoskeletal system around our leaders, but theyre also a defining sense of who we are  [So] were never going to yield on life. Were never going to yield on family.



In fact, he believes this is such a significant moment for Republicans that hes calling for 40 days of prayer in preparation for the 2024 platform debate in Wisconsin. The late conservative hero Phyllis Schlafly called the 2016 document the greatest platform of her life. And it was extraordinary, Martin agreed. But weve got a lot of work to do on the platform  [and] we better get on our knees and pray.

He said this isnt about having a special call or a special gathering  its simply about intentionally going to God in prayer for our country and the direction of both parties. Were nondenominational in the sense we pray for Democrats, too, even though I dont have much hope in them. But we need to pray for all of our leaders of both parties. And as you point out, what is at stake is not small potatoes. The Republican Party platform has protected life. Its protected the family. Its protected a vision of a strong nation that is good for its neighbors by its strength. And all [of] that is up for grabs in a culture that in many ways is collapsing. So were going to start with prayer.

Martin lamented the moderate Republicans whove dismissed the significance of the platform in the past  like former House Speaker John Boehner and presidential candidate Bob Dole. The latter even told his people, Dont worry about that. But, Martin insisted, think about the progression of the culture right now. We didnt have [the explosion of] transgender[ism] eight years ago [to deal with in] the last platform. We didnt have the insanity of what theyre doing in law.

In other words, the time to plant a flag is now. And there [are] some Republicans that need to buck up and understand were not letting this happen to our girls and our families, and were going to explain that. So for those people that say words dont matter and the platform doesnt matter, I would [profoundly disagree].

Schlafly, he pointed out, did a lot of incredibly courageous things in her lifetime. But the platform [is] what she fought for for decades, Martin wanted people to know. But she said, That may be the most important thing I did that I was involved in. And thats what Phyllis thought.

Now, the legacy of Schlafly and so many who came before her hinge on a monumental battle this July. That work is far from done, Perkins insisted. But if theres one thing he wants Republicans to know, its this: Were not going to surrender any ground that has been gained.

Originally published at The Washington Stand.
Steve Cox steps down from Christians in Media charity, Lani Charlwood takes over as new Chair

In a significant leadership change, evangelist Steve Cox has stepped down as Chair of Christians in Media after nearly ten years of dedicated service. He has been succeeded by Lani Charlwood, a current trustee and former executive director of New Wine, who officially took over the role during a planned meeting of trustees on the first day of July.

Christians in Media, previously known simply as theMediaNet, an offshoot of the Church and Media Network, has seen remarkable evolution under Cox's leadership. He brought with him previous communication expertise from his days working at senior level with the World Evangelical Alliance and the Council of World Mission.

Over the past decade, the Christians in Media charity has navigated numerous transformations to adapt to the ever-changing media landscape. Key initiatives during Steve Cox's tenure include the rebranding of the charity, the establishment of a mentoring programme for young people passionate about faith and media, the introduction of online lunchtime prayer meetings, and the launch of a podcast. Additionally, the charity has resumed its conferences, with the upcoming Engage 2024 event set for October.

"To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the heavens" (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV).

Expressing gratitude for Cox's contributions, the charity highlighted his role in creating strong relationships, supporting the team, and guiding the organisation through various changes. "We could include more, but we are grateful for the relationships Steve has created, his dedication and service for our community, and the way he has supported our team. Like with any change, we will miss him," the Board noted.

The transition to new leadership is underscored by a sense of continuity and hope for the future. Referencing Ecclesiastes 3 and Psalm 37:5, the Board expressed confidence that the charity will continue to thrive as it remains committed to its mission.

Charlwood, the new Chair of Trustees, shared her vision and enthusiasm for her new role: "I have spent much of my life observing the influence of Christians across all sectors of media. I have seen divisions, but I have also seen reconciliation. It is the latter which lies at the heart of my desire to support Christians in Media; building connections, gathering together, encouraging one another, and becoming better together than we are apart.

"It is a joy to take on the role of Chair for Christians in Media. Steve has competently steered the ship through a changing landscape, and I am honoured to be receiving the reins from him. As we continue to grow, my hope and prayer is that more and more Christians will be affirmed in their calling within this influential sector so that together, we can bring a little bit more of God's Kingdom to earth."

With the addition of new trustees, Christians in Media is poised for continued development in this new season. The charity encourages supporters to stay connected through social media, to join 850 others in their busy Facebook group, and to keep in touch through their website.

As Christians in Media enters this exciting new chapter, the community is invited to #pray4media and support the charity through prayers for its leadership and initiatives.

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this" (Psalm 37:5, NIV).
The Bishop of Oxford versus evangelical Anglicans

Did the Bishop of Oxford, Steven Croft, consult the Bishop of Leicester, Martyn Snow, the lead bishop on the Living in Love and Faith process (LLF) on sexuality, before launching his attack on the orthodox leaders of the Alliance?

With the General Synod now underway in York, Bishop Snow is tasked with persuading members to accept the House of Bishops' controversial LLF proposals to push ahead with standalone services of same-sex blessing on a trial basis.

Christian Today contacted Bishop Snow's office to ask whether he had been consulted before Bishop Croft fired off his broadside against the Alliance. Their leaders wrote to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and Stephen Cottrell, on June 26 objecting to the bishops' latest LLF proposals.

Leicester Diocese said enquiries about LLF should go to the central C of E communications team. A statement from Church House Westminster is awaited about whether the lead bishop was duly consulted as a matter of courtesy.

The leaders of the Alliance coalition of evangelical charismatic, conservative evangelical and Anglo-Catholic networks in the Church of England have just issued a response to Bishop Croft's blog-post of July 2.

They have responded robustly to Bishop Croft's challenge to its claim that its coalition of orthodox networks is supported by more than 2,000 clergy. 'I see no real evidence that this is the case (and I note that the Catholic signatories seem not to have signed the latest letter),' he blogged.

The Alliance replied: "The evidence of support for our network is that individual clergy members of the Church of England have each formally and personally expressed support for the Alliance online at alliancecofe.org and we have their names (including 138 clergy in the Oxford diocese so far). The Catholic signatories remain an essential part of the Alliance and their views are clear from their signatures on past letters, their recent public statement, and their support below. The clergy currently supporting the Alliance come from churches which represent 36 per cent of the Church of England's average Sunday attendance and 55 per cent of the Church of England's under 18 average Sunday attendance."

The Alliance response to Bishop Croft is signed by Tom Middleton, director of Catholic network Forward in Faith. So, Bishop Croft's attempt to drive a wedge between the evangelical and Catholic wings of the Alliance seems to have failed.

Despite its bluster, Bishop Croft's blog was revealing of the high-level revisionist strategy for changing the C of E's doctrine on the exclusively heterosexual nature of marriage. He was blatant in his use of the 'salami-slicing tactic', a term coined in Hungary in the late 1940s to describe the Communist Party's takeover of the country.

Bishop Croft, who in November 2023 became the most senior C of E bishop to come out in favour of allowing full same-sex marriages in parish churches, drew the Alliance leaders' attention to how far the salami of the traditional Anglican teaching on sexual morality has already been sliced down: "The authorisation of Prayers of Love and Faith (even as stand alone services) simply gives alternative liturgical provision to enable services which could legally happen without PLF. All of you as signatories have been part of a Church for many years in which these services have happened."

Bishops Croft and Snow have some career history together. They were respectively Bishop and Archdeacon of Sheffield when the Rev Matthew Ineson, then an incumbent in their diocese, made disclosures in 2012 and 2013 that he had been raped by the serial church abuser, the Revd Trevor Devamanikkam, when he was 16. Bishop Croft was one of the bishops criticised in the 2023 C of E report into the scandal for mishandling Mr Ineson's disclosures.

Even if Bishop Croft did consult his former archdeacon, his cantankerous blog against the Alliance a few days before the July 8 debate on LLF can only have exacerbated the deep divisions in the Synod. The question arises what Bishop Snow makes of his colleague's intervention.

Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist based in the UK.
The UK election  a new start and new sense of hope?

One of the great things about Christianity is that it offers hope in a hopeless world, and the ultimate new start  the new birth. Nothing else comes near to that. Indeed, every other idol offering these ends up being false. Which is why I have been really surprised at the almost evangelical language being used by some Christian leaders concerning the election of the new Labour government.

One wrote of change, a new start and a new sense of hope. Others encouraged Christians to vote for justice, compassion and peace  which is 'Newspeak' for vote Labour or Liberal. But will all of this be delivered by the new government? On the other hand, there are those like Peter Hitchens, who having spent years telling us not to vote for the Tories, did an about face just before the election and urged us all to vote for the Tories because otherwise we would end up with a radical Left government.

I'm not a big fan of either the utopian or apocalyptic language.Indeed, I suspect that the 40 per cent of the electorate who couldn't be bothered to vote, because they see it as making little difference, may well be right. Nonetheless elections are important, and it is a privilege to be able to vote. Let's try to avoid the hyperbole of 'the kingdom is coming', or 'we are all doomed', and reflect on what this result means for the UK, and the Church.

1. The result does not bode well for the future of British democracy.

On the one hand, our first past the post system has given us a strong government  perhaps too strong  with a majority of over 250. On the other hand, this government has been elected by only 20% of the electorate. It took 22,000 votes per Labour MP, and 1 million per Reform MP. Labour with 34% of the vote (the lowest for a governing party) got 64% of the seats; the Tories with 24% got 19%; Reform (14%) and the Greens (7%) got 1% each.

For me, the most interesting statistic of the night was that whereas Jeremy Corbyn got 12,877,918 votes in 2017 and 10,269,051 votes in 2019, (he lost and was considered a massive failure), in 2024 Keir Starmer got 9,643,399 and got a massive parliamentary majority!

The FPTP system works well in a two-party system; it becomes manifestly unjust in a multiparty system. It is unlikely that the Tories or Labour will seek to change this  as it keeps them both in business. But if things stay the same it will create further disillusionment and unrest.

2. The United Kingdom is safe for the next decade.

One of the most significant results of the election was the devastation of the SNP  down from 48 seats to 9. The SNP spin doctors were trying to portray this as some of their supporters lending their votes to Labour to get the Tories out  but that doesn't make sense. The Tories were never going to get more than the six seats they already held. The reality is that just as the result in England was caused by dissatisfaction with the Conservative government, so the result in Scotland was primarily caused by dissatisfaction with the Scottish government. As a result, the cause of independence has been set back for at least ten years.

3. The rise of the Reform Party, with over 4 million votes and 5 MPs is significant.

It causes a real dilemma for the Conservatives. On the one hand, all the pundits tell them not to veer to the Right (they could then lose even more of their seats in the leafy suburbs of Southern England to the Lib Dems). But on the other, there are vast numbers of people all over the country who have concerns about immigration, the effects of Net Zero, and the various manifestations of the woke ideology that has captured most of our elites. Ultimately the Conservatives were not elected because they ran the country badly and because they were not conservative enough. If none of the main political parties offer social conservatism, who will the social conservatives vote for?

4. The emergence of sectarian politics is deeply troubling.

The election of four independents, plus that of Jeremy Corbyn, was in effect because they adopted Muslim opposition to Israel's actions in Gaza. The appearance in the UK of sectarian politics based on religion is not something to be welcomed. I find it completely bizarre that left-wing commentators are describing these MPs as 'radical left wing'! I guess gay rights and women's rights don't really matter in Iran or Pakistan! As an indication of what is to come, consider the treatment meted out to Jess Phillips, newly elected Labour MP in Birmingham. She was heckled and abused by her Islamist opponents who had almost succeeded in ousting her. I suspect that in order to appease this mob the new Labour government will do what it has promised and introduce new laws regarding 'Islamophobia'. In other words what will in effect be a new blasphemy law forbidding any critique of Islam.

5. The new Labour government has many issues to deal with.

The economy (especially the burgeoning national debt), failing public institutions, education, the mental health crisis, housing, the NHS, the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and immigration. We can only pray that they will prove to be a more competent and capable government than the government they are replacing. One area of particular concern is that the changes the government is promising will often be ideological. Having a new education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, who seems to be a proponent of trans ideology, does not bode well. Or the commitment to ban conversion therapy  including any counselling related to transgenderism.

In this regard it was sad to see two of the foremost defenders of women's rights, Miriam Cates (Conservative) and Jo Cherry (SNP), losing their seats. In the case of the former, the BBC ran a particularly nasty hit piece days before the election, questioning her church affiliation. Little wonder that Pink News rejoiced at her being replaced by an 'inclusive' candidate.

Let's return to this idea of change, new hope and a new start. I suspect that not much will substantively change  in the words of the Who's magnificent 'Won't Get Fooled Again', 'meet the new boss, same as the old boss.' Sir Keir Starmer talked about the country having put their trust in Labour and that they wouldn't let us down as they lead us into a new beginning and a changed society. I find it hard to believe that anyone still falls for that.

My own view is that the UK is currently under the judgement of God, in a Romans 1 sense. As we have given up on God and our Christian roots, the Lord is basically giving us what we asked for, and left us to our own devices. We have, and will continue to mess it up badly. We need repentance, renewal and reformation; not false political idols who promise us paradise but can't protect us from the things that will destroy us.

For the Christian there are seven scriptural principles we need to remember.

Don't put your trust in politicians (Psalm 146:3)

Pray for politicians (1 Timothy 2:1)

Where there is no vision, the people perish (Proverbs 29:18)

We are to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8)

We are to preach the word, in season or out of season (2 Timothy 4:2)

We are to proclaim the word to politicians (Ps 119:46)

Jesus is King. Before him all nations, individuals and leaders will bow (Philippians 2:10)

That's a manifesto that gives me real hope! What about you?

David Robertson is the minister of Scots Kirk Presbyterian Church in Newcastle, New South Wales. He blogs at The Wee Flea.
Beryl moved into the the Gulf of Mexico Friday and took aim at the south Texas coast after battering Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Texas officials issued disaster declarations and urge coastal residents to prepare as the storm headed their way.

Beryl hit Tulum as a Category 2 hurricane and toppled trees but caused no injuries or deaths before weakening to a tropical storm as it moved across the peninsula. The U.S. National Hurricane Center expects the storm to regain hurricane strength in the warm waters of the Gulf and hit south Texas by late Sunday or early Monday.

Beryl, the earliest storm to develop into a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic, caused at least 11 deaths as it passed through the Caribbean islands earlier in the week.

The storm's center Friday afternoon was in the Gulf just off Mexico, about 615 miles (995 kilometers) southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. It was moving west-northwest at 13 mph (about 20 kph) with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph), the hurricane center said.

Once in the Gulf, Beryl could regain wind speed of 90 mph (150 kph) before hitting Texas, though it is hard to tell now where it could make landfall, forecasters said. Hurricane watches were in effect from the Rio Grande north, covering most of the Texas coast.

Some Texas counties have already issued voluntary evacuation orders in low-lying areas, and Texas officials urged coastal residents to prepare.

Along the Texas coast in Corpus Christi, city officials announced it had distributed 10,000 sandbags in less than two hours Friday, exhausting its supply.

"This is a determined storm that is still strong," Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said at a news conference.

Patrick issued a pre-emptive disaster declaration for 40 counties that allows state and local authorities to start planning and contracting for response.

Nim Kidd, chief of state emergency operations, said oil companies have started moving employees off rigs along the coast that may be in the path of the storm.

Northeastern Mexico and southern Texas were already soaked by Tropical Storm Alberto just a couple of weeks ago.

Beryl spread destruction in Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados this week. Three people have been reported dead in Grenada, three in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, three in Venezuela and two in Jamaica, officials said.

The head of Mexico's civil defense agency, Laura Velazquez, said Beryl hadn't caused any deaths or injuries there and that "damages were minor," though tens of thousands of people remained without power.

Tulum was plunged into darkness when the storm knocked out power as it came ashore. Screeching winds set off car alarms across the town. Wind and rain continued to whip the seaside city and surrounding areas Friday morning. Army brigades roved the streets of the tourist city, clearing fallen trees and power lines.

After seeing Beryl tear through the Caribbean, 37-year-old Lucia Nagera Balcaza was among those who stocked up on food and hid away in their homes.

"Thank god, we woke up this morning and everything was all right," she said. "The streets are a disaster, but we're out here cleaning up."

Before the storm hit Mexico, official had set up shelters in schools and hotels. When the wind began gusting over Tulum's beaches Thursday, officials on four-wheelers with megaphones rolled along the sand telling people to leave and authorities evacuated beachside hotels. Sea turtle eggs were even moved off beaches threatened by storm surge.

Tourists also took precautions. Lara Marsters, 54, a therapist visiting Tulum from Boise, Idaho, said she had filled up empty water bottles from the tap.

"We're going to hunker down and stay safe," she said.

While many in the Yucatan Peninsula took a deep breath, Jamaica and other islands ravaged by the hurricane were still reeling. As of Friday morning, 55% of Jamaica still without electricity and most of the country was without running water, according to government figures.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness promised swift relief for residents affected by Hurricane Beryl after visiting one of the worst-affected areas of the island, the southern parish of St Elizabeth on Thursday afternoon.

"I know some of you are experiencing discomfort and displacement, and I want to assure you that the government will move as quickly as we can to get you the help you need," he said.

Earlier in the week, the hurricane damaged or destroyed 95% of homes on a pair of islands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, jumbled fishing boats in Barbados and ripped off roofs and knocked out electricity in Jamaica.

On Union Island, part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a man who identified himself as Captain Baga described the storm's impact, including how he had filled two 2,000-gallon (7,570-liter) rubber water tanks in preparation.

"I strapped them down securely on six sides; and I watched the wind lift those tanks and take them away  filled with water," he said Thursday. "I'm a sailor and I never believed wind could do what I saw it do. If anyone (had) ever told me wind could do that, I would have told them they lie!"

The island was littered with debris from homes that looked like they had exploded.
Gomez, who was a computer science student at the University of Toronto at the time of his internship, left Google in 2021 to co-found Cohere, an AI startup that's backed by Nvidia and has reportedly raised money at a $5 billion valuation. Cohere makes generative AI models that can be used by companies, in contrast to consumer-facing products like OpenAI 's ChatGPT.

"There's no one in the field who was around back then working who could have foreseen where we are in terms of technological capability," Gomez told CNBC in a recent interview. "The models are doing stuff that I personally thought maybe I'd see at the end of my career, maybe in like 40 years."

Aidan Gomez was an intern at Google Brain in 2017, when he helped co-author the " Attention Is All You Need " paper that conceptualized the transformer and eventually kicked off the generative artificial intelligence boom.

"We're having research come out of MIT and Harvard showing the productivity gains," Gomez said. "You can just quantitatively measure it. You sit a knowledge worker down next to one of these models. You train them on how to use it, how to make it useful for them. They have to learn how to use the technology, but once they do, you see productivity lifts that are like 40%."

In June 2023, Cohere raised $270 million at a $2.2 billion valuation, from investors including Salesforce and Oracle. Cohere executives have even attended AI forums at the White House.

Gomez said that until recently, "Everything to date has been done with like five people." Cohere now has about 400 people and is rapidly growing its sales team.

When asked about specific use cases where generative AI can benefit a company's bottom line, Gomez cited a model Cohere built to help an insurer. The technology allows the company to submit faster quotes to beat out the competition when there's a request for proposal from a mining or pipeline firm.

Gomez called it a race.

"The first insurance provider that puts a reasonable bid in front of them wins that contract," he said. "We augmented their actuaries, the folks who are doing the research on the project, assessing the risk, coming up with a quote."

By speeding up the actuaries, Gomez said the business was able to win more contracts.

"I never thought that an insurance company for natural resource projects would be adopting large language models," he said. "But they are."

Watch the video to hear the full conversation between CNBC's Steve Kovach and Aidan Gomez.
Demonstrators take part in a rally against the far right following the announcement of the results of the first round of the French parliamentary elections at Place de la Republique in Paris on June 30, 2024. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

"We're scared of what might happen," Amel, 34, told CNBC ahead of the final round of voting in France's snap election this weekend. The vote is being closely watched by all quarters of French society to see if the nationalist, anti-immigration National Rally (RN) builds on its initial win in the first round of voting, or whether centrist and leftwing parties have been able to thwart the party's chances of entering government. "It's a very, very tense time. And it's the first time that the far right is winning at the first turn [the first round of the ballot]. So it's a very big deal," Amel, a therapist who said she will vote for the leftwing New Popular Front, added. "We are very anxious and we are trying to get everyone to vote, trying to tell people who don't vote to go and vote, and to try to convince people who vote for the extreme right that they are not a good answer [to France's problems]." France's far-right RN rejects the "extremist" label, saying it stands up for French values, culture and citizens at a time when many are fed up with France's political establishment that's been led by President Emmanuel Macron since 2017. But RN's opponents and critics warn France is on the brink of a political catastrophe if an overtly anti-immigration, nationalist and euroskeptic party wins a majority in this snap election called by Macron after his party lost heavily against the hard-right in European Parliament elections in June. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has said French voters now have a "moral duty" to halt the party's advance. For young, left-leaning voters like Amel, RN's surge in voter polls, and the fact it won the most votes in the first round of the election last weekend, are worrying developments that make them fear for France's societal cohesion.

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"I am worried about the country's future. I think it's getting worse and worse," Amel, who preferred to only give her first name due to the sensitive nature of the situation, said. "It's going be like a kind of civil war. I hope it will not reach that, but people will just not mix anymore and will be scared of each other. And this is very scary." The snap election has thrown the country's political polarization into sharp relief as polls ahead of the final round of voting on Sunday imply a deeply divided nation. The first round of the election resulted in the far-right RN winning 33% of the vote, with the leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) garnering 28% and the coalition of parties supporting Macron (Ensemble, or Together) winning 20% of the vote.

Left wing supporters react as the results of the first round of French parliamentary elections are announced in Nantes, western France on June 30, 2024. Sebastien Salom-gomis | Afp | Getty Images

Since the results of the first ballot, parties on the center-right and left have gone all-out to prevent RN's advance in the second ballot, aiming to prevent a parliamentary majority for the party at all costs. Joining forces in a so-called "Republican Front," centrists and leftwing parties have withdrawn candidates in many constituencies where one of their candidates was better placed to beat the RN. By offering voters a starker choice and fewer options, the anti far-right front hopes that the electorate will vote for the non-RN candidate. Whether it will work remains to be seen and analysts point out that French voters might not take kindly to being directed how to vote, or who to vote for.

The elections are a 'mess'

The final result on Sunday evening  the outcome of a snap election Macron did not need to call  will show just how hard it could be to find a consensus in national politics and government going forward. How the nation will react to the result is also uncertain. France is no stranger to civil unrest given the widespread "Yellow Vest" anti-government movement of recent years, and street protests since the first round of voting on June 30. France's Interior Ministry appears to be preparing for more trouble after Sunday's poll, reportedly ready to deploy around 30,000 officers across France on Sunday night amid fears of violence after polls close. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin is reported to have said 5,000 police would be on duty in Paris and its surrounding areas to "ensure that the radical right and radical left do not take advantage of the situation to cause mayhem." France's police force has, at times, been accused of being heavy-handed with demonstrators during previous periods of unrest, firing water cannon and tear gas at "yellow vest" demonstrators in 2019.



Tension rises as demonstrators gather in Place de la Republique, to protest against the rising right-wing movement after the Rassemblement National's victory in the first round of early general elections in Paris, France on June 30, 2024. Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

A member of the gendarmerie, France's military force in charge of law enforcement and public order, told CNBC that the "French elections are a mess" and that the "public divide has rarely been so flagrant in France." "People's opinions are becoming more and more divided and this is felt in everyday life," the gendarme, who asked to remain anonymous due to the nature of his job, told CNBC. The officer  a father of three who's in his 40s, and a right-leaning voter  said the polarization in French society was "very worrying, but unfortunately normal with the 'diversity' of our society." "More and more people with different values and educations are being forced to co-exist, and this clearly doesn't work," the officer, who works in Bordeaux in southwestern France, said. "I am worried about the country's future, because we are too generous to people who aren't willing to integrate and contribute to our society, this can not last." The police officer said he expected civil unrest after the vote, whichever party gained the most votes. "There will be civil unrest whoever is elected, this is France and the people speak their mind."

Civil unrest possible

Political experts agree that the current febrile atmosphere of French politics, and antagonism between the main bodies of voters, are the ingredients for further civil unrest. "You've got here all the recipe for a super-polarized political scene and that, of course, translates into civil society as a whole," Philippe Marliere, professor of French and European politics at University College London, told CNBC. "If you've got only 33-34% of people voting for the far-right it means the rest is wary of that, or completely opposed to it, so that will translate on every level of politics  institutional politics, party politics, the National Assembly, but also in society. You will have a very polarized society in which younger people, ethnic minorities, women, and in particular feminists, would be very worried," he said. Marliere did not discount the possibility of violence on the streets if a far-right party was elected to government. "We're not there yet. But if there are very unpopular, very antagonizing and very hostile policies to some groups, there will be demonstrations on a scale that you have unrest in the street," he said.

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Like other hard-right parties in Europe, the National Rally has tapped into voter insecurities regarding crime, immigration, national identity and economic insecurity. RN's 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella has told voters he will "restore order," curb immigration and tackle delinquency but he and party figurehead Marine Le Pen have rowed back on some of their more strident promises and rhetoric, back-pedaling over taking France out of NATO, for example, and moderating the party's traditionally pro-Russian stance. Bardella said he would still support the sending of arms to Ukraine but not the deployment of ground troops, as Macron suggested was a possibility.

Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella at the final rally before the June 9 European Parliament election, held at Le Dome de Paris - Palais des Sports, on June 2, 2024. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

It's uncertain how many of National Rally's policies would be enacted even if the party made it into government. The "Republican Front" also appears confident ahead of the second round of voting that its strategy to hurt the RN's vote share is working. An opinion poll published by Ifop on July 3 suggested voters might tend toward a centrist pro-Macron or leftwing candidate rather than the RN candidate if that is the choice they are presented with on the ballot paper on Sunday. If the choice was between a far-left and far-right candidate, however, the picture was more nuanced, showing a split vote.

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In April 2021, Paul Lee took a vacation to Thailand. Five months later, he decided to leave the United States behind and make a permanent move to the Asian country. Lee, originally from Georgia, had been living in New York City and grossing around $1 million a year thanks to his e-commerce business. Despite doing well enough to pay for his parent's retirement, the 28-year-old tells CNBC Make It he found himself without purpose, feeling depressed, and needing to make a change. "When I first arrived to Thailand, I just felt rejuvenated. Everything was completely new to me, and I felt like it was a fresh new start," Lee says. "The more and more I live here, the more and more I fall in love with the city."

Lee moved to Bangkok, Thailand in 2021. Marc Aziz Ressang for CNBC Make It

Since moving to Bangkok, Lee has been making around US $150,000 a year as a content creator and real estate agent, according to documents reviewed. Working in real estate helped Lee find several living arrangements in Bangkok, including luxury condos. The apartment he's in now is a one-bedroom in the Thonglor neighborhood which Lee says is "the Soho of Bangkok." It's a 650-square-feet unit that costs 20,000 baht  around USD $544  in monthly rent. Lee also pays $20 for Wi-Fi, $80 for electricity, and $3 for water each month. The apartment came furnished, and Lee has access to amenities, including a pool and a gym.

Lee pays around $544 a month for his 1-bedroom apartment in Bangkok. Marc Aziz Ressang for CNBC Make It

To move in, Lee had to pay a security deposit of two months' rent or about $1,088. Despite lower grocery costs in Bangkok, Lee eats out for every meal and spends $500 a month on food. "I'm not gonna lie, the food in New York City was very good as well, but I think in Thailand, it's just a lot more homey, a lot more local, and a lot spicier," Lee says. His other expenses include a $93 monthly gym membership which is a bit of a splurge considering Lee has free access to a gym in his building. But the cost is worth it for Lee, because he can take advantage of the co-working space, coffee, and numerous networking opportunities in the space. Also his current gym's price is nothing compared to luxury gyms in New York, like Equinox, where memberships can start at $240 a month.

Lee tells CNBC Make It he chose to leave America because he found himself materialistic and living in an "environment that was just very individualistic, very doggish, and very hyper-aggressive." Marc Aziz Ressang for CNBC Make It

Lee has only returned to the U.S. one time since his big move to Thailand  for his sister's wedding. He tells CNBC Make It he chose to leave New York City because he found himself being too materialistic and living in an "environment that was just very individualistic, very doggish, and very hyper-aggressive." "Bangkok stood out to me because it seemed very metropolis. It seemed very fun. It seemed very affordable and it just had a very good culture and didn't really have any major compromises to me," Lee says. Lee has made a new life for himself in Thailand, he says, and returning to the U.S. doesn't feel likely. "I had to go through this journey of being poor and becoming quite wealthy to realize all this wealth that I had accumulated didn't really give me what I wanted and didn't give me the satisfaction I was looking for," Lee says.

Since relocating to Thailand, Lee's parents have moved to South Korea and visit him several times throughout the year. Paul Lee
Have you ever noticed how Tommy from Rugrats sounds just like one of the Powerpuff Girls? Or that Scooby-Doo and Astro from The Jetsons speak very similar dog languages?

Hollywoods voice-acting community is full of really talented people who can churn out a bunch of different voices, but that doesnt mean they dont occasionally have characters that end up sounding exactly alike (it doesnt help that this group of performers is relatively small).

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To that end, here are 10 sets of cartoon characters whose voices are practically interchangeable

10 Scooby-Doo and Astro The Jetsons, which debuted as a prime-time show in 1962, is considered a classic today, but it didnt gain that status until the 1980s when it re-debuted on Saturday mornings with new episodes. And so, when Scooby-Doo came along in 1969, six years after The Jetsons was canceled, voice actor Don Messick thought nothing of re-using Astros voice for the brand new, mystery-solving dog.

9 Tommy Pickles and Buttercup Fun fact #1: Buttercup from The Powerpuff Girls and Tommy Pickles from Rugrats are both voiced by E.G. Daily (Buttercup just with more attitude than the lumpy-headed Tommy). Fun fact #2: Daily played Dottie in Pee-wees Big Adventure.

8 Raphael and Donatello Advertisement When the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were relaunched for Nickelodeon in 2012, showrunner Ciro Nieli wanted to honor the history of the franchise, so he cast Rob Paulsen, the original Raphael, as his new Donatello.

7 Bob Belcher and Coach McGuirk H. Jon Benjamins voice is all over modern animation. You can currently hear it as Bob from Bobs Burgers, but Benjamin also played Coach McGuirk on the Adult Swim show Home Movies as well as Benjamin Katz in Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.

6 The Mad Hatter and King Candy Advertisement

Unlike the previous entries, the Mad Hatter from Disneys Alice in Wonderland and King Candy from Wreck-It Ralph didnt have the same voice actor  the movies were released 61 years apart, after all. They sound alike, though, because when Alan Tudyk performed King Candys voice, he was doing a dead-on impression of legendary vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn, who voiced The Mad Hatter.

5 Kermit and Ernie Advertisement Jim Henson might have been a visionary, but his vocal stylings had their limits, which is why there isnt much of a difference between Kermit and Ernie sonically. Henson also used pretty much the same voice for Rowlf the Dog and Doctor Teeth, except Doctor Teeth is more growly. Advertisement

4 Marty Sherman and Gosalyn Mallard Jay Shermans son Marty from The Critic was voiced by the late Christine Cavanaugh, who supplied the voices for a lot of cartoon characters, including Gosalyn Mallard from Darkwing Duck. The characters only debuted three years apart, but they had totally separate demographics. And besides their voices, theyre really nothing alike. Case in point: One of them is a duck.

3 Peter Griffin and Ted Advertisement When Ted came out in 2012, Seth MacFarlane had already been doing his Peter Griffin voice on Family Guy for 13 years; yet he decided to do the exact same voice for the crude teddy bear. IMHO, once a voice reaches a certain level of fame, it should be reserved for only that character. Just think how weird it would be if Homer Simpsons voice suddenly showed up as an animal sidekick in a Disney movie  no one would ever allow that. Advertisement

2 Orson Welles and The Brain Pinky and The Brain were based on animation writers Eddie Fitzgerald and Tom Minton, but voice actor Maurice LaMarche didnt know that when he was asked to voice The Brain in Animaniacs, so he did an impression of his favorite actor, Orson Welles. It ended up being a perfect match for the megalomaniac mouse, and it stuck. Advertisement LaMarche even warmed up for the character by repeating Welles infamous radio tape where hes bickering with a voice director, and Brains Nyah! originated from a wine commercial starring a drunken Welles. In addition to The Brain, LaMarche has done his spot-on Orson Welles impression for The Simpsons, The Critic and the movie Ed Wood, among others.
If President Biden had hoped to quash demands for him to step aside as the Democratic Party's candidate after his devastating performance in the first debate against Donald Trump last month, his appearance at the White House's official Independence Day celebrations will not have helped.

The President puzzlingly greeted the crowd with, 'Ho ho ho! Happy Independence Day,' apparently confusing Christmas and the Fourth of July.

When he veered off-script to make a jab at his opponent Donald Trump, he lost his train of thought and faded into silence.

Hours before, he said in a radio interview that he was 'proud' to be the first 'black woman to serve with a black president'.

It comes after the White House on Wednesday had to deny, with some ferocity, reports suggesting Biden had admitted to allies that he may not be able to salvage his candidacy.

The President puzzlingly greeted the crowd yesterday with, 'Ho ho ho! Happy Independence Day,' apparently confusing Christmas and the Fourth of July

Kamala Harris is widely held to have been a disaster as 'Veep'. One consultant suggested swing-state voters would prefer a 'dead or comatose Joe Biden' to Harris

Later, on a campaign telephone call, Biden himself insisted: 'Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can: I am running. No one is pushing me out.' Yet rumours continue to swirl.

A bunker mentality has developed in the White House. Biden is rumoured to have become so irritable that his closest aides, Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, are said to shield him from lesser-known staff for fear of triggering his temper.

Biden is being 'managed' more than ever. Since the debate, his  always restricted  appearances have been even more limited.

Aides are briefing the Press about Biden calling allies to persuade them he's doing well.

'It's now become a positive thing that he's able to pick up the phone,' jokes one Washington hack.

But if form is any guide, it won't be long before he has yet another senior moment for all the world to see  and Democrats know that the next big humiliation could make Biden's position truly untenable.

A few Democratic congressmen, such as Lloyd Doggett (Texas) and Raul Grijalva (Arizona) have said Biden must move aside.

But a strict sense of electoral omerta keeps most from going public.

What Democrats say in private is another matter. There's even a theory that the party has given up on winning in November and is already looking ahead to 2028.

Earlier this week, Democratic state governors met their President at the White House, allegedly to 'stand with him'.

But after Tuesday, Nancy Pelosi and Jim Clyburn, two of the most powerful politicians in the party were expressing their ambiguity.

'I think it's a legitimate question to say: 'Is this an episode or is this a condition?' said Pelosi, when asked about Biden's health.

When Biden veered off-script to make a jab at his opponent Donald Trump (pictured) he lost his train of thought and faded into silence

'I'll have to wait on the experts in medicine to give their opinion because I'm not a doctor,' said Clyburn when asked about the President's debate performance.

Other well-known Democratic figures have gone further. James Carville, the 79-year-old former strategist, urged the party to do 'something different'.

Reed Hastings, the Netflix co-founder who is one of the biggest donors to the Democratic party, also weighed in, saying: 'Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump.'

The 'Joe must go' faction  the 'Bed Wetting Brigade', Team Biden calls them  is growing. But it must confront some awkward truths.

The most immediate is that Joe Biden has already won the Democratic primary process for in 2024.

If he continues to refuse to step aside, it is almost impossible to see how his critics can hijack his confirmation as the party's nominee in Chicago next month.

'What you've got to understand is that Joe Biden is the Pope of the Democratic party,' says one Democratic operative. 'He is the leader, the unifier. He's not going to be forced out.'

It's long been said that the only person who could persuade Joe to stand down is his wife Jill. But the First Lady seems even more determined than her husband to battle on.

She appears on the cover of this month's Vogue magazine alongside the headline: 'WE WILL DECIDE OUR FUTURE.'

It's not just Jill. The whole Biden family convened at Camp David on Sunday and urged Joe to stay in the race.

Hunter, the President's son, a recovering crack addict recently found guilty of lying to buy a gun, reportedly played a key part in discussions.

The only real hope for Democrats who want Biden brushed aside is that the party's bigwigs will unite to demand his resignation  a possible echo of the last time a president resigned.

In 1974, during the Watergate scandal, Republican senators persuaded Richard Nixon to stand down.

Some claim that Pelosi, the former speaker of the House, is the only Democrat with enough influence to force the President's resignation.

She has worked with him for many years and shares his very liberal Catholicism.

Others say that Clyburn, as arguably the most powerful African-American in Congress, has sufficient clout.

The only real hope for Democrats who want Biden brushed aside is that the party's bigwigs will unite to demand his resignation  a possible echo of the era of Richard Nixon, the last time a president resigned

It was Clyburn who all but won Biden the Democratic nomination in 2020 as he endorsed him in South Carolina.

Or there's Barack Obama, the most popular living Democratic politician, who last week issued a prompt statement of support for Biden on social media.

'Bad debate nights happen,' he said.

But the relationship between Obama and Biden is complicated. The two men have often bickered in private.

And Michelle Obama, the former First Lady, is reportedly refusing to campaign for the Bidens as she is bitter at the way they treated her friend Kathleen Buhle, Hunter's first wife.

Insiders tend to agree, though, that Obama and the Democratic elite will probably not turn on Biden any day soon, because there are no good alternatives.

If Biden withdrew and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, she would almost certainly secure the nomination.

A hastily released survey this week showed that Harris now polls better than Biden against Trump.

But she is widely held to have been a disaster as 'Veep'. One consultant suggested swing-state voters would prefer a 'dead or comatose Joe Biden' to Harris.

If Biden stood down and declined to support Harris, the Democratic National Committee might have to open up the convention for other candidates to stake their claim.

But all the most frequently touted names have severe limitations. Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan governor, is seen as untested on the national stage.

California governor Gavin Newsom's once complicated private life is regarded as a potential liability.

The billionaire governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzker, may be able to fund his campaign, but he would anger the Democratic Left.

Party chiefs also know that reopening the nomination process would probably result in chaos.

Radical activists are furious at the party establishment over its support for Israel's war in Gaza.

Disorder could break out on the streets, as happened at the 1968 convention in the same city, also the last time a Democratic president withdrew during the election cycle.

That year, Lyndon B. Johnson stood aside and the party machine tried to install his vice president, Hubert Humphrey, against the will of voters enraged by the Vietnam War.

This year history might repeat itself not as tragedy, but as farce.

Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator
The British people delivered their verdict yesterday on the state of British politics. For the Conservative Party, it was a crushing and emphatic verdict of guilty.

Guilty of failing to listen to their concerns. Guilty of breaking its promises on migration, tax and much else.

Worst of all, guilty of putting internal feuding and personal vanity before the national interest.

The anarchy that brought about the downfall of Boris Johnson and its chaotic aftermath was something the electorate could not and would not forgive.

In their collective judgment, the most successful political party in modern history had relinquished the right to govern.

The British people delivered their verdict yesterday on the state of British politics. For the Conservative Party , it was a crushing and emphatic verdict of guilty. Pictured: Newly elected Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer with his wife, Victoria

From the South coast to the North of Scotland, from the Severn to the Wash, Tory seats fell like dominoes to Labour

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From the South coast to the North of Scotland, from the Severn to the Wash, Tory seats fell like dominoes.

In the 'Red Wall' constituencies of the North, Midlands and Wales, the main beneficiary of this outpouring of rage was Labour. In the shires it was the Liberal Democrats.

But across the piece, the Tories' most sanguinary nemesis was Reform UK.

Nigel Farage and his party may have won just five seats but, by splitting the right-of-centre vote, they cost Rishi Sunak dozens, if not scores.

This was by no means the only catalyst for the Conservatives' historic drubbing.

They lost 251 seats, saw their vote crash by nearly 20 per cent and were left with just 121 MPs, their lowest total ever.

This was repudiation on an epic scale. The voters' main motivation seems not to have been who they wanted to win, but who they wanted to lose.

Across the country, they turned to Labour, Lib Dem, Reform, Greens, an array of independents, even Jeremy Corbyn  anyone who could beat the Tory candidate.

At his North Yorkshire constituency early yesterday, Mr Sunak described the result as 'sobering' for his party.

There are more accurate words. Lacerating. Humiliating. Potentially existential.

What the coming months will determine is whether this abject defeat will go down in history as their Yorktown, or merely Dunkirk. Wipe-out, or trigger for renaissance.

Their biggest comfort is that although Labour won plenty of seats, they clearly have not won hearts and minds.

Nigel Farage and his party may have won just five seats but, by splitting the right-of-centre vote, they cost Rishi Sunak dozens, if not scores

Despite Sir Keir Starmer's vapid cliches about Britain being bathed in 'the sunlight of hope', this was a loveless landslide.

Only one in three voters backed Labour on a pitifully low turnout of under 60 per cent.

So, supported by little more than 20 per cent of those eligible to vote, Sir Keir's sizeable majority is built on sand.

His gloating 'Starmtroopers' need to understand that their margin of victory is a freak of the electoral system caused by the collapse of faith in the Government. It is not an enthusiastic mandate for radical change.

His share of the vote was the lowest for an incoming Prime Minister with an outright majority since the Great Reform Act of 1832.

At 33.7 per cent, it was eclipsed by the 40 per cent Jeremy Corbyn managed in 2017  and was substantially less than the combined share of the Conservatives and Reform UK.

Embittered Remainers, including Sir Keir, love to complain that 'only' 52 per cent of the country voted to leave the EU.

That was a ringing endorsement compared with Labour's vote share at this election.

Indeed, Sir Keir himself has the dubious honour of becoming the least popular opposition leader to win a General Election in recorded history.

His landslide is a consequence of massive changes in the political landscape and the extraordinary fragmentation of the mainstream vote.

In the 2017 General Election, a whopping 82 per cent of votes cast went to either the Conservatives or Labour. This time around, it was merely 58 per cent.

There was no single party of protest or dissent. This is testament to the volatile times we live in.

The breaking of the historic voting link, first in the EU referendum and then again when Boris Johnson secured an 80-seat Tory majority in 2019, means the electorate is no longer bound by party tribalism.

In the 'Red Wall' constituencies of the North, Midlands and Wales, the main beneficiary of this outpouring of rage was Labour. In the shires it was the Liberal Democrats. Pictured: Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey

Voters are prepared to abandon their traditional political homes as never before.

Bizarrely, some are more interested in what happens overseas than in their own back yard, as evidenced by the four constituencies which elected pro-Palestinian candidates.

The arrival of sectarian manifestos and voting along ethnic-religious lines in England is new and deeply troubling, with major ramifications for our democracy.

Two female Labour MPs described in their victory speeches the intimidation, threats, and harassment they faced from mostly male pro-Gazan activists during the campaign.

Some will argue Labour is reaping what it has sown, having indulged minority identity politics for decades.

So, what will a Starmer government look like?

The big question: Will Sir Keir keep to his promise not to raise taxes, or will he cave in?

We already know from the spiteful VAT raid on private schools and proposals to ban the country pursuit of trail hunting that Labour has a class war agenda.

In the next few weeks we can expect all the single-issue cranks and loudmouths on the Left of British politics to be bending Sir Keir's ear on everything from just stopping oil to allowing trans women access to female-only spaces.

Striking unions will be expecting bumper pay rises, while councils, cultural institutions, the care and education sectors and every quango under the sun will be holding out the begging bowl.

Will Sir Keir keep to his promise not to raise taxes, or will he cave in?

He has pledged not to hike headline levels of income tax, National Insurance, VAT and corporation tax. But that leaves many other opportunities.

Pension raids, capital gains and inheritance tax increases, a rates revaluation, fuel and green levies are all in Labour's sights.

But Sir Keir must govern on behalf of the 80 per cent of the country who did not vote for him as well as the 20 per cent who did.

If he raises taxes, allows unchecked immigration, fails to make the crumbling NHS work and kowtows to wokery, then discontent, discord and civil unrest will be the price he pays. He has a large majority but the flimsiest of mandates.

So, to paraphrase Leo Tolstoy, what then must the Tories do to rise from the ashes? The first imperative is not to panic.

They can bounce back but it will take hard work, careful planning, iron discipline and  above all  unity of purpose.

Rishi Sunak's farewell speech was a model of dignity and good grace. He deserved better

This administration has been marked by factionalism and disloyalty. This must end.

The most depressing recent example was former Home Secretary Suella Braverman's eve-of-poll attack on her party and its leadership. It was an unforgiveable breach of faith.

Mr Sunak is a thoroughly decent man who can be proud of the way he refloated the Tory ship after the madness of the Truss interregnum.

His farewell speech yesterday was a model of dignity and good grace. He deserved better.

He has said he will stand down as soon as the process for electing a new leader begins. Then it must be back to the drawing board.

This is a party that has lost its bearings in recent years. It needs to decide what it is for.

For too long, it has tried to be New Labour-lite  a post-Blairite party of social democracy and wishy-washy Third Way politics.

As Reform has shown, this has left a vacuum on the Right of the political spectrum.

There is a desperate need for the Conservative party to rediscover its core values  low tax, free markets, controlled borders, strong defences, rewarding hard work and thrift, and a state that supports families without interfering in every aspect of their lives.

At the time of the 2005 election, the Conservatives' third consecutive heavy defeat at the hands of Tony Blair, the political writer Geoffrey Wheatcroft published a book entitled The Strange Death of Tory England.

Not for the first time, the party's demise was greatly exaggerated. Five years later, it began an unbroken run of 14 years in power. Such a regeneration is possible again.

Yes, the 2024 election has been a traumatic and humiliating experience. But if the party learns its lessons well, it can yet be a beginning, rather than an end.
And ghastly, thro' the drizzling rain, on the bald street breaks the blank day', or so wrote Alfred, Lord Tennyson on another occasion. It certainly seemed fitting as I biked through the suburbs on Friday morning, contemplating 20 years of dwelling in Starmergrad, if I make it that far.

We are told that we should give 'losers' consent' when people we don't like win democratic elections, and I agree that it is the only civilised thing to do.

But I can't actually remember an election when I did not have to give at least a bit of loser's consent. A bit of winner's gloating, as enjoyed by the other side, would be fun. But in this case, who are the winners and who is gloating?

Bridget Phillipson's supporters greet the moment of her victory with clenched-fist salutes, as if she was off to fight in the Spanish Civil War

I noticed something interesting at the victory of Bridget Phillipson MP at Houghton and Sunderland South. Her supporters greeted the moment with clenched-fist salutes, as if Ms Phillipson was off to fight in the Spanish Civil War.

Ms Phillipson has been the chilly public face of the spiteful tax raid on independent schools, one of the nastiest policies Labour has yet publicly admitted to. And the scene made me wonder: 'Who are all these new Labour MPs, so cleverly propelled into Parliament by the self-indulgence of a few thousand Reform voters?' For that is what happened.

The actual Labour vote was pitifully small. There was never any true enthusiasm for them. But the Nigelistas' emotional spasm destroyed the line of defence which would otherwise have kept us from swapping Bad Tories for Worse Labour.

Well, who are the new MPs? Are they open-minded, undogmatic, generous men and women who see both sides of the argument? Or are they the kind of people you meet in local government, in comprehensive schools and the new universities, zealous Net Zero Greens, ferociously politically correct, filled with scorn for conservative ideas and people, always up for a heresy hunt?

I have a hunch they fall into the second category, and we'll see that pretty soon in the way they use their huge majority.

Still, the people who helped to put them in will be able to comfort themselves with The Farage Party's contingent of five MPs



I noticed on Friday that Sir Keir Starmer's arrival at Downing Street was greeted by a 'crowd' of people waving Union Jacks. Who were they? Normal members of the public have been barred from Downing Street for decades. Who gave them the flags? Labour supporters are iffy about the UK flag, which many of them regard as racist. Over the years to come, film of this event will be repeatedly shown, as will still pictures of it, as if it was a real spontaneous demonstration of welcome. It was not, any more than the similar 'welcome' given to Sir Anthony Blair in 1997.

Why I still have doubts over Letby verdict Last September I expressed grave doubts about the justice of the conviction of Lucy Letby, the nurse accused of murdering seven newborn babies in a Chester hospital neonatal unit. I pointed out that there were possible weaknesses in the case against her which are especially serious because she has been sent to prison until she dies. Nurse Lucy Letby has been sent to prison until she dies Soon afterwards, I had to remain silent about this for months. This was to avoid prejudicing the retrial of one of the cases against her where the jury could not reach a verdict. I am still not quite sure of the purpose of this retrial, as Ms Letby cannot be given a sentence any longer or harder than the one she is now serving, but there you are. That trial is now over, ending in another conviction. So I can return to the subject. I remain very disturbed by the case. This is why I hope that everyone in this country will soon be able to read a careful, calm and thoughtful examination of the case by Rachel Aviv, in the New Yorker magazine of May 20. The New Yorker is very careful about what it publishes and did not lightly print this article. But it was not available in this country at the time, again because of the retrial. I think it may soon be readily obtainable here. It should form the basis of a badly needed debate. Advertisement

We need a real anti-PC drama

The ITV drama Douglas Is Cancelled has for some reason been praised as a courageous depiction of the intolerance of the modern media world. I disagree.

In the programme, starring Hugh Bonneville and Karen Gillan, a middle-aged male TV presenter's life and career are supposedly ruined because of an incorrect joke he has told at a wedding. But in fact this is not what happens at all. Someone seems to have been frightened of condemning this sort of mob justice. Instead viewers endure a series of peculiar, misleading and quite dull sub-plots.

In Douglas Is Cancelled, starring Hugh Bonneville and Karen Gillan, a middle-aged male TV presenter's life and career are supposedly ruined because of an incorrect joke he has told at a wedding

There's an apparent #MeToo episode, in which we are toyed with at tedious length. There's an attack on popular newspapers. There's an absurd gag-writer who could not possibly be so inept. And there are cheap, shallow caricatures of so-called 'snowflakes' to make it look as if the drama is a bit Right-wing.

Well, it isn't, as is evident from the guest appearance of Left-wing saint Kirsty Wark. I don't think she'd have been so keen on a truly anti-PC programme. Ms Wark plays herself as an interviewer at the ghastly liberal Hay Festival (full disclosure: I was once abruptly and rudely disinvited from Hay, no reason given, but I can guess it was for writing a book critical of illegal drugs and their users).

A real drama about modern intolerance is still badly needed, though I'm not sure who'd show it.
A new docuseries is set to explore the bizarre and twisted tale of Thomas Randolph - the man who has been married six times with four of his wives mysteriously dying.

The Investigation Discovery series The Black Widower: The Six Wives of Thomas Randolph will stream on Max from July 16.

The episodes delve into whether Randolph is a calculated killer or simply unlucky - with each death leaving him without a wife but hundreds of dollars richer thanks to multiple life insurances policies paid out.

Nevada-native Randolph, now 69, earned his nickname the 'Black Widower' after his four wives died in eerie circumstances.

The trailer for the series shows Randolph in prison, talking about the death of his sixth wife, Sharon Causse, who was shot to death in a staged home invasion in 2008.

A new docuseries is set to explore the bizarre and twisted tale of Thomas Randolph; who has been married six times - with four of his wives mysteriously dying

In the 2017 trail, prosecutors accused him of arranging for his friend and handyman Michael Miller to kill her in what would've appeared to have been a home invasion, in order to collect more than $300,000 in life insurance payouts.

Randolph, who maintains his innocence in the circumstances surrounding Causse's death, retells the night his sixth wife was murdered in the short trailer.

'Let's start with Sharon,' he begins. 'Okay nice dinner for Mother's Day and she says "let's go home and have sex."'

He continues: 'Everything we did was compatible - best sex ever, best grandma...'

It then cuts to a 911 call that Randolph makes, reporting his wife's death and a news story reporting a woman and the apparent masked and armed burglar had been shot.

'What version of event is the truth?' someone asks, spliced with clips from Randolph's daughter admitting she doesn't know if her father is innocent or not along with interviews from the victims' families and legal analysts.

Causse died in May 2008 after Miller, masked and armed, broke into Randolph's house in Nevada and shot her dead.

Randolph was convicted for a second time for the death of Causse and the hitman, Michael Miller, he hired to murder her.

Randolph, who maintains his innocence in the circumstances surrounding Causse's death, retells the night his sixth wife was murdered in the short trailer

Prosecutors accused him of arranging for his friend and handyman Michael Miller to kill his sixth wife, Sharon Causse, in what would've appeared to have been a home invasion

The episodes delve into whether Randolph is a calculated killer or simply unlucky; with each death leaving him without a wife

Randolph called 911 after the apparent home invasion, reporting his wife's death

He was retrialed after the state's Supreme Court ruled a retrial was needed arguing the 2017 jury never should have heard evidence about the 1986 death of Randolph's second wife, Becky Gault, in Utah.

Randolph was originally sentenced to the death, but it was overturned in 2020.

Juries in both the 2017 and 2023 trials heard evidence from and about several of his ex-wives, which painted a picture of a violent, abusive and manipulative man who had a pattern of marrying, then abusing women.

Kathryn Thomas

Randolph married his first wife in 1975 when she was just 18 years old and he was 20.

During Randolph's first trial, Thomas, who divorced him in 1983, told jurors that he was a controlling, manipulative and psychologically abusive person.

She revealed an incident when he threw a bowl of oatmeal at the wall because it didn't have sugar on it.

After remarrying, she and her new husband reportedly moved several states away to Washington to get some distance between themselves and Randolph.

Sharon Causse (left) died after Randolph hired a friend of his to kill her and make it look like a robbery gone wrong. His other wives, including Kathryn Thomas (right), testified in his trials

Becky Gault

Prosecutors told jurors Gault was found dead with a bullet in her skull in the home she shared with Randolph just three years after she married him.

The couple got married on the same day in 1983 when his divorce with Kathryn Thomas was finalized.

Randolph received a $500,000 life insurance payout after her death was initially ruled a suicide.

He was later charged, and acquitted, for her murder after cops discovered he used to sing songs about murdering her.

Randolph also tried to hire a hitman to kill her, who ended up being a police officer.

While Randolph pleaded guilty to witness tampering, he was never convicted of her murder.

Becky Gault (left) was found with a bullet lodged in her head, through Randolph was never convicted of her murder. Gayna Allmon (right) told jurors that she believes he tried to kill her in an attempted shooting while they were married

Gayna Allmon

Randolph's third wife told jurors at his first trial she believes that Randolph tried to kill her in an attempted shooting.

She revealed when they were married, Randolph shot at her while cleaning his gun.

The bullet left a hole in their kitchen, and she believed her life was in danger after that.

Randolph did not allow Francis Thomas' daughter to see her while she was hospitalized

Francis Thomas

Thomas died in the hospital in 2004 following botched heart surgery, a witness, Glen Morrison, told jurors he was asked by Randolph to kill her and to stage the crime scene as a robbery, in a similar way to how his then-future wife Sharon Causse died.

Thomas' daughter was allegedly not allowed to visit her mother while she was sick.

On top of this, Randolph reportedly cremated his wife's body less than 24 hours after she died.

While he was married to Leona Stapleton, his fifth wife, there is little public knowledge about her. Her family told the court during his first trial that she had died of cancer.

The Black Widower: The Six Wives of Thomas Randolph will stream on Max from July 16.
He was brought up by his aunt and uncle and would see his mom twice a year

He claims that she left him when he was 11 to move away with her boyfriend

Travis Holman always had a strained relationship with his mom Lynda, now 60

A man has candidly revealed that he found out his mom was a murderer after searching her name on Google.

Travis Holman, 36, had a strained relationship with his mom Lynda, now 60, through much of his life.

He claims that she abandoned him when he was 11 to move away with her boyfriend Mark McCollum - leaving Travis and sister Daisy Holman, then 13, to fend for themselves.

Brought up by their aunt and uncle, the kids would see their mom twice a year and speak to her on the phone.

Travis, from Sacramento, California, became increasingly worried about his mom as the years passed and was curious to see what results he would find if he searched her name online.

Travis Holman, 36, had a strained relationship with his mom Lynda, now 60, through much of his life

He claims that she abandoned him when he was 11 to move away with her boyfriend Mark McCollum - leaving Travis and sister Daisy Holman, then 13, to fend for themselves

Travis, a freelance television production assistant, explained how he made the shocking discovery.

'I Googled the names of a few family members I haven't seen for a while.

'I knew my mom had priors, she was convicted of manslaughter in the 90s.

'I typed her name into Google and the first article that popped up was Lynda Holman's arrest - I thought it was her previous conviction.

'But when I looked at the date it said February 16, 2010, and my mind imploded.

'I went to her arraignment and that was the last time I ever saw her.

'This time I could see her from the other end of the courtroom.

'I will never forget the look on her face - it was a combination of complete happiness to see me but at the same time it was shame.'

Travis and Daisy were brought up by their mom Lynda after their dad died on December 13, 1991 from an ongoing heart condition.

Travis said they had a complicated childhood as his mom was a 'wild child' but she did care for him and his sister.

He said: 'I remember she did a lot of partying. For instance, she had a muscle car and I remember us doing doughnuts in it.

'She was an affectionate mother. All the time it was 'I love you' and 'you're special' - my sister and I felt that.

'We felt loved but she had a difficult upbringing just like my sister and I ended up having.'

In 1998, Lynda went out for a night out and met Mark in a bar and brought him back to the family home in Kendall, Washington, Travis said.

Mark and Lynda dated for months before she abandoned Travis and Daisy and moved to Deming, Washington, to live with her boyfriend, he says, in 1998.

Travis said: 'She came home after being away for a week or so and packed her duffle bag and never came back.

'We spent four months fending for ourselves alone.

'Although we were afraid and terrified we were more afraid to reach out to someone else.

'When she left we went months without contact and then eventually our auntie and uncle came to collect us.'

Travis and Daisy were brought up by their mom Lynda after their dad died on December 13, 1991 from an ongoing heart condition

Despite Lynda leaving them both, Travis and Daisy continued to have a relationship with their mom and would see her once or twice a year.

Following his discovery about their mom's conviction, Travis explained: 'I called my sister immediately but there was no answer.

'I then called my best friend as I just needed someone to speak to.

'The next day I drove up to the police station to try and see my mom but I wasn't allowed.

'I knew for a fact that she was going to be going away for a long time.'

He later discovered that on February 16, 2010, police responded to a 911 call to investigate a shooting at the home that Lynda and Mark lived in.

When police arrived on the scene, Lynda was outside the property and told the police what happened, according to documents from the Court of Appeals of the state of Washington.

She told the police that Mark made a comment about killing ghosts, according to legal documents.

In response, Lynda took a shotgun off a rack in the bedroom, put the butt of the gun on the floor, and put the barrel up to her chin, according to a court document.

Lynda claims Mark told her to put the gun down and as she was putting the gun back it discharged and shot Mark.

Despite Lynda leaving them both, Travis and Daisy (pictured together) continued to have a relationship with their mom and would see her once or twice a year

He explained his relationship with his mom is now 'as healthy as it can be'

Mark died on the scene and Lynda was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to reporters.

Travis said: 'According to my mom there was a ghost show on the TV, she went over to the wall where there was a gun.

'She grabbed it off the wall and said 'I am going to shoot the ghost and shot Mark in the chest.'

He added: 'Sitting in the jail, talking through bulletproof glass on the phone wasn't weird.

'I saw her in her jumpsuit. It broke my heart because I knew she had done something that was so terrible they were not going to let her out.'

In June, 2010, Linda was found guilty of second degree murder and first degree unlawful possession of a firearm and sentenced to 28 years behind bars.

Travis said: 'When my sister told me the ruling was second-degree murder and mom would be sentenced to 28 years I collapsed.

'I told my boss I had to go for the day and yeah it was a lot to process.

'Even though my mom struggled with alcoholism and likely PTSD from her childhood in foster homes and the trauma of that like I said she was a very affectionate loving mother.'

Travis said he collapsed to the floor when he heard about the length of the sentence.

He explained his relationship with his mom is now 'as healthy as it can be.'

Travis said: 'When she calls me there is a common theme.

'We will catch up on what either one of us are doing and what we have been up to.

'She will update me on her breast cancer battle, this is her second bout of breast cancer since being in prison.

'She has had a double mastectomy and she is going through chemotherapy.

'Apart from that, we joke around a lot.

'For someone who has been locked away for over a decade, she has a terrific sense of humor.

'From speaking to her I can tell that she is remorseful for what happened.'
The King and Queen of Denmark looked to be in high spirits as they were welcomed to Igaliku village on the second week of their trip to Greenland.

They were all smiles as they chatted with wellwishers, and were greeted with people holding Danish and local flags, with stunning rolling green hills in the background.

Frederik X, 56, and his wife Mary, 52, grinned for photos in matching waterproof ensembles as they explored the south of the island.

The royals' Instagram account revealed that the couple arrived yesterday and spent the night in the region, where Norse explorer Erik the Red's ship arrived more than 1,000 years ago.

The couple walked to the village along the Kongevejen - a gravel road that takes you from Itilleq to Igaliku, named after Frederik IX who visited in 1952, and is renowned for its stunning views.

The King and Queen of Denmark looked to be in high spirits as they were welcomed to Igaliku village on the second week of their trip to Greenland

Both looked ready for action in hiking ensembles as they trekked along the countryside.

Mary showed off her sporty style in deep green trousers, teamed with a chic cream button-up.

Her chestnut tresses were first styled in loose waves, but the Queen later threw her hair up into a bun.

She kept her make-up sophisticated as ever, with a dewy base and glamorous smokey eyes.

Meanwhile, Frederik donned black hiking trousers and a light brown hoodie for the outing.

The pair initially sported matching pullovers - Mary's in a forest green and Frederik's in khaki - but took them off as the temperatures warmed.

The Danish royals have been travelling around Greenland since last week. Yesterday, Mary visited a sustainable Naasut institution for children in Nuuk, which translates to 'flower' in Greenlandic.

The organisation works with the Mary Foundation's anti-bullying program called 'Free From Bullying' which has been rolled out in The Faroe Islands, Estonia, Iceland, Romania, France and Greenland.

The royals ' Instagram account revealed that the couple arrived yesterday and spent the night in the region, where Norse explorer Erik the Red's ship arrived more than 1,000 years ago

Frederik X, 56, and his wife Mary, 52, grinned for photos in matching waterproof ensembles as they explored the south of the island

Both looked ready for action in hiking ensembles as they trekked along the countryside. The couple walked to the village along the Kongevejen - a gravel road that takes you from Itilleq to Igaliku, named after Frederik IX who visited in 1952, and is renowned for its stunning views

Meanwhile, Frederik donned black hiking trousers and a light brown hoodie for the outing in Igaliku

The pair initially sported matching pullovers - Mary's in a forest green and Frederik's in khaki - but took them off as the temperatures warmed

They were all smiles as they chatted with wellwishers, and were greeted with people holding Danish and local flags, with stunning rolling green hills in the background

Mary looked every inch a Queen in a crisp white pleated long-sleeved blouse which she tucked into black cigarette trousers.

She wore her glossy brunette tresses down in a styled wavy blow-dry and opted for natural makeup with a hint of eyeliner and mascara.

In one sweet snap, Mary is seen getting down on her knees to sit with the children on the ground, with one boy holding up a small purple teddy bear to her face.

The youngsters were joined by the mother-of-four as a teacher at the daycare held up a colourful book to grab their attention.

Mary was pictured sitting down on a chair and appeared to be listening intently whilst smiling at the children in the classroom.

The duo, who became King and Queen at the start of the year, looked every inch the happy couple as soon as they touched down in Greenland last week.

As one of their first activities, the family visited a viewpoint with a whale microphone at Qeqertarsuaq.
Dear Bel,

Last year a friend (of 14 years) murdered a man in broad daylight. It was sudden, brutal and, as the judge deemed, planned, an act of revenge for a wrong she thought the man had committed against a family member over 25 years earlier. She is now serving life.

I went to the sentencing and found the defence barristers attempts to mitigate and the prosecutions case for increasing the statutory sentence fascinating, but listening to the victims family impact statements was harrowing.

I had to agree with the judges summing up when sentencing her to a minimum of 24 years. When she is released, if we are still alive, we will both be in our 80s.

It is difficult for me to discuss this with friends. Murder is seen as black and white in most peoples eyes. However, the person I knew had no indication of being violent and unstable  this would have been a red light to me as I find unpleasant people disturbing.

I will add that I grew up in foster care and have known many damaged individuals in my past, but this feels like a seismic shift from good to bad with nothing in between.

She was well liked, from a good family and loved animals (especially dogs) and nature. She had a supportive partner and has two teenage children who I thought were her world. I cant get them out of my mind. We attended classes together, mixed socially and she was kind to others.

I cant begin to comprehend why she did this to another human, her family, his family and herself. It has rocked my normal sense of it will pass. My equilibrium has been upended.

I understand humans are flawed and sometimes make out-of-character decisions, but this feels like total duality: Jekyll and Hyde. Did I miss some aspect of her character I should have seen?

While waiting for trial, we corresponded. But my question to you is this: would you carry on writing to someone who has been found guilty of a crime so brutal? Or not?

I am torn between thinking corresponding is the right thing to do because she was my friend and it must be horrible to be removed from everything you take for granted.

Or, is it really because I have a need to delve deeper in to her psyche to achieve some sort of closure for myself (selfish, I know)?

Do you have any thoughts please?

PATRICIA



Bel Mooney replies: Its easy to understand why you are so very disturbed by this terrible situation and find your dilemma intolerable. A sudden catastrophe like the one you describe  destroying two families  is almost impossible to comprehend, let alone come to terms with.

I can imagine the constant seesaw of horror and pity is exhausting and keeps you sleepless. Your friend deprived another human being of life and yet even now you have no idea why that side of her (the part that clearly held a deep grudge for 25 years) surfaced. Why she snapped  and killed.

You wonder whether you should have seen this side of her, but how could you? No matter how many books we read, films and documentaries we watch, and real-life stories we hear, we will never feel we have the key to human nature. Because there isnt one.

When people protest that they would never be unfaithful to a spouse, or steal, or deliberately inflict hurt on another person, I always think: But you might  depending on the circumstances.

How can we know? New parents can suddenly discover that passion within themselves that would kill to protect their child. But what about when the child grows up? And might we think of a beloved niece or nephew in the same way as our own child? I dont see why not.

Would I do anything at all to stop somebody attacking my granddaughter? For sure. Have you ever had violent thoughts about somebody who has harmed you or a loved one? Id say yes.

Who knows what dark, primitive passions lie buried, even for many years, waiting to rise to the surface in an instant?

Look how war turns people into savages. This is not about mitigation. It is why you remain confused that somebody you thought you knew could do such a terrible thing.

I doubt that sense of shock will ever go away. Your question about writing to her is the crux of your letter, but there too your confusion shows.

You dont actually state what you are torn between; you just question your own motivation. The logical omission, the other part of the quandary, is that you cease contact all together, because of your horror at her crime. I think your first feeling  that you should write because her situation must be awful  is a good one. She is already being punished by the state and by grief for the life she has lost, and (I assume) by guilt, too.

You dont have to punish her further, nor delve too deeply into whatever convoluted motives for writing.

In your place I would be sure to keep in touch with her partner and children as much as you can. Then I would make my letters as newsy as possible as well as asking her about facilities like the library, asking if she needs things sent in, and so on.

You can deplore her crime yet show kindness to someone you cared about.

Should she wish to confide more about her state of mind, then and now, thats up to her.

Whether or not to write to a friend of 14 years standing, in these circumstances, is not, in my opinion, a moral issue.

My angry husband is foul to me every day

Dear Bel,

Ive been married for 44 years to a man I used to love madly but who has turned into the most bad-tempered person Ive ever met.

He may have always been like this but when young and in love you tend to overlook things.

He is 68 and can never retire as he is a builder and I found out hes never paid national insurance (NI) contributions so has no pension.

I am still working part-time as a medical secretary. About 12 years ago he had prostate cancer and had his prostate removed.

Since then our sex life has been nil.

He is just foul to me all the time and the reason I dont leave is because we have two beautiful children whose lives would become a misery as he would lean on them so much if I wasnt about.

He cant do anything for himself (even booking medical appointments) so he would be asking them to do it.

We could sell our house and maybe buy a small flat each but he has never had to pay a bill in his life and I worry that the kids would end up picking up the slack for him and I dont want that for them.

Any advice would be a bonus as I am at the end of my tether!

LINDA

Bel replies: Your letter reminds me that for many women our default setting is to put our children first, even when theyre adults, at whatever cost to ourselves.

I was warned against this by a distinguished psychologist who reminded me of the importance of a degree of selfishness.

Quote of the week What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, Look! This is something new? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. There is no remembrance of former things . . . Holy Bible, Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1, verses 9-10 Advertisement

The late American poet Mary Oliver ends her oft-quoted poem, The Summer Day, with a key question: Tell me, what is it you plan to do / With your one wild and precious life? Its a useful poser for all of us. Sometimes, of course, actual choices are limited, yet mental attitude can still be untrammelled. And my suggestion to you, Linda, is that you shake yours up.

Before that, lets consider this husband who appears to have been given a free pass when it comes to personal responsibility.

Why? Was it because the young and in love person who married him turned herself into a doormat? Why has he never paid NI? Why didnt you know? Why cant he do anything for himself? Why has he never had to pay a bill in his life?

It sounds as if you have remained married to a spoilt, bad-tempered infant whom you constantly enabled, by overlooking far too much. And that certainly prompts another incredulous why?

I assume you have considered mental or physical conditions which might be the cause of his permanent ill-humour. I have nothing but sympathy for you in your predicament, but still think you have to do some tough self-questioning. You want to leave, but say the future wellbeing of your family is preventing you. Is that really true? If so, does it imply they will allow him to walk all over them too? Why? Have you talked to them? Or, indeed, to Mr Angry?

Does he know how you feel? Does he care? Is the real issue that youre afraid of being alone? I want you to write down honest answers to all my questions.

Youre 65 and need to start thinking hard about how to shape the rest of your one, precious life.

Living with somebody who is foul to you is a recipe for pointless misery. Since you cant stand it any more (the end of my tether) you must consider radical change.

Begin by imagining a peaceful life in that flat  not by thinking your first duty is to protect your grown-up offspring from their own father.

And finally... age is the gift that keeps on giving

There are many downsides to getting older but many benefits, too. On the one hand you can feel horribly tired, creaky, bemoan the fact that your magnificent, tumbling hair is rapidly disappearing down the shower drain, and examine the wrinkles knowing the most expensive, over-hyped cream can never make them disappear. On the other hand, with satisfaction I can list some of the gifts reserved for age. Heres five, off the top of my head. 1: I no longer care what people think of me, or feel I have to do things for the sake of promoting a book, furthering my career, doing my bit for society, or whatever. Im glad I once did a lot of charitable work, but thats enough. 2: I dont feel, as before, that I should really invite that person over to our place, because their invitation should be returned. I only want to be with people I really like or love. Lifes too short for social obligations. 3: IF I want to be as sweary as Catherine Tates Nan character, I jolly well will. Being a bit potty-mouthed can really perk you up. 4: I no longer want to travel to wonderful places, because Id much rather be at home with my husband and Sophie, Hattie and Lily, who sprawl on the old sofa with 12 little legs between them. Thats contentment. 5: Its such a relief to reach that stage when you feel you really have seen it all before  gasbag pre-election promises broken, politicians hoist on their own petards, passionate beliefs betrayed, shocking proofs of irresponsibility, brainless protesters, ideals dashed, profligate vanity projects and so on. The world carries on turning and you say: Open the good wine and lets make the best of it. Advertisement

Bel answers readers questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY, or email bel.mooney@dailymail.co.uk. Names are changed to protect identities. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence.
Taylor Owynns' voice is heard by million across NSW every day

Millions of Australians have heard Taylor Owynns' voice - but few would recognise her in the street if they saw her.

For the last 20 years, she has been the iconic voice of NSW trains and trams.

Melbourne-born Taylor, who now calls Sydney home, first got into acting in her twenties - but never expect her most famous line to be 'mind the gap'.

She recently stumbled across a viral Facebook post about her role in transport announcements and was touched by the public's fondness for her voice.

'I love this job, I really do. I was blown away by what it meant for people. I'm incredibly touched,' she told FEMAIL.

'When I record announcements, I always have the people in mind because I know what it's like when you're on a platform.

'There's distractions, there's a lot of other noise going on, you may not speak the language, it may not be your first language. So I'm always mindful of that.'

In her younger years, Taylor moved to New York where she didn't know a soul and only stayed for a year after realising how 'tough' it was.

Taylor Owynns (pictured) has been the voice of New South Wales trains and trams for the last 20 years. Many online have called her an 'Australian hero'

Passengers from across the state will be familiar with Ms Owynns' soothing voice sharing which train is arriving next or the next stop coming

Taylor then relocated to London where she thought she'd stay for the rest of her life, only to move back to Australia two years later.

Throughout her career, she has voiced hundreds of radio adverts and audiobooks, but the NSW transport job is the one closest to her heart.

She even briefly provided the voice for Melbourne's Flinders Street Station.

Passengers from across NSW will be familiar with Taylor's soothing voice reminding them of safety rules and which train is arriving next.

'Like all the opportunities in my life, it came about absolutely from left field. But I'm so glad it did. At the time they were wanting to change the voice from a man to a woman,' she explained.

Throughout her career, she has voiced hundreds of radio adverts and audiobooks, but the NSW transport job is the one closest to her heart

Most of the time Taylor prefers to maintain a low profile, but on a rare occasion she - or at least her voice - is recognised in public.

'I'm asked to take the odd selfie on occasion. Most of the time strangers say, "I know your voice from somewhere," but they can't pinpoint where exactly. So I feel compelled to confess and might give a live impression,' she said.

Once she was in the middle of the French countryside and met a German man who had lived in Sydney and recognised her voice.

Taylor said the the technology of public transport announcements was 'very different' when she was first hired for the job.

The full sentences heard over the PA system are in fact separately recorded words and phrases strung together, known as concatenated speech.

Her recordings had to be consistent in pitch and tone because 'it all had to blend as though it was one sentence even though it was actually a combination of several'.

Before landing the job with NSW Transport, she starred in the popular 90s children's show Bananas in Pyjamas and played teddy bear Lulu (right)

Before landing the job with NSW Transport, she starred in the popular '90s children's show Bananas in Pyjamas, in which she played Lulu the teddy bear.

Ms Owynns held the role for 12 years and said it was physically challenging at times due to the size and weight of the costume.

She described it as a 'very different job' compared to her train announcements work, allowing her to 'be a kid again'.

'It's like we were playing like little children. The teddies were supposed to be eight years old I think. It was a fabulous team of people,' she said.

'The suit was heavy. The feet were built around running shoes and were very large, the hands had four fingers, and I could only see through the nose cone.'

'I love this job, I really do. I was blown away by what it meant for people. I'm incredibly touched,' she told FEMAIL

Transport for NSW also shared images of Taylor on Facebook, prompting commuters to flood the comments with praise.

'I just LOVE the way Taylor announces Leppington and Edmondson Park. She makes them sound like magical places where unicorns roam. Always a highlight of my day and gives me a smile,' one Sydneysider wrote.

Another called her a 'national hero' while a third said she was an 'Australian icon'.

'Good to put a face to that iconic voice,' another wrote.

Surprisingly many confessed they thought the voice was TV presenter Gretel Killeen.
The average American kitchen is full of objects that release microplastics into food and drinks, whether through plastic cutting boards or the lining of teabags.

Microplastics, or fragments of any plastic that measure less than five millimeters in length, lurk in oceans, the air, food, and even drinking water.

Humans constantly inhale and ingest them, raising the odds of experiencing whole-body inflammation, neurological effects, DNA damage, and a weakened immune response.

Microplastics differ from PFAS, forever chemicals derived from plastic, which can take years to degrade in the environment and the human body. Microplastics are nearly as ubiquitous and take hundreds of years to break down in the environment.

Now, a growing body of evidence has shed light on the everyday items in your kitchen that are likely to contain the most microplastics.

Researchers in Pakistan found that each cup of tea brewed using a plastic tea bag released approximately 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics

Experts also recommend reaching for plastic-free glass or bamboo cutting boards, as plastic cutting boards also leach microplastics into food

Worldwide, people consume an average of five grams of microplastic every week, depending on age and sex, studies suggest.

Many plastics are used worldwide, with more than 20 percent classified by the EU as concerning due to their persistence, accumulation in human tissues, or toxicity.

The next time you make a cup of tea, consider that most tea bags are made with unsustainable polypropylene plastic and are not biodegradable. In some cases, excluding the tea, plastic accounts for roughly 25 percent of the teabag.

Not only are teabags an environmental hazard, but according to 2023 research from the Dow University of Health Sciences in Pakistan, when combined with hot water, they release a flood of microplastics.

Researchers there found that each cup of tea brewed using a plastic tea bag released approximately 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics.

Tea bags may also contain other harmful substances, including fluorine compounds, arsenic, radium salts, aluminum, copper, lead, mercury, cadmium, barium, and nitrates.

Surprising microplastic-laden household items Tea bags Paper cups Ice cube trays Microwave-safe food containers Plastic cutting boards Advertisement

Even paper tea bags may release microplastics from the sealant to close the bags.

Paper cups that hold the tea and other hot drinks also release microplastics. While they may seem like a suitable alternative to plastic and styrofoam cups, paper cups are not harmless.

The inside of the cups is lined with a sealant, typically up to 10 percent high-density polyethylene (HDPE), to insulate them and prevent leakage.

A disposable paper cup (100 ml) with a plastic liner can leach approximately 25,000 micronsized microplastic particles in the hot liquid it holds.

Toxic heavy metals such as lead (Pb), chromium (Cr), and cadmium (Cd) were also found in the films used in tea bags, and there is concern that these metals can leach into hot water during brewing.

Like plastic lining on paper cups, plastic ice cube trays can also impart microplastics to ice.

Plastics, being resistant to water and ice, tend to float on the surface of water and ice. When water freezes, these plastic particles are pushed out of the ice because they don't mix well with water.

As more people become aware of the dangers of microplastics in the home, new, plastic-free alternatives have emerged.

Silicone and metal ice trays are promoted as a sustainable alternative to plastic trays.

Plastic food storage deemed microwave-safe also leaches microplastics into the food it holds.

In 2023, a team of researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln found that microwaving baby food in plastic containers can release more than two billion nanoplastics and four million microplastics per square centimeter of the container.

The health issues associated with consuming microplastics are still under investigation. Still, one of the teams experiments concluded that three-quarters of cultured kidney cells were dead just two days after being in contact with the particles.

The researchers concluded that toddlers consuming microwaved dairy products and infants drinking microwaved water/drinking products absorb the greatest relative concentrations of plastic.

Experts also recommend reaching for plastic-free glass or bamboo cutting boards, as plastic cutting boards also leach microplastics into food.

A 2023 peer-reviewed study reported that chopping on polypropylene cutting boards released more microplastics (5-60 percent greater mass and 14-71 percent greater number of microplastics) than polyethylene boards.

Using a polyethylene cutting board could result in an annual exposure of seven to about 51 grams of microplastics per person, whereas a polypropylene board could lead to an exposure of 49.5 grams.

In terms of quantity, polyethylene boards may release between 14.5 to about 72 million microplastics annually, while polypropylene boards could release nearly 80 million.

Microplastics are nearly impossible to avoid as they touch every facet of our lives. Because of this, a growing body of research is examining how they might effect human health.

Eleven brands of bottled water collected from around the world, for instance, were tested for microplastics, and 93 percent showed signs of contamination.

Whats more, as study of human placentas published earlier this year found evidence of microplastics in every single sample, with concentrations ranging from 6.5 to 790 micrograms per gram of tissue.

PVC and nylon were the most common plastics detected, after polyethylene.

Plastics contain thousands of chemicals, including human carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxicants, and persistent organic pollutants.

When microplastics enter the body, they are seen as foreign invaders, triggering an immune response similar to fighting off a virus or bacteria.

But, unlike viruses or bacteria, the body can't break down microplastics, leading to persistent inflammation. This chronic inflammation is a significant concern because it's linked to diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular issues, and cancer, which are leading causes of death.
Everyone is talking about A313. No, not the road from Hampton Hill to Teddington, but the cult skincare beauty buy.

Sienna Miller, a recent convert, says Alexa Chung turned her on to the product and raves about it as the secret to French-girl skin. She describes A313 as a retinol that you can get quite cheaply over the counter in France. If you have to look good the next day, put that on when you go to bed. Reader, Ill have whats shes having.

But honestly, its not new. Models, make-up artists, muses  all those who have access to far pricier skincare for free  have long stocked up on A313 in Paris pharmacies when theyve visited for the fashion shows.

Whats the appeal? Well, it looks pleasingly medical (our brains equate that with efficacy) and its not stocked widely in the UK or US (so it feels delightfully exotic). Oh, it also costs less than 10 in France.

Sienna Miller is an A313 convert

Dr Marine Vincent, who owns The French Pharmacy in Londons Marylebone, sells A313 in store and online for 24.90, and explains its enduring popularity: It really does work well, is cheap and not too aggressive. It boosts collagen production, so it helps with fine lines and wrinkles. Plus, it improves dark spots and skin texture.

Quick beauty lesson. Vitamin A has anti-ageing properties. Retinoid products can contain natural and synthetic forms of vitamin A, such as retinol, retinal and retinyl esters (eg retinyl palmitate), which have varying levels of effectiveness.

Sarah Chapman, A-list facialist and a trusted authority on product formulation after many years spent developing her own brand, says, A313 uses retinyl palmitate, which can work well, but its an oil-soluble form, so is a greasy-feeling product that wont suit all skins. And it needs to go through a series of conversions in the skin to become the active form of retinoic acid, so it is slower to work than, say, retinol or retinal. But its still effective over time. I would use it as an introduction or for maintenance.

Ive been using Chapmans A1 Vitamin A Power 1 Face Serum, which is 90 from her new high-performance clinical range (sarahchapman.com). But, with fares from 39, you could take the Eurostar to Paris, buy the cream for less than the cost of Chapmans and still have enough change for a vin blanc!

So why should I pay more for her retinol product? Chapman says that her formula is very concentrated with retinol and retinal and includes other active ingredients to deliver maximum skin boost. She raves about its biomimetic delivery system (it imitates the bodys natural processes to ensure it is absorbed well by the skin). It is also carefully calibrated to reduce irritation and redness.

We use oilier retinyl palmitate in our Overnight Facial [from 62], Age Repair Concentrate [98] and Dynamic Defence Concentrate Intensive Day Cream with SPF 15 [92], says Chapman. We combine it with other actives for a multilevel approach to skin health.

Like Sienna, I use my retinoid at night (it doesnt mix well with UV rays) and I wear SPF during the day.

So how sophisticated your retinoid formula feels, how long it takes to work and the results it delivers may be cost-dependent. But if you dont mind a more unctuous cream (and many of us mature types love them), then A313, used diligently, should deliver brighter, plumper skin.

@lifesrosie

Fluoro, nailed

The Gel Bottles new Neon Nights Collection (from 14.80, thegelbottle.com) offers its brightest fluoros yet, from Hot Pink (right) to Lime Punch. Use to show your wild side.

You never know, when you go grey, if its going to be a good colour of grey, but I got lucky Jane Fonda

Under a tenner

Sanctuary Spas new Ultra Rich Hand Creams look beautiful, contain rejuvenating niacinamide and come in three fragrances: Signature, Lily & Rose and Golden Sandalwood (8.50, sainsburys.co.uk).
Roy Whaley was 22 when his GP first offered to prescribe him antidepressants, but he resisted for almost a year.

At the time he was suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). I had this intense anxiety around cleanliness and constantly needed to wash my hands, he says. I actually wanted therapy and was put on the waiting list, but it was a long wait.

After a very bad day when he crashed his car, he decided to give the antidepressants a try. I was having a week where everything seemed to be going wrong, says Whaley, now 39 and living in Somerset. He started on the SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) citalopram, and although it made no impact on his OCD, he noticed almost immediately that something else was changing.

Before I took it, I was a normal young lad who felt horny all the time, he says. Sex was on my mind constantly, and if I saw a naked woman, it would turn me on. Everything worked normally and when I had an orgasm, it was highly pleasurable.

When I took citalopram, my sex drive was wiped out. I stopped thinking about sex. If I had an orgasm, it was entirely pleasureless. The only analogy I can think of is when you have a cold and lose your sense of taste. You can still eat chocolate, but you cant enjoy it. You go through the process, but feel nothing.

For years, sexual dysfunction was an adverse effect of SSRIs that somehow slipped under the radar. Embarrassment and stigma stopped sufferers from coming forward  and many who did seek help were assured by their doctor that their symptoms were caused by depression and anxiety, not the medication.

This has slowly changed. Sexual dysfunction and the blunting of sexual responses has become a well-documented side effect of several classes of serotonergic antidepressants (antidepressants that act on the neurotransmitter serotonin), including SSRIs. For this reason, they have even been prescribed to help men who are suffering premature ejaculation. The drugs can cause inability to orgasm or pleasureless orgasm, genital numbness and loss of libido.

This can impact both women and men  although it is thought that men, who can also suffer erectile dysfunction as a symptom, might be more likely to report it and discontinue with the medication as a result.

The DJ and mental health campaigner Roman Kemp recently made headlines when he described how SSRIs reduced his libido  although for him, the problem was easily solved by switching to an alternative SSRI which, he says, got him back up and running.

Whats now emerging is that, for some, sexual dysfunction persists even when they have stopped taking the drug. This is a condition known as post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD), which was officially recognised by the European Medicines Agency in 2019 and the Canadian government in 2021.

Research has found that PSSD can continue for years, even when mental health is otherwise fine and scores for depression or anxiety are normal. One study found cases of PSSD after just four days of taking the medication; in another, the PSSD had continued for 16 years (at the time of the study).

Research from Israel found that men who had discontinued SSRIs were three times more likely to require medication for erectile dysfunction subsequently than the general population. Last month, a group of scientists in the US joined together to sue the Food and Drug Administration for failing to warn patients of these potential persistent sexual side effects.

Roy Whaley: Its my duty to show what can happen

Back in November 2007 when Whaley started on citalopram, he knew none of this. To be honest, at first, I wasnt even too bothered as I knew it was the drug  the effect was so immediate and dramatic that it was obvious. I just thought it would go away when I stopped taking it, he says.

Less than a month later, Roy did opt to stop taking it, partly because of this sexual side effect and also because it hadnt eased his anxiety. About a month after that, his sex drive hadnt returned to normal, so he went to his GP. He told me that it couldnt be the drug as it was all out of my system, he says. As the months passed, I got more and more worried as nothing seemed to get better.

Whaley began doing his own research and found people on a few online forums who were experiencing the same thing  today, the PSSD Reddit forum has 13,000 members. I began reading accounts from people whod had this for five or six years and still hadnt recovered, and that is when I started to really worry, he says.

It was around this point that Whaley finally got to the top of the waiting list to see a psychiatrist for his OCD. When he mentioned his sexual dysfunction at his first appointment, the psychiatrist dismissed it and instead convinced him to try the SSRIs again, which Whaley did for a few weeks before coming off.

If my libido was at 15 per cent of normal levels after taking SSRIs the first time, it had dropped to five per cent after the second, says Whaley. It has never recovered.

He has been in three short-lived relationships in the years since. I didnt tell my first girlfriend about it, he says.

I just sort of faked it, but the relationship eventually fizzled out. His subsequent relationships followed a similar pattern.

I did tell one girlfriend, he says, but sex is very difficult to fake when you feel completely asexual. Its almost like being an actor. Im getting close to 40, my siblings and cousins have all had children and settled into long-term relationships. This has caused me absolute chaos.

There is now an international support group for sufferers called the PSSD Network (pssdnetwork.org), which has helped Whaley. A year ago, the site had 7,000 monthly visits; now its 50,000. Ive met people on there who describe exactly the same experience, says Whaley. Theres a lot of desperation among people on the PSSD Network.

He is aware there are those who argue that talking about PSSD is irresponsible, as it might frighten off people who need the drugs for their mental health. However, he is adamant that in an era when SSRI prescriptions continue to soar (between 2015 and 2021, antidepressant prescriptions for children aged between five and 12 grew by 40 per cent), we should know the full facts, all the side effects and long-term risks.

There have been several suicides within the PSSD Network, including two last month. Maybe my own case is severe, but Ive met so many people in my normal life who have said that their sex drive has never been quite what it was since they took antidepressants, says Whaley.

This is why he is speaking out now  despite the embarrassment associated with the issue. I feel like its my duty to show what can happen, he says. Ive had it so long and its not getting any better. I dont feel I have much to lose.
A few years back, it seemed that regional French cooking, in London at least, had gone the way of le dodo.

Where once the capital was awash with rillettes de porc, escargots a la bourgogne, lapin a la moutarde and tarte tatin, there was gradually, then suddenly, next to nothing  la fin de laffaire. Racine, La Bouchee, Galvin Bistrot de Luxe and La Brasserie shut for good. And while stalwarts remained (Le Colombier, along with those grandes dames La Poule au Pot and LEscargot), pickings were unquestionably thin for those in search of some serious Gallic succour.

And while stalwarts remained (Le Colombier, along with those grandes dames La Poule au Pot and LEscargot), pickings were unquestionably thin for those in search of some serious Gallic succour.

Then Neil Borthwick (that great Gaul by way of Falkirk) took the reins at The French House, and last year Henry Harris returned to shake the pans at the excellent Bouchon Racine, swiftly followed by Claude Bosis magnificent Josephine, a few months later.

With that, all was agreable once more. Even more good news followed: Anthony Demetre, a genuinely talented chef who was behind Arbutus and Les Deux Salons, was to open his own Bistrot at Wild Honey at the Sofitel St James.

The food is very good indeed, says Tom, who tried dishes including asparagus with crushed poached egg (left) and pate en croute (right)

And the food is very good indeed. A beautiful pate en croute of chicken, pork and duck, the pastry soft and golden, the jelly luscious and wobbling. Asparagus come with a crushed poached egg, verdant with herbs.

Ham croquettes are immaculately fried orbs of gently oozing beauty, while a slab of crisp pigs head, rich and gloriously fatty, comes with a mound of buttery pommes puree. Grilled red prawns are as sweet as a mermaids sigh, while spit-roasted young chicken  all crisp, burnished skin and sweet, juicy flesh  is a masterclass in the art of rotisserie.

So why am I not utterly enamoured? The room, for a start, with its oxblood leather banquettes and black-and-white tiled floor, feels like a hotel lobby. And on this Tuesday night its all but empty, meaning the large, cavernous space is almost entirely devoid of atmosphere.

Not so much the bustle of a bistro as the icy cool of a marble mausoleum. Loud and irritating Muzak makes things worse. Even the service, as flawless as it is warm, cannot make up for its fundamental lack of soul. Because a room like this needs filling, a seasoning every bit as essential as salt.

Rating:

About 50 per head. Wild Honey St James, London SW1; wildhoneylondon.co.uk
My mum had just two wishes for her 80th birthday bash: that no one should pay, and that Champagne be served throughout. Its not a party otherwise, she said.

I agreed. But trying to square the venues Champagne list with my lemonade budget sent me into a doom spiral. Then my stepfather and I had a spat about why I would rather serve lemonade than be reduced to the sickly, one-dimensional Prosecco at the bottom of the list.

But whats this? A Cremant de Bourgogne  sparkling wine from Burgundy (geographically next door to Champagne). It came in at just five pounds more than the Prosecco, but 20 quid less than the cheapest Champagne. Cremant! We would serve Cremant!

The term describes a sparkling wine made by the same labour-intensive bottle-fermentation method as Champagne but outside the Champagne region. Only eight wine-making regions in France (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Die, Jura, Limoux, Loire, Savoie and Alsace) are permitted to use the term, as is one in Luxembourg.

The French have always said, It is better to drink good Cremant than bad Champagne, says Tara Ozols, head sommelier at 1 Hotel Mayfairs Dovetale restaurant. But in the UK a lot of people had this idea that its not premium because its not Champagne, which is a shame because there are some real bangers.

We seem to be catching on at last.

Cremant sales are rising as more of us are getting snobby about prosecco

Sales in the UK have been growing for over a decade and Cremant is everywhere from Ozols fancy Mayfair wine list to our supermarket shelves. A few months back, Waitrose reported that sales had overtaken those of its Spanish rival Cava  up 51 per cent compared with the same period last year. Sainsburys says Cremant and English sparkling wines are its big expansion areas, while Matt Downes, Tesco buying manager for France, Champagne and sparkling wine, confirms Cremant is the fastest-growing sparkling wine category.

Price is a big part of the appeal. Wine consultant Ruth Spivey says, My local pub doesnt have a Champagne any more, instead it has a Cremant  and it sells like hot cakes at 40 a bottle. At The Wine Society (a cooperative with 180,000 members), head of buying Pierre Mansour says it has recently dropped its Cremant prices as UK tax and duty on sparkling wines has gone down to protect our own UK offerings.

Another driver behind the rise of Cremant is that more of us are getting snobby about Prosecco, and Ill admit that includes me.

I would rather put Prosecco in a cocktail with some Campari than drink it solo. I know other people just enjoy the fizz experience, but for me, its a mixer.

So, what exactly is a Cremant? Ironically, the word originates from Champagne, where it was used to describe wines that werent quite as bubbly as Champagne. In the 1980s, the Champagne makers lobbied to stop other winemakers from using the expression methode Champenoise to describe wines made in the same way as their very protected and valuable brand.

In a sort of trade-off, in 1994 the word Cremant was offered to describe Frances finest bubbly from the eight regions, and all of this was laid down in grave-sounding EU amendments.

Not all French sparkling wines are Cremants, but all Cremants are sparkling. Each regions fizz is subject to specific rules to qualify as appellation dorigine controlee (AOCs), which indicates that a product has a certain level of craftsmanship and a distinct local character. These sparkling wines must be made from the juice of whole bunches of hand-harvested grapes, and only the juice from the first pressing can be used.

Only certain grapes are allowed in each region, usually ones that have a long history there and that work well with its terroir (that opaque wine word that means an areas soil, flora, fauna and climate).

Cremant, like Champagne, must undergo a second fermentation (usually for nine months  less than Champagne) in its bottle on lees (meaning in contact with dead yeast cells). Alexandra Price is wine buyer for the Crispin group of restaurants, bars and event caterers.

She observes, We have more Cremant and sparkling wine than Champagne on our lists now. At one end, an entry-level Cremant is a step up from Prosecco; at the other end are some of the Cremants that are made in the exact same way as the top grand cru Champagnes, but instead of costing several hundred pounds they come in at under 100.

There has been, says Price, a noticeable rise in willingness to choose something that isnt Champagne. Were going to see a lot more Cremants in supermarkets and on restaurant lists. My hunch is that this British love affair has only just begun.

Creme of the cremants

Kate Spicer tastes bottles from The Wine Society for six of the eight cremant regions, plus two from the high street.

Cremant de Die Brut, Poulet & fils NV (12%), 11.31, thewinesociety.com

From an appellation in the Rhone, this Clairette-rich blend is an absolute showstopper: yeasty and biscuity.

Cremant de Limoux Cuvee eugenie 2021, Antech (12%), 14.50, thewinesociety.com

From Limoux, which, according to wine lore, made fizz before Champagne. Fresh, delicate and Chardonnay-led.

Cremant de Loire 2021, Gratien & Meyer (12.5%), 14.50, thewinesociety.com.

With grapes including Chenin Blanc and the Loires red Grolleau, this is substantial  almost meaty, like a red wine.

Cremant de Savoie Brut Zero NV, Jean-Francois Quenard (12.5%), 20.81, thewinesociety.com.

Made with local Jacquere plus Pinot Noir. Brut zero means all sugar is turned to alcohol. Fruit-cakey.

Cremant dAlsace Cuvee Julien NV, Dopff au Moulin (12%), 14.31, thewinesociety.com.

Using local grapes Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois, this is easy drinking, if perhaps a tad dull.

Cremant du Jura Brut zero NV, Domaine de Montbourgeau (12%), 17.31, thewinesociety.com.

Made with Chardonnay, a Champagne grape. The region to watch, say sommeliers.

Cremant De Bordeaux Blanc De Noirs NV, Louis Vallon (12%), 14.75, Sainsburys.

Recommended by a friend, who buys a case at Christmas. A weighty blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Cremant de Bourgogne Brut (12%), 13.50, Sainsburys.

A Burgundian offering and the only real disappointment. It didnt feel well made. Some of the cheaper ones were tastier.

Digital artwork: @getmarktodoit
Perched on a hill in the North Cornwall fishing village of Boscastle is Penally House. A handsome three-storey property, it was built in 1836 for local merchant and suspected smuggler William Sloggatt.

We first saw the house on Rightmove in 2021, says Anouska Lancaster, an interior designer and QVC presenter. Our original plan was to relocate from Berkshire to Cornwall but not for a couple of years. However, the property looked so special, they booked a viewing.

Despite its hefty 1 million price tag, Lancaster and her husband Greig Scott were not the only ones interested in the house, and the elderly owners asked potential buyers to outline why they would want to have it.

Id done a lot of research on the houses history, so we wrote, explaining that we wanted Penally House to be restored to its former glory and for it to be our family home. A place for our four children, Kai [then aged] 17, Harry, 16, Maddie, 15, Mia 14, and future generations, says Lancaster.

We couldnt believe it when the owners chose us. Our solicitor, who is also the local harbour master, told us that someone had offered 250,000 over the asking price.

The Grade II-listed Georgian house was structurally sound but needed updating. Renovation work began in January 2022.

I started chronicling the progress on my Instagram page [@penally_house_cornwall] and shortly after work started, Renovation Nation, Channel 4s series (Mondays, 4pm) following projects across the UK, got in touch and asked us to be on the show.

It was a bit of a risk to take part, as it was a new programme and we didnt really know the format, but we were reassured that it would focus on the history and restoration of beautiful old properties and not just be about us. We were also concerned how the local villagers would feel. We didnt want to be perceived as flash interlopers  we really wanted to be accepted and become part of the community.

Because of the Grade II listing, the couple needed permission to change and update almost everything, even items that had been added in the 1990s, like the ugly panel radiators, says Lancaster. Everything took longer than wed hoped for. However, the family were in by Christmas of that year with a new heating system plumbed in, and the seven-bedroom house rewired.

We had about 200,000 for the refurbishments, so we decided to project-manage all the work ourselves, says Lancaster.

Thankfully, the show and the renovations were a success. I love vibrant colours and bold patterns, but felt it was important to respect the heritage of the house. We restored many original features including a classical Ionic-pilastered porch, elegant sash windows and decorative interior mouldings, says Lancaster.

My aim was to invoke a sense of joy in every room: for anyone to feel uplifted. And we do feel that way about the house.

Lights & shade

We decided on Midnight Ink from victorycolours.co.uk, for the cabinets, says Anouska. Peach glass pendants from rothschildbickers.com accent the floral wallpaper from woodchipandmagnolia.co.uk

Great details

Anouskas love of pink in varying shades is seen throughout the house. The sofa is from sofa.com and the wallpaper is from woodchipandmagnolia.co.uk. The wall panels and plaster mouldings were restored by local craftsman Lee Vanstone from classicmouldingssouthwest.co.uk

Dream design

This is one of the smaller bedrooms, but I wanted to create an impact and make it feel really cosy, says Anouska. The velvet scalloped Bella bed is from sofa.com, the wallpaper is from cole-and-son.com and the soft furnishings are from blithfield.co.uk

Space craft

The upstairs landing and hall are painted in Farrow & Ball Calamine, a soft pink, while all the woodwork is white. An antique Georgian table has been artfully blended with a glass sculpture and Space Girl artwork, from andrewmartin.co.uk

Custom colour

A bath painted in Penally Pink sits beside the elegant Georgian window. I worked with victorycolours.co.uk to create The Cornwall Collection of paint shades, which will be on sale in September, says Anouska.

A life aquatic

The dining room is an underwater-inspired odyssey. A unique work of art by Kristjana S Williams has been 3D printed and wrapped around the room. The table and chairs are from andrewmartin.co.uk

noushkadesign.com
There's nothing the City likes more than dealmaking  so it loves Halma.

The 10 billion health and safety equipment maker is eyeing some 600 firms as possible takeover targets.

It typically buys three to five firms a year and said in its annual report it was 'constantly monitoring' potential targets  and would play the long game.

Dealmaker: Halma is eyeing some 600 firms as possible takeover targets

Many are not for sale, so Halma must 'develop relationships with them' in advance of any offer. Halma unveiled its latest deal last month, for Global Fire Equipment, a Portuguese fire alarm maker it bought for 36 million.

The FTSE 100 firm posted a 340 million profit last year on its huge range of products, from water leak detecting to childbirth monitoring systems.

With City-watchers trying to keep an eye on those 600 possible targets, perhaps they should approach Halma for one of its gizmos for the task?

Hutson has a problem at Diversified Energy Company

The Diversified Energy Company, run by ex-banker Rusty Hutson, is one of the biggest operators of US onshore oil and gas wells.

But the FTSE 250 firm has faced questions over the cost of plugging these wells when dry, leading short-sellers to pounce in January.

And a recent finance deal that the firm hoped would fend off hedge funds has seen bets against the firm's share price fall only slightly  it is second only to Petrofac in the 'most shorted' table.

Hutson, we have a problem...

Natwest keen to rejoin CBI

Natwest is busy rebuilding its reputation since it infamously 'debanked' Nigel Farage, and is looking to unravel another part of former boss Alison Rose's legacy: pulling out of the Confederation of British Industry after sex allegations there.

NatWest boss Paul Thwaite and chairman Rick Haythornthwaite are said to be keen to rejoin if the recent reconciliation between the CBI and Ministers continues under the new Government.

After all, lobbying groups such as the CBI can fast-track conversations with Ministers.

And there is plenty on NatWest's mind... including suspended plans for its 'Tell Sid'-style share sale, which is subject to No 10's approval.

Investors clamouring to back ClickASnap

Aim, London's junior stock market, is fast becoming the place where UK tech firms flourish.

So says online photo-sharing site ClickASnap. The Dorset firm plans to go public this year and could be valued at 25 million.

Boss Jason Hill reckons Aim was 'hijacked by oil, gas and mining companies' after the dotcom bubble, with a slew of tech success stories going under the radar.

Now he says the tide is turning with investors clamouring to back ClickASnap, which lets users upload photos and be paid for their use while retaining copyright.

Oil, gas and mining minnows  you're out of the frame!

Contributor: John-Paul Ford Rojas
It could be a movie scene. The rain is falling as director and producer Barnaby Thompson arrives at Ealing Studios on a bright blue Vespa.

He steps off the scooter and unzips his full biker gear to reveal a dapper suit, a transformation akin to Superman turning into Clark Kent  or in this case, the chap behind the camera.

Thompson, 63, has been at the heart of British cinema for nearly three decades. Among other things, he is the creative force behind films such as Spiceworld, the remake of St Trinian's and 2002 version of Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest.

Ealing power: Barnaby Thompson runs Ealing Studios, maker of classics such as The Lavender Hill Mob and St Trinian's series

For the past 23 years, he has been a co-owner of Ealing, the world's oldest continuously running film studios. In the early days of film, at the beginning of the 20th century, the complex was known as the White House. The cameras have not stopped rolling since 1902.

Thompson says his position carries a 'real sense of responsibility' for the heritage, and future, of British cinema.

As we walk to his office, he tells me the room next door was used by one of his most famous predecessors, Michael Balcon, who ran the studios from 1938 to 1955, the years of the famous Ealing comedies, such as The Lavender Hill Mob.

'I think Ealing Studios mean a lot to a lot of people. If you talk to Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg about film, they will definitely reference Ealing,' he says.

He is a powerful advocate for Britain's TV and film industry, which has boomed over the past few years and made the UK one of the top hubs outside Hollywood.

He would like to see the new Government take action to secure and increase the jobs and revenues produced by filmmaking.

His plea comes as other prominent figures, including leading TV producer Sir Peter Bazalgette, argue the creative industries should be regarded as a key source of economic growth.

Generous tax incentives, including business rates relief and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), have meant big US companies are spending millions here they might have spent elsewhere.

'London is a very attractive place,' he says, adding that top actors and technicians from around the world 'love this city'.

The incentive schemes are helping to give the UK the edge over cheaper European destinations such as Serbia. Belgrade has long been a hotspot for film thanks to low production costs and generous tax rebates to shoot there.

'If you're going to choose between London and Belgrade, where do you want to spend your time?' he asks, rhetorically.

But Thompson argues there is an existential threat to what he sees as 'truly British film'. By this, he means productions by UK companies telling a quintessentially British story, such as ITV's recent hit Mr Bates vs The Post Office. It tells a very British story to an audience that understands the nuance and politics of the drama.

And while investment by US players is 'fantastic for the economy and jobs', there are pitfalls.

'There is a balance to be found,' he says. US movie-makers pay big money, which is positive, but it makes it harder to make British movies on a smaller budget.

'Indie' film makers who, as the name suggests, operate without the backing of the big studios, still flock to Ealing because of its wonderful history  if they can get their projects off the ground.

There is a question mark over future ventures. Thompson says: 'The Full Monty  would it get financed now? I don't know. That's the worry. Those very English films can be enormously successful, but going in they may not seem to have that universal appeal.'

Since the pandemic, investors are increasingly risk-averse and reluctant to pump cash into indie films. Under EIS, 30 per cent income tax relief is available. This should make a punt more appealing. But recent changes have made it harder to rely on this system.

A total of 1.36 billion was spent on 207 film productions in Britain in 2023, but only 11 per cent were made by solely UK firms, according to British Film Institute data.

As a result, there have been suggestions that Hollywood titans should commit to making more local content that speaks to domestic stories or employs local directors.

In 2021, France imposed levies and investment obligations on streaming services. These compel media companies to invest at least 20 per cent of their net French revenue into European work, of which 85 per cent must be in projects of 'French expression'.

But what constitutes national culture is often intangible and subjective, so introducing a similar system here would be tricky.

What is certain is that Ealing has a special place in British hearts as well as in the national cinema industry, due to postwar hits that are popular to this day such as The Ladykillers, Passport to Pimlico and Kind Hearts and Coronets.

In 1938, Balcon bought the land where Ealing Studios sits. After establishing itself as a centre for warm, but subtly subversive comedy, the site was bought by the BBC in 1955, which used it to shoot favourites including Porridge, Monty Python and Doctor Who.

In 2001, the studios were taken over by a consortium, including independent production company Fragile Films  run by Thompson  and the Manhattan Loft Corporation, which is a property development group behind projects such as the Chiltern Firehouse and St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.

Since then, it has been the home of award-winning productions including Downton Abbey and Darkest Hour. It was most recently used for the Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black. US private equity firm Starwood Capital bought a majority stake in the studios in 2022 for 48.5 million.

That year the studios unveiled plans for a 20 million expansion. As we walk through the studios  which feel more building site than nerve centre of cinema  Thompson praises the LA-based owners as 'fantastic partners' saying they are 'hands off in management'.

The son of journalists, Thompson started off in documentary films, but got his big break in 1990 moving to New York, where he made the hit Wayne's World.

When he moved back to London, he produced Spiceworld and he points to where Victoria Beckham was plunged into a water tank.

But last year's Hollywood writer and actor strikes were even 'more disruptive' than Covid, after 'an incredible' ten years. The latest accounts reveal profit of 5.5 million in 2022, down from 5.6 million in 2021. Figures for 2023, the strike year, have yet to be released.

In more than a century of cinema, Ealing has survived wars, economic depressions and all manner of political upheaval. Thompson is determined that, whoever the owners are, the studios will return to their glory days.
A popular YouTube documentary channel has revealed why Australia's housing market is out of control and offered solutions to fix it.

In a video shared last month 'Why Living In Australia Is Impossible', the American YouTuber team known as 2 and 20 examined the key causes of the nation's housing affordability crisis.

Immigration, bureaucratic red tape, tax incentives and declining investment were among the many reasons attributed to the eye-watering prices.

'The country looks like a paradise but if you want to live here, it's easier said than done. This is the dark side of Australia,' the video voiceover said.

'Australia has the 13th largest economy in the world, wonderful beaches, access to world class education, universal healthcare and much more.

'At the same time, Australian housing prices and rental rates have reached record highs, ranking Australia as one of the most unaffordable places in the world.'

Housing prices outpace income

'To buy the median home in Melbourne, a family needs to earn at least $170,000 per year. In Sydney, that number balloons to $260,000 per year,' the video said.

'It becomes clear that home ownership is far out of reach for most Australians,' the Why Living In Australia Is Impossible video stated

The 2 and 20 team compared this to what they stated is the median household income in both cities of $100,000.

'It becomes clear that home ownership is far out of reach for most Australians,' the video said.

'Now some might argue that this is only a Sydney or Melbourne issue, but that's just not the case.

'Since 2020 house prices in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, have increased by over 50 per cent while wages only grew 12 per cent.

'Home ownership is becoming less and less attainable for many Australians, especially young Australians. '

To illustrate the 'craziness' of Australia's housing market, they used the example of a house in Sydney that was sold without a toilet, kitchen and power for $3.5million.

Immigration

The video states: 'The first culprit that many point to is immigration.'

'From 2022 to 2023 Australia welcomed nearly 740,000 people, that's more immigrants than any year in modern Australian history, and 200,000 more than pre-Covid levels.

'The impact of this huge spike in immigration is simple, more demand with the same housing supply equals higher prices.'

The team stated the bulk of immigrants to Australia are temporary visa holders, and 70 per cent of them are renters.

'The impact hits hard in migrant-heavy suburbs.

'For example, Melbourne's southeast or Sydney's inner southwest saw 18 per cent jumps in rents in the last year.'

The 2 and 20 team revealed how immigration impacts housing prices.

'The argument that immigrants are a primary contributor to the increase in housing prices is quite weak,' they said.

The video states that while immigration has continued to grow with the population, 'housing starts' (new construction) have declined.

'In 2023, 170,000 dwellings were completed, the lowest amount in a decade.'

'There is almost no country on Earth that has such a favorable tax regime for property investors, the 2 and 20 team said

Tax Incentives

The 2 and 20 team believes negative gearing has had a detrimental impact on Australia's housing market.

The video examined the introduction of negative gearing in the 1930s and how the government tried to change the rules in the 1980s, imposing restrictions on deductions that can be claimed.

'But this was met with significant backlash, and negative gearing was returned to its original form,' the documentary team said.

'There is almost no country on Earth that has such a favorable tax regime for property investors.

'The argument against it is that it materially benefits landowners and older Australians, and frankly, the argument is quite sound.'

Declining productivity and investment

The video states this is another contributing factor in the housing crisis.

The 2 and 20 team stated that no one bothers to invest in anything else because Australia has made it so good to invest in non-productive assets including real estate.

'Australia's productivity growth has been slowing over the last few decades,' they said.

'The average annual labour productivity growth between 2010 and 2020 was only 1.1 per cent, significantly lower than previous decades.'

The 2 and 20 team stated the bulk of immigrants to Australia are temporary visa holders, and 70 per cent of them are renters

The 2 and 20 team revealed that in 2022 Australia only spent 1.7 per cent of GDP on Research and Development compared to other major countries.

They described this as 'terrible.'

'As a result, nominal GDP per capita and real GDP per capita have not increased over the last 10 years.'

They said even when comparing business and income tax, it's clear Australia believes land ownership is the most important investment activity.

The solutions

The video concluded by offering solutions to Australia's housing crisis.
Top sushi chefs have revealed their must-follow rules for any diners enjoying the Japanese delicacy.

While sushi is adored around the world - the idea of chowing on cold, raw, fish is certainly not everyone's cup of tea.

But for those hoping to try it for the first time or even fans who can't go without a rainbow roll or nigiri salmon, six London-based experts have their shared their dos and don'ts on how best to enjoy the dish.

Masa Takayama, the chef of Sushi by Masa - located in London 's exclusive Harrods Dining Hall - said that anyone trying sushi for the first time should opt for lighter white fish as it not overly pungent and does not typically contain excessive amounts of oil.

Pictured: File image of various different kinds of sushi served on a black stone

Pictured: A file image of a diner holding bamboo chopsticks with nigiri shrimp while soaking it in soy sauce

Masa Takayama, the chef of Sushi by Masa - located in London's exclusive Harrods Dining Hall - said that anyone trying sushi for the first time should opt for lighter white fish as it not overly pungent and does not typically contain excessive amounts of oil.

Speaking to The Standard, he said that 'five pieces of sushi per person is usually a good start' if you are stuck when it comes to ordering sushi for a group.

Offering his take on whether sushi should be eaten with your hands or chopsticks, sushi chef Endo Kazutoshi advised diners to vary their approach depending upon what they have ordered.

While Enzo revealed his preference for using fingers to help him better gauge temperature and texture, he said that California rolls, gunkan maki  'battleship' sushi that is wrapped in dried seaweed and filled with fish roe  are better to consume with the help of chopsticks.

He also warned that Nigiri sushi should be eaten within three seconds of it being placed in front of you, as the rapid change in temperature can affect the flavour of the dish.

Enzo added: 'Sushi should be eaten in one mouthful: cutting it up will affect the flavour.

'And the rice and fish should always be eaten together, otherwise you may as well order sashimi.'

Advising on what to do when it came to popular condiments, sushi chef Shinji Kanesaka urged people to never consume ginger with sushi.

A dish that is the epitome of balance for many diners, sushi is a staple of Japanese cuisine that is enjoyed by as many culinary as it is by picky eaters (File image)

He explained that ginger acts as a palate-cleansing ingredient between each piece of sushi, meaning that if you eat ginger and sushi together, it transforms sushi into a completely different dish.

Nobu Matsuhisa, founder of the esteemed London Sushi joint Nobu, recommends 'placing a very small bit of wasabi directly onto the fish, then picking it up with the chopsticks and dipping into soy sauce.'

He adds that only a small quantity of soy sauce is needed to enhance the flavour.

Meanwhile, Leonard Tanyag, executive chef at Juno Omakase, shared that he asks diners to avoid wearing perfume - which is also a common practice at other high-end sushi restaurants - to avoid overpowering the delicate smell of different types of the cuisine.
Love is in the air in the nation's capital as top lawmakers and political figures have often met and married after meeting in the halls of Congress or at the White House.

Recently, glamorous GOP Rep. Beth Van Duyne and her married Georgia Republican colleague Rep. Rich McCormick confirmed they are 'happily engaged in a relationship' after he filed for divorce.

Other high-profile relationships have rocked Washington, D.C., in recent years. And the large age gaps make the pairings perhaps even more intriguing.

DailyMail.com breaks down a list of Washington relationships with the biggest age gaps beginning with the Trumps:

The pair met at a party at a Times Square nightclub in 1998. She was 28, he was 52. They went public with their relationship nearly a year later and married in 2005 in star-studded nuptials.

The pair remained a top New York socialite couple until Trump decided to run for president in 2016.

Melania Trump made headlines when rumors circulated that she might not live with her husband if he's re-elected, upending a two and a half-century precedent for White House wives. The couple are pictured in 2007 with their then-baby son Barron

Jill and Joe Biden (9 years)

Joe was a 33-year-old senator and Jill was a 24-year-old college senior when they met.

The year was 1975, three years after Joe's wife Neilia and 1-year-old daughter Naomi died in a car crash, leaving him with two young boys to raise as he navigated life in the Senate. Jill had divorced her first husband during her junior year in college.

'I was a senior, and I had been dating guys in jeans and clogs and T-shirts, he came to the door and he had a sport coat and loafers, and I thought, 'God, this is never going to work, not in a million years,'' Jill told Vogue in 2016.

.He was nine years older than I am! But we went out to see 'A Man and a Woman' at the movie theater in Philadelphia, and we really hit it off. When we came home ... he shook my hand good night ... I went upstairs and called my mother at 1:00 a.m. and said, 'Mom, I finally met a gentleman.'

Joe had to propose five times before Jill said yes and they married in 1977.

Jill and Joe Biden in 1987

Matt and Ginger Gaetz (13 years)

The pair met at Mar-a-Lago in 2020 and eloped in 2021. Ginger told DailyMail.com her mother had 'dragged' her to a party there for Kimberly Guilfoyle's birthday.

Now 42 and 29, Gaetz and his wife are a political power couple on the far right: Ginger often accompanies Matt to votes on Capitol Hill and the pair both have many friends in right wing circles in both Congress and former President Donald Trump's orbit.

Ginger often credits herself with helping her husband clean up his look and drop weight with jabs on X.

The pair met at Mar-a-Lago in 2020 and eloped in 2021. Ginger told DailyMail.com her mother had 'dragged' her to a party there for Kimberly Guilfoyle's birthday

John and Chelsea Rose (25 years)

Rose and wife Chelsea seemingly met when she was in high school and he was 42 and they crossed paths at a farming convention. She was of legal age when they married four years later.

In 2007, 17-year-old Chelsea Doss traveled from Murfreesboro to Gaitlinburg, Tennessee for the state's 79th annual Future Farmers of America (FFA) convention.

Chelsea's Eagleville High School FFA chapter won the State Superior award and Chelsea won the State Job interview contest. She was named the 20072008 Tennessee FFA Association state president.

Among the convention's attendees was Rose, then the vice chairman of the board of the Tennessee FFA.Shortly after the FFA convention, Chelsea won the Jerry and Betty Williams Rose Scholarship, named after Rose's parents.

Fewer than four years later the couple was married, according to an engagement announcement from the now-defunct local Eagleville Times.

Republican Rep. John Rose and wife Chelsea seemingly met when she was in high school and he was 42 and they crossed paths at a farming convention

Mitch McConnell and Elaine Chao (11 years)

The pair married on February 6, 1993 on Ronald Reagan's birthday, just shy of Chao's 40th birthday after meeting on a blind date set up a few years earlier by mutual friend Stuart Bloch. McConnell was already a senator at the time, and Chao would go on to become secretary of Labor under President George Bush and former President Trump's Transportation secretary.

Chao is now 71 and McConnell 83. He'll step down as GOP leader at the end of this Congress.

Chao was born in Taiwan and her family runs a lucrative shipping company.

'Those who have encountered Ms. Chao describe her as an unapologetically ambitious operator with an expansive network, a short fuse, and a seemingly inexhaustible drive to get to the top and stay there,' the New York Times reported in 2014.

McConnell has three daughters from a previous marriage, including liberal activist Porter McConnell.

The pair married on February 6, 1993 on Ronald Reagan's birthday, just shy of Chao's 40th birthday after meeting on a blind date set up a few years earlier by mutual friend Stuart Bloc

Justice Brett and Ashley Estes Kavanaugh (9 years)

The pair met while working for the Bush administration in 2001. Ashley worked on his gubernatorial and presidential campaigns and then as his secretary until 2005. Justice Kavanaugh worked as counsel and staff secretary for Bush.

During Brett's swearing-in to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2006, Bush joked that their marriage was the 'first lifetime appointment I arranged.'

'Ashley likes to remind me that true love, true love is a Texas girl who is willing to marry a guy with a lifetime appointment in Washington, D.C.,' Kavanaugh, now 59, quipped at the swearing-in ceremony.

Their first date was the day before 9/11. The next day, they both navigated the president through the unprecedented attack.

The pair married in Washington in 2004, and George and Laura Bush attended.

Ashley Estes smiles at her husband, newly sworn-in Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court Brett Kavanaugh while US president Donald Trump applauds, October 8, 2018 at the White House in Washington, DC

Clarence and Ginni Thomas (8 years)

In 1986, Clarence was a 37-year-old single father and Ginni was a 29-year-old labor lobbyist for the Chamber of Commerce when the pair met at a round table on affirmative action.

'I have some Black female friends I'd really like to put together with you,' Ginni said. Clarence laughed and said he wasn't interested.

The pair later met for a professional lunch on K Street. He didn't consider dating her at first, because he had 'more than enough problems' and didn't need to add dating a white woman to the list, according to a New York Magazine profile.

They later went to dinner and a movie and Ginnie said she 'left that dinner smiling like I'd never smiled.'

'I was in love with this guy.'

'She was a gift from God that I had prayed for,' Clarence said. 'And then I was iffy, because I started questioning God's package. You know, like what are you doing? You pray for God to send you someone, he sends you someone, and you say, 'Oh, but she's white' or 'She's younger.' He's sent you someone. What are you talking about?'

In 1986, Clarence was a 37-year-old single father and Ginni was a 29-year-old labor lobbyist for the Chamber of Commerce when the pair met at a round table on affirmative action

'I have some Black female friends I'd really like to put together with you,' Ginni said. Clarence laughed and said he wasn't interested

The pair later met for a professional lunch on K Street. He didn't consider dating her at first, because he had 'more than enough problems' and didn't need to add dating a white woman to the list, according to a New York Magazine profile

Bernie and Jane Sanders (8 years)

Bernie and Jane met in 1981, when he was participating in a mayoral debate in Burlington, Vermont. Jane had divorced her husband and father of her three children one year earlier.

'I sat in the second row and I fell in love with Bernie's ideas,' Jane told PEOPLE. 'We met eyes  a few times, which I thought was interesting.'

The pair dated for a few years, then broke up for a year when she wanted to get married and he didn't. The pair married in 1988. Bernie adopted Jane's kids after her first husband passed and they've fostered 13 children. Sanders also has his own son Levi from a former girlfriend.

Bernie and Jane met in 1981, when he was participating in a mayoral debate in Burlington, Vermont. Jane had divorced her husband and father of her three children one year earlier.
A landlord has refused to paint over an 8ft mural on his 400-year-old pub after his council tried to 'bully' him into removing it.

Martin Peel, 53, paid an artist 1,200 for a bull mural to be painted on the side of The Bull's Head in Wootton Wawen, Warwickshire.

However, after the work was completed in April, Mr Peel received a letter from Stratford District Council saying it 'violated planning rules for listed properties'.

The father-of-two, who has been in charge of the 16th-century boozer for three years, was given four weeks to remove the mural or he would face legal action.

He said: 'We are determined to keep the bull painting.

'We'd be obliterating three days of work by an artist using skills which are dying out. Everything we do is with an eye on heritage. We see ourselves as a temporary custodians of this wonderful pub.'

Martin Peel, 52, pictured alongside his new mural at The Bull's Head Pub in Wootten Wawen, Warwickshire

Mr Peel says his local council are making him paint over the 1,200 mural he had painted on the side of his 400-year-old pub

Stratford District Council demanded the 8ft high painting be removed after claiming planning permission is needed for work on listed properties

Mr Peel, who runs the pub with his partner Omm, told BirminghamLive: 'It's a beautiful pub and the painting communicates what we do.

'It was meant to be eye-catching and a bit of fun while respecting the heritage of the building. It's an impressive structure.

'It's historic but a lot of people think we're just a big house which can be confusing for people.

'We feel it's a mural that works in line with the era of the heritage. We take the heritage very seriously.

'The council just said "it's not acceptable".

'We get a lot of positive comments from people in the pub, you get people stopping and taking pictures with it.'

The former aircraft mechanic went on to tell the publication that he believed the council was alerted by a single villager who didn't like the design.

He has since vowed to fight the ruling by claiming the painting was made using traditional methods.

Many locals have rallied behind Mr Peel, saying the council are 'bullies' and the mural is 'amazing'.

The artist carried out the impressive work over three days in April and Martin forked out 1,200 for the bull mural

Mr Peel, pictured, fears he'll have to paint over it in just four weeks time amid threats from the council despite praise from punters over the work

One resident said: 'Typical bully council throwing their bloody weight around. Why punish someone like Martin for doing something positive? The bull mural looks amazing and has put this place on the map."

Earlier this year, an award-winning fish and chip shop in Greenwich was ordered to remove a Union flag mural by council officials over claims it is 'inappropriate for the area'.

Chris Kanizi, 65, who owns Golden Chippy, in Greenwich, south-east London, has been told to paint over the mural of the humanoid fish on the wall of his restaurant, which has been adored by tourists.

Greenwich council said they received a 'number of complaints' about the mural, which features the phrase 'A Great British Meal', they said was an 'unauthorised advert'.

Mr Kansizi, who has been running Golden Chippy for 20 years and lives two doors down, said he doesn't believe people were complaining about the mural, which was deemed 'inappropriate' according to the Telegraph.

A spokesperson for Stratford District Council said: 'We do not comment on live enforcement cases.'
A family-of-five with a household income of more than 60,000 have revealed how they are forced to use Klarna to afford their food shop due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Laura Caine, 40, said she is struggling to manage costs with her 1,000-a-month universal credit payment and husband Martin's 50,000 games programmer salary.

Last month it was revealed that children may be missing out on educational school trips because parents are struggling to cover the costs while schools lack funds to subsidise them.

Now, Ms Caine, who is originally from Fife in Scotland but now lives in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, has said she is turning to the buy-now-pay-later service in order to feed her five children, aged 18 to nine.

'I've seen the struggles of so many families - I've been to food banks with mums and dads with their kids, waiting and wondering what they will be getting, it's awful,' she told Yorkshire Live.

'The way I shop now, if I have 35 to spend for the week, I could get a 105 shop using Klarna and that's 105 worth of food in your cupboards and pay 35 per month back for three months.

'The last shop I did I spent 1,050 and am paying 350 back each month. The same shop used to be 500 pre-covid which just shows how much costs have gone up  but it will last me a month and a half, which is not bad for a family of seven.'

Ms Caine explained how many people do not appreciate how much food is required to feed a large family.

To combat this, she frequently uses wholesalers to buy bulk essentials like flour to make bread.

She also said she makes all of her meals from scratch and freezes them to ensure nothing is wasted.

The 40-year-old explained how having Klarna means 'if an emergency pops up like having to pay for an MOT or gas bill... in the long run it allows me to make ends meet.'

In the study regarding school trips it was found that parents are falling back on grandparents to help cover costs of school excursions or children are paying themselves using pocket money.

In a poll of 1,000 parents, the insurer discovered that one in three believe school trips are now too expensive, while a quarter said they have had to go without and cut back on essentials to fund the trips.

On average, the cost of a day school trip is 28, while residential trips cost a staggering 430 on average.

It's a harsh reality that has led ten per cent of children to use their pocket money to fund school trips, while 12 per cent have taken part in fundraising activities to cover the cost, according to a survey by school leaders' union, NAHT.

Tight school budgets may also be contributing to the declining number of excursions, with English Heritage finding that trips to its sites have dropped 28 per cent compared to pre-Covid numbers.

NAHT found 69 per cent of school leaders have had to raise extra money from grants and fundraising to cover the cost of extra-curricular activities, such as school trips.
Police in a Georgia city have been left stunned after all but one were asked to turn in their guns and badges with immediate effect and little explanation.

Officers in Warm Springs were informed they were being suspended last month, while their chief Emilio Quintana has been fired.

A Facebook post announcing the decision only fueled the mystery and raised more questions.

'The decision to terminate Chief Quintana and suspend the police force was made after careful consideration of recent events and emerging concerns regarding the conduct and operations within the department,' the post read.

The force is now under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, but officials have remained tight-lipped about what its focus is.

Police in a Georgia city have been left stunned after all but one were asked to turn in their guns and badges with immediate effect with little explanation. Pictured: Fired police chief Emilio Quintana

However, the disciplinary action follows an anonymous tip off about police, including former chief Quintana, using their patrol vehicles for off-duty jobs, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.

The sender, who signed off as 'concerned citizen', also claimed that many Warm Springs officers were only taking the job in order to pick up more lucrative off-duty work.

'Most officers working for Warm Springs are there because and were hired just so they are able to do police off-duty jobs,' the email said. 'This is an everyday thing that is allowed to occur directed by the chief.'

Warm Springs has a population of 450 - which works out at roughly one police officer for every 33 residents compared to the state average of 164 officers per capita.

Many police are part time or only pick up a couple of shifts here and there, which allows them to maintain arresting powers.

Prior to the controversy, Warm Springs was best known as being the home of President Roosevelt ahead of his inauguration, with the former leader building later dubbed the 'Little White House'.

Crime is also lower in the city than the Georgia average and below rates seen across the country, according to data from USA.com which ranked 87th out of 336 of the state's cities.

In a letter to Quintana, Mayor Robyn Pynenburg laid out the allegations against him and within a week Quintana had been fired.

His staff were placed on leave, although it was stated that this was not a disciplinary measure.

Warm Springs Mayor Robyn Pynenburg informed the force that most were being suspended after allegations police cars were being used for off-duty work

The only employee of the 13 serving Warm Springs who currently remains in post is recent hire Aisha Al-Khalifa who has been appointed interim chief

The only employee of the 13 serving the city who currently remains in post is Aisha Al-Khalifa. She was hired as a sergeant in November and is now interim chief.

However, the Meriwether County Sheriff's Office has suggested the suspensions have not had much impact on its daily operations, stating that officers in Warm Springs rarely seemed to be working when calls came in.

In another strange twist, the anonymous email was sent just two days after a former Warm Springs officer filed a lawsuit against Quintana and the city of Warm Springs claiming wrongful termination.

Sean Thompson claimed that he was fired after trying to voice concerns about problems he was having with another member of staff.

Thompson alleged discrimination, retaliation and a hostile work environment in the lawsuit.

He told 11 Alive he was fired May 20 for alleged insubordination after he spoke up.

'You know, I feel like I was totally ignored,' Thompson said, adding that his lawsuit was filed June 10.

'I want my name to be cleared. I want my background to be cleared,' he explained.

Mayor Pynenburg with Warm Springs officers including now axed chief Quintana

The decision also came after another former police officer filed a lawsuit against the city alleging wrongful termination

Ex-officer Sean Thompson claimed he was wrongfully dismissed after raising concerns about a colleague

'I didn't think it was going to get this far, but like I said, some stuff, uncovered some other things uncovered, I guess it was just meant to be.'

The force is being investigated by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at its own request. The GBI case will look at any allegations of criminality.

Quintana is also being probed by Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, although the body admits it is not sure exactly what it is being asked to examine.

'Right now, we're still not crystal clear on a lot of this,' executive director Mike Ayers said.

Locals have been left equally baffled and have taken to social media to share their concerns.

'What in the world is going on in Warm Springs?' One woman wrote. 'I just saw on the Atlanta news that the whole police force AND Chief was fired and or suspended. Wow, must be something bad.'

'Who knows what's going on?' Another person added. 'They fired the whole police force, the damn police in trouble, what the hell? That's crazy.'

'This is wild,' one person agreed.

'Our primary commitment is to the safety and well-being of our community,' Mayor Pynenburg said.

'We take these matters very seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation to address any issues within our police department. We ask for the community's patience and support as we work towards transparency and justice.

'The City is committed to conducting a fair and thorough investigation and will keep the public informed of any significant developments.'

Mystery as city fires police chief and suspends entire force apart from one cop